We have in our studio
today Pastor Swami Das Johnson
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visiting as from
the country of India.
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And, Pastor Johnson,
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you've been
coming to the States now
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to our studio here
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probably for
about 20 years I think.
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Yes. You are
right. Is that right?
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And you're the coordinator
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for Laymen Ministries
projects in India and we've...
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actually been to our studio
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and shot quite a
number of Tamil programs here,
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haven't you?
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I can't remember how
many that you've shot actually
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in our studio
here in the States?
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Approximately
400 to 450 programs.
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Yeah, great grief,
that's a lot of programs
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and I remember when he
first aired one of his programs
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in India on
television over there
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that were shot here,
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people were
coming to you and saying,
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"We want to see your office,"
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'cause we had a
really nice office out here.
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And people were thinking
that was actually his office
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and they didn't realize
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that was a
television set in America.
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And it's cold
here in North Idaho
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and I got a shot of
you, Pastor Johnson,
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yesterday seeing snow
coming down for the first time
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and he was
outside freezing to death
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'cause he's from India,
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of course, and it's
like really cold here
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and really hot there.
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Yesterday we were discussing
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and I think all the people
have probably heard that song,
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'I have decided
to follow Jesus,'
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I have decided to follow Jesus.
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I think we sang
that with our kids
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and you were sharing with me
that the origin of that song,
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where did that song
originally come from?
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In Northern India,
the state called Assam.
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In 19th century from England,
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there were a lot of missionaries
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were going to India
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and one missionary went
to that particular state
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and shared a gospel,
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and through that family,
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the whole
village became Christian,
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then they had the village leader
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wants to kill him
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otherwise they
have to refuse Jesus
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as a personal savior.
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But he said, I
will, Jesus is a master.
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So he decided to follow Jesus.
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To follow, the whole
family finally the whole,
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the leader of the tribe
killed his wife and children
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and the whole family.
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And each stanza, first
stanza, when you are singing,
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his two sons, then
his wife, then himself,
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during that time, he
was singing that song,
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that I have
decided to follow Jesus.
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Then the whole village,
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the tribal people thought
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something this God must be
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something unique or something.
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Special...
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Special, so why
can't we accept Jesus,
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so today we can see
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the that place
is a Christianity.
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Wow.
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So next time you sing that song
in Sabbath school or church,
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think about the fact that song
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really originated
from the country of India
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in the state of Assam.
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You know, Pastor Johnson,
we've been working together
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for quite a while, lot
of things have happened,
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we're going to talk about
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some of those
things on this program,
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but recently
within the last year,
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we had a new
development take place.
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And when I was in India
last time, last February,
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you took me to the
south tip of Tamil Nadu,
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the state of Tamil Nadu
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and showed me a new building
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that had recently been
donated to Laymen Ministries.
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What was the plan?
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What was happening
with that building?
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We started a orphanage.
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The orphanage was started
at April of this year, 2016,
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you came and
visited the property
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and all that, then
we started a groundwork,
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we applied to the government
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and there are certain building
changes we have to do...
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Kind of like building
codes, we had to meet,
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to be accepted by the government
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to establish an orphanage there.
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You are right.
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So we did everything,
and we got a application,
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we gave an announcement,
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we got application
around 65 children,
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but I said...
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That's too many.
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Too many and we have no
place and also we cannot handle.
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Is the orphanage up
and running then right now?
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Yes, it is running up
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and finally we
rejected all the application
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and took a nine student.
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And this building is also
a community center building
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where the orphans are at,
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so is there other
kind of activities
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happening there
in that facility?
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In that place we
have a computer class,
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and the tailoring class
for the community development.
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Why are those kind of things
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even important in
that particular community?
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Because very
close to that place,
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we have a Hindu temple.
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It is one of the leading
Hindu temple in Southern India.
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People visit,
hundreds of people visit,
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very ancient temple.
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So this town
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where we have our
orphanage is a Hindu place,
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but there are
Christian churches,
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there are Christian schools.
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I thought that this area
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was a really
big historical place
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for Christianity
in that whole area.
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Yeah, the whole area but
little the southern side,
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but this town is very
dominated by the Hindu people.
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Because there is a lot of Hindus
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and lot of
different communities,
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we want to do outreach.
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If you want to do outreach,
we can do through education,
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through community project
like tailoring and computer,
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so that's why we
have a computer class
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and the tailoring class.
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And also around
that lot of poor people
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and so we can help them.
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So it's a chance for
like lower caste women
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who come from
really poor situations
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and learn how to
have an occupation
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like sewing,
tailoring and things like that.
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You are right.
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Now the man who is in
charge of that orphanage there
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is really, I found to
be really interesting man,
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he's extremely
dedicated Christian.
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His name is Moses Daniel.
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You are right.
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And Moses Daniel
you were telling me
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was actually raised
as an orphan himself.
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Yes.
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And then he went on
and got an education,
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and he became a director
for some other orphanages
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for another organization.
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Yes. So now he's working for us.
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You are right.
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And pretty amazing thing
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that a man who was
raised as an orphan
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now is a
director for an orphanage.
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It seems like to me a
extremely conscientious
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and honest dedicated man.
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Yes, you are right.
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So what are some of the things
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that are happened
with the orphanage
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this last eight, nine months?
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It is really a miracle
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and because the nine students
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that are studying
in our Adventist school
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because we thought,
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we decided even
in the beginning,
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we have to give
Adventist education
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for our student.
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So nearby, there
is Adventist school
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if you travel like eight miles.
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This is that, the famous place
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where the 100 year church is at,
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one of the oldest churches,
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the first church in South India,
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Adventist Church in South India.
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You are right.
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So they are going for the school
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then evening when
they come, they...
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there Moses Daniel is
giving training for computer,
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and tutoring, and then worship,
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and they have a work program,
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they have to clean the place
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and gardening the trees and all.
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I personally looked over
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the applications of the children
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that are currently
at the orphanage and...
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On each application is a
little background history
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of each child.
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Some of them are Hindus,
some of them are Christian.
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And some of the
stories behind the kids
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is just devastating
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and the parents
are in situations
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where they couldn't
care for the children
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and that's why they ended
up coming to our orphanage.
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Really a real blessed way
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to be able to help
these young children
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to be able to get an education,
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a Christian
education and actually be fed
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because that was a problem
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in some of the
homes they came from,
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they didn't even have
food to feed the kids.
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We're going to be
working on in our ministry
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a detailed report about
each child, their names,
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in case, if you
would like to be involved
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with helping sponsor
them to be in the orphanage
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and also to be able to
get a Christian education
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and our ministry
is going to come out
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with that information
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in one of the
upcoming magazines.
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In fact, in the last
travel mission video we produced
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it's called "The Legacy,"
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we take you to
the orphanage facility
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right after it was donated
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when we were first
trying to get it up
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and running and everything,
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and call our ministry
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and ask for the T.V.
program called ''The Legacy".
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We also have another one
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that's called
"The Fishers of Men",
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and it's shot in South India
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about the work
we're doing there,
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really interesting programs,
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but since we've
got the building,
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you also added some of the rooms
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to the building right?
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Yes.
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On the first floor,
we have added some room,
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so that, according
to the Government rules,
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we are fit into that.
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There are two students
or their parents were died
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because of the HIV affected.
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Of the HIV, yeah, so
they're AIDS, AIDS children.
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Yeah.
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I didn't even realize
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that South India
had a problem with AIDS
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until it was pointed out
to me on the applications.
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So this is a real
wonderful opportunity,
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it's something new
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Laymen Ministers
have been involved with.
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We of course
been helping orphans
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in the country of
Lithuania for years
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and those are
government orphanages there
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that we've targeted
that are really super poor,
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they have really a
lot of needs there,
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and now we've expanded
into actually operating
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one of our own orphanages
in the country of India,
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but over the years
we've been involved
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with kind of a
package deal in India.
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What we call a package deal,
a package deal of evangelism.
00:10:01.93\00:10:05.17
You want to explain
00:10:05.20\00:10:06.53
just a little bit
about the principle
00:10:06.57\00:10:07.90
of what we mean
by a package deal?
00:10:07.94\00:10:09.54
Yeah. The package
is very interesting.
00:10:09.57\00:10:11.57
It's called a...
00:10:11.61\00:10:13.01
We have a television program,
00:10:13.04\00:10:15.38
so right now we are in
major three television network,
00:10:15.41\00:10:20.48
it is a satellite TV,
00:10:20.52\00:10:22.25
also the cable channel.
00:10:22.28\00:10:23.99
So the, each one
of these networks
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is not only satellite
00:10:25.69\00:10:27.02
but their cable to cable,
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and so that's
really important in India
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because everybody's
got cable television,
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the hotels and private houses.
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Yeah.
00:10:35.63\00:10:36.97
And there are, we
are in small cable,
00:10:37.00\00:10:38.93
that is not a major thing,
00:10:38.97\00:10:41.20
but this three major
network is very important.
00:10:41.24\00:10:44.91
And once we get
more phone calls,
00:10:44.94\00:10:49.34
or when we have a lot of viewers
00:10:49.38\00:10:51.61
in the particular place,
00:10:51.65\00:10:53.82
we can understand
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through our
prayer call or the mails.
00:10:55.22\00:10:58.15
We can understand, okay,
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this town we have lot of viewers
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are watching our
television program.
00:11:02.12\00:11:04.66
So we...
00:11:04.69\00:11:06.03
So when you say "Call" it mean,
00:11:06.06\00:11:07.40
you are talking
about a call center,
00:11:07.43\00:11:09.06
so people that see
the telephone number
00:11:09.10\00:11:10.87
on the television programs,
00:11:10.90\00:11:12.40
they call into the church
00:11:12.43\00:11:13.77
or you said even
your house sometimes?
00:11:13.80\00:11:15.27
Yeah, they, for the
night time they call my home.
00:11:15.30\00:11:18.41
Morning and
evening, and the night,
00:11:18.44\00:11:21.08
they call to my home.
00:11:21.11\00:11:22.44
So the Bible workers or
yourself are keeping track
00:11:22.48\00:11:24.81
of where these
calls are coming from,
00:11:24.85\00:11:26.18
so you can kind of
target an area there.
00:11:26.21\00:11:27.75
Yeah. Okay.
00:11:27.78\00:11:29.12
And in the
daytime, there is a...
00:11:29.15\00:11:31.09
it's actually the 24/7
call center for prayer,
00:11:31.12\00:11:36.12
people can call
throughout the world.
00:11:36.16\00:11:39.43
So people call.
00:11:39.46\00:11:40.80
So the point is, we
have a television program
00:11:40.83\00:11:45.27
which is a satellite
channel and the cable
00:11:45.30\00:11:48.87
and there are few
minor small villages,
00:11:48.90\00:11:52.77
then we have a 24
hours prayer center,
00:11:52.81\00:11:57.01
people calls us for prayer.
00:11:57.05\00:11:59.11
Then we send our Bible workers
in that particular town to...
00:11:59.15\00:12:04.32
for a door to door evangelism.
00:12:04.35\00:12:06.76
And our Bible worker
00:12:06.79\00:12:08.36
stay in there four months
in that particular village,
00:12:08.39\00:12:12.56
and they visit each home.
00:12:12.59\00:12:16.46
The first month is
a kind of friendship.
00:12:16.50\00:12:18.80
The second month is
a group Bible study.
00:12:18.83\00:12:22.90
The third months, they,
it's a evangelistic meeting,
00:12:22.94\00:12:26.91
the fourth months
is a follow up work.
00:12:26.94\00:12:29.91
Then we have to find a
temporary worship place.
00:12:29.94\00:12:34.78
So they try to find
a place to establish
00:12:34.82\00:12:36.48
like a home
church or a rental place.
00:12:36.52\00:12:39.19
Rental place.
00:12:39.22\00:12:40.56
So it's like, it's not like
00:12:40.59\00:12:43.53
only television
we are preaching.
00:12:43.56\00:12:46.26
Our Bible worker just
going, knocking the door...
00:12:46.29\00:12:49.73
So when a Bible
worker knocks on a door
00:12:49.76\00:12:51.93
and they say that
they represent the ministry
00:12:51.97\00:12:53.74
that's on television.
00:12:53.77\00:12:55.10
Do a lot of
people know who they are
00:12:55.14\00:12:56.50
or what the ministry is about?
00:12:56.54\00:12:58.11
Mostly they all knows that,
first they ask "who are you"
00:12:58.14\00:13:03.98
then they will say we
are from this ministry
00:13:04.01\00:13:07.88
and we want to pray
with you and all that.
00:13:07.92\00:13:10.79
Then they will give
invitation, some people...
00:13:10.82\00:13:12.99
Until those people know
00:13:13.02\00:13:14.36
that about these
television programs...
00:13:14.39\00:13:15.72
Yes.
00:13:15.76\00:13:17.09
Some of 40, 50% people know
about the television program,
00:13:17.13\00:13:20.50
some people they may not know,
00:13:20.53\00:13:22.60
but our people will go
00:13:22.63\00:13:23.97
and knock each
door of that village.
00:13:24.00\00:13:27.64
Then starting a new
church, then follow up work.
00:13:27.67\00:13:32.74
Then leaving two Bible worker
00:13:32.77\00:13:36.24
in that new house
church or the temporary church.
00:13:36.28\00:13:40.05
So they're kind of
like an intern pastor
00:13:40.08\00:13:42.72
for the church working with it
00:13:42.75\00:13:44.09
until it becomes
established enough
00:13:44.12\00:13:45.82
that it actually becomes a
bonafide full pledged church
00:13:45.85\00:13:49.19
that has a
pastor assigned to it.
00:13:49.22\00:13:51.09
Yes, yes.
00:13:51.13\00:13:52.46
So we've been doing
this for quite a while
00:13:52.49\00:13:54.06
and it's become a model
00:13:54.10\00:13:55.43
for South India
"Laymen Ministries"
00:13:55.46\00:13:57.53
package deal of evangelism.
00:13:57.57\00:13:59.87
Just roughly how many
since we've been doing this
00:13:59.90\00:14:02.40
for 23 years?
00:14:02.44\00:14:03.77
How many churches do you think
00:14:03.81\00:14:05.14
Laymen Ministries has been
responsible for establishing?
00:14:05.17\00:14:09.31
Around, in my calculation,
00:14:09.34\00:14:12.98
it's we have
entered so far 150 places.
00:14:13.01\00:14:19.05
But the strong churches were 75.
00:14:19.09\00:14:22.26
About 75.
00:14:22.29\00:14:23.66
Other places maybe small
groups of people meeting.
00:14:23.69\00:14:25.26
Small group and
some places closed
00:14:25.29\00:14:27.73
and some places like...
00:14:27.76\00:14:29.13
Right, over the
last 20 something years
00:14:29.16\00:14:31.10
about 75 established churches.
00:14:31.13\00:14:32.97
It's in the Greater Chennai.
00:14:33.00\00:14:35.84
In the Greater Chennai.
00:14:35.87\00:14:37.21
I was just looking here.
00:14:37.24\00:14:38.57
I have actually the budget
for this last month for India
00:14:38.61\00:14:42.31
and I was
really kind of shocked,
00:14:42.34\00:14:43.88
you know, a lot of
people don't realize
00:14:43.91\00:14:45.81
how much money
it cost to operate
00:14:45.85\00:14:48.18
all these
things for the ministry
00:14:48.22\00:14:49.55
but this budget here
just for this one month,
00:14:49.58\00:14:52.22
this next month of
$13,475 and I just look at this,
00:14:52.25\00:14:57.03
and this is just one project
that Laymen Ministries has,
00:14:57.06\00:14:59.23
I mean we have an
academy in the Philippines,
00:14:59.26\00:15:01.36
you know, we got
a training school
00:15:01.40\00:15:02.73
in North India, in Nepal,
00:15:02.76\00:15:04.97
working in China,
working in Lithuania
00:15:05.00\00:15:06.70
and you start
adding this up, I just go,
00:15:06.74\00:15:08.77
it's amazing how
the Lord supplies
00:15:08.80\00:15:10.91
the funding for doing this
00:15:10.94\00:15:12.47
and just for the
three major networks,
00:15:12.51\00:15:16.54
it comes to a total of...
00:15:16.58\00:15:18.65
5,800.
00:15:18.68\00:15:20.42
You know this number
5,800, and that's depending on
00:15:20.45\00:15:23.55
whether it's a long
month or a short month.
00:15:23.59\00:15:24.92
Yeah.
00:15:24.95\00:15:26.29
Sometimes if it is four
weeks, this is the amount.
00:15:26.32\00:15:28.26
If it is a five weeks,
00:15:28.29\00:15:30.43
then it will go
like 6,200-6,300.
00:15:30.46\00:15:33.80
What is the
viewing audience size
00:15:33.83\00:15:35.90
of these different networks?
00:15:35.93\00:15:37.27
Do you have any idea?
00:15:37.30\00:15:38.63
Yes. I have idea.
00:15:38.67\00:15:40.00
The Vasanth TV,
00:15:40.04\00:15:41.37
there is a
satellite called Vasanth TV,
00:15:41.40\00:15:43.20
it goes everywhere.
00:15:43.24\00:15:44.77
It is a free channel.
00:15:44.81\00:15:46.47
It's coming to
America, Europe, Middle East.
00:15:46.51\00:15:50.78
The potential audience,
00:15:50.81\00:15:55.62
the people who
speak Tamil in Kerala
00:15:55.65\00:15:59.42
and then in Andhra
Pradesh, Bangalore, Mumbai,
00:15:59.45\00:16:05.83
and Malaysia,
Singapore everywhere,
00:16:05.86\00:16:07.93
and also all these channels
are available in the internet.
00:16:07.96\00:16:11.93
So in my opinion
and also there is...
00:16:11.97\00:16:14.40
There's millions of people.
00:16:14.44\00:16:15.77
Millions of people...
00:16:15.80\00:16:17.14
Wow! Yeah.
00:16:17.17\00:16:18.51
I know that we've got responses
even from France and England
00:16:18.54\00:16:21.84
watching these programs
that are produced in India
00:16:21.88\00:16:23.88
and broadcast
from our studio there.
00:16:23.91\00:16:25.51
In Tamil Nadu
alone, in Tamil Nadu,
00:16:25.55\00:16:28.45
where people who
speak Tamil alone,
00:16:28.48\00:16:31.32
the potential
audience is 80 million people.
00:16:31.35\00:16:34.72
Then think about
Bangalore, think about Mumbai,
00:16:34.76\00:16:38.29
think about Delhi,
all the places in England,
00:16:38.33\00:16:41.96
then in North...
00:16:42.00\00:16:43.33
I mean
Singapore, Malaysia, Burma.
00:16:43.37\00:16:46.84
Yeah, lot of
people don't maybe realize
00:16:46.87\00:16:48.84
if they're not
familiar with our ministry
00:16:48.87\00:16:50.94
that we actually have our
own television studio over there
00:16:50.97\00:16:53.51
and we produce
television programs
00:16:53.54\00:16:55.31
at that studio,
00:16:55.34\00:16:56.68
and I was just
looking at our budget here
00:16:56.71\00:16:58.05
for the operating
cost for our studio
00:16:58.08\00:17:01.12
and just for the
salaries per month is...
00:17:01.15\00:17:03.89
to run a studio,
you would catch this,
00:17:03.92\00:17:05.92
$850 to run a television studio,
00:17:05.95\00:17:09.02
for producing
television programs,
00:17:09.06\00:17:10.53
internet programs
00:17:10.56\00:17:11.89
and some of the new
short internet type programs
00:17:11.93\00:17:14.03
that we're developing.
00:17:14.06\00:17:15.40
What a deal,
00:17:15.43\00:17:16.77
I mean to have
actually up and running studio
00:17:16.80\00:17:18.33
that the, the employee
cost is about 850 a month.
00:17:18.37\00:17:22.54
Really, really good deal
00:17:22.57\00:17:23.91
and I also was looking at
the budget for workers here,
00:17:23.94\00:17:27.14
and we put out
about $4,300 every month
00:17:27.18\00:17:32.51
just for the budget for workers.
00:17:32.55\00:17:34.05
Now how many Bible
workers are there all together?
00:17:34.08\00:17:36.05
We have 44 Bible workers.
00:17:36.08\00:17:38.99
44? 44 Bible workers.
00:17:39.02\00:17:41.02
Then Pastor Shadrach, then...
00:17:41.06\00:17:44.93
Yourself. Myself.
00:17:44.96\00:17:46.53
And there are two,
three prayer call center,
00:17:46.56\00:17:48.60
I mean in the...
00:17:48.63\00:17:49.96
the people who help
in the prayer center.
00:17:50.00\00:17:53.37
Then we have like
pastors who are supervisors.
00:17:53.40\00:17:55.44
Supervisor.
00:17:55.47\00:17:56.81
All together it is 50.
00:17:56.84\00:17:58.51
You are 50 employees.
00:17:58.54\00:18:00.71
I never dreamed years ago
00:18:00.74\00:18:02.24
when you and I
started talking about
00:18:02.28\00:18:03.81
starting a ministry in India
00:18:03.85\00:18:05.48
that it would grow to the size
00:18:05.51\00:18:06.85
that is that God has
really, really blessed.
00:18:06.88\00:18:09.15
It's just to me it's phenomenal
00:18:09.18\00:18:10.89
that we have all
these things happening
00:18:10.92\00:18:13.22
and that we're
actually every month
00:18:13.25\00:18:15.52
able to meet the expenses
00:18:15.56\00:18:17.23
because people
like you get involved
00:18:17.26\00:18:18.93
in trying to help our ministry
to be able to do these things.
00:18:18.96\00:18:22.00
Another big part of
what we've been doing
00:18:22.03\00:18:23.70
is publishing literature.
00:18:23.73\00:18:25.07
We've been doing this for years,
00:18:25.10\00:18:26.43
I mean we printed a lot of...
00:18:26.47\00:18:27.87
I mean hundreds of
thousands of books and such.
00:18:27.90\00:18:29.90
What kind of
things that we print
00:18:29.94\00:18:31.67
for instance in the year 2016?
00:18:31.71\00:18:33.78
2016, we did historical lesson.
00:18:33.81\00:18:37.68
These are the Amazing
Facts historical lessons.
00:18:37.71\00:18:39.41
We've translated
these in Lithuania
00:18:39.45\00:18:41.65
and we
translated them in Romania,
00:18:41.68\00:18:43.49
we translated
these in the Philippines
00:18:43.52\00:18:44.85
and now we have them in India.
00:18:44.89\00:18:46.22
Yeah.
00:18:46.25\00:18:47.59
We've translated and we
did exactly the multi color.
00:18:47.62\00:18:50.23
How many sets did we print?
00:18:50.26\00:18:51.59
5,000.
00:18:51.63\00:18:52.96
So if there's about 24 in a set.
00:18:52.99\00:18:55.66
That's about 1,200
individual Bible lessons.
00:18:55.70\00:18:58.63
Wow!
00:18:58.67\00:19:00.00
It is very nice.
00:19:00.04\00:19:01.37
And what else did
we print in year 2016?
00:19:01.40\00:19:02.87
Steps to Christ,
00:19:02.90\00:19:04.94
and then it's a
Great Controversy
00:19:04.97\00:19:07.88
is we are going to release.
00:19:07.91\00:19:09.74
We supposed to
have released last month
00:19:09.78\00:19:12.38
and in the translation, we...
00:19:12.41\00:19:15.48
Can had to do some updating.
00:19:15.52\00:19:16.85
Updating.
00:19:16.89\00:19:18.22
So otherwise by the... we...
00:19:18.25\00:19:20.39
our original plan was we
supposed to finish by June,
00:19:20.42\00:19:24.03
but we are doing
the translation again.
00:19:24.06\00:19:27.93
So it is taking a time, and...
00:19:27.96\00:19:30.47
I know we just built a brand new
00:19:30.50\00:19:32.30
kind of like a mini
warehouse on top of the church
00:19:32.33\00:19:34.27
behind the studio
for storing the books
00:19:34.30\00:19:37.11
to keep them dry and keep
bugs from getting into and such,
00:19:37.14\00:19:39.64
so what are we
planning on doing next?
00:19:39.67\00:19:42.01
And now next,
the Desire of Ages.
00:19:42.04\00:19:44.81
The Desire of Ages also,
and for your information,
00:19:44.85\00:19:49.28
we are not doing
00:19:49.32\00:19:50.92
because if you want to
translate the whole book
00:19:50.95\00:19:54.62
and the book became very big.
00:19:54.66\00:19:56.09
So big.
00:19:56.12\00:19:57.46
I notice that you
take an English copy,
00:19:57.49\00:19:59.23
it's about this big and
you translated in Tamil.
00:19:59.26\00:20:01.20
It goes like to about that big.
00:20:01.23\00:20:02.56
You are right. So you
are cutting it in half?
00:20:02.60\00:20:04.30
Yeah, cutting half.
00:20:04.33\00:20:05.67
First volume and
the second volume
00:20:05.70\00:20:07.70
and we are making a new picture
00:20:07.74\00:20:09.27
about the Jesus where kind of...
00:20:09.30\00:20:12.17
More contemporary...
00:20:12.21\00:20:13.54
More
contemporary. You are right.
00:20:13.58\00:20:14.91
Yeah, you know these
books like Steps to Christ,
00:20:14.94\00:20:16.88
Desire of Ages,
Great Controversies,
00:20:16.91\00:20:18.51
these books build
strong Christians.
00:20:18.55\00:20:20.88
I remember Elder David Lan,
00:20:20.92\00:20:22.28
he said that these
books build strong characters
00:20:22.32\00:20:25.89
and are the
backbone for the church
00:20:25.92\00:20:27.42
and I really believe that,
00:20:27.46\00:20:28.92
you know,
running Laymen Ministries
00:20:28.96\00:20:30.29
all these years,
00:20:30.33\00:20:31.66
seeing the impact of
these particular books
00:20:31.69\00:20:35.43
are the backbone of our church
in establishing strong members
00:20:35.46\00:20:39.57
that become
workers for the faith.
00:20:39.60\00:20:41.37
The baptism we give,
the churches we start,
00:20:41.40\00:20:45.57
and the
television programs we do,
00:20:45.61\00:20:47.71
like one
program Pastor Shadrach,
00:20:47.74\00:20:50.28
he's very senior
pastor, he gives us, he...
00:20:50.31\00:20:55.58
the program called
Question and Answer,
00:20:55.62\00:20:58.42
it's a powerful program.
00:20:58.45\00:20:59.79
Oh, I'm familiar
with this program.
00:20:59.82\00:21:01.29
You are right.
00:21:01.32\00:21:02.66
And so our television
program, our church planting,
00:21:02.69\00:21:06.16
our Bible workers, our
translation, all that...
00:21:06.19\00:21:10.57
Big package deal.
00:21:10.60\00:21:11.93
Big package
deal, so it is not...
00:21:11.97\00:21:15.17
it is a complete
package of evangelism
00:21:15.20\00:21:18.31
from the beginning,
00:21:18.34\00:21:19.94
from the
groundwork till then ongoing,
00:21:19.97\00:21:23.45
nurturing and there are churches
00:21:23.48\00:21:26.82
which we started,
00:21:26.85\00:21:28.25
it was close due
to various reason.
00:21:28.28\00:21:31.72
Then again, we
send our Bible workers.
00:21:31.75\00:21:34.62
We do groundwork
again, and we start again.
00:21:34.66\00:21:38.79
So there are...
00:21:38.83\00:21:41.23
there was
failure then again we...
00:21:41.26\00:21:44.27
If there is any kind of
problem or anything, go back in.
00:21:44.30\00:21:46.07
Go back again.
00:21:46.10\00:21:47.44
You know, I just want
to share with our viewers
00:21:47.47\00:21:48.80
really quickly too about
00:21:48.84\00:21:50.17
what you were just
saying about Pastor Shadrach's
00:21:50.21\00:21:51.57
program called
Question and Answers.
00:21:51.61\00:21:53.31
This is an
English language program
00:21:53.34\00:21:55.14
and English is a
pretty common language
00:21:55.18\00:21:56.81
for more
educated people in India
00:21:56.85\00:21:59.41
and this program has
been extremely successful
00:21:59.45\00:22:02.15
because not only is
Shadrach a really talented
00:22:02.18\00:22:04.42
but I always, I always say
00:22:04.45\00:22:05.79
Shadrach is the
CD Brooks of India,
00:22:05.82\00:22:07.62
you know, he's a
really powerful speaker.
00:22:07.66\00:22:09.69
But what he has been
doing is he has the viewers
00:22:09.72\00:22:12.89
write in their
questions to the program
00:22:12.93\00:22:15.30
and so when the
program comes on,
00:22:15.33\00:22:16.67
he says, "Today we
have a question from..."
00:22:16.70\00:22:19.77
you know, and he
mentions somebody's name
00:22:19.80\00:22:21.44
that's living in the city
of Chennai or in Bangalore,
00:22:21.47\00:22:24.87
you know, in Bangalore
or someplace like that.
00:22:24.91\00:22:27.14
And her question
or his question is,
00:22:27.18\00:22:29.34
and then he reads the question
00:22:29.38\00:22:30.71
and then he answers it on screen
00:22:30.75\00:22:32.45
and so people are always like
glued to their television sets
00:22:32.48\00:22:34.98
when this program comes on
00:22:35.02\00:22:36.35
because they hope that
the question they send in
00:22:36.38\00:22:38.75
is going to be the one
read on television that night
00:22:38.79\00:22:40.66
so this program has become
extremely popular in India
00:22:40.69\00:22:43.83
and it is seen on cable,
00:22:43.86\00:22:45.19
so it means
anybody in the cities
00:22:45.23\00:22:47.43
that's hooked up
to a cable in the city
00:22:47.46\00:22:49.60
can watch these programs.
00:22:49.63\00:22:50.97
You are right.
00:22:51.00\00:22:52.33
For your information, I know
that time is going to end soon
00:22:52.37\00:22:56.54
because we were in
the same satellite channel
00:22:56.57\00:23:00.68
and there were lot of
people who wants our slot
00:23:00.71\00:23:05.21
because there
were lot of competition
00:23:05.25\00:23:07.02
for the same program,
00:23:07.05\00:23:09.45
so people were
against our program.
00:23:09.48\00:23:11.55
So they gave
money too much money
00:23:11.59\00:23:14.52
and purchased the time slot.
00:23:14.56\00:23:17.13
And now we got another
slot and started again.
00:23:17.16\00:23:21.03
And is the slot at a good time?
00:23:21.06\00:23:22.43
Yeah, good time.
00:23:22.46\00:23:23.80
Very prime time,
00:23:23.83\00:23:25.17
it's evening 8
to 8:30, Thursday.
00:23:25.20\00:23:27.70
Oh, yes, it's really wonderful.
00:23:27.74\00:23:29.10
That kind of program was
gonna reach a lot of people
00:23:29.14\00:23:30.91
and has been
reaching a lot of people.
00:23:30.94\00:23:34.58
We also have kind of a new thing
00:23:34.61\00:23:36.44
that you and I
were just discussing
00:23:36.48\00:23:38.11
since you're here
on this trip and...
00:23:38.15\00:23:39.65
not only are we interested
in trying to do outreach
00:23:39.68\00:23:42.18
in the area of Chennai
00:23:42.22\00:23:43.55
and with
television section, India,
00:23:43.59\00:23:45.65
you know, coming out of Chennai,
00:23:45.69\00:23:47.26
but we've been talking about
how we could do an outreach
00:23:47.29\00:23:49.52
into some of the more
darker regions of India
00:23:49.56\00:23:52.09
and you were sharing
with me about a region
00:23:52.13\00:23:55.00
that's like an
antonymous region,
00:23:55.03\00:23:57.07
way up by
Kashmir, the Kashmir area.
00:23:57.10\00:24:00.34
Yeah.
00:24:00.37\00:24:01.70
From Kashmir we have to
travel around 300 miles,
00:24:01.74\00:24:06.47
then this region
called Leh Ladakh,
00:24:06.51\00:24:10.08
and this is above the sea level
of 12,800 almost 13,000 feet.
00:24:10.11\00:24:16.85
This is like in the foothills
00:24:16.89\00:24:18.49
of the Himalayan
Mountains there...
00:24:18.52\00:24:19.85
You are right.
00:24:19.89\00:24:21.22
..coming down in the India,
00:24:21.26\00:24:22.59
if anybody is familiar
00:24:22.62\00:24:23.96
with that
particular area of Kashmir,
00:24:23.99\00:24:25.89
you know, that this has
been a heavily disputed area
00:24:25.93\00:24:29.10
and this area you're talking
about is just east of Kashmir
00:24:29.13\00:24:32.80
kind of over closer
to, is it closer to China?
00:24:32.83\00:24:36.87
It's, one side it is
very close, like 150 miles
00:24:36.91\00:24:42.24
then one side 275
miles to Pakistan.
00:24:42.28\00:24:46.72
It is a very border
but there are villages,
00:24:46.75\00:24:50.19
recently the
Northern India Union,
00:24:50.22\00:24:53.05
President of our
Adventist church,
00:24:53.09\00:24:54.76
he took me there
00:24:54.79\00:24:56.22
and he told me Johnson,
00:24:56.26\00:24:59.33
you are, the Laymen
Ministries in television.
00:24:59.36\00:25:02.30
Doing evangelism.
00:25:02.33\00:25:03.67
Evangelism, there, here,
Bible worker in South India.
00:25:03.70\00:25:07.04
You are only focusing...
00:25:07.07\00:25:08.84
since I'm a South Indian,
00:25:08.87\00:25:10.61
he is telling you are
focusing in South India.
00:25:10.64\00:25:13.14
Here you see the border,
00:25:13.17\00:25:15.81
they never heard
the name of Jesus.
00:25:15.84\00:25:18.91
So this is a
really isolated place,
00:25:18.95\00:25:20.65
kind of a tribal area?
00:25:20.68\00:25:22.12
You are right.
00:25:22.15\00:25:23.49
Very isolated and he told
00:25:23.52\00:25:25.25
we are taking a
first missionary journey.
00:25:25.29\00:25:28.39
So what are you thinking about,
with trying to reach this area
00:25:28.42\00:25:31.09
I mean here you
are in South India,
00:25:31.13\00:25:32.56
you're Tamilian
speaking in Tamil language,
00:25:32.59\00:25:34.86
how would you be involved
00:25:34.90\00:25:36.23
with trying to reach some
form remote area like that?
00:25:36.26\00:25:38.90
Because the Northern
India Union President
00:25:38.93\00:25:41.47
and the Laymen
Ministry can work together
00:25:41.50\00:25:44.44
and he said, there are people,
00:25:44.47\00:25:47.28
the Leh people and
some special graduates
00:25:47.31\00:25:50.18
like to go as a missionary
for one year, two year.
00:25:50.21\00:25:54.78
So Laymen
Ministries would sponsor
00:25:54.82\00:25:56.58
one of these
graduates to go to that area
00:25:56.62\00:25:58.59
and to, kind of
start a friendship ministry
00:25:58.62\00:26:01.32
working with people there.
00:26:01.36\00:26:03.09
You think someone like
that would be accepted,
00:26:03.12\00:26:04.59
coming into an area like that,
that's kind of a closed area.
00:26:04.63\00:26:08.73
It's mostly
Buddhists, right, in the area?
00:26:08.76\00:26:10.50
Mostly, it's
very, I mean it's...
00:26:10.53\00:26:13.23
it's not an easy thing,
00:26:13.27\00:26:15.14
it's not an easy
thing like this year
00:26:15.17\00:26:17.97
for your example
in southern India.
00:26:18.01\00:26:20.94
We have entered so far
00:26:20.98\00:26:24.38
since January we have
entered eight new places,
00:26:24.41\00:26:28.02
and our goal this
year to enter 10 places.
00:26:28.05\00:26:31.89
And, but we were
able to enter so far eight
00:26:31.92\00:26:35.79
and we have planted
churches in three places.
00:26:35.82\00:26:38.79
And by end of this year,
00:26:38.83\00:26:40.43
we may start with five
and baptism of around 357,
00:26:40.46\00:26:46.33
and end of the year
it will come 600 to 700.
00:26:46.37\00:26:49.97
And also we have
tutoring villages,
00:26:50.01\00:26:52.21
we have started a new
evangelism called "Tutoring,"
00:26:52.24\00:26:54.94
starting a tuitions,
00:26:54.98\00:26:56.58
tutoring for the village people,
00:26:56.61\00:26:59.18
but in North
India, it will not happen.
00:26:59.21\00:27:03.25
Not much work happening there.
00:27:03.28\00:27:05.42
Maybe the place
which I'm talking,
00:27:05.45\00:27:09.26
it's very hard even
if you work three year,
00:27:09.29\00:27:12.36
we may get one
family or two family.
00:27:12.39\00:27:14.26
But that's a beginning.
00:27:14.30\00:27:15.63
You are right.
That's a beginning.
00:27:15.66\00:27:17.00
Yeah.
00:27:17.03\00:27:18.37
And those people
can become pioneers
00:27:18.40\00:27:19.73
to their own
people group in that area.
00:27:19.77\00:27:21.14
Our time has already ran
out and this is what happened,
00:27:21.17\00:27:24.14
Pastor Johnson's been
here with us for a week
00:27:24.17\00:27:26.31
and our
conversations at my house
00:27:26.34\00:27:28.88
while he's here in the
evenings and during the day
00:27:28.91\00:27:30.81
have been just
like proper sharing here
00:27:30.85\00:27:32.88
during this interview
and times gone by like that,
00:27:32.91\00:27:35.82
but God is
working in amazing ways
00:27:35.85\00:27:37.99
in a lot of things
00:27:38.02\00:27:39.35
that are just
spectacular happening in India
00:27:39.39\00:27:42.66
and a lot of
people are being reached
00:27:42.69\00:27:44.19
and if you'd like to
be part of this ministry
00:27:44.23\00:27:46.13
and like to help some way.
00:27:46.16\00:27:47.50
If want to receive our magazines
00:27:47.53\00:27:50.33
or some of our
television programs on DVD,
00:27:50.37\00:27:52.73
write or call our ministry
00:27:52.77\00:27:54.10
at Laymen
Ministries 414 Zapada Road.
00:27:54.14\00:27:56.94
Saint Maries, Idaho 83861
00:27:56.97\00:27:59.77
or you can get us on
the web at www.lmn.org.
00:27:59.81\00:28:04.21