Today on Maranatha Mission
Stories join Debbie on her 1st
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trip to India and visit Urban
church with a river of life
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flowing across the stage.
And then learn about 20 a week
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from Maranatha
President, Don Noble.
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Coming up on
Maranatha Mission Stories.
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Going on a Mission Trip
is a life changing experience
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for every volunteer
including our Maranatha staff.
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Maranatha's photographer
and television producer,
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Debbie Thompson Keppel
recently spent 3 weeks in India.
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and it changed her life.
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And bouncing along on a
washboard road full of pot holes
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in the middle of nowhere on
my way out to a remote Medical
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Clinic, I see a maze of statue
shack homes, a cripple boy
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who'll never be able to
run, field workers whose dark
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weathered skin resembles
leather. And then the most heart
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wrenching adorable little
children playing in filth.
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I roll my window
down and shoot pictures.
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>From the car, I watch
people and look into their eyes.
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I am depressed, completely
and utterly depressed.
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I know that we came here
to share Jesus; but that's all
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theory, really. On every street
there's a Hindu temple or shrine
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Idols are everywhere. These
idols are real. They're real
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to many of the 1.2
Billion people who live here.
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These statues are like
the thousands of monuments
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that decorate the
cities of western civilization.
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Instead these are symbols of
something that had never lived
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yet hold millions
of people captive.
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The people that I see have
dedicated their lives to nothing
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more than a stone
or a simple painting.
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These people have never
heard the name of Jesus.
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As we drive along, memories
of childhood prayers to bless
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the missionaries and the boys
and girls who don't know about
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Jesus vividly came back to my
mind. These are they very people
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who I had heard about. They
are the ones who've never even
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heard the name of Jesus. To
them that hunk of stone is real.
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And the news that a God loves
them is completely foreign.
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it's unimaginable. Waves
of emotion rushed over me.
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And I began to cry. I suddenly
grasped for the first time
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the significance of
what we had come here to do.
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I felt completely and utterly
hopeless as I realized that
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every single person that I was
seeing had no hope for a better
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future. All that they have
to look forward to is death.
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Just when I thought I
couldn't take it any longer,
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I saw something that catapulted
my despair to sheer joy.
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Proudly standing in a lush grove
of green palms was a little
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building, this simple building
was the exact remedy for a
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terminal prognosis. It was
a Maranatha church building.
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I have never felt so
proud to be associated with this
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organization in my past 7
years of working at Maranatha
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Volunteers International.
That little church
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is just brick and
mortar but what it stands for
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has made all the difference to
the entire village and beyond.
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Providing churches, not only in
India, isn't about building the
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biggest, most elaborate
place of worship, but something
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far, far greater that will
never be measured on this earth.
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Seeing the results of what
one of those little churches
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has made to the out of the
way village makes a long bumpy
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journey seem insignificant.
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In that village I saw hope.
I saw it in the eyes of the
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children. I read it in their
smiles. I heard it in their
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peals of laughter.
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In India I experienced a
roller coaster of emotions.
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That's because India is the
place where you use the words,
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despair and hope all in the same
sentence. Ultimately in the end
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It will change your life.
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I fell in love with people
who have nothing to offer,
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but their smile. We couldn't
speak the same language,
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but the twinkle in their eyes
and the enormous spread from
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ear to ear gives
me any translation.
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I thought that after one
trip my Indian obsession was
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solid enough to move on with
my life. What I didn't realize,
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was that my heart wouldn't
come back with me when I left.
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It's still in India
just waiting for me return.
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Debbie, Kyle, Heather, Susan,
David, Don, Laura, Deborah,
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Brenda, and you.
Maranatha is all about people
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dedicated, energetic
people who work with God to make
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miracles happen every day.
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This June join a mission
experience that will take you
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on a truly
ultimate journey to India.
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Travel through the
tribal hills of Receipt
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to the Immanuel
Missionary school in the small
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town of Jabil working
along side the students
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you will have the opportunity
to participate in community
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outreach while giving the local
hospital a much needed face
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lift. This short term mission
trip for teens will allow you to
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flex you spiritual muscles and
exercise you leadership skills
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If you are a teenager and want
an incredible mission experience
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choose India, the
ultimate workout way.
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Every day with Maranatha is
an adventure. Like the day I was
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in Mozambique, stuffed beside
two giant guys in the back seat
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of a tiny pickup when our driver
said, Would you like to visit
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our church? And we said, Yes,
looking forward to a few minutes
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outside to stretch. What we
found was far more than a few
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moments of rest.
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We're about 15 minutes from
the airport at Maputo Mozambique
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and as you can tell, for
the last few minutes, I've been
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taking pictures of children
men and women and fruit and
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mango preserves. And Kyle, he
has been taking pictures of me
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taking pictures of children.
Kyle this is a Seventh Day
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Adventist church. You
know it's-our driver was
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driving along and said,
You want to see my church?
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We said, Yes, we want to go see
your church and so he brought
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us here to this really big
church. Which is one of thirteen
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church buildings. One
of 13 in the entire country
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of Mozambique. And how
many members do you have here?
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If I remember
right, 250,000? 213,000.
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Oh my, and 13 churches?
Only thirteen churches.
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And we're going to build
how many new churches here?
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Dick, we're going to
build a thousand new churches
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in Mozambique. - Maranatha,
they're going to take churches
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like this one that will not be
one of the thirteen but one of
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a thousand and
thirteen. Absolutely.
00:11:06.21\00:11:08.30
You know one of the interesting
things about this church is that
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it took them 30 years to
build this church. - Wow!
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When you look at 2300
congregations across the country
00:11:13.44\00:11:16.20
of Mozambique, it's just
not possible for them to build
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churches like this. And so
Maranatha is going to be able to
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make a huge difference by
building a thousand new churches
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And an illustration of why
that's so important is that
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it did take them 30 years to
build this but how long did it
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take before they were able to
put the roof above the church?
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It took them 20 years before
they were able to put a tin roof
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on this church. I
want to take you inside
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for just a few minutes
and before I go anywhere,
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I'm going to take a picture
of what's happening with Dave
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right now, but I want to take
you inside so you can see the
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diorama on the front
screen. Hang on just a second.
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That's cool!
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So what do you
think about the diorama
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on the front of the
church? Isn't that awesome?
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This is the place where in a
dusty world there is a diorama
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that promises a
scene and a river of life.
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For children like this, Sabbath
School's great outside, imagine
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what it is inside, dreaming and
talking about the river of life.
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David and I have been taking
pictures of each other, taking
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pictures of children for
20 years all around the world.
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Mozambique was no different.
And one of the things we've
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learned is that
wherever you see church members,
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count the members, add 4 for
every member because that's the
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number of kids that are by
average, part of those families.
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There are more than 200,000
Seventh Day Adventist members
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in Mozambique and this was
just one of 13 church buildings.
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You do the math. Imagine how
we can build the next thousand.
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The Mozambique
adventure has just begun.
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You're going to want to lean
forward so you can hear every
00:16:41.43\00:16:45.66
word that Maranatha Volunteers
International president,
00:16:45.69\00:16:48.17
Don Noble says today.
Don, welcome to the set
00:16:48.20\00:16:51.53
of the Maranatha Mission
stories. - Thank you Dick,
00:16:51.56\00:16:53.89
I'm really pleased
what's happening here.
00:16:53.92\00:16:55.10
Isn't it an adventure
especially now that we're weekly
00:16:55.13\00:16:58.10
instead of every
month or every quarter?
00:16:58.13\00:17:00.12
It's got me really excited
and a little bit scared, because
00:17:00.15\00:17:02.74
it's a big undertaking every
week a new program, but there's
00:17:02.77\00:17:06.76
plenty of information and
exciting stories I know people
00:17:06.79\00:17:09.19
are going to want to watch.
00:17:09.22\00:17:10.19
Well, and one of those stories
and information that you need
00:17:10.20\00:17:13.38
to share with all of us, about
4 years ago we started a program
00:17:13.41\00:17:17.04
called a thousand
churches in a thousand days.
00:17:17.07\00:17:19.25
How are we doing?
00:17:19.28\00:17:20.25
Well, we're doing really
well It was exciting to start
00:17:20.26\00:17:22.73
that program to know that every
day you get up there's a new
00:17:22.76\00:17:26.55
church somewhere in the world
to the glory and honor of the
00:17:26.58\00:17:30.14
Creator God. And we've moved
along real well, we're in the
00:17:30.15\00:17:33.75
final year of that program and
we have just come past day 800,
00:17:33.78\00:17:38.74
and so we're on
the final stretch.
00:17:38.77\00:17:41.32
Ah, you want to know
that don't you? - I do.
00:17:41.35\00:17:42.98
because if we're doing
a thousand churches in a
00:17:43.01\00:17:44.58
thousand days and we're past
800, we ought to be at least
00:17:44.61\00:17:46.81
at 750. - Well, we're
about to 860 right now. - Yes!
00:17:46.82\00:17:51.42
So we're a little bit ahead.
Okay, now what happens when we
00:17:51.45\00:17:56.89
finish the thousand churches
in a thousand days, the days are
00:17:56.92\00:17:59.87
over? Does Maranatha
just go to sleep then?
00:17:59.90\00:18:03.15
Well, you know, our philosophy
is that you should always do
00:18:03.18\00:18:06.55
more. There's plenty of exciting
things to do when God calls us
00:18:06.58\00:18:11.13
to accomplish more all the
time. So we went to the board of
00:18:11.16\00:18:14.64
directors recently and
said, What do you want us to do?
00:18:14.67\00:18:17.68
What direction is God leading
this organization to accomplish
00:18:17.71\00:18:22.38
for God? - Don, I was there
and I sat and watched and played
00:18:22.41\00:18:27.91
with my camera and just listened
a lot. The first thing I heard
00:18:27.94\00:18:31.82
you share was the kinds of needs
that have been presented to
00:18:31.85\00:18:36.92
Maranatha - the
requests, Please do this for us.
00:18:36.95\00:18:40.03
Yes, It's actually surprising
that we currently have more
00:18:40.06\00:18:44.69
requests for churches and
schools in our office than there
00:18:44.72\00:18:48.43
are within the Seventh
Day Adventist system around
00:18:48.46\00:18:51.49
the world. We have
70,000 requests for projects.
00:18:51.50\00:18:55.21
How many? - Seventy
thousand. And that's churches?
00:18:55.24\00:18:59.11
That's like 50,000 churches.
00:18:59.14\00:19:00.57
And what was it? 12,000
schools. It's just overwhelming!
00:19:00.60\00:19:03.80
It really is and that's
really without advertising.
00:19:03.83\00:19:06.46
We never ask for these
requests, they just come in.
00:19:06.49\00:19:09.13
And I know that there's
more than that out there.
00:19:09.16\00:19:11.73
And the difference that these
projects makes are phenomenal.
00:19:11.76\00:19:14.36
So if you do one a day, well,
that's hard to do, especially-
00:19:14.37\00:19:19.14
70,000 will take a long time.
Right, and you know the plan is
00:19:19.17\00:19:24.27
to get off the planet. And
these churches really make a
00:19:24.30\00:19:28.64
difference in bringing people
to Christ and keeping them
00:19:28.67\00:19:31.54
committed on a long term basis.
00:19:31.57\00:19:33.96
So you presented the need
to the board, the requests.
00:19:33.97\00:19:37.00
Tell us what happened, then.
00:19:37.03\00:19:39.54
Well, let me back up a little
bit and share the fact that
00:19:39.57\00:19:42.47
the spiritual emphasis that
you did at the board, we had a
00:19:42.50\00:19:46.18
little retreat. We wanted to say
Okay, what do you want us to do?
00:19:46.21\00:19:50.48
Let's take a look in scripture.
Let's listen. So often what we
00:19:50.51\00:19:54.20
do is say, Okay we're going
to do this now at the end of the
00:19:54.23\00:19:58.91
end of the day we've decided
what we're going to do, we
00:19:58.94\00:20:01.58
take our votes and say, Okay
God bless what we just decided.
00:20:01.61\00:20:04.62
We didn't want to do it
that way. We wanted to say,
00:20:04.65\00:20:08.38
Lord, through this process,
please guide us and make sure
00:20:08.41\00:20:12.62
that we don't do something
that you don't want us to do.
00:20:12.65\00:20:15.72
That we don't go too far, that
you can't bless, or we don't go
00:20:15.75\00:20:18.76
far enough. And you brought the
whole biblical example of Gideon
00:20:18.79\00:20:24.16
to the board and that's a
great story, but often times
00:20:24.19\00:20:27.96
we think of it as just a
story. And it's a good one.
00:20:27.97\00:20:30.68
Kids love it. It's good for
illustration, but how do you
00:20:30.71\00:20:34.31
bring it into your life?
How does faith become real?
00:20:34.34\00:20:37.33
I think and I believe that
God wants all of us to have a
00:20:37.36\00:20:41.72
personal experience in
what it means to grow in faith.
00:20:41.75\00:20:46.67
And to learn
that we can trust Him.
00:20:46.70\00:20:48.39
It was really fun to watch the
board members respond to that
00:20:48.42\00:20:51.29
story and dig into it, and
discover things they'd never
00:20:51.32\00:20:53.97
thought of before, didn't
realize that this is all about
00:20:54.00\00:20:56.62
faith. - And guess what?
It applies to as we sit around
00:20:56.65\00:21:01.77
this table trying to decide what
God wants us to do with this
00:21:01.80\00:21:05.35
one tool that he has,
He's got a lot of tools,
00:21:05.38\00:21:08.36
lot of organizations, a
lot of ways to get things done,
00:21:08.39\00:21:11.66
but here's one and this group
is saying, Lord, what do you
00:21:11.69\00:21:14.67
want us to do? And so
the story applies to them.
00:21:14.70\00:21:17.68
And what happened then?
00:21:17.71\00:21:18.86
Well, he says, What should we
do? They said, Well let's put up
00:21:18.89\00:21:22.25
on the board, lets start writing
down what some of the areas
00:21:22.28\00:21:27.51
of requests are. Let's
think about what approximately
00:21:27.54\00:21:30.63
the costs will be and then after
we get that all put together
00:21:30.66\00:21:34.11
let's make a decision.
And that's how it started.
00:21:34.14\00:21:37.35
We took a look at some of the
countries that were in the three
00:21:37.38\00:21:40.65
main focus areas
that we're in right now.
00:21:40.68\00:21:42.68
India. Latin America, Central
America, South America, Africa.
00:21:42.71\00:21:48.37
Big, major areas of specific
direction that we have in the
00:21:48.40\00:21:54.06
organization. So we took big
groupings of projects in each
00:21:54.09\00:21:58.21
one of those areas and I
mean, I waited for them to take
00:21:58.24\00:22:03.36
a vote. I didn't know.
This thing wasn't orchestrated
00:22:03.37\00:22:06.41
We didn't bring a plan to the
board and say, This is what we
00:22:06.44\00:22:09.15
think we should do. We
wanted God to guide the process.
00:22:09.18\00:22:12.32
And what happened at the end
is one gentleman on the board,
00:22:12.35\00:22:16.55
after listening to all the
discussion says, I have a motion
00:22:16.58\00:22:20.66
He says, I think that starting
in the year 2008 in that one
00:22:20.69\00:22:28.61
year of 2008 we
should build 1,000 projects
00:22:28.64\00:22:33.06
for the glory of
God in that one year.
00:22:33.09\00:22:36.34
That's 3 a day.
00:22:36.37\00:22:39.18
Yeah, believe me. I've not
calculated what was said at
00:22:39.21\00:22:42.71
that board meeting. I know that
you have to perform. You have to
00:22:42.74\00:22:45.69
do it. And I know God is
going to bless that. But it's
00:22:45.70\00:22:48.83
We don't work on Sabbath.
24 hours off, but every day,
00:22:48.86\00:22:54.66
every Sunday, every business day
every day is every 71/2 hours
00:22:54.69\00:22:59.23
a project and some of
those projects are very large.
00:22:59.26\00:23:01.30
For example, at least one of the
projects which will count as one
00:23:01.33\00:23:05.47
in India is a complete
campus for 800 to 1,000 student
00:23:05.50\00:23:10.03
boarding campus
00:23:10.14\00:23:11.14
that has many, many buildings
very large, maybe a couple of
00:23:11.17\00:23:14.39
those that counts as one. But
there'll be churches and schools
00:23:14.42\00:23:18.66
So Don, I heard you say in the
office just yesterday, that that
00:23:18.70\00:23:22.53
means we're going to
do 20 projects every week.
00:23:22.56\00:23:25.19
Approximately 20
projects a week. That's correct
00:23:25.22\00:23:27.79
How you feel? You
know I'm really excited
00:23:27.82\00:23:31.15
what God's going to do. It's
going to be fun to look back
00:23:31.18\00:23:33.20
and see how He did it through
us and through a lot of people.
00:23:33.23\00:23:36.27
We're going to need
collaboration with a lot of
00:23:36.30\00:23:38.53
different groups,
lot of different people,
00:23:38.56\00:23:40.50
a lot of volunteers, a lot
of donors. This is expensive.
00:23:40.53\00:23:43.41
And I believe God is going
to show us that He was there
00:23:43.44\00:23:47.78
at that meeting. He led that
vote and it's going to be to His
00:23:47.81\00:23:51.53
honor and glory when it's
all done because if He wasn't
00:23:51.56\00:23:54.42
leading, it
isn't going to happen.
00:23:54.45\00:23:55.63
We need you. We need you as a
volunteer to come on the project
00:23:55.66\00:24:02.11
we need you as a donor.
We need you as a sponsor.
00:24:02.14\00:24:05.09
We need you to pray that we
will all as Maranatha Volunteers
00:24:05.12\00:24:09.72
International do exactly what
God needs us to do this year.
00:24:09.75\00:24:14.34
We'll be right back.
00:24:14.37\00:24:15.74
Often the best things happen
when I'm off doing something
00:24:22.53\00:24:26.54
else, like the day in Maputo
Mozambique, David Brohart and I
00:24:26.57\00:24:30.12
decided to take the ferry across
to the little fishing village
00:24:30.15\00:24:33.25
on an island in the bay. Our
plan was to get a photo of the
00:24:33.28\00:24:36.70
cities so you could
see how beautiful Maputo is
00:24:36.73\00:24:39.50
in the morning. Well the
ferry landing was packed.
00:24:39.53\00:24:42.61
Most of the people carrying
giant parcels from the market.
00:24:42.64\00:24:45.58
David even helped a laywoman
carry her burden up the ferry's
00:24:45.61\00:24:48.69
steps, and that
made quite a scene.
00:24:48.72\00:24:51.68
The ferry itself, well it seemed
held together by memories of
00:24:51.71\00:24:55.17
previous trips. It's
paint chipped and rusty, it's
00:24:55.20\00:24:58.41
engine whining in protest. There
was even a moment when I wished
00:24:58.44\00:25:01.95
we were on the passing bow
rather than our rusty smoke
00:25:01.98\00:25:05.33
bucket. But once on the other
side, David set up his tripod
00:25:05.36\00:25:09.56
and video camera while
I wandered down the beach.
00:25:09.59\00:25:11.89
where skeletons of ancient ships
littered the sand like fossils
00:25:11.92\00:25:16.21
partly uncovered by a passing
storm. Far down the beach
00:25:16.24\00:25:20.66
one boat lay stranded among the
high weeds. After taking a few
00:25:20.69\00:25:24.14
photos of the broken boards
I went around the far side and
00:25:24.17\00:25:28.47
found a second ship. This one
slowly shedding multiple coats
00:25:28.51\00:25:32.81
of fluorescent paint, orange,
yellow and blue, a fisherman
00:25:32.84\00:25:36.85
had painted her. Each color
reamed the boat like a flag of
00:25:36.88\00:25:41.12
freedom. He posed for me, alone
against the sky. Tightly beside
00:25:41.15\00:25:46.13
his older cousin and then close
to my lens, celebrating joys
00:25:46.16\00:25:50.15
that is known only to fishermen.
And then skittering into the
00:25:50.18\00:25:54.47
shade of the old boat, came an
inquisitive lad carrying a small
00:25:54.50\00:25:57.34
net and then two of
his companions, fishermen
00:25:57.37\00:26:00.04
in the making. They watched me
for a few minutes and then began
00:26:00.07\00:26:03.10
to play in the shadow
of the beautiful derelict.
00:26:03.13\00:26:05.61
The colors of their shirts
revealed that they knew the
00:26:05.64\00:26:09.48
fisherman and with a little
urging they led us on to the
00:26:09.51\00:26:12.40
sandy flat where father, uncle
and grandpa were mending nets.
00:26:12.43\00:26:15.47
It was like following Peter,
James and John to Zebedee's
00:26:15.48\00:26:19.74
fishing service and net
mending school. We watched
00:26:19.77\00:26:23.59
photographed and laughed
together in a mixture of English
00:26:23.62\00:26:26.99
Spanish, Portuguese and
sign language, but all the time
00:26:27.02\00:26:30.39
I half expected an itinerant
Hebrew Messiah to stop by
00:26:30.42\00:26:35.12
and ask if we'd like to join
Him on a fishing expedition.
00:26:35.15\00:26:39.74
When I first wrote the
ending to this program, it said,
00:26:39.77\00:26:45.16
Maranatha is all about you, our
volunteers. But that's not right
00:26:45.19\00:26:50.06
It should say Maranatha is all
about God in his call to service
00:26:50.07\00:26:55.91
After watching today's show
I know you have a much better
00:26:55.94\00:26:59.59
understanding off all of the
challenges we face around the
00:26:59.62\00:27:02.38
world, each of which is an
opportunity for God to show
00:27:02.41\00:27:06.41
his power through
us, his volunteers.
00:27:06.44\00:27:09.97
Take a minute, visit our website
Maranatha org or call our office
00:27:10.00\00:27:15.91
and volunteer. Come on a trip
to India. Sponsor a building in
00:27:15.94\00:27:22.21
Mozambique. Or send your
teenager on an ultimate workout
00:27:22.22\00:27:25.89
They need to go. Or take another
minute or two, go to the website
00:27:25.92\00:27:30.97
and order a DVD of today's
program and then share it
00:27:31.00\00:27:34.18
with all of your neighbors,
church members and friends.
00:27:34.21\00:27:36.30
Remember, our
website is Maranatha. org
00:27:36.31\00:27:41.96
and the phone number to
call us is: 916-920-1900
00:27:41.99\00:27:48.21
Thanks for joining us
this week. I'm your host,
00:27:48.24\00:27:51.77
Dick Duerksen and I'm
looking forward to seeing you
00:27:51.80\00:27:54.22
on a mission trip and next week
on Maranatha Mission Stories.
00:27:54.25\00:27:59.81