Our first
program just for children
00:00:10.51\00:00:12.71
and for the young at heart,
00:00:12.74\00:00:14.08
including animated
stories coming up next.
00:00:14.11\00:00:16.71
Hello and welcome
to today's program
00:00:41.60\00:00:43.41
coming to you
from a very cold day
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in New York City.
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In this city, there are hundreds
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and thousands of children.
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In fact, there are
some 2 million people
00:00:51.18\00:00:53.92
who are under age
18 in New York City.
00:00:53.95\00:00:57.39
You know, children
had a special place
00:00:57.42\00:00:59.39
in the heart of Jesus.
00:00:59.42\00:01:01.06
He said, "Don't stop
them from coming to Me
00:01:01.09\00:01:02.92
because of such are
the kingdom of heaven."
00:01:02.96\00:01:05.83
And today's program is
going to be focused on kids,
00:01:05.86\00:01:08.93
on children who are
special to the heart of God.
00:01:08.96\00:01:11.90
First up, we're going to
look at a special animation
00:01:11.93\00:01:15.20
of a kid's story from Fiji.
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Fiji lies in the center
of the South Pacific Islands,
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the capital city Suva is home
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to several
international institutions,
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including a
university, a medical school,
00:01:27.55\00:01:30.22
and a technical school.
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These schools attract
the brightest students
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from throughout
the South Pacific.
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About 500 Adventist students
are enrolled at these schools.
00:01:37.19\00:01:41.36
But until recently, there
was no Adventist Church nearby.
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No place where
these young people
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could come to worship
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and bring their
friends to fellowship or study
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in a welcoming atmosphere.
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For a while the group
rented a hall at the university.
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But the university
needed all of its larger halls
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on Sabbath morning,
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leaving the Adventist students
with no place to worship.
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Thanks to the 2006,
13th Sabbath offering,
00:02:05.19\00:02:08.22
funds for a new
church were available,
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but church leaders
weren't able to find
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anything suitable and affordable
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near the university.
00:02:14.70\00:02:18.07
One evening,
mission youth chaplain
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Pastor Joe and
other mission leaders
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met with Adventist
student representatives
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on the university
campus to choose a property.
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Although none
of them were ideal,
00:02:28.14\00:02:29.81
the group voted to
purchase a steep block of land
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about two
kilometers from the university.
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It was after 10 pm
when everyone left,
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as a group of students
walked along the street,
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a car stopped in front of them.
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A man jumped out,
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ran up to a fence
surrounding a large house
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sitting on a prime piece
of property quickly posted
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a "For Sale" sign and left.
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We should tell our
chaplain about this.
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The next morning
Pastor Joe's phone rang.
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He listened as an eager
student described the property
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and its prime location.
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Thanking the students,
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Pastor Joe phoned
the number on the sign.
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Right after the call,
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Pastor Joe went
to see the property.
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It was perfect.
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Located just two
blocks from the university
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and directly across the
street from the largest cinema
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and shopping mall in Fiji.
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The pastor couldn't
imagine a more visible
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and accessible location.
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He immediately called
the real estate company
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and told them he
wanted to buy the property.
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Pastor Joe met the
man who hung up the sign
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and introduced himself
as an Adventist chaplain.
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He told the man
about his group's need
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for a permanent
place to worship.
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As the pastor spoke,
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he noticed tears
beginning to stream down
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the man's face.
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"You know, as you were talking,
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I remembered
the things I learned
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at the Suva
Adventist primary school.
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I remember the Bible
stories and the singing.
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I'm going to call the
owner of our company now."
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Before long,
another man walked in,
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looked at Pastor Joe and
exclaimed, "Oh, it's you.
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I know you.
00:04:04.24\00:04:05.77
Some years ago,
an Adventist girl
00:04:05.81\00:04:07.71
I worked with
invited me to come to church
00:04:07.74\00:04:09.98
during a visitor Sabbath.
00:04:10.01\00:04:11.68
I came and you were the
one speaking from the front.
00:04:11.71\00:04:14.95
After some negotiating,
00:04:14.98\00:04:16.32
Pastor Joe got
the ideal property
00:04:16.35\00:04:18.32
just two blocks
from the university.
00:04:18.35\00:04:20.79
The only problem now was that
there was no church building
00:04:20.82\00:04:23.02
on the property,
just an old house.
00:04:23.06\00:04:26.13
The group decided to
build a new church building
00:04:26.16\00:04:28.73
and replace the house.
00:04:28.76\00:04:30.30
It took eight months for
the permits and permissions
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to start building.
00:04:32.43\00:04:33.77
But the group
finally got the approval.
00:04:33.80\00:04:35.94
They chose an architectural plan
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featuring walls made of windows
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on either side
of the new church.
00:04:39.54\00:04:41.98
They used a lot of
glass in the construction
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so that people
coming out of the mall
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and cinema would
see them worshipping.
00:04:45.85\00:04:49.08
Today, more than 300
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university
students worship here.
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The church is within easy
walking distance from campus
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and has become a gathering place
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for faith building
and outreach activities
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during the week, as
well as on Sabbaths.
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This transparent
church truly shines
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as a bright
light for all to see.
00:05:05.67\00:05:08.24
Every weekend,
people from all over
00:05:08.27\00:05:10.31
the island come to sell
food at Fiji's biggest market.
00:05:10.34\00:05:13.94
Since they are travelling,
00:05:13.98\00:05:15.38
they often have to
sleep in the street
00:05:15.41\00:05:17.31
with little food and water.
00:05:17.35\00:05:19.11
They wait for the
market to open so they can earn
00:05:19.15\00:05:21.25
enough money to take back home.
00:05:21.28\00:05:23.59
The youth group brings food
to those who make the long trek
00:05:23.62\00:05:26.76
into the city each weekend,
people see them as a blessing.
00:05:26.79\00:05:30.16
And really
appreciate all they do.
00:05:30.19\00:05:32.76
The students have
made friends with many
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of the travelling vendors.
00:05:34.90\00:05:37.17
The youth are proud to
serve the needs of others.
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And to shine a bright
light on the island of Fiji.
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Please pray for this
group as they continue to be
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an influence on the
community around them.
00:05:45.87\00:05:48.14
Thank you for
supporting the 2006,
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13th Sabbath offering.
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We're in the
Queen's Spanish church
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in Queens, New York.
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And my guest is Aurora.
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Aurora, thank you
so much for joining us.
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And this is your home church
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and you are the
Community Services
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Director.
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Give me some sort of
idea of the sort of activities
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that you're involved
in with the community?
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Thank you for having me.
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I'm very involved
with a compassion ministry
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as well I'm the
Community Service
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Director of this church.
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We do compassion
projects in this city,
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not only in Queens,
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and we serve the
homeless in this community.
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Wonderful.
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Now do you involve children
or is it just for adults?
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With the compassion
ministry we involve children,
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youth and adults.
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Okay.
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So what do the children do?
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The children are highly involved
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in the planning, we ask
them what they would like to do
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and we assign them an
area for them to work.
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So you actually
ask the children,
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what do you want to do?
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You don't tell them what to do?
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No, I ask them what to do.
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Because this way,
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they are more enthusiastic
with what they like to do.
00:07:06.92\00:07:08.79
Yeah.
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So tell me some of the
things that they've been doing.
00:07:10.19\00:07:12.79
In the month of September,
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on September 19 we have
a health fair in Corona.
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We have the use of the
plaza, a huge place like a park.
00:07:17.60\00:07:21.20
And the children were involved
of distributing the book,
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Be Healthy.
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And they were distributing,
giving out apples, water,
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brand new clothing,
taking out the blood pressure,
00:07:32.81\00:07:36.08
giving out the books
and every time a person came
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to their stations.
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For example, when
they were giving out water,
00:07:40.76\00:07:42.72
they told the
people you must drink
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eight glasses of water.
00:07:46.16\00:07:47.50
And in so and so
chapter in the book talks about
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the benefits of water,
you must read the book.
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And then in the
following station
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they gave out
apples and they talked
00:07:53.27\00:07:55.44
the benefits of
eating fruits like fiber,
00:07:55.47\00:07:58.11
and they bring
people to read the book.
00:07:58.14\00:08:01.24
They actually encouraged them,
not only gave out the fruit,
00:08:01.28\00:08:04.81
they also encourage
them to read the book.
00:08:04.85\00:08:07.12
Wonderful.
00:08:07.15\00:08:08.48
So the children in
this church don't sit around
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just playing video games
all day, they're involved.
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Yes, they are highly involved.
00:08:14.09\00:08:15.96
They enjoy
cleaning out our local park
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and normally giving out tracts,
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they're interacting
with people and helping them
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to make healthy habits.
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Wonderful.
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Now you're talking
about compassion ministries.
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What do you call your ministry
as compassion ministries?
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Compassion ministry is different
00:08:34.44\00:08:36.85
that community service.
00:08:36.88\00:08:39.68
In compassion ministry,
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we minister the people
needs in their environment.
00:08:41.08\00:08:46.45
It's a actual
interaction with individuals.
00:08:46.49\00:08:49.62
It's different
than cleaning a park.
00:08:49.66\00:08:51.16
We interact with the individual
in the need we see they have,
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the needs that we don't see,
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we leave it to our God
to minister and guide us
00:08:56.73\00:08:59.27
to minister those needs.
00:08:59.30\00:09:01.04
For example,
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there is a highly
00:09:02.44\00:09:03.77
unemployment rate during winter.
00:09:03.81\00:09:06.68
So we call and serve the
day laborers and homeless
00:09:06.71\00:09:11.05
and compassion ministry brings
a lot of young Adventists.
00:09:11.08\00:09:16.05
Many of them
don't attend church,
00:09:16.08\00:09:18.29
but they are
involved with helping others.
00:09:18.32\00:09:22.22
And also we have
the largest volunteer
00:09:22.26\00:09:26.13
with the New York City Marathon.
00:09:26.16\00:09:28.26
That is compassion,
helping people in their needs.
00:09:28.30\00:09:31.33
The New York City Marathon?
00:09:31.37\00:09:32.77
Yes.
00:09:32.80\00:09:34.14
Okay.
00:09:34.17\00:09:35.50
One of the six
major world marathons,
00:09:35.54\00:09:36.87
and we help there,
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we are the
Adventist Youth Group.
00:09:38.27\00:09:40.28
Oh, you hand out
water, what do you do?
00:09:40.31\00:09:43.11
Oh, we are medical volunteers.
00:09:43.14\00:09:44.98
Medical volunteers.
00:09:45.01\00:09:46.35
Yes.
00:09:46.38\00:09:47.72
We have several young
00:09:47.75\00:09:49.08
Seventh-day
Adventist medical trained,
00:09:49.12\00:09:51.95
so they are medical volunteers.
00:09:51.99\00:09:56.12
As you said, we
translate and interpret.
00:09:56.16\00:09:59.89
Many runners come
from different countries
00:09:59.93\00:10:03.37
to run the race,
00:10:03.40\00:10:04.73
so we help them to
interpret in their language.
00:10:04.77\00:10:08.10
Wonderful.
00:10:08.14\00:10:09.47
Did you run the
marathon yourself?
00:10:09.50\00:10:11.47
I have run half
marathons and 20 miles,
00:10:11.51\00:10:14.78
not a full marathon yet.
00:10:14.81\00:10:16.71
But my goal is drawn
00:10:16.75\00:10:18.08
that we're
Seventh-day Adventists Marathon,
00:10:18.11\00:10:20.25
the Seven Bridges.
00:10:20.28\00:10:21.62
Oh.
00:10:21.65\00:10:22.98
We have it in the United States.
00:10:23.02\00:10:24.35
Oh, very good.
00:10:24.39\00:10:25.72
Now how do you discover
what the community needs?
00:10:25.75\00:10:28.92
You know, you're
involved in various ministries,
00:10:28.96\00:10:31.93
but how do you find out
00:10:31.96\00:10:33.29
what the needs
are in the community?
00:10:33.33\00:10:36.36
We go to our local authorities,
00:10:36.40\00:10:39.37
and they know
their constituents.
00:10:39.40\00:10:41.77
And they tell us the
needs of their community.
00:10:41.80\00:10:44.94
For example, the
community where my church
00:10:44.97\00:10:47.48
is located this church,
00:10:47.51\00:10:49.48
it's a highly populated
community with families,
00:10:49.51\00:10:53.88
but the school is just
right behind this church,
00:10:53.92\00:10:56.08
so there's a lot of families
00:10:56.12\00:10:57.45
with children in this community.
00:10:57.49\00:10:59.75
And also, the local authorities
told us that this community
00:10:59.79\00:11:05.33
has the high asthma rates.
00:11:05.36\00:11:07.86
So we have to teach
them how to be healthier.
00:11:07.90\00:11:12.00
Wonderful.
00:11:12.03\00:11:13.37
So that they can run
the marathon too, right?
00:11:13.40\00:11:16.37
Yes, eventually.
00:11:16.40\00:11:18.04
So tell me, Aurora,
00:11:18.07\00:11:19.57
what does it mean to
you to be involved in the...
00:11:19.61\00:11:21.78
You're not happy to just
be sitting here in the pews,
00:11:21.81\00:11:24.51
what does it mean to you
to be involved personally?
00:11:24.55\00:11:27.58
To me personally, is
to preach with our hands,
00:11:27.62\00:11:30.69
what we do speaks
louder than what we say.
00:11:30.72\00:11:35.09
So to make the preaching
of the gospel practical
00:11:35.12\00:11:39.59
and involve others.
00:11:39.63\00:11:41.96
It sounds a little bit
to me like Christ's method
00:11:42.00\00:11:44.33
of ministry.
00:11:44.37\00:11:45.70
It is.
00:11:45.73\00:11:47.07
Yeah.
00:11:47.10\00:11:48.44
Actually, that's what it is.
00:11:48.47\00:11:49.80
As Ellen G. White
says, that's the best method.
00:11:49.84\00:11:52.21
The only method.
00:11:52.24\00:11:53.58
The only method, yes.
00:11:53.61\00:11:54.94
That's right.
00:11:54.98\00:11:56.31
So for any children who
might be watching this program,
00:11:56.34\00:11:58.51
what would you
encourage them to do?
00:11:58.55\00:12:01.05
I encourage them to
start doing compassion
00:12:01.08\00:12:04.12
with their peers at school.
00:12:04.15\00:12:06.86
Okay, that's a
good starting point.
00:12:06.89\00:12:08.49
Yes.
00:12:08.52\00:12:09.86
With the elderly
in their building,
00:12:09.89\00:12:11.23
in their community.
00:12:11.26\00:12:13.23
Yeah, because
elderly people love
00:12:13.26\00:12:15.03
to have kids around, right?
00:12:15.06\00:12:16.40
Yes, yes.
00:12:16.43\00:12:17.77
Everybody accepts a hug.
00:12:17.80\00:12:20.27
A good talk, Bible promises,
no one rejects children.
00:12:20.30\00:12:26.24
So children are our
best assets in compassion.
00:12:26.27\00:12:30.21
I like that, our
best assets in compassion.
00:12:30.25\00:12:33.15
Aurora, thank you so
much for sharing with us.
00:12:33.18\00:12:36.15
And thank you for sharing
what we do in Corona, Queens.
00:12:36.18\00:12:39.49
Oh, it's a pleasure.
00:12:39.52\00:12:40.86
Compassion and
community services.
00:12:40.89\00:12:42.22
Wonderful.
00:12:42.26\00:12:43.59
And viewers at home,
00:12:43.63\00:12:44.96
please find ways that
not only can you be involved
00:12:44.99\00:12:47.16
in compassionate ministry,
00:12:47.20\00:12:48.83
but how to
involve your young people
00:12:48.86\00:12:50.57
and children to
get them involved
00:12:50.60\00:12:52.63
in service as well.
00:12:52.67\00:12:54.20
We'll be right
back after this break.
00:12:54.24\00:12:56.20