Mission 360

The Church On Fire

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

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Series Code: MTS

Program Code: MTS002001A


00:07 The land where Jesus walked 2000 years ago,
00:10 India, Tokyo, and other parts of Asia
00:12 coming up next on Mission 360.
00:39 Hello and welcome to Mission 360,
00:41 coming to you today from Galilee in Israel,
00:44 and I'm standing on a hillside,
00:47 which is traditionally known as the mount of blessing,
00:50 the mount of the beatitudes,
00:52 whether this is the exact location or not, who knows,
00:55 but it's a testimony
00:57 to those wonderful words of Jesus
00:59 that we know as the Sermon on the Mount.
01:02 And on that sermon, He gave eight blessings,
01:05 which so many of us know off by heart
01:08 and blessed are the poor in spirit,
01:10 blessed are the merciful.
01:11 On today's program,
01:12 we'll be looking at mission around the world
01:14 that has been inspired
01:16 because of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
01:19 That's the only reason
01:20 why the Seventh-day Adventist church
01:21 runs a mission program
01:23 to share the good news about Jesus.
01:25 First up, let's travel to Tokyo.
01:33 God placed this burden on me.
01:36 For the last few years, I've been having this burden
01:38 because, you know, less than 1% are Christian in Japan.
01:42 It's a big country, lots of people,
01:46 but for some reason,
01:47 the everlasting gospel is not being communicated.
01:57 Tokyo is the world's largest metropolitan area
02:00 with almost 40 million people.
02:03 The challenge of reaching a city of this size
02:05 might seem impossible,
02:07 but God can use anyone.
02:09 Even someone on the other side of the world to spark change.
02:14 Daniel grew up in California
02:15 as a third-generation Japanese American.
02:18 He always told himself
02:19 he would be open to God's plans for his life.
02:22 After much prayer,
02:23 he knew that God wanted him to move across the globe
02:27 to work in Japan
02:28 and Daniel accepted the call to serve in Tokyo.
02:32 Even though I grew up in America,
02:34 my mom and my dad helped me retain the Japanese language.
02:38 So I was able to communicate and read and write.
02:42 So I believe that
02:43 I felt like God was calling me to go to Japan
02:46 and use the talents for His cause over in Japan.
02:50 He was assigned to work alongside the pastor
02:52 of the Setagaya Adventist Church,
02:54 wherein 2016,
02:56 there were less than 10 people attending each week.
02:59 The church was about ready to shut down
03:01 when Daniel arrived,
03:03 he knew that God had bigger plans
03:05 for this congregation.
03:06 So he began working to make the church a landmark
03:09 in the community.
03:10 Here in Japan, there's a lot of lonely people.
03:13 They just commit to work or school.
03:15 And a lot of them are lonely, so they want fellowship.
03:18 So I think that's what the Japanese people need.
03:22 We just need to mingle with them.
03:24 Mingling is just one of the steps
03:26 in Christ's method,
03:27 Jesus mingled with people to get to know their needs
03:30 and earn their trust.
03:32 Daniel decided to try to reignite
03:34 this church's mission spirit with a fresh approach.
03:37 He invited young people
03:39 and held evangelism training for them in the Church.
03:42 We have young people,
03:44 college-age, high school age, young adults,
03:47 stay in a Church for three weeks.
03:50 We eat meals together.
03:51 We have devotions, worships, Bible studies together,
03:54 and we train how to knock on doors,
03:56 how to communicate with people, how to pray with people.
03:59 And it's been a blessing
04:01 and the students really grow a lot.
04:04 They really have this identity as Seventh-day Adventist
04:08 in the mission spirits.
04:10 This once dwindling church
04:12 transformed overnight into a youth training center.
04:15 As the young members reached out
04:17 to their local community through prayer
04:19 and face-to-face interaction,
04:21 attendance quickly grew fivefold
04:24 and word is spreading throughout the community.
04:27 When we go out to this community,
04:34 sometimes we cannot meet the people around this area
04:40 but sometime God sends the people to our church.
04:46 When the people come to our church,
04:49 I feel that Jesus is working for this church.
04:54 The church is now essentially run
04:56 by young people with a passion
04:58 to reach the people of Tokyo for Jesus.
05:01 And if you ask them why they love this church,
05:03 Oh, this church is so special
05:06 because the young people they have power
05:09 and passion and energy to reach out to people.
05:15 They are so friendly and kind.
05:19 I really enjoy spending time here with everyone.
05:23 It's great to see
05:24 how the young people are getting excited about God
05:27 and the Bible.
05:31 In my experience,
05:33 I have developed a stronger prayer life.
05:37 I have direct communication with God
05:39 as I reach out to people.
05:43 I learned the joy of communicating with God.
05:48 Daniel decided to expand the Setagaya churches programs
05:52 to include youth from all over Tokyo.
05:55 Once a month, we have an event
05:57 where young people from all over the Tokyo area come
06:00 and we stay in sleeping bags at the church,
06:04 50 to 70 young people come stay at the church,
06:08 study the Bible, sing songs, and have fellowship.
06:11 It's been a blessing.
06:13 This group continues to grow.
06:15 Thanks to the efforts
06:16 of reigniting the church's mission spirit.
06:19 Setagaya Church members are exploring new ways
06:22 to break down barriers
06:24 and show the love of God to the people of Tokyo.
06:27 Many people in this city are busy and isolated
06:30 but still long for connection with others.
06:33 When young people get on fire for Jesus,
06:36 I believe the entire Church gets on fire for Jesus.
06:39 And so that's why working with a young people
06:42 is such an honor, such a privilege.
06:44 And I believe when we get the young people on fire,
06:48 the entire country of Japan will be on fire.
06:51 Mission challenges in Japan are real and continue to grow.
06:55 Please pray for the Setagaya Church members
06:58 as they ask for God's help in spreading His love
07:01 throughout the largest city on earth,
07:03 your prayers and support of the mission offerings
07:06 go a long way to encourage mission in Japan
07:09 and around the world.
07:12 My guest is Pastor Wasim,
07:14 who is the director of the life and hope center
07:18 here in Nazareth.
07:19 Thanks so much for joining us. My pleasure.
07:21 And we've just actually had the opening celebrations
07:24 for this center.
07:25 Yes.
07:27 How does it feel to have it up and running?
07:29 Well, it's a great joy and we are so happy
07:34 and we praise the Lord for this opportunity.
07:37 Actually, it's one of its kind among the Arabs,
07:40 and this is the first center
07:42 that serves the Arabs in Israel.
07:44 Wonderful.
07:45 Now can you describe for us,
07:46 we're actually on the roof of the center,
07:48 where are we located?
07:50 We are in downtown Nazareth. Yeah.
07:53 In a city of 80,000 people, 75% of them they are Muslims.
07:58 Can you describe some of the activities
08:00 that you're engaged in?
08:02 In life and hope center, we run different programs.
08:07 Some of it, English teaching programs,
08:09 computer programs,
08:11 we have about 60 kids
08:13 that they are from Muslim background.
08:16 Everyone who would like to sign and be part of the program,
08:19 they have to sign the document.
08:20 The parents actually have to sign the documents
08:22 that our center runs...
08:25 It's a Christian, first of all, Christian center,
08:28 a Seventh-day Adventist, and we teach from the Bible.
08:31 The other program that we run is a health programs
08:35 with my wife, educational health as well.
08:39 We have another program is computer,
08:41 how to use, surf internet
08:42 and how to use computer in the right way.
08:46 And the Lord is blessing us.
08:47 We have a lot of attendance by us.
08:50 Yes.
08:51 Now I understand there's a waiting list of parents
08:53 who want their children to come.
08:55 Yes, that's right.
08:56 You know, we... Our capacity is not...
08:59 We cannot like have more than 60 kids at once.
09:03 That's because of the place, the size of the place.
09:07 Secondly, it's just my wife and myself.
09:11 We are the only one working for this project,
09:13 and I have other work
09:14 I'm pastoring other five churches
09:16 here in Nazareth.
09:17 Right. Okay.
09:18 Well, let's say...
09:20 It's a pleasure to meet you
09:21 because you're the second person I know
09:23 who lived in Nazareth.
09:25 The other one was Jesus.
09:27 That's right.
09:29 So Wasim what are the challenges
09:31 that young people face in this city?
09:34 Do you know...
09:36 The Arab culture for some time was a closed culture
09:40 now because of internet and, you know, the TV,
09:46 and the access to technology,
09:48 they became like open to new cultures
09:50 and they adopted just the bad from the other cultures
09:55 and the good they left it behind.
09:57 And you see the crime start increasing in Nazareth.
10:03 The moral issues, it started like getting like interrupted.
10:07 So we tried to assure,
10:10 we tried to work with the kids
10:13 to come back to their original
10:16 the way how they grow up their fathers,
10:18 how they grow up.
10:19 And we probably, through the Bible,
10:21 through teaching them the message of Jesus,
10:23 how to be peaceful, how to live together
10:26 and how to reach their goals in the future.
10:29 Wonderful.
10:31 Can you tell me how are lives being changed,
10:34 being impacted through this center?
10:36 We faced once a challenge with one of the children.
10:40 Who's very hyper
10:41 and we call it in English, very naughty.
10:43 Yeah?
10:45 And the parents complained and they said,
10:47 "We will send him, but we are so worried
10:49 he will be disturbing the class."
10:52 But through the way, how we dealt with him,
10:55 through prayers.
10:56 We were kneeling down praying for this child,
10:59 the Lord put a kind of peace in his heart
11:02 and he started looking at the others
11:04 the way how they behave, and the way how they sit,
11:06 the way how they write,
11:08 the way how they respect the pencils and the papers.
11:10 He started like learning from them
11:14 that he is supposed to sit
11:15 and not be hyper and move all around.
11:18 And step-by-step the child changed totally.
11:21 And the parents start calling us, asking,
11:23 "What happened that our child now became so peaceful.
11:26 He's not any more aggressive."
11:28 And there we explained to the parents
11:30 that when they signed,
11:33 we told them that we will be teaching
11:35 the child from the Bible.
11:36 And the question of these parents was,
11:38 "Does the Bible do this?"
11:40 We told them,
11:42 "It's not the Bible,
11:43 but it's the author of the Bible.
11:44 It's the one who inspired those that they did write the Bible
11:47 does this miracles."
11:49 And they were amazed.
11:50 They said,
11:52 "If the Bible will educate our children,
11:53 then we respect the Bible and the teachers of the Bible."
11:57 Wonderful.
11:58 And they are speaking about this method
12:01 in the school of the child.
12:03 And since then we received calls
12:05 from many parents,
12:07 "Please, can we bring our children to you?"
12:09 But again because of the capacity,
12:11 we cannot keep the doors open.
12:13 So we are very limited.
12:14 So Pastor Wasim,
12:16 what are your hopes for the future?
12:18 We started with a dream and the dream became truth
12:22 through the blessing of the Lord
12:24 and the help of many divisions around the world
12:27 and the general conference.
12:31 The place is very small.
12:33 We are praying and hoping that
12:35 we can build a place
12:38 or buy the top floor of this building
12:41 because we need a space.
12:43 We need people that they can come and assist us
12:46 because the work,
12:47 I'm doing this alone with my wife
12:50 and we have other churches to take care of.
12:52 So, we hope that there will be some volunteers
12:55 that they speak English, for example,
12:57 that they can teach English
12:59 that they will come and help us.
13:01 We are hoping to build
13:03 the first church speaking in Arabic in Israel.
13:07 That's our dream and our goal. That's why we are here.
13:10 That's why we run
13:12 life and hope center in Nazareth.
13:14 Fantastic.
13:15 Pastor, thank you so much for sharing.
13:17 It's a pleasure. And thanks for being here by us.
13:18 Thanks for visiting. Oh, it's an honor.
13:20 Thank you. May the Lord bless you.
13:22 Thank you. Thank you very much.
13:23 And, viewers, pray for the ministry here,
13:26 the life and hope center
13:27 that is bringing life and hope in downtown Nazareth.
13:33 We'll be back right after this break.


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Revised 2021-02-05