Welcome back to
Ho Chi Minh's City
00:00:10.34\00:00:12.17
where just simply navigating
00:00:12.21\00:00:14.41
your way across the
road is a big challenge.
00:00:14.44\00:00:17.78
It's either an art or a science,
00:00:17.81\00:00:19.68
I'm not sure
which but either way,
00:00:19.71\00:00:21.95
you're taking
your life in your hand.
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Next up, we travel to a country
00:00:24.02\00:00:26.22
where religious
outreach is restricted,
00:00:26.25\00:00:29.36
so we won't even
name the country.
00:00:29.39\00:00:31.36
We're in a
Middle Eastern country.
00:00:31.39\00:00:33.86
Now that is somewhat sensitive
00:00:33.90\00:00:36.43
and so we won't identify
00:00:36.46\00:00:37.80
where we are or
who we're talking to
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'cause we don't
want to make problems
00:00:40.37\00:00:42.40
where there don't need to be.
00:00:42.44\00:00:44.74
But we're going to
tell the stories anyway
00:00:44.77\00:00:47.28
because they need to be told,
00:00:47.31\00:00:49.11
even if they have to
look a little bit different
00:00:49.14\00:00:51.21
and we don't know
exactly who we're talking to.
00:00:51.25\00:00:55.02
But I'm here with
the mission president
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in this place where
we're at in the Middle East.
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And I want to ask him
to tell us a little bit of
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some of the challenges
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that we are
facing here as a church.
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What is one of the
most difficult things
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that you're facing here?
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We have many foreign workers
here who are serving churches
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and home groups,
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but they're all
from different culture
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and different language groups.
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So at first, it is very hard
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to understand the
mindset of the people
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here because we are coming
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from western
culture and western mindset
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and Adventist culture.
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Yeah.
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So this is a quite different
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with this
culture in this country.
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So when our workers facing
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the problems and
difficulties with people,
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it is hard to
solve the problems,
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you know, naturally.
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So it is a
little bit challenging.
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So we are trying to share gospel
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with home groups.
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Okay.
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So we are developing home groups
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in different
cities in the country.
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So we have some students
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who are working
in a public campus.
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And also we have
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some different types of ministry
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like literature
ministry and health ministry.
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So we are trying
to reach local people
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with different
types of ministry here.
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The interesting thing
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is we have a very good result
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of the ministry,
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especially from
literature ministry.
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Okay.
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Actually, when I
came here three years ago,
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we didn't see
much possibilities,
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we didn't see the bright future.
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But I think it is one of the...
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I mean, because of
the political changes
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and the nation also
changes a little bit.
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So because of that
people are more opened,
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more people are
coming to visit our churches.
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So one of our church here
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we are doing the
literature ministry.
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We have three workers there
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who are dealing with literature,
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but they are receiving
people from the older...
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People who are
passing by the church.
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Yes, in this area,
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you're not allowed to
go out and talk to people.
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They have to come to you. Yes.
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One young man did that. Yes.
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And he has quite a story.
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Tell us that story
in about two minutes?
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Yeah.
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He was living
in western country.
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And he became
Christian four years ago.
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But he was not happy
with the teachings that
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he was receiving in that church.
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I mean, the Bible study
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is not deep and
he was not satisfied.
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So he was praying to
God to show the truth.
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So one day, he got a vision.
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He said vision. I
think it is like dream.
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He saw this particular city.
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And it was not just the one time
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but it is three
times, so he couldn't sleep.
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So immediately he
booked the ticket,
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and then he came to the city.
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And then by the grace of
God, the providence of God,
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he came to our church
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and he took our books.
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Actually, there
was nobody there,
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but he took the
book and then he read it.
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And he was very impressed.
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And then he saw the
writer, Ellen White.
00:05:16.38\00:05:21.05
So he tried to look for
another book of Ellen White.
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And then, so he
read three or four books.
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And then one day
when he opened the book,
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he saw our
address of the office.
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So he came to
my office actually,
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and then he was very happy
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to meet Adventist,
you know, brothers.
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So we gave some more books.
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And then we also gave him
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the address of our
pastor in his city.
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So he was contacting him
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and he continued
to read the book,
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and then he became Adventist.
00:06:03.29\00:06:05.13
So now he came
back to his home country
00:06:05.16\00:06:08.63
and then he is now serving
the church as a volunteer.
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And I met him last night. Yeah.
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He is very enthusiastic,
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very excited about the faith
that he has discovered here.
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The dreams and visions
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are quite important to
this religious group here,
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and so God works that
way and He still does.
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And so, thank you
for sharing that story.
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Thank you for sharing about
the work that's going on here.
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I know that
you're facing many things
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that you can't even talk about.
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Yes.
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But we will ask
all of our viewers
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to keep you in prayer.
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And to fight
spiritually speaking
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from wherever we
are in the world.
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God has had people in
this place in the past
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and it's like the forces
of evil have made a comeback
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and it's time
again for God's people
00:07:02.35\00:07:06.02
to make inroads here.
00:07:06.05\00:07:07.86
Thank you for
letting us talk to you
00:07:07.89\00:07:09.36
for a few minutes today.
00:07:09.39\00:07:10.79
And thank you for
watching. Back to you, Gary.
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Welcome back.
00:07:13.73\00:07:15.06
If you're
enjoying today's program,
00:07:15.10\00:07:16.63
I invite you to follow
us on Facebook or Instagram.
00:07:16.67\00:07:20.47
Just search for Mission 360 TV
00:07:20.50\00:07:23.10
and there you'll
see lots of videos like
00:07:23.14\00:07:25.14
you are seeing
on today's program.
00:07:25.17\00:07:27.18
Next up, we're gonna learn more
00:07:27.21\00:07:28.64
about the importance
of religious liberty.
00:07:28.68\00:07:30.61
Although, religious liberty
is a fundamental human right,
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the majority of the world
is unable to enjoy this right.
00:07:42.42\00:07:46.46
In fact, 76% of
the world's population
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or more than 5 billion
people live in countries
00:07:50.13\00:07:53.23
with high restrictions
to religious freedom.
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These restrictions
include blasphemy laws
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that prohibit negative speech
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against the
country's religious figures.
00:08:00.34\00:08:02.44
Anti-conversion laws
that forbid conversion
00:08:02.48\00:08:05.31
to any religion other than
00:08:05.35\00:08:06.85
the dominant
religion of the land
00:08:06.88\00:08:08.52
and requirements to
gain official registration
00:08:08.55\00:08:11.49
to operate as a church.
00:08:11.52\00:08:13.22
There are other places in
a country like Kazakhstan,
00:08:13.25\00:08:16.22
for example,
00:08:16.26\00:08:17.59
where you have
freedom of worship,
00:08:17.63\00:08:19.33
which is distinct
from freedom of religion.
00:08:19.36\00:08:21.46
Freedom of worship
simply says you can worship
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when and wherever the
government says it's okay.
00:08:23.90\00:08:26.37
So you can worship in a
church, that's acceptable,
00:08:26.40\00:08:29.54
but you may not be
able to worship in your home
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to have a Bible
study among your friends.
00:08:32.71\00:08:34.94
So there's a
difference between worshiping
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where the government
permits you to worship
00:08:36.91\00:08:38.38
and having true
religious freedom,
00:08:38.41\00:08:40.02
allowing you to share your faith
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whenever and
whenever you choose.
00:08:41.42\00:08:43.08
There's also the
issue of social hostility.
00:08:43.12\00:08:45.52
This is just where
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there is a lack of understanding
00:08:47.12\00:08:48.56
of religious minorities.
00:08:48.59\00:08:49.92
There may be a dominant religion
00:08:49.96\00:08:51.29
in a country such as,
00:08:51.33\00:08:52.66
you know, a
country in the Middle East
00:08:52.69\00:08:54.03
that's predominantly
Islamic and or countries
00:08:54.06\00:08:58.43
which predominantly
orthodox Christian.
00:08:58.47\00:09:01.40
You know, a
religious minority comes in
00:09:01.44\00:09:03.67
and it can be very
isolating to live in a society
00:09:03.71\00:09:07.84
where you are the
minority and many of your habits
00:09:07.88\00:09:10.75
and activities
make you different.
00:09:10.78\00:09:13.28
This is a topic of concern.
00:09:13.31\00:09:16.45
Because not
enjoying religious freedom
00:09:16.48\00:09:19.99
goes even deeper than
just not enjoying a right.
00:09:20.02\00:09:23.93
Religious freedom is
linked to what makes us human,
00:09:23.96\00:09:27.66
our conscience.
00:09:27.70\00:09:29.20
And if a person cannot function
according to the dictates
00:09:29.23\00:09:33.67
of his or her conscience,
00:09:33.70\00:09:35.97
it is as if that
person lives beneath
00:09:36.00\00:09:38.94
the dignity of
his or her humanity.
00:09:38.97\00:09:41.98
So basically, you deprive people
00:09:42.01\00:09:44.81
of their religious liberty,
00:09:44.85\00:09:46.45
it is like depriving
them of their humanity.
00:09:46.48\00:09:49.92
PARL responds to cases
of religious persecution
00:09:49.95\00:09:52.95
by visiting governments,
lodging official complaints,
00:09:52.99\00:09:56.26
and raising the issue in context
00:09:56.29\00:09:58.46
in the United Nations.
00:09:58.49\00:10:00.36
Essentially PARL's primary work
00:10:00.40\00:10:02.96
is to build good relationships
00:10:03.00\00:10:04.63
with civic and
religious leaders.
00:10:04.67\00:10:06.67
Some people would say
why do we need to interact
00:10:06.70\00:10:09.10
with government officials.
00:10:09.14\00:10:10.61
And one of the catchphrase
that we have adopted is
00:10:10.64\00:10:13.21
you need to make
friends before you need friends.
00:10:13.24\00:10:15.41
And so, oftentimes
we need government help
00:10:15.44\00:10:19.18
when we're advocating
00:10:19.21\00:10:20.55
for Seventh-day
Adventist church,
00:10:20.58\00:10:22.12
we may have lost our
legal right to exist.
00:10:22.15\00:10:24.45
We may have Sabbath
accommodation issues.
00:10:24.49\00:10:27.12
We may have other
workplace disputes.
00:10:27.16\00:10:29.86
And so, part of it is
being a good neighbor.
00:10:29.89\00:10:32.53
People need to know us first
00:10:32.56\00:10:34.46
before they will be
able to understand our faith.
00:10:34.50\00:10:38.13
If Adventists make
00:10:38.17\00:10:39.83
a good impression
on a local leader,
00:10:39.87\00:10:42.40
this will be positively
affect the entire community
00:10:42.44\00:10:46.57
or even a nation.
00:10:46.61\00:10:48.94
This is how many
mission paths are opened.
00:10:48.98\00:10:52.41
Positive relationships
between the Adventist Church
00:10:52.45\00:10:54.95
and civic or
other religious leaders
00:10:54.98\00:10:57.22
promotes mission
work behind the scenes.
00:10:57.25\00:11:00.26
For example, before coming
to the General Conference,
00:11:00.29\00:11:03.29
Nelu Burcea,
Associate Director of PARL,
00:11:03.32\00:11:06.13
worked in Romania,
00:11:06.16\00:11:07.50
promoting religious
liberty in local schools
00:11:07.53\00:11:09.90
and other areas
of the community.
00:11:09.93\00:11:12.13
As he built
positive relationships
00:11:12.17\00:11:14.14
with local officials,
00:11:14.17\00:11:15.70
doors opened for
the church's work.
00:11:15.74\00:11:18.41
One of our friends,
the Minister of Education,
00:11:18.44\00:11:22.28
visited the headquarters
of the General Conference
00:11:22.31\00:11:25.85
and was impressed
00:11:25.88\00:11:28.02
by the Adventist
philosophy on health,
00:11:28.05\00:11:31.22
education, and
religious freedom.
00:11:31.25\00:11:34.06
When he returned to Romania,
00:11:34.09\00:11:36.32
he summoned all presidents
of Romanian universities
00:11:36.36\00:11:41.13
and talk with them
about religious freedom
00:11:41.16\00:11:44.60
in Romanian schools.
00:11:44.63\00:11:46.70
It was an extraordinary step
00:11:46.74\00:11:48.94
for religious
freedom in Romania.
00:11:48.97\00:11:50.84
In the following
years, the prime minister
00:11:50.87\00:11:53.81
was one of the
speakers at a religious freedom
00:11:53.84\00:11:58.38
meeting organized by Adventists.
00:11:58.41\00:12:00.95
And even the
president of the country
00:12:00.98\00:12:03.35
supported our program
promoting religious freedom.
00:12:03.39\00:12:07.72
This is behind the scenes
work PARL does to open avenues
00:12:07.76\00:12:11.43
for Adventist Mission
work around the world.
00:12:11.46\00:12:14.16
Daily building
good relationships
00:12:14.20\00:12:15.96
with other people supports
the mission of the church.
00:12:16.00\00:12:19.33
And that's something
every Adventist can do right
00:12:19.37\00:12:22.70
where he or she is.
00:12:22.74\00:12:24.44
Public affairs
and religious liberty
00:12:24.47\00:12:26.21
is something that can't be done
from a central headquarters.
00:12:26.24\00:12:29.84
It is inherently something
00:12:29.88\00:12:31.88
that has to take
place at the local level.
00:12:31.91\00:12:34.92
It is individuals,
individual church members
00:12:34.95\00:12:38.32
building good relationships
00:12:38.35\00:12:40.02
with people in their community,
00:12:40.06\00:12:41.76
whether it's
attending community events,
00:12:41.79\00:12:44.79
making friends
with your civic leaders,
00:12:44.83\00:12:46.96
your mayor, your local council.
00:12:47.00\00:12:49.60
These are all things
00:12:49.63\00:12:50.97
that have to happen
on a one-to-one basis.
00:12:51.00\00:12:54.50
If you see
something, say something,
00:12:54.54\00:12:56.50
don't hesitate
to write a letter,
00:12:56.54\00:12:58.47
send an email, call
your representative.
00:12:58.51\00:13:01.24
Be a voice for freedom.
00:13:01.28\00:13:02.81
And some people may
say, "I'm one person.
00:13:02.84\00:13:05.11
I'm one voice. Can
I make a difference?"
00:13:05.15\00:13:07.05
The thing you remember is,
00:13:07.08\00:13:08.42
we're not called
to be successful,
00:13:08.45\00:13:10.65
we're called
simply to be faithful
00:13:10.69\00:13:12.55
The religious freedom and
this is key is a lifestyle.
00:13:12.59\00:13:15.56
I invite every
Seventh-day Adventist
00:13:15.59\00:13:17.96
to be seen, not
just in the public arena,
00:13:17.99\00:13:21.66
but by everyone as kind people,
00:13:21.70\00:13:24.83
gentle people,
respectful of people's dignity.
00:13:24.87\00:13:29.17
Please consider how you
can promote religious liberty
00:13:29.20\00:13:32.07
by building good relationships
with others in your community.
00:13:32.11\00:13:35.64
And please pray for the efforts
of the church in fighting
00:13:35.68\00:13:38.65
for religious freedom in places
where such freedom is limited.
00:13:38.68\00:13:42.98
Thank you for supporting
the mission of the church.
00:13:43.02\00:13:45.35
Well, that's about
it for today's program.
00:14:00.84\00:14:03.30
And I hope that
you've enjoyed our 360 degree
00:14:03.34\00:14:05.77
view of mission
around the world.
00:14:05.81\00:14:08.31
As we've seen,
there are many countries
00:14:08.34\00:14:09.68
around the world
00:14:09.71\00:14:11.05
where religious
freedom is terribly restricted.
00:14:11.08\00:14:13.38
And other places
00:14:13.42\00:14:14.75
where we enjoy religious freedom
00:14:14.78\00:14:16.38
and so often we
take it for granted.
00:14:16.42\00:14:18.92
And in both sets of places,
00:14:18.95\00:14:21.56
we have particular
mission challenges.
00:14:21.59\00:14:23.36
And I want to thank you
00:14:23.39\00:14:24.76
for your continuing
support of Adventist Mission.
00:14:24.79\00:14:27.90
We consider you part of our team
00:14:27.93\00:14:29.56
the way that you pray
for mission every day,
00:14:29.60\00:14:31.93
the way that you support mission
00:14:31.97\00:14:33.37
with your
offerings, with your donations
00:14:33.40\00:14:35.04
to global mission,
00:14:35.07\00:14:36.40
and for your
personal involvement.
00:14:36.44\00:14:38.11
Thank you so much.
00:14:38.14\00:14:39.47
Well, for Adventist
Mission, I'm Gary Krause.
00:14:39.51\00:14:41.88
And I hope that you
can join me next time,
00:14:41.91\00:14:44.05
right here on Mission 360.
00:14:44.08\00:14:46.08