Participants:
Series Code: MTS
Program Code: MTS002303A
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00:12 Mission in Japan,
00:13 13th Sabbath Offering projects in South America 00:16 and recipes from the Mission 360° Kitchen 00:19 coming up next. 00:56 Hello and welcome to Mission 360°. 00:58 I'm Gary Krause. 01:00 Today's program is coming to you 01:01 from Tokyo, Japan, 01:03 the most populous urban area in the world. 01:07 In 2016, it was estimated 01:09 that there was some 36 million people 01:12 living in greater Tokyo. 01:15 This is the area of Shibuya, 01:16 which is perhaps the world's busiest crosswalk. 01:19 And in this area, 01:21 the world's two busiest railway stations. 01:24 Well, on today's program, 01:25 we'll be looking at mission here in Japan 01:27 and around the world. 01:28 But first up, 01:30 let's look at 13th Sabbath Offering projects 01:32 in South America. 01:43 On the Sunday morning, 01:45 Fortunato climbs the hill towards his workshop. 01:48 Today, he'll teach a class on how to make a leather bag. 01:51 Fortunato lived many years as a cowboy in rural Peru, 01:55 but eventually settled down in Cusco to start a family. 01:59 Perched high above sea level, Cusco is an ancient city. 02:02 Once the historic capital of the Incan Empire. 02:06 Not far from here you can find Machu Picchu, 02:08 a world heritage site. 02:10 People from all over the globe come to visit this marvel. 02:14 This area on the edge of Cusco is still developing 02:18 as the city continues to expand. 02:20 There's limited electricity 02:22 and no running water in this neighborhood. 02:25 Many families here 02:26 find it hard to earn a steady income 02:28 to improve their quality of life. 02:30 So Fortunato got an idea. 02:32 He wanted to equip his neighbors with a new skill, 02:36 leather crafting. 02:37 Fortunato's workshop is filled with tools, supplies 02:41 and handmade goods, 02:42 reflecting his many years of experience 02:45 in leather crafting. 02:46 He invites everyone from the community 02:48 to his workshop to learn this skill. 02:50 Before each lesson, 02:52 Fortunato shares a short worship thought. 02:54 He opens the Bible to a passage 02:56 he thinks God will use to speak to his visitors. 02:59 Then they continue on the leather crafting lesson. 03:03 Fortunato teaches his guests 03:05 how to cut, glue and sew the leather together 03:08 to make a beautifully crafted bag. 03:10 Throughout the class, 03:12 he connects the lesson to his earlier worship thought. 03:15 Fortunato believes that Christ's method of ministry 03:18 is the most effective way 03:20 to share the gospel with his community. 03:22 Through his leather crafting ministry, 03:24 he has planted multiple churches. 03:27 His latest church plant 03:28 is called the Loma Linda Church, 03:30 which roughly translates to the beautiful hill church. 03:34 It's a fitting name for this location 03:36 that sits high atop a hill overlooking the city of Cusco. 03:45 This small congregation meets each Sabbath 03:48 to dive into Bible lessons. 03:55 They listen, learn and ask questions 03:57 about things they've been studying 03:59 throughout the week. 04:00 An important element of the church service 04:03 is the music. 04:04 Each week, a small group of musicians 04:06 performs with traditional instruments 04:08 singing in both Spanish and Quechua, 04:11 a local native language. 04:13 Fortunato's brother-in-law Siriacco 04:16 leads the music each Sabbath. 04:25 He has a ministry of his own. 04:27 Much like Fortunato, 04:29 Siriacco volunteers his time to teach classes, 04:32 specifically music classes. 04:34 He offers both children and adult music lessons 04:37 once a week, 04:39 working around the people's schedules. 04:41 Today's class is for children. 04:43 Siriacco loves how eager they are to learn 04:46 and how quickly they grasp concepts. 04:48 He starts with the basics, 04:50 but over time they're able to follow along 04:52 as they sing or play various instruments. 04:55 When a group has made some progress, 04:57 he invites them to come play for the congregation at church. 05:01 Many who come to perform returned week after week 05:05 to keep hearing the stories about Jesus. 05:07 This congregation is continuing to grow 05:10 through Fortunato 05:12 and Siriacco's outreach efforts. 05:15 This quarter a portion of your 13th Sabbath Offering 05:18 will help build a youth focused community center 05:21 in Cusco, Peru. 05:23 This center will be a place where people can come 05:25 for a variety of activities 05:27 that will connect them with Adventist Church members. 05:30 Please pray for church planting in Cusco 05:33 and throughout South America. 05:35 Thank you for supporting the mission offering. 05:40 My guest today at the Setagaya Church 05:43 here in Tokyo, Japan, is Risa. 05:45 Thanks for joining us, Risa. Thank you. 05:48 Please tell me, you're a member of this church. 05:50 But how did you first become a Seventh-day Adventist? 05:52 Well, I wasn't really Christian until I was 22 years old. 05:58 So I went to the US and just to study 3D animation, 06:02 and I didn't go to any Adventist college 06:06 and other than Adventist high school. 06:09 But then my cousins are, 06:13 I mean, they are Adventist, 06:14 and I didn't know that actually. 06:16 But then they told me, "Hey, you know, 06:18 maybe you can go to the church there." 06:20 And I was like, okay, 06:22 you know, but in that time, I didn't really go to church. 06:26 But then, second time, they also asked me, 06:30 "Hey, maybe you want to go to the church?" 06:32 So I was like, "Okay, maybe this time yes." 06:35 And then, I actually found that there's a Filipino church, 06:41 SDA Filipino church just behind my house. 06:44 And so, I didn't know that. 06:46 So I was like, "Okay, maybe I'll go." 06:48 And then, I, there's a, you know like, 06:53 there are a lot of young people actually. 06:55 So I got a lot of fun there 06:57 and I had really good time there 06:59 and also learn Jesus there. 07:02 And so there is a lady who I mean, there's a girl. 07:06 I mean, aren't seeing me, so I'll just say her girl. 07:09 So she taught me Bible. 07:11 So we had a Bible study together. 07:13 And then she said that she has a friend, 07:16 Japanese friend here in Setagaya Church. 07:18 He's now, you know, coming to this church, 07:20 and then he became a leader of this church. 07:22 So I was like, "Okay, I'll go to the church." 07:24 And when I came back to Japan, 07:26 I started coming to this Setagaya Church. 07:31 And then, you know, how I became a Christian. 07:34 When I was in the State, 07:36 I got baptized before I came here. 07:37 Okay, 07:39 so what difference did it make to your life 07:40 when you became a Christian? 07:42 Well, actually, I had a family problem. 07:46 Especially have a problem with my dad, 07:48 and dad passed away, you know, 07:51 when I was 14, 07:54 I mean, 16 sorry, 16. 07:57 So I really, you know, regret, you know, 08:00 because I said really bad words to him and I... 08:03 my acting was really bad. 08:05 So I was really regretting, 08:07 you know, my, what I've done to him. 08:11 But then one day I saw the dream. 08:15 And I had a dream then, 08:17 he just saw me and he was lying down on the, 08:21 you know, on the floor, 08:26 and he just saw me. 08:27 I was like, okay, 08:29 maybe he didn't forgive me, you know. 08:31 But then second day, next day, I also had the same dream. 08:34 He was lying down the floor, and he was also, 08:38 you know, seeing me and I was like, okay, 08:39 maybe it's same dream that I had, 08:41 you know, first day, 08:42 but then he just say thank you to me, 08:45 and it just reflect me like, 08:48 Oh, that's Jesus, you know, like, whatever if we're really, 08:51 you know, we're really sinners. 08:53 But even though we were sinners, 08:55 He always forgive us, isn't that right? 08:57 And so you know, 08:59 I just, you know, I thought about His, Jesus, 09:02 you know, from my dad. 09:04 And then so I decided to get baptized that time. 09:08 Okay, wonderful. 09:09 Now you're involved in this church, 09:11 tell me some of the activities that you have here? 09:15 So in Setagaya Church, we have, 09:17 this is the only youth church in Japan now. 09:20 And so, we always have English Bible meeting 09:26 every Wednesday now 09:28 and so, people who wants to learn English, 09:31 they can come to the church and then also they, 09:34 you know, discuss with, 09:36 you know, they have a discussion 09:37 about the topic of Bible or whatever, 09:40 you know, general topic. 09:41 So this is something for the community 09:43 that you advertise on the internet, right? 09:45 Yeah. 09:46 Also, we also had the just, 09:50 we just had the Maranata evangelistic series, 09:54 and there was a lady who are... 09:58 I mean, who is living around here. 10:00 And so, 10:02 she was really interested in our church. 10:04 And in the last day of the series, 10:09 she just came to the church. 10:11 And she was like, I was really, 10:13 you know, a little bit curious about the church, 10:15 so she came to the church. 10:16 And then now, 10:18 she has been attending the church for two weeks. 10:20 Oh, wonderful. 10:22 So yeah, I still, you know, praying about her 10:24 and I want you to, you know, pray about her too. 10:28 Also, you know, this is the youth church. 10:32 So we call, you know, 10:34 the youth attending this church call, you know, 10:37 their friends too. 10:38 And then actually there are a lot of, you know, 10:40 youth people actually graduated Adventist college, 10:43 but then, after they graduated, they, you know, 10:47 they never, you know, be in the church. 10:49 They're not coming to the church anymore, right? 10:52 But then because this is a youth church, 10:54 that's more easy, you know, for them to call, 10:58 you know, young people. 11:00 Because we have a lot of young people here. 11:02 So it's more attractive for them. 11:04 So, it's more attractive. 11:05 So we call more, you know, people who hasn't, 11:09 you know, who haven't been to the church for a while. 11:13 Recently, we have a lot of, 11:14 you know, like young people like around 18 years old, 11:18 or you know, and that young people, 11:20 young kids. 11:21 They came to the church because this is a youth church. 11:26 That's why it's more easier to get those young people here. 11:30 Wonderful. 11:32 What are your hopes for the church in the future? 11:35 This church? Yeah. 11:37 Well, now we have a lot of young people 11:41 but also, I want more people to come 11:44 and to decide to get baptized. 11:48 It's fun, you know, people, young people are here 11:51 and talking with, you know, the same age people 11:55 or, you know, we also have a game night 11:58 first Sabbath day of the month. 12:01 So we have a game night 12:03 and so we have a lot of like young people come. 12:06 But not only that, 12:08 I hope that we will have more 12:11 like Bible study groups with them 12:13 so that they can also learn Bible 12:15 and I really know that they really truly wants to, 12:19 you know, learn Bible. 12:21 Yes. Wonderful. 12:23 Yeah, that's my hope. 12:24 Risa, thank you so much for sharing with us today. 12:27 And viewers at home, 12:29 please pray for this church here. 12:31 But the church in general in Japan, 12:33 which is facing many challenges. 12:36 Pray for the young people 12:37 with their enthusiasm and energy 12:39 as they share the good news 12:40 that many people may come to know 12:42 Jesus Christ as their Savior. 12:44 We'll be right back after this break. |
Revised 2020-05-07