Building bridges with
our Buddhist neighbors,
00:00:09.57\00:00:12.24
mission in the South Pacific
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and the sights and
sounds of Ghana coming up next.
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Hello and
welcome to Mission 360 .
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I'm Gary Krause.
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Today's program is
coming to you from Accra, Ghana,
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on the west coast of
the continent of Africa.
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This city of more
than 2 million people
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is very diverse.
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Many different ethnicities
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and some 50 distinct
languages are spoken here.
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Ga is widely spoken,
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but the official
language is English.
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In fact, most children
in this city by age five
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can speak at least
three different languages.
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While we'll be
learning more about Ghana
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on today's program,
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but first up, let's
travel to the South Pacific.
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From the remote
tropical islands,
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to the bustling cities
of Sydney and Auckland,
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from thick jungles
to traffic jams streets,
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amidst rugged mountains
and white sandy beaches,
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this is the
South Pacific division.
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This beautiful
and vast territory
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encompasses a variety of
people, groups and terrain
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that makes mission
work in the region,
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both a challenge and
an incredible opportunity.
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God is doing amazing things
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in this region of
40 million people.
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The Adventist Church here
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counts a membership of
more than 500,000 people
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who worship on Sabbaths
in nearly 2,000 churches.
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More than 80% of the membership
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lives in Papua New Guinea
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and the Pacific Islands.
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In Goroka, Papua
New Guinea or PNG,
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the Adventist Church operates
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one of the largest
missions in the country.
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As you drive through
the beautiful landscapes
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in the central region of PNG,
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it's hard not to notice
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the many Seventh-day
Adventist Church sites.
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Adventists here work
hard to grow God's kingdom.
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Today, some nearby
church members gathered
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to celebrate the
Sabbath with enthusiasm.
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They sing joyously
in praise and worship.
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Music is a vital
component of worship.
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Here many groups
and choirs sing songs
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to prepare the spirit
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for the preaching of God's Word.
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All is well
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If God in it
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Must believe that all
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After the
Pathfinders perform a skit,
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the pastor brings a message
of encouragement to people
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who face many
challenges as Christians here.
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Among these challenges
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are tribal
beliefs and superstitions,
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geographical
isolation and language barriers.
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As the world's most
linguistically diverse nation,
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PNG is home to
more than 800 languages.
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This can be a real
Tower of Babel experience
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for those sharing the gospel.
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At the end of the service,
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this community of
believers sits in groups
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as others dig up a pit
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where food has been cooking.
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This pit is called a Mumu,
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the traditional Papua New Guinea
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and way of cooking.
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It's like an oven
right in the ground
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where you put hot
stones in the hole,
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followed by banana leaves
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and then food.
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Then the hole is
covered with earth
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and the food cooks overnight.
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When the food is ready,
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it's a warm and
welcoming experience for all.
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In the afternoon,
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many churches in
this area host programs.
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This lively all
day event make Sabbath
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a day that the children
and adults look forward to.
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The growth the
Adventist Church has experienced
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in the South Pacific goes
back to humble beginnings.
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In 1891 Seventh-day
Adventist Church co-founder
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Ellen G. White
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arrived in the South Pacific,
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virtually
pioneering the work here.
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In the home she named Sunnyside
in Cooranbong, Australia,
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she performed her dual ministry
of missionary and writer.
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Her work in this
region built a foundation
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for the church's early
efforts in the South Pacific.
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Today, the
Adventist Church carries on
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the early missionaries' legacy
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as it continues
to spread the gospel
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throughout the region.
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Although there has
been significant growth,
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there are still
unreached people groups
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in hard to reach places.
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Please pray for the missionaries
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who sacrifice much to serve
in the South Pacific division.
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My guest is
Pastor Fred Agyei-Baah
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who is the
Director of Global Mission
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for the North
Ghana Union Conference.
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Nice to meet you again, Pastor.
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And thank you for joining us.
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Nice meeting you too.
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When we think of Ghana, what,
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how would you
describe your territory?
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Right.
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Our territory in
the country of Ghana
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is about two tenths
of the landmark of Ghana.
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And our population
is close to 18 million,
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the population of
this area, and we have,
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but that with to go
Burkina Faso, Eastern West,
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and Burkina Faso in the
Northeastern West, Togo,
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and then Cote d'Ivoire
and it's a vast territory,
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very vast territory,
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where there are a
lot of people groups
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that we have there.
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And I can imagine
that one of your challenges
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would be just transport
because of such distances.
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That is true.
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We have plans for
transporting around
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and moving from one
area to another area,
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it's a very vast area.
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It's truly, certainly
that is the situation.
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What are the mission
challenges do you face?
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Yes, we face the problem of
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getting
transportation just as you said,
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and then urbanization,
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then as the rural
drifts to the urban centers
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and the cities and
getting overpopulated wise,
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we have the rural areas
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and the villages
being depopulated
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and it affects mission.
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It costs us to work
so much in the cities
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because most of the
people are coming to the cities.
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Excellent. Yes.
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Now tell me about some of
the Global Mission pioneers
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who are working
in your territory?
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In our territory, we have
18 Global Mission pioneers
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and they are
scattered in the vast area
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that I talked about.
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Most of them are
working so assiduously
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to ensure that the
work of mission must.
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I can't forget
one of the stories
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that the Global
Mission pioneer told me
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that he was walking
one day on the street.
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And then he saw an old
woman coming from the farm,
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and they decided to take
the load off the old woman
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and actually picked the
load and went to her household.
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The old woman said,
"Where are you coming from?
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What are you doing in town?"
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He said, "Oh, I am
here with the word of God.
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And that is all I do in town."
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And he has his own
work, he's a tailor.
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So he said, "I'm a tailor also
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at that storied
building you find there.
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And just as that
happened, the woman said,
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"This is wonderful,
no Adventist in this area
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just as seen today.
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So what is your church?"
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And he said, "I'm a
Seventh-day Adventist."
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"Oh yeah.
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Can I join your
church on your day?"
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She said, "Can I join
you for church on Sunday?"
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He said, "No, we go
to church on Saturday,"
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and the woman was there.
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And the woman is
under Bible study now.
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And we believe one day,
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she will be a
baptized member of the church.
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I visited them, met
the woman and we talked
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and two of the children
have also joined the woman
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coming to church.
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So just that
simple act of kindness
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in helping with the load
started the conversation.
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It's nice to be nice.
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I like that.
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What about some of
the other pioneers?
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Oh, the other
pioneers are also working.
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There was one who found himself
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in the motor bike accident.
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And we have been
taking care of him.
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He's doing better.
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He went to
hospital, and at the hospital,
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he was
proclaiming the Word of God.
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And nurse also said,
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"I am interested in
studying the Word of God.
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Beautiful. It is good.
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Even when he was sick,
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it was an opportunity for
him to proclaim the Word of God.
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Now the pioneers they,
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how do they travel
from place to place?
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Yeah.
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A number of them have motorbikes
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that have been
provided by Global Mission.
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And some of them have bikes,
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some of them who also walk,
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and we are yet to see
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if they could get a motorbike
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because where they were to
work in the area is by motorbike
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and not even by bicycle
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because the
distance is a little far.
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Right.
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Can you tell me another
story of church planting
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or pioneers
working in your territory?
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Yeah.
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In the territory, we
have planted 12 churches.
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Now we have nine
Global Mission centers.
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We have planted 12
churches and we keep moving
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and some of the pioneers
when they work in an area,
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they are asked
by the next village,
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"Can you come and
then work with us?"
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And then they move there.
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They plant the churches,
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but the challenge we have
is where to put the converts.
00:10:02.33\00:10:06.03
Right. Yeah. Yes.
00:10:06.07\00:10:08.80
Because they come into a group,
00:10:08.84\00:10:10.21
but if it rains
heavily what do you do?
00:10:10.24\00:10:12.04
There is trouble. Right.
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Rains heavily, there's trouble.
00:10:13.44\00:10:14.78
The sunshine is so
much, there's trouble,
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some of them recess
00:10:16.51\00:10:17.88
and the conferences
have also bought land
00:10:17.91\00:10:21.28
and we are trying to see
00:10:21.32\00:10:23.05
how best they could
get long shelters for them.
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Okay.
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Now, when a
Global Mission pioneer
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begins his or her work they,
00:10:29.89\00:10:32.93
they're putting
Christ method into practice.
00:10:32.96\00:10:35.13
What sort of things do they do?
00:10:35.16\00:10:36.50
What sort of
activities do they do?
00:10:36.53\00:10:38.33
Yeah, the major
activity they do,
00:10:38.37\00:10:40.84
like Christ
mingle with the people.
00:10:40.87\00:10:43.20
They also find
themselves mingling with them
00:10:43.24\00:10:45.41
in a lot of activities.
00:10:45.44\00:10:47.04
When there's a
community program,
00:10:47.08\00:10:49.34
they find
themselves amongst them.
00:10:49.38\00:10:51.35
And some of them I've
even picked to be that one day
00:10:51.38\00:10:54.65
people in town
who they look up to.
00:10:54.68\00:10:57.89
So they mingle with the people.
00:10:57.92\00:11:00.66
And then the act of
kindness is also provided.
00:11:00.69\00:11:05.26
And as long as they
provide act of kindness,
00:11:05.29\00:11:08.66
just like Christ did,
00:11:08.70\00:11:10.47
they win the
confidence of the people.
00:11:10.50\00:11:12.60
And then they can say,
00:11:12.63\00:11:13.97
"Why don't you follow
me to church on Sabbath?
00:11:14.00\00:11:16.30
Wonderful.
00:11:16.34\00:11:17.84
Pastor Fred, what are
your hopes for the future
00:11:17.87\00:11:20.71
in Northern Ghana?
00:11:20.74\00:11:22.08
Yeah.
00:11:22.11\00:11:23.45
Our hope for the
future in Northern Ghana,
00:11:23.48\00:11:24.95
in respect of Global
Mission is to ensure that
00:11:24.98\00:11:28.78
some of these
people who have moved
00:11:28.82\00:11:30.92
from the rural
areas to the cities
00:11:30.95\00:11:32.99
or have reached,
00:11:33.02\00:11:34.96
we have the
message reaching them,
00:11:34.99\00:11:37.13
a lot of the youth are coming.
00:11:37.16\00:11:38.66
And then we also solved
00:11:38.69\00:11:42.00
with the problem
of youth unemployment.
00:11:42.03\00:11:45.80
And we're looking at how
best we can work at this.
00:11:45.83\00:11:49.27
Even I am
looking at having a group
00:11:49.30\00:11:52.51
by urban center of influence
in one of the cities in Ghana
00:11:52.54\00:11:56.85
so we can find a
way of getting the youth
00:11:56.88\00:12:00.85
employed, trained
00:12:00.88\00:12:02.52
and then they go
00:12:02.55\00:12:03.89
and do their own self employment
00:12:03.92\00:12:06.29
and we are looking at it.
00:12:06.32\00:12:07.89
We see a brighter future
00:12:07.92\00:12:09.56
for Global
Mission in my territory.
00:12:09.59\00:12:11.19
Fantastic.
00:12:11.23\00:12:12.56
Pastor Fred, thank you so
much for sharing with us today.
00:12:12.59\00:12:15.76
And viewers at home
please pray for Pastor Fred
00:12:15.80\00:12:18.77
and the Global Mission pioneers,
00:12:18.80\00:12:20.80
the church planting,
00:12:20.84\00:12:22.17
particularly the challenge
of the cities in Ghana,
00:12:22.20\00:12:25.01
and we'll be right
back after this break.
00:12:25.04\00:12:26.94