Participants:
Series Code: MTS
Program Code: MTS002401B
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00:15 Welcome back to Accra, Ghana.
00:17 Behind me, you can see a sea wall 00:19 that was built by slaves. 00:21 And it's symbolic of a very dark history 00:23 where, along this coast of Africa 00:26 between the 16th and 19th century, 00:28 European nations competed trying to get a foothold 00:31 in the slave trade. 00:33 And it's estimated that some 12 million human beings 00:37 were taken against their will 00:39 in terrible conditions across the Atlantic. 00:42 Many of them Ghanaians and taken into slavery 00:45 mainly in the Americas. 00:47 Well, we want to look forward with hope to the future 00:50 and we want to talk about the healing power 00:53 that Jesus can bring. 00:54 And next up, we're going to travel 00:56 to the country of Thailand 00:58 and visit Chiang Mai. 01:01 I work with a Global Mission Center 01:03 for East Asian Religions 01:04 and part of our job is to help the church 01:06 and our church members understand 01:08 how to be more effective in reaching out 01:10 to our East Asian brothers and sisters. 01:12 One of the things that we've discovered 01:14 is that ministry happens 01:16 in unusual places and unusual times. 01:18 So it's not always convenient. 01:20 Ellen White gives us a great quote 01:22 in Ministry of Healing, page 143, 01:24 which says that Christ method alone 01:27 gives true success in ministry. 01:29 And His method was to mingle among people, 01:32 to minister to their needs, to sympathize with them, 01:35 and we have found in our own personal ministry, 01:37 that that really is true. 01:39 One of the stories that we have is the story of our neighbor, 01:43 Uncle Tong Lien. 01:44 He was a great neighbor, 01:46 an elderly man with children 01:48 who were just passed college age, 01:50 and he adopted our kids 01:52 and they called him grandpa and they would go to his house 01:55 and eat fruit off of his fruit trees. 01:57 And we just had a really nice relationship with him. 02:00 One day we came home, we passed this house, 02:02 we noticed there was a large crowd 02:04 gathered outside his house 02:05 and we didn't know what happened. 02:07 We later found out later, few minutes later found out 02:09 that he had had a sudden stroke 02:11 and he passed away quite unexpectedly. 02:13 And the home was just, the family was just devastated. 02:17 And so we went and we decided, 02:20 the best thing to do is to participate 02:22 as best we could as Christians. 02:23 And so, Greg had a camera, 02:26 and he volunteered to be a cameraman for them, 02:28 and just to take pictures, 02:30 and we found that this was a great opportunity 02:31 for us to learn about their culture. 02:33 What happens when people die? 02:34 How do they suffer? 02:36 How do they deal with death in their culture? 02:38 And so we participated as best we could 02:40 in their funeral service. 02:42 Yeah, you know, it actually wasn't a good time. 02:45 We had just started an English language school. 02:48 And that meant that my life was very busy 02:51 as the director of that school, 02:53 and I didn't have time for this, 02:55 but you know what? 02:56 It was very important that we make the time 02:58 because in Romans 15, Paul talks about 03:00 how we should weep with those who weep 03:02 and rejoice with those who rejoice. 03:04 So ministry and mission 03:06 doesn't come to us when we're ready. 03:08 We don't do it when we're ready. 03:10 But mission happens when problems happen. 03:12 That's what the mission is. 03:14 And so here we had an opportunity. 03:16 What would we do? 03:17 Well, there's many parts of the funeral 03:19 in the Buddhist religion 03:20 that we were not comfortable participating in, 03:22 because it's not our religion, 03:24 and it would divide our allegiances 03:26 and our loyalties to God. 03:28 But we found ways that we could help. 03:30 So one of the things I did 03:31 even though I had to go to school during the day, 03:32 in the evening I would come in, 03:34 and I would be a part of the wake there 03:36 all night long, they would stay up with the family, 03:39 they would play poker, they would drink, 03:44 you know, caffeinated beverages to stay awake 03:46 and all of these things. 03:47 So I went there to be a part of that 03:49 and to be with them. 03:50 And what I found is that it was hard to stay awake. 03:55 But being there was so important, 03:57 the family wanted that and with those adopt children, 04:00 we would take time. 04:02 And they were playing games 04:04 so I just talked to them while they're playing the games, 04:05 I didn't know how to play the games they were playing. 04:07 But at one point I thought, 04:09 you know, I should bring a game from home. 04:10 So I got some dominoes and brought those over 04:12 and they're like, "Oh, wow, what is this?" 04:14 They haven't played dominoes before. 04:15 So I played it, I taught them how to play 04:17 and they loved the game. 04:18 And we would play and do different things. 04:20 One evening, the village chief came 04:25 and the village chief wanted to, 04:28 you know, be there to honor the family 04:30 because this man had been a leader in the village. 04:33 And, but around 2 o'clock in the morning, 04:37 one of the sisters came to me, 04:40 the daughter of this man who passed away and she said, 04:43 "Greg, do you have coffee in your house? 04:46 We need to give him and we ran out." 04:48 And I said, "No, I don't have any coffee in the house." 04:50 They said, "Okay, well, we're going to go look and see 04:52 if we can buy some." 04:53 I said, "At 2 am?" 04:54 Everything is shut down by nine, 04:56 there's going to be nothing. 04:57 Well, they went and looked 04:59 and sure enough 15 minutes later, 05:00 they drove in on a little motorbike 05:02 and they said, "Oh, there's nothing. 05:03 Are you sure you don't have coffee?" 05:05 And I said, "Well, I do have something. 05:06 What did I have? 05:08 I had Roma, roasted barley type drink, 05:13 no caffeine whatsoever." 05:15 I said, "It won't help him stay awake." 05:16 They said, "It doesn't matter. Just let him have that." 05:18 Well, you know, this is, to make the long story short. 05:22 Over the next few days, 05:24 it was like a five day funeral process. 05:27 We were there the whole time, you washed dishes. 05:29 I would wash dishes. I didn't know how to cook. 05:31 I hardly knew much of the language. 05:33 There wasn't much that I could do. 05:34 But I knew how to wash dishes. 05:36 And so I would argue with them and then sit down 05:38 because they didn't want a foreigner doing this. 05:40 But I insisted and I sat down on the little stool 05:42 and washed dishes and washed dishes 05:44 and washed dishes all day long. 05:46 And then in the evening, Greg and I would trade places 05:48 I would go home, put the children to bed, 05:50 go to bed myself and Greg would stay 05:52 and spend the whole night awake, 05:53 playing dominoes and visiting with a family. 05:56 They so much appreciate our time with them. 05:58 But it wasn't, I don't think two or three months later 06:01 and you got really sick. 06:03 I became very sick and was hospitalized 06:05 across the border in the neighboring country. 06:08 And the family was very, very upset. 06:10 We had become children to them. 06:11 In fact, the mother had said, "You call me Mum, 06:14 you call me mom now. 06:15 And these are your sisters, and this is your brother 06:17 and we are your family." 06:18 And when I became sick and was hospitalized, 06:20 mom was very upset. 06:22 She said she went to her daughter and said, 06:24 "Amy needs, you must go. 06:26 You have to go." 06:27 And they said, "But we can't, we don't have a passport." 06:29 She said, "No, you must go. You have to go." 06:32 Long story short, they weren't able to come 06:34 but she prayed for me. 06:36 And we found out later that 06:37 she was saying her Buddhist prayers, 06:38 but she was praying for me. 06:40 We had become family to them, and we're still family to them. 06:43 And it gave us a great opportunity 06:45 to be able to share our religion, our beliefs, 06:49 and our hope that we have 06:51 that Jesus is coming again with them. 06:53 And it's opened up so many doors with that family 06:55 and it also served as an opening into the community 06:58 because we belong to this family. 07:00 We now belong to that community and had more influence 07:03 with our neighbors 07:04 and the leadership in that little village. 07:07 So anytime you want to make a disciple 07:09 and share Christ with people, 07:10 you have to remember, we have to make Him real 07:13 by our way we live. 07:15 Jesus is not just a doctrine. 07:17 He's a way of life and when He transforms us 07:20 people see that are attracted to Him. 07:22 This is the first step. 07:23 No matter whether people are Buddhist, or Muslim, 07:26 or what country, what faith they are, 07:28 we want to be genuine friends with people. 07:30 If you'd like to learn more about how you can reach out 07:33 to your neighbors, 07:34 go to www.globalmissioncenters.org. 07:38 And if you'd like more information 07:39 on how you can reach your East Asian friends, 07:41 go to cear.globalmissioncenters.org. 07:46 God bless. 07:49 Welcome back to Accra, Ghana, and more specifically, 07:52 to the old castle which is right on the coastline. 07:55 If you ever missed any episodes of Mission 360° 07:58 or you want to look again at some of the interviews 08:01 or some of these short pieces, 08:03 just go to m360.tv any time of day or night 08:07 and you can catch up. 08:08 Next up, we travel back to the South Pacific. 08:15 My name is Jovese. 08:17 I had no place to lay my head, 08:19 and I used to come and sit around in the park 08:22 and no work. 08:23 I go in jail a lot of times. 08:25 And then I met a preacher preaching God's word around. 08:30 And I just joined them 08:31 but I know I'm just coming over to feed. 08:33 Oh, I'm so happy. 08:35 I know here is my place to have dinner 08:37 and lunch and breakfast. 08:39 No more go to jail. 08:41 I got baptized, and I know God now. 08:44 And I stay away from trouble. 08:46 And I see now my body is changing, 08:49 my way too is changing. 08:51 I'm not taking those kinds of things 08:53 that I was taking before. 08:54 So I'm very happy for God to have people working. 09:00 My name is Vien. 09:02 I've actually got five kids, 09:04 but there's only two with me at the moment. 09:07 For the past few weeks, 09:10 we've been living here on the streets, 09:13 staying in the containers with our street friends there. 09:17 We were told by our friends that there's a group of people 09:20 that always come and give out food for free, 09:23 like for breakfast. 09:25 So when we were sitting on the bench 09:27 and then one of them brought some tea stuff, 09:33 and they were like really nice and the lady was asking me 09:37 if everything's okay, 09:38 and then I couldn't hold my tears 09:40 and I started crying, you know, like, 09:42 they invited me to stay back for church 09:45 and we read 09:49 a few Bible verses there 09:51 and did some sharing. 09:53 I haven't been going to church all these years 09:57 and the guy told me to read the Bible. 10:00 And then after reading that, like I just feel 10:03 like there's a big load off me. 10:11 I'm a fisherman. 10:19 You know, I always roamed around the street before too, 10:23 and I see how difficult the life in the street, 10:27 and I know how they hunger every day. 10:31 It's like and mostly that devil tempted them 10:35 to do bad things. 10:36 And that's why when I come to this church, 10:40 and I know I must take care for these people. 10:44 I want to turn their lives, 10:45 they're gonna find rest in Jesus alone. 10:49 People come and they call us pastors. 10:53 To them I say, "No, I'm not ordained pastor. 10:56 I'm just an ordinary church member 10:58 and we want to come 11:00 and share the love of Christ to you people." 11:03 We pray for not only in the cities of Fiji, 11:06 the cities all over the world. 11:07 But if we don't pray for them 11:10 and we do the mission to the city, 11:13 I think these people will be lost. 11:21 The church at the park, 11:23 it was established about three years ago. 11:26 Every week, the church gives out food 11:30 and reaches out in Bible studies 11:32 and outreach programs, health, singing ministries, 11:37 and the giving out of tracks and discs. 11:40 They were transformed because of the love shown 11:43 by the church members 11:45 who usually visit them in their homes 11:47 and those live here, give them food 11:50 and meet their needs, 11:51 just like Jesus did 2,000 years ago. 11:55 This park is very special. 11:57 It is situated at the very center 11:58 of the main city. 12:00 This have all sorts of people, all walks of life, 12:02 many problems come and meet here. 12:05 Most people have gone from this place 12:07 refreshed knowing that there is a God 12:11 who loves them, 12:12 and who is ready to take care of their everyday needs. 12:29 Well, thanks so much for joining us today 12:30 on Mission 360°. 12:32 And I hope that you've enjoyed our 360 degree 12:34 view of mission around the world. 12:37 And I hope that you've been inspired, 12:39 but also challenged by what you've seen and heard. 12:42 Because as we look around the world today, 12:43 we see that there are many people 12:45 who have never even heard the name of Jesus Christ. 12:48 But Jesus talked about a light set on a hill 12:51 and He Himself is the light and He has asked us 12:54 to share His light throughout the world 12:56 to the ends of the earth. 12:58 I want to thank you so much 12:59 for being part of our Adventist Mission Team 13:01 because every time you pray for missionaries, 13:03 for Global Mission pioneers, 13:05 every time you give your mission offerings, 13:08 you give your donations to Global Mission, 13:10 it does make a difference. 13:12 For Adventist Mission, I'm Gary Krause. 13:14 And I hope that you can join me next time, 13:16 right here on Mission 360°. |
Revised 2020-04-02