Participants:
Series Code: MTS
Program Code: MTS002503A
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00:08 A baby they could have saved in Kinshasa.
00:11 This quarter's 13th Sabbath Offering projects 00:14 and children worshiping in a shipping container. 00:18 All this and much more coming up next. 00:54 Hello and welcome to Mission 360. 00:55 I'm Gary Krause. 00:57 Today's program is coming to you 00:58 from the campus of Andrews University 01:01 in Michigan in the United States. 01:03 And directly behind me, you can see this building, 01:06 which is the Adventist Theological Seminary. 01:09 And in this building, 01:10 you'll also find the Department of World Mission. 01:13 And here students are trained in missiological principles 01:18 that will help us be more effective 01:20 in working cross culturally. 01:22 And that's what Andrews University 01:24 is all about, to equip people, young people, 01:27 older people to be more effective 01:29 in mission and service. 01:31 And we'll be learning more about Andrews on this program. 01:33 But first up, let's travel to the Congo 01:36 and the mighty city of Kinshasa 01:39 to see an Adventist clinic in action. 01:42 Each day at work, 01:44 Badibanga makes sure 01:45 the Kinshasa Adventist Clinic is kept safe. 01:48 He works as a security guard for this compound 01:50 in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital city. 01:54 When he started working here, 01:55 he didn't know much about Adventist beliefs 01:57 except what he heard coming from the church 01:59 also located on the compound 02:01 as they held evening meetings throughout the week. 02:04 A few years ago, 02:05 the clinic staff started a small church plant. 02:08 Many members are former patients, 02:10 doctors who came to know Jesus at the clinic 02:13 and people from the community. 02:15 On Sabbath, the church is full of praise 02:18 and worship through testimonies and music. 02:20 The choir writes and performs original songs. 02:24 One day the church pastor invited Badibanga 02:26 to attend an upcoming campaign. 02:28 So Badibanga decided to see what it was all about. 02:31 After the meetings, 02:33 his mind was overwhelmed with information. 02:35 He was motivated to study the Bible further. 02:38 And before long, 02:39 Badibanga accepted the Adventist message 02:41 and invited Jesus into his heart. 02:46 For me the difference in my life is that 02:48 I'm able to pray and see the answers from God. 02:53 So that's something that has changed in my life. 02:58 The Kinshasa Adventist Clinic 03:00 aims to meet the needs of people 03:02 in the community through Christ's method. 03:04 The clinic meets physical needs 03:06 with a team of doctors and nurses 03:08 while staff assessed patients' spiritual needs. 03:12 People come to this clinic with a number of symptoms 03:14 and illnesses ranging 03:16 from malaria to pregnancy complications. 03:20 Frank and Nikki rushed into the clinic 03:22 when Nikki was bleeding for unknown reasons. 03:25 The expectant parents knew their baby wasn't due yet. 03:28 Doctors and nurses tried everything 03:30 but they couldn't figure out what was wrong. 03:33 The medical staff gathered around Nikki and prayed 03:35 for the Holy Spirit's intervention. 03:37 Right after the prayer, one of the doctors 03:39 was able to detect the problem and rushed her to surgery. 03:43 But because of a lack of equipment, 03:45 they began surgery without anesthesia. 03:47 They had to sterilize the instruments 03:49 with rubbing alcohol in a small flame. 03:51 Unfortunately, they lost the baby 03:53 during surgery and almost lost Nikki too. 03:57 It was a miracle that she survived the incident. 04:00 Doctors prayed over her again. 04:01 And we're certain that 04:03 she would get an infection in the coming weeks. 04:05 But after 10 days, there was no sign of infection 04:08 and Nikki made a fast recovery. 04:12 As I'm leaving today, 04:13 I'm thankful to God because He assisted me. 04:16 He came to secure me. 04:18 I did not think that 04:19 I would be able to talk to people about my story. 04:23 The impact of this event changed their lives. 04:26 Frank and Nikki are now Adventist members 04:28 and attend the church 04:30 on the clinic's compound every week. 04:32 If the clinic had the proper equipment, 04:34 it's possible the baby could have survived too. 04:37 The staff is qualified to provide top quality service 04:40 but unfortunately, they need instruments, 04:42 beds and general materials 04:44 to vastly improve the services they provide, 04:47 especially for expectant mothers. 04:50 I'm asking to make a call to the world church. 04:53 I want you to tell them 04:54 that this clinic needs their help 04:56 in terms of equipment. 04:58 We need a lot of help. 04:59 And if we can have 05:01 the equipment required in this clinic, 05:03 we will be the best clinic in Kinshasa. 05:05 Doctors, nurses and the staff 05:07 at the Kinshasa Adventist Clinic 05:09 pray for the Lord to use them to further His mission. 05:12 This quarter, a portion of your 13th Sabbath Offering 05:16 will help expand and improve the clinic's health services 05:19 here in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 05:22 Please pray and consider 05:24 how you can contribute to this cause. 05:26 Thank you for supporting the 13th Sabbath offering. 05:38 We're on the campus of Andrews University 05:40 and my guest is a graduate student, 05:42 Daniel Duffis. 05:44 And Daniel, among other things, 05:46 is doing a dissertation on urban ministry. 05:49 And it's good to have you join us today, Daniel. 05:51 It's a pleasure to be here. 05:53 Now, we talked a little bit before this interview 05:54 and you have a fascinating background. 05:56 Give us a brief overview of where you began 05:59 and what you've been doing? 06:00 Right, right. 06:02 So my parents are from the island of San Andres. 06:05 It is a Colombian island off the coast of Nicaragua. 06:08 On the island they speak English and Spanish. 06:10 And so my dad was a pastor there, 06:13 and I was born in that island. 06:14 But when I was about one year of age, 06:16 they were called to be missionaries 06:17 on the island of Curacao in the Dutch Caribbean. 06:20 So I grew up speaking English at home, 06:23 up here meant to the local language 06:24 there in Curacao and also studied in Dutch. 06:27 And so I've always had a very unique background 06:30 in terms of being able to connect 06:31 with people from different cultures. 06:33 And there on the island, 06:35 we worked a lot with Venezuelan refugees 06:38 that were coming since the island is close 06:40 to the coast of Venezuela. 06:42 After this, I moved to the US after 18 years, 06:46 and studied graphic design. 06:48 But after two years, I felt a bit of an emptiness, 06:51 something was calling me 06:53 and I decided to become a minister. 06:55 So I was, I went to Puerto Rico to study. 06:58 There I learned Spanish, 07:00 worked as a pastor there as well. 07:01 And now I'm here in the United States. 07:03 Fantastic. 07:04 Now, what made you decide to do a PhD here at Andrews? 07:09 Well, I never thought I would do a PhD. 07:14 But one of my professors approached me, 07:16 Dr. Kuhn, when I was finishing my MDiv. 07:18 And he told me that 07:20 I had a fascinating background, almost, 07:22 I was a person that was easily able to adapt 07:26 to different cultures. 07:27 And so he told me that 07:28 it will be good for me to look into doing a PhD. 07:30 In that way, 07:31 I will be able to help the church 07:33 in a very unique way. 07:34 So that is what got me to doing my PhD. 07:37 Interesting. 07:38 Now, you're not just studying at the moment, 07:41 you're also helping pastor a church. 07:43 Tell me about that? Right. 07:44 So right now I work 07:47 with a Korean community in Queens, in New York, 07:51 and I work with second and third generations 07:53 Koreans in an urban setting. 07:56 And so every week I fly there. 07:58 That's another story I have to tell. 08:00 But I go there every weekend 08:01 so that I can help them to learn 08:03 how to work with postmodern individuals 08:05 there in that urban setting, yeah. 08:07 It must be a fascinating ministry 08:11 because these young people are sort of like 08:14 one foot in their traditional Korean culture 08:18 then the other foot they're here in America 08:19 in an urban setting? 08:21 Many challenges for these young people? 08:22 Yes. 08:24 As myself, I grew up as a church culture kid. 08:27 So I understand that 08:29 as a Korean American here in America, 08:32 the Koreans often struggle with their identity. 08:35 Koreans are very collectivist in their thinking. 08:39 They oftentimes try to do things together as a family. 08:43 But the American culture is very individualistic, right? 08:46 And so when Korean American 08:48 tries to stay loyal to their family, 08:51 but at the same time, 08:52 feel as part of the community here in America, 08:55 it brings a lot of conflict within themselves 08:58 of which culture they're going to portray 09:00 as they are living. 09:02 So I do see that a lot 09:03 when I'm working with my friends 09:04 there in that community. 09:06 Yeah. 09:07 Now, the dissertation that you're doing 09:08 for your PhD ties into urban ministry. 09:11 Tell me about that? 09:12 So I'm looking at consumerism, 09:15 and how that impacts spirituality 09:17 in urban settings. 09:18 Consumerism can be defined as a way of life 09:22 where one tries to identify oneself 09:26 with the possessions that one has. 09:28 And so, in the church we're seeing right now 09:31 that many individuals, they often go to church, 09:34 not because they are faithful to God 09:36 or committed to the religion that they're following. 09:38 But because going to church gives them 09:40 a particular identity within the community 09:43 where they are working with. 09:44 And so being part of a particular religion 09:47 doesn't necessarily 09:50 push you to commit to the religion 09:52 but you commit to what people think about you. 09:55 And so if that particular religion is not 09:58 or is not very famous anymore or looked as high class, 10:03 one can just walk away 10:04 and find another religion to form one's identity. 10:07 I think that is fascinating. 10:08 Interesting. Interesting. Yeah. 10:11 So when you look at your... 10:13 How long have you been here on the campus now? 10:16 I studied my MDiv for three years. 10:18 And now I've been back for two years, so about five. 10:21 So in your study, 10:23 how do you see this enriching yourself 10:26 and equipping you for ministry? 10:28 So here on campus, you are often 10:32 connected with people from different nationalities, 10:35 different countries. 10:37 And so you do see how their worldview 10:39 affects the way that they experience reality. 10:43 And so being here with my classmates 10:44 has really helped me to be able to look at myself 10:47 and see the biases that I have of looking at the world. 10:51 But it also helps me to think more academically 10:55 and critically about the subjects 10:57 that I'm studying. 10:58 Oftentimes in mission 10:59 we tend to romanticize what we do. 11:02 We think it's going to be 11:03 a beautiful experience going out 11:05 and confronting a new culture. 11:07 But I think being here has really helped me 11:09 to look at the difficulties that you have as well, 11:13 and how you can tackle that in a way that's healthy 11:16 and that glorifies God in the process. 11:18 Yes, I think it's wonderful how you're combining your study 11:21 with still practical work in ministry every week. 11:24 So when you finish here, do you have any goals, 11:27 anything that you feel that you would like to do? 11:30 I do want to dedicate my life as a long term missionary. 11:34 And so I'm still waiting for the exact place 11:37 or part of the world where God is calling me. 11:40 I am studying other languages 11:41 as well as French and Arabic to get myself prepared. 11:45 So the six languages you speak is not sufficient. 11:47 No. Okay. 11:49 I want to be as efficient as possible in God's work. 11:52 And so I don't have a particular place. 11:54 But I do know I want to work in urban settings. 11:58 I'm very interested in refugee ministries as well. 12:01 So any place that God calls me I'm prepared to work 12:04 and to be helped to the church and, 12:07 and also to help other people learn about Jesus 12:10 in the process, yeah. 12:11 Wonderful. 12:13 So for people who are maybe thinking 12:14 about coming to Andrews 12:16 to further their knowledge to equip them better 12:18 for mission, what would you say to them? 12:21 So I would say to them that 12:24 mission needs to be connected to education. 12:30 If we don't value the educational side of 12:33 or the academic side of looking at mission, 12:35 we can often make a lot of mistakes 12:37 when we go out on the field. 12:39 And so educating oneself is actually a form of love 12:43 towards those people that we're trying to reach. 12:45 And so anyone who's thinking about going into mission, 12:47 I think they should consider coming to an academic setting, 12:51 preparing themselves in the best way 12:52 so that they can show the love of Christ 12:54 to the world that's waiting to hear about Him. 12:57 Wonderful. 12:58 Daniel, thank you so much for sharing a little today 13:00 of your experience and God bless. 13:01 Thank you. It was a blessing. 13:03 Our viewers at home, pray for Daniel, 13:05 pray for other students here who are preparing 13:08 for mission, not just theoretically 13:10 but how they can put into practice principles 13:13 that they're learning here. 13:14 We'll be right back after this break. |
Revised 2020-04-29