Participants:
Series Code: MTS
Program Code: MTS002506B
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00:08 Welcome back to Panama City.
00:09 I'm walking along a promenade 00:11 that's built on top of the old city wall 00:14 facing the sea. 00:15 Next up, we travel to Silver Spring, 00:17 Maryland, in the United States. 00:19 Today is the first day of spring, 00:21 and I'm here with my good friend, 00:22 Cheri Peters. 00:24 And her life has been changed 00:25 as a result of watching Mission Spotlight. 00:28 Cheri, tell us that story. 00:29 Isn't that amazing? 00:31 'Cause even today 00:32 when I realized that you guys were Mission Spotlight, 00:34 I remember as an addict, 00:35 coming in the church for the first time 00:37 and sitting there, I'm barely illiterate, 00:39 I have no idea about anything. 00:41 And I look up and I see Mission Spotlight 00:44 and there were some people doing just incredible things. 00:47 And I felt tears coming down my face. 00:49 I was so overwhelmed. 00:51 And I thought "God, I know that You love me. 00:54 I get that, my life is changing. 00:56 But someday, 00:57 I don't know how You're going to do it, 00:58 but I would love to do that." 01:00 And I remember just having that sense 01:02 as being a missionary somewhere 01:05 and going in and teaching a language 01:07 or going into bringing water or working with a tribal group, 01:10 I was so excited. 01:11 And everything in me 01:13 would just wait to watch that 01:15 and people around me 01:16 were just watching it and no reaction. 01:18 I wanted to sob like a baby. 01:19 I wanted to cry like that is the coolest thing 01:22 to work for God and change the world. 01:24 And so I got a call one day that... 01:26 You're gonna love this, 01:27 I got a call one day and they said, 01:29 "You know, this woman is in the hospital 01:31 and their daughter took over their house, 01:33 and she's like a meth addict, and she's trashing everything. 01:36 Can you talk with her?" 01:37 And I went over there thinking like, 01:39 "Okay, I could do that, 01:40 and I'm gonna go and do some outreach." 01:42 She has four kids 01:43 that they were horribly neglected. 01:45 The house was filthy. 01:46 She was chain smoking and high as can be, 01:49 everything was taped up in the house. 01:51 She was paranoid, 01:52 she taped all the rooms closed 01:55 but three rooms that they could live in and... 01:57 And I thought, "What am I gonna do? 01:58 I can't even reach her." 02:00 And I left and came back the next day 02:01 and I had some sleeping bags 02:03 and I left and came back the next day, 02:04 and she had sold all the sleeping bags 02:06 'cause the kids didn't even have blankets. 02:08 And finally, I was so angry at her 02:10 'cause her daughter looked at me 02:11 at one point and said 02:13 that she had been raped that night 02:15 by her mom's boyfriend. 02:16 And I realized that she wasn't lying, 02:19 but she didn't even know to be traumatized 02:21 'cause she'd been so traumatized, 02:23 and I got so angry, 02:24 and I wanted to take this woman and just grab her by the throat 02:27 and I wanted to just say, 02:29 "Stop, you are killing your kids, 02:31 you're killing yourself. 02:32 Your mom is in the hospital trying to recover 02:34 and all she's thinking about is you in this house." 02:37 And I'm so angry, and I'm sitting on the floor, 02:39 and I hear God. 02:41 What did He say? 02:42 "Cheri, this is your mission field." 02:44 No way! You cannot do this to me. 02:48 I remember saying... 02:49 I've never seen that on Mission Spotlight, 02:51 and I remember just being so angry like, 02:53 "I'm not gonna do it. I don't want to do it." 02:56 And it took me days, 02:57 and I should say weeks or months 02:59 to finally realize that God knows what He's doing, 03:02 and that's my love, that's my passion, 03:04 that's where I came from. 03:05 But to look at this huge issue, 03:09 like when you talk about Mission For The Cities 03:11 'cause you're also a part of that, 03:13 when you talk about that 03:14 looking at this huge issue and realizing 03:16 that we have to step into these very dark places 03:19 and rescue folks. 03:21 Bring them out and their children out 03:22 and so I just want to say with Mission Spotlight, 03:25 that it gave me the desire to reach out, 03:29 it gave me that even... 03:30 Wow, praise God. 03:32 I was dare to even dream about that maybe someday, 03:35 I could do that. 03:36 I had no idea what I God had in mind. 03:38 Isn't that amazing how God's grace transforms 03:41 not only our hearts for mission, 03:43 and it's like a Jonah moment 03:44 where God is trying to call His people, 03:47 His prophet to actually have compassion 03:50 for the people in the city. 03:52 So, Cheri, right now with your ministry 03:54 and what are the opportunities 03:57 for this kind of a call 03:59 that God is calling 04:00 the Adventists family and believers 04:02 around the world to the cities, 04:04 what are the opportunities now? 04:06 Is this something that is only that the counselors can do 04:10 or can anyone do this kind of work? 04:11 And it's a lay ministry. 04:13 What's really interesting to me 04:14 when I think about reaching out to the cities is, 04:16 they're so hungry and they're so... 04:19 Need is so great, 04:20 but they actually need someone 04:22 that knows how to dialogue with them. 04:23 And so our need is to learn to dialogue, 04:26 to learn about friendship, 04:27 to learn to look at people and know that you like them. 04:31 At my first camp meeting, 04:32 I joined a witnessing class 04:33 'cause I thought, you know, 04:35 I'd be good at witnessing to the homeless, you know? 04:37 'Cause I was homeless 10 years, 04:38 and so I joined this class and at one point, 04:41 I teared up and I thought, "Do you even like them?" 04:43 Oh, wow. 04:44 Because if you don't like them, don't talk to them, 04:46 we're hurt enough, we're damaged enough. 04:48 And so being able to teach the church 04:50 how to work with the cities 04:52 but also to let people know in the cities 04:55 is that God is crazy about you. 04:57 Amen. That He want... 04:59 He has a plan for your life, 05:00 He wants you to step out of all that dysfunction 05:02 and literally watch a few Mission Spotlights 05:04 and get to work. 05:06 Well, praise God. 05:07 And that's amazing how when Jesus in Matthew 9, 05:11 it talks about how 05:13 that when He saw the multitudes, 05:14 He had compassion. 05:15 And so that's where we need 05:17 that as basically the first we need 05:20 that heart transplant. 05:21 So then that way we can see people 05:23 whether they're with addictions, 05:26 whatever they are as Jesus did. 05:29 Can I say one more thing? Please, please. 05:30 That in this generation, 05:32 people from 35 years old to 2 years old, 05:35 are becoming so addicted to their devices, 05:38 they're changing their neural chemistry. 05:40 So when somebody says, 05:41 "Oh, they're getting pregnant less, 05:43 they're having sex on their phones." 05:45 They're doing less drugs. 05:47 That's true because their addiction 05:48 is their devices. 05:50 And it's changing their neural chemistry 05:51 just the same so even us when we step into the cities 05:54 if we don't know that, 05:56 we're going to be impotent in what we do. 05:57 So we have to educate ourselves and say, 05:59 "What is that in need?" And they are lost. 06:01 They are in their room on their devices, 06:03 head down, it is crazy. 06:06 But we have the answer, we have a health message. 06:08 It's amazing, amazing. 06:10 Thank you, Cheri. 06:11 It was amazing to hear these opportunities 06:14 as well as how God called you to be an urban missionary. 06:17 I want to thank our viewers and ask an appeal to you 06:21 to have Christ heart for the cities. 06:23 When Jesus saw the multitudes, 06:25 the Bible says that He had compassion 06:27 and we know that compassion only comes 06:29 from a heart transplant from our Lord Jesus Christ. 06:32 So if you've been touched by Cheri's story, 06:36 you can check out 06:37 more mission stories like this online, 06:40 go to our website that's listed below. 06:43 And I know that God will bless you. 06:45 This is Pastor Doug reporting for Mission 360. 06:49 God bless. 06:50 If you missed any of the stories 06:52 here on Mission 360, 06:53 you can always go to m360.TV. 06:56 There you'll find stories 06:57 from this program and much more. 07:04 I would be dead by now 07:06 because I tried to kill myself multiple times. 07:11 I couldn't think of the future. 07:13 I just thought of the present what was tormenting me, 07:17 and how I would kill myself. 07:22 Deeply depressed, 07:23 Consuelo abandoned her belief in God. 07:25 She tried to start over enrolling in nursing school 07:29 and wanting to do something different 07:30 with her life, 07:31 but her past weighed on her wherever she went. 07:34 After class one day 07:35 a professor noticed something was wrong 07:37 and told her about the local Urban Center of Influence. 07:45 Consuelo visited the center 07:47 where she met Michelly and Angie, 07:49 Adventist volunteers 07:51 with one year in mission program. 07:53 She enjoyed talking with them 07:55 and decided to take a Portuguese course 07:57 offered here. 07:58 Over time, 07:59 Consuelo became friends with the volunteers. 08:05 In what I saw, how they acted, 08:09 what they said, and everything they did, 08:13 I felt the presence of God in everyone. 08:17 In the Adventist volunteers who are here, I saw this. 08:24 Each time she returned to the center, 08:26 she felt as if her deep wounds were being healed. 08:29 They welcome me with open arms. 08:31 I found another family here, another home here. 08:36 The volunteers began talking to her about God. 08:39 And it was the first time in a while 08:41 Consuelo felt ready to talk about spiritual topics. 08:44 She asked for a Bible study 08:46 where she gradually developed a new understanding of 08:49 and relationship with God. 08:52 It helped me in every way to be here. 08:55 I saw the love of God, 08:58 the grace of God 08:59 that I hadn't seen anywhere else. 09:02 I found myself growing closer and closer to God, 09:06 believing in Him and having more faith in Him 09:09 during the time I was here. 09:12 Since then, Consuelo was baptized 09:14 and joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 09:16 She now volunteers her time at the center 09:18 doing medical consultations for free. 09:21 Like Consuelo, there are many 09:23 who are looking for community and love. 09:25 But most people are too suspicious of religion 09:28 to seek these things in a traditional church. 09:34 Many people come to this place with a vision, 09:37 maybe a little distrusting 09:39 because they don't really know 09:40 what we will ask for afterwards. 09:44 But when they see a different environment 09:46 where there is only empathy, love and friendship, 09:49 they completely change their vision. 09:52 They are very grateful 09:53 and bring more people to participate. 09:57 By serving the community, 09:58 the Adventist learned what people in the area 10:00 we're interested in. 10:02 The center runs various classes 10:03 and activities for the community, 10:05 including Portuguese and English lessons, 10:07 healthy cooking demonstrations, crafts, 10:10 and a variety of exercise classes. 10:14 We've seen the effect of Christ's method 10:16 on people's life 10:17 because we see a community today 10:20 open to the Adventist church 10:21 that was not easy to reach in the past. 10:24 Because when you have your religion, 10:26 you guard your world, 10:28 and you don't want anyone to invade your life. 10:31 The centers of influence are breaking down barriers 10:34 not just here, 10:36 but when we're meeting them at home with their families 10:39 and that's where we can apply Christ's method. 10:43 Through genuine care for the people, 10:45 this center has touched the hearts 10:47 of many in the community. 10:48 The results have exceeded the volunteer's expectations. 10:52 We've seen how this ministry 10:53 isn't just good for the community, 10:55 it's also good for the churches. 10:57 It's reviving the Adventist members. 11:00 We've had a revival within the church. 11:03 Please pray 11:04 for Urban Centers of Influence like this. 11:06 Pray that through friendship and compassion, 11:09 people will see a glimpse of Jesus' love. 11:12 Thank you for helping us transform lives 11:14 through your gifts 11:16 to Global Mission projects like these. 11:30 Well, I hope that you've enjoyed 11:32 today's 360 view of mission around the world. 11:35 We've seen how Global Mission is planting 11:37 new groups of believers 11:39 in some of the most challenging parts of the world. 11:41 We've seen how Urban Centers of Influence 11:43 are putting Christ's method of ministry 11:45 into practice 11:47 in the growing cities of the world. 11:48 And we've seen how missionaries 11:50 are taking the light of Jesus love in holistic ways 11:53 to different places around the globe. 11:54 And I want to thank you so much 11:57 for your continuing involvement in Adventist Mission. 12:00 I want to thank you 12:02 for your gifts to Global Mission. 12:03 I want to thank you for your prayers 12:05 and also for your personal involvement. 12:07 You're a vital part of our Global Mission team. 12:11 Well, for Adventist Mission, I'm Gary Krause. 12:13 And I hope that you can join me next time 12:15 right here on mission 360. 12:45 You healed my beautiful wife 12:50 You saved my little child 12:54 God You did it just to show 12:58 What a healing God You are 13:04 The saint now has come 13:07 And the pain is far removed 13:11 God all you really show 13:14 Is what a healing God You are 13:20 You are a healer 13:25 Great redeemer 13:27 My doctor, sweet savior 13:33 And with just one word 13:35 You can take control 13:38 And with just one touch 13:40 You can make me whole 13:43 What a healing God You are 13:49 What a healing God You are 13:56 So when the doctors said They can't 14:00 Lord You said You will 14:03 God You said it just to show 14:07 What a healing God You are 14:12 And all the miracles You've done 14:16 All the healings You display 14:20 God all I want to say 14:23 Is what a healing God You are 14:29 You are a healer 14:34 Great redeemer 14:37 My doctor, sweet savior 14:42 And with just one word 14:45 You can take control 14:48 And with just one touch 14:50 You can make me whole 14:53 What a healing God You are 14:59 What a healing God You are 15:05 You are a healer 15:09 Great redeemer 15:12 My doctor, sweet savior 15:17 And with just one word 15:20 You can take control 15:22 And with just one touch 15:25 You can make me whole 15:28 What a healing God You are 15:35 What a healing God 15:40 You are. |
Revised 2020-05-14