Music and mission in Thailand,
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a lay person
plants a church in Uruguay
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and mission here in Guatemala,
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all this and much
more 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
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from Central America
from the country of Guatemala.
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This is a beautiful country.
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It's a country of volcanoes
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and rainforests and
ancient Mayan ruins.
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In fact, that
half of the population
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can trace their ancestry
back to the Mayan civilization.
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Today, here in Guatemala,
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the Seventh-day Adventist Church
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has been growing rapidly,
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but it still faces
many mission challenges,
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and we'll be learning more
about that on today's program,
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but first up,
let's travel to Thailand
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to learn about the
power of music in mission.
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Music is one of
the most popular forms
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of
entertainment, but in Thailand,
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it's doing more
than just entertain.
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It's bringing people
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from all over the world together
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for a common purpose.
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Khon Kaen City lies 450
kilometers from Bangkok.
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It's Thailand's
fourth largest city
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and has the largest university
in Northeastern Thailand.
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Khon Kaen is a, you
know, it's a growing city.
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There's a lot of
educated people here,
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a lot of wealth,
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people are busy,
don't have a lot of time.
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So we had to think in terms of
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how can we meet people
in a non-threatening way.
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With the
challenge of reaching out
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to this
wealthy, urban community,
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missionaries from
all over the world
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were called to Thailand.
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Ricardo and his
family were one of the first
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to answer the call to Thailand
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through Adventist
Frontier Missions.
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Ricardo became the
leader of a violin group
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at the Adventist
Church in Bangkok.
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The group was given the
opportunity to perform live
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in the Thai parliament
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and in several
big shopping malls
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in the city.
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People enjoyed their music
and said it made them happy.
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Ricardo realized
that they could use music
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to communicate
with and touch people,
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regardless of
their status in life.
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Music is like a
universal language
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that really
connects with people.
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People's hearts open
up with music and music
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is such a central part of
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Christian
worship and experience.
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Soon enough they
started a music academy.
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They invited volunteer teachers
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from around the world
to come and teach piano,
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violin, ukulele,
guitar, and give voice lessons.
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These teachers, together
with the leaders of the school,
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have been able to
create meaningful relationships
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with their
students and their families.
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We have a lot of wealthy clients
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and students that come here
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and their parents
are speaking to us
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more and more about the joy
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and the peace that
they see in our families
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and in our lives that
they want for their children.
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While the teachers
play a significant role
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in helping transform the lives
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of their young
proteges, they themselves
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also go through a
life-changing experience.
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It gives them a chance
to be involved in ministry.
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It shows them that
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they can use their unique gifts,
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you know, to
further God's cause.
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And so, coming here, you know,
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learning Thai
language to some degree,
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experiencing the culture,
and just getting exposed
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to a broader vision, you know,
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can plant a seed that
will help direct their future
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and give them an
idea that, you know,
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they can use their gifts
to build up God's Kingdom.
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In some ways, I and this
school is the only way that
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they would be able
to hear about Jesus,
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and the only way that
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they would be able to experience
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the love of Jesus.
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So when I realize that
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my students need to know Jesus,
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and when I desire so
badly for them to know the joy
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and the peace
that He has given me,
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that channels into my lessons,
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and it channels into
the way I teach them,
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and it gives me a desire
to encourage my students,
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and to be patient with them.
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Global Mission is
helping fund the music program
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where people in Khon
Kaen can learn music,
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not only as a
form of entertainment,
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but as a means to
building relationships
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and changing lives.
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They need
friendship and they need hope
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and they need meaning
and purpose, you know,
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as they realize that the things
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that they have
are not giving them
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what they hoped, you know,
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the happiness,
the lasting happiness.
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Music is a love
gift from God to us,
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and the music
academy in Khon Kaen
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uses both the beauty of music
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and the harmonious love of Jesus
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to touch the
lives of their students,
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their families, and
soon, with your prayers,
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the whole city of Khon Kaen.
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Thank you for your
support of Global Mission
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that supports
projects like this.
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My guest is Dr.
Erick who is the Director
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of the Isaiah 58
Mission here in Guatemala City
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and in the background,
you can hear a worship program
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that's going on right now
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for the people who
come to this center.
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Dr. Erick, can
you please describe
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how this center started?
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Why and what happens here?
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We started about two
and a half years ago.
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We began by offering
bread, warm beverages, cereal,
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and some juice to people
who live off the streets.
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These are
people who found refuge
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under covered areas
or nearby hospitals,
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but then we moved on to a park,
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where we met every Sunday
and many people came to us.
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We served them lunch
and spoke to them about God.
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We soon realized that
winter was approaching.
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And we decided that
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we had to find a house to
use as a base of operations.
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So we began to pray
to pray for this project
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because renting a house means
we would have to raise money.
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It was then we found this house,
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which is affordable enough,
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when you consider
rental costs here in Guatemala.
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So we began to
assist people here,
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not only on Sundays
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but on Sabbath and
during the week as well.
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And this is how we operate now.
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Wonderful.
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Now can you please
describe for our viewers,
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what happens here?
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Okay.
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We open on Mondays
and Wednesdays for people
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to come and wash their clothes.
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There's also rooms
for them to shower,
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and then we invite them
to listen to the Word of God.
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After a short Bible study
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and some singing,
we offer them supper.
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We always
prepare a healthy meal.
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And on Sabbath this
house is used as a church.
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We studied the
Sabbath School lesson,
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we sing, and we pray,
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and a special
sermon is presented
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because more people
are attending on Sabbath
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than any of the
days during the week.
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This is
basically what we do here.
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We offer the services
because the people asked us
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for the
possibility to take a shower,
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to wash their clothes,
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and for a place to
change their clothes.
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We also give them clothes
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and shoes that
we get as donations.
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And we also supply items
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for their hygiene as
toothbrushes or bath soap.
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And you know, they're very happy
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and grateful for this program.
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That's beautiful.
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Now, Doctor, why are you
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personally
involved in this ministry?
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Well, for now,
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I'm the
president of the program.
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We meet every week
on Tuesday evening,
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and we talked
about all the facets
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of the Isaiah 58 Program.
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We often ask
people for assistance.
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For example,
Lions International Club
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operates here in Guatemala.
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And they have given
us many of the meals
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and personal hygiene items
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that we offer to the
people who come here.
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Our families also get involved.
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We're five families
working on this project.
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The Zone 15 Adventist Church
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took notice of how
well the program is working,
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and how much it
helps the people.
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So they decided to
help us to pay for rent.
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The Zone 15 Adventist
Church also pays for a person
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to run the program by
being here on a daily basis.
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The Isaiah 58 Project
was inspired by a person,
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a missionary who
came from Colombia.
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He came to preach a
sermon, and then told us that
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they have an Isaiah 58
Project in his country.
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As we listened, we
thought we could do
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the same here in Guatemala.
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And the truth is that
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the people who
live in the streets
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don't receive any help.
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We have seen some churches
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that distribute
food on the street.
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That is exactly
what we did at first,
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but we wanted to give them more,
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more than just a
piece of bread and juice.
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We wanted to give
them the Word of God,
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that they might know God,
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that they may
experience the love of God.
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That's why this
group of families
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joined together to
start this project.
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My motivation is to help people.
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That's what we want to do.
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Well, thank you for what
you and your team are doing.
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Doctor, can you tell me
an experience of somebody
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who has been ministered
to through the center?
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We have four people
in critical conditions,
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who overcame the problem
of living on the streets,
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a problem that is often
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surrounded by a number of vices.
00:11:07.50\00:11:10.50
One of them, the first person
was a long-time alcoholic,
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he drink a lot of
liquor, his eyes were yellow,
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his liver was swollen,
and his spleen was so large.
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This person was about to die.
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We decided to help him by
providing him medicine, food,
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and by helping
him to understand that
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he needed to make a
serious change in his life
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if he intends to live.
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You know, that person changed.
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That happened two years ago.
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This person lives here now
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and helps us by
working in the house.
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Another success
story is about a person
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who came here just to
listen to the messages.
00:11:51.84\00:11:55.18
He now lives abroad
outside of Guatemala.
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About a month ago,
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he told us that he's
already rehabilitated.
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He now wears a tie, a jacket,
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and sells Adventist
books as a colporteur.
00:12:05.69\00:12:09.92
He's now a
completely changed person.
00:12:09.96\00:12:13.40
Those are two of the people
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who are in the worst conditions,
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people who have
struggled to make a change,
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but there are others.
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Some others have got a job
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and they have managed to
improve their lives as well.
00:12:23.67\00:12:26.11
Wonderful.
00:12:31.18\00:12:32.51
Muchas gracias, Dr. Erick,
thank you for sharing with us.
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Our viewers at home
Isaiah 58 Ministries Mission,
00:12:35.75\00:12:39.49
if you haven't read
that chapter recently,
00:12:39.52\00:12:41.52
I recommend that
you read it again.
00:12:41.56\00:12:43.56
It's very important about
00:12:43.59\00:12:45.03
putting Christ method
of ministry into practice.
00:12:45.06\00:12:47.50
We'll be right
back after this break.
00:12:47.53\00:12:49.40