Participants:
Series Code: MTS
Program Code: MTS002603A
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00:05 Your mission offerings at work in Europe,
00:07 the story of a pioneer missionary 00:10 and mission right here in Maine, 00:12 in the United States coming up next. 00:48 Hello and welcome to Mission 360, 00:50 I'm Gary Krause. 00:51 Today's program is coming to you 00:53 from the city of Lewiston, 00:55 in the state of Maine in the United States. 00:58 Lewiston is the state's second largest city 01:01 which doesn't make it a very big city, 01:03 but there was no Seventh-day Adventist Church here. 01:07 And church leaders saw the need 01:09 and they put a plan in place 01:11 and many laypeople living in the area 01:14 came to run seminar and activities 01:16 and health programs 01:18 operating out of an old Pizza Hut 01:20 on the main road leading into the city. 01:22 They had a cafe and from this, 01:25 a small group was planted and now it's grown till 01:27 it's overflowing and it's too big 01:29 for the building in which it's in. 01:32 What we're gonna be looking at more mission 01:34 here in the United States and around the world, 01:36 but first up, let's travel to Europe 01:38 to see your 13th Sabbath offerings in action. 01:43 There were no kids 01:44 in the Sofia West Church in Bulgaria. 01:46 Fast forward five years 01:48 and children enter a whole new world 01:50 with arts and crafts. 01:53 Sofia is Bulgaria's capital and largest city. 01:56 It's a modern and dynamic place 01:58 with more than a million people. 02:00 Here you find relaxing parks, 02:02 convenient trams and exquisite architecture. 02:06 Unlike most of the buildings in Sofia, 02:08 this structure looks plain on the outside, 02:11 but in a small rented place inside, 02:13 it looks completely different. 02:16 Lyubka, a member of Sofia West Church 02:19 has dedicated her time to reaching out to these kids. 02:23 Together with volunteers from the church, 02:25 she meets the children at least twice a month. 02:28 Aside from the crafts, 02:30 they also teach the children about 02:31 life, family, education and health. 02:36 We teach them good values 02:37 and they enjoy a lot in our activities. 02:40 I think that in order to introduce Jesus, 02:43 we should also have hearts like children. 02:46 The main idea is to be able to reach people, 02:48 especially to their social needs. 02:51 Not directly in terms of faith and religious ideas, 02:54 but rather interacting with children, 02:57 solving family problems, 02:58 teaching them about the importance of health, 03:01 building connections, and establishing relationships. 03:05 The project was aptly named, Create Future. 03:08 A place where the church can foster children 03:10 and young adults to be future leaders, 03:12 but that doesn't mean that the activities 03:14 are only for young boys and girls. 03:17 Create Future aims 03:19 to attract kids and form a Bible group, 03:22 but the kids are so happy 03:24 that they get their parents interested 03:26 in what we are doing. 03:28 We can't turn their parents away 03:30 and say that this is just for kids. 03:32 So we work with parents as well. 03:35 Everyone works together to do something meaningful 03:38 and the masterpieces are sold to raise funds 03:40 to help those in need. 03:41 Create Future is teaching people 03:44 to be selfless and to serve their neighbors. 03:47 Through Create Future we can show the society, 03:51 our neighbors, the people around us, 03:53 that we care for them, that our faith in Jesus 03:57 is inspiring us to love everyone. 03:59 Through actions rather than empty words, 04:02 we can bring people to Jesus. 04:05 Through the activities, 04:06 Create Future participants grow closer to each other. 04:10 Lyubka feels like a mother to the children. 04:12 They're like her family. 04:15 I sincerely ask God to be with us 04:18 because I am convinced that 04:19 what God can do is a lot more than 04:22 what merely humans can do. 04:25 The church that started without kids, 04:27 now has 20 attending regularly. 04:30 And through them more people, both young and old are invited. 04:35 Your 13th Sabbath offering 04:37 will help build a children's center 04:39 and worship hall in Sofia. 04:40 The new facility will allow this church 04:42 to reach out to more people. 04:44 Let's pray for our friends in Sofia 04:47 as they establish meaningful relationships 04:49 with their community 04:51 and thanks for your support 04:53 of the 13th Sabbath offering. 04:57 My guest is Scott Christiansen, 04:59 who is the evangelist and communication director 05:02 for the Northern New England Conference. 05:04 Scott, thanks so much for joining me. 05:06 It's my pleasure. It's my pleasure, Gary. 05:07 Now, describe for us 05:08 the Northern New England Conference, 05:10 what does it entail? 05:11 Well, it entails three states and not that many people. 05:14 Okay. 05:15 There are churches in Southern California 05:17 that are bigger than our entire conference. 05:19 So we've got Vermont, and New Hampshire, 05:22 and Maine, which between them 05:24 I think have a total population 05:26 of somewhere around 5 million at the most. 05:30 No, 4, I'm sorry, 4 million at the most. 05:33 And in those 3 states we've got about 05:35 5,500 church members. 05:39 These states are, tend to, tend to skew old, 05:44 they tend to skew white. 05:48 There's not enough diversity here but we're working on that, 05:51 and they tend to skew culturally conservative. 05:56 Okay. 05:57 So that's the state and our church 06:00 is a reflection of that except for one thing. 06:03 These states are the most post-Christian place 06:07 in the entire United States of America. 06:09 Actually in the entire North American division, 06:11 and the church does not reflect that, 06:13 but we are pushing hard against that 06:16 and trying to proclaim 06:19 our important message at this time. 06:21 So as you face this real mission field, 06:24 because it is a mission field. 06:27 Tell us about the church planting strategy 06:30 that you've prayed through and planned through? 06:33 We have I think 06:35 what could only be called a very aggressive 06:37 planting strategy 06:39 and it works on a couple of levels. 06:40 We've got standard traditional plans 06:43 where a mother church 06:45 has given birth to a daughter church. 06:48 We have those, we have startup church plants 06:52 such as with our Ark congregation here, 06:55 where a group came together and really worked hard 06:59 and developed a congregation. 07:02 In addition to that 07:03 though we've got a very interesting project 07:05 where we are recruiting 07:07 faithful young people from across, 07:09 actually across the world, asking them to move here 07:13 on a tent making basis, training them, equipping them, 07:17 supporting them, guiding them but these young people, 07:22 we form them into teams and they live in a, 07:26 what might be called a missional community. 07:29 A very purpose oriented group in terms of reaching out 07:35 to their communities and gathering together 07:39 a group of seekers, 07:41 people that are spiritually interested 07:43 and spiritually open. 07:45 And moving them to a relationship 07:50 and the knowledge of Christ. 07:52 And I have to underscore, you know, 07:55 we think of evangelism as taking someone 07:58 to the decision point. 07:59 And traditionally it has been. 08:02 But when their knowledge and cultural familiarity 08:06 with Christianity is close to zero, 08:09 that moving people to a decision point 08:13 is tremendous change that takes time. 08:18 Whereas quite often, in evangelism in the past, 08:21 there has been a smaller change. 08:24 From Christian to our variety of Christians. 08:26 Yes, yes, exactly. 08:27 And from a cultural understanding 08:29 and biblical familiarity and those sorts of things. 08:31 This is a huge life change now 08:34 and we have to approach it with caution, 08:39 not so much caution as careful intentionality 08:42 and not too fast. 08:44 Right. 08:45 So we're talking to huge change 08:46 for the people that are involved. 08:48 So when you use the word tent making, 08:49 you are talking about these young people coming, 08:51 finding their own work, their own jobs, 08:54 but they come with a larger intent 08:56 and that is to help build a community of faith. 08:59 You know, it's fascinating, 09:01 we recruit and we talk to people 09:03 and say, okay, 09:04 we have a horrible offer for you. 09:06 You pay your own way here, 09:07 you find your own job, there's no real security. 09:10 We train you, you work really hard 09:11 at your own job, 09:12 you work really hard at your mission 09:14 and there's gonna be a high failure rate 09:16 and a lot of people that you think 09:18 you're bringing to Christ, it's gonna be heartbreaking 09:20 but in the end you'll probably build a church. 09:23 That's our offer, what do you think? 09:26 And a surprising number of people 09:27 say yes because, 09:29 then they only say because God calls them. 09:31 Right. 09:32 Well that's a blessing. Amen. 09:34 Now another innovative thing that's happening here 09:37 is you're looking for a digital pastor. 09:39 What's it all about? 09:41 Well, that's part of a strategy. 09:43 Now, let's just, let's just... 09:48 Let's just admit that our church planting strategy 09:51 with tent makers is an experiment. 09:56 So now we have an experiment within that experiment, 10:00 where we are recruiting 10:03 a digital pastor and having them. 10:09 Sorry, what is a digital pastor? 10:10 A digital pastor is someone who forms an internet church. 10:13 Okay. 10:14 So, here the members of a church 10:17 of a digital pastor would be someone 10:19 who goes their YouTube site, 10:21 at least once a month and gains spiritual knowledge 10:25 and strength and a beginning, 10:27 a beginning relationship with Christ from that site. 10:30 So, you know the pastor in most cases 10:33 wouldn't even meet his or her members. 10:37 Well, a digital church could have members 10:40 from all over the world. 10:42 So we're recruiting right now and we think we're talking to 10:44 some amazing people 10:46 and we're saying okay, come here, 10:48 same deal, we can hardly pay you anything, 10:51 you're gonna work really hard, 10:53 but we want you to build a digital church, 10:56 have thousands of members all over the world, 10:58 and we want to invest in trying to have 11:02 as many of your members as possible 11:03 from Northern New England. 11:05 And then we want you to hold meetups. 11:08 We want you to go around places in Northern New England, 11:12 and we want you to invite your members 11:16 to meet you face to face. 11:18 And when you go to various places, 11:19 we want you to meet those, 11:21 meet your members with our church planting teams. 11:25 We want to try and transition digital members 11:29 into a physical, spiritual seeking community. 11:33 That's nice. 11:34 And have a pipe way, 11:35 so people who go on the internet, 11:38 out of curiosity, then end up, some of them, 11:41 a few of them in actual fellowship 11:44 and eventually actual church members 11:47 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 11:49 proclaiming the soon coming of Christ. 11:51 Fantastic. 11:52 I wish we had more time to talk about this, 11:54 but God bless you in what you're doing. 11:56 Thank you, Gary, I appreciate it. 11:57 Our viewers at home, pray for the mission field 11:59 that is the Northern New England Conference. 12:01 God has given tremendous ideas, creative thoughts 12:05 and it looks like He's also providing people 12:08 to meet these needs. 12:10 Please pray for them this will develop that 12:11 the Kingdom of God will be expanded 12:13 in these territories. 12:14 We'll be right back after this break. |
Revised 2020-03-02