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Series Code: MTS
Program Code: MTS002603B
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00:08 Welcome back to Lewiston, Maine.
00:11 If you've missed part of this program 00:13 or any other of our Mission 360 TV programs, 00:17 you can always go to m360.tv, 00:20 and there you'll find our programs, 00:22 many other mission stories. 00:24 Next up, let's hear the story 00:25 of a pioneer Adventist missionary. 00:28 My guest today is an editor for the encyclopedia 00:31 of Seventh-day Adventists. 00:33 Overseen by the office 00:34 of archives, statistics, and research, 00:36 this new reference work will include 00:38 thousands of entries from around the world, 00:40 on a variety of topics, including mission work. 00:44 I'm here with Pastor Renato Stencel 00:47 from the South American division. 00:48 Welcome, Pastor, 00:50 thank you for interviewing with us 00:51 on Mission 360 TV today. 00:52 Thank you very much for your invitation. 00:55 Yes, yes, so you'll be sharing a story 00:57 on a missionary named John Lipke 00:59 who served in your division. 01:01 Yes, he was a German missionary. 01:04 A pioneer who came to Brazil, 01:07 he was born in 1875 01:10 and when he was 19 years old, 01:14 he was supposed to serve in the army 01:17 and then the beautiful story starts there. 01:21 Great, great. 01:22 So, how did he get into missionary work? 01:25 Well, he met a pastor, a German pastor 01:28 by the name of Richard Conradi, in Berlin, Germany. 01:33 And he got to know the gospel through this pastor, 01:38 and he was baptized with 19 years old. 01:41 Wow, praise God. 01:42 And then when he was supposed to go 01:44 to the army, when he would complete 20, 01:47 he came to America in the company 01:50 of another pastor who by the name was Otto Lipke. 01:55 So they were both envisioned 01:58 with the passion to serve the Lord, 02:00 and they came to America 02:02 because they would not want to serve the army 02:04 but to the Lord. 02:06 So they came to America 02:08 and then they started working in Battle Creek. 02:13 So this missionary happened to know Dr. Kellogg 02:18 and he learned a lot of lessons, 02:20 important lessons with Dr. Kellogg. 02:23 He still worked with Dr. Kellogg 02:26 in Cavin's Milk Factory, 02:30 which is very interesting because 02:32 there was a lot of patients in the sanatorium, 02:36 that were allergic to lactoses. 02:39 Oh. 02:40 And at that time, Dr. Kellogg knew that 02:43 the Cavin's milk were feedable 02:46 for those allergic to lactoses. 02:49 And Pastor Lipke which at that time 02:53 was simply a missionary in America happened to work 02:56 in this specific department. 02:59 So, is a long, long and beautiful story of this, 03:04 this missionary. 03:05 Great, so it sounds like 03:06 he was pretty involved in medical mission work, 03:09 is that correct? 03:10 Yes, he began with this area. 03:12 That was his first challenge, 03:15 and he worked here in America for two years. 03:20 This was the right amount of time for him 03:24 to develop some skills in the area of health. 03:28 So he worked and studied in Battle Creek, 03:32 in the medical missionary school, 03:35 that Dr. Kellogg opened. 03:38 And then he went 03:39 to the Union College in Nebraska. 03:44 There he found his future wife by the name of Augusta Lipke. 03:49 So she was from Missouri, and they met together 03:54 and they married, 03:55 and then they decided to be missionaries. 03:59 And from the United States of America, 04:01 they went to South America. 04:04 And this happened in 1898, October. 04:08 So that was the precise time 04:11 in which they arrived in our country, Brazil. 04:14 Okay, great. 04:16 So what did they do in Brazil as missionaries? 04:20 I used to say that Lipke used to live with Dr. Kellogg 04:25 and I believe that many people who worked with Dr. Kellogg, 04:29 they had a very broad view of life 04:32 and they think big. 04:34 While living with Dr. Kellogg, 04:38 Pastor John Lipke got some ideas 04:43 and he went to Brazil. 04:45 The first thing that he decided to do 04:48 was to open a school. 04:51 So he went to a city 04:54 that was in the very countryside area 04:58 of one state called Santa Catarina, 05:04 and then there he opened 05:06 a kind of a college school. 05:11 And then what happened? 05:12 He started teaching and preparing the first pastors 05:17 and missionaries that would work in Brazil 05:22 and in South America. 05:24 He was envisioned for education. 05:27 That was his first job in Brazil. 05:31 Fascinating. 05:32 So it sounds like 05:34 he wanted to pass on that vision to others 05:38 to continue that work in Brazil? 05:40 What was the impact that you found 05:43 in your research that Pastor Lipke had 05:46 in his mission work in Brazil? 05:48 Well as I mentioned to you, he was a man of big ideas, 05:52 so he was first of all colporteur in Brazil. 05:57 He was a teacher. 05:58 He was a principal of this school. 06:02 Then he was president of one of the conferences. 06:06 Then he became the president of the first college in Brazil, 06:11 which opened in 1915. 06:14 That today is UNASP, that you call. 06:17 Yes. University of Sao Paulo. 06:20 But something very remarkable happened in 1920. 06:25 1920, Pastor Lipke 06:28 look to all the work of the church 06:30 in Brazil and he said, 06:33 something is missing in the church. 06:36 One of the segments of the church was not open. 06:41 And what was it? The medical work. 06:46 So and then he started looking after people 06:49 that would go to America to prepare 06:51 and do the medical course in Loma Linda, 06:54 but no one show up. 06:56 And then he said, 06:58 so if no one wants to go, I will go. 07:03 So he asked for a license and then he came to Loma Linda, 07:08 and here he stayed for six years, 07:12 working as a evangelist, a colporteur, 07:17 paying his fees and then he finished his course, 07:21 went back to Brazil to serve as a medical doctor. 07:27 Wow, that's fascinating. 07:28 So, and then he opened the first clinic 07:30 that became the first hospital 07:33 and then we have today, 07:35 several hospitals in Brazil, several clinics, 07:38 and spas and so on. 07:39 And praise God for having Pastor Lipke in our country. 07:43 Right. 07:45 It sounds like Pastor Lipke made a huge impact 07:47 in a variety of areas, whether medical, 07:50 administrative or in education. 07:52 It's such a blessing to hear of his story. 07:55 Thank you so much, Pastor Stencel, 07:57 for sharing the story of Pastor Lipke with us today. 08:00 Thank you. 08:02 Reporting from Mission 360, I'm Chelsea Tyler. 08:05 Next up, we travel back to Europe, 08:07 to see your 13th Sabbath offerings in action. 08:14 People in the church many times don't understand 08:17 what I am talking about. 08:20 This is the biggest challenge for me. 08:22 How I can be part of the world as a salt, 08:26 where Jesus said you have to be salt, 08:28 and to be close with God. 08:30 This is my challenge for me and for my family. 08:34 To be very close with God 08:36 and to be close with the people outside. 08:43 Mostly, I am working with non-Christian people. 08:51 Pastor Jan lives in Ko ice, Slovakia. 08:54 His passion is working with people 08:56 who don't know about Jesus love for them, 08:59 especially the Roma community. 09:01 Many people will not associate with the Roma 09:04 and find ways to keep their distance. 09:06 Years of cultural differences have created a barrier 09:09 between the ethnic groups in the region. 09:11 But Jan feels called to reach out anyway. 09:14 He often organizes activities 09:16 with the Pathfinder club and outings 09:18 for underprivileged children and youth. 09:21 If you are working with the children, 09:22 you can touch parent's heart. 09:26 If I am good for children, parents are happy as well. 09:30 Pastor Jan works in the outskirts of KoA ice, 09:34 among the Roma community. 09:35 With each visit, he brings gifts. 09:38 These simple presents open the doors 09:40 and show them that he cares about them. 09:44 The Roma have challenging lives. 09:46 In this house, seven families live together. 09:50 One of the mothers is a Seventh-day Adventist 09:52 and she teaches the children stories from the Bible. 10:06 Pastor Jan stops here to greet his friends 10:09 and bring a word of encouragement. 10:12 Before leaving, the group takes a picture together, 10:15 to remember this special moment. 10:24 Meet Monika. 10:26 From a young age 10:27 she really wanted to participate 10:28 in activities with the Pathfinders. 10:30 But she faced a lot of challenges 10:32 with her family 10:33 because they believed the Adventists 10:34 would not be a good influence in her life. 10:38 Pastor Jan taught Monika 10:39 important truths from the Bible. 10:42 He also helped her find strength to succeed. 10:45 Despite her family's opposition and the scarce opportunities 10:48 in her community, today Monika is an example 10:52 to others in her village. 10:53 She is well educated 10:55 having graduated from university 10:57 and serves as an educational coordinator 10:59 at her town's community center. 11:02 Monika was very special person. 11:04 She was like a miracle because she wanted 11:08 to know about Jesus, everything. 11:09 She wanted to read Bible properly, 11:12 and then she started to teach another Bible. 11:18 I love to see the children coming with joy in their eyes. 11:24 They can see that I've changed because of Jesus. 11:29 I am so happy when they say 11:31 they want to be closer to Jesus and have a story like mine. 11:36 Monika and her husband now lead three groups of youth 11:40 and children at the local Adventist Church. 11:42 They hope to disciple others in the community 11:45 and mend broken relationships so God's Church can grow. 11:49 Please pray for Pastor Jan's 11:50 and Monika's outreach ministries. 11:53 This quarter, your 13th Sabbath offering 11:55 will support this work among vulnerable children 11:58 in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. 12:01 It will also build a church 12:02 with a children's center in Bulgaria 12:04 and assist Adventist education in Spain and Germany. 12:08 Thank you for your support of the 13th Sabbath offering. 12:22 Well, thanks so much for joining us on today's program, 12:26 and I hope that you've been inspired and challenged 12:28 by our 360 degree view of mission around the world. 12:33 In urban areas, in rural areas, 12:35 we see that people on the frontlines of mission 12:38 are planting churches, touching lives, 12:40 putting Christ's method of ministry into practice. 12:43 And I want to thank you for you, 12:45 playing your part in supporting this mission 12:47 through prayer, through your finances, 12:50 through your personal involvement. 12:52 And whether you pray, whether you give 12:54 or whether you go or if you do all three, 12:56 you are part of our Adventist mission family. 12:59 And I want to thank you also for the way 13:01 that you continue to spread the importance 13:03 of mission in your churches, 13:05 in your families, telling your kids 13:07 because we can never lose sight of the flame of mission. 13:11 For Adventist Mission, I'm Gary Krause, 13:13 and I hope that you can join me next time 13:15 right here on Mission 360. 13:18 Amazing Grace 13:24 How sweet the sound 13:30 That saved a wretch 13:37 like me 13:43 I once was lost 13:49 But now I am found 13:55 T'was blind but now 14:01 I see 14:06 T'was Grace that taught 14:12 My heart to fear 14:18 And Grace, 14:21 My fears relieved 14:30 How precious did 14:35 That grace appear 14:41 The hour I first believed |
Revised 2020-03-02