Participants:
Series Code: MTS
Program Code: MTS002604A
|
00:07 Turning potatoes into porcupines
00:09 facilitates mission in Georgia. 00:12 A man tithes 100 cows in Tanzania, 00:15 and the sights and sounds of Chicago 00:18 coming up next. 00:51 Hello and welcome to Mission 360, 00:53 I'm Gary Krause. 00:55 Today's program is coming to you 00:56 from the city of Chicago in the United States. 01:00 Back in the 1800's Dr. David Paulsen 01:03 and Dr. John Harvey Kellogg moved into the heart of Chicago 01:07 to start the Chicago Medical Mission, 01:10 an urban center of influence 01:12 administered to the poor and needy of that city. 01:15 But at the turn of the century 01:16 Dr. David Paulsen got a vision to start 01:20 a sanatorium out in the countryside. 01:23 And I am now standing 01:24 in what was once the countryside, 01:27 Hinsdale, now a suburb of Chicago. 01:30 Behind me you can see 01:31 the Hinsdale Adventist Hospital, 01:33 and this is the location of the sanatorium 01:36 that was established by Dr. Paulsen. 01:38 People from all over the world came here 01:41 to the Hinsdale Sanatorium for health and healing. 01:45 Well, on today's program we'll be looking at mission 01:47 all around the world but first up, 01:49 let's travel to the country of Georgia 01:51 to see an urban center of influence in action. 02:01 How do you turn a potato into a porcupine? 02:04 That's exactly what children in the country of Georgia 02:06 are learning today in their English class. 02:09 This is their second lesson about fruits and vegetables. 02:12 They're learning the names of common vegetables 02:14 as they transform them into animals 02:16 and modes of transportation. 02:19 Ginta, their teacher, 02:20 uses interactive teaching methods 02:22 to keep them engaged. 02:24 And even includes their parents in the action. 02:29 They're studying a variety of topics 02:30 ranging from numbers to colors. 02:33 We just enjoy, 02:34 even if somebody don't know something, 02:36 we just show the color and remind them 02:40 how to pronounce it correctly and we just enjoy it. 02:46 Originally from Latvia, Ginta came to Georgia 02:49 to spend a year volunteering 02:50 at this Global Mission Urban Center of Influence. 02:54 She started a hand on English class for children 02:57 and she's very proud of her student's creations. 02:59 Maybe I can show something. 03:04 Like, yeah, you see from one of the lessons 03:09 when we learned about animals, 03:12 we made butterflies like this on previous lesson. 03:17 Pause up. 03:22 And previous lesson when we learned something 03:25 like fruits and vegetables. 03:27 We made just stamps for 03:31 lemon and pepper, like this. 03:38 But living in a different culture 03:39 can bring certain challenges and adjustments. 03:43 It's really hard for me, you know, 03:45 you are from other country and they don't know you. 03:48 They, in beginning start watching 03:50 what I'm doing, how I'm doing, 03:52 but now they start to be like friends for me 03:55 and today even a few said, teacher, we love you. 03:59 It's very nice and the parent's, 04:01 it's the same for them. 04:03 In the beginning they, 04:04 it was very like, distant, distance, 04:06 and afterwards they start to, 04:08 yeah, I guess they're starting to trust. 04:12 Ginta has gotten to know 04:13 these students through these programs. 04:15 And finds it easier to share a hopeful message 04:17 when a relationship has been established. 04:20 Not just be a teacher, but be like friends for them. 04:24 And I really hope will be a possibility to tell them 04:28 more about Jesus 04:30 and somebody who very loves them. 04:33 Fifteen year old Simon has been coming 04:35 to Ginta's English classes over the last few months. 04:39 After many questions and conversations, 04:41 Simon is eager to study the Bible 04:43 and the Adventist message. 04:46 I'm interested in Christ's second coming. 04:50 I'm going through the Bible lessons 04:52 in preparation for baptism. 04:54 My life has changed. 04:58 Through these programs, about 15-20 people in this town 05:01 started Bible studies with Gotcha, 05:03 a global mission pioneer, 05:05 and a small group meets each Sabbath. 05:09 Ginta is encouraged to share the love of Jesus 05:12 with the community through English classes, 05:14 despite the challenges. 05:16 Please pray for Ginta as she develops friendships 05:19 with students and parents in Georgia. 05:22 Thank you for your continued support 05:24 of Global Mission Projects like these. 05:28 I'm here in the suburbs of Chicago in Illinois 05:32 and with me is Pastor Andres Flores 05:35 who is the senior pastor of the Epic Church in Chicago, 05:39 but also the pastor of this church plant here. 05:42 Describe what we're standing in here, Pastor? 05:45 Well, we're standing at Yorktown Mall. 05:47 This is a mall right in the center of the city 05:50 of Lombard into DuPage County here in the state of Illinois. 05:52 We're about 25 to 30 minutes from the city of Chicago 05:56 and this is a church plant that was born 05:58 out of the original church, 06:00 Epic Church in the city of Chicago. 06:03 So you planted a church in Chicago, 06:06 but you weren't content with just growing that church. 06:08 You had a vision for planting other spaces 06:11 and this is the first one, 06:13 and this is Chicago suburbs, right? 06:15 Correct. Correct. 06:16 Yeah. So, how did you start here? 06:19 Well, we started with a vision to multiply churches 06:22 that are disciple making churches. 06:24 So we started with the developing 06:27 core group of people 06:28 that were passionate about planting other churches 06:31 in the Chicago land area. 06:33 And God provided a very strong group to start 06:36 with a new church plant and incubate a new core group. 06:41 And this is exactly what is happening right now. 06:43 Wonderful. 06:44 So, but let's just walk through here 06:46 and you can describe what we're seeing, 06:47 this is quite a nice space here you got. 06:49 How many people are coming on Sabbath afternoons now? 06:52 You know, we may have an average of 45-55 people 06:56 in the incubation process, and we're going to launch 07:00 the church publicly in the month of October. 07:02 Fantastic. 07:03 But the thing that really intrigues me 07:05 is as we walk outside of this space, 07:08 we come into something which is very unusual. 07:11 Describe what this is here? 07:13 Well, we are right now, in, 07:16 again as I said we are in a storefront, 07:18 we are renting, God provided storefront 07:22 here in the Yorktown Mall. 07:24 So our vision was not only to do church for us, 07:28 we wanted to have an outreach, a very strong outreach 07:31 and international presence in the community. 07:33 So basically using the terminology 07:36 that I understand, this is a center of influence, 07:39 because you are connecting the church to the community. 07:42 Exactly, so this is an interface, 07:44 it's a relational environment that serves as an interface 07:47 for us to connect with people in the community 07:50 through art, and music, and creativity. 07:53 It is a space where people can belong 07:56 and then as they belong they come to believe as well. 07:59 Fantastic. 08:01 So rather than expecting people to walk into a church, 08:04 and that's gonna be very difficult for many people, 08:06 you actually have an opportunity 08:08 here where you can put Christ's method into practice. 08:11 You can mingle 08:12 and you can connect with people. 08:13 Exactly, exactly. 08:15 And the point of this 08:16 is that as we invite people to create art, 08:20 they feel safe, they come with their families 08:23 and here we are ready 08:25 to start conversations with them. 08:26 I mean once we mingle with them, 08:28 once we start conversations with them, 08:30 many of them start building a relationship with us. 08:33 We initiate a relationship with them 08:34 and we show them the hope that we have, 08:37 the faith that we have and they feel safe to do that 08:40 in the context of this relational environment. 08:43 Fantastic. 08:44 So what are the activities 08:45 that take place here in the art space? 08:47 We do a lot of activities that, 08:50 all of them have to do either with art, even music, 08:54 and relationships 08:55 but we have a really strong ministry 08:58 through our with pottery, painting, 09:00 all sorts of creative activities 09:03 here for the entire community, crafts, and so on and so forth. 09:08 It's really beautiful. Wonderful. 09:09 So this is not only open here on Sabbath, 09:13 but it's also open at various times during the week? 09:16 It is. It is. 09:17 So we open, we open the Arts Space 09:20 throughout the week for different people 09:22 to come here, connect. 09:23 We invite different groups from the community, 09:25 we like to partner with different schools, 09:27 with different places, 09:29 different groups that are really interested 09:31 in bringing their children here, 09:33 but what that does is that it allows us to build bridges 09:35 with people in the community. 09:37 We are one more presence in the community, 09:39 we are not coming in as an outsider. 09:42 Now we have built credibility and what I really like 09:46 about this concept is that 09:48 it's not short term credibility, 09:49 it's longer term credibility 09:51 that allows us to really be here without them 09:54 feeling that we're trying to gain something for them. 09:57 Instead we are trying to give them something 10:00 that they can be blessed with. 10:01 Fantastic. 10:03 That's so important that 10:04 you're not seen as an outsider coming in, 10:06 but you're actually someone in the community, 10:09 caring for the community. 10:10 Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. 10:12 Now, before you were telling me 10:14 the story of a family from another religion. 10:17 Can you just briefly tell that story again 10:20 of how this little boy's life has been touched? 10:22 Yes, absolutely. 10:23 This is a family just from 10:25 a different religious background. 10:26 And the little boy, he's a beautiful boy, 10:28 he's autistic and again they do not belong 10:31 to our denomination or to our Christian faith 10:34 but the beauty of it is that 10:35 through the relational environment, 10:37 this boy, he's blind and he got curious 10:41 because of the music that the praise team was practicing. 10:44 He came into the art space, into the worship center 10:47 and he asked one of the praise leaders 10:49 if he could sing with them and she said, yes. 10:52 Now the beautiful thing about 10:53 this is that in the middle of the song, 10:55 he asked the question, who is God? 10:58 Tell me about this God of yours? 11:00 And she started to unpack the beauty of God 11:03 and who is He and then the following week, 11:06 even his family came into the worship space as well 11:08 and we have a really strong relationship 11:10 with them right now. 11:11 So this little boy, he's blind, he's autistic, 11:14 he was in the Arts Space, he was drawn to the music 11:17 and he asked whether he could join the singers. 11:20 And then during the singing, he asked, "Who is God?" 11:22 Exactly. That is a beautiful story. 11:25 Now the other dimension of that, 11:26 that I really, really like is that the person 11:30 he asked was not yet a baptized Seventh-day Adventist, 11:33 she's participating and she was the one 11:36 who told him about God. 11:37 That's correct. That's correct. It's beautiful, beautiful. 11:39 And they have developed a relationship, 11:41 to stay in a relationship with that family 11:44 and I think that would have never happened 11:46 in a traditional evangelistic setting. 11:49 That took place in an open relational setting 11:53 such as the Arts Space. 11:55 So, as you said earlier, you're providing a context 11:58 where they can start to feel as if they're home, 12:01 as if they're belonging and that then provides a space 12:04 for them to start believing? 12:06 Exactly. Wonderful. 12:09 Well, you know, viewers at home, 12:11 what a terrific idea this is, right? 12:14 In the heart of a shopping mall, 12:16 I mean if this was a church plant 12:18 just out on the street somewhere, 12:19 you would not have many people coming past, 12:21 particularly here in the suburbs. 12:23 But here you have a shopping mall, 12:25 you have a busy children's playground right here 12:29 and a space where people can come 12:31 where they can find community. 12:34 It's an opportunity for Adventist believers 12:36 to mingle with people in the public 12:38 and we're starting to see how lives are being touched. 12:41 Pastor Andres, thank you so much 12:42 for sharing with us today. 12:44 Thank you. 12:45 And please pray for Epic, 12:46 the Church that's now operating in downtown, Chicago. 12:50 The plant here in the suburbs that 12:52 God will continue to bless 12:54 and grow this wonderful ministry. 12:57 We'll be right back after this break. |
Revised 2020-03-02