A missionary couple endures
a turbulent time in Cambodia.
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An engineer helps
build churches in Peru,
00:00:12.57\00:00:15.91
and the sights
and sounds of Panama,
00:00:15.94\00:00:17.78
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 Panama City in Panama.
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Panama, of course, is
famous for the Panama Canal.
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And I'm actually standing
at the southern entrance
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to this canal, the
Pacific Ocean side,
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and it stretches
some 80 kilometers
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across to the Atlantic Ocean.
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This
revolutionized transportation
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because before
this canal was built
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ships had the arduous journey
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of having to travel
down the Pacific Coast,
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all the way to Cape
Horn, around Cape Horn,
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up north to the United
States, Northeast to Europe.
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And travel time
was cut tremendously,
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transportation
costs cut, incredibly,
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and of course it
came with sacrifice
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the French
started building the canal
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back in the 1800s,
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but they had to stop
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because of
engineering difficulties
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and because so many
men were dying on the job.
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The United States
completed the canal in 1914.
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We'll be
learning more about Panama
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and mission in
Panama on this program,
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but first up
let's travel to Cambodia
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to learn the story
of a missionary couple
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who faced many challenges.
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During the 1970s
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it was a turbulent
time in Southeast Asia.
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With ongoing war in
Vietnam and Cambodia.
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Two young missionaries
fresh out of college,
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arrived in Cambodia to
establish new mission work.
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We got married.
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And right after the honeymoon,
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we came to Phnom Penh, Cambodia,
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which was our
mission field for five years
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or so we thought.
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And we set foot
on this building,
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which was supposed to
be our honeymoon suite.
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The first floor
was the classrooms.
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Second floor will
be more classrooms,
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plus the church.
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Then the third floor
will be the apartments
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for the five
student missionaries
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that came from America to
work here to teach English.
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So the sign in front will say,
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SDA English Language Institute.
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On the fourth storey,
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you will see the balcony
that just above the flag,
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and that's the place we
spend a lot of time praying
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because in those years,
we had frequent blackouts.
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We could see during the day,
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F-111 Fighter
Bombers coming from an angle,
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swooping down, and
then going up again.
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And before going up,
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you could see rockets
being fired from the plane,
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up and down, up and down.
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They came in waves.
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So there was the
military campaigns,
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and then on top,
on the fourth floor,
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many a times we claim Psalm 91.
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"You shall not be
afraid of the danger by night,
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nor the arrow
that flies by day."
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We said, "Lord,
You have promised,
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we shall not be afraid
of the B-52 Bombers by day
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and the rockets
that flew by night."
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You know, the
rockets were very dangerous.
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And so I told my wife,
there's nothing to worry about.
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When you hear the
sound, you are okay.
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And when you
don't hear the sound,
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either you're
alive or you're dead.
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Just one of those two options.
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So we're
dependent on the Lord a lot
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on that fourth floor balcony.
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And one night,
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we heard a lot of
rocket fires in the cities.
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So we went to the fifth
floor, and we looked down.
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Almost the entire outskirt
of Phnom Penh was on fire.
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So we said this is it.
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This is it.
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Whichever direction
you look everywhere,
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the fire.
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GT, Ivy, and the
student missionaries
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were evacuated to Vietnam.
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But their story
didn't end there.
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They prepare to
return to Cambodia
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and face new challenges.
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I'm in Panama City in
the country of Panama.
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And my guest is the President
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of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church in Panama,
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Pastor Jose de Gracia,
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thank you so much
for joining us today.
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Can you please describe
for me the territory of Panama
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where the church is operating?
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Panama extents
75,000 square kilometers
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with more than 4 million
people living in the country.
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Panama is mostly a
cosmopolitan country,
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all
nationalities live in Panama.
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It's a melting pot.
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Many people are attracted here
because of the Panama Canal.
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When you look around you
see many kinds of people.
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And that's a good thing.
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We love each ethnicity,
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and we can live
together in peace.
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This is also a country
with religious liberty.
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We can preach,
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we can hold church
services in public squares.
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Wherever we want, we
can preach the Word of God,
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and there's tolerance.
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Now, what are
the major challenges
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that you face as a
church here in Panama?
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Our greatest
challenge is to reach the city.
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On average, 200 to 300 families
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live in each of the
buildings behind us.
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Our greatest
challenge is to know
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how to bring the
Adventist message
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to the people in the city.
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So we carefully
plan to reach to people
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who live in these
apartment buildings.
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There are more
than 2 million people
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in the capital city of Panama.
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That's half of all
the country's population
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in one city.
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Big challenge.
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Big challenge.
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So, Pastor, what sorts of things
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are you doing in the city
to try to reach the people?
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We're working to
start small groups
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inside each building,
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meeting people
and making friends
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with the residents in
the apartment complex.
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We hold weekly meetings
and recreating strategies
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to reach the entire population,
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through initiatives like
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feeding the needy
with missionary soup.
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We also have the
missionary taxi ministry
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and other creative outreach
initiatives around the city.
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So can you tell me an
experience of somebody
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who has been
influenced by the taxi ministry?
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So we have a taxi ministry.
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Every Adventist member
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who owns transportation
vehicles in Panama,
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have a label that says
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safe taxi
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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When a
passenger enters the taxi,
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the drivers play a
CD or a cassette tape
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to welcome the rider.
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The message says
welcome Mr. Passenger.
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You have gotten
into a safe taxi,
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an Adventist taxi.
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We want to
encourage you to love Jesus
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and study His Word.
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Then a message
of inspiration plays
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to leave a positive impression
on the passenger's mind.
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On Fridays, the last
taxi ride is free of charge.
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This way the
driver has an opportunity
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to explain that the Sabbath
begins after this last ride.
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The Sabbath.
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Yes, it's free of
charge because of the Sabbath.
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So the Adventist taxi
drivers tell the passengers
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this ride will cost you nothing
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because I've
dedicated this ride to God.
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And they go out of
their way to help passengers
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with heavy luggage and suitcases
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like carrying
them to their door.
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Then the driver
waves goodbye and explains
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that they're going home
to enjoy the Lord's Day.
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Oh, very nice.
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Now, Pastor, I know
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that Christ's method of ministry
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is very important to you.
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Why is Christ's
method so, such a priority?
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Sister Ellen White explains
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Christ's method is the
only one that gets true results.
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Christ's method
is the best approach,
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that's why pastors,
laymen, elders, deacons,
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every member here
00:10:39.37\00:10:40.70
is emphasizing
Christ's method of ministering.
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To befriend
people, supply their needs,
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show love and sympathy
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and only then we can
invite people to follow Jesus.
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Then people come to church
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and stay to
receive God's blessing.
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This is our emphasis
here at the Panama Union.
00:11:01.29\00:11:03.59
Wonderful.
00:11:06.63\00:11:07.96
So what are your hopes
for the future of the church
00:11:08.00\00:11:11.03
here in Panama?
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My hope for my country is
to preach the gospel quickly
00:11:14.94\00:11:18.64
that Jesus may come soon.
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To preach the gospel to
four and half million people
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is one of the
greatest challenges we have.
00:11:25.88\00:11:29.52
But in the end, I want
to shout with my church.
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We have finished the
gospel preaching in Panama.
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That's my hope.
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That's my challenge.
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That's my passion,
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to work until the gospel's
finally preached to everyone
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in all of Panama.
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Gracias, Pastor.
00:11:50.21\00:11:51.54
Thank you for
sharing with us today.
00:11:51.57\00:11:52.91
Thank you. Thank you.
00:11:52.94\00:11:54.28
Viewers at home,
please pray for the church
00:11:54.31\00:11:56.18
here in Panama pray,
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pray for the
pastors, the leaders,
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and the church members,
00:11:59.45\00:12:00.95
and pray for this
challenge here of Panama City.
00:12:00.98\00:12:04.19
People there who need to
hear the good news about Jesus.
00:12:04.22\00:12:06.96
We'll be right
back after this break.
00:12:06.99\00:12:08.86