This quarter's 13th
Sabbath Offering projects
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in the trans-European region.
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The early days
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of the Adventist
Church in Venezuela,
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and the sights
and sounds of Panama,
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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 Panama City in Panama.
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Now, Panama is
probably most famously known
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for the Panama Canal.
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But it's also a remarkably
beautiful country with
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rainforests,
remarkable range of wildlife,
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almost 1,000 species of birds,
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so it's a
paradise for bird watchers.
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But behind me, you can
see the bridge of the Americas
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which crosses the Panama Canal.
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And if you drive
across this bridge,
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you go on to Costa Rica,
to Nicaragua, to Guatemala,
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then to Mexico, then
to the United States.
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And over here you can
see the very busy port
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of the Panama
Canal where ships come
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and they load and
unload their freight.
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But on today's program,
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we're going to be looking at
mission right here in Panama.
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But first up, let's travel
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to the
trans-European division to see
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what's happening with your
13th Sabbath Offering projects.
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Mercy was
determined to become a lawyer,
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even if it meant
leaving her friends and family
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to study on the
Island of Cyprus.
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The sites, the food,
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and the
languages were so different
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from what she was
used to in Zimbabwe.
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When I first came here,
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there was like some sort
of cultural shock, for sure.
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It was different
from what I was used to.
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With her friends and
family thousands of miles away,
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Mercy felt lonely.
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She missed her local
Adventist Church in Zimbabwe,
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so she went online and founded
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English speaking
Adventist congregation
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not far from campus.
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The church helped me
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'cause that's
where I met my friends.
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Every week I look
forward to come to church
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'cause that's
where I feel welcomed
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and I feel at home.
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Mercy quickly
realized she wasn't alone.
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She met others living in
Cyprus from all over the globe.
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Many of them were also
far from family and friends
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and were
experiencing loneliness.
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To satisfy
various language needs,
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there are several Adventist
congregations in Nicosia,
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the capital city.
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One holds services in
Greek, another in Bulgarian,
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and the third in English.
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Most weeks they meet separately,
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but occasionally
they come together
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as one big group.
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This Adventist
community is known as a place
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where all are welcomed.
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So it isn't unusual
for international residents
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and students of various
faiths to attend church here.
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We embrace everyone.
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And like, most of our
students are not Adventist,
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it's just like if
you were Adventist,
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but, like, we are
all treated the same
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and we are well taken
care of by the church.
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Things were going well
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as Mercy made
more friends at church,
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but it didn't take
long for her to run
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into other obstacles
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during her first year of school.
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At school my exam
was on a Saturday.
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And I couldn't
take it on a Saturday.
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So I went to talk to them
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and they didn't allow me
to take it on a different day.
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I felt so crushed,
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and I felt so
defeated, that I even cried.
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That's when I went to the pastor
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and I told him,
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and he wrote a
letter to the school.
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We prayed and like,
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I got so
encouraged to know that,
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like, there are people behind me
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and there are people
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who'll support
what you believe in.
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And then they allowed me
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to write the exam
on a different date.
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And it's a miracle,
it was on my birthday,
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when I wrote that exam.
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And I got an A.
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The Adventist Church in Cyprus
is determined to be a refuge
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for anyone who needs community,
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whether they were
born on the island
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or are far from home.
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Through Christ's
method of ministry,
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the members spread a message
of hope throughout the island.
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There are many challenges
that prevent the gospel
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from being shared,
including language barriers,
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social inequality,
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and a general
disinterest in religion.
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Mercy's church in
Nicosia is working harder
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to meet the physical
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and spiritual
needs of the community.
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Currently, their
rented space limits
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what they can do,
but one day they hope
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to have a building of their own.
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This quarter a portion of
your 13th Sabbath Offering
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will construct an urban center
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of influence and
church for the congregations
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in Nicosia, Cyprus.
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Please consider how
you can support this work.
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So more people can
find a church family
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and feel at home.
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I want to
encourage like, especially,
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students or those
people who are working here.
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We have to know that, like,
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we can't take
care of our own selves
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without the Lord.
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We have to trust God.
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So I want them to put
all their trust in God
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and it's gonna
make everything, like,
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everything is
going to be beautiful.
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Thank you for your support
of the 13th Sabbath offering.
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I'm here in Panama City
in the country of Panama,
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and my guest is Pastor Castellon
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who is the president of
the Metropolitan Conference,
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which takes in Panama City.
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Yes. Thank you
for joining me today.
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Gracias.
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Now when you look
at your territory,
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what is your biggest challenge?
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My biggest challenge in
Panama is to reach people
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who live in apartment buildings.
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There are many skyscrapers
in the metropolitan area,
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and it's not easy to gain access
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to the people living there.
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This is a great challenge.
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So we work with focus groups
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and small group
meetings with the people
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we already have a relationship
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and to live inside
those apartment complexes.
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This is the only way
we can get in contact
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with the people living in city
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and bring them
a message of hope.
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We have other challenges
within the metropolitan region.
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There are suburban
areas that we serve,
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where there are great needs.
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Our approach is to use
a variety of activities
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to reach the people
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and to give them the
message of salvation.
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In Panama, there are
also different cultures.
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Some culture groups
are difficult to reach,
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and we have not
been able to enter yet.
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One example is the
Chinese culture group.
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Fortunately, next month,
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we will welcome a
Chinese missionary to work
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with the centers of
influence in two places.
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One place is a
school where we already have
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some parents with
children studying there.
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So we are starting a
center of influence at a school.
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This school is
located near the largest pool
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of Chinese people in Panama.
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So we will use
this center of influence
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and the Chinese missionary
to support the ministry
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starting in August.
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So, Pastor, you have a
very diverse population here.
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Can you give me an
example of somebody
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who has come to know
Jesus through a ministry here?
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Yes.
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Our ministry here has
been very challenging,
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because upper and
middle class people
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are often busy
and it's hard to get
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the gospel
message across to them.
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But here is an example
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of how it has
worked in the past.
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We have a church that
meets for a long time,
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inside a hotel.
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In this place, we have
access to people of intellect
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of a high degree of education,
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people who are
financially stable.
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One such person, a
lady heard the gospel there.
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She happens to be
the wife of the manager
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of one of the
largest hotels in Panama.
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This woman accepted Jesus
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and learned the
truth of the Bible.
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On a Saturday, she was
baptized and embraced the church
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so strongly that she
also won her husband for God.
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In this hotel, we established
a center of influence,
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thanks to the work
of this new sister.
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Every Saturday she
would travel 100 kilometers
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to meet us at the hotel.
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Six months after
she was baptized,
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she had a very
challenging life experience.
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She went to the doctor
and was diagnosed with cancer.
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This group's church
leaders began to pray for her.
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She began
chemotherapy treatments.
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One and a half years later,
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she was healed
for the glory of God
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and declared free of cancer.
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She gives a powerful testimony
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to the Adventist
health message of reform.
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She first heard this
message in the Adventist Church.
00:10:46.78\00:10:50.68
Fortunately, she embraced it
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and was able to
adopt a healthy lifestyle.
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This was a great blessing
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because her cancer
disappeared completely.
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Today, she continues to testify
of the great blessings of God
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and passes forward
what she has learned.
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Now her husband was
transferred to Columbia
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to lead a hotel chain there.
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But they still
practice their faith.
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I am certain that
they have been embraced
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by the Adventist Church there.
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And the Lord
continues to perform miracles
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at different social levels here
in the metropolis of Panama.
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It is true that
at low income levels,
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the people accept
this message more widely.
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But the challenge is
still great at all levels.
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And we must proclaim
this wonderful message
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of Christ our Savior.
00:11:45.87\00:11:47.24
Wonderful! Yes.
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Pastor, what are your hopes
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for the future
here in your conference?
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Yeah.
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Our vision for the
Adventist conference
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is precisely to establish
here in the metropolis,
00:12:04.99\00:12:09.02
at least 80 churches,
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so that each one of the
sectors of the neighborhoods
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within the metropolitan
area get to know the message
00:12:15.26\00:12:19.23
of salvation and hope.
00:12:19.27\00:12:21.77
We have a great challenge,
00:12:21.80\00:12:24.17
but we know that just as
the challenges are great,
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our Almighty God
leads us to victory.
00:12:27.61\00:12:31.15
That's why our motto is
towards eternity with Jesus.
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Gracias, Pastor.
00:12:41.56\00:12:42.89
Thank you for sharing
with us. Thank you. Welcome.
00:12:42.92\00:12:45.19
And viewers at home,
00:12:45.23\00:12:46.66
please pray for
the mission field
00:12:46.70\00:12:48.06
of Panama City.
00:12:48.10\00:12:49.56
We'll be right
back after this break.
00:12:49.60\00:12:51.27