Welcome back to Panama City.
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And behind me you
can see the headquarters
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of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
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here in Panama.
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Next up, we travel back
to Silver Spring, Maryland
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to hear the story of the pioneer
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of Adventist work in Venezuela.
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My guest today
is Dr. Myrna Costa
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from the
inter-American Division.
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Dr. Costa is one of
the regional editors
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for the encyclopedia
of Seventh-day Adventists.
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And this brand
new reference work
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is overseen by the
Office of Archives,
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Statistics, and Research.
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It'll be full of thousands
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of entries in a
variety of topics,
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including
articles on mission work.
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And Dr. Costa, thank you so much
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for joining us on
Mission 360 TV today.
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Thank you very much.
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Today, you're going to tell us
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a story about a missionary
named Rafael Lopez Miranda.
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So why did you choose
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this particular
missionary to talk about?
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Well, that's a good question
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because the
author of this article
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is a very good friend of mine,
Dr. Lourdes Morales-Gudmundson.
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And she happens to be
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the granddaughter
of this missionary,
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Rafael Lopez Miranda.
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So may I talk to
you about her? Sure!
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Because she has
a book about him,
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Rafael Lopez
Miranda, and it's called
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"El Viajero,"
which is "The Traveler."
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She will have a new
edition this year in English.
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And this book is all about him.
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But in the article
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of the
encyclopedia will be very short.
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Right, right.
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So if people want the
full expanded version,
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they can read that book.
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Exactly. Great. Great.
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So talking about Lopez Miranda,
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was there ever a time
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that he
experienced God's protection
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as he served as a missionary?
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Yes, many times. Many times.
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When he was 10 or 12 years
old, he encountered two things.
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He was at the beach
and there was a shark,
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almost got him.
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And then another time in a zoo,
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a lion escaped and came charging
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at him but he escaped.
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So we know that God
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had something
special for this little boy.
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When he was a teenager,
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his father died in a shipwreck.
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That was sad.
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He was given the task
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of taking care of
his mom and sister,
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and that was too much for him.
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So he started drinking heavily.
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And until he met, who
was going to be his wife,
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the name was Esperanza Gortigo.
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And he stopped drinking,
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he married her,
they were very happy.
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They had a little boy,
the name was Rafaelito.
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But then again, sadness happened
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because when he
was six, the boy died.
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And again, he started drinking
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and some family
violence occurred.
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But God had other plans for him.
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Because one day
when he was walking home,
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he came across some
papers on the floor,
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he picked them up.
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And it's happened to
be two pages of the Bible.
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And John 3:16 was there.
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And he read it.
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And it really got to
him through what he went.
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And the next day,
colporteur came to his place
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and offered him some books.
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And also, again, talk
to him about John 3:16.
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So God had plan
for him ever since.
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And his
conversion was instantaneous.
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It just changes total
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his way of life and his family,
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just because the change
that had occurred in him,
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they all converted too.
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Wow! Praise God!
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Sounds like God was
really leading despite
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the tragedies he
faced, losses he had faced.
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Sounds like God
still had plans for him.
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And he was open
to God's leading.
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Yes. And he became a colporteur.
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So he distributed
books along the island.
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And he went to
the American Republic,
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and after that he
went to Venezuela,
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a place where the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
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had not been there.
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And he just felt the need to go
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and into the
jungles of Venezuela
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to talk to them
about Jesus soon coming
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and distribute books.
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So one day though,
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after arriving in San Cristobal,
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he thought he was,
in fact, let's go back,
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he encountered a death threat.
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Yeah, there was a priest that
didn't want him to be there.
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So they told him,
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"You better leave or
I'm going to have you kill."
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Well, of course, he
didn't pay any attention
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and he kept doing his work.
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At that time,
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he was already
known as the traveler
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and because he was
travelling from place to place,
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so they call him
and nicknamed him,
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the traveler.
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He was never to
return back to Puerto Rico.
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He was born in Puerto
Rico, I forgot to tell you that.
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And that's one thing that
why I chosen Puerto Rico too.
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He was never to return.
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And his wife
begged him to come back
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and soon ask him to
come back, but he didn't.
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And his wife sent
American flag to Venezuela,
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the mission to tell them
that he was an American citizen,
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just in case
something would happen.
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Right, right.
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So it sounded like he faced
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a number of serious
threats events with life.
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Were there any other dangers
to his life that he faced?
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Yes, as a matter of fact,
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at one time he
was in a restaurant,
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and he ordered some
food and the waiter came,
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brought him some food.
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And when the plate
was in front of him,
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he started praying, and
when he opened his eyes,
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he saw that the waiter
had taken his food away
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and was bringing
him another plate.
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And he asked, "Why?"
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And he said, "Well, I had
been instructed to poison you.
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But because I saw you
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and I heard you
praying, I couldn't do this."
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Wow!
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So it sounds like God was
really preserving his life
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throughout many
dangers that he faced.
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Yeah, but at the end,
he was staying at this inn.
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And one day, the owner told him,
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he had to leave.
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And he said,
"Seņora, we'll see you.
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I'll see you another
day at that eternal morning,
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we will see each other again."
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And she knew that
something was gonna happen.
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And sure enough, when he reached
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the creek nearby,
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there were some assassins
waiting in the shadows.
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And yes, they
shot and killed him.
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And to this day, my friend,
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Lourdes, she has the
hat that he was wearing,
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with bullet
holes and everything.
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So, yes, it's tragic,
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how our colporteurs
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and our
missionaries have suffered.
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Right, right.
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But sounds like despite
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everything he
was faithful to God,
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literally until
death just like Paul
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and a number of
other biblical figures
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where it sounds,
like, his impact,
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his legacy effects even those,
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you know, personally
today like your friends.
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Thank you so much Dr.
Costa for sharing the story
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of Rafael Lopez Miranda.
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Thank you. Thank
you for having me.
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Reporting for Mission
360, I'm Chelsy Tyler.
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Next up, we travelled to
the trans-European region
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to learn more about
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this quarter's
13th Sabbath Offerings.
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So we spoke to
some of the leaders
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in municipalities, the
mayors and these things
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through representatives,
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and we asked them
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what are the real
needs in the community.
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And one area
that really stuck out
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as a major need was loneliness.
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In Sortland, Norway,
loneliness is a key challenge
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among both the
elderly and the young.
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About one third of the teenagers
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here say they feel lonely.
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So this is why
we started thinking,
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well, what can we as a
church do to contribute
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and meet that need.
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We're trying and
failing and seeing what works,
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what doesn't work
and through that learning
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that don't necessarily know
the name of God and who He is.
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But a lot of people do
believe there is a God.
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And so, belief in God
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is quite
typical at the same time
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as traditional church
is seen as problematic
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in regard to the
core cultural values.
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This region was
one of the key areas
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for Adventism in Norway.
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We had areas here
with the highest density
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of Adventists in all of Norway.
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Now our churches are dying.
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Similar to many
places around the world,
00:10:03.47\00:10:05.67
the church has
lost its foothold,
00:10:05.70\00:10:08.04
struggling to be known as
00:10:08.07\00:10:09.40
an integral part
of the community.
00:10:09.44\00:10:11.74
Can the church still be
relevant here in Sortland?
00:10:11.77\00:10:14.61
Pastor Kenneth believes so.
00:10:14.64\00:10:16.81
The key is forming connections
00:10:16.85\00:10:18.55
where people are
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and meeting their
most painful needs.
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The family structures is,
00:10:22.85\00:10:25.05
sort of, something
also this under attack,
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you know, in this region,
00:10:28.39\00:10:30.36
so a lot of unstable
family relationships.
00:10:30.39\00:10:33.36
So we had a
family retreat recently.
00:10:37.87\00:10:40.94
We wanted to place
a focus upon families
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spending time together.
00:10:44.01\00:10:45.57
So that was the overall goal,
strengthening family bonds.
00:10:45.61\00:10:50.05
Over the six
days of the retreat,
00:10:50.08\00:10:52.05
the eight families
focused on spending
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wholesome time together,
00:10:54.15\00:10:55.98
organized activities like crafts
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and games provided
opportunities for bonding,
00:10:58.15\00:11:01.02
and a lot of
laughter and smiles.
00:11:01.06\00:11:03.53
It was very positive.
It was very encouraging.
00:11:03.56\00:11:06.03
They were so grateful
because these families
00:11:06.06\00:11:08.70
were also families
00:11:08.73\00:11:10.07
that couldn't
afford vacation themselves.
00:11:10.10\00:11:13.94
So this was part of it.
00:11:13.97\00:11:15.30
Also, we were offering
them a vacation experience.
00:11:15.34\00:11:17.61
And they were just so
grateful for that experience.
00:11:17.64\00:11:20.88
And friendships
building over that week,
00:11:20.91\00:11:24.11
we've spent together was...
00:11:24.15\00:11:25.61
So it was a very
encouraging time.
00:11:25.65\00:11:27.78
It has been sort
of quite touching,
00:11:27.82\00:11:30.59
also seeing how God
00:11:30.62\00:11:31.95
has been opening doors
that we did not expect.
00:11:31.99\00:11:35.59
When they see we as a
church really wanting the best
00:11:35.62\00:11:39.93
for the community,
00:11:39.96\00:11:41.96
so they've given
access where we can,
00:11:42.00\00:11:45.63
sort of, be quite
bold and open about faith,
00:11:45.67\00:11:49.67
and it's received
quite well as well.
00:11:49.70\00:11:52.27
So I think this is not
something we've been doing,
00:11:52.31\00:11:56.44
but it's seeing
how God is working
00:11:56.48\00:11:59.85
on the lives of people
and the hearts of people
00:11:59.88\00:12:01.58
and opening doors
that seemed very closed.
00:12:01.62\00:12:06.42
Please pray for church
members in Sortland, Norway.
00:12:06.45\00:12:09.42
Pray that God
uses them to overcome
00:12:09.46\00:12:11.63
the challenges of
loneliness, broken families,
00:12:11.66\00:12:14.60
and skepticism in the
community and that through this,
00:12:14.63\00:12:17.93
people can come to
know Jesus personally.
00:12:17.97\00:12:21.70
This quarter a portion of
your 13th Sabbath Offering
00:12:21.74\00:12:24.94
will help build a
centre of influence
00:12:24.97\00:12:26.88
for Pastor Kenneth
and the church members
00:12:26.91\00:12:28.84
to host programs and events
00:12:28.88\00:12:30.55
geared toward the community.
00:12:30.58\00:12:32.25
The offering will also help
00:12:32.28\00:12:33.62
construct an urban
center of influence in Cyprus
00:12:33.65\00:12:36.69
and establish a
church in Serbia.
00:12:36.72\00:12:39.12
Please consider
how you can support
00:12:39.15\00:12:41.02
these projects through prayer
and by giving to this offering.
00:12:41.06\00:12:45.13
Well, thank you so
much for joining us
00:13:00.78\00:13:02.31
on today's program.
00:13:02.34\00:13:03.95
I hope that
you've been challenged
00:13:03.98\00:13:05.61
and inspired by what
you've seen and heard.
00:13:05.65\00:13:09.08
As we've looked at
the pioneer early days
00:13:09.12\00:13:12.25
of mission in Venezuela,
00:13:12.29\00:13:14.36
as we looked at
mission here in Panama,
00:13:14.39\00:13:15.79
and we've looked at
00:13:15.82\00:13:17.16
what your 13th Sabbath Offerings
00:13:17.19\00:13:18.53
can do in Europe,
00:13:18.56\00:13:20.20
you can see that
there's many opportunities,
00:13:20.23\00:13:22.16
wonderful things are happening,
00:13:22.20\00:13:23.77
but we still
face many challenges.
00:13:23.80\00:13:26.23
And I want to thank you
so much for your support
00:13:26.27\00:13:28.40
of Adventist mission
to help make it possible.
00:13:28.44\00:13:31.57
Whether you pray for mission,
whether you give for mission,
00:13:31.61\00:13:35.14
whether you're personally
involved in mission, all three,
00:13:35.18\00:13:38.38
we consider you part of
our Adventist mission family,
00:13:38.41\00:13:40.98
our Adventist mission team.
00:13:41.02\00:13:42.82
So please continue to pray,
00:13:42.85\00:13:44.42
please continue to
give, please continue to go.
00:13:44.45\00:13:48.62
Well, for Adventist
Mission, I'm Gary Krause.
00:13:48.66\00:13:51.06
And I hope that you
can join me next time
00:13:51.09\00:13:53.09
right here on Mission 360.
00:13:53.13\00:13:55.20