Participants:
Series Code: MTS
Program Code: MTS002801A
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00:17 A young missionary embarks on a long-awaited mission.
00:21 The sights and sounds of Lyon, France, 00:23 an Adventist Mission in West Africa, 00:25 all this and much more coming up next 00:28 on Mission 360. 01:09 Hello, and welcome to Mission 360. 01:11 I'm Gary Krause. 01:12 Today's program is coming to you 01:14 from the city of Lyon in France. 01:17 This is an ancient city 01:18 stretching back some 2,000 years. 01:21 This is the place where for several centuries, 01:24 it served as the silk producing capital of the world. 01:27 Even today, it's Europe's major producer of silk. 01:30 It's also the birthplace of cinema 01:33 where the Lumiere brothers in 1895 01:35 created the first motion picture. 01:38 It's also the home of Interpol, 01:39 the international crime fighting organization, 01:42 but all these achievements fade into nothing 01:45 when we compare it to the topic of this program, 01:47 which is mission. 01:49 And we look at mission all over the world today, 01:50 but first up, let's travel to West Africa. 01:56 These ruins used to be a beautiful church. 01:59 Now this place has been claimed by plants. 02:02 But hope is not gone. 02:03 Just like these plants, 02:05 the Seventh-day Adventist Church 02:06 took root in this country 02:07 nearly 100 years ago. 02:10 In 1926, the first Adventist missionaries 02:12 to Liberia, 02:14 R. Helbig and E. Flammer arrived. 02:17 A year later, these German missionaries 02:19 established Liberia's first Adventist Church. 02:22 I started going to church here in 1989 02:26 with my late father 02:28 who was once a deacon of the church. 02:31 He used to carry me to church when I was a little child. 02:35 They built a school here and would encourage us, 02:38 the young children from the church, 02:39 to come here and go to school. 02:41 There I was in a school, and then he talked to me 02:44 to join the baptismal class in the church. 02:47 So at that time, 02:48 I used to come to church with my dad, 02:50 but I was not too regular. 02:52 But from his efforts, I was able to be convinced 02:55 and became a member of the church. 02:57 After Elder Maye was baptized, 02:58 the first Liberian civil war erupted. 03:01 Political and military conflict 03:03 forced many church members to flee. 03:05 During the war, both the church and the school 03:08 were burnt down by rebels. 03:12 So those who were left behind gave us information that 03:16 "Your church is broken down. 03:17 It's been burnt." 03:18 A place which was once a blessing 03:20 and a source of joy was now reduced to ruins, 03:24 but after the conflict subsided, 03:26 a faithful group worshiped in the only area 03:28 that survived the destruction. 03:30 To this day, they joyfully worship together 03:33 and are confident that if the place is rebuilt, 03:36 the congregation can be restored 03:38 to what it once was. 03:39 But sadly, this small group's funds 03:41 are limited. 03:42 It would take a miracle for them to reconstruct 03:44 even a portion of the building. 03:46 If I had money, I would do it on my own. 03:50 With the congregation that we have here, 03:52 we are not able to even fix one structure here. 03:56 So my anticipation is for the world church 03:59 to come to our aid 04:00 so that this place can be rebuilt. 04:03 Your 13th Sabbath Offering 04:05 will help rebuild the birthplace 04:07 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Liberia, 04:09 where a place of worship and a school 04:11 can be established again. 04:13 Please pray for God's people in Liberia 04:16 so that this dream can become a reality. 04:19 Thank you for your support 04:21 of the 13th Sabbath Offering this quarter. 04:52 My guest here in Lyon is Marianne 04:55 who is the communication director 04:57 for the South France Conference. 04:59 Marianne, thank you so much for joining us. 05:01 Thank you. 05:02 Could you describe the territory of the conference 05:04 where we're located here? 05:06 Okay, well, 05:08 France has two conferences north and south. 05:11 So you draw a line 05:12 between La Rochelle and above Geneva 05:14 'cause maybe people know Geneva more. 05:16 Yes. Yes. 05:17 And everything which is below that. 05:19 There are about 5,000 members. 05:22 The territory also includes Corsica... 05:24 Oh. And Monaco. 05:26 Okay. 05:27 And as there are lots of students, 05:30 big towns in the biggest cities of France, 05:33 we've got Lyon and Marseille. 05:36 And, but where the conferences is Montpellier, 05:40 that's another city town 05:42 as student town and Bordeaux as well. 05:45 All right, so... So lots of students. 05:46 Yeah. 05:48 So we're in Lyon which is a large city. 05:50 What are the challenges 05:52 you face in mission here in this conference? 05:56 One of the biggest challenges I think 06:00 is getting to... 06:06 Bring people to our churches, 06:08 for instance, things are very simple here. 06:10 We have to take things very simple here 06:13 because I think people are very wary 06:15 about religion 06:17 as in a general way. 06:20 And over the past 15 years 06:23 small groups has been something big 06:24 in this conference 06:26 because we see the necessity 06:27 to really start bonding with people 06:30 through simple relationships, just friendship. 06:33 And that's the way we get into contact. 06:38 Yeah. 06:40 So how does the small groups operate? 06:42 Well, the small groups, it's... 06:46 There's the mother church. 06:49 Yes. Yeah. 06:51 Sometimes it's been interesting coincidences 06:53 because all churches don't have their own building. 06:57 And since we share the building, 06:59 sometimes and sometimes it's been, 07:01 we wouldn't have the building available. 07:03 So they would say, for instance, 07:06 once a month, you won't be able to use the building. 07:09 So that was a great opportunity for us to say, 07:13 "Well, let's start." 07:15 And so people go home and started inviting people. 07:17 And I can tell you one story, which was quite interesting 07:21 'cause when we think that 07:25 we've got a mission for something. 07:27 First, we're tempted to think that 07:29 we know what Jesus is asking us to do. 07:32 And so for instance, for a small group, you say, 07:34 "I'm gonna have a small group at my house." 07:36 And then you think, "Oh, I'm going to ask this neighbor, 07:38 this one and this one. 07:39 I know we've spoken a lot about this, 07:41 and they'll be interested." 07:43 And then you realize that Jesus didn't, 07:45 maybe one day they'll come, 07:46 but he's the one that decides 07:48 who is going to send to your small group. 07:51 And that's humbling 07:52 because we're just here as servants, simple servants 07:56 and through the way we act through what we share. 08:01 People are attracted to that or not, 08:02 but we're not the ones that decide 08:05 who will be attracted or not. 08:06 And for instance, there in quite a few small groups 08:11 there have been lots of children activities, 08:14 and we go outside, we share things outside, 08:17 then people see the children playing together 08:20 and say, "Oh, come, I could come. 08:22 And then what are you doing here? 08:23 Can we come next week?" And that's how it all starts. 08:27 So the small groups you're describing 08:29 are actual Sabbath morning. 08:31 They're worshiping homes rather than a church building. 08:33 Yes. 08:35 And you have found that in many environments 08:37 that's much more attractive to people 08:39 who would find it hard coming to a church building. 08:41 Definitely. 08:42 And for instance, I belong to a small group myself. 08:45 And in our small group, we've also got people 08:48 that had left the church at one time, 08:50 and then since we'd never completely lost contact, 08:56 it was a way to say, "Might you just come here. 08:58 You must be missing something to share 09:01 about the way you live your faith 09:02 because you still believe in Jesus." 09:06 And so they come and they say, 09:07 "Yes, this is a place 09:09 where I could actually bring my friends as well 09:11 because I'm missing this whole church dimension." 09:15 Yes. Wonderful. 09:17 Now this morning, 09:18 you were also showing me 09:20 your magazine that you're using, 09:21 which helps build connection with church members. 09:24 Tell us about that? 09:26 Well, the magazine, really we wanted to find a way 09:28 for church members within the conference 09:30 to communicate directly. 09:33 There are several parts in the magazine. 09:35 The first part is always a way for the conference 09:37 to be able to share with church members 09:39 on what's going on. 09:40 So for instance, all projects 09:42 we're going to communicate about that a lot. 09:44 That's going to be the president writing 09:45 or different board members, 09:47 and then there'll be parts, 09:49 for instance, there's a different church, 09:52 which will be presented in each magazine 09:55 with always the same three questions. 09:58 It's a free presentation, 10:01 and then what's your spiritual choice 10:03 and what could we pray for you? 10:05 So there's every week 10:06 we send off a little calendar of prayer, 10:09 about 500 people subscribe to this little on WhatsApp. 10:13 And so we know who we're praying for. 10:16 Good. 10:19 The intention is really for church members 10:22 to have direct access to the information 10:25 and to feel part of this big family. 10:28 So, Marianne, this morning, we visited a site 10:31 where a new center of influence will be started. 10:34 Why is the conference starting the center of influence? 10:37 So you said we'll start with the why. 10:39 Why are we here? 10:40 What's our mission is to share Jesus, 10:42 is to participate in making people's lives better 10:46 as Jesus who made our lives better. 10:48 And so we believe that 10:50 with this dynamics of small groups, 10:52 which is already something 10:53 which is very presence in our conference, 10:56 it's going to be a normal continuity 11:00 of being able in different little groups 11:02 to be able to share services with the community. 11:06 Thanks so much for sharing with us, Marianne. 11:08 And viewers at home 11:10 what a tremendous opportunity they have here in Lyon 11:12 to start a new center of influence. 11:15 We'll be right back after this break. |
Revised 2020-08-14