Participants:
Series Code: MTS
Program Code: MTS002804A
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00:23 An Urban Center of Influence on wheels in Hungary,
00:27 work among the blind in Toronto, Canada, 00:30 and mission right here in Ireland, 00:32 all this and much more coming up next. 01:21 Hello, and welcome to Mission 360. 01:24 I'm Gary Krause. 01:25 Today's program is coming to you from Dublin, Ireland. 01:28 And I am standing in Trinity College Dublin. 01:31 And this is a... 01:33 As you can see a historic place. 01:35 And tourists come from all over the world 01:37 to see this attraction, 01:39 but one of the things 01:40 that really catches their attention 01:42 is The Book of Kells. 01:43 This is a copy of the New Testament gospels 01:46 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 01:48 beautifully illustrated and produced 01:50 by Celtic monks back in the 800s. 01:53 So it's perhaps the most famous still in existence, 01:57 medieval document. 01:59 Well, on today's program, we're going to be looking 02:00 at mission right here in Ireland, 02:02 but first up, let's visit a health fan in Hungary. 02:11 Adventists are getting noticed 02:12 at one of Hungary's biggest music festivals. 02:15 It's a little out of the ordinary, 02:17 but offering to paint designs has attracted concert-goers 02:20 to these local church members' booths. 02:23 It's important to find something 02:24 people will be excited about. 02:26 Don't worry, though, the paint is washable. 02:29 They're also offering temporary hair coloring, lemonade, 02:33 and, of course, prayer. 02:35 At events like this, 02:37 church members have the opportunity 02:38 to invite people to visit 02:39 a nearby Urban Center of Influence. 02:46 Tunderevesz came to this 02:49 Global Mission Urban Center of Influence in Miskolc, 02:52 hoping for relief from her health issues. 02:54 She was warmly greeted by the staff 02:56 and after some evaluation, 02:58 they recommended lifestyle changes 03:00 and natural treatments offered at the center. 03:03 Over time, her health improved and now she can't imagine 03:06 what life would be like if she hadn't come here, 03:09 not just for her physical health 03:10 but also mentally and socially. 03:14 I actually developed friendships 03:16 with the people working here. 03:18 It's very important to have this kind of community. 03:22 I learned a lot here 03:24 and it was such 03:25 a community-building experience. 03:28 Although these services 03:30 are offered with no strings attached, 03:31 sometimes these interactions 03:33 lead to more than just health improvements. 03:35 Since I started coming here, 03:37 I've applied to attend an Adventist health camp 03:39 in the summer and I've been taking Bible studies. 03:42 An Adventist summer camp opens for a week each summer. 03:46 People come from all over Hungary to make new friends 03:49 and participate in outdoor activities. 03:51 Most have heard about the camp 03:53 through various urban centers of influence 03:55 or from their Adventist friends. 03:57 This is a lifestyle camp. 03:58 We are doing lifestyle evangelism. 04:01 That means we invite friends and people 04:04 who are not in contact with Adventist Church. 04:08 We have here about 200 people, 04:11 most of them are not Adventist people. 04:15 And they're invited 04:16 just because we have hiking programs, 04:19 we have cycling, and different sports programs, 04:22 and they're attracted to these programs. 04:25 If we invite somebody to our local church, 04:27 maybe nobody would come, 04:28 at least in this part of Europe, 04:30 but if we invite them to participate 04:33 in a program like this, they would like to come 04:37 'cause they like to be healthy, they like to have new friends. 04:41 And this way, this is a non-threatening way 04:44 to connect with them 04:46 and to connect them with Jesus Christ 04:49 and to the Adventist Church. 04:52 The camp is a social place 04:53 where people can bond together in nature. 04:56 There are seminars and discussions about health 04:58 and religious topics that attract many of the attendees. 05:02 They're provided healthy meals that feature bread 05:04 from the camp's bakery. 05:05 At the end of the week, many people go home 05:08 feeling inspired by the retreat, 05:10 and some even decide to take Bible studies 05:12 or volunteer at their local urban center of influence. 05:20 For those who may not live near an urban center of influence, 05:23 there is another solution. 05:25 Hungarian church leaders in the Duna Conference 05:28 want to meet people where they are, 05:30 so they created a fully outfitted ministry caravan. 05:34 After purchasing a van and trailer, 05:36 Adventist professionals designed 05:38 and renovated the interior of the trailer 05:40 to be a modern mobile center of influence. 05:43 The Duna Conference is made up of 54 churches, 05:46 so each church has the opportunity 05:48 to invite the van to their town for one weekend each year. 05:52 The ministry is operated by volunteers, 05:54 who work closely with the local members who invited them, 05:57 to determine what type of program 05:59 would be appreciated by the community. 06:02 Usually, the van is parked in a central, 06:04 prominent part of town. 06:05 They offer health expos, children's programs, 06:08 cooking classes, a Christian film club, 06:10 and personal counseling. 06:12 The programs of the mobile center of influence 06:15 have to be flexible to meet the changing needs of people 06:17 in towns and cities. 06:19 This van allows Adventists 06:21 to connect with people in the community 06:22 and develop a long-term relationship. 06:26 Your prayers and giving to Global Mission 06:28 have helped these ministries become a reality. 06:31 Please continue to pray 06:33 and consider what you can give to this cause. 06:36 Thank you for supporting Global Mission. 07:00 My guest is Heather, and she is the manager 07:03 of the center of influence across the street, 07:06 where you can see the live life to the fullest sign. 07:09 Heather, thanks so much for joining us. 07:11 Thank you. 07:12 You're managing this center, 07:13 could you describe where we are, 07:16 and maybe a little bit of its background? 07:18 Okay, we're in the prime area in Dublin. 07:21 We're just right in the city center, 07:24 like five minutes takes us right in to where everybody is. 07:28 We're on a real busy road here. 07:30 Lots of people passing by all the time. 07:32 And this is our center of influence. 07:35 And it opened just over four years ago, 07:37 and at that stage it was purely 07:40 based on the vegetarian cookery classes all 07:45 and very much healthiest activities. 07:48 And since then, we've expanded on that. 07:50 And we realized that while working in Dublin here, 07:54 a lot of people are lonely 07:56 and it is one of the major mental health issues 08:00 that are hitting people here in Ireland is loneliness. 08:03 So we started looking at how can we create an environment 08:07 where people will find friendship, 08:09 and in the same way 08:10 that they will find the friend of Jesus Christ. 08:14 And the center has, as I said, 08:18 been running for just over four years. 08:21 And in that time, we have built on the activity. 08:24 So we now have a seniors' club and that another group 08:28 and we run a vegetarian cookery class 08:31 and which is very, very popular. 08:33 People love our cookery class. 08:36 And we run health talks, depression recovery, 08:40 we are in the process 08:42 of trying to set up a parent and toddler group. 08:45 Wonderful. Terrific. 08:47 Now apart from you who else helps out with the center? 08:51 We have volunteers from our church 08:54 who will volunteer in different activities. 08:57 We have a lovely core group of people 08:59 who are very dedicated to the Christian center 09:02 and have been from the very beginning. 09:04 And recently we have and had been joined 09:08 by student missionary Hannah 09:11 who has come from Australia to help us in our project here. 09:15 Fantastic. 09:16 Now the main Cuisle, give me the background to that? 09:19 Cuisle is the Irish word for heartbeats. 09:23 And when the name was picked, 09:25 and they wanted the center to be the heartbeat 09:28 of the community here in Ranelagh 09:30 and where the church is based, 09:32 so they thought that was a very appropriate name 09:34 and obviously with being in Ireland, picking an Irish name. 09:38 Yeah. It's very relevant. 09:40 Yeah, I like that. 09:41 So you get a lot of foot traffic past here. 09:44 People walking, you get a lot of cars. 09:46 The people who come to the center, 09:49 do they live here in the community? 09:51 Yes, the majority of people who come in here are regulars. 09:55 All live around, right here in Ranelagh 09:58 and very rarely we will get somebody 10:02 who is from outside around here, 10:04 but the majority are people 10:05 who live close to the center here 10:07 walking past here every day, 10:09 and who have been interested in what is going on 10:12 within our center and within our church. 10:14 Now do you find that 10:16 there's a little bit of suspicion 10:18 in the community about the center 10:19 because Seventh-day Adventist not well-known in Ireland. 10:22 What sort of reaction do you get? 10:25 It's varied so people would be suspicious about coming in 10:29 and because people really don't know 10:31 what Seventh-day Adventist is. 10:34 And I have had one lady say to me 10:37 that she comes regularly she said, 10:39 and her friends when she told her friends, 10:41 she was coming to another group, 10:43 that she shouldn't come here 10:45 because we will just want to grab her and keep her. 10:48 Okay. 10:49 And she said, she just tells her friends 10:51 that's not what she experiences here. 10:52 She experiences love, friendship, and acceptance, 10:55 and that we're not and pushing an agenda on her. 10:59 Right. 11:01 So it's not like you're being aggressive in any way. 11:03 You know, you're building bridges with the community. 11:05 Yeah. 11:06 Because I think when we looked at the center of influence, 11:10 people want to belong before they believe. 11:12 And in order for them to belong, 11:15 we have to create friendships, 11:19 we have to create relationships. 11:21 And sometimes I think we get that the wrong way around. 11:24 We want them to believe before they belong. 11:27 And my experience here is people just want to belong, 11:30 they want friendship, they want and after that, 11:33 everything else just falls into place. 11:35 Fantastic. 11:37 Can you share a story of someone 11:38 who you've met through the center? 11:40 Yeah. 11:41 And I think there was the lady 11:44 who came to different activities. 11:47 And she was very reluctant 11:49 when 'cause we take people's contact details 11:52 so that we can keep them up to date on what's happening. 11:54 And she was very reluctant to give me her details. 11:57 She was like, "I'll just come when I want to come in." 12:00 So, you know, we can't push that so we're like, "Okay." 12:03 And we had an evening program on a Friday evening 12:07 where we had, Europe for Jesus here, 12:11 and she was passing by, she came in 12:13 and it was a testimonies evening, 12:15 and she loved it and after that, she said to me, 12:18 "I want to give you my contact details, 12:19 I want to know what's going on." 12:21 And since then she has been coming to church most Sabbaths. 12:26 And this is quite a common story of how people are, 12:31 when they come to our church service. 12:33 It's three, coming to the center quite often, 12:36 and then wanting to find out a bit more 12:38 about what's happening in the church. 12:40 Fantastic. 12:41 Now so you've been managing it for how many years now? 12:44 Just over two years now. 12:45 So how has it affected you? 12:49 For me, it has been, I don't know 12:53 whether I can even put it into words. 12:54 When I first took on the role, 12:56 I was just so overwhelmed 12:57 with how was I going to lead this center, 13:00 what did I have to give, 13:03 but my experiences God has given me everything 13:07 I have needed to lead the center 13:10 and my experience of reaching out 13:13 into the community has been a very, very positive one. 13:15 I'm amazed at how many people 13:17 actually come in through our doors, 13:19 and want to know 13:20 a bit more about our center and our church. 13:25 For me, it's just amazing. 13:27 Fantastic. 13:28 Well, thank you so much for the work you're doing here. 13:31 And I expect that there's gonna be wonderful stories 13:34 coming out in the future. 13:35 God bless you in what you're doing. 13:36 Thank you. 13:38 Viewers at home, we have many centers of influence 13:41 all around the world in centers, 13:44 like Dublin and tremendous challenges, 13:47 of course, because there's been years of prejudice 13:49 built up and years of misunderstanding 13:52 and this is a center that is putting Christ method 13:56 of ministry into practice, mingling, showing sympathy, 14:00 ministering to needs, winning confidence, 14:02 and then leading people to Jesus. 14:04 So please pray for this center here in Dublin. 14:07 We'll be right back after this break. |
Revised 2020-08-14