Welcome back to Tokyo.
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You know, in a
big city like this,
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you see the high rises,
you see the apartment blocks
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and the commercial
buildings and the busy streets
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and then you turn a corner
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and you come
across a scene like this,
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which is, at least for me
surprising to see river boats
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in the heart of the city.
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Anyway, next up, we
travel to Brazil to Brasilia
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to meet a Waldensian student.
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Hi, my guest
today is a bit unusual,
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not because he's unusual.
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He's an ordinary person,
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but he's doing
extraordinary things
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with God's help for mission.
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So we're not going to
tell you what his name is.
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We're not going
to show you his face
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or where he was serving.
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But I think you'll find
this very interesting interview,
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so we're just going to go
for a little walk here so.
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Thanks for joining us.
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Now you are working or
were working in a country
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that we call a closed country.
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Some people may not
know what that means.
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What does a closed country mean?
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So we have some so-called
closed countries in the world
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that in that like in that case,
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they have very
strict regulations
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on religions and
on religious work.
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So that's why we cannot act
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as a normal religious worshiper
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or worker as on many other,
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as in our, most of
our Western countries.
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So in these countries
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they don't allow
religious workers
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to come in and
there are restrictions
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on what people can do there.
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So you were going
into this country.
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How did you feel
before you went in?
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I mean, were you scared?
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I mean, what's,
what is that feeling of?
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I'm going to go. Yeah.
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What motivates that?
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Yeah, I think the
biggest motivation
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is knowing that you were
accepting a call from God.
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And that and another good thing
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is to know that there
are a many other missionaries
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already working there.
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So if I know that
many people had...
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are already there
working and living with God
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in such difficult circumstances.
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God tells me that
I can do that also.
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Okay.
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And there's a term that we
call that one is a tentmaker
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and another one is what
we call Waldensian student.
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Yeah.
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Where somebody
goes into a country
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for a different purpose.
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And they have a
legitimate reason to be there
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because they're a Christian,
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they're letting
their lives be the witness.
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Now, what was it like?
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Do you have any
stories you can share
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about your experiences
there being careful of course,
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is it possible or...
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Yes, yes, I can try
to remember some stories,
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like as a potential missionary
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in like, oh,
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almost all the Christian
missionaries in that country
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entered as a
student of the language,
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so I could have to get
the visa and be there legally.
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And so in a place
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where religion
and religious people
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were treated like differently,
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we need to act differently.
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And we know that
we can find sometimes
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some difficult
situations on how to act.
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And one day I
found it difficult.
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It was a bittersweet
situation, a bittersweet feeling
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because I was
talking to a teacher
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and, of course, I was there
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to connect with
all kinds of people
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and I was trying to
connect with that guy
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that seemed to like me,
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but and he started to
show some interest on religion.
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But the bittersweet feeling came
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when one day
when he already knew
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that I was a Christian,
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we were talking through
the hallway after a class,
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and he started to
show really, like,
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enthusiasm about
religion and knowing the Bible.
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So, but he
ignoring that as a mission,
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as a Christian, we need to,
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you know, act
under the, under covert,
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he didn't know
that we should not,
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you know, I should
hide about my religion.
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So inside a secular university,
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talking about
religion could be very risky.
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So inside me, I
was really excited
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that my local
teacher was excited
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about knowing that Christian
and having access to the Bible
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and knowing
more about the Bible,
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but at the same time,
I was really, you know...
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You're a bit worried.
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Yeah, I was really worried
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because many other
employees are off the place
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and other
students were passing by.
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So that situation
could be very risky
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at the same time.
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Yeah.
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I like what you're saying now,
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because Ellen White
talked about Christ's method.
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How did Jesus do His ministry?
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And one of the first
things she says He did,
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is He mingled and,
you know, first of all,
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you needed to be in
that country to mingle.
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You have a real
reason to be there
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and you're
meeting and interacting
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with people every day,
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and they see your life
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and they begin to
sometimes ask questions.
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Now, in terms of, well,
first, how long were you there?
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I stayed there for one year.
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For one year? Okay.
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And then, in terms of working
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in the closed countries,
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and doing that type of ministry,
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you're constantly wondering,
I guess, how much you can say,
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who's watching,
and things like that.
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How do you cope
with that and maybe,
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what kind of
reliance does prayer have
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when you're in
that kind of situation?
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Yeah, I think sometimes
you can rely only on prayer.
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Because we know that
we are watched by people,
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by the government,
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and, you know,
by the police maybe,
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but it's never
possible for you to know
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how much you are watched.
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So we try to be prudent,
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we try to avoid situations
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that could
bring some risks to us
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and to the gospel and
to other missionaries.
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So, but at the same
time, we are there to work,
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we are there to bring
the gospel to those people.
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So sometimes, you know,
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you know that you will
need to talk about something
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that is illegal,
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you cannot proselytize,
I cannot give you even,
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not even a pamphlet,
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a booklet on the
streets that is illegal.
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So it's not easy
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for you to know
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how far I can go on talking,
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or you know about
the gospel, about Jesus,
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and how to
balance the risks, no.
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But in the end,
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doing missionary
work in a closed country
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will always bring you risks.
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And that's why we
always rely on prayer above all
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because you cannot avoid that.
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Now, when you're
talking about the world today,
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one-third of the
world is Christian,
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two-thirds of the world is not
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and some of those
we cannot openly go in
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and yet we have
the gospel commission
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to share the gospel
to the entire world.
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What advice would
you give to somebody
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who's considering any
kind of mission service,
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whether it is, you
know, more traditional
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or a volunteer or
in a closed country?
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So in a closed country,
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if you feel called to go there,
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as we already mentioned,
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you will need to rely on prayer.
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You will need to be sure
that God is calling there.
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And I like that,
God is calling you,
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pray and ask God,
what do you want me to do?
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And if He calls you
to someplace like that,
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then you have to
prayerfully consider
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whether you will answer.
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We're out of time.
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But thank you very
much for joining us.
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Thank you.
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For Mission 360,
I'm Rick Kajiura.
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And now back to Gary Krause.
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Next up we traveled to Romania
to visit a unique church plant.
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When a friend
asked me for a ride,
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something impressed me
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that I should
bring my family along.
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While we were
driving, a strong storm started
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that caused our
wooden church building
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to collapse on top of my house.
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We thanked God
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that although our new
Adventist Church collapsed.
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By God's
protection, no one was harmed.
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And just a few years
ago, I was not an Adventist.
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I lived in an older
house on this property
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that sits at the
main intersection in town.
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In my community, there were some
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who struggled to find
a hot meal in the winter.
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When Adventists first came,
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they brought
food and compassion.
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A warm bowl of soup
can be the perfect way
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into someone's heart.
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They parked a
shipping container in my yard
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where they could serve food
and connect with our people.
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Many of us felt
they sincerely cared.
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So we listened to Bible stories
that were filled with hope.
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Through their loving service,
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this group of
Adventists won our hearts
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and we trusted them.
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In time, some
of us were baptized
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and we built a wooden
church next to my house.
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This is my house
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where the church
plant activities happened
00:10:01.66\00:10:03.40
over the last 10 years.
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This is the
foundation for the church
00:10:05.33\00:10:07.20
we want it to build.
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Unfortunately it didn't last
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because it was
destroyed during the storm.
00:10:10.37\00:10:13.01
Over there we had
a shipping container.
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From it, we served hot
meals during the winter
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for four to five years.
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In the beginning,
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most of the
attendees were not Adventists.
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This is still
somewhat true today.
00:10:23.55\00:10:25.65
Only about half of the people
who come for Sabbath services
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are baptized members.
00:10:28.39\00:10:30.79
The other half come
because they have seen
00:10:30.83\00:10:32.59
how Seventh-day
Adventists are committed
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to the peace and
well-being of this community.
00:10:34.50\00:10:37.77
This active church also
connects with young minds.
00:10:37.80\00:10:41.17
Every week, the church
takes in some 200 children
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for after school
care and tutoring.
00:10:44.47\00:10:46.57
The children are
served a daily meal.
00:10:46.61\00:10:48.91
Many parents and children
benefit from this free service
00:10:48.94\00:10:51.38
provided by
volunteers from the church
00:10:51.41\00:10:53.62
and from the community.
00:10:53.65\00:10:56.85
The children are
doing better in school
00:10:56.89\00:10:58.95
because of the
activities of this church.
00:10:58.99\00:11:01.69
The government school principal
has expressed his gratitude
00:11:01.72\00:11:04.69
to the Adventist
Church, even at public events.
00:11:04.73\00:11:09.13
We hope everyone
will come to know God.
00:11:09.16\00:11:11.83
We make public invitations
00:11:11.87\00:11:13.27
for those who want
to know more about us.
00:11:13.30\00:11:16.10
We organize small groups to
discuss the Bible with those
00:11:16.14\00:11:19.61
who are interested.
00:11:19.64\00:11:21.14
I like these activities.
00:11:21.18\00:11:22.84
We are following Jesus' method
for building relationships,
00:11:22.88\00:11:26.68
identifying needs,
and trying to help people,
00:11:26.72\00:11:30.09
then we're guiding them to God.
00:11:30.12\00:11:33.59
I'm a builder by profession,
00:11:33.62\00:11:35.39
and after the
wooden church collapsed,
00:11:35.42\00:11:37.56
we dreamed of building
God a new house for worship.
00:11:37.59\00:11:40.73
Miraculously, God intervened
00:11:40.76\00:11:42.83
to give us the
land and the funds.
00:11:42.86\00:11:45.17
Currently 20 people
are studying the Bible,
00:11:45.20\00:11:47.64
and two of them
are ready for baptism.
00:11:47.67\00:11:50.57
We work hard to
help those in need.
00:11:50.61\00:11:52.61
In my spare time,
00:11:52.64\00:11:53.98
I assist the less privileged
to have their own house.
00:11:54.01\00:11:58.25
I hope someday they will
see the love of God through me,
00:11:58.28\00:12:01.65
as we saw God's love
through the Adventists.
00:12:01.68\00:12:04.65
I want to thank
the volunteer pioneers
00:12:04.69\00:12:07.42
and church
planters who came here.
00:12:07.46\00:12:09.52
Thank you so much for joining us
00:12:25.74\00:12:27.24
on today's program,
00:12:27.28\00:12:28.61
and I hope that
you've been inspired
00:12:28.64\00:12:30.38
and challenged by our
360-degree view of mission
00:12:30.41\00:12:34.12
around the world.
00:12:34.15\00:12:35.52
We've traveled to the hard
to reach areas of the Amazon.
00:12:35.55\00:12:39.72
We've seen church
planting in Romania.
00:12:39.75\00:12:42.42
We've looked at
mission right here in Tokyo
00:12:42.46\00:12:45.33
and around the world today,
00:12:45.36\00:12:46.90
we face many, many
mission challenges.
00:12:46.93\00:12:49.46
The urban city such as Tokyo
00:12:49.50\00:12:51.53
loom large in
more ways than one.
00:12:51.57\00:12:53.84
But I want to thank you so much
00:12:53.87\00:12:55.84
for your continuing
support of Adventist Mission.
00:12:55.87\00:12:59.11
Every time you pray for mission,
00:12:59.14\00:13:00.48
every time you give a
donation to global mission,
00:13:00.51\00:13:03.45
or give your mission offerings,
you are making a difference.
00:13:03.48\00:13:06.41
Thank you for your
personal involvement.
00:13:06.45\00:13:08.88
And I hope that
you can find ways
00:13:08.92\00:13:11.09
to share the good
news of Adventist Mission
00:13:11.12\00:13:14.09
with your friends, your
family with people at church.
00:13:14.12\00:13:17.29
If you want to learn
more about Adventist Mission,
00:13:17.33\00:13:19.13
you can always go to
adventistmission.org.
00:13:19.16\00:13:22.20
Well for Adventist
Mission, I'm Gary Krause.
00:13:22.23\00:13:24.60
And I hope you
can join me next time
00:13:24.63\00:13:26.67
right here on Mission 360.
00:13:26.70\00:13:28.84