Participants:
Series Code: MTS
Program Code: MTS002903A
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00:14 This quarter's 13 Sabbath Offerings,
00:16 the mother of a Global Mission pioneer in Botswana, 00:20 and the sights and sounds of Jakarta. 00:22 All this and much more coming up next. 01:01 Hello and welcome to Mission 360. 01:03 I'm Gary Krause. 01:04 Today's program is coming from Jakarta, 01:06 the capital of Indonesia 01:08 right in the heart of the 10/40 Window. 01:11 Jakarta is a massive city. 01:13 It's loud, it's crowded, it's busy. 01:17 And many people who live in this city 01:19 just love to come to these places, 01:21 shopping malls. 01:22 And this is the largest shopping mall in Indonesia, 01:26 the MTA Mall 01:27 and you can see that people even live on the top of it, 01:30 in the apartments above it. 01:32 People come here to malls throughout Jakarta, 01:34 more than 170 of them, 01:36 they meet friends, they go to restaurants, cafes, 01:39 they can shop in hundreds of stores. 01:43 That is if you can afford it 01:44 because like many cities around the world today, 01:47 Jakarta is a mixture of the rich, very rich, 01:51 and the very poor. 01:52 We'll be looking at mission right here in Indonesia, 01:54 but first up let's travel to Southern Asia. 02:06 When Anchal was eight, 02:08 she left her small village 02:10 and arrived at Varanasi Seventh-day Adventist School. 02:14 She had no friends, 02:15 she didn't respect the teachers, 02:17 and she knew nothing about Jesus. 02:20 Anchal moved into the dormitory 02:22 and quickly began making friends. 02:24 The dorm is a social place 02:26 where students play games, relax, and do school work. 02:30 Many of the students spend time reading their Bibles. 02:34 This was a totally different world 02:36 to Anchal's previous life in the village, 02:38 but she found herself enjoying Bible studies 02:41 and trying to get good grades. 02:43 Eventually, Anchal gave her heart to Jesus 02:47 and is so grateful for her experience at the school. 02:50 Really God has blessed me so much 02:52 that I learned so many stories 02:55 and so many activities in this church, 02:59 and I like them so much. 03:02 My favorite story is Job. 03:06 Like Anchal, 03:07 many students come to this school 03:09 knowing nothing about Jesus, 03:11 but their lives are transformed. 03:14 They are immersed in a holistic learning experience. 03:17 In addition to the standard subjects, 03:20 students learn about health, engage in fun activities, 03:24 and enjoy delicious meals. 03:26 Each Sabbath, students attend the Adventist House of Prayer 03:30 located right on campus. 03:32 They often participate in the Sabbath program. 03:35 Anchal and her friends 03:37 love to sing for the congregation. 03:46 We are having these children from the village area 03:49 and they are learning Jesus. 03:51 And they know that 03:53 this is all blessing coming in the name of Jesus to them 03:56 and to their families. 03:58 So that's how the message of love 04:01 and Jesus is going to the rural area 04:04 from this small school. 04:06 God has blessed this school 04:07 with more and more students each year, 04:09 but unfortunately, the dormitories are overfull. 04:13 The girls are crammed into a small space 04:15 with bunk beds piled up against each other. 04:18 This quarter, a portion of your 13th Sabbath Offering 04:21 will help expand the girls' dormitory, 04:24 allowing more girls to attend school. 04:27 At present, we have only one room, 04:29 and we have 25 girls here, 04:31 but then when the dorms are there, 04:33 we will have around 60 girls in the dormitories. 04:38 We will have just double 04:40 or triple of the girls studying. 04:41 In this way, 04:43 we will be educating more students in our school. 04:46 Please pray for Varanasi Seventh-day Adventist School. 04:50 Pray that the teachers and students can continue 04:53 to be a positive light for each other, 04:55 like they were to Anchal. 04:57 Please consider what you can do 04:59 to help the girls at this school. 05:01 Thank you for supporting projects such as this. 05:06 Thank you for supporting mission offering. 05:13 My guest is my colleague in mission 05:15 Pastor Doug Venn. 05:17 Doug, thank you for joining us. 05:19 Doug cares for the mission to the Cities Initiative 05:22 for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. 05:25 He is also the director 05:26 of the Global Mission Urban Center, 05:29 but relevant for where we are right now 05:32 is that you used to be the director 05:33 of Adventist Mission 05:35 for the Southern Asia Pacific Division, 05:37 which includes Jakarta. 05:38 That's right. That's right. 05:39 So this is a huge city, Doug. Yes. 05:41 It's this region's largest city, 05:44 and so over 30 million, 05:46 and there are some unique mission opportunities here. 05:49 And so one of those is that 05:51 how can we follow Christ method alone, 05:53 so the team here 05:55 and what I've been excited to see is that they have 05:58 over 38 Centers of Influence in the city. 06:01 Thirty-eight? 06:02 Thirty-eight. Wow. 06:03 And so what they're doing is trying to find ways 06:06 to meet the needs, just like Jesus did, 06:09 whether it's with the very poor 06:11 and the outcast. 06:13 And in this case, 06:14 we have a place right now 06:16 that is working with the new immigrants 06:19 from around the world 06:20 who are coming here seeking, you know, as refugees. 06:24 So our team is working with them. 06:26 Well, as well as then with the upper class 06:28 and the elite of the society. 06:30 And so we have Centers of Influence 06:32 reaching the full range of the population. 06:36 Wonderful. 06:37 What I like, one of the things 06:38 I like about these Centers of Influence 06:40 is they came from the grassroots, 06:42 and maybe one or two of them 06:45 asked for some money from the General Conference, 06:47 but most of them have been funded 06:49 so funded from the local field, right? 06:51 Yeah. 06:52 That's the true 06:54 because what we see is that when our Adventist family, 06:58 when they start looking 07:00 and see how Jesus worked His city, 07:01 they're also trying to follow 07:03 how Jesus financed His work in the city. 07:05 And that's to find those resources locally. 07:08 It's true that with thanks to the mission offering 07:10 for all people around the world, 07:13 and we think our donors in North America, 07:16 we find that we are able then to be strategic 07:19 with mission offering 07:21 to help start some Centers of Influence. 07:23 So then that way, 07:25 we can focus on those unreach people groups 07:27 in different cities of the world. 07:28 Wonderful. 07:30 Now tell me tell me about Club Sehat. 07:32 Okay. All right. 07:33 Sehat means is Bahasa, and it means health. 07:37 So we're going to hear in this city, 07:41 there's actually a franchise of Centers of Influence 07:45 called the health club or Club Sehat. 07:48 And what do they do? 07:49 Okay, they are following Christ's method of mingling, 07:51 sympathizing, meeting needs, winning confidence, 07:54 and then inviting people to follow Christ. 07:58 And so what they do is 07:59 they're meeting people's health needs, 08:02 and whether that's going to be a health food store, 08:04 vegetarian restaurant, 08:06 also, they have a cancer support center. 08:08 So then that way, 08:09 they can provide social support for those 08:11 who are facing that life challenge of in, 08:14 you know, with health, 08:16 as well as then they have a lifestyle center as well. 08:19 So there's a franchise, how many locations? 08:22 Okay, here in the city, 08:24 there's five different physical stores, 08:26 they have online store, 08:28 as well as then they've branched out 08:29 to eight different cities, here in the nation. 08:31 Wow. 08:32 Now are they still funding? 08:34 Do they bring in enough income to support them? 08:37 Yeah, so they've been able to harness 08:40 with total member involvement 08:41 of the initiative and the imagination, 08:44 the skills of our entrepreneurs 08:47 within the Chinese Adventist Community. 08:49 And so based on the business model, 08:51 they've been able then to find a way 08:53 to then actually meet that 08:56 the health food needs of the elite, 08:59 Chinese here in this nation, and as a result of that, 09:02 they are then able to have this franchise 09:05 and have a good business model, 09:07 which is enabling them to help expand permission. 09:11 Wow, so the people who are running these centers, 09:15 they're Adventist members... 09:16 That's right. 09:17 Now are they volunteering, or are they paid? 09:20 These individuals are the ones who are volunteers. 09:24 Okay. Terrific. 09:25 Now do you have any stories of people 09:29 who have come in contact to the good news 09:33 through these centers? 09:34 Yes. Wanna tell one story of Evie. 09:37 And Evie was a bank vice president 09:40 here in Jakarta in the financial district, 09:42 and she obviously is at the top of the upper end 09:45 of kind of the society and there. 09:49 She was stuck in Jakarta's traffic, 09:51 which is notorious in the world for being so congested. 09:56 And during that time, 09:57 she was scrolling through the radio. 09:58 She was actually found our team's media ministry. 10:03 And there, she was able to hear a invitation, 10:08 "Hey, if you're in this part of the city, 10:11 come join us for a health program." 10:14 And so Evie and her mother was facing 10:17 some health conditions 10:19 that she needed some support with. 10:22 And so Evie went to Club Sehat and she was able to see the, 10:28 you know, learn about the message, 10:30 but then she went to a retreats at the lifestyle center, 10:34 and then that's where 10:35 she got to learn more about Jesus. 10:37 And over time, 10:38 then she began to see the beauty 10:40 and the integrated holistic message 10:42 that we have as Adventist 10:43 that talks about healing and wholeness. 10:46 And that's where she then joined the Adventist family. 10:48 And so it's exciting that through the traffic 10:51 that this place is notoriously known for, 10:54 that she was able to actually meet the Lord 10:57 and join our Adventist family. 10:59 Fantastic. 11:01 Doug, why is a holistic approach to mission 11:04 so important in urban ministry? 11:07 Gary, the issue is, 11:09 in order to be relevant to today's urban needs, 11:13 we have to follow Christ's method. 11:15 I've just been convicted on that. 11:17 And that's right now when we sympathize, 11:19 and we mingle with people, 11:21 and we're able then to meet their needs, 11:24 it then actually tears down the prejudice. 11:26 And here in this great city of, 11:29 you know, the fourth largest country on the planet. 11:34 We face that this is not a, 11:37 with the worldview and the culture, 11:39 that we have to do things different. 11:41 And so that's when we follow Christ's method just like here, 11:44 they have their 38 different Centers Of Influence 11:47 who are doing that 11:48 they're able then to actually make an impact in the city. 11:51 Doug, thank you so much for sharing. 11:53 That's right. 11:54 And viewers at home, please pray for Urban Mission, 11:57 not just here in Jakarta, 11:58 but the great urban centers around the world. 12:01 I always like talking to Doug because he's enthusiastic. 12:04 He wants this city for Jesus. 12:06 And let's keep praying that 12:07 that will happen in an increasing measure, 12:09 as God's love is shared one by one 12:12 with people in this great metropolis. 12:14 We'll be right back after this break. |
Revised 2020-12-05