Children serving in West Africa,
00:00:18.98\00:00:21.15
a Global Mission
pioneer in Botswana,
00:00:21.18\00:00:23.72
and the sights and
sounds of Singapore,
00:00:23.75\00:00:26.05
all this and much
more coming up next.
00:00:26.09\00:00:28.52
Hello and welcome to Mission 360
00:01:11.53\00:01:13.44
coming to you from
the country of Singapore.
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I'm Gary Krause.
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Today, we're going to
be looking at Singapore
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which is a
remarkably diverse area
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in such a small space.
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In fact, Singapore is contained
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within less than
500 square kilometers.
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And it's full of skyscrapers,
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modern buildings, old buildings,
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but what is less known is that
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there is a lot of
green space in Singapore.
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In fact,
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nearly half of
Singapore is under green cover.
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The Bukit Timah
Nature Reserve alone
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which takes up one hectare,
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is said to have
more tree species
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contained within
that one nature reserve
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than in the entire
space of North America,
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which is quite incredible.
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We'll be looking at
more here in Singapore,
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but first up, let's
travel to West Africa.
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Emmanuel wanted to
annoy 13-year-old Aggee
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during a break between
French and physics classes
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at the Seventh-day Adventist
school in Libreville, Gabon.
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He knew that Aggee
had a short temper,
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so he started
saying mean things.
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Annoyed, Aggee immediately
slapped the boy on the cheek.
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Emmanuel didn't
like being slapped,
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and he slapped Aggee back.
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Now Aggee was furious.
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He punched Emmanuel.
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Children crowded
around the fighting boys.
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"Don't stop!" they yelled.
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"Let them fight!"
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A teacher's
assistant came running,
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causing the children
to scatter to their seats.
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He pulled them apart.
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"Why are you fighting?"
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"He was mean to me," Aggee said.
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"He hit me," Emmanuel said.
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"You shouldn't fight.
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Fighting is for animals.
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Apologize."
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As punishment,
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the boys had to
spend two hours away
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from the other children,
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quietly thinking
about what they had done.
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It was a long two hours.
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After some time,
Aggee whispered to Emmanuel,
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"Why were you mean to me?"
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"I was only joking,"
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Emmanuel whispered back.
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Aggee wished that he
hadn't lost his temper.
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That summer,
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grandfather sent Aggee
to a Pathfinder campout.
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Aggee's Bible teacher
also went to the campout,
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and he spoke for
morning and evening worship.
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At the end of the
three-week campout,
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he asked whether any children
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wanted to give
their hearts to Jesus.
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He told them how Jesus
could change their hearts.
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Instead of anger,
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He could give
them peace and love.
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When Aggee heard that, he
remembered his short temper.
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He remembered how
his temper led to fights
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and made his parents unhappy.
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He wanted to
change, and he prayed,
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"Lord, I want to follow You."
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Then Aggee stood up
and went to the front.
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People were
surprised to see him standing.
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His Bible teacher was happy
that he wanted to be baptized.
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After baptism,
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when Aggee came
out of the river,
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he felt the same as before.
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He thought maybe something
miraculous would've happened,
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but everything
still seemed normal.
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But as the days passed,
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he noticed that
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he no longer enjoyed
many things of the past.
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His friends noticed that
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he wasn't easily
angered like before.
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Just the other day,
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Emmanuel brought some
cakes to sell in class,
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and Aggee
didn't want to buy one.
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"I don't want to
buy anything today,"
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he said.
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"I'm not feeling well."
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"Come on, buy
one." Emmanuel said.
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"No, I can't," Aggee said.
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Emmanuel's face
twisted in anger,
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and he slapped Aggee,
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but Aggee didn't
feel angry at all
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and he quietly walked away.
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He was so grateful
that with Jesus' help,
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his days of having a
short temper were over.
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Jesus was changing his heart.
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In 2017,
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part of the 13th
Sabbath Offering helped
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construct a high
school for 280 students
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in Aggee's hometown
of Libreville, Gabon.
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Thank you for
helping change lives
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through the 13th
Sabbath Offering.
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It makes a big difference.
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My guest is Pastor Paul
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who is
ministering here in Singapore.
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Pastor Paul, thank you
so much for joining us.
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Now you are from India.
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Why are you
working in Singapore?
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The Singapore
Adventist Conference invited me
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to reach the migrant workers
from India, in Singapore.
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And they are about
more than 200,000 of people.
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They work in construction site,
shipyard and all kinds of work.
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They are captured
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and they reside
in the dormitories
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and I go and reach them,
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visit to them, do Bible studies,
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small groups, and
be friendly with them.
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So more than 200,000
migrant workers from India
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are involved in various
types of work in Singapore.
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Wow.
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And most of them are
housed in dormitories?
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Yes.
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And each dormitory might have
maybe some 15 to 20, 000 people
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in each dormitory.
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They live there.
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But they work here,
they care for their families,
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send money back
home that's Adventist.
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And these are people
away from their home,
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they seek for
some kind of community,
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love relationship,
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somebody to ask
them how are you?
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What are you?
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So it's an
opportunity to reach them.
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And they do respond.
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Right.
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So the Singapore
leaders Adventist leaders
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saw this people group
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and said we needed someone
to come and help reach them.
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Wonderful.
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So how did you begin
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making contact
with these people?
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It is simply
going to where they are.
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Talk to them, sit with
them, and chit-chat with them,
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and begin to ask
them about their families,
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their work situations,
and all those things,
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then they feel,
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oh, there's somebody
to love and care for us.
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And they open up
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and we begin to
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and I began to share
with them the love of Christ
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and open the Bible and
share with them the truth.
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They have responded to it.
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They wanted to know
more and more about it,
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fell in love with the Bible.
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And they
participated in the small group.
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And eventually,
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many of them in
the last 10 years
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over 100 people been baptized
into the Adventist Church.
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Well, this is the first time
that I've met you in person,
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but I've seen you before in
our Adventist Mission video.
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And it was a story of
how you had groups meeting
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under the streetlights at night.
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Beside the road,
beside the busy road side.
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Why were you meeting there?
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That is the only
available place quiet calm...
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It wasn't quiet.
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Traffic was going back.
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But then nobody
would disturb them.
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Right. Exactly.
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Because I guess you...
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But they were focused.
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They wanted to know the truth
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and their minds were
kind of focus and attentive,
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even if it is in
such kind of places.
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Yeah.
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So what time at
night were you meeting?
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Mostly after 9:30 after
10:00, until 11:00, 11:30
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that is the available
time they come from their work.
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They do the
cooking and the eating that
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before they go to bed.
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That's the time available time.
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Most of our Bible studies
were overnight Bible studies.
00:08:09.62\00:08:13.89
And that's how we...
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And some of
these public holidays
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were used to meet with
them during the daytime.
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Now tell me a story of someone
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who came to know
Jesus through this ministry?
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One by name's Shankar.
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He came to know
the love of Jesus,
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excited about it.
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He thought,
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"Oh, such a wonderful
God we have in Jesus."
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So he said,
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"I would like to worship Jesus.
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And I would like to be
the follower of Jesus."
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And it was an amazing story
of the conversion of Shankar
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and there was another
one by name Velmurugan.
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He also became an Adventist
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understanding
the biblical truths.
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Wonderful.
00:08:58.70\00:09:00.04
Now you were also
telling me about what happens
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when some of these
people go back to India?
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Yes, they carry the
truth from Singapore to India,
00:09:05.14\00:09:09.11
they would say,
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even if we have not
earned enough money,
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we have the truth,
00:09:13.31\00:09:14.65
eternal truth that
will take us to heaven.
00:09:14.68\00:09:17.22
They share the truth
with their family members,
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spouses and children
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and they have become Adventists
00:09:21.69\00:09:23.73
and they started attending
the local churches at in India,
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South India, Tamil
Nadu so many churches,
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we have people from
Singapore attending there.
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What a blessing.
00:09:32.63\00:09:33.97
So they've come
to know Jesus here
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and they've taken that good news
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back with them when
they go back to India?
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Yes.
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What are your hopes for
the future here, Pastor?
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What would you
like to see happen?
00:09:43.88\00:09:46.98
These migrant workers
from India, in Singapore,
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they will not be
here for a long time,
00:09:51.45\00:09:53.36
maybe 10 years, 12
years, and then they'll be gone.
00:09:53.39\00:09:57.43
And by the time they
go back they need to...
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I wanted to see them
that they are discipled,
00:09:59.46\00:10:03.60
so that they
will carry the truth
00:10:03.63\00:10:05.57
and keep passing on the truth
00:10:05.60\00:10:07.74
to their children,
their grandchildren
00:10:07.77\00:10:09.57
and to their neighbors in India.
00:10:09.60\00:10:11.47
And that is the kind of training
00:10:11.51\00:10:12.91
we try to give here
when we meet with them.
00:10:12.94\00:10:15.54
Wonderful.
00:10:15.58\00:10:16.91
I'm guessing that the conditions
00:10:16.95\00:10:18.28
under which they
live in these dormitories
00:10:18.31\00:10:21.38
is sometimes a bit challenging.
00:10:21.42\00:10:22.85
Yes. Yeah.
00:10:22.88\00:10:24.82
Well, Pastor, I
wanna thank you so much
00:10:24.85\00:10:26.35
for what you're doing and
for sharing with us today.
00:10:26.39\00:10:28.79
Praise the Lord. Yeah.
00:10:28.82\00:10:30.16
And may God bless
you and your family.
00:10:30.19\00:10:31.53
Amen.
00:10:31.56\00:10:32.93
Please pray for Pastor Paul
00:10:32.96\00:10:34.73
and the 200, 000 migrant workers
00:10:34.76\00:10:39.17
here in Singapore,
00:10:39.20\00:10:40.70
a people group
00:10:40.74\00:10:42.07
that needs to
know about Jesus Christ
00:10:42.10\00:10:43.57
and it's thrilling to
hear what's happening,
00:10:43.61\00:10:45.47
but there's so much
more that needs to be done.
00:10:45.51\00:10:47.61
We'll be right
back after this break.
00:10:47.64\00:10:49.51