Participants:
Series Code: MTS
Program Code: MTS002905A
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00:18 Children serving in West Africa,
00:21 a Global Mission pioneer in Botswana, 00:23 and the sights and sounds of Singapore, 00:26 all this and much more coming up next. 01:11 Hello and welcome to Mission 360 01:13 coming to you from the country of Singapore. 01:15 I'm Gary Krause. 01:17 Today, we're going to be looking at Singapore 01:19 which is a remarkably diverse area 01:21 in such a small space. 01:23 In fact, Singapore is contained 01:25 within less than 500 square kilometers. 01:28 And it's full of skyscrapers, 01:30 modern buildings, old buildings, 01:33 but what is less known is that 01:35 there is a lot of green space in Singapore. 01:37 In fact, 01:38 nearly half of Singapore is under green cover. 01:42 The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve alone 01:44 which takes up one hectare, 01:47 is said to have more tree species 01:49 contained within that one nature reserve 01:52 than in the entire space of North America, 01:54 which is quite incredible. 01:56 We'll be looking at more here in Singapore, 01:58 but first up, let's travel to West Africa. 02:02 Emmanuel wanted to annoy 13-year-old Aggee 02:05 during a break between French and physics classes 02:08 at the Seventh-day Adventist school in Libreville, Gabon. 02:11 He knew that Aggee had a short temper, 02:13 so he started saying mean things. 02:15 Annoyed, Aggee immediately slapped the boy on the cheek. 02:19 Emmanuel didn't like being slapped, 02:20 and he slapped Aggee back. 02:22 Now Aggee was furious. 02:24 He punched Emmanuel. 02:26 Children crowded around the fighting boys. 02:28 "Don't stop!" they yelled. 02:30 "Let them fight!" 02:31 A teacher's assistant came running, 02:33 causing the children to scatter to their seats. 02:35 He pulled them apart. 02:37 "Why are you fighting?" 02:38 "He was mean to me," Aggee said. 02:41 "He hit me," Emmanuel said. 02:42 "You shouldn't fight. 02:44 Fighting is for animals. 02:45 Apologize." 02:46 As punishment, 02:48 the boys had to spend two hours away 02:49 from the other children, 02:51 quietly thinking about what they had done. 02:53 It was a long two hours. 02:55 After some time, Aggee whispered to Emmanuel, 02:59 "Why were you mean to me?" 03:01 "I was only joking," 03:02 Emmanuel whispered back. 03:04 Aggee wished that he hadn't lost his temper. 03:07 That summer, 03:08 grandfather sent Aggee to a Pathfinder campout. 03:11 Aggee's Bible teacher also went to the campout, 03:14 and he spoke for morning and evening worship. 03:16 At the end of the three-week campout, 03:18 he asked whether any children 03:20 wanted to give their hearts to Jesus. 03:22 He told them how Jesus could change their hearts. 03:25 Instead of anger, 03:27 He could give them peace and love. 03:29 When Aggee heard that, he remembered his short temper. 03:32 He remembered how his temper led to fights 03:35 and made his parents unhappy. 03:36 He wanted to change, and he prayed, 03:39 "Lord, I want to follow You." 03:41 Then Aggee stood up and went to the front. 03:44 People were surprised to see him standing. 03:46 His Bible teacher was happy that he wanted to be baptized. 03:49 After baptism, 03:51 when Aggee came out of the river, 03:52 he felt the same as before. 03:54 He thought maybe something miraculous would've happened, 03:57 but everything still seemed normal. 03:59 But as the days passed, 04:01 he noticed that 04:02 he no longer enjoyed many things of the past. 04:04 His friends noticed that 04:06 he wasn't easily angered like before. 04:09 Just the other day, 04:11 Emmanuel brought some cakes to sell in class, 04:13 and Aggee didn't want to buy one. 04:15 "I don't want to buy anything today," 04:17 he said. 04:18 "I'm not feeling well." 04:19 "Come on, buy one." Emmanuel said. 04:21 "No, I can't," Aggee said. 04:24 Emmanuel's face twisted in anger, 04:26 and he slapped Aggee, 04:27 but Aggee didn't feel angry at all 04:29 and he quietly walked away. 04:31 He was so grateful that with Jesus' help, 04:34 his days of having a short temper were over. 04:37 Jesus was changing his heart. 04:40 In 2017, 04:42 part of the 13th Sabbath Offering helped 04:44 construct a high school for 280 students 04:47 in Aggee's hometown of Libreville, Gabon. 04:50 Thank you for helping change lives 04:52 through the 13th Sabbath Offering. 04:54 It makes a big difference. 04:58 My guest is Pastor Paul 05:00 who is ministering here in Singapore. 05:02 Pastor Paul, thank you so much for joining us. 05:04 Now you are from India. 05:06 Why are you working in Singapore? 05:08 The Singapore Adventist Conference invited me 05:10 to reach the migrant workers from India, in Singapore. 05:16 And they are about more than 200,000 of people. 05:21 They work in construction site, shipyard and all kinds of work. 05:26 They are captured 05:27 and they reside in the dormitories 05:29 and I go and reach them, 05:30 visit to them, do Bible studies, 05:32 small groups, and be friendly with them. 05:36 So more than 200,000 migrant workers from India 05:41 are involved in various types of work in Singapore. 05:44 Wow. 05:46 And most of them are housed in dormitories? 05:48 Yes. 05:49 And each dormitory might have maybe some 15 to 20, 000 people 05:55 in each dormitory. 05:57 They live there. 05:59 But they work here, they care for their families, 06:01 send money back home that's Adventist. 06:04 And these are people away from their home, 06:06 they seek for some kind of community, 06:08 love relationship, 06:10 somebody to ask them how are you? 06:11 What are you? 06:13 So it's an opportunity to reach them. 06:15 And they do respond. 06:16 Right. 06:18 So the Singapore leaders Adventist leaders 06:20 saw this people group 06:22 and said we needed someone to come and help reach them. 06:24 Wonderful. 06:26 So how did you begin 06:27 making contact with these people? 06:29 It is simply going to where they are. 06:33 Talk to them, sit with them, and chit-chat with them, 06:37 and begin to ask them about their families, 06:40 their work situations, and all those things, 06:42 then they feel, 06:44 oh, there's somebody to love and care for us. 06:46 And they open up 06:47 and we begin to 06:49 and I began to share with them the love of Christ 06:51 and open the Bible and share with them the truth. 06:55 They have responded to it. 06:57 They wanted to know more and more about it, 06:59 fell in love with the Bible. 07:01 And they participated in the small group. 07:04 And eventually, 07:06 many of them in the last 10 years 07:09 over 100 people been baptized into the Adventist Church. 07:14 Well, this is the first time that I've met you in person, 07:16 but I've seen you before in our Adventist Mission video. 07:20 And it was a story of how you had groups meeting 07:23 under the streetlights at night. 07:26 Beside the road, beside the busy road side. 07:28 Why were you meeting there? 07:30 That is the only available place quiet calm... 07:34 It wasn't quiet. 07:36 Traffic was going back. 07:38 But then nobody would disturb them. 07:40 Right. Exactly. 07:42 Because I guess you... 07:43 But they were focused. 07:45 They wanted to know the truth 07:46 and their minds were kind of focus and attentive, 07:50 even if it is in such kind of places. 07:52 Yeah. 07:53 So what time at night were you meeting? 07:56 Mostly after 9:30 after 10:00, until 11:00, 11:30 08:01 that is the available time they come from their work. 08:03 They do the cooking and the eating that 08:06 before they go to bed. 08:07 That's the time available time. 08:09 Most of our Bible studies were overnight Bible studies. 08:13 And that's how we... 08:15 And some of these public holidays 08:18 were used to meet with them during the daytime. 08:21 Now tell me a story of someone 08:24 who came to know Jesus through this ministry? 08:27 One by name's Shankar. 08:30 He came to know the love of Jesus, 08:33 excited about it. 08:35 He thought, 08:36 "Oh, such a wonderful God we have in Jesus." 08:40 So he said, 08:42 "I would like to worship Jesus. 08:43 And I would like to be the follower of Jesus." 08:45 And it was an amazing story of the conversion of Shankar 08:50 and there was another one by name Velmurugan. 08:54 He also became an Adventist 08:56 understanding the biblical truths. 08:58 Wonderful. 09:00 Now you were also telling me about what happens 09:02 when some of these people go back to India? 09:05 Yes, they carry the truth from Singapore to India, 09:09 they would say, 09:10 even if we have not earned enough money, 09:13 we have the truth, 09:14 eternal truth that will take us to heaven. 09:17 They share the truth with their family members, 09:20 spouses and children 09:21 and they have become Adventists 09:23 and they started attending the local churches at in India, 09:27 South India, Tamil Nadu so many churches, 09:29 we have people from Singapore attending there. 09:32 What a blessing. 09:34 So they've come to know Jesus here 09:36 and they've taken that good news 09:38 back with them when they go back to India? 09:40 Yes. 09:41 What are your hopes for the future here, Pastor? 09:43 What would you like to see happen? 09:47 These migrant workers from India, in Singapore, 09:51 they will not be here for a long time, 09:53 maybe 10 years, 12 years, and then they'll be gone. 09:57 And by the time they go back they need to... 09:59 I wanted to see them that they are discipled, 10:03 so that they will carry the truth 10:05 and keep passing on the truth 10:07 to their children, their grandchildren 10:09 and to their neighbors in India. 10:11 And that is the kind of training 10:12 we try to give here when we meet with them. 10:15 Wonderful. 10:16 I'm guessing that the conditions 10:18 under which they live in these dormitories 10:21 is sometimes a bit challenging. 10:22 Yes. Yeah. 10:24 Well, Pastor, I wanna thank you so much 10:26 for what you're doing and for sharing with us today. 10:28 Praise the Lord. Yeah. 10:30 And may God bless you and your family. 10:31 Amen. 10:32 Please pray for Pastor Paul 10:34 and the 200, 000 migrant workers 10:39 here in Singapore, 10:40 a people group 10:42 that needs to know about Jesus Christ 10:43 and it's thrilling to hear what's happening, 10:45 but there's so much more that needs to be done. 10:47 We'll be right back after this break. |
Revised 2020-12-10