Participants:
Series Code: MW
Program Code: MW000031
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00:01 Join me as we discover
00:03 the secrets of the Cave of the Seven Sleepers. 00:04 To sleep 200 years, 00:05 that's a long nap by anybody's standards. 00:43 I'm here in the foothills of Seljuk, Turkey. 00:46 It's an area that's surrounded by several caves 00:48 and legend has it that around 2nd century 00:51 or the 3rd century A.D. 00:53 There were seven young men who had a love for God. 00:57 They were Christians, 00:59 but Decius the emperor had other plans, 01:01 he was not a Christian. He didn't like Christians. 01:04 He called everybody together for one particular day 01:07 and wanted them to bow down to their idols. 01:10 On this particular occasion, 01:12 as he asked everybody to come. 01:14 These seven young men who were soldiers came 01:16 but they would not bow down. 01:18 The emperor was, well, he was very upset. 01:22 He stripped them of their military rank. 01:24 He stripped them of their military uniforms 01:27 but he said, you know fellows, 01:28 because of your military service 01:30 I'm going on a campaign and when I come back 01:33 you better be ready to bow down to my idols. 01:37 These brave young soldiers for Christ 01:39 counseled among themselves. 01:41 What was the best course of action? 01:44 They finally decided that they would hide themselves 01:46 in the caves and the caverns 01:48 right up here in the foothills. 01:51 They would dress someone in pauper's clothes, 01:53 send them to the city to buy food 01:55 and that's the way they existed. 01:57 However, when the emperor came back, 01:59 he discovered that they had not recanted, 02:01 they would not recant. 02:03 He gathered workers from all over. 02:05 They came up to this location. 02:06 They began putting stone after stone 02:08 in front of the cave 02:09 until finally the cave was in complete darkness. 02:14 Legend has it that God caused a deep sleep 02:17 to fall upon these young men 02:18 and they slept for 200 hundred years. 02:21 At the end of 200 years around that time a farmer 02:25 needed stones to build his house. 02:27 He came up to this area and began removing stones 02:29 from the cave entrance. He found a little box. 02:32 The little box contained an interesting story. 02:35 It was written by two Christians 02:37 who actually were the workers for the emperor secretly. 02:40 Secret Christians who wrote down 02:42 the whole story of these young men 02:43 to memorialize them in what 02:45 they figured was their death sleep. 02:48 Well, after all the stones were removed, 02:50 the young men woke up. 02:52 They just thought it was another day. 02:53 They dressed. 02:55 One put on his pauper's clothes, 02:56 went down into the village to buy food. 02:59 But when he paid for the food, 03:01 they looked at it, there was something strange. 03:03 This was a 200 hundred year old coin. 03:04 They thought he must have stolen some treasure. 03:07 They grabbed the young man. 03:09 They took him up to this location. 03:10 Because he said, no, no, no, this was, this was, 03:13 where I've been living. 03:15 They looked and they found all these men were alive. 03:17 Now what was very interesting 03:20 is the old farmer who built a house next door. 03:22 He had heard the story too he came. 03:24 He shared what was in the box 03:26 that these young men had been resurrected. 03:29 Resurrection in town 03:31 they had been discussing the resurrection. 03:33 They were all now Christians. 03:35 They no longer had persecution but they're all Christians 03:37 fighting over the resurrection. 03:39 There really wasn't a resurrection they said. 03:41 But indeed there is evidence now. 03:43 These seven young men had been resurrected to new life. 03:47 So legend has it. 03:54 After the day of excitement and celebration had passed, 03:58 God again caused a sleep 03:59 to fall upon these young men in their cave. 04:02 Since that time they built a church here 04:04 to memorialize that occasion. 04:07 Not only is it mentioned in legend here in Christianity 04:11 but the Qur'an even mentions this very legend. 04:15 Galena, thank you for inviting me 04:16 to your office today. 04:18 I'm very happy to see you here in my office 04:21 as well as my co-workers from the Bible school. 04:25 Now, I think I heard of you the other day 04:27 when I was talking to Lyudmila. 04:29 She said, she walked clear 04:31 across town to talk to you. Yes. 04:35 And I heard about her end of the story. 04:38 Tell me your end of the story. 04:42 Lyudmila is one of many people 04:44 that came to visit our Bible school here. 04:48 Foreign language 04:51 We have the privilege of having a lot of people come 04:55 and because we have a local radio station. 04:59 In other words, you have a lot of people 05:01 like Lyudmila, who come to the studio here 05:04 and to talk with you? 05:06 Foreign language 05:11 Yes, the people here in Tula 05:13 have the opportunity to all us 05:16 and schedule a date to come in. 05:18 Foreign language 05:25 And we gladly invite them. 05:30 When people call you or talk to you, 05:34 what do you do? Walk me through that process. 05:36 Foreign language 05:42 We invite them. 05:43 We sit them on a sofa in our hallway 05:46 or even here in the office. 05:48 Foreign language 05:53 Usually people come into the office 05:55 with their problems, not only because 05:58 they're curious what is going on in the office? 06:02 Foreign language 06:13 People in our country 06:15 were really turned away from Christ. 06:17 Like in other countries they have the Bible, 06:21 but here they have us 06:23 to help them answer their questions. 06:26 Foreign language 06:32 Now, Lyudmila sounded like you almost 06:34 took her by the hand and you connected her with the pastor 06:38 and church and fellowship and Bible studies. 06:41 But yet you say, that's, you do that a lot. 06:45 Foreign language 06:51 The case of Lyudmila was different. 06:53 Foreign language 07:02 Usually people would sit down, 07:04 explain me their problems 07:06 and we would try to help them with the best of our ability. 07:11 Foreign language 07:23 But she was different. She was very open and brave. 07:27 Foreign language 07:31 Now, I understand you get a lot of, a lot of mail. 07:37 Our regional director said, 07:38 sometimes it's, it's bags full of mails. 07:42 Yes, we get about a thousand letters a month. 07:48 For the time that we have been working 07:51 we received about half a million letters. 07:54 But we reply and send out twice as much 07:58 because there are those who either forgot about us 08:01 or they lost the connection. 08:03 We send them letters to remind them 08:06 and to offer our Bible school again. 08:12 As you can see AWR is frontline mission radio. 08:16 Our first priority is to travel 08:17 where missionaries cannot go. 08:20 We broadcast thousands of hours each day 08:22 in 70 major languages of the world. 08:26 AWR has the capability and capacity of blanketing 08:29 almost 80% of the world's population. 08:32 Not only do we broadcast via shortwave radio 08:35 but our signal is on over 1000 FM 08:38 and AM stations around the world as well. 08:41 Our podcast subscribers, Internet users, 08:44 satellite downlinks are growing rapidly. 08:46 Evidenced by the hundred thousand plus emails, letters 08:50 and phone calls we receive each and every year. 08:53 Yes, AWR is your mission radio. 08:57 No walls and no borders for AWR, 08:59 that means changed lives and changed hearts 09:01 around the world because God is using the airwaves of AWR 09:06 to reach people everywhere. 09:11 Here is another story of hope from Adventist World Radio. 09:16 Kalu Ram was a poor field laborer near Gujarat in India. 09:20 Finding his work tedious, Kalu purchased a small radio 09:23 to relieve the boredom. 09:25 One day he came across a program talking about Jesus. 09:28 It was from Adventist World Radio. 09:31 After listening for few days, Kalu looked for a pastor 09:34 who could tell him more about Christ. 09:36 Soon convinced of the Christian truth, 09:38 Kalu was baptized and became an outreach leader 09:42 in his hometown and the surrounding area. 09:44 Witnessing in predominantly Hindu towns 09:47 is not always safe and Kalu was once attacked 09:50 when approaching a town to preach. 09:52 However, through the efforts of Kalu 09:54 and the volunteers he has trained 09:56 nearly 1,000 people have accepted Christ. 10:00 Adventist World Radio shares the Hope of Christ 10:04 with millions of people everyday. 10:07 For more information visit awr.org. 10:23 The miracle was apparently first described 10:25 by Bishop Stephen of Ephesus, sometime between 448 and 451. 10:31 It seems to have been immediately accepted 10:33 and perhaps in part because of its usefulness 10:36 for a current controversy having to do 10:38 with the resurrection of the body. 10:40 The grotto associated with the Seven Sleepers 10:43 became a highly venerated site 10:45 and a major place of pilgrimage 10:47 from the 5th to the 15th century. 10:50 Many people were buried in the grotto with the sleepers. 10:53 A brick church was built above the seven original tombs 10:56 with mosaic floors and marble facing. 11:02 A large dome mausoleum 11:04 was added to the cave in the 6th century. 11:09 Excavations were carried out in the grotto 11:11 between 1927 and 1930. 11:15 Intriguingly, the archeologists discovered 11:17 that the cave complex 11:18 predates the legend by several centuries. 11:21 That abundance of lamps found in the grotto 11:24 date from before the 5th century 11:26 and not all of them are Christian. 11:28 It is interesting to know 11:29 that a cave of the Seven Sleepers 11:31 can be found not in Ephesus only 11:33 but also in Jordan and Syria 11:35 and near the ancient city of Tarsus. 11:37 In each place the story is told differently 11:40 with a link to a sleep ranging from a hundred 11:42 up to three hundred years. 11:45 Do you see the Holy Spirit at work in your ministry? 11:50 Foreign language 11:53 Yes, it's undisputable that the Holy Spirit works. 11:57 I've seen miracles through the radio program 12:01 and overall the radio in my life is very important. 12:05 Foreign language 12:10 That's why I could say that I came here to work 12:14 for the Voice of Hope. 12:16 What's the most rewarding part of your work? 12:20 Foreign language 12:26 This job between the walls of this ministry is inspiring. 12:31 I love this job. 12:33 Before this I worked as an engineer. 12:36 Foreign language 12:39 I finally found out about church and about God. 12:45 I communicated with them for about a year or two. 12:51 This was very interesting and inviting for me. 12:54 Foreign language 12:59 But my friends and my relatives 13:01 thought it was a terrible place to be 13:05 and thought it was illegal and tried to save me from it. 13:09 Foreign language 13:13 They tried to scare me, tried telling me 13:16 that there were sacrifices being made in church. 13:20 Foreign language 13:22 Then one day a radio station came on the air 13:26 and I realized that this weren't people 13:29 hiding in basements, there were people coming out 13:33 and speaking about God over the radio. 13:36 Foreign language 13:39 At that time, evangelistic meetings 13:42 were at the center of town. 13:46 I went there to see for myself 13:49 if those people really did that. 13:51 Foreign language 13:57 When I went there I saw Peter Kulakov, 14:00 Nikolay Nikolaevich Metlov and they amazed me. 14:05 Foreign language 14:09 I was astonished with their work 14:12 and the hope that they give people. 14:15 I as well wanted to do something for Christ. 14:18 Foreign language 14:24 I wanted to help with what they were doing. 14:28 You first thought we were sacrificing children 14:31 and whatever other crazy things, 14:33 but then you found AWR on the radio dial. 14:37 You want to see it for yourself 14:39 and now here you are 16 years 14:41 and you're doing all the Bible studies 14:43 and leading others to Christ. 14:44 Foreign language 14:50 Yes, this story with Lyudmila 14:53 is exactly how I came to this radio station. 14:56 Foreign language 15:01 She did the same thing. 15:05 What made you turn on the radio 15:06 and you heard the radio program? 15:08 Foreign language 15:12 I have a radio receiver here in my office. 15:15 Foreign language 15:19 I would like to show you this radio. 15:22 It has three channels. 15:28 Here are two wires, one is the power wire 15:31 and the other one is used to plug into a receiver. 15:36 So tell me what was that first time like 15:38 when you turned on the radio program and you heard it. 15:40 What did, what happened? 15:43 Foreign language 15:47 I wanted to be with Christ. 15:49 I was interested to know more about these people 15:53 who were praising the Lord. 15:54 Foreign language 16:01 They talk about Christ and give people hope. 16:04 For me that was a lot 16:07 and it was turning point in my life. 16:10 Foreign language 16:13 The influence of the Greek Gods 16:14 and the culture was pervasive. 16:16 The myths and beliefs of Ephesians were rooted 16:19 in the stories of the Olympic Gods. 16:21 Even today myths about different cultures 16:23 and religions skew the thinking of many 16:25 who seek the truth. 16:27 Stories of strange beliefs are told to scare people away. 16:31 The Olympic Gods of Greece were found representing 16:33 all over the Eastern Roman empire. 16:36 The Greeks worship 12 major Gods and Goddesses. 16:39 Zeus was considered 16:40 the most powerful of the Greek Gods. 16:43 The Greeks built temple 16:44 to shelter the Gods from the elements. 16:47 The worship of these gods can be seen in the temples 16:49 built throughout the empire. 16:51 Were you an atheist at the time, 16:53 you're an engineer, and you had a lot of education. 16:56 But were you an atheist or what did you believe? 16:59 Foreign language 17:01 That was interesting because I was atheist 17:05 and at the moment I lived with my grandparents. 17:09 I always tried proving to them that there was no God. 17:13 I told them that Gagarin went out of space 17:17 and he didn't see God up there. 17:19 Foreign language 17:22 I'm pretty sure that the reason 17:24 why I came to Christ is because I still 17:27 contained roots from my grandparents. 17:30 I believe having them as a believers 17:33 made it easier for me to turn to Christ. 17:36 Foreign language 17:39 They were too scared to tell us about God 17:42 that time were hard. 17:44 People were getting persecuted for believing 17:47 and acknowledging Christ. 17:50 Foreign language 17:53 I know they prayed for us. 17:56 And they were asking God to open up to us 17:59 later in our future. 18:01 And through the radio this happened. 18:04 Foreign language 18:07 We had a Bible in our family. 18:09 It was gift to my grandfather at the end of the seminary. 18:19 Oh, oh, my! 18:22 Foreign language 18:24 The Bible was printed before the revolution. 18:29 Printed before the revolution? 18:31 Foreign language 18:33 My grandfather finished the seminary in 1950 18:38 and the Bible was a gift right after that was done. 18:42 Foreign language 18:45 But I found out after I became a Christian, 18:49 they never told us because they were afraid. 18:52 Foreign language 18:54 Through the radio waves of AWR, 18:56 God is reaching people around the world. 19:00 We would like to offer you an edition of Making Waves. 19:03 It's four of our episodes 19:04 brought to you from around the world. 19:07 God is speaking to hearts, 19:08 the hearts of the listeners of AWR, exciting stories. 19:11 We hope that you'll share those with friends 19:13 and neighbors, acquaintances, 19:15 anyone you come in contact with. 19:16 Join us to Make Waves, it's completely free. 19:20 Right now the information is on your screen. 19:23 For your free, no obligation DVD, 19:25 write to Adventist World Radio, 19:28 12501 Old Columbia Pike, 19:31 Silver Spring, Maryland 20904 19:34 or call 1-866-503-3531 19:39 or log on to www.awr.org/MWDVD 19:46 Be sure to request offer number 10. 19:49 That number again is 1-866-503-3531. 19:57 Here is another story of hope from Adventist World Radio. 20:01 Igor and Fatlana unlike some other Russians 20:05 have seen nothing but hard times 20:07 since the fall of communism. 20:09 The agriculture industry, so vital to their rural town 20:12 has plummeted, leaving the area in poverty. 20:16 Watching their dejected neighbors 20:18 fall to alcohol abuse they were concerned 20:21 about the influence such a hopeless society 20:23 would have on their five children. 20:25 So they searched for a positive influence 20:28 for their family. 20:29 They founded in Adventist World Radio. 20:32 You are the brightest light in our hard life 20:35 they wrote to us. 20:36 We are always looking forward to your next program. 20:39 Thank you for your message of kindness and hope. 20:45 Adventist World Radio shares the hope of Christ 20:48 with millions of people everyday 20:51 in their own languages, for more information 20:54 visit awr.org 20:58 I'm standing here in the museum of Bergamum. 21:01 Bergamum actually is the new name 21:04 for one of the seven churches, Pergamos. 21:07 Before me is the mockup 21:09 or the reconstruction of the altar of Zeus. 21:11 The real one is in Berlin. 21:14 We'll go over there in just a moment to check it out. 21:16 Zeus was the God of all Gods. 21:19 Upon the altar of Zeus, child sacrifices, animal sacrifices 21:24 it was not a pretty sight. 21:26 But Zeus was the most powerful God. 21:29 Down here there are depictions of the giants 21:32 and different ones doing battle with the Gods. 21:35 Right over here you'll see the one that the Germans 21:37 actually remove from the acropolis. 21:40 It is beautiful but it is very impressive. 21:43 We're going to go visit the one up in that area 21:46 at least where they took it from. 21:48 Tell me now today, when you come across an atheist 21:52 do you talk with an atheist. 21:54 What do you tell them? 21:55 Foreign language 22:01 I have the opportunity to tell stories. 22:04 I have a job where I hear testimonies everyday 22:08 and people tell me how their lives changed. 22:11 Foreign language 22:19 I hear stories that I'm unable to retell 22:23 because they are so mind blowing. 22:26 Foreign language 22:29 Is there one special story that, I don't know, that 22:33 just says, oh, this is the story. 22:35 It's so fantastic, could you share that? 22:38 Foreign language 22:42 We had a special event going on 22:45 and we decide to make a few rewarding games 22:47 for those who donate money. 22:50 Foreign language 22:57 It didn't matter about the amount 23:00 as long as they were our regular listeners 23:03 and made a small donation. 23:06 We never told them that we were going to mention 23:10 their names in the program. 23:12 After this program a lot of people brought us 23:15 they heard our program. 23:18 And in this program there was a sister 23:21 who knew about our program in Radio Russia 23:24 but didn't know about Radio Mayak. 23:26 Foreign language 23:32 She came home on Saturday after church 23:35 and saw a schedule. 23:37 She noticed that our program was aired very late 23:41 in her time over the Mayak Radio. 23:45 Foreign language 23:46 She was upset and forgot about it. 23:50 For some reason she couldn't sleep that night 23:53 and so she remembered about the program 23:56 and turned the radio on. 23:58 Foreign language 23:59 And when she turned on her radio 24:02 she heard her name and address announced. 24:05 It's amazing how the Holy Spirit works. 24:08 Foreign language 24:14 I came across stories like that all the time. 24:17 Foreign language 24:20 I lost contact of some friends who I knew 24:24 and I lived with in the same house. 24:28 Foreign language 24:31 I do programs by letters a couple of times 24:34 and those people who I lost can talk 24:37 when they start meeting me. 24:39 Foreign language 24:44 And they told me they heard the radio station 24:48 and they heard my name. 24:50 Foreign language 24:55 They ask me questions about God 24:58 and where I work. 24:59 I know that it's God ministry even in this way. 25:03 Foreign language 25:08 It was shocking and interesting for them 25:11 to listen to my voice on the radio 25:14 who they knew once was not a Christian 25:17 and it became interesting for them to start listening. 25:21 Foreign language 25:29 And when I met with them they ask me where I work 25:33 and wanted to know what kind of God 25:35 I'm talking about. 25:38 Galena, in our story today, 25:40 started out by trying to convince to people 25:42 that there was no God. 25:45 After all the astronauts have been to outer space 25:48 and they didn't see a God. 25:50 And can you believe it when she first heard 25:53 about the Adventist Church, people tried to tell her that 25:56 those people offered child sacrifices. 26:00 But Voice of Hope changed all that. 26:03 Galena has now been working for 16 years 26:06 in the Voice of Hope Bible School. 26:09 Helping people to discover the truth about God. 26:13 I'm standing here in the area 26:14 of the ancient city of Pergamon 26:17 and New Testament Book of Revelation tells us 26:21 that Pergamon is the place where Satan had his temple. 26:25 In fact behind me here is the altar of Zeus. 26:29 The chief God of the Greeks and in fact they did offer 26:33 child sacrifices here at this location. 26:36 The letter to the church of Pergamon says that, 26:39 these people here remain faithful and true to God 26:44 despite all the environment around them. 26:47 Galena also lives in the land of unbelief 26:50 and for all these many years 26:53 her work and witness has lead many, many people 26:57 to find the true God. 26:59 That's a challenge to us as well. 27:01 You and I need to remain true and faithful to God 27:05 despite any influences that may exist around us. 27:09 One way you can be faithful is to help ministries 27:12 like AWR to uplift the truth before this world of unbelief. 27:19 I'll be looking for your contact. 27:22 AWR is your mission radio. 27:24 You would like to partner with this 27:25 give us a call today, 1-866-503-3531 27:31 or write us at 12501 Old Columbia Pike, 27:35 Silver Spring, Maryland 20904, 27:38 or log on to our website www.awr.org 27:44 Thank you for watching and please join us again 27:47 for another exciting gospel adventure 27:48 because around the world AWR is making waves. |
Revised 2014-12-17