Participants:
Series Code: NLLA
Program Code: NLLA012701
|
00:25 Well, Night Light is coming to you
00:27 live from Puerto Rico 00:29 and it's been a beautiful time here, hasn't it? 00:31 We have had a great time. 00:33 The church is lovely, the people are lovely, 00:35 the island is lovely, the weather is lovely, 00:38 it's been lovely all around, as I say, "todo bien." 00:40 Yeah, I don't know what that means 00:41 but I will tell you that we have really enjoyed 00:46 ministering here because that's what we've been doing. 00:49 Night by night we've been having our 00:51 "Anchors of Truth" series. 00:53 I preached on the opening night, 00:55 John Dinzey last night, and then John Lomacang tonight. 00:58 You're on tomorrow night. Tomorrow night. 01:00 And so be sure to tune in for those. 01:02 They're at 6 P.M. central time during this particular series. 01:07 We've moved things around a little bit 01:09 because we are two hours ahead. 01:10 Of the rest of our family there in Illinois, 01:12 so we've had to make some adjustments. 01:14 In fact, it's 10 P.M. here. 01:16 And this is beyond my bedtime, I guarantee you, 01:20 because-- I'm ready to take a little rest. 01:24 So if we seem a little sluggish, 01:26 please understand we've a long day today 01:29 and it's still going into tonight 01:32 and we're not exactly people 01:35 that are accustomed to working after 10 o'clock. 01:38 No, not in southern Illinois, 01:39 we tend to go to bed kind of early. 01:41 That is true and also correct. 01:44 We need to introduce-- we've got our buddy 01:46 at the other end of the table who's gonna 01:48 help us out a little bit, Jorge Jaque 01:50 who is the production manager for 3ABN Latino. 01:54 He wears another hat tonight, 01:56 he's going to be our translator, our traductor, 02:01 for those who have a little trouble with English, 02:03 as we have a lot of trouble with Spanish. Yes. 02:06 He may help us even as he helps them. 02:08 Yes, and he is our friend and our buddy 02:11 and we appreciate Jorge very much. 02:14 And, you know, 3ABN Latino has had a very important 02:18 ministry here in Puerto Rico for a long time. 02:22 Pastor John Dinzey has been coming here 02:24 and I think that he is certainly well known here in Puerto Rico. 02:31 Yeah. One of the things we want to do tonight 02:33 is give you a taste of the flavor 02:35 of the work of God on this island. 02:37 As we've come here, we've done some production, 02:39 Jorge has been here, as we said, 02:42 John he has been here, the work is going great guns. 02:45 We want to give a little flavor 02:46 of some of the things that are happening. 02:48 We'll meet some of the conference and union officials, 02:50 we'll talk about the school, the hospital, 02:53 this beautiful church and the media center. 02:55 So we're gonna be running people in and out, 02:57 back and forth, sitting in that empty chair 02:59 just between Jim and Jorge there 03:00 because we got a lot to show you. 03:02 Maybe you will be inspired as you listen to their stories. 03:04 We've got some testimonies, some miracles, 03:06 a number of really wonderful things 03:08 that are happening here on the island of Puerto Rico. 03:10 And the Adventist church is doing 03:12 a powerful missionary work here. 03:14 We're gonna talk to the leaders of the church 03:15 and some of the members and hear their stories 03:17 and testimonies, and I think you'll be inspired 03:20 when you hear and know and see and understand the work 03:23 that is being done here because God is doing a great work here 03:26 and certainly a great work around the world. 03:28 You know, the amazing thing is what we have seen, 03:32 it is tremendously successful, the work of God is, here. 03:36 But it's right on the verge of explosion, 03:40 of really taking off, and that's exciting to us. 03:45 We think with the --with media 03:47 and with the evangelism that they do, 03:49 with the whole situation they have set up here, 03:53 the organization and how it has functioned all these years. 03:59 We're going to see, in Puerto Rico, 04:01 a great explosion and see the work finished here, 04:04 I believe in a very short time. 04:06 You know, you talk about explosion. 04:08 The first night we came, I drove up with Jorge 04:11 in the car and I let him drive my rental car 04:14 and you know we'll takeoff-- 04:15 the way he was flying up this hill, 04:17 I thought we are gonna take off there for a while. 04:18 But he knows this hill very, very well. 04:20 Want to give you just a little vista, 04:23 a little look at where we are. 04:25 We're in the Bella Vista church. 04:26 I guess it's about two thirds of the way 04:27 up this mountain, I can dare say. 04:30 Yeah. Beautiful views. 04:33 Joel, if you run that-- beautiful views, 04:34 this is heading up the hill. 04:36 This is where Jorge and I flew up couple of nights ago. 04:39 And the church is sort of perched 04:41 on the hill next to the school, next to the hospital. 04:46 They're all sort of tucked together. 04:48 Really, really beautiful views as you can see, 04:51 just kind of a nice place to be 04:52 and you got a little rai shower every afternoon. 04:54 Yeah. In Mayaguez which is kind of nice. 04:57 It cools it off. It does cool it off. 04:59 This is the church, just a nice looking building. 05:02 Yes. And we've had a great time. 05:04 And we're gonna talk about the media center 05:06 that is housed here, that's a satellite truck 05:08 that we are broadcasting from, 05:09 now even as you speak, just below the church. 05:12 This is sort of looking out from the balcony 05:13 of the church itself, and beautiful views 05:16 out to the ocean out there. 05:18 So this is a nice place to be, 05:19 kind of a nice place to spend the Sabbath, Jim. 05:21 Yes, it really is. Yeah. 05:22 And I've been here before, 05:23 I came about 10 years ago and visited-- 05:27 we were very impressed with this whole city. 05:31 You know, sometimes we tease 05:32 a little about Adventist ghettos. 05:35 Well, this is quite a ghetto. Yeah. 05:37 And it's-- it's very, very nice. 05:41 Beautiful place, tropical, and the climate great 05:47 and it's just a beautiful place, as you see this church. 05:50 We're right now on the platform here of the church. 05:56 It is a beautiful edifice. Yes. 05:58 We've sort of stolen our anchors set, 06:02 which is sort of up behind us still, 06:04 but we're on the platform and a beautiful-- 06:06 Jorge, we haven't let you talk too much. 06:07 Give us your impressions, 06:09 you've been here a lot more and lot longer. 06:10 I preached in this church about 12 years ago, 06:12 but you've done some production here, 06:14 the flavor of the people, the times, as you see it. 06:18 Well, I would like to, first, 06:20 to list something that you missed 06:22 and your list of lovely things in Mayaguez 06:26 and Puerto Rico is the lovely food. 06:28 Amen. I agree. We had plenty of that. 06:32 And yeah, we have been working since probably 06:36 2 years ago with the Bella Vista media center, 06:41 here, located at the Bella Vista church. 06:44 And, well, we have accomplished, really-- 06:47 as we are really impressed because there's 06:53 a lot of good talent, good people, 06:56 willing to go the extra mile and do some program with that. 07:01 They support us, they bring music, 07:05 preaching, teaching, several things 07:09 that we have been able to do 07:11 and it's a joy working with this media center 07:14 with all the leadership of this church. 07:18 Pastor German Parra has opened the church 07:20 and we are going to have him here 07:22 in this table and we'll enjoy-- 07:26 I am sure that we're gonna continue enjoying 07:28 more productions made from this church. 07:33 Jim, this, as you know, is an unusual situation 07:36 because you have a church that is undertaking to do 07:39 a media center, out of a church. 07:41 It's unusual to have that kind of vision 07:44 and the kind of funding to do that, 07:46 as you well know, it's not a cheap enterprise. 07:49 But they have undertaken to do that 07:51 and have begun to produce things already out of this church. 07:53 And there's a radio station 07:55 that we're gonna talk about in a little bit, 07:56 so this is quite an enterprise here. 07:58 Yes, it really is, and we were on radio yesterday. 08:01 Well, we talk about that little later 08:03 because they do have 08:05 a great radio ministry here on the island. 08:08 So we've got some exciting things to talk about. 08:12 Yeah, and I think we got to launch into-- 08:14 let's call, first, the Union President. 08:16 He's kind of the head guy here, the El Jefe. 08:20 This is Jose Alberto Rodriguez, I like that. 08:23 Jose Alberto Rodriguez, President of the Union, 08:27 the Puerto Rican Union and we're gonna ask him 08:29 come up and we'll talk to him just a little bit. 08:31 All right. Welcome. 08:34 Pastor, good to have you. 08:42 First of all, we want to ask, 08:44 what is the membership of your union? 08:58 The membership in Puerto Rico is 37,000 members. 09:03 Praise the Lord. And how many churches? 09:10 And we have 325 churches and congregations. 09:14 Praise the Lord. 09:15 See, Jim, the figures we had are already old stuff. 09:17 Yeah. Stuff I got off the website. 09:19 Right. He's grown since then. 09:22 Yeah, we can praise the Lord for that. That's right. 09:29 Well, you can talk into the mike 09:31 because they'll hear it both ways. 09:33 I want to know how long he's been 09:34 the president of the union. 09:41 Five and half years, already. 09:44 Praise the Lord. All right. 09:45 How old is the Puerto Rican union? 09:47 When did the work start here? 10:07 We have around 12 years since we were organized as a union. 10:11 Before, we were part of the Antillean Union. 10:23 In Puerto Rico we're divided in four conferences. 10:28 The Bella Vista Hospital 10:35 and also the Adventist-- 10:37 the Antillean University that belongs to the union. 10:44 And also a clinic 10:51 and we also-- we're gonna have tonight 10:53 the executive director of the hospital. 11:03 And he will give us more information 11:05 regarding the hospital and work in the community. 11:14 Our island is a very missionary-minded church. 11:23 And every Puerto Rican 11:24 has a loving soul, by the grace of God. 11:33 And that makes us a little bit different 11:35 from other countries in the world. 11:42 And you may be asking yourselves 11:45 about the membership here. 11:49 And our first act of-- 11:54 loving act is church the American people. 12:00 Because we baptized our members. 12:05 And then they immigrate to the United States. 12:11 We have around 25,000 Adventist members 12:16 in United States from Puerto Rico. 12:19 So he's sending missionaries to the United States. 12:22 We're not sending missionaries, they are. 12:30 Many of them will come back, 12:31 but some others will stay there forever. 12:38 So our membership is kind of flowing membership. 12:49 But even so this is somewhat problematic. 12:53 Our church is still very missionary oriented. 13:01 In the concept of big cities. 13:13 In this context, world church has launched 13:17 this project of reaching big cities 13:21 over 5 million population. 13:29 In our island we have 3.9 million population. 13:37 And we have converted this 3.9 million in one big city. 13:47 We want to reach them and evangelize those 3.9 millions. 13:56 So that big city will be reached by the gospel of Christ. 14:04 That's why we have a systematic program, 14:07 evangelistic program, that we have in place. 14:15 Ninety percent of our churches have satellite antennas. 14:24 We launched-- we inaugurated 14:25 that part of our evangelism last Sabbath 14:30 with the coming of Elder Ted Wilson. 14:38 And on March 21, well, we started 14:40 an evangelistic campaign with Elder Alejandro Bullon. 14:47 That will be broadcasted to all the churches in Puerto Rico. 14:54 And so instead of having an audience 14:56 of 20,000 people in a coliseum. 15:00 We'll be in the local churches. 15:06 So the brethren can benefit of this in their local churches. 15:15 And that cycle would continue in 2013 with Pastor Rojas. 15:21 And Pastor Robert Costa. 15:28 And then we'll end on 2014 with Pastor Mark Finley 15:32 here in the west sides of Puerto Rico. 15:33 I wanted to stop for a second because he's got-- 15:35 I like that idea of using-- looking at the whole 15:40 island as one big city and attacking it as one big city 15:45 and you've got some heavy hitters coming in. 15:48 If I can use that terminology, I mean, 15:50 you've got Bullon, you got Costa, 15:52 you got Mark Finley, you got our buddy Jose Rojas. 15:55 So truly your union is missionary-minded 16:01 to reach all of Puerto Rico. 16:11 We've an idiosyncrasy problem in this country. 16:17 With the groups that come in on a yearly basis. 16:25 And although Puerto Rico is a very small island. 16:31 We have many countries of the world represented here. 16:41 It is a little bit difficult to reach 16:43 all those people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 16:54 So we are preparing different ministries 16:56 of the union to reach all these people. 17:07 So the evangelistic campaign with Pastor Rojas, 17:11 Pastor Bullon, Pastor Costa, and Pastor Mark Finley 17:13 will be to evangelize those local churches. 17:27 And the interesting and nice part 17:32 about this whole idea is that you, 3ABN, 17:36 will be part of this project, reaching out to many people 17:41 and by broadcasting this event to the world. 17:47 You know, Camille and I have driven around quite a bit 17:51 and we drove by the new union office. 18:06 And it's a very beautiful office. 18:11 Last Sunday we had the opportunity 18:13 to dedicate this new building. 18:25 We are preparing mentally and emotionally 18:28 for that harvest of the 10%. 18:34 One day, we want to be 300,000 Seventh-day Adventists. 18:37 Praise the Lord. By the grace of God. 18:39 And I'll tell you, that is good stewardship 18:43 because it's in a good location, on a major thoroughfare. 18:48 It is advertising to everybody that drives by, 18:53 plus it has great value, when you ever wanted to sell it, 18:59 it'll be worth a lot more even than the investment. 19:02 So having looked at it I say, "Wow, that's good thinking." 19:06 Amen. I like that. 19:13 We never thought about selling that, 19:15 but we're gonna buy everything around it. 19:18 We've got some video of that office. 19:20 We want to run that now so you can see, 19:21 it's a really beautiful office and that's the new building 19:25 and it's on a main thoroughfare, you cannot miss it. 19:28 Really beautiful building. Right. Yeah. 19:30 When did you start to build this, when was it begun? 19:35 A year and half ago. So it went up fast. 19:40 In 18 months-- 19:45 We have in 18 months took us 19:47 to have the building completely finished. 19:55 We have an amphitheater inside to-- 19:57 we're gonna use it for seminars. 20:02 And we have a space dedicated for ADRA. 20:12 And also we have a space allocated for 20:15 the virtual university of the inner American division. 20:23 And also we have a space to do cooking shows in the future. 20:32 We want this building to speak to the people. 20:42 There's a space that we've always 20:44 want to keep is the room that we named "Alberto Fischer." 20:53 He was the first missionary who step in this land. 20:59 And he rests here in Mayaguez. 21:05 We'll never forget because he never went back home. 21:14 When Jesus come he will be resuscitated 21:19 and will go heaven with us. 21:26 And also the building will have a big screen in the outside. 21:35 There will be continually put in programs 21:39 that will show what we-- our beliefs. 21:48 Announce the second coming, 21:49 the Ten Commandments, salvation plan-- 21:54 The opportunities for evangelism are just limitless. 21:58 They really are. It's unbelievable and I saw it. 22:01 The minute I saw that building, 22:03 I knew God's gonna use that to help in the explosion 22:07 here of our membership in Puerto Rico. I believe that. 22:16 Some day we are hoping to be able to inaugurate a TV studio. 22:23 We're giving the first steps. 22:31 So we hope 3ABN will be part of the project. 22:35 All right. Amen. 22:38 Thank you so much. 22:39 Pastor, thank you for spending a little bit of time with us. 22:43 We see that your building is missionary minded, 22:46 Jim, I think you can see that, 22:48 it's not just an office building. 22:49 Oh, no. It's a missionary set. 22:51 See, this is what I love about it, C.A. 22:53 It's not stuck off somewhere where people can't see it. 22:57 Amen. Yeah. 22:59 Sometimes we build offices out in the country 23:01 or if they'd even built it here, by the school, 23:04 I think it would have been bad. 23:06 But they built it right on the thoroughfare 23:09 where everybody can see it. 23:11 And so it is a witness all day long, 23:16 every day and they're even continuing 23:19 to make that a greater witness. 23:21 So I just believe God's really been leading us. 23:24 Pastor Rodriguez, thank you so very much. 23:27 We are gonna call the treasurer 23:29 who had to pay for that building. Yeah. 23:32 Luis Rivera Maldonado to come up and talk with us. 23:35 Somebody had to find the money for that building 23:37 and try to exercise that vision. 23:38 And I also found out that Pastor Luis 23:41 is also the communication director, 23:43 that's my old job in the conference, for the union. 23:48 So this is not a tall man, but mighty in stature I think. 23:51 All right. Yes. 23:54 Pastor, it's good to have you here. 23:56 Yes, and you are the treasurer 23:57 and also communications director. 23:59 Yeah, it's my pleasure. All right. 24:02 Well, listen, give us a little bit of the overview. 24:07 I understand that when they were 24:11 having the president of the general conference 24:13 here and you had sort of the opening 24:15 that the banker was there as well 24:17 and they said this building is paid for. 24:21 Is that right? 24:34 That is correct. God has blessed us. 24:37 In this building we have zero debt. 24:40 You were mentioning about stewardship a minute ago. Yes. 25:01 The location of our building 25:03 is a very privileged one and that is important. 25:16 The bankers were very interested 25:19 and even loan us the money to build the building. 25:27 But we made an analysis and we decided no, 25:30 we have to pay it off. 25:41 All the money that goes to pay for interest, 25:44 we can use it in a different project like-- 25:47 Like communications projects. 25:49 Amen. Yes, it is. 25:51 I noticed that your building is fairly near a large mall. 25:56 Was that intentional? 25:57 Because you get a lot of traffic going by your building. 25:59 You got a great big mall 26:01 right across from your building. 26:09 Thousands of cars go by and because that is 26:14 a very important avenue corridor in the country. 26:24 Everyone has to go through-- 26:27 by the building when we take our kids to school. 26:42 Many people ask us, "What were you had in mind 26:45 when you build this building?" 26:46 This is a representation of what we believe. 26:51 You know, we've been here just since Monday 26:55 and we have driven by the building 26:57 maybe as many as 10 times just in that length of time 27:02 and we weren't trying to drive by the building. 27:04 It's just that if you go somewhere, 27:07 you're gonna use that highway. 27:08 You know, use that road. 27:20 This is one of the main corridors of this island. 27:23 People who go from the west toward the east or vice versa, 27:26 they have to use that corridor. 27:45 When people who are vacationing, 27:47 they have to use that corridor 27:49 to go to the most nicest places 27:52 like Cabo Rojo, nice beach area. 27:56 Now your other hat that you wear, communications-- 28:00 as treasurer and also as the communications, 28:03 can you share some of the things 28:05 that you're planning or have been doing 28:08 in the matter of communications? 28:15 Being a young person, God gave me the opportunity 28:20 to be involved in communication and in media. 28:29 I had some experience in radio and television. 28:39 And I made an agreement with the Lord, 28:41 if I had a challenge like this, I was going to accept. 28:55 As soon as the church invited me 28:57 to be in charge of the treasury department, 28:59 I immediately also talked 29:02 to the communication director at that time, to make plans. 29:15 But unfortunate Pastor Fred D'Souza 29:17 who had a very important part in our community-- 29:20 the development of the communications 29:22 in our island, he retired. 29:30 And that point, the board decided that I could serve. 29:39 We've been dreaming since there--ever since. 29:43 Dreaming about what God can do to us. 29:47 You know, C.A. you've been a communications director, 29:50 I've been involved with communications in a conference. 29:54 Could you imagine that if you were also the treasurer, 29:58 what are the advantages that would have been, huh? 30:02 Because it seems like every time 30:04 a communications director comes up with a plan, 30:07 the treasurer says we don't have the money. 30:09 But if you are the treasurer, then you find the money. 30:11 Yeah, if you are the treasurer and a communications director-- 30:12 Right, That's a pretty good combination. 30:15 It really is. It really is. 30:16 Yeah, I really do. 30:18 So we-- this is exciting. 30:21 And we really are-- we just cannot get over the work 30:27 here in Puerto Rico 30:28 and how excited we are to see what's happening 30:31 and how we feel that you have built a beautiful base 30:37 and now you're ready to really move forward in a dramatic way. 30:42 I believe you're gonna see 30:43 the membership of this whole island 30:45 doubled in a very short time. 30:47 I really believe that with all my heart. 31:06 That's-- it's actually our goal. 31:08 We would like this church should be duplicated, tripled. Amen. 31:12 And through the work of the communications 31:15 and publications, we want to reach everybody 31:18 in this island. Okay. 31:19 Pastor Luis, I want to ask you one question 31:20 before we let you go. 31:22 As a communications director-- In my wife's country in Panama, 31:26 the Adventists have a very good reputation among the people. 31:30 They are trusted, they are respected. 31:31 Is it the same way here in Puerto Rico 31:33 when you say the name Seventh-day Adventist? 31:34 Is there a level of trust and respect? 31:36 What is the reputation of the Adventist community 31:38 on the island of Puerto Rico? 31:47 Of course, every time that we have knock at the--any door, 31:51 we have the joy to have a good reception 31:54 because we have the good reputation 31:56 among the people here. 32:08 After the missionaries came, 32:10 the first time, here in Puerto Rico, 32:13 God has given us many other options and opportunities. 32:20 And the education and health-- 32:30 And those institutions-- 32:32 education and health institutions 32:34 have opened doors for us in the community. 32:44 And another advantage is that our church has dedicated 32:48 its effort to the service of the-- 32:51 And they opened doors by the grace of God. 32:53 Praise God. Pastor, thank you so very much. 32:57 Thank you. That's right. That's right. 33:03 I've always tried to make the treasurer 33:04 my best friend in the office 33:06 and it doesn't always help that much. 33:11 In case Max Trevino is watching, 33:14 he will probably remember the requests 33:16 that I would make often to him as a treasurer. 33:19 But he didn't say yes as often as I wanted him to. 33:24 Well, we'd like to see Moses Primo coming in, 33:26 have Brian scratching his head every now and again. 33:28 Moses coming down the hall-- 33:29 Listen, we all scratch our heads if Moses comes. 33:32 Moses is one of the most valuable men 33:34 anywhere in any ministry. 33:36 And--but we have really-- he has the great ability 33:43 to know exactly where to spend God's money, and he does. 33:48 He cares more for the money that anybody I know of. 33:50 He spends wisely. 33:52 But this is--salvation is very expensive ministry. 33:55 Yeah. It really is. 33:57 Well, tell me about our next guest. 33:59 Well, we talked about-- 34:01 Pastor Luis talks about the many opportunities 34:03 that the church has here on the island Puerto Rico. 34:06 And, of course, one is in the area of health. 34:08 We have been, in fact, have eaten at the hospital, 34:11 the Bella Vista Hospital. 34:13 And our next guest is Jesus Nieves 34:15 who is the director, executive director of the hospital. 34:19 And, you know, you've got this three-pronged ministry, Jim. 34:22 You've got the church next to the school, 34:24 next to the hospital. Right. 34:26 All three of them are doing 34:27 a great missionary work for the Lord. 34:28 And the medical work is--the spirit of prophecy 34:31 speaks to the right hand 34:32 of the ministry of God's people. Surely does. 34:35 And reaching out, helping people, 34:38 this is the work of Jesus Christ on this earth. 34:41 Preaching the gospel, but also healing and helping those. 34:46 So we welcome you. 34:47 We're happy to have you with us. 34:49 Thank you. Thank you. 34:51 Now the first question, the obvious question is 34:52 how big is the hospital, how many beds? 35:01 Hospital had 182 beds. Wow, okay. 35:04 So it's a fairly--not a clinic. This is a hospital. 35:06 It's a hospital. Yes, yeah. 35:09 Yeah. And I saw what-- it looks like you're expanding. 35:11 Are you building on? 35:12 I saw some additional work going on. 35:21 Currently, we are in a process of expanding the hospital. 35:34 Because the hospital is now short in its capacity 35:38 to help everybody and especially in this current times, 35:44 the people who come to the hospital 35:46 are increasing in number. 35:58 And that's the reason why we have short 36:01 and then long term program 36:03 to increase the capacity of this hospital. 36:14 We are hoping this year we can add 20 new--28 new beds. 36:19 All right. Well, that's a beautiful place. 36:22 And we have noticed every night as we come, 36:26 I've come here to the church, 36:28 that your parking lot is full, overflowing. 36:33 And there are people who are driving, 36:35 parking along the road even 36:37 because there's not adequate room. 36:39 There's so many people coming to the hospital 36:42 as patients and as visitors. 36:44 Yes, correct. Yes. 36:53 This is a very well known, has its prestige in this area, 36:59 especially in the west side of the island. 37:09 The community sees the hospital 37:11 as an institution of high reputation 37:14 and a service to the community. 37:22 And the tradition is, obviously, 37:24 this hospital was founded by missionaries. 37:32 And that still stays with the new generation, 37:36 those who are following the steps of the founders. 37:42 So it seems, you know, the hospital 37:44 has a very strong reputation 37:45 in the community and that you treat 37:47 a number of community residents. 37:48 It's not just an Adventist hospital, 37:50 but you're reaching out into the community. 37:59 So the hospital, it is always an Adventist Institution-- 38:10 We're visited by all different creeds 38:13 and all kind of people come to our hospital. Yeah. 38:18 While we're rolling that video, 38:19 I want to ask you, while we take a look at this video, 38:23 does the hospital have any special programs 38:26 to meet community needs 38:28 or to reach out to the community in any particular way? 38:37 The hospital has a program to reach the community. 38:42 In different avenues. 38:48 So health clinics in the community. 38:55 And another avenue is the chaplain department. 39:05 Because the chaplain doesn't only offer a spiritual 39:10 but also emotional support. 39:22 And also the chaplain is a department 39:26 that help the community 39:28 in identifying their needs as a service. 39:48 This is the way that we can-- 39:50 we are able to reach different part of the community, 39:54 different religions, and creeds 39:56 and all different kind of people. 39:59 Excellent, excellent. 40:00 We saw in the video that was just playing, 40:03 cancer, wound care, a number of things that are specialized, 40:09 that the hospital takes care of. 40:19 One of the goals, short term goals for our hospital, 40:27 is to orient or direct the hospital to the specialization. 40:35 And the--with services that no other institution offers. 40:41 And the community need it and it's requiring. 40:55 That is the reason why we have developed this cancer institute 40:59 and rehabilitation institute and others. 41:03 You know we--of course, your purpose 41:07 is to have good medical care. 41:10 However, as an Adventist hospital, 41:14 is it-- is it very obvious 41:17 that you have a spiritual approach in the hospital? 41:32 We have expanded not only the care of health care. 41:43 but also, we are involved in the growing of the church. 41:48 And what is-- which why we're doing this? 41:53 We have established a program through the chaplain department. 42:01 We have contracted Bible worker, 42:04 full time Bible worker. 42:08 And his job is 42:18 to follow up all this-- 42:21 anybody who has been in contact with the chaplain, 42:24 he will follow up with that. 42:28 We give them Bible studies in their homes. 42:34 In one year we have baptized 40 people. 42:37 Praise the Lord. Wow, very good. 42:43 This is the way that the hospital is involved 42:46 in the spiritual care of-- 42:47 Amen. Amen. 42:49 So the hospital is actually again 42:52 an outreach missionary center. Yes. 42:53 That doesn't just heal the body but heals the soul dare we say. 42:58 And directly involved in 40 baptisms in a year. 43:02 And we have no idea indirectly. Correct. 43:05 How many they're involved with. 43:07 Very good, excellent. Yeah, thank you so very much. 43:14 You're doing a great work. 43:15 You know, I want to ask one more question 43:16 before that mike down, 43:18 because we pass between your hotel, 43:20 another hospital that people actually pass hospitals 43:24 sort of down on the floor, on the table of land 43:27 to come up on the hill to the Adventist hospital 43:30 is that--is the reputation that strong 43:33 that people would pass by other hospitals to drive up the hill-- 43:36 Yeah, they drive by at least 43:37 one or two other hospitals. Yeah, to get up here. 43:39 And there's no bus line coming up here, Jim. No, no. 43:41 And no train. No. 43:44 If you want to get here-- You got to be coming. 43:46 You got to be coming, right. 43:52 We're Adventist-- 43:59 And the reason why people comes all the way up here 44:04 and doesn't stop in other places 44:08 because our reputation, 44:10 our quality service. 44:16 And the only way that we can compete with the competition 44:22 is to offer quality service that are better than what they offer. 44:29 And offer services that they don't offer. 44:32 Right. Praise God. 44:33 Amen. Praise God. 44:35 Doing a great, great work. You are. 44:37 Thank you so very, very much. 44:39 God bless you. And God bless. 44:43 You know, I want to-- I want to move into education. 44:48 And I want to get this number. 44:49 I got to put my glasses on and yield to age here. 44:52 Ileana Montalvo Garcia, 44:57 she is director or the principal of the Bella Vista School, 45:00 but while she is coming, 45:02 Joe, I want you to get that video of the university 45:07 because we didn't get a representative 45:08 from the university. 45:09 But I want to just talk a second about the university also. 45:12 Then we'll talk about the school. 45:14 And as we look at this-- 45:15 because I performed a wedding of some students 45:19 from that university few years ago 45:21 and had spent many hours up on that campus. 45:24 When I was sort of hanging around there, 45:27 it was still a college. It is now university, Jim. 45:30 And really great students, great kids 45:34 and just a wonderful, wonderful school. 45:40 And we, you know, very pleased to see the work 45:45 that the school is doing. 45:46 And, of course, one of the feeder institutions 45:48 to this university is the grade school 45:52 and high school that is right here 45:56 on this sort of tri campus of the church, the school, 46:00 and the hospital on this beautiful mountain. Yes. 46:04 And so we welcome the principal that's joining us. 46:08 And this is a beautiful educational complex. 46:13 When you consider grade school 46:16 and academy and university, 46:19 it's really, it's quite impressive. 46:21 It really is. Thank you so much. 46:24 Yes, we do try to make it very significant 46:28 and for the student, for the community also. 46:32 We have 325 students in our Bella Vista Adventist Academy. 46:38 And we have pre-k through 12th grade. 46:43 Okay. Yes. 46:44 All right, 325 students. Yes, sir. 46:47 All right, that's impressive. Yeah, it is. 46:50 At the end of the day, you see all the cars lining up 46:52 and people taking their children to go back down. 46:53 It's really-- Exactly, yes, yes. 46:55 That's quite impressive. 46:57 They line up like an hour before. 46:59 To come and get their young people. 47:01 Now what is your background? 47:03 Are you native of Puerto Rico? 47:05 Yes, I am. Yes, I am from San German. 47:08 I don't know if you have been there. 47:10 So you stay at home to teach? Yes. 47:13 I was a teacher for 20 something years. 47:17 It's my best years. 47:18 I have always thought and I know, Jim, 47:20 you share this that teaching in the classroom is ministry. 47:25 Oh, yes. You know, it's true ministry. 47:27 Of the highest order. Of the highest order. 47:30 What kinds of things are you doing in the school 47:32 to not only giving them reading, writing, arithmetic, 47:35 but to make sure that they come up with a hold on Jesus also? 47:40 Well, we concentrate in mind, body, and character. 47:45 That is the main thing that we try to emphasize. 47:50 The mind, the body, 47:52 and the spiritual part of the student. 47:55 Nonetheless we also concentrate in service learning. 47:59 We do have to prepare our students 48:03 for the service in this life and also for the future. 48:08 So we do have a strong Bible spiritual emphasis 48:13 in all our classes. 48:15 And we believe that we are preparing our students 48:18 for eternity through the vehicle of the academics. 48:22 So that's basically it. 48:24 We are preparing them for eternity. 48:27 The vehicle math, science, English, that's our vehicle. 48:33 But the goal really is eternity. I'm curious. 48:37 When I was chairman of our school academy in New York, 48:41 we had a large number of non-Adventist young people 48:46 attending our school. 48:47 There were some who didn't like that idea. 48:49 But there were others who said 48:51 the community sees the value of this education. 48:54 So we shouldn't prohibit them from coming. 48:56 What's your ratio of-- 48:57 do you get a large number of non-Adventist children coming? 48:59 We have 73% of SDAs and the rest are non SDAs, 49:04 which is a blessing. Yes. 49:06 We've had baptisms, we've had students that have left, 49:12 you know, for their senior year. 49:14 And afterwards they remember us 49:17 and they bring their children back to us 49:20 and still they are not members of the church, 49:22 but they value the Seventh-day Adventist education. 49:26 So it's amazing how even that 30% we make a difference 49:33 for the lives of those. Right. 49:34 Praise God, praise God. I got to ask you a question. 49:36 Kind of tricky one. Okay. 49:38 Is there any student that stands out in your mind 49:42 as an example of one who may have come in a little tough, 49:45 little resistant, but through the grace of God 49:48 and the teachers and the work, you saw them come around 49:50 and really come closer to the Lord? 49:53 Well, sir, there--many come to my mind, but there was one. 49:58 There was one that in one of our classes, 50:03 he says, "I've learned to pray 50:07 while I was a student here in the academy." 50:11 And the interesting thing is that you wouldn't think 50:15 that he was a praying young man, you know? 50:20 But definitely he learned how to communicate with God. 50:23 He was-- he had his moments with God 50:27 even though it didn't show most of the time, but he did. 50:32 And he stands in my mind, yes. 50:34 Yeah. Praise the Lord. 50:36 Well, that's really-- pays great dividends 50:40 to see young people change like that. 50:43 Because that--even though he may have appeared rough and tough 50:47 and maybe a little worldly, he began to find the Lord 50:53 and somewhere, sometime, somehow that will pay off. 50:58 It will, it will. It really will. 50:59 We also have a strong music ministry. 51:02 Well, like for example we have three different bands, 51:05 Elementary, Intermediate, and Advance. 51:07 And almost 80 students from our 300 and something 51:12 belong to the band. 51:13 We have choirs, elementary and secondary choir 51:17 and about 90 students. 51:19 So you can see that most or more than half of our students 51:23 are involved in the music ministry of the school. 51:27 So we are very happy for that. Praise the Lord. Amen-- 51:30 You know, as a teacher, 51:33 as a pastor when I'm finished preaching, 51:35 I think the highest compliment someone could say 51:38 is not that I enjoyed the sermon or something like that, 51:41 but that I saw Jesus today 51:43 or you made me see myself in a new light 51:46 or you made me see the love of Christ in a new light. 51:48 What would be the highest compliment 51:51 that a student could pay 51:52 to a principal of a school, like yourself? 51:57 I think that he saw mercy. 52:02 You know, there was-- there have been times 52:05 that mercy is not deserved, if you know what I mean, 52:10 but still we would try to give a chance. 52:15 We believe that the Lord is working in mysterious ways. 52:19 And those chances and that mercy 52:22 that is coming from above. Yes. 52:27 Yes, it pays. 52:29 Sometimes, we want to put out justice rather than mercy and-- 52:34 That is true. And--but mercy is so beautiful 52:39 when it makes a change in a life. 52:42 And so many of us have either received it 52:45 or we have seen others receive it. 52:48 We've been in the position to be able to extend it. 52:52 And when you see that it does pay off at times, 52:56 very graciously and wonderfully, it is very rewarding, isn't it? 53:01 It is very rewarding. 53:02 And God help us to find that very fine balance 53:07 between justice and mercy 53:09 because justice is also a way 53:12 to learn of God's character. Yes, right. 53:14 But we thank the Lord 53:17 that the times that we have applied mercy, 53:20 it has been valued. It has been cherished. 53:24 You know, we-- when I was chairman 53:27 of the board of Ozark Adventist Academy, 53:30 we had a principal Charles Dart. 53:32 He had been principal of a number of academies, 53:34 well known in educational circles. 53:38 Charles exemplified a merciful principal 53:42 who loved his people so much. 53:45 I tried to see him this weekend 53:47 when we were for a very short time in Loma Linda 53:51 and went by the place where he resides 53:56 but he was in the hospital. 53:57 And it was some distance away. 53:59 We were not able to go see him, 54:00 but Charles, if you're watching we love you 54:04 and we're praying for you. And we do try to see you. 54:07 But he was a man and his students will tell you 54:12 that even when he had to apply justice, 54:15 it was with tears in his eyes. Yes. 54:18 That sometimes he had to discipline in a way 54:22 that would maybe separate 54:25 a young man or young woman from the school, 54:27 but I believe that God's educational system, 54:32 even though it's flawed, we are all flawed. 54:36 The pastoral ministry is flawed as well. 54:39 I still believe it's the best. 54:41 God's system of education in the Adventist church. 54:46 I've had both public school 54:49 and church school education in my life. 54:53 And I will tell you, it was the church school 54:56 that may the impact on me, spiritually. Amen. 54:59 Amen for that. 55:00 And whenever we go to the churches, 55:02 we say exactly the same thing. 55:04 Our teachers are not perfect. No. 55:06 This school system is not perfect. 55:08 But it's the best place for your children. Yes. 55:11 And we welcome them. Yes. That's right. 55:13 And I think that's an important statement she made. 55:15 It's not perfect. We're not in heaven yet. 55:17 We're still on earth. Exactly. 55:19 But I believe, I know you agree 55:21 and, Ileana, I'm sure you agree that church school, 55:24 religious education, Seventh-day Adventist education 55:27 is better than public school education 55:30 because you've got a religious context 55:32 and component that you just don't have in public school. 55:35 And by the way, I believe in our system. 55:38 I also believe in home schooling. 55:40 However, remember this, home schooling's not perfect either 55:45 because the home isn't perfect. 55:47 And so what we have to do is keep striving 55:52 to know about Jesus and to lift Him up. Amen. 55:55 And our educational system, it is the best. 56:01 And also the friends that they will make in an academy, 56:05 for instance, will be friends for a lifetime. 56:08 For a lifetime. Oh, yeah. That's true. 56:10 I look back at friends that we even have to this day, 56:13 C.A., people like Harry Grimes and Dan Buckingham and so forth. 56:17 These are guys that I met in school, 56:21 in an Adventist school, 56:22 and they are still my friends after all these many years. 56:26 Last year we celebrated 56:29 the 50 years of the academy. Oh, that's good. 56:31 And we had several of our alumni coming in. 56:36 And they have stayed in communication 56:40 after several years like you're saying. That's right-- 56:42 And they love the academy and they love the-- 56:45 And I also met my wife Camille in one of our schools 56:49 and we've stayed in communication for a long time-- 56:53 Yes. I'm sure you did. 56:55 Happy for that. Yeah. 56:57 We are coming down to the close of our first hour. 57:00 In the second hour we want to spend a little time 57:02 or a good amount of it. 57:03 I'm talking about the media center 57:05 here at Bella Vista Church. 57:06 They are doing some wonderful things. 57:08 And this may give you information 57:10 and surely information on what you can do in your church 57:13 to reach out to the community. 57:15 Ileana, I want to thank you so very, very much 57:18 for telling us about this wonderful school. 57:21 320 plus children, it's a big school as Adventist schools go. 57:26 But--I'm told you're doing a fine job, 57:28 and the community is really being benefited. 57:30 Thank you so much for the opportunity. 57:31 It's been a pleasure. Thank you. 57:33 Well, listen, we're going to be back in just a little bit. 57:36 We'll go away from you 57:38 and so you go get a drink of water 57:41 and come right back join us. |
Revised 2014-12-17