Participants: Jim Gilley & C. A. Murray
Series Code: NLLA
Program Code: NLLA012705
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00:01 Hi, how are you?
00:03 We are coming to you live from Israel, from Jerusalem 00:10 and as we've been told Pastor Jim, 00:13 the heart of the city, 00:15 almost the heart of the world. 00:16 And we welcome you to a very special edition of "Night Light" 00:22 coming to you from Israel. 00:23 This is very exciting time for us. It really is. 00:25 And we've been here for a week 00:26 and I have a few more days that-- 00:29 to visit in Israel and we're seeing a lot 00:32 of very wonderful and interesting things. 00:36 Not your first trip here, it's your second trip. 00:38 Well, I tend to space mine out. My first one was 38 years ago. 00:43 And it's my 22nd trip here. 00:47 A lot of people wonder why in the world 00:48 I'm hung up on coming. 00:50 Maybe towards the end we'll let you--we'll talk about that. 00:53 But more importantly we want to talk about 00:56 God's work in this area 00:59 because it is going forward really in a very fine way 01:05 in comparison to what it has been in years past. 01:08 Because there has been a time 01:10 when converts came may be one a year in-- 01:14 in a country like Israel or if hopefully two years. 01:18 I have talked with missionaries 01:19 and they have worked in fields like this 01:21 who worked their whole ministry 25, 30 years 01:25 and we're fortunate if they had 01:27 10, 15 converts during that particular time. 01:31 However, we're seeing a different day now. 01:35 We're seeing things start to happen. 01:37 We're seeing things open up and it's thrilling. 01:41 There are many people who come into the church here 01:45 who eventually move on somewhere else. 01:48 But this has been a place where they found 01:51 our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 01:53 and became acquainted with the Three Angels' Messages. 01:56 And, you know, that is the great goal that we have at 3ABN, 02:01 and that is to spread the gospel around the world. 02:05 So tonight we first want to talk about, 02:07 and it is night time here. 02:09 I know it's 1 o'clock in the afternoon where you are, 02:11 it's 9 P.M. in the evening where we are. 02:15 And that's if you are in Central Time, 02:17 of course in California it's 11, and you know what time it is, 02:21 it's 2 o'clock in the Eastern Zone. 02:24 But we are now at night time here. 02:27 We are 8 hours ahead of Central Time 02:30 and so if I say night, 02:33 please forgive me from time to time. 02:35 But what we wanted to talk about is what is happening 02:39 with God's work in this area. 02:42 And we want to be sharing some ideas and some things 02:46 that the president of the field 02:47 will share with us in just a little bit. 02:49 But first of all, we want to meet a pastor. 02:52 Would you introduce him to us? 02:53 This is Pastor Oleg Elkine. I think I've got that right. 02:56 But before we talk with him Jim, 02:58 I think we need to take just a moment 02:59 to talk about where we're coming from? 03:01 Oh, all right. And what this is all about? 03:02 We're in a little studio high up in a building 03:04 but tell us what you know more about it than I do actually. 03:07 Well, those of you that get us on G19, 03:11 particularly you are watching us 03:13 on a satellite company called RRsat. 03:18 This is their Jerusalem studio. 03:22 They have a large area outside near Tel Aviv. 03:27 Actually, it's now in the valley there right very close 03:30 to where David and Goliath had their famous battle. 03:34 And you can actually see it from their place. 03:37 From that spot they have over 100 satellite dishes. 03:42 Some of them are 100 feet across 03:45 that are spreading all kinds of television signals, 03:50 but an awful lot of our signals 03:53 and others who are presenting the gospel around the world 03:57 and this is so very interesting. 04:00 You know when God chose a spot for His chosen people-- Mm-hmm. 04:05 He knew exactly what He was doing. Precisely. 04:07 Because He chose as, 04:09 as you said the center of the world 04:11 at that time actually the very center of the known world. 04:16 You've got Europe on one end and above 04:19 and you've got Africa below and so you-- 04:25 we're in a situation here where satellites can operate 04:31 and reach all kinds of continents all over the world. 04:37 You know, I believe God knew, I know God knew it, 04:40 but He knew this was the crossroads of the world, 04:43 he put His people here. They were to be a witness. 04:46 They had failures, yes, 04:47 but they also had success my friend. 04:49 You got to remember that the very first Christians 04:52 were all Jews and they all didn't accept Him, no. 04:57 Officially did they accept Him? No. 04:59 But they accepted Him nonetheless. 05:03 Those 12 disciples, the 11 of them for sure 05:06 and then they added a successor to Judas, 05:10 but they accepted Him and they began to preach the gospel. 05:15 And the Bible says, they turned the world upside down. 05:18 And history says, they turned the world upside down. 05:22 The world was never the same again 05:25 and it came right out of this particular area. 05:30 And now, the message that's 3ABN proclaimed 05:34 the third angel's message is largely coming 05:38 from a satellite operation-- Yeah. 05:40 Right here in this country. That's what is exciting. 05:42 Now let me ask, where you are in. Yeah. 05:43 It is very exciting and I didn't know that 05:46 until I came into these studios just a couple days ago. 05:48 But this is still the center of the world-- Yes. 05:51 Because so much of satellite technology 05:54 comes through Jerusalem and comes through 05:56 this particular facility. It does. 05:58 And you know, you go up 23,500 miles, 06:00 come back down to Pennsylvania and it go up again 06:02 and you shoot over to Israel, then you shoot back up again 06:05 and we cover through this facility are really all of that. 06:09 The great east, you know, you go to Russia, 06:12 you go to Africa, you go to the Far East. 06:13 All of that comes through-- It does. 06:16 Through this particular facility. It really does. 06:18 So it's really amazing and we, you know, 06:22 our great engineer Moses Primo has worked 06:27 with these particular people for a long time 06:30 and he is the one that has made the choice to work with them 06:35 and it's been an exciting-- you know, I say he advised us, 06:40 we had to make the choice. 06:41 But he advised us and we listened 06:44 and we've been very happy with that arrangement. 06:47 Well, that's not supposed to be a commercial for our sat. 06:50 It's--we're just trying to let you know where we are. 06:53 Now this is a studio that we're in where there are sometimes 06:56 these people come from different organizations 06:59 and would do a quick report or they go up on the roof here. 07:03 If we were on the roof tonight, 07:04 it's just too cold and windy up there, 07:07 but if we were up there, you'd be able to see 07:09 a background scene that of Jerusalem 07:12 and they've got several different places 07:14 where people can stand up there and you might-- 07:17 you can see the Old City 07:19 or you can see the Independence Park 07:22 or you can see the King David Hotel 07:25 or there are so many different things that you can see 07:28 in different positions there. 07:29 And so this is a very unique spot here 07:33 where we are telecasting from tonight. 07:37 Now this studio is not meant for a program like we're doing. No. 07:40 So we are--it's meant for like a one or two camera program 07:45 with one person sitting here giving a news release 07:48 or something of that nature. 07:50 So please understand that 07:53 and I hope that you will not be too disappointed 07:57 in the production that we're doing. 07:59 We're flying a little bit by-- 08:01 Yeah, we are-- 08:02 we are stretching our host to the max tonight. We are. 08:05 And putting a lot of things together basically, 08:06 on the fly-- Right. 08:08 But we're having a good time. 08:09 It's exciting to be here. These are exciting times. 08:11 We just had a little, I can't say little, 08:14 but there was some skirmish between two sides 08:18 and bombs were flying that has stopped 08:20 and we've got a chance to do some things. 08:23 And Pastor Oleg, you actually do get a chance to talk. 08:27 Okay, we actually are going to talk with you. Very nice. 08:32 One of the things that we found out 08:34 since being here sort of news to make, 08:36 I guess Jim, you've experienced this before. 08:38 Evangelism, working in this context-- 08:42 Is not like working any place else in the world. No. 08:45 You've got a majority religion-- Yeah. 08:47 In a majority country and then you have a Christian faith, 08:52 which is seeking to lift up the name of Jesus Christ. 08:55 One of those persons who is doing is Pastor Oleg Elkine, 08:58 do I have it right? Yes. 08:59 Oleg Elkine. Yes. 09:01 Good to have you here, man. Okay, thank you. 09:02 We had little chance to talk yesterday. 09:04 Tell us first, where are you from? 09:05 I'm from Belarus. 09:07 I was born exactly in Belarus, this is former Soviet Union. 09:10 So I was born in the Jewish family and I was born in-- 09:16 as I knew after this when I came to Israel 09:20 that my grandmother was so religious, 09:23 but I didn't know this from my childhood anyway, 09:27 so anything I didn't know about this, 09:29 because everything of this was so much hidden from me. 09:33 Because in former Soviet Union the anti-Semite sanity 09:36 is that they're so big, so high. 09:38 And my family didn't want any trouble for me 09:42 in connection with my background. 09:47 So because of this they didn't teach me English 09:50 because my family, my grandmother and my mother, 09:53 my father, my bother everyone of them, 09:56 they speak until now in English, but I don't know. 10:00 And even my name is non-Jewish, 10:02 because Oleg, it is a Greek name. Yeah. 10:05 And it is exactly because they didn't want trouble for me. 10:09 So you tried really to keep your Jewishness 10:11 kind of below the radar, 10:12 so that you wouldn't get into trouble. 10:14 Does not sounds that you wanted to be promote our talent. 10:15 Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And I didn't. 10:17 Exactly, I didn't have any trouble in my life. 10:19 I have seen many troubles for my friends, 10:22 but not exactly to myself. 10:23 I didn't have it. Yeah. 10:25 Name like Oleg, that threw him of quite a bit, right? Yeah. 10:30 So I was indicated exactly and as an atheist. Right. 10:35 I didn't know about God anything, 10:38 I heard something about Russian orthodox God-- 10:41 Yeah. Jesus. Yes. 10:43 But I didn't want to be close to him of course 10:47 and even this was something wrong for me. 10:51 I--even I heard something about this I was, 10:54 you know, I want to be too far from this. 10:56 Yes, yes. Right. 10:57 So but then you did finally accept Jesus, 10:59 how did that happen? 11:00 Yeah. You know, it is very big paradox in my life. 11:05 Because exactly what I didn't want, I accepted. Yeah. 11:09 Because I didn't want to be close 11:11 to Russian Orthodox Church. Right. 11:12 But I started from, exactly from Russian Orthodox Church. 11:15 I had cross in my, in my chest here. Yeah. 11:19 Now I did everything what they do. Okay. 11:21 So everything I bust, you know. Yeah. 11:24 It was strange in my life and when I said this to my mother, 11:31 she was shocked, but because she loved me 11:34 and she still loves me-- Right. 11:36 So she accepted this. 11:38 So you went from being an atheist 11:40 to being an orthodox Christian. Yes. 11:44 And then how did you find the third angel's message? 11:47 Oh, I just met one man. 11:52 He was Seventh-day Adventist and-- Okay. 11:54 He was of course non-Jew. 11:56 I had many friends non-Jew. Right. 11:58 Yeah, but he was Seventh-day Adventist 12:01 and when we had conversations, 12:04 I just noticed that he is non-Jew, 12:10 but he keeps Sabbath. Yeah. 12:12 And he doesn't eat pork. You're Jew. 12:16 I am a Jew and I keep Sunday and I eat pork. 12:23 For me it was so strange in my life. Yeah, it is. 12:26 So because of this I started thinking if it is right way. 12:31 So we had many conversations 12:34 and I had the Bible study, the Bible says so, 12:40 it is our Pastor George Vandeman, 12:44 He started these lessons 12:46 and I had very good accompanies -- 12:51 Yeah. With this man. 12:52 Now who was the evangelist again that you went 12:54 to an evangelist meeting though, didn't you? Yes, yes. 12:57 And exactly at that time, some preacher Elton Wallis 13:02 started his campaign in Kaliningrad. 13:04 Okay. Doing one month in health. 13:06 And during these meetings me and my wife 13:09 and of course my children-- Yeah. Yes. 13:10 I had two till this time 13:12 and we visited every meeting you know. Oh, yeah. 13:15 And what is interesting in this situation 13:18 that we were so much active in these meetings 13:21 because we had the flyers and we wanted to spread-- 13:24 spread these flyers between the people 13:27 and this evangelist Elton Wallis-- Yeah. 13:31 He thought that we are Seventh-day Adventist. Oh, yes. 13:33 He was amazed that he has seen us 13:35 between the people who wants to be baptized. 13:38 Because he thought that we are Seventh-day Adventist, you know. 13:41 I see, I see. Yeah. 13:42 So that's in a part of the world where evangelism was able, 13:46 public evangelism. Yes. 13:47 They were suddenly able to hold the meetings-- 13:50 Yes, exactly. And you went. 13:52 Now then you-- what happens next in your life? 13:58 Next in my live, my daughter was so much sick. 14:01 And she was going to die even. 14:04 And we received some diagnosis from the doctors 14:10 that we should go to somewhere 14:13 where it is good climate for my daughter. Yes, yes. 14:16 And they thought if you have chance to go to Israel, 14:19 it is the best for her. 14:21 Because you were Jewish. Yes, yeah. 14:22 You could come to Israel. 14:24 It is the best, but I didn't want. 14:25 Because I was-- I believed that at that time 14:29 that God has plans for me exactly at this place. 14:33 And I did--two years I refused to go to Israel. 14:38 And exactly when the situation came 14:41 that my daughter was going to die, 14:43 I told myself that if it will happen 14:47 I cannot forgive myself any-- Right. 14:49 At all. Right. 14:51 So I decided and I told God, please Lord, 14:54 you know, how I don't want to go to Israel. 14:58 But I cannot forgive myself 15:02 if something happen with my daughter, so I'm going. 15:05 If you don't want me there, please stop me. 15:09 But if you want I'm ready to go but... 15:12 So anyway during half a year 15:14 I prepared all the documents to go to Israel. 15:19 And if my prayer was in March, 15:21 in October I was here in Israel. Wow. 15:24 During half a year everything was-- 15:27 and after my coming here I understood 15:29 that God has plans for me in this country. 15:33 Now, when did you become a minister? 15:34 That's my next question, yeah. 15:36 Yeah, but, but I became minister 15:37 after three years of after my coming here. 15:41 Yeah, because I was here as an Elder 15:43 because before I was an Elder in Kaliningrad. 15:46 So she just called me, 15:49 I wanted to study so much but of course I didn't have money. 15:54 And sometimes some-- of my friend from Kaliningrad 15:58 came to Israel to visit this country 16:00 and of course he came to my home. 16:02 And suddenly-- I didn't ask him anything. 16:04 But suddenly he asked me 16:06 Oleg, why did you-- why didn't you study? 16:09 And I told him just the truth. I don't have money. 16:12 And he says you know what, I think I could be your sponsor. 16:16 Wow. Really. Praise God. 16:18 But please give me exact information 16:21 how it cost, everything. 16:23 And, you know, 16:24 I understood that I have this part of my assistance 16:29 but I need second part. Why? 16:31 Because during my study 16:33 two months in the part time study in Zaoksky. 16:37 I didn't have any, any shekel to help my family 16:43 because two months I don't work. Right. 16:45 And I prayed and I asked God, God, you know, 16:48 I am going to our president of the Israel field. 16:51 I ask him, is it possible for the Israel field to give me 16:54 some assistance for two months for my family. 16:58 For while I'm on my study 17:01 and may be the Israel field could help my family to live. 17:06 Now this was Richard Elofer? 17:08 Yes, yes, it was Richard Elofer of course, yeah. 17:11 And you know, in the ExCom, Executive Committee 17:13 they decided, yes we're ready. 17:16 So they give me two of my salaries 17:19 what I had at this time and I have everything. 17:23 From one side I had a sponsor and from another side 17:26 I had the Israel Field too who helped my family. 17:29 And such--in such a way I started my study. 17:33 And in 1999 I started my study 17:35 but in 2000 I had been surprised. 17:39 Because Pastor Richard came to my home and asked me, 17:45 are you ready to be a pastor 17:46 because in the executive committee, 17:48 we decided to give you in advance this possibility 17:52 to be a pastor here in Israel because you're studying. 17:54 So after one year of my study 17:57 I started to be pastor since 2000. 17:58 Okay, praise God. 17:59 My question... CA, go ahead. 18:01 My question was that your-- 18:03 the call to ministry when you came here, 18:05 did it ever occurred you that ministry 18:07 was going to be an ultimate goal for you. 18:09 I mean, you came as a local elder? Yes. 18:10 Was the Lord talking at your heart stream, 18:12 was there anything that was saying to you 18:14 that ministry was going to be, 18:16 I use a term in the cards for you. 18:18 That mission was going to be something 18:19 that God was calling you to do? 18:21 You know, it's a difficult question 18:24 because when I came here, 18:27 I understood that God called me to be here. 18:29 But I didn't have any vision because I didn't know how, 18:33 I didn't know what, I didn't know where, 18:35 I didn't know when, I didn't know anything, you know. 18:38 And unfortunately it is still challenge for me even today 18:43 because as Jim told in the beginning of it to preach 18:48 the gospel to Jewish people, you know, we should have-- 18:52 we should do it in a special way. Yes. 18:54 And until now I cannot understand until the end 18:59 what is the way exactly. Yeah. 19:01 Because the regular methods we use in Russia, 19:05 in America, in Europe, they don't work here. Yes, yes, yes. 19:09 When I hear you can present 19:11 the message in your church. Of course. 19:14 But you can't go out publicly 19:16 and you have to be very careful about inviting even. 19:20 Isn't that true? Yeah, yeah, it is true. 19:22 And you don't want to be seen proselytising is found upon. 19:27 Yeah, but first of all we should understand 19:29 that there is no need for proselytising 19:32 on Jewish people. No, no. 19:33 Because Jewish people, they are God's people. 19:35 They are God's people. 19:37 Even if it's difficult to understand 19:38 for some church members. Yeah, right. 19:40 But it is--because, you know, 19:42 in the letter of Roman, Roman's letter of Paul, 19:48 he says in chapter 11 that 19:51 "The gospel started from the Jewish people 19:53 and the gospel will be finished with Jewish people." Yeah. 19:56 The Gentiles will be in the middle, you know. All right. 20:00 So it means God has plans 20:02 to Jewish people to Jewish nation 20:04 at the end of the-- of his work. 20:09 And you know, we read about that 20:10 in the Spirit of Prophecy that this is going to be 20:13 an unbelievably powerful thing at a given time. Yes. 20:17 I'm excited about you being a part. You have a family? 20:21 Yes. Five children. 20:22 Yes, I have five children. How many boys? 20:24 I have four boys and one daughter. 20:26 One beautiful daughter. 20:28 So that daughter is doing all right? 20:29 Yes, praise the Lord, she's all right. 20:31 Of course she has some problems with her health, 20:34 but this problem-- those problems it is nothing 20:37 in comparison to what she had before. All right. 20:42 Today she got married and she has one very pretty boy, 20:46 you know... Oh, really. 20:47 Yeah, and the second is going to be in December. Okay. 20:51 So praise the Lord, she's in the Lord, 20:53 she's been in the church by the Lord. 20:55 So all my children are in the church, my all sons. 20:58 We met two last night. Yeah. Yeah. 21:00 We're very impressed with them, fine young men. 21:03 Well, listen, tell us a little bit 21:05 about that you do pastor three churches is it? 21:08 No, here in Israel I have five churches. Five churches. 21:11 Five regular churches every Sabbath they come to, to the... 21:15 What cities are they? Tel Aviv. Yeah. 21:19 Bat Yam, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Beersheba. Wow. 21:22 Okay, Beersheba, Claire down there. 21:24 Yeah, exactly, today we head with our president there. 21:27 Is that right? 21:28 How many people meet down at Beersheba, small group? 21:31 At Beersheba, almost 30 people. 21:33 30 people in their chief meeting. 21:35 Yes, in the least. 21:36 Yeah, of course, a little bit... I know. 21:39 But-- But listen I'm excited, 21:41 how many members do we have here in Israel. 21:44 Because Israel is not a big country. Yeah. 21:46 But how many members do you have? 21:47 In Israel we have about 800. 21:49 About 800 members? Little bit more. 21:52 Folks, you don't know, 21:53 but when I first started coming over here 21:55 there were fewer than a 100 Seventh-day Adventist in Israel. 21:59 And so, we have seen wonderful growth. 22:05 Richard Elofer was in charge of the work here. 22:07 He's now in charge of the Jewish work all over the world. 22:10 He had that position 22:12 at the same time he was also a pastor here. 22:15 But they relieved him of that duty, 22:17 he's moved to France where he heads up this work. 22:20 And we have a work that of witnessing the Jews 22:25 that has covered the globe now. 22:28 In United States when I was at the North American division 22:31 it was a privilege to be the one that oversaw 22:36 that particular work and chair that committee. 22:38 And so I'm excited about what I see is happening here. 22:43 It is small but it's gonna I believe is going to explode. 22:49 And we're gonna be talking a little bit more here 22:51 with the president of the field 22:53 and discussing some of the things 22:56 that he is dreaming about and planning on. 22:59 And so we are going to bring him in now 23:03 and we gonna thank you Oleg for coming. 23:05 Okay, thank you very much. That's just been great. 23:07 Thank you so much I must appreciate it. 23:08 Yes all right and but this is an exciting time 23:14 and for our people in this part of the world 23:18 and we hope to be able to share some of that with you. 23:22 Yeah, you know, one thing I'm impressed by Jim. 23:24 You know, the churches 23:25 has this big push for the cities of--Yes. 23:28 And I think that is a fine thing. 23:29 I think we ought to spend sometime praying for... 23:34 countries like this. yes. 23:36 Because this is a particular challenge, 23:38 this a difficult place to work. 23:40 We talked about 10/40 Window 23:42 and this flies in there in that area. 23:46 Our Muslim countries, our Jewish countries, 23:49 my Hindu countries, it takes-- 23:51 you can't just go out and pit a tent and expect folk to come, 23:54 in fact some countries don't like to do that. That's right. 23:56 So the methodologies have to be very, very sophisticated, 24:01 very caring, very loving, very personal massive evangelism 24:05 as we are used of seeing it just doesn't fly here. 24:07 You know, I've mentioned the Jewish work, 24:10 but remember that Israel is made up of Christians, 24:13 a large number of Christians, of Muslims and of Jewish. 24:19 So we got the three major religions here 24:22 and it's not just a Jewish work, 24:25 but we find that this is a great opportunity 24:30 to witness to all three of these groups. 24:31 Now, we're going to be doing a lot of things here, 24:34 but one of the things if you have a question 24:37 that you like for us to try it work out or something, 24:40 I'm gonna ask you to email it to my personal email account. 24:43 I'll be checking it here. 24:44 I may not be able to get to all of them, 24:46 but I know that some of you have some pretty good things 24:49 that you would like to comments, letters. 24:52 If I don't get to answer them all, please understand. 24:54 But just send me a note at Jim 24:57 and you know how to spell thats dot gilley. 25:03 Be sure you get that 'ey' in there at the number 3ABN.org. 25:11 Now remember it's the 'org' and not the other term. 25:15 So, send me a note, I'll be looking at them, 25:19 checking them in a few minutes. 25:21 And we maybe able to get back and answer some of you, 25:24 even put your name on there if you wanted to 25:27 tell me you don't want me to mention your name, we won't. 25:29 But if you do leave it on there and perhaps we will. 25:33 Well, Roger, we welcome you. 25:35 This is Pastor Roger Robertson, and he is the president 25:42 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Israel. 25:47 And that name doesn't sound Jewish. 25:49 Where are you from, Roger? 25:51 Now, it certainly doesn't sound Jewish or anything like that. 25:54 I'm from Norway. 25:56 You're from Norway? Yeah. 25:57 And now the world organization, 26:00 our church has called you to lead this work here. 26:05 Can you tell us a little bit about your background? 26:08 Why would they, why would they chose you for that? 26:09 Well, I wasn't on the committee so I can't tell. I understand. 26:15 But I guess they looked 26:17 at some of my administrative background, 26:20 also I've gone through the church norm 26:22 at all different levels. Okay. 26:25 Departmental director, evangelist, Bible teacher, 26:29 conference president, union president. Okay. 26:32 So I've been through various things. 26:34 Whose division was this in? 26:35 This was in the Trans-European division. 26:37 Trans-European division. 26:39 But then I guess what has counted something 26:42 must have been the fact that I've been doing archeology 26:45 in Israel for many, many years. 26:47 So I know the country fairly well. 26:49 Oh, okay. So you've been here many times? 26:51 Yeah, since 1976. 26:53 So it's a long time ago now. Well, okay. 26:55 So that was the first time you came here? Yeah. 26:58 And now you talk about the country, 27:02 where do our members live in the country? 27:05 Are they all of them in Jerusalem or-- 27:07 we heard about Beersheba, 27:09 so we know that there are some down over there. 27:12 I preached in Beersheba this Sabbath. Yes. 27:15 So... You go from there to Beersheba? 27:17 Yeah, that's right. 27:19 Now they actually live scattered all over. 27:21 We have 13 churches and then some groups, 27:25 so it's 21 all together, churches and groups. 27:30 So they live scattered all over, most of them in Tel Aviv area. 27:36 My question is, we, we-- you mentioned conferences, 27:40 unions, we know divisions. 27:42 Tell us what a Field is? 27:44 What is the definition of a field? 27:47 You're president of the Israeli Field, 27:48 that's a special designation. 27:50 Our audience may not be familiar with the term Field? 27:54 It simply means that it's not completely self supporting. 27:58 A union and a conference they are self supporting. We're not. 28:05 A Field can be small or it can be big, 28:07 but what is common is that it's not self supporting 28:12 as far as finances are concerned. 28:15 Well, we're now directly linked to the General Conference, 28:18 that's the world organization. 28:21 Well, some of the things that we are running into 28:24 is the ethnic and religious and background here of the people, 28:29 have you found that that's a little different 28:31 than other parts of the world? 28:32 Well, it's a melting part here. 28:34 Of course it is, 28:35 it's like a mosaic with just about everybody 28:38 represented all countries in the world. 28:41 But what we see in Israel as far as Adventism is concerned 28:45 is that we've had a large influx of Russians, 28:49 we have quite a few Romanians. 28:52 There used to be more than 28:54 a 1,000 Romanian Adventists here in this country. Really. 28:57 Now it's down to about a 120 because of political reasons 29:01 and people who had to leave and so on. Oh, yeah. 29:04 We have a large group of Filipinos 29:09 and then of course there are Jews, 29:13 Indigenous Jews, Sephardi Jews living here. 29:17 But that's the-- 29:19 where we haven't really had too much success so far. 29:23 How do you share your faith 29:25 with people of certain Jewish faith? 29:30 Well, we haven't really had too much success. 29:32 What I personally I'm doing it right now, 29:35 I go out every evening and I talk to people 29:37 I meet in the street just to get acquainted with them. Yeah. 29:40 Then I walk around in different churches 29:43 visiting Messianic Synagogues and so on. 29:45 So I want to see what's going on. 29:47 Sure. And how do others work here. 29:50 So I want to acquaint myself with that aspect. 29:53 Right. All right. 29:55 So you're getting a lot of background information. 29:58 Yeah and then we've laid some plans which are-- 30:01 I think very interesting. 30:02 So I'm looking forward 30:04 to kind of push these through. All right. 30:06 Before we move into your plans we might be-- 30:08 you touched on something that sort of intrigue me. 30:10 How is the Messianic Movement from your perspective 30:14 accepted across the board, because, you know, 30:17 the Jewish community is not a model of a community. 30:20 You've got to the far right. You've got to the far left. 30:23 You've got some in the middle. Then you've got Messianic Jews. 30:25 How is that-- does that play 30:28 and they will fit into the overall 30:30 Jewish community here in this country? 30:33 By many Jews, it's not accepted, 30:37 you know, it's not a popular thing at all. 30:41 So some of them have problems. 30:44 That's how it is. Yeah. 30:46 But-- yeah, they manage, 30:49 and you know, they're witnessing 30:51 and they're sharing their Yeshua, 30:54 Jesus, you know, they're lifting Him up, 30:56 so-- Yes. 30:57 I admire them for what they're doing for Emmanuel, yeah. 31:00 Absolutely. Well, we talked a little. 31:04 first of all before we get into the plans, 31:07 tell us a little bit about your background. 31:10 And I know, you've told us about leadership, 31:12 but did you grow up Seventh-day Adventist 31:14 or do you converted to the Three Angels' Message with-- 31:19 how did you become what you are? 31:21 I grew up as a Lutheran 31:23 because in Norway that's the state church. 31:25 So about 90% are Lutherans. All right. 31:28 So I grew up in a Christian home. Yes. 31:30 With a good mother, very dedicated Christian. Yes. 31:35 She had a norm to Seventh-day Adventist. 31:38 And my mother really wanted to get her out of that 31:41 because they regarded the Adventist 31:43 something very special and somewhat Jewish. 31:46 They kept a Sabbath, you know, 31:49 so they didn't really believe in Jesus 31:51 because they didn't celebrate His resurrection on Sunday. 31:55 And somewhat Jewish also 31:57 because they didn't eat regular food. Yeah. 32:00 So my mother really wanted to help her out, you know. 32:03 And so the two of them started talking. 32:06 And my mother came home, you know, 32:08 after the first time that ever touched on it-- 32:11 these topics together, you know. 32:13 And she was, you know, "Wow what's this? 32:16 I never knew you know. 32:17 They really believed in Jesus. They are Christians." 32:21 And so we had to start from the beginning, 32:23 you know, I was in my teens at that time. 32:25 Wow! And we started studying, 32:28 you know, the Sabbath. Yeah. 32:30 And then I listened to a program about Daniel Chapter 2. 32:34 Okay. And I was sitting there just watching. 32:37 This was a slide show-- Oh, yeah. 32:40 This was when I was young. All right. 32:42 Yeah, and so I said to myself, 32:46 "Wow, if there's a God behind all of these 32:50 and He has a plan for the world. 32:53 Then maybe there is a plan for me as well." Yeah. 32:56 I've got to stop in because it seems like as a teenager 33:00 you were perhaps a little more serious about your faith 33:02 than we would envision most 16-year-old. 33:05 But you are a thinking person 33:08 and a person may be who is even searching for truth 33:10 and very involved in serving the Lord and being part of that. 33:14 This is right. Yeah. For me. 33:15 And you had a great deal of confidence in your mother. 33:17 My mother was a godly woman and, 33:20 you know, she was truly dedicated. 33:22 Yeah. As a Sunday keeper. 33:24 Right, oh, yeah. When she-that's all the truth. 33:27 Yeah, she followed. She followed. 33:30 That's where the honesty comes forward. 33:32 People are--if they will absorb the truth they have. 33:36 She was living after all the truth she had before. 33:39 And when she found more, she lived up to that. 33:42 And she was an adult person at that time. 33:44 And she was willing to follow for me, 33:46 it took several years. 33:49 Wasn't that courageous? 33:50 Yeah. Pushed it off. 33:52 Wow, it is one thing to join the church 33:55 and accept all the doctrines-- 33:56 there's another thing to be called to ministry. 33:59 When did you feel the Lord sort of moving you on 34:02 and not be just sort of a pew warmer 34:03 but to be a leader in His cause? 34:06 For couple of years in my early 20s, 34:09 I kind of calm down 34:11 as far as my religious experience was concerned. 34:16 I was out one evening. 34:17 I met a group of students from our junior college in Norway. 34:21 One of them said me, "Roger, 34:23 why aren't you really fully ablaze and fully on fire? 34:28 Why are you sort of backsliding somewhat?" 34:32 And so I went home that evening 34:34 and I spent several hours alone rethinking everything. 34:40 I knew that God existed, I knew He had a plan for me. 34:43 Why was I wasting my time? 34:46 So I made a new decision. 34:49 And shortly after just a couple of weeks afterwards, 34:52 a friend of mine, he told me that 34:54 he was going to Newbold College to study theology. 34:58 And that couldn't, you know, I couldn't let it go. 35:01 So it kept, you know, 35:02 I was studying in Oslo doing well, 35:05 but Lord, He had His way. 35:08 So I had to go 35:10 to Newbold College and I became a pastor. 35:13 Wow, praise God. That's great. 35:15 Well, then you've had the ministry, the pastoral work, 35:19 the denominational leadership role 35:21 and also you have now taken on a new role 35:28 here in this particular field. 35:32 And you and I share some dreams together 35:39 that you may not realize, 35:40 but when you began to talk to me 35:44 the other day about this center that you want to develop 35:49 and some other things you're looking at. 35:51 I really got excited because I-- 35:55 every once a while I have people who give me a hard time 35:58 about coming over here. 36:00 And why do you do this and they think that-- 36:03 people they think there's council not to come 36:06 and there are also councils not to have bicycles. 36:09 But there are certain areas and periods of time 36:12 in which council is accurate and other times when it is not. 36:17 I have seen in my own family 36:21 when my wife first started coming, 36:24 she began-- she always loved the word, 36:28 but she really got into the word. 36:29 And she has now read the Bible through 36:31 since our first trip 15 times. 36:35 And I don't mean just read it, I mean studying it. 36:39 It has changed her whole being, same with my children. 36:44 I have four children. 36:45 And they've all been here with me several times. 36:48 It has so much ingrained them spiritually. 36:52 So I'll talk a little bit more about this 36:54 in our second half of our program. 36:56 But you want to bring students 37:01 and have them be here for a study. 37:04 This meant a lot to you personally. 37:06 So tell us a little about this, 37:08 tell us about the facilities we have for this 37:10 and what your dream is? 37:12 In Jerusalem, we havetwo centers. Yes. 37:15 One of them is the Advent House 37:17 where many Adventists over the years have stayed, you know. 37:20 We have the single rooms, some double rooms. 37:23 So Adventists from around the world, 37:25 they've come here and they stayed there. 37:28 Then in the other side of the city, 37:30 we have the study center. 37:34 Many Adventists who've been here, you know, 37:36 in times past and they look at the study center 37:39 and they say, "Wow, that's a run down place." 37:41 Yeah. It's not. It's fully renewed. 37:46 It's a brand-- Really? 37:48 It's a brand new study center. 37:49 Now where is it, it is out of town is that on? 37:51 It's in the eastern part, not far from the Damascus Gate. 37:55 All right, but in Greek they have redone that, huh? 37:58 It's totally redone. Really? I want to see it. 38:00 Inside, beautiful new rooms, toilets, 38:04 rest rooms, bathrooms, you know, 38:06 the tiles and it's just beautifully done. Okay. 38:09 And now this summer we even put on a new roof, 38:14 not just a ceiling inside, but the whole roof, it's new. 38:17 So it's a brand new place. 38:19 And we're inviting colleges and universities to come over, 38:23 they will stay there. Okay. 38:25 You know, in Jerusalem, it's usually quite expensive. 38:28 Right. But with us, it's really cheap. 38:31 And if they come and stay there, 38:32 we can accommodate groups of between 20 and up to 40-- 38:36 Okay. In that one place. All right. 38:38 And, you know, when they come, it's cheap for them, 38:42 but it gives money to the work in the Israel Field. Okay. 38:45 And that's a long term income for the well care in Israel. 38:50 Yeah. So that is really good thing we have going. 38:53 So some of the colleges 38:55 and may be even academies could bring students, 38:59 stay for a length of time, study, 39:04 you know, an intensive study 39:06 and the word and the geography 39:09 and so forth and the archeology. 39:12 What length of time will they have a-- 39:14 that would be up to them or what? 39:16 That's up to them. 39:18 We have the La Sierra University. 39:19 They will be becoming now this in 2/13 in the summer. 39:23 Andrews University, they are considering sending a group. 39:27 But you know it's just finished now this place. Oh, really? 39:31 So we haven't really started, you know, 39:33 contacting colleges and universities. 39:36 So those who come first now, 39:38 they will have very good deals with us 39:40 because we want to fill it up as soon as possible. 39:43 Now what will they do for things like food? 39:45 They just prepare their own food 39:47 or do you have someone who does that for them? 39:51 That will be up to them. 39:52 It's cheaper if they do it themselves. 39:54 And we have a beautiful new kitchen, 39:56 so they can do it. They can do it. 39:58 We can provide a cook, you know, we can-- 40:00 Or they can bring along one of the mothers 40:01 and she can cook, yeah. 40:03 That's right and this is what many have done in times past 40:06 when the place was being used. Yeah. 40:08 It has been used before. It has. 40:10 But because, you know, it was let down. Yeah. 40:13 Now it's up again and it's more beautiful than ever before. 40:16 Really? It's a nice place and 5 or 6 minutes, 40:19 you know, from Old City 40:22 and 3 or 4 minutes away from the Garden Tomb. 40:24 Wow! that close. 40:26 Yeah, it's just-- Just a walking. That's right. 40:29 3 or 4 minutes to the Garden Tomb. 40:31 And if, you know, if the group is larger, 40:35 then they come walkover to the Advent House. 40:37 It's about 25 minutes, you know, by foot. 40:40 And so people can stay there in single rooms or double rooms. 40:44 So we can combine things. 40:45 How many rooms do you have at the Advent House? 40:47 Advent House is not large, it's eight rooms. 40:50 Eight rooms. Yeah. 40:51 So you can accompany about 15-16 people-- Yeah, that's right. 40:55 Now I just wanna backup because between both facilities, 40:59 what's the total number of students you can have, 41:01 or in average you can house, both of them? 41:04 If they contact us and there's plenty of time to organize it, 41:08 we can take at least 40 people. Okay. 41:11 May be up to 50, but at least 40. 41:14 Okay, I wanna try to save your project 41:17 because I think it's a great thing. 41:19 What--let's go back and sort of assess, what they can do here? 41:23 We've got a group of college age kids. 41:26 Why would we come in and what can we do? 41:28 What can we actually get our hands into 41:31 and learn while we're here? 41:33 First of all, college students they travel all over the world. 41:37 Why not to take them to where Adventism began. 41:40 Adventism, as you know, did not start in Battle Creek 41:43 or Washington DC or Andrews University 41:46 or Loma Linda University and none of these places. 41:49 It started here in Jerusalem. 41:51 And this is actually where it's all gonna finish 41:54 because after the millennium 41:56 where is the Lord going to come down. 41:58 Where is the New Jerusalem gonna be located. 42:01 So we are at that spot 42:03 and this is where all the prophets walked. 42:05 This is where the apostles lived 42:07 and many of them gave their lives. 42:10 This is where Jesus lived. 42:12 And now He's called us you know to share this. 42:15 And so by coming here, 42:17 you look at the different sights and you'll remember. 42:20 You have something to-- 42:22 that's gonna stay with you for the rest of your life. Yeah. 42:25 You've seen the different places. 42:27 And some of these, you know, people don't believe it, 42:30 you can actually just south of the temple compound, 42:34 you can walk on the same steps as Jesus Himself has walked on. 42:38 And many of those who have been to Israel, 42:41 they have been walking through, you know, the Hezekiah's Tunnel. 42:44 Yeah. Oh, yeah. 42:45 Can you imagine Peter when he was young kid? 42:48 He must have rushed through it. Sure. 42:50 And so we can do it today. 42:52 Now let me tell you, 42:53 we are getting email questions like you wouldn't believe, 42:56 but I-- Michael Alford has asked a question. 43:01 He says, "During Jesus' time, 43:03 He and the disciples would preach in the synagogues. 43:06 Are Christians today permitted to preach in the synagogues? 43:12 Probably you and I did. 43:14 Probably we did not, but like I said 43:16 we have the Messianic synagogues 43:18 and we have synagogue of our own. 43:22 Friday nights when you comes to Jerusalem, 43:25 invited into a synagogue. Yeah, yeah. 43:28 Abraham Lincoln Street. All right and-- 43:31 And it's gonna be, you know, 43:33 everything is in Hebrew, you know it. 43:35 And there is one person here that was very concerned C.A. 43:37 at back you were talking about bombs. 43:39 You know, you can't even mention things like that. 43:42 There is a peace agreement that's going on. Right, right. 43:45 By the way we've been here... a week. 43:48 We have not seen anything, 43:51 I mean once I get out of New York, I felt safe. 43:54 And I want to know that-- 43:59 Now, we have not so much have seen a soldier. No. 44:04 You know, in the airport or any place. 44:06 There are some checkpoints you go through. 44:07 Oh, yeah. That's what it's there. 44:09 But the disturbance has not affected 44:11 the areas where we have been. 44:13 We are very, very safe and we feel quite fine. 44:16 Absolutely and-- but we would not have come. 44:20 We have great confidence in the people we work with here. 44:24 They would not mislead us. We were in touch with them. 44:27 And they told us that where it not safe, 44:31 they would have told us. 44:32 So we came and we have been very, very happy that we did. 44:38 And there is probably 100,000 tourists here 44:41 at least right now traveling. 44:44 We just run into them everywhere 44:46 from all over the world. 44:48 And there is no fear and frightening among them. 44:51 Believe me, we've had a wonderful time. 44:53 Then we're, you know, anytime things can happen. 44:56 And so we're not being frightful, 44:58 we're thankful for that. 45:00 And we don't have some special courage or anything like that. 45:04 We just believe that there is some practical things 45:07 that people know when you can come and when you can't. 45:10 And we were following that. 45:12 We followed those who have been doing this for many, many years. 45:16 And we're thankful that we did. 45:19 I don't have 1% who is not thankful that they came. 45:24 But got a question here for the guest. 45:27 Thank God for your broadcast today. 45:29 Would you kindly ask the guest 45:30 to share the most challenging experience 45:33 and also the most exciting experience 45:35 that they're experiencing for working for the Lord? 45:39 And this comes from the lady with the name of Grace Mallet. 45:42 I didn't quite get it-- A challenging experience. 45:44 Challenging experiences. I could tell you about the problems 45:48 we just had now with the Gaza State. 45:51 Because it was kind of a difficult situation. 45:54 Yeah, because you-- we have members down in Gaza. 45:58 By the way folks, we are a long way from Gaza. 46:00 And believe me we are a long way from there. 46:04 Our members living in that surrounding-- Very tough time. 46:07 With rockets coming down, 46:09 you know, that was the problematic situation. 46:12 None of them wanted to move out. 46:14 They felt secure and they wanted to, 46:17 you know, stay with their neighbors. Wow. 46:19 And I was down there today preaching in Beersheba. 46:24 Fantastic group of people we have there. 46:27 Those members are so faithful. Isn't that great? 46:29 And the Lord is blessing. 46:30 And I drove by Gaza. It's peaceful now. 46:33 Oh, sure. Yeah, right. 46:34 So it's okay. Right, right. 46:36 And I just--I hesitate even to talk about that type of thing, 46:43 but that is challenging. It certainly is. 46:45 Question here on the presentation 46:47 about the Jewish work. 46:49 Do you know any of the Spirit of Prophecy quotation? 46:53 I've had them read to me and I've had them. 46:55 I don't have any right here with me. 46:57 If you go into the E.G. White writings 47:00 put in Jewish work and look at up, 47:02 I'm sure that you will find the quotation that I alluded to you, 47:07 but I don't have right on the top of my head. 47:12 And... so we've got 47:18 another question about the trip 47:23 and we will talk about that in second half. 47:26 But Roger, what else can we do to encourage people 47:31 to get to be involved in this project here of study in here? 47:36 What--how can they help you with this project? 47:40 Student come, they talk to their professors about it, 47:43 remind them of the fact that we have such a place in Israel. 47:48 Right. And tell them we want to go there. 47:50 And they can contact you. Sure. 47:53 And they can email you. Yeah. 47:56 What is your email address? 47:58 roger.robertsen, 48:02 robertsen is with s-e-n. S-e-n. 48:06 At-- So it's roger.robertsen, s-e-n. 48:11 That's robertsen@? 48:16 Netvision-- Netvision.com. 48:21 No, not netvision.net. 48:24 Okay, netvision.net. 48:27 .il. .il after that. 48:30 Yeah, that's for Israel. That's for Israel. 48:34 We'll come to that one more time because-- 48:37 all right, are you ready? 48:38 Yeah. Give it to them. 48:40 Roger.robertsen @netvision.net.il. 48:47 Uh-huh, very good. 48:49 That's complicated. Yeah, it is. 48:50 But I think that you're-- 48:52 We're coming down to the close of--the close of our first hour, 48:54 but is there any other project, 48:57 any other thing that you have may be on a drawing board 48:59 or in your mind, in your heart 49:01 to reach this community which we said at the top of the show, 49:05 it's little difficult to reach. 49:07 You can't use some of the classical historic methods, 49:10 you got to think a little more, got to pray a little more. 49:12 Has the Lord given you anything else 49:14 that may be on a drawing board? 49:16 Oh, He sure has. 49:17 We have several projects going now. 49:19 We are planning for them. 49:21 It's so called Life Hope Centers, Centers of Interest. 49:24 And we already have the place in Nazareth. 49:28 It's a nice building. It's gonna be, you know, redone somewhat. 49:32 But we already have that place. 49:34 We have small group of people meeting there. 49:37 So that's actually sort of going already. 49:41 And then in hyper region, 49:42 we are planning to start another such center. 49:46 We have--this sentry in the Advent House. 49:48 We already started at synagogue. 49:51 So that's also reaching out to the Jewish friends 49:54 that we have in the surrounding area. 49:57 Planning another one in Tel Aviv area. 50:00 And those projects I have full confidence 50:04 in the fact that we will make friends. 50:08 We will have an impact in different communities. 50:11 All right, okay. 50:13 We have several plans, you know, what to do-- 50:15 So you're really putting the old wine in new wineskins. 50:19 Yeah, that's right. 50:20 And, you know, the pastors here, 50:22 they are very eager to get started. Yeah. 50:26 And many of the church members down in Beersheba was today, 50:30 they all started asking questions. What can we do? 50:33 How do we--how can we do it and so on? 50:35 They are burning. They want to share the message. 50:38 You know, I'm glad to hear that. 50:39 So there is excitement to sort of 50:41 meet some of these challenges. That's right. 50:42 And to implement some of these new ideas. 50:44 Uh-huh. That is great. 50:45 That's right. That is great. 50:47 All right. Okay. 50:48 Well, listen, we appreciate your coming. 50:51 I have one more question. 50:52 How many pastors do we have now in Israel? 50:56 We have far too few pastors. 50:58 There are six of us all together. 51:00 Are they full time pretty much? 51:02 Yeah, those are full time. 51:04 Then we have couple of volunteers 51:07 and, you know, some other. 51:08 Departmental directors are mainly people working, 51:12 you know, in different areas and doing this part time. 51:16 Okay. Yeah. 51:17 And if somebody wanted to come over here, 51:21 you had some expertise in this area, they can contact you. 51:27 You know, some of our most valuable workers 51:31 at 3ABN are volunteers. 51:34 Some of them are young volunteers, 51:36 I mean, you know, they are not, some are retired. 51:38 But they are extremely valuable. 51:40 And some of them are experienced. 51:43 If they did, they can contact you at that email address. 51:46 That would be great. 51:47 And perhaps they would come and help. Yeah. 51:51 Thank you, sir. Thank you. 51:52 We appreciate your coming. All righty. 51:54 Thank you, God bless you. God bless you too. 51:56 We're gonna be following through. 51:57 We want you to come to 3ABN do another program at today show 52:02 and we'll bring some pictures 52:03 and show some things at that time about-- 52:05 You just get in touch and I'll be there. 52:08 All right, all the best. Thank you. 52:10 God bless you. Thank you. 52:11 Well, listen that's exciting here. 52:13 Do we have enough time to bring another guest here? 52:15 Well, let's bring, Joanne in 52:17 and we'll just cross the hour with her and do it that way. 52:20 Okay, all right. That was exciting visit for me. 52:24 I know that we're getting 52:25 tremendous mail here from people. 52:29 They're talking about how much it's meaning to them. 52:33 Only have one complaint 52:34 and he said, "Thank you for your reply." 52:40 No, that was somebody else. 52:42 But he also said that he was upset 52:47 because we're preempted Dwight. 52:49 But Dwight is recorded 52:52 and we'll try to show that program again. 52:54 This is live and we-- 52:57 this is the only opportunity we had to do it. We apologize. 53:01 We had to preempt somebody, but we--anyway. 53:06 Yeah. All right. 53:08 Yeah, we're down to our last minute, but we want to just-- 53:10 you actually do get a chance to talk. 53:13 Well, this is Joanne Davis 53:15 and she comes all the way from New Zealand. Yes, she does. 53:17 So that's quite a little trip doing some ministry. 53:20 And I think we're gonna hold her. All right. 53:22 Till after the break because we have a lot to talk about. 53:25 We want to give her chance to talk with. 53:27 First of all, good to have you here. 53:28 Thank you very much. It's great to see you both again. 53:31 And I just had a fantastic day off, 53:33 sung in St. Ann's Church with a wonderful choir Milestone. 53:38 Jim, you were just wonderful. 53:40 How many echoes in that church? 53:42 Twenty seven I think. 53:43 That's what they say, but it is so amazing. 53:47 We sounded like as good a choir there could be. 53:51 Do you know the other tourists stopped? They did. 53:53 And as people came out, 53:54 they said, "Oh, did you hear that choir." 53:58 Well, that was-- it's enjoyable. 54:00 And those of you that have been with us before 54:01 you know that we do this. 54:03 And we sing "How Great Thou Art" 54:05 and we sang "The Lord's prayer." 54:07 And well, I tell you it was exciting. It was wonderful. 54:11 It was, wasn't it? It was. 54:14 I have a very conservative friend who would-- 54:20 he just does not respond to anything emotionally. 54:24 And we had him on a trip one time. 54:27 And we were singing, I looked back, he had both hands up. 54:30 And I thought oh, my, but it was just so inspiring. 54:34 It was and the father there, the priest. Yes. 54:38 As we lift, he was inspired by the music 54:41 and what a job he said. 54:43 He gets to do that all day, every day. 54:46 Praise the Lord. Listening to it. 54:47 Pilgrims coming and just praising God in his church. 54:51 Yeah. Oh, praise the Lord. All right. 54:53 Yeah, we are coming down to the end of our-- 54:55 I'm not sure precisely how much time we have 54:58 because our clock isn't functioning. 54:59 But I want to talk about your ministry 55:01 and then get a little bit more 55:03 of your impressions of this country. 55:05 As a person with newspaper background and-- 55:09 well, they tell me I'm hearing in mic, we have two minutes. 55:11 So you can talk a little bit which I'm happy for. 55:16 You had a good day up there. 55:17 But give us your impressions of this country 55:19 and what's going on as you see it 55:22 from a sort of insight kind of the background? 55:25 Well, it's really interesting. 55:27 I really didn't commit to coming here 55:30 until 3 o'clock on the day I was supposed to leave 55:32 because the news reports were so dire. 55:35 And my folks were particularly worried. 55:39 The last time you saw us, 55:41 David and I were together and David passed away last year, 55:44 that was a really big loss for our family. 55:48 And the thought of me coming to Israel 55:51 on the anniversary of David's death. 55:54 And coming into such civil strife 55:57 was a bit much for the family to bear. 56:00 But coming here the reality of it is just so much different 56:03 to what we are seeing on the news reports. 56:06 And my impression is that this is an incredibly spiritual place 56:11 and a place where you can reconnect with God 56:14 and enhance your spiritual experience with such joy. 56:20 And it's so much better than what I imagined it could be. 56:24 Yes. Praise God. 56:25 Praise God, yeah. 56:29 Yeah, we're down to our last few seconds. 56:32 We wanna talk about little bit of ministry that you're involved 56:34 because you're doing some things 56:36 that we are really excited about. 56:37 And get little more of your impression of this place, 56:40 is this your first time here? 56:41 This is my first time in this part of the world. 56:43 In this part, aha. 56:45 And it's really exciting to me 56:46 because there is such an opportunity 56:48 and a need for us to evangelize the Arab world. Indeed. 56:52 And to actually meet with these people face to face 56:56 and I want to tell you a story 56:57 that there's something that happened today. 56:58 All right, we're gonna hold that story to the second half 57:00 because we're down to our last five seconds. 57:02 We're gonna be back in five minutes. 57:04 Stay with us. We'll hear this story, 57:05 got lot more to talk about. 57:06 We'll see you shortly. Five minutes, call your friends. |
Revised 2014-12-17