Participants:
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000749S
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01:22 I hear the sound
01:25 Of a mighty rushing wind 01:31 And it's closer now 01:35 Than it's ever been 01:40 I can almost hear the trumpet 01:45 As Gabriel sounds the call 01:51 At the midnight cry 01:55 We'll be goin' home 01:59 When Jesus steps out 02:04 On a cloud to call His children 02:09 The dead in Christ shall rise 02:14 To meet Him in the air 02:18 And then those that remain 02:24 Shall be quickly changed 02:30 At the midnight cry 02:33 When Jesus comes again 02:53 I look around me 02:56 I see prophecies fulfilled 03:02 And signs of the times 03:06 They're appearing everywhere 03:10 I can almost hear the father 03:15 As he says, "Son, get your children." 03:22 At the midnight cry 03:25 The bride of Christ will rise 03:30 When Jesus steps out 03:35 On a cloud to call His children 03:40 The dead in Christ shall rise 03:44 To meet Him in the air 03:49 And then those that remain 03:54 Shall be quickly changed 04:01 At the midnight cry 04:04 When Jesus comes again 04:10 At the midnight cry 04:14 When Jesus comes again 04:19 Comes again 04:38 Well, good morning. 04:41 You know, we come to one of the times of ASI 04:44 that's one of the highlights. 04:46 And that's the offering this morning. 04:48 I'm humbled to be here again this year to kind of narrate, 04:52 small narration and tell you about the projects 04:56 and what we're doing today. 04:58 You know, we're gonna talk about children, 05:02 we're gonna talk about water, 05:04 and we're gonna talk about evangelism 05:06 and DVDs. 05:08 It's gonna be exciting. 05:10 I love the projects. 05:12 The one thing 05:14 that I want to tell you this morning though, 05:16 is this is where you can participate. 05:18 You know, God calls for us to give us his time 05:22 and secondly, our means. 05:25 So I some come with preconceived 05:28 or not preconceived but ideas about what they're gonna give. 05:31 This morning, I'd like you to wait 05:34 until we see the projects 05:37 to see what's happening before you make that decision. 05:42 We've heard the term sacrificial giving. 05:46 And you know what? 05:48 That definition for sacrificial giving 05:50 is different for everybody. 05:52 It's different for you. 05:53 It's different for me. 05:54 And the power of the Holy Spirit is here today, 05:57 I know it, 05:59 to impress upon your minds, what you want to give, 06:03 but more importantly, to impress the people 06:06 that are gonna make the presentation today. 06:09 Again, we're gonna talk about water. 06:11 We're gonna talk about children, 06:13 and we're gonna talk about the DVDs. 06:16 Let's pray before we start. 06:17 Lord, today, 06:19 I asked that the angels be here, 06:22 that the Holy Spirit is present to impress upon us, 06:25 and that we can understand the time, the hour 06:29 that we are living in today. 06:31 I pray that you will be with all the people here 06:34 that are making the presentations. 06:36 I pray Jesus in Your name. 06:38 Amen. 06:39 First, we're gonna talk, we're gonna hear from Helen. 06:42 And Helen Eager and Don Noble from Asian Aid. 06:55 You know Jesus was always a great lover of children. 07:00 If you've traveled around the world, 07:01 as some of us have, 07:03 seems like everywhere you go there's children, 07:05 have you noticed? 07:07 They come, they run up to you, they're excited. 07:10 They're innocent. 07:12 And especially, those today we're thinking about those, 07:16 Helen, that are orphaned and abandoned. 07:19 Helen is... 07:20 Helen Eager is with Asian Aid for four decades. 07:24 They've been taking care of children. 07:26 And this morning, we want to talk about 07:28 a particular orphanage, project 07:31 that Helen is involved in. 07:33 It's got a great name. 07:34 It's called the Sunshine Orphanage. 07:36 Isn't that a good name for an orphanage? 07:38 Hope for the children. 07:39 Helen, tell us a little bit today 07:42 about Asian Aid and the project 07:43 that we're looking at in Bangalore, India? 07:45 Okay. 07:47 Just very quickly, 07:48 I will tell you what Asian Aid does. 07:50 Our main projects, of course, is sponsorship of children. 07:53 Currently, we're sponsoring around 7,000 children 07:57 all in Seventh-day Adventist Institutions 08:00 in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. 08:03 And then we have a few smaller things we do, 08:06 like, putting in clean water, wells. 08:09 We have a project with lepers, 08:11 also a women's health project up in Nepal 08:13 where we provide operations for women 08:16 with prolapsed problems. 08:18 And we are so grateful for the way 08:20 that God has led through the years. 08:22 Some of you will remember, 08:23 we also have a school for blind children 08:25 where at the moment we have around 160 children 08:29 and also a school for deaf children 08:31 where we currently have around about 80 children. 08:34 But the project that we actually, 08:37 really started with was the Sunshine Orphanage. 08:40 Many of you will know that 08:42 that was started by Dorothy Watts, 08:44 and now that is 27 years ago. 08:47 And fortunately she has a very tolerant husband 08:50 because in the beginning 08:51 they even had babies in their bedroom, 08:54 maybe three or four at a time. 08:56 And so Sunshine has been very special through a lot of years. 09:00 We have a few pictures to show you. 09:03 And maybe if we can bring those up now. 09:05 This first picture is a picture of the school at Sunshine. 09:09 And the orphanage building 09:12 is just close by to that. 09:17 Okay. 09:18 These are a couple of our precious children. 09:21 It's so wonderful to be able to do something 09:23 for children such as these. 09:26 Currently, right at this moment, 09:28 we have 60 children 09:29 that are living full time at Sunshine. 09:32 And there are around 30 children 09:34 who are in college, and nurses training, 09:39 and in other Adventist boarding schools. 09:42 Now when we talk about orphans, 09:44 Asian Aid supports children in something like 200 units. 09:49 Most of them are schools, boarding schools, 09:52 and many of these children also of the 7,000 09:55 we support are orphans. 09:58 I was taking a list of children in one of our other schools 10:01 and when I was asking them 10:05 how many of them had both parents, 10:06 when there was 300 children, I checked in that school 10:09 there was 200 of them 10:11 that only had one parent or no parents 10:13 and that was in a boarding school, 10:15 not in a particular orphanage. 10:16 So it's such a blessing 10:18 to be able to help children such as these. 10:21 Next to the orphanage, 10:22 we now have the school building that you saw. 10:25 And the school now has 650 children. 10:29 Now that's a real mission field, isn't that? 10:31 These children come on to the compound 10:33 from the local area. 10:35 It's a very popular school. 10:38 And as you can imagine 10:40 to have that many children so fast 10:42 and the school is growing, 10:44 so that also is a great blessing. 10:47 Now amongst the children from the orphanage, 10:51 many of them have grown up now 10:53 and many of them are married, 10:56 and it's wonderful to see these young people. 10:58 We have 17 nurses from the Sunshine Orphanage 11:01 that are now qualified nurses. 11:04 We have physiotherapists, we have teachers, 11:07 we have pastors from among our orphaned children. 11:10 And it's wonderful now 11:11 to see those young people doing something special 11:13 for God with their lives. 11:15 Just a couple of children's stories 11:17 we'll tell you about. 11:20 Suicide is something that's very common in India. 11:23 And these two boys in this picture 11:25 as well as their brother, 11:26 they actually saw their father killed their mother, 11:30 and then he committed suicide. 11:32 Now the littlest boy, 11:34 he was just so distraught by this. 11:36 When he came to Sunshine from a year or two years, 11:40 he wouldn't even speak. 11:42 But now he is a happy little boy. 11:44 And it's wonderful to be able to provide a safe environment 11:48 and a happy environment for these children to live in. 11:52 There are others amongst our girls also, 11:54 who come from situations like that. 11:56 One of our nurses 11:58 that just graduated a few months ago, 12:00 her father killed her mother 12:02 and now the father is in prison. 12:04 But for this girl to now be a qualified nurse 12:06 coming from that kind of a background, 12:08 we think this is really special. 12:10 Now our project for this time, 12:13 of course, is the church for Sunshine. 12:16 All through these 27 years, 12:18 they have had no church building. 12:20 And they just meet in the classroom, 12:23 one of the classrooms of the school building, 12:25 which is much too small for 12:29 to be able to invite the local people. 12:32 And so there is basically at the moment only 12:34 the Sunshine family, meaning the children, 12:36 some of the staff, 12:37 and a few local church members. 12:39 But if we can have a church building 12:42 with a multipurpose center underneath, 12:45 we're hoping to have the church up top 12:47 and have classrooms and that downstairs 12:50 and we'll be able to run some Vacation Bible schools, 12:52 we'll be able to invite all the children 12:55 that live locally to come to Sabbath School. 12:57 Some of the schools in India, some of the Adventist schools 13:01 because the local government schools 13:03 have school on Sabbath too, 13:05 so you invite the children, they come to school every day. 13:08 And then they came to Sabbath School on Sabbath. 13:10 So if we have a church, nice church building, 13:13 we'll be able to do that for the children there 13:16 and that will be so wonderful. 13:17 There are a lot of poor people in the area of Bangalore 13:20 although Bangalore 13:21 is the fastest growing city in India. 13:23 And they say it's the IT capital of the world. 13:26 There are still a lot of poor people there. 13:29 And it also will be an opportunity 13:31 to be able to do something for them. 13:34 We're so grateful for the help that Asian Aid gave us 13:36 with their blind school two or three years ago, 13:38 not Asian Aid. 13:40 What am I saying? ASI. 13:42 And so God bless you all 13:43 for all that you are doing all around the world. 13:46 It's just such an inspiration to be able to come here 13:49 and to be a part of this magnificent program 13:52 that God has blessed so much. 13:54 Thank you. 13:56 Asian Aid has asked Maranatha to partner with them 13:59 in the Southern Asia division 14:00 to build this particular church. 14:03 And we're planning that project next January. 14:06 And if you want to physically get involved 14:09 and go see some of the people 14:10 that you saw on the screen these children, 14:12 you can actually join that project. 14:14 Love to have you. 14:15 Thank you for your support of the children 14:18 at the Sunshine Orphanage. 14:30 You know, I think children touch all of our hearts. 14:34 And one of the things that children need is water. 14:38 Now Gary and Rod Bartholomew are gonna come out 14:42 and they're with the Guatemala Well Project. 14:46 And we're gonna talk a little bit about 14:49 water this morning. 14:50 And what they do? 14:51 Now you've got your... 14:53 This isn't typical Sabbath dress, 14:55 I would assume. 14:57 No, I've never worn this on Sabbath, 14:59 but it sure relaxed me. 15:04 Now Gary and Rod, 15:07 you're with the Guatemala Well Project. 15:10 What is this that you're doing? 15:13 This is a winter project for us, 15:15 the last two years we've gone to Guatemala. 15:17 We drilled several wells 15:19 for International Children's Care Orphanage 15:21 and secondary school, 15:22 and now we're reaching into the surrounding villages, 15:26 drilling wells, and bringing living water. 15:30 Well, now... 15:32 But water, you know, we have water, 15:33 there's, around here people can go get a glass of water. 15:36 We have bottles of water, why is water an issue? 15:40 Terry, each day worldwide 15,000 people die 15:46 for the lack of water or because of impure water, 15:50 11,000 of those are children. 15:52 Wow, 15,000 people die per day, 15:56 not per week or a year, 11,000 are children. 16:01 Well, we have a video that tells a little bit about 16:03 what you're doing. 16:05 So let's watch that here for a couple of minutes 16:07 and then we can talk a little bit more. 16:17 What's better than clean water? 16:18 Clean water is a basic necessity 16:21 that you build on in every part of life. 16:25 When I think about what Jesus might do 16:27 if He were on earth today, 16:29 I can't think of anything more basic 16:31 than providing water. 16:33 Unfortunately, 16:35 the water quality has gotten worse 16:36 and worse and worse. 16:38 And, you know, a few years ago 16:41 they had one of the children get very, very ill 16:44 that nearly lost his life 16:46 just from an amoeba. 16:59 When Rodney Bartholomew turned on that pipe 17:02 and water came shooting out full force. 17:06 And we could actually feel the water, 17:08 touch the water, taste the water, 17:11 and know that it was just as pure as any water 17:14 anywhere. 17:19 It's a most exciting experience 17:22 to see pure water flowing out of the ground. 17:27 An answer to prayer of years. 17:30 And to realize that this was something 17:32 that was gonna change the way these kids live, 17:35 and that they now had fresh, clean water. 17:52 The water project has been our most ambitious one. 17:56 They have not only dug wells for us, 17:59 but they have planned to also go into the community 18:03 where water is a big problem. 18:09 As the project expands, 18:12 and we provide water in the villages 18:14 that surround this area, 18:17 we will be given the opportunity 18:18 of making a difference in the lives 18:21 of all the people that live in this region. 18:26 Jesus went around not only teaching 18:28 and preaching but He also healed people. 18:30 And this is healing people's lives 18:32 because they've got to have pure clean water 18:34 or they die 18:35 or they're sick all the time. 18:36 This is doing the work of the ministry. 18:38 This is the good news. 18:39 This is the gospel being demonstrated. 18:44 That's a moving piece, isn't it? 18:49 So, 18:52 Gary, Rod, tell us about 18:55 how you got involved in some of the things 18:57 that have gone on down there 18:58 and what happens when you put up a derrick? 19:02 You know, we've really looked forward 19:03 to moving off campus as important as this was 19:06 and as gratifying as this was, 19:08 but to move off campus and get into the villages. 19:11 And we were able to do that this last winter 19:13 and we'll be doing it some more. 19:16 When we put up a derrick in a village, 19:19 it's like a 40-foot exclamation mark for the Lord. 19:24 It takes walls down. 19:27 And I had a friend that did dental work 19:31 in the school next to the rig, 19:33 had three of the fellows in our group 19:36 that did some evangelism 19:38 to bring the water of life to people. 19:42 Praise the Lord. 19:44 We've seen over 200 baptisms from there. 19:48 That's exciting. 19:49 And, Rod, what do you do down there? 19:52 Well, I also help drill 19:54 but I'm going to tell you a little bit about here. 19:59 And you're holding something in your hand I want... 20:00 That's correct. 20:02 And this is a Worldwide Drillers Resource Magazine. 20:06 I'm sure we all have a subscription. 20:08 Yeah, everybody here should have a subscription 20:10 because it tells about this project. 20:12 But anyway, 20:14 we were at a National Drillers Convention. 20:17 After the convention, 20:18 my Uncle Lynn got approached by the editor to this magazine, 20:24 and she said, 20:25 "I would like to have you 20:27 write a story in this magazine monthly." 20:31 And so we got one of the people 20:34 that is involved in this project to do that 20:37 and he contacted the editor, 20:40 and he told the editor. 20:41 He says, "I'm gonna be telling miracles, 20:43 and I'm gonna be praising the Lord 20:46 and thanking the Lord in these articles." 20:49 She says, "Okay." 20:52 And so monthly, 20:53 there is an article in this magazine 20:59 that tells miracles 21:00 that have happened in this project 21:02 and spreads the gospel to worldwide drillers. 21:09 From that we have drillers 21:12 that are gonna come down to the project 21:14 from Texas, from Oregon, 21:17 from Ohio, and from Alaska. 21:20 Not one of them is an Adventist and they are gonna be... 21:29 Praise the Lord. 21:30 They are gonna be in an Adventist atmosphere 21:33 down there. 21:34 One of them from Alaska says, 21:36 "I can't drill up here during the wintertime." 21:38 He wants to come down for two months. 21:41 Speaking of two months, 21:43 when we were down there this last year, 21:47 one of the people that 21:49 is just friends of ours was at a Spanish school. 21:52 He met these two people. 21:55 They said, "We want to come help your project" 21:57 from him telling a little bit about of it. 22:01 They spent two months there with us on the project. 22:04 Again, just good Christian people, not Adventist, 22:08 but I'll tell you they were asking a lot of questions. 22:11 Well, thanks a lot. 22:13 You know, this is another way 22:14 we see God spreading the gospel through you two. 22:17 Thank you very much. Thank you. 22:25 These two need no introduction, 22:27 and so I'm gonna leave the rest to them. 22:30 Well, the evangelist and the banker. 22:33 Brothers and sisters, I want to tell you about 22:34 the most exciting program 22:36 that I've ever had the privilege 22:37 to be involved with. 22:38 If you all remember a few years ago 22:40 that we started with this DVD project, 22:43 the discs that were evangelistic tools. 22:46 I want to tell you today 22:47 that there are over millions of people 22:48 that have had the privilege of hearing 22:50 that message as a result of your gifts and generosity. 22:54 But today, we're gonna take that DVD bus, 22:56 we're gonna take the wheels off of it, 22:58 and we're going to put wings on it 22:59 and make it fly. 23:01 The Seventh-day Adventist Church has a commission 23:03 to take the three angels message 23:06 to the entire world. 23:08 Matthew 24:14 says, 23:11 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached 23:13 to all the world as a witness 23:15 to all nations then the end shall come." 23:19 ASI family, we have an opportunity today 23:23 to do something larger and broader 23:26 and more significant 23:27 that ASI has ever done 23:30 in touching every portion of the world with the gospel, 23:34 uniting tens of thousands and millions of laity 23:39 around the world 23:40 in the proclamation of the gospel. 23:42 You remember that Ellen White very clearly points out 23:46 in Testimonies to Ministers, page 300 23:49 that God will use simple means 23:54 to finish His work. 23:57 Denzel, simple means. Simple means. 23:59 Yes, we were able to go to the country of Moldova 24:04 in January, Mark. 24:06 Now I want to let you know, brothers and sisters, 24:08 that going to Moldova in January is not easy. 24:12 It was 37 degrees below zero with the wind blowing. 24:16 But I will tell you that I've never been so warm 24:19 as I was when I went into the churches 24:21 to teach them about using the DVD materials. 24:25 Pastor Arthur Stella is with us today. 24:27 Pastor Stella is the president of the Euro Asia division. 24:30 Pastor Stella, is God using simple means 24:34 in the former Soviet Union today 24:36 through the DVD project? 24:38 And we hear some times 24:39 that the work in the former communist countries 24:41 is closing up. 24:42 Is that true? 24:44 In some of the countries of the former Soviet Union, 24:47 the doors for traditional public evangelism 24:50 is already closed. 24:52 In some other countries the doors are still open. 24:56 But the cost of traditional evangelism is so high 25:00 is that we are forced to search for simple means 25:04 to reach the people. 25:06 And I must tell you, simple means is God, 25:10 are more successful 25:12 than the most expensive traditional ways 25:14 we have been using before. 25:15 Amen. 25:17 Denzel, you and I joined Pastor Stella 25:19 and we went to the country of Moldova. 25:23 When we did, what happened there? 25:26 We met many lay people. 25:28 Actually, we trained 870 lay people 25:32 to do lay evangelism. 25:34 And they did that, 25:35 what they did is they were required to do that 25:38 three times in one year. 25:40 So we did a total of 2,610 evangelistic meetings 25:44 this year alone. 25:46 Pastor Stella, is that making a difference in Moldova? 25:49 What happened as the result of that training in January? 25:52 It has made a big difference. 25:54 First of all, 25:55 our church members have realized 25:58 that every one of them is a missionary. 26:01 And it's a very important to understand that 26:04 when a person is baptized is the same time 26:07 he's ordained to be a missionary for God. 26:10 Amen. 26:11 And this has happened in Moldova. 26:12 Here they are saying thank you ASI 26:16 holding up their DVD players with their DVD discs, 26:21 870 trained there. 26:26 Look at the joy on this lady's face. 26:28 And you saw this over and over again. 26:30 Brothers and sisters, I can't tell you 26:32 how exciting it was for us 26:34 to see lay people get this material 26:36 and realize that they can do more 26:38 to tell others about Jesus than they ever could before. 26:41 Pastor Stella, but what 26:42 if someone gets their DVD player 26:46 and they do not use it? 26:48 First of all, when a person gets trained, 26:52 he is consecrates himself to the Lord. 26:57 And then a special prayer is offered 27:00 as the DVD is also dedicated to the Lord. 27:03 And so there is a great responsibility. 27:05 The church member knows 27:06 he has something holy in his hands. 27:09 And if he doesn't use it 27:11 and I must tell it happened several times, 27:14 when the local church board invited this person 27:17 took from him the DVD, 27:18 trained a new missionary, 27:20 and gave the DVD to another person. 27:22 So there is accountability. Oh, yes. 27:25 What were the results in Moldova? 27:28 What happened in Moldova? 27:30 Just in few months, the program has just started. 27:34 And already over 300 people have been baptized. 27:37 Amen. 27:38 God is moving through lay people. 27:42 And even better than that, 27:43 I have been told as you know, we are partial to the youth 27:46 that there is over 400 youth evangelistic meetings 27:49 that are being held right now in the country of Moldova. 27:52 Here they are as the result of ASI 27:56 funding that project and lay people 27:59 leading men and women of Christ to be baptized. 28:01 Yes. 28:03 But this is not only in Moldova. 28:06 How did the Moldova project inspire, Pastor Stella, 28:10 other parts of your division? 28:12 You know as our members throughout the division 28:15 heard about this program 28:16 and what the lay members are doing. 28:19 They said, "We can do it also." 28:21 And this has given a birth of a new division wide program. 28:27 Arthur, what is this 10-50 program? 28:30 10-50 is a unique program which means 28:33 we are training right now 10,000 lay members 28:37 to become missionaries. 28:39 And the goal is for them in the near future 28:41 to baptize 50,000 people, 28:44 so 10-50, 10,000 missionaries, 28:47 50,000 baptisms in the near future. 28:49 ASI, this is the result of your commitment, 28:52 10,000 lay evangelists around the world. 28:58 You have some very difficult countries in your division, 29:02 Pastor, some Muslim countries, what's happening there? 29:07 I must tell as the DVD program is very effective, 29:10 even more effective in the Muslim countries. 29:13 We experience a lot of baptism. 29:15 And as a example, for example, 29:19 some of our business people 29:20 have heard what ASI has done in Moldova. 29:22 And they said, 29:24 "Why not us coming together 29:27 and doing the same in difficult countries." 29:29 And for example, one businessman 29:31 has financed a program in the Caucasus countries, 29:35 and 37 lay evangelists have been trained 29:41 from different countries, Muslim countries, 29:43 and they are doing great things for the Lord. 29:47 Tell us about this lady that you told us about earlier? 29:50 Oh, I wish she would be here. 29:52 You need to see her face. 29:54 This is a lady 29:55 that has dedicated her life to Christ. 29:58 Every day she goes to the city and witnesses for Christ. 30:03 And when she receives the DVD player, 30:06 she said something that I will never forget. 30:09 She said almost in restraints in her eyes. 30:12 She said, 30:13 "If I don't witness during the day, 30:18 I cannot sleep during the night." 30:20 All I wish is that Lord would take this leaf 30:22 from all of our church members 30:24 till they become missionaries for Christ. 30:26 Amen. Amen. 30:28 And she's going from door-to-door. 30:31 And one day the neighbors have complained 30:35 and the police came and arrested her. 30:37 They brought her to a police office. 30:42 And she started to preach in the police office. 30:44 Then the chief police said, 30:46 "Look, if we keep her too long here 30:47 all of my people will become believers, 30:51 so send her home." 30:53 But another guy tells, "Look, 30:54 if we sent her home 30:56 she will continue from door-to-door." 30:57 And then said, "Okay, take my car 30:59 and deliver her to her door, 31:01 so that she will not be able, but she's working every day. 31:04 Amen. 31:05 Now... 31:07 Praise God for what he is doing. 31:11 You led a group of business people 31:15 from the former Soviet Union 31:17 into these Muslim countries to do some training. 31:20 Denzel, lead us through this next series of slides. 31:22 What the idea of this DVD program 31:25 is to have smaller groups in your home 31:27 and so that you would have four lay people, 31:29 you'd have one person that does the meetings, 31:32 one person that is training to do it 31:34 the next time around, 31:35 you have a person in charge of hospitality, 31:38 and you have a person 31:40 in charge of running the equipment. 31:41 Then you invite a minimum of 12 to 15 friends 31:44 to come into your home 31:46 and to hold a meeting in a home. 31:49 And here we are showing them 31:50 how to do that in the former Soviet Union. 31:52 You can see by the picture, they have a TV. 31:54 If we go to the next picture, you can see something 31:56 I thought was very interesting. 31:57 They even show them how to make the tea 31:59 and some cookies to put in to make it really hospitable 32:03 so where they can really form a friendship and a bond 32:06 as they're spreading the gospel of Jesus. 32:09 I love this graphic. 32:10 Here the teaching team 32:12 with all their DVDs behind them and had a little chair, 32:15 they've got their crackers and cookies 32:17 and their health tea 32:18 and they're demonstrating to the lay people. 32:20 Amen. 32:21 This is how you show hospitality. 32:23 This is how you preach. 32:24 This is what God does. 32:28 God is moving powerfully. 32:30 Thank you so much, Pastor Stella. 32:31 Thank you. Thank you. 32:32 And I would like to say on behalf of my people, 32:34 a big thank you for the inspiration 32:36 the ASI family has brought to our division. 32:39 Thank you. Amen. 32:40 In the former Soviet Union small groups 32:43 for Christ moving powerfully. 32:47 This DVD program though is one that is being used 32:51 around the world in our new training approaches. 32:55 Denzel, Panama? 32:57 Mark, from Moldova a few months later, 32:59 we went to the hot country of Panama, 33:01 talk about extremes. 33:03 We went and we trained 400 lay people 33:05 that were gonna hold a minimum 33:06 of 1,200 evangelistic meetings that year. 33:10 And I'll tell you, the Lord 33:11 really blessed in those meetings. 33:12 We are able... 33:14 You can see a picture here of the people being trained 33:16 and the enthusiasm that they had. 33:18 Pastor, they were so enthusiastic 33:19 that a group of them, 33:21 but right as soon as we got done training, 33:22 they ran out the door 33:24 and they were heading out to do that meeting that night. 33:27 Now this lady here is very special. 33:29 Who is she? 33:30 She is a little lady that is 12 years old. 33:34 Now as we got up and we're doing our training 33:36 that she was very shy 33:37 and she kind of stood in the corner. 33:39 And as she came up, Pastor Finley said, 33:40 "Come up here. 33:41 And would you like to try this, try to preach?" 33:44 What happened? 33:45 As I asked her to preach, 33:47 I wanted to help her up to the pulpit 33:49 and she walked away from the pulpit says, 33:51 "Pastor, I don't need any pulpit, 33:52 I don't need any notes. 33:54 As you were teaching the adults to preach, 33:55 I memorized the good portion of the sermon. 33:58 Just give me the microphone and let me preach." 34:02 12-year-old girl and Pastor Finley stood back 34:06 and heard an eloquent sermon that he wished 34:08 he could have given by a 12-year-old girl. 34:11 God's Spirit is coming upon the youth today. 34:14 Yes. 34:16 Not only in Panama, 34:17 we also did this program in the former 34:19 and you've heard me talk about Cambodia. 34:21 Cambodia, we did 187 lay people and thousands of people 34:26 were reached throughout the country of Cambodia 34:28 in a Buddhist country. 34:30 We had one thing that happened to us 34:32 as soon as we got the DVD players 34:33 as you can see us giving them out 34:35 to the people there. 34:37 One of the lay people had it in their home, 34:40 and a fire broke out 34:41 and the house burned to the ground. 34:43 In the ashes, they picked up the DVD player, 34:47 they picked up the disc, 34:48 and the disc and the DVD player worked. 34:52 Brothers and sisters, 34:53 it was a proven miracle that that happened with electronics. 34:56 As a result of that 34:57 everyone knew that it was sacred. 34:59 And the work just really exploded in this country. 35:03 There's this little lady I met after the training she had... 35:06 After 10 months that she had done the training, 35:09 and she had gone out and done these meetings. 35:11 I met this little lady. 35:12 And she stood about this tall. 35:15 And as I talked to her, I asked her, 35:17 "How many people have you given the Bible studies to?" 35:21 She says, "I have given to 1,000 people." 35:25 I said, "No way." 35:26 Here's the picture of her. 35:27 No way could this little lady do 35:29 1,000 people in 10 months. 35:32 She said, "Sir, I did it three times a day, 35:37 every day since you trained me." 35:41 And she was not the only one. 35:42 I met another lady that did it for 1,000, 35:44 another lady did 800. 35:46 The point is, is that you give lay people tools, 35:48 it is amazing what the Lord can do. 35:50 Around the world ASI is making an incredible impact 35:56 even in countries that are closed 36:00 to the open proclamation of the gospel. 36:02 Here you have in Cambodia, hundreds being baptized. 36:07 Look at the joy on their faces. 36:09 Look at the sparkle in their eyes. 36:11 ASI family, this is the result of your sacrificial commitment 36:15 and your giving to Jesus. 36:18 But we don't stop there. 36:19 We went into a blocked country. 36:22 Pastor Ryan and I went to that country 36:24 and we train them on how to do the DVD in that country. 36:28 We gave them the money to buy the DVD, 36:30 we gave them the disc, we gave them the scripts, 36:32 and they snuck across the border. 36:33 Literally, if they would have gotten caught in this country 36:36 and got caught they would have ended up 36:38 six years in prison. 36:40 But I want to tell you, 36:41 I just got a report yesterday that the DVD materials, 36:45 the evangelistic needs are going wild in that country. 36:48 The Lord's message is being spread. 36:51 And one story in particular is that 36:52 they went to the chief of police 36:55 and they told them about Jesus. 36:56 He got so excited about it 36:58 that he is now using his home, his TV 37:00 and they're holding meetings in his house. 37:02 Who would expect the chief of police 37:04 to be doing evangelism in that close country? 37:07 And during that time in 2 weeks, 37:10 people were so hungry for the gospel, 37:13 that in 2 weeks 21 families were baptized in that area. 37:17 And, Denzel, they're taking their boats 37:19 and going up the river showing the DVD on boats 37:22 so nobody can interfere from the regime. 37:25 I will tell you, brothers and sisters, 37:27 the lay people of our church are very creative on ways 37:30 of getting the message out in ways we know nothing of. 37:33 Denzel, you are a banker, and I am an evangelist. 37:36 Yes. 37:38 If the evangelist works the numbers they will think, 37:40 it may be possible 37:42 that he exaggerated a little bit. 37:44 Not you, Pastor. 37:45 I know that, Brother. 37:47 But now, I want the banker to work the numbers. 37:51 Picture with me if you will this. 37:54 A DVD player and the disc cost an average of $50 a set, 37:58 just $50. 37:59 Now picture this that they hold a minimum 38:01 of three meetings a year, three meetings a year. 38:05 Now, some are doing more as we met this one lady 38:07 who did three meetings a day. 38:09 She was holding three meetings a day. 38:11 If you average 12 people per meeting, 38:14 your cost per person is $1.39 cents. 38:19 Now it gets even better than that 38:20 because it's not gonna wear out in the first year, 38:22 as you know, it can keep going and going. 38:24 Now you do that for a minimum of three years, 38:27 you're down to 46 cents. 38:29 But it gets even better than that, 38:31 brothers and sisters, because we have a challenge. 38:34 For every dollar we raised today, 38:37 we can get another dollar that someone else 38:39 that will get put into this program. 38:42 So we are now down to 23 cents, or one quarter. 38:47 One quarter, a person can hear 38:51 the entire three angels' messages. 38:56 But let's take this one step further. 39:00 Because we all can afford a quarter, can't we? 39:03 But what if we wanna reach 10 people? 39:05 It would cost $2.50 cents. 39:07 But we know we can do more than that 39:09 in a year's period of time with our commitments, 39:11 we could do $25 and reach 100 people. 39:16 Now, or even better yet, 39:18 we can reach 1,000 people 39:20 for only $250 in 1 year. 39:25 But most of us can give even more than that. 39:27 We can actually give $2,500 to reach 10,000 people. 39:32 Reach 10,000 people, brothers and sisters, 39:35 for only $210 a month 39:39 or $2,500 in one year. 39:42 But I know there's people out there today 39:44 that would wanna say, "I wanna do more than that. 39:47 I wanna reach 100,000 people." 39:50 For $25,000 you can reach 100,000 people for Jesus. 39:56 But yet even think a little bit bigger than that 39:58 because the Lord never adds, 40:00 He multiplies as we work together. 40:03 For reaching 1 million people 40:05 and there's people out here today 40:07 that I know that can do this. 40:08 For 1 million people for only $250,000. 40:13 Denzel, not only do you reach a million people for $250,000, 40:19 but you equip and train lay people. 40:22 What would happen today, 40:23 if our overflow offering were a million dollars? 40:27 We would be able to involve 160,000 lay people. 40:31 We could hold 120,000 evangelistic meetings 40:34 every year with these lay people, 40:36 and we could see 1.44 million people 40:41 attend the meetings every year. 40:43 This DVD evangelistic program, Denzel, has the potential 40:47 of taking ASI exponentially and its influence 40:51 around the world for Jesus Christ. 40:54 Mark, this next picture tells the story. 40:58 Look at his face. 41:01 Here is an older gentleman that is so exciting too, 41:04 he's got his DVD player and his disc, 41:06 he's able to tell others about Jesus. 41:09 Brothers and sister, I've never been in a place 41:12 where I've seen something so exciting. 41:14 And such a thrill in my heart and seeing other people excited 41:18 about telling others about Jesus. 41:21 This is larger, bigger than anything 41:22 that we have attempted before to touch the entire world. 41:26 Multiply this influence through millions of lay people. 41:31 Terry, I know that our ASI family today 41:35 will make a significant sacrifice 41:37 to see Jesus come again. 41:39 Amen. 41:41 Thank you. 41:50 I'm really gonna make this fairly short. 41:55 The Lord has moved on your hearts 41:58 and there is a sense of urgency and they said it earlier. 42:01 Because the dollars we use today 42:03 can go into countries that may be closed tomorrow. 42:06 So if those dollars aren't spent today, 42:09 they can't be spent there tomorrow. 42:12 We all have means that we can use. 42:15 You know, the other item that I personally have 42:19 in my heart is the ASI Youth. 42:21 We give $190,000 to youth, for the Youth for Jesus. 42:26 You cannot quantify it. 42:29 You cannot quantify the benefits of that 42:31 because people like my son are gonna go to his school, 42:34 his academy next year, 42:36 and he's gonna tell other young people. 42:37 Michael from South Carolina is gonna go to his school 42:42 and teach people. 42:43 He's gonna do an evangelistic series 42:44 in his church. 42:47 Julia. 42:48 Julia couldn't do any work that people there didn't think 42:50 she could do work. 42:51 She came over here to learn so she can go back 42:54 to the Ukraine and do work. 42:57 That has how you quantify it. 42:59 We won't know till we get to heaven 43:01 what the Youth for Jesus program, 43:03 it was started over seven years ago did. 43:06 We got the projects today. 43:09 You know what? 43:11 Give from your heart. 43:14 You know people have put us in some of the... 43:17 I think I have permission from David Asscherick. 43:20 He put us all in an uncomfortable position 43:22 this morning and earlier in his... 43:25 I don't mean to put you in an uncomfortable position, 43:27 but you have means that you can see 43:30 that would go to these projects. 43:31 That's what we're asking for. 43:34 We make no secret about it. 43:35 You all have an envelope. 43:38 There's an envelope that was on your chair. 43:41 If you don't have one, you're sitting on it. 43:45 On there, you put your name, your address, 43:48 your email and your phone. 43:51 It's simple to fill out. 43:54 And you can make a contribution today. 43:58 You can make a promise 44:03 that you'll give over the next year. 44:04 So you've got 12 months. 44:07 But, friends, I ask you today 44:09 to give if the Lord's impressed you 44:12 because there may not be an opportunity 44:14 for these ministries tomorrow. 44:17 That is the sense of urgency. 44:18 We are in the last moments 44:22 of this world's history. 44:25 You all have a choice where you spend your means. 44:29 Let's pray. 44:33 Lord, today, we lift up these gifts to You. 44:38 We give because it is a loving gift. 44:41 We give because we want to. 44:43 Lord, we don't wanna struggle to write a number down. 44:46 We wanna take our pens out and we wanna enthusiastically 44:49 whatever that is, we wanna give it. 44:52 Because we know that You will multiply it. 44:55 We have opportunities to reach the world 44:57 and Lord to hasten Your coming. 45:00 We're tired of the world. 45:02 We're not gonna need our money anyway. 45:04 So, Lord, You impress us, each individually, 45:07 what we are to do, whether it's at ASI missions, 45:11 or whether it's in our church or another missionary project, 45:14 Lord, You impress us where to put our money. 45:18 We do not want it to fall around us. 45:20 And we know that You love us, 45:23 You will guide us and we wanna step out on faith 45:26 because faith is not knowing around 45:28 what's around the next corner. 45:30 Giving is faith is sometimes not knowing 45:32 where our next dollar is gonna come from. 45:35 Jesus, this is our prayer, in Your name. 45:38 Thank You. 45:39 Amen. 45:41 At this time, the ushers will come forward 45:45 and you can fill out. 45:47 We'll give you just a smidgen of time here 45:49 to fill out your envelopes, and to pass them in. 45:55 God is gonna do big things. 45:57 It is time for our people to do big things. 45:59 God wants us to ask Him big things. 46:03 Today that promise will be fulfilled. 46:10 Well, you've heard what Brother Terry 46:12 was talking about and giving from the heart. 46:14 And that's what it's all about today. 46:16 I'm always encouraged. 46:18 And I can tell you as I speak from my heart. 46:19 I don't have any cue cards, anything to look at. 46:22 But ASI is an incredible organization 46:25 that God has used over the years. 46:28 Multitudes of people have heard the gospel because of ASI. 46:32 The ASI leadership has asked me to, 46:35 while the music's playing behind the offerings 46:37 being taken here to just add a word of support, 46:41 and to talk to our 3ABN viewers and encourage you 46:45 that you also can be a part of this great ASI offering, 46:48 though you're not here. 46:50 You can write and we'll put an address up on the screen. 46:53 You can write to ASI, 46:55 that's 12500... 46:59 12501 Old Columbia Pike, 47:02 Silver Spring, Maryland 20904. 47:08 That's 12501, Old Columbia Pike, 47:12 Silver Spring, Maryland 20904. 47:16 You make that check payable to ASI, 47:19 and let them know it's for the mission offering 47:21 that was taken here 47:22 at the ASI Convention in Dallas. 47:24 And I know that God will richly bless you, 47:27 abundantly more than you could ever ask or think. |
Revised 2020-01-15