Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY017110A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:08 Mending broken people 00:13 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:10 Hello and welcome once again to 3ABN Today. 01:13 We are so glad that you are joining us 01:15 and we have an exciting program for you today. 01:18 We will be talking about the Ellen G. White Estate 01:23 and their new visitor center, 01:25 we're gonna be speaking on, we'll learn about 01:27 the Adventist Heritage Ministries 01:30 and some exciting new applications 01:35 and web apps 01:36 that you can use for Ellen White writings. 01:40 Before we begin, 01:42 I wanted to read a scripture to you, 01:44 actually it's a passage 01:46 from 1 Corinthians Chapter 12:7 through 11, 01:50 and here's what Paul wrote to the Corinthians. 01:53 "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given 01:55 to each one for the profit of all. 01:59 For to one is given 02:00 the word of wisdom through the Spirit, 02:01 to another the word of knowledge 02:03 through the same Spirit, 02:04 to another faith by this same Spirit, 02:08 to another gifts of healing by the same Spirit, 02:11 to another the working of miracles, 02:15 then to another prophecy, discerning of spirits, 02:18 different tongues, and interpretation of tongues. 02:21 But one and the same spirit works 02:24 all these things, distributing to each one individually 02:29 as He wills." 02:31 We are so blessed as Christians 02:33 that when Christ was resurrected, 02:37 He sent the promised Holy Spirit 02:39 from the Father. 02:40 And the Holy Spirit gives us gifts for the, 02:43 not for our personal benefit, 02:45 but for the benefit of the whole church, 02:48 for the work of the Lord. 02:50 And today we'll speak 02:52 about one of God's made servants Ellen G. White. 02:57 Let me introduce our guests to you. 02:59 First, we have Jim Nix. It's so good to see you again. 03:02 It's good to see you again too, it's been a while. 03:03 It has been a while and you are the Director 03:05 of the E.G. White Estate, for how long? 03:08 Since 2000. Since 2000. 03:11 That's right. What a privilege. Praise the Lord. 03:13 It is a privilege, I know. 03:15 Next, we have Siloe Oliveira. 03:18 And Siloe, you are... 03:20 I work with a graphic team here 03:22 'cause I'm in program development. 03:24 You are a graphic designer with Flip Designs? 03:27 Flip Designs. 03:28 I am a trained artist and I work with graphic design. 03:31 And I have been working in Flip Designs since 2010. 03:36 Wonderful, wonderful. But we're glad you're here. 03:39 Then we have Marcello Capuchinho. 03:41 And, Marcello, 03:43 you are the Director of Flip Designs. 03:46 Tell us who Flip Designs is. 03:50 Flip Designs was actually created 03:52 when we started the project with the Ellen White Estate. 03:56 We're actually a television company. 03:58 So we produce television shows and events. 04:04 And when I started working with Ellen White Estate, 04:09 that's when we created flip design. 04:12 The purpose was to create the new visitor center. 04:15 So wonder... That was the beginning. 04:16 Wonderful. 04:17 Well, before we get into the meet 04:19 of this interview, Jim, tell... 04:22 Many of our viewers 04:24 may not have heard of Ellen White, 04:26 they don't know what role she played in God's kingdom. 04:31 So tell us something about Ellen White. 04:35 Well, to keep it brief because she lived to be '87, 04:38 so you could go on and on and on. 04:39 But to keep it brief. 04:41 She was born in Maine in 1827, 04:45 lived out her life much of in the United States, 04:48 but also two years in Europe in the 1880s, 04:51 nine years in Australia, in the 1890s, 04:54 died in California, 1915. 04:56 Now that's the very, 04:57 very, very small view of her life. 05:01 She as a young girl, had a terrible accident, 05:05 that affected her health for many years, 05:08 but it also drew her to Christ. 05:10 She began to realize... 05:12 I mean, she was already a Christian, 05:13 she was a Methodist and her family were Methodists. 05:16 But she began to realize also 05:18 what it was to have a disfigurement 05:19 'cause she was hit in the face, and so she had an empathy 05:23 that grew for those that are marginalized 05:26 or that are on this, 05:27 you know, the margins of society, 05:28 or maybe have some kind of a physical deformity 05:31 or something. 05:32 And so she always had that empathy 05:34 for what we might... 05:36 When I was growing up, 05:38 we had to call the down and outers, 05:39 I don't think that's correct now, 05:40 but those people that need a little extra. 05:42 So she was always helping people 05:44 throughout her life. 05:45 She also at the age of 17 or just before she was 17, 05:49 her family became 05:50 what were known as Millerite Adventists. 05:52 They were expecting the Lord to return 05:54 through a misunderstanding of biblical prophecy. 05:56 They expected the Lord's return in 1844. 05:59 And so she was disappointed when He didn't come, 06:01 but shortly after that she was given 06:04 what we believe was the first of many visions 06:06 and prophetic dreams of the night 06:08 that she would have during the rest of her life, 06:09 the next 70 years. 06:11 And from those prophetic dreams and visions that she received, 06:16 she spoke, she wrote great amount of information 06:21 on everything 06:22 from education to health, 06:27 I mean, you name it, public relations, 06:29 even how you should interact 06:31 with other people, other face, religious liberty. 06:34 I mean, you just go on and on and on, 06:35 if you look at the scope of her writings, 06:37 much of it about Christ. 06:38 One of the things 06:40 that we feature in our visitor center 06:41 that we'll be discussing later in the program is the fact 06:44 that she used more than 800 different names 06:48 or terms to refer to Christ in her writings. 06:50 I mean, this lady was Christ centered 06:52 through and through biblically based, 06:53 you can hardly open a page of her writings 06:55 without finding either Christ, or a Bible, in a Bible passage. 07:00 And she was an extremely prolific writer. 07:02 How many books did she write? 07:04 Well, at the time of her death it was over 25, 07:06 but she left thousands of pages of manuscripts 07:10 and those have been put into compilations. 07:11 I don't even know how many there are now. 07:13 There's over 120 07:14 or so of different compilations from her writings 07:17 on all these different topics that we've been talking about 07:19 and many, many more that I haven't mentioned. 07:22 So her writings, by the way, are all available, 07:25 you'll hear later about that. 07:26 They're all available for free downloading 07:29 from the Ellen G. White Estates. 07:30 So if you're just sitting at home 07:33 with your and have access to the internet, 07:35 you can get them for free, 07:36 you don't have to even go somewhere 07:38 to see all this. 07:39 And, you know, if I were to say to our viewers 07:43 if you're not familiar with Ellen White, 07:44 the first three books that I would recommend would be 07:47 "The Desire of Ages" on the life of Christ, 07:50 "The Great Controversy" 07:51 which is talking about 07:54 what's going on in our world through, 07:56 not only the historical perspective 07:59 but seeing how this great controversy 08:01 between good and evil. 08:03 "Christ Object Lessons" is another great one. 08:05 There's so many wonderful... 08:06 Yeah, but don't forget "Steps to Christ." 08:08 And, oh, "Steps to Christ," excuse me. 08:10 Absolutely. 08:11 It's very small, but, man, it is really life changing. 08:13 That's true. Amen. 08:15 In fact, this year 08:16 is the 125th anniversary of the publishing of that book. 08:19 And the White Estate has... Steps to Christ? 08:20 Yes. 08:22 So I mean we're almost through the year, 08:23 I realized 08:24 but it was published first in 1892. 08:26 And the White Estate has been encouraging people 08:28 to read that book 08:29 or either for the first time or read it again, 08:31 as though it were for the first time 08:33 and let it touch their lives again. 08:35 But just, let me just add one other thing. 08:38 Her, especially her writings on health 08:42 have impacted Seventh-day Adventists, 08:43 those that follow her counsels. 08:45 We, on average, live 8 to 10 years longer 08:48 than the general population of whatever country. 08:50 And these surveys have been done, 08:51 studies have been done over and over. 08:53 She's been recognized 08:55 by Smithsonian Institute in their magazine 08:57 as one of the outstanding Americans, 08:59 100 top of outstanding Americans 09:01 in the history the country. 09:02 National Geographic 09:03 has talked about her impact on health, 09:06 so just in that one area, 09:08 not to say anything about education 09:09 and other as well. 09:11 So she is recognized 09:13 as a prolific religious writer as you said 09:17 and one that changes lives and points people to Jesus 09:20 that was what she was all about was pointing people to Jesus. 09:22 Get them to study their Bibles and to point them to Jesus. 09:27 When I first visited the Ellen White Estate 09:29 I was told only approximately 3% of her writings was, 09:33 like foretelling the future. 09:35 Mostly what she was doing was an inspired 09:38 by old writer on the scriptures. 09:40 And she was always, always, I've got pages where she says, 09:46 my writings are not to replace the Bible, 09:49 I'm the lesser light pointing to the greater light. 09:52 So we as Seventh-day Adventist Christians 09:56 base all of our beliefs on the Bible. 09:58 And she says, go to the Bible first, 10:01 and then it's just reading... 10:04 If you then read her writings, 10:06 it gives you even greater understanding 10:08 just because she's spent so much time on Word. 10:09 That's interesting. 10:11 You'll never find her saying 10:12 that the Bible should be tested by my writings. 10:14 She always says my writings should be tested by the Bible. 10:17 She's always 10:18 from the very first book that she put out, 10:20 right through the rest of her life 10:21 as you just said, 10:23 she's always pointing people, she always uplifting Christ, 10:25 excuse me, the scriptures and Christ, 10:27 but scriptures always pointing people to the Bible. 10:31 And so to the extent 10:32 that her writings help us to do that, 10:35 that she's being effective. 10:37 If we make her the center, 10:40 she would be upset if she were still alive today. 10:41 Absolutely, absolutely. 10:44 Now, let me ask you this question. 10:46 "How did you meet these two gentlemen? 10:48 How did you all come together? 10:51 And tell us about your dream that is now being fulfilled 10:55 for the Ellen White Visitor Center. 10:56 Well, I don't know how many years ago, 10:58 probably, at least 8 or 10 years ago, 11:01 I got a dream. 11:03 I mean, "Not a dream, dream," 11:05 but, you know, I had this idea that many Adventists 11:09 or people who come to the General Conference 11:11 or Seventh-day Adventist 11:12 where the White Estate's headquarters is 11:14 in Silver Spring, Maryland, 11:15 that many of them don't know much about Ellen White, 11:16 even church members, 11:18 they don't know a lot about Ellen White. 11:19 So I had this idea, 11:20 this dream that we would have some kind of visitor center, 11:24 that would explain who she was 11:26 and about the main themes of her writings. 11:29 And so, I finally got to the place 11:32 where I've been able 11:33 to salt away a little bit of money 11:35 and we hired a company, 11:37 but they didn't know anything about Ellen White. 11:41 And most of our meetings, I was spending explaining 11:43 "Well, now we want to talk about this. 11:45 Well, what is that all about?" 11:46 So then I would have to tell them all about that. 11:48 Well, why is that important and then tell about that. 11:50 So I realized we were eating up all of our money explaining 11:53 why we needed to include this in the visitor center, 11:56 but not, how are we gonna, 11:57 you know, how we're gonna featured 11:59 in the visitor center. 12:00 So my staff knew that I was frustrated. 12:03 One of my colleagues happened to be doing a shoot with... 12:08 Marcello? 12:09 I don't know, Marcello and who else, 12:11 I don't know who all was there. 12:12 But anyway, with Marcello and others, 12:13 they were doing a shoot, 12:15 I think for the Brazilian publishing house? 12:16 Okay, so for our publishing house 12:18 and our church's publishing house in Brazil. 12:20 And Marcello, as I was told later, 12:22 said something to Alberto Tim, is my colleague's name, 12:25 to Alberto, we're looking for something 12:27 we could do for the church. 12:29 Well, they're in television production 12:30 and that kind of thing and so my colleague knew 12:33 that I was very frustrated 12:35 'cause I wasn't making any progress 12:37 on this visitor center concept. 12:39 So he said, "You need to go talk to Jim. 12:42 When you get back to..." 12:43 'cause their office was not very far 12:44 from the General Conference actually at that time, 12:46 they moved a little bit farther away 12:47 but they're still in the vicinity. 12:48 And so he made an appointment and came in. 12:51 I didn't know him at all. 12:52 I mean, I never met the guy except 12:54 that my colleague had said 12:55 there will be somebody contacting you. 12:58 I clicked with Marcello immediately, 13:00 being a Seventh-day Adventist, 13:01 I didn't have to explain why this was important 13:04 or that was important, etcetera. 13:06 Hence, so I said, 13:07 "You know, can you work on us for a visitor center? 13:10 We're gonna develop a visitor center." 13:12 Now he did not tell me at that time 13:15 they were in television. 13:16 They had never created a visitor center. 13:18 If he had told me that, 13:20 I probably would have had wet feet. 13:21 You know, I'd probably said, 13:23 "No, wait a minute, I'm not sure about this." 13:25 But they've got this gung-ho, you know, we can do this thing, 13:27 I had attitude 13:29 and you pray your way through it, 13:31 and many people had told us 13:33 this Smithsonian quality what they produced. 13:36 So I think that between meeting him, 13:39 I mean, Alberto meeting him initially 13:41 and then our clicking and talking, 13:43 it was a long time after that before 13:44 I actually met this man because he was over doing 13:47 the graphic designs back in their office. 13:50 And there was another person 13:51 that doesn't work for the company anymore, 13:53 and he's moved on 13:54 to another Adventist institution, 13:55 but he's the one I was interacting with. 13:58 So I would hear about what he was doing, 14:00 but I hadn't actually met Siloe. 14:02 And when I did, I clicked with him too. 14:04 So now they're almost like sons, 14:06 but I don't know if they would mind me saying 14:08 that on your program, but I look at him like sons. 14:12 Amen. Amen. 14:13 So, Marcello, you know, it occurs to me 14:16 because I have seen 14:17 what you're going to show in just a moments, 14:20 the roll that you brought of the news center. 14:24 It occurs to me that maybe it was a good thing 14:28 that you'd never done in visitor center before. 14:30 And that wasn't your focus because as a TV producer, 14:35 you are used to telling a story 14:38 to immerse people in the culture. 14:40 Tell us, when you first got this project, 14:43 I guess, you spent a lot of time on your knees? 14:46 I guess, the first challenge was to convince my own team 14:50 that we were going to build a visitor center 14:54 because I remember coming to the project, 14:56 and I didn't go to Siloe, 14:57 I went to another designer on the team and said, 14:59 "I'll just start putting stuff here and there. 15:01 I just want to go to this meeting 15:03 and show something," 15:04 and everybody was saying, 15:06 "This is not going to work. 15:07 And we don't do this, we do television." 15:10 And so first step was to convince the team 15:13 and then the next step would be to convince Jim. 15:16 Now, of course, we didn't know exactly 15:20 what he had in his mind for a visitor center. 15:25 And so it was a challenge in the beginning. 15:29 But... 15:30 And I remember that he mentioned, 15:34 "We want to do something here 15:35 but we don't want to do a lot of construction." 15:37 So we want to use this space as it is. 15:39 That's because I didn't have much money. 15:41 Yes, I understand. 15:42 I think construction is expensive. 15:44 We understand that. 15:45 And so it was funny because I said, 15:47 "Oh, yes, we won't do, 15:49 we will try to use the space as it is." 15:52 But I didn't want them to see when we came in with the team 15:56 because first they probably would notice 15:58 that we didn't know what we were doing, 16:00 and also in my mind, 16:02 we needed to redo the whole thing. 16:06 So we went on a Friday afternoon 16:07 when the building was closed and I told my guys, 16:11 we can't take down anything that's needed, any walls, 16:14 all we will keep is the columns. 16:17 So we had... 16:18 And the walls. And the walls, yes. 16:21 So we had some goals. 16:25 One would be to really separate 16:26 the office area from the visitor area. 16:29 And then you spread the space in a way 16:32 that it would start 16:33 and end at the same place, natural light, 16:37 and changing so many things 16:39 that it would look great on paper, 16:40 but we were not sure 16:42 if it would ever actually become reality. 16:45 But it ended up working very well, I guess. 16:50 And so when did Siloe look at you? 16:51 But that's another miracle. What? 16:53 When they brought the plan to us, 16:55 because I mean, as I said a minute ago, 16:57 we didn't have money, I wasn't against moving walls, 16:59 we just didn't have the money to move the walls. 17:01 So when I saw the concept that they came up with, I said, 17:05 "Well, this is what we need to do 17:06 but I still don't have any money." 17:08 But we're in the World Headquarters of the Church, 17:11 we don't own the building, obviously, 17:12 the General Conference owns their building. 17:15 So we made an appointment 17:16 with the officers of the church, 17:17 the top three officers and a few others were there, 17:19 also including one of your speakers 17:20 that you have often Mark Finley 17:22 who happened to be at the meeting. 17:23 And they made a presentation. 17:27 And now what we had prayed about before we went in was, 17:30 that the GC, 17:32 the General Conference would say, 17:33 "We'll do the remodeling, 17:35 you save your money for the exhibits." 17:37 And I had no idea this was going to happen. 17:39 Now if you know anything about treasures, 17:40 what happened was nothing short of a miracle. 17:43 The treasure... 17:45 Well, Mark was one of the first to speak and Elder Finley, 17:47 and Pastor Finley and he said, 17:49 "You know, we should have done this years ago." 17:51 But one of the treasurer said, 17:53 "You know, we're remodeling the building 17:55 'cause it's been..." 17:56 I think, in 1989 or something they moved into it. 17:59 So they were moving different floors 18:01 and remodeling things, you know. 18:02 And they said, 18:03 "Why don't we move the White Estate up on the list 18:05 and we'll take care 18:06 of all of the remodeling of the walls, 18:09 and they can save their money 18:10 that they've saved for the visitor center. 18:13 And I walked out of there, said, 18:14 "Lord, You're in this project" 18:16 because there's no way 18:17 that we could have done much of a visitor center 18:20 with the funds we had and had to do 18:21 all the cost of remodeling 18:23 everything that they were suggesting. 18:25 Amen. 18:27 Siloe, how at what point did you become involved 18:29 because I understand 18:30 that your graphic designing has added a lot. 18:33 Right from the beginning, 18:35 ever since Marcello brought in the concept 18:38 of what we could do with the space, 18:40 I was working 18:42 the different iterations of designs 18:44 so that we could finally get to Jim's, 18:46 or close to Jim's dream because he had this in mind, 18:51 and he lives and breathes history. 18:53 Yes, he does. 18:54 He loves the history of Ellen White 18:56 and the church. 18:57 So to be able to translate that into something tangible, 19:02 it becomes a challenge, 19:04 especially trying to understand it from him 19:07 who has that historian mindset to try to change it 19:11 and build it into 3D space and put color, and put type, 19:17 and make it into environment that actually tells that story, 19:21 but perhaps that he didn't even know exactly 19:24 how it would be. 19:25 So getting to that point, 19:28 there were obviously challenges. 19:30 But I think we were able to find 19:31 a good solution at the end. 19:34 Why don't we roll, 19:35 they brought a six minute roll with them 19:37 and we'd like to see that now and you all can just... 19:41 As you watch this, we'll allow them to explain 19:44 and you'll get to just see a little taste 19:47 of the new Ellen G. White Visitor Center. 19:51 This is the entrance to the visitor center. 19:53 So here's where you begin. 19:54 That, visitor center 19:56 is actually divided into two sections. 19:58 The first section deals with Ellen White as a person. 20:00 She began her ministries in a barn, 20:03 or small homes, or churches, etcetera. 20:05 That was a very simple ministry when she was a young girl, 20:08 and God first called her and so we start with the barn. 20:10 And then some of the people that were involved, 20:13 her husband and others, 20:14 that were supporters of her at the very beginning. 20:16 Her childhood, we talk about her childhood in Portland 20:19 and have examples of that. 20:20 And growing up as a Millerite Adventist, 20:23 so we have a display on Millerites. 20:25 And here you can see, when the years 20:28 that she was a Millerite Adventist 20:29 that I mentioned earlier. 20:31 So the first part 20:32 of the whole visitor center deals 20:33 with her as a person. 20:35 Yes. 20:37 Hoping people, helping people 20:38 to understand a little bit more about her, 20:41 some of the original artifacts 20:42 that we have put on display in the visitor center. 20:44 There's a section here on her support of her son, 20:48 Edson White 20:49 and his work among blacks in the south, 20:51 as well as her international travels. 20:53 So section about her years 20:55 that she was in Europe, the 1880s, 20:57 and then her years in Australia in the 1890s to show 21:01 that she didn't just talk the talk, 21:03 she walked the walk, 21:04 she went as a missionary herself overseas. 21:07 And there's some interactive displays 21:09 in here also, 21:10 you can't see them from the pictures 21:12 but there's some interactive things 21:13 that visitors get to see. 21:15 There's a model in the middle of the room there, 21:16 of her home and Battle Creek, Michigan, 21:19 which is owned by the church, this house. 21:22 But this is a little model again 21:23 to help people realize 21:25 what, you know, how she lived what she did, 21:29 section about home. 21:31 And well, here's the house again, 21:33 that someone very kindly donated 21:35 this model that they made. 21:37 It's very, very accurate. 21:38 We find people standing around and looking in there. 21:41 It's lovely. I'll bet. 21:43 I've been to that home and it is, does look very... 21:47 But you haven't seen this little model. 21:48 You've got to come to... 21:50 You got to come there sometime and visit. 21:51 Oh, this is beautiful. It's beautiful. 21:54 And you must have really had to hunt 21:57 to find this old wood for the barns and... 22:00 Yeah, we try to be as accurate as possible 22:04 when it comes to creating a feel 22:06 of what it would look like. 22:07 So we actually found a hundred year old wood 22:10 that we used for that particular display. 22:13 So we don't have any clothes that Ellen White wore 22:15 but this is made from a picture of one of her dresses. 22:18 This is a bonnet actually that belong to Ellen White. 22:21 It's the only original artifact of clothing, 22:23 a piece of clothing we have from her. 22:25 She was well known as a speaker during her lifetime. 22:27 This is a pulpit that she's preached from, 22:29 yeah, from Southern California. 22:32 Why do you feel this is so important? 22:34 I mean, she played an important role 22:37 in the development 22:41 of our church. 22:44 Is this... 22:45 Why did you feel this was so important to do? 22:49 I mean, I've got to tell you about this 22:51 'cause this is the display about 22:52 all the names of Christ. 22:54 So we have an old engraving of Christ. 22:56 You can't see it in the picture but behind that very light, 22:59 you may be able to see that there are some words, 23:01 those are the over 800 different names for Christ... 23:03 That she used in her writings. 23:04 That she used in her, throughout all of her writings. 23:06 Beautiful. 23:07 Sometimes people say she wasn't Christ centered. 23:09 Down the hall, 23:10 which is what we're in right now 23:11 are various areas of emphasis. 23:13 I haven't forgotten your question, 23:14 I'll get back to it, but various areas of emphasis, 23:17 so we have a display on the Great Controversy. 23:18 This is about publishing, 23:20 there's our first paper 23:21 that we put out The Present Truth. 23:23 And the first issue of our church paper. 23:26 Now it's called Adventist review, 23:27 but then it was longer name, it's Healthful Living, 23:30 showing the contrast between 23:32 what was typical 19th century treatments 23:36 and medicines and stuff, and what God showed her... 23:38 When doctors suggested smoking for your health. 23:41 We've got a cigar right there 23:42 and a little note that doctors would prescribe tobacco, 23:45 smoke a cigar to clear your lungs 23:47 and that kind of thing. 23:48 And then her counsels 23:51 that God gave her about Healthful Living. 23:54 So again there are some of the major areas of emphasis. 23:56 Education is another one, 23:57 of course, and Bible based education and verses, 24:02 the general classical education which was based on Greek 24:05 and Latin and that kind of thing. 24:07 There is a timeline 24:08 about important events in her life 24:10 that is along the wall. 24:13 And this display isn't quite yet finished, 24:14 we've still got a lot of information 24:16 we want to add to this display. 24:18 Now is this open to the public? 24:19 Oh, yeah, we've had several thousand visitors 24:21 since we opened it, come through. 24:23 So I'm gonna have to put this on my bucket list as well. 24:26 I'd love to see this wall. But don't wait that long. 24:28 Well, no. 24:29 Now make it a very short, but I bet... 24:31 Put it on your to-do-list. 24:32 On my to-do-list, excuse me, that's what I meant to say. 24:36 And this is about her life, 24:37 and about her family I should say. 24:40 People are curious about 24:41 her siblings, her children, and all. 24:42 And there's a little movie there, 24:44 that clip is 1929, 24:46 White family movie of her grandchildren 24:49 and all that was in the White family. 24:50 And they loaned it to us, we had it digitized, 24:52 we have clips out of it now on display there. 24:56 This is about her death, a newspaper about her death 24:59 and other pictures about her funeral, 25:02 and funeral notices, and that kind of thing in 1915. 25:06 I guess the very interesting thing 25:07 you said, all this documents, all this pictures, 25:10 all this material was already there. 25:13 But it wasn't displayed in a way 25:16 that people would actually understand 25:18 and immerse into this, so that was the main goal. 25:23 I find a design 25:24 that would give justice to her life... 25:26 Let me just say a little bit about this 25:27 because people ask about 25:28 some of her literary assistants', 25:30 just display, the one right in the middle right now 25:32 is shows the pictures of her major literary assistant 25:34 she used in her life. 25:36 And this mural is what started the whole thing. 25:37 I wanted just a simple sounded like program on here. 25:40 What Siloe created, 25:42 I still don't know how he did it. 25:43 But it is amazing. 25:45 It's more than sound... 25:46 You have to go there to see. I have to. 25:47 You have to, I mean, I can't describe it to you. 25:49 There's a little section for children with some things 25:52 that are pictures of Ellen White in 3D, 25:55 and some recordings on the phone. 25:57 You can listen to recordings of people 25:58 who actually knew Ellen White, 26:00 who remembered her 26:01 and told some stories about her. 26:06 I guess, this is... 26:07 That's south entrance to the White Estate. 26:11 An amazing job. 26:13 She was a remarkable woman. 26:16 And this you've done 26:17 an amazing job in putting this together. 26:20 But why was it so important to you? 26:22 Why did you have this dream? 26:23 I've got to say one more thing 26:25 while we're talking before you leave. 26:26 You said, amazing. 26:28 I want your viewers to know that we invite any of them, 26:31 all of them, they can come. 26:33 And where is this located? 26:34 It is in the world headquarters 26:35 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 26:37 in Silver Spring, Maryland. 26:39 And I think you'll be running the address later. 26:41 Yes, okay, we will definitely do that. 26:42 But it's... That's where it's located. 26:43 Anyway, why was it important to me? 26:45 My wife and I were visiting 26:48 a Church History Museum of another denomination. 26:53 And as we walked through that, this was a number of years ago, 26:57 as we walked through that, there was a father with his, 27:00 about three year old son. 27:02 And as we walked behind them, they were standing there, 27:04 looking at an exhibit. 27:06 The father said something to the son about, 27:09 well, this is where this 27:11 or whatever was happened in our history. 27:14 We went around the corner and I said to my wife, 27:16 "Where can I as a Seventh-day Adventist 27:18 take my child or my grand child 27:20 to have that kind of experience?" 27:22 Amen. I can't. 27:24 We don't have anything in our church like that. 27:26 That's where the dream started. 27:28 I said, "We have to do something 27:30 for parents and grandparents. 27:31 Have a place where they could come 27:33 and they could show 27:34 what God did in the beginning of this church." 27:37 We still don't have. 27:38 That was actually a Church History Museum. 27:40 I wish our churches had a Church History Museum, 27:42 we don't, but that's one of my dream still. 27:44 But... You have time. 27:45 But... Well, I don't know. 27:47 You know... You've got the right people. 27:48 I got the right people. 27:49 But at least I was over the why to say, 27:51 so I said, 27:52 "I could do something about Ellen White." 27:53 It may not be the whole church 27:55 but at least I could do something about Ellen White. 27:56 But that's where the dream came from. 27:58 Well, let's just say, 27:59 "Where do we have that capability, 28:02 that possibility in our denomination?" 28:05 At that point, we didn't. 28:06 Now we're working on it with another segment, 28:08 we'll be in your program later 28:09 about adversary ministry and our historic sites. 28:12 But that's all part of the same thing 28:14 is young people are relational. 28:16 Well, we are all relational. Absolutely. 28:18 And we like stories. 28:20 So if we can tell stories and do something 28:22 so they can relate, I mean, I'm ahead of the program 28:25 but we have people coming. 28:26 There are young people coming 28:27 through the Historic Adventist Village 28:29 in Battle Creek for instance. 28:30 And they will say, now we can relate, 28:32 we walked in the streets where the pioneers, 28:34 we have been in the bedrooms 28:35 and the living rooms of the homes of the pioneers. 28:38 And that's what it all came from. 28:39 It's just how do we pass 28:42 on this fantastic story of God's 28:45 leading in the history of this church, to then, 28:48 how de we pass it on to the next generation? 28:50 Amen and amen. That's one of my many passions. 28:52 Well, you know, it was so funny 28:54 because I have to tell the audience this that, 28:57 when we first were meeting this morning 29:00 and when we were in the green room 29:01 and I said, 29:03 "Oh, well, I have been to Ellen G. White Estate." 29:04 And they said, "How long ago?" 29:05 Well, it's been about eight years. 29:07 They said, 29:08 "You have not been seen the Ellen G. White Estate." 29:11 So this is a beautiful museum. 29:12 Thank you all so much for your dedication. 29:15 I know the Lord led you 29:17 and this is something that I believe every person... 29:22 I think I know, 29:23 we'll compare notes in a minute. 29:25 But I think I know where you were 29:27 when you had this vision and it is important. 29:30 God created us in His image. 29:33 He is a relational being. 29:35 And it is important that we can know our history 29:39 and see how God has done such amazing things 29:44 through one simple surrendered soul. 29:49 What we want to do, we still have so much. 29:52 We are going to talk about Adventist Heritage Ministries 29:55 and some exciting applications 29:59 that you can download from the web 30:01 and the new web design 30:03 for the Ellen G. White writings. 30:06 And that's coming up in just a moment 30:08 but we are going to swap out some guest. 30:10 So we have a special treat for you 30:12 and that is Wintley Phipps. 30:13 He will be singing "Tell Me the Story of Jesus." 30:55 Tell me 30:56 The story of Jesus 31:02 Write on my heart 31:05 Every word 31:06 Tell me 31:11 The story most precious 31:17 Sweetest that ever 31:20 Was heard 31:28 Tell how the angels 31:32 In chorus 31:35 Sang as they welcomed 31:38 His birth 31:42 Glory to God 31:45 In the highest 31:49 Peace and good tidings 31:53 To earth 31:58 Tell me the story of Jesus 32:04 Write on my heart 32:08 Every word 32:12 Tell me the story 32:15 Most precious 32:19 Sweetest that ever 32:23 Was heard 32:43 Tell of the cross 32:46 Where they nailed Him 32:50 Writhing in anguish 32:53 And pain 32:58 Tell of the grave 33:00 Where they laid Him 33:06 Tell how He liveth 33:10 Again 33:14 Love in that story 33:18 So tender 33:21 Clarer than ever 33:25 I see 33:29 Stay, let me weep 33:32 While you whisper 33:36 Love paid the ransom 33:39 For me 33:48 Tell me the story 33:52 Of Jesus 33:55 Write on my heart 33:59 Every word 34:03 Tell me the story 34:06 Most precious 34:10 Sweetest that ever 34:16 Was heard 34:38 We thank Wintley Phipps and praise God 34:41 that he uses the gifts God gave him 34:44 for the Lord's glory. 34:45 Now we have two new gentlemen who are joining us, 34:48 who are so excited. 34:50 We have Marcus Kutzschbach, did I say that correctly? 34:53 That's fine. Wonderful. Thank you. 34:55 And Darryl Thompson. 34:57 And gentlemen, Marcus, you are the Associate Director 35:00 for the Ellen G. White Estate, and Darryl, 35:03 you are the Assistant Director for the Ellen G. White Estate. 35:07 Marcus, you are here to talk to us 35:09 about Adventist Heritage Ministries. 35:12 What is that about? 35:14 Yeah, Adventist Heritage Ministry 35:16 is an organization 35:17 which was founded in 1981 by lay members 35:22 and they are taking care for our church history. 35:25 We operate four sites. 35:26 One is in Battle Creek, 35:28 this is big site with so many houses 35:30 and you can learn a lot about Adventist history, 35:33 also the Ellen White house is standing there. 35:35 Then we have the William Miller Farm. 35:38 We also operate the Joseph Bates Boyhood Home 35:41 in Fairhaven, Massachusetts 35:42 and Hiram Edson farm close to Rochester in New York. 35:46 Wonderful. 35:47 Now who operates Elmshaven and what's... 35:51 It's owned by the Pacific Union Conference. 35:53 And then in Australia, I've been to all of them. 35:55 It's owned by the South Pacific Division. 35:57 All right, all right. 35:58 Tell us what is latest project 36:01 for Adventist Heritage Ministries. 36:04 Yeah, the latest project, the biggest one 36:07 is the Joseph Bates Boyhood Home 36:08 in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, 36:11 that's a total reconstruction of the house. 36:14 It's the progress. It's right now in process. 36:17 Oh, this will be fascinating. It is. 36:19 It's a huge project. 36:20 We bring in a new visitor centre, 36:22 a welcome centre 36:23 and we total renovate the house. 36:25 So that it looks inside original old part like, 36:29 in the old days when Joseph Bates lived there. 36:31 And who was Joseph Bates for people 36:32 who've, may be never heard that name. 36:34 This is one of our co-founders. 36:36 He introduced the Sabbath to the church, 36:39 not to the church, not at this time 36:40 because there was no church. 36:43 And he also brought together the combination 36:47 or he combined the Sabbath 36:49 with the Three Angele's Message. 36:51 So he's very important to the church. 36:53 You know, Jim, I just have to say this. 36:56 People don't realize, Seventh-day Adventist Church 36:58 didn't just pop up out of nowhere. 37:00 There were Methodists, Perspirations, Baptists, 37:03 people of all denominations 37:05 who got together and studied the Bible. 37:08 They knew there were some doctoral differences 37:10 but they went to scripture, scripture upon scripture 37:13 and that's how the church was formed. 37:16 So it is fascinating to me to hear this. 37:19 Now you brought a roll with you. 37:21 Is this going to explain about Joseph Bates? 37:25 Well, let's look at that right now. 37:37 Nestled in the once busy 37:38 seafaring town of Fairhaven sits a centuries old home. 37:42 Its unassuming character, hides this unique importance. 37:53 Worn-out floors and layered walls, 37:56 service stage for a key character 37:58 in Adventist history. 38:02 Today, it has been reclaimed and refreshed, 38:05 so it can continue to tell this story 38:08 to a new generation. 38:11 This was the boyhood home of Joseph Bates, 38:14 the sailor turned preacher, 38:16 who upon learning of Christ return 38:18 and the importance of God's Sabbath, 38:21 dedicated his life in spreading Bible truths 38:24 across the world. 38:32 In 2005, the Adventist Heritage Ministry 38:36 had the rare opportunity of purchasing the home 38:39 which had been occupied 38:40 with the same family for around six generations. 38:43 Since then, much has been done to refurbish the building, 38:47 so it can serve as a centre for learning 38:49 more about Joseph Bates life. 38:51 The exterior has been fully restored to look 38:54 as it did in Joseph Bates time. 38:56 However, much is still to be done in the interior 38:59 of the home, 39:00 so it can continue to tell 39:02 the story of God's anti-message. 39:04 A visitor to the home will be able to experience 39:07 the original 18th century rooms as they were in Bates time. 39:13 While the more modern editions to the home, 39:16 woodhouse impactful and immersive exhibit spaces 39:19 with audio visual and interactive displays 39:22 that tell Joseph Bates story of faith and highlight 39:25 the importance he gave to the Seventh-day Sabbath. 39:30 A similar visitor centre recently unveiled 39:33 by the Ellen G. White Estate in Silver Spring, Maryland, 39:36 has demonstrated how important learning spaces 39:39 can be in the development of young Adventists. 39:42 Ellen White's Christ centered story of resilience 39:45 has portrayed through vivid exhibits 39:47 that leave a mark on whoever visits, 39:49 strengthening her legacy. 39:52 Likewise, visitors 39:53 to the Joseph Bates Boyhood Home 39:56 will be able to more fully 39:57 understand Joseph Bates experience, 39:59 his struggles and victories. 40:02 The tour of the home will start 40:03 in the belly of a 19th century ship, 40:06 as the visitor is introduced to Joseph Bates, 40:08 a cabin boy turned captain, 40:10 through the use of video monitors, 40:12 and surround sound design, 40:14 his adventures are brought to life, 40:16 as the visitor is immersed in the narrative. 40:19 More can then be learned about his international voyages 40:23 to an interactive touch-screen display 40:25 that connects Joseph Bates to the wider world. 40:28 The visitor will then explore his formative years 40:31 as they tour the original rooms 40:33 of the home that molded the man. 40:35 Daily life in the 19th century is revealed, 40:38 as well as Joseph Bates love for the sea 40:40 and later conversion to Christianity. 40:43 His passion for the message of Christ imminent return 40:46 has proclaimed in the Millerite movement 40:48 will be explored in the next room. 40:50 The visitor will understand 40:52 how the central belief became pivotal in his life 40:55 even when struggling to make sense 40:57 of the great disappointment of 1844 41:01 Original artifacts will color the experience 41:03 and Interactive Digital Displays 41:05 will engage those who want to know more. 41:07 The following room, the guests will explore 41:10 Joseph Bates anti-slavery views, 41:12 a device of stands at that time. 41:15 Bates interest in leading a healthy life 41:17 will also be featured 41:19 as his pioneering work on temperance 41:21 and health reform are discussed. 41:24 The visit will commentate 41:25 with an audio visual presentation 41:27 that reveals Bates discovery 41:28 and conviction that the Seventh-day Sabbath 41:31 should be observed 41:32 and how this doctrine influenced 41:34 the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 41:36 This last room becomes 41:38 the light house for the Sabbath, 41:39 as this central theme is explored 41:42 through the historic lens of Bates own experience. 41:45 The Joseph Bates Boyhood Home becomes a unique tool 41:48 to share the message of the Sabbath 41:50 with those in the community at large 41:52 that reflects through the life of Joseph Bates, 41:55 the value of following biblical principles 41:58 and leading a Christ centered life. 42:00 By reaching those 42:02 who have not yet heard of Christ saving grace 42:04 and by solidifying the faith of those who have, 42:07 that Joseph Bates home will be bastion of truth. 42:15 I can see where that would not only be good 42:17 for educating church members 42:20 but for an evangelistic outrage. 42:22 Right. Yeah, that's true. 42:25 We are working close together also here 42:27 with the local community. 42:29 And especially this house is the oldest house 42:32 still standing in town 42:34 and then back of the house, we have old stone wall. 42:36 And this stone wall goes back to the Mayflower, 42:38 it's connected with some Mayflower 42:40 since one of the pilgrims name, his name was John Cooke. 42:43 His daughter married a guy, his name was Thomas Taber 42:47 and he builded this house in 1678, around this age. 42:50 Fascinating history. When will this open? 42:53 We open as soon as possible because in 2020 42:57 we have the 400th anniversary 42:58 of the landing of the Mayflower. 43:00 And the town will use the space for tourisms, 43:03 for the tourists to come. 43:05 You know, Joseph Bates we owe a lot to him. 43:07 Well, God would have found somebody 43:09 to reintroduce His truth to the protestant faith 43:13 of the Seventh-day Sabbath, 43:14 but great evangelistic outrage there as well. 43:19 All right, Darryl? Yes. 43:21 You are on. Thanks, Shelley. 43:23 As the Assistant Director of the E.G. White Estate, 43:25 you've been overseeing the website development 43:28 and the downloadable applications 43:31 of Ellen White writings. 43:32 Yes. Yes, for the past 16 years. 43:35 It's been my privilege to be 43:36 in charge of Ellen G. White writings, 43:38 website, and apps. 43:40 And over that period of time, 43:42 we have consistently changed as new technologies come out 43:47 and I'd love to introduce to you today 43:49 a little video clip of our latest app, 43:52 EGW Writings for iOS 43:54 that runs on your iPad and on your iPhone. 43:57 Wonderful. 43:59 So if we can roll that, 44:00 you get a brief introduction to E.G.W writings. 44:03 Wonderful, let's roll that. 44:10 EGW Writings, 44:12 the essential app for all Adventists. 44:15 The user interface is now in 16 languages. 44:22 You can read EGW books in 98 languages. 44:29 You can read many titles in parallel 44:31 with all the translations. 44:39 A fast and accurate search engine allows you 44:42 to find that allusive phrase you are looking for. 44:46 All Bible references can be opened and read 44:49 in a split window. 44:56 A study center allows users to make notes, bookmarks, 45:01 or highlight favorite passages 45:03 and save them into topic of folders. 45:06 If you prefer listening to an audio book, 45:09 EGW Writings provides dozens 45:11 of recorded titles for you to enjoy 45:14 while walking or driving. 45:15 "For the carrying on of his work, 45:17 Christ did not choose 45:18 the learning or eloquence of the Jewish Sanhedrin 45:20 or the power of Rome." 45:23 EGW Writings now allows users 45:26 to create their own EGW Cloud account. 45:27 This enables users to subscribe to our daily Ellen White 45:32 thoughts and diversions, 45:34 plus EGW book or Bible reading plans. 45:38 You will receive notifications within the app or by email, 45:42 Facebook, or Twitter. 45:49 Reading and listening history stores 45:51 the last location read or listen-to 45:53 in up to 99 books respectively. 45:58 "Christ did not choose the learning or eloquence 46:00 of the Jewish Sanhedrin or the power of Rome." 46:04 EGW Writings allows you to easily share 46:06 an Ellen White quote with friends 46:08 using your favorite social networking app 46:11 like Facebook. EGW Writings 2, 46:16 download today from the App Store. 46:25 Oh, mercy, that is exciting. 46:27 Please, tell me it's available 46:29 for the android platform as well. 46:32 Absolutely, I have a personal android phone. 46:35 Okay. Note 8 that I love. 46:37 You do. 46:38 And we have on 46:39 that an EGW Writings app as well. 46:42 So you can read and search all your writings 46:45 right from your android phone or your android tablet, 46:48 as well with your iPhone. 46:50 How about for Windows too? 46:52 Absolutely, we have five platforms 46:54 that we have EGW Writings available for. 46:57 And that's available on the web at EGWWritings.org 47:01 and then we have it for iOS, for the iPhone and the iPad. 47:06 Then we have it for android, for android tablets. 47:09 Then we have it for Windows, for Windows 10, 47:12 we have a Windows 8 and a Windows 10 app. 47:14 So you can go to each of these respective app stores 47:16 and download it. 47:18 And then last year, a lot of people in the church, 47:20 especially a lot of pastors and teachers have a Mac 47:23 and we released 47:24 the first native version of EGW Writings for Mac's. 47:29 So we have it now available on that platform as well. 47:32 So not only can you read and search the writings 47:34 but you van create a study centre. 47:36 A lot of people love to be ought 47:38 to create notes and studies on their apps. 47:41 And so you can do that now. 47:42 And we are working this year on making EGW Cloud 47:47 which doesn't matter whether you are on Windows 47:49 or web or iPad or iPhone, or an android, 47:53 you will be ought to share your study center 47:55 between any of those devices that we're working on. 47:57 That was exciting. 47:58 And then something that we just released 48:01 this past October is EGW Writings, 48:05 subscriptions. 48:07 And in the last two months of subscriptions been released 48:10 on our apps, we have, and I have it here, 48:13 you know, the little daily read of it you can get. 48:15 You can sign up for a thought 48:18 from the day from Ellen White or a devotional. 48:22 And you will get a little notification 48:23 that will pop in and tell you. 48:26 We all live busy lives and sometimes you might forget, 48:28 but it will pop in and you can set the time a day 48:30 that you want to read it, 48:31 so I have mine set for 6:45 in the morning. 48:33 When I do my devotionals, it pops me notification, 48:35 I tap on it and it opens up right to the day for me 48:39 and there is my thought and there is my Bible reading. 48:42 I can subscribe to, 48:43 you know, the King James or American Standard Version 48:46 and it will say, 48:47 "Oh, you know, I can read a chapter a day." 48:49 But the other big thing is in subscriptions 48:52 is the ability to read 48:53 through the writings of Ellen White systematically. 48:56 So you can sign up and say, you want to read 48:58 through the Conflict of the Ages series. 49:00 And so you will start of with Acts of the Apostles. 49:03 You can subscribe to it. 49:04 You can say, I want to read one page a day 49:07 or I want to read up to 50 pages a day, 49:08 you've got that choice. 49:10 And you can set the time of day you want to read it 49:11 and it will deliver as a notification on your app. 49:13 And everyday, you can systematically read 49:16 through Acts of the Apostles 49:18 and then you can read through Prophets and Kings, 49:20 Patriarchs and Prophets, Great Controversy, 49:22 Desire of Ages. 49:23 You can go and read through them all. 49:26 And then this old books, Christ Object lessons. 49:29 This year we have the 125th anniversary 49:32 as Jim mentioned previously, 49:33 you can read through Steps to Christ 49:35 and all that can be delivered. 49:37 But not just in English, our app now is, 49:41 has 98 languages available across all of them. 49:46 At least one book, 49:47 you know, mainly Steps to Christ 49:48 but we have multiple books in multiple languages. 49:51 And this is all downloadable for free? 49:52 Oh, downloadable for free. 49:54 So you go to the App Store and EGW Writings 2 49:59 from the iTunes App Store, 50:00 EGW Writings 2 from the android app store, 50:04 EGW Writings from the Windows home store, 50:09 and then the Mac app is available 50:12 from EllenWhite.org website. 50:15 So you can download from web. 50:16 And give us the website address one more time. 50:18 So we got two website addresses. 50:20 All right. 50:21 We have got EGWWritings.org. 50:22 EGW W-R-I-T-I-N-G-S dot-org, 50:27 that's our main website 50:28 that you can go to and access all these writings. 50:31 And then we have EllenWhite.org, 50:34 which is the main website that you can go to, 50:36 to learn about Ellen White. 50:37 You know, who she is, 50:39 what she wrote about and all that. 50:41 What is this Partner? Oh, the Partner, okay. 50:44 So, you saw in the app 50:47 where we talked about audio books. 50:49 And we do from Christian record, 50:51 we do have a selection of a lot of the old recordings 50:54 but we transfer them from, 50:55 you know, the all LP records and so they're little scratchy. 50:59 And we would like to do digital recordings of these. 51:02 And if people would like to see, 51:04 like the conflicts available, you know... 51:06 In audio? 51:08 In audio, like say Great Controversy, 51:09 we do have it 51:11 but, you know, a lot of people say, 51:12 "You know, can't you update it, 51:13 can't you get a better recording?" 51:15 Well, it costs money to do it professionally 51:16 and it will cost about $50,000 51:18 to professionally record Great Controversy 51:20 for example. 51:22 And if we want to do more, it would cost 180,000. 51:25 So we are looking for donors to come 51:26 and you can make your donation at Partner.EGWWritings.org, 51:30 an online donation, 51:31 or you can mail it to the Ellen G. White Estate. 51:34 Amen and amen. So what we want to do... 51:37 You have got so much going on. 51:39 Well, this is the tip of the iceberg. 51:40 I know. 51:42 Shall we send the rest of the team out? 51:43 Tell you what they are doing? Yes, you should. 51:44 But what we want to do because I know that the... 51:47 Some of you at home are saying, 51:48 "Hey, I want to get more information on this." 51:53 And perhaps the Holy Spirit is directing you 51:56 or inspiring you to support some of these works. 51:59 We want to put up the address roll 52:01 and what ever work it is that you would like, 52:03 whether it is something to do 52:05 with the Ellen White visitor center 52:07 or the Adventist Heritage or something that you, 52:11 for this digitizing of the Adventist audio, 52:15 Ellen White audio books. 52:17 All you have to do is you can send your donation 52:20 and just mark in the memo area 52:24 where you would like your donation to go 52:25 or just send it to them in and they will put it 52:27 where its most needed. 52:29 Here is how you make in touch with them. 52:33 Adventist Heritage Ministry shares the good news 52:36 that God cares about you, 52:38 and thousands of people come each year 52:40 from around the world to learn about 52:41 the founding of a movement of people 52:43 who continued to look for Jesus soon return. 52:46 Visit their website, 52:48 AdventistHeritage.org 52:50 for information and virtual tours 52:52 of their historic sites. 52:54 That's AdventistHeritage.org. 52:57 Call them at (269) 965-3000. 53:01 Or Email them at info@AdventistHeritage.org. 53:06 Their mailing address is Post Office Box 1414, 53:10 Battle Creek, Michigan 49016. |
Revised 2018-03-22