Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY018054A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:30 heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 mending broken people 01:10 Hello and welcome to another 3ABN Today program. Thank 01:13 you for joining us as you do each and every day. 01:16 So happy to have Ms. Yvonne here with me today. - I'm 01:19 so happy to be here! - And we have the privilege of- 01:22 I don't want to say hosting- just talking to our sister 01:25 in the Lord.. - Yes. - ...sharing about Jesus. 01:29 We have Sister Julia Outkina all the way from Russia- 01:32 Nizhny Novgorod-and we're so happy, Julia, that you're 01:36 here! - Yeah! I'm as happy as can be. You know, I 01:39 haven't been here for a year and a half because we were 01:42 celebrating our 25th anniversary. You, 01:45 Danny and Yvonne and the beautiful group from 3ABN 01:49 came to us, and the camp meeting and our celebration 01:52 were back-to-back; so Danny said it's okay if I don't 01:57 come to 3ABN. Of course, all those programs were on the 02:01 air of 3ABN, so people could watch us from Russia. So now, 02:06 I'm here after a year and a half since that camp meeting. 02:10 You know, it feels so good. Yeah, we often say it's like 02:15 coming back home, but it's not just saying-it's feeling 02:20 it! It's just having it all around you, your family in 02:25 Christ worldwide! So, I praise the Lord for being 02:31 here, for all the inspiration, for all the visions that I 02:34 see, for all the perspectives, and for all the wide horizons 02:41 that the Lord is opening to 3ABN. - Yvonne told me that 02:45 her first time here-she had never been here before-she 02:48 experienced a feeling. Tell us about that. What happened? 02:51 - When I first came to 3ABN? Oh! Well, Pastor CA Murray 02:55 and his wife Irma picked me up from the airport and 03:00 brought me here, and I had- in St. Louis airport. It's 03:03 about a two-hour ride, and I had fallen asleep. If 03:06 anybody knows me, they know I fall asleep in the car at 03:10 the drop of a hat. So I fell asleep in the back seat, 03:12 and I remember being awakened by this feeling. I said to 03:19 Pastor CA and Irma- I said, "Where are we?" He said, 03:23 "We're just pulling into 3ABN," and I felt the Holy 03:28 Spirit's presence so strongly that it woke me up! I just 03:32 felt His presence. You know, when we sing at our camp 03:36 meetings, "We're Standing on Holy Ground"? This really 03:39 is holy ground. But I wanted to tell you, Sister Julia, 03:44 that- you know, it's so interesting. You say it's 03:46 like, when you come here, it's like coming home. But 03:50 when we go to Russia, it's like coming home to our 03:53 family in Russia! And the way you open your hearts 03:58 and your homes and your lives to us, it's just- it 04:02 makes you just well up with this feeling of love, because 04:07 it comes from the Lord! You are our family in the Lord, 04:11 and it transcends culture; it transcends language; it 04:14 transcends all of that. It is- we are family under 04:19 God. It's- you know, so whether we come there or whether you 04:22 come here, we're- it's just a beautiful thing. - For 04:25 some people, it might be hard to understand, but I 04:28 feel like I travel 5,000 or 6,000 air miles just to go 04:33 home.-Mmm.-So you go there and it's like you're 04:36 traveling away from where you live to go home..-Right! 04:39 - ...when it's in Russia. When I was a kid growing up 04:42 in the Cold War, you know, in the '50s and '60s, that is 04:47 nothing you would ever dream of doing, let alone working 04:50 together and ministering together and seeing Russia 04:53 being so open for the gospel, and we're going to be talking 04:55 about that in a little bit. But first of all, want to 04:58 talk about Mom-your mom, right?-Our mom!-Okay, 05:02 there you go.-Yes, that's right!-Since Yvonne visited 05:06 3ABN Russia for the 25th anniversary, she's my sister, 05:11 and Danny has been my brother- even before that; and we have 05:15 my mom as the most precious mom in the world. We were 05:21 so honored that it was a very busy schedule. You came 05:26 for this visit for several days longer than usual, and 05:31 still it was too short. So much was happening, and 05:34 still, you found time; you said, "Oh, we want to go 05:37 and see your mom!" She knows you; she has known you for 05:41 25+ year- like over 20- we're coming to our 26th year 05:47 very soon. She has known you all these years. She has 05:51 tremendous respect for you as a person. Unfortunately- 05:58 and I pray to the Lord that I- I just wish so much that 06:03 all viewers pray for that, too-that she openly accepts 06:07 the Lord-just confessing; proclaiming. but I believe 06:11 that she is a godly woman because otherwise, she 06:14 wouldn't be able to understand the significance of the 3ABN 06:16 ministry. She wouldn't be so impressed by what 3ABN 06:21 Russia does. At this time, when you came, we were so 06:26 honored-and she came to meet you. It was her request 06:30 that she meets you. She wanted to go down to meet 06:35 you at the entrance to our apartment house where we 06:38 live, and we have a little video where- which shows 06:43 how that happened. - Oh, good. - See, Danny is talking to 06:49 Mom. He even offered to pray and- oh, see? Just hugging! 06:56 This is Yvonne, and that was- well, it's a short video, but 07:01 you know that hug-when Yvonne came with such an 07:04 open heart with her beautiful, just- heartfelt smile, my mom 07:13 said, "What is her name?" I said, "Yvonne," and my 07:17 mom says, "Yvonnichka." Yvonnichka- it's like "chka"- 07:23 it is a gentle name of calling a dear person. - Ohh! Okay. 07:29 - So, you have been Yvonnichka for my mom since then! Yeah. 07:34 - Oh, no, finish and then I'll tell you.-I was just 07:38 telling Danny that my mom is not easy to convince to 07:42 watch TV. Well, she's, you know- she's 90, and it's 07:46 not easy for her, but I said, "Mom, why don't you watch 07:48 3ABN? You'll probably see Yvonnichka." Then she watched 07:51 3ABN! [laughter] 07:53 - You know, I fell in love with your mom. It's the- 07:58 sometimes you connect with people and sometimes you 08:00 don't, and I instantly felt this connection to your mom. 08:05 I just hugged her and she hugged me back, and I just- 08:08 I'm like, "Okay, I've adopted her! She's my mom, too," so.. 08:12 - Yeah, and she immediately knew that you're a good person. 08:15 - Aww, praise the Lord. - Yeah, she knew that you're 08:17 a good person. She said you're gorgeous and very, very nice. 08:22 That was her impression. - Her mother is a doctor. You know? 08:26 - Yes! Brilliant woman. - For many, many years; and very 08:30 strong! I would say that's where Julia- I didn't know her 08:34 father, but I can tell from her mother she got a lot 08:37 of that-the strength, the fortitude, and what it takes 08:42 to go forward and to stand up against all odds. As 08:46 your brother Boris and them saw- when we first met, of 08:51 course, he was governor. God knew that before the 08:58 foundation of the world. So he's used your mother, AND 09:02 your father, of course, to create people that would be 09:06 used for His honor and glory. Her brother, when we first 09:10 met, was governor of Nizhny Novgorod, and the first 09:13 meeting I had with him didn't seem like it was going 09:15 to turn out too well, but it did. He was talking to John 09:19 Carter and I wasn't happy that 2,532 Russians were 09:23 baptized into the Lord and joined the Seventh-Day 09:25 Adventist church, but then Elder Carter read a letter 09:30 that Julia had written 'cause he asked a question. 09:33 "What can YOU bring our people that the Russians 09:36 don't already have-the Orthodox Church can't have?" 09:38 So, he read her letter and I don't remember all of it- 09:41 several pages-but she said, "You brought me out of 09:44 darkness into marvelous light that's truth," and they 09:47 listened. And soon as they were through, Elder Carter 09:50 said, "Let's see-this was written by Julia Outkina, 09:53 and the governor's- her brother said in English, 09:56 "Let me see that letter. That's my sister," he said. 09:59 He said, "That's my sister." So then he told the archbishop 10:03 and all of us-he said, "The media's outside; they're going 10:06 to come in, so you join hands together," and I don't think 10:10 the archbishop was too happy at the time that he said, 10:13 "You join hands together. We have a greater enemy 10:15 than each other, and that's communism, so we're going 10:18 to allow the Adventist to stay," which was a- God used that. 10:24 And then of course, through the building of this whole 10:26 facility, God used your brother, too. So, it's very 10:30 strong and a lot of that comes, of course, from your 10:33 mother because she has that strong personality. So, hi 10:37 Mom, if you're watching; we love you!-Hugs, hugs! 10:43 - Okay. All right, we have a lot- 10:45 - How about- excuse me. When I lost my brother-he was 10:49 my younger brother; 6 years younger than myself-Danny 10:53 said, "You lost your younger brother but now you have 10:56 your big brother, and that's me." It's- it is just very, 11:04 very deep for me. - Oh, well, and it's- you know, her 11:08 brother was assassinated and most of you probably saw 11:12 it on the news-CNN-every network carried it, and what 11:16 a terrible shame because he was a fighter and he would 11:20 always stand up for what he believed in. That's what 11:23 I'm talking about-that strong constitution. He 11:27 basically gave his life for what he thought was truth 11:30 and what he believed in. So, should each of us be 11:34 willing to have that commitment to whatever 11:36 it is that we believe in? In this case, as Christians, 11:39 to be able to give our lives if necessary for the 11:42 cause of God. So, building this entire facility- when we 11:46 went there, of course, there was- no one owned property, 11:48 so Julia's brother allowed that. He opened up where- 11:51 the first in Russia governor- to open up to privatizing 11:55 property that foreign businesses could come and 12:01 actually purchase. So, we purchased like 8 acres of 12:03 property. There was an old facility that had been 12:06 started but was a long ways from being done. It was huge. 12:11 I mean, this was many- I don't know; at the time, 12:13 probably 50,000 square feet- we've added so much we 12:16 ended up- we probably- 250,000- we don't know. 12:19 It's hard to measure. Some parts are 6 stories high. 12:22 Huge facility. But we literally, by faith, said, "What are we 12:28 going to do-" the church asked us! "What are we going to do 12:30 with all these people?" It's good news and bad news; our 12:32 church only holds 225 people." So, we said, "Well, let's pray 12:36 about it. The Lord will provide." So I met with the 12:39 church leaders to find out what can we do. I said, "Can you buy 12:44 property? Is there a building already built?" "Oh, it costs 12:47 too much money." Elder Basil Stolyar and also Alexander- 12:57 they were there and they said, "Oh, this'll be too 12:58 much money," and I said, "Well, give me an idea what 13:01 it costs; what- would we need to purchase something?" 13:04 They said, "This will be probably $100,000 13:08 or more," and to me, that was- "What? Are you kidding 13:11 me? That's such a- our dollar was about 7,000 13:14 to 1 at the time, and I thought- I said, "Well, 13:17 sometimes, when you're in ministry for a number of 13:19 years," and I had been already- Julia, you kind of 13:22 think you know-and I don't know why we do this-"What's 13:25 going to happen?" So I said to them, "You know what, 13:27 I'll go back to our viewers. I know our viewers who 13:30 supported the Carter campaign and provided the money. I 13:33 said, "They will come up with this money that's needed, 13:36 and I'm sure we can raise 100,000." Well, I had a man 13:40 sitting beside me I had never met-Manny Trevs-from 13:44 California. He said he just heard about it on television, 13:47 flew to Russia on his own, and said, "I just want to 13:52 help be an usher." So he was there-73 or 74 years 13:55 old at the time-through Russia -being an usher. So, he said 14:02 to me, "Hey, I'd like to interview you. I have a 14:04 little tape recorder. Can I interview you about 3ABN?" 14:08 I said, "Well, I can't now; I have people coming from 14:11 the church; we're-" so... He said, "Well, when you're 14:14 through," so then the church leaders came in. So I 14:16 said, "Well, Manny, why don't you come to sit down with us?" 14:18 He said, "Me? Oh, I don't know." I said, "No! You 14:20 might as well sit down." We sit down and as they 14:23 begin to describe all the stuff, I was told that those 14:26 folk: "Well, we'll be able to raise the money." I just 14:29 looked over at Manny and he went like this-he just went: 14:33 And he said: 14:35 And I looked at him and I said, "What?" And then 14:37 he goes, "Yeah, I think we know where the money's going 14:40 to come from." And I was thinking I'd have to go back. 14:43 He said, "Now I know why the Lord sent me here," 14:45 and HE gave that first $100,000. - From one person. 14:49 - From one person right there that I'd never met 14:53 was- and the whole time I was there a couple of weeks, 14:56 I hadn't even met him then; and here we met 15 minutes 15:00 before we're meeting with the church officials to decide, 15:03 "What do we do with this great problem?" of 2,532 15:06 new members, and then he wants to interview me and 15:09 I tell him no, then I say, "Well, sit down with us." 15:12 And- "No, I-" I said, "No! Go ahead. You 15:14 know? Everything's open; we're not hiding anything." 15:18 You know? So, he did. And right then- so the Lord 15:20 sent him. He said, "Now I know why I came to Russia." 15:22 So that was the beginning of it. We purchased the 15:25 property. And then of course, the building process- 15:27 we put a- two or three made; I'm not sure how much 15:30 over the years-but has it ever been worth it? 15:33 Now we're reaching- tell us a little bit about the 15:35 outreach of Russian 3ABN now. - You know, it is amazing; 15:40 we started as a little television station in Russia. 15:45 Danny said, "Here is a little Hi8 camera. Why don't you 15:48 star-" it was just in 1992. "Why don't you start doing 15:54 your own production in any way you can? Then we will 15:59 test out the local stations, how they accept- it was in 16:06 parallel-the reconstruction of that building; or rather, 16:09 mostly construction-you of most of it, and taping 16:15 those programs with one little Hi8 camera. We did 16:18 those little interviews with- I don't know- with cooks, we 16:23 did pastors' sermons, and we even managed to do music 16:27 from different angles using just one camera. You know, 16:31 the Lord gave the vision of how to do that. Then, we 16:36 taped all the materials. You invited me here the first 16:40 time-it was in 1992-to put together those programs, edit 16:44 them-it was a miracle in itself because the programs 16:48 were in Russian and I had to work with the editor, Bobby 16:52 Davis; I had to work with the production crew and none of 16:56 them knew any Russian. Hope program is in Russian, 17:00 but never once we stopped for a second because of the 17:03 language barrier. Everyone on the studio was happening 17:08 and what needed to be done, so we put together the first 17:12 13 programs and I brought them back to Nizhny. Only 17:18 one little station dared to take Protestant programming 17:22 because Russian Orthodox was mainstream and Protestant was 17:26 so new there in Russia. So, they took it. They started 17:31 receiving up to 1,000 letters a week because Danny was 17:37 impressed to see the situation in Russia in 17:40 general. He was impressed that we offered them a free 17:43 Bible if they asked for one. You know, the hunger of people 17:48 was so big. I don't think they just wanted to get the 17:51 Bible and put it on the shelf. They wanted to read it; 17:55 they really needed it. So, you know, we just started 17:58 getting about 1,000 letters a week-or over-and the 18:01 station was so much impressed. They said, "We are becoming 18:04 more popular than any other channel." So then, we just- 18:11 y'know, just following Danny's vision- his vision has always 18:16 been big. We just thought, "We should try to expand," 18:20 and we started marketing activities, trying to see how 18:24 other stations will take us, and more and more stations 18:27 were taking us-it was in the '90s. Then, 3ABN had the 18:33 vision of giving us satellite, money... So first, it was 18:40 Israeli satellite. Now, it is Russian satellite, and you 18:45 would think, "How does society accept what 3ABN Russia is 18:53 doing?" You know, people, I'm sure no matter how- 18:59 Russia is more materialistic now than it used to be in 19:02 the '90s. It is much better off now, but still, the hunger 19:08 for these eternal truths is in everyone's heart. 19:13 You know, being my brother's sister, I have been to 19:16 companies of very high-ranking people and I 19:20 could see that they have the same sufferings as anyone 19:25 else-only, you know, on a bigger scale, because they 19:30 had more influence, so some of them had more money 19:33 or something. But they had the same problems-envy, 19:39 distrust, and all those problems that anyone may 19:43 have in this life, because the devil is- unfortunately, 19:48 we are sold to sin-it was the choice of mankind-in 19:53 Adam and Eve. So, what I'm saying is, people know the 20:02 truth from the light. They can tell-the cable companies, 20:07 too. So, today, before we watch our video- it's a good 20:12 video with a very thorough report on what has happened 20:17 in Russia during the one-and-a-half years since 20:21 I haven't been here. It basically concentrates on our 20:25 25 years. You know, in Russia, 25-a quarter of a 20:29 century-it's a big thing. We wanted to emphasize the 20:33 25 years, so you'll see it in that video. But before 20:37 we go to that, I want to tell you that more and more 20:41 cable companies are taking our programming. It's not an 20:45 easy thing! You may think, "Oh, they're looking for new 20:49 content." No! It's not that easy. We have to work 20:53 and ask for God's wisdom. We need it in every little 21:01 step. Just to give you a short, brief report, in 21:10 January 2018, we were on 101 stations-cable companies. 21:16 - Isn't that amazing? - Yeah; 101. - In May 2018, we were 21:21 on 122 stations. - Wow, praise the Lord. - God is 21:27 telling us, "Ask for big things. I'm capable of doing 21:30 that. I'm limitless!" - Yeah, that's beautiful. - That's 21:35 right. - Well, when we go back- and we're kind of reminiscing 21:38 some things today, but-for those watching, and maybe 21:40 especially the young people, God has a plan for you-has 21:44 a plan for your life, and He says in Jeremiah that it's 21:48 planned that we would prosper; that we do well. I was talking 21:53 in worship this morning about Julia. Never could she have 21:58 dreamed- she's old enough to have grown up in communism, 22:01 so she has seen the effects of communism. Would you have 22:07 ever thought that, there in the country, growing up the 22:11 way you grew up, to think- I mean, even into your late 22:15 30s- to think that someday, you would be able to preach 22:18 the gospel openly to millions of people in the Russian 22:21 language. - Oh, you know, Danny, you would know. 22:24 I just don't believe that it's me. It's something 22:27 amazing that the Lord is doing through us. Most of 22:34 the time, we are willing because we have given our 22:37 hearts to the Lord; we have given everything to the Lord. 22:41 But sometimes, because of human witness, we are even 22:44 unwilling. We show weaknesses, and it happens, unfortunately- 22:51 but it's not us. It's not us at all, except for our 22:57 willingness. What IS important to God is our willingness 23:01 to go with Him to serve Him. He- it is important 23:07 for God that we want to be with Him. Then, when we 23:11 do, He just- I'm convinced that every single person whom 23:16 He has given life on this planet earth can be and could 23:21 be saved. This is the only reason we are given the 23:26 privilege of living through all these hardships that we 23:29 live through, because He wants us-everyone-to make 23:35 a choice in His favor. He does EVERYTHING. He's 23:39 omnipotent. He does everything for everyone 23:42 to be able to do that to accept Him. - Amen. When I first 23:46 met Julia, we were talking about her mother and the 23:50 strength, and I- literally, it's an amazing thing; I 23:54 knew immediately I could trust her. And at that time, 23:58 you didn't know who you could trust and who you 24:00 didn't. When you were dealing in business or 24:03 whatever-maybe $1,000 in business to an American 24:07 wouldn't be that much, but to a Russian, that could be 24:10 two or three-years' salary. - Right, right. - So, we 24:13 had to deal with people- and people handle money- 24:16 where do you find people you can trust? I mean, I even 24:20 had heard of stories where some pastors there that 24:24 had gotten money to transfer from say, Moscow to 24:26 somewhere else and you never saw them again because 24:29 the temptation was so big. After communism fell, people 24:33 didn't know what they were going to do and everything 24:35 was chaos; and then I met Julia-she was a professor 24:40 of English there at the school in Nizhny Novgorod- 24:43 and I asked if she would be the translator. I guess 24:47 that someone else was supposed to- when I met with the 24:50 conference, someone else was supposed to actually be a 24:53 translator, and they asked Julia to come. So that meeting, I knew 24:59 as she was translating, it was like the Lord said, "That's the 25:03 woman. You can trust her." So literally, 3ABN was built around 25:08 Julia. Had I not met Julia Outkina-I say this before God- 25:12 had I not met Julia or someone just like her, there would 25:17 probably be no 3ABN Russia there today, because it was a 25:21 huge undertaking to go to a foreign country. Sometimes 25:25 we have 100 Russian workers. John Canter married my 25:30 cousin Janice, agreed to go over- I asked him if he'd 25:33 go for 3 months and it was years, literally. Turned 25:35 out to be a great- what an incredible work that he and 25:39 Janice and Pat and Jane and some of the other family 25:41 members went over to work. But I would've never gone 25:45 forward because I just didn't know who I could 25:50 trust and who- it's like the Lord said, "You can 25:53 trust her." So, that's why we hired her as a translator 25:57 first, so even in the cold, cold weather, and John- 26:00 I don't know anybody tougher than John Canter in my whole 26:03 life-he didn't care what the weather was. He was out 26:06 working. So- I mean, it was TERRIBLE-the weather, and 26:10 Julia would be dressed up, walking beside him every day, 26:13 translating, and whatever he did, she did. If he 26:17 climbed a ladder, she climbed a ladder. I mean, I 26:20 watched her and I said, "D'you know, that's amazing." 26:22 She was a professor and got to teach inside and now, 26:26 she takes a job as a translator for us, and so I 26:30 offered her more money than she was making because I 26:33 thought she was paid way too little, and she wouldn't 26:36 accept it. She said, "I won't take more money to 26:38 work for the Lord." You know? So I wouldn't. I told our 26:43 group this morning- we used to make sure when she came 26:46 here, we'd buy her new clothes and things 'cause 26:48 she doesn't want to take anything. I was surprised 26:51 when she readily said, "Okay, I'll-" so we said, "Well, 26:55 there's something we can do to help her. She won't 26:56 take much money." Then we'd go over to Russia later and 26:59 her female workers were wearing the clothes. That 27:05 really got to me. I said, "Look at the sacrifices." 27:09 So things we gave her, she wasn't really keeping. 27:12 I've never been upset with her-and I probably shouldn't 27:14 say this on international television-except not 27:18 too long ago when I found out- 'cause I thought we'd been 27:21 giving her raises for the la- a raise for the last 10 years and 27:25 I found out she wasn't keeping the raise but she 27:27 was giving it to workers. - Wow. - That's the only 27:31 time; but then I said, "You know what-she's doing what 27:33 God impressed her to do." So, it's okay; it's alright 27:37 you did it. But that's- I'm just telling you that- not 27:40 to uplift Julia, but the Jesus in her that she's 27:43 not here- she didn't make this huge transition for 27:46 money; she made it because she found Jesus at the 27:52 Carter meetings and she found truths that the Seventh-Day 27:56 Adventist Church teaches, the three angels' messages. 27:59 She says- y'know, by her actions, "This is what I was 28:03 created to do." So, many sacrifices. The devil has hit 28:07 you every way possible. After losing your brother, then you 28:12 lost your husband in a drowning. And how long 28:15 afterwards? - In 5 months. - 5 months. Then she lost 28:19 her brother, her only brother, and her husband-and both in 28:23 ways they should've never, never died. And yet, she 28:28 continues to go forward. She continues to give God the 28:30 credit. - Praise the Lord. I praise the Lord for Him, 28:35 because if you cannot live through things like that in 28:39 your life unless you have the Lord. It isn't possible. Now, 28:45 unfortunately, this world is sold to the devil and the 28:49 devil is the prince of this world. This is what the Bible 28:52 tells us. He's a hater. He hates us. He does the worst 28:56 things to us. When there is the question, "Where's the 29:01 Lord during all this?" the answer is, when you are 29:06 with the Lord, the devil as Danny likes to say we have 29:10 read the end of the book. He's a defeated foe. He 29:13 cannot hurt us. He cannot do harm to us. I know- you 29:17 know, my brother never professed to be a believer. 29:21 My husband never professed to be a believer, but my 29:24 conviction is that there have been moments in their lives, 29:28 and I was a witness, when they acknowledged God. They 29:33 were not anti-God. I have all my confidence in God that He 29:39 would do the best for them. If it is best for them- and 29:43 of course, we all want for all our dear, near ones to be 29:46 saved. But it probably wouldn't be the best for 29:49 some of them, so I'll never question Him whatever His 29:52 decision is. But I know that the best that can be done for 29:56 anyone is done by the Lord for everyone. I don't question 30:01 why He loves this or that. I just know He had to go 30:07 through the hardest way to provide salvation for mankind. 30:15 We can't just go through a bed of roses after that 30:20 because it's still that terrible, old sinful world. 30:24 We have to learn a lot while we live in it. So, I praise 30:29 the Lord. - You know, I think a lot of people think that 30:33 once you're a Christian, everything's going to be 30:37 just a bed of roses, or since you're in media, you 30:42 know, everything's just going to be easy, and it's not! 30:46 We have the same trials and tribulations that everybody 30:49 else has. The difference is that we don't walk through 30:52 them alone-that God has promised that He will be 30:55 with us through everything. Through the waters, through 30:59 the rivers, and through the fires, He will be with us. 31:02 So, what we're hearing you say is that, yes, you've had 31:06 some trials and you've had some hard times, but God 31:09 has held you up and brought you through, and that strength 31:13 that Danny was talking about before that your mom has, 31:16 you have, God has given you strength to make it through 31:21 and to lead out with 3ABN Russia. What would you say 31:25 have been some of the greatest challenges that you faced 31:29 with heading up 3ABN Russia? - Well, my personal biggest 31:35 challenge is that I'm not an administrator. I mean, I have 31:39 that kind of personality; I'm melancholic; I'm very slow in 31:43 my reactions, I'm a peacemaker- I just want peace-and at 31:48 the same time, I'm very detailed. I'm very particular 31:53 about everything. I'm obstinate! You were talking 31:59 about my mom's character. I'm obstinate when it comes to 32:02 a certain shadow, the way they have lit this set, or 32:07 when it comes to certain graphics that they have done, 32:11 to some super or anything, so this is a big 32:14 conflict that I'm sure that I know how it should be 32:19 done right, and at the same time I'm a peacemaker and 32:22 I don't want anyone to get upset, so this is hard for me. 32:26 You know, still, the Lord brings us through it all. 32:30 He just teaches us that we should- it's not just the words, 32:34 "Pray unceasingly." When I try to do it on my own-fight with 32:37 those shadows-once I always face these or something else 32:41 that- yeah, it's hard. But then I just say, "Oh, why didn't you 32:46 remember to pray? Don't you think that you should pray?" 32:49 And then I pray, and it somehow settles and they're 32:53 happy and I'm happy, so yeah. I would say this is the biggest 32:57 challenge. Otherwise, it's all a blessing-a blessing from 33:01 every, every, every direction. Just makes me happy to be 33:07 witnessing what is going on through the ministry. The 33:12 new stations, the new people, the letters that we read in 33:15 the morning at our morning worship every day. You know, 33:18 it's all worth it when you read those letters. It is a 33:23 miracle that the Lord does through us in spite of us- 33:28 in spite of our incapabilities, of our weaknesses, but due 33:32 to our willingness. I'm convinced that He cannot 33:35 do it through just anyone. He can do it through the 33:38 willing people who have given their heart to Him. 33:41 - Absolutely. Julia and I will both give all the credit to 33:45 God but, "My vision," she says- "I have big vision, but I 33:49 could've never envisioned where 3ABN Russia is today," and 3ABN 33:57 here, you know, parent. I just had to take it one day at a 34:02 time; in other words, you just start what the Lord said and 34:05 you just go forward and watch Him do it. But the same type 34:09 of miracles for 3ABN when we started here 33 years 34:13 ago, we've seen in Russia. I mean, timing, everything- 34:17 finances, just when you need it. And I mean, God provides 34:20 every need when we do what He's called us to do and 34:25 that's to take this great gospel of the kingdom into 34:27 all the world. Now, we have a video that's going to explain 34:30 quite a bit to us. It cost a lot of money on satellite- 34:34 about how much is it a month now? - $9,000 a month. 34:37 - And that's much less than it used to be. - Oh, yes. 34:40 - But for $9,000 a month, that can reach potentially 34:42 all of these stations that we're talking about 'cause 34:45 they need to get your- from the cable companies and reach 34:48 how many people do you think? - You will see a map of these 34:51 two satellites that we have now. They cover the whole 34:54 of Russia and they cover the nearby countries. Russia, I 35:01 believe, is about 120 million people-something like that- 35:06 plus the surrounding countries.. I would say 150 million people. 35:13 All of them are Russian-speaking these- 35:16 - That's amazing. - So all their- the main Russian-speaking 35:21 part of the world- all of them can watch 3ABN Russia. 35:25 - Amen. Well, we have that video. What do you say we 35:27 go to it now? - Yes! Let's go to it. 36:23 Throughout almost 34 years of the ministry of 3ABN, 36:26 the Lord has been performing numerous miracles. The one 36:30 that is so important for about 300 million Russian-speaking 36:33 people living around the globe, it's the miracle of 36:36 the ministry of 3ABN Russia. Today, we're happy to update 36:40 you on what has happened since we reported to you 36:43 at 3ABN camp meeting last time. Only in eternity will we 36:47 know how many precious souls have found their salvation 36:51 during the 25 years of the ministry of 3ABN Russia. 36:55 25 years-a quarter of a century-proclaiming the 36:59 three angels' messages in Russia. What a mighty 37:01 movement of God's power. To celebrate our anniversary, 37:05 we had the founder of 3ABN in 3ABN Russia, Danny Shelton, 37:09 come to Nizhny last October with a group of our dear 37:12 friends, colleagues, and family in Christ. Yvonne 37:15 Lewis-Shelton, Greg and Jill Morikone, Reggie and Ladye 37:19 Love Smith, Tim Parton, Brad Walker, Rodney Laney, Jean 37:23 and Pat McClintock. The celebration began on Friday, 37:27 October 6 with a wonderful concert of American and 37:30 Russian singers. On Sabbath, October 7, we had a joint 37:34 worship service of all Nizhny Novgorod churches. Church 37:37 members were so happy to greet 3ABN leadership and 37:41 our dear guest, Pastor John Carter, who came for our 37:44 25th anniversary to preach in Russia again. When during 37:48 Sabbath school class we asked those people who had been 37:52 baptized during Pastor Carter's evangelistic programs 37:55 to stand up, practically the whole audience rose to their 37:58 feet. No wonder that a quarter of a century before in 1992, 38:03 Nizhny Novgorod newspapers had called Pastor Carter 38:07 "John the Baptist" and the Volga River the Jordan River. 38:10 Indeed, such a massive baptism had never taken place since 38:15 the baptism of Russia into Christianity in the 10th 38:18 century. When Pastor Carter held that huge evangelistic 38:22 campaign in our city and 3ABN was a part of this program, 38:26 more than 2,500 people were baptized. That was when God 38:31 inspired Danny Shelton to purchase an unfinished 38:34 construction and rebuild it into the outstanding facility 38:38 of 3ABN Russia's evangelism center and to start 3ABN 38:42 Russia's TV and other media production. During our 25th 38:47 anniversary celebration, we were very pleased to hear 38:50 the words of gratitude, appreciation, and support 38:53 from the leaders of the Russian church. The 38:55 representative of Euro-Asia Division, Ivan 38:59 Ostrovsky, handed Danny Shelton a commemorative 39:02 plaque from the president of Euro-Asia Division, Mikhail 39:05 Kaminskiy, for the dedication and invaluable contribution 39:08 to the buildup of Christian television and radio 39:11 broadcasting in Russia. And later, we were so happy to 39:15 hear the words of gratitude for our 25 years of ministry 39:19 from the president of the General Conference, Elder 39:22 Ted Wilson. - First of all, let me express deep 39:26 appreciation for what 3ABN in Russia has been doing. It 39:29 started just about the time when I first came to Russia 39:33 to work here, and we praise God for the preaching of the 39:37 Word through 3ABN. I want to encourage you to continue 39:40 to proclaim your very name, the three angels of Revelation 39:45 14, turning people back to the true worship of God with 39:49 the righteousness of Jesus Christ at the very core of 39:52 those three angels. Thank you for what you've done. 40:00 All the major events of our 25th anniversary celebration 40:03 were on the air of 3ABN as well as a new evangelistic 40:08 campaign that Pastor Carter held at 3ABN Russia's 40:11 evangelism center after our celebration from October 14 40:16 till October 28. Our main concern in prayers were 40:20 about Pastor John and his team getting special visits 40:24 from missionary activities. The answer from the Lord 40:27 and His blessing was that Pastor Carter and his whole 40:31 team got missionary visa's, and the evangelistic series in 40:35 Nizhny Novgorod took place. Daily, hundreds of people 40:39 attended these meetings. At the end of the program, those 40:43 who responded to Pastor Carter's call to give their 40:46 hearts to Jesus Christ were baptized-but these evangelistic 40:51 meetings didn't end after those two weeks. Even now, 40:54 they continue in the homes of the Russian people. You'll 40:58 ask, "How?" Pastor Carter asked 3ABN Russia to produce 41:02 2000 DVD sets with all the meetings and beautiful 41:06 musical performances. At his request, we have delivered 41:09 1,500 sets to the West Russian Union for their further 41:13 distribution to local conferences and churches. 41:16 All the 25 years, 3ABN Russia has been working very closely 41:21 with our beloved church. Our purpose is to inspire and 41:25 activate church members for their involvement and support 41:28 of God's cause through media evangelism. Here is how West 41:33 Russian Union president, Ivan Velgosha, thanks 3ABN 41:37 and Pastor John Carter for their evangelistic outreach. 41:43 Dear friends: warmest greetings from your Russian 41:46 brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm very excited for 41:51 the opportunity to express our gratitude for your 41:55 prayers and a tremendous help in sharing the gospel 41:59 and reaching your hearts. Today, we got the new DVDs 42:06 with John Carter's series. We believe and hope that 42:11 spreading these DVDs will help thousands of people to 42:16 meet Jesus Christ and see the beauty of scripture. 42:22 I have an old cassette in my hand which actually has 42:26 Pastor Carter's old program. It was recorded many years 42:31 ago here in Russia. I was a young pastor at the time 42:35 and I know that lots of people listen to these 42:39 cassettes and came to Christ. I would like to read the 42:44 verse from the Bible that inspires us to evangelistic 42:47 ministry. "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be 42:51 preached in all the world for a witness and to all 42:55 nations, and then shall the end come." May the Lord 42:59 bless abundantly the work you do, your families and 43:03 churches, and your ministry in serving the Lord and 43:08 reaching your hearts for His kingdom. 43:17 Praise the Lord for the amazing opportunities of 43:19 public and personal evangelism, numerously multiplied by 43:22 more than technologies. We're convinced that this 43:26 is the purpose for which the Lord has raised up 3ABN and 43:30 3ABN Russia. Through these technologies, the coverage 43:34 of our programs increases tremendously. We uplink our 43:38 signal from 3ABN Russia Evangelism Center to two 43:41 Russian satellites and they cover the whole territory 43:45 of Russia and the nearby countries. What an amazing 43:48 miracle of God! Satellite broadcasting of 3ABN 43:52 Russia began at the end of 2013. From January 2014 43:57 to January 2016, putting a lot of prayer and effort 44:02 into it, we concluded contracts with 42 cable 44:05 operators which aired us around the globe in 141 44:08 Russian cities. We continue to pray and earnestly look 44:13 for new opportunities. This was when we invited you to 44:17 join us in prayer that by the end of 2017, our 44:21 partnership would be no less than 100 cable companies. 44:25 This was about prayer and the Lord answered it. By 44:29 the end of 2017, He gave us 101 cable operators, 44:35 rebroadcasting all around the globe, signal to 371 44:40 Russian cities. Glory be to our Almighty God for these 44:44 amazing results. Thank YOU, our dear viewers, for 44:48 uplifting 3ABN Russia in your prayers. Thank you for 44:52 being God's prayer warriors. Now, we invite you to join 44:58 us in prayer for even further spreading of the three 45:00 angels' messages in Russia. Lord, please, make it 45:04 possible according to Your will, that by the end of 45:08 this year, we have no less than 150 cable partners. 45:13 For our satellite channel, we need to pay about $9,000 45:18 a month and we're so thankful for your sacrifice and 45:21 dedication due to which the Word of God in its full 45:25 truth is proclaimed over the former Soviet Union around 45:29 the globe. We have free coverage through 5 other 45:33 satellite TV channels that air some of our programs 45:37 for several hours a week and also through 54 regional 45:41 TV companies that broadcast certain programs from 10 45:45 minutes to 2 hours a week. 30 regional radio stations 45:50 and 2 satellite radio channels broadcast our radio programs. 45:54 Also, we have 24/7 internet, video, and radio streaming. 46:03 An amazing testimony of God's power has been how He uses 46:07 different people from secular, high-ranking officials to the 46:10 representatives of different religions to promote His cause 46:14 accomplished through 3ABN Russia. At the celebration 46:17 of 500 years of Protestant Reformation, at Russia's 46:21 Religious Freedom Association meeting, at the national 46:25 prayer breakfast, all of which were held in Moscow under 46:28 the auspices of the Russian government. The Lord provided 46:32 for our participation as mass media that allowed us 46:36 to tape interviews and to record the words of 46:39 encouragement concerning Protestantism in general 46:42 and 3ABN Russia in particular. Based on them, we've created 46:46 promo videos for cable operators and this undoubtedly 46:50 increases the number of our partners. Using the interviews 46:53 with these well-known people, including a deputy head of 46:57 the administration of the president of Russian 46:59 federation, where they talk about religious freedom, God, 47:02 and prayer, we make short to air the videos between 47:07 our programs. The Lord has given us this amazing 47:10 opportunity which will undoubtedly attract new 47:13 people to watch our channel. Now you can see the amount of 47:17 TV and radio programs produced by 3ABN Russia 47:20 since we reported to you a year and a half ago. In 47:23 addition, the following new series are being developed: 47:26 Blessings for Every Day, Fancy That, 47:29 Contemporary Russian Poetry; a big inspirational series, 47:33 The Bible; television evangelistic series, 47:35 Learning the Truth; a new youth series, 47:38 Speaking Point-Blank. We praise the Lord for all 47:42 the talent and ideas. They are all His and for Him. 47:46 We receive lots of letters from our viewers and send 47:49 thousands of copies of spiritual literature and Bible 47:52 studies. On the screen, you can see the statistics of 47:56 our call center. 48:02 We never stop thanking the Lord for what happened almost 48:06 26 years ago when Danny Shelton, for the sick or the 48:11 eternal salvation of the Russian people, responded to 48:14 God's calling to build 3ABN Russia's evangelism center 48:18 that, with your help, our dear viewers and supporters, 48:22 has turned into the beautiful facility that carries the 48:25 light to the world. We're so thankful that the new 3ABN 48:30 general vice president and general manager, our dear 48:33 friends Greg and Jill Morikone, shared the same 48:37 vision. They have been awed at the scale of our center. We're 48:41 apart from 3ABN Russia's studios, we have the largest 48:45 Adventist church in Nizhny Novgorod. The offices of 48:48 Volga Conference, a Christian school, 48:50 an ABC store, healthy food store, and many other 48:54 entities that hold numerous outreach events serving 48:57 for the benefit of the community of Nizhny Novgorod 49:00 church members, bringing them to the knowledge of who God 49:04 really is. During the period under report, we have 49:08 renovated the facade of the building, replaced the windows, 49:11 repaired the roof and several rooms, fixed part of the 49:15 heating system. We praise the Lord for all these 49:19 so-much needed repairs and will continue as the means 49:23 allow. Thank you, our dear viewers, for your vision 49:27 and heartfelt support of God's work accomplished 49:30 by 3ABN around the world, including Russia. Only due 49:35 to you, our ministry exists, develops, and brings more and 49:39 more Russian people to the salvation in Jesus Christ. 49:42 May the Lord abundantly bless you and prosper you in health, 49:47 wisdom, and hold your circumstances according to 49:50 His riches. Unto Him be the glory in the church and in 49:55 Christ Jesus, unto all generations forever and ever. 50:00 Amen. 50:06 Amen. Wow. What a great, great video. Really helps you 50:10 get a picture of what's going on in the outreach of 3ABN. 50:14 What we want to ask you to do, though, is we want you 50:17 to pray about something. The satellite is about $9,000 a 50:21 month-that's in order to feed all of these TV stations and 50:25 radio stations that are picking up throughout the 50:28 two satellites-throughout all the X.O.- Russia and the 50:32 surrounding countries around, and so that's a lot of money. 50:38 For some time, we had a sponsor but I'm not sure 50:41 what's going to happen this coming year; we have so many 50:44 expenses. We're going to ask you, if the Holy Spirit's 50:46 impressing, if you like to be one of those sponsors. Would 50:50 make any difference if it's $100 or $1,000. If you 50:54 want to do it a month, $50 or you want to do $1,000- 50:56 whatever the Lord impresses you. But as you pray and you 51:00 ask God what He would have you to do- so that Russia 51:03 can continue-the gospel can continue to go out. 51:07 Streams of light all over the country. 150 million potential 51:11 people just in Russia alone, not including all the areas out- 51:17 not including the other 150 million Russian-speaking 51:20 people around the world. So, what an opportunity- 51:23 something we don't want to lose. We want to be able to 51:26 continue to be on these satellites, so we're going to 51:30 ask you to help us with that $9,000 a month. Now, that's 51:33 just satellite-that's not the upkeep; that's not the workers; 51:36 that's not the overhead for that huge facility. That's not 51:39 any of those things, but this is what's important right 51:42 now, so we're going to ask you to pray and ask the Holy 51:45 Spirit what He would have you to do in support of this 51:47 ministry. If you'd like to support, you may do so here 51:51 at the following address: 51:57 Your support can help keep 3ABN Russia on satellite and 52:01 on cable as they reach millions of Russian-speaking viewers 52:04 and listeners all over that vast continent. Satellites not 52:07 only bring the gospel to home satellite dishes, but 52:10 also to the 122 cable companies that we broadcast 52:14 our signal. If you would like to support 3ABN Russia, 52:18 visit 3abn.tv or call us at (618) 627-4651. You may 52:25 also write to 3ABN Russia Post Office (PO) Box 220 52:29 West Frankfort, Illinois (IL) 62896. |
Revised 2018-08-01