Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY018103A
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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 00:24 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 01:09 - Hello and welcome to another 3ABN Today 01:11 program. We are so thankful that you have 01:13 joined us today! Thank you for letting us 01:15 come into your home as you do each and every 01:17 day; maybe you're listening on the radio. 01:19 Thank you for tuning in! Television, internet... 01:22 So many ways that 3ABN can be- even the app. 01:25 Don't wanna to forget that, YouTube... Many 01:27 different ways that you can access 3ABN; but we 01:29 just want to say thank you for your financial 01:30 support of this ministry and other ministries 01:33 that we bring before you on a daily basis. 01:36 Today's going to be a fun day. You maybe saw 01:38 in the wide shot (which is our jib shot, that moving 01:40 shot as we come right out of the open). You 01:42 saw some pictures and stuff here, a distinguished 01:44 group of men to my right... This is going 01:48 to be a blessing, because again, today, we have 01:50 the opportunity of participating with an 01:52 amazing missionary project. I think what's 01:56 really exciting is that, here at 3ABN, as we 02:00 present stuff to you at home, that you get 02:02 excited about mission and the vision that 02:06 God has placed upon one of us the burden 02:09 to spread His Word to others. Sometimes, I 02:12 guess maybe I should say we should ALL have 02:13 the burden-maybe we don't-but we need to 02:14 pray that the Holy Spirit gives us that 02:17 burden to spread the gospel around the 02:19 world. I like the song that is our theme song. 02:23 As the open is playing, "I want to spend my life 02:25 mending broken people," and that should be all 02:28 of our vision to do that. So, today, we're going 02:31 to find out ways we can. - That's right. 02:33 3ABN has long enjoyed a partnership with ASI; 02:36 that's Adventist-laymen's Services & Industries. 02:39 They have a passion, laypeople, business 02:42 people, connecting with the church, joining hands 02:44 with the church to share the gospel in 02:47 the marketplace. We have broadcast the ASI 02:51 conventions for many years; I don't even know 02:53 how many years. Over 20-would you say that's 02:56 accurate? 25? Many years. It's been a 02:58 wonderful partnership. And today, we have 03:00 some of the ASI leadership with us here in the 03:03 studio with a wonderful, new way that we can 03:07 connect financially, prayerfully, or even 03:10 travel and share the gospel around the 03:14 world. So, we have the president of ASI North 03:17 American Division, Steve Dickman. We're 03:19 so glad to have you here, Steve. - It's 03:21 good to be here with you this morning. Praise 03:24 God. - You've been ASI president of North 03:26 American Division for how many years now? 03:29 - Well, it'll be four years in August. - And 03:31 you and your wife, Brenda, are a powerful 03:34 team for the gospel, and I know you have 03:36 other roles beside ASI, so tell us what else 03:39 you're involved in. - Well, I'm serving as the president 03:42 for Harbert Hills Academy in Savannah, Tennessee. 03:44 We have a school there, and we believe that 03:47 God's plan of education is wonderful and we try 03:50 to follow that plan of holistic education: the 03:53 academic, the physical, vocational aspects of 03:56 education, the spiritual mission aspects of 03:59 education and put all that together in a 04:01 package for God's work. - You've been there a 04:03 number of years, haven't you? -27 years now. 04:06 - Wow! - Adds up after a while. [laughter] 04:10 - Education is powerful because you're making 04:13 an impact on young people's lives, and 04:14 then they, in turn, make the ripple grow... 04:16 - That's right. - ...as they make an impact. 04:18 - That's exactly right. - Amen. And sitting 04:21 next to you is Pastor Philip Baptiste and- 04:23 I hope I pronounced your last name right- 04:25 you're the secretary treasurer for ASI North 04:27 American Division, and it's a privilege to have 04:30 you here, as well. - It's a privilege to be here! 04:33 I'm excited about what ASI is doing and being 04:35 a part of this awesome opportunity to engage 04:38 in sharing Christ in the marketplace. - Amen. 04:40 Now, I know you're fairly new in your role there 04:42 at ASI with secretary treasurer, 'cause I met 04:45 him just this last ASI. You're passionate about 04:48 what God has called you to do there. Have you 04:50 been involved with ASI a long time and then 04:53 just transitioned into leadership, or...? - Yes! 04:55 Yes. I was serving- my wife and I were General 04:57 Conference missionaries in the East-Central Africa 05:00 Division in Nairobi, Kenya for four years, 05:02 and in that role, I was asked to serve as the 05:05 secretary treasurer for ASI for that division. 05:08 Steve Dickman and Kyle Allen came, and they 05:11 helped us launch ASI in Africa in that part 05:14 of the world. So because of my work with ASI in 05:17 the East-Central Africa Division, I was called 05:20 to work here in North America. I'm excited 05:23 to be working with Steve and this dynamic team 05:26 here in the NAD. - Amen! - And you're also the 05:29 pastor...or you have that title as pastor, 05:31 so you've pastored, whether or not- I don't 05:33 know if you're doing it now. - Not doing it now; 05:35 full-time as departmental director of North American 05:37 Division and secretary treasurer of ASI, but 05:40 I've been a pastor for over 20 years in the 05:42 Adventist church. I'm originally from Canada, 05:44 and my dad's been a pastor for 40 years in 05:46 the Adventist church. Just what a joy it is 05:49 to be in God's service. - Yes. I agree. - Absolutely. 05:52 And sitting next to you is Rodney Bowes. You are 05:55 the vice president for logistics of the ASI 05:59 North American Division. Tell us how long you've 06:02 been involved with ASI. - Well, I've been involved 06:05 very recently in that particular position, 06:08 actually...just a little over a month, but I've 06:11 been involved in ASI in the Light Ministry 06:15 since 2008. Before that, I was at Wildwood Lifestyle 06:20 Center & Hospital. So, I've been involved 06:23 in ASI activities for quite a while. - Amen. 06:26 And we appreciate Light Ministry and what they do. 06:28 You coordinate with Light Ministry; you 06:30 still work for them, right? - Yeah, I'm the 06:33 divisional director for Africa and East Asia 06:36 for Light, and then I also serve as the president 06:40 for Health Expo Resources. - Wow. - So, I wanted 06:44 to just ask because, I mean... See, we have 06:45 president-I think we kind of understand that 06:47 role-secretary treasurer, but logistics. What does 06:49 that mean? What is your role for ASI on logistics? 06:52 - I'm still finding out all of the things that 06:54 I'm going to be doing, but... - Making logical 06:57 decisions. [laughter] - Making sure everything 07:00 is planned well for the convention and that 07:02 when we get there, there's meals and 07:07 there's all the technical details of a convention 07:10 like that or taking care of it. It's a huge 07:12 responsibility. - Oh, it is. Yeah, a lot of 07:14 moving parts and pieces always to come together. 07:17 Thank you, gentlemen, I tell you, I appreciate 07:19 what ASI means to 3ABN, and I know to the 07:22 world. I know you have a scripture you want to 07:24 go to, but you were just talking about the 07:26 description of what ASI is. It's basically people 07:28 in the marketplace. Maybe give us a synopsis 07:30 of what that means, because some people 07:32 may be tuning in, they haven't watched an ASI 07:34 program that 3ABN's aired the first time, 07:37 they're like, "ASI?" Marketplace. What does 07:40 that mean? - ASI stands for Adventist-layman's 07:43 Services & Industries. So, it's laypeople who 07:45 come together to accomplish mission for 07:49 the church. - Laypeople, meaning? - Laypeople- 07:52 they're not paid by the church, so there's a 07:55 distinction. We call it the Adventist yearbook 07:58 where an organization is owned and operated 08:01 by the church. If people are in that yearbook 08:04 or their organization they work for is in 08:07 that yearbook, they don't qualify for being 08:10 ASI members. However, 3ABN is not in that 08:13 yearbook; they have a separate board of 08:15 directors, operated separately from the 08:18 organization of the church but in support 08:20 of the work of the church. - Oh, we support 08:23 it 100%. - And so that is the unique key to 08:26 being an ASI member is that you are supporting 08:29 the work of the church but not necessarily 08:32 owned or paid by the church. So, the church 08:34 needs that. You know, the resources are limited; 08:37 there's not enough pastors to finish the 08:40 work. We love Philip and Rodney; pastors 08:42 are with us, but there's not enough of them to 08:45 just go out and finish the work. This is going 08:47 to require the engagement of the laypeople. ASI- 08:50 our vision is that if we could engage every 08:55 single layperson that is a business or 08:59 professional person, 100% behind the mission 09:02 of the church, we believe the wheels would turn 09:06 quickly and this job of getting the gospel to the world 09:09 can be finished and we can go home to 09:12 heaven. - Amen. - And I like that, sharing 09:13 Jesus in the marketplace, because that's what 09:15 your every sphere of influence is. I think 09:17 it's a wonderful mission and vision of ASI. - It's 09:19 really an idea of total member involvement of 09:22 every single member getting actively involved 09:24 in the life and mission of the church and 09:27 saying, "Wherever you are, whatever station 09:29 you are in life, God has a work for you to 09:32 do." - That's excellent. - So, that's the mission 09:33 of ASI. - Praise the Lord. - Amen! - Excellent. 09:36 - Well, there's a scripture here. We're 09:39 going to read Romans 10 verses 14 and 15. 09:42 I think this is one of my favorite scriptures. 09:44 Romans is one of my favorite books, but I 09:46 love this scripture. Romans 10:14 and 15. 09:49 "How then shall they call on Him in Whom 09:52 they have not believed? And how shall they 09:54 believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? 09:57 And how shall they hear without a preacher? 10:00 And how shall they preach unless they are 10:03 sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the 10:06 feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, 10:10 who bring glad tidings of good things." And 10:13 that's what we're talking about here 10:14 today is preaching the gospel of peace, sharing 10:18 the everlasting gospel in fresh and innovative 10:21 ways. So, tell us about the New Beginnings 10:26 picture roll. - So, this project was born 10:30 out of need. In Rwanda, they were holding a 10:34 series of thousands of meetings all across the 10:38 country of Rwanda. Many of those sites, they 10:42 ended up in remote areas without electricity. 10:46 Philip, you were there in East-Central Africa 10:49 at that time. What was your experience in 10:51 watching that happen and some of the needs 10:53 that evolved out of that? - Well, Steve, 10:55 even in Rwanda, we baptized over 100,000 10:58 people in Rwanda, and we were there preaching. 11:00 Our world church president was there, Ted Wilson 11:03 and Nancy Wilson. Nancy Wilson was in one those 11:06 sites; she was on a hill. And she ended 11:08 up baptizing a thousand people in her series of 11:12 meetings - her first time preaching, which 11:14 shows that laypeople can do the work. But 11:17 she had PowerPoint and a video projector 11:19 that was supposed to work, and the power 11:22 just went out. It never worked. So, she ended 11:25 up having to preach from script in the 11:27 dark. And so, the idea for this picture roll 11:30 project was born from situations like that. 11:32 There were many more people where there was 11:34 supposed to be electricity and there wasn't 11:36 electricity. As a missionary in Africa 11:39 for over four years, I can tell you the 11:41 electricity doesn't work many of the times, so... 11:44 - So it's not very stable there. - It's not very 11:46 stable, and so having something that you can 11:49 just- that's waterproof, that's rainproof, that 11:51 you can just roll and stand on a hill or be 11:54 under a mango tree and show people the good 11:57 news of the Adventist message. It's powerful. 12:00 That's where the idea for the tool came from. 12:02 - You know, it's interesting, because 12:03 this day and age, we're so used to our electronic 12:05 gadgets. I have my phone tucked right by my 12:07 side, but even in other parts of the world, 12:10 a projector you said, computer, and I guess 12:12 a generator must've been used in some 12:14 places; but if stuff's not reliable and you're 12:17 relying on it, makes it difficult. So going 12:18 to these picture rolls is a brilliant idea. 12:21 - So what happened was, when we heard that 12:24 story of hundreds of sites where there was 12:28 no electricity, and the only tool they had 12:31 was to read the script, Rodney and I and Chuck 12:34 Cleveland were sitting around a table in... 12:38 We were just talking about this thing. You 12:41 know, "What can we do? How can we do something 12:44 for this?" And the idea was born. The old picture 12:47 rolls for Sabbath school... - Of course! - We said, 12:49 "What if we did an evangelism picture 12:51 roll where it was focused on doing just what needed 12:55 to be presented for the evangelistic standpoint, 12:59 the Bible lectures and give some graphic 13:01 support to this?" We came up, we said, "Well, 13:04 let's move forward with this and think about it." 13:06 The project kind of evolved from that. 13:09 - Amen. So, can we back up for one moment? I 13:11 was thinking I jumped the gun with the picture 13:14 roll, because some people might be saying, 13:16 "I'm not even familiar with the New Beginnings 13:18 DVD project," and the script that you're 13:21 talking about the people are reading from. So, 13:24 the DVD project... How many years has that 13:26 been around? - It's been around for 20 13:28 years. New Beginnings is like ASI's evangelism 13:31 in a box. It's 26 sermons; Mark Finley wrote the 13:35 sermons, and they're designed to help a 13:37 layperson or a church member, a young person- 13:40 we had a 12-year-old in Rwanda, just read 13:43 the script and preach the message in a beautiful 13:47 way. So, the New Beginnings evangelistic series was 13:51 the tool that we took and adapted it and 13:54 created those sermons into picture rolls so 13:58 that people can preach those. - Okay. Perfect. 14:00 - And that series has been translated into 14:03 34 languages or so and is available for our 14:07 lay members to get on the ASI website. They 14:10 can just go to New Beginnings. - ASIMinistries.org/NewBeginnings, 14:14 and it's right there to download in any language. 14:16 - Say that one more time, 'cause someone 14:18 said, "Oh! Let me get my pen and paper!" and 14:19 then they missed it. - It's available at 14:21 ASIMinistries.org/NewBeginnings. - So that DVD series 14:30 is still available is what you're saying. 14:32 - Yes. - It is still available. We hesitate 14:34 to call it DVD anymore because it's all cloud-based, 14:37 and they can go and download it from anywhere 14:40 in the world. It's all available on PowerPoint, 14:44 PDF, whatever format they need, and it gives 14:47 them the full script as well as the full 14:50 graphic support - 115, 125 slides or graphic 14:54 images per sermon. It works wonderfully 14:59 where you can plug in, have electricity, and 15:01 that kind of thing. - Okay. - So, in this 15:03 case, you're taking the same script, the same 15:06 sermons, but you're changing it with the 15:08 artwork with the pictures so that it can be done 15:11 where there's no electricity. - So, in reality, what 15:15 happened is we also- we went through the 15:18 scripts and we refined those for a setting that 15:23 is not first-world setting. So in other 15:26 words, we shortened them somewhat and put 15:28 them into a format that's more easily 15:31 presented in a remote setting. - Amen. - As 15:34 we were working on this project, it came to our 15:38 attention that there might be some that 15:41 would like additional biblical support, so 15:44 at the end of each of the scripts, we added 15:46 all of the verses of scripture that would 15:49 be associated with that topic, and then 15:51 we put together a series of questions 15:53 that would be like small group discussion 15:56 questions so that someone presenting this to a 15:59 group of 40 or 50 people could say, "What did 16:03 you learn today about this topic?" and give 16:06 them time to discuss it, because you're in 16:09 a smaller group setting, generally speaking, and 16:12 we felt that that discussion was just part of the 16:14 learning process that needed to take place. 16:18 - Yeah. Fantastic, and I think we have a video. 16:20 Maybe we should go to that now and talk some 16:22 more. - Yeah, let's do that! - Okay, all right. 16:24 We'll go to the video that talks more about 16:25 the picture roll project. 16:28 - In our busy world, we often take for 16:30 granted that we have access to so much 16:32 information right at our fingertips through our 16:34 smartphones and other devices. We don't 16:39 realize that there are still over 1 billion 16:41 people alive on Earth today who have no 16:43 regular access to electricity, much less 16:45 modern technology. The New Beginnings picture 16:47 roll project was created just for them. 16:50 26 Christ-centered evangelistic presentations, 16:53 crafted into 7 beautiful pictures for each message 16:57 together with scripts, small group Bible study 17:00 guides, plus one additional image for each sermon, 17:03 focusing on a health topic. 17:15 Over 100,000 evangelistic meetings have been 17:19 held using the New Beginnings materials 17:21 all over the world, and our opportunity to 17:24 bring the gospel to the Third World is greatly 17:27 enhanced by bringing pictures to them. - This 17:30 is Kajiado district or county, and this 17:33 area is Maasai land. Now, the Maasais are 17:37 not prone to reading or even listening to 17:40 the radio; they are people who move from 17:43 place to place, seeking for pastures for the 17:46 animals; but I think Maasais would be 17:49 greatly magnetized by the picture rolls. - It 17:53 is awesome when you use a picture roll in a movie center 17:59 to explain biblical truth. Imagine, for 18:02 somebody who has never seen and imagined how 18:06 Jesus would come, and then he sees for the 18:10 first time that picture of Christ descending 18:13 with angels surrounding his throne, and the 18:17 people looking up towards that. Oh, it's just 18:20 an awesome revelation- so convicting. It sends 18:24 the message powerfully into the mind of the listener. 18:42 We really believe that by the time a person finishes 18:45 this series, not just the 18:48 spiritual material, but the health material will 18:51 give them the ability to live a healthful and a 18:55 long life. - Our objective, of course, 18:58 is to provide a tool for full-message evangelism 19:02 in the remote corners of the world. And in 19:04 doing this, we've pictured an audience 19:07 that includes a lot of people who have had 19:10 little or no exposure to the Bible or to 19:12 Christianity of any kind. - Often, our 19:15 teams are sharing the gospel and health 19:17 messages in jungles and villages around 19:20 the world. Many times, when we're telling a 19:23 story, we wish we had a picture. These picture 19:25 rolls are just what we need. - There's 19:28 nothing more important to God than the salvation 19:31 of men and women. That's why God used every way 19:34 possible, every means available to save them. 19:38 I am so excited about the picture roll project, 19:41 because it gives us a tool - it gives us an 19:44 opportunity for God to work. Think about it. 19:46 God is going to use this project to win 19:50 tens and thousands for His kingdom. - It's been 19:52 inspiring to see all these beautiful works 19:56 of art produced by some of the best Christian 20:00 artists on this planet to become part of this 20:03 picture roll. - I think what motivates me as 20:07 an artist to do the type of art I do is 20:09 the awareness that a painting can have a 20:11 profound impact on people who see them. 20:13 Evangelists have often used art and images to 20:16 help convey the message of sharing the gospel. 20:20 To me, a painting can be a very profound tool 20:23 of evangelism. We have the opportunity to give 20:26 people positive pictures- pictures of hope, of 20:29 truth, and if possible, a picture of God. 20:45 When I first held these picture rolls in 20:48 my hands, I was grateful to God for the fact that 20:51 ASI is doing this. These picture rolls are 20:54 durable, they are very descriptive, and I know 20:57 God will use them to advance His kingdom. 21:01 With over 120,000 series of meetings this 21:04 year, this tool is invaluable in putting 21:08 it in the hands of the laypeople to help them 21:10 with evangelism. Many of those sites do not 21:14 have access to electricity. They need a way to 21:17 share the gospel, and to share it through 21:19 pictures is an ideal way to help people 21:21 understand more about the sacrifice that has 21:24 been made on their behalf. - In our Christian 21:28 experience, the Word of God is so vital to 21:31 all that we experience with our Lord Jesus 21:34 Christ. And, many of us who have the availability 21:38 of beautiful pictures and being able to 21:41 access things online or in some kind of 21:43 program...we have a great advantage. However, 21:47 there are thousands- yes, millions of people 21:50 who don't have that advantage, and the 21:52 picture roll project is just for them; it's 21:56 for people who will take this precious 21:59 project and they will use it in total member 22:02 involvement, sharing Jesus with others. Be 22:05 a part of it. [CHILDREN SING] 22:24 Wow, that was powerful and you can really see the 22:27 benefits of having the New Beginnings picture 22:30 roll. It's just amazing, too, and they were 22:32 saying that, Steve, that many parts of the 22:35 world have very sporadic electricity or none at 22:39 all. - Yeah. The estimate right now is that 1.2 22:43 billion people on planet Earth do not have regular 22:47 access or any access at all to electricity. 22:51 - That's a staggering number. - If you say 22:57 our population is 7 point something billion, 22:59 it's 1 out of every 7 people on planet Earth 23:02 that do not have what we consider to be our 23:05 right. - Uh, yeah. - If we don't have electricity, 23:08 we're making some phone calls. Something is 23:11 wrong in the world, and we think maybe the end 23:14 has come if we're out of electricity for five 23:16 minutes. If it stretches to a couple of days, 23:19 we really believe that we've suffered; but most 23:22 of the world, you know... I mean, 1.2 billion 23:25 people without regular or good access to 23:28 electricity is amazing. - I can't tell you many 23:31 places I've preached in Africa where I've been 23:33 under a mango tree or just outside, and the 23:36 people around there- there's no electricity. 23:38 In some places, there's no running water; there's 23:41 no access to it, so this is all that they 23:44 have. So, you can't bring a PowerPoint 23:46 presentation or use the traditional New Beginnings; 23:49 the best you could use is the New Beginnings 23:51 picture rolls, which would really make a 23:53 difference. - I'm so excited about this 23:56 project. And these, right here, are hot off 23:58 the press, 'cause they just came in; is that 24:00 right? - Yes. - They're the first fruits. The 24:02 first fruits are here; they've been shipped 24:04 directly from China here to be here for 24:07 this program. So, they're printed, though, 24:09 in China. We have 7,500 of these sets printed, 24:12 and we're preparing to ship those around 24:15 the world to the divisions that need them most and 24:19 to empower those laypeople there. - And we have 24:22 Pastor Rodney sitting back here by the 24:24 picture roll, and we're going to actually take 24:26 a look at some of the pictures here. - They 24:28 are so exciting to see. There are two of them, 24:32 actually; there's Book One and Book Two. Each 24:35 one has 13 sermons that are fully scripted 24:38 here, so it's very exciting. It's on 24:40 synthetic, waterproof, tear-resistant paper, 24:43 so they're ready to go into the jungles. 24:47 - I like that. So, if I were crossing a stream 24:48 and it were to fall into the creek, it's not 24:50 ruined. - No problem. - And what did you say, 24:52 tear-proof? - Tear-resistant. - That's right, okay. [laughter] 24:56 Going to give me a challenge. And what 24:57 was the other thing? You said waterproof, 24:59 tear-resistant, and... there was one other 25:01 thing. Anyway... - It's very durable. - Very 25:03 durable. - Yes. - Fantastic. So, we're going to flip 25:06 through some of these. - Yeah! We're going to 25:08 flip through a few, and you can see the 25:10 covers-beautifully designed covers-but 25:12 each of these 26 messages includes two components: 25:17 there's the health component, first of 25:19 all; and secondly is the Bible component. 25:21 So, this being presented on the frontlines, this 25:24 health component is an extremely important part 25:27 of this, because it's very practical for the 25:31 people. Rodney is there. Rodney, you have the 25:34 image up of the first health talk, which is 25:37 the one on water, clean water, so important 25:40 around the world - absolutely essential 25:43 for people that are living in the third-world 25:45 environment to have clean water. And so, 25:48 these health talks were created specifically 25:51 for this third-world environment. These 25:53 images were developed and scripts written just 25:58 for this application. So, clean water. Like the 26:02 small group discussion, after they see that and 26:05 hear that talk, will be, "So what could you do 26:08 this week that would change your water 26:12 quality?" So, there are tips: filtering, letting 26:16 the sun cleanse the water for a period of 26:18 time; all of those things are written. 26:20 We have a booklet that has been designed and 26:23 written specifically for this project, which is 26:26 the script booklet for each of these talks. 26:29 So, the health talks are here, the Bible 26:33 lectures are here, the small group discussion 26:36 questions are here, so anyone can take this 26:39 anywhere in the world even without electricity 26:43 and present the health and the Bible together 26:46 in a powerful combination to help improve communities 26:50 and to win souls for Christ. It's amazing. 26:53 We want to show you just a few of the other 26:55 images. - Oh, that's good. I was just going 26:56 to say the illustration's just powerful on this. 26:58 Very...simple. I don't mean simple in a bad 27:01 way, but it's very- you understand. - It's clear. 27:03 - Very clear. Thank you for that. - Right. 27:07 - I like it. - And so, for instance, the 27:09 first lecture is on Daniel 2. The Bible 27:10 lecture's on Daniel 2. - Oh, that's beautiful! 27:13 - And the city of Babylon. Maybe they had thought 27:15 about, "Actually, there was a city that could 27:18 look like this;" but this is an artist's 27:20 rendition of the city of Babylon. It's a 27:22 beautiful image of the city of Babylon and 27:24 the story there of King Nebuchadnezzar and how 27:28 he was sleeping on his bed. You know, they maybe 27:30 have never seen these kinds of things before, 27:33 never thought of what that might look like. 27:35 - Wow. - And he's dreaming there. He's seeing this... 27:37 - And then you have the image! - Image, in his dream 27:41 and then he is searching for someone to interpret, 27:44 and he finds Daniel who is a man of God 27:47 on his knees before God, receives divine 27:50 enlightenment as to what the dream means. Then, 27:54 he's able to stand before the king and 27:55 actually interpret the dreams; amazing story 27:58 we find in the Bible. It builds the foundation 28:01 for the history of the world, actually, and 28:04 what we believe. And the final scene that 28:06 Nebuchadnezzar sees as the stone that is 28:10 cut out without hands and strikes the image 28:14 on its feet. And to hear the world history, the 28:17 nations of Europe, and how they... Even today, 28:20 I was listening to the news just recently - 28:23 the whole issue of European currency. 28:26 They're not going to cling together, because 28:28 the Bible says they won't. - That's right. 28:31 - It's prophetic! And we stand today seeing 28:35 that happen. - Wow. Yeah. - But you know, what 28:37 happens after the stone hits the image? - Yes. 28:40 Christ will set up a kingdom that will never 28:44 be destroyed. - This coming of Christ! This 28:47 coming of Christ. Maybe they've never seen this 28:50 kind of artwork representing that story. But this is 28:54 an amazing opportunity for us to really help 28:57 these people to get a visual idea of what 29:00 that might be. We have several of the images. 29:03 One of the ones I just love is the one of 29:06 heaven and the image of what it would be like 29:09 to be in the presence of God in a world where... 29:12 - Oh, look at that. - ...there's plenty of 29:14 water. - That's a Nathan Greene, as well, right? 29:18 - The lion will lie with the lamb and the children 29:21 will be there. And for people that have- 29:25 you're trying to imagine that just in your own 29:27 thinking is one thing, but when you see an 29:30 artist having described it with his paintbrush, 29:33 it's a beautiful thing. It helps the mind to 29:36 actually grasp the idea. - A picture's worth a 29:39 thousand words. - That's right. - Yeah! - And here, 29:42 it gives people that rendition of- of course, 29:45 it's an artist's conception. I see several of these 29:47 paintings we looked at were Nathan Greene. 29:49 I can see that, and he's a fabulous artist. 29:52 But just to be able to connect visually- you 29:56 know, I love that! What an incredible concept- 29:59 a God-ordained concept. I like that. - Pastor 30:01 Philip, the people's reaction, when you're 30:04 out there, 'cause you took the- you saw the 30:06 initial reaction to the, what'd you say, the sample 30:07 one, or the...? - Yes. - The mach up one. 30:10 That must be tremendous cause- I mean, this is 30:11 just so vivid for the- I mean, the people's 30:13 attention, what is it like when they see this? 30:15 - I mean, it was incredible, because many of them 30:17 are in rural settings with no phones or no 30:21 internet, no TV... And so, there were just 30:24 little children- just gather around. They 30:27 just absolutely loved it. And most importantly, 30:30 the message rang through. The strength of the 30:34 New Beginnings is that the message is able to 30:37 be carried by these powerful images, and 30:40 the picture roll project does the same thing. 30:42 - Yeah. It's absolutely incredible. Go ahead; 30:44 you were going to say something. - This is 30:46 the three angels' messages put together in picture 30:50 form. It's the full message; it's not just 30:53 part of it. It is the full message that we 30:55 have as Seventh-day Adventists. And it's 30:58 so exciting to think of the potential that 31:01 this has to reach millions of people that are living 31:05 in darkness. - Absolutely incredible. And I noticed 31:10 as you're flipping them over, 'cause some people- 31:11 you at home may have noticed this, too- I see 31:13 pictures on the backside. So you said there's 13 31:15 in each one, so do you flip it around? - Yes. 31:17 You turn it around; you flip it the other way. 31:19 So, in total, there's 208 graphic images. 31:23 - Really!? - So, there are 26 sermons. Each 31:26 sermon has 7 Bible images and one health image. 31:30 So, they go in order as you flip forward 31:32 in the chart, and then you turn it around, 31:34 you flip backward, and then you go to roll 31:37 #2 and repeat that. And when you're done, you've 31:39 presented 26 topics in their full complete 31:42 message. - Wow. - And it's also nice, too, 31:44 'cause you have the script book that goes 31:46 right along with it, so this is just like 31:48 the New Beginnings is- well, you mentioned DVD, 31:50 that's kind of out; it's more cloud-based now 31:51 is what it is. But you're just following 31:53 along, and like you said, a layperson can 31:55 easily do this themselves. - You just have to read 31:58 the script; that's it! Yeah, it's just easy. 32:00 It's simple. - Do we have more pictures to 32:02 look at, or can we invite you to come sit 32:04 back down here, Rodney? - We have lots and lots 32:07 of pictures to look at, but I just want to bring 32:10 us back to the Second Coming picture. This is 32:13 kind of the keynote in that we just love 32:17 around the world. - Amen. - Yeah. That image, when 32:21 you look at that... I have one on the wall 32:24 right across from my office in the hallway 32:27 there at the school. It's a huge one that 32:29 was given to us. - We have one at our school 32:31 here. - We do. - And when I look at that and 32:34 people come in and out the hallway, they stop 32:36 and they look at that. You can kind of imagine 32:40 yourself in that picture. The way that it was 32:44 painted by the artist gives a very broad 32:48 spectrum of people. There's the indigenous people and 32:52 the Caucasian people and the different races 32:55 are represented there. It's a powerful thing to 32:58 stand and think about when Christ will come 33:02 and for us to have the opportunity to be there 33:07 and to think that if we don't go out and share 33:11 this good news with people, they may not 33:13 have the opportunity to be there. It's very 33:16 sobering. - Oh, it is. - You know? And to say 33:18 we're going to depend on whether we've got 33:20 gas in the generator or the right technology 33:23 to do this, I think we need both ends of the 33:26 spectrum. We need the high-end technology, 33:29 because there's a group of people in our world 33:30 that's the only thing they're going to see 33:32 and listen to today. But we also need to 33:35 understand that there's a lot of people in the 33:37 world that need the low-end of this technology. 33:40 - The highways and the byways. - Yeah. I want 33:43 to ask Rodney just briefly to talk about 33:45 his experience. He was recently in Africa and 33:48 just returned recently from there. Rodney, 33:51 just share with us your experience of going out 33:53 to the frontline villages and kind of what that 33:56 felt like. - It was so amazing to go on this 33:59 trip to East Africa. I was just visiting the 34:02 East-Central Africa Division, and I had 34:05 the opportunity to go to north-western Kenya. 34:08 It was very remote. I spent a lot of time 34:11 traveling in Africa over the last several years, 34:14 but this was a place that really opened my 34:18 eyes to the need of these picture rolls. We went to 34:21 visit one of the villages that was there; it was 34:25 about an hour away by driving to visit the Turkana 34:29 tribe. When we were there visiting with these 34:32 people, it was astounding to see the conditions 34:36 that they lived in. Not only was there no 34:39 electricity; they walk 10 miles one way to 34:42 get water. - 10 miles. - 10 miles. - That's one 34:45 way. So 20 miles round-trip. - Can you imagine that? 34:48 - And this is water for drinking and for bathing 34:51 and... - This is water for everything! - Wow. 34:53 - This is their whole life. So when they 34:55 come back... You know, you can only carry so much 34:58 water in one trip. When they come back and they're 35:01 sharing the water, we had a meeting, so they 35:04 were bringing the water for the children and 35:06 people who were thirsty. What did they use for 35:09 a cup? The little lid on the top of the 35:13 container, which is like a soda pop lid. - That's 35:16 not much water at all. - Hardly at all. I really- 35:19 it was shocking to me. I was speechless. I 35:23 mean, right now, I'm just struggling to find 35:26 the words for the challenge that these people lived 35:29 in. - And that much water is for how much 35:33 time? I mean, is that for an hour or two, or 35:36 are we talking a day? - We're talking a day. 35:40 It's a very challenging situation. The reason 35:44 that we were up there is because Light is doing 35:47 a project, and we wanted to see the feasibility 35:50 of reaching these people with the gospel. These 35:53 picture rolls are going to be perfect to reach 35:56 people like this. There are so many villages, 35:59 as Philip was mentioning, that are just like this! 36:04 They don't have electricity, they don't have the water, 36:06 they don't have the resources... We need 36:08 to bring them the living water, and the need is 36:11 huge for this project! We don't recognize, but 36:14 it's huge. - Wow. - So, let's just talk a little 36:17 bit about that, Rodney, as we're talking about 36:21 this-the need itself. You were at the division 36:24 year-end meetings in East-Central Africa. 36:26 We've been working on this project now; the 36:29 final version is about- it's taken us about two 36:32 years to get this thing printed and ready to 36:35 ship. We're ready to ship now. They're 36:37 requesting, now, how many they need. What 36:40 was the result when they were asking how many 36:43 they needed? - So, the president of the division 36:47 asked the union presidents there to submit their 36:50 request for how many they would like. In each 36:53 container-we're talking a shipping container-we 36:57 can put 1,500 sets of these here. The next 37:02 day, I got an email from the ministerial association 37:06 there, and they said, "We would like 23 37:10 containers only for East-Central Africa 37:14 Division." 23 containers! - 34,000 sets of these 37:20 picture rolls... That is amazing. - We feel 37:22 the need there. - We only printed 7,500, so... 37:24 - That's what I was going to say, right? 37:26 These are hot off the press, and we have 7,500, 37:28 but yet, they requested 34,000. - That's just 37:31 one of three divisions in Africa! - So the need 37:35 is great. - The need is huge, and the potential 37:38 to have the gospel presented this way is 37:43 almost without measurement, because people are so 37:47 thirsty in that area- not just for physical 37:49 water, but for spiritual light that I would believe 37:53 it would have a huge impact to have this 37:56 kind of tool in the hands of laypeople on the 38:00 frontlines. Now, reality is, I would not survive 38:03 in sub-Saharan Africa very long. I'm just too 38:08 used to the things that we have here-to water. 38:12 I couldn't survive on a teaspoon of water 38:14 every few hours...you know? I drink bottles 38:18 at a time. So, the fact that those people live 38:21 there and they can be trained and empowered 38:25 with this tool to do this work is huge. It's an 38:29 opportunity that we don't really want to 38:31 miss. - So, talk to us about how we can get 38:34 involved. I mean, the need is incredible. I 38:38 just can't even imagine people living in those 38:41 conditions; but the biggest thing is not 38:44 only the physical conditions but people perishing 38:46 because of lack of knowledge of the gospel. 38:50 I mean, physically, yes- we want to help, but 38:53 spiritually, they don't know Jesus living in 38:57 that darkness. So, this picture roll project can 39:01 bring the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 39:04 connected with the health message in some health 39:08 tips for them in their community. So, tell us 39:11 how we can get involved in this project. - Well, 39:15 $100 can give one person on the frontlines a 39:18 picture roll, and they can be empowered to 39:20 preach and to share the good news of the 39:23 Adventist message-just $100. - $100 for two 39:26 of these, then? - Yeah. - Because the part one 39:28 and two-the set. - The whole set comes in a 39:30 container that is protected for them and 39:33 with the scripts and with the picture rolls 39:36 and everything. So, $100 empowers a layperson 39:39 on the frontlines to do this, and we've set 39:41 up a website and we'll giving that address in 39:44 a few minutes as far as where they can go to 39:47 understand this. You know, as I'm thinking 39:49 about this project, and having been involved 39:52 with it for a couple of years, and I'm thinking, 39:54 it's never going to happen, it's taking way too long. 39:56 " People are dying on the frontlines. 39:59 And if they die from lack of physical water, 40:02 that's one thing; but if they're dying for lack 40:06 of spiritual nourishment and water, that's a 40:10 responsibility we need to take very carefully 40:13 and consider what it means. When we live in a situation, 40:17 oftentimes, where we don't think about the 40:21 people that are living in different situations 40:23 like that, we think of our own selves. Many 40:26 times, we're thinking, "How am I going to get 40:29 my next TV?" Not, "How am I going to get a 40:32 cup of water?" You know? This is a different 40:36 paradigm than we live in. And to understand 40:39 that we can have impact there through empowering 40:42 laypeople and sharing the good news of the 40:44 gospel on the frontlines... You know, Jesus said 40:47 to His disciples as He was leaving, He said, 40:51 "Go therefore and teach all nations." You know? 40:55 He didn't say, "Go to just part of it," or, 40:58 "Go to where people to where it's easy." - "Go 41:02 to where they have electricity." - Go everywhere 41:04 and tell the good news. So, you know, even 41:07 though we can't go, we can empower people to 41:10 go. So this opportunity to engage in this frontline 41:15 initiative is very powerful; and what we 41:17 need at this point is hundreds of people 41:20 that would step up and sponsor one, two, five, 41:23 10... $1,000 for most of us is not something 41:27 we couldn't do...you know? That would be 10 41:30 picture rolls on the frontline with souls in 41:33 the kingdom because of it. - Yeah, I'm just 41:35 excited too, because each set is reaching 41:38 who knows how many lives, because these are so 41:40 durable; these things are going to last, in 41:42 my opinion, for years. So, this is just gonna- 41:44 the ripple effect, and one set, $100...you 41:47 don't even know how many souls this is going to 41:48 impact. And this is what's exciting, 'cause 41:50 you can be at home, saying, "Okay, frontline... 41:53 I can't get out, I can't do this; there's no way." 41:55 But hey, we can! With $100, we'll sponsor one 41:58 set of these, and then the frontline missionaries 42:01 out there, sharing the gospel to who knows 42:04 how many people. - You know, there's another 42:06 group of people, though, that I think we need to 42:08 recognize. - Okay! - And there are some people, 42:11 even in the North American area and other 42:14 areas that have intentions, and God has given them a 42:18 burden to go themselves. - Good. Thank you. - This 42:21 is a tool that they can take to the frontlines. 42:24 They don't have to go without a tool. They 42:28 can go now with a tool. - So you're saying I 42:30 could actually go to the website and purchase a 42:32 set myself that comes with the script... - You 42:35 know, we're going to need to put that up 42:36 there. I think right now, it's just a 42:38 donate-where-you-can-sponsor set, but that's a really 42:40 great idea where we could put a link on there that 42:43 they could actually go there and purchase a 42:46 set for themselves where they could take it to 42:49 the frontlines with them. - Amen. Amen. 42:51 - Rodney, you were going to say something. 42:52 Go ahead. - I've done a lot of mission trips, 42:55 and many times, when we plan mission trips, we 42:58 take all of our gadgets with us and we leave 43:01 with all of them. If we do this, we can take 43:04 something that's reproducible by the 43:06 people that were evangelizing, and then they can 43:09 continue it on. If we have a fancy projector 43:12 or whatever, it might work for a little while, 43:15 but then a power surge comes and that's the 43:18 end of it. So with these picture rolls, 43:20 they really can last a long time. Do you 43:23 remember the early ASI picture rolls by any 43:25 chance? - I remember the Sabbath School 43:27 rolls; I remember that we would see it for 43:29 missionaries and stuff, and I'd even have my 43:31 Sabbath School class as a little kid. Those 43:33 were exciting to see the pictures. - There are 43:35 still some of those that have lasted all the test 43:37 of time. I see them when I travel around 43:40 the world, and I think that this is going to 43:42 be something that is fresh; it's with our 43:46 most current graphics and with the best 43:49 artists that we have in the Adventist church, 43:51 and they're going to make an indelible 43:53 impression upon people for years to come. It's 43:57 going to be amazing. - Pastor Philip, I mean, 43:58 I know you've traveled. You mentioned earlier 44:00 and gave us some experiences of traveling 44:01 or being in East Africa- right?- yourself. The 44:05 need there is tremendous. So, when you go and 44:08 have a series- do you call these evangelistic 44:11 series? - Yes! Yes. - Okay. How many people do 44:14 you think would come out on average? - Probably 44:17 5,000. Yeah. I mean, a lot of people. - Whoa. 44:20 - And sometimes, they'll just be gathered around 44:22 the tree or outside or under a small tent 44:26 with no electricity. - And no microphone 44:29 or anything. It's just so hard for us to? 44:32 - Put your preaching voice on. "Jesus is 44:35 able to save you!" [laughter] - And what's 44:37 so powerful to me and so moving is that you'd 44:39 have young people from the little ones all the way 44:42 to those that have lived many years, 44:44 coming, and are just soaking in the Word of 44:47 God. 'Cause not only, I think, are they intrigued 44:49 by just the graphics; it's what's being 44:51 presented. - Yes. - It's the Word of God, and 44:54 it will not return void. - The Adventist message. 44:56 - Yeah, that's right. Go ahead; you had something 44:57 else you wanted to share. - I was just going to say 44:59 that, you know, as we look for instance that 45:03 the Second Coming image. - Amen. It's so powerful. 45:06 - We ponder even ourselves in that spot and we say, 45:09 "What could we have done to bring more 45:11 people to that spot where they would be ready when 45:15 Jesus comes?" And I think that's the passion 45:17 we share as Seventh-day Adventist Christians 45:20 and as, even, not Seventh-day Adventist Christians. 45:23 Christians around the world, we share this 45:24 passion to get the good news to the whole world, 45:27 and we know that what the Bible says, "When 45:29 this is done, then Jesus will come." So, there's 45:33 this promise of His return that, personally, 45:36 I'm looking forward to and excited that it's 45:39 coming soon...but we've got some work to do, 45:41 and this is an opportunity for us to engage in doing 45:45 this together. - I agree with that, and I think 45:47 what's also really touching me is there's 45:49 a need out there; there's a cry. - Yes. - "We want 45:52 this, we need this, we want the gospel," and 45:54 I think it's our responsibility to be 45:57 able to meet that need. Again, hit those figures 45:59 right now, 'cause this is just one region of 46:01 the world. So, give us those figures one more 46:03 time, 'cause it's absolutely powerful. Let's start, again, 46:05 with 1.25 billion without electricity? - 1.2 billion. 46:09 - 1.2 billion is the estimate that either 46:11 do not have any electricity or very limited access to 46:15 electricity. - Okay. And then the figures 46:17 then that were just given... - From the 46:18 East-Central Africa... - Division. - So, the 46:22 need there alone in this one small geographic 46:28 area is 23 containers of 1,500 picture rolls 46:33 each. - Which was 34,000. - Plus; yes. And that's 46:37 just one place. I know that the need in the 46:42 rest of Africa and many places in India are 46:46 still in need of a tool like this; and in the 46:49 jungles, we have a lot of people that still 46:51 live in jungles that- they're not going to 46:54 see any electricity coming any time soon; 46:57 I'll tell you that. - So, how does the script 47:00 work for different languages? So, obviously, 47:02 the person there, they have to know English 47:04 and to read English then translate it in their head 47:06 to the local language, or do you print these 47:08 scripts in different languages? - We have 47:10 not translated the scripts into other 47:13 languages. We're depending on the local 47:15 division to do the translation for themselves. 47:19 It's relatively a simple script and can be pretty 47:23 easily translated so they would take this 47:25 document, translate it into the local dialect, 47:27 and furnish it to their people. - Okay. - The 47:30 other thing is that probably many of those 47:33 people in that situation that would be trained, 47:35 they may not be able to read, but they have, 47:38 through their lives... - I didn't think about 47:41 that; yes. - They have learned how to tell 47:43 stories. It's the way they pass their history; 47:46 it's the way they take care of passing messages; 47:49 it's the way they communicate. And if 47:52 they've heard the story several times, I think 47:55 they'll be able to go do it. I mean, when you 47:57 think of like, the demoniac and he had a brief 48:00 contact with Jesus...but Jesus says, "Now you 48:03 go and you share your testimony." So, these 48:06 people, once they've heard that story, have 48:09 bought into it themselves, they'll be powerful 48:11 missionaries. - Oh, amen. - So, do you have people 48:13 in place within the different unions or 48:16 conferences to train people as far as if 48:18 they're not able to read the script and 48:20 to train them how to implement this project? 48:23 - In January in South Africa, we'll be doing 48:25 the initial training with the Sabbath school 48:28 departments that will be meeting from across 48:30 Africa and will be there to train them on 48:33 this initial training. We'll train the pastors 48:36 and the leaders that come who will then go 48:38 home and train their people. So, we're 48:41 rolling it out in that way, and we've committed 48:44 ourselves to go. If they're getting a 48:48 container in their division, we're committed 48:51 to go and train and to help them to get this 48:54 moving forward in a way that will be a huge 48:57 blessing to them. - Amen. - One thing I also wanted 48:59 to mention is that if you look at the pictures, 49:02 you will see that there are no words there. 49:05 - I noticed that. - And that is because we 49:08 wanted to make it so it is usable worldwide. 49:10 - That's great. - So, the script is really 49:13 the only thing that needs to be translated. We're 49:16 really excited, because it doesn't take a lot 49:18 of work to translate our script book. - And 49:21 since it's based on the New Beginnings evangelistic 49:24 series, that's already translated into 35 49:26 languages. - Good point. - So you could download 49:28 the language of your choice and use that, 49:32 because it's the same script - same beautiful 49:35 message that shares the whole of Jesus and the 49:38 Adventist message. - Amen. The heartbeat of 3ABN 49:40 is evangelism. You know, ever since God called 49:44 Danny Shelton 34 years ago to launch a television 49:47 network that would reach the world with 49:49 the undiluted three angels' messages, one 49:51 that would counteract the counterfeit, our 49:53 heartbeat has been evangelism...and I know 49:57 the heartbeat of ASI is evangelism and 50:00 sharing Christ in the marketplace, the heartbeat 50:02 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is 50:05 evangelism - total member involvement. 50:08 And I love to see the entities, the ministries 50:11 coming together to help spread the gospel, and 50:14 this is where you at home can be involved. 50:18 You can join hands, as it were, with us, with 50:22 New Beginnings, the picture roll project, 50:25 and helping to spread the gospel to those 50:28 dark corners of Africa or India...maybe the 50:32 Pacific Islands. Maybe some of the jungle areas. 50:36 Is there any in South America? - Yes; the 50:38 Amazon Jungle is huge. There's a huge need 50:40 there in the Amazon Jungle. - Okay. So, 50:43 what we want to do now is to put up contact 50:46 information. We encourage you at home; I know 50:48 Greg and I- we haven't even talked about this, 50:51 but I know we want to be involved and we want 50:54 to support this project, and we want to encourage 50:56 you. Just $100 will pay for the picture roll 51:00 set-the part one and part two, the entire 51:04 series-and the script for a local community. 51:07 That's not just one set that just goes to one 51:10 person! That can go to thousands of people who 51:13 have not heard the gospel before. Maybe 51:15 you can give 100. Maybe you can give 500. Maybe 51:19 you can give 5,000 or 50,000. Right now, 51:22 we're just calling on you to pray what the 51:25 Lord would have you give. See what is in your 51:28 hand, what is in your purse or pocketbook, 51:31 and how you can support and help this gospel 51:34 message go to those corners of the earth. 51:37 So, right now, let's go to that contact information. 51:41 - The ASI New Beginnings picture roll project was 51:45 especially designed for the over 1 billion 51:47 people who have no access to regular 51:50 electricity, much less modern technology. 51:53 These brilliant illustrations capture the imagination 51:56 of those who are thirsting for spiritual 51:59 answers. For more information, please 52:01 visit their website, PictureRoll.org. 52:03 That's PictureRoll.org. You may also call them 52:08 at (443) 391-7235 or write to ASI 9705 52:16 Patuxent Woods Dr. Columbia, Maryland 21046. |
Revised 2019-02-20