I want to spend my life 00:00:01.60\00:00:06.80 Mending broken people 00:00:07.40\00:00:12.27 I want to spend my life 00:00:12.34\00:00:17.91 Removing pain 00:00:18.65\00:00:23.18 Lord, let my words 00:00:23.82\00:00:28.76 Heal a heart that hurts 00:00:30.03\00:00:33.96 I want to spend my life 00:00:34.46\00:00:39.37 Mending broken people 00:00:40.30\00:00:44.74 I want to spend my life 00:00:45.67\00:00:50.55 Mending broken people 00:00:51.28\00:00:56.05 - Hello and welcome to another 3ABN Today 00:01:10.00\00:01:11.93 program. I'm Jill Morikone, and we're so glad that 00:01:12.07\00:01:15.20 you've taken time from your day to join us. I 00:01:15.30\00:01:18.14 love the Today programs, because we get to feature 00:01:18.24\00:01:20.28 what God is doing in people's lives all around 00:01:20.38\00:01:23.31 the world-and today is no exception. I have with 00:01:23.38\00:01:26.58 me some, we're gonna say, long-time friends. I like that 00:01:26.68\00:01:31.05 word much better than "old friends," because that would 00:01:31.12\00:01:33.62 date us, and we don't want to do that. But 00:01:33.72\00:01:35.62 some long-time friends who have been passionate 00:01:35.72\00:01:37.66 about the work of God for years! But God is 00:01:37.73\00:01:40.30 calling them now to a new venture, a new 00:01:40.33\00:01:43.37 journey, as it were, and they're stepping out with 00:01:43.47\00:01:46.17 Adventist Frontier Missions, doing mission work in Papua 00:01:46.27\00:01:51.24 New Guinea. So, we want to talk with them about 00:01:51.31\00:01:53.11 their journey, what led them to desire to do this 00:01:53.17\00:01:56.48 mission service, and how God is working in their life- 00:01:56.61\00:01:59.68 so I want to introduce them to you at this time: 00:01:59.75\00:02:02.15 Pastor Jason Slagger. So glad you're here, and your 00:02:02.25\00:02:06.32 beautiful wife Midori. So glad both of you are 00:02:06.42\00:02:10.86 here. We're going to start with Midori just 00:02:10.96\00:02:12.79 for a moment, 'cause Midori, we worked together as 00:02:12.89\00:02:15.96 co-counselors, I guess you could say-Young 00:02:16.06\00:02:18.30 Disciple, Youth Bible Camp... Would it be 20 00:02:18.40\00:02:22.24 years ago, more than 20 years ago? - Yeah, about 00:02:22.34\00:02:24.91 20 years ago. Yeah. - That was when Young Disciple was on 00:02:25.01\00:02:28.58 the campus there of Heartland campus in? in Virginia. 00:02:28.68\00:02:31.85 - Yeah. - It was an incredible experience. - It was a blessing 00:02:31.95\00:02:36.75 for me. - Yeah, absolutely. I remember it distinctly, 00:02:36.85\00:02:40.99 and I don't know why. I think it was the first 00:02:41.06\00:02:43.09 time in my own walk with God that I learned you 00:02:43.19\00:02:46.59 could prayer for other people. I know it seems 00:02:46.73\00:02:48.63 like, why do you wait till you're almost 20 to 00:02:48.70\00:02:50.90 learn that? But I remember just praying together for 00:02:51.00\00:02:54.74 the salvation of our campers; and what a difference that 00:02:54.84\00:02:59.67 made in my own heart. So, thank you for that. 00:02:59.77\00:03:02.04 - Yes! It was a blessing for me to be able to 00:03:02.18\00:03:04.68 be with a slightly older young person and work 00:03:06.11\00:03:10.29 together and be kind of part of the team. That 00:03:10.39\00:03:13.86 was a blessing. - Amen! And Pastor Jason, probably 00:03:13.92\00:03:16.62 18 years ago, you were here at 3ABN doing Faith 00:03:16.69\00:03:19.49 Chapel. - Yeah, that was a long time ago. I try 00:03:19.56\00:03:22.00 to forget about that. [laughter] Life's changed 00:03:22.06\00:03:26.33 since then. - Yes, absolutely. I know you 00:03:26.43\00:03:29.34 spoke at GYC here. Our audience, you might have 00:03:29.40\00:03:31.17 seen Pastor Jason. You spoke in the evening meetings 00:03:31.27\00:03:34.38 for GYC a couple years ago. But tell us a little 00:03:34.48\00:03:37.15 bit before we get into the mission service just 00:03:37.21\00:03:38.81 about your own journey as God led you into pastoral 00:03:38.91\00:03:42.42 ministry. - Yeah. Well, when I graduated high 00:03:42.48\00:03:45.09 school, I didn't take the traditional route of going 00:03:45.15\00:03:46.65 straight into college. Nothing against college; 00:03:46.72\00:03:50.23 it just didn't work out for me. I went to a small 00:03:50.29\00:03:52.89 school where we studied the Bible for a month, 00:03:52.96\00:03:55.73 and then we did a mission trip for a month, and that 00:03:55.80\00:03:58.13 seemed to work real good for me. So I did that for 00:03:58.20\00:04:01.37 a year, and then I did Bible work in Hawaii 00:04:01.44\00:04:03.94 for two-and-a-half years. I always like to tell people 00:04:04.04\00:04:05.97 that somebody's gotta minister to people in Hawaii 00:04:06.07\00:04:08.74 and it might as well be me. [laughter] So that 00:04:08.81\00:04:11.11 was a wonderful experience to do Bible work there on 00:04:11.21\00:04:13.65 the Big Island. And then... I felt the need to get a 00:04:13.75\00:04:17.12 little bit more training on how to do Bible work 00:04:17.22\00:04:19.05 and share my faith, and so I decide to go to AFCOE. 00:04:19.12\00:04:21.59 That was in 2003. Wonderful experience there, learning 00:04:22.29\00:04:26.39 how to share my faith. - And tell us what AFCOE 00:04:26.49\00:04:28.60 is, if someone's tuning in and they say, "What 00:04:28.66\00:04:30.57 in the world is AFCOE?" - Yeah, what's AFCOE. 00:04:30.63\00:04:31.97 It's Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism. And when 00:04:32.00\00:04:35.30 I was there, they let us know about an evangelism 00:04:35.37\00:04:38.24 training program that they were doing to train people 00:04:38.34\00:04:40.58 how to be an evangelist. I love to travel, I love to 00:04:40.68\00:04:44.18 preach, I loved sharing my faith, and so I was 00:04:44.25\00:04:46.88 young, I was single... It was just right up my 00:04:46.98\00:04:49.45 alley. So I investigated into that and ended up 00:04:49.52\00:04:52.79 doing evangelism with Amazing Facts for seven-and-a-half 00:04:52.89\00:04:55.99 years. During that time, Midori and I got married, and 00:04:56.79\00:05:00.13 we were on the road for five-and-a-half years 00:05:00.20\00:05:02.13 together before we transitioned to pastoral work. - Amen! So 00:05:02.20\00:05:05.57 tell us how you met, just quickly. I know the whole 00:05:05.63\00:05:07.47 program isn't about that, but we just want to get 00:05:07.54\00:05:09.50 to know you as a couple before we see about your 00:05:09.60\00:05:12.01 mission work. So how did you meet? - Well, we... 00:05:12.11\00:05:14.81 It's a funny story, but anyway... - It's a LONG 00:05:15.58\00:05:17.71 story. [laughter] - But we'll give you the reader's 00:05:17.81\00:05:19.81 digest version of it. So my family lives in 00:05:19.91\00:05:23.45 England, or lived in England- my mom and my step-dad 00:05:23.55\00:05:25.69 at the time-and she was traveling with a choir in 00:05:25.75\00:05:29.02 Europe doing concerts, and they finished up in 00:05:29.12\00:05:31.09 England when I was there visiting my family for the 00:05:31.19\00:05:34.50 holidays. Her and her sister and two friends, they wanted 00:05:34.60\00:05:39.23 to stay and kind of see England a little bit, and 00:05:39.30\00:05:42.30 my mom said, "Well, we've got a big house. Why don't 00:05:42.40\00:05:44.81 you come and stay at our place?" So that was the 00:05:44.91\00:05:46.91 first time I met them... or met her, anyway. - Yeah. 00:05:47.01\00:05:50.08 So at that point, I was still at school and focused 00:05:50.18\00:05:55.72 on that, and I just knew that he was a very good 00:05:55.82\00:05:59.75 guy. I saw how tidy his room was and how nice 00:05:59.85\00:06:04.43 he was to his mother, and that was it! We 00:06:04.53\00:06:07.56 left. And unbeknownst to me, a year later, he 00:06:07.66\00:06:11.37 was talking to my parents and asking if he could 00:06:11.53\00:06:15.04 date me. - Aww. - So, that's where it started. 00:06:15.10\00:06:19.04 - That's pretty special. Absolutely. So then you 00:06:19.14\00:06:22.64 married, you worked for Amazing Facts as an evangelist, 00:06:22.74\00:06:27.28 and then God called you to- did you go to Michigan 00:06:27.42\00:06:29.78 Conference next, or...? - Correct, yeah. - Okay. 00:06:29.88\00:06:31.89 - So we had our first little baby girl, Evangeline, and 00:06:31.99\00:06:34.29 then the Lord opened up a door for us to go into 00:06:34.39\00:06:37.23 pastoral work, and we've been in Michigan Conference 00:06:37.26\00:06:40.80 for seven-and-a-half years. - Amen! Same church or 00:06:40.83\00:06:43.37 different churches in that...? - Two districts. - Nice, nice. 00:06:43.43\00:06:47.34 That's wonderful. - Good experience. - Oh, absolutely. 00:06:47.40\00:06:50.34 You know, when I think of Jason and Midori, I 00:06:50.44\00:06:52.97 think of a couple that have a heart for God 00:06:53.07\00:06:56.58 and a passion to live, we could say, practice what 00:06:56.68\00:07:01.35 they preach. Some people get up and preach, and 00:07:01.48\00:07:03.82 they preach big, and that's fabulous...but then maybe, 00:07:03.95\00:07:07.06 somehow, the experience behind the scenes is 00:07:07.16\00:07:09.99 different. But when I think of Jason and Midori, 00:07:10.09\00:07:12.59 they're a couple who love God and want to follow 00:07:12.69\00:07:16.56 Him. I have always appreciated that. I'm not sure I've ever 00:07:16.67\00:07:19.47 even told you guys that, but I have always appreciated 00:07:19.57\00:07:22.20 that about you-that you're authentic in your own 00:07:22.30\00:07:25.97 Christianity and in your walk with God, so... - By 00:07:26.07\00:07:29.14 God's grace. - Yes. I think we have a picture 00:07:29.24\00:07:31.88 of your family. - Yes! Yeah. - So let's take 00:07:31.98\00:07:34.02 a look... Oh! Tell us who's who. - So, 00:07:34.12\00:07:37.49 Evangeline is our oldest, and then in the middle is 00:07:37.55\00:07:39.79 Verity. She's our youngest. Evangeline is 7, Verity 00:07:39.89\00:07:43.56 is 3, and then Christian on the end there, he's 5. 00:07:43.69\00:07:46.06 We named her Evangeline because we wanted her 00:07:46.13\00:07:52.80 to be an evangelist to take the gospel to the 00:07:52.90\00:07:55.50 world. We named Verity Verity because it means 00:07:55.60\00:07:58.97 "truth," and we want her to always be truthful and 00:07:59.07\00:08:01.98 share the truth, as well. And we named Christian 00:08:02.08\00:08:05.38 Christian because we want him to be like Christ. - Amen. 00:08:05.48\00:08:08.08 That's wonderful. What great meanings for that. 00:08:08.18\00:08:10.89 - They keep us busy. - Yeah! [laughter] I can only imagine. 00:08:10.99\00:08:15.09 So, let's read a Bible verse here. This is 2 Peter 00:08:15.76\00:08:18.46 3 verses 11 and 12, and then I'll let you all share 00:08:18.56\00:08:21.83 why this verse means something to you. 2 Peter 3:11, 12. 00:08:21.93\00:08:25.30 "Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, 00:08:25.40\00:08:27.70 what manner of persons ought you to be in holy 00:08:27.80\00:08:29.94 conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening 00:08:30.04\00:08:32.84 the coming of the day of God, because of which the 00:08:32.94\00:08:35.91 heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the 00:08:36.04\00:08:38.51 elements will melt with fervent heat?" - So, 00:08:38.58\00:08:42.98 the reason this verse means so much to me is that we 00:08:43.12\00:08:48.12 as Christians, we know that Jesus is coming 00:08:48.22\00:08:50.73 soon, and everything in this world is going 00:08:51.69\00:08:54.10 to be burned up; it's going to be done. So, 00:08:54.20\00:08:56.30 knowing that, what kind of people should we be, 00:08:56.97\00:09:00.20 and what should we be doing? We should be doing 00:09:00.27\00:09:02.77 God's business and telling others that He's coming 00:09:02.87\00:09:07.48 soon and the gospel that Jesus died for them. That 00:09:07.54\00:09:13.75 passage has meant more and more to us as we've 00:09:13.85\00:09:18.12 gotten more serious, really, about doing God's 00:09:18.92\00:09:22.69 work and doing what He needs done right now. 00:09:22.76\00:09:27.13 [Amen.] - You know, I remember my first mission 00:09:27.20\00:09:31.70 trip to the Philippines- it was the first time I've 00:09:31.80\00:09:33.30 ever gone on a mission trip. I remember standing 00:09:33.40\00:09:36.67 at the airport, getting ready to come back to 00:09:36.74\00:09:38.37 the States, and just seeing all of this mass 00:09:38.44\00:09:41.88 of humanity who came to our seminars and were 00:09:41.98\00:09:46.28 just hungry for the truth. I was 18 years old at 00:09:46.35\00:09:50.32 the time, and I vividly remember thinking that 00:09:50.42\00:09:54.29 there are so many hungry people, and if everybody 00:09:55.72\00:09:57.83 needs to hear the gospel before Jesus comes, then 00:09:57.93\00:10:00.83 I need to do something about this. - Mm. - And 00:10:00.96\00:10:03.06 it was at that time that I felt God calling me into 00:10:03.16\00:10:05.53 ministry to help get the gospel to the world so 00:10:05.63\00:10:09.04 that we can hasten the coming of Jesus. - Yeah. 00:10:09.14\00:10:11.84 Would you say that was your first influence toward 00:10:11.91\00:10:13.84 ministry or mission work, or were there influences 00:10:13.94\00:10:16.75 earlier than that? - No, that was... - That was 00:10:16.81\00:10:18.48 the first? - Yeah, that was my first...yeah. 00:10:18.58\00:10:20.52 - Wow, okay. So, you're a pastor, so you could 00:10:20.62\00:10:23.79 think, "Well that's ministry; that's sharing the gospel." 00:10:23.89\00:10:26.79 What led you to feel like, "Okay, I need to 00:10:26.89\00:10:30.46 do more," or, "I need to do more than just pastoring 00:10:30.53\00:10:33.19 here"-God's calling you overseas. - Well, I grew 00:10:33.29\00:10:38.43 up with all the Adventist mission stories, and I'd 00:10:38.53\00:10:41.20 love to sit on a couch and listen to my mom 00:10:41.34\00:10:43.24 read. Those mission stories were very informative in 00:10:43.34\00:10:47.38 my life as a young person; but I didn't really understand 00:10:47.48\00:10:51.31 the vastness of the need, you know? There's 3 billion 00:10:52.51\00:10:55.88 people who've never even heard the name of Jesus. 00:10:55.95\00:10:58.29 How do you even grasp a number like that? And it 00:10:58.39\00:11:03.56 was about 10 years ago, a good friend of mine, Kyle 00:11:03.63\00:11:05.79 Tumberg, who's a missionary with Adventist Frontier 00:11:05.86\00:11:08.36 Missions... He came, he was getting ready to 00:11:08.43\00:11:11.03 launch to Thailand, and he was sharing with us 00:11:11.13\00:11:13.37 his story of how God led him there. He showed us 00:11:13.47\00:11:16.87 a video of the need in the mission field- 00:11:16.94\00:11:20.21 you know, the 10/40 window. - Yeah. - And I remember 00:11:20.31\00:11:22.91 weeping as he shared this video with us. Just the 00:11:23.01\00:11:27.95 amount of people who have never even heard of Jesus, 00:11:28.05\00:11:31.15 and here we are in America. I was down south doing a 00:11:31.25\00:11:35.02 seminar at the time-you know, in the Bible Belt. 00:11:35.12\00:11:37.53 Churches all over the place; Christianity's just accessible 00:11:37.63\00:11:42.53 to everybody; it's the norm. And then he's showing me 00:11:42.63\00:11:46.03 this video of billions of people who have 00:11:46.13\00:11:48.40 never even heard the name of Jesus, and that was, 00:11:48.50\00:11:50.57 for me, a very... It was kind of a turning point 00:11:50.67\00:11:53.11 in my life that I wanted to do something about 00:11:53.21\00:11:56.44 helping that. - Yeah. Wow... What about you, 00:11:56.51\00:11:59.55 Midori? Did you feel the call at the same time as 00:11:59.65\00:12:01.45 Jason, or was it different? - Actually, since around 00:12:01.55\00:12:06.09 the time I graduated from college, I knew that I wanted 00:12:06.15\00:12:09.09 to be a missionary and I was going to be-in my 00:12:09.19\00:12:12.49 plan-I was going to be like Amy Carmichael, the 00:12:12.59\00:12:16.00 famous missionary to India. She just went out there 00:12:16.10\00:12:19.80 by herself, and she lived and died among the people 00:12:19.90\00:12:22.80 as one of them, and that was my plan. But then, 00:12:22.94\00:12:27.11 Jason came along, God brought him into my 00:12:27.18\00:12:29.74 life, and God made it clear that this is His 00:12:29.81\00:12:35.12 plan for me-that being a single missionary was 00:12:35.22\00:12:40.06 not where He was leading. So, my plans for missions 00:12:40.16\00:12:46.39 got put on hold, but I've always loved reading the 00:12:46.49\00:12:50.33 mission stories and the updates from the mission 00:12:50.43\00:12:55.70 field. We've always tried to support missions with 00:12:55.80\00:12:59.74 our finances; made it a priority. But now, God 00:12:59.87\00:13:04.75 has called us up a little higher, I guess you could 00:13:04.91\00:13:09.48 say. - Wow. So can I ask, if this is not too 00:13:09.58\00:13:12.55 personal of a question: so, you felt God calling 00:13:12.65\00:13:16.79 you to mission work right out of college. You're 00:13:16.89\00:13:18.63 thinking, "I'm going to be a single missionary, God's 00:13:18.73\00:13:21.76 calling me to do this," and yet, for some reason, 00:13:21.80\00:13:24.13 God said no, and God said, "I want you to 00:13:24.20\00:13:26.27 marry Jason. You'd have a family, serve as this 00:13:26.33\00:13:29.34 pastoral couple... Then, I'm going to call you 00:13:29.40\00:13:31.74 into mission work." Now, I know God's plans are 00:13:31.77\00:13:34.21 always way better than ours, and we can't always 00:13:34.24\00:13:36.08 see that. But looking back now, what do you 00:13:36.14\00:13:38.91 think are some of the things that God was maybe wanting 00:13:38.98\00:13:42.32 you learn in the process of that?-the waiting time, 00:13:42.42\00:13:45.82 you could say. - Mm. - Yes. I think-... There are so 00:13:45.89\00:13:48.96 many things that I have learned in that interim, 00:13:49.02\00:13:52.26 just the experience of being a mom, I think, is 00:13:53.90\00:13:58.70 going to be very helpful in the mission field, learning 00:13:58.83\00:14:02.50 patience, learning just to buckle down and do 00:14:02.60\00:14:06.37 what needs to be done instead of, maybe, my 00:14:06.47\00:14:10.71 glamorized imagination of what a missionary 00:14:10.81\00:14:14.98 would do. - That makes sense; absolutely. What 00:14:15.08\00:14:17.75 are some of the demographics of Papua New Guinea? Are 00:14:17.82\00:14:20.49 there a lot of Christians there? Do we need to 00:14:20.59\00:14:22.96 go there to evangelize, or...? What's it like there? 00:14:23.02\00:14:25.69 - So, Papua New Guinea is a pretty interesting 00:14:26.19\00:14:29.06 place. It's the most linguistically diverse 00:14:29.16\00:14:31.23 place in the world. There are over 800 languages 00:14:31.30\00:14:33.30 that are spoken in Papua New Guinea. It's technically 00:14:33.37\00:14:36.97 not part of the 10/40 window that you hear 00:14:37.07\00:14:39.31 a lot about. If you go to a website called 00:14:39.37\00:14:42.54 Joshua Project, they kind of track of all the unreached 00:14:42.64\00:14:45.71 people groups in the world. Papua New Guinea 00:14:45.78\00:14:48.85 is technically a reached country. There are a lot 00:14:48.92\00:14:52.19 of Christians that are there; missionaries have 00:14:52.29\00:14:54.92 been in Papua New Guinea for quite some time. So 00:14:54.99\00:14:57.39 then the question is, why are we going there 00:14:57.53\00:15:00.43 if there are so many Christians? - Right. 00:15:00.50\00:15:02.50 - It's already been evangelized technically. The answer to that 00:15:02.56\00:15:06.43 is, it's interesting: a lot of the local people have 00:15:06.53\00:15:10.24 accepted Christianity, but what they have done 00:15:10.37\00:15:12.21 is they've added it to their already-animistic 00:15:12.27\00:15:15.61 beliefs. So, it hasn't been so much- I mean, 00:15:15.68\00:15:18.81 obviously, there've been some who have made the 00:15:18.91\00:15:20.68 complete transformation and have accepted Christianity 00:15:20.78\00:15:23.59 and just Christianity, but what tends to happen 00:15:23.69\00:15:26.89 is there's a synchronistic blending of Christianity 00:15:26.96\00:15:29.62 and animism together, which is spirit worship, 00:15:29.72\00:15:32.29 and so they're not experiencing the true 00:15:33.09\00:15:35.10 liberation from demonic torture that they could- 00:15:36.03\00:15:41.00 that Christianity has to offer. And so, missionaries 00:15:41.10\00:15:45.04 are still needed in that part of the world to help 00:15:45.14\00:15:47.21 show them that there is something better than 00:15:47.24\00:15:50.95 what they have right now. - And also there are so 00:15:50.98\00:15:53.85 many people groups on that small piece of land. 00:15:53.92\00:15:58.62 It's very mountainous, so there are little pockets 00:16:01.09\00:16:03.96 of tribes here and there that don't...they're not 00:16:04.06\00:16:09.30 in contact with the others or with the world, necessarily. 00:16:09.40\00:16:12.23 So those little groups of people may not have 00:16:12.33\00:16:17.61 been reached. A lot of them have been around 00:16:17.67\00:16:20.11 the coast where it's easy to contact them, but there 00:16:20.21\00:16:24.58 are still more in the jungle, in the inland, 00:16:24.65\00:16:28.35 that have not heard the gospel. - So what area 00:16:28.42\00:16:31.59 are you going to and which AFM missionary 00:16:31.65\00:16:33.66 are you going to work with? - So we're going 00:16:33.72\00:16:36.12 to the Western Province, and we're working with 00:16:36.19\00:16:38.59 the Gogodala people. We'll be working with 00:16:38.66\00:16:40.60 Steve and Laurie Erickson, and I think we have a picture 00:16:40.66\00:16:42.96 of them that you can see. They've been missionaries 00:16:43.06\00:16:46.23 in PNG for 12 years. They've just been doing a tremendous 00:16:46.33\00:16:52.47 work over there, and we feel very privileged 00:16:52.57\00:16:55.24 to be able to work with ? the missionaries 00:16:55.34\00:16:57.11 and to be able to learn from them. - Yes... 00:16:57.25\00:16:59.28 Absolutely. So, that is not a coastal region; 00:16:59.41\00:17:01.72 this is more inland where you're going, or...? - Yeah. 00:17:01.82\00:17:04.92 It's along the river; they're river-going 00:17:05.02\00:17:08.92 people. We won't have a car, they don't have 00:17:09.02\00:17:12.89 roads, we'll be in a boat; trade in our 00:17:12.96\00:17:16.63 truck for an outboard motor. - Oh, wow. Wow. 00:17:16.70\00:17:21.70 - Yeah, so the Gogodala people there are about 00:17:21.77\00:17:23.34 33 tribes- or 33 villages, rather. There's about 25-30 00:17:23.44\00:17:28.68 thousand Gogodala people- less than 100 Adventists. 00:17:28.78\00:17:31.61 - Oh, wow. - So they're spread all along the 00:17:31.71\00:17:34.62 Aramia river, and their main form of transportation 00:17:34.75\00:17:37.29 is by dugout canoe. So that's kind of their road 00:17:37.39\00:17:41.09 is going up and down the river. - Have you been there 00:17:41.16\00:17:43.06 before, or...? - Not yet. - No...! [laughter] - So 00:17:43.12\00:17:46.36 this is like Abraham? I mean, in a sense, 00:17:46.46\00:17:48.66 because God is calling you to mission work, 00:17:48.76\00:17:50.93 and at least you know the Ericksons, you know 00:17:51.03\00:17:52.63 that you're going to work with them, but 00:17:52.73\00:17:54.27 you've never even been to a place that you believe 00:17:54.34\00:17:56.40 God's calling you to go. - That's right. - What is 00:17:56.50\00:17:59.54 that like? - It's been really faith-building. 00:17:59.61\00:18:02.24 I kind of feel embarrassed to say this, but we have 00:18:03.91\00:18:06.65 experienced God in a way that we've never 00:18:06.72\00:18:09.05 experienced Him up to this point. Once we accepted 00:18:09.15\00:18:11.15 the call to resign our comfortable position 00:18:11.25\00:18:14.89 here in the States and go into an uncomfortable 00:18:14.96\00:18:18.73 place, we've just experienced God in 00:18:18.79\00:18:21.16 ways that we have never experienced them before- 00:18:21.23\00:18:23.70 and that's been very comforting. It's really 00:18:23.77\00:18:26.60 deepened our relationship with the Lord, and it's just... 00:18:26.63\00:18:29.00 There's nothing like knowing that you're in the center 00:18:29.77\00:18:31.27 of God's will, even if it is as uncertain as what 00:18:31.34\00:18:35.51 we're getting ourselves into. - Yeah. - Yeah. Being able 00:18:35.58\00:18:39.45 to hear God's voice and you feel like you're stepping 00:18:39.55\00:18:46.42 out onto air... [laughter] - Right! - Just take a 00:18:46.45\00:18:49.59 deep breath and do it, because you know God 00:18:49.62\00:18:51.83 is asking you to do it...that has been such 00:18:51.89\00:18:55.53 a thrill in a lot of ways. Yeah. - How do 00:18:55.60\00:19:02.00 you feel about bringing your kids? Is that a 00:19:02.07\00:19:03.81 scary thing, thinking they're going overseas 00:19:03.91\00:19:05.87 or going to... Would you call that a third 00:19:05.97\00:19:08.04 world country? - I guess so. - Yeah. So taking 00:19:08.14\00:19:11.58 your children there, I mean, how do you feel 00:19:11.65\00:19:13.42 about that? - I'll let Midori answer that. 00:19:13.52\00:19:16.18 I'm excited about it. [laughter] I mean, 00:19:16.28\00:19:18.72 there are going to be so many unique opportunities 00:19:18.82\00:19:20.76 that they're going to have, and they'll get 00:19:20.82\00:19:22.36 to learn another language and another culture, but... 00:19:22.42\00:19:24.49 - Well, as we were raising our kids, we want them 00:19:25.69\00:19:29.53 to have a heart for God and also a heart for other 00:19:29.60\00:19:33.97 people. - That's good. - Those are like, the most 00:19:34.04\00:19:36.24 important priorities for us. So- and also, 00:19:36.30\00:19:40.88 God loves our kids more than we do, so He will 00:19:40.94\00:19:44.41 take care of them, I trust, and I believe it'll 00:19:44.48\00:19:47.88 be the best environment for them because they will 00:19:47.95\00:19:52.85 be able to see God working, and also be 00:19:52.92\00:19:56.46 able to participate in the mission even more 00:19:56.56\00:20:00.13 than maybe they could do here. They'll be more 00:20:00.20\00:20:03.80 of a valued part of our mission, and they'll be 00:20:03.87\00:20:08.80 able to get right in there and serve those people there 00:20:08.90\00:20:13.31 with us, and I think it'll be great. Also, the Ericksons 00:20:13.34\00:20:18.98 have raised 2 girls there, and they're beautiful, 00:20:19.05\00:20:23.59 they've graduated from university... So they're 00:20:23.62\00:20:27.59 educated and healthy, and I think they'll be 00:20:27.69\00:20:31.93 fine. - Yeah. You know, kids have a way of 00:20:31.99\00:20:36.93 opening doors that adults don't. - That is true. 00:20:37.00\00:20:39.43 - And we've seen that even in pastoral work. 00:20:39.53\00:20:41.90 They can just get their way into somebody's 00:20:42.47\00:20:44.31 heart and open up doors for us to be able to minister. 00:20:44.37\00:20:46.84 They got fresh little minds that learn new languages 00:20:48.11\00:20:51.25 and new sounds and all that kind of stuff, and so... 00:20:51.28\00:20:53.72 - Now, that's true. - They'll be very helpful 00:20:53.75\00:20:55.45 in many ways. - What language do you have 00:20:55.48\00:20:57.55 to learn? - So, much of the country speaks 00:20:57.65\00:21:01.46 English, but that's not their heart language. 00:21:01.52\00:21:03.89 And then next to that a lot of people speak 00:21:05.09\00:21:06.80 what they call Pidgin, so that's kind of a 00:21:06.86\00:21:09.90 universal language; but the Gogodala people speak 00:21:09.96\00:21:13.27 Gogodala, so we'll be, Lord willing, learning 00:21:13.34\00:21:16.60 that. - Learning Gogodala. - Gogodala, yeah. - So, 00:21:16.67\00:21:20.98 what do you say when some people would say, 00:21:21.08\00:21:23.01 "Okay, why don't you have the local people 00:21:23.08\00:21:25.18 evangelize local people?" So, what are the benefits, 00:21:26.48\00:21:30.45 you could say, for bringing someone in from overseas 00:21:30.52\00:21:32.55 to do that evangelistic work? - That's a good 00:21:33.52\00:21:36.06 question. Ultimately, that's our goal. We're 00:21:36.12\00:21:41.50 going over there to help with the training center 00:21:41.60\00:21:43.83 to train the local people how to share their faith. 00:21:43.90\00:21:47.90 It'll be a contextualized training center for their 00:21:48.00\00:21:51.07 culture; but ultimately, that's what we want to 00:21:51.21\00:21:54.04 do. We want people to learn how to evangelize 00:21:54.08\00:21:56.68 and share their faith with their own people. 00:21:56.71\00:21:58.81 Sometimes, though, it helps to have a foreigner 00:21:59.41\00:22:01.98 come in. Sometimes, there's tribal barriers; sometimes, 00:22:02.02\00:22:06.59 there's cultural barriers that a foreigner can kind 00:22:06.65\00:22:11.19 of transcend a little bit more easily than a local 00:22:11.26\00:22:13.50 person... But ultimately, there's just no way that 00:22:13.56\00:22:17.27 the Ericksons and ourselves can reach 25-30,000 00:22:17.33\00:22:20.47 people. - Yeah. - So what we're really wanting to do 00:22:20.50\00:22:23.20 is to train the local people how to share their faith, 00:22:23.27\00:22:25.97 how to go into those different villages, and 00:22:26.04\00:22:28.01 establish an Adventist presence there. - They 00:22:28.08\00:22:31.88 already have mission established, obviously... 00:22:31.95\00:22:33.92 - Correct, yeah. - ...because they've been there for 00:22:33.98\00:22:35.58 several years. So what sort of outreach do they 00:22:35.65\00:22:37.52 currently do?-and I know you said you're going to 00:22:37.59\00:22:39.55 help with the training center-but what outreach 00:22:39.65\00:22:41.12 HAVE they been doing, and then what are they 00:22:41.19\00:22:42.96 hoping to expand, or what's some of the vision 00:22:43.02\00:22:44.63 for the future? - Sure, sure. Well, what Steve's been 00:22:44.73\00:22:48.80 doing a lot of recently is building buildings for 00:22:48.90\00:22:53.03 the training center; but I've really appreciated what 00:22:53.13\00:22:56.64 they've been doing. They haven't just been building 00:22:56.71\00:22:58.97 just to build; they employ a lot of the local young men 00:22:59.01\00:23:03.01 to come and help them with the building of these 00:23:03.04\00:23:06.28 buildings. And all during that time, they're ministering 00:23:06.31\00:23:09.92 to these young people. And I found just from 00:23:09.98\00:23:12.69 my pastoral ministry that when I work with 00:23:12.75\00:23:16.26 people, that's when I really make a connection 00:23:16.32\00:23:18.89 with them in physical work-some sort of physical 00:23:18.96\00:23:22.36 project that we're working on. Those are the people 00:23:22.40\00:23:24.77 that I have the closest relationships with, so 00:23:24.83\00:23:26.57 Steve and Laurie have been developing a lot 00:23:26.63\00:23:27.97 of relationships with these young people. 00:23:28.04\00:23:29.54 Some of them are Adventist, some of them are not, 00:23:30.57\00:23:33.07 some of them have become Adventist as a result of this... 00:23:33.14\00:23:35.68 So, they're definitely using this as a ministry 00:23:36.58\00:23:38.85 outreach currently right now to reach the Gogodala. 00:23:38.91\00:23:41.78 - Amen. - They've also done things like VBS 00:23:41.85\00:23:44.69 and a lot of medical ministry. Laurie is a 00:23:45.52\00:23:48.89 nurse. - Oh, good. - So they take people to the 00:23:48.96\00:23:52.26 hospital, they help them with their wounds or 00:23:52.29\00:23:55.96 whatever, and the kind of typical things I guess 00:23:56.03\00:23:59.60 that you would see missionaries doing. - Yeah, that makes 00:23:59.67\00:24:03.24 sense; absolutely. So do you have some pictures 00:24:03.27\00:24:06.47 of mission and what it looks like there? - Yeah, 00:24:06.51\00:24:09.14 we do; we do have some pictures. This is a picture 00:24:09.21\00:24:12.11 that really captivated my attention the first 00:24:12.15\00:24:13.92 time I saw it. This is a picture of Steve with 00:24:13.95\00:24:16.45 some of the local village elders. This is not the way 00:24:16.48\00:24:19.39 they dress all the time. - Okay. - And sometimes 00:24:19.49\00:24:21.46 people get a little scared when they see a picture 00:24:21.52\00:24:23.36 like this. [laughter] - War paint and feathers. 00:24:23.43\00:24:26.49 [simultaneous chatter] - Right. So, this is their 00:24:26.59\00:24:29.70 traditional war garments that they would wear. 00:24:29.80\00:24:32.90 But when you see pictures of the locals, they dress in 00:24:33.00\00:24:34.77 shorts and T-shirts just like we do. And so, the 00:24:34.90\00:24:37.74 temptation would be to think, "They're just like 00:24:37.81\00:24:39.71 me!" And although they may dress in shorts and 00:24:39.81\00:24:42.64 T- shirts like we do-they might look like us-but 00:24:42.74\00:24:44.85 this is the way they think: they still have 00:24:44.95\00:24:46.55 a very tribal way of thinking over there. 00:24:46.61\00:24:48.68 - Ah! - So it just kind of paints the picture of 00:24:48.78\00:24:51.92 the difference in culture. You know, we kind of think 00:24:52.02\00:24:54.16 the way Steve is dressed, they think the way that 00:24:54.22\00:24:57.16 they're dressed. And so, it's good to keep those 00:24:57.26\00:24:59.16 things in mind when you're ministering to them. What 00:24:59.26\00:25:01.30 might work over here may not necessarily work 00:25:01.36\00:25:03.80 over there. - So do you do training? Does AFM 00:25:03.93\00:25:06.10 do training like, "Okay, this is how-you're going 00:25:06.17\00:25:09.77 to this particular country- this is how they think, this 00:25:09.87\00:25:12.37 is"... - Absolutely. Yeah. AFM is a wonderful organization. 00:25:12.47\00:25:15.84 They put all of their missionaries through 00:25:16.41\00:25:18.78 summer training before they launch them into 00:25:18.81\00:25:20.72 the field, and many of the trainers have actually 00:25:20.75\00:25:23.62 been missionaries to Papua New Guinea, so that's going 00:25:23.69\00:25:26.05 to be a blessing to us. But yeah, they equip 00:25:26.12\00:25:28.72 us very well before we go into the field. - Amen. 00:25:28.82\00:25:31.73 What are some of the classes you take and 00:25:31.79\00:25:33.13 some of the things you learn in that summer course? 00:25:33.16\00:25:35.26 - I don't know yet. - Oh! So you haven't even 00:25:35.33\00:25:38.47 started it yet. - No, no, that'll be next summer. 00:25:38.53\00:25:40.44 Next summer, we'll be going through that. - So 00:25:40.50\00:25:43.20 right now, we have just- Jason just finished his 00:25:43.24\00:25:47.01 employment at working as a pastor, and now we 00:25:47.11\00:25:51.05 are selling our house and liquidating all of 00:25:51.11\00:25:54.85 our earthly possessions so that we can do some 00:25:54.92\00:25:59.25 fundraising and raise support for the Gogodala 00:25:59.32\00:26:03.89 project and the needs there, and then we will 00:26:03.96\00:26:07.40 go to training...and after that, we will launch. 00:26:07.43\00:26:11.17 - And after that, you actually launch. - Correct. 00:26:11.23\00:26:12.73 - So we're going to put a plug right now since 00:26:12.77\00:26:14.54 you mention raise support. We want to mention that 00:26:14.60\00:26:16.97 specifically when we will mention there 00:26:17.04\00:26:19.67 the website here several times throughout the 00:26:19.74\00:26:22.38 program, but you can go to AFMonline.org. That's 00:26:22.44\00:26:27.82 AFM's website. - Correct. - AFMonline.org, and there 00:26:27.85\00:26:32.79 you can just look for Jason and Midori Sliger, 00:26:32.85\00:26:35.29 would that be right? - Yeah, they can search our last 00:26:35.39\00:26:36.76 name, and it'll come up. - Okay. Just type in Sliger, 00:26:36.83\00:26:38.79 and then you can look and follow what's going 00:26:38.86\00:26:42.63 on with you all-or you have a Facebook page, 00:26:42.70\00:26:44.63 and what's your Facebook page? - Yes. It's Sliger 00:26:44.70\00:26:47.90 Family Mission on Facebook. It's a little page where 00:26:47.97\00:26:52.51 we keep updating what's going on with us: when 00:26:52.57\00:26:56.14 we got rid of the dog, we bought a van to travel 00:26:56.24\00:27:01.32 in-things like that. - Absolutely. - That 00:27:01.38\00:27:03.99 might be interesting. - At 3ABN, we believe 00:27:04.09\00:27:05.42 in mission, because I mean, that... When God 00:27:05.49\00:27:08.59 called Danny 35 years ago to begin a television 00:27:08.66\00:27:12.33 station that would reach the world with the undiluted 00:27:12.39\00:27:14.66 three angels' messages, we believe in mission. 00:27:14.70\00:27:17.03 We believe in spreading the gospel message, 00:27:17.10\00:27:19.33 and we believe in missionaries, so we want to stand in support 00:27:19.40\00:27:22.97 with the Sliger family with AFM. We believe 00:27:23.00\00:27:25.94 in what God is doing through that mission. So, if you want 00:27:25.97\00:27:29.81 to support the Sliger family, we encourage 00:27:29.88\00:27:32.58 you to go to that website to reach out, on the Facebook, 00:27:32.65\00:27:35.68 to contact them, to pray for them, and to support 00:27:35.75\00:27:39.32 what is God is going to do in and through 00:27:39.39\00:27:41.92 them. So, talk to us a bit: why would you go 00:27:42.02\00:27:45.99 overseas if there is such a need in our 00:27:46.06\00:27:50.70 backyard?-if there's people all around us 00:27:50.77\00:27:53.34 who are dying, even without that connection with God- 00:27:53.40\00:27:57.91 why would we go overseas? - Well, the first reason is, 00:27:57.97\00:28:02.91 when God calls, you have to go. He's made that 00:28:03.01\00:28:07.82 very clear to us that that's the direction 00:28:07.88\00:28:09.95 that He's calling our family at this time, 00:28:09.98\00:28:12.15 and so we want to be obedient to that call. 00:28:12.25\00:28:15.19 The other thing to think about is, there's a vast 00:28:16.73\00:28:19.49 amount of workers here in North America, and 00:28:19.59\00:28:23.06 the foreign field is languishing for workers 00:28:23.13\00:28:25.40 right now. And so, one statistic that really 00:28:25.43\00:28:29.34 stuck in my mind that recently kind of helped 00:28:29.40\00:28:32.97 me in this transition, we've had a great 00:28:33.04\00:28:36.54 burden for the Middle East-North Africa Union. 00:28:36.61\00:28:38.75 - Yes! - It's just a largely unreached part 00:28:38.81\00:28:42.25 of the world. I was just kind of looking at numbers 00:28:42.32\00:28:45.22 and kind of comparing between there and North 00:28:45.32\00:28:48.39 America, 'cause they're similar size and population 00:28:48.46\00:28:50.33 (America's a little bit larger). But we have more 00:28:51.06\00:28:54.10 ministers in North America than they have Seventh-day 00:28:54.16\00:28:57.27 Adventist members in the Middle East-North 00:28:57.33\00:28:59.83 Africa Union. - Say that one more time. - We have 00:28:59.90\00:29:02.04 more pastors here in North America than they 00:29:02.10\00:29:04.74 have members over there. - Wow. - For about the 00:29:04.81\00:29:08.04 same number of people. - For about the same 00:29:08.14\00:29:09.68 number of population. - That's incredible. 00:29:09.74\00:29:11.45 - And that just kind of really rips your heart 00:29:11.55\00:29:13.11 out, you know? And William Borden, who was... He died 00:29:13.18\00:29:16.25 when he was young, but he was going to serve 00:29:16.32\00:29:18.32 as a missionary in China. He said, "If you see 10 00:29:18.35\00:29:22.52 men carrying a log, and you see nine men on 00:29:22.59\00:29:25.23 the skinny end, and one man on the heavy end, 00:29:25.29\00:29:27.96 and you want to help, which one are you going 00:29:28.03\00:29:29.53 to help? - The heavy end. - You're going to 00:29:29.60\00:29:31.13 go to the heavy end. And so, things like that 00:29:31.20\00:29:34.34 have really colored our desire or have helped 00:29:34.40\00:29:38.91 us in making this transition, but there's just such a need 00:29:39.01\00:29:41.48 over there-and I'm not saying that there's not 00:29:41.54\00:29:43.14 a need here in North America. There is. 00:29:43.21\00:29:44.95 There are a lot of people who need to be reached. 00:29:45.01\00:29:46.82 But when you look at the 3 billion people who've never 00:29:47.45\00:29:50.29 even heard the name of Jesus, I want to go help 00:29:50.35\00:29:53.52 with that, 'cause the Bible's clear. The gospel 00:29:53.56\00:29:56.52 has to go to the world before Jesus can come 00:29:56.59\00:29:58.19 back. And if we're serious about wanting 00:29:58.26\00:30:00.56 to go home, then we're going to be willing to 00:30:00.63\00:30:02.96 make the sacrifices that are necessary to make that 00:30:03.00\00:30:06.03 actually happen. And we might be uncomfortable 00:30:06.10\00:30:08.30 for a little while, and we enjoy our house 00:30:08.37\00:30:10.81 in Michigan; we enjoy... It's a nice, comfortable 00:30:10.91\00:30:13.07 place to live, and I'm sure the Lord's going 00:30:13.14\00:30:15.48 to take care of our comforts over there as well...but the 00:30:15.54\00:30:18.01 sacrifices are going to be worth it to hasten 00:30:18.08\00:30:21.28 the coming of Christ and to get to heaven sooner 00:30:21.35\00:30:23.39 by God's grace. - Amen. That's beautiful. It's 00:30:23.42\00:30:27.69 all about service, it's about Jesus... - Amen. 00:30:27.76\00:30:32.29 - I like something you said a couple times, 00:30:32.36\00:30:33.86 I think, about wanting to be in the center of 00:30:33.90\00:30:35.93 His will, you know? Knowing that this is God's call on 00:30:36.00\00:30:39.67 your life, and then being willing to step out in 00:30:39.73\00:30:43.20 that. Do you think other people are called to do 00:30:43.27\00:30:45.34 what you are doing? Is mission work-I guess, 00:30:45.37\00:30:48.88 what I'm saying-is mission work a call on everyone's 00:30:48.91\00:30:51.48 life or just certain people? - Yeah, 00:30:51.55\00:30:53.75 well... I won't-... There's a great quote 00:30:53.82\00:30:55.72 in the book Desire of Ages from Ellen White 00:30:55.78\00:30:57.62 where she says that when we become disciples of 00:30:57.65\00:31:02.16 Christ that every person who becomes a disciple 00:31:02.22\00:31:04.49 of Christ is a missionary. - Yes. - And I don't know 00:31:04.56\00:31:09.56 how that's gonna look in the lives of our viewers, 00:31:09.60\00:31:11.67 but we're all called to be witnesses for Christ. 00:31:11.73\00:31:15.97 And whether that's here in North America or 00:31:16.04\00:31:18.57 overseas, the best thing to do is to ask God, "Where 00:31:18.64\00:31:21.71 do you want me to be a missionary?" 'Cause we 00:31:21.78\00:31:23.65 can be missionaries here in North America, as well 00:31:23.75\00:31:25.68 (I mean, it's a mission field), but we're all called to serve 00:31:25.75\00:31:28.88 the Lord. - And at the same time, I would say 00:31:28.98\00:31:32.79 that I think a lot more are called to the foreign 00:31:32.85\00:31:37.36 mission field than are going. It's so hard, 00:31:37.43\00:31:41.53 maybe, to think of leaving your family and friends 00:31:42.26\00:31:45.43 and comforts. But I think if we really ask God what 00:31:45.53\00:31:50.04 is His will for us, we might be surprised. 00:31:50.07\00:31:53.31 - I think when you accept the call into foreign missions, 00:31:53.38\00:31:58.78 you're putting yourself in line of God blessing 00:31:58.85\00:32:03.92 you in just amazing ways- and I think it can happen 00:32:04.02\00:32:06.89 here in North America, as well-but the need 00:32:07.02\00:32:08.99 is so tremendous over there. And like Midori 00:32:09.09\00:32:11.96 said, it's like you're stepping out on thin 00:32:12.06\00:32:13.40 air, going into a place where you're not familiar 00:32:13.43\00:32:15.96 with the culture, you're not familiar with the 00:32:16.06\00:32:17.40 language, you're not familiar with the food... 00:32:17.43\00:32:18.83 There're so many things that are different. But 00:32:18.93\00:32:21.57 when you do that, you're putting yourself in line 00:32:21.70\00:32:23.97 of God just really being able to pour out blessings 00:32:24.14\00:32:27.91 in a mighty way and experiencing Him in a 00:32:28.01\00:32:30.78 way that you wouldn't experience Him living 00:32:30.88\00:32:32.91 a comfortable life here in North America. - Don't 00:32:32.98\00:32:35.08 you think it does something for us as far as dependence 00:32:35.18\00:32:37.05 on God? - Absolutely. - And I'm not saying this 00:32:37.12\00:32:39.29 from retrospect of having served in the 00:32:39.35\00:32:40.99 foreign mission field, but just listening to you 00:32:41.06\00:32:43.83 talk, it seems to me that there is this sense of 00:32:43.89\00:32:46.23 dependence on God where, "Okay, I don't have my 00:32:46.29\00:32:49.86 home I'm used to, I don't have the possessions 00:32:49.93\00:32:52.10 I'm used to, or my car I'm used to, I can't just 00:32:52.17\00:32:55.50 run to Walmart or Kroger or pick up the things I'm 00:32:55.54\00:32:59.31 used to"...and to be honest, you don't 00:32:59.37\00:33:01.84 even have your family nearby. - That's right. 00:33:01.88\00:33:03.75 - So it's almost as if you're cut off from 00:33:03.78\00:33:06.61 the things we normally look to for support... 00:33:06.68\00:33:08.95 ...and then it's just God. - And, you know, 00:33:09.58\00:33:11.92 sometimes, we look at that as a negative- 00:33:11.99\00:33:14.09 but what an incredible experience to be able 00:33:14.19\00:33:16.32 to put yourself in a place where you have to depend 00:33:16.39\00:33:18.86 on God. I mean, we should think of that as a positive 00:33:18.93\00:33:21.76 thing, right?-where we're stripped of everything, 00:33:21.86\00:33:24.67 all the earthly support, and we have to lean on 00:33:24.73\00:33:27.34 our Heavenly Father- and we have earthly 00:33:27.40\00:33:29.00 support. AFM is going to be supporting us, 00:33:29.04\00:33:30.74 we've got the Ericksons, we've got field directors, 00:33:30.81\00:33:32.94 so there are people there that'll support us and 00:33:32.97\00:33:34.44 they'll be there when we need them. But definitely 00:33:34.51\00:33:37.35 putting ourselves in a place where we have to lean 00:33:37.38\00:33:39.28 upon God more so than maybe we have, we 00:33:39.35\00:33:43.62 should have, but more than we have here in North America. 00:33:43.65\00:33:45.65 - Yes! - We've been reading stories of great Christians 00:33:45.69\00:33:49.49 and missionaries lately, and Jason has said a 00:33:49.56\00:33:53.63 couple of times, "I'm tired of reading stories about 00:33:53.66\00:33:57.53 other people who have these amazing experiences 00:33:57.60\00:34:00.54 with God. I want to experience that, too!" 00:34:00.60\00:34:03.30 And so, now, we are experiencing that now. 00:34:03.94\00:34:08.44 - Yeah. Amen. Not just reading about it, but 00:34:08.48\00:34:11.21 seeing it lived out in your own life. What 00:34:11.31\00:34:13.21 would be some ways that you think you have grown 00:34:13.25\00:34:15.65 spiritually through this experience? Or maybe 00:34:15.75\00:34:18.75 what are some lessons that God's teaching you 00:34:18.82\00:34:20.89 through this? - So, I remember right after 00:34:20.96\00:34:25.19 we accepted our call to go to Papua New Guinea- 00:34:25.29\00:34:28.46 it was a bit of a process to get there-but right 00:34:28.53\00:34:30.67 after we accepted that call, I was sitting at home 00:34:30.73\00:34:32.87 and I was having my morning worship, and I was thinking 00:34:32.93\00:34:37.71 about the funds that need to be obtained to be able 00:34:37.77\00:34:41.41 to go. They told us at AFM that Papua New 00:34:41.48\00:34:45.11 Guinea, for them, their projects, is the second 00:34:45.18\00:34:47.65 most expensive place to serve as a missionary 00:34:47.72\00:34:49.32 'cause it's so remote. - Ah, right. - And I'm 00:34:49.38\00:34:52.09 just looking at this and I'm thinking, "Lord, 00:34:52.12\00:34:53.66 this is a lot." And as I was thinking about it, 00:34:53.72\00:34:57.03 He brought to my mind Philippians 4:19, "My 00:34:57.09\00:34:59.69 God shall supply all my needs." - Yes. - And so 00:34:59.73\00:35:02.90 I got out my Bible, and I underlined that promise; 00:35:02.96\00:35:05.23 I put my finger on it like all the great missionaries 00:35:05.30\00:35:08.00 and workers have done before and said, "Lord, 00:35:08.07\00:35:09.94 this is what You said, okay?" - Right. - "And so I'm leaving 00:35:09.97\00:35:12.77 this with You." And then four hours later, I was 00:35:12.84\00:35:15.61 taking my trash out to the end of our driveway, 00:35:15.68\00:35:18.41 and I went over to my mailbox, and I opened 00:35:18.51\00:35:21.58 the mailbox door, and there was one letter 00:35:21.65\00:35:24.22 in our mailbox. There's never one letter in my 00:35:24.29\00:35:26.32 mailbox. [laughter] There's always all 00:35:26.35\00:35:28.06 kinds of other stuff. - Right. - So I took 00:35:28.12\00:35:30.43 out the letter, and it was from 3ABN, and it 00:35:30.46\00:35:33.93 had our address handwritten on the front of it with Midori's 00:35:33.96\00:35:37.97 name on there. - Oh! - And I thought, "Well 00:35:38.03\00:35:40.70 this is interesting," so I opened it up at the end 00:35:40.77\00:35:42.27 of my driveway, and I took it out. Midori's 00:35:42.30\00:35:44.54 grandmother had just passed away. She was 00:35:44.57\00:35:46.64 102...103? - Mhm. - Good for her. That's great. 00:35:47.48\00:35:51.71 - Yeah. She lived a good, long life, but she had 00:35:51.78\00:35:54.45 just passed away, and it was 3ABN notifying 00:35:54.52\00:35:58.09 us that there was money that was left in her trust 00:35:58.15\00:36:01.86 that was going to be coming to us in the 00:36:02.52\00:36:04.46 amount of $7,500. - Oh, wow... - And it was like, 00:36:04.49\00:36:08.13 four hours before, I had claimed this promise 00:36:08.16\00:36:11.10 in Philippians 4:19, "My God shall supply all my 00:36:11.13\00:36:13.54 needs." Four hours later, God is like, "Look, Jason, 00:36:13.60\00:36:16.20 I've got this under control. Money's not an issue. Just 00:36:16.27\00:36:19.24 trust Me, and I'll take care of things." So 00:36:19.31\00:36:22.11 experiences like that, you know, it's just 00:36:22.18\00:36:24.21 like, "Wow, that's so cool!" when things 00:36:24.25\00:36:26.31 like that happen. - So your grandma had a 00:36:26.38\00:36:27.82 trust, then, with 3ABN, obviously, and then she 00:36:27.92\00:36:30.32 must've decided, "Okay, so much is going to 00:36:30.39\00:36:32.15 these different family members," and then... 00:36:32.29\00:36:33.96 Wow! That's amazing. - But the timing! - Yes! 00:36:34.06\00:36:37.36 - Yeah, the timing was impeccable. - Days 00:36:37.49\00:36:39.66 before... - It was two days after we came 00:36:39.76\00:36:43.37 back from AFM that we got the magazine after 00:36:43.40\00:36:45.93 we accepted the call. It was two days later 00:36:46.00\00:36:47.97 that we got the letter in the mail. So, the timing 00:36:48.00\00:36:49.34 was just amazing. - And it's the same morning 00:36:49.37\00:36:50.71 you're praying! - In the same morning I'm praying. 00:36:50.74\00:36:52.07 - And you're claiming that promise in Philippians, 00:36:52.11\00:36:53.98 "My God shall supply all your need," and 00:36:54.04\00:36:56.01 then you get that... What a miracle. - Yeah. 00:36:56.08\00:36:58.78 - So one... Ellen White says that sometimes 00:36:58.81\00:37:03.95 we take such good care of ourselves that God 00:37:04.02\00:37:07.96 doesn't have to take care of us. - Oh, wow. 00:37:08.02\00:37:11.16 - And we have experienced, now, God is taking care 00:37:11.23\00:37:16.43 of us because we don't have a job. That's crazy, 00:37:16.50\00:37:22.10 right? [laughter] - That is crazy! - But that's 00:37:22.17\00:37:25.84 why we believe strongly that that's what God 00:37:25.91\00:37:29.48 wanted us to do. We thought about it and considered it 00:37:29.54\00:37:33.48 and prayed about it, and God is now taking 00:37:33.55\00:37:36.58 care of us in ways that we never expected. - Wow. 00:37:36.65\00:37:42.62 What a miracle. - Yeah. It's been fun. [laughter] 00:37:42.72\00:37:47.03 - Living on the edge. - Yes! It's a journey of 00:37:47.10\00:37:49.66 faith. - Yeah. - I mean, what better place to be 00:37:49.76\00:37:51.87 than in the hand of God? - Amen. - And to know 00:37:51.93\00:37:54.40 that He's leading and directing and guiding 00:37:54.47\00:37:56.57 your life, and to have your faith grow and 00:37:56.64\00:37:59.51 be strengthened? That's incredible. - Yeah. It is 00:37:59.57\00:38:03.31 incredible. - Absolutely. Do we have some more 00:38:03.38\00:38:04.88 pictures we can look at? - Yeah! We've got some 00:38:04.91\00:38:06.51 more pictures from Papua New Guinea. This is a 00:38:06.61\00:38:09.42 typical house that you might find over there 00:38:09.48\00:38:12.39 among the Gogodala people, and some of the kids... 00:38:12.45\00:38:14.72 There's kids EVERYWHERE. All the videos and pictures 00:38:14.79\00:38:16.56 that we've seen, there's kids all over the place. 00:38:16.62\00:38:18.49 - Aww. - And I think the next one, we have 00:38:18.56\00:38:20.70 a picture of a lady cooking over an open fire. - They're 00:38:20.76\00:38:22.60 kind of up on stilts, the houses. - Yes, yeah. 00:38:22.63\00:38:24.30 The houses are higher up. I think that's 00:38:24.37\00:38:26.23 for ventilation purposes, to keep things cool inside. 00:38:26.33\00:38:28.54 - Does it flood? Or not? - There's a lot of water. 00:38:28.60\00:38:31.57 - There's a lot of water where we're at, yeah. 00:38:31.64\00:38:33.21 She's cooking a traditional dish, sago, which is made 00:38:33.27\00:38:37.18 from the sago palm. - It's like, the inside of the palm 00:38:37.25\00:38:40.48 that they scrape out and they rinse it, and they 00:38:40.55\00:38:45.15 squeeze the starch out and they dry it, and 00:38:45.29\00:38:48.42 then they cook it. - Oh, wow! - And that's what 00:38:48.56\00:38:50.79 they eat like rice or potatoes would be for 00:38:50.93\00:38:53.63 us. - That seems like a lot of work! - It is 00:38:53.76\00:38:56.30 a lot of work. - Yeah! - The Gogodala people 00:38:56.40\00:38:58.03 are subsistence livers, so they're out there 00:38:58.13\00:39:00.84 constantly finding food and getting... - Fish. 00:39:00.90\00:39:04.37 - Yeah. They eat a lot of fish and sago and whatever 00:39:04.44\00:39:07.64 they can grow. - Vegetables. - Right. - That they grow, 00:39:07.71\00:39:10.25 yeah. There's not a lot of money that changes 00:39:10.28\00:39:14.02 hands. They can take care of themselves without 00:39:14.08\00:39:17.35 money. - Yeah. Wow, that's amazing. Well, let's look 00:39:17.42\00:39:21.62 at some more pictures here. - Yeah, I think 00:39:21.69\00:39:23.09 we have... This is a group of people that recently 00:39:23.16\00:39:25.86 got baptized as a result of Steve and Laurie's 00:39:25.93\00:39:28.16 ministry over there. - All of these people got baptized? 00:39:28.26\00:39:31.27 - No, I think it's the ones in the front row 00:39:31.33\00:39:32.93 there are the ones that got baptized and some of 00:39:33.00\00:39:34.87 the back are church members, but it was a good-sized group. 00:39:34.90\00:39:37.24 One of the challenges over there that, by God's 00:39:37.31\00:39:40.91 grace, we're going to be able to help out with 00:39:40.98\00:39:42.51 is the local mission. They want ordained ministers 00:39:42.54\00:39:47.42 to be the one to do the baptisms, and obviously 00:39:47.48\00:39:50.62 Steve is not ordained. So, they kind of have to... 00:39:50.69\00:39:54.16 - But you are. - Yes, I am. So, they have 00:39:54.19\00:39:56.12 to kind of pile up their baptisms until an ordained 00:39:56.19\00:39:59.96 minister can come and do those baptisms, so that's 00:40:00.00\00:40:02.23 why they had a large group of baptisms. - They 00:40:02.30\00:40:04.23 actually flew a pastor from the United States 00:40:04.27\00:40:06.70 out there, and he performed the baptisms for them. So, 00:40:06.74\00:40:11.97 they were waiting a long time before they could 00:40:12.07\00:40:15.21 be baptized. - Wow. And now when you go, they'll 00:40:15.31\00:40:18.21 be able to be baptized right away. - Yeah, by 00:40:18.28\00:40:20.42 God's grace. - When they're ready. - Absolutely, yeah. 00:40:20.52\00:40:22.22 Yeah. And I think we have some pictures, 00:40:22.28\00:40:23.99 also, of the training center that they're in the process 00:40:24.09\00:40:26.19 of building right now. The hope by God's 00:40:26.25\00:40:29.72 grace... Oh, actually, before we get to the 00:40:29.76\00:40:31.33 training center... - Oh, here's an aerial view! 00:40:31.39\00:40:32.73 - This is an aerial of the mission property. 00:40:32.76\00:40:34.56 You can see the training center right in the middle 00:40:34.66\00:40:36.16 there; it's the metal building that's in the 00:40:36.23\00:40:38.43 process of being built, and... - And there's the 00:40:38.50\00:40:40.44 river? You said that everything's... - That's 00:40:40.50\00:40:42.30 the Aramia river. - That's their main source of transportation. 00:40:42.37\00:40:44.91 - That's their main source of transportation. And so, 00:40:44.97\00:40:47.88 Steve and Laurie are right there on the river, which 00:40:47.94\00:40:49.48 is a real blessing, because they can have all of their 00:40:49.54\00:40:51.85 supplies shipped right to the mission property. 00:40:51.91\00:40:53.85 - Yes. - This is the building that they're in the process 00:40:53.95\00:40:57.52 of building-the training center-yep. And the hope, 00:40:57.55\00:41:00.06 by God's grace, is to have that done within the next 00:41:00.16\00:41:02.32 year, so it should be finished by the time we 00:41:02.39\00:41:05.16 actually get to the field. - Yes! - It's just a massive 00:41:05.19\00:41:07.93 undertaking. Steve is a tremendous-both 00:41:08.00\00:41:10.30 Steve and Laurie-they're just great people of faith 00:41:10.37\00:41:13.03 to undertake such a huge project...but the Lord is 00:41:13.10\00:41:16.24 blessing. - Yeah. - So, we're excited to see 00:41:16.30\00:41:18.37 what's going to happen. - Oh, absolutely. - God 00:41:18.41\00:41:20.74 gave them a dream to build a training center 00:41:20.81\00:41:24.01 several years ago without knowing who was going 00:41:24.11\00:41:28.55 to come to work there. They didn't have any 00:41:28.62\00:41:31.32 partners or teammates. They started building, 00:41:31.39\00:41:34.89 and they have built several buildings already: a library, 00:41:34.96\00:41:39.46 because they don't have books there... If you think 00:41:39.53\00:41:43.43 about it, they're in the jungle; there're no books. 00:41:43.50\00:41:45.90 So they're going to have a library, they're going 00:41:45.93\00:41:48.74 to have some sleeping houses like dormitories 00:41:48.80\00:41:51.77 so that people can come and stay there and go to 00:41:51.84\00:41:54.91 the training center. The training center will hold 00:41:54.98\00:41:56.95 like 300 people, and there will be places where they 00:41:57.01\00:42:01.62 can train and have meetings- camp meetings, even-there. 00:42:01.68\00:42:08.49 So, they have a big vision, and we are really excited 00:42:08.56\00:42:13.70 that we can fit into that dream. - Amen. 00:42:13.73\00:42:18.27 Now, pardon my ignorance here, but do they have the 00:42:18.33\00:42:21.00 Bible translated into the Gogodala language? - They 00:42:21.04\00:42:23.61 do. We've been told it's not the best of translations, 00:42:23.67\00:42:26.37 so... - Okay. - ...we're going to try to help out 00:42:26.47\00:42:29.08 with- I don't know with an actual translation, 00:42:29.14\00:42:31.21 but doing literacy classes, and maybe they might be 00:42:31.28\00:42:34.18 able to understand the English translation a little 00:42:34.25\00:42:35.85 bit better. We'll have to see how the Lord 00:42:35.92\00:42:37.45 works that all out for us once we get over there. 00:42:37.52\00:42:39.72 - Mhm, absolutely. - Yeah. Literacy is a big deal, 00:42:39.82\00:42:43.39 because they have government schools, but they may not ever 00:42:43.43\00:42:49.56 see words in their day, right? We wake up in 00:42:50.93\00:42:55.10 the morning, and we have a cereal box covered with 00:42:55.17\00:42:57.41 words, right? But they eat things from the jungle, 00:42:57.47\00:43:02.98 and they never see words, and so they're not able 00:43:03.04\00:43:05.31 to be fluent in reading English. So, we're hoping 00:43:05.38\00:43:09.68 to have literacy classes so that they will be able 00:43:09.78\00:43:12.45 to read more easily, and that will help them in so 00:43:12.55\00:43:16.83 many ways, but especially in reading the Bible in 00:43:16.89\00:43:20.13 Bible education. - Of course. - And we'll probably 00:43:20.20\00:43:22.70 do some medical missionary training kind of stuff, as well, 00:43:22.76\00:43:26.10 and Bible doctrines (how to share your faith, 00:43:26.17\00:43:28.74 practical godliness; those types of things, 00:43:28.80\00:43:31.27 as well). - Also, business- teaching them how to have 00:43:31.34\00:43:34.58 little businesses will help them, too. - Amen... 00:43:34.64\00:43:38.11 Amen. - So that's all in the training center. 00:43:38.21\00:43:40.65 You're looking at all these types of almost 00:43:40.72\00:43:42.62 classes, you could say, or training for them in 00:43:42.65\00:43:45.62 that training center. - That's right. - Yeah, 00:43:45.69\00:43:47.62 that's amazing. Okay, so when I look at the 00:43:47.66\00:43:50.33 picture and I see the woman there trying 00:43:50.43\00:43:54.20 to prepare the food, or you look at the houses 00:43:54.26\00:43:56.46 on the stilts, and they look like maybe thatched 00:43:56.53\00:43:58.37 roofs? I'm not even sure. - Yeah. - That's not as 00:43:58.43\00:44:01.87 comfortable as life here in the United States. 00:44:01.94\00:44:04.41 - Yeah. - So, do you consider it a sacrifice? 00:44:04.47\00:44:07.58 To leave here and to go over there. Do you 00:44:08.34\00:44:11.61 feel like, "I'm sacrificing a great deal here"? - It 00:44:11.65\00:44:15.02 is a sacrifice, but it's not as much of a sacrifice 00:44:15.08\00:44:16.89 as what Jesus had to make to go on the greatest of 00:44:16.99\00:44:19.32 all mission trips to save this lost race of people 00:44:19.39\00:44:22.09 here on this earth. He left the comforts of 00:44:22.19\00:44:24.63 heaven to live in an uncomfortable place 00:44:24.69\00:44:26.86 here on this earth to serve as a missionary, 00:44:26.93\00:44:29.76 if you will, and I just want to follow in His 00:44:29.83\00:44:33.74 path. And yeah, there are going to be some 00:44:33.80\00:44:36.00 discomforts along the way, but it'll be worth 00:44:36.04\00:44:38.41 it in the end because we're going to have a 00:44:38.47\00:44:40.14 very comfortable place when we get to the 00:44:40.18\00:44:41.81 kingdom of heaven. And we want to take some of 00:44:41.88\00:44:43.31 the Gogodala people with us to the kingdom of heaven. 00:44:43.38\00:44:45.95 - Amen... Amen. - So. - Something that I always 00:44:46.01\00:44:48.35 think about is that God never asks us to really 00:44:48.42\00:44:51.79 sacrifice; it's always in our best interest, 00:44:51.85\00:44:56.06 whatever He asks us to give Him. - Oh, that's 00:44:56.12\00:44:59.23 good. - It's really for our salvation that He's 00:44:59.29\00:45:02.33 calling Jason and me and our kids to the mission field. 00:45:02.36\00:45:06.43 All of us, when we work for the Lord, we're actually 00:45:07.77\00:45:10.11 working for ourselves! We're the ones who benefit 00:45:10.21\00:45:14.74 most, I think. - Mhm. - Absolutely. We want 00:45:14.81\00:45:18.78 to put up your contact information again. You can 00:45:18.81\00:45:20.95 go to AFMonline.org. Just look up the Sliger 00:45:21.02\00:45:26.59 family there. Go to AFMonline.org. You can 00:45:26.62\00:45:30.83 follow this family, you can support them financially 00:45:30.93\00:45:34.53 or with your prayers. Is there a way that they 00:45:34.63\00:45:37.63 can reach out and email you or contact you through 00:45:37.67\00:45:39.43 that website, too? I didn't ask you that before. 00:45:39.50\00:45:41.70 - Yeah! - They can contact us through AFM, yes. 00:45:41.77\00:45:45.71 - Okay-okay. Perfect. Also, there is the Facebook page, 00:45:45.77\00:45:49.48 and clearly you can contact them through that way. 00:45:49.54\00:45:51.55 You can go to Facebook and just look up "Sliger 00:45:51.61\00:45:53.95 Family Mission," and you can contact them that 00:45:53.98\00:45:57.39 way, as well. There might be someone watching today 00:45:57.45\00:46:00.66 or listening on the radio, Jason, who says, "I'm 00:46:00.72\00:46:03.96 struggling in my own life, in my own heart, 00:46:04.03\00:46:06.39 with whether God is calling me to mission service." "I 00:46:06.49\00:46:11.27 felt the call in my heart maybe from just out of 00:46:11.33\00:46:13.67 college like Midori's was," or maybe, "I 00:46:13.74\00:46:16.84 felt it when I was 18, and I went on a mission 00:46:16.91\00:46:19.37 trip to the Philippines," or whatever. What would 00:46:19.44\00:46:22.74 you tell them? - Yeah, so Jesus says, "The 00:46:22.81\00:46:29.02 harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few." 00:46:29.08\00:46:31.02 And then He says, "Pray ye therefore the Lord of 00:46:31.09\00:46:33.46 the harvest that He might send forth laborers into 00:46:33.52\00:46:35.96 the field." So, Jesus tells us that there 00:46:36.02\00:46:38.93 are plenty of people that are yet to be reached 00:46:38.99\00:46:41.60 and that He's looking for workers. So if you 00:46:41.66\00:46:44.83 have a willing heart and you want to serve God, 00:46:44.90\00:46:47.47 whether it be in foreign missions or here at home 00:46:47.54\00:46:51.54 in America, the Lord is more than willing to plug 00:46:51.57\00:46:54.81 you in wherever He wants you to go. And so I would 00:46:54.84\00:46:58.71 encourage you to take some time to really pray 00:46:58.78\00:47:02.85 and seek the Lord's will in your life, because He 00:47:02.92\00:47:05.95 is more than willing to lead you into just the 00:47:06.02\00:47:09.69 right place. He's giving you the right skills, He's 00:47:09.76\00:47:14.16 giving you the right experience, the right 00:47:14.26\00:47:17.50 connections, and He wants to use that to advance His 00:47:17.63\00:47:20.64 kingdom and to grow the kingdom of heaven. So if 00:47:20.74\00:47:24.01 you're willing to go, God is more than willing to 00:47:24.14\00:47:26.88 send. And it's just... For us, we need to seek 00:47:27.01\00:47:30.35 God and allow Him to be the one that opens 00:47:30.45\00:47:32.85 the door for us where He wants us to serve. 00:47:32.98\00:47:36.25 - Amen. What about you, Midori? What would you 00:47:36.35\00:47:38.25 say to a wife or a mom? Or even a single woman 00:47:38.35\00:47:42.56 who feels called to mission service, what would you 00:47:42.66\00:47:44.23 say? - Yeah, absolutely! If you feel called to go 00:47:44.36\00:47:49.73 to the mission field, pray! The Lord is more willing 00:47:49.86\00:47:55.64 to lead us than we are even to follow Him! So, 00:47:55.74\00:47:59.97 trust the Lord's leading and be willing to step 00:48:00.08\00:48:04.15 out where it's a little bit uncomfortable, 00:48:04.25\00:48:06.58 maybe, because sometimes we get a little too comfortable 00:48:06.72\00:48:11.22 in our spot...but the Lord wants to do amazing 00:48:11.35\00:48:14.92 things in your life, and He will if you are willing. 00:48:15.06\00:48:19.19 - Go ahead. - I like to tell people that there's 00:48:20.20\00:48:23.43 nothing like living life on the edge. [laughter] 00:48:23.50\00:48:26.13 With God. Not just to be a thrill seeker 00:48:26.23\00:48:29.00 to be a thrill seeker, but living life on the 00:48:29.14\00:48:32.01 edge with God, walking by faith one step after 00:48:32.14\00:48:34.88 another... There's just nothing like it. It's such 00:48:34.94\00:48:37.01 a wonderful, rich experience. God's not satisfied with us 00:48:37.15\00:48:41.98 just having the same experience with Him 00:48:42.08\00:48:43.69 day after day; He wants us to experience Him 00:48:43.79\00:48:46.19 in a way that we've never experienced Him before. 00:48:46.25\00:48:49.16 - That's good. - And to do that, He has to bring 00:48:49.26\00:48:51.33 us out of our comfort zones every now and then. 00:48:51.36\00:48:53.66 - Yes. - And stepping out in faith puts you 00:48:53.70\00:48:56.06 in that experience where you're stepping out and 00:48:56.10\00:48:58.37 something that you're not quite comfortable 00:48:58.43\00:48:59.80 with, but you're going to experience God in a 00:48:59.83\00:49:01.34 way that you've never experienced Him before, 00:49:01.40\00:49:03.10 and it's going to deepen your relationship with Him. 00:49:03.17\00:49:04.81 - Yes. What if someone's saying, "I want to go, but 00:49:04.87\00:49:07.14 I'm afraid"? How do you deal with that fear? - I 00:49:07.18\00:49:10.65 think one good way to take baby steps is to 00:49:10.78\00:49:15.05 hear God's voice. Listen really carefully for His 00:49:16.05\00:49:18.92 voice! And if you feel like God is calling you 00:49:18.95\00:49:20.72 to maybe give or to do some work for Him, 00:49:20.76\00:49:26.43 do it in those little things! If we follow Him, we will 00:49:27.10\00:49:31.63 gain more confidence in the Lord, and we'll be 00:49:31.70\00:49:36.30 able to grow our faith so that He ultimately, 00:49:36.37\00:49:39.94 He can take us wherever He wants us to go. - Amen. 00:49:39.97\00:49:43.58 - I think sometimes, fear also comes from a lack 00:49:43.65\00:49:46.92 of trust. And as you go through that faith 00:49:46.98\00:49:52.52 journey with God, stepping out into the uncomfortable 00:49:52.59\00:49:55.06 unknown, the more you do that and the more 00:49:55.12\00:49:58.39 God comes through for you, the less you have 00:49:58.43\00:50:00.40 that fear. - That's good; absolutely. What if someone's 00:50:00.46\00:50:03.97 saying, "Okay, I think God's calling me, but 00:50:04.03\00:50:06.87 I'm not sure it's God." So how does someone 00:50:06.94\00:50:10.64 actually KNOW they're being called as a missionary? 00:50:10.71\00:50:12.87 Is there a fleece you put out like Gideon? 00:50:12.94\00:50:15.24 Is there something that you would actually tangibly 00:50:15.34\00:50:17.45 be able to reach out and say, "Okay, now 00:50:17.51\00:50:19.65 I know. This is my answer." How do you know? - I would 00:50:19.71\00:50:23.05 say everybody's called, but the question is not 00:50:23.18\00:50:26.89 so much, "Lord, do you want me to be a missionary?" 00:50:26.96\00:50:28.49 but it's, "Lord, where do you want me to serve?" 00:50:28.52\00:50:30.29 - Okay. - 'Cause God is calling all of us to 00:50:30.36\00:50:33.19 be workers for Him, whether you call it a missionary, 00:50:33.26\00:50:35.83 whether you call it a pastor, whether you 00:50:35.86\00:50:37.20 call it a Bible worker- whatever it is-layperson, 00:50:37.27\00:50:39.83 we're all called to be workers for Him. But 00:50:39.90\00:50:41.84 the question is, "Where do you want me to serve, 00:50:41.90\00:50:43.54 Lord?" - Okay. - And, you know, I can't say 00:50:43.61\00:50:46.81 that there's a black and white way that this 00:50:46.88\00:50:48.38 happens. It would be nice if there was a formula 00:50:48.44\00:50:50.35 where kind of that type of people, you know, where 00:50:50.41\00:50:52.45 we like formulas...but I think if God did give us 00:50:52.48\00:50:57.22 that, we would not experience Him in a deeper way...right? 00:50:57.29\00:51:01.16 - Okay. - And so God wants us to put our trust in Him 00:51:01.22\00:51:03.19 that He's going to lead us. And then when it 00:51:03.26\00:51:05.13 actually happens, we're like, "That was such a 00:51:05.16\00:51:07.20 great experience with God! Now I've got a 00:51:07.26\00:51:08.63 richer story that I can share with somebody 00:51:08.70\00:51:11.23 else, and it's different than Jason and Midori's. 00:51:11.30\00:51:12.97 It's different than this person or that person. 00:51:13.03\00:51:15.00 This is my unique fingerprint experience that God has 00:51:15.04\00:51:17.94 given to me that has deepened my experience 00:51:18.01\00:51:20.68 together with Him." - Amen! Amen. - The Lord wants us 00:51:20.78\00:51:23.71 to seek Him for Himself, not only give us answers. 00:51:23.75\00:51:29.08 He doesn't want to send us the facts; He wants 00:51:29.15\00:51:32.22 us to come to Him and know Him more intimately 00:51:32.32\00:51:35.82 than before. - Well, it's clear that God has led 00:51:35.89\00:51:38.56 both of you on a more intimate journey with 00:51:38.63\00:51:40.83 Him through this experience of being called to the mission 00:51:40.86\00:51:43.87 field. I want to thank you for coming and for 00:51:43.93\00:51:46.13 sharing your story, for sharing your heartbeat, 00:51:46.20\00:51:49.10 as it were, for God and what's God's doing in 00:51:49.20\00:51:51.21 your life. We're going to go to a break here, and 00:51:51.27\00:51:54.44 when we come back Jason and Midori will give us some 00:51:54.51\00:51:56.95 closing thoughts. But I hope that your heart 00:51:57.05\00:51:59.38 has been encouraged and inspired to keep following 00:51:59.48\00:52:04.29 Jesus!-to see where He is calling you to serve, 00:52:04.35\00:52:08.72 and then to step out by faith and to seek His 00:52:08.79\00:52:12.16 face even more, to get to know Him more, and 00:52:12.19\00:52:15.00 to follow Him-to walk in that obedience. We 00:52:15.06\00:52:18.33 want to encourage you to support Jason and 00:52:18.40\00:52:21.34 Midori and their mission service, to pray for 00:52:21.40\00:52:24.17 them as they're stepping out as Isaiah was in 00:52:24.24\00:52:26.74 Isaiah 6 when he was called. He said, "Here 00:52:26.81\00:52:29.21 am I; send me," and that's God's call for each one of us. 00:52:29.31\00:52:33.78