Participants:
Series Code: TDYL
Program Code: TDYL250016B
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00:10 Hi, I'm Shelly Quinn.
00:12 I'm JD Quinn. 00:12 And we welcome you to 3ABN. 00:15 This is live this second hour. 00:18 If you missed the first hour, you'll definitely want to see 00:21 that. 00:26 Hartman, who are... 00:28 James. 00:28 James. 00:29 James Michael. 00:30 That's where... 00:31 James Michael. 00:32 James Hartley. 00:34 And they are with Outpost Centers International. 00:39 Before we get rolling again, they've got some incredible 00:42 stories. 00:47 You're going to hear that in just a moment, as well as a 00:50 king, and just some fascinating stories. 00:54 But first, honey, everybody loves music. 00:56 Everybody loves music. 00:57 And, boy, Josh Singletary can play the piano and you're going 01:00 to love this. 01:01 I surrender all. 03:29 Thank you, Josh. 03:30 Amen. 03:31 Thank you. 03:32 We heard an incredible story during the break. 03:35 And I just, we want to start with this one. 03:38 OCI, for the Outpost Centers International, if you're just 03:42 joining us on this second hour, is a thriving network of 03:47 ministries, lay ministries around the world. 03:51 They have over 400 in nearly 90 countries. 03:57 But we're going to come back to that because Steve just keeps 04:01 telling me that's a tip in the bucket. 04:05 No, what would that be? 04:06 Anyway, a toe in the water. 04:08 We want to go deeper. 04:09 There we go. 04:10 I'll get my metaphors out. 04:12 But you told the most amazing story because he said, God can 04:17 use anyone. 04:19 Tell us the story of the Buddhist. 04:22 So I met Dim Da in the country of Malaysia. 04:26 We were having an OCI convention there. 04:29 And because of the nature of some of that region of the 04:33 world, it's hard to bring people together. 04:36 But we had come together. 04:38 We're having an OCI convention. 04:40 And I heard just a and I said, I've got to get the rest of 04:43 this story. 04:44 So I sat down with Dim Da. 04:46 I said, tell me your story. 04:47 And he said, I was raised in a Buddhist family. 04:51 And in our village, there was really no Buddhist anyway. 04:54 He was raised in the country of Cambodia. 04:57 And he said, there were no Christians there, but I was 05:01 taught to hate Christians anyway, because it was just the 05:04 nature of that kind of situation. 05:06 And he said, so I was raised as a Buddhist. 05:08 I hated Christians. 05:11 And somehow God had a plan though. 05:14 He says, I'm going to use Dim Da. 05:16 And so he was invited to come to Malaysia to this ministry 05:21 and to be a gardener. 05:24 And he said, I thought a gardener was someone who took 05:26 care of the flowers. 05:27 And so he's there at the ministry and he comes to the 05:31 ministry and he looks around. 05:33 He doesn't see very many flowers. 05:36 He says, what is the deal? 05:37 I came as a gardener to take care of the flowers. 05:40 And they said, no, it's a farm, not a garden. 05:42 It's a farm. 05:43 He said, so I had a big problem. 05:45 He said, I didn't want to be a farmer and I hated Christians. 05:49 And when I found out that this was a Christian place, he said, 05:52 I just wanted to go home. 05:54 He said, I just, but I didn't have the money. 05:57 He said, I couldn't go anywhere. 05:58 So I had to stay. 06:00 But he told me, he said, it wasn't long before he got sick. 06:04 And he said, I got so sick that I couldn't even get out of bed. 06:08 He said, it was just terrible. 06:09 I was just, I didn't know what to do. 06:12 No one was there to help me. 06:14 He said, but the people here at this ministry started helping 06:17 me and they would bring me food and they would try to get me 06:21 well again. 06:22 And he would tell them, go away. 06:24 I don't want you to help me because I cannot pay you. 06:27 And this is what they told him. 06:29 They said, Dimda, we are not doing this for money. 06:33 We are doing this because Jesus loves you. 06:36 And he said, don't tell me anything about Jesus. 06:39 I hate Christians. 06:39 You know, I hate Christians. 06:41 I don't want anything to do with this and I can't pay you. 06:43 Go away. 06:44 They said, no, no, we're going to help you. 06:46 And they kept bringing him food and kept ministering to his 06:48 needs. 06:52 get up and walk and do things. 06:55 And one day he was working on the farm, which he didn't 06:59 really want to do, but he was there and he had to do it. 07:02 He's working on the farm. 07:03 He loses all keys to the whole farm. 07:06 He was the, they'd given him charge of all the keys. 07:10 He said, we got to find the keys. 07:12 And so he came to his friends who had helped him with to get 07:14 well. 07:15 And he says, come please help me. 07:17 We have to find the keys. 07:18 And they told him, no, we will not find the keys right now. 07:21 He said, why not? 07:22 We have to go find the keys. 07:24 And they said, no, we'll find the keys later because today is 07:27 Friday and we're getting ready for the Sabbath. 07:30 He says, I don't care about the Sabbath. 07:31 I've lost the keys. 07:33 Now come and help me find the keys. 07:34 Please. 07:34 You're my friends. 07:35 They said, no, we'll not go now, but we'll pray. 07:38 And they said, let's just pray. 07:41 And finally, he was pretty frustrated. 07:43 He told me, and he said, he finally told them, I don't know 07:46 how to pray. 07:48 And they said, we will teach you. 07:51 And so they knelt down, they prayed that God would help them 07:54 to find those keys. 07:56 And he said, he went to church the next day out of respect for 08:00 the people he was with. 08:02 And, and he didn't think much about it. 08:04 He kind of forgotten a little bit about the keys, but that 08:06 afternoon he had to go check something somewhere on the 08:09 property. 08:14 And this is what he told me. 08:15 He said, I thought, oh, this is so wonderful. 08:19 It's my good karma. 08:21 He said, I've got some karma. 08:23 I've done some good things in my life and this is my karma. 08:26 There's no God. 08:28 There can't be any God. 08:29 This is just karma. 08:30 I have found my keys. 08:32 But he said, he became a little bit curious. 08:35 You know, I think God uses that sometimes with us where we get 08:39 curious because he's stimulating our thinking on 08:43 something. 08:44 And so he said, I became a little curious. 08:48 And anytime I had a problem, I go to my friends and they would 08:51 say, always tell me, oh, no, don't worry. 08:53 We will pray. 08:55 And, and he said, I began to experience this thing. 08:58 And he said, I became a little more curious. 09:00 He said, eventually I became so curious. 09:03 I decided I had to really find out, is there a God who really 09:07 cares about people that would say they care so much that he 09:12 would actually interact with a, with a person like me? 09:15 Is this true or not? 09:17 I got to find out. 09:18 I said, well, what did you do? 09:20 He said, I decided I would give God a test. 09:23 And I kind of chuckled that point. 09:24 I thought, this is funny. 09:25 He's going to give God a test. 09:27 I said, what kind of test did you give God? 09:30 He said, I told God three things because I become curious 09:34 enough about this God that I said, maybe I need to study in 09:39 this school. 09:41 And he said, God, this is the test. 09:44 If you will answer these three I will become a Christian. 09:48 He said, now we're going to figure this out once and for 09:51 all. 09:52 He said, I don't have money, so I can't study here. 09:57 I'm a Buddhist. 09:58 They won't accept me. 10:00 And thirdly, I can't speak English and the classes are in 10:03 English. 10:06 He said, but it was so bad. 10:08 I would walk down the sidewalk and I would see somebody. 10:11 I would say, good morning. 10:13 And they would say, what did you say? 10:15 He said, I just couldn't get the English language. 10:20 So three days later, somebody showed up and they paid his 10:24 tuition. 10:25 And he said, Oh my, maybe there is something to this, but no, 10:29 it could be my karma. 10:30 This is, this could be karma still. 10:32 And he said, so he applied to the school and he said, but 10:36 they won't accept me because I'm a Buddhist and this is a 10:38 Christian school. 10:40 And so he applied and he was accepted. 10:42 He said, Oh my, maybe there really is a God, but no, this 10:46 could still be my karma. 10:48 Because I still can't, I don't know what to do. 10:50 How am I going to go to class? 10:51 I don't speak English. 10:53 The classes are in English. 10:55 And he said, finally it was time for the classes to start. 10:58 His money had been paid. 10:59 He was accepted. 11:00 He said, but I knew I couldn't speak English, so it was going 11:03 to be trouble the first day in class. 11:05 He said, when I sat down in class, I could understand 11:09 everything the teacher said. 11:11 Wow. 11:12 Amazing. 11:13 He said, not only could I understand what the teacher 11:16 said, but I began to be able to speak in English. 11:19 Wow. 11:21 Wow. 11:22 And I could write my assignments in English. 11:24 Glory to God. 11:25 Hallelujah. 11:26 Jesus doesn't need our abilities. 11:29 He just needs us to be willing to say yes. 11:32 Right. 11:32 Amen. 11:37 And I realize I needed to find out more about this God because 11:42 if I was going to become a Christian, I needed to know 11:45 more. 11:46 He said, so I studied in the school for one year. 11:49 And then I said, God, I'm ready. 11:52 And he said, I was ready and I requested baptism. 11:56 And he said, when I came up out of the water, God told me, you 12:02 will now be my missionary. 12:05 And he said, how am I going to be a missionary? 12:08 What am I going to do? 12:10 And God said, you are going to go to your own people in your 12:15 own country that don't know about me. 12:19 And so he told the people at the school, he said, I have to 12:21 leave. 12:22 They said, oh no, you cannot leave. 12:23 You have to stay here and get more training. 12:25 He said, no, I have to leave because God has told me to go 12:29 to my own people in my own country. 12:33 He ended up going his own people in his own country. 12:36 And when he showed up, his parents rejected him. 12:40 His best friends rejected him. 12:42 He said, he went to see his best friend. 12:46 He said, surely he will accept me. 12:48 He said, the mother of his best friend came out the door. 12:51 She said, go do not come here. 12:53 Go. 12:54 He said, why? 12:55 She says, you have become a Christian. 12:56 You have betrayed our people. 12:58 We, you know, we hate Christians here. 13:01 And so he turned to leave. 13:03 And as he was leaving, he looked back and she had a 13:06 branch and she was sweeping his footprints out of the dust. 13:10 He said, I felt totally a failure. 13:12 What was God going to do here? 13:14 How he's going to use me because they're rejecting me. 13:18 And so he said, he went home that night and his parents had 13:21 agreed if he didn't say anything Christian, he could 13:24 stay in the house because he had no other place to stay. 13:26 So he finally let him in the house. 13:28 He said, I was so disappointed. 13:30 I was so discouraged. 13:31 I didn't know what to do. 13:32 I've just praying. 13:33 I was crying out to God. 13:34 What will I do? 13:36 He said, when I woke up in the morning, I felt this impression 13:40 that I was to work with the children. 13:43 And he said, God, what am I going to do with the children? 13:47 He said, God spoke to his heart, said, you will teach the 13:50 children English. 13:53 So God takes someone who hates Christians, who can't speak 13:56 English, who doesn't have any money and sends him back as a 14:01 missionary to teach English. 14:05 Today he has a group of children that come and they 14:09 built a building there and they're teaching these children 14:12 about Jesus. 14:13 But God said, I'm not finished yet. 14:18 He said, you will do more. 14:20 But he felt like a failure because he said it was, I'd 14:23 been doing this for two years, no success. 14:26 He said, what I really wanted to do was study the Bible with 14:28 people. 14:29 He said, but I couldn't get anyone to study the Bible with 14:31 me. 14:32 He said, so I took a week and I went to the jungle and I fasted 14:35 and I prayed. 14:36 He said, I didn't care who heard me. 14:38 I was crying out loudly to God. 14:42 And he said, I was telling God, I've been a failure. 14:44 I've wasted your time or wasted your money. 14:46 I can't do anything. 14:47 These people don't want to study the Bible. 14:49 And that's what I want to do. 14:50 I want to teach them about you. 14:52 I thought that's what you wanted me to do. 14:55 He said, so one week I cried and prayed to God. 14:58 And he said, I felt some sense of peace. 15:00 So I went back home, but I still didn't know really what 15:03 to do. 15:04 But he said, something changed. 15:06 And within the next six months, there were seven individuals 15:09 that agreed to study the Bible with him. 15:11 Praise God. 15:15 And God said, I'm not finished yet. 15:17 He says, what do you want me to do now? 15:20 He said, I want you to go to the prison. 15:22 And so Deem Da went to the prison and he said, I'm 15:25 supposed to teach here. 15:27 They said, what are you going to teach? 15:29 He said, I'm going to teach English. 15:32 Now he is teaching to hundreds of prisoners every week, 15:37 teaching the Bible through English, teaching them, you 15:43 know, God is, and now it's amazing. 15:49 Deem Da is building a chapel because there were too many 15:53 prisoners that wanted to study the Bible. 15:55 Glory to God. 15:56 And so he's, we're building a little chapel in the prison, 16:03 inside the prison. 16:04 There's going to be a Seventh -day Advent Chapel teaching the 16:08 Bible. 16:12 Glory. 16:14 Amen. 16:16 So God, what does he need? 16:18 He needs us to say yes. 16:19 That's what he needs. 16:21 It's something that, I mean, you know, when God spoke to me 16:29 personally, when he called me, I mean, when I say he spoke to 16:32 me, it was a still small voice of the Lord. 16:34 I remember the first time I told JD, well, God said this 16:38 and God said that. 16:42 hearing from God because they're going to think you're 16:45 crazy. 16:46 But you know, 1 Kings 19 12 talks about the still small 16:49 voice. 16:54 And it just moves me when I hear stories like that, where 16:59 God has spoken and used someone. 17:02 Now you, this may be you, God may be speaking to you right 17:06 now. 17:07 And I wanted to talk. 17:09 We're going to just transition here. 17:11 Just a second. 17:12 I wanted to talk. 17:14 There's people like, how do you say his name? 17:17 Demda. 17:18 Demda, who've come in, who have no leadership experience and 17:24 who have a call on their, of the Lord on their heart. 17:30 Tell us what with the leadership training. 17:33 Yeah, that's so important. 17:36 Many people get engaged in ministry cause the Lord is 17:39 moving on their heart, but they soon realize there's a lot of 17:42 details in running a ministry, a lot of administrative issues 17:45 and, and organization needed and OCI is there to help 17:52 provide leadership training to our ministries. 17:55 We've recently just returned from Romania. 17:58 We had a three day strategic planning session with our board 18:02 and we recognized that one of the biggest needs that we 18:04 wanted to fill was leadership training. 18:06 Cause if we can strengthen the leaders, we'll strengthen the 18:08 whole ministry because the leader is leading, leading the 18:11 way. 18:17 of 12 to 15 leaders at a time as a group where they will work 18:22 for three months together. 18:23 A lot of it online, there'll be classes that they watch, then 18:27 they're going to get lectures from different, you know, 18:30 specialists in different areas. 18:32 Then they're going to have time where they're all talking 18:33 together and, and going through a process. 18:36 So it'd be learning from one another and we'll have 18:39 different groups. 18:43 able to learn from one another. 18:44 And then we're going to have multiple cohorts like that in 18:47 different languages. 18:49 And, you know, this is something we're just starting 18:51 this year. 18:55 we've done a lot of leadership training in the past at our 18:57 conventions. 19:00 channel. 19:03 more intimate and more personal. 19:05 And so we're going to be mentoring leaders and bringing 19:07 them through a process over a three month period that we're 19:12 really excited that it's going to help elevate the ministries 19:15 and give them some more training. 19:18 Let me before you, I hear you taking a deep breath, but let 19:21 me just say this. 19:24 leadership training for what? 19:26 What is this ministry? 19:28 Outpost Centers International. 19:30 Think of it as the umbrella. 19:33 They've got over 400 ministries of lay persons. 19:38 This is laity who have ministries. 19:41 They join Outpost Centers International for all these 19:46 various services and support and the synergy and the 19:49 financial. 19:50 And they've got all these beautiful things that you 19:54 should watch the first hour and you'll understand it better or 19:57 just go to outpostcenters.org. 20:03 And it's a wonderful ministry. 20:06 Okay, honey. 20:07 Well, I just what's the name of this leadership? 20:09 Oh, that's a good question. 20:11 Global leadership training. 20:13 We're still struggling to get the right name for it, but 20:16 that's a good place to start. 20:18 It's still a little internal. 20:19 Yeah, but I think it's exciting. 20:21 Well, it is exciting. 20:23 Well, one of the things we want to do starting out is we have 20:27 to train the trainers. 20:28 So our field team is going to be some of our primary target 20:33 candidates for these first few times so that we train them so 20:38 that because they speak languages, I don't speak. 20:41 You know, I do a good day. 20:42 I can speak English and I know enough Spanish to be dangerous. 20:49 When I first met him, I said if he spoke if he spoke English, 20:52 he'd be bilingual because he's from Texas and Texans have 20:56 different words for everything. 21:01 Oh, beautiful. 21:03 Oh, but so anyway, we want to train our field team and select 21:10 other leaders that can help us to train globally because 21:13 there's not enough of us. 21:15 James and I can't do all this alone. 21:18 We've got we're bringing Michelle Dukumis, who's going 21:20 to be this training coordinator for us. 21:23 And so that's going to be a blessing for us. 21:26 And by God's grace, we believe this is going to really lift 21:31 the leaders up in a way because many times leading a ministry 21:36 is a lonely work. 21:38 It's you don't have you can't talk to your staff about issues 21:42 you may be dealing with. 21:43 You can't really talk to the people you're trying to help. 21:47 And so you're kind of stuck and you need someone you can really 21:51 come together with and have those conversations. 21:54 And you know that ministry leaders rely on God. 21:58 They're praying to God. 21:59 But there is something that God has. 22:02 He puts us in groups together because we need him to be able 22:11 to let him talk to us through other people is what I'm trying 22:16 to say. 22:23 networking synergy is that you've got somebody that 22:26 understands you, somebody else who's got that mission heart 22:29 and they're praying and you can come to I mean, I just think 22:34 it's fabulous. 22:35 We want it to be, you know, you can do anything online. 22:38 You can go watch YouTube videos all day about how to do 22:40 something. 22:41 But we want this to be an experience, not just a class, 22:46 but a real experience. 22:49 And so we're keeping the groups small and hopes that God will 22:53 bless those groups with the Holy Spirit. 22:55 So they come together in a really spirit of interaction 22:59 that is blessed by the Holy Spirit. 23:01 And that certainly will work. 23:03 The thing they've got to do is just like we all got to do. 23:05 They got to put their foot in the water. 23:08 Once they put the foot in the water and that water starts 23:11 easing to the sides and gets dry land, a million people 23:16 could not change their mind then because you've seen it 23:20 work. 23:21 And so that, I mean, action, action. 23:25 Okay. 23:30 We've got to get to this story. 23:32 I'm just going to tease to it again. 23:33 We're going to come back to the palace story and the king, but 23:37 tell us about Project X. 23:40 Oh, yeah. 23:46 ministries called LIGHT, the Lay Institute for Global Health 23:49 Training. 23:50 It's one of our very dynamic ministries because it's global 23:54 in its nature and it's training people how to minister 23:58 according to Christ's method that you've pointed out here, 24:01 using health and ministering to the needs of people as a means 24:05 to introduce Christ to them. 24:06 So LIGHT is training lay people and pastors around the world 24:11 how to use the right arm of the gospel. 24:14 Okay. 24:18 training course and they've done this in over 90 countries. 24:22 How many? 24:23 Over 40,000 church members. 24:25 It's been going, LIGHT has been around for about 15 years, a 24:28 little more than 15 years. 24:30 So I know a little bit about it because I used to be in the 24:33 leadership for it. 24:36 So I'm with OCI full time, but I'm really inspired to see what 24:40 LIGHT is doing to have some new leadership there that have a 24:43 powerful vision. 24:44 So while LIGHT has been training churches how to use 24:47 the health message to interact in their communities, we 24:51 recognize that there's still much of the world that is not 24:54 yet reached. 24:56 Project X is an initiative where we are taking the 25:00 graduates from our training courses and launching them into 25:04 unreached territories where there is no presence, no 25:07 Christian presence. 25:08 So these are difficult to reach areas, but we believe using 25:12 Christ's method by ministering to the needs, by teaching 25:15 health and so forth, that we can make friends for Jesus. 25:20 So the LIGHT course is traditionally, it's a four week 25:24 intensive course studying the gospel and health. 25:27 Then we've added two weeks more for church planting and how to 25:31 work in different cultures, cross-cultural evangelism. 25:35 So we're launching out students that have been through at least 25:39 six weeks of training. 25:41 Then it's a one year commitment. 25:43 They have to serve in a community that has not been 25:46 worked before. 25:48 And this last year was our trial run. 25:51 There were groups in Peru and in Bolivia where they are 25:55 reaching into jungle territories where there is no 25:58 Christian presence whatsoever. 26:00 And it's just been phenomenal. 26:03 So the project is going to expand. 26:04 We've got opportunities around the world, but just in the 26:08 three projects in Peru, two in Peru and one in Bolivia, 26:12 they've planted three groups. 26:15 I don't know if you call them churches quite yet, there's 26:17 three groups meeting regularly and they've baptized 27 26:20 individuals in this one year. 26:23 Now all of these projects are in cooperation with the local 26:27 conference. 26:28 So there's follow-up planned in the conference. 26:30 They're helping us choose the territories. 26:32 They're saying, we need someone to reach out in this area. 26:35 So our missionaries are pioneer missionaries going off into 26:38 these unreached areas, working for one year, making friends, 26:44 teaching cooking classes or giving consultations, just 26:48 going door-to-door or hut-to -hut and seeing what the needs 26:51 are, praying with people and just saying, hey, I'm here for 26:54 a year to help you. 26:56 That's why we're here is to be a blessing to this community. 26:59 And it's produced phenomenal results. 27:02 So we're looking at Ethiopia and Philippines. 27:06 There are still some unreached areas, of course, there. 27:10 And what's the other one? 27:11 Venezuela. 27:11 There's a huge needs in Venezuela. 27:13 So we're looking at launching up some new projects here. 27:16 And so, yeah, I just want to share a little bit Project X. 27:18 It's a new thing from Light and that's their member ministries 27:21 of OCI. 27:23 So Light is kind of a strategic partner with OCI specifically 27:26 on the medical missionary training or health education, 27:31 health evangelism type training. 27:33 Yeah. 27:38 whenever I was a youth in Seventh-day Adventism, becoming 27:43 a missionary was top of the list. 27:48 And it was all go to Africa or, you know, go to a jungle 27:52 someplace. 27:53 And here we are, you know, 60, 70, 80 years later. 27:58 I wonder if kids still have that desire because you just 28:03 says, hey, there's new territory opening up here. 28:06 You would assume that everybody's all the jungles 28:10 have been searched and everything. 28:12 I mean, boy, that shows you how naive we are as a people. 28:16 We generally are. 28:21 missions and I kind of took on the role of OCI president and 28:24 we have this vision that we should have a network of lay 28:27 ministries in every country of the world. 28:29 I think it's easy. 28:30 We got 23 countries left. 28:31 Let's just go do this. 28:33 You know, I'm just thinking a list and click them off. 28:36 I have an engineering background. 28:37 And so I'm thinking, you know, data and simple stuff, you 28:41 know, when I began to study it, it became apparent that that 28:44 was not the way it was globally. 28:47 There were 16,000 identified people groups, which is either 28:52 a different language or a different culture. 28:55 There's 7,164 actual live languages today. 29:00 Wow. 29:01 Wow. 29:04 less than 1,000 of those people groups. 29:07 Now it's true that we've got the majors covered, but if I 29:11 don't misread Revelation chapter 14 verse six, it says 29:15 to every nation and kindred in tongue and tribe and people. 29:19 That means everybody's covered. 29:21 Even those little groups isolated and in very difficult 29:25 circumstances. 29:27 Somehow the problem suddenly became larger than I had 29:32 imagined when I recognized that there's still a lot of work for 29:37 us to do. 29:39 And the truth of the story is, is they may be on their knees 29:43 right now asking for new light. 29:45 Help us. 29:47 I mean, we're running out of, we don't know what else to do. 29:49 We've intermarried and intermarried and everything. 29:52 And there, where there is no future. 29:53 Help us. 29:54 Jesus. 29:56 I met a man in Ethiopia and this is what he told me. 30:00 He said, God called me to go to this people group right here. 30:04 And he said, when I showed up, they said, why did it take you 30:09 so long? 30:11 He said, we have been praying for over a hundred years for 30:16 somebody to come here and teach us. 30:20 Now you're coming. 30:21 Why did it take you so long? 30:23 And I thought, God help us. 30:26 Why does it take us so long to get to that place? 30:30 It turns out that a missionary had come there and he said he 30:34 would send somebody. 30:37 But in the stream of time and circumstances, he went back, 30:40 but he couldn't find anybody to send. 30:41 There was nobody to go. 30:43 And when this man showed up, the question was, why did it 30:47 take you so long? 30:51 program and everything are saying, Hey, let me go. 30:55 Choose me. 30:57 Who will I send? 30:58 Who will go for us? 31:01 This is serious stuff. 31:02 I mean, we're sitting here and we're talking about the end of 31:05 time. 31:06 Yes, we are. 31:07 We're going to chapter. 31:09 I mean, we're going to verse six here. 31:10 Yeah. 31:12 Every kindred in time. 31:14 I've got two quick questions and then we've got to get to 31:17 your Nigerian king story here because I don't want to tease 31:22 to it and not get to it. 31:24 But it occurred to me when JD said that about growing up as a 31:29 child and missionary. 31:31 Do you have any, any ministries that are with OCI who are say 31:36 in the United States? 31:38 Do you have ministries here? 31:39 The majority of our ministries are based in the US. 31:42 There's about 100 ministries in the US. 31:45 So there are academies. 31:47 So it's not, it's not like talking about, you know, listen 31:51 to what I'm saying. 31:53 You're out there saying, Lord, I want more. 31:55 And God is saying, yes, I want you. 31:58 I want to send you. 32:00 So go to outpost centers. 32:04 We'll put it on the screen. 32:06 Dot O R G. 32:08 Look for job opportunities. 32:10 Look for ministry opportunities. 32:12 You just go volunteer for a few months, maybe this summer or 32:16 something, and then see if this is what God would have you to 32:21 do. 32:21 It's so special. 32:23 Now it may be as simple as getting out of your comfort 32:25 zone. 32:26 Yeah. 32:27 But now another thought, and I won't use their names. 32:31 We don't share missionaries names, but, but we have, we 32:37 have a precious couple. 32:40 I don't know if they're, they just went, I mean, they got 32:44 trained in culture. 32:46 I'm assuming do couples just go off and I mean, if they're with 32:49 OCI and maybe they're just going to try to plant to church 32:53 or do something. 32:55 It happens where people get impressed to do something. 32:58 I mean, there's, we have, we could tell stories all night 33:01 about people who have decided God is calling them and just 33:06 prayed and say, God, where do you want me to go? 33:08 He impresses them with a country. 33:10 They go, they sell everything they have. 33:12 They go to that place and they begin to work for God. 33:14 And God uses them in a powerful way to do something in a place 33:20 they had never imagined they would be speaking a language. 33:23 They never imagined they would speak, you know, doing things 33:27 they never imagined they would do. 33:29 But their testimony is this, I wouldn't want it any other way. 33:33 We talked with someone who went to India for a year. 33:38 That was 18 years ago. 33:42 Okay. 33:42 Okay. 33:43 So you had the opportunity to visit a king in a palace. 33:51 Let's talk about that. 33:52 Yeah. 33:56 It was my first trip to that area. 33:58 And so I wanted to spend a little time there. 34:01 So we went to the country of Cameroon first and our OCI 34:04 field vice president there had kind of organized things. 34:07 So we did some work there and then he said, we're going to 34:09 Nigeria next and we're going to go and we're going to see the 34:13 king. 34:16 He said, well, so I had to understand there's two kinds of 34:20 government there. 34:23 government. 34:24 And so he said, this King is a tribal King in the northern 34:28 part of Nigeria. 34:29 Now our listeners may have heard something about Northern 34:32 Nigeria, and this is the man here and he's in that northern 34:37 part of Nigeria where there's a lot of trouble sometimes and 34:39 unrest. 34:41 But we went there and we arrived one evening and he is 34:47 the King over many Kings and he lives in a palace. 34:51 Yeah. 34:55 So he's like the, the president or the King of the region where 34:59 there's 13 other Kings. 35:01 So he's got a fairly elevated position. 35:03 He's in the larger city there and he lives in the King's 35:07 palace there. 35:08 And so we went to that place and they'd invited us to go. 35:12 They knew we were coming and I, but I was a little nervous. 35:15 I'm thinking, I don't know what to do with a King. 35:17 You know, I mean, I've never really been in the presence of 35:19 a King. 35:21 What, you know, what terminology am I going to use? 35:24 And I was a little nervous, but as soon as I saw this man, he 35:27 became my friend. 35:29 He's a Seventh-day Adventist who God has used in the country 35:34 of Nigeria. 35:35 He was the head of all the customs operations in Nigeria. 35:40 And when he retired from that, they ask him if he would accept 35:44 this position to be the tribal King over this area. 35:48 And he accepted it. 35:50 And so he lives in the palace there and he takes care of the 35:54 business, the tribal business for that region. 35:57 It was amazing experience. 35:58 And when I saw him that evening, we met up in his, in 36:02 his room there in where he lives and in the palace. 36:06 And I didn't know exactly what to do, but when I saw him, it 36:09 became evident to me that he was my brother in Christ. 36:12 And I just embraced him. 36:14 And I said, my brother, I'm so happy to meet you. 36:17 And it was, it was really a moving experience for me that I 36:22 didn't feel like I had to bow down. 36:24 That wasn't the kind of person he was. 36:27 He was a very humble man and he has started a ministry there. 36:32 So one of our OCI ministries is the ministry of that King in 36:38 that part of Nigeria. 36:40 He has started a school there with over 400 children in it. 36:45 And when, when we visited that school, he brought those 36:49 children together. 36:50 The director brought those children together in the chapel 36:53 and they sang for us. 36:56 It was stunning. 36:57 It was amazing. 36:58 I was literally just amazed by the music they could produce. 37:05 The teachers there are seventh day Adventist teachers, but not 37:10 all of them. 37:12 He said, but we have to take who we can get and we have to 37:15 train them on how to run a seventh day Adventist teaching 37:19 program. 37:20 And so they've have a little clinic there where the children 37:24 and the families can get medical care. 37:27 And it's just, God is using that man. 37:30 He started a training school for training missionaries to go 37:33 into some of those other tribal areas. 37:37 And we were sitting in his parlor one evening visiting. 37:42 It was just before we left. 37:44 And as we sat there, another man came in and I was like, I 37:48 was wondering who he was. 37:50 He was one of the other Kings. 37:53 And I found out he was not of our faith. 37:56 He was a Muslim. 37:57 And so I was a little like, I'm not sure how to interact in 38:02 that situation, but as we began to end our discussion, I was 38:06 just convicted. 38:08 I should ask. 38:09 And I said, would it be okay if we prayed? 38:11 Oh yes, it's wonderful. 38:12 Let's pray. 38:13 And so I turned to the man who had come in and I says, is 38:16 there anything we could pray for you about? 38:18 And he said, well, I'm having some health challenges. 38:22 And so we prayed together there, a Muslim and Christians 38:27 praying together to the God of the universe, appealing to help 38:32 that man with his health. 38:34 I believe that God's going to use that King in that place to 38:39 bring the gospel to some of those challenging areas. 38:42 I can see that God is doing something there and God shows 38:49 up. 38:51 Sometimes we think we've got to do something. 38:54 We put him in a box, don't we? 38:57 But he's doing things ahead of us and he shows up and we just 39:01 need to be present and to agree to do what he asked us to do. 39:06 Because sometimes I was hesitant to say, well, could we 39:10 pray? 39:11 But God had already opened that door because I learned that 39:15 this man said, I love this King, this man who's a Seventh 39:21 -day Adventist Christian. 39:22 He's almost like my father. 39:25 And so they have a very good relationship and he respects 39:31 him and he's anxious to know things and he wants to know 39:36 more. 39:37 And so I just saw it. 39:39 God showed up here and he's doing something and he's making 39:43 progress and teaching people about his way. 39:47 Praise the Lord. 39:48 Isn't it amazing? 39:50 You go from the story of a Buddhist who hated Christians, 39:57 who couldn't speak English and who's now teaching in his own 40:03 country as a converted Christian and he's teaching all 40:06 of these prisoners. 40:07 You take a man with this humble heart whose God has exalted to 40:13 such a position. 40:14 And, you know, I have to tell you a story. 40:17 I had a doctor that didn't even cross my mind that he was 40:21 Muslim. 40:22 How dumb am I? 40:24 So I was seeing him for a few years and I gave him Exalting 40:27 His Word. 40:31 into His Presence, The Grace Pipeline. 40:33 I'm giving him these different books. 40:35 And then one day I'm asking him, how can I pray for you? 40:39 Because he had such a heart. 40:41 I figured he was a Christian. 40:43 And come to find out his family was still in an area that a lot 40:48 of war was going on. 40:50 And I looked at him, I said, Oh, you're a Muslim. 40:56 And he said, Yes, but you and I, he said, I believe we 41:00 worship the same God. 41:03 And so, you know, there's things that it's like how 41:06 Buddhists hate Christians without even meeting a 41:10 Christian. 41:12 We have to be careful that that's a kind of prejudice. 41:19 It's a form of pride. 41:21 We think we know best. 41:23 God can bring people together in amazing ways. 41:27 And that's His promise. 41:29 That is the Gospel right there. 41:32 I will bring my children from the East and the West and the 41:35 North and the South. 41:37 And His children are all human beings. 41:40 I would imagine every one of us will learn a lot. 41:43 But not an isolated group. 41:45 Okay. 41:47 I'm usually not a person to go through this, but I just, JD 41:51 was on their website earlier and the website is 41:59 outpostcenters.org. 42:01 Outpostcenters.org. 42:03 It's there on the screen. 42:05 Tell us some of the positions that are being advertised right 42:09 now. 42:13 One thing I can do, Shelley, is I can read. 42:17 I may be lacking in some skills, but I can read. 42:20 And I find this just absolutely exciting because we're going 42:26 from A to Z here and it has nothing to do with y'all. 42:30 This is people that I want to do something. 42:33 Yeah. 42:36 These are all of our ministries that have these needs here. 42:38 All these entities out there says, hey, we have these music 42:43 caretakers, cooks, health food, massage, massages, chefs, 42:50 lifestyle physicians, probably a lifestyle trained person, 42:57 physicians trained person, therapists, translators, 43:02 editors, gardeners, farmers, horticulturists, construction, 43:08 project manager, graphic designers, fundraisers, RNs, 43:13 LVNs, Carpenters, Development Directors. 43:17 I want to run out of steam. 43:18 Biblical Ministries, Accountants, and then there's 43:22 that last two words, much more. 43:27 Sure, that's just a small portion. 43:30 There's a lot of needs. 43:31 But when you're sitting here saying, hey, 400 individual 43:36 Ministries around the world, well, you can see that this is 43:41 just a little bit of the top of the mountain. 43:46 That's right. 43:51 because they're worried they are going to end up in the 43:53 jungle of Africa. 43:55 So please know that many of those Ministries are right here 43:58 in the United States and we need missionaries. 44:03 I know people from Japan that are sending missionaries over 44:09 here because they think America needs us missionaries badly. 44:13 That's true in some respects. 44:14 Yes, it is. 44:15 I wanted to highlight the first one you read and just tell you 44:19 a short story about a need I observed. 44:22 I was in the country of Ethiopia. 44:24 We were holding an OCI convention there and I went to 44:27 see a Ministry. 44:29 This Ministry is called La Esperance. 44:32 It's a combination of an orphanage and a school. 44:35 They have about 100 orphans and they have about 1,500 other 44:39 students who come from the community. 44:42 And so it is a unique combination. 44:44 They have an agriculture program. 44:46 They have all this stuff they're doing, a school going. 44:49 It's just a thriving operation. 44:50 When you drive in the gate, you know something's happening 44:53 there. 44:56 things happening. 44:57 Which country is that one in? 44:58 In Ethiopia, okay? 45:00 They have a number of La Esperances around the world. 45:03 This one's in Ethiopia. 45:05 And I sat down with the director and I said, what are 45:08 your needs and how can we help? 45:10 We're just here for a few hours but we want to know and I'm 45:12 trying to discover. 45:14 And she said, right now I need a music teacher. 45:16 And I noticed that he read music teachers, one of those. 45:20 And I'm thinking maybe there's a listener today. 45:23 Maybe there's a person viewing this program. 45:27 He says, I would love to go and help with music. 45:29 I would love to be able to interact in that environment 45:33 and teach children music. 45:35 And they're praying for you right now to come. 45:37 Yeah, there's people. 45:38 I just want you to know those are real things. 45:40 There's real people. 45:41 There's real ministries. 45:42 There's real children who need help. 45:45 That they could have a music program that would glorify God. 45:49 Amen. 45:55 thinking, I teach music. 45:57 Amen. 45:58 Maybe I could go. 45:59 Well, if you want to find out more, you can go to our 46:01 website. 46:01 You can contact us. 46:03 And we'd be happy to help connect you with some of those 46:06 things. 46:11 years of my life is I don't have enough information. 46:16 This is information galore. 46:19 This is a starting block that you know somebody to call 46:22 because you can read what's down there, what the web page 46:26 is. 46:32 I could just add to this that I would encourage if someone 46:36 listening is thinking about getting engaged in ministry or 46:40 starting their own ministry, it's good to get a little 46:43 experience first. 46:49 mission center, centers of influence, working at one that 46:52 you admire is a good, or it could be in education or in 46:57 health, volunteer, get some experience. 47:00 That will give you more power to starting your own ministry 47:03 so you can not be starting from scratch with no experience. 47:07 And I think that you're qualified to have this 47:09 conversation right here. 47:11 You're a product of what you're talking about, which is 47:16 fantastic. 47:18 And we're going back to the personal testimony there. 47:21 We've just got about 10 minutes left, but for someone that may 47:24 not have caught the first hour, remind us again what the 47:28 support, the structure of OCI, why would a ministry, maybe you 47:32 are wanting to start a ministry or have started a ministry, why 47:36 would someone want to become part of OCI? 47:40 Well, when you join OCI, you're joining a community of like 47:44 -minded people that have the goal of spreading the three and 47:47 those message to the world. 47:48 And in that community, there's collaboration, there's, we have 47:53 conventions, there's networking, there are prayer 47:56 chains, there's support. 47:58 We have counselors, we have experienced people within our 48:02 network that will give advice to different types of 48:04 ministries. 48:05 We offer leadership training. 48:07 We showcase our ministries and promote our ministries from our 48:10 website and other social media platforms and so forth. 48:13 So they can, and if they're not a 501c3, they can have receive 48:18 funds because OCI is, which is Outpost Centers International, 48:23 is a 501c3 ministry, so it can come into you and people can 48:28 get the tax deduction and then it gets passed on to the 48:31 ministry. 48:36 like, there's like some social media components too. 48:38 People can follow your ministry, they can like, they 48:41 can share, and so they get updated. 48:44 If you post a fundraising project, all of your followers 48:47 will get a notification. 48:49 So the website's built to support the ministries and to 48:52 support the work that they do. 48:53 It's a very sophisticated webpage. 48:56 I mean, it's up to date. 48:58 Praise the Lord. 48:59 So yeah, the strongest components are probably in 49:02 fundraising. 49:03 We've got a team of accountants that keep track of everything 49:05 and we have a lot of accountability because we take 49:10 responsibility when we're receiving the donations. 49:13 We also have this whole volunteer section so you can 49:16 connect people with jobs. 49:18 Our ministries can post job opportunities and anyone that's 49:21 viewing here, you can go and make yourself available. 49:24 There's a page where people can scroll, our ministries can 49:27 scroll through and try to see who they might be able to hire, 49:30 you know, or use for a short -term mission trip. 49:33 So if you want to put your profile online right now, you 49:36 can go to outpostcenters.org, put your profile on, and then 49:43 ministries who are looking for someone just like you will be 49:47 able to contact you. 49:49 Yeah. 49:52 covered yet is membership requirements. 49:55 Yes. 49:56 Who qualifies to become a member of OCI? 50:01 So if you are, first of all, you have to be a ministry. 50:03 We are a network of ministries. 50:05 So if you have a ministry that has the goal of sharing Christ 50:09 and sharing the three of those messages, you can be a part of 50:12 OCI. 50:15 So if you just have an idea, if it's a concept, we won't accept 50:19 that. 50:22 You have to be... 50:24 That's smart. 50:24 Yeah. 50:30 Adventist Church, right? 50:33 Seventh -day Adventist Church, which is to spread the three of 50:35 those messages and the everlasting gospel to the whole 50:38 world. 50:39 If you have that in mind, and that you acknowledge that the 50:43 tithe should be sent to the organized church, okay? 50:46 That's a requirement that we have. 50:48 Our ministries don't accept tithe money. 50:51 We believe that should go to the organized church. 50:54 We're supporting ministries of the church. 50:56 Now, we receive donations, so we recommend that people could 51:00 give beyond tithe they can give to our ministries. 51:04 And so those are just basic requirements to be in harmony 51:07 with the Bible, not having strange doctrines and so forth, 51:14 and with our health ministries that there's not weird stuff 51:17 going on. 51:19 Yeah, exactly. 51:20 But it's Bible-based and with the spirit of prophecy to guide 51:25 us and to be within. 51:29 We want to be a part of a plan that cooperatively with the 51:33 organized church and with the lay people and the supporting 51:36 ministries we're all working together to finish God's work. 51:39 Amen, amen. 51:40 All right, we only have a few minutes left. 51:42 Steve, I know you've been recuperating since you came 51:45 back with Bolivia that you just returned from. 51:48 More than that, yeah. 51:49 Yeah, bless your heart. 51:53 Workers, workers, workers, this is... 51:57 We are very convinced as a couple, as a ministry here, 52:02 it's not long before the Lord returns. 52:06 And we, you know, sometimes I pray, I'm praying, Oh, 52:09 Maranatha, come, oh Lord. 52:10 And then I'm going, Oh, Lord, give us, you know, one more 52:13 day, one more hour. 52:14 Give us time to reach more people and be more intentional 52:19 even as a couple. 52:21 I mean, yes, we're in ministry but let us be more intentional 52:25 wherever we go. 52:27 Workers, workers, workers, you said that was the most 52:31 important thing that you wanted to focus on. 52:33 You know, Jesus said, I pray you therefore the Lord of the 52:37 harvest that he will send forth labors. 52:40 I believe we're living in the time of earth's history when 52:44 it's critical. 52:46 If there was ever a time that I have personally observed, it's 52:50 now when the political, the natural systems of the earth, 52:56 you just name it, it's in turmoil. 52:58 Jesus is coming soon. 53:01 And what he needs is our willingness to get involved. 53:04 And sometimes we complicate it too much. 53:08 I see we're down to just almost four minutes, but I have to 53:11 tell you one last story. 53:13 In the country of Cuba, we have a ministry called World Youth 53:18 Group. 53:19 They train people, you've probably met Henry and Arnold, 53:23 to send them. 53:25 I went there to visit the country and to work with the 53:29 ministry for a little while. 53:31 And I said, I want to go to a certain city because they told 53:35 me the story in that city of how they started the church. 53:38 Sometimes we think it's too complicated. 53:40 They went to this city and they said, we don't know what to do 53:43 here. 53:45 Their job was to start a Seventh-day Adventist Church in 53:48 that city. 53:49 They just walked around town. 53:50 They didn't know what to do. 53:52 The Lord impressed them to go to the bus stations. 53:55 They went to the bus station. 53:56 They said, what are we going to do here? 53:58 And what they found in the bus station was dirty toilets. 54:04 And they began to clean those toilets. 54:07 And people began to ask questions. 54:10 Why are you doing this? 54:13 Even some came and said, can we help you? 54:15 Oh yeah, sure you can help us. 54:17 And they took their own meager money and were buying supplies 54:20 and cleaning the toilets. 54:23 Today, there is a Seventh-day Adventist Church in that town 54:27 that I went personally and saw because of cleaning toilets. 54:31 Sometimes we complicate it too much. 54:34 God can use us in simple ways to do amazing work. 54:40 But we have to be willing. 54:42 And so God can do a lot of things. 54:44 And ultimately, He could make the rocks to cry out. 54:47 But I believe it is our privilege to engage with God, 54:52 allow Him to use us to do something in our own 54:58 communities, in our own neighborhoods, or maybe 55:01 globally, I don't know. 55:03 But to say, God, whatever you want me to do, I will do it. 55:06 Wherever you want me to go, I will go. 55:08 And if it's clean toilets, I will clean toilets. 55:11 Because that can make an impact. 55:13 The two things that I see there, it's not just 55:16 willingness, but it's humility. 55:19 It's humility. 55:20 You know, it's about what this man who was formerly the 55:26 Buddhist learned, is he learned in his, what he felt was a 55:32 failure when he was just working with the children. 55:35 He learned total dependence upon God when he was out there 55:38 fasting and praying and screaming in the jungle. 55:42 He realized, listen, none of us can do it. 55:45 Nobody's special. 55:46 And you hear this all the time, but it is so true. 55:50 God does not call the qualified. 55:52 He qualifies the called. 55:56 So if you come to the Lord, He can use you. 55:59 And I just want to encourage you once again, these gentlemen 56:03 could regale us with the most amazing, inspiring, uplifting 56:09 stories all night. 56:10 But what my encouragement to you is listen to the call of 56:15 the Lord. 56:16 Go to outpostcenters.org. 56:21 See, check it out. 56:22 See what God would have you to do. 56:25 I just want to thank you so much, Steve, for being back 56:29 here again. 56:30 And it's just, James, God bless you. 56:34 And it's so exciting to see what God has done in your life 56:38 and how He turned your life around for so many years. 56:41 It's not a recent thing, but that's the way we feel. 56:46 It's just, it's like it happened yesterday and God just 56:49 put us on the right track. 56:50 And you know what? 56:52 When you work to bring glory to God, there's not anything 56:58 that's more rewarding in the whole wide world. 57:01 Thank you both for being here. 57:02 Our prayer for you is that the grace of our Lord and Savior 57:06 Jesus Christ and the love of the Father and the fellowship 57:10 of the Holy Spirit will be with you always. 57:13 God bless you. |
Revised 2025-05-23