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Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC201911S
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00:12 >> It has stood the test of time, God's book, 00:17 the Bible, still relevant in today's complex world. 00:24 "It Is Written," sharing messages of hope 00:29 around the world. ♪♪ 00:39 >> Hello, and thank you for joining us on 00:41 "It Is Written Canada." It is the Christmas season, 00:44 a time of joy, a time of gladness, 00:47 and a time of giving, and why do we think of giving 00:51 at this time of the year? Well, it's really two words, 00:54 and those two words are "God gave." 00:57 God gave us life. He gave us existence, 00:59 and most of all, He gave us His Son, 01:02 and we think of the coming of Jesus at this time of the year. 01:05 It's called Christmas after all because 01:08 Christ came to this world, and Jesus Himself told us, 01:12 "It is more blessed to give than to receive." 01:16 And so we have with us two very special guests 01:19 here in the studio. We have Steve Matthews, 01:21 who is the executive director of ADRA Canada. 01:26 >> And we also have Anita Odondi, who is the 01:30 emergency program director of ADRA Canada. 01:34 So thank you very much for joining us today, and welcome, and we feel honored 01:38 to have you here with us today. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. 01:42 >> So, Steve, I want to start with you. As the executive director 01:46 of ADRA Canada, how did you come to ADRA, and also, 01:51 why do you do this job? >> Sure. Well, I worked as 01:55 an environmental engineer. It's my background, and as a project manager, 01:59 and about 2 years ago, I was contacted by one of the members of the board 02:04 of directors for ADRA Canada who asked me to put my name forward for 02:08 the executive director position. Through a lot of prayer and consideration, 02:14 I did want to be able to take the skills that I had learned through my career and apply them 02:18 more toward working full time for the Lord. When this opportunity came up, 02:22 I thought, you know, "Here is kind of an answer to prayer," and we did pray, as a family, 02:28 about this opportunity, and here I am. >> So what does ADRA do? 02:35 >> ADRA is the Adventist Development and Relief Agency. We're the humanitarian arm 02:41 of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, and we operate as 02:44 a worldwide network. We actually are in about -- anywhere from about 130 to 02:48 140 countries around the world. It fluctuates depending on what's going on 02:54 in different parts of the world. >> Mm-hmm. >> And, Anita, 02:57 what is ADRA's mission? >> ADRA's mission is to serve humanity so all may live 03:03 as God intended, and we do this through justice, compassion, and love 03:10 so that the people who are underprivileged can live having the basic needs 03:14 of life to survive, and the people who are more privileged have the opportunity 03:19 to serve those in need, to give. >> Mm-hmm. Just like Mike said, it's all 03:24 about we live to give, right? >> Yes. >> Mm-hmm. 03:27 >> And when we give, we're so much more blessed ourselves through giving. 03:31 >> So, tell us, Anita, why are you a part of ADRA Canada, and tell us some of the, 03:36 maybe, experiences you've had. >> I am blessed to be part of ADRA Canada, 03:42 and I have worked only with ADRA all my life. 19 years ago, when I was 03:48 about to graduate from the Adventist University in Kenya, I needed to do my internship, 03:56 so I joined ADRA Uganda, which is my home country, for my internship, 04:02 and I worked -- I got the opportunity to work in the programs department, and 04:08 we had an H.I.V./AIDS project. When I went to the field and spoke with the mothers 04:17 and children who had been infected with H.I.V. and some of them now had AIDS, 04:23 they were sick, ADRA was giving them hope. ADRA was teaching them 04:28 a healthier living style so that their immunity can be better. 04:34 ADRA was giving them livelihood opportunities so that they were able to earn income 04:41 and not resort to negative coping strategies of life. I thought that this is 04:47 what I want to do. I was touched by the fact that there was hope 04:51 in a hopeless situation -- >> Hopeless situation, I mean, they have AIDS. 04:55 They're going to die. >> That was the thought then. It's no longer that today, 05:00 but yes, it was a death sentence then. If you got AIDS, 05:04 the next thing would be to dig your grave basically, but ADRA was helping 05:09 to stop that from happening. >> So how long would a person be expected to live now with AIDS? 05:16 >> Right now, if you have H.I.V., it will very rarely transition to AIDS because AIDS 05:22 is when the symptoms begin to come out. H.I.V. is just having the virus, 05:28 but you can live for as long as anyone who is not infected with H.I.V. will live. 05:34 >> Wow. >> There's medication, and there's much more research 05:38 and solutions that have come. >> Mm-hmm. >> So when you started working 05:42 with these moms and children that were infected with H.I.V., it just touched your heart, 05:48 and you knew this is something that you wanted to do as a life work 05:52 and as a ministry. So how did you end up in Canada from Uganda? 05:57 >> Yes, so after -- I worked with ADRA Uganda for about 6 years in this project, 06:04 which was a great opportunity because it prepared me for the other ADRAs 06:10 that God called me to work. From Uganda, my husband and I moved to the Philippines because 06:16 he had to do his master's, and I got to work with ADRA Philippines. 06:20 After that, God called us to ADRA Indonesia. After that -- 06:25 And each one was about a year and a half to 2 years. After ADRA Indonesia, 06:30 we went to ADRA Myanmar, and this is where I began to work in the emergency response 06:38 because there was the typhoon -- There was the typhoons 06:42 and cyclones, and then after Myanmar was Haiti, the earthquake that happened in 06:47 2010, and after Haiti, Canada. And I say God called us to work in these countries because 06:55 literally each country -- We were just informed, "Would you guys like to come here," 07:02 or "We need you guys to come here." So God has been working 07:06 all through, and I'm blessed that it's been with ADRA. 07:10 >> Mm-hmm. >> So one of the things that ADRA does is advocate 07:13 on behalf of education for children, and so we are going to watch 07:17 a little video right now, and then we'll come back after the break and talk 07:22 about that video. 09:44 >> So, after looking at that short video clip, we can see that ADRA's main 09:49 focus, or special focus, is on education. So why education, Steve? 09:55 >> Well, when you look at some of the challenges around the world and some of those keys 10:00 for unlocking poverty, we see that education is very instrumental in that. 10:06 So right now, there about 262 million children around the world 10:09 that are out of school. When you don't have an education, and you don't 10:15 have access to education, it becomes very difficult to get out of the cycle of poverty. 10:21 So I mentioned earlier that I spent my time -- the early part of my career 10:25 as a project manager, and what I did was build schools. 10:28 I built schools in Newfoundland, is where I spent my career for that part. 10:34 When we built a school, the school would -- I remember 10:38 building a high school, and this high school had a day care in it, 10:41 and at the time, I asked, you know, "Why is a day care designed in the school?" 10:46 And it was actually there for the students, so it was there for the young 10:49 mothers that became pregnant and still wanted to get an education, 10:54 and thankfully, in Canada, we have that access. Getting pregnant doesn't mean 11:00 that's the end of the education for the mother. So, 2 weeks ago I was in Rwanda, 11:06 and while visiting there, I met with a teen mothers group. In this community, 11:13 in their culture, when a mother -- When a young lady 11:16 becomes pregnant, especially out of wedlock, they're actually basically 11:23 sent out of the community. They were telling me about an island that was -- 11:27 They were close to the border with Tanzania, and there was an island 11:34 where they would put the mothers off on this island when they become pregnant. 11:38 The thing about it is it was waters that were also filled with crocodiles, 11:42 and so if they were eaten by crocodiles, that was their sentence. 11:46 That's how things went for them. So when I met with these young ladies, 11:50 there were 12 young ladies between the ages of 15 and 18. I asked, "How many of you 11:56 are in school now?" And it was -- The answer was zero. 12:00 I asked, "How many of you, with the fathers of your children, 12:03 are involved in your lives?" And the answer again was zero. And then I said, "How many of 12:09 you would like to go to school?" And everyone of them put their hand up to say 12:13 they wanted to go to school, but they don't have that access, and these are some of 12:18 the barriers that, at ADRA, we try to break down. It's to break down those 12:22 barriers that prevent young people from being able to go to school. 12:26 If every girl were able to get an education, there would be a reduction 12:32 of about 50 percent of child deaths, 64 percent of young 12:38 children being married off, and these are 11-, 12-, 13-year-old children 12:42 who are married off to men sometimes 50, 60 years old. >> Oh, boy. 12:46 >> And then also a reduction of almost 60 percent of teenage pregnancies. 12:53 That's why we focus on education. Another area is when we look 12:57 at refugee situations. When we look at refugees, they are five times less likely 13:04 to have access to education. >> Education. >> And the specific things 13:10 that we do for education includes school construction and teacher training 13:16 in the formal sector, but we also have refugees, as Steve said, who are -- 13:23 their children, their needs are in their home country system, and they are not in the new 13:29 country system. So there are transition centers, for example, where we provide 13:34 training for the refugees, and in the refugee camps and settlements, 13:38 we also have informal schooling, like child-friendly spaces or education centers, but also, 13:46 there are children who have -- The schools are there, but they are not able to go to school 13:51 because they don't have sanitary pads, for example, the girls, so we provide things like that, 13:57 solar lamps because the schools might be there, but there's no electricity to do 14:02 the homework or do revision for their studies so solar lamps as well as rescuing girls 14:10 especially, children, but mostly girls from child trafficking and things 14:15 like that to make sure that they get their education. >> So how can our viewers 14:19 get involved? >> I'm glad you went there because that was the next thing 14:22 I wanted to say, is when you think about the video that we just showed, 14:26 at the end of the video, there's a link that shows where they can go. 14:30 So if you go to inschool.adra.org, there's a petition 14:36 that we're trying to get a million signatures before June of 2020. 14:40 >> Mm-hmm. >> What we want to do with that is then take those 14:44 signatures and use that to lobby world leaders to show that it is important 14:49 that everyone has an opportunity to education, and we want to use 14:54 those signatures to say, "People within the ADRA network, those that support us, 14:59 care about education, and they want world leaders to also focus and care on education 15:04 to break down those barriers and assure that those 262 million children that don't 15:10 have access right now, that they do get access." >> Thank you very much for that, 15:13 Steve. We're going to have another break, and we'll be right back 15:16 after that. ♪♪ ♪♪ 15:38 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 16:07 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 16:35 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 17:04 So here it is, the ADRA Gift Catalog. This is a physical copy. 17:08 You can go online and also look at the gift catalog. What kind of catalog is this, 17:12 Steve? This is a different kind of catalog. 17:15 This isn't a catalog like you order toys for your kids or some kind of an item 17:21 for yourself, but this is actually ordering something for someone else. 17:24 >> Yes, I remember as a kid looking through the catalog, and that's how you pick the toys 17:29 that you wanted. >> Exactly. >> I grew up in a very 17:31 small community in Newfoundland where you actually -- That would be the way to shop 17:37 for your Christmas gifts was to look through that catalog. >> Yeah, me too. 17:41 >> But this is a different catalog. This is one where you can 17:44 actually buy gifts to help people in other parts of the world. 17:49 >> Yes. >> And even here locally in Canada because we do 17:53 have needs in Canada as well. >> Exactly. >> So I want to give 17:57 just an idea of what maybe some of the viewers may -- just to kind of give 18:01 some thoughts as to how they can use this gift catalog. So our family, and we've done 18:06 this a couple times now, where we've actually used the gift catalog as a way to 18:11 give gifts for family members. So we've picked some gifts, and they would get a little -- 18:17 an e-mail or a card that says, "A goat has been donated in your name to this location." 18:27 >> That's a pretty good gift, right? >> That's a wonderful idea. 18:29 >> A goat, you can get here for $100, and it can supply so many things. 18:33 It can supply food. I mean, it's milk, and the manure can fertilize crops, 18:39 and it says here that you could actually sell the kids that come from it. 18:43 So there are many benefits that come from that. >> Absolutely. 18:46 It really does -- The gifts that are in here really do make a difference 18:50 in the lives of the people that receive. Another example 18:55 of what we've done -- Unfortunately, we lost my mother-in-law last year, 19:01 and so at Christmastime, what we did -- She was a gardener. 19:05 She loved to garden. We said, "You know, let's do something in memory of her." 19:10 So we actually -- We donated seeds, a fruit tree, and garden tools in her memory. 19:18 >> Mm-hmm. >> A couple weeks ago, I was able to visit 19:21 a kitchen garden where they had fruit trees and seeds that had 19:29 been donated from ADRA, and we were able to see the food that was provided 19:34 for these families and the difference that it makes. It actually takes a community 19:40 where growth was stunted, it was an area where 58 percent of the kids were stunted 19:47 in this area of Rwanda. >> Mm-hmm. >> And because of the food 19:52 that they've now been able to grow, their kids are healthy. You know, they're flourishing. 19:57 So when you're able to look and say, "This is what a gift from our gift catalog can do," 20:03 it just really is so much more rewarding than some of the other gifts 20:09 that you can give at this time of year. >> That's very rewarding. 20:13 >> I also think of the hygiene items gift that is in there. When I was in Venezuela 20:21 the last time, a young girl of about maybe 9, 10, she drew a horse on a paper 20:32 and used cardboard to put out the frame. I have it in my office, 20:37 very beautiful picture. The horse has glitter and nice colors, 20:42 and she named the horse Miracle. >> Miracle. >> She said, "This Miracle horse 20:47 is ADRA because ADRA brought a miracle to our lives. Before ADRA came, 20:53 we didn't have shampoo. We didn't have soap. We didn't have toothpaste." 21:00 And so the family was beginning to seclude themselves from the community, 21:06 but everyone in the community was going through the same thing. 21:09 ADRA brought -- is distributing hygiene products in that community. 21:14 >> Those are so taken for granted here in Canada. >> Yes. 21:17 >> I mean, we're a prosperous country, and now you're giving it 21:20 in a country like Venezuela that is suffering. >> Yes, and this, 21:25 to them, is a miracle. >> Mm-hmm. >> So when they have any 21:28 limited resources, they can focus on food and other items 21:33 that are needed in the family if we are providing the hygiene that they need. 21:40 >> So was Venezuela always like this? >> No, Venezuela, like Canada, 21:45 was a donor country. People flourished. The cost of living was good. 21:51 The income was good. They didn't know what suffering meant until it came to them. 21:57 >> So you went from a prosperous country -- This could possibly happen here 22:01 in Canada. >> This could happen anywhere, anywhere. 22:03 >> So, here in Canada, we have -- ADRA is working to be prepared 22:09 if there is a disaster or an emergency so that we are prepared 22:13 to respond to that. >> Absolutely. Similar to what we do around 22:18 the world as ADRA, preparation for disaster is a big part 22:24 of being able to respond in time and effectively and efficiently. So ADRA is working with the 22:32 different churches around -- in the various conferences of Canada to make sure that 22:39 our volunteers are prepared, our conferences are prepared, and everyone knows what to do 22:44 when that disaster happens so that when it happens, we go into action coordinating 22:49 with the different bodies that respond to disasters, including the government, 22:54 to do what needs to be done in a timely manner. >> Mm-hmm. 22:58 >> That's wonderful. >> And, Steve, is there anything else that ADRA 23:02 is doing here in Canada for communities here in Canada? >> Yes, absolutely. 23:07 We're working -- One of the areas that we're focusing on through ADRA Canada 23:11 is our First Nations communities, and it's an area that we really 23:15 are trying to grow our program in the First Nations. I visited one of our 23:21 First Nations communities in Alberta this summer, and I couldn't believe 23:27 that I was still in Canada. When I visited this community, as we went down the street, 23:36 the pastor that was touring through with me, he actually pointed, 23:39 and he said, "There was a murder in this home. This home was a murder." 23:44 There were actually eight murders on one street in this community. 23:50 We have a school there. There's a school that's run by the Seventh-Day Adventist 23:54 Church on that community. It's called Mamawai Atosketan Native School. 23:59 In that school, we have a feeding program, and ADRA supports the feeding 24:04 program in that school. >> That's wonderful. >> It's one way 24:07 that we're trying to make a difference there. We're also working in 24:11 Sioux Lookout. We've partnered with the Ontario Conference of Seventh-Day 24:15 Adventists for that program, and we've been doing some different programming 24:19 in Sioux Lookout as well. Sioux Lookout is a hub for approximately 25 communities 24:25 in the north of Ontario, and we've been working on diabetes prevention programs, 24:32 nutrition programs, trying to teach the importance of nutrition and also trying 24:36 to teach people how to -- even on a very cold, relatively harsh climate, 24:41 they can still grow some of their own produce as well. >> That's so good to hear. 24:47 >> Is there a Bible text that either one of you want to share that is encouraging as we close 24:53 off our program today? >> It's difficult to pinpoint one, so I'm going 25:00 to give a generality. When we look through the Bible, and we look at how many verses 25:08 there are that actually speak to how we deal with those that are poor, in poverty, 25:14 those that are dealing with injustice, there are so many verses that -- 25:19 Actually, one search I did said that there's about 2,000 verses in the Bible that actually talk 25:24 about how we deal with the poor and those that are dealing with injustice and having compassion 25:30 upon those. 25:32 At ADRA, our motto is "Justice, compassion, love," 25:36 and that comes from Micah 6:8. So that would be one that really 25:41 sums up because when you look at that verse, you can find 25:45 there's a need for justice. There is need for compassion 25:48 and love, and that's what we are called to as Christians. 25:53 >> Mm-hmm. >> Amen. >> So thank you very much, 25:56 Anita and Steve, for coming in today, and we're just going 25:59 to close off quickly with a word of prayer. Let's do that. 26:03 Father, in heaven, we thank You so much for blessing us to be in a prosperous country 26:07 like Canada. We thank you for ADRA Canada and the work that You are 26:12 inspiring them to do and also providing for people around the world. 26:17 Bless us, Lord, that we will be able to give if we can of our prayers, of our time, 26:24 and of our resources. We thank You for hearing and answering our prayer. 26:28 In Jesus' name, amen. >> Amen. >> Canada, all across this vast 26:34 and diverse nation, people are searching for meaning, acceptance and hope, 26:40 but in an increasingly secular nation where nearly one in four Canadians 26:44 have no religious affiliation, many people simply don't know how to find happiness and peace 26:49 for their lives. That is why we are here. As the premier media ministry 26:55 for the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Canada, "It Is Written" 26:58 seeks to offer people more than this world can offer: the good news of Jesus Christ. 27:04 Each week, we invite countless people to enter into a closer relationship with Jesus 27:09 through our television program aired across the nation on CTV, 3ABN, Hope Channel 27:14 and many more. In this way, we're able to reach into people's home and meet them 27:19 right where they are. Buying this much air time is no small thing, 27:23 but the continued commitment of donors, just like you, keeps the Gospel on the air 27:28 in Canada. Our commitment to spreading the Gospel means that we do 27:32 everything we can to maximize the impact of your financial gift. 27:37 A gift of $5 is enough to get an episode of our show into 50 households across the nation. 27:43 $10 is enough to provide a personal heart-changing Bible lesson to five individuals. 27:48 Your generosity amplified by the Holy Spirit has the power to change lives. 27:54 Canadians everywhere are searching for something more. By partnering with 27:59 "It Is Written," together, we can help them find it. 28:27 >> So, friends, thank you for joining us again, and I just want to leave 28:30 with you the words of Jesus where he says, "It is written: 'Man shall not live 28:35 by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'" 28:42 ♪♪ ♪♪ 28:58 ♪♪ |
Revised 2020-05-20