Participants:
Series Code: OTG
Program Code: OTG000017
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00:01 Adventist World Aviation has assembled an evangelistic team
00:03 and traveled to the Philippine Island of Palawan. 00:06 The group of 7 evangelists have traveled far to come to Palawan 00:10 to hold evangelistic meetings for the next few weeks. 00:14 The meetings will be conducted simultaneously, every evening, 00:18 in different site locations scattered around the island. 00:21 Each evangelist is assigned to a local church and is also 00:26 partnered with Bible workers to translate for them. 00:29 The goal of Adventist World Aviation is always 00:32 to reach the unreached. 00:34 Here in the Palawan Islands, the evangelists aim to do just that. 00:39 To reach new souls for the kingdom of Heaven. 02:02 My name is David Tice, I am from Charles City Iowa in the states. 02:07 Visiting Narra in the Philippines. 02:12 I first learned about AWA about a year ago, when pastor Ric 02:20 introduced it to me when he came to our church 02:23 gave us a sermon on it. Gave slides about the work they do 02:30 in the foreign countries and in the United States, but so much 02:33 work to do with airplanes, flying in and out. 02:35 And from that point on, I wanted to be part of his program. 02:40 Being part of the program also I have supported him financially 02:46 every month. But also when the opportunity came down 02:50 to learn more about and be part of that program, so exciting 02:53 because now I am here as a part of AWA outreach to the people 03:00 here in the Philippines. 03:03 I used to be a paramedic and take people from the worst 03:06 of conditions. Having the worst day of their life's. 03:09 And then I take care of them and take them to the hospital 03:13 to a physician. Now that I am retired I consider myself 03:18 a paramedic for Christ. I am coming to people again in life's 03:24 worst conditions. Not believing, or confused about what they 03:29 believe. And I am picking them up with the Holy Spirit 03:33 working through me and I am taking them to Christ. 03:36 I am taking them now to the greatest physician, that we have 03:40 our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 03:42 David is stationed at the Malatgow Seventh-day Adventist 03:46 Church near the village of Narra He instantly falls in love 03:50 with his church and the people that began attending. 03:53 This is my first overseas evangelistic series. 03:59 And I can't believe the excitement that I am having 04:05 where the Lord is now working in me and through me 04:08 and the Holy Spirit is coming down. 04:10 And He is giving me the words to say, the message I'll be giving 04:14 to them for 18 sessions we'll be a message of hope. 04:20 Most of them are poor people. Who live very basic lives. 04:24 Very simple lives. And it is nice to see their expression. 04:30 To have hope, To find something to grab a hold to 04:33 and finding hope in the Lord and the Lord's coming. 04:39 Both the children and the adults are dedicated to coming to the 04:42 evangelistic meetings each night. 04:44 Night after night, they come faithfully, 04:47 despite their long days. 04:49 You got to understand, these are very poor people. 04:52 The average income is under $8 a day. 04:58 They work in the field, the farmers, they work in the fields 05:02 They get up about 5 o'clock in the morning. 05:04 They work in the fields all day. And than at 7:30 at night we are 05:10 asking them to come and listen to a message about Jesus. 05:14 And they are coming, they are coming to 05:18 The first night it was about 50 people in mine 05:23 The biggest night it was 70 people. The children were there. 05:27 We were having over 20 children there, that are excited. 05:31 The children's program grows like wild fire. 05:35 They enjoy the stories the arts and the crafts; 05:37 all focused around Jesus Christ. 05:41 All the kids. I get there early 5:30, They are not supposed 05:48 to be there till 6:30. But a bunch of them were there. 05:52 They are so excited. They surround me. I brought colors. 05:56 They never had colors. Crayons. I brought scissors, 06:00 I brought pencils. Stuff they never had. 06:04 From the simplest things that we think, 06:07 we don't even think about. From the simplest things, 06:11 that we take for granted, they don't even have. 06:15 or can they afford. 06:17 After the kids portion of the program, 06:21 David re-directs his attention to the adults. 06:24 Each night he shares with them Bible truths that most of them 06:28 have never heard before. 06:29 The congregation soaks in the information 06:32 and whole heartedly accepts the message. 06:34 I can't believe the excitement that I am having, where the Lord 06:42 is now working in me and through me and the Holy Spirit is coming 06:44 down and He is giving me the words to say for the meeting 06:49 to these people. Every night I felt the Spirit in me. 06:52 I felt His power into the words that I can speak. 06:56 I actually felt I was speaking to their hearts. 07:00 And every night we had people decided to take and be baptized. 07:06 To come to Christ, the power that I could feel 07:12 with the Lord working. It wasn't me. 07:14 But it was the Lord working in me and through me. 07:18 And that's the Holy Spirit. The joy, I cannot explain the joy. 07:24 It is to stand up and have the Spirit speak through you. 07:30 There is no greater joy in this world I could ever define, 07:34 than speaking the word of the Lord, but than the Holy Spirit 07:38 kicks in and you are saying things that you believe in, 07:43 but than you can't even conceive that you have thought of, 07:46 and the words are coming out of your mouth 07:48 There is no greater blessing than that. And than to see 07:51 the reaction of the people as they are sitting back there. 07:53 Very tired from working all day and they are leaning forward. 07:58 They are listening to every word that comes out of your mouth 08:02 about Jesus. 08:04 There is no doubt about it, David has a passion for these 08:08 people, and for sharing the word of God with them. 08:12 The people are moved, and the meetings continue on. 08:16 However one night, there is an unexpected obstacle 08:19 that quickly turned into a blessing. 08:21 I had a church full of people and children. 08:26 I was getting ready to do the sermon and the next thing 08:32 you know we had a blackout. The only thing that would work 08:38 would be my laptop, because the battery was up, fully charged. 08:41 So I had the message, but nothing else worked. 08:44 But instead of quitting, Some of the people went out and started 08:52 going to the houses and gathering up candles. 08:56 And they went down to the store 08:58 there is a little store away from us and brought candles 09:00 and we came back and we put a candle on each pew. 09:05 More people came back we put more candles up. 09:09 And then the Spirit came. If you want to say every candle flame 09:15 was part of the Holy Spirit, you're right that night. 09:18 He came and the message was powerful that He gave me 09:22 to speak. I think the Lord let it happen, because He has 09:27 a special message for us through His service. 09:31 And He is pushing Satan and his demons from us because Satan 09:35 out there is attacking us. He is trying to attack us with illness 09:39 He is trying to attack us with rain and down pours. 09:45 And even tried to attack us with taking the electricity away. 09:50 And the Lord took the candle light out there. 09:52 And we had such a spiritual meeting that the Lord 09:59 used it for His advantage to bring more people to Him. 10:03 And from that meeting on I started having people 10:07 every night wanting to be baptized want to 10:11 come closer to God. 10:12 We brought a lot of equipment to hold these meetings. 10:19 But like anything, and I refer back as a paramedic 10:24 on an ambulance. The equipment didn't save people. 10:30 The ambulance doesn't save people, It's the paramedic 10:34 and his training saves people. Same thing here. 10:38 You find out that the equipment does not bring anybody 10:41 to salvation. The equipment is just some tools that we can use. 10:46 to help the message, but the real Salvation 10:51 is the Spirit that works. It's the Spirit that goes around 10:54 It's the Spirit that brings people in. And the Spirit uses 10:58 just like on the night when the power went off. 11:01 And God used it. Put a very powerful message there. 11:05 It's the Lord Who is there, Who makes the difference. 11:13 There is no doubt about it, the Lord is touching souls 11:17 at the Malatgue church. 11:19 Each night new people make decisions 11:23 to give their lives to Jesus Christ. 11:25 The messages from David and the Holy Spirit working on 11:28 their hearts, urge them to make the commitment for baptism. 11:31 The entire church is revitalized This small church has now 11:36 doubled in size as a result of these meetings. 11:39 But this was not from the workings of man, but rather, 11:43 the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit. 11:46 This trip is very inspiring. And I found out like everybody 11:54 told me before I even started 11:56 when you make a trip like this for the Lord 11:59 you come back a new person. There is no way you come back 12:03 the same way that you were before you left. 12:06 And the feeling is out of this world. There is nothing I can 12:11 say that can match the feeling that you get from the Spirit 12:17 working in you and through you to bring the Word to them. 12:24 This I found out, this isn't my words. I am just a pawn, 12:28 somebody's servant, that the Lord is using to work. 12:34 The privilege I got was to do it through AWA. 12:41 They are the ones that gave me the privilege of making this 12:45 experience to come here to the Philippines and 12:52 to experience a joy. 12:55 It was truly exciting, but it isn't what I did, that is 12:59 the most exciting part is what God did. 13:01 God used somebody like me, who is on his very first mission 13:05 outside of United States and He could speak through me and to me 13:10 in such an exciting way I can put His message to the people. 13:14 I think maybe that's the most exciting of the whole trip. 13:19 Even working with AWA is the way the Lord can work through them. 13:26 and through me to make this a better world. 13:30 Prepare this world for His Second Coming, 13:33 because He doesn't want to loose one person. 13:36 That is our job. 13:38 Our job as humans, Christians. We are to go out and take care 13:45 of the world. Not just ourselves We are to go out and take care 13:50 of others. And I believe it is beyond our local towns. 13:54 We are to go out when the Lord opens the doors 13:57 to the people of the world and take care of them. 14:18 Belinda Munoz is another member of the evangelistic team. 14:22 She is also new to evangelism. 14:25 This is her first time holding meetings on her own. 14:27 Oh, she has given many messages at her home church 14:31 in Houston, Texas, but this is her first time to conduct 14:35 a full set of evangelistic meetings. 14:38 I am excited to be here, along with the rest of the teams. 14:41 And I've been looking forward for this mission. And God has 14:46 given me an opportunity and has answered my prayer. 14:49 Praise the Lord for that! I want to win souls for God in Heaven. 14:54 To bring glory to Him, because this is my mission also. 15:00 And to help my bothers and sisters to know Christ 15:03 just as I came to know Christ. 15:05 To give them salvation and to free them, to free them to know 15:09 Jesus with their relationship to put their hearts on Jesus. 15:12 Belinda is stationed at the Sandoval Church. 15:15 For the past few weeks, the church members have been 15:18 busy preparing for the meetings 15:20 and inviting their neighbors to attend. 15:22 The entire community is excited and anxious to hear 15:26 the messages that Belinda will be presenting to them. 15:29 When the meetings begin, the church is filled to capacity. 15:33 Young and old file into the small bamboo church 15:36 and listen with anticipation. 15:39 The messages captivate them, as they contemplate new ideas 15:43 that they have never been taught before. 15:46 I had the passion for evangelism and I believe it is 15:50 one of my gifts and I don't want to waste that particular gift, 15:56 that God has given me, so I can invest it for His kingdom. 16:00 When you preach the Gospel, the Lord will be with you. 16:04 And give you strength to do it a double portion of His strength 16:07 Belinda however feels right at home. She herself is Filipino, 16:12 so she is bringing the gospel message to her own people. 16:16 Belinda is confident that she is here in Palawan for a purpose. 16:20 She felt God call her here, and she knows that 16:25 He is with her always. 16:27 I think the people that are coming there night after night 16:30 is because they are hungry for the Word of God. 16:32 This particular church site where I am, although there are 16:35 not very many people. There are only about six families. 16:40 They continue to invite their friends and their relatives. 16:44 and those around them to share the Gospel. But I do believe 16:48 that the reason why they come night after night, because 16:50 they are hungry for the Word of God. And they very much 16:54 They know that we are living in the last days and so they tell 16:57 their brethren, what Jesus had done for their lives. 17:00 What Jesus had done for their lives is what Jesus is 17:03 going to do for their lives. If they knew Jesus and His love 17:07 and His message for Love to them 17:09 It's overwhelming for me, because they accepted to a point 17:15 Who Jesus was. And I was able to share my life story, how I 17:19 met Jesus. That had tremendously impacted their lives. 17:26 Just sharing my testimony. I think it's one of the best 17:31 thing to share the testimony to someone rather than sometimes 17:36 listening to a sermon, because people are more attentive 17:40 and they more putting the realization application 17:44 to their lives. And to that, I believe when I share that 17:49 I have like 3 or 4 woman who has greatly accepted Jesus Christ 17:54 Of course I give God the glory, because God is just using me 17:58 as an instrument, I praise Him. 18:00 There is no doubt about it, the messages are making a deep 18:03 impact on all those who listen. 18:06 Each evening, the crowd grows with new faces; all curious 18:11 to find out, what their neighbors are so excited about. 18:14 The children's program swells beyond capacity. 18:18 Each night well over 80 children swarm into the small church. 18:22 They sing, they color, and they learn about their Savior. 18:26 90% of these children are not from Adventist homes 18:29 or Christian homes. 18:31 What an amazing opportunity to share Jesus 18:34 with so many, at an early age. 18:38 ...to believe in Him we give the right to become children of God. 18:43 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, 18:48 that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, 18:51 but have everlasting life. 18:52 Revelations 14 verse 7 ...worship Him 18:57 Who made heaven and earth... 19:00 Psalm 23 verse 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall 19:03 follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell 19:07 in the house of the Lord for ever. 19:09 Rejoice in the Lord always: 19:14 and again I say, Rejoice. 19:15 The meetings are flowing along nicely when catastrophe hits. 19:19 Belinda is dangerously attacked. 19:22 We went to this place, in one of the church sites. I think it is 19:27 in - I can't remember the name of the place, but it's a place 19:33 one of the church sites and they have a monkey around there, 19:39 so we gotten around the neighborhood and we checked 19:43 around the place and we have this particular husband and wife 19:48 they have a monkey, their pet. A couple of them as a matter 19:51 of fact and I tried to take pictures of the monkey. I never 19:57 realized, I didn't realize that his leash was too long. 20:00 I was excited to take a picture, but I wasn't too close, and I 20:04 made sure that I was far from the monkey. I guess he was 20:07 watching me and he grabbed my pad and it fell on the ground 20:15 and so I tried to yank it back from him. It fell on the ground. 20:19 So he grabbed my hair, by the time he grabbed my hair, my hair 20:24 was hurting so I had to pull his hand off my hair. And the next 20:27 thing I knew in that he caught my finger and I knew that 20:31 he bit me and I yanked it out of his mouth. And before I knew it 20:35 I started bleeding, I knew, I realized that I had a big cut 20:39 on my finger, because it started bleeding, but it just really 20:42 it was an excruciating pain. I didn't realize the pain 20:47 at the beginning, but after a few minutes, yes I did realize 20:51 because it started bleeding. 20:53 Quickly she is taken to a doctor and treated. 20:56 Although the wound doesn't look too bad, this injury could 20:59 be debilitating and even deadly. 21:02 This bite endangers not only Belinda's life, but also the 21:06 future of the evangelistic meetings. 21:08 Rabies, tetanus and other tropical diseases are 21:12 a very real threat to Belinda's health. 21:14 Her sister and brother pray over her and ask God to bring 21:18 healing to her body. 21:19 The pain was excruciating the fact that I have a very long 21:25 endurance of pain and so I was a little nervous, because what may 21:31 have happened, because it might have been something that 21:34 you know the monkey may have some tetanus 21:37 or may have some poison in it. 21:40 An attack like this would shake anyone's spirits and maybe cause 21:45 them to doubt and maybe even quit - Not Belinda. 21:49 She has confidence that God called her here for a purpose 21:52 and she is not shaken. 21:55 She believes her God will see her through to the end. 21:58 So Belinda does not retreat, instead, she bravely continues 22:04 on with her evangelistic meetings. 22:06 Persevering through the pain she focuses on her passion, 22:11 evangelism. 22:13 She hasn't let her injury scare her from doing what she knows 22:16 God has called her to do. 22:18 You know, I've been through various trials here. 22:23 First of all, I believe that I was sent here by God to preach 22:27 His Word. So I know that where ever I am God is with me as well 22:31 That He will protect me, that He will always defend me 22:34 Because He is my refuge and strength. 22:36 Even if I got bitten by the monkey it didn't stop me at all. 22:39 Because of my faith in the Lord. I know that He answers prayer. 22:42 And even when I am sick, I know He is there for me. 22:45 We get in our lives into various trials, but God will always 22:48 be there for us. Because He is our rock, He is our refuge 22:52 and strength. A very present help in time of trouble. 22:54 And than through this that my faith has gotten stronger 22:57 And just told myself last night that this will not stop me. 23:02 I missed two nights of preaching but that did not bother me, 23:06 because I continued to go on and preached the Word of God. 23:09 Regardless how I feel, I believe that in my heart that even if 23:13 you preach the Gospel of when you preach the Gospel, 23:16 the Lord will be with you. And He will give you strength 23:18 to do it. A double portion of His strength. 23:21 It is evident that the devil has tried to stop these meetings. 23:24 But Belinda believed in God and a miracle happened. 23:29 Not only was she healed but many from the Sandoval church 23:33 gave their lives to Christ. 23:36 Well the devil tried to stop me, but the Lord is there for me. 23:41 He is my protector and He defended me and He will always 23:45 be there for me. He said in His Word - I will never leave you 23:48 nor forsake you even till the end of this world. 23:50 And another passage also said greater is He who is in me, 23:54 than he who is in the world. So I believe, that when we go 23:57 by the Word of God, when we know that we have Jesus in our heart 24:01 and we have the hunger to preach His Gospel. 24:03 And than no one can stop us. Because first of all I have to 24:07 understand that this is not my battle. 24:09 This is the Lord's battle. So I believe where ever I go and I do 24:15 that the Lord will always be with me. And He will always 24:17 walk with me, before me and by me. 24:28 The baptism that followed was a joyous one. 24:31 Everyone from all 7 evangelistic meetings came 24:36 together for a grand finale, a joy filled baptism. 24:41 The precious souls, who accepted Salvation in Jesus Christ 24:45 were baptized together, numbered more than 150 precious people. 24:52 We praise God from Whom all blessings flow. 24:55 Both David and Belinda were new to public evangelism. 24:59 This was their first time holding meetings on their own. 25:03 God blessed and multiplied their work. 25:06 He took 2 people, who had a passion for Jesus and a love 25:11 for people. Two people with little or no formal training, 25:16 or experience in public evangelism. 25:19 God's Holy Spirit used them, 25:22 two people to deliver the Gospel message to the people of Palawan 25:29 He protected them and blessed them and their colleagues. 25:32 And most importantly He used them as instruments of God's 25:37 wonderful grace of forgiveness and Salvation. 25:41 My friends, yes there is victory in Jesus 25:46 on Palawan island Philippines. Praise be to God! 25:52 You know as we look at the field that's behind me here, 25:55 it's interesting to see the preparation work 25:57 that goes into it. It's fun to look around here, because 26:01 we see beasts of burden, the ox. The Bible talks about the 26:07 laborers and especially the beasts of the field. 26:10 If it wasn't for those laborers, there would be no such thing, 26:14 as a harvest. Jesus recognizes each one of our ministry 26:17 whether it be something as what we describe as a lowly ox. 26:21 Take a look at that lowly ox. The strength the ox has 26:24 to be able to pull the plow through the field 26:27 turning the furrows over. 26:29 Making it ready to plant the soil and than they come by later 26:33 and cultivate that soil with the smooth fashion 26:37 where they can prepare that soil for planting 26:39 It's fascinating to watch the beast of burden. 26:41 They labor with seemingly effortless work. 26:46 They don't complain, they just know that this is a good day 26:51 to be alive. They are just working the field. 26:53 The laborers that are driving the ox, they do the same thing. 26:56 They don't seem to complain, they don't look like 26:58 they are unhappy about the labor that they do. 27:01 And even though it seems like it's a simple job. 27:04 It's so important. You can't have a harvest. You know. 27:09 You can't have the glory of the harvest without the laborers 27:12 of an ox. Without the laborers of the man or the woman, 27:15 who are driving the ox. Without the seeds being sown 27:18 following that. So it's incredible to see the analogies 27:21 It's no wonder Jesus pulled so many parables from the farmer. 27:26 The sower of seeds and the harvest. 27:29 Standing before a rice field here it reminds me of the 27:33 parable of the sower that went forth to sow. 27:36 It takes sowers, but than Jesus said "Pray the Lord of Harvest 27:40 that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." 27:44 Many are called, but few are chosen. 27:46 Jesus calls every one of us. Sadly not every one of us 27:50 answers that call. There is an assumption that you have to be 27:55 a trained minister, or a trained Bible worker 27:59 to go out into the field and sow seeds. 28:01 What ever experience level that we have 28:04 The Holy Spirit is the one Who does the work. 28:06 And so that just tells me, I should encourage more. 28:09 I want to encourage you. If you would like to get involved 28:12 with ministry at what ever level Whether it be through 28:14 Adventist World Aviation or something else. 28:16 Please let us know, we'd love to nurture your desires along. 28:20 Please give us a call, or better yet, call 3 Angels Broadcasting 28:24 Network. Ask them, how can I get involved with 28:27 Adventist World Aviation |
Revised 2015-02-04