3ABN On the Road

Members In Action - Thursday Night

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

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Series Code: OTR

Program Code: OTR000929


00:01 Music playing...
00:15 more music...
00:28 some more music...
00:45 Picture of 3abn truck on the road...
00:53 On the Road
01:00 Now, James, you're with an Organization called L.I.G.H.T.
01:04 tell us what does LIGHT stand for?
01:06 Well, L.I.G.H.T. Ministry is a relatively a new ministry
01:10 it actually started as an ASI Pilot project
01:12 a few years ago where we took several of our young people
01:15 that have taken our short training courses
01:17 and we took them overseas
01:19 to start training programs overseas,
01:22 and we chose two countries,
01:24 one a Muslim country, Tajikistan,
01:26 and the other country... a Western country is Portugal,
01:28 and the project worked so well,
01:30 we felt impressed that we needed to put more into this effort
01:34 and organize it in a bigger way so many OCI Ministry Leaders
01:37 and ASI help, through ASI's encouragement,
01:41 and ASI Austria, especially, and Wildwood,
01:44 we organized a new strategy
01:46 for making available,
01:48 short health evangelism training courses
01:51 to every member of the Seventh-day Adventist church.
01:53 There's a statement that Ellen White said,
01:56 she said, "We have come to a time
01:57 when every member of the church
01:59 should take hold of Medical Missionary work"
02:01 and I've realized how can that be if our church
02:03 is not trained to be Medical Missionaries
02:05 or even has it available,
02:07 I worked at Wildwood as Director
02:08 for the College of Health Evangelism
02:10 for the past six years and we receive a lot of applications
02:13 from all over the world,
02:15 but we're not able to take all these people for training,
02:18 so we thought we should have training schools
02:20 in the country that these people... in every country,
02:23 because it's too expensive to come to the States,
02:25 and these courses are not readily available
02:27 to church members all over, so we thought,
02:30 we have a big job and our goal is to have
02:33 a training school, short training school
02:35 in every Union of the world field,
02:37 so that every Seventh-day Adventist
02:39 can at least have available... have the opportunity
02:41 to get trained to do Gospel Medical Missionary work
02:43 according to the Lord's plan. Amen.
02:47 So our strategy is to enter a new area
02:49 doing several one-month training courses,
02:51 let's say we go into the Philippines,
02:53 we've been working there,
02:54 we've done several one-month training programs,
02:56 then we channel in the most interested
02:59 and best students from those one-month schools
03:00 to a six-month school,
03:02 and then from that six-month school,
03:04 we're looking to train leaders, we're looking to inspire,
03:06 give the vision to these...
03:08 to these young people,
03:10 and then we work to our third phase...
03:13 is to help them establish a permanent ministry,
03:15 an on-going six-month training course,
03:17 we want to help them develop industry for self-support,
03:22 we want to provide Leadership training,
03:24 and we may leave missionaries there after the second year,
03:27 so that it can continue to grow
03:28 and be a lighthouse in that country... in that region.
03:32 I know you have some progress reports or updates and pictures.
03:36 Yeah, yeah, so I have some pictures
03:38 to give you a visual idea
03:39 of how it is, if you want to look at more,
03:42 our website is lightingtheworld. org
03:44 lightingtheworld. org
03:45 this is a family that is from Southern California
03:48 that came to Wildwood, they trained for two years,
03:50 and they have now committed themselves
03:52 to help with the six-month training course
03:53 so they've been in the Philippines now,
03:55 let's look at the next picture,
03:56 we've been working in the Philippines for many years now,
03:59 so we've done a lot of short trainings,
04:01 but we've never done a six-month training,
04:03 so now, we've purchased a piece of property,
04:05 we've got a simple Facility there for training
04:07 and all the other houses on this property are bamboo houses,
04:09 all the staff members and students live in bamboo huts
04:11 and Alain and his wife we teach hydrotherapy,
04:14 we teach natural remedies, principles of healthful living,
04:17 evangelism, Bible, we could go to the next one,
04:19 we teach how to do health expos, how to reach the community
04:22 through the right arm of the gospel
04:24 simple health expo training,
04:26 so there's a picture of some of the students
04:28 that we've got and are working on
04:30 another point on the Philippines school,
04:33 we've just purchased a jeepney,
04:35 and they've got an industry going
04:36 where they're producing soy products
04:38 and they're delivering them around,
04:39 they've got an agriculture program going
04:41 so that's part of the... what we want to accomplish
04:43 because we want to be self-supporting.
04:45 This is a picture from just two weeks ago,
04:48 this is in Tanzania,
04:49 my partner and his wife had travelled all through Africa
04:52 this year doing training schools,
04:53 we have had the privilege to train 37 lay evangelists,
04:57 here are some of our teachers,
04:58 all have spent some time at Wildwood
05:00 with the Conference worker there in the middle,
05:02 here are a couple of our girls
05:05 rubbing shoulders with the Conference President,
05:07 of the Moro Conference in Tanzania,
05:09 they are so excited that the conference workers,
05:12 we got a letter from the Union and the Conferences
05:15 not only asking us,
05:16 they're begging for us to come back
05:18 and establish a six-month training school,
05:20 they are so excited, they were so blessed by it,
05:22 the work is also opening up in Kenya,
05:25 there was another picture, we've worked in Zimbabwe,
05:27 Kenya, Uganda, South Africa,
05:30 that last picture was a picture of Cambodia,
05:34 we've trained 70 workers there, this picture right here,
05:37 is a "Karen" lady that I met,
05:40 hiking through the jungle in Myanmar,
05:43 when we look at the next picture,
05:45 we're working with the special people
05:47 who are called "The Karen" they are kind of displaced,
05:50 they're not citizens of either Thailand or Myanmar,
05:53 here are some Seventh-day Adventists,
05:55 the gospel is working amongst these people
05:56 they are despised and they are persecuted by the Burmese,
05:59 but the gospel is spreading and we're trying to train them
06:02 so they can go around and work amongst their people,
06:04 this is a new training facility that we're building,
06:07 just across on the border on the Thai side, to train
06:09 so they can hike out of the jungles and get to this Facility
06:12 and we're also going to use it to bring people
06:14 out of Vietnam and Laos and Cambodia for training,
06:17 we're going to do a one-month training program
06:18 throughout the year in different languages.
06:20 This is a property that was just purchased a month ago
06:24 in Austria, so we're not working only
06:26 in the ten forty but in the Western world as well
06:28 beautiful facility, here are some of our students
06:31 that we actually have already trained
06:33 in a temporal spot, we now have a permanent place
06:35 with a farm, it's wonderful,
06:36 we're starting a new course in September.
06:38 This picture right here, is from Tajikistan
06:42 and we've had the privilege to train
06:44 several workers in Tajikistan, one... that is a special story
06:47 that I'm going to share with you is this young man
06:50 he's from Uzbekistan,
06:52 he came into Tajikistan for a one-month training course,
06:54 he was extremely inspired about it
06:56 so we could see that,
06:58 so we actually brought him to our training school in Ukraine,
07:01 where he got extra training, he came back to Uzbekistan,
07:04 he opened up his living room to be a treatment room,
07:07 he's doing... here you can see him,
07:08 heating up fomentations for hydrotherapy,
07:10 he is doing consultations,
07:12 the Mayor of the city came into his house
07:14 and got treated himself, with massage,
07:16 now it is actually illegal in this part of the world,
07:20 to meet... to have anything more than two people meeting
07:24 for spiritual meetings, so he now has a massage business
07:27 and so... excuse me... let me explain
07:30 how he got into the massage business,
07:32 so he's working out of his living room
07:35 doing treatments and massage and so forth
07:37 but he wanted to get licensed,
07:39 so he started working with somebody, he got licensed,
07:41 and that person put so much trust and faith in him
07:44 that that person gave him the ability
07:46 to give licenses himself,
07:48 so now, he's able to license all of our
07:50 Seventh-day Adventist workers, that are taking our courses
07:52 and he's turned it into a ministry work,
07:56 people come to his house on Sabbath
07:57 and he teaches massage there
07:59 and they know that it's a health training place
08:02 and so... but they do like... "spiritual massage courses"
08:06 on Sabbath and have these special meetings
08:08 so it's a real blessing,
08:10 the girls that you saw in pictures of Tanzania,
08:13 they both shared in all this, it has changed their lives
08:15 and I can see students that come out of our courses
08:17 they need an avenue to get into the field,
08:19 and when they start teaching the classes
08:21 that they have learned, they learn it so much better,
08:23 they've absorbed it, those girls are...
08:25 they told me just last week, they are committed,
08:26 they want to be involved
08:27 in this type of work their whole lives,
08:29 they've seen how it changes people's lives,
08:30 we've seeing how these short training courses
08:33 are doing a great work and so we hope to make it
08:35 available to everyone in the church.
08:37 Well, thank you James, at this hour of earth's history
08:39 it's important to be able to train people
08:43 in their own country and so that's what L.I.G.H.T. is doing.
08:46 Thank you very much for that report.
08:47 Now we're going to go to the Czech Republic
08:50 to Otokar, and first of all,
08:54 tell us, how did you become acquainted with ASI?
08:59 Well, it's easy, it was 17 years ago in Denver, Colorado
09:04 when I attended my first ASI Convention,
09:06 and it was a big inspiration for me,
09:09 and because of that inspiration, we, created, two years later,
09:14 an ASI Chapter in Czechoslovakia at that time or
09:19 the Czechoslavak Chapter,
09:22 and I had the privilege to serve
09:23 as the President of that Chapter.
09:25 Now, some time before that, you had a disaster happen
09:29 in your life that changed the course of your
09:32 career, can you tell us about that?
09:34 Oh yeah, sometimes when you want to walk on water,
09:40 you have to get out of the boat
09:43 and this was the same case for me,
09:45 we decided to do something for the Lord,
09:50 I was not so happy with what I did
09:53 or I was not thinking that I could be so much involved
09:56 for the Lord as working as a famous photographer,
09:59 this was my business for the previous 15 years,
10:02 and we decided to start a country-life project
10:05 inspired by Country Life Paris,
10:07 we went for training to Paris
10:09 and we had experienced a hard time
10:12 when our... the house we lived in...
10:15 in Paris during our Christmas time in Prague,
10:19 burned down completely, and it was like...
10:22 burning literally the bridges behind us
10:24 because most of my photographic artwork burned there,
10:28 and we had only three things we saved from that,
10:32 my wedding ring, a cooking pot, and my Bible,
10:35 these are all what we got from this fire.
10:39 So, your photography was pretty much behind you,
10:44 and you caught a clear vision of what God wanted you to do,
10:47 what did you do when you got back to Prague?
10:49 When we got back to Prague,
10:51 we started to work on a virgin field,
10:53 because in terms of health food, there was nothing there,
10:56 so we needed to create our own supplying structure
11:00 by creating a wholesale operation,
11:03 and we started, we were the first restaurant
11:06 and health food store in Prague.
11:08 Since then, a lot of things have happened,
11:12 and so far, we have now almost six stores
11:16 because are finishing the sixth one, and we have,
11:19 almost three restaurants running.
11:21 Okay, so here's a picture of the first store.
11:24 This is the picture of our first store,
11:26 this is still the Flagship, and this was a miracle
11:30 we got that place because
11:32 everybody was trying to get that location
11:34 and only by miracle
11:36 we are still having this location.
11:38 So now you have restaurants as well as stores,
11:42 what else do you have as part of that supply warehouse?
11:46 Beside the restaurants and stores
11:50 which are our main business and the wholesale,
11:53 we serve daily about 3,000 customers
11:56 in our stores and restaurants,
11:59 to fill the name of Country Life,
12:02 we started with an Organic Farm in 1992,
12:07 a two-hundred acre organic farm
12:09 where you grow 80 different vegetables and different grains,
12:15 so you see some of the production
12:17 and we were really the pioneers in Organic in Czech Republic
12:22 we saw something which started just... in the beginning of '90s
12:26 we really like to have an Outpost
12:29 because the farm had no buildings
12:33 so in 2001, we started...
12:37 we bought an old cow barn and a hayloft
12:41 which we completely remodeled
12:43 according to the principles of ecological building
12:46 and energy-efficient building, and we became quite well known
12:50 in the country because of this endeavor
12:53 and we also became very well known
12:55 because of our involvement in organic farming.
13:00 The Outpost is now the base for our production,
13:04 our organic bakery, the wholesale
13:07 and also for a school,
13:09 we started also a Medical Missionary Training School,
13:12 an adult training and this school is training
13:16 during the whole year, full-time students
13:20 or during the weekends, distance students
13:24 so we have quite a good group of students
13:26 and those students are getting ready to work in
13:30 the health expos,
13:32 they are also helping with
13:35 one project which is quite interesting
13:38 the health clubs, these are some small groups
13:42 which are... we work with local churches
13:45 to give them tools
13:46 of how to do some Medical Missionary work
13:50 and we have created so far 66 health clubs in the Country,
13:54 and we are now exporting that idea also to other countries.
13:59 Okay, wonderful,
14:01 now, can you tell us a little bit about your Newstart Program?
14:05 Yeah, this is also another activity because
14:08 we want to touch a larger public so we are...
14:11 we have, every year, this year we have nine
14:15 Newstart health weeks so they reach over 300 people
14:20 who are going through those sessions throughout the year,
14:24 and this is a very good place
14:27 where we can have a bigger influence on people,
14:31 not only just one lecture but you have a whole week
14:34 ending with the Sabbath, so you can add spiritual matters
14:38 and as far as we still don't have our own Sanitarium,
14:41 we hope to have one in the future,
14:43 so we do that in rented premises in different locations
14:47 and we have acquired a good group of people
14:50 who are willing to attend,
14:52 but those people who are more interested in spiritual topics
14:55 it's difficult to bring them to a regular church
14:58 because most of the church members in our country
15:01 are not really health conscious,
15:03 so we have created a kind of alternative church,
15:07 we call it the Restaurant Church
15:09 which is recognized by the Conference as a church
15:12 and we have some special programs
15:14 for those who are interested in health.
15:16 So you have church services, actually,
15:20 in your Country Life Restaurant.
15:21 That's correct, so we can use the restaurant
15:24 seven days a week,
15:27 not only six days for the business
15:29 but also the seventh day.
15:30 Wonderful, so you're the largest wholesaler of organic foods,
15:34 you're a pioneer in organic gardening and farming,
15:37 and you have the Outpost, you have the bakery,
15:40 what are the results, are you seeing lives changed,
15:45 souls won, how can you tell us about that?
15:48 Yeah... you cannot see all the lives changes
15:50 from the thousand people which are coming to our premises,
15:53 but we can see some real fruits ending with baptism
15:59 so we have every year, several baptisms
16:02 just in June we had four baptisms from our customers
16:08 but not only from our customers
16:10 but we have a good mission field also among our workers
16:14 because to do all this work, we have about 145 workers
16:18 and we have about one third of them are
16:20 Seventh-day Adventist members
16:22 so the two thirds are potential mission field
16:26 and we had in the past among our students
16:30 and among our workers we had also several baptisms.
16:33 Okay, now you told me
16:35 your health expo that you hold there in your local town
16:38 the town is about 200 people,
16:40 how many people come out to your health expo?
16:43 We have organized, every year, what we call a Harvest Festival
16:49 it's in September and last year
16:53 we had about 4,000 people coming to that small village
16:56 of 200 people, so it was very busy,
16:59 very crowded and even very important VIP people are coming,
17:03 so this year, we're expecting even some Government members
17:07 like the Minister of Agriculture we have invited,
17:10 and the Minister of Education and Minister of Environment.
17:13 You know, I was looking at some of the pictures
17:15 earlier that we didn't have time to show tonight
17:18 and he was telling me that because the town is so small
17:21 and so many people are coming, they encouraged them
17:24 in a "green way" to ride bikes to the Harvest Festival
17:28 and he showed me a picture of the Mayor of Prague
17:31 arriving on a bicycle to the Harvest Festival there,
17:35 so what a wonderful opportunity.
17:36 Yeah, he came with his wife and he is one of the
17:40 most preferred politicians in the Country
17:43 maybe in the future... future Prime Minister
17:46 or maybe even the President,
17:48 he's still young and he's very fit
17:51 he climbed last year to the Mount Everest
17:54 so he's a good example of what healthy lifestyle also can do.
18:00 What do you see as the future of Country Life in Czech?
18:03 I think we would like to expand our activities
18:06 with the shops by doing a Franchise System
18:10 so it could be together with the health clubs
18:14 we can create some small other shops
18:16 in other cities not only in Prague,
18:17 but we want to expand also to the other...
18:21 to the new European Union Countries,
18:23 so the former Communist countries
18:25 by helping them to start something like that
18:27 and one thing which is close to my heart
18:30 because I grew up in a Muslim country
18:32 in North Africa, Tunisia,
18:35 and we were planning with my sister who is living there,
18:38 to start a small project in Tunisia.
18:40 Thank you Otokar, we appreciate you coming
18:43 and sharing what God has doing in the Czech Republic.
18:45 Thank you Chester.
18:46 It is encouraging to see...
18:48 I want to say the last thing. Okay.
18:49 Everything of that will not be possible
18:51 without the help of the Lord, of course,
18:53 but also with the help of ASI
18:56 and we really appreciate your help
18:58 and the help of all the projects
19:00 and the last projects which will be funded this year
19:03 is a Community Center which will be above our restaurant
19:07 where we will have a permanent church
19:09 not only in the restaurant premises
19:11 but we'll do also lectures there
19:13 and a physician counseling room and so on.
19:15 Thank you ASI.
19:17 God bless you and your work there.
19:19 Our next interview is going to be with three young people
19:24 and probably most of you here tonight
19:27 are familiar with the ASI Youth For Jesus Program,
19:31 it's something very close to my heart,
19:33 and we're going to just hear from three of these
19:37 youth for Jesus about their experience here this summer
19:41 right here in Tampa,
19:42 first we're going to start with Brent,
19:43 Brent, where are you from?
19:45 I'm from a small town in Minnesota called Maple Plain.
19:48 Maple Plain, Minnesota, how, I believe you go to school
19:52 at an ASI supporting academy, right?
19:54 Yeah I go to Daystar Adventist Academy.
19:56 Okay, now, was this your first Youth for Jesus Program?
19:59 Yes it was.
20:00 Now, what did you think about,
20:03 now that it's over, what do you think about
20:05 the Youth for Jesus Program, how did it impact you,
20:08 what has been special about this experience?
20:11 Well, the prayer life... we pray a lot there
20:14 at Youth for Jesus, every morning at 7:45
20:17 our whole site would come together and pray for the
20:21 contacts that are coming on, for the Speakers
20:24 and that everything would run smoothly
20:27 and then again at 12:45.
20:29 Okay so twice a day, you and your team from...
20:32 which site were you at?
20:34 I was at the Tampa First site.
20:36 So the team from Tampa First
20:37 would meet together twice a day and pray,
20:39 did you see God answering your prayers?
20:41 Yeah we did.
20:42 Tell me about one of your contacts... Paul.
20:46 Well, Paul started coming to the meetings fairly early on
20:51 and I noticed that no one was sitting by him at his table,
20:55 he was all alone, and so I went and sat by him
20:57 and after the meeting, I just started talking with him
21:01 and getting to know him and he has Bone Marrow Cancer
21:04 and as the meetings went on, he told me about that
21:08 and then... he was saying that
21:09 a lot of times he'd be depressed
21:12 because he'd be in his apartment all alone and everything
21:14 but when he'd come to the meetings,
21:16 he'd forget that he even had Cancer
21:18 because people were so friendly to him.
21:19 Okay, so you went and you had the opportunity
21:23 to make a friend and to get to know him,
21:25 did Paul continue coming to the meetings?
21:28 Yeah, he came faithfully,
21:30 he said that he was only going to come
21:31 on Monday, Wednesday
21:33 and Friday, because Tuesday and Thursday
21:36 were the days he had to clean his apartment and stuff
21:38 but he started coming on Tuesdays and Thursdays and
21:41 Saturdays regularly, which was really good
21:45 and then, at the end, we had our baptism
21:48 he said that he was going to come regularly
21:51 to the church service so I was really glad about that.
21:54 All right, would you recommend the Youth for Jesus Program?
21:56 Yeah, I'd highly recommend it.
21:58 Okay, come a little closer ladies, Alena.
22:02 Hello. Where are you from?
22:04 I'm from Zlín, it's a city in Czech Republic.
22:06 You're also from the Czech Republic, okay,
22:09 now what were the blessings that came to you
22:12 from the Youth For Jesus Program?
22:14 It was a big privilege for me to be here in Youth for Jesus
22:18 and at first, my spiritual life really grew up
22:21 I became closer to God
22:23 and also, a church where I was assigned to,
22:27 it was Westside, so the members, they really accepted us
22:30 and also the contacts, the people,
22:33 at first, it was full of travels and programs
22:37 and later I could see they were full of energy
22:40 and full of God and how their spiritual life grew up.
22:43 So you saw changes in the lives of your contacts and
22:46 that was a real blessing to you. Yes.
22:49 How did you feel about the whole... the team...
22:51 your team, the local church, the contacts, how did you...?
22:55 It was such a big family,
22:57 they... we were so close together.
22:59 Even though you're from the Czech Republic...
23:01 Yeah. It felt like one big family,
23:03 isn't it neat to be part of the family of God?
23:05 And as people were learning the truth,
23:07 they became a part of the family as well.
23:09 Now, you had a contact named Vanessa, tell us about Vanessa.
23:13 Well, this girl, first when I met her
23:16 I said, "Well, I'm not going to talk to her in anyway"
23:20 but later, we became really good friends,
23:22 she's just a few years older than me
23:25 and we can understand together
23:27 and we could talk about spiritual things
23:29 about relationships, about everything
23:32 so it was a big blessing for me.
23:34 Did Vanessa continue coming to the meetings?
23:35 Yeah she did, and she also promised to come here.
23:38 Okay, wonderful and what do you hope to do
23:41 when you get back home,
23:43 anything that you hope is in your future?
23:45 We came here as Czechoslovak Team
23:48 and we are planning to make
23:49 Youth for Jesus next year in Czech
23:52 so just keep us in prayers
23:54 that it will be such great as here
23:57 and also I would like to thank you,
23:59 ASI and Maranatha in Czech,
24:01 because without them, we wouldn't be here,
24:03 so just... thank you.
24:06 Okay, thank you Alena,
24:08 next we have Eniko, and where are you from?
24:12 I'm from Budapest the capital city of Hungary.
24:15 Okay, you're from the capital of Hungary
24:18 now, you I believe came to ASI last year
24:20 here in the States, right? Yeah...
24:22 And you heard a bit about the Youth for Jesus Program
24:24 but you thought, "That could never be for me"
24:27 why did you think you could never be
24:29 part of the Youth For Jesus Program?
24:30 Well, actually I thought that it was just all about preaching
24:34 and in English and I thought, "Oh no, that's not for me"
24:37 So you can't preach in English
24:39 so you couldn't be a youth for Jesus,
24:40 but you found out there is more
24:42 to the Youth for Jesus Program than just preaching, right?
24:45 What did you do while you were here this summer in Tampa?
24:48 Well, I had many great experiences here
24:51 like I did survey and health talk in English
24:55 and children's program and Bible study in English.
24:58 Okay... all in English, you notice,
25:01 that's helpful here,
25:03 so if you are going to give a Bible Study
25:07 you would probably want to have plenty of time to prepare,
25:10 especially since it's in English,
25:12 is that how your first Bible Study happened?
25:15 No, it was... I went with Tanya and Loni
25:19 and they told us that I should experience the Bible Study
25:24 and I said, "Okay, well, I will see how you do it"
25:27 So you went with your Bible Worker
25:29 and they said, "You should experience a Bible Study"
25:32 Yeah, and then, I got to the car and they said,
25:35 "Oh, you are going to do the Bible Study"
25:37 and I said, "Me?" and they said,
25:39 "Okay, don't worry, you have time"
25:41 and I had five or ten minutes to prepare
25:44 but thank God Tanya helped me a lot so...
25:47 Okay, how did that Bible Study go?
25:50 Well, it was great after that
25:52 and the contact's name was Amanda
25:56 and she got baptized so I was really happy about it.
26:00 Amen, isn't that wonderful, praise the Lord.
26:03 Now what do you want to do when you go back home to Hungary?
26:08 Well, I hope we'll have something like that
26:11 in Hungary too because it's such a great blessing.
26:14 Okay, thank you, Youth for Jesus, for sharing,
26:18 for coming here to Tampa
26:19 and for telling your stories here tonight.
26:21 Thank you very much.
26:24 Audience clapping.
26:27 Our next members in action are going to be
26:30 Doug and Debbie Baker,
26:32 now the Bakers... I think... many of us know well
26:36 they're from Heritage Academy,
26:38 and Doug, I'm going to start with you,
26:40 your young people have been involved
26:43 in a variety of outreach activities
26:45 in the recent past and are currently,
26:47 tell us about some of those outreach activities.
26:49 Well, first of all,
26:53 one thing that has really impressed me
26:55 is the way that the Lord has been opening doors
26:59 I would say, kind of like a SWAT team opens doors,
27:03 I mean, He just busts them open for us
27:05 and there they are in front of us,
27:07 one thing that we've been doing for about six years
27:12 is Literature Evangelism
27:14 and the Lord has opened that in such a big way for us
27:19 we do Literature Evangelism from Knoxville to Nashville
27:23 which is about 200 miles
27:25 and all the businesses through there,
27:29 so you know, witnessing in the Marketplace
27:32 and then there are two towns that are near us,
27:35 one is Crossville and the other is Cookeville
27:38 and this last year, we went to every home
27:41 in both of those cities.
27:43 Okay, I think Volkar would appreciate that
27:46 printed-page outreach, right, what else are you doing
27:49 to help your young people involved in
27:50 frontline witnessing?
27:52 Well, we're also working with ACTS
27:53 and when there are disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes,
27:57 we respond pretty much immediately
28:01 and we just finished training with FEMA this past May...
28:08 or April... and... so all of our kids are certified
28:14 with FEMA to do disaster relief
28:16 so we can have a much more close relationship
28:20 working with them in Disaster Relief that way
28:24 we went to...
28:27 there was a big tornado that came through
28:29 Jackson, Tennessee, this last year,
28:31 the year before there was a tornado in Florida
28:33 and then of course,
28:35 there was everything that happened in the Gulf,
28:37 so since the hurricanes in the Gulf,
28:41 we've been doing disaster relief for them.
28:44 Okay, I think you're going to be needed more and more
28:46 and it's a wonderful way to reach out to people
28:48 at a time when they really have some felt needs, very much,
28:51 Debbie, tell us about some new exciting programs
28:55 that you're offering for young people at Heritage.
28:59 Well the Lord really impressed us not too long ago
29:03 that there's a real dearth for religious programming
29:07 for teenagers and young adults and through a generous donation
29:11 from ASI and others,
29:13 we've purchased video production equipment
29:15 for the purpose of creating video or programming for kids
29:22 to reach them and I think about a year ago
29:25 one of our students who was new said
29:27 during the summer program,
29:29 had been with us for about three weeks,
29:31 said, "I have been outside
29:33 in the sunshine in the last three weeks
29:36 more than I have in five years"
29:38 because she's from inner city, Atlanta,
29:41 and can't go outside, she comes home from school
29:43 from Public Schools as a young person
29:46 went straight and was locked up in her home,
29:49 and the only thing she had was the television
29:51 and it really struck us,
29:53 turning on the television to religious programming
29:56 would really reach her and how many thousands of other kids
30:00 are trapped inside their homes as latchkey kids
30:02 with this kind of ministry from a young person
30:05 speaking to a young person about the things that affect them
30:09 and in the days that we're living in now,
30:10 could really have an impact on both of their lives,
30:13 both those that are sharing and both that are receiving.
30:17 Okay, so specially here in the Western world where
30:19 sometimes it's hard to get access to those homes
30:21 and Media can be a real outreach
30:23 and it can be something today that even young people can do,
30:26 we're living in a different age technologically,
30:28 and... really young people
30:30 with very small amount of equipment
30:33 can do a lot for Jesus. That's right.
30:35 But what about some of those more remote places?
30:37 You have a program that you're developing, I think,
30:40 that will help young people reach there too.
30:42 You know, I know absolutely nothing...
30:45 as much as I would like to, about aviation
30:47 I had dreams of being an aviator myself
30:50 but the Lord had other plans in store,
30:53 but with... just recently has opened the doors
30:57 by bringing us a pilot as a teacher
31:01 who had put aside the world of being an aviator,
31:05 and said, "I'm going to go minister
31:07 in the classroom, to a bunch of kids"
31:09 but the Lord had something else in store
31:11 and opened up the doors
31:13 by meeting and putting together, right here in ASI last year,
31:18 this gentleman and AWAS,
31:21 we were setting up our booth and they were talking
31:24 and had a chance to witness and share with each other
31:27 and today we are partnered together with
31:30 Adventist World Aviation to begin
31:32 a mission aviation program for our students
31:35 and it's phenomenal to see how the Lord open these doors.
31:40 Amen, so right here at ASI,
31:41 here's a good example of the networking that can take place
31:44 and God can open up new opportunities
31:46 right here at ASI, your teacher, who is a pilot,
31:49 by the way, was attracted to stop at
31:53 the AWA Booth and talk and a vision sort of came together
31:57 and now you're starting the Aviation Program.
31:59 Well, I know that God is going to continue to bless your work
32:03 any last thoughts that you might have
32:05 about what God is doing at Heritage?
32:08 We just fasten our seatbelts and hold on
32:11 because it's just incredible just one step at a time
32:15 He's just making a way for young people to learn
32:19 in one way or another, how to share their faith
32:21 and it's just a powerful as you saw the young people
32:24 that were here just a moments ago
32:26 to watch them give their hearts in ministry for the Lord
32:30 and for us, we're blessed
32:32 to have a small part in that aspect of their lives.
32:35 And of course we know that as the young people
32:37 become active in sharing their faith,
32:39 no matter which arena or skills they're using,
32:42 they're going to be stronger in living for Jesus as well.
32:44 Amen. So thank you for what you're
32:46 doing at Heritage and may God bless
32:47 your ministry there. Thank you.
32:48 Audience clapping...
32:50 Our last interview in this section
32:52 is going to be a gentleman who is no stranger to us,
32:56 Irwin Rogers, now, Mr. Rogers,
33:04 where are you from?
33:06 I'm from Boise, Idaho.
33:08 Boise, Idaho,
33:10 now what is your line of work or profession?
33:12 I have an insurance agency and I've had it for 29 years.
33:17 And... so every morning you'd get up and you'd go to work?
33:21 I'd go to work.
33:23 Now, you've been a part of ASI and a member of ASI
33:27 attending ASI for quite some time... how long has it been?
33:29 My wife and I joined ASI in 1984
33:34 and we went to our first National Convention
33:38 at Big Sky, Montana.
33:39 1984, okay, so... quite a few years...
33:43 now, through the years you went to these ASI conventions
33:46 and you've seen ASI change quite a bit
33:48 you've... back then there was what...
33:50 how many people were in Big Sky?
33:52 We had 300 and real proud of it.
33:54 All right, so ASI has continued to grow
33:57 but... as you kept coming back to ASI,
33:59 what you shared with me was,
34:01 there were some problems that began developing
34:04 with your attendance here,
34:07 there were just things happening
34:09 that were making you uncomfortable.
34:11 There were just a lot of people going on mission someplace
34:15 and getting a wonderful blessing
34:17 and I knew it wasn't for me and I thought,
34:20 "The Lord is blessing them and that's wonderful"
34:22 So you saw people going on our mission trips
34:25 and you thought,
34:26 "That's great but it's not for me"
34:28 what began really making you
34:30 try to avoid certain places in the Exhibit Hall?
34:35 Well, we never missed an ASI meeting for 16 years,
34:40 then my wife got ill
34:42 and she was in the Nursing Home
34:45 with kidney failures and then she had two strokes
34:48 she wasn't able to go anywhere
34:50 so we didn't go to ASI,
34:52 then she passed away in May of 2001,
34:56 and that was... I thought this is kind of a lonesome thing
35:03 and if she'd have lived two more weeks
35:05 we would have been married 59 years,
35:07 so I decided to go to ASI that year and it was in Dallas, Texas
35:13 so I got to Dallas, Texas,
35:15 and checked in at this... at the Booth
35:20 and went to see the exhibits, and the first one I saw was
35:24 the ShareHim Booth, so I went up there
35:27 and Harold Kiney,
35:28 you all should get acquainted with Harold Kiney
35:30 if you don't know him
35:31 as I walked up to him and he grabbed me by the arm
35:35 and I've known him for quite a while
35:37 and he says, "Irwin, this is just for you"
35:39 and I said, "Oh no, Harold, you got the wrong guy"
35:44 and I said, "if you got somebody that wants to go,
35:48 I'll help them with their expenses but it's not for me"
35:52 and Harold said, "That isn't what I mean,
35:55 this is for you,
35:56 it will change your life forever"
35:58 and I said, "I may need my life changed forever
36:01 but this is not for me. "
36:02 So what took place in your personal experience?
36:07 I left the booth and I never went by his booth
36:11 for the rest of ASI,
36:13 I just avoided it but I did go home
36:17 in October, I was shaving one morning
36:21 and I saw "Irwin" in the mirror and I thought to myself
36:26 "Irwin, you coward, if God can use fishermen
36:31 he can use Insurance salesmen" Amen
36:34 so I thought, "Well, I'll call Harold"
36:37 so I went to the office and I called him on his phone,
36:41 never got him, he was out of the country
36:44 but he did return my call and two days later
36:47 I said, "Harold, tell me more about ShareHim"
36:51 and he did, all right, and before I knew it
36:55 I was signed up and the next thing I knew
36:58 I was on the list to go to Romania as a Speaker
37:03 so I went to Romania
37:06 and everything was fine and it went well,
37:09 and I went to Gym Shade Academy and we had our Homecoming
37:15 and Kenneth Mittleider who was the Vice President
37:19 of the General Conference, he also went to that school
37:22 on his 60th anniversary
37:25 and he heard I was going to Romania
37:28 and he was very excited because he said,
37:30 "I go on one of these every year"
37:32 he said, "You'll be good" and I said, "I hope so"
37:36 well I got back and about a week after I got back
37:41 my phone rang and it was 7 in the morning
37:44 and...
37:46 Elder Mittleider lives in Georgia and I live in Idaho
37:50 of course, I guess he didn't realize the time change,
37:53 but he said, "How was Romania?"
37:55 I said that it was wonderful.
37:57 "Oh I'm glad to hear that," he says,
37:59 "I'm going to Madagascar in April of next year,
38:02 and I need another Speaker," and he said,
38:06 "Check it over with your children
38:08 and if it's okay, call me back,
38:09 I need to know by this afternoon"
38:11 and it was fine, and I called him back
38:14 and the first thing I knew I was on my way to Madagascar
38:18 and in March of this year, on the 30th of March,
38:24 I got on the airplane from Boise and we went to Atlanta,
38:33 and I had to stay overnight there,
38:36 the next day I checked in,
38:38 ready to go from Atlanta to Johannesburg,
38:42 well, when I checked in, it was an overseas flight
38:46 and the agent weighed my suitcase
38:50 59 pounds, and she was going to charge me
38:54 $90 for the overweight, then she turned and looked at me
38:59 and she says, "Did they charge you in Boise?"
39:02 and I said, "No" then she took her foot
39:05 and shoved the suitcase on and it went down the ramp
39:08 and away it went,
39:09 I wasn't out of trouble though
39:13 because I went to Johannesburg,
39:18 and then from Johannesburg to Madagascar
39:21 I had to fly on an African airline,
39:24 they have a strict rule of 44 pounds,
39:27 no more, and I had to stay all night in Johannesburg
39:32 and during the night I woke up wondering,
39:34 "What in the world am I going to do?"
39:35 And I thought, "Well I'll just pay for it and get there"
39:38 but the Lord brought a thought to my mind,
39:42 "They don't weigh you," so the next morning,
39:46 I put on a T-Shirt, a polo shirt
39:52 and a regular shirt,
39:54 then I put on three pairs of pants
40:01 and two coats and it had quite a few pockets in it
40:11 and I had to take some of the electrical stuff out of my case
40:15 and I had the computer and so forth
40:19 and I had them stuffed in my pockets,
40:22 and I have to admit to you it was about 89 degrees,
40:28 when I got on the plane, and when I checked my bag
40:32 it weighed 44 and 1/2 pounds
40:35 and the guy said, "That's all right"
40:36 and he pushed the bag in
40:38 so I got on the plane but it was rather warm
40:43 and it was a 3 and a 1/2 hour ride to Madagascar
40:49 and when I got there, everything was fine
40:53 and we have some pictures that will show you
40:57 what happened after I got there.
40:59 Real quick.
41:00 There, that's the hotel that we were staying in,
41:06 and they took pretty good care of us.
41:08 Then this is the house that my translator lived in
41:12 and this is his car,
41:14 and we took 45 minutes to go from the hotel to the site
41:19 where I was conducting on these kinds of roads,
41:23 very narrow and they have shops on both sides
41:27 and notice the potholes and one of the things over there
41:30 you can go either direction
41:31 and whatever direction you were going
41:33 the other driver will let you by,
41:35 this is the vegetable market
41:37 and those of you who know might collect ties,
41:40 I couldn't resist taking the ties.
41:42 This is the local laundromat,
41:43 and this is the village in which I was to speak
41:50 19 sermons... 17 days in this tent,
41:54 we only got rained on once this is a clothing store
41:59 that's between our tent and the main road,
42:01 and of course, here's the Transportation Department
42:06 and this is the group, and what a wonderful group
42:11 and this is the baptismal class
42:14 and our last day which was on the last Sabbath
42:17 we had 23 baptisms from my site,
42:21 and 60 more that would join the baptismal class.
42:25 You see the straw hat there, the church gave that to me
42:29 because they know that I was going on a safari
42:32 and they looked at my bald spot on my head
42:34 but I never worry about that.
42:36 So I understand that you got another trip is scheduled
42:39 would you agree that it has changed your life?
42:41 Oh yeah. Yes...
42:42 Well what happened,
42:44 I gave this report at the Northwest Chapter
42:47 and Duane McKey was there,
42:49 and when I came down from the pulpit,
42:51 he grabbed me by the arm, "Irwin," he says,
42:54 "I need another Speaker"
42:55 and I said, "Where and when?"
42:58 and he told me, and I checked current rules
43:01 and everything was fine, so on the 25th of August,
43:06 I'm going to Tanzania. Amen.
43:09 Thank you for letting God use you,
43:11 you know, you can avoid certain booths at ASI,
43:15 but the Holy Spirit still knows where you're at.
43:18 God bless you.
43:22 Special song by Celest Singers
43:31 Song: God and God Alone
43:38 music...
43:42 God and God alone
43:52 created all these things we call our own
44:00 From the mighty to the small the Glory in them all
44:08 is God's and God's alone
44:16 God and God alone
44:22 reveals the truth of all we call unknown
44:30 And the best and worst of man won't change the Master's plan.
44:38 It's God's and God's alone
44:46 God and God alone
44:51 is fit to take the Universe's throne
44:58 Let everything that lives reserve its truest praise
45:08 for God and God alone
45:17 God and God alone
45:26 will be the joy of our eternal home
45:32 He will be our one desire
45:37 our hearts will never tire
45:41 of God and God alone
45:47 God and God alone
45:53 is fit to take the universe's throne
46:00 Let everything that lives
46:05 reserve its truest praise
46:10 for God and God alone
46:17 God and God alone
46:23 is fit to take the universe's throne
46:30 Let everything that lives
46:34 reserve its truest praise
46:39 for God alone
46:45 Let everything that lives
46:50 reserve its truest praise
46:59 for God and God alone
47:08 alone...
47:16 Amen, people clapping...
47:21 Participants walking on stage...
47:31 The stories and events from different people
47:33 some of them were young kids,
47:37 Irwin, who said, he forgot to tell you that he's 81,
47:42 some were from men, some were from women,
47:47 some from other countries but the theme is the same,
47:50 we're going to tell people about Jesus
47:54 we're all in this together to tell people about Jesus
48:00 you know... some of you... that I went to the Philippines
48:07 and it was a ShareHim Program
48:11 and ASI had been there before I was there,
48:16 people ask me, "How many people were baptized?"
48:20 I don't really like to say anything much about that
48:24 because I didn't have much to do with that,
48:27 the ASI team had prepared
48:31 so many people to preach
48:34 before I got there so hundreds could be baptized
48:40 just after Marti and I left, it's all of us together
48:46 what drives me in this thing,
48:50 I think about the people right now
48:55 that live next door to us,
48:59 right now, I can see the little girl right next to us
49:07 running to meet Marti and hugging her
49:10 I see the boy across the street, he comes and hugs me
49:16 we couldn't bear to think about going to heaven
49:22 and saying, "That's for us but not for you"
49:28 and they won't know unless we tell them.
49:33 Our Division has an interest
49:38 in giving this message to everybody
49:42 the invitation, so we've asked Elder Clouzet
49:47 to be a special point person for us
49:51 to emphasize evangelism during a whole year
49:57 Ron, tell us something about it.
50:00 Thank you Elder Schneider,
50:02 all that we are is about
50:06 sharing Jesus with others, isn't that true?
50:08 That's what we're all about
50:10 that's what we need to be all about
50:12 no matter what we do in life,
50:14 what profession we have, what habits we have
50:19 it is to reach others for Jesus
50:21 and this Division is not well known for
50:26 far out-reaching, outstanding evangelistic endeavors,
50:32 we hear that from other places
50:35 and we heard some of that tonight.
50:37 In fact, we have a growth pattern of about 2.2 percent
50:41 did you know that there was a time a 100 years ago,
50:46 when we grew 18.6 percent in one year
50:49 that was the most we've ever done,
50:51 the second best decade was about 12 percent,
50:55 at this point, we're barely maintaining
51:00 if it wasn't for some key ethnic groups
51:04 that really keep that up,
51:05 well, a few months ago, a group of pastors,
51:11 a group of leaders, a group of laymen
51:14 including one of your vice presidents, Virel Kadamara,
51:19 we got together and we said, "What can we do that God... "
51:23 I mean, "What can we do that we've never done before
51:27 so that we can ignite the passion
51:30 for reaching out to others
51:32 that Jesus wants to put in our hearts?"
51:34 You know we baptize
51:36 about 35,000 to 37,000 people every year
51:39 and that's in North America,
51:41 all of the United States, Canada,
51:43 that's not very much when you compare the challenge
51:47 And Bermuda... And Bermuda, that's right.
51:50 The challenge that we have,
51:51 well, after much prayer and discussion
51:54 we decided that we're going to really test God on this
51:58 and we said, "Let's set a goal, and let's publicize it,
52:02 and let's commit ourselves to it,
52:04 financially, personnel-wise,
52:07 promotion-wise, resource-wise,
52:10 to reach out and baptize a hundred thousand people.
52:14 Now it would have been quite a thing
52:17 for us to have said 45,000 instead of 37,000
52:21 or even 50,000... to be honest with you,
52:25 it is an impossible job, because we're working hard
52:30 to just get the 37,000...
52:32 that is... the people that are engaged
52:35 in leading others to Christ are already working hard,
52:38 so what would it mean, what would it take?
52:41 Well it would take the concerted effort,
52:45 of a united church to really seek after God
52:48 to pray like we've never prayed before,
52:52 to ask for the outpouring of the Spirit of God
52:54 to dig into Scripture,
52:56 to ask God to give us a great love for others,
53:00 that same love that you find in Luke 11...
53:03 you know when that man that had a friend
53:06 who came to him at midnight and went to his neighbor
53:09 and says, "You've got to open the door and give me bread
53:12 because I have to feed somebody else,"
53:14 that kind of passion for others,
53:16 that is what we need to pray for,
53:19 and so resources have been made,
53:22 there is a new website we're trying to publicize
53:26 some of you may have seen a promotional DVD
53:29 in Camp Meeting this summer about this project
53:32 the website, which, by the way, is called
53:37 yearofevangelism. org yearofevangelism. org
53:40 I'd like to invite you to visit the website.
53:44 Here's what we want to do with that.
53:45 There are a number of resources there,
53:47 for lay people and pastors to do evangelism
53:51 to start, to get going on that,
53:53 and there's an opportunity to register,
53:56 if you are planning to do meetings,
54:00 direct evangelism... we're talking about,
54:03 inviting people to make decisions for Christ,
54:06 inviting people to make
54:07 decisions for the teachings of Scripture,
54:10 register there, my hope is to see...
54:13 our hope is to see those numbers increase
54:16 larger and larger and larger
54:18 and that would create a momentum...
54:23 a sense of... "You know, maybe God is behind this after all"
54:27 maybe God can use us in ways that He has never used us before
54:32 so the objective is to ask God
54:36 to use us in ways that have not happened before
54:40 you know, the last thing we had of anything of this nature,
54:44 Elder Schneider, I believe, that was probably in 1972,
54:49 some of you may remember that,
54:51 Mission '72... and it was a big splash...
54:54 and there were, we had quite a gain of people
54:58 but it was a one-year thing,
54:59 we don't really want to think about this
55:02 as a one-year thing...
55:04 we really want to think about this
55:06 as a start of doing new things,
55:09 a new way of doing things, in other words,
55:12 putting people first, putting our resources out there,
55:16 putting ourselves out there
55:17 that's one of the beautiful things
55:19 about what we've heard tonight,
55:21 people are... whether thoroughly trained
55:24 or whether thoroughly prepared or not,
55:27 they have the courage to trust God
55:30 in what God had put in their hearts and they did it,
55:33 and that's really the number one requirement,
55:36 so what we hope is to see in North America,
55:39 a working together, lay people, pastors, leaders,
55:45 you know that we're in the initiatives,
55:47 we're asking leaders,
55:49 we're talking about Presidents and Officers
55:54 and leaders of Conferences and Unions,
55:57 to also do meetings, we're asking Pastors
56:00 now catch this,
56:01 we're asking Pastors to do two meetings
56:05 now, many pastors do not even do one,
56:08 we're asking them to do two why?
56:10 Because we need to get off the mode
56:12 of Evangelism as an event,
56:15 and we need to start thinking
56:18 as a process, a cycle of evangelism
56:22 and that will force us to start thinking differently
56:25 about how we plan that and how we work in churches
56:28 and obviously
56:29 we're inviting every lay person to be involved.
56:32 If you can preach,
56:34 if you can lead people to Christ,
56:35 if you can give Bible Studies, by all means, please be engaged,
56:39 and here's a little hint,
56:41 I'd like to encourage our lay people,
56:43 to encourage your pastors in your churches
56:47 to say, "Pastor, I've heard about this year of evangelism,
56:50 what do you think about that, I've been hearing about this,
56:53 I've been reading about it in the Review and other places,
56:56 should we do some evangelism this year?"
56:59 if you get a few people like that the Pastor might say,
57:02 "Well, maybe God is trying to tell me something"
57:05 and that would be a wonderful opportunity
57:07 but obviously... volunteer and say,
57:10 "Pastor, if you decide to do a meeting,
57:12 I am going to be right there with you,
57:14 I am going to help you, I'm going to support you,
57:19 I want to be useful in order to reach out to others"
57:24 this is what would be good,
57:26 we need a lot of prayers for this,
57:28 we need to be bold for Jesus,
57:31 you know one of my favorite stories
57:33 is the story of Caleb, at the age of 85,
57:37 who said to Joshua, "You know, I'm 85,
57:41 but I'm just as strong now as I was 40 years ago,"
57:45 and what he meant was not strong in physical strength,
57:49 what he meant was, he was really strong in faith
57:52 and that's really key, in other words,
57:54 "I do not believe that God is any less now than He was before,
57:58 so give me this mountain"
58:00 and what he said was, the mountain full of giants
58:07 let me take this over and the man at 85
58:10 led a group of people to eradicate the Canaanites
58:14 and do the work of God at that time.
58:18 My brothers and sisters,
58:19 I want to encourage every ASI member,
58:22 every person that can hear me
58:23 to dedicate your life to evangelism in 2009,
58:27 if we do this, if we do this at any level
58:31 in the way that God would want us to do this,
58:34 this will begin to turn the tide in North America,
58:38 for us to really put Jesus first
58:40 and put other people first, and put our resources first,
58:44 and once that begins to happen, I really believe
58:47 that the coming of Jesus
58:49 will not take that much longer.


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Revised 2016-01-28