Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY200009A
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people. 01:08 Hello, and welcome to another 3ABN Today program. 01:11 I'm Jason Bradley. 01:12 And I'm so excited that you could join us 01:14 as we are getting ready 01:16 to discuss Adventist World Radio in action. 01:20 And I assure you, they're definitely in action 01:22 and you will see why in just a minute. 01:24 So I won't spend long on this introduction, 01:26 because we have a lot to cover. 01:28 We have Duane McKey with us. 01:30 He's the President of Adventist World Radio. 01:34 We have his lovely wife, Kathy McKey. 01:36 She is the Social Media and Outreach Coordinator 01:39 for President Ted Wilson. 01:41 We have Cami Oetman who is the Vice President 01:44 for Advancement with Adventist World Radio. 01:47 We have we Wisam Ali who is a pastor in Israel. 01:52 It's great to have you guys here. 01:54 Thank you so much, Jason. Wonderful to be here. 01:56 Super excited. Yes. 01:57 Very excited. 01:59 Now, I want to jump into a little bit of history 02:02 with Adventist World Radio and all of that. 02:04 But before we dive in, 02:07 we're going to be blessed in song by Pam Lister 02:10 and she will be singing "When I Turn to You." 02:39 When I turn to You 02:45 You were always waiting 02:52 With a heart that understands 02:57 before I speak 03:03 And I learn from You 03:08 all that really matters 03:15 And though a million years go by 03:20 You'll still love me 03:26 I no longer look 03:29 for a place to hide 03:32 'Cause I know where I belong 03:37 When I turn to You 03:49 When I turn to You, dear Lord 03:53 I know that I love You 04:01 When I turn to You 04:06 You were watching over me 04:13 Through the eyes that look 04:16 Beyond the faults I see 04:24 And I learn from You 04:29 You are always merciful 04:35 Though I remember 04:38 All that You've forgiven me 04:47 I no longer look 04:50 for a place to hide 04:53 'Cause I know where I belong 04:58 When I turn to You 05:10 When I turn to You, dear Lord 05:14 I know that I love You 05:42 I no longer look 05:45 for a place to hide 05:48 'Cause I know where I belong 05:53 When I turn to You 06:05 When I turn to You, dear Lord 06:09 I know that I love You 06:16 When I turn to You, dear Lord 06:20 I know that 06:22 I love You 06:47 Wow, when I turn to you, what a beautiful song. 06:50 Thank you for that Pam. 06:52 I want to jump into the history, 06:54 because I want to take a look at the beginnings of AWR. 06:57 So why don't you share a little bit about the history? 06:59 A text that we like a lot is Habakkuk 1:5. 07:04 "Look among the nations and watch, 07:05 be utterly astounded 07:08 for I will work a work in your days 07:11 which you would not believe though it were told you." 07:14 We're seeing it with AWR about... 07:17 We began almost 50 years ago. 07:19 And it's incredible to see 07:22 what is happening around the world. 07:24 I like to tell people, you go to the scariest place on earth, 07:28 the most remote place, you go to North Korea, 07:31 or go to some of the rebel areas of the world 07:34 where the communists are controlling their... 07:36 Go to the Columbia for example, 07:39 to the drug cartel in the mountains 07:41 and AWR's there. 07:43 Amen. 07:45 If we're not there, we will be there soon by God's grace. 07:47 Wow. 07:49 And so with AWR being there, that means the gospel's there. 07:51 That the gospel is there. That's right. 07:53 It's all about preparing people to meet Jesus. 07:56 We broadcast on about 1,000 radio stations. 07:59 Using them to reach the world plus shortwave, 08:03 internet, AM/FM, social media, any way we can, 08:07 we will use to reach the world for Jesus. 08:10 It's thrilling and exciting. 08:12 And I know that you have a lot of powerful testimonies. 08:14 Oh my! 08:15 Let me, Jason, let me take you to a special place 08:18 we're going to be there on, 08:19 is it May 25 I think, right, Kathy? 08:22 Cami, yeah. 08:24 To baptize a five star general. 08:26 He's leading a rebellion, a communist group a rebels 08:29 controlling this area of the world. 08:32 For 50 years they've killed 40,000 people. 08:36 The general who's in charge of the whole country 08:39 for the military, for the country. 08:42 And he's getting baptized. 08:44 Well, the general though is working with us 08:45 to baptize this rebel general. 08:48 And we're going to give him an amnesty. 08:50 Wow. And we're going to baptize him. 08:52 And imagine the influence 08:53 that that's going to have over all other people. 08:55 We're expecting at least 500 troops, 08:58 at least 500 troops would surrender that day. 09:01 Man, that's huge! 09:02 And give their hearts to Jesus. 09:03 Amen. Absolutely incredible. 09:06 But we also are thinking about doing things, 09:08 of course, in the metro areas of the world, Kathy. 09:10 That's right. 09:12 AWR is focusing on the hundred largest metro areas 09:16 of the world. 09:17 And in the United States, 09:19 the first place that we'll be going 09:21 is Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston. 09:24 Oh, nice. 09:25 Actually, we did something there 09:27 several years ago in Houston. 09:28 We had how many? 09:29 In 2011, we had 130 evangelistic meetings 09:34 in that area of Houston, the metro area of Houston. 09:37 And it was amazing. 09:39 I mean, we had hall meetings 09:43 and church meetings. 09:46 Yeah, it was really exciting. 09:49 Hundred and thirty? 09:50 Hundred and thirty evangelistic meetings. 09:52 That's right, that's in America. 09:53 That's not in Africa or someplace. 09:55 It's here. 09:56 So we believe that we had to reach the whole world 09:58 and we realize too that our own country sometimes 10:01 gets kind of left behind. 10:04 So we want to start here 10:05 with reaching 100 metro areas in the world. 10:08 Which is huge, because I agree with that. 10:10 I feel like, you know, wherever somebody is, 10:13 oftentimes that's the place that gets neglected. 10:16 We're always going abroad and everything like that. 10:18 So that's, that is excellent 10:20 and you guys had 130 evangelistic meetings 10:24 right here in the US. 10:26 Oh, well, we'll probably have another 10:28 I think year from this coming fall another 300 10:32 in the two cities at one time. 10:34 Wow. Yeah. 10:35 Wow. In America. That's America. 10:36 Yes. Yes. 10:38 That's not even including 10:39 what you're going to do overseas. 10:40 Right. Not at all. Absolutely. 10:42 Starting to broadcast this year. 10:44 Yeah, we're broadcasting this year. 10:45 We'll broadcast, we'll do internet, 10:47 we'll do a lot of, 10:50 like God pods, Cell Phone Evangelism, 10:52 anything that we can use, we'll use in those areas. 10:55 We have a new Chatbot we're working at now 10:57 for our new cell phones that it's so easy to use. 11:01 Now break that down. 11:02 What is a Chatbot? 11:04 It's texting. 11:05 And you get the text 11:07 and then you get the audio files. 11:08 And then you sign people up. 11:09 It's just so easy. Nice. 11:11 It's amazing. Yes. 11:12 So it's increasing accessibility as well. 11:15 Oh, that's right. Yeah. A few. 11:17 There are, I think, see, 11:19 what is it over 7 billion people on earth. 11:23 Over 7 billion, 3 1/2 billion have smart phones. 11:28 So they can get these sermons on their phone 11:31 that we can touch, analyze it... 11:33 And the remainder have radios. 11:35 There you go. 11:36 They have radio stuff, well they have cell phones. 11:39 That's right. 11:40 Most of them have cell phones but the smart phones 11:41 but, yeah, we... 11:43 The world is shrunk. 11:44 And in our day, it's just amazing. 11:46 It's so incredible. It is. 11:48 What else is going on with AWR? 11:51 Well, Jason, we are living in unprecedented times, 11:54 wouldn't you agree? 11:55 Our generation has the blessing to witness incredible miracles 11:59 that are happening just like in the Old Testament 12:01 and New Testament times. 12:02 And we have brought one today, Pastor Wisam Ali. 12:06 I am super excited because we were able to go to Nazareth 12:09 and film document his latest miracle, 12:12 you know God's performed so many in his life 12:14 which we get to hear about today. 12:15 But the latest one, 12:18 it really, if the Bible was being written today 12:20 I think this one would be included. 12:23 So I want to introduce, this is our video on Wisam Ali 12:28 and let's go ahead and show 12:30 the audience this incredible story. 12:33 Let's go to the video right now. 12:37 My uncle had tried to stone me to death, 12:40 and now my cousins were here to finish the job. 12:46 Find out how God is using Adventist World Radio 12:49 to reach the Muslim community 12:51 and other difficult to reach areas 12:52 with the gospel message. 12:54 Hi, I'm Cami Oetman, and this is AWR360°. 13:14 Adventist World Radio is broadcasting 13:16 to the most remote locations of the world 13:18 in more than 130 different languages. 13:21 We've been doing this for the past, 13:23 well, almost 50 years now. 13:25 But I've never seen anything like this before. 13:27 From baptizing rebels and assassins almost daily, 13:31 we receive news of amazing miracles 13:33 taking place all around those ole ball of mud. 13:35 Wisam story right here in Nazareth 13:37 is an example that especially touched my heart. 13:43 Being born Muslim, 13:44 Wisam was taught to hate Christianity. 13:47 So when his sister decided to become a Christian, 13:50 he was sent by his family to kill her. 13:53 But because of a miraculous dream from God, 13:56 he decided to begin studying the Bible. 14:00 He soon returned to Nazareth 14:02 to share his new belief with his family. 14:04 And his uncle, upon hearing this became very angry 14:07 and ordered his stoning. 14:10 This happened over and over 14:12 until finally his brother stepped in. 14:14 Then his father advised Wisam to flee the country. 14:18 Years later, after his father and uncle died, 14:22 Wisam's mother invited him to return. 14:24 He immediately saw an opportunity 14:26 to share Jesus in Nazareth. 14:29 So he decided to set up a center of influence, 14:32 where he used the Bible to teach English 14:34 to his fellow people. 14:36 We also gave Wisam AWR God pods, 14:39 which he distributed among his community. 14:43 Recently though, things took a turn for the worse, 14:46 as the sons of his dead uncle found out what Wisam was doing. 14:50 They too have participated 14:52 in his stoning many years before, 14:54 and now rallied a mob 14:56 and went to Wisam's house to attack him. 15:04 Wisam's wife Audrey heard the commotion downstairs 15:07 and rushed out to see what was happening. 15:11 She knew right away that Wisam was in serious trouble 15:14 and fell on her knees and began to pray. 15:17 Wisam's brothers rush to protect him 15:20 when he was hit with a metal rod. 15:22 But then his own cousin pulled out his knife 15:24 and stabbed Wisam. 15:26 But to his astonishment, the knife bent, 15:29 leaving him unharmed. 15:33 Wisam's brother then picked up the bent knife and said, 15:36 "Try again to kill the man of God." 15:39 As the mob retreated, they threatened, 15:41 "You will not know where or when, 15:42 but we will kill you." 15:44 Only a few weeks later though, 15:46 Wisam received a shocking phone call 15:47 that these same two cousins have been killed 15:50 while riding on a motorcycle. 15:52 It just reminds me that if God is for us, 15:55 who can be against us? 15:57 This miraculous event agitated the Muslim committee so much 16:01 that Wisam knew it was the perfect time 16:03 to use AWR Cell Phone Evangelism. 16:06 He immediately sought out someone 16:08 to translate the sermons into Arabic. 16:10 He found a man named Jamil who readily agreed to help. 16:16 Jamil worked for days, sometimes late into the night 16:19 translating the Bible based sermons. 16:21 As he read, he was so greatly moved by the presentations, 16:25 that he felt compelled to share them 16:27 with one of his friends from the Baptist Church. 16:30 She was so amazed by the sermons 16:32 that she shared them with her pastor 16:34 who was also impressed by what he read. 16:36 He then sought out Wisam to preach at his church. 16:39 Wisam presented at the Baptist Church 16:41 sharing Bible prophecy, 16:43 our health message and Ellen White's writings. 16:46 Their hearts were so convicted that the pastor 16:49 and almost his whole congregation 16:51 made the decision to be baptized 16:53 into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 16:55 And on a beautiful Sabbath day, 16:57 we held a church service at the Jordan River. 17:01 Then one by one, they entered into the water. 17:04 We soon had the joy of baptizing 17:06 these precious souls with elder Duane McKey. 17:10 God is calling all who are willing 17:12 to proclaim His last day message. 17:14 Adventist World Radio not only broadcasts 17:17 into the Muslim countries in their own languages, 17:20 but we are working with people like Wisam, 17:22 helping to share the gospel message in countries 17:25 that still need to hear the wonderful story of Jesus. 17:29 Thank you for supporting AWR. 17:31 Jesus is coming soon. 17:32 And He invites you and me 17:34 to be a part of this great movement 17:36 that will light the earth 17:37 with the knowledge of His truth. 17:40 From broadcast to baptism, this is AWR360A°. 18:22 That is an incredible journey 18:24 and just the true testament of faith 18:29 in the face of adversity and persecution by, 18:32 you know, one's own family. 18:34 Cami, is there something you want to add to this? 18:36 Isn't our God amazing? 18:37 He is doing miracles today like He has done 18:41 all throughout history and we are witnessing it. 18:43 We actually get to hear from flesh and blood 18:46 how He was saved 18:48 by divine touch protecting his life. 18:50 Amen. Yes. 18:53 Well, thank you very much for the opportunity 18:57 and for this invitation. 18:58 I thank the AWR team and I thank you 3ABN 19:02 for hosting us here 19:04 to share with you this testimony 19:06 and this is all to glorify God, 19:09 this is for His glory. 19:13 It doesn't mean that we have all to live 19:15 what I lived in order to be 19:17 faithful follower of Jesus Christ. 19:20 So He calls us all and He calls us 19:23 according to our abilities. 19:27 And coming from this culture, it's a little bit different. 19:31 I grew up as a Muslim 19:33 for a very strong Muslim family. 19:36 I was educated to be an imam. 19:40 Some stage... 19:41 What's an imam? 19:43 Imam, it's like the pastor or the priest of the Muslim 19:46 leading in the mosque 19:49 and the prayers and so on, 19:51 but to be an imam, 19:53 that means you have to study hard. 19:55 You have to know the Quran, the book of Islam by heart. 19:59 You have to know the Sharia law, 20:01 which is the law of Islam. 20:03 And then you have to know the Hadith, 20:05 which is the teaching of the Prophet of Islam. 20:08 This is the basic things that you have to know 20:11 and takes years and years to do it. 20:14 However, during this journey, 20:17 there was always something missing in my life. 20:20 So in one stage, I decided to leave my family. 20:23 And, well, let me say, I come from a tribe. 20:28 So when we speak of a family, we are a very large, 20:31 we occupy the west of Nazareth. 20:33 Wow. So a very influential tribe. 20:37 And my father was the head of this tribe. 20:40 So leaving my tribe or leaving my family, 20:43 that's a great insult to them. 20:45 So taking this decision, 20:48 they decided that they would write 20:50 my name off of the family, 20:52 but I insisted that I will leave. 20:55 During my journey, 20:57 I went through a lot of experience 21:00 trying to find the thing 21:02 that will fill this gap in my life. 21:04 And in some point 21:07 I was involved with underground business. 21:10 And these people, they tried to kill me, 21:13 they followed me and they start shooting on me, 21:16 I was injured. 21:17 And another miracle that the Lord saved my life. 21:22 And from there, I got the opportunity 21:26 to get to study in Europe. 21:28 My sister was already there. 21:32 In Europe, I found out that 21:34 my sister became a Christian. 21:39 So it was for me somehow opportunity 21:41 to contact my family 21:43 and to save the honor of the family 21:45 by telling them that my sister is Christians 21:47 and we need to discuss the matter, 21:49 what is the penalty for that. 21:52 More than that, my sister had a boyfriend 21:54 and he was a Seventh-day Adventist pastor. 21:56 And they are planning to get married. 21:58 So now, that will complicate the matter. 22:01 Yes, the plot thickens. 22:02 Yeah. 22:04 So I came back to Israel 22:06 and, you know, when my tribe meets 22:08 for taking a decision, 22:10 in this time, the tribe, the head of the tribe, 22:12 he has a stamp from the government 22:16 that he could stamp any documents 22:17 and he can take any decision 22:19 like he is the mayor of the city. 22:23 They will meet under the tent, the elders of the tribe, 22:26 and then they will be surrounded 22:28 with the young men of the tribe. 22:30 And when we enter in front of them, 22:32 we have to sit on the ground, 22:35 so out of respect. 22:38 So I shared with them but in this minute, 22:39 it seems the Holy Spirit worked on me 22:42 by forgetting the story of my sister 22:45 is getting married. 22:46 So I was speaking about her being Christian. 22:49 And according to the Muslim law, 22:52 if a Muslim will change to be a Christian, 22:55 he will be given opportunity 22:57 or chance to repent. 23:00 If he doesn't repent, for the honor of the family, 23:03 he have to be killed. 23:05 Now, if this person like 23:07 a female will be married to a Christian, 23:09 for the honor of the family, 23:11 there is no nothing called repent, 23:13 they will kill her immediately. 23:14 Wow! 23:16 And decision of the tribe was go back to Europe 23:18 and ask your sister to repent. 23:21 And when I came back to Europe, I said to my sister, 23:23 this is the verdict of the tribe. 23:25 They asked you to come back to Islam. 23:27 Now I have no address of my sister 23:29 or what I have is just their phone number. 23:32 She was very powerful, 23:36 and she's still very powerful. 23:38 She said to me, "What will help me 23:40 to gain the whole world and I will lose myself." 23:42 Amen. Amen. 23:44 It was very challenging to me. 23:46 And then at the end, we made an agreement. 23:48 Like she asked me to study first of all, 23:52 German language. 23:55 And after one year, she will hand herself to me. 23:57 I said, "If you don't hand yourself to me, 23:59 I will be killing every day one Adventist." 24:01 Wow. 24:03 And I was serious on the matter. 24:04 And through this journey, 24:06 the Lord found me 24:07 and instead of killing my sister, 24:09 I myself became a Seventh-day Adventist. 24:12 And instead of stopping her from proceeding 24:17 in her plans of marrying this pastor, 24:20 I helped in the wedding. 24:21 Yes, so you were encouraging it now? 24:23 Yes, yes. 24:25 But here start the story. 24:28 When after my baptism, 24:30 I promised God 24:31 that the first people will hear about Jesus from my mouth 24:36 will be my father house. 24:38 It will be my tribe. 24:40 So I decided to come back to Israel. 24:43 And again, the council of the elders 24:45 and the young men was there. 24:48 I was sitting on the ground, 24:50 and amazingly 24:54 they forgot my sister. 24:57 Until today, no one of my tribe is asking, 25:01 "Where is your sister and what your sister is doing?" 25:04 My sister is like deleted from their memory. 25:07 In this minute when the council was formed 25:09 and I was sitting there, 25:11 my uncle who is in charge of the mosque, the imam, 25:17 asked me the question, "How is your faith?" 25:21 So I looked at him and I said, "It's the best." 25:25 So he suspected there is something wrong. 25:28 That was a very diplomatic answer. 25:29 Yeah. 25:31 He asked me, "Are you still praying five times a day? 25:34 Are you still reciting the Quran?" 25:38 So I asked permission to stand and talk. 25:41 So they allowed me to stand in front of them. 25:43 I said, "Before I answered this question, 25:45 I have a question to all of you. 25:48 Who is the creator?" 25:50 They said, "God is the Creator." 25:52 I said, "Who is the healer?" 25:55 They said, "God is the healer." 25:57 I said, "Who can raise the dead?" 26:00 They said, "God can raise the dead." 26:03 Then I responded to them saying, 26:06 "Then if God can do all these things, 26:09 why Jesus is mentioned in the Quran 26:12 that He can do exactly what God can do." 26:17 And then my uncle said, "Do you say that Jesus is God?" 26:22 I said to him, "Uncle, I didn't say it, 26:25 but you proclaim it." 26:28 And it seems that it did tease him a little bit 26:31 and he was very angry at me. 26:33 So he without consulting 26:36 the elders of the tribe 26:39 commanded the young people to start stoning me. 26:42 And they start, you know, 26:45 the pain is not in being stoned. 26:49 The pain is to see those that you grow up with them. 26:52 Eating, drinking and playing with them. 26:55 They will take a stone 26:57 and they will change immediately, 26:59 immediately from being loving to this hatred, 27:03 that they want to kill you, 27:05 but they don't understand why they are doing it. 27:09 And they start stoning me and got injured, 27:12 and I saw my father commanding my elder brother 27:17 to step in and hug me. 27:19 And this minute they will stop stoning, 27:22 because they don't want to injure my brother. 27:25 They treated my wounds, 27:26 they brought me after a few days 27:28 back to this council. 27:31 I sat there, my father was a very wise man. 27:33 He said, "My son has just a question. 27:36 And he deserves an answer. 27:40 Any one of you can answer his question." 27:44 My uncle said, "No, we would like to give him 27:45 a chance to tell us about his new faith." 27:48 In this time, I had my Bible with me. 27:52 I asked again permission to stand and I stood, 27:56 and I took over three hours preaching to them 27:59 the plan of salvation from Genesis to Revelation. 28:02 Wow! Praise the Lord. 28:04 And after that, my uncle said, 28:06 "We don't need more evidence for his blasphemy. 28:09 Kill him." 28:10 And they again start stoning me for the second time. 28:14 But from far away I saw my mother, 28:17 she was standing helpless. 28:20 You know the woman stature 28:21 among the Arabs differ a little bit. 28:24 She has no saying in the community. 28:28 She couldn't do nothing. She was just weeping. 28:30 And all what I heard from her was give up son. 28:35 When she said this word, 28:36 I remember the words of my sister, 28:38 "What will help me to give up and win the world 28:42 and I will lose my eternal life?" 28:44 Yes. 28:46 I said to her, "Mother, I cannot give up Jesus." 28:48 And there I collapsed. 28:50 And I was told that my brother 28:51 helped me again by hugging me and saved my life. 28:55 Was taken to the hospital. 28:57 They treated my wounds and then my father came 28:59 to give me about one week time 29:02 to leave the country. 29:04 Otherwise, my blood will be called free. 29:07 Anyone from the tribe will see me, 29:09 he's allowed to kill me without punishment. 29:11 Wow. 29:12 So I left the country going back to Europe. 29:15 In Europe I decided to give my life to the Lord. 29:19 I started studying theology, moved from Austria to Germany, 29:23 from Germany to South Africa, 29:25 finished my BA in Theology, 29:28 coming back, flying from South Africa to Tennessee, 29:33 to Southern Adventist University 29:35 where I did my master's degree there. 29:38 Going back to Africa where I got married, 29:40 and start travelling the world with my wife, 29:45 teaching preaching about Islam and Christianity 29:48 and how to reach Muslims. 29:50 Because sadly, sadly, I say during my journey, 29:55 I saw many methods 29:57 and many ways in reaching out to Muslims. 30:01 And all these ways, me personally, 30:06 I don't really agree with it, 30:08 with all due respect, 30:10 because I believe Jesus gave us the instruction 30:14 how to reach out to the whole world. 30:17 Open and honest 30:21 without having masks in front of our face, 30:24 hiding behind a mask, 30:29 thinking that we are protecting our lives. 30:33 Jesus said, "Go to the world, preach, 30:35 teach and make disciples." 30:37 And that's the way I'm doing it. 30:40 Preach and teach. 30:41 Having the Bible in my hand 30:43 and just the Bible because I believe in the Bible 30:46 and the Bible alone and it says "Sola Scriptura" 30:50 and that's the way we do it 30:53 until 2014. 30:57 My mother called and he said, 30:58 "We want you with your family to come back to Israel 31:01 and to work for the family business." 31:03 I said there, "But my blood is called free, 31:05 how do you want me to come back? 31:07 They will kill me." 31:08 She said all those that they were in the council 31:10 and even those that they were part of the stoning, 31:16 they themselves passed away, they died. 31:20 And we will issue a degree 31:22 that you come with your family 31:24 under our protection. 31:26 Said, "Well, mother, okay, I will come in one condition. 31:30 I'll keep the Sabbath." 31:31 Amen. 31:33 She said, "Deal." 31:35 I said, "No, no, no, no, it's not enough. 31:37 I'll practice my Christianity." 31:40 She said, "No problem." 31:42 I said, "More than that. 31:44 Every client will come to the company of yours, 31:47 I will share with him Jesus." 31:50 She said, "Deal, come back." 31:52 That's huge. 31:54 So when I came back, I worked with them in 2014. 31:56 And the Lord blessed us with having a lot of people 32:00 coming to take Bible studies from a Muslim background. 32:04 And 2015, I was called by the Israel field to work 32:07 as a full time pastor to the Israel field 32:11 and be in charge of the Arab community. 32:14 Now being in Israel, charge of the Arab community 32:17 that means in Israel we have 1.8 million Arabs, 32:20 and in Palestine, we have another 6 million Arabs. 32:23 So my district is over 7 million Arabs. 32:27 And I'm the only person who speaks Arabic there. 32:30 Wow. Yeah. 32:31 So you've kind of got the monopoly 32:33 on the pastoral ministry over there. 32:36 That's right. 32:38 And the Lord blessed us 32:39 then thanking the General Conference 32:42 and many unions 32:43 and conferences around the world. 32:45 They helped us in renovating the center 32:47 that we have in Nazareth. 32:48 And there we start our journey and doing activities, 32:52 program and reaching out to the Muslim community, 32:56 to the Arab community in general, 32:58 Muslims and Christians. 33:00 We run English program for little kids. 33:04 We started with four kids, 33:05 today we have approximately 80 33:08 that they attend and 200 on the waiting list. 33:12 We have woman ministry, we have computer programs. 33:16 And we have many different other programs 33:19 there in this center, 33:22 and the Lord blessed us with many baptisms. 33:24 That is incredible. 33:25 That, this center today, for the first time, 33:29 a group of Muslims comes together on a Sabbath, 33:33 and they worship the Lord, sometimes up to 20. 33:36 From a Muslim background, 33:38 they come to worship the Lord on a Sabbath day. 33:40 Wow. 33:41 Moreover, we were like blessed 33:43 by having the opportunity 33:44 to reach out to Baptist Churches. 33:48 And as we saw on the clip, 33:52 and the AWR team joined me 33:56 on one occasion there. 33:59 The whole Baptist Church 34:00 decided to take Bible studies from us. 34:04 So I started going there 34:05 and shared with them our fundamental beliefs. 34:08 And then last month, 34:10 the church decided no more that Wisam Ali will come to us, 34:14 we will go to his church. 34:17 And they start joining us now 34:19 throughout all our activities and programs, 34:21 and they are worshiping with us on the Sabbath day. 34:24 That is incredible. 34:25 And your faith must have grown tremendously, 34:30 like you already had quite a bit of faith 34:33 because even in the face of death, 34:35 you were still proclaiming Christ 34:38 and He's grown your ministry tremendously. 34:42 If you have faith that means you don't fear, 34:47 because God will give you 34:49 the confidence that He is on your side. 34:52 Amen. Yes. 34:53 I mean, I'm not shy of Jesus. 34:57 And Jesus, He Himself said it in Mark, He said it, 35:02 "If you shy of Me, I will be shy of you." 35:05 And I'm not shy of Him, 35:07 because I know He is on my side. 35:09 I know that He promised and He kept all His promises, 35:12 and the greatest promise that He promised that 35:14 He will fill us with His Holy Spirit. 35:17 The question, do we trust Him 35:21 that we have the Holy Spirit? 35:23 If yes, then we will not be shy 35:26 to stand in front of the whole world, 35:28 using the Bible, 35:29 and just the Bible to witness Him, 35:34 His salvation plan and his soonest coming. 35:36 Amen. 35:37 We're excited to be able to work with Wisam in Israel, 35:41 has been a wonderful relationship. 35:44 Adventist World Radio will furnish God pods to them. 35:47 We have Cell Phone Evangelism, 35:49 and the Lord has blessed in such a wonderful way 35:51 and Wisam, you and Audrey and Raquel, 35:55 you're just wonderful partners to work with in Israel. 35:58 Yes, his beautiful wife Audrey 36:00 is standing by his side the whole time 36:02 and she is just as bold and deep in her faith as he is. 36:05 They make a beautiful, beautiful team. 36:08 And, yeah, it just was, 36:09 you know, when we recreated those scenes with Audrey 36:13 and when she saw her husband about to be attack, 36:16 the first thing she did was pray to the Lord, 36:18 you know, the same God 36:20 that shut the lions' mouth in Daniel's den 36:23 can save my husband right now. 36:25 And she just, she's a prayer warrior. 36:27 She is amazing. 36:28 And so they make an incredible team 36:30 for the Lord. 36:31 A powerful testimony 36:33 and, Wisam, you're not like a superhero. 36:35 You're not made of iron, metal, 36:37 or anything like that, like you are... 36:39 I'm so fragile. 36:41 Got you, human being because that knife bent? 36:45 It bent. 36:47 Yeah, tell him that story. Yeah. 36:49 Well, do you know 36:52 this generation that they wanted me 36:53 that as my mother said they all died. 36:57 It seems to me that 36:59 they were telling the story of me 37:02 being converted to Christianity 37:06 was told to their next generation 37:08 to their children of the children. 37:10 And now when we speak of my tribe, 37:13 we count of about 2000-2100 men 37:19 over the age of 21. 37:21 And that's just the men. 37:23 That's just the men, without the women, 37:25 without the children, just men. 37:28 So you can imagine how many 37:30 we are in this part of Nazareth. 37:32 And that's just one part of the whole tribe 37:34 in the Middle East. 37:37 And every day I drive in their midst. 37:41 And every day I greet them, 37:43 even though they don't greet me back, 37:45 but still my Christianity asked me to bless my enemies. 37:49 Yes. So pray for them. 37:51 That's what Jesus asked us to do. 37:54 Now, it seems that the news spread in Nazareth 37:57 about the programs and activities 37:59 that we are doing in Nazareth Life Help Center 38:02 and seems that specifically 38:05 my uncle house who is next door to me, 38:09 they are the most radical Muslims. 38:11 They didn't like it much. 38:13 So they were waiting for the opportunity to fight me, 38:18 but they are so scared 38:20 because the decree was issued by my parents 38:23 and my brothers to the whole tribe 38:25 that I am under their protection. 38:28 So this young men 38:32 waited for excuse, 38:34 let's say or opportunity to attack me. 38:38 And you speak of few of them, not just one or two, 38:43 they were about maybe 12, 13 38:46 in the same building living. 38:48 And one day it happens that 38:51 we have a guest coming to us, 38:53 and this guest arrived 38:56 the entrance of our house. 38:59 This guest, it seems that 39:02 he had the music a little bit loud in his car. 39:05 Now in my culture, my guest 39:07 is it's like under my protection. 39:10 Anything happens to him it's like happening to me. 39:13 So one of these young men 39:17 in my uncle house from the window, 39:19 he starts screaming at him and insulting him verbally. 39:24 It happens that in this time 39:26 I was in my way to go to the center of influence 39:30 that we have in Nazareth. 39:33 So I went and I said to them, "Peace be upon you. 39:36 We are not meaning it bad. 39:39 I apologize on behalf of my guest." 39:44 They didn't like it. 39:46 They said, "We are waiting for the opportunity 39:48 to kill you Kaffir." 39:50 And now the word Kaffir means unbeliever, 39:52 but it's a very bad word. 39:55 I smiled and I said, "I come to you in peace. 39:59 Peace be upon you." 40:01 Suddenly I'm asking my guests to come in, 40:04 I hear a crowd behind me 40:07 is coming with sticks, 40:10 and metals, and knives, 40:12 screaming in a loud voice. 40:15 So I turn, I just said to them, "Please respect my guest. 40:19 Peace be upon you." 40:22 This time also my brothers in the house 40:25 did hear the screaming, so they came out. 40:29 What I did, I turned my back 40:30 and I stopped my brothers from clashing with them, 40:34 because in this time, it will be really a war. 40:37 And it will be very bloody. 40:39 Because we are talking here about culture, 40:42 and about the honor of the family. 40:44 Yes, and this is one of the things 40:46 I always teach in my programs and presentations. 40:49 Whenever I do programs about Islam and Christianity, 40:52 please don't send missionary 40:55 to a Muslim community 40:57 without teaching them culture. 40:59 Don't teach them Islam, 41:01 don't give them a presentation about what Islam is, 41:04 teach them culture 41:06 because if you don't know culture 41:08 you can cause yourself harm. 41:10 So I tried to stop my brothers 41:14 from clashing with my uncle house, 41:17 and this time that I turned my back to them, 41:21 it was very loud. 41:24 One of them hit me 41:25 with a piece of a metal on my back. 41:28 And I felt it 41:31 and I like fell little bit down on my brothers 41:34 from the impact of this of the hit of this metal. 41:38 And I look up on the terrace 41:40 and this minute I see my wife and my daughter 41:42 are standing there, 41:43 and she's screaming and she's telling me something 41:47 but, because of the loud crowd, 41:50 I couldn't comprehend what she's saying. 41:52 Yes. 41:54 In these seconds, I felt something touched me 41:58 from in my back behind. 42:02 And two seconds later, 42:05 I hear a piece of metal is falling on the ground. 42:10 And it was so silence. 42:12 It was the first time I experienced 42:17 such peaceful silence 42:22 and everywhere, everyone in the street, 42:25 even my wife, 42:27 even my daughter that I saw the tears in her eyes, 42:30 they were so quiet 42:33 and here my brother bow down in the ground, 42:36 and he holds a knife up. 42:39 Wow. 42:40 We actually have that, don't we? 42:42 Yeah, we do. This is the very knife. 42:44 Wow. 42:47 This is the shirt that Wisam was wearing 42:49 during this incident. 42:53 Actually, Jason, some people say a bent knife 42:57 or Arabs have bent knives. 42:58 So I bought an Arab knife that's bent. 43:02 This is like Lawrence of Arabia. 43:04 Okay. It's a knife, straight. 43:06 Yeah, that's what a bent knife is for. 43:09 But the knife that they had was like this. 43:14 Wow! 43:15 That's something you'd find in the kitchen. 43:16 Wisam showed us. 43:18 They came at him like this underhand 43:20 because they are martial art specialist. 43:23 And then this is the actual knife. 43:26 That's the knife. Wow! 43:28 See how it's bent the other way? 43:30 Not like the Arab knife. 43:32 Wow! 43:34 Yeah, that is incredible. 43:38 So it's just a butcher knife and is straight like this. 43:43 It goes in an angel's hand. 43:46 It must have been an angel's hand. 43:48 This kind of metal you cannot actually bend 43:50 because it will break. 43:52 Yes. You tried it. 43:53 I did try it. 43:54 Yeah, my brothers they try with me 43:56 like to take another knife. 43:57 If you bend it, it will break because its stainless steel, 44:01 it's impossible to end it. 44:03 Even if you will heat it, 44:05 it will bend but it will lose its color. 44:08 Yeah, it is discolored. 44:09 Yeah, and it will lose 44:10 also the logo of the brand name. 44:12 That's why we asked... 44:15 Garwin. 44:16 Garwin McNeilus that many of us know. 44:19 He builds cement trucks. 44:20 He knows metal, he knows steel. 44:22 Yeah, and he knows this stuff for sure. 44:24 He does. So he looks at this knife. 44:26 And he said, "No man bent this knife." 44:29 Amen. 44:30 And we ask also others the same thing 44:32 and they said the same thing. 44:33 So this is the actual shirt 44:36 and you can see that the knife went in, 44:39 just touched your skin, right? 44:41 And came right back out like that. 44:46 Wow! 44:48 Isn't that incredible? 44:49 That is incredible. 44:52 I mean, God was protecting you. 44:54 He had many things in store for you. 44:56 He still has great things in store for you. 44:59 I became more confident on this 45:02 because they asked me, "Are you not scared?" 45:05 Even my family asked me the question. 45:06 "Are you not scared now, 45:08 Like continue to preach and teach your Christianity 45:12 and the love of Jesus Christ and the salvation plan? 45:17 Wisam, excuse me, now your brother 45:20 when he picked up the knife he said something too. 45:22 Yeah, when he picked the knife up, 45:24 he came to them and he said to them, 45:26 "Try to kill the man of God." 45:29 And now my brother is a Muslim. 45:31 Yes. Yeah. 45:32 So what they did, you could see the fear in their faces, 45:37 they pulled back and one of them said 45:40 the day will come that I will crush your head. 45:44 And the other said, 45:45 "The day will come that I will cut you in pieces." 45:49 And they left. 45:52 Now according to, I will tell you what happened 45:55 but you know, just to put a footnote on this... 46:01 I believe that we experience Jesus in different ways. 46:05 And we do experience every day of our life is a miracle. 46:09 Yes. 46:11 I mean if you read the stories, 46:12 what we receive from AWR 46:13 and what we see also on the broadcast of 3ABN, 46:16 all this, this shows that God is not a sleeping God. 46:19 Amen. 46:21 God is an active, God is in action. 46:24 And to be honest with you, 46:28 the only problem that we face, 46:34 we are not just shy, 46:37 we are scared. 46:40 Not just to hurt the feelings of others, 46:42 but we are scared on our lives. 46:44 Yes. 46:45 But from my experience, I believe. 46:48 If it's my time to die now 46:50 that means God sees that I accomplished the work 46:53 He meant to me to do. 46:54 Amen. 46:56 If I didn't accomplish the plan that He put in my life, 47:01 no matter what I will face, 47:03 He will save my life. 47:04 Amen. 47:06 Just a year ago. 47:07 I think it was a year ago right now, 47:09 Kathy and I met you in Israel, 47:12 we preached in your church there Meganium Church. 47:14 That's right. 47:16 And you told us after that you couldn't stay 47:18 and talk to you if you're going to a funeral. 47:20 That's true. 47:21 What is that? 47:23 After the incident, 47:25 and they were threatening me all the time. 47:29 Can you imagine every day I drive in front of them 47:32 or I walk in front of them, 47:33 and every day I had to hear the same words, 47:38 "We will kill you, we will kill you." 47:41 They were like trying to intimidate me 47:44 or to scare me. 47:46 But every day I had this smile on my face 47:49 because I remember the hand of God on this knife. 47:52 As I said, if He wants me to accomplish His plan, 47:56 that means I will stay alive 47:59 because He is a living God. 48:03 Daily, the same music, 48:06 the same words, we will kill you. 48:09 My wife was very terrified like 48:12 to walk on the streets on her own with my daughter. 48:14 So after a while, 48:18 I received the news that there was a car accident 48:21 and the accident how it happens, 48:23 it was like, we call it freak accident. 48:29 They call me from my, my brothers, 48:32 they told me to come back home. 48:33 And they told me the story 48:37 that these two young men, 48:38 the one who hit me with a piece of metal 48:41 and the one who tried to stab me, 48:43 they were riding a motorbike in a very high speed. 48:46 And they had the accident with another car. 48:49 And the driver of the other car was 85 years old man. 48:53 But the 85 years old man, nothing happened to him. 48:57 However, these two young men, 48:59 one of them his head was crushed. 49:01 And the other was cut in the middle. 49:03 Wow! 49:05 So you no longer had to worry about them coming after you? 49:08 But it's very interesting also their wording. 49:10 Exactly. 49:12 What they were saying to me every day. 49:13 It happened to them. 49:14 I will crush your head, one of them said, 49:17 and the other one was telling me, 49:19 I will cut you in pieces. 49:22 It was a very sad story 49:23 because two young men lost their life 49:25 without knowing Jesus. 49:27 Yes. 49:28 But it seems that for God there is a different plan. 49:32 Seems that His plan is not finished yet in Nazareth 49:34 and building His house in Nazareth, 49:37 because this is for the first time 49:38 we have a worship in the Arabic language. 49:42 And it seems God is preparing 49:44 for something much greater. 49:46 Yes. 49:47 And if you read the Old Testament, 49:49 He sometimes said to the Israelites 49:51 "Wipe the whole nations out, 49:54 because if you don't wipe them, 49:55 it will stop the plan of the coming of Jesus." 49:58 And Haman was one of these stories. 50:01 Haman and Esther, 50:02 he was one of those that they didn't wipe out. 50:06 So this is what happened. 50:09 And this is how the Lord prepared the way 50:12 for the greater plan. 50:14 Amen. 50:15 That is incredible. 50:16 Just want to add here. 50:18 We have this nice story where he has this, the center, 50:21 and there's other lessons and everything, 50:23 it's not big enough. 50:24 Right above it is another building 50:26 which is for sale. 50:28 We wished to have the top floor because... 50:32 We need to have an AWR Center of Evangelism 50:34 and Radio station on the top 50:36 so that they'll broadcast all over Israel. 50:38 And do that for about $750,000, I think. 50:41 That'll be huge. Wouldn't that be huge? 50:43 And I'm glad that you brought that up 50:44 because as our time is escaping us. 50:46 Yeah. 50:47 And so I want to find out what AWR, 50:49 what are the needs of the organization? 50:51 Yes. 50:52 Well, we want to thank our donors 50:54 because they really do keep us afloat. 50:57 They're the ones that, 50:58 you know, are just as excited about Jesus coming in 51:01 and wanting to see the work finished. 51:04 And AWR wants to finish the work and we, 51:06 if we can focus specifically in Nazareth, 51:10 for this extra top story floor to have the center 51:15 and broadcast across all of Israel 51:18 the gospel message, that will be incredible. 51:20 So we're looking for support in that way. 51:22 And also, of course, prayers. 51:24 Prayers are huge for us 51:27 and protecting our radio broadcasters 51:30 and all of our AWR staff around the world, 51:32 and we just so appreciate you. 51:34 Please contact us at awr.org, and stay in touch with us, 51:38 receive our newsletters of all these kind of stories. 51:40 We send them out weekly now. 51:42 There's that many happening. 51:43 So make sure and connect with us 51:45 and partner with us. 51:46 That is great. 51:48 And now we're going to go 51:49 to an address role in the news break 51:50 and we'll be right back. 51:52 Don't go anywhere. 51:54 Adventist World Radio's goal is to reach every person 51:57 with the saving message of God's love through programs 52:00 aired in the 200 plus critically important languages 52:03 spoken in the world. 52:05 If you would like to find out more about AWR, 52:08 or if you'd like to support this wonderful ministry, 52:10 please visit their website awr.org. 52:14 That's awr.org. 52:17 You may also contact them at (301)-680-6304 52:23 or write to Adventist World Radio, 52:26 12501, Old Columbia Pike, 52:29 Silver Spring, Maryland 2094. |
Revised 2020-04-20