Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY200047A
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00:01 As you're well aware,
00:03 we're living in unprecedented times. 00:05 Join us now for today's special program. 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Mending broken people 00:23 I want to spend my life 00:29 Removing pain 00:34 Lord, let my words 00:39 Heal a heart that hurts 00:44 I want to spend my life 00:50 Mending broken people 00:55 I want to spend my life 01:00 Mending broken people 01:15 Hello and welcome to another 3ABN Today program. 01:17 We're so glad that you have joined us. 01:19 And you know what? 01:20 We're so glad that you're our family. 01:23 You know, it's amazing times that we live in with COVID-19. 01:26 Usually when we have a Today program, 01:27 and you see the wide shot, like you just saw, 01:29 you'll see other guests and stuff around us. 01:31 But because of travel bans, 01:32 and social distancing and things like that, 01:34 it's not easily done. 01:36 But God provides technology for us 01:38 to be able to make this happen. 01:39 So today is going to be an exciting program. 01:41 We've got several segments. 01:42 We're going to be going 01:44 to a different part of the world 01:45 as well getting ministry updates, as well. 01:48 But again, we just say thank you 01:49 for your prayers and financial support 01:51 for your ministry, 3ABN. 01:53 You know God's been good. 01:54 He's seen us through all the different calamities 01:57 and things that seem to be going on in the world. 01:58 But God is good. 01:59 You know, we can trust Him through anything. 02:01 And He will see us through the storms of life. 02:03 Amen. 02:04 Greg and I have the privilege of hosting this first half, 02:07 you could say of the Today program. 02:08 We're going to Skype in with some good friends 02:11 of this ministry. 02:12 And I would say maybe some longtime friends 02:14 of Greg and I, 02:15 but maybe that dates us a little bit, so. 02:17 Well, we shouldn't say old friends, right? 02:19 We'll say long... Longtime friends. That's right. 02:21 I'm speaking of Lineage 02:23 and they have an incredible ministry. 02:25 We have broadcast the programs 02:28 that they have put together for the last couple of years. 02:31 And they're an amazing ministry featuring Reformation 02:35 going on location, history. 02:39 And it really comes alive when you go on location. 02:41 So we just want to introduce our special guest 02:43 to you right now. 02:44 We have Adam Ramdin. 02:46 He is the Executive Director of Lineage, 02:48 and so glad to have you here, Adam. 02:51 Thank you for having us. 02:52 Good to be here. 02:54 And you're all the way across the pond right now. 02:56 I'm in England right now. 02:57 So, Adam, a lot of times, we try to shake hands. 03:00 Can we do this like virtually? 03:01 Can you reach your hand out there, 03:03 we'll shake hands. 03:04 Right. Okay. 03:06 There you go. 03:07 It's good to see you, Adam. 03:08 Of course, we've known you for a number of years, 03:10 we were just commenting before we went live here 03:11 that it's been well over 20 years. 03:14 But it's so neat to see what God has done in your life. 03:17 And thank you so much for being the host 03:19 and Executive Director of Lineage. 03:21 I know that we've received a tremendous response 03:23 here at 3ABN. 03:24 Of course, I know, Jill, you love history as well. 03:27 And to see the work 03:28 that they're doing is incredible. 03:30 And sitting next, we could say next to you, 03:32 but he's actually in California right now, I believe. 03:35 We have Clive Coutet. 03:37 And you are the Media Director of Lineage Journey, correct? 03:42 That's correct. Yes. 03:44 And, Clive, you do incredible work. 03:46 The cinematography of Lineage is amazing. 03:49 So thank you for what you do. 03:51 And maybe someone's just watching 03:53 and saying, I don't even know what Lineage is. 03:55 So tell us what are the goals and aims of Lineage? 04:01 Go for it, Clive. 04:02 Okay, so we really wanted to create a resource 04:05 that translated history. 04:07 Often we read some of these books, 04:09 we read the Bible, we read the Great Controversy, 04:11 read Adventist history, 04:13 and we don't really get to see the location, 04:15 but it doesn't really bring it to life for 04:17 you know, younger audience or even older audience 04:19 who maybe are not able to go to these places. 04:22 So we're trying to translate these places 04:23 make it relevant to people today, 04:26 making appeals to them, 04:27 and how this information impacts their lives. 04:30 And we're trying to make this show bearable 04:33 and applicable so... 04:36 Oh, yeah. It's so well received. 04:38 Now, Adam, we see you, you know, on camera, 04:40 you're the main host for lineage. 04:43 What drove you to even do something like this, 04:47 to start Lineage? 04:48 It's Clive's fault, 04:52 because it actually wasn't my idea. 04:55 Clive is the one that approached me 04:56 with the initial idea. 04:59 And I was like, hey, that's a great idea. 05:00 Let's work on it. 05:01 And then, you know, the two of us work on it 05:03 from there. 05:04 So I always had a passion for history. 05:07 I was, I work as a youth director. 05:09 So I'm working to young people. 05:10 And so, the desire to have young people 05:12 know their history 05:13 and how that connects to their identity 05:16 and their mission and purpose in life. 05:18 It's something that just kind of 05:20 dovetailed together perfectly. 05:22 So once we came up with the idea, 05:25 it was just something we, 05:26 you know, flew from there, 05:28 and Lord blessed and multiplied it. 05:30 Amen. 05:32 Now, I know you're just launching Season 3, 05:33 and we have a trailer we want to go to shortly. 05:35 But before we go to that, 05:37 tell us what Season 1 and Season 2 are about 05:39 before we jump into Season 3? 05:42 Sure, season... 05:46 You can too. 05:48 Season 1 was the history of the Reformation. 05:52 It was in 2017, 05:53 which was the year of the Reformation, 05:54 the 500th anniversary of Luther, 05:56 but instead of it just being one video, 05:59 then we built chronologically from January 06:01 all the way through the year 06:03 and it's 40 episodes on the early church, 06:05 the Middle Ages, the Reformation. 06:09 And all the way up to 17, 1800. 06:14 Okay. 06:15 As we kind of transition into Season 2, 06:19 you know, the Reformation didn't really end, 06:21 the Puritans came over on the Mayflower 06:23 and the work kind of, 06:25 the work kind of continued in America. 06:27 And birthed out of that was Adventist history. 06:30 So we kind of, you know, 06:31 continued the birth of Adventist history 06:33 and how that message spread across America, 06:35 and then aggressively across the whole world. 06:39 So today, in our segment here, we've got a number of rolls, 06:41 we want to go to. 06:43 Jill talks about a trailer. 06:44 So one of you tell us we're getting ready to see 06:46 what the trailer for Season 3. 06:50 Go for it, Adam. 06:54 It's a snapshot of all the places 06:55 we filmed in Season 3 06:57 was mainly the Middle East, 07:00 covering the areas 07:01 that the Bible was written and applicable to. 07:04 So it's an overview of that, 07:06 and introducing people 07:08 to what they were going to see up, coming up. 07:10 That's awesome. 07:11 So let's take a look at that right now. 08:32 Some amazing cinematography there. 08:34 I love that. 08:35 Know your history, know your mission, 08:37 know your origin. 08:38 I think that was all the hashtags 08:40 at the bottom there. 08:42 So Season 1 is Reformation. 08:43 Season Two was Adventism. 08:45 Season 3 would be history of the world? 08:48 History of the Bible really. 08:51 From the beginning. 08:53 So when did you, have you found everything yet 08:56 or were you in the process? 08:59 We, Season 3 is broken into four segments, 09:04 which will add up to a total of 70 episodes. 09:07 I think we filmed 09:09 about 50 of them, maybe less. 09:16 We would have finished them probably by now. 09:17 But COVID-19 travel restrictions 09:19 have hampered. 09:21 We need to get back to Israel, 09:22 but the whole country is on lockdown. 09:24 And there's a few of the places we need to go. 09:26 But the bulk of its done. 09:28 But there's a few things that need to do still. 09:31 So we talked about why Season 1, why Season 2, 09:34 why Season 3 on the Bible. 09:36 Why did you pick that? 09:39 The story of the Great Controversy, 09:41 in the sense between Christ and Satan as it turned, 09:44 as it played out over time is what we wanted to share. 09:47 It's not an archaeological series, 09:49 we're not going 09:51 and given 09:52 all the archaeological information 09:53 because I'm not an archaeologist. 09:55 We're really telling the story of the Bible, 09:58 the major characters, 09:59 the major events 10:01 that help people visualize those. 10:02 You read the Bible and, you know, 10:04 gospels or the Old Testament, 10:06 and it doesn't really come out live all the time. 10:10 So we're trying to bring those stories to life 10:13 and take people on location 10:15 and see what they're reading about. 10:17 Fantastic. I love that. 10:18 So we're getting ready to look at a couple of episodes here, 10:20 Clive. So tell us about episode 1. 10:22 I think we're going to play that roll next. 10:24 So set that one up for us? 10:25 Sure. 10:26 So episode 1 is about kind of creation 10:29 and Noah's Ark. 10:32 I guess if you look at it, 10:34 all these locations that we go to, 10:36 they may not be the exact location some of them 10:39 because we don't know. 10:40 But just to understand the regions, 10:42 get a feel of what the country looks like today. 10:45 And some of the, you know, 10:47 we visited Noah's Ark out in Kentucky. 10:48 I just see the sheer size 10:51 just to get 10:53 a visual representation of that. 10:54 So that's what the first episode 10:56 is going to be what now. 10:57 Yeah, fantastic. 10:59 Okay, so let's go to episode 1 in that roll right now. 11:23 We live in a world that is inundated 11:24 with opposing worldviews, 11:26 and among these is one that is embraced 11:28 by nearly a third of the world's population, 11:31 Christianity. 11:32 The Christian worldview is based on the Bible, 11:35 and uses this sacred text as the basis 11:37 for its ideological framework. 11:39 The Bible begins with these words, 11:42 "In the beginning, 11:43 God created the heavens and the earth." 11:45 This text provides the answer 11:48 in the Christian worldview to the question of origin. 11:51 The earth was made in six days by God. 11:54 And the Bible says 11:55 the most significant part of this process 11:57 was the moment God made man and woman with His own hands, 12:01 and then breathe into them breath from His own mouth. 12:09 The father and mother of the first race 12:10 were named Adam and Eve, 12:12 and God gave them a beautiful garden, 12:14 the Garden of Eden as their first home. 12:17 Scholars believe that it was located 12:19 somewhere in the Middle East, 12:20 based on the names of the four rivers 12:22 which flowed out of it. 12:24 As a test of their love and loyalty to God, 12:27 they were given a single prohibition. 12:29 They could eat of any tree of the garden 12:32 except the tree of the knowledge 12:34 of good and evil. 12:35 The consequences 12:37 of disregarding this prohibition 12:39 would be death. 12:45 Unfortunately, Genesis 3 records the account of Eve 12:49 being lured to the forbidden tree 12:50 by a talking serpent, 12:52 seduced by his lies about God and the nature of death. 12:56 She ate the fruit of the tree 12:58 and the Bible then says 12:59 she gave the fruit to her husband 13:01 and he ate it as well. 13:03 As a result of disobeying the commands of God, 13:06 they had to leave the Garden of Eden, 13:08 a place of peace, joy, 13:10 and face to face communion with God. 13:13 In the aftermath of their sin, 13:15 they witnessed the first death 13:16 as an animal was sacrificed for their sin. 13:19 And then later on, they were given clothes 13:21 made from the skins of this animal. 13:24 Their mourning turned to joy though 13:26 at the birth of their first son, 13:27 Cain, and later Abel, 13:29 but nothing could prepare them for what came next. 13:33 The horror of seeing their firstborn son murder 13:37 his younger brother. 13:38 Wracked with guilt, 13:40 Cain separated himself from his family, 13:43 and sets up camp in Nod on the east of Eden, 13:46 and thus began a separation between those who follow God 13:50 and those who went their own way. 13:57 However, as time went on, 13:59 the two groups began to intermingle 14:01 through marriage. 14:03 This led to a gradual falling away 14:05 from God and a loosening of moral restraint. 14:08 As the Bible describes it, 14:10 "The wickedness of man was very great." 14:13 As God surveyed 14:14 the rapidly deteriorating situation 14:16 on earth, 14:17 He gave its inhabitants 120 years of probationary time 14:22 to make a decisive choice. 14:24 They could either choose 14:25 to follow His guidelines for morality, 14:28 or they could follow their own. 14:30 Their own perception of morality 14:32 had led to a terrible state of crime and violence. 14:35 And if they chose to persist in this course, 14:37 God would cleanse the earth with a flood. 14:46 God instructs a man named Noah to build an ark, 14:49 the length was to be 300 cubits and the width 50 cubits 14:53 roughly 150 meters by 25. 14:57 Today, there are two life size replicas 15:00 of an ark in the world, 15:01 one in Holland and one here in Kentucky. 15:04 It's fascinating to see 15:05 how much wood it takes to build an ark, 15:08 roughly 14,000 trees, and yet how solid it appears. 15:13 Sadly, only the eight members in Noah's family 15:15 make it into the ark before the rain starts to fall. 15:19 Soon the earth is covered with water. 15:21 And the flood continues for 150 days 15:25 before the water start to recede. 15:27 Today, there is a lot of evidence 15:29 for the flood in geology 15:31 if you are looking at it 15:32 through the lens of this cataclysmic event. 15:40 God did not forget His people. 15:42 And in fact, one of the key points 15:44 is found in Genesis 8:1 when it says, 15:47 "Then God remembered Noah." 15:49 Sometimes it's in the midst of the storm, 15:52 when it seems like God might have forgotten us, 15:54 when we're tossed about in the waves of life 15:57 that God then makes His presence known. 16:00 The same God who made the world restored its beauty 16:04 after the flood, 16:05 have confidence and assurance to know 16:07 that we serve a powerful God. 16:09 And the same God who made you can restore His beauty in you, 16:13 no matter what you have experienced or gone through. 16:44 Amen. Amen. Wow! 16:46 I love that. Me too. 16:48 I would watch it just to see the footage 16:50 and to get to travel to these places. 16:52 But then, Adam, you do such an amazing job as well. 16:56 No teleprompter doing that script. 16:59 And I love the appeal you put in at the end. 17:01 What type of response do you all get from Lineage? 17:05 I know someone can go to an evangelistic series 17:07 or you can share the Word of God with them. 17:09 You can share the same thing, 17:10 but it's different 17:12 when you present it in this way. 17:13 Clive, let's start with you. 17:15 What type of response do you get? 17:17 I mean, we've had so many responses 17:18 and they've tested me 17:19 is it just kind of encouraged us 17:21 to go forward and make these videos, 17:22 but a couple of scenarios that kind of standout 17:25 is we've heard from someone leading out prison ministries, 17:28 you starting to the great controversy, 17:29 but the prison amounts, inmates, sorry, 17:33 they play these videos while they're studying. 17:35 So the inmates can kind of experience locations, 17:38 kind of see exactly 17:39 where some of the things took places. 17:41 And then obviously the evangelistic feel 17:42 at the end. 17:43 And we've also had response from secular schools 17:45 and Christian schools 17:47 who play these videos in class 17:49 and the students study them. 17:51 Just the blessing to hear these stories, 17:53 want to make more stuff. 17:54 Yeah. 17:55 Amen. Absolutely. 17:57 Adam, what about you? 17:58 What type of responses you receive? 18:00 Similar, a lot of people, as you mentioned, 18:02 do appreciate the appeal at the end, 18:04 that was actually an afterthought 18:06 that we didn't initially plan to. 18:08 And Clive was like, oh, check an appealing, 18:10 but people really do appreciate those. 18:12 And so it's one particular story, 18:15 we did share this on another occasion. 18:18 There was someone 18:20 who got locked down on a desert island in COVID. 18:22 They couldn't travel anywhere, and they had left, 18:25 they really left their walk with God, 18:28 so to speak in a back slip. 18:30 And they went on their Lineage pinch 18:33 just watching Season 1, Season 2, 18:35 and it was a huge part of bringing that background 18:38 to come in to God again and they sent them. 18:42 They knew one of the team members 18:44 sent us that message 18:45 and it would encourage us that, yeah, 18:47 that was used to change their life around 18:51 during this COVID-19 lockdown. 18:53 Amen. 18:54 Well, you know, that's what makes it worthwhile, 18:56 doesn't it? 18:57 Because traveling some people may say, 18:58 "Oh, traveling the world. 19:00 Wow, fantastic." 19:01 But there's a lot of hard work, you know, a lot of sacrifice. 19:03 And that makes it worth it all, doesn't it, 19:05 to hear stories like that? 19:07 Definitely, man. For sure. 19:09 We have another episode I think. 19:10 Let's go to episode 13. 19:12 And this is David and Goliath. 19:14 So let's take a look at this. 19:34 One of the most famous battles in all of history 19:37 took place right here in the Valley of Elah, 19:40 between the Israelites and the Philistines. 19:42 The main characters and the subsequent analogies 19:45 from their encounter have seeped into folklore 19:48 and transcended cultures around the world. 19:50 David versus Goliath, 19:52 the underdog versus the favorite, 19:54 little against large, 19:56 the untrained shepherd 19:57 versus the professional warrior. 19:59 Only one outcome was expected to all those watching, 20:03 but the tables turned completely. 20:08 The Israelites had been under attack 20:10 from the Philistines for some time. 20:12 They came from the coastal region 20:14 but increasingly were moving further and further inland. 20:17 They came to this valley 20:18 and pitched their tents on the hills on the south side. 20:21 The Bible says they pitched their tents 20:23 between Socoh and Azekah. 20:25 Socoh is a hill to my right, 20:27 and Azekah is the hill to my left. 20:29 In the middle is the valley, 20:31 and archaeologists believe it was on this hill 20:34 where the Israelites pitched their camp. 20:40 Based on excavations at the site, 20:42 the inscriptions that have been found 20:44 the lack of any pig bones 20:46 and the location of this hill 20:48 across from both Socoh and Azekah, 20:50 archaeologists believe with some surety 20:53 that this is where the Israelites fought from. 20:55 Encamped there for 40 days, 20:57 they listened to the Philistines 20:58 challenging them to fight Goliath 21:01 who was the largest Philistine there was 21:03 asked for one Israelite to come and fight him and no one, 21:06 not even the king would take him up 21:09 on this offer. 21:16 There was a shepherd boy whose three older brothers 21:18 were in the army 21:19 and his father asked him to take some food to them. 21:22 As he neared the camp, he heard the commotion, 21:24 and he asked his brothers 21:26 why no one had taken Goliath on yet. 21:28 Eventually, his words reached the king, 21:30 who called for David 21:32 and David pled his case to go and fight Goliath, 21:35 saying that he had fought off bears and lions 21:37 as he kept his sheep. 21:39 Eventually, the king agreed for him to go 21:41 as long as he wore his armor, 21:43 something David wasn't used to doing. 21:52 The armor was too big and clumsy. 21:54 And so David returned it 21:55 and went to fight this giant warrior 21:57 armed only with a staff, a sling, 22:00 and five smooth stones from this brook. 22:03 As he stood in front of Goliath, 22:05 Goliath was offended that they would send 22:07 such an unarmed boy to fight him. 22:10 David though was standing there confident in the power of God, 22:13 and that he would gain the victory. 22:15 In response to Goliath insults, he said, 22:17 "You come at me with a sword and spear. 22:20 But I come to you 22:21 in the name of the Lord of hosts, 22:23 and the God of the armies of Israel." 22:30 Then running toward Goliath at full speed, 22:33 he put a stone in his sling, 22:35 swirled it around 22:37 and sent it flying towards Goliath, 22:39 striking him in the forehead and knocking him down. 22:42 Then David ran over and chopped off his head. 22:45 The Philistine seeing their champion defeated, 22:47 then turned and ran, 22:49 and the Israelites ran after them 22:51 all the way to the city of Akron. 22:53 That day God used David to deliver His people 22:56 and illustrated the point 22:57 that is not in weapons of warfare, 22:59 that we should put our trust, but in the power of God. 23:08 This story shows us 23:09 that the issue in life is not how big we are, 23:12 how educated we are, 23:13 or what material advantages we have. 23:16 But the issue is whether we put our faith 23:18 and trust in God or not. 23:20 David trusted God explicitly 23:22 and moved forward with boldness. 23:25 It was this combination of faith and boldness, 23:28 courage under fire 23:29 that led to His remarkable success. 23:31 Today, God is looking for men and women of faith, 23:35 who trust in God 23:36 and move forward with bold and energetic action. 24:09 Amen. 24:10 So what you've been watching today is really a sneak peek 24:12 of Lineage Season 3 coming soon. 24:15 We could say, we just watched David and Goliath. 24:18 And we're here today 24:19 with Adam Ramdin and Clive Coutet. 24:22 And what an incredible job you guys do again, 24:24 appreciate the appeals I'd like this at the end 24:26 of this one David and Goliath, 24:28 put basically your trust in God not in man, 24:31 and God is looking for men and women to stand up for Him. 24:35 And so, yeah, just fantastic. 24:36 Now, okay, great episodes, 24:38 but you've got some fantastic resources. 24:41 So we want to talk about those briefly. 24:43 Should we talk about the coloring book first 24:45 and then the study guides 24:47 because you also have study guides. 24:48 So there's a coloring book that goes along, 24:50 Clive, you want to talk about the coloring book? 24:52 Sure. 24:53 So we created this coloring book 24:55 because we wanted to kind of appeal 24:56 to even a younger audience as well. 24:59 We created the study book with, sorry, 25:00 the coloring book with custom illustrations, 25:04 but also QR codes 25:05 and a story so that you can also watch 25:07 the videos in there as well 25:09 and get a bit of information about the characters 25:12 that we're highlighting. 25:14 And really just kind of bring this history 25:17 to life to younger, 25:18 even younger kids or old, 25:20 if you like coloring, whichever really. 25:23 Maybe young at heart. 25:24 They do adult coloring books these days. 25:27 There you go. Exactly, exactly. 25:29 So we have fun facts. 25:30 QR codes which goes straight to our website, 25:33 which has more in-depth stories, 25:35 more research, 25:37 and the videos and photos 25:38 are already on our Facebook as well. 25:39 Wow. Fantastic. 25:41 So how many pages are in this coloring book, 25:43 used in this coloring book? 25:45 I don't remember the top of my head. 25:47 It was quite a few. It does. 25:49 I think it's about 30 or 40. 25:51 Nice. Okay. 25:53 Forty pages, yeah. 25:55 Yes, beautiful. And I like it. 25:56 There's not just pictures to color. 25:57 But there's actually information 25:59 about the actual story that they're coloring. 26:00 And the QR code to lead you into. 26:02 That's amazing. 26:03 Now let's talk about the study guides. 26:05 You want to talk to us about that, Adam. 26:06 I love that concept of a study guide 26:08 to go along with what you're watching. 26:11 Sure, it's each study guide mirrors the episode. 26:15 We go through Season 1 so far. 26:17 And there's a blurb to read. 26:20 And then there's questions. 26:21 So it could be used in a small group. 26:23 I mean, a person could do that on their own, 26:26 but also it's designed for a small group. 26:28 You read through those questions at the end, 26:30 but there's also interactive aspects to it. 26:32 There's little maps that pop out. 26:34 There's extra information, there's pictures, 26:36 you can swipe back and forth. 26:38 And just immerse yourselves a little bit more 26:41 on interactive learning experience. 26:43 So, Adam, it's only available then electronically, 26:46 the study guides, is that right? 26:48 At the minute, it's just available 26:50 electronically on Apple devices actually. 26:53 We're working on getting on Android. 26:55 Oh, good. Yay. 26:58 Any thoughts about putting it in printed form? 27:01 We're looking into that, we'll see. 27:03 Okay, yeah. 27:04 Yeah, I mean, fantastic. 27:06 I mean, you know, for small group Bible studies, 27:07 I mean, it's just, yeah, just great. 27:09 Now to do Lineage, I know that it costs funds, 27:11 and you guys do things as economically as possible 27:14 and we know that. 27:15 But how is Lineage funded? 27:16 Because there's someone at home right now that say, 27:18 "Man, I love the project. 27:19 I love what they're doing. 27:20 How do I support?" 27:22 So we're getting ready to put up an address roll 27:23 here shortly. 27:25 But how is Lineage funded? 27:27 We are funded by the generous donations 27:29 of people who watch and support. 27:31 Some organizations like ASI have really helped us out 27:35 over the years with grants, with donations. 27:39 We're also supported monthly by our patrons 27:42 through patreon.com. 27:44 And just so that people who watch the episodes 27:47 and send donations, and we're really thankful, 27:50 and we really appreciate the support of 3ABN as well, 27:54 and people who watch it via here, 27:56 helps support us as well. 27:57 Amen. 27:59 Oh, yeah, that's here at 3ABN, of course, yeah, 28:00 we're all behind Lineage 28:02 and we're talking about the sneak peek. 28:04 I know that Season 3 is just out, 28:06 but it's going to be airing by faith, right? 28:09 On 3ABN, I know you, you've already released it. 28:11 But we're excited to be airing that on 3ABN, 28:14 in addition to what we already air 28:15 for Lineage. 28:17 So thank you for the partnership 28:18 between 3ABN and Lineage. 28:20 We believe in what God is doing in and through your ministry. 28:24 And we stand behind that. 28:26 So thank you for being on the program today. 28:28 In just a moment, we're going to go 28:29 to an address roll, 28:30 but I just want to thank both of you 28:32 for being here today and sharing updates 28:34 and what God is doing in and through Lineage. 28:37 Thank you so much. I would really appreciate it. 28:39 Thank you. 28:41 So what we want to do right now 28:43 is we want to go to an address roll for Lineage. 28:46 If you have been blessed 28:47 and inspired by what God is doing 28:49 through helping to spread the gospel in a fresh, 28:53 new relevant way through Lineage Journey, 28:57 we're going to put up the contact information 28:59 and also when we come out from that address roll, 29:02 someone else is going to be sitting here 29:03 because we're playing musical chairs, 29:05 the second half of this Today program. 29:07 Pastor John Lomacang will be hosting 29:10 and he'll have a special guest for you at that time. 29:13 But right now, let's go to that address 29:15 for Lineage Journey. 29:19 For more information about Lineage Journey, 29:22 please contact them at LineageJourney.com 29:25 or email them at Info@LineageJourney.com. 29:29 Their phone number is 503-557-9451. 29:34 That's 503-557-9451. 29:38 And their mailing address is 17 Little Meadow, Cotgrave, 29:42 Nottingham, NG123PN, England. 29:46 That's 17 Little Meadow, Cotgrave, Nottingham, 29:50 NG123PN, England. 30:03 Well, hello, friends. 30:04 We're going to continue this exciting today program. 30:07 And want to thank Jill and Greg for talking about Lineage, 30:10 an amazing program. 30:12 If you haven't had a chance to look at it, 30:14 I would strongly encourage that you tune in, 30:16 it'll walk you through history that will transform your life. 30:19 But right now, 30:20 we're going to meet Eugene Prewitt, 30:22 who is the Director 30:24 of the Institute of East Asia Training. 30:27 Eugene, are you there? 30:29 I'm here, John. Thank you. 30:31 Yes. Welcome to our Today program. 30:34 Just want to thank you for taken the time 30:36 to join us today 30:37 to share with our viewers and listeners 30:39 about the Institute of East Asia Training Program. 30:43 Give us an overview. 30:44 When did that program begin? 30:47 So you probably know 30:48 that there are about 2 billion people 30:50 unreached in Asia. 30:52 And five years ago, in 2016, 30:55 my wife and I moved to Malaysia, 30:56 a central place between Thailand and Singapore, 30:59 to begin training missionaries there. 31:02 2016, we started. 31:04 Wow, wow. 31:05 What inspired you to do that? 31:07 Because that is a very difficult people group 31:09 to reach. 31:10 What was behind that motivation? 31:12 So if you're wondering, 31:14 what are the large people groups 31:15 that we need to reach? 31:17 Of course, the answer would be the Hindus, 31:18 the Buddhists and Muslims. 31:20 And in many countries of the world, 31:22 you find one of those but in Malaysia, 31:24 you have a strong mix of all three, 31:27 you have the Indian races, they're Hindu, 31:29 and the Buddhist races are, excuse me, 31:31 the Chinese races are Buddhist. 31:33 And the Malay races are Muslims. 31:36 So it's an ideal place for training missionaries 31:39 to work in the 10/40 Window. 31:41 And that's why we're there. 31:43 So you have people working along with you in the field 31:45 that are over there now, while you're here in America? 31:49 Yeah, I'm the foreigner. 31:50 So COVID has locked me out of the place. 31:53 But my students that are there and the staff are carrying on. 31:57 In fact, they've been selling books, 31:58 even as recently as last week. 32:00 They're selling 32:02 a lot of Ellen White's end-time books, 32:04 which would be better than you might think 32:06 for those populations. 32:08 You know, if you're a Muslim, 32:09 and you see that first chapter 32:10 is the destruction of Jerusalem, 32:12 that grabs you. 32:13 Wow, wow. 32:14 And so talk about some of the languages 32:16 that you translate, 32:18 as you mentioned, 32:19 a group of Ellen White's last day publications into. 32:22 What are some of the languages that they're available now 32:24 for the missionary field that you're reaching out to? 32:28 So our little school in Malaysia 32:30 deals with three local languages. 32:33 Those are Malay, Tamil and Mandarin. 32:36 But we've branched out extensively 32:39 since we began producing a video series 32:42 that focuses on Muslim persons. 32:44 And now we're producing videos in Bengali and Indonesian, 32:48 Urdu and in Farsi and Arabic, and in Fula, and in really, 32:54 it seems like every month we're adding a new language, 32:57 whatever languages have the most native speakers 33:00 of the Muslim persuasion today. 33:01 Well, so would that be you taking videos 33:04 that are already existing, 33:06 and doing lower thirds 33:07 or just having it spoken in that language? 33:10 So our worker in Farsi 33:13 produced the original videos 33:15 from studies that were designed for that people group, 33:19 and from his video series, 33:20 we're having it translated into other languages. 33:23 Oh, so it's actually in the language of the people, 33:26 if I'm following that correctly. 33:28 That's right. 33:29 In fact, we can get two languages in one video, 33:31 because we can have one that is the audio 33:33 and then one in subtitles. 33:34 And in that way, we can advertise 33:36 these in many countries. 33:38 Most of the countries of the world 33:39 outside of the USA, 33:41 people speak more than one language. 33:43 And when you have one language in audio and one in visual, 33:46 frequently they get a better idea 33:47 of what's been spoken than they would otherwise. 33:50 Wow, that gives another definition too. 33:53 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached 33:56 in all the world. 33:57 It really takes us outside of America. 34:00 A lot of people think, well, you know, 34:01 a lot of things are happening in America, 34:03 a lot of Christians in America, 34:04 but there are people around the world, 34:06 as you're making very clear 34:07 that are just getting to know the name of Jesus 34:10 and those people groups that you talked about. 34:12 I mean, Malay and the languages Tamil and Chinese 34:16 and you just talk about a few of them 34:17 that we're going to revisit here in just a moment. 34:20 But also there's something else. 34:21 Go ahead. 34:23 It was just a few weeks ago that I contacted a man 34:27 named Sajjad in Iraq. 34:29 Sajjad had never met a Christian in his entire life 34:33 but he made a comment on a YouTube video. 34:36 And I wrote to him because of that comment. 34:39 And within 48 hours, 34:41 he told me that he wants to become 34:43 a Christian. 34:44 And just this week, 34:46 he did a review of Prophets and Kings 34:49 written in Arabic to help his fellow Iraqians. 34:53 So, yeah, you're right. 34:54 There are people all over the planet too. 34:56 If we give them a chance, they'll take the chance. 34:58 Wow, that's wonderful. 34:59 Because a lot of times, 35:01 English speaking people and parts of the world 35:03 that have heard the gospel for many decades 35:06 and in some cases, 35:07 much longer than that have said, 35:08 well, why is Jesus not coming yet? 35:11 Well, there are people that still need to get to know 35:14 the good news about the gospel. 35:15 And that's exciting when a person comments 35:17 about something. 35:19 And then on the heels of that accepts Jesus Christ 35:21 in a difficult society, 35:23 in a difficult setting 35:24 where the language is often dominated 35:26 by a different kind of religion. 35:28 Talk about the school in Borneo 35:32 that you started in 2018? 35:36 So the director of that school is named Perla 35:39 and I want to talk to you about Perla for just a minute. 35:43 Perla was what you might call a sleepy Adventist 35:47 just six years ago. 35:50 She grew up in a very poor place. 35:53 She was a rubber tapper by family trade. 35:56 What is it that? But she did... 35:58 That means that she carves in trees 36:00 and helps them bleed latex that's used to make rubber. 36:04 Okay. 36:05 And it doesn't pay well, I'll tell you that. 36:08 So her family was very excited 36:11 when she won a full scholarship to study medicine. 36:14 And a doctor in Malaysia earns 36:18 20 times as much as a rubber tapper. 36:20 And so this meant 36:21 that her family would be raised out of poverty 36:23 and her village would benefit 36:25 and her local church was so excited. 36:27 And Perla went to study medicine. 36:30 But while she was studying there, 36:32 she encountered what you might call 36:34 a spin off the GYC movement, 36:36 a youth revival going on in Asia. 36:39 And it changed her life. 36:41 And soon after that meeting, 36:42 she had an important exam on Sabbath. 36:46 Well, Malaysia is a Muslim country 36:48 and in Malaysia, 36:49 you can't just ask your professor 36:51 and get Sabbath's off for exams. 36:54 It doesn't work that way. 36:55 And she tried as hard as she could 36:57 and no one was budging. 37:00 But if she doesn't take this exam, 37:02 she will lose her scholarship. 37:05 It'll be back to poverty. 37:07 And more than that, 37:09 when you lose a scholarship in Malaysia, 37:11 you lose it retroactively. 37:12 That means that she'd be billed 37:14 for her first year of medical school, 37:16 a bill that she would have a terrible time to ever pay. 37:19 And so she thought she'd call her family 37:21 to get some support 37:23 in this crisis in her local church. 37:25 I'll tell you, John, 37:26 they didn't give her any support. 37:28 They told her just take the exam, 37:31 you can repent. 37:32 You can't let this opportunity go. 37:36 Well, Perla by the grace of God was faithful despite pressure. 37:41 She didn't take the exam. She lost her scholarship. 37:44 She was kicked out in medical school. 37:46 And she came to study 37:47 in our mission training program. 37:49 And three years later, 37:51 she became the director of our Borneo campus. 37:54 And now her great skills in chemistry 37:56 and science and algebra, and Bible, 38:00 that mighty mind that God has given her, 38:03 she's using every bit of that mind 38:06 to direct a school of about 25 young people, 38:10 most of whom are from a non-Christian background. 38:13 These are primary, secondary students. 38:15 And you know, when COVID-19 hit, 38:18 the parents of some of our Muslim students 38:20 in Borneo didn't have any way to get food. 38:23 They lost their jobs immediately. 38:26 There's no welfare system for Filipinos in Malaysia. 38:30 And so they were getting very hungry, 38:33 our little school began to feed them 38:35 and now every one of those students 38:37 in our school are praying in the name of Jesus. 38:40 And even the mother of one of them 38:42 has begun to do that. 38:44 And that so, so that's what Perla is doing. 38:47 She, her life has been revamped 38:50 not as a doctor but as a healer of the mind. 38:53 And she's the director of our school there in Borneo. 38:55 That's amazing how out of hardship, 38:58 the Lord opens up an avenue 38:59 where compromise is not the key to getting successful. 39:05 As one of our good friends that I always heard 39:07 Pastor Wintley Phipps say, 39:09 you don't have to compromise to be recognized, 39:11 and that's, that's very, very true. 39:13 I give them credit for that. 39:14 But that's very true in the situation. 39:16 When you stand for what is right, 39:17 the Lord will open doors anyway. 39:19 Also, something happened in West Malaysia in 2019. 39:22 Talk about your production ministry 39:24 that exists there? 39:27 So our primary training school is in the state of Perak, 39:30 which is north of Kuala Lumpur. 39:33 And in 2019, we moved to start our own campus. 39:37 And while when we move 39:40 that caused some difficulty for some people, 39:43 one of our friends there in southern Malaysia, 39:46 his name is Mohammed. 39:47 He had just for the first time received a Bible 39:51 a few weeks before we moved. 39:53 Mohammed had himself been become, 39:57 he had become skeptical. 39:59 He's from Yemen. 40:00 And there in Yemen, 40:01 he had seen some things that really perplexed him. 40:04 He saw imams change their tune 40:06 because of politics about what is true theologically. 40:10 And so he began to study and since he did, 40:16 already Mohammad has brought three friends into the faith. 40:21 And one of those friends is still in Yemen. 40:23 One of them is in Egypt, one of them is in Malaysia. 40:26 They've begun to reach out to others. 40:28 But we had to leave him in 2019. 40:32 And it'd be interesting if I could tell you why, 40:34 but there's no time for that, we had to move further north. 40:38 And when we did, 40:39 God helped us find a piece of property 40:42 on a mountaintop, 40:43 where we could put in fruit trees, 40:45 put in vegetables, build our own campus. 40:49 And that's what we're doing now. 40:50 While you and I are speaking, they're pouring cement there, 40:53 laying the foundation for that. 40:55 That's wonderful. That's wonderful. 40:56 So even though he had to be moved, 40:58 the school is continuing to go forth. 41:01 And production is continuing to go forth. 41:04 That's wonderful. 41:05 But you also now talked about the workers 41:07 for among the former Muslims, 41:11 paid workers that used to be Muslims. 41:13 Talk about that for a moment 41:15 and where and where their impact is. 41:18 So my idea about how to reach the Muslim population 41:22 is different than many people, John. 41:24 I don't use the Quran. 41:26 I don't pretend that I'm a Muslim, 41:28 I don't go into these situations, 41:31 pretending that I believe 41:33 that Mohammad is a true prophet. 41:35 We just start with the Book of Daniel. 41:38 And we've produced a series of studies 41:40 and now videos using those studies 41:42 that are having good success. 41:44 So we have workers now, in those countries, 41:47 I've mentioned Yemen and Egypt. 41:48 And also we've added Sierra Leone, 41:51 Iraq, just recently, 41:53 people working undercover to promote these videos, 41:57 and they studies among their own kin 41:59 and their own people group. 42:01 And then right there in Malaysia, 42:03 there is a large class of refugees that, 42:08 that were arming to be missionaries 42:11 in their own right. 42:13 You see in Malaysia, Malaysia accepts refugees, 42:17 but they don't support them. 42:19 They don't allow them to work. 42:20 They don't allow them to get jobs, 42:22 they don't give them any sort of subsidy. 42:24 So here come all these refugees from Myanmar, 42:28 and they have no way to support themselves 42:30 besides crime or self-employment. 42:32 And how can they self-employ themselves 42:34 with no money? 42:35 We're taking their young people and training them 42:38 how to sell books, 42:40 training them how to do agriculture. 42:42 We began last year 2019, 42:45 a training school for those refugees. 42:48 And now we have them doing a tremendous work. 42:51 And it looks like that school is going to grow and grow 42:54 until we close the doors 42:56 because there's just no limit to how many young people 42:59 really want to find a way to serve God 43:01 without compromising their faith. 43:03 Refugee Adventist in Malaysia frequently work in restaurants 43:08 that require Sabbath work. 43:11 And, of course, this destroys their faith. 43:13 So to have a real place for them to work 43:16 and to keep Sabbath 43:18 and then to even do mission work 43:19 just broadens their perspective. 43:21 Wow. That's amazing. 43:22 In Sierra Leone, East Africa, Egypt, Yemen, 43:25 and Malaysia and other places, 43:27 the languages that are being produced 43:29 Farsi, Arabic, Urdu, Russian, Mandarin, German, 43:32 Fula, Bengali, Malay and Indonesian. 43:35 That's amazing that people that were formerly Muslim 43:38 are now finding the gospel and being used by the Lord 43:42 to carry the good news of Jesus. 43:43 That's amazing. 43:45 But tell me about the mother monkey story, 43:47 that just piques my interest. 43:49 I just want to hear about that. 43:51 So I was walking on a mountain a few years ago 43:54 when I saw a bunch of dogs barking around a banana tree. 43:59 And they were so excited. 44:00 I came near and I saw on the top of that banana tree, 44:04 a mother monkey and her baby on her breast. 44:07 And you know, banana trees are soft. 44:09 That is they're spongy 44:11 and the dogs knew 44:12 that there was nowhere for her to jump. 44:15 There is no jungle tree nearby. 44:17 And they were sure they were going to eat 44:19 a mother and her baby. 44:21 And as I watched there for a moment, 44:22 I saw the most amazing thing, John. 44:25 I saw that mother monkey take her baby off her breast, 44:29 put the baby on top of the banana plant 44:32 and she leaped over the dogs to the ground. 44:35 Wow. 44:37 And she led those dogs on a chase. 44:40 And when she did 44:41 the baby monkey climbed down the banana tree, 44:45 went over to a jungle tree and climbed up to safety. 44:48 Wow. 44:49 And I've thought about that many times. 44:51 I've thought, 44:52 what if that baby monkey had not climbed down? 44:57 What if he had just stayed there? 44:59 You know if he had done that, 45:00 those dogs would have come back. 45:02 And then there would have been no escape for him. 45:05 And I think in the times we live in right now, John, 45:08 that a lot of us are like that baby monkey. 45:11 It's an amazing story. 45:12 You know, when you talk about the mother monkey 45:15 that reminds me to some degree about Jesus. 45:17 What do you think? 45:19 Yeah, Jesus has made that sacrifice for us already. 45:23 And He's left it with us to climb down out of our tree 45:26 and do what we need to do. 45:27 I think a lot of us know more than we do 45:29 about what's required of us. 45:32 You know, it's amazing 45:33 how the mother led the dogs away, 45:35 to give her baby a chance to survive. 45:39 And that's, that's what Jesus does. 45:40 He came to lead the enemy away. 45:43 Praise the Lord for that. 45:44 That's amazing. 45:46 You know, you talk about true education. 45:47 Tell us about that, true education? 45:50 I've heard the phrase edge of the word education, 45:52 but talk about true education 45:54 as it relates to the projects you work with? 45:57 So when you talk about the council God 45:59 has given us as a church, 46:01 you might be able to find maybe an inch thick 46:04 about how to do evangelistic series 46:06 or an inch and a half about Bible work. 46:08 But if you were to put 46:09 the books together and education, 46:10 you might even find nine inches of books. 46:12 Wow. 46:14 I mean, Education Fundamentals, Council to Parents, Teachers, 46:16 Spalding and Magan , Loma Linda Messages, 46:18 and so much more. 46:20 When we follow that council, 46:23 the young people in our schools 46:24 don't just become sincere Adventists, 46:27 they become missionaries. 46:28 They become young people who want to put their life 46:31 into finishing the work. 46:33 So we're doing that in Malaysia, 46:35 we're trying to follow all the council. 46:36 But, John, that brings up a problem for us. 46:39 The council that we have about true education 46:42 requires that our schools have land. 46:45 And land in Malaysia and Indonesia 46:48 is very expensive, 46:49 because the population is high and the land is limited. 46:52 That cost there $15-25,000 per acre for land. 46:56 Wow. 46:57 So that's one of the things I'm trying to raise money for 46:59 is that we can buy land around our schools. 47:01 And, but yeah, 47:04 we want to follow that council precisely. 47:06 Okay. That's amazing. 47:07 I can't even think of $25,000 per acre of land. 47:12 But in order to expand the benefit of education, 47:15 you need the land. 47:16 That's something that we'll talk about, 47:18 and maybe appeal to our viewers and listeners 47:20 before the program is done. 47:23 But you also have talked about your bakery and your nursery. 47:26 It's amazing as I think of all the things you're doing 47:28 in your ministry, you're really diversified. 47:32 So our council on education 47:34 is that our young people should learn trades. 47:37 They should come to the school 47:38 and as they learn to be missionaries, 47:40 they should be able to go out and support themselves. 47:43 So the traits that we've chosen are canvassing, 47:45 and we've been selling books now for six years. 47:47 We've sold almost 60,000 books there in Malaysia 47:51 and another 12,000 in Indonesia. 47:53 But we're adding to that canvassing 47:55 because not everyone can be a canvasser 47:57 especially persons who have come from Islam 48:00 can't really go door to door with religion, 48:02 they'd get killed right away. 48:04 So for their sakes, 48:05 we're adding two other in-house industries. 48:08 One of them is a bakery producing whole wheat bread. 48:10 And that's an expensive thing to get started for us. 48:14 And the other is a tree nursery 48:16 because when I began to put in our orchard there in Malaysia 48:19 just before COVID, 48:21 I found that nurseries in Malaysia 48:22 are nothing like American nurseries, 48:24 you know your American nursery, 48:26 they can tell you which varieties of peaches 48:28 grow in your area 48:29 and what fertilizer you need for your plum trees. 48:32 The Malaysian nurseries just assume 48:34 that all you want is to buy rubber trees and oil palms. 48:38 They don't know anything 48:39 about the various types of fruit trees. 48:41 So we want to start a nursery 48:43 that produces a large variety of tropical fruits 48:47 in a way that can really serve the community 48:48 that we're reaching out to. 48:50 And then we need a water catchment system 48:52 and a solar system. 48:53 So our ideas are big 48:55 for trying to make this hilltop representative 48:58 of God on earth. 48:59 Well, it's good to have vision 49:01 because without vision 49:02 the people perish as the Bible says, 49:03 it's good to go forward in faith. 49:05 But there's a young lady that you alluded 49:07 to the unwilling bride. 49:09 Tell us this young lady's story? 49:13 So her name is Sahar, 49:15 and when she was nine years old, 49:17 she had already received enough physical abuse 49:20 and sexual abuse 49:21 to be very skeptical about religion 49:25 in her Muslim country. 49:27 Already she was very, 49:29 and you know, by the time she was 13, 49:31 sometimes when we're 13, we are not very wise. 49:35 We're not very careful. 49:37 And she blurted out her skepticism. 49:39 And in her family of eight children, 49:42 that skepticism about Islam led to her 49:45 becoming the slave of the family. 49:47 She was beaten mercilessly, 49:49 one of her brothers even raped her, 49:52 and she wasn't allowed out of her room 49:54 for long periods of time. 49:56 Well, fast forward to her 20th year of life. 50:01 And one of our converts in Egypt 50:04 remembered in his home country meeting 50:06 this rebellious teenage girl 50:08 who wasn't really convinced about Islam. 50:11 And he found a way to contact her. 50:14 And he did. 50:15 And he put her in contact with us. 50:17 And we sent her our Bible studies in Arabic. 50:20 And you know, she has become 50:22 a thoroughgoing Seventh-day Adventist. 50:25 Reaching out, doing medical missionary work 50:27 in her own country at the risk of her life. 50:30 But something terrible happened to her just five months ago. 50:33 She got word 50:35 that she was going to be married 50:36 to a man from Saudi. 50:38 And what happens in those cases, 50:39 the Saudi men will come into her poor country, 50:41 that's Yemen. 50:42 And they'll marry a woman, 50:44 keep her for two months of vacation, 50:46 kind of like a prostitute 50:48 and then dispose of her and go home. 50:50 And she lives the rest of her life in shame. 50:52 Well, let's just summarize because our time is short 50:54 and say that God's saved her out of that emergency. 50:58 And now she's working for us missionary in her own place, 51:03 in her own experience, 51:04 knowing what God can do to save her. 51:07 How the sacrifices made for her 51:09 has let her out of that dangerous situation. 51:12 Wow, Eugene, that's amazing. 51:13 You know, you're doing an amazing job there 51:15 as the Director 51:16 of the Institute of East Asia Training. 51:20 And we want people to know 51:21 that if they go to Jesus4Asia.org. 51:24 Jesus4Asia.org, 51:26 you can find ways of sponsoring 51:29 and supporting these projects. 51:31 As Eugene mentioned, 51:32 there are lots of things 51:34 they want to expand that bakery, 51:35 they want to increase the funds for training 51:38 and guiding people 51:39 to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. 51:41 What an amazing project to support. 51:44 We're going to take a short news break 51:46 and on the other side, 51:47 we'll have a few closing thoughts. 51:49 Don't go away. We'll be right back. |
Revised 2020-11-30