Participants:
Series Code: AWR
Program Code: AWR360011S
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00:02 Adventist World Radio is sharing the message
00:05 of the soon coming of Jesus 00:07 to those who have never heard it before. 00:11 Incredible things are happening 00:13 and thousands are being baptized. 00:18 Join me as we travel to uncover miraculous stories 00:21 from Madagascar, South Africa, Mexico, 00:25 and the remote countryside of Tanzania. 00:28 God is changing hearts 00:30 and transforming lives all over this world. 00:44 Sometimes referred to 00:45 as the eighth continent of the world, 00:48 this island nation is home 00:49 to more indigenous species of plants and animals 00:52 than anywhere else in the world. 00:56 I am in Madagascar and this is AWR360°. 01:18 Today, I am traveling with Ray Allen 01:20 and the local AWR workers to another remote village 01:24 located far from 01:25 where we were stationed in the capital city. 01:27 We found a mission pilot willing to fly our team 01:30 to the city nearest to our destination. 01:34 The views from 14,000 feet 01:36 above the Madagascar mountains are amazing. 01:40 Upon landing we were greeted with another long car ride 01:43 as we set off for the countryside. 01:48 We are nearing our destination now 01:49 and will soon see Ranja, 01:52 her story is different from any other I have ever heard. 01:55 And I'm anxious to meet her 01:57 and listen to her share more in person. 02:04 When I was 10 years old, 02:06 I became possessed by evil spirits. 02:14 My parents took me to witch doctor 02:17 and sold 10 cows for my healing 02:20 but nothing worked. 02:23 When I was 16 years old, 02:25 I realized new spirits were entering me. 02:29 And they were worse than the first. 02:32 They spoke to me in many Malagasy dialects. 02:37 I saw them but others could only hear them. 02:45 When my first child was born, the spirit asked me 02:49 to become a witch, and when I refused 02:52 they caused my baby to become sick and die. 03:06 Distraught I agreed to do what the spirit wanted 03:09 if they would give us another child. 03:13 Nine months later, a daughter was born. 03:18 Over the next years, I became a powerful witch. 03:22 I had no control over my own life, 03:25 only doing what the spirits told me to do. 03:33 Through the powerful medicine I concocted, 03:36 many people were healed, 03:38 miracles were performed 03:40 and I became a valuable member of my community. 03:49 I had power to make guns and bullets useless. 03:52 And in turn, my village became very wealthy 03:55 because no one could steal our cows. 04:00 One time 27 armed men came to my house. 04:04 But even though they tried to harm me 04:06 with their weapons, 04:07 they became powerless before me. 04:11 I also had the ability 04:13 to shut the mouths of crocodiles 04:16 and a once dangerous river became safe again. 04:20 At one point another set of spirits came into me. 04:25 They were from the water and had power to heal the sick. 04:31 They would take me to the bottom of a river 04:34 and there I would communicate 04:35 with the spirits for days at a time, 04:39 not even coming up to the surface to breathe. 04:43 Even though I was very powerful, 04:46 could heal people, shut crocodile's mouth 04:49 and make bullets stop, I was miserable. 04:58 One day Ranja met two young people 05:00 that told her a curious thing. 05:02 They said they pray to God and gave him money 05:05 in return for answering their prayers. 05:09 Intrigued by this Ranja went with them 05:11 to church the next Sunday. 05:14 She gave 1000 Malagasy Aria and waited, 05:19 expecting God to answer her prayers, 05:21 but nothing happened. 05:26 The spirits continue to have control 05:28 over Ranja's life 05:29 as she was often sick from their punishments. 05:33 Just when she was about to give up on there being a God 05:35 who cares, Ranja met a Seventh-day Adventist man, 05:38 he told her about Jesus, 05:40 the Sabbath and gave her a Bible. 05:43 Listening to this man brought peace to Ranja's heart 05:46 and she immediately started feeling better. 05:50 The spirits were not happy though 05:52 and warned Ranja that bad things would happen 05:54 if she left them. 05:56 Ranja decided to choose Jesus anyway. 05:59 And the spirits kept their promise. 06:05 Ranja's house burned down 06:06 and she lost everything to the flames. 06:10 Angry neighbors accused her bringing trouble 06:13 upon herself and the whole village. 06:17 The spirits tormented her day and night, 06:19 discouraging her with such power 06:22 that Ranja consider giving in and remaining a witch. 06:25 But during this time, 06:27 something happened 06:28 that would change her life forever. 06:41 Ranja discovered an AWR broadcast. 06:44 This was just the encouragement 06:46 she needed 06:47 and as she daily listened to the radio, 06:49 her decision was made. 06:51 She would follow Jesus no matter what. 06:54 The spirits which had bound Ranja for so many years 06:57 did not leave without a fight. 07:00 They particularly did not like her 07:02 listening to AWR and warned her to stop. 07:06 But instead of heeding the spirits, 07:09 she continued listening to her radio 07:11 and found that as AWR played, 07:14 the spirits had no control over her. 07:17 Through much prayer, reading of Scripture 07:19 and Adventist World Radio, 07:21 the spirits left her once and for all, 07:23 and she is now a free daughter of God. 07:28 The nearest church to Ranja 07:29 was 80 kilometers from her home. 07:31 But undeterred, she made the journey. 07:34 The pastor kindly studied with Ranja 07:36 and soon she was baptized 07:39 into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 07:43 Today, Ranja leads out in a church she helped build. 07:49 An older woman now but with energy 07:51 and zeal beyond her years. 07:54 Ranja encourages others that true freedom 07:57 from demons comes only through Jesus Christ. 08:05 So much in my life has changed. 08:09 I've listened to AWR every day 08:12 and it has strengthened my faith 08:14 and taught me many things. 08:17 Miraculously, I am now able to read and write 08:21 and love to share with others about Jesus 08:24 and the life of freedom I now live. 08:29 Isn't it amazing how God is using the radio 08:32 to penetrate through the ranks of darkness, 08:34 and it's filling hearts with a light of His truth. 08:37 Thank you for your generous support 08:39 of the work of Adventist World Radio, 08:41 the ministry with no walls, no borders and no limits. 08:55 As Christians, our family is much larger than 08:58 our immediate biological family. 09:00 In fact, we have brothers and sisters 09:02 that live in more than 200 countries 09:03 all around the world. 09:07 We want to remember them in our estate plan. 09:10 We can help you with that process, 09:12 just log on to awr.org. 09:24 As I'm leaving Madagascar, 09:26 my heart rejoices to see the captive set free. 09:31 I am on my way to South Africa 09:33 to meet a man named Freddy 09:35 and hear his story. 09:39 South Africa is a country home to beautiful landscapes 09:43 and is filled with rich diversity. 09:45 Through the work of dedicated laymen, 09:47 the word of Jesus is spreading rapidly. 09:50 Many of these evangelists have a story to tell. 09:54 Freddy is a full time evangelist. 09:57 He travels from city to city 10:00 sharing the blessed news of our Lord and Savior. 10:06 To attract attention, 10:07 I set up the image of Daniel too 10:09 and the beast of Revelation. 10:15 And many come asking questions and many leave with answers. 10:21 But Freddy wasn't always an evangelist. 10:26 My father was a priest, but I just didn't care. 10:33 It wasn't until later in life 10:35 that his world came crashing down. 10:39 One day I got a phone call that my sister was murdered 10:44 and it drove me to anger. 10:47 His brooding anger turned into rage 10:51 while he tried to drown his problems in alcohol. 10:54 Ultimately, his self destructive behavior progressed 10:58 to suicidal thoughts. 11:00 I would drink 11:01 and at night sleep on a busy road, 11:04 hoping to be run over. 11:07 But thankfully, the police and my friends 11:09 would always return me home safely. 11:15 When he would finally wake up out of his drunken stupor, 11:18 he could not remember how he made it home. 11:21 It was in one of these moments, he heard God's voice. 11:25 I heard a voice say, "Who am I?" 11:29 I answered, "I don't know." 11:32 God said, "Think nicely, 11:35 love is an endless forgiveness." 11:39 What's interesting is that 11:40 I recently learned about 11:42 my sister's last Facebook comment 11:44 which said the same thing. 11:50 The Holy Spirit urged him to open his Bible. 11:53 And Freddy realize that 11:54 Jesus could fill his empty heart. 11:57 So he sought out an Adventist Church. 12:00 And during his studies, 12:01 he became fascinated with the prophecies 12:03 of Daniel and Revelation. 12:07 I then devoted myself to teaching others about it. 12:13 He began traveling from city to city, 12:15 teaching crowds about the hopeful truths 12:17 about Jesus found in Revelation. 12:22 But what always bothered me was that I didn't know 12:25 how to keep them studying after I left, 12:28 until I heard about cell phone evangelism. 12:32 He would direct the people to AWR360° Bible studies 12:35 given right on their phone. 12:37 This allowed him to keep track 12:39 if the people continue to listen, 12:41 and by God's grace they did. 12:44 Many have now joined churches 12:46 across South Africa and Namibia. 12:50 But with this tool, 12:51 people are learning more and more 12:53 about the Lord in a quick and easy way. 12:57 I also visit prisoners and give them AWR radios. 13:01 What a blessing it is to do the work and will of the Lord. 13:05 From the throes of death, Freddy now is spreading 13:08 the Word of God to all across his country. 13:11 As you share the Word of the Lord, 13:13 please consider using AWR360's° 13:16 cell phone evangelism resources. 13:18 They are a great way to keep people studying 13:21 and learning about their Savior. 13:30 Hundreds of thousands of people 13:32 are listening to the Word of God, 13:33 thanks to cell phone evangelism. 13:36 Churches have been formed, 13:37 and even drug dealers 13:39 and guerrilla soldiers are listening. 13:41 And with new groups being trained daily, 13:44 people all over the world are hearing 13:46 the Adventist message. 13:47 With such growing numbers AWR360° 13:50 knew it was time for the next step. 13:53 In 2019, we started our first center 13:55 for digital evangelism. 13:57 Run by Christ-filled layman, these young men and women 14:00 are devoting their time answering the questions 14:03 of those who are listening through cell phone evangelism. 14:06 They utilize all forms of communication from WhatsApp, 14:10 emails, and even FaceTime 14:12 for those who are hearing impaired. 14:14 Our goal is to build more evangelism centers 14:17 around the world with enough laymen 14:20 that if anyone, anywhere has a question about Jesus, 14:23 it will be answered the same day. 14:26 Jesus is coming soon and with your help, 14:28 we can reach the world 14:30 with the three angels' messages. 14:33 From the center of digital evangelism 14:35 in Manila, Philippines, this is AWR360°. 14:43 You won't believe this miracle story. 14:46 In Namibia, there's a man named Neville 14:48 and he wanted to have a camp meeting. 14:51 So I'm gonna have him tell you in his own words 14:54 what happened next. 14:57 We were sitting on the veranda in Ruppel. 15:01 And Pietro and Yon was really depressed. 15:05 It had not rained, the animals were not in good shape. 15:11 There's no food. 15:13 And there's this looming camp meeting, 15:15 we've got speakers invited, 15:17 we've got money planned 15:19 or I have already actually spent the money 15:21 on airfare and stuff like that. 15:25 And yet, there is no water. 15:28 Namibia is one of the least 15:30 densely populated countries of the world, 15:33 with just two people per square kilometer. 15:37 One reason for this is that the average rainfall 15:40 is comparable to some parts of the Sahara. 15:45 And we were actually in a predicament 15:47 because we, we thought if there is no water, 15:51 what are we going to do? 15:52 Are we going to cancel this camp meeting? 15:55 Are we going to move it? 15:56 How are we going to go about this? 15:58 There's a lot of people involved. 16:01 And that's when Rick and I sat out there on the veranda 16:05 and we said, well, let's pray. 16:09 And we prayed and the amazing thing 16:11 is with blue skies, all of a sudden 16:14 there was this cloud coming over, 16:17 it really poured down. 16:20 As it moved over, it seemed like the wind turned 16:25 and God stop that cloud right over Rupple, 16:29 And it rained over Rupple. 16:32 Wow. 16:33 Isn't that a beautiful answer to prayer? 16:35 Wow. 16:37 So when my film crew was trying to figure out 16:39 how could we recreate this moment, 16:41 this miracle to share with the world, 16:43 we were thinking, well, we could use 16:45 maybe like a garden hose and spray it 16:48 and pretend it's raining 16:49 and we just weren't sure how we could pull it off. 16:52 But you see God already had it figured out as Neville 16:55 and his wife kneel down in front of the camera 16:59 to have a real prayer for rain 17:01 because actually currently it is dry in Namibia. 17:04 So they were really praying for rain. 17:06 They're down on their knees and the film crews around them 17:09 and were filming it, and you won't believe, 17:13 but God answered the prayer right then 17:16 and there a second time, 17:18 a cloud came and rain came down. 17:22 Isn't our God amazing? Two miracles in one. 17:27 First, He gave rain to a very needed area 17:30 of drought in Namibia. 17:31 Second, He gave us rain as a film crew to be 17:34 able to recreate and share His miracle 17:36 with the world. 17:38 Wow. 17:39 You know if you want to hear more stories like this, 17:41 go to awr.org 17:43 or visit us on our Facebook page. 17:45 Our AWR team around the world 17:48 so appreciate your prayers. 17:56 It amazes me to see how God is working in Namibia. 18:00 Follow along as I travel to Mexico 18:02 to see how cell phone evangelism 18:04 reached the heart of one young woman 18:07 in her darkest hour. 18:22 We are in Chiapas, Mexico. 18:24 Its dense rainforest and mountainous highlands 18:27 are dotted with Mayan archaeological sites 18:30 and Spanish colonial towns. 18:32 They are a wonder to all who look upon them. 18:36 But the words of God are far more valuable 18:39 than these historic sites. 18:41 They are a treasure to be shared with all. 18:45 Cell phone evangelism is doing just 18:47 that here in Mexico and lives are being saved. 18:52 But for Anna, life is hard. 18:55 She is young and lives at home with her family 18:57 but she is also married and has a little girl. 19:12 After my daughter's birth, 19:14 my husband left and the pressures of life 19:15 felt like an unbearable burden. 19:23 Her life was in darkness 19:26 and she felt so alone. 19:30 Depression soon set in and when her family noticed, 19:33 she only yelled at them. 19:38 Just when all seemed meaningless, 19:41 and she was ready to give up on life, 19:44 suicide seemed like the only way out. 19:48 But just then her friend Heidi found her. 19:53 And decided to share with her 19:54 from her phone the Bible's messages 19:56 of hope through AWR. 20:07 Years ago, I tried to study the Bible 20:10 but it felt very confusing. 20:27 But as messages came in, 20:28 things became clear to her 20:30 and she learned many new truths. 20:36 I finally understood that only God can help me. 20:40 As she listened daily, 20:42 she became happier again and her family took notice. 20:46 They wondered how such a transformation 20:49 could have happened. 20:50 She then shared the messages with her family 20:53 and they too were impressed 20:55 and decided to follow these new truths 20:57 that they had found in the Bible. 21:05 Thanks to AWR's messages of hope on my phone, 21:08 I am now filled with happiness. 21:36 I grew up in Indiana, 21:38 and I've been a farmer all my life. 21:41 My father, every time we plant a field, 21:44 when we got through we'd always kneel down 21:46 and have prayers. 21:47 We've done our part, now the Lord will do His, 21:50 and He always come through. 21:56 After praying about it, 21:57 my wife and I decided to do a gift annuity 22:00 through Adventist World Radio. 22:02 It goes to people that normally you're not going to hear. 22:06 And that's what our 22:09 three angels' message is all about, 22:10 to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. 22:15 When you're a farmer, 22:16 you don't have a retirement plan. 22:19 It was a good way to supplement our retirement. 22:22 It's been a blessing to us, 22:24 and I know it's going to be a blessing to those others 22:26 around the world. 22:35 We're traveling halfway around the world 22:37 to the country of Tanzania to catch a glimpse 22:40 of how the radio 22:42 is reaching into the most remote corners of the earth. 22:47 With a changing landscape from beautiful beaches, 22:51 lush green rolling hills 22:53 and volcanic mountains to sandy plains 22:55 and scrub brush, this land holds diversity 22:59 and wonder of its own. 23:01 I'm in Tanzania and this is AWR360°. 23:11 Along the northern part of Tanzania, 23:13 lie a people group called the Maasai. 23:18 Closely adhering 23:20 to their ancient traditions and way of life, 23:22 these brightly dressed 23:24 semi nomadic people are best known 23:26 for their heroic hunting stories, 23:28 singing and dancing. 23:31 In one of these Maasai villages lives a young man named David. 23:37 I am 29 years old now, 23:39 but this story began many years ago. 23:43 Cows are a very important part of a Maasai's life 23:46 and considered their most valuable possession. 23:49 As the seasons change, 23:51 they move around the countryside 23:53 in search of new grazing lands and water 23:56 for their large herds of cattle. 23:59 In accordance with their culture, 24:00 David began herding his family's cows 24:03 at a young age. 24:06 Instead of going to school like other kids, 24:09 David often had to walk many miles a day, 24:12 always keeping watch for snakes 24:14 or other wild animals that might harm the herd. 24:18 After a long day, I would come home 24:21 and listen to the radio. 24:24 This was my only connection to the outside world. 24:28 And I loved listening to music. 24:31 David would often sing along to his favorite songs 24:34 and nearby his mother happily hummed 24:37 as she cleaned up the evening meal. 24:39 This was her favorite part of the day too. 24:43 David's mother only spoke their Maasai tribal language, 24:47 and he longed to find a station 24:49 that she could understand. 24:53 One day while searching the channels, 24:55 David was delighted to hear their Maasai language 24:58 being spoken. 25:00 He quickly brought the radio to his mother 25:02 so she could listen too. 25:08 From that day on David and his mother 25:11 listened every day to the new found broadcast. 25:14 They were fascinated 25:16 by the Bible truths being presented. 25:19 We had never heard of the Ten Commandments before. 25:22 And so many things were new. 25:24 But we felt it was true and wanted to know more. 25:29 Providentially, a Seventh-day Adventist Bible worker 25:32 came through David's village one day. 25:35 David excitedly told the man about what they had been 25:38 learning on the radio broadcast, 25:40 and the Bible worker in turn 25:42 answered all their remaining questions. 25:46 At the end, David expressed his desire 25:48 to give his life fully to Jesus. 25:53 It was a joyous Sabbath when David 25:56 and his mother were baptized 25:58 into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 26:02 Since that happy day, 26:04 David's mother has sadly passed away. 26:07 David is older now, but he still takes care 26:10 of his growing herd of cows, 26:12 leading them to greener pastures 26:14 and always keeping them safe. 26:16 David no longer has to wait until evening to listen to AWR, 26:21 instead, he faithfully takes his radio with him. 26:25 I am so thankful for AWR 26:27 and for the truth it brought to my mother 26:30 and I in our own language. 26:32 Thanks to the radio broadcast. 26:34 I love Jesus now and look forward 26:37 to seeing my mother again someday soon. 26:44 Isn't it exciting to realize that 26:46 even in the remote corners of Africa, 26:49 AWR can still be heard, 26:51 and that lives virtually untouched 26:54 by Western society are being touched 26:56 by the good news of salvation. 27:00 Together with your prayers and generous support 27:02 of Adventist World Radio, 27:04 we can reach more of the Maasai people 27:07 and other tribal groups 27:08 that still need to hear about Jesus. 27:11 From broadcast to baptism, this is AWR360°. |
Revised 2020-04-16