Participants: Gary Krause (Host), Greg Whitsett, Clifmond Shameerudeen
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000047
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00:01 Pastor Ted Wilson, president of the General Conference
00:03 of Seventh-day Adventist 00:04 remembering his time as a missionary 00:07 and one of the longest serving 00:08 Adventist volunteers in the world. 00:11 All that and more coming up next 00:13 on Global Mission Snapshots. 00:26 Just before He went up to heaven, 00:29 Jesus gave us a command. He gave us a mission. 00:34 Jesus said, "Go, go unto all the world, 00:39 telling them of His love." 00:42 This is our mission. This is our Global Mission. 00:51 Hello, I am Gary Krause 00:52 and welcome to Global Mission Snapshots. 00:55 Every year the Seventh-day Adventist church 00:57 sends out thousands of cross cultural missionaries 01:01 and volunteer missionaries 01:02 to work in countries all over the globe. 01:05 On today's program we'll be meeting missionaries 01:08 and former missionaries who will share their experiences 01:12 and some of the lessons they learned 01:13 while serving God far from their homes. 01:17 We'll also talk with Pastor Ted Wilson, 01:20 the president of the General Conference 01:22 of Seventh-day Adventist 01:23 about his experiences in West Africa and Euro-Asia. 01:28 We'll also talk with Dr. Richard Elofer 01:30 who grew up in Morocco, served in Israel 01:33 and now lives in France. 01:35 And we will meet an American medical missionary 01:37 who not only serves in Thailand 01:40 but had to pass his medical boards 01:42 in the Thai language. 01:45 But first let's meet Helen Hall, 01:47 perhaps the church's longest serving volunteer. 02:12 If you have just a roof over your head 02:14 and enough space, you can work 02:17 and the kids come home. 02:28 I get a great deal of pleasure when I see kids. 02:30 We've come from a family 02:31 where no one's ever been to school 02:34 and that they are the first ones to go through the grade six, 02:37 then they are the first ones to finish year twelve 02:39 and then they are the first ones to go to college. 02:44 Adventist volunteer services 02:46 or AVS is an opportunity for people 02:49 to serve in a mission setting globally. 02:51 This can include a huge variety of jobs. 02:56 Helen Hall is an AVS worker, originally from Australia, 03:01 now working in an Adventist school in Asia. 03:04 She runs the school that ranges from grades one to twelve. 03:07 Her dedication and passion to the job 03:10 has allowed hundreds of children to graduate 03:12 and move on to opportunities 03:14 they might never have had otherwise. 03:17 (Speaking in foreign language) 03:24 The mission at this school is for students 03:26 to receive a quality Adventist education, 03:29 both academically and spiritually. 03:32 But most of the students here are not Christians, 03:35 making it hard to reach them spiritually. 03:38 It's very difficult for Buddhist to become a Christian. 03:42 And if they do it too quickly 03:45 then it causes big problems in their family 03:49 but if they wait and go little more slowly 03:51 then they can get by. 03:54 Helen's experience has taught her what works 03:57 and what doesn't work in reaching the students. 03:59 She has had quite a bit of success 04:01 in teaching her students about Jesus. 04:06 Well, in a normal day 04:07 we try to get everybody worship by 8:30 or 8:20 04:11 and then we just go through the classes. 04:21 We've got a lot of teachers here 04:23 who when they came to us the students, 04:25 none of them were from Christian homes. 04:28 And they are wonderful workers now. 04:33 After students graduate 04:34 they will usually go on to university. 04:37 After university graduation 04:39 some students agreed to come back to the school 04:41 and work for a certain number of years. 04:44 This is how Helen is guaranteed workers 04:46 to keep the school running. 04:58 She teaches right along with the other teachers. 05:01 Students pay close attentions to the valuable lesson 05:04 she gives in a variety of topics including sciences, 05:08 English, math and the Bible. 05:25 Attu is a graduate from Helen's school. 05:28 He now works in villages telling people about Jesus. 05:32 Attu has helped start multiple churches in these villages. 05:36 The villagers love hearing stories from the Bible. 05:39 Most of them are hearing 05:40 the name of Jesus for the first time. 05:52 Attu knows that God has blessed him 05:54 with the opportunity to do this. 05:57 He gained a strong grasp on the Bible 05:59 while at Helen's school 06:00 and is now passing on his knowledge to others. 06:03 He is just one of many graduates 06:05 using what they have learned in school for God's glory. 06:14 Despite all the success from this school, 06:16 the challenges are big. 06:19 In addition to religious barriers, 06:21 things such as financial resources, 06:23 shortage of education materials 06:25 and even lack of space are constant challenges. 06:28 But when these challenges surface, 06:30 Helen looks to someone 06:31 she knows can pull through the situation. 06:35 When you get discourage the Lord sends us 06:37 some blessing or something 06:39 and then you know that He's still with us. 06:42 No man has got wisdom enough to know what to do. 06:45 Only God can know and God is just how we should go. 06:50 As you can see the work of an AVS worker 06:53 has the power to change lives. 06:56 They can teach people about Jesus 06:58 and set them on the right path. 07:01 Helen is just one of many AVS workers around the world 07:05 facing the challenge of mission daily. 07:08 Please pray for these workers. 07:10 And thank you for supporting the mission 07:13 of the Seventh-day Adventist church. 07:27 My guest is Dr. Richard Elofer 07:29 who is the director of the World 07:32 Jewish Adventist Friendship Center. 07:35 Previously Richard juggled this role 07:37 with the role of president 07:39 of the Seventh-day Adventist church in Israel, 07:42 but we are delighted that he is now 07:43 full time focusing on this ministry 07:45 and he is living in France. 07:46 And I am thankful that you could join us today, Richard. 07:49 You have a lot of experience in leading out in this work 07:53 but I am interested, Richard, 07:54 to go back, back, back to how this all happen. 07:58 Where were you born? What were the beginnings? 08:01 I was born in a Jewish family, 08:04 Orthodox Jewish family in Morocco, 08:07 Casablanca and many years ago, of course. 08:13 Not, not so long ago. No. 08:16 And then I was during the 21 years of my life 08:23 practicing Judaism. Yeah. 08:26 Now you moved to France 08:28 when you were young man. Yes. 08:29 I was about eight when we moved to France. 08:32 In fact it was not very easy 08:34 for Jews to live in Muslim countries 08:38 and that's why my parents and my brothers, 08:42 we had to leave Morocco. 08:44 And of course because Morocco was a French protectorate 08:49 and was French speaking country 08:53 it was easier for us to immigrate to France. 08:57 And we have done that in the middle of the '60s. 09:01 And you started working 09:02 in some area of business or finance. Yes. 09:05 My first job, yes, was business on accounting and finance. 09:12 In fact my father was all of his life in business 09:17 and he wanted to give me his business after him 09:20 because he told that I was gifted for that 09:25 and that's why he oriented me to be trained at school, 09:30 universities in accounting and finance. 09:34 And suddenly I change my orientation 09:38 when I discovered who is Jesus. 09:41 And he was not very happy for that. 09:43 No, I am sure. 09:44 Now there was a young woman 09:46 involved in the mix here too, right. What happened there? 09:50 Then of course I married this young woman. 09:54 And she was the one who introduced you to-- 09:57 Not really her because she was very young 10:00 and she was not yet involved on committed to the Lord. 10:05 In fact it was her parents 10:07 because I was a friend of her brother. 10:13 And one day I went to his home to play guitar 10:17 and to have a fun time with other friends. 10:22 And then he introduced me to his parents as a Jew. 10:27 And his parents were Adventists as they were very interested 10:32 but they didn't say to me that they were Adventists. 10:37 They just say, "Oh, you are Jew that is very nice. 10:41 We are spiritual Jews." 10:43 And I've never heard about spiritual Jews, 10:47 I didn't know what was that. 10:49 And they start to shares their as a common point, 10:52 in fact that they keep Sabbath, they eat kosher food etcetera. 10:58 And I was really intrigued by this family 11:04 and progressively 11:06 but it took me about five years to go further 11:11 and to accept Jesus as the Messiah. 11:14 Because this wasn't just some sort of intellectual decision, 11:17 I am going to switch here. 11:19 This is a cultural decision 11:22 with the big impact on your family relations, right? Yeah. 11:26 Yeah, it was a very difficult point in fact 11:29 because when we are Jews, we are practicing or not, 11:34 I was in a practicing family, Orthodox Jews 11:37 but in addition of that there is a long history of our family. 11:43 There is a culture of course. 11:47 And you know my family was originally from Spain. 11:51 They were--they went from one country to another one 11:55 just not to convert to Christianity 11:59 because with the inquisition on all these stuff 12:03 it was really difficult for my family. 12:05 And suddenly my father sees that his son has accepted Jesus 12:10 and that was very difficult for him. 12:13 Yeah, I'm sure. 12:15 So, Richard, many years have gone past since then 12:18 and now you are engaged full time in this ministry. 12:21 What are the goals of this center? 12:24 The goal of this center is to help Jews to discover 12:28 who is Jesus and also to provide them a place 12:34 where they can worship God within their culture. Yes. 12:39 That is for us very important because myself and many Jews 12:44 who have been in the church, we have suffered that 12:48 we were not really inside of our culture in this church. 12:53 And today with this ministry we feel much more comfortable. 12:58 Yeah. Wonderful. 12:59 Richard, for viewers who want to learn more 13:01 about the center and its work, 13:03 how can they find that out? 13:04 They can come to our website 13:07 jewishadventist.org. Good. 13:13 And they can find all information, 13:15 they can send email, they can-- yes. 13:18 Wonderful. Thank you very much. 13:21 Please pray for Richard and his ministry. 13:24 And don't forget, you can go to jewishadventist.org. 13:27 Among the many things that Richard does is 13:29 he produces a weekly newsletter which is very informative 13:33 and it's very helpful too for your devotional, devotion 13:37 because it gives some sort of Jewish background 13:39 and history and context for the study of the scripture. 13:43 And please pray for all of our 13:44 Global Mission centers around the world. 13:47 Different ministries reaching to different people groups 13:50 and sometimes this can be very challenging work, 13:52 very lonely, sometimes discouraging us, 13:55 very encouraging to them to know that you are praying. 14:43 Okay. 14:44 It's my pleasure to introduce our guest, 14:47 Pastor Ted Wilson who is the president 14:49 of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist. 14:51 Welcome to our program, Elder Wilson. 14:53 Thank you, Gary. 14:54 When we think about mission, it's easy to think about it 14:57 in terms of what somebody else is doing. 14:59 You kind of almost born into it, 15:01 you're born in the United States but you grew up in Egypt. 15:04 Tell me about that experience? 15:07 Well, my parents went to Egypt long before I was born 15:14 and then they took a furlough 15:15 to return back to the United States 15:18 and 10 days after they got back I was born. 15:20 Good timing. So, yeah. 15:21 So I wasn't born on the boat. 15:23 But then I was, when I was about six months old 15:25 they went back to Egypt 15:26 and all my earliest memories of life are basically Egypt 15:32 and the Middle East Mediterranean area, 15:35 now that's just kind of like home. Right. 15:38 And had the privilege of going back there just very recently. 15:42 And in the last few years gone back twice to Egypt, 15:47 to Cairo and have visited in the Middle East. 15:51 And you know, there's just something about being home. 15:54 You know where you belong in a sense. 15:57 And the people of the Middle East 15:58 are just wonderful people, 16:00 so many very sincere, hardworking, loving people. 16:06 And they are searching for truth 16:09 and that's what we are all about 16:11 as far as being "missionaries" wherever we go. 16:15 And that was just a great opportunity 16:17 to grow up in a place like Egypt 16:19 and to experience a different culture, 16:21 different language, different setting 16:24 and just to be able to understand people better. 16:28 And just feel a part of this world scene. 16:32 Now you were six months old when you went there, 16:35 you had brothers and sisters? 16:37 I have a younger sister 16:39 and she was born in Egypt on an island 16:42 in the middle of the Nile. Okay. 16:44 There's a hospital there. 16:46 And yeah, so she's-- she's a real Egyptian. 16:49 Now that--that was a pretty big step for a young pastor 16:54 and his wife to take a six month old baby to Egypt, right? 16:58 Well, I mean it all depends, 17:00 you know, when you are a missionary, 17:02 the three rules of being a missionary 17:04 are adapt, adapt and adapt. 17:07 So you are just ready to do that kind of thing. 17:10 And when we, when we went to West Africa to work, 17:15 my wife and our two children, 17:17 we had two little daughters like three 17:22 and eight months or so. 17:24 And then another daughter came along. 17:26 And they grew up in that place 17:28 and they consider that to be home, 17:30 Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, Ivory Coast in West Africa. 17:34 So these experiences are just-- 17:36 experiences are just so enriching. 17:38 And they helped to build the fabric 17:41 of helping people to look 17:43 to a bigger vision of what the world is all about. 17:47 So in a sense the Middle East has kept 17:50 a special part in your life, 17:52 in your heart, right? Absolutely. 17:55 So more recently the General Conference 17:57 has re-arrange the territory 17:59 the way the church is operating in the Middle East. 18:02 Can you tell me about that? 18:03 Well the territory from the far western part of North Africa, 18:11 Morocco, all the way across to Iran 18:14 which is part of the Middle East, 18:16 not Arabic speaking, they speak Farsi there, 18:19 but up to Turkey where they speak Turkish of course 18:23 but yet highly Muslim area and down to Sudan. 18:28 That unit, that portion of the world 18:31 has about 500 million people. 18:35 As far as Seventh-day Adventist presence, 18:38 we have perhaps at best about 1,500 18:43 or perhaps 2,000 within that area. 18:46 And so we felt it was very important that 18:50 we pull that whole area together, 18:52 parts of it had been assigned 18:54 to different regional jurisdictions. 18:58 But rather we should pull that together 18:59 and really focus on it as a world perspective 19:04 and challenge for the entire world church. 19:08 We need to pray for our members there 19:11 and for the people of the Middle East, 19:13 wonderful people as I said. 19:15 But people who need to know 19:16 of the truth as it is in Jesus. Yeah. 19:19 Growing up in a place such as Cairo 19:23 where you got the vast amounts of people, 19:26 just millions of people. 19:27 How did that shape your understanding of mission? 19:31 Well, I suppose in a variety of ways. 19:34 First of all you get used to thousands of people around you 19:37 and heavy traffic and interesting culture 19:41 and all of that kind of thing. 19:44 I would say one of the biggest things 19:46 that had helped in my life was to realize 19:51 that there are cultures and settings 19:55 that are perhaps different, 19:58 but actually growing up by just related to it. 20:01 But they are different from other cultures 20:05 but in reality if you are kind, 20:07 if you are genuinely interested in people 20:11 that all of that transcends culture and differences. 20:15 And so being Christ like is something 20:19 that can cut across any barrier that you might meet. 20:23 And I think in getting a world perspective 20:27 because I think that's one of the greatest things 20:29 that my parents provided for me growing up, 20:33 a world perspective. 20:35 I think that tremendously enriched my life 20:38 and I am forever grateful to the Lord 20:41 and to my parents for having grown up 20:43 in a different culture than let's say my home culture. 20:47 And being able to just associate with people 20:50 and understand that, you know, 20:54 God can work in many different areas and He does. 20:58 And it's also the source of your favorite food, 21:00 I understand. Absolutely. 21:02 My number one food is Middle Eastern food, 21:05 second is Indian food and then the rest. Okay. 21:11 Elder Wilson, thank you so much for joining us today. Yeah. 21:14 And viewers at home, 21:15 please remember the territories of the world 21:18 where the name of Jesus isn't heard so much, 21:21 many parts of the world 21:22 where people haven't even ever heard the name. 21:25 Pray for our missionary serving, pray for our church members 21:29 and pray for people that they will come to know the love 21:31 and the joy of knowing Jesus Christ. 21:40 My name is Nick Walters 21:42 and I am a missionary physician here at Bangkok, 21:45 Adventist hospital which is also known as mission hospital 21:48 or in the Thai language (speaking in Thai). 21:52 I've been a missionary for, 21:54 this is my 28th year of mission service. 21:57 To work here in Thailand, 21:59 I needed to get a medical license 22:01 because I am working here as a medical doctor. 22:03 The medical exams in Thailand are in the Thai language. 22:08 To learn an entirely new language 22:10 with completely different grammar 22:12 and tones was a bit of a challenge, 22:14 not just a bit of a challenge it was an incredible challenge. 22:18 And the Lord worked things out 22:21 in a miraculous way for me to be able to come to Thailand, 22:26 to be able to study Thai 22:28 and to finally be able to take the exam and pass it. 22:32 (Speaking in foreign language) 22:39 To put an effort into learning an entire newly language 22:43 and to take an exam, 22:44 a medical examination in a written language 22:47 that doesn't use English characters is, 22:51 is a big risk 22:52 because I could have ended up 22:54 wasting two years of my life doing this. 22:58 So part of it was the struggle with wanting to know 23:03 what God's will was for me. 23:06 To trust that God would 23:08 somehow work this crazy thing that I was doing, 23:11 somehow work it out 23:12 so that way it would be to glorify His name. 23:17 And it turned out very positive for me 23:21 and it definitely glorifies His name 23:23 because I was able to pass the boards in the Thai language. 23:27 If you'd have ever seen me 23:28 in my Spanish class in high school, 23:31 you might have wondered 23:32 how is this ever possible for Nick Walters to do this. 23:36 But anyway, the Lord did worked it out. 23:39 But many people think of Thailand, 23:41 oh, that's a tourist destination, 23:43 how come you went there as a missionary. 23:45 Isn't that like paradise to go there first? 23:48 Well, there are some challenges, 23:52 but the ways that I've been able to help in at the hospital here 23:57 because I have a personal feeling that people, 24:00 Jesus' example of healing people physically 24:03 and mentally and spiritually is very important. 24:06 And I can tell you living and working in a busy country, 24:11 especially a busy city, a capital city of Bangkok, 24:14 Thailand, there's a lot of stress here. 24:17 There are a lot of people who suffer physical illness 24:20 because of mental and spiritual problems as well. 24:23 And so because of that I try very hard 24:27 to help with their healing not just the physical healing 24:30 but the mental and spiritual 24:32 by bringing those aspects into their life 24:35 that they may not have even known they had a problem with 24:38 and to show them that there are solutions for their problems. 24:42 In fact this has been one of the most fascinating things 24:45 that I've been able to so. 24:47 My Thai patients will come to me 24:49 and when I say with them, 24:51 you know, I think that we need to pray together 24:53 because I think you will feel better after we pray together. 24:56 They say, yes. 24:57 I have never had anyone refuse 24:59 and that's been a wonderful experience 25:01 working here in Thailand as people are willing to 25:04 and more than happy to hear about this, 25:08 this God that loves them. 25:33 My wife and I have at least once a month 25:35 tried to have a Bible study at our hospital. 25:38 It's a little more than a Bible study. 25:39 We feel like they're almost like our children. 25:42 And so it's been, 25:44 it's been a wonderful experience to share Christianity 25:48 and also support the Christianity 25:51 of our Christian students 25:52 but also share it to our Buddhist students as well. 26:03 Our Adventist church is growing in Thailand. 26:05 If our members throughout the world 26:08 could pray for our members 26:11 or people who are struggling 26:12 to become members of our church here in Thailand 26:15 because for a Thai person 26:16 to chose to become a Christian is a challenge. 26:35 Former South African President 26:37 Nelson Mandela is quoted his saying, 26:39 "If you talk to a man in the language he understands, 26:42 that goes to his head. 26:44 If you talk to him in his own language, 26:47 that goes to his heart." 26:48 Well, if you're watching this program chances are 26:51 you believe in and care about mission. 26:54 Recently the Seventh-day Adventist Church 26:55 started a new mission magazine called Mission 360. 26:59 It's a beautiful new magazine and if you live in North America 27:03 and would like to receive a copy 27:04 as well as news about Global Mission, 27:07 simply call our toll free number 1800-648-5824 27:13 or you can visit our website at adventistmission.org/offer. 27:17 Or better yet wherever you are in the world, 27:20 you can download the free digital magazine for your iPad, 27:24 your Kindle HD or your android tablet. 27:28 Just search for Adventist Mission 27:29 or Mission 360 in the apps stores. 27:33 Of course you can always just go to our website 27:35 at adventistmission.org 27:37 and you can view the magazine there for free. 27:40 Well, that's it for today's program 27:42 and thanks for spending time with us today. 27:45 I hope you've been inspired by what you've seen 27:47 and by what you've heard. 27:48 Thank you for your continuing prayers 27:51 and support for global mission around the world. 27:54 For Global Mission, I am Gary Krause 27:56 and I hope you can join us next time 27:58 right here on Global Mission Snapshots. |
Revised 2014-12-17