Participants:
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000150S
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00:00 (exciting music)
00:19 (music ending) 00:21 - Hello and welcome to "Jesus for Asia Now." 00:23 I'm Natalie Wood, and my husband Jon is here with me today 00:27 as we go to India 00:28 and take a glimpse into the life of a Bible worker. 00:32 Hello, love. 00:33 - Hi, darling. 00:34 How are you? 00:35 - I'm doing fine, thank you. 00:36 - Good, awesome. 00:37 - What are we gonna learn about India today? 00:38 - Well, we're gonna meet Emmanuel. 00:40 He's a Bible worker that was born and raised in India. 00:44 Knows the local language, 00:46 didn't have to buy a plane ticket to get him there. 00:49 Knows the culture, 00:50 is able to fit in with the locals, 00:52 and doing a powerful work. 00:55 And we're gonna learn today about how a lot 00:57 of the Bible workers joined the workforce. 01:00 - Well, let's start with a video 01:01 where he talks about how he was converted. 01:03 - Okay, good. 01:05 (soothing music) 01:17 (speaking native language) 01:20 - I am a from strong Hindu background. 01:22 The whole village is filled 01:25 with Hindu beliefs and gods. 01:28 I was roaming just like a Sadhu 01:30 with a colorful dress. 01:33 I don't want Christians, 01:35 I hate Christians like anything. 01:40 In 1990, one reverend from other denomination 01:44 came to my village to preach about Jesus. 01:47 I went and fought it with him, 01:49 and chased him out of my village. 01:51 That man went away to some distance 01:54 and came again and told, 01:56 "I will finish my prayer. 01:57 Gimme 10 minutes. 01:59 After that, I will come stand right in front of you. 02:01 You beat me as you like." 02:03 As he was preaching in the street, 02:05 I could see a lady rolling on the ground, 02:09 because of devil possession. 02:11 She started yelling, saying, "I am Monishuran." 02:14 Now what I thought was that Monishuran 02:16 was the greatest god in the village. 02:18 And now Monishuran has come. 02:21 He will take care of this pastor. 02:23 There is no need for me to beat that reverend. 02:29 But he said, looking at that women, 02:31 "Be silent. 02:32 Don't make noise." 02:33 Again, she started shouting. 02:36 But this pastor, came forward without any fear, 02:39 put his hand up on that lady's head and started praying. 02:42 All of a sudden, that woman fell on the ground. 02:45 Seeing this, the fear filled my heart. 02:48 The Monishuran is the greatest god in our village. 02:51 That god itself fell on the feet of this reverend. 02:54 I came and knelt before that reverend. 02:57 On seeing this, my parents, 02:59 they also started crying. 03:01 "Something may happen to my son." 03:03 But that pastor encouraged my parents, 03:05 "Don't worry about anything. 03:06 We will not do any harm to your child." 03:10 I accepted Jesus as my personal savior from that time. 03:18 I started my ministry even in that year 03:21 when I accepted Christ as my personal savior. 03:24 For six years almost, I did my ministry on my own. 03:27 Since it is a village filled with the Hindus, 03:30 I faced lot of challenges from anti-Christian elements. 03:35 There was no support for me, 03:37 so they started giving many tortures to me. 03:40 Whenever visit sit the villages in that area, 03:43 they came and beat me. 03:45 They spoke so many unwanted words on me. 03:50 They pulled my Bible and threw it so many times. 03:56 One day I was returning from my ministry 03:58 around 12 o'clock at midnight. 04:00 Just half a kilometer from my village 04:02 around 10 people who were waiting for me. 04:05 And they came and caught my collar, 04:08 and told me, "Don't tell about Jesus anymore 04:11 in these villages." 04:12 They started to beat me. 04:15 In that group, four people stood in support of me. 04:19 "What wrong is he doing? 04:21 He's doing good things to our village people. 04:23 Why should we beat him? 04:24 Leave him alone and come." 04:26 But they went away. 04:27 These six people took me to the riverside. 04:30 They beat me and threw me by the river. 04:33 I was faint, and I was not conscious. 04:37 After two hours of time, 04:38 I slowly opened my eyes and came to my home. 04:49 That reverend took me 04:51 and put me in a theology college in Chennai, 04:53 so that I can be trained as a good evangelist. 04:56 As I was studying there in Chennai, 04:58 one day I saw the handbills 05:00 saying Sabbath day is the Saturday. 05:03 I took that pamphlet in my hand 05:05 and it showed to the teacher. 05:07 The teacher took me to the correspondent of that college. 05:10 That correspondent of the colleague asked me, 05:12 "What's your problem?" 05:14 I said, "The Bible says that Saturday is the Sabbath, 05:18 but what about you?" 05:19 He said, "You don't speak about anything. 05:22 You take this vehicle key. 05:24 It belongs to you. 05:25 Not only that, when you come later, 05:27 we will arrange some good house for you. 05:30 Now, I am blessed with all this kind of material, 05:33 because of this truth where I am in. 05:36 So you also be in, 05:37 don't ask me any question." 05:39 But again and again, I asked him, 05:41 "You tell me. You tell me." 05:43 Then he looked at me and told me, 05:45 "Saturday is the Sabbath day. 05:47 I also agree, I also accept it. 05:49 But in practical life, it is very hard to observe it. 05:52 Today what I am is not because of the Sabbath Saturday. 05:56 It is because of what I believe. 05:59 that Sunday is Sabbath day. 06:01 So if you want to continue, continue, 06:04 Or else quit the college." 06:05 Then I came out of that college. 06:07 I came to my native place. 06:09 When I went to one small town near my native place, 06:13 there I saw a man preaching in that church. 06:16 His name was Pastor Akhab Daniel. 06:18 After I came in contact with that Pastor Akhab Daniel, 06:22 I fully understood the truth 06:24 and accepted truth, 06:25 and got baptism in the year 1996. 06:32 In 2022, he joined the JFA. 06:35 Although he joined the JFA in 2022, 06:38 he's working in this village even before that. 06:44 (music ending) 06:46 - Wow, what a story. 06:47 - Mmm. 06:50 - I'm trying to remember, 06:51 everything that he went through, 06:52 he got converted because the, 06:55 a guy came to his village and started preaching, 06:58 and he was gonna go beat him up. 06:59 But the guy said, "Gimme 10 minutes 07:02 to finish my prayer." 07:04 And then a woman came 07:05 and that was possessed the best 07:07 by the strongest God in the village. 07:09 - [Natalie] Right. 07:10 - And he thought, well, I don't have 07:12 to beat up the Christian, 07:14 because this god, the strongest God in our village, 07:16 is gonna beat him up for me. 07:18 - Yeah. 07:19 - And the Christian came over and prayed, 07:21 and expelled the demon from the woman. 07:24 - Yeah. - And he was shocked. 07:25 And he humbled him himself. 07:27 And he, 07:28 and he, you know, became a Christian, 07:30 because he saw that Christ was stronger than-- 07:33 - Than the other god. 07:34 - [Jon] Yeah. - Yeah. 07:35 - And then he got a lot of beatings. 07:37 - [Natalie] Yeah. 07:39 - He said he traveled around like (indistinct), 07:40 it's like a itinerant preacher. 07:42 - Right. - In India. 07:43 Very well known type of thing to do. 07:47 And a lot of holy men travel around and, 07:50 and teach Hinduism, 07:51 and different things to the villagers and stuff, so. 07:55 - Yeah, he was very devout. - [Jon] Yes. 07:56 - Obviously. - Yeah. 07:57 - [Natalie] So-- 07:59 - And then he got beat up a lot. 08:00 And then he got sent to a college. 08:03 - Yeah. 08:04 - And the director of the college 08:06 believed in the Sabbath day, but said-- 08:09 - But wouldn't keep it. 08:10 No, because the wealth-- - [Jon] Yeah. 08:13 - The material things were more important 08:15 than keeping the Sabbath of the Bible. 08:17 - Yeah, he offered Emmanuel a car. 08:19 - [Natalie] Yeah. - And a nice place to live. 08:21 And food, good food 08:23 if he would forget about the Sabbath. 08:26 - Yeah. - [Jon] Wow. 08:27 - Yeah. 08:28 - But he left that place for his convictions. 08:31 - Right. 08:32 And so he started doing, 08:34 started doing Bible work on his own, ministry on his own. 08:37 - [Jon] Yeah. 08:38 - And then he was able to join JFA 08:40 as a Bible worker recently. 08:42 - Yeah, and so now we have the opportunity 08:45 to be a part of the souls that he wins to Christ-- 08:49 - Mm-hmm. 08:50 - By supporting him. 08:51 - Right, and speaking of souls that he wins to Christ, 08:54 the next video that we have is someone 08:56 that was converted from his ministry. 08:58 - Oh, cool. 08:59 (soothing music) 09:06 (speaking native language) 09:09 - We were Hindus in this village. 09:11 My father was a priest in on temple. 09:13 My elder sister got married 09:17 to the Adventist Christian. 09:19 After my sister's marriage, 09:21 my sister husband took very much interest in us 09:25 and tried to give the truth to us. 09:31 I had the severe problem 09:33 of blood oozing from my nose every day, 09:37 three times. 09:38 It was so ugly to look at. 09:40 Everybody hated me because of this problem. 09:43 When I got baptized in the church, 09:46 that problem stopped. 09:47 Still it is the surprise for me how it stopped. 09:51 The very moment I got baptism, 09:53 from that day onwards 09:55 that blood oozing from my nose stopped. 10:02 Actually, I fell in love with a Hindu man. 10:06 My sister's husband told me so many times, 10:10 "Don't involve yourself in marriage with a Hindu man." 10:14 But I was not willing to listen to him. 10:17 After my marriage, 10:18 my life become very 10:21 stressful. 10:22 Very much painful. 10:24 He used to drink every day and beat me like anything. 10:28 Sometimes he will pull me into the street 10:31 and started beating me. 10:33 Still, I am suffering. 10:35 But one good thing, 10:37 I was longing for the love of God 10:40 for so many years in my life, 10:42 because my sisters husband and family, 10:45 they were Christians, Seventh-day Adventists. 10:47 I was kneeling down and praying to the Lord, 10:50 "Lord, we want to have some worship here in this place." 10:54 The Lord answered my prayer. 10:56 That is the reason the JFA Pastor Emmanuel 11:00 came to this village 11:01 and started a prayer group here in this place. 11:07 The problem with my husband is 11:09 when he takes this alcohol, 11:11 he beats me. 11:12 Other times, he's very okay. 11:15 Whenever he leaves the house 11:17 into the liquor shop, 11:19 I used to start praying, kneeling down, 11:21 "Lord, today he has gone to drink. 11:23 He'll come back, he'll beat me, 11:25 and nothing should happen." 11:27 God answers my prayer. 11:28 When I pray sincerely on my knees, 11:31 he goes to the liquor shop, 11:32 he takes alcohol, 11:34 he comes back. 11:35 He goes to his bedroom, 11:36 and he sleeps in peace. 11:38 He's not disturbing me. 11:39 God is answering me. 11:41 He says, "You go to church, no problem." 11:43 He never disturbed me coming to church. 11:46 I in my house also, 11:47 you cannot see any Swami pictures, idols. 11:52 Even for smaller little things, 11:54 I asked the Lord only. 11:55 I put my son in the private school. 11:58 And the school people were asking for the fee. 12:00 I have no money in my hand. 12:02 I knelt down and cried to the Lord. 12:04 "Lord, I don't have any money. 12:07 It is because of you, in believing you, 12:10 I put my son in the private school." 12:12 Then the Lord answered my prayer. 12:13 Within an hour when man came 12:16 and gave me a little money. 12:18 He told me, "You can return it later. 12:20 Now you pay the fee for your son." 12:23 Likewise, God is doing wonderful things in my life. 12:27 It may be little things, 12:29 or it may be bigger things. 12:30 I trust in the Lord. 12:31 I ask the Lord only. 12:33 I seek the Lord in tears. 12:35 God always answers my prayer. 12:37 I am in the midst of all this problem, 12:40 but I am feeling free in Jesus. 12:42 Her wish is that husband will be converted, 12:47 accept Christ. 12:48 And she wants to go to ministry, 12:50 and tell the love of God to many other people 12:53 along with their husband. 12:59 (music ending) 13:04 - Well, the love of Jesus 13:06 makes such an impact in people's lives. 13:07 - Yeah, yeah, beautiful. 13:10 - I love the ripple effect. 13:11 You know, one soul is converted, 13:13 starts praying for another. 13:15 That soul is converted, starts praying for another, 13:18 and it just keeps on going on and on 13:20 and ever widening circle of joy and peace. 13:22 - Mm-mmm, yeah. 13:24 And now she wants to be telling people 13:26 about Jesus also. 13:27 - Yeah. 13:28 - About what she learned. 13:29 - But I think we can all join her 13:31 in praying for her husband. 13:32 - Yes, definitely. 13:33 - And maybe she'll become a JFA Bible worker. 13:36 - Yeah, maybe-- - With good training. 13:37 - Yep. - Yeah. 13:39 - Definitely. - Awesome. 13:40 - Well, now we have a miracle story. 13:43 - Okay. 13:45 (soothing music) 13:51 (speaking native language) 13:59 - I like to share my greatest miracle God did in my life. 14:08 - She used to tell me, 14:09 "Pastor I am not able to come 14:12 and attend your prayer meeting. 14:13 Even if I come, I don't understand where I am." 14:17 Whenever she comes and attends, 14:18 she undergoes some body pain and unusual depression. 14:23 But immediately she leaves the prayer meetings, 14:26 she's okay. 14:30 - I had this problem for long years. 14:32 I will feel like 200 kilogram stone is upon my body. 14:37 I used to come to church. 14:38 I used to clean this place. 14:40 I used to put the mat and everything. 14:43 But all of a sudden, 14:44 I will lie on the mat itself. 14:46 The pastor used to notice me and one day asked me, 14:50 "What is your problem?" 14:51 I said, "Pastor, I don't know how to explain it. 14:54 I feel an unusual way, 14:56 I am not happy. 14:58 I am irritated at everybody. 15:00 If anybody ask me anything, 15:02 I will answer them angrily. 15:05 I was not able to control myself." 15:07 Then the pastor told me, 15:09 "If that is the case, 15:10 we will have the fasting prayer." 15:15 - So, I did two days continuously fasting 15:19 without taking any food. 15:22 - As he instructed me, 15:23 I came to the church with a clean dress. 15:26 I sat here. 15:29 - As we started praying 15:30 she fell on the ground and started roiling. 15:34 - As soon as he kept my hand on my head, 15:37 I felt more than 10 people are surrounded me 15:41 and putting all their weight upon me. 15:44 Then I started crying and crying, 15:47 shouting and shouting. 15:49 - The spirit told us, 15:50 "I have been for last 10 years with her. 15:53 How can you chase me right now?" 15:55 The spirit was again and again saying, 15:57 "No, no, you cannot chase me out of this body. 16:01 I like her. 16:02 I am with her last 10 years. 16:04 You cannot chase me." 16:09 But I commanded, "In the name of Jesus, you go out." 16:16 - After that prayer, 16:17 I woke up. 16:18 I was so free! 16:20 I felt so easy as I am flying in the air. 16:25 - Now she is not having any that kind of problem. 16:28 - I would like to thank the Lord again and again, 16:31 because he has done this wonder in my life. 16:36 (music ending) 16:38 - I love that, 16:39 he has done the wonder in my life. 16:40 - Yeah. - That's so beautiful. 16:42 You know, she was, 16:44 she didn't know it was demon possession. 16:45 She thought it was just some weight, you know? 16:47 - [Jon] Yeah. 16:48 - She just felt really heavy 16:50 when she went to church and depressed, but-- 16:51 - [Jon] Yeah. = It was a demon. 16:52 - Yeah, and did you see the glint, 16:54 the the light in the lady's eyes? 16:56 - [Natalie] Yeah. - That's what we see-- 16:58 - The smile on her face, that smile at peace. 17:00 - Yeah, when you first meet people that don't know Christ, 17:02 they have this darkness, this, 17:04 this fear, 17:05 this haunting in their eyes. 17:07 And after they get to know Christ, 17:08 they have that light, that life. 17:10 And it's just so rewarding to see. 17:13 - Yeah. 17:14 - [Jon] The change that happens in them. 17:15 - Yeah. - [Jon] Yeah. 17:16 - Yeah, it's beautiful. 17:16 And you know, 17:17 it makes me just so thankful 17:20 that we can enable the Bible workers. 17:22 - [Jon] Yes. - Because it, 17:23 it makes a huge difference in one life after another 17:28 after another. 17:29 - Yes. 17:30 - You know, it is just awesome. 17:32 - Yeah, and that's-- 17:34 - Put it mildly, 17:35 God is awesome. 17:37 - Yeah, so do we have too many Bible workers? 17:39 Or we have enough Bible workers to reach all of India? 17:43 - Well, no, 17:45 we don't have enough Bible workers to reach all of India. 17:46 - [Jon] Okay. 17:47 - And we have one part of India 17:49 that we wanna share a report on. 17:51 - Okay, yeah. 17:51 We just got a report, 17:52 as actually a request. 17:55 In the area that is overseen by this president 17:59 and pastor of a section 18:02 in an unnamed state, unnamed location. 18:05 There is an entire denomination that has about 150 churches. 18:09 - Mmm. 18:10 - And that denomination has decided 18:12 to withdraw from that area. 18:14 - Mmm. 18:15 - And so now these churches are available, 18:19 they would like to sell us the churches 18:22 for the price of the land. 18:24 And so I'm looking at, 18:26 not so excited about more churches, 18:29 except that the churches have congregations in them. 18:32 - Right, so we need training. 18:34 - Well, that's the challenge. - [Natalie] We need workers. 18:36 - That's the challenge is 18:37 because the president was telling us, 18:39 they said they have 80, 18:41 80 churches already, 18:43 15 companies. 18:44 So, they have 95 groups of people gathering, 18:47 but they only have 17 pastors. 18:50 - Mmm. 18:51 - And 5 volunteer Bible workers. 18:53 So, they have 22 full-time gospel workers 18:57 trying to take care of 95 churches and companies. 19:01 That's not enough. 19:02 - That's-- 19:04 - And now we have the opportunity to add another 150, 19:07 or even you know, 19:09 it's like there's a huge need for workers. 19:11 - [Natalie] Right. 19:12 - And so what can we do about that? 19:14 - Right. 19:15 - Well, we need more Bible workers. 19:17 - [Natalie] Right. 19:18 - And we need training for the Bible workers. 19:20 Now, recently, a friend of ours who is a pastor, 19:23 he voluntarily-- 19:25 - He's from America. 19:26 - Yes, 19:28 voluntarily said, "I would like to go 19:30 and do three weeks of training." 19:33 Can you tell us about that experience with him? 19:36 - Well, he was in India for about a month. 19:38 - [Jon] Uh-huh. 19:40 - And they did training after training after training-- 19:41 - [Jon] Uh-huh. 19:43 - [Natalie] At the property that we own in South India. 19:44 - [Jon] Yeah. 19:45 - And it was hot there, it was 109 some days. 19:48 - [Jon] Uh-huh. 19:50 - And some days the power was off. 19:51 - [Jon] Uh-huh. 19:52 - [Natalie] So there were no fans, 19:53 there's no AC. 19:54 - [Jon] Yep. 19:56 - [Natalie] It was a great challenge for them. 19:57 - [Jon] Yeah. 19:58 - [Natalie] But the Bible workers were so happy 20:01 to receive the training. 20:02 - [Jon] Yes, yes. 20:03 - And to go deeper in God's word 20:04 and to talk about what church planting looks like. 20:07 And so it was, 20:08 it was a powerful experience it sounds like from them. 20:12 We were getting a lot of reports from Israel, 20:14 our director, in India. 20:16 "Here's video from this morning. 20:18 You know, somebody's leading 20:19 out in morning worship, here's pictures." 20:21 - [Jon] Yeah. - And so-- 20:23 - So what's the upshot after that's all said and done? 20:25 What's his dream? 20:28 - He wants to do more training. 20:30 He sees the desperate, 20:32 desperate need for training. 20:34 - [Jon] Yeah. 20:35 - For the Bible workers there. 20:36 - Yeah, so we, in that property, 20:37 we've decided to start a nonstop training program 20:41 with local retired pastors and administrators 20:46 for Bible workers from across India 20:48 with proper translation. 20:50 There's also another couple 20:51 that has spent the last four years 20:54 developing beautiful training material. 20:56 - Right. 20:58 - And so they're doing four month training programs. 20:59 And so training is ongoing, but there's-- 21:02 - Right, it's increasing. 21:03 - It's increasing. 21:04 And there's more and more requests for it. 21:06 - Mm-hmm. 21:07 - And training not only extends the reach of the gospel, 21:10 but also builds up those that are in the church already 21:13 that are in the faith already, 21:15 gives them new insights, 21:17 new tools to share, 21:18 new things to share, 21:20 and builds up the church that is already there. 21:22 - Right, right. 21:24 - Because there's a lot of things that we take for granted. 21:25 A lot of knowledge of stories, let's say. 21:27 Even the stories of the Bible, what they mean, 21:30 and the lessons we can get from them 21:34 for people that are just 21:35 that don't have the Christian background, 21:37 haven't grown up with the Bible. 21:38 And with a lot of people talking about the Bible, you know, 21:41 Christianity is still maybe 2.5% of the entire population. 21:45 - Right. - In India, 21:46 those kinds of trainings are super important. 21:49 And the Bible workers just love them. 21:51 - Yes. - Just soak it up. 21:52 - Yes, and it really helps also, 21:54 because they don't have a lot of the study tools 21:56 that we have. - [Jon] Right. 21:57 - You know, we have the Strong's Concordance, 21:59 we have the Bible Concords, 22:01 the SDA Bible commentaries-- 22:02 - Uh-huh. - You know, 22:03 different things like that. 22:04 They don't have all those tools in their native language. 22:06 - Yeah. 22:07 - They might have portions of them. 22:09 They don't have Ellen White books in their native language 22:11 all of them available. 22:12 - Yeah, right. 22:13 - They have some, but some of them, 22:15 it's kind of an intimidating, 22:16 you know, "Desire of Ages" is two volumes-- 22:18 - Mm-hmm. 22:19 - Very thick volumes, 22:20 because of the difference in language and how, 22:23 how many characters it takes 22:24 to write the same amount of information, so-- 22:26 (Jon laughing softly) 22:27 - Right. 22:28 - It's a challenge for them, 22:29 'cause there's no indexes and no, 22:31 you know, no ways to search through. 22:33 - A lot of things-- 22:35 - Yeah, things we take for granted. 22:35 - Right. 22:37 - Like I have a Bible app on my phone. 22:37 - [Jon] Yeah. 22:39 - I can go and search in my native language. 22:40 They don't have all of those tools. 22:43 - Right. 22:44 - You know, if they-- - They don't have-- 22:45 - If they speak English, 22:46 they might be able to find it 22:47 if they have the English tools, but-- 22:49 - [Jon] Right. 22:51 - It's still, it's very difficult 22:52 especially for the average Bible worker. 22:53 - Yeah. 22:54 - And so that's one of our, 22:55 one of our goals with the training. 22:57 - [Jon] Right. 22:58 - Is to enable them to know exactly where things are 23:00 in the scripture, how to find them, 23:02 what they mean. - [Jon] Right. 23:03 - How to explain it to other people. 23:05 You know, all these things that-- 23:06 - [Jon] Yeah. 23:07 - We take for granted. 23:08 - Yeah, and it's very important, 23:09 especially people that are coming out of Hinduism 23:11 and going straight into being Bible teachers. 23:15 Sometimes that's the best way to do it, 23:17 because they still have connections, 23:19 and they're still on fire, 23:20 but they need the training. 23:22 They need the ongoing training. 23:23 And so we've been praying for many, many years 23:25 that we can do non-stop training. 23:27 And we had the opportunity, 23:30 but then Covid hit. 23:31 - Mmm. 23:32 - And so now the door open again, 23:34 we're gonna go forward, 23:35 and so please we can invite our viewers to pray for these-- 23:38 - [Natalie] Right. - The training programs 23:40 that they can be the blessing that they could be. 23:45 - Right. 23:46 - You know, full potential. 23:47 But to do the training we need, 23:49 we have a boys, a men's dorm. 23:52 We don't have a girls' dorm, 23:54 and we need like a 23:57 school chapel kind of building 24:00 to facilitate that training. - [Natalie] Right. 24:03 - And we'll talk more about this later. 24:05 - Right. 24:06 - About what that's like and what the needs are. 24:08 And there were some miracles that happened 24:10 during that training. 24:11 - Yeah, I'm looking forward to sharing those 24:12 with our viewers. 24:13 - Yeah, that's pretty exciting, so. 24:15 - But that will have to be another time. 24:16 - Yeah, but in the meantime, 24:18 we can really pray for that area that 24:19 has the opportunity to buy all those churches. 24:22 - Right, right, 24:24 and for workers-- 24:26 - [Jon] Uh-huh. 24:27 - To go to these places. - Uh-huh. 24:29 - Because obviously there aren't workers there. 24:32 - [Jon] Right. 24:33 - Because this is a different denomination, 24:34 there's different kind of workers. 24:36 - Right. 24:37 - There aren't enough workers for these areas. 24:38 - [Jon] Right. 24:40 - So it's really important that training happens. 24:40 - Yeah. 24:41 - Especially for anyone. 24:43 I mean the average church members, 24:45 how much do they know about their Bibles? 24:47 - Right. 24:48 - Some of them don't even read. 24:49 - [Jon] Right. 24:50 - So that's why verbal training is important also. 24:52 - Yeah, and if we don't take advantage of this opportunity, 24:56 a lot of these churches will just go unattached. 24:59 I've been in villages up in North India 25:02 where the denomination was very strong 25:04 that they joined many many years ago, 25:07 but 20, 30, 40 years ago, 25:09 the denomination left the area. 25:11 And so now you've got entire villages that are unattached, 25:14 and they're, 25:15 they call themselves Christians, 25:16 but there's very little training, 25:17 there's very little support. 25:19 There's very little connection with other believers. 25:21 And so they're just kind of villagers 25:23 that are drifting and-- 25:25 - Right. - And it would be-- 25:26 - And sometimes the other beliefs creep back in. 25:28 - Oh, sure. 25:30 Yeah, go back to the animist or you know-- 25:33 - Hindu or-- 25:34 - Yeah, that kind of belief. 25:35 So there's a lot of prayer that needs to happen. 25:37 That's the only way that we believe things 25:39 are gonna really come together, 25:41 because the project is way too large for us. 25:43 It's beyond our abilities. 25:45 We can't even wrap our mind around 25:47 what it would take to make this happen. 25:48 - Right. 25:50 - But God knows how to make it happen. 25:51 - [Natalie] Right. 25:52 - And so with earnest prayer, 25:53 I know that he's gonna open the door. 25:55 - Yeah. - [Jon] Yeah. 25:57 - Yeah, and he'll provide the workers. 25:58 - Yes, and we constantly get new requests 26:01 for more Bible workers. 26:03 - Yeah. 26:04 - From different parts around India, 26:05 and it's not just India. 26:06 We have Bible workers like this 26:08 in Bangladesh and in the Philippines. 26:11 It's just a program. 26:13 And Indonesia and other countries also, 26:16 there's just a program. 26:17 We're getting requests from Sri Lanka and Malaysia, 26:20 and it's just unnamed countries. 26:23 - Right. 26:24 - The sensitive countries. 26:24 - [Natalie] Right. 26:25 - In fact, the sensitive countries really 26:28 have some of the most exciting stories of all 26:31 that we can't share. 26:32 - Right. 26:33 - It's kinda like, you know, you go fishing, 26:35 and it's the one that got away is always the biggest. 26:36 - Yeah, of course. (both laughing) 26:38 - But this is one you can't tell, talk about. 26:41 But it's, 26:43 it's developing into a huge need. 26:46 And the growth and expansion 26:48 into the sensitive countries are, 26:52 are massive. - Right. 26:54 - And beautiful. 26:55 But we can't talk about that. 26:56 - Right, so-- 26:57 - [Jon] When we need to keep that in prayer. 26:58 - So that's a good reason to be faithful-- 27:00 - [Jon] Yes. 27:01 - And go to heaven and hear all those stories. 27:02 - Yes! 27:03 That's where it's all at. 27:04 - Because we will hear them all. 27:05 - Yeah, and that's the thing, you know, 27:07 with foreign mission work is like one of the few places 27:10 that you can really give unselfishly. 27:13 - Mmm. 27:14 - You know, you give to tithe so that you, 27:16 because that belongs to God. 27:18 You wanna keep that relationship, 27:20 and you give to the local church budget, 27:22 so that you can go and enjoy air conditioning 27:24 in the summer and heating in the winter. 27:26 But for missions, 27:28 you'll never see that until heaven. 27:30 - Yeah, that's the cast your bred upon in waters. 27:33 - [Jon] Yes. 27:34 - And it will come back after many days. 27:35 - Yes, exactly. 27:36 - We don't know how many days. 27:37 - [Jon] Right. 27:39 - But that's where faith comes in. 27:40 - Yeah, just as God leads. 27:41 - [Natalie] Yep. - Yeah. 27:43 - If you would like to support amazing Bible workers 27:45 like Emmanuel 27:47 in India and other countries, (soft exciting music) 27:48 please contact us at Jesus for Asia 27:51 PO Box 1221 27:53 Collegedale, Tennessee 27:55 37315. 27:57 Call us at (423) 413-7321 28:01 or visit our website at jesus4asia.org. 28:05 May God richly bless you 28:06 until we see you next time on "Jesus for Asia Now." 28:10 (exciting music continuing) 28:27 (music ending) |
Revised 2023-06-27