Participants:
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000844
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01:19 Shall we gather at the river?
01:27 where bright angel feet have trod, 01:33 with its crystal tide forever 01:41 flowing by the throne of God? 01:48 Yes, we'll gather at the river, 01:56 the beautiful, the beautiful river; 02:04 gather with the saints at the river 02:10 that flows by the throne of God. 02:22 Shall we gather at the river? 02:29 where bright angel feet have trod, 02:35 with its crystal tide forever 02:41 flowing by the throne of God? 02:49 Yes, we'll gather at the river, 02:55 the beautiful, the beautiful river; 03:02 gather with the saints at the river 03:09 that flows by the throne of God. 03:20 Deep river, my home is over Jordan, 03:39 deep river, I want to cross over into campground. 04:00 Soon we'll reach the shining river, 04:07 soon our pilgrimage will cease; 04:15 soon our happy hearts will quiver 04:22 with the melody of peace. 04:31 Yes, we'll gather at the river, 04:38 the beautiful, the beautiful river; 04:46 gather with the saints at the river 04:52 that flows by the throne of God. 05:03 that flows by the throne of God. 05:22 I am going to Ride the chariot in the mornin' Lord 05:26 I am going to Ride the chariot in the mornin' Lord 05:29 I'm getting ready for the judgment day 05:33 My Lord, my Lord 05:36 I am going to Ride the chariot in the mornin' Lord 05:39 I am going to Ride the chariot in the mornin' Lord 05:43 I'm getting ready for the judgment day 05:46 My Lord, my Lord 05:49 Are you ready my brother (oh yes) 05:53 Are you ready for the journey (oh yes) 05:56 Do you wanna see my Jesus (Oh yes) 05:59 I'm waiting for the chariot 06:01 'Cause I'm ready to go 06:02 I am going to Ride the chariot in the mornin' Lord 06:06 I am going to Ride the chariot in the mornin' Lord 06:09 I'm getting ready for the judgment day 06:13 My Lord, my Lord 06:16 I am going to Ride the chariot in the mornin' Lord 06:19 I am going to Ride the chariot in the mornin' Lord 06:22 I'm getting ready for the judgment day 06:26 My Lord, my Lord 06:29 Are you ready my sister (oh yes) 06:32 Are you ready for the journey (oh yes) 06:36 Do you wanna see my Jesus (Oh yes) 06:39 I'm waiting for the chariot 06:41 'Cause I'm ready to go 06:42 Ride, ride ride in the chariot to see my lord. 06:49 Ride! Ride! Ride in the chariot to see my Lord. 06:56 Ride, ride ride in the chariot to see my lord. 07:03 Ride! Ride! Ride in the chariot to see my Lord. 07:09 I'm getting ready for the judgement day, 07:11 my lord, my lord. Ride the chariot in the morning 07:15 lord! I'm getting ready for the 07:18 judgement day, my lord, my lord. 07:22 I'm gonna ride the chariot in the morning lord! 07:26 I'm gonna ride the chariot in the morning lord! 07:30 I'm gonna ride the chariot to see my Lord. 07:51 The examples of the educational institutions 07:54 at Madison and Fletcher and the many schools 07:57 that grew out from them gave inspiration 07:59 for others in many different places 08:02 across North America. 08:03 Castle Valley Academy in Utah, 08:07 which is today Daystar Academy. 08:09 Mountain View Academy in British Columbia. 08:15 Oklahoma Academy, 08:17 La Vida Mission School in New Mexico, 08:22 Advent Home Youth Services in Tennessee, 08:27 Weimar Academy and College in California, 08:30 Miracle Meadows School 08:33 and Mountain State Academy in West Virginia. 08:37 Ouachita Hills Academy and College in Arkansas, 08:42 Laurelwood Academy in Oregon, 08:45 and Heritage Academy in Tennessee. 08:48 Today there are at least 20 schools 08:50 across North America that are affiliated with ASI. 09:00 My name is Rose Jewell 09:02 and I just graduated from Harbert Hills Academy. 09:05 Before I went to Harbert Hills Academy 09:07 I was in Public School since there are not 09:09 a lot of Christians in public school 09:11 I started to get caught up in the wrong crowd, 09:14 I was rude and disrespectful 09:15 and I started getting suspended from school 09:17 for getting into fights. 09:19 At the end of my ninth grade year 09:21 my family decided to send me to 09:22 Harbert Hills Academy. 09:23 To Harbert Hills Academy I was very, 09:26 very angry because I didn't want to go to 09:28 some school all the way out 09:29 in the middle of nowhere, 09:31 but despite my begging and pleading 09:32 they send me anyway. 09:33 When I got there I was still caught up 09:36 with some of my all habits, 09:37 so I got suspended again. 09:39 It took me about 7 to 10 months to get used 09:42 to being there. I remember I heard 09:45 on the youth week of spring, 09:47 week of prayer and the pastor was talking about 09:50 his life when he was a teenager 09:53 and how he came to God. 09:56 I realized why he was telling us about his life 09:59 there is somewhere along the way 10:00 I got lost and took my eyes off Jesus, 10:03 and I needed to given my life back to Him. 10:05 The pastor was telling us that one reason 10:09 he thinks teenagers take their eyes off of God 10:11 is because they don't have 10:13 a firm foundation in him in the first place. 10:15 So, they're looking for something to fill them up 10:17 beside and they turn to the world, 10:19 but in all reality the world has 10:21 nothing to offer you. 10:22 If we will commit our lives totally 10:25 and completely to God, 10:26 here's everything we need and more. 10:29 I wanted to have the sure joy and love 10:33 that you can only get from God, 10:35 so I decided to try him for myself, 10:37 since then I can honestly say 10:39 I have no regrets and doing so. 10:41 And I have going to find out that 10:43 if I keep my eyes on Him, 10:44 He will guide my feet every step of the way. 10:48 I have truly been blessings 10:49 I have been at Harbert Hills Academy, 10:51 I have been able to do a lot of different things 10:53 that I have never been able to do 10:54 if I stay in public school. For example, 10:57 I have been able to go on three mission trips; 10:59 one is a Wavelength, Mississippi, New Orleans, 11:02 Louisiana and to Nicaragua. 11:04 I went to Wavelength and to New Orleans 11:07 to help out with the Katrina disaster relief. 11:10 And I went to Nicaragua to have tune 11:14 their radio station that the satellite 11:16 that they setup down there, 11:17 so that the Miskito Indian people 11:19 can hear about God is will. 11:20 And I also participated in health meetings. 11:23 At the end of our trip I realized 11:27 I had learned a lesson from the people 11:28 in Nicaragua because the people down there 11:31 are what we would probably consider 11:33 to be poor, they could work all day 11:35 and only make a few dollars, 11:37 but in spite it all they're still happy. 11:40 And they have learned to like people 11:42 not for what they wear or what they drive 11:44 or what kind of shoes they're wearing because 11:47 they learn to like you for who you are? 11:49 And they told me that we should be more 11:50 like them. Also I have learned to pay 11:54 more attention to the smaller things in life 11:56 like animals, birds even the air we breathe 11:59 'cause we can here today 12:00 and gone tomorrow. 12:01 Being, no Psalms 51:10 to 12 12:06 has taught me that even if you have a bypass 12:08 you can still hold your head high in Jesus, 12:10 in hope for a better tomorrow. 12:12 I thank God, God for creating 12:15 in me a clean heart and renewing the 12:17 right Spirit within me. I also thank God 12:20 for a school like Harbert Hills Academy. 12:29 Happy Sabbath. My experience has prevent 12:34 to be evidence that every story can 12:37 contained a nevertheless. 12:39 I'm Cindy Olteanu 12:40 and as a Ouachita Hills Academy senior 12:43 I can look back over the last few years 12:45 and see how my life has been drastically changed 12:48 by the power of Jesus Christ. 12:49 As a 13 years old freshman at Ouachita Hills 12:52 I found my entire life changing 12:54 as I had previously never been away 12:56 from home for more than a week. 12:58 Being fully independent was very new to me. 13:01 I quickly learned that there were many choices 13:04 to make and lots of responsibilities to take. 13:07 Because I was immature I can honestly say, 13:10 yes I made some bad choices. 13:12 It was only later though as I sat down 13:14 and thought about that year I saw 13:17 how every choice I made either brought 13:19 it's good or bad consequences. 13:21 I was involved in many situations 13:23 that led me down wrong paths; 13:25 I actually remember being determined to break 13:28 every rule in the book. 13:29 It was some sort of gain for me. 13:32 I didn't realize that all that would hurt me, 13:34 hurt those around me and especially hurt 13:36 Jesus who was supposedly my best friend. 13:40 God never gave up on me though, 13:42 I didn't want to listen to Him because 13:44 I was too self-absorbed in my own issues, 13:46 but Christ never stopped working on my wayward 13:49 heard. It took a lot for me to finally 13:51 outgrow all the lies and deceit in order to hear 13:53 God's voice. In fact, 13:55 it took my going home for a year. 13:57 I remember being in the airplane 14:00 on my way home and I heard Him, 14:02 I don't think it was audible, 14:04 but the intensity of it was so strong, 14:06 it might have just well been. 14:08 God told me, 14:09 if I wanted my relationship to work with Him, 14:12 I had to give Him of all; 14:14 I had to give up my whole heart, 14:16 the utmost part of my being. 14:17 As soon as I realized it all my anguish, 14:20 pain, misery and doubt was sucked out of me. 14:23 All that was left inside was peace. 14:26 I finally knew that God was real, 14:28 and that He was in control of my life. 14:31 That summer I was baptized, 14:33 it was one of the hardest times of my life. 14:35 I quickly went back to having all feelings 14:37 of loneliness and at times 14:39 I felt like cast away, 14:40 I had soon forgotten the voice of God, 14:42 but he was still there leading me back 14:44 to Him once again. 14:46 That year I went to public high school 14:48 and I was devastated. 14:50 It was a nightmare as each day 14:52 I witnessed awful things, 14:54 saw corrupted language and saw the 14:56 devil working mighty. 14:58 I didn't realize, but here at public school 15:01 would be where I would hear God's voice 15:02 once again. I actually remember wishing 15:05 that I could sing scripture songs 15:06 with my friends. I remember longing that 15:08 the teachers could just pull me aside 15:10 to encourage and pray with me. 15:12 I actually remember wishing for more rules, 15:15 yes God was leading and He led me back 15:18 to Ouachita Hills where everyday 15:20 I'm encouraged to grow more and more 15:22 to the likeness of Jesus. 15:23 OHA provides me with an atmosphere 15:26 where God can refine my character through 15:28 activities such as choir, school and work. 15:31 I have been able to win this for Jesus 15:33 as I sing in the train choir and participate 15:36 on the many overseas mission trips. 15:37 I wanna be a missionary and OHA 15:40 has given me many opportunities 15:41 to see exactly what missionary life is like. 15:44 As I said in the beginning each story 15:48 can contained a nevertheless. 15:49 I think of the many Bible characters, 15:52 who are faced with hopeless situations? 15:54 Nevertheless, God intervene 15:56 and let them in the right way. 15:57 Remember Joseph the guy that was rejected 16:00 by his family, jail by his employer 16:02 and look like a failure, 16:04 yes his circumstances were grim, 16:06 nevertheless God made him 16:08 Prime Minister of Egypt. 16:09 What about the five time divorce? 16:12 The Samaritan woman who men 16:14 discouraged and Christ disciple, 16:15 she became Jesus' first missionary 16:21 then there is David. 16:22 He was least of eight brothers; 16:23 nevertheless God made him King of Israel. 16:26 As King he committed the double crime 16:29 of adultery and murder, 16:30 nevertheless God forgave King David 16:33 and used him to bring the nation back to God. 16:35 We all needed nevertheless 16:37 we have done in our lives 16:38 and the good news is that God has 16:41 plenty to go around. 16:42 I know I didn't appreciate what God had to offer; 16:45 nevertheless He opened my eyes 16:47 to blessings unknown. 16:48 I was focused in on myself; 16:51 nevertheless Jesus lifted my view to the Christ. 16:54 Today there are times I still fall, 16:57 nevertheless Christ always picks me up. 17:01 Joseph was in prison in Egypt, 17:03 the Samaritan woman was married five times, 17:06 Jesus was dead in the grave, 17:08 nevertheless Joseph ruled, 17:10 the Samaritan woman shared 17:11 and Jesus rose again. 17:13 And you, you fill in the blank 17:16 just as God added, 17:17 nevertheless in my life 17:19 your nevertheless is waiting to be a part 17:22 of your story. Amen. 17:33 With me and Sam Miller, 17:35 he is on the staff of Heritage Academy 17:37 and teaches history, math. 17:39 And he has just recently assumed 17:40 responsibility for the bakery. 17:42 And I just wanted to find out 17:45 how long have you been at Heritage Academy, Sam? 17:47 Well, I have actually been there one year, 17:49 last year was my wife and I was first year. 17:52 Just one year, so have you been 17:54 just kind of loafing for the last ten years 17:56 or where you employed somewhere else? 17:58 No, actually I had a different occupation. 18:00 I had been a professional pilot for 15 years, 18:04 I had worked for cargo airlines, 18:05 passage airlines and then the last five years 18:08 of that career was I was a chief pilot 18:11 of a large company in Cincinnati, Ohio. 18:14 Now, that sounds rather intriguing and I, 18:16 I bet all of us would like to understand, 18:19 what is it take, what is it mean for someone 18:22 to be staff at a self supporting school? 18:25 It intrigues me that you are part of corporate 18:27 America sort to speak, fly around. 18:29 Tell me what that was like and how did you, 18:31 the journey started, 18:33 so that you ended up at Heritage Academy? 18:34 Well, it was very different. 18:36 I need to back up a little bit. 18:38 I have, I didn't grow up in Adventist Academy, 18:43 I didn't grow up in a Christian school, 18:46 I'm a product of the public education. 18:49 I've only been an Adventist for five years 18:53 and along the way I started hearing 18:57 testimonies and they started to touch my heart. 18:59 And I started ask myself what have you done? 19:04 Well I, you know I, 19:05 I did grow up in a Christian home and so, 19:08 I did carry my Bible and the cockpit 19:10 and the did give, I did, I did enjoy the, 19:14 the theological discussions 19:17 and different things, but what I had done, 19:20 and I talked to my wife one night and I said, 19:25 I don't think I'm supposed to be 19:28 where we are right now. 19:30 And she said, well where do you think 19:31 you should be us? And I have no idea. 19:33 But then doors just started opening. 19:35 Well, we are gonna go walk through 19:37 some of those doors, 19:38 but I wanna back up a little bit 19:39 because you know, these are bunch of ASIs 19:42 are here and we believe in sharing Christ 19:43 in the marketplace. And that seem like the 19:45 perfect marketplace for you to share Christ. 19:48 Why did you feel uphold to maybe move 19:50 into a different location when that was 19:52 maybe a perfect place to share 19:54 and witness with others. It was a pull from within, 19:57 it wasn't something that I wanted to do, 20:00 I mean I, like I said I was corporate chief pilot 20:05 flying jet all over the place with my hair 20:07 on fire. I mean it was, 20:08 it was a good job. And a lot of people 20:12 when I made the decision to, 20:13 to move to Heritage, 20:15 I don't know they, 20:17 they may still have their jaws on the ground 20:19 up there in Cincinnati, Ohio. 20:20 Well, tell us about some of those doors 20:23 that were opening since you didn't really know 20:25 where you wanted to go and which you wanted 20:26 to be and you obviously didn't fly 20:28 over Heritage Academy 20:30 say that looks like a good place. 20:31 What made you, you know, 20:33 what started the ball rolling? 20:34 Well, I had a discussion with my wife 20:36 one night and she asked, if it, 20:38 if it's not aviation what would you want to do? 20:41 And I said, well I always enjoyed teaching, 20:43 I have done in the past and, 20:44 and I said, but that can't happen. 20:48 And she said, well if he could, 20:50 what would you want to teach? 20:51 And I said, well I love history 20:55 and that would be about the only thing they were, 20:56 they were give me that. 20:57 And about a week later someone 21:02 came to my wife and said, 21:03 you know there is a school of course 21:05 she did not share this conversation 21:07 with anybody. She said, 21:08 there is a school 21:09 that's looking for a history teacher. 21:12 And so, God open that door within a week 21:15 right down to the exact subject that I mention. 21:18 And as I would make excuses he would, 21:22 he would answer those excuses, 21:23 he would take them away. 21:24 And as everybody here probably knows 21:27 you can only come up with so many excuses 21:30 until you just have to follow God. 21:32 So you ended up at Heritage Academy 21:36 teaching a subject that you kind of 21:37 pull out of Heritage something that you felt 21:39 would be interesting that you would like to do, 21:41 and a few other things 21:42 you are doing at Heritage. 21:43 What has had been like to be working at 21:46 Heritage Academy, something very different 21:48 from what you have did before. 21:50 It has been nothing but a blessing. 21:52 It's so interesting because 21:54 when people ask me, 21:56 what I do for a for a living? 21:57 I don't tell them I teach, 21:58 I tell them that I train missionaries 22:00 and that's really what we do there. 22:02 Missionaries do need to have academics 22:05 along with other things. 22:06 The one thing I have learned in self-supportive 22:09 work is that you cannot set your heart 22:12 on the mission, you just have to set your heart 22:15 on God and He finds you the missions. 22:17 I went there to teach history, 22:19 the first day of school I was told 22:21 I was also going to teach one of the math classes 22:23 and then this year I'm taking over the bakery, 22:26 but God also has other things in store 22:29 that were working on. 22:30 Now, if there were people here 22:32 that were wondering what it would be like 22:33 and you needed to give some advice 22:35 or recommendation this is, 22:37 this is what you might be intriguing, 22:38 what kind of benefits might you offer to this, 22:41 these people here about working 22:44 at a self-supporting institution. 22:46 What benefits, it is so fulfilling. 22:51 It is, there is nothing like the walk 22:55 that you can experience with God. 22:57 And there is nothing like being 23:00 in the mission field. Like I said, 23:02 I got there because of testimonies 23:04 from other people, I got there because 23:06 other people were saying you know, 23:08 I just said, God I'm willing, 23:10 where do you want me? 23:11 And they went and then they share their 23:13 testimony and I had to, 23:15 I had to assess my life and say, 23:16 what have I really done? 23:18 I have a lot of catching up to do. 23:21 So, leaving corporate and going to a self-supporting 23:24 school obviously the paycheck's probably 23:26 just a little different. Yeah, yeah. 23:28 And so, the benefits have be really very 23:30 rewarding to make up for that kind of a change. 23:33 Yeah it's, it's very interesting because 23:35 about a week after I had been hired at Heritage, 23:38 someone from outside came to our administration 23:42 and said, you know, Heritage is a very 23:44 intriguing school they can, 23:45 they can do some of the incredible innovative 23:47 things, have you ever thought of having 23:49 an aviation program at your school 23:51 and our administration just got 23:53 a big grain and said, 23:54 you're not gonna believe this, 23:55 but we just hired a history teacher 23:57 and they like, so. Well, 23:59 he is coming from you know, aviation. 24:01 And so, it was approach to me 24:06 and the first thing I thought was okay, 24:09 I had set my heart on teaching history 24:11 and I thought if I wanted to be an aviation 24:14 I would have stayed with the salary 24:16 instead of stipend. But then I realized 24:19 I'm gonna be training missionaries. 24:21 I'm not in aviation, I'm in the business 24:24 of training missionaries and wherever God 24:26 needs me to teach that's what I'm gonna do. 24:29 Amen. Sam, thank you, very much 24:31 for sharing with us this afternoon. 24:32 You're welcome thanks Debbie. 24:42 This afternoon we have seen by the testimonies 24:44 of young and old. How their lives have been 24:47 changed and enriched through the 24:49 educational ministries of ASI. 24:51 And through their lives we see the past 24:54 and anticipate the future benefits 24:56 of self-supporting educational ministries. 24:59 By following the counsel and direction 25:01 that we have been given concerning proper 25:04 education. Our self supporting schools are 25:07 and will continue to be centers that lead 25:10 young people to their Savior, 25:11 equip them for service and duty, 25:14 and provide them with opportunities 25:16 for evangelism. And as a result we trust 25:20 that many souls will be in the Kingdom of Heaven. 25:22 With God servant we declare 25:26 we have an army of youth today 25:28 who can do much, if they are properly 25:31 directed and encouraged. 25:32 Let all be so trained that they may 25:35 rightly represent the truth, 25:37 given the reason of the hope 25:39 that is within them and honoring God 25:41 in any branch of the work 25:43 where they are qualified to labor. 26:05 be joyful of Christ who receive. 26:10 All praise to God our heavenly Father, 26:13 be joyful of Christ who receive. 26:17 Without any question that the joy within my 26:22 recognition in between. All praise to God 26:27 our heavenly Father, be joyful 26:31 of Christ who receive. 26:33 We all will worship and adore him 26:37 our Savior Christ who set me free 26:41 All praise to God our heavenly Father, 26:45 be joyful of Christ who receive. 26:51 O Lord my Savior, your kindness runs forever. 26:57 I know, your love will let me just free. 27:02 O Lord my Savior, your kindness runs forever. 27:08 I know, your love will let me just free. 27:13 Sure and kind and true by the cost on earth. 27:19 I love you, my Lord, I'll ever in you believe. 27:24 O Lord my Savior, your kindness runs forever. 27:30 I know, your love will let me just free. 27:35 Sure and kind and true by cause on ever. 27:41 To you my Lord I love everything with thee. 27:46 O Lord my Savior, your kindness runs forever. 27:52 I know, your love will let me just free. 27:58 All praise to God our heavenly Father, 28:01 be joyful of Christ who receive. 28:05 All praise to God our heavenly Father, 28:09 be joyful of Christ who receive. 28:13 We all will worship and adore him 28:17 our Savior Christ who set me free. 28:21 All praise to God our heavenly Father, 28:25 be joyful of Christ who receive. 28:29 We all will worship and adore him 28:33 our Savior Christ who set me free. 28:36 All praise to God our heavenly Father, 28:40 be joyful of Christ who receive. 29:14 Holy is He and great is His glory 29:29 Holy is He and worthy of our praise 29:39 I stand in His presence amazed 29:45 And crown Him with worship and praise 29:50 Holy is He, Holy is He, Holy is He. 30:12 Who pardons my iniquities? 30:14 Who heals me from within? 30:17 Who lifts my fallen life 30:18 And sets me on my feet again? 30:22 Who hears me like a Shepherd 30:24 When I've gone astray? 30:27 My Lord, my God, my Jesus, 30:32 The One I praise today! 30:40 Holy is He and great is His glory 30:52 Holy is He and worthy of our praise 31:01 I stand in His presence amazed 31:06 And crown Him with worship and praise 31:10 Holy is He, Holy is He, Holy is He. 31:26 Who hears me in my loneliness? 31:29 Who finds me when I hide? 31:31 Who knocks outside my broken heart 31:33 'Til I let Him inside? 31:36 Whose life deserves the honor 31:38 Laid before His throne? 31:41 My Lord, my God, my Jesus, 31:45 My Savior and my Own! 31:53 Holy is He and great is His glory 32:04 Holy is He and worthy of our praise 32:13 I stand in His presence amazed 32:18 And crown Him with worship and praise 32:23 Holy is He, Holy is He, Holy is He. 32:41 Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty 32:54 All Thy works shall praise Thy Name 32:58 In earth and sky and sea 33:04 Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty, 33:14 God in three Persons, Blessed Trinity! 33:26 Holy is He and great is His glory 33:37 Holy is He and worthy of our praise 33:46 I stand in His presence amazed 33:51 And crown Him with worship and praise 33:56 Holy is He, Holy is He, Holy is He! 34:14 Amen. Holy. Amen. Amen, amen. 34:38 Steve that was just wonderful you know, 34:40 I would just love for us to give another 34:42 rousing amen as our choir leaves the stage. 34:46 Thank you so much. Amen, thank you so much. 34:50 What a blessing to have these young 34:51 people here with us today. Debbie, 34:52 have you learned anything about 34:54 self-supporting work today. You know, 34:55 what I've learned Steve? I have learned that we 34:57 can serve God in so many ways, 34:59 and so many places. And that in self-supporting 35:02 school and self-supporting ministry, 35:04 there is no better way than to teach our 35:06 young people to love God, to serve Him. 35:09 And that the impact will be far 35:11 reaching and everlasting thing. 35:13 Amen, we want to learn one more thing 35:16 here today Debbie. And maybe even 35:20 instruct ourselves, we want to take this 35:22 opportunity and what we want to do is we 35:25 want to invite everyone in this audience 35:28 who has either attended one of our 35:31 self-supporting schools, has a child who is 35:35 attending one of our self-supporting schools 35:38 or who has been a staff at one of our 35:39 self-supporting schools to stand. 35:41 We just want to see the impact in this audience. 35:46 Can you believe that Debbie? Amen, 35:48 amen. Can you believe it? Isn't that 35:51 absolutely amazing? 35:54 Well, this has been a 35:55 true blessing. Thank you, thank you so much, 35:57 thank you so much friends. 35:59 And we hope that you today will take 36:01 some of these blessing with you, 36:03 we see the future of ASI in these 36:05 young people, isn't exciting that 36:07 we can leave in a good hands? 36:09 It is exciting and you know, 36:10 the future has begun today. 36:12 Amen. Because our youth are today's 36:15 Church and they are carrying a message we 36:17 have heard what they are doing and we are 36:18 so thrilled that they are following in the 36:20 footsteps of Jesus to take light, 36:22 His lights to a darkened world. 36:24 Thank you, Debbie. 41:07 Good afternoon. Haven't we have been, 41:10 been blessed with the experiences 41:13 and the stories and the sharing by 41:14 our young people? Amen. You know, 41:17 I believe that the training and sharing, 41:19 our young people are experiencing 41:22 are preparing them for a lifetime 41:24 or productive service for the Lord's work. 41:28 The emphasis ASI started placing on youth 41:32 program several years ago including 41:35 youth for Jesus along with other 41:37 educational programs are now 41:40 paying rich dividends. You know, 41:42 Ann Googe, daughter of Roger Googe, 41:45 past President reminded me before we came 41:47 on that ASI has kind of come full circle. 41:52 ASI had roots with Madison leadership, 41:55 educational institution and now we're coming 41:58 back to some of the same training. 42:04 From everything we have heard these 42:05 past few days I'm convinced all of us 42:09 regardless of our age whether we are black, 42:13 gray haired, bald, whatever 42:16 can have an active part in sharing the good 42:19 news of we are committed and willing 42:22 to work for the Lord, amen. Amen. 42:25 And you know I never cease to be amazed 42:28 that the timing of Holy Spirit many 42:31 times our schedules, our plans are completely 42:35 out of sync with the Lord's. However, 42:39 if we are willing to allow the Lord's 42:41 influence in our plans He will create 42:46 the opportunities for us at the right time. 42:50 Today I'm excited to share with you some 42:52 good news made possible, 42:55 I sincerely believe because the Lord has 42:58 led to date in the process. 43:02 Sometime ago ASI leadership formed the 43:05 board to recognize a new lay soul 43:09 training institute, soul winning 43:13 training institute. The members of the 43:16 board have been working diligently 43:18 to this end. Today we're 43:21 prepared to share initial information 43:24 regarding this project, but before I get 43:27 ahead of myself regarding life, 43:30 lay institute for evangelism I have 43:33 asked Elder Hal Thompson, secretary of the 43:36 life board to give us the early history 43:41 of this story, Elder Thompson. 43:45 Just about the time ASI was reaching 43:48 its teenage years I walked on to the 43:51 campus of Auburn Adventist Academy 43:53 as a new student. It wasn't long till I 43:56 became acquainted with the several of 43:58 the students and one of those are very 44:00 spirited fun loving guy name Larry Charlie 44:04 was a fellow that we all wanted to be around. 44:08 Naturally we went on from the academy 44:09 to Walla Walla College, Larry escapades at 44:13 Walla Walla led the administration of the 44:16 college to conclude that his career at 44:19 Walla Walla needed to come to a close 44:21 without the benefit of a diploma. 44:27 Larry became pretty involved in business as 44:29 he left Walla Walla College and with that 44:33 intense interest in business, 44:36 his connection with the Adventist Church 44:37 grew cold. And his estate grew larger. 44:44 Some 30 years past and Larry's estate 44:48 was quite sizable and something attracted 44:52 his attention to attend an evangelistic series 44:57 in the Adventist Church. As he listened, 45:01 the goodness of God warmed his heart 45:03 and he was re-baptized. With the assurance 45:07 of God's grace working in his heart to 45:09 gain the sense of forgiveness 45:12 and transformation and he soon wanted 45:15 everybody to know the story of Jesus. 45:18 It was about this time that he became 45:20 acquainted with Louie Torres and is that 45:25 acquaintance grew he became convinced 45:29 to what could happen, if all the members of 45:31 our Church were busy telling the story 45:34 of Jesus and knew how to break, 45:36 get decisions for Christ and bring people 45:39 into the fellowship of the Seventh-day 45:41 Adventist Church. He went to see his attorney, 45:45 revised his estate plan and placed into 45:49 his estate plan a major gift to ASI for the 45:54 purpose of establishing a training institute 45:58 for lay people in the City of Orlando, 46:01 Florida. Not long after that cancer won 46:07 the victory temporarily in Larry's life 46:12 and he died in the hope of Jesus returned. 46:16 Over the past two years as Ray has said, 46:19 we've been busy planning carefully, 46:22 putting together the plan for the life 46:25 training institute and it's a pleasure to be 46:28 able to introduce that to you today. 46:32 Thank you, Elder Thompson. 46:35 The Life Board a few days ago extended 46:39 an invitation to Ken Norton to serve his 46:41 director of life, Ken was working 46:45 for the Florida Conference and Church 46:47 planting and I'm delighted to report 46:50 that Ken and his wife Julie have accepted 46:53 the call and have joined the life team. 46:56 Ken, come share with us about Life? 47:01 Before I do that Ray, I wanna share a 47:03 couple of statistics. In the North American 47:06 Division there are roughly 6000 Churches, 47:10 Seventh-day Adventist Churches, 47:12 of those 6000 Seventh-day Adventist Churches, 47:14 1000 of them have no regularly attending 47:17 children or children's programming. 47:21 We found out recently from Don Snyder 47:23 and he send an, an email to us down in 47:25 Florida Conference. That the average 47:27 age of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 47:29 member is 58. Now, those two couple 47:33 together for a Church planning coordinator 47:35 a little bit startling, but I want to share 47:38 with you something else as we brought 47:39 now outside of the stats for the Seventh-day 47:41 Adventist Church. I wanna share with 47:42 you a little bit about what's going on 47:44 in Christianity in North America. In 2004, 47:49 there was, there was research 47:50 done on the ground in many Churches, 47:54 oh! Actually over 200,000 Churches. 47:57 Now, listen carefully out of 3098 counties 48:01 that are in the US, 2303 of those counties 48:06 reported a decline in Church attendance. 48:10 That's roughly 75% of Churches in the 48:13 United States that reported that they had 48:15 less people coming at the end of the year 48:17 than the beginning. Amen. The stats show 48:22 that the trend if continues, 48:24 if it continues to go on by 2050, 48:27 there were only be roughly 10% of Americans 48:30 that are going to Church, when right now 48:32 there's about 20. As I have looked at 48:35 all these things in my own heart I can 48:37 tell you God has put a vision, 48:40 I call it a renewed vision, 48:42 it's not a new vision, it's the same vision 48:44 the Apostles had. They cause them 48:46 to be pounded across and turned upside down, 48:50 when, when they died? It's, 48:51 it's a vision just like Chester talked about 48:53 this morning, and when our early 48:55 pioneers that they would, 48:56 they would give up so much to get 48:58 the truth out. I first and foremost 49:02 I wanna tell you that I want Life Training 49:04 Center to be connected with up at the forefront 49:08 as a reeducation institute, 49:11 if you want to say, joining along with 49:12 a rise, joining along with Amazing Facts, 49:15 with Mission College with or other training 49:17 institutes to get the vision back into our 49:20 hearts of Seventh-day Adventist. 49:21 That's first and foremost on my mind. 49:24 Okay, how do you plan to bring 49:27 this renewed vision back? 49:30 I think we need a strategy. 49:34 My wife and I've spent several years both 49:36 serving in Thailand as missionaries 49:38 and also on the Island of Palau in Micronesia. 49:41 And you know, when you're driving 49:42 through the rise fields of, 49:43 of Thailand and you are looking off 49:45 and you are seeing these different villages, 49:47 I began to ask myself how are we 49:49 aew gonna practically reach that village 49:51 right there? How are we gonna 49:53 practically reach that one? 49:54 And then when I start to looking at my 49:55 Micronesian realize that there are more 49:58 islands in Micronesia that are 50:00 un-entered then they are un-entered, 50:02 what's our plan? And when I got 50:04 back to the state it was, it's been six months 50:06 since we came back from Palau. 50:07 And as, as Church planning coordinator 50:10 as I started to look at North America 50:12 I realized there are thousands and 50:14 thousands of, of communities that 50:17 don't have an SDA presence. 50:19 There are thousands that are exactly like 50:21 Frankfort, which last night 50:25 Lisa told about the youth for Jesus going 50:26 into the Frankfort. There are, there were 50:27 six believers there. And so, I see Life 50:30 Training Center and helping those six 50:33 believers and, and many other lay 50:35 people out there that want to not only 50:37 revive their little groups, 50:39 but reach out to their neighbors. 50:40 And I'm, I'm gonna share with you 50:41 practically how, how I think we can do that? 50:43 Okay, how we are gonna do the training? 50:45 Well let me, let, let me tell you something 50:47 interesting is, is many of you 50:48 have come by the both that we have setup 50:50 there in the hall. I keep hearing over 50:53 and over again we want online training. 50:56 Many of you want to do something in 50:58 your communities, but it's difficult when 51:00 you can't go spend a month or two month 51:02 or the two months or three months at a 51:03 training institute. So, we're gonna work 51:05 both by doing online and onside. 51:09 And here, here's a very simple overview. 51:11 Alright. We have three tracks, 51:13 we are gonna do health training 51:14 and Health Evangelism, training in Public 51:16 Evangelism, training in Relational Evangelism. 51:20 I found in my ministry that those three 51:23 are a perfect package for helping believers 51:26 to become disciples. Health evangelism 51:29 is what? The entering wedge, right? 51:31 Public Evangelism, the proclamation of truth, 51:34 the, the Relational Evangelism is something 51:36 that I found sometimes we have been on weak on, 51:38 we are having, I, I just held an 51:39 evangelistic series in Palau before I 51:42 came back here. And it's difficult after 51:44 you have baptized and do not have a 51:45 structure in place to really make them 51:48 disciples of Jesus Christ without them going 51:50 out at the back door. So, we want to rely 51:52 heavily on that Relational Evangelism 51:55 which will be our Bible worker program. 51:57 And that's what we will train Bible workers. 51:59 And, and when they are finish their 52:00 year they will not only have training, 52:03 but they will have experience and 52:05 when they are finish that year they will 52:07 be available for youth for Jesus, 52:08 they will be able for many conferences that 52:10 are looking for Bible workers and they 52:12 will have in their pocket, 52:13 not only the training, but the experience. 52:15 And I'm excited about that. 52:16 Let me say one other thing about the online. 52:18 Alright. The online is that for those 52:20 of you that can't go spend your time at a, 52:23 at a place for several months, 52:25 we wanna be able to help you create 52:27 a strategy in your communities. 52:30 I found in Florida there are many, 52:32 many Church members that they want to 52:34 do something powerful for God, 52:35 but they don't have the skills and they 52:37 don't have the support structure 52:38 to do that. Life Training Center 52:40 will be there to help you do that. 52:42 Okay, anything else Ken, 52:45 you would like to share with us? 52:48 I guess just one last thing, 52:50 Paul says in Second Corinthians chapter 52:52 5 verse 14, he says: For the love of Christ 52:56 compels us for we judge thus, 52:59 Paul says we understand this that, 53:02 if one died for all, then all died. 53:06 And if died for all then those who now 53:08 live should no longer live for themselves. 53:12 That's our motto for, for Life Training Center 53:15 and I encourage all of you as lay members to, 53:19 to rise up and grab hold of Palau. 53:21 Let's get this thing done; 53:23 so that Jesus can come because I truly 53:25 believe until someone goes somewhere, 53:28 no one is going anywhere. 53:30 We've got to get it done, 53:31 so come experience life God bless you. 53:34 Amen. ASI family we want to be sure that 53:37 we all understand that Life is being birth 53:41 by ASI through a generous donation. 53:45 We need your support, we need your prayers 53:49 as we go forward, so that our program 53:52 can be affective and supporting ASI 53:55 and outreach both here in our mission country 53:59 called the United States as well as 54:01 around the world. And we solicit your 54:03 prayers and supports, thank you. 54:25 Go reach the world, touch one more soul 54:31 Bring one more lamb back to the fold. 54:37 Each soul another flag unfurled. 54:42 Each voice another chance to reach the world 54:59 It all starts with just one voice 55:06 That takes a stand that makes a choice 55:12 To live for God and not hesitate 55:19 To tell the world about amazing grace. 55:30 One day that seed somehow breaks through, 55:37 Where there was one, there now stands two. 55:44 And soon another takes his hand 55:51 A ray of hope that spreads across the land. 56:02 Across the mountains, across the sea, 56:08 Soon others join in harmony. 56:16 They found the cross still standing strong 56:22 And soon a mighty chorus sings along. 56:29 Go reach the world, touch one more soul 56:36 Bring one more lamb back to the fold. 56:43 Each soul another flag unfurled. 56:50 Each voice another chance to reach the world. 57:05 Don't let me pray, Lord for wealth or fame 57:12 A spark that sets the world a flame. 57:18 But help me reach the lost and alone, 57:26 To tell of joy and hope where hope is gone, 57:32 Where hope is gone. 57:36 Go reach the world, touch one more soul 57:44 Bring one more lamb back to the fold. 57:51 Each soul another flag unfurled. 57:58 Each voice another chance to reach the world. 58:08 Go reach the world, 58:15 Bring one more lamb back to the fold. 58:22 Each soul another flag unfurled. 58:29 Each voice another chance to reach the world. 58:36 Each voice another chance to reach the world. 59:01 Reach the world, reach the world. |
Revised 2014-12-17