Participants:
Series Code: ASIC
Program Code: ASIC000010A
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00:21 Good evening, ASI family.
00:24 We've been inspired 00:26 as we've heard that we are Called, 00:28 Chosen, and Committed 00:30 but I was thinking of the words of Jesus, 00:32 He said, "Many are called but few are..." 00:35 And I wonder why that was the case 00:38 and then I realized that not everyone responds to the call. 00:44 Tonight, we're going to be challenged by the Word of God 00:47 and I'm thankful that we can not only say, 00:50 "Lord, I accept the call to be chosen 00:54 but by Your grace and the power of Your Spirit 00:57 I want to be committed." 00:58 So whether you're joining us 01:00 via television, internet, or here in Houston, Texas, 01:03 let's open our hearts to the Spirit of God 01:06 and be blessed. 01:07 What do you say? Amen. 01:10 Let's stand for prayer 01:14 and let's bow our heads and worship together. 01:18 Dear Father in heaven, 01:19 we thank You so much for our family here, 01:23 each one of us. 01:24 And we want to praise You together and thank You. 01:27 You're such an awesome God, 01:29 and You fill our hearts with Your unfailing love, 01:33 and we bless Your name. 01:36 And we just pray that now 01:38 as we are coming close to the Sabbath 01:40 that we can release all the things 01:43 that bind us to this earth, 01:45 which include our anxieties, and concerns, and cares, 01:49 and just draw us heavenward through Your Spirit. 01:52 Open our hearts to receive Your Word 01:55 and I pray for our speaker tonight 01:57 that he would be filled with Your Spirit 01:59 and we would be blessed to be in Your presence. 02:02 In Jesus' name, amen. 02:10 Kyle, we've been working 02:12 with the North American division, 02:13 we've been trying to figure out 02:15 how we can work more effectively together. 02:18 That's right. 02:19 This entire week we've been talking about 02:21 how the work of God on this earth won't be finished 02:23 until lay people join hands with the church 02:26 to finish the work. 02:27 And ASI is actually 02:29 a part of the North American division, Steve. 02:30 Amen. 02:32 We're a part of our church, 02:33 and we're here to support our church, 02:35 and to work together to finish the work. 02:37 So one of the initiatives that's happening 02:39 across the North American division right now 02:42 is a church planting initiative. 02:44 We have with us tonight Elder Jose Cortez 02:48 who is our director of... ministerial director. 02:52 How many churches have been planted 02:54 in the North American division in the last year? 02:58 Last year for the glory of God, 03:00 we had the opportunity to see 03:01 250 new church plants right here in North America. 03:06 Praise God. And that is a blessing. 03:07 Wow, that's amazing, 03:09 250 new churches in the North American division. 03:11 And this year up to this month 03:13 we have over 100 new churches this year in North America. 03:16 So between last year and this year 350. 03:19 That is a great thing. Okay. 03:20 But let me ask you a question, 03:22 how many churches do we need to plant... 03:24 Well, no, how many churches 03:25 we have in the North American division first of all? 03:26 Between churches, companies, and groups 03:29 we have about 6,700 right now 03:32 in the North American divisions and that is great. 03:33 Six thousand seven hundred? 03:35 Going towards 7,000. 03:36 That is correct. That is pretty amazing. 03:38 How many do we need to get a church 03:39 in every town of the North American division? 03:42 You see, Steve, in order to make sure that we have 03:45 that every person living in North America 03:47 has access to the gospel through an Adventist church, 03:50 we would need to have one church 03:52 for every 25,000 people. 03:54 That would be above 40,000. That's a big church. 03:56 That would be above 40,000, 03:58 no, no, one church for every 25,000 people in the community. 04:02 Well, I think we should convert them all though. 04:04 I think we should but we would need right now 14,000 churches. 04:09 Fourteen thousand, we only have seven. 04:11 We only have seven, so we have long ways to go. 04:13 That's why we need to work together. 04:15 Amen, amen. 04:16 Well, anyway, we're working on this, 04:18 we're talking about how we can be more effective. 04:19 Elder Jackson, tell us what do we, 04:21 you know, what do we really need to focus on here? 04:24 You know the reality is and all of us are aware of it 04:28 that Jesus is coming soon. 04:30 Amen. 04:31 That the work won't be finished for any of us 04:35 until it's finished by all of us. 04:37 Amen. 04:38 And the time has come for us 04:39 and I appreciate the invitation, 04:41 I appreciate being here. 04:44 But there's a reality that goes like this, 04:46 every one of us sitting in this auditorium tonight, 04:48 and there may be some guests and praise God for that, 04:51 we are all members 04:52 of the Seventh-day Adventist church. 04:54 We are all a part of the remnant church 04:57 God's movement in these last days 05:00 and we must pull together. 05:04 That's what God's ideal is for us. 05:06 Amen. Amen. 05:07 So as we move to the future, 05:10 we are working in a coordinated way 05:13 and we hope to return to you ASI family 05:16 with some very real plans that will include real places 05:20 where they need Seventh-day Adventist churches 05:22 and real people that will go there 05:25 and help to establish 05:26 Seventh-day Adventist churches in these towns 05:28 across the United States of America, 05:30 so that everyone in North America 05:33 can have access to a Seventh-day Adventist church. 05:36 Ellen White told us plainly 05:38 that our witness should be lifted up 05:41 in every town and city. 05:44 We need to work together to plant churches 05:46 in areas where there are none today. 05:49 God will be honored 05:50 and we will fulfill His dream and His mission. 05:53 Amen. Thank you ASI family. 05:58 It was 16 years ago, 16 years ago this summer 06:02 that I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. 06:04 Interestingly enough a month later, 06:05 I wound up for my very first ASI Convention 06:08 in Sacramento, California. 06:11 And to be so inspired to see what church members 06:14 are doing to further the mission of Jesus. 06:16 I believe the power for that mission 06:19 is only found in a personal connection with Jesus Christ. 06:23 I'm here with my friends Bob and Audrey Folkenberg. 06:25 Now you're no strangers to the ASI family, 06:28 but tell us for those who may be here for the first time, 06:30 what you folks have been doing for the last five years? 06:38 For the last five years, 06:40 the Lord has called us back to work in China 06:42 with our over 4,000 churches 06:44 to preach the good news of Jesus Christ 06:47 to the 1.4 billion people living there. 06:51 One point four billion people, 06:52 I can't imagine the challenges that presents. 06:55 Can you tell us a little bit about 06:56 what that looks like practically? 06:58 Well, humanism, secularism 07:02 are just growing threats to society 07:05 but also the church. 07:06 And so you see a church that's growing, 07:09 we also see a church 07:10 that is facing these in their witness 07:12 as well as even in their heart and soul. 07:15 So what are the great needs that we have in the church 07:17 is developing new methods to reach 07:19 this kind of people in China 07:21 as well as to pray for revival in our own churches in China. 07:25 Now, Audrey, you are Prayer Ministries director 07:29 for the entire country 07:31 and you've taken the ten days of prayer initiative 07:33 that the General Conference 07:34 Prayer Ministries Department produces 07:36 and you've adapted that to the context in China. 07:39 Can you tell us a little bit about what you did? 07:42 Sure, it's exciting what God is doing with the material 07:45 that's been made available to us. 07:47 For 2014 we took all the material 07:50 and we translated it into a simplified 07:52 and traditional Chinese characters, 07:54 and we put it on websites across China 07:56 as well as sent it out through our leaders in the office, 07:59 to the leaders across China. 08:01 Then in 2015 and 2016, we did a little different, 08:05 we said, "Hey, not only are we going to make it available, 08:08 encourage it across our territory 08:10 but we're also going to utilize it in our office." 08:14 So with all the traveling that's done, 08:17 I approached our administrative team 08:18 and I said, "Could we have a one week moratorium." 08:22 Travel moratorium in January. 08:24 And we had it, we had a week of prayer 08:27 and we used the 10 Days of Prayer material 08:29 in 2015 and 2016 08:31 for our office week of prayer. 08:32 And it was such a blessing 08:34 every day, morning and afternoon to meet. 08:37 Twenty seventeen, for this year we bumped up 08:39 our game a little bit as we got around the table 08:41 and I was reviewing the material, 08:43 it occurred to me that packaging is everything. 08:47 So we took the material for 10 Days of Prayer 08:50 and put it into a booklet form, 08:52 and all across China this was sent 08:55 almost 48,000 copies 08:57 which is kind of a drop in the bucket. 08:59 That's what our goal is going to be about 400,000 next year. 09:02 But we issued this and we sent it across China 09:05 in addition to using it in the office, 09:08 they used it across China and fell in love with it. 09:10 Amen. 09:11 So Bob is Mission President, 09:13 you're hearing reports 09:14 of what 10 Days of Prayer 09:15 is doing all across the country. 09:17 Can you share with us just a little bit tonight? 09:19 Just a few weeks ago, 09:20 we brought the leaders of China together for a meeting 09:23 and we invited them to share 09:24 what God was doing in each of their territories 09:27 and unprompted in any way, 09:29 probably two-thirds of them begin to say, 09:32 they began their reports by saying, 09:34 "Let us tell you about the 10 Days of Prayer 09:36 and what a difference it has made in our church life." 09:39 They use it in small groups, 09:41 they use it in their house churches, 09:42 they use it in their leadership teams. 09:44 Even one pastor in the island of Hainan said 09:48 that somehow another pastor 09:50 of another denomination got a hold of it, 09:52 came to them and said, 09:53 "Can we order a 100 copies of this for our church?" 09:56 Amen. 09:58 Seventh-day Adventists this evening, 09:59 do you need power in your life, in your congregations. 10:02 This is not about a program, 10:04 this is not about performing a ritual, 10:07 this is about connecting person to Lord Jesus 10:09 and experiencing His power flowing through us 10:11 into our ministries to reach the world before Jesus comes. 10:15 Wanna invite you to visit 10daysofprayer.org. 10:18 Sign up your church 10:19 and don't miss the opportunity 10:21 to pray with Seventh-day Adventists 10:22 all over the world this coming January. 10:24 God bless you. 10:27 Few weeks ago, I had a very interesting experience. 10:32 In Taiwan, I was eating with one of the pastors. 10:36 While we were eating, he took out his smart phone 10:39 and he showed me some pictures 10:42 and he said, "I baptized this person last week." 10:45 And then he showed the other person, 10:47 "I baptized this person and that person." 10:50 And in fact, he said, he has 70 names in his smart phone 10:54 and he's praying for them every day 10:57 and he is looking for an opportunity 10:59 to give Bible study to them 11:00 and he is baptizing them one by one. 11:03 I was inspired. 11:05 Immediately, I repented my sin 11:08 and then I began to develop a list 11:11 on my smart phone too. 11:12 So I have quite a few names on smart phone. 11:15 I'm praying for them 11:16 and then I want to be an example 11:20 to all our church members 11:22 that we need to be involved in the mission of the church. 11:26 My dear brothers and sisters, 11:28 we believe that Jesus is coming soon 11:30 and we have to finish the gospel as soon as possible. 11:34 But pastors and paid workers cannot finish the work alone, 11:39 for we all lay people and then pastors, 11:42 we have to really work together to finish the gospel work. 11:46 And I'm so glad that in our church 11:48 we have many dedicated lay people, 11:52 I really appreciate that. 11:54 And then let us continue working together 11:56 with the same spirit 11:58 to finish the work in our generation. 12:01 Maranatha, Jesus is coming very soon. 12:34 I'm learning to be 12:38 Like Jesus 12:43 I'm following 12:46 In his ways 12:51 I'm learning to love 12:56 Like he did 13:00 In all that I do and say 13:08 At times I am tempted 13:12 To make a wrong choice 13:16 But I want to listen 13:20 As the still small voice whispers 13:25 Love one another 13:29 As Jesus loves you 13:33 Learn to show kindness 13:37 In all that you do 13:40 Be gentle and loving 13:45 In deed and in thought 13:50 For these are the things 13:54 Jesus taught 13:59 I'm learning 14:01 To love my neighbor 14:07 I'm learning 14:09 To serve my friends 14:14 I watch 14:16 For that day of gladness 14:22 When Jesus will come again 14:29 I want to remember 14:33 The lessons he taught 14:38 Then the Holy Spirit 14:41 Enters into my thoughts 14:44 Saying Love one another 14:50 As Jesus loves you 14:55 Learn to show kindness 14:59 In all that you do 15:03 Be gentle and loving 15:08 In deed and in thought 15:13 For these are the things 15:18 Jesus taught 15:23 Love one another 15:27 As Jesus loves you 15:31 Learn to show kindness 15:35 In all that you do 15:38 Be gentle and loving 15:43 In deed and in thought 15:47 For these are the things 15:54 Jesus taught 16:06 We're so happy you're here with us today, 16:08 you know, it's great to meet new friends 16:11 and have them be a part of our ASI family. 16:14 And I just had the privilege last evening 16:16 of meeting Randy Meyer. 16:18 Randy, can you tell us about your ministry 16:21 because we're here to hear mission stories. 16:23 International Caring Hands 16:25 is an organization dedicated to using dental work 16:31 as medical missionary work 16:33 and we cannot do that alone. 16:36 We're a very small ASI organization 16:39 and as I mentioned before this morning, 16:41 we are a family, 16:42 and the ASI family is the only way 16:45 that we can do what we do. 16:47 We work in coordination with other organizations 16:50 including Riverside Farms Institute in Zambia. 16:53 They have been very instrumental in helping us 16:55 get a mobile dental clinic up and going there. 16:58 We work in coordination with ADRA Madagascar. 17:01 Without ADRA, we would not be able to serve the people 17:05 there in Madagascar as efficiently as we do. 17:08 And we're also blessed to work with other organizations 17:11 such as Maranatha, Volunteers International, 17:15 and we're also able to work 17:16 with Pathways to Health in Spokane, 17:19 and also we work regularly with AMEN, 17:22 and had the first AMEN Clinic in the Pacific Northwest 17:25 roughly about two and a half years ago. 17:29 So we are very blessed 17:30 to work with these different organizations 17:32 and have this opportunity to be part of the ASI family. 17:38 Isn't that exciting? 17:39 All these ministries that are cooperating 17:42 and working together, 17:43 that's what we're doing here. 17:44 I think you've got some exciting stories 17:47 to share with us today, Randy, 17:49 and you've also got some pictures 17:50 that are going to be shown during this time. 17:52 So please share. 17:53 The first story that we'll have is from Chuuk, Micronesia. 17:58 In Chuuk, Micronesia, 17:59 it's a population of 50,000 people 18:02 living on about 16 islands. 18:04 And in those islands there is no private dentist 18:09 to provide any care to the people there. 18:12 And there was this young girl, 18:13 she was 12 years old at the time 18:16 and there's a lot of domestic violence in Chuuk 18:19 and her brother had kicked out her four upper front teeth. 18:24 Can you imagine what that would be like? 18:26 Have your four front teeth knocked out, 18:28 no way to get any services to do anything. 18:33 Her mother threw her teeth in the garbage can. 18:36 But her uncle came by and her uncle said, 18:39 "Hey, the Adventist dentist is here at the dental clinic." 18:43 Let's see if he can do something. 18:44 So they grabbed what they thought 18:46 was all of the teeth out of the garbage 18:48 and headed down to our dental clinic. 18:50 Dr. Cedric Hayden gathered the teeth up 18:54 and he actually started doing root canals in his hand 18:57 on three of those teeth. 18:59 Unfortunately, they didn't show up with the fourth one. 19:02 So he told them go back 19:03 and get the fourth tooth out of the garbage 19:06 and so they got that tooth. 19:09 Dr. Hayden worked on them for hours 19:12 and was actually able to get those teeth 19:14 put back into the sockets 19:16 and used fishing line to melt on there 19:20 to hold them together. 19:22 And then the first picture 19:24 that I have will show a picture of her teeth 19:26 after they've been put back in 19:28 and now she is able to smile 19:32 and come and visit us on a regular basis 19:35 and all of her teeth are healthy at the current time 19:38 which was an amazing thing. 19:40 Dr. Hayden was not sure 19:41 that these teeth would be able to be restored 19:43 but they were. 19:46 We also work in Madagascar with Peter Delhove 19:49 and we've been very blessed with our work there. 19:54 We work about two hours south of Antananarivo. 19:57 We've had people come in with abscesses 20:00 roughly about the size of softballs to grapefruit. 20:03 Huge abscesses the first time we come here. 20:06 In this picture you'll see, this is our waiting area 20:08 when we show up in the morning, 20:10 and so you can see that there's an awful lot of people there. 20:13 And the first day there weren't so many people in the line 20:16 and we wondered why? 20:18 They thought we weren't using anesthetic. 20:20 And so the next day they showed up 20:22 because they heard we were using anesthetic. 20:25 And then our next place is in Zambia. 20:28 In Zambia we work with Riverside Farms Institute 20:32 and have a mobile dental clinic, 20:33 that's 4-wheel drive that goes out 20:35 into the rural and remote villages 20:38 in the Southern Zambezi River. 20:41 And you'll see here a picture of Dr. JoyJoy Falia. 20:44 I love that name, you gotta love it. 20:46 JoyJoy, wouldn't you love to have a name like that? 20:49 She's a little lady 20:51 packed with a lot of dynamite for Jesus, 20:53 and she works hard, 20:55 and you can see her here 20:56 with a couple of assistants in our clinic in Zambia 20:59 working with the children there. 21:02 And then our next location 21:04 that we've gone has been to Madagascar 21:11 and, I mean, I'm sorry, not Madagascar, 21:14 but to Mongolia, 21:16 and in Mongolia we actually work with It Is Written 21:20 with John Bradshaw there, 21:21 and we got a dental chair 21:24 and some dental unit to work on the teeth there. 21:29 And we're actually able to see about 300 people 21:32 there with It Is Written, 21:34 and It Is Written had over 100 volunteers 21:36 that did eye surgeries 21:38 and all sorts of services there. 21:39 And many of my Mongolian brothers 21:42 who went with me on that trip are sitting here 21:44 and it's good to see them. 21:47 And we've been very blessed by this 21:48 and in fact there were a total of 70 people 21:53 baptized in Mongolia. 21:55 This is a picture of the It Is Written team 21:57 and the baptisms that we had there. 22:00 In addition to there, we work in the Pacific Northwest, 22:04 and we've been very blessed to work with AMEN, 22:07 and we plan to continue working with them again this year. 22:11 We'll have a clinic there in Eugene, Oregon 22:14 where we're from and also in Portland. 22:17 So if you're interested in signing up 22:18 for one of those clinics, 22:20 it will be in Portland on August 18th and the 20th. 22:25 And in Eugene on the 24th and 25th of September 22:29 and you can go to amensda.org to sign up for one of those. 22:34 In closing, I think you had a couple of quotes 22:37 that you wanted to leave us with today. 22:40 When we look at what Ellen White shares with us 22:43 in relation to medical evangelism, 22:44 I just wanted to read a couple of quotes here. 22:47 "How shall we reveal Christ? 22:49 I know no better way 22:51 than take hold of the medical missionary work 22:55 in connection with ministry." 22:56 Medical Ministry, page 319, 22:59 "And then Christ gave a perfect representation 23:01 of true godliness 23:03 by combining the work of a physician and a minister, 23:06 ministering to the needs of both body and soul, 23:10 healing physical disease, 23:12 in speaking words brought to the troubled heart." 23:15 Counsels to Health, page 528. 23:18 Thank you, Randy, and to God be the glory. 23:21 Amen. 23:26 Good morning, ASI and happy Sabbath. 23:30 So happy to see each one of you here today 23:32 and isn't it nice to be able to have one day a week 23:35 where we can rest 23:36 even if we're busy enjoying lots of things, 23:38 we can rest in God's presence. 23:41 Well, I'm delighted to have three people here 23:43 that I know well. 23:44 In fact, I enjoy working with them 23:46 and leading up to ASI, 23:49 we did something very interesting, 23:51 and I'd like to ask Floyd to tell us 23:54 a little bit about the health expo 23:55 that we had the first day, Wednesday 23:58 and why we decided to do that? 24:01 Yes, I'm glad to tell you then, one reason of course was 24:04 because ASI National wanted us to do it. 24:08 And, but we were thankful they were 24:10 because we felt like... 24:11 As we all know the medical work is the right arm of the gospel 24:16 and so we wanted to practice it, 24:17 put into practice here 24:19 and also if possible give kind of a model 24:21 so those other members of ASI who are coming can see 24:25 what it is like to do a health expo. 24:28 And also we feel like we really owe the communities 24:34 where we meet for ASI. 24:36 We'd like to give back to them 24:38 as well as receive the blessings 24:39 of being in their facilities and things like that. 24:43 So those are really probably the main reasons 24:46 why we felt like we wanted to do it 24:48 and we're happy that we could do that. 24:49 Floyd Courtney was the president 24:51 of ASI Southwestern Union for quite some time, 24:55 and Dawn has taken his place for the last couple of years, 24:59 and so I'm delighted to have both of them here with us. 25:02 Pat Humphrey as well has been very involved 25:04 with ASI for a number of years. 25:06 And I'd like to ask you 25:07 what was it like to get the word out? 25:09 How did that go, getting the word out to everybody 25:11 about what was happening? 25:12 Well, as always it's a challenge 25:14 to get the word out 25:15 especially in a large city like Houston 25:17 but we had a lot of help actually. 25:20 And one of the first things that happened is 25:22 that the ASI leaders 25:23 along with Dawn our Chapter president 25:26 met with the pastors, the local pastors 25:28 and they were excited about working along with this 25:33 and they helped us quite a bit 25:34 to get the word out to the community 25:36 as well as their church members. 25:38 We also did an ad 25:40 that the Sunday prior to the event. 25:43 We had an ad in the newspaper, 25:44 we were able to get something out 25:46 through the city news website, 25:50 and we also did community calendars, 25:54 we worked with community agencies 25:56 to get the word out to the people that they serve. 25:59 And so through a number of ways 26:01 we were able to get the word out. 26:03 Very good. 26:05 Well, Dawn, I'd like to ask you 26:06 what kind of services were you able to offer here? 26:09 We were offering services according to the Newstart model 26:13 so we did in the typical expo style. 26:16 We did a nutrition station, exercise, water, sunshine, 26:19 temperance, air, rest and trust in divine power. 26:23 But then in addition we also offered some expanded services, 26:28 so we had oral health screening, 26:29 vision health screening, barber and beauty 26:32 and we also had a pelvic floor biofeedback station 26:36 which was very, very interesting. 26:37 Okay, so a lot of good services 26:39 that we could offer to the community. 26:41 That's wonderful. 26:42 Pat, where did you work in particular, in what station? 26:45 I worked at the health age assessment station. 26:48 And so this is where there's a computerized assessment 26:51 and you interview the person 26:53 and they give you their data, 26:55 their age, their weight, and height 26:59 and you take all that information, 27:01 put it into the computer, 27:02 and what it does is it generates 27:04 what we call the health age. 27:06 So they can find out how old they really are. 27:11 How many years of life 27:14 either they can have additional years 27:18 and in some cases people's age 27:21 is actually higher than their chronological age, 27:24 so it gives a lot of good information, 27:26 Wonderful. 27:27 And how about you, Floyd, 27:29 what were you involved with for the health expo? 27:31 I didn't work a lot in one specific station. 27:34 I was kind of a floater 27:35 seeing that everything was going okay 27:37 because, you know, in an operation like that, 27:40 lot of times a certain need can come up or something like that. 27:42 So I was kind of floating 27:44 and checking to see if everything's going okay. 27:46 When I wasn't helping somebody, 27:48 I also, I worked pretty much as a greeters 27:51 because it's a large area, people coming in 27:53 and we want to make sure they got to us 27:56 and to where they needed to be 27:57 so I helped also in that area of being greeter. 27:59 Okay. Very good. 28:01 So we want to get down to finding out 28:04 what the impact was. 28:06 And I'd like to ask it in two ways actually, Dawn. 28:08 I'd like to find out 28:09 first of all, what the response was from the community? 28:13 And also what the response was 28:15 or how the volunteers were benefited and blessed 28:18 by this experience? 28:20 It was really a wonderful experience. 28:22 The community, they were just really happy. 28:25 Many of the people came and said, 28:26 they'd never seen anything like this 28:28 and they were just very excited 28:29 to be able to receive the services. 28:31 Some of them came and they stayed and stayed and, 28:34 so we got a lot of opportunities 28:36 to interact with them. 28:37 And in terms of the volunteers, they too were very excited. 28:40 Some people had never worked in expo before 28:43 and they were just so happy to be able to reach out 28:47 and touch the members of the community. 28:48 So it gave everyone 28:50 who was involved an opportunity 28:51 to really participate in this work 28:53 of being the hands and feet of Jesus. 28:56 And we started out, you know, with a very conservative goal, 28:59 we would like to get 200 but we'd be happy with 120. 29:04 We ended up with about 170 volunteers, 29:07 and that's just what was on paper, 29:08 and people just kept coming in the door, 29:10 "I want to help. I want to help." 29:11 We had people traveling from Killeen 29:13 that had been involved in previous health events 29:16 in our jumpstart clinic, 29:18 people who had been involved in Pathway, 29:20 they came and helped, 29:22 so it was really a blessing. 29:24 So we'd like to hear some stories 29:26 of some experiences that you had. 29:27 Pat, would you have one you like to share with us? 29:29 Yes, I had a young man that was 22 years old 29:32 who came and did the health age assessment. 29:34 After he completed the questionnaire 29:36 turned out that he was 32. 29:39 His health age was actually 32, 29:41 and I went through some of the recommendations 29:44 that are given with this questionnaire, 29:46 and he was just so grateful to find out 29:49 that he could actually do some lifestyle, 29:52 make some lifestyle changes 29:53 and lower his health age even to as low as 16 29:57 if he would put those things into practice. 29:59 Okay. Wonderful, and how about you, Dawn? 30:01 Do you have some stories you'd like to share with us? 30:03 Yes, I had been in and out of the FedEx office 30:06 at the convention center all day 30:08 pretty much making copies. 30:09 And the young lady who was assisting me to marriage, 30:12 she said, "What are you doing?" 30:13 And when I told her what services we were offering, 30:16 she says, "This is an answer to prayer. 30:17 I really need to have 30:19 some of these things looked at." 30:21 And when she took her break, 30:22 I saw her going through the expo. 30:24 Okay, wonderful. 30:25 Well, thank you so much for all of the hard work 30:27 that you've all put 30:29 into organizing this health expo. 30:31 It's been a wonderful experience 30:32 to be able to have local church members 30:34 be more in contact with ASI 30:36 as well as ASI be involved in reaching out 30:39 and giving back as you've mentioned. 30:41 Thank you so much. Amen. Thank you. 30:42 God bless. Thank you. 30:44 So one of the organizations 30:46 that we've probably mentioned more than any other 30:49 and maybe even without knowing it is one called AMEN. 30:53 Don't you agree? 30:54 We've probably said amen more 30:55 than we've mentioned any other organization. 30:58 And I'm delighted to have with me Dr. Brian Schwartz 31:01 as well as Vinh Trinh with us here from AMEN, 31:04 both of them are from AMEN. 31:05 And we're excited because this is similar 31:08 to what we've just heard about 31:10 in reaching out through the right arm of the gospel, 31:12 the health message in order to touch lives. 31:14 And so I'd like for you to tell us, 31:17 Dr. Schwartz, what is AMEN? 31:19 AMEN is the Adventist Medical Evangelism Network. 31:23 It was started around 2004 31:26 by a group of physicians and dentists 31:28 who were actually here involved at ASI 31:31 and got together in a small breakout session at ASI 31:33 and decided that we needed a regular organization 31:36 that could really develop the right arm 31:38 initially to help physicians like myself 31:40 and dentists to make their medical practice 31:43 into a ministry, 31:44 but then it quickly expanded into a national work 31:48 doing AMEN free clinics and even internationally. 31:51 Okay. 31:52 Well, we'd like to know a little bit more 31:54 about the AMEN free clinics. 31:55 Could you tell us a little bit about 31:56 how that has developed and what you actually do? 32:00 So in 2013, we begin the idea 32:03 of actually going into a region. 32:05 This is similar to what Pathways does 32:08 but at a smaller scale to help local churches and communities 32:11 or several churches get together 32:13 and put on a weekend event, 32:15 one day, two day, three days. 32:16 Thursday, Friday, and Sunday 32:19 just to get together to provide medical care 32:22 with health screening and simple medical treatments, 32:25 full dental care including crowns 32:27 and tooth extractions and also vision care. 32:32 Okay. 32:34 And it's been just growing rapidly. 32:35 Okay. 32:36 Well, I'm delighted to have Vinh Trinh here as well. 32:39 He's actually the clinic director 32:41 and you can imagine 32:42 that when you're organizing clinics 32:43 all over the place, he stays pretty busy. 32:45 Why don't you tell us a little bit more about the clinics 32:48 and especially Clinic-in-a-Box, a very unique tool? 32:52 So we decided that we needed to move backwards 32:56 to serve smaller churches, 32:58 so Clinic-in-a-Boxes are scaled down version 33:00 of our larger clinic. 33:02 What we're doing is putting a spotlight into the church, 33:06 within the community. 33:07 And I believe we have a video to showcase 33:09 just to give a glimpse about 33:10 what Clinic-in-a-Box is all about. 33:11 Okay. Wonderful we'll let that roll. 33:27 Since 2013, AMEN has flung open the doors 33:31 to what it means 33:32 to be a mission minded medical professional. 33:35 Thousands of patients have walked into a gym, church, 33:39 convention center, and even a refugee camp. 33:43 They were greeted and treated by thousands of volunteers 33:47 who shared the same earnest desire to be Jesus' hands 33:51 in helping and healing the sick. 33:54 Now four incredible years later, 33:56 it's time to circle back to why all of this matters. 34:00 The patients' journey to Christ. 34:04 Clinic-in-a-Box is a scaled down version 34:07 of the AMEN Clinic, 34:08 held over just one day with a few providers 34:12 and all the same free services 34:13 that AMEN Clinic has always featured. 34:17 Why the change? 34:19 Because rather than being 34:20 a revolving door of medical procedures, 34:23 the clinic must be a door that opens to the church. 34:28 The mission of Clinic-in-a-Box is to put a spotlight 34:31 on even the smallest Adventist church 34:34 and to empower its members 34:35 to become a light in their community. 34:39 That's really what a church should be, isn't it? 34:42 A safe place of hope, healing, and love, 34:46 and that is what your church can be. 34:49 Maybe all you need is to plant the seed. 34:57 For more information about 34:58 how you can host a Clinic-in-a-Box, 35:00 please email AMEN 35:02 at admin@amensda.org 35:06 or call 530-883-8061. 35:14 Well, that sounds very exciting 35:15 and we'll let you tell us a little bit more about 35:17 how people can get involved with that. 35:19 But before we go to that, we'd like some stories as well. 35:22 We'd like you to tell us, Dr. Schwartz, 35:24 how you've been able to reach out to patients 35:27 and maybe especially because of AMEN, 35:29 and how you've been involved? 35:31 And how you've been able to collect ideas 35:32 through that organization? 35:34 So with AMEN we have an annual conference. 35:37 We get physicians, dentists, optometrists, 35:39 all health care providers together 35:41 just to share ideas 35:42 and we just keep building on ways that that work. 35:45 But just a little story 35:47 about my experience with an AMEN free clinic. 35:50 Okay. 35:52 Just having the opportunity to take care of a gentleman 35:54 who has not been able to get health care. 35:57 He comes in, he knows nothing really about who we are, 35:59 what we're doing, but it's just... 36:02 You can tell that he just appreciates the love 36:04 that he's felt through this process. 36:06 We take care of him, 36:08 give him a couple simple prescriptions, 36:09 and help get him in some resources 36:11 that he can follow up with 36:12 and hopefully get plugged into a church. 36:14 But as I always do with all my patients, 36:16 I say one of the things 36:17 they offer to do is have a prayer, 36:18 "Would you like to have a prayer with me?" 36:20 And as I pray with him, 36:21 he begins to cry and he just turns and says, 36:23 "I don't know what religion you are, 36:25 but I want to be a part of this church." 36:26 Wow. 36:28 There's no theology at this point. 36:29 He just senses something and it convicted me 36:32 that it's more than just preaching the gospel, 36:34 and sermons, and evangelistic series. 36:36 The health message, 36:38 the gospel lived out in action 36:40 opens the door to hearts and they respond. 36:42 Yes. Absolutely, thank you for sharing that. 36:45 I think that this is a wonderful tool 36:48 that you have here, this Clinic-in-a-Box, 36:49 it just sounds like it could really meet 36:51 the needs of a lot of small churches, 36:54 or maybe even larger churches, 36:55 any size church 36:57 that doesn't have their own equipment 36:58 which is probably most of them, right? 37:00 Tell us a little bit about how churches can get involved? 37:03 How they can benefit from this tool 37:04 that you're offering? 37:06 So just to make the distinction, 37:07 AMEN does do weekend free clinics 37:10 where we'll bring in our team, we will coordinate volunteers, 37:14 and we will work with the local churches 37:16 to put on an event. 37:17 We have just recently been able to expand 37:20 to two trucks, two teams 37:21 and will be able to support 37:22 up to 44 of those type of outreaches. 37:26 They're already booked out for all of next year. 37:28 Okay. 37:29 So the Clinic-in-a-Box is a simpler method 37:31 where if a church has a few health care provider 37:34 and they want to put together a small scale event, 37:37 we can ship that to them perhaps 37:38 with one of our team members to help get it going. 37:40 So even the smallest of churches 37:42 can put these on. 37:43 Okay, wonderful, 37:45 so it's a little different from the regular clinic 37:46 where there's a whole team that comes. 37:48 This is something that's kind of do it yourself 37:50 with some instructions, of course, 37:52 with the equipment that you need... 37:53 Everything they need. 37:54 Everything you need in order to offer 37:56 this free clinic in your local area. 37:59 That's right. Okay. Wonderful. 38:00 Well, thank you so much for sharing 38:02 and may God bless the work that AMEN is doing. 38:04 Thank you, Wayne. 38:08 I think the thing that inspires me 38:10 the most is the testimony of a life of self-sacrifice. 38:14 When I go throughout my day, 38:16 I try to think 38:18 of what other people have gone through before me 38:21 especially on the days 38:23 that I feel a little selfish 38:24 or I feel like I don't want to do ministry. 38:27 I think about the people that really didn't have a lot 38:31 or not even had a lot of support, 38:33 but they kept on going anyway 38:35 because they had a greater reward, 38:37 a greater goal in mind 38:39 than just how I feel right now 38:41 and having comfort and pleasure right now. 38:44 And the greatest example of that of course is Jesus. 38:48 And honestly that's where 38:50 I got my greatest source of inspiration. 38:52 I guess my question would be, 38:54 why would you not want to join ASI? 38:56 Everyone should be a part of ASI. 38:58 There are all types of people, young, old, 39:02 you know, poor college students, 39:04 rich businessmen and women, 39:06 and everyone is altogether for a common goal 39:09 really just worshipping together 39:12 and going for that one mission of seeing Jesus come soon. 39:17 All of the interactions and all the connections 39:19 that I've had with ASI have been so positive 39:21 because they serve to inspire people in ministry, 39:25 and give you resources, and training, 39:28 and it's such a huge inspiration 39:30 and encouragement for anyone, 39:32 and I would just encourage everyone to be a part of it. 39:40 Welcome to another offering in action segment. 39:44 With me is Moise Ratsara, he's the president for GYC, 39:48 Generation Youth Christ. 39:51 Lela Lewis, who's the CEO and president 39:53 of Your Best Pathway to Health 39:54 and Duane McKey, 39:56 president of Total Member Involvement 39:58 in Adventist World Radio. 39:59 So we've got all the big guys up here, girls. 40:02 Okay, so, Moise, first tell us, 40:04 this is a phenomenal collaboration 40:06 that's going to be taking place in Phoenix, 40:08 Arizona between GYC, Pathway, and others. 40:11 But tell us a little bit about that, 40:12 how did that come about 40:14 and a little bit more about GYC? 40:15 All right. Great, well, thank you so much, Debbie. 40:17 You know, GYC exist to engage, inspire, 40:21 and challenge young people in the mission and vision 40:24 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 40:26 We believe that young people can proclaim 40:28 the three angels' message 40:31 and we also believe 40:32 that young people can live a life of service. 40:35 Pathway in a practical way shows the love of Christ 40:40 through health care and we say, you know, 40:42 why don't we use both arms of the gospel, 40:44 the right and the left. 40:45 Let us do something big so that we can go home. 40:48 Because at the end of the day 40:50 we are Seventh-day Adventists 40:53 and we believe that Jesus is coming soon. 40:56 And if Jesus is gonna come, 40:58 then we need to be involved in TMI, 41:01 Total Member Involvement. 41:03 But even beyond that 41:04 we need to be involved in Total Ministry Involvement. 41:09 Amen. Amen. 41:10 So, Lela, this is more, this is bigger than 41:12 just GYC and Pathway to Health, 41:14 who else is involved in this collaboration? 41:15 You know, it's so exciting, Debbie. 41:17 It was actually exactly a year ago, 41:19 a whole bunch of us at ASI in Phoenix sat down together 41:22 GYC, Pathway, Total Member Involvement, 41:25 The North American Division, 3ABN, Hope TV, 41:28 and many, many other ministries. 41:29 And we said, "How can we do this?" 41:32 We want to combine just what Moise, 41:34 you just said we want to combine 41:35 and make this the best event for God next year. 41:38 So we came up with Christmas, 41:40 December 25, 26, and 27 for Pathway, Phoenix. 41:44 Now, Moise, this is interesting to me. 41:46 I know that with GYC 41:47 there's always an outreach during the convention. 41:50 This precedes the convention 41:52 and includes the day of Christmas. 41:54 How do you think that resonates with GYC attendees? 41:57 I think it's going to be excellent 41:58 because we're not going to lose a Christmas, 42:00 we're going to gain a Christmas 42:02 because we get to be the hands and feet of Christ. 42:05 And young people want to serve, 42:06 young people want to make a difference in a tangible way 42:09 and this is the best way to do it. 42:11 And, you know, Moise, that was intentional. 42:13 We picked Christmas at very intentionally. 42:16 It's the day the world, 42:18 whether we believe in Christ or not. 42:19 The world celebrates the gift of God 42:22 through the eternal life, eternal health 42:25 through His Son Jesus 42:26 and we get to be that physical gift 42:28 of whole person healing, 42:29 physical, mental, emotional, 42:31 and spiritual health on the day 42:33 that we celebrate that gift of life. 42:35 And you know that very fact 42:38 of Seventh-day Adventist coming together 42:40 not to give up their Christmas, 42:42 but to gain the best Christmas ever has gained 42:45 the attention of the highest levels 42:46 of our federal government. 42:48 The governor's office, the mayor's office, 42:51 some of the largest health care networks in the United States 42:53 and largest health insurance companies 42:56 are actually giving financially 42:59 to make Pathway Phoenix a huge success for God. 43:01 In fact, we have 307,000 square feet available to us 43:06 at the Phoenix Convention Center 43:08 to be able to service 10,000 patients 43:10 in two and a half days. 43:12 Well, that's really phenomenal. 43:13 Now you have a particular target audience if you will, 43:17 that you're hoping to reach at this event? 43:19 You know, that is the most exciting thing to me. 43:22 There are thousands upon thousands 43:24 upon thousands of refugees 43:27 in the Phoenix area from countries 43:29 all around the world including the 10/40, 43:31 which we haven't been able to reach. 43:32 And we are planning, working with the Arizona Conference 43:35 not only to reach them 43:37 but their family members in their own home countries. 43:40 So this sounds like it's right up your alley, Duane McKey. 43:42 Oh, yes, it is exciting and thrilling. 43:44 You know, a PS first, 43:45 I just want to say I just talked to Pastor Rudguree, 43:47 he's sitting right back there from East Africa. 43:49 He did the same method over there, 43:51 Pathways method and then evangelism. 43:53 He just told me Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, 43:57 they just baptized 251,000 people this year. 44:02 Amen. Isn't that thrilling? 44:04 Amen. 44:05 And then last year, two years ago, 44:06 we were over here in San Antonio. 44:08 We have six brand new churches now because of this. 44:11 It works here in America as well. 44:13 In Phoenix we're thinking about all these refugees. 44:16 One thing we can do is the new God pod. 44:19 It's a radio, it's a transistor, 44:20 we can broadcast on the radio, 44:22 we can load it with three angels' messages 44:25 and the Bible in their language. 44:27 And then secondly, this is absolutely amazing. 44:30 You've got lot of things in your pocket. 44:31 A lot of things here. 44:32 Just your cell phone that you know 44:34 that WhatsApp has 1.4 billion users around the world. 44:40 The largest social media, 44:41 second largest next to Facebook in the world, 44:43 and Facebook just bought them. 44:44 They're smart, aren't they? 44:45 A friend of mine Neveline in Namibia, 44:48 he's Afrikaan, he gives on WhatsApp. 44:51 He's learned how to do this 44:52 and we're going to do this in Phoenix, 44:54 3,000 Bible studies a day, a day 44:59 and in Phoenix all these people would teach them 45:02 how to do it with their cell phone. 45:03 And the sad news is... 45:05 Ah, it's a best news, it's free, 45:06 it doesn't cost anything. 45:09 They can contact their family members 45:11 back home on WhatsApp 45:13 giving them Bible studies 45:14 of what they have learned in Arizona. 45:16 So this outreach 45:17 will transcend Phoenix, Arizona. 45:19 It will actually literally go around the world. 45:20 Globally. And you know what? 45:22 Whether you're young, whether you're not so young, 45:25 if you have a smile and you have a heartbeat 45:28 which I think all of us do here, 45:29 you can go to pathwaytohealthvolunteer.org 45:33 and be a Christmas gift to those in need. 45:36 Make this a Christmas to remember. 45:38 Will you pray about coming? 45:40 And will you come? God bless you. 45:42 Amen. Thank you. |
Revised 2018-02-14