Participants:
Series Code: HIM
Program Code: HIM001105S
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00:05 Jim Rennie from Child Impact.
00:07 Well, life has changed. 00:10 The world has changed. 00:12 And we at Child Impact 00:13 are being overwhelmed with requests 00:16 from the country that we operate in. 00:18 Millions of low-paid laborers in India, 00:21 and millions of low-paid clothing workers 00:24 in Bangladesh have no work, 00:27 and there is no government help. 00:29 Some of them will go hungry. 00:32 We are getting requests from churches and schools. 00:35 Yes, and sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed. 00:39 And we do need funds. 00:41 But I wanna say that right now we have a bigger need. 00:44 I want to challenge that we stop and pray. 00:48 And I wanna ask you to pray for the work of Child Impact 00:51 and other ministries. 00:53 Pray for those who have the virus 00:56 and the families who have lost loved ones. 00:59 Please pray for our doctors and nurses 01:02 and they are first responders because they are giving all. 01:06 We need to stop and become closer to God. 01:09 Let's power our prayer. 01:12 You can help us at childimpact.org 01:15 but you can also pray for us and others from anywhere. 01:20 And just to help us drive with a better prayer life, 01:23 we've produced a special prayer guide. 01:26 And if you go to our website child impact.org, 01:30 you can download it and have a read 01:33 and share it with your family. 01:36 This is another program about our work in Bangladesh. 01:39 And I hope that you enjoy it. 01:57 There are several Adventist schools in Bangladesh 01:59 that are making a difference, but the smaller schools 02:02 that normally aren't heard of are also growing 02:04 and expanding their influence. 02:06 We drove out to see one of the small schools 02:09 who are not only making 02:10 an impact in the community they're in, 02:12 but also spreading the love of the gospel. 02:14 Because of the struggle 02:16 with religion and its influence, 02:17 the gospel has a harder time spreading, 02:19 including these remote areas, 02:21 but education is serving to bring more 02:23 and more families to God. 02:25 This village is very remote. 02:27 And the journey itself was a good example 02:29 of how difficult it can be to spread the gospel 02:31 in these countries. 02:33 The drive itself was a couple hours 02:34 and had no direct access. 02:36 A drive like this might take 30 minutes in America, 02:40 but was closer to three hours to get there in Bangladesh. 02:43 Aside from that, we had to leave the car behind 02:45 and walk deeper into the land 02:47 in order to make it to the school. 02:49 So we've just come down a road 02:51 and now we're walking into this mission school. 02:56 This is apparently a typical Bangladesh 02:58 Mission School, 02:59 a much smaller school than where we're at, 03:01 and we're gonna visit it this morning. 03:06 Aside from how deep we went and how remote it was, 03:08 there always seemed to be a lot of people. 03:11 The density of Bangladesh 03:12 is the 10th highest in the world. 03:14 This has a side effect. 03:16 People are always struggling for food, 03:18 especially families with a lot of children. 03:21 As a result, sponsorship has a second impact. 03:24 It allows students to have food. 03:27 That helps the families 03:28 not have to work as hard to find money for food 03:30 and helps children not grow up starving. 03:33 This village school has a lot of help 03:35 for the children within the village. 03:37 They are able to educate the children 03:39 and have a place for the kids while the parents work. 03:42 The children don't live at the school, 03:44 so they still stay at home, 03:45 but they are served food at the school 03:47 which helps them be healthy 03:48 and most importantly not have to work. 03:51 These small villages cannot make enough money 03:53 if only the parents are working. 03:55 A lot of the time these young children 03:56 will need to begin working in order to help the families. 04:00 This keeps them uneducated 04:01 and they have no chance of leaving 04:03 and improving their lives. 04:05 The village school is very old and rundown. 04:08 They mainly use the school for living and cooking 04:10 while the actual education takes place 04:12 at the small church by the school. 04:14 Here they're able to teach the children 04:16 and give them a safe environment to grow. 04:18 The fact that they get sponsorship 04:20 changes their entire future. 04:39 When we finally arrived, a warm welcome awaits us. 04:42 The teacher at the school sat down with Jim 04:44 to talk about operations there. 04:47 So, tell me your name? 04:49 My name is []. 04:50 Okay. And how long have you been here? 04:55 Four years. 04:56 So you've been in this village for four years? 04:58 Yes. Yes. 05:00 I'm working here four years. 05:01 And tell me what you do? 05:04 You are the teacher? 05:05 Yeah, I mean, I am teaching also and preaching also. 05:08 Preaching. How many students do you have? 05:11 Twenty-one students. Twenty-one. 05:13 Yeah. Yeah. 05:14 And where do these students come from, just nearby? 05:19 For some students, their house is near 05:23 and some student house is far. 05:24 Right. 05:26 But they're all day students, they walk here every day? 05:29 Yes. Right. 05:30 How many of your children are sponsored, all of them? 05:34 No, except two. 05:36 Two. Yeah. 05:37 But you, sponsorship is very important. 05:40 Yes, yes. 05:41 Sponsorship is very important. 05:43 Without a sponsorship, 05:44 we cannot provide the foods also. 05:46 Right. 05:47 So this is true village operation very small, 05:52 but this man and his wife are very, very committed. 05:55 And Bangladesh has a lot of these mission schools 06:00 and they're really having an impact on these villages. 06:03 And it's real privilege to be able to visit here today. 06:06 He lives in the school's original facility 06:08 which is deteriorating, he gave us a tour. 06:10 The building behind me serves as the residence 06:14 for the pastor teacher. 06:16 And in the corner, they have the classroom. 06:19 The classrooms are a bit small and a bit rough. 06:21 And so the children also meet in the church. 06:25 And we're gonna go over 06:27 and have a look at that church shortly. 06:42 All these children come from very poor families 06:46 mainly they're all, 06:47 their parents are farm laborers. 06:49 And so life is a struggle. 06:51 And so being able to have their child in a school 06:54 with a daily meal makes a real difference. 06:57 This is a different example of our sponsorship 07:01 impacts in this part of the country. 07:04 And this is [] and he is a sponsored, 07:07 Child Impact sponsored child. 07:10 Now his father and mother are rural labors. 07:14 And that's not a big income at all. 07:16 They have a very simple home and he has one brother, 07:22 and so being able to come to this mission school, 07:24 the parents are really proud that he can have an education. 07:28 The family do struggle. 07:30 And so to have his education paid for, 07:34 he gets a lunch meal. 07:36 And he was just telling me through the translation 07:41 that he likes to play football and cricket. 07:43 Now being from New Zealand, 07:44 I understand the game of cricket. 07:47 So I can relate a little bit 07:49 of where I'm from when I'm in Bangladesh. 07:53 So when you're here in a mission school, 07:55 you get a different perspective of what sponsorship can do. 07:59 And so Child Impact is really excited 08:02 that it can sponsor children 08:04 at this Bangladesh Mission School. 08:08 Then the children assembled for lunch, 08:10 washed their personal dishes 08:11 and were served a balanced meal. 08:23 An elderly man approach the facility 08:25 during lunch, and asked to be served as well. 08:28 It was a testament to the difficult conditions 08:30 there despite the idyllic pastoral setting. 08:34 In places like this feeding and educating children 08:37 makes all the difference. 08:38 Sponsorship makes that possible. 08:40 Even though only 22 children attend the school, 08:42 the change in their lives ripples outward. 08:47 So just earlier we introduced Shardene. 08:50 And now we've come back 08:52 behind the school to a village and his parents, 08:56 this is his house, 08:57 and his mother and father are laborers. 09:00 And this is his mother. 09:01 And they are very appreciative of sponsorship. 09:05 And that has a big impact on their lives, 09:08 that he can be sponsored in the local mission school. 09:14 And there's just thousands of villages like this. 09:17 This is where life has seemed for these people. 09:20 It's a delight to meet them. They're very welcoming. 09:24 This is a big outreach 09:25 for the church in this community, 09:27 but it also gives these people who are mainly farm laborers, 09:31 a big opportunity for their children, 09:34 they have an education. 09:36 So they live a very basic life, 09:39 they probably don't travel out of this village, 09:42 but having a school is just ideal for them, 09:46 and then also a church to worship. 09:48 Before we left, 09:50 a woman offered a performance of thanks 09:52 for the assistance being brought to her village. 09:56 Before we can leave 09:57 a command performance of the drone 09:59 was a must for the villagers. 10:06 While we were there, 10:07 the villagers were excited to see the camera, 10:09 the drones and even see themselves on camera. 10:12 It's not something they're used to 10:14 because it's just not possible for them to buy 10:16 or even be aware 10:17 of what happens outside of where they live. 10:23 The difference between 10:25 the two schools is considerable. 10:28 At the rural school, 10:29 the children are taught inside a small chapel 10:31 for want of a better school building 10:33 and eat their meals outside. 10:34 At KMMS multiple buildings worth of classrooms 10:37 and a covered dining hall are the standard experience, 10:40 but the unifying factor 10:41 is the impact the children receive. 10:48 So this morning, 10:51 the reality of life here in Bangladesh, 10:53 and I guess what we experience 10:55 really sort of hits your heart. 10:59 You suddenly are faced with the struggles in life. 11:03 You're faced with the poverty. 11:05 And I think it's things we fully don't understand. 11:10 And so we left the school 11:12 and we brought those two children 11:13 to visit their mother. 11:15 She's a widow, she really can raise money. 11:20 She does menial jobs in houses. 11:24 And the reality is sponsorship gives her hope. 11:28 Sponsorship is the only answer for her, 11:32 for her children to have an education, 11:34 and for her children to be fed. 11:37 And just meeting here, such a happy face, 11:41 such a pleasant personality, 11:45 although we couldn't understand each other, 11:47 the reality is that 11:49 she would not be able to feed these children 11:52 and she struggles day to day. 11:54 So you get to really understand 11:56 that sponsorship is just not an education, 12:00 it's giving that family hope. 12:05 Inside the village, this poor, there is a beacon of hope, 12:09 something that shows 12:10 the possibilities for other people. 12:12 Many families want their children 12:13 to be educated there, 12:15 but it all comes down to sponsorship. 12:17 We are growing our support, but we don't want to stop. 12:20 Each visit is proof of how much more there is to do 12:23 and how much of a difference it keeps making. 12:26 This is just another school in a village 12:28 and the others have the same story, 12:30 one of hope, but also of opportunity. 13:04 I'm Shawn Boonstra, 13:06 Speaker Director for the Voice of Prophecy. 13:08 And I've been involved with Asian Aid for many years. 13:12 I'm excited that they're growing 13:13 and helping more children in need 13:15 and very excited with their new name, 13:18 Child impact International. 13:21 Voice of Prophecy continues to partner with Child Impact 13:24 both in rescuing girls from trafficking in India, 13:27 and with outreach in Myanmar. 13:29 My family continues to sponsor Sheila, 13:32 the young lady we sponsor in India. 13:35 Child Impact International is going to have a big impact 13:38 on the lives of thousands of children 13:41 in Adventist Mission Schools and other projects. 13:44 And we at Voice of Prophecy 13:46 are really excited to be a partner. |
Revised 2020-04-29