Participants: Jon & Natalie Wood
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000027A
|
00:21 Hello, and welcome to Jesus for Asia Now.
00:24 I'm Natalie Wood 00:25 and my husband Jon is here with us again today. 00:27 Hello, love. Hi, darling. How are you today? 00:29 I'm doing great. Awesome. 00:31 I'm looking forward to today's show... 00:32 Why is that? 'Cause this is like going home. 00:35 Home away from home. Yeah. 00:37 Where are we going today? 00:38 One of the many ones we have actually. 00:39 Yeah. That's very true. 00:41 You know, when Jesus says that 00:42 if you give up houses and land for My sakes, 00:44 you will get many more houses, 00:46 many more children or family, or whatever 00:48 in this life and beyond. 00:50 Isn't that kind of what you've experienced? 00:52 Yeah. 00:53 So many places... 00:54 Yeah, everywhere we go, it's like... 00:55 Feels like family. 00:56 Yeah, we add to our family and so it's like a home place. 01:00 Yeah. 01:01 And I feel that even being part of the Adventist church, 01:03 you go to any place in the world, 01:05 there's somebody that you can connect with it. 01:07 You know, thinks the same, 01:09 has the same ambition and focus in life, 01:12 and it's a real blessing 01:14 to be part of the family of God. 01:15 It is. 01:17 Well, today, we're going to one of our favorite places 01:19 in all the world. 01:20 And that's in India in a town called Udumalpet. 01:24 In a what? A town... 01:26 Called what? Udumalpet. 01:28 Udumalpet. 01:29 Udumalpet. 01:30 Wow! 01:32 Sounds like a tongue twister. 01:34 Yeah, they spell it different ways sometimes, 01:37 so it's like figuring out what does it really sound like. 01:40 Yeah. 01:41 Because it's transliterated by... 01:42 Yeah. 01:43 Anyway, we love Udumalpet because... 01:46 The people, yes. The people, that's right. 01:48 We have Bible workers there, we have evening schools there, 01:52 and we did some work there too. 01:54 We've had the privilege of doing evangelistic series there 01:57 and revival series. 01:58 And so it's definitely like going home. 02:01 That's right, absolutely. 02:02 Yeah, so just little background on Udumalpet. 02:05 Back in 2006, I went with a pastor and some friends, 02:10 and he showed us some different churches 02:12 that had been built by another ministry, 02:15 but they hadn't been able to hire Bible workers 02:18 to continue working in these churches. 02:20 And so for many years, 02:21 they had been sitting empty and padlock closed. 02:25 And we were looking for place to do some evangelistic series, 02:28 and we saw these churches and we thought, 02:30 "Wow, if we do revivals in these churches, 02:33 that means we don't have to build another church. 02:35 We don't have to build more churches 02:37 and raise the money to build churches." 02:39 So we just decided, 02:40 "Let's reopen these churches, do evangelism in them 02:44 and then hire Bible workers to continue monitoring 02:47 and nurturing the people that go there. 02:49 Right, and so we started that in 2007. 02:52 Yeah, January of 2007. 02:54 Our whole family, you can see, I'm holding my daughter, 02:57 at that time was four years old. 02:59 Yeah, that was ten years ago. 03:02 Ten years ago, that's right. 03:03 And this picture is not India. 03:05 No, that's in Thailand. Yeah. 03:08 'Cause we found that when taking people to India, 03:11 it's more beneficial to do kind of a two step approach. 03:16 Get over jetlag in Thailand. 03:18 Get over the idea that I'm no longer in America, 03:22 in a country that has some western, 03:24 it's little bit more clean, little bit more developed, 03:28 little bit more safe. 03:29 And when people, 03:31 I remember the first time I went to Thailand, 03:32 I'm like, "Wow, this is such a third world country." 03:35 And then coming back to Thailand from India, 03:37 it's like, "Wow, this place is so modern." 03:39 Yeah. 03:40 So different, so we took the team. 03:43 And God really moved, you know, calling people specifically. 03:47 They heard His voice, 03:48 they were impressed with certain passages of scripture 03:50 that this is what their call was. 03:52 And so we went there, 03:54 team of six different evangelistic teams. 03:57 Some of them are family, some of them are individuals, 04:00 and we did evangelistic series in six villages 04:05 surrounding the center city of Udumalpet. 04:08 Right. 04:09 Yeah, we call that a town... 04:11 They call that a town, but it's got 500,000 people. 04:14 It's pretty big. 04:15 We would call that a city. 04:17 Right. 04:19 It feels more townish 04:20 because there aren't a lot of high rises 04:22 or something like that, 04:23 but there are a lot of people in that town. 04:26 Absolutely. 04:27 And so that was the center where we stayed, 04:29 but every evening about 4 o'clock, 04:33 taxis would show up 04:34 when everybody would hop in their taxi and go out, 04:37 do some visitation and then do the evangelistic series. 04:40 Come home in the evening and then the next morning, 04:42 we would all sit around together, 04:43 and share notes, and encourage each other, 04:45 have worship, and pray together. 04:47 It was a wonderful experience. 04:49 Had such a great team that the Lord brought together, 04:53 really moved during that time. 04:55 But towards the end, 04:56 actually about half way through that evangelistic series, 04:59 the leaders came to us and said, what? 05:01 Well, we're working for all of these villages around 05:04 but there's no church in Udumalpet itself. 05:06 That's right. 05:07 So can we do a series in Udumalpet itself? 05:10 Yes. 05:11 And so we did. Yes. 05:12 Overlapping, was at the last week of the meetings. 05:15 We did evangelistic series, 05:17 rented a hall there and had a series there, 05:20 and people came to know more about Jesus 05:23 that had not known before. 05:25 Yeah, and 40 people were baptized. 05:28 And out of those 40 people, 05:30 there was one couple especially that was baptized. 05:35 And they are now overseeing our evening schools 05:39 in that area. 05:40 And also he is pastoring a couple of churches 05:42 and overseeing just a lot of work, 05:44 so there's stall works in that town for us. 05:47 Right, and it's so neat how it all, 05:51 I don't know, it's interwoven. 05:53 The people stories are interwoven, 05:55 and I think we're gonna share a story at the end... 05:57 Yes. 05:58 That actually is the beginning of the story 06:01 of Brother Thomas and Sister Jennifer. 06:03 That's correct. So we'll share that at the end. 06:05 But first, let's look at one of our Bible workers in action, 06:08 we have a little video. 06:09 This first video, we follow Brother Paul, 06:12 one of our Bible workers there in a small village 06:16 about 40 minutes from downtown Udumalpet. 06:19 And he is so impressive to me because when I first see him, 06:23 he didn't look like a standard Bible worker. 06:26 But, you know, he is a big guy, 06:28 tall, very impressive, he's got a great moustache and, 06:32 but after following him around 06:33 and seeing how he works with the people, 06:35 and how responsive they are to him, 06:37 and how much he cares in this prayers 06:39 and everything like that. 06:41 Just very impressed with his dedication 06:43 and his spirituality. 06:46 Really excited, so here's a little video 06:48 that we took just a little while ago of Brother Paul, 06:53 JFA Bible worker 06:54 in a little town, just outside Udumalpet. 06:57 Okay. 07:26 Okay, we're sitting in a home of a village, 07:29 small village where there is an Adventist church. 07:31 And about nine years ago, 07:33 we did evangelistic series in this little church. 07:36 We're coming back, one of our JFA Bible workers 07:40 has been taking care of this church 07:41 for the last few years. 07:42 And he is going around, we're with him, 07:44 going around visiting church members 07:48 and members of the community that are from other churches 07:51 or non-church at all. 07:53 And we're having a wonderful time, 07:55 we're meeting people. 07:56 They're crying. 07:57 Some people are unburdening their hearts. 07:59 They're finding solace and comfort 08:02 in Bible and scripture. 08:04 And it's such a joy to be here with our Bible worker. 08:09 And I don't know how they do it, 08:11 but he makes like $60 a month. 08:15 And I don't know how he survives 08:17 on that kind of salary 08:18 but, you know, he carries the word of life. 08:22 And our Bible workers are so dedicated 08:25 because they don't work for money, 08:27 they work for God, and they work for souls. 08:31 Some of them have left the work and they come back and begged, 08:36 "Please take me back, 'cause there's no light. 08:39 I miss that light that I feel the presence of God 08:43 that I feel when I'm working for Him, 08:45 when I'm sharing the truth with other people." 08:47 And so these Bible workers are really effective. 08:50 I mean, look at him, he is speaking their language 08:53 and if I was here as a missionary, 08:57 it would take me several years to learn the language. 09:00 And it wouldn't cost $60 a month. 09:03 It would cost quite a bit more for me to live here. 09:05 And then, totally comfortable 09:07 moving in and out of the houses, 09:08 understands the culture, understands the people, 09:11 understands their hearts and the family dynamics, 09:14 very close family dynamics here. 09:15 So it's been really awesome to be able to be a little part 09:20 of what they're doing, what God has called them to do 09:23 through our JFA Bible workers. 09:55 Just humbly going door to door, knocking on people's doors, 09:58 praying for them, sharing the Bible with them, 10:01 that's what he is able to do full time. 10:03 Thank you, thanks to some sponsors here in America. 10:06 Yeah, praise the Lord. 10:08 And it looked like the people, you know, 10:10 they were really enjoying the Bible study. 10:12 And then one lady was crying while they were praying... 10:14 Yeah. 10:15 Just really neat to see. Oh, absolutely. 10:17 I mean, he is able to move in there 10:19 and speak in their language, in their culture. 10:23 He looks like them, you know, moves like them, 10:25 used to living like them, very effective, very powerful. 10:29 That doesn't mean that the traditional missionary, 10:32 cross-cultural missionary is no longer needed 10:34 because there's thousands of unreached people groups 10:38 where there is no Christian. 10:40 And it would be harder for them in some ways 10:43 to do that cross-cultural initial penetration, 10:46 initial entering 10:47 than it would be for somebody like from America to go. 10:52 And so there's still that need for North American missionaries 10:56 but in places where there are Seventh-day Adventists 11:00 and are believers that already established, 11:03 and that have a system and a network, 11:05 and then they can then be empower 11:06 to go to their neighbors in their culture, 11:09 it's so much more affective. 11:11 You know, I said $60 a month in that video 11:15 but recent cost increase in living has brought it up 11:19 that it takes $75 a month for a Bible worker in India 11:23 to be able to survive. 11:25 Yeah. 11:26 Yeah, that's been really hard for them 11:27 to have it increase so much. 11:29 The cost of living... 11:30 Yeah, it had gone up so much 11:31 before we found out about and could raise their pay. 11:35 So, yeah, it's been hard time for them. 11:37 Yeah, but you know, we've talked to some people 11:39 'cause we've even gone through difficulties 11:41 with funding the Bible workers that we have. 11:44 And I ask them, you know, "How do you survive?" 11:47 I thought that a lot of them would just leave 11:49 because we weren't able to keep up every single month. 11:52 Sometimes, they would get, you know, 11:53 two-thirds of their salary, or half of their salary. 11:56 Some months, they would skip their salary completely. 12:00 And I thought that they would all leave 12:02 but they haven't. 12:04 And I've asked them, "Why are you still here?" 12:06 And many of them will say, "God first, money second." 12:10 And so I ask them, 12:11 "Have you learned to trust God through these times." 12:14 "Oh, yes. God always provides." 12:16 And so they've learned faith as well. 12:18 And many of them sacrifice quite a bit 12:21 to take this kind of job. 12:23 But their hearts are in it. 12:24 There's things better than pay in this life. 12:28 Yeah, and thankfully, 12:30 we have Bible workers that see that. 12:31 Absolutely, yeah. 12:33 So we have another video. 12:34 Yes. Okay. 12:35 Do you want to explain to us what this one is? 12:37 Yeah. This is Brother Bibben Niru. 12:40 And his family consists of himself, his wife, 12:44 and a little baby, little tiny baby. 12:47 And while we were there, 12:48 the baby had to go into the hospital. 12:50 And he was very sick because, 12:52 I guess the person that was taking care of it, 12:54 like the grandma or something can't see very well 12:58 and would get water in its nose and eyes. 13:01 And so it started to get infection 13:02 in its lungs and stuff. 13:04 And sweet, sweet, sweet family, love that family. 13:08 And so this is exciting. 13:10 He's only been working for us for a few months 13:12 but he's in charge of three churches. 13:17 Wow. Okay, let's play the video. 13:18 Okay. 13:37 This is one of the many little churches 13:39 in the outlying areas that they were built 13:43 by well meaning organizations, wonderful organizations 13:46 but they didn't, 13:47 the local field didn't have enough funds to... 13:50 and people to keep these churches cared for. 13:54 And so they were built 13:56 and then very soon, many of them were closed. 13:59 And not really closed but just nobody came. 14:03 And so recently when they put 14:05 our Jesus for Asia Bible worker, 14:07 Brother Bibben Niru in charge of this church, 14:10 and he goes around to the people in the villages 14:13 and he connects with them, and invites them, 14:15 and now this is a full and vibrant church. 14:17 It's not vibrant or full today because this is... 14:21 what is it, Thursday? 14:22 It's a Thursday so... 14:23 But on Sabbath morning, 14:25 you would see a group gathered here 14:27 singing the praises of our Lord, Savior Jesus Christ. 14:30 And it's just really inspiring 14:32 to be able to be a part of this ministry, 14:33 and partner with people here in India 14:36 that are willing to do the work. 14:38 They just need a little bit of help 14:39 to pay for family expenses and food and things like that. 14:43 And to see the gospel go forward with power 14:46 is just really inspiring. 14:50 As we were just passing this road, 14:53 the lady was standing here. 14:54 I asked her, "Can we pray for you, for your family?" 14:57 She asked, "What is prayer? 14:59 I don't know what is prayer." 15:01 So now our pastor has gone inside to pray 15:05 and to tell about Jesus. 15:22 If you would like to partner with Jesus for Asia 15:24 and sponsoring these Bible workers, to do this, 15:27 there's hundreds more that are available, 15:29 thousands more that are willing to work for Christ, 15:31 if we just provide them the means 15:33 to support their families. 15:35 So God bless, and we'll see you soon. 16:02 There's a couple of things I wanted to point out 16:03 in that video. 16:04 Okay. 16:05 One scene where he was talking to those two ladies, 16:08 the lady in the foreground was actually a Hindu 16:11 and had been quite hostile to Christianity in the past. 16:14 And for some reason, when we were walking through that day, 16:17 she started asking Bibben some questions 16:19 about our faith and our beliefs. 16:21 And he was explaining to her some of the faith. 16:24 And that was really exciting. 16:26 They were really excited about that. 16:28 And can you imagine telling somebody, 16:29 "Can I pray for you?" 16:30 And they say, "What is prayer?" "What is prayer?" 16:33 Yeah. Yeah. 16:35 Starting from just absolute ground zero, 16:37 what would you say? 16:38 What would you say to that person? 16:40 Yeah, you would have to explain to them 16:41 that you were gonna have a conversation with God. 16:44 And they would say, "Which God?" 16:45 Yeah, "Which God?" 16:46 And then you would have to go back even further. 16:48 Which of the 300,000 or 300,000,000 gods 16:50 are you gonna pray to? 16:52 And just starting from scratch like that 16:54 and this is what Paul says, 16:55 "I will build on no man's foundation. 16:58 I want to go where the gospel has not been known before." 17:01 And that's what these guys are doing. 17:03 They're moving into towns and villages 17:05 where many of the villagers never, have no clue, 17:08 have never had the chance to learn about Jesus before. 17:12 And that's exciting, that's really exciting. 17:13 It is. It is. 17:15 Another town that we went to with Bibben Niru, 17:19 some people were there, some young men were there, 17:22 and they didn't look very friendly. 17:24 And after we left, 17:26 we found out that they had threatened Bibben, 17:28 saying, "Why are you coming here? 17:29 You're not allowed in this village," 17:30 and things like that. 17:32 And his response was, "That's okay. 17:34 You guys can do what you want to, 17:36 but I need to keep coming." 17:37 And so he knows that in spite of persecution, 17:41 if he has any persecution, maybe he'll get beat up, 17:45 that's okay for him, you know, he's got that level... 17:47 He's making the choice that God's more important. 17:51 And those people have to know. 17:53 That's right, and so that light that he carries, 17:55 that truth that he carries, each of us, 17:57 every believer carries, you know, in some places, 18:00 it is better than gold, more precious than gold, 18:04 more precious than life itself. 18:06 And that's what these guys are carrying. 18:08 That's awesome. 18:10 Absolutely. That's really neat. 18:12 And it's so great to see these places 18:15 where the churches were closed ten years ago 18:19 and now they have expansion even further. 18:22 And so that's really, really neat. 18:24 And they become like a base of expansion, 18:27 you know, something to invite people to. 18:29 And the sad thing is that 18:32 in the administrative area that he's working in, 18:35 they have more churches than they have pastors, 18:39 or even pastors and Bible workers. 18:41 And so that's why some of these Bible workers 18:44 are taking on several different churches, 18:46 caring for them. 18:47 And so it's really hard for them to expand 18:52 when they can hardly care for what they've got already. 18:54 Yeah, that's true. 18:55 And thankfully, they're not all closed anymore. 18:58 They're all open and functioning 19:00 but they need more Bible workers. 19:03 I believe, my dream is to see the number of Bible workers 19:07 in that region double this year in 2017. 19:12 'Cause if they double, then each Bible worker 19:15 would have to take care of half as many churches 19:18 and be able to focus on more outreach, 19:21 and be able to care. 19:22 I would love to see it triple so that, you know, 19:25 one church per Bible worker. 19:27 Right, and then around that church, 19:28 a lot of outreach going on. 19:29 Exactly. 19:30 And then providing them, 19:32 not only providing more Bible workers 19:34 but providing more resources for the Bible workers, 19:37 training as well, 19:39 Bible training, prayer training. 19:42 And so the vision effect, this is... 19:43 Even medical missionary training. 19:44 We had a group from Light that went over 19:47 and did medical missionary training 19:48 with some of these very workers. 19:50 And it was a blessing. 19:51 Yes, and it's blessed in so many areas. 19:53 Right, and this is what the leaders are asking. 19:55 They're requesting, "We would really like a training center 19:59 to train our workers." 20:00 'Cause right now, the only training that they can get is 20:02 if they go learn English to the seminary in India. 20:06 It's very expensive and it's like four, five years. 20:10 And so, do a six months training seminary 20:14 or even a place where they could come for a week, 20:16 learn a bunch more Bible, go back in, 20:18 and then come back and forth every few months. 20:21 Right. That would be good. And grow like that. 20:23 We'll keep praying for that 20:24 'cause we've been praying for that for a while. 20:26 Yeah, yeah. 20:27 So, all right. 20:29 Well, we have another video... Yes. 20:31 Okay, what's this one? 20:32 This is an amazing lady who prays so powerfully 20:38 that I love to be in that room when she is praying. 20:42 I don't understand what she is saying, 20:43 I have no clue but I can hear the urgency, 20:47 the imploring in her heart, in her voice 20:50 and the faith that she has, 20:52 and the tears running down the cheeks of those 20:55 that she is praying with. 20:57 So, anyway this is Jesse Lee. 20:59 Okay. 21:20 She was a rich woman, well-off in this village. 21:24 She had her own business. 21:26 But all of a sudden, she lost all her money, 21:29 the business went down. 21:30 That was when our JFA worker was visiting the other places. 21:34 When she came and visited her, she told her problem, 21:37 then she started praying for her. 21:39 And she said, "God will restore your business back, 21:43 have that faith." 21:44 Then she taught about the faith to her and what, how to pray. 21:48 And then she got some money, 21:50 she invested that little money into the business again. 21:54 After that long prayer, 21:55 now she is witnessing that God has blessed her. 21:59 She has started the shop which is right in front 22:02 and now she is earning money now, again like before. 22:06 So she is very thankful to this Jesus Christ 22:09 who answered her prayers. 22:59 It's really neat to see the joy on people's faces 23:01 when they study the Bible and, when they learn... 23:03 And the ladies that she is studying with are so fervent. 23:07 So fervent in their face when I was talking to them, 23:10 they were talking about how we need to go 23:11 and reach those that don't know this. 23:14 And, you know, so fervently believing this 23:17 and whole heart... 23:18 they're sold out, sold out for the gospel, 23:21 fully committed into the Lord's work 23:23 and into the Lord Himself by faith. 23:25 That lady, with the business, you know, just very much, 23:29 "Yeah, this is my witnessing tool. 23:31 I stand here and I sell but I talk to people, 23:34 talk to people when they come by 23:36 and tell them about Jesus, tell them about the good news. 23:38 So this is my witnessing stand." 23:40 That's awesome. 23:44 Just love it there. That's really good. 23:45 So, being in India with our Bible workers, 23:47 it builds up my faith. 23:50 That's great. 23:51 Okay, so we have one more video? 23:53 One more video and we are almost out of time, so... 23:55 This video is, kind of, when we met 23:58 with all the Bible workers and some pastors 24:01 that are overseeing the work in the central church. 24:04 Now, the central church in Udumalpet 24:05 even though that was 10 years ago 24:07 that we raised up that congregation 24:09 is still don't have a church. 24:11 I know. 24:12 And so they are meeting in this house. 24:14 And so we are praying that we can raise the funds 24:17 to help them build the church. 24:19 But they've got property. 24:20 That's good. That's a plus. 24:21 It's a big step. Yes. 24:23 And so we're having a Bible workers meeting 24:25 and we're kind of going over, 24:26 "What can we do to grow the work, 24:30 God's kingdom in this area?" 24:32 Which is still, it's a small area in India 24:34 but it's several thousand villages, 24:37 thousand villages. 24:39 Yeah, I remember the last time we were there, 24:41 we were doing a revival meeting. 24:43 And we were driving out to our village 24:45 and it was, I don't know, 40 minutes drive or something. 24:48 And on the way, we were passing village after village. 24:52 And I'd say, "Israel, are there any... 24:55 are there any Christians in this village, any Adventists?" 24:57 He says, "No, not Adventist, maybe Christians." 25:01 Village after village after village. 25:03 So there's a lot of, lot of opportunity... 25:04 Lot of places. Yes. 25:05 To serve God. Right. 25:07 Even some of the villages 25:08 that we went to with our team on that trip, 25:12 there were people there that had never heard of Jesus, 25:15 you know, from the village. 25:17 So, yeah. Yeah. 25:18 So, there's a lot of opportunity out there. 25:20 Okay, so... Okay, so let's... 25:21 Watch this... Let's watch this video? 25:22 That's right. Okay. 25:36 So, one of things that came out in this meeting 25:38 that I really picked up on is, 25:41 there is no Bible worker or pastoral training 25:46 in the Tamil language. 25:48 So here we are in this big state of India, Tamil Nadu 25:53 and there is, 25:54 in order for somebody to get training in Bible work, 25:57 they have to go to Spicer and learn English 26:01 before they can start learning the Bible or Bible work. 26:04 And so, they are saying, 26:07 "We don't have a Bible training center 26:10 here in Tamil Nadu." 26:12 And that was a big thing for me, 26:14 because there's thousands of villages 26:17 in just this one region that have never heard the gospel, 26:22 completely unentered, thousands. 26:25 And so, how are we gonna reach them in five years? 26:27 I believe we need to hire a lot more Bible workers, 26:30 we need to have a Tamil training school, 26:33 Bible worker training school. 26:35 We need to provide the projectors, 26:37 so they can train the members, 26:38 and really start pouring resources, 26:41 and prayer, and time, and support, and encouragement 26:44 into this section 26:46 because they're open to doing it 26:48 and make this a model for all the other places. 26:53 Start somewhere, right? 26:55 Anyway, thanks for joining us, we are here in Tamil Nadu 26:59 in the little town called Udumalpet, 27:01 a little town of 500,000 people. 27:05 A little town? Tiny town. 27:07 500,000? 27:10 You know what, it's really, really neat 27:11 to see them being empowered 27:13 to look beyond what exists already. 27:17 That's right. I love that. 27:19 I'm so glad we're a part of it. 27:20 Oh, absolutely. 27:22 And like I said earlier, you know, the idea of, 27:24 "I can work a day job here, go to sleep, 27:27 and know that somebody is working for me over there." 27:31 That's right. 27:32 And very soon the gospel of this kingdom 27:34 shall be preached to all the world... 27:37 That's right. And then the end will come. 27:39 That's right. Praise the Lord. 27:40 Yes. 27:42 If you are feeling impressed to sponsor a Bible worker, 27:44 please contact us. 27:46 You can send your tax deductible love gift 27:48 to Jesus for Asia, 27:50 PO Box 1221, Collegedale, Tennessee 37315. 27:55 Call us at 423-413-7321 28:00 or visit our website at Jesus4asia.org. 28:03 Thank you so much for joining us 28:05 for Jesus for Asia now. 28:06 May God richly bless you 28:08 as we all prepare for His soon coming. |
Revised 2017-10-16