Participants:
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000065A
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00:00 (dramatic music)
00:21 - Hello, and welcome to Jesus for Asia Now. 00:23 I'm Natalie Wood, and today my husband Jon 00:25 and I want to share a number of pictures 00:28 and a few stories of some of our Bible workers. 00:32 Welcome to the show, dear. 00:33 - Hi, darling, it's good to be here. 00:35 - Yeah, I'm so excited about this show 00:36 because, you know, I love our Bible workers. 00:39 - Oh my goodness, yes. 00:40 - And so, how does our Bible worker program work? 00:42 - Well, it's very simple. 00:43 We receive donations from here in America. 00:47 We send them to the church in India, 00:49 or wherever they are being sponsored from, 00:51 whichever country they are. 00:53 - Right. 00:54 - And then, they then provide that money directly to them. 00:57 - Right, so where are they? 01:00 Where do we have Bible workers? 01:02 - The majority of our Bible workers are in India. 01:04 - Right, and those are the ones we're talking about today? 01:07 - Yes. 01:08 - But we do have them in other countries. 01:09 - Yes, we have some in Thailand. 01:10 We have some in the Philippines and Cambodia, 01:14 but the majority are in India. 01:15 India is a unique country in that it has an active 01:19 and growing Seventh Day Adventist Church, 01:21 and a lot of people are willing to work full time for God. 01:26 In fact, many of them work full time anyway. 01:30 They're willing to sacrifice an amazing amount 01:33 in order to see God's kingdom go forward. 01:35 - Right, they want to share what they've learned. 01:38 This Jesus that they've met, 01:40 they want to share with people. 01:41 - Yeah. 01:42 - [Natalie] Which is awesome. 01:43 - Yes, and so this is a really excellent country 01:46 in which to have Bible workers. 01:48 And the extra stipend, or the stipend that they get, 01:51 that they receive through Jesus For Asia, 01:53 allows them to focus full time on this work. 01:55 - Right, and it isn't an extra. 01:58 - [Jon] Yes. 01:59 - I mean, in many places, it's not even enough 02:00 for them to survive on. 02:01 - Right, it's not a large wage. 02:03 - No. 02:04 - They are really-- 02:05 - We need to raise it actually, 02:07 but we haven't had the faith yet to do that. 02:10 - Right. 02:11 - Okay, so why are they more affective than like ... 02:15 Why don't you go to India and be a Bible worker? 02:17 Why would they be more affective than you? 02:19 - Well, first of all, they're more cost effective. 02:21 - Okay. 02:23 - They don't need a plane ticket to get there. 02:25 They don't have to learn the language. 02:27 They don't have to learn the culture. 02:30 And it would take me several years to learn the language 02:33 and many years to learn the culture. 02:36 And so, it's easier for Bible workers. 02:38 There's many more of them than just me. 02:42 There's thousands, in fact, 02:44 that are willing to work for God. 02:47 Full time, if someone would support them. 02:50 - Right, so what kind of work do these Bible workers do? 02:54 I mean, do they just sit at the church 02:56 and wait for people to come to them? 02:57 What do these Bible workers do? 02:59 - No, what they do, is they go door-to-door. 03:02 - Just like Bible workers do in America. 03:04 - Yep, and they knock on doors. 03:07 Often, they don't have literature. 03:08 Sometimes they have literature, 03:09 many times they don't have literature. 03:11 So they say, "Can I pray with you? 03:13 "Is there any need that you have in this home for prayer?" 03:17 - Okay. 03:18 - And that's the usual way people come into the truth, 03:21 is they have somebody that has been to the doctors, 03:23 and been to all the different gods 03:26 that they can think of, and they don't get healed. 03:30 So, the Bible workers will come, they'll pray with them. 03:33 Many times, they'll come over and over and over again. 03:37 And just continue to pray with these people. 03:39 And while they're praying with them, 03:41 of course, they give a little truth, 03:43 and talk a little bit about the Bible, 03:44 and talk a little bit about Jesus, 03:46 and who they're praying to 03:47 and they'll teach them how to pray. 03:49 Start building that faith 03:50 and start building that relationship. 03:52 And then some, they get healed. 03:55 There's a healing that takes place in the family. 03:58 And Jesus does this all the time. 04:00 And then those people then, you know, 04:03 they have a new life, they have a new hope, 04:05 and they found a god that is real. 04:08 And they become believers. 04:12 - Yeah. 04:13 You know, sometimes our Bible workers 04:14 are able to help some other ways too. 04:16 They go ... 04:18 Some of our Bible workers have medical missionary training, 04:20 and so they help with charcoal baths or poultices, 04:24 or, you know, whatever they can do physically 04:28 as well to help. 04:29 So that's part of their work as well. 04:31 - They go and visit people in the hospital, 04:33 when they have to go, and just, 04:35 anything they can think of to connect and help. 04:39 - Yes. 04:41 - To help these people, to know, and to show that they care. 04:43 - And yes, and they do care. 04:45 They have a hard burden for souls. 04:48 And some of our Bible workers, 04:49 like we have one Bible worker, 04:52 she asked to take some time off, 04:53 there was things in her family that she wanted to focus on, 04:56 and after a couple months she came back to our director 05:00 and says, "Please, please, can I come work 05:02 "for Jesus for Asia again? 05:04 "I miss the light when I go and share Jesus with people, 05:09 "when I go and knock on doors and pray with people. 05:11 "I miss having the Holy Spirit 05:12 "in my life for ministry like that." 05:15 And, you know, it's true, 05:16 because the Holy Spirit really is given for ministry. 05:19 It's not given to make us comfortable sitting 05:22 at home taking care of ourselves. 05:25 And this is true. 05:26 And so, our Bible workers, they get a taste of this, 05:28 and I've seen their faith grow, 05:31 and the experiences that they have in the Lord, 05:33 and how their faith, and their belief, 05:38 and their focus, and their prayer, 05:40 becomes more developed and more beautiful. 05:44 And, you know, we've been doing this for 14 years now. 05:48 And some of our Bible workers have been 05:49 from us from almost the beginning. 05:51 And to see how their faith has grown, 05:54 their family has grown. 05:56 Working for God is a win-win. 05:58 - All the way around. 06:00 - That's awesome. 06:01 - When you share Christ with others, 06:03 our Bible workers do this all the time, 06:04 when they share Christ with others, 06:06 it blesses them and it blesses the Bible workers. 06:09 - Right, right. 06:11 So, these Bible workers also pastor churches in many areas, 06:15 because there aren't enough pastors to go around. 06:18 - Yeah. 06:19 - And so, they become the pastoral leadership 06:22 for whatever church they are assigned. 06:24 - Sometimes two or three churches. 06:28 There's many places, well, just to give you an idea, 06:31 in the North India Union, okay, 06:34 that's the entire northern part of India, 06:37 there are 650 million people. 06:41 That's twice the population of the entire United States. 06:45 There are 97 pastors. 06:49 - That's not enough. 06:50 - And so, even with the number of churches, 06:53 like in south India, the little place that we're at, 06:57 there's 60 churches for a population of several million. 07:03 And there are 12 pastors, you know? 07:07 So, the Bible workers play a very vital role 07:10 in the continued growth of the church 07:13 in many areas in India, and in other countries. 07:16 - We've been told that in some areas of India, 07:18 that 65% of their church growth comes from the 07:21 Jesus for Asia Bible workers that work in their area. 07:24 - Yes, yes. 07:25 - So we praise the Lord for that. 07:26 That is just amazing. 07:27 - Yes, so for instance, last year, in one city in India, 07:32 there were four new churches planted in the city. 07:38 All four of them were planted 07:39 by Jesus for Asia Bible workers. 07:41 - Wow. 07:42 They also have told us that the Bible workers bring 07:45 in an average of one person per month per Bible worker. 07:50 - Yes. 07:51 - To the church? 07:52 - [Jon] Yes. 07:52 - Wow. 07:54 - And it's beautiful, because now that we've been doing this 07:55 for over 10 years, we're seeing the fruit; 07:59 we're seeing how these churches are growing, 08:01 and thriving, and strong, and they're starting to ... 08:04 Yeah, we just want to do more. 08:06 - Right, so we have a story that illustrates this expansion 08:10 and this need for the Bible worker to be there 08:13 and to stay there longer term. 08:15 And this happened in northwest India. 08:18 - Yep, in a city called Rajkot, 08:20 it's actually the western half of the state of Gujarat. 08:24 And they had made that a new region, 08:27 in which there was no believers, 08:29 and they sent a pastor, president, and a secretary, 08:33 for reaching 10 million people. 08:35 And so they begged us-- 08:37 - Three workers. 08:39 - "Can we have please 10 Bible workers?" 08:42 And so, we said yes, and with the help 08:45 of those Bible workers, they've established, 08:48 now they've got like 20 different church centers 08:51 with several hundred people meeting every single Sabbath. 08:54 - Wow, so God is expanding it? 08:56 - Absolutely. 08:57 - All right, so we want to go to the pictures 08:58 of the Bible workers, but first, we have a picture, 09:02 can you explain this picture to us, please? 09:04 - [Jon] This is a satellite image of one section of India. 09:08 And the green is, of course, 09:11 the fields, the rice patties, whatever, 09:13 the brown dots are towns and villages. 09:16 - [Natalie] Oh, okay, there's a lot of those. 09:18 - There are a lot of towns. 09:20 In fact, in India, it is estimated that 09:23 over 400 thousand towns and villages throughout India 09:27 have never heard the gospel from any denomination. 09:31 - Wow. 09:32 - 400 thousand towns and villages. 09:34 - So, there's a lot of field out there. 09:36 - There's a lot of opportunity. 09:37 - Yeah. 09:38 - There's a lot of opportunity to get treasure for Heaven. 09:41 - Okay, well, so let's get started with our Bible workers. 09:45 We want to start with the story of Priscilla. 09:47 - [Jon] Oh my goodness. 09:48 - [Natalie] Do you wanna tell this story? 09:48 - [Jon] I'd love to. 09:50 - [Natalie] Okay. 09:51 - But you can jump in and tell me when I make a mistake. 09:53 - Okay. 09:54 - She was standing on the top of a hill. 09:56 They were working in an area 09:57 where they had strong resistance. 10:00 - Strong Hindus. 10:01 - And the neighbors were into ... 10:03 I mean, in India, you have people 10:05 that are black magic gurus or experts, 10:07 they call them sorcerers and they'll put curses on you. 10:11 So, she was standing on top of this hill, 10:14 and she heard a voice, out of thin air, 10:17 she didn't see anybody, nobody was around, 10:19 she heard a voice saying, "You are not allowed here. 10:22 "This is not your place, you must leave. 10:24 "And stop talking about Jesus." 10:26 - Yeah. 10:27 - [Jon] Out of thin air. 10:28 - Right. 10:29 - It's like, what would you do? 10:31 - Um, pray? 10:32 (Both laugh) 10:34 - Yeah, I would be a little bit freaked out. 10:36 - [Natalie] Right? 10:36 - You know what she did? 10:38 - What did she do? 10:39 - Well, maybe you can say it better. 10:41 She looked at the air. 10:42 - Yeah, she looked and she said, 10:45 "I serve Jesus Christ. He is the strongest one," 10:48 or something to that effect, 10:50 "and you are Satan, you need to leave here." 10:53 - That's right. 10:55 And so, then the demon said that again. 10:58 And she responded the same way. 11:00 - Demon said it again. - Three times. 11:02 - She responded the same way. 11:03 She says, "my God is stronger than you." 11:06 And then the demon took form, took form of a man. 11:10 - Like a person, yeah. 11:11 - And started coming at her, like he was gonna hurt her. 11:14 - Right. 11:15 - And all of a sudden ... 11:17 - She said, "Jesus, help me." 11:19 - Yeah, all of a sudden it's like Jesus came 11:21 and took her from there and put her back down 11:24 in the flat area at her village. 11:27 - Right, and so she goes to the church, 11:29 and she says, "Jesus, if this was you please--" 11:33 - Yeah, "if it was you that carried me here." 11:35 - Right, "please do something in this village, 11:39 "that they will have a living witness, 11:41 "and these Hindu people will know you." 11:44 - Yes. 11:45 - Well, she was there in the church praying for a bit, 11:48 it sounded like, and while she was there praying, 11:50 a lady came in and she was crying. 11:54 And she said, "My husband had an accident just now, 11:57 "and it severed the nerves in his neck--" 12:00 - [Jon] Yeah, right after. 12:01 - "And he's going to be paralyzed." 12:02 - Yeah, and he's not going to live. 12:04 - Yeah, they said he was gonna die, 12:05 and if he did live-- 12:07 - He'd never walk again. 12:08 - He'd be in the hospital for days 12:09 and he would never walk again. 12:11 - Yeah, so God impressed her to go with her neighbor, 12:13 to go to the hospital and pray for this man. 12:16 - Right, so she went and prayed. 12:18 - And then she left. 12:19 - Right. 12:20 - Came back to her house, and then, that same night, 12:24 this old man, a hundred year old man, 12:26 comes walking into the hospital, 12:29 and walks up to the man in the bed, 12:32 puts his hand behind his neck, 12:36 and the man felt his hand, 12:38 and he couldn't feel anything. 12:39 - Right. 12:40 - The nerves-- - He was paralyzed. 12:41 - The spinal cord was cut. 12:43 And so, he could feel the hand. 12:46 And the man prayed for him. 12:49 And what happened? 12:51 - The man was healed. 12:52 The next day the doctors were like, 12:54 "There's nothing wrong with you. You're going home." 12:58 - So he got up and walked out of the hospital. 13:00 So, he said, "Jesus, the old man came and healed me." 13:04 And he said, "Now I am ..." 13:07 - "... a living witness." 13:08 - [Jon] A living witness. 13:09 - He used to be a drunkard, he used to-- 13:12 - [Jon] Smoke cigarettes, be a bad man. 13:14 - Right, and he says, "God helped me, 13:16 "he's helped me with all of these things." 13:18 - Yeah, so he no longer drinks, he no longer smokes. 13:21 His whole family has taken baptism, 13:23 and they're all so happy knowing who Jesus is. 13:27 - Right, and it all happened because Priscilla had faith 13:31 and she didn't obey the Devil and leave that place. 13:34 - Yeah, this is the kind of Bible worker 13:36 that somebody here in America could sponsor. 13:40 - Yeah, and they work while we're sleeping, 13:42 because we're almost exactly opposite in time zones. 13:45 - Uh-huh, we go to sleep and they wake up, work all day. 13:51 What an honor, what an honor, to have people like this now. 13:54 The Bible workers are praying for their donors. 13:57 - Right, they do. 13:58 - And to have people like this praying 14:00 for us is such an honor, 14:03 such a privilege. 14:05 This person is in that place that we talked about 14:09 in the western half of Gujarat. 14:11 And this person has a very special story, 14:15 because, you know how there's a caste system in India? 14:19 And most of the Christian work is done in the lower caste. 14:25 The upper caste is very resistant 14:29 to any kind of Christianity. 14:31 But this person, this Bible worker, 14:33 met a family that was in the upper, upper caste, 14:37 and they had family problems. 14:40 They had physical problems, there was illness 14:41 and sickness, business problems, 14:44 the family was just not doing well. 14:45 And so, they opened the door for him 14:47 to come and pray for them. 14:50 He prayed for them, gave them Bible studies, 14:53 they accepted Jesus, they got healing physically, 14:55 healing emotionally, healing financially, 14:59 and they gave their whole lives to Jesus Christ. 15:02 - So they had healing spiritually too. 15:04 - Absolutely. 15:05 And then, so normally, 15:06 if an upper caste receives Jesus Christ, 15:09 they become outcast, okay? 15:11 They're kicked out of their village and persecuted. 15:16 But what this family did, and it's so amazing, 15:19 I've never heard of this ever before, 15:21 and it's so exciting to me because they threw a big party. 15:25 They invited all their close friends, 15:27 all their families, relatives, everything. 15:29 They brought them all there and during the party 15:31 they got up and publicly stated, 15:34 "We have become followers of Jesus Christ." 15:38 - Wow. 15:40 Wow, that's pretty gutsy. 15:43 (Jon exhales amazedly) 15:45 - Yeah, and they told they whole story of why. 15:46 They told them what Jesus did for them, what he means, 15:50 the kind of god that he is, the kind of character 15:52 that he has, and you know what? 15:54 Everybody was interested. 15:55 - Wow. 15:57 - They didn't shun them and throw them out. 15:59 It's like, "Wow, this is a really neat god; 16:01 "this is really wonderful what's happened to your family." 16:04 And so now this Bible worker has all kinds of opportunities 16:08 to witness to the highest caste in society there. 16:12 - Wow. 16:13 - So, just for that one breakthrough, 16:16 I mean, it's worth, just like wow. 16:20 - Every life changed is so awesome. 16:22 - Yeah, and see that caste is the caste that teaches. 16:26 They're the spiritual leaders of society. 16:30 - So, it'll be more powerful. 16:32 - They have that influence there. 16:33 So, pray for that family and pray for that Bible worker. 16:37 - Yeah. 16:39 - [Jon] Now this group of Bible workers is from a state 16:42 in India, in which just a little over a decade ago, 16:45 there was 5,000 Christians killed in anti-Christian riots. 16:51 And so, these people, they work 16:53 with fear always in the background. 16:55 This man is the husband of the next Bible worker. 16:57 This is Saskreema, okay? 16:59 I don't know if I said that right. 17:01 But when she was growing up, she grew up Hindu, 17:05 and she told her parents in her teenage years, 17:07 she said, "I want to be a Christian." 17:10 Now, she didn't know any Christians; 17:12 she wasn't around any Christians. 17:14 I don't know how she learned about Christians, 17:16 but she says, "Get me a Christian husband." 17:18 - Wow. 17:20 - And so they did. 17:23 The parents found a Christian husband, and it was that man. 17:26 And she married him, and she learned about Jesus, 17:29 and she became a Christian, she became and Adventist. 17:31 And now she's one of our Bible workers. 17:33 - Wow, wow, how did she ever have that thought? 17:38 - I have no idea, I think-- 17:39 - It was from God. - The Holy Spirit. 17:40 Absolutely. 17:41 - It was totally from God. 17:42 - Yeah, and now they work, 17:44 they have a wonderful ministry there 17:46 in an area that's very difficult. 17:48 Now this man is a Bible worker 17:50 in an area that has a very tragic story. 17:53 And this next picture is the church that is in his area. 17:57 This church was damaged in 2008. 18:00 - [Natalie] Wow. 18:02 - [Jon] By anti-Christian rioters. 18:04 And this church has been sitting in that village 18:07 ever since then, never being repaired. 18:10 And now this man is new into that area 18:14 and he's working with that village 18:17 and we still have Adventist Church members there. 18:20 They're being highly oppressed. 18:22 When I visited there they kept begging me, 18:24 "please come and pray in my house, 18:26 "please come and pray in my house, pray for my family, 18:28 "please come and offer prayer in my house." 18:31 We were in a hurry, we had another four hours of driving 18:34 and it was almost sundown, I didn't wanna, 18:37 but they were so insistent, I went, "okay, okay." 18:39 I went into one of the guy's houses, 18:41 and the house was so poor, I couldn't even film. 18:45 I just had to, like, I can't film this. 18:47 I went in and I prayed for them. 18:49 I'm like, "We gotta come back." 18:51 We gotta rebuild that church, we gotta heal that wound. 18:54 We've gotta build up those church members again. 18:57 So this is a dream of mine, to bring a small team in there 19:00 and just build that work up and see what can be done, 19:05 see what needs to be done and repair. 19:08 - Yeah, because right now it's a testimony 19:11 to what evil can do. 19:12 But it needs to be a testimony to what God can do. 19:15 - Yeah, and let them know that 19:17 there's people that care about them. 19:19 And are looking forward to being their neighbors in Heaven. 19:23 (both laugh lightly) 19:27 - Well, this next story is a very precious story to us. 19:30 - Yes. 19:31 - [Natalie] We been to Rajkot with this family since 2007. 19:35 - [Jon] Yes, because back in 2007, we found a lot 19:39 of churches in a certain area that had been built 19:42 and then they were closed because there was no Bible worker, 19:45 no pastor, to take care of these churches. 19:48 So we thought, let's get six teams together, 19:51 and let's go there and revive churches, 19:54 instead of having to build new ones, 19:55 let's just revive ones that are there. 19:57 - Right. 19:58 - Those were in churches 19:59 and surrounding villages to a main city. 20:02 You remember that? 20:03 - Yep. 20:04 Our family did one of those 20:05 Evangelistic series in Pukhrayan. 20:07 - [Jon] Yes, little tiny church. 20:09 - Yep. 20:10 - Still thriving, still growing. 20:12 - Yeah, that's a miracle too. 20:13 They had to rebuild that church recently 20:15 'cause the wall fell down. 20:17 But thank the Lord no one was in it at the time, 20:18 because we have an evening school there, 20:20 and they have church services there. 20:23 - Yep. 20:24 - Someone could've been there 20:25 and it could've really hurt people, 20:27 but thank the Lord it fell down when no one was there. 20:30 - So we did a 10 day Evangelistic effort, 20:32 and our Bible workers went around to the neighborhood, 20:35 in the city, inviting people to come. 20:38 - Right. 20:39 - So, one of the houses that they knocked on, 20:40 and gave an invitation to, was Brother Thomas 20:42 and Sister Jennifer's house. 20:44 And he said? 20:46 - No! 20:47 - [Jon] Yeah, but she-- 20:48 - They were Christian. 20:49 They were other Christian, but he said no. 20:50 - Formerly, he was a Hindu priest. 20:53 He had been converted to become a Christian. 20:56 - Right. 20:57 - But he said, "no, we don't want to go there." 21:00 But she was a little disobedient. 21:03 - Yep, she went anyway. 21:04 (both chuckle) 21:05 And he was upset with her, 21:06 but then he finally started joining her 21:08 after she started sharing what she was learning. 21:11 And so, they both came to the meetings, through to the end. 21:14 And afterward, they finished studying, 21:17 and they both were baptized. 21:19 - Yes, so we have a little video in which Brother Thomas 21:22 talks about that transition into faith. 21:25 (light uplifting music) (speaking foreign language) 21:32 - [Translator] After we took baptism, 21:34 we had a very big problem in the family. 21:38 We didn't have money. 21:39 We were in a big confusion about what to do. 21:43 But his wife, Sister Jennifer, would never give up. 21:48 She was praying and praying and praying. 21:51 But through those prayers, God really blessed us. 21:57 (speaking foreign language) 22:03 I quit my job, because I didn't get the Sabbath off. 22:07 At that job, I used to get, weekly 2,000 rupees. 22:11 But my wife went and asked for this Bible worker program. 22:15 They accepted our request. 22:17 They gave us an opportunity to work 22:19 as Bible workers together as a family. 22:22 When they were giving me this privilege to work 22:25 as a Bible worker, the pastor told me, 22:27 "Weekly you were getting 2,000 rupees, 22:30 "but now your whole salary is going to be 2,000 per month. 22:35 "What are you going to do? 22:36 "How are you going to survive? 22:38 "So think about it." 22:39 But he said, "No. 22:41 "We have determined as a family to work for the Lord. 22:45 We are going to do God's work. 22:47 God will bless." 22:49 I joined the church in Udamalpet in 2007, 22:53 as a member, 22:55 as a believer. 22:57 And I can not even imagine today, 23:00 I am now the pastor of the Udamalpet church. 23:03 I never even dreamt about it. 23:05 Now being a pastor, as I go to different houses, 23:10 people are sick, people are in different needs. 23:14 When we go pray, God is answering. 23:17 What a mighty God. 23:18 (uplifting music) 23:22 (speaking foreign language) 23:25 He visits the evening schools regularly. 23:29 Every day he has a timetable. 23:32 So according to that timetable, he goes, 23:34 he buys the vegetables and rice, 23:38 and the groceries, and the firewood, 23:40 and everything for those evening schools, 23:42 and encourages those children there. 23:45 And he is also encouraging the teachers. 23:48 And if the Bible teacher is not there, 23:50 he will be there to teach that day's Bible classes 23:54 for the children that evening. 23:56 (speaking foreign language) 24:04 In the year 2007, most of these churches were shut down. 24:08 They were not functioning. 24:10 After 2007, all of these churches 24:12 started having worships on Saturdays. 24:16 And only on Saturdays they were worshiping, 24:19 but through these evening schools, 24:21 now we have all the days the church is open. 24:25 Children are coming, some kind of activity is going on. 24:28 We are giving them free meals, free education. 24:31 Through that we are able to even approach 24:34 the Hindu families, parents who send their children here. 24:38 They are asking me, "What is happening? 24:41 "How are you able to help these children like this? 24:44 "It's a great help, education wise, and also with food. 24:48 "While you are giving that, 24:49 "our children are so healthy and happy. 24:51 "How are you able to do this?" 24:53 So this creates a kind of rapport 24:56 between the parents and me. 24:58 Through this, I am able to share the love of God. 25:01 (light piano music) 25:06 It's a great blessing for those villages. 25:09 Those children, when they eat, 25:11 when they get that education, 25:13 when they learn the songs and Bible verses, 25:16 they are so blessed. 25:18 Sometimes we ask the children to pray. 25:20 They pray for the donors. 25:22 They pray for those people who are helping them. 25:25 (speaking foreign language) 25:28 Thank you for what you are doing. 25:30 May the Lord bless you. 25:32 (light piano music) 25:39 - Those kids are so precious. 25:40 - Oh, I just love them. 25:42 - It's so neat to hear Brother Thomas 25:44 and Sister Jennifer's story. 25:47 What, years later now? 25:49 - [Jon] Yes. 25:50 - They've been church members for years, 25:51 they've been Bible workers now for years, 25:54 and now they've been helping 25:56 with the evening school for years. 25:58 It's such a blessing to see how far 26:00 the Lord is extending their ministry. 26:02 And how he helps them. 26:03 I mean, Brother Thomas is a busy man. 26:06 - He's in charge of 10 evening schools, 26:08 so like 300 to 400 students, children. 26:12 Every evening they get a free meal, 26:15 and he's in charge of making sure 26:16 they all have the supplies to do that. 26:18 Keep it running smoothly. 26:19 And he's a pastor on top of that. 26:21 Pastoring a church. 26:22 And his wife, she does the same thing. 26:24 She goes around and she does all the 26:26 leading the song services and teaching them Bible songs, 26:31 Bible verse songs and stuff to the evening schools. 26:34 She's also a Bible worker in charge 26:35 of several churches as well. 26:37 - Yeah, so they're very busy. 26:40 And their daughters are studying, going to school, so. 26:44 - Yeah, yeah. 26:45 - Anyway, it's such a privilege to serve them. 26:48 To see them, to know their stories. 26:50 I know that Sister Jennifer has been such a blessing to me. 26:53 We were there just a year after this, 26:56 a year after they were converted, 26:58 and I got really sick and you were traveling 27:00 else where in India, and she was making food 27:03 and bringing it to the hotel room 27:04 for James and Mary Anne and I, 27:07 so that we wouldn't go hungry. 27:08 She was so sweet to take care of us. 27:10 - Such a servant heart family. 27:12 And I love her food, I love her cooking still. 27:15 (Jon chuckles) 27:17 - Yeah, yep. 27:18 - Yeah, such an amazing opportunity to serve these people. 27:22 You know, I see ourselves, I see myself, as their servant. 27:27 - Right. 27:27 - To enable them to do what God 27:30 has called them to do in their lives. 27:32 - Right. 27:33 I would to invite you to be a part of serving them as well. 27:37 If you would to sponsor, or get a group of people 27:39 together to sponsor a Bible worker, 27:42 please contact us at Jesus for Asia, 27:44 PO Box 1221, Collegedale, Tennessee 37315. 27:50 Call us at 423-413-7321 27:54 or visit our website at Jesus4asia.org 27:57 Please pray for these Bible workers, 27:59 and remember, they are praying for you. 28:02 May God richly bless you until we see you 28:04 next time on Jesus for Asia Now. 28:07 (dramatic music) |
Revised 2019-09-03