Participants:
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000072A
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00:01 (Inspirational music)
00:21 - Hello, and welcome to Jesus for Asia now. 00:24 I'm Natalie Wood and today, my husband John and I 00:26 want to take you on a trip back in time. 00:29 We're going back to the beginnings of our 00:32 Bible Worker program in a special area of India. 00:35 - Welcome to the show dear. 00:36 - Hi darling, I'm excited about 00:37 what we're gonna share today. 00:38 - Right, it's a bit of old news. 00:40 We thought it'd be kinda fun to go back 00:42 and kinda have a memory time 00:45 of where God has brought this program from. 00:48 - Well, it's like you know when you go into an experience 00:54 and then all of a sudden that experience 00:56 or you go on an adventure or go somewhere 00:57 and all of a sudden something completely bigger than that 01:00 than what you expected happens 01:03 and what we're talking about is 01:05 my first trip to North India. 01:08 - Okay 01:09 - And we went there, our whole family was in India 01:12 and you were with another family visiting India 01:16 and so I took Israel, our JFA director in India, 01:20 we went up north - Right 01:22 - We flew into Deli and then we traveled around 01:27 meeting the president of the upper Gange section. 01:29 - Okay 01:30 - Now in India they do it a little differently 01:32 when a new area is established, they start off as a region 01:38 and they grow a little bit and get to the place 01:39 where then they're a section 01:41 and then they grow further and eventually 01:43 they become a conference. 01:44 - Okay 01:46 - Okay, now this is a section. 01:47 - Okay 01:48 - This is one section in the North India Union. 01:50 - Okay 01:52 - Okay and to give you a perspective on the numbers okay 01:55 cause this is one of the most highly densely populated 01:59 areas of the planet. 02:01 - Okay 02:02 - Okay, in this one little section 02:04 they've got 180 million people 02:10 so over half the population of the entire United States 02:13 is in that one section. 02:15 - Wow - Yeah 02:17 - That's a lot of people - It's 02:19 - And it's not a lot of land mass. 02:21 - No, it's not that big of a place. 02:22 - So it's very crowded. 02:23 - Yeah, but in that section they've got over 110,000 02:26 towns and villages and our church maybe into 1,000 of them. 02:32 - Wow 02:34 - And that means like one member here, one member there 02:35 and stuff like that, now I've heard a lot that you can't do 02:39 ministry in North India, that the doors are closed, 02:42 there's no opportunity up there 02:45 and so you just work in the South 02:48 and the majority of everyone that I know 02:50 that works in India, works in the South 02:52 and so on this trip, we went up doing an exploratory 02:58 what do you call it? 03:00 It's like the Jacques Cousteau of Bible work (laughing) 03:03 - Just to learn, just a learning trip. 03:06 - Yeah, and it started out with we received a message from 03:09 the upper Gange section office saying please come up and see 03:13 our work and please give us Bible workers 03:15 cause they'd heard that we were sponsoring Bible workers 03:18 through our program Jesus for Asia. 03:20 Anyone in America can sponsor a Bible worker in India 03:23 through Jesus for Asia. - Right 03:25 - Pretty simple and not expensive. 03:27 - Right 03:28 - And so we got that message and you know, 03:31 our first thought is you know, who are these people? 03:36 I hear it's not easy to work up there. 03:40 And then the third thought is yeah... 03:44 - Let's try it - Yeah 03:46 - Let's see. - Let's go see. 03:48 - Yeah, it's an opportunity. 03:51 - Yeah, and so it was January, the 1st of January 03:53 and we flew up there, landed in Deli 03:58 it was after dark and I had left all my warm clothes 04:01 in Thailand because you go to India, 04:03 you don't need warm clothes. 04:05 - Right, it's gonna be hot there. 04:06 - I've never needed warm clothes before. 04:09 We landed, it was 33 degrees Fahrenheit. 04:13 One degree above freezing and they picked us up in this 04:16 little van that had no, the seals in the door 04:19 were all worn out and had no heater. 04:21 - Oh 04:23 Cause who would need a heater in India right? 04:24 - Right 04:25 - Well, we did that night. 04:26 - Wow 04:27 - It was so painfully cold but we survived 04:32 and we did our tour and it has absolutely broken my heart. 04:36 North India, the numbers, the people, the need, 04:41 the opportunity, so much opportunity I found 04:44 up in North India, it's just amazing 04:50 the kind of doors 04:53 that are open in North India 04:54 and I've been just recently and massive doors are open 04:58 in North India if we're smart about it 05:01 and if we go in with a pure heart 05:04 to do Gods work. 05:05 - Right 05:07 - Because there's a lot of forces at work up there 05:09 but still huge, vast numbers of people 05:13 and vast numbers, how many people would you like to know 05:17 about Jesus, how many people? 05:18 - All of them - Yeah 05:20 - I would like all of them 05:21 - But a good share, at least a third, would accept Jesus 05:27 if somebody would tell them. 05:29 - Wow, so we need to tell them. 05:31 - We need to tell them. 05:33 And so we did a little tour around North India 05:36 and I just wanna share a few of those things. 05:38 - Okay 05:39 - First of all, I wanna share a little bit of footage 05:41 that I took of a little girl and a lot of people 05:46 may not like this footage but in fact one time 05:51 we published a picture of a young boy 05:54 that was in a slum and we got emails back saying 05:58 we don't wanna see this. 05:59 Next time you take a picture of a child, 06:02 please clean him up before you photograph him 06:06 but the truth is, in my mind I'm thinking you know, 06:09 these are people that are over there. 06:10 They're real people. 06:11 - This is their reality. - Yeah 06:14 - I mean, we may not like it, we're not used to it, 06:16 but this is their reality. - Yeah 06:18 - And it's very unfortunate 06:20 but how are we gonna know the need if we refuse to look 06:23 at what their reality now is? - Right 06:25 - How are we gonna know what they need? 06:28 - And if it makes us uncomfortable to look at them 06:30 you know, how Christlike is that if we turn away? 06:35 You know, Christ sees them every moment of every day 06:38 and then He sees us over here 06:40 in our clean, sterile environments 06:43 and He says I've given you my Spirit. 06:46 I've shed my blood for you 06:49 so that you will go and help them 06:53 and so I think that this uncomfortable feeling 06:57 should stir us and provoke us to do something 07:00 out of the ordinary. - Right 07:02 - Out of our selfish nature, more in line with 07:05 Christ's nature - Right 07:07 - And so I wanna show this up front 07:08 to just kinda like say this is the kind of environment 07:12 that we're going into. 07:14 - Okay 07:16 (dog barking) 07:26 This was in someones home 07:29 and this was in the courtyard of the home. 07:31 - Yes 07:32 - And we'll see footage later 07:34 of what else was in that courtyard 07:37 but they just don't understand the germ theory. 07:39 They don't understand that they need to protect 07:41 their children from these hoards of flies 07:45 because it's unhealthy for them and they can get sick 07:48 and have runny noses like this poor baby has. 07:51 - Right 07:52 - So, you know, that's part of what we want to see 07:55 as an opportunity 07:57 - Absolutely - To share with them the need for cleanliness 08:00 and the reasons why hygiene is important, 08:03 things like that. 08:04 - Yes and you may wonder, how can I over here 08:07 on this side of the earth affect somebody 08:09 on the other side of the earth 08:11 well, it's not that hard. 08:13 Number one if we care, 08:15 number two if we send help, 08:17 or if we go - Right 08:20 Why don't you tell us what this next video shows? 08:22 - Okay, well we had received a request for Bible workers 08:25 in this place, now just to give you an idea 08:28 of the perspective okay. 08:30 180 million people in this one section. 08:33 Guess how many pastors? 08:36 - I don't know. 08:37 - There were eight. 08:38 - Oh boy. 08:39 - Eight pastors for 180 million people. 08:42 - That is not enough. 08:44 - Not a good ratio (laughing) - No 08:48 - And so we told them we would give them 25 08:50 or stipends for 25 Bible workers. 08:54 - Okay 08:55 - And this is when we first met the president 08:57 and the main pastor in that section 09:01 the morning after we arrived. 09:03 - Okay 09:07 - So these are the names. 09:08 - These are the names 09:19 - Okay and what is that right there? 09:25 Yeah, why did you write down 25 volunteers? 09:28 - 25 10:20 - Because we have received the application of 43 people. 10:23 How will I satisfy them? 10:25 - Right 10:26 - So what is your first choice? 11:37 - Oh really? 11:45 I see. 11:46 - Well that's really neat that he took you by 11:48 and he says this is where we stopped off an prayer. 11:50 - Yes 11:52 - Because they were so thankful, he's so happy. 11:53 His joy is just obvious, so obvious 11:58 and sometimes you see he's almost got a tear in his eye. 12:01 - Yeah, it's neat and that's kinda the reward that we get 12:06 is seeing the thankfulness and it encourages our faith. 12:12 You know, Christs faith was encouraged when he was 12:15 with the woman at the well. 12:16 He says I have meat, I have bread, I have food 12:18 that you don't know of. 12:20 You know, this is the food, doing my Father's will, 12:23 seeing people accept Jesus, seeing the joy, 12:24 that encourages me, that feeds my spiritual life 12:28 and we get some of that too 12:30 as we do Gods work, as we go out and we see people accept it 12:33 and people and what a difference it makes in their life 12:36 it encourages our own faith 12:38 and that feeds us and our spiritual life 12:40 and helps us to grow too. - That's true. 12:42 - So, but this is a beautiful thing. 12:45 - So the next video that we have, 12:47 we actually go into someones home. 12:49 - Yes 12:50 - All right do you wanna tell us a little about that 12:52 or should we just play the video? 12:54 - Yeah, well let me just set that up. 12:55 We're going through town 12:57 and then we're gonna go and visit a Bible workers home. 13:00 Again, it's an extended family. 13:02 We're gonna see a little interesting little story 13:04 and some people of our viewers might be a little bit 13:08 grossed out by this but this is real life 13:10 and it's kinda humorous to me. 13:14 - Right, and it's also, well, we'll talk about it afterward 13:16 but you definitely claim a specific promise 13:19 for situations like this. 13:21 - Yes 13:23 (car horns honking) 13:38 - There's different sections of this house. 13:41 Here's where the cows are 13:43 and there's the ladies cooking their meal. 13:48 Today we're having chapatis 13:51 and they're using cow dung for cooking. 13:55 May I video? 13:57 Can I take pictures? 13:58 - Yes, yes. 13:59 - Okay, thank you. 14:00 Is that chapati? - Yes 14:06 - Okay, watch her hands. 14:09 And doing this patting of the chapati by hand 14:13 and she takes some more fuel, 14:16 breaks it up, puts a piece in the fire, 14:21 brushes off her hands over the chapati 14:24 same hands patting the chapati, 14:27 putting it on the pan 14:29 and then they bring that over and offer it for us to eat. 14:36 Now, I had seen this so I knew it was coming up 14:38 but our director Israel Prasad, 14:41 he's from South India. 14:43 He had not seen this happen. 14:45 He didn't witness how they made it 14:47 and so I didn't tell him 14:48 because I knew he would have a problem 14:51 but I had claimed a promise 14:54 and my goal there, our goal was to connect with these people 14:59 - Right 15:00 - And if we had refused to eat with them, 15:02 you saw the effort and the care and the love 15:04 that they put into making that food. 15:06 - It's a lot of handmade food. 15:09 I mean, it takes them hours - Yeah 15:11 - To make food. 15:13 - Yeah, you don't just buy it at the store 15:14 and heat it up in the microwave. 15:16 - No 15:17 - So, I wasn't about to refuse their food. 15:20 - Right 15:21 - And I claimed a promise, a verse in the Bible 15:23 where Jesus is talking about the great commission 15:26 and He says these signs shall follow they that believe. 15:28 One of the things that He says in there 15:30 is that they will drink any deadly thing 15:32 and it will - Not hurt them. 15:34 - Exactly, so I claimed that promise, 15:37 I'm there on Gods mission, I'm not on mine. 15:39 I'm not there on a pleasure cruise. 15:40 I'm there to advance the kingdom of God 15:43 so I claim that promise 15:45 and I don't get sick. - Right 15:47 and Israel doesn't get sick either. 15:48 - Yes 15:49 - But afterward when you told him, 15:50 he wasn't very happy with you. 15:52 - I show him the video and he's like what? 15:54 How come you didn't tell me. 15:55 - I says cause you wouldn't have eaten it. 15:57 He's like yeah... (laughing) 16:00 He didn't get sick. - God is good. 16:01 - And those friends, our brothers and sisters 16:04 live like that all the time. 16:06 - Right, it's normal, completely normal. 16:09 - And the truth is that even India nationals 16:11 that live in America for quite a number of years 16:12 and then go back to visit, they usually get sick also. 16:15 - Yes 16:16 - So, it's really that promise. 16:18 - It is, Gods protection. 16:21 - Yes 16:22 - This next video starts out with 16:23 just some pictures of people and then we got into a church. 16:27 - Yes, now this church is kinda unique 16:29 because when the sun went down and we started the meeting 16:31 it was pitch black inside so they didn't get out the 16:35 LED light, they didn't get out the flashlight, 16:37 they got the lantern, the kerosene lantern 16:39 and we had a meeting, wonderful meeting, 16:42 good singing, amazing prayer 16:45 at the light of a kerosene lantern. 16:47 - Okay 16:49 (inspirational music) 17:04 (foreign language) 17:13 - Then the next year, decided to go back up to North India 17:16 and we wanted to go and interview a Bible worker of ours 17:21 to see what his family life was like and see what kind of 17:24 experiences or needs that they had. 17:26 - So this is Sanjay Singh, one of our Bible workers. 17:28 - Yes then the next year decided to back up to North India 17:32 and we wanted to go and interview a Bible worker of ours 17:37 to see what his family life was like and see what kind of 17:40 experiences or needs that they had. 17:42 - So this is Sanjay Singh, one of our Bible workers. 17:44 - Yes 17:46 (sober music) 17:54 - What is this area district. 18:01 22 villages 18:03 Do you have any Bibles to give to the people. 18:07 How many of his church members have their own Bible? 18:11 (foreign language) 18:15 Some people have Bibles. 18:16 Does he have any Ellen White writing? 18:20 (foreign language) 18:23 - No sir 18:24 - No, would you like? 18:26 (foreign language) 18:31 What about song books? 18:33 (foreign language) 18:37 No song books. 18:38 (foreign language) 18:47 Okay, so he baptized 36, 18:48 how many total church members? 18:51 (foreign language) 18:58 I don't know, in this village. 19:01 (foreign language) 19:07 150 and how many song books 19:12 5 song books 19:15 How many church members in the 22 villages? 19:17 (foreign language) 19:34 And how many song books? 19:48 - So, lets just get these numbers in our heads. 19:51 - A little mind boggling isn't it? 19:53 - Right, so he's got about 1,300 church members. 19:56 - 1,300 church members 19:57 - 22 villages 19:59 - Scattered throughout 22 villages 20:01 - And he had at the time, five song books 20:03 - Five song books 20:05 - And he had his own Bible and a few of the church members 20:07 had Bibles - Yep, and a bicycle. 20:09 - And he had a bicycle. 20:11 I asked him, I says what you do on Sabbath 20:13 with 22 different churches. 20:14 - He said oh, I'm so sorry, 20:17 I can only get to five or six churches 20:19 in a Sabbath (laughing) 20:21 - Imagine having to go and be the leader 20:23 for five or six church services every Sabbath year round. 20:28 - Yeah 20:29 - And this illustrates something that we see in other 20:31 areas of India also, our Bible workers 20:33 because of the lack of pastors, our Bible workers 20:37 end up functioning as pastors. 20:39 - Yes 20:40 - They actually lead the churches, 20:41 they lead out in the church services 20:43 and other things and so it's very much 20:46 a shepherding role as though they are the pastors. 20:50 - Yeah, so you can see the vital role 20:54 that these Bible workers play. 20:55 - Right 20:57 - Now, one thing I noticed about the song books, 20:59 to us, song books are nice okay? 21:02 But we went to several villages 21:04 where the people didn't read or write. 21:07 And so when our Bible workers did a worship with them, 21:13 they sang, they sang songs I had never heard before. 21:16 When I asked them what it meant, 21:17 they were teaching them the gospel and the Bible 21:22 through song okay? 21:24 So the song books became in my mind 21:27 I realized that these song books are the lesson studies, 21:30 they are the Bible, they are what people... 21:32 - It's an important part of worship. 21:34 - Not just worship but teaching the people about Jesus. 21:37 - Right 21:38 - And then the songs would go over in the believers minds 21:41 throughout the week, they would sing these songs 21:43 and keep reminding themselves and keep learning 21:45 about the Bible and about Jesus and about salvation 21:49 through the songs so the song books are very important. 21:53 - Right 21:54 - And they're not expensive. - No 21:56 - And for him to have five song books 21:58 between 1,300 church members 22:00 - Yeah 22:01 - How can this exist in this day and age? 22:04 - Right 22:05 So, we shared this news with friends and family 22:11 and people came forward and gave money 22:14 so that we could provide additional song books 22:16 and Bibles for these church members. 22:19 - Yes, 1,000 Bibles and 1,000 song books. 22:22 - Okay, and we have some pictures 22:24 from when they went to give them out. 22:25 - Yes 22:26 - So, lets go through the pictures 22:27 and you can just tell us what's happening. 22:28 - Okay, so we're back at the office. 22:32 They're hauling the boxes and the cartons of books 22:34 out to the van and they're loading it up in this van. 22:38 They did several trip in several different days 22:40 cause they have to go to different places. 22:42 Now, like I said transportation is very expensive over there 22:44 so we praise God that Jesus for Asia's donors 22:47 were able to donate a van to this section. 22:51 Here it is all packed up ready to go. 22:54 And come to the first church, people are praying. 22:57 They're very thankful to God. 22:59 These hands up in the air in response to 23:01 who would like a Bible, who would like a song book. 23:05 - Everybody's hand went up 23:06 and we started giving them out. 23:08 Now, in India, they stand on ceremony. 23:10 Ceremony is very important - Right 23:12 - And so we have the local Bible worker giving out 23:15 the Bible's and songbooks and each person coming up 23:19 and receiving them and getting their picture taken. 23:22 Can you imagine handing out 1,000 of these? 23:25 It'd get tiring after a little while. 23:27 - That's why they take turns. 23:28 - Yeah 23:29 - Besides, everyone gets to share the joy that way. 23:31 - Absolutely, and the people that are receiving 23:34 the Bibles and song books appreciate that also 23:36 that somebody of important gave them a Bible, a song book. 23:41 You can see the smiles on their faces 23:44 knowing that now they have the word of God 23:47 in their hands, in their homes, and in their hearts. 23:51 - Right 23:52 - And of course, they open them right away. 23:54 - Yes 23:55 - Started looking up scriptures 23:56 - Yes 23:57 - And reading them for themselves. 23:58 - Yes 23:59 - What a blessing. 24:00 And they're still there and this will be a powerful tool 24:03 to grow the church in ways you cannot see 24:07 but will continue to strengthen the church 24:10 for many, many years, not just that church 24:12 but in the area, 1,300 churches, 24:14 that's gonna grow with the word of God 24:20 in their hands. - Right 24:21 and after they received their Bibles and song books 24:23 they would come and ask for prayer 24:25 and so here's the president praying for someone 24:28 and other people praying together. 24:29 - Yes 24:31 - And of course the obligatory picture all together 24:34 and the little boy saying thank you. 24:38 So, we go to another place that's a house church 24:41 and we hand out Bibles and song books there. 24:43 - Okay 24:44 - I love this place, I love the people that are there. 24:46 I've preached there several times 24:48 and I just... 24:51 Something about it, I can't explain it, 24:53 but I love this place and now we're traveling across country 24:57 going to another church. 24:59 This is normal life in that part of India. 25:03 - This is things you would see on the road. 25:06 Things you would see in their lives. 25:08 - Yes 25:09 - And here we are at another place. 25:11 - Yes, again, have the song service, 25:14 have the little sermonette, 25:16 then break open the books and start handing out. 25:21 This is - A blessing 25:23 It's an awesome day. - Yes 25:25 and everybody's so happy to have their song books 25:28 and their Bibles in hand. 25:30 Then of course, this is the president. 25:32 Now, traveling in India is very expensive 25:34 so the president doesn't get out very much 25:37 but when he does, there's always somebody there to baptize 25:41 and so here we have a baptism in the local river. 25:44 On the way to the next church we had little flat tire. 25:46 - Okay 25:47 - Not a problem, we just fix it and keep going. 25:49 I love this little Bible stand. 25:52 The purpose of this is so that if a Bible lays flat 25:55 it's more likely to break the binding. 25:57 This keeps it kind of at an angle 25:59 so that the binding is preserved longer. 26:01 - Right 26:02 - So, here we have more handing out of Bibles 26:05 and song books and people so happy to have them 26:07 in their own hands and we just praise God 26:10 that somebody here in America had the foresight 26:13 and the heart to provide the funding 26:17 to be able to do this. 26:18 Now, this isn't all that's needed. 26:21 - Right 26:22 - You know, this was quite a number of years ago. 26:24 - Right 26:25 - More people have come into the church 26:28 and into the faith and more people need song books 26:30 and more people need Bibles 26:32 and not just in this location, in many other locations also. 26:36 This is representative, but it's by far 26:39 not all that there is to do. 26:41 - Right 26:42 - So, this is a powerful way to extend the gospel 26:44 through a very simple way. 26:46 - Right 26:47 I love this picture of this little boy 26:48 just hugging his Bible 26:50 and then he looks up and he's got this serious look 26:53 on his face and you know he's cherishing it 26:56 and he's so thankful. 26:57 What a privilege. 26:59 - I can't wait to get to heaven 27:01 and hear his whole story. 27:03 - Right, right. 27:05 And we've got a few more pictures of just traveling back. 27:08 Little road scenes and we've got the horse drawn cart 27:11 and Cadillac and that little boy 27:15 - Sitting on the median of the highway 27:18 with a look on his face like 27:21 is there anything to live for? 27:22 - Right 27:23 - You know, what am I doing here? 27:25 Miserable, dirty, poor, my heart just goes out 27:28 to people like that. 27:31 I mean, that little kid is one. 27:33 - There are millions like that. 27:34 - There are millions like that 27:35 and if we could reach just the one, make Christ so happy. 27:43 - Yeah, if you would like to be a part of giving the Bible 27:45 to people that don't have their own copy, 27:47 you can contact us at Jesus for Asia 27:49 PO BOX 1221 Collegedale Tennesee 37315 27:55 Call us at (423) 413-7321 27:59 or visit our website at jesus4asia.org 28:03 May God richly bless you until we see you next time 28:06 on Jesus for Asia Now. 28:09 (inspirational music) |
Revised 2019-11-26