Participants:
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000132S
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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 I have a special guest 00:26 in the studio with me today. 00:28 Hello, Natalie. 00:29 - Hello, Natalie, how are you? 00:30 (Guest Natalie laughing) - I'm good. 00:31 I always feel funny calling you by my name, 00:34 but it's okay 'cause it's your name, too. 00:36 - Absolutely. 00:38 - So Natalie, tell me about where you're working 00:41 and what you're doing right now, 00:43 because you're not doing what you used to do when I met you. 00:47 You lived here in America and you were just doing 00:50 the homeschooling mom thing. 00:52 - [Guest Natalie] Yes. - Family thing. 00:53 And now God's called you to do something 00:55 that is a little different. 00:58 - Yes, a lot different. 01:00 Currently, my family and I, we're serving in Cambodia. 01:04 Specific, we're in Battambang City. 01:07 And we're starting a school, a school to meet the needs 01:11 of the Seventh Day Adventists in Cambodia. 01:14 The main reason, one of the main reason for the school is 01:17 that almost all the schools there are six days a week. 01:23 And so you have to choose between church and school. 01:26 - Because they don't go to school on Sunday. 01:28 - Because they don't go to school on Sunday, correct. 01:30 - [Natalie] Okay, so it's a Sabbath issue for the students. 01:33 - Yes. 01:34 - Does that start in elementary school? 01:36 - It start elementary and go all the way up. 01:38 - All the way through. - You see little babies going 01:39 to school on Sabbath morning, 01:41 going to church, yes. 01:43 - That's hard. 01:43 - It is, it's different. 01:45 You know, I'm not accustomed to that. 01:47 - Right, so God calls you to Cambodia. 01:50 I know you've shared the story before 01:53 at length in one of our other shows, 01:55 so I'd invite our viewers to find that show. 01:57 I don't know if you wanna kind of briefly share a little bit 02:00 on this one, just so people have a little history 02:02 of how you got to Cambodia? 02:04 - Okay. 02:05 We got called in 2018 at a faith camp. 02:10 We were there and a call was really strong 02:12 that I need to serve Him. 02:15 You know, salvation was at stake. 02:17 - Okay. 02:18 - And so we jumped to the call. 02:22 - Right, well praise the Lord for that 02:24 because you'd already postponed long enough. 02:27 - Yes, He had called me four years before 02:29 and I was not ready. 02:31 And so this time He showed me how critical it was 02:34 to move, that it was a salvational thing. 02:37 And so you go where God calls you. 02:39 - Yeah, that's the only safe place to be. 02:41 - Absolutely, absolutely. 02:43 - Okay, so before we talk more about the school, 02:47 we wanna talk a little bit about some fun things 02:49 you've gotten to do lately. 02:51 And one of them happened around Christmas time, right? 02:53 - Yes, yes, yes, yes. 02:55 - And what was that? What did you get to do at Christmas? 02:56 - Okay, so we live, we have to drive 02:58 through this village to get to the school 03:00 and there's approximately 100 children in the village. 03:03 When we were first driving through, you know, 03:05 you get the stares like, who are these people, 03:07 these strangers coming through? 03:09 - And just for a little background, 03:11 you had to drive through because there's no buildings. 03:14 There were no buildings at this time on the property. 03:16 - Correct. 03:17 - [Natalie] No temporary buildings, nothing-- 03:18 - Nothing at all. 03:19 - So you had to drive through the village 03:20 because you had to live elsewhere. 03:22 - Right. - Okay. 03:23 - So we would drive through the village, 03:24 'cause actually at the time, 03:26 I was doing language study online 03:28 and that's was where I had the best signal. 03:30 - Oh, on the property. 03:32 - [Guest Natalie] On the property. 03:33 - Even though there were no buildings. 03:34 - Even though there were... 03:35 So my husband built a little shed with tarp 03:39 for me to sit under. 03:40 And that's where I had school every day. 03:42 And so we had to drive through the village. 03:44 - Okay. 03:45 - Around Christmas. I'm like, 03:46 I would like to do something for them. 03:49 And I was thinking what I could do, 03:50 what we could do for them. 03:52 And at the moment, I was like, 03:54 "Oh, we could give them blanket," 03:55 because at the time it was getting cold, 03:58 and 68 degrees is cold. 04:00 (Guest Natalie chuckling) 04:01 And so-- - Yeah, considering that 04:02 most normal temperature's over 90. 04:05 - Exactly, and so that's a huge drop. 04:07 And so we worked and we got them blankets, 04:10 and we gave it to them. 04:11 And the older people were there also. 04:15 And they asked if they could have blankets. 04:18 And I gave them blankets, what was left. 04:20 And since then the relationship has grown astronomically. 04:24 Even the older people who, it's not norm to say hello 04:27 or wave, this is completely out the custom, you know? 04:30 They say hello, they smile. 04:33 - Oh nice. - And it's just like, 04:34 it's just an amazing experience. 04:36 - Nice. 04:37 Well we have a few pictures from this. 04:38 So why don't you tell us what's happening in these pictures? 04:41 - [Guest Natalie] This is where we were 04:42 passing out the blankets. 04:44 And that man standing there in the background, 04:46 he's the village chief. 04:47 So anything that's your needs you, we need to do, 04:50 we need to go to him for permission to do a lot of stuff. 04:54 And so it's really important to have that relationship 04:57 with him and have him support in whatever we're doing. 05:00 - Right, right. 05:02 Okay. 05:03 - [Guest Natalie] And that's more children getting blankets. 05:05 They were so happy. 05:06 They were so, so happy. 05:08 - [Natalie] Oh, cuties. 05:10 - I've never done anything like this before. 05:12 And so I was blessed and they were blessed. 05:16 - [Natalie] Wow, praise the Lord. 05:17 - Absolutely. 05:18 - So you shared this privilege on Facebook I believe? 05:20 - Yes, yes. 05:21 - And someone contacted you 05:24 and wanted to do a similar project. 05:26 - Correct. - And what was that? 05:28 - So a friend of mine from New York called me and she said, 05:31 "Hey, would you mind if we do a slipper drive?" 05:34 And I never thought of that. 05:35 I'm like, "Wow, this would be an awesome idea 05:39 "and an awesome experience." 05:40 And so she said, "I'm gonna get the youth 05:42 "from Brooklyn Staten Island Pathfinder 05:45 "and the Northeastern Youth Federation, 05:48 "get them together to make donations to buy slippers." 05:52 And they wanted it done for Global Youth Day 05:55 and so that's what we did. 05:57 It wasn't as easy as the blankets. 05:59 (Guest Natalie chuckling) 06:01 - Yeah, 'cause the blankets are one size fits all. 06:02 - One side fits all. 06:03 And so the first go round half of the shoes were too big. 06:06 Literally, half of them were too big. 06:08 And so what we did was we gave them to the adults, 06:11 which is what you see here. 06:13 It was easier to give it away, than to return it 06:16 and get new shoes because we got it 06:18 from so many different stores 06:20 and remembering where you get what, 06:22 and it was just easier. 06:24 And so we went out and we bought. 06:27 The adults were really happy 06:28 'cause that was a bonus for them. 06:31 That's some of the shoes that we gave to the children. 06:33 - [Natalie] Okay, nice. 06:34 - [Guest Natalie] Yes. 06:36 - That was done before you came to America, which was-- 06:38 - [Guest Natalie] Yeah, right before. 06:39 - Which was right before Global Youth Day. 06:41 - Right. - So it was able 06:42 to be completed. 06:43 - Yes. - I remember the donations 06:45 coming in, people calling and saying they wanted 06:47 to give for this and different Pathfinder clubs 06:49 from all over, especially New York, 06:52 but different Pathfinder clubs. 06:53 It was really neat for the young people to get involved. 06:55 - I thought it was really cool, absolutely. 06:57 - [Natalie] Yeah. - Absolutely. 06:58 - So I know she has a burden to continue doing projects 07:02 like this for other nearby villages. 07:04 - Absolutely. 07:05 - Let's talk a little bit about the school now 07:07 and what's going on with this project. 07:10 There's been some developments both for the teachers, 07:14 as well as for the property. 07:15 Let's start with the teachers. 07:17 - Here's the picture of our students. 07:19 And what happened was they were, 07:21 as they were in college last year, 07:24 the majority of them started having classes on Sabbath. 07:28 And so they had to choose between God and school. 07:33 And they were also learning some things 07:34 that was contrary to our beliefs. 07:38 And so they were asking question like, 07:39 "What is the point of learning this 07:42 "if we're not gonna be teaching it?" 07:44 - Right, right. 07:45 Things like evolution. 07:46 - Right, and Buddhism. 07:49 And those were really hard questions. 07:52 - Yeah. 07:53 - We prayed. 07:54 We prayed a lot asking God for direction, what to do. 07:59 He led us to look into different colleges 08:02 that they could go to and we chose Mountain View College 08:05 in the Philippines. 08:07 And we chose that one because a lot of the people 08:11 that I've met that have attended there, they have come back 08:15 with a missionary spirit wanting to serve. 08:19 - Okay. 08:20 - And I feel like it's important to equip them 08:23 to serve the people of Cambodia. 08:25 It's easier for them to serve than for me. 08:29 - Yeah, that's true. 08:30 They don't have the language issues. 08:31 - They don't have the language, they don't have the culture. 08:33 - Right. - So it's easier for them 08:35 to go far and do more than we are able to do. 08:39 - Right and that's what we really want to do. 08:42 We wanna enable the locals to help their own people. 08:45 - Absolutely, equipping them. 08:47 In order for them to go to to the Philippines, 08:49 they have to be able to speak English. 08:51 - Yeah, and not just like hello. 08:53 - [Guest Natalie] No, they have to-- 08:54 - They have to be able to study. 08:55 - Absolutely, 'cause the entire program is in English. 08:59 And so we decided to move them. 09:02 They were living in Siem Reap, three hours away. 09:05 And so it was really hard to really work with them 09:08 like I wanted to because of the distance. 09:11 - Right, and paying rent. 09:14 Different places. 09:15 And travel back and forth for them or for you, 09:17 whichever had to happen. 09:18 - We decided to move them from Siem Reap 09:21 to Battambang on the property. 09:23 And so we're like, "How are we gonna do this?" 09:27 And that's when I saw a missionary had bamboo huts. 09:31 And I was like, "That would be a really good idea." 09:33 I mean, that's manageable, you know? 09:35 - Right. - And so I was like, 09:37 "Oh, what if we do bamboo huts?" 09:38 So my husband was like, "Yeah, let's do that." 09:41 And then we went-- - It's a way to get started. 09:43 - It's a way to get started and to move the students 09:45 onto the property. 09:46 And so we started building. 09:47 - Awesome, so let's look at, we have a little video, 09:50 drone footage of the property. 09:52 So let's go ahead and we'll watch that now. 09:54 And maybe you can tell us, 09:55 as we're watching, what we're seeing. 09:56 - Those three buildings to the right. Those are houses. 10:00 The two side-by-side, that's where the girls live. 10:02 And the one on the other side, the boys live there. 10:06 And that big building that's closest to us, 10:08 that's our gazebo, and that's where we meet 10:10 for English learning, for church, and other activities. 10:17 That brick building in the back, that's the bathrooms. 10:20 - [Natalie] And the kitchen was behind the kids'-- 10:21 - [Guest Natalie] The kitchen is behind the gazebo 10:23 and there's staff housing next to the kitchen. 10:27 - It's exciting to see at least some buildings 10:29 on the property. 10:31 I know it's not everything that's needed yet, 10:32 but it's a start. 10:34 - Absolutely. 10:35 - And it's really awesome to see the project moving forward. 10:39 - Yes. 10:40 - And yet we know that there are needs. 10:42 And so we wanna address those 10:44 so that our viewers can join us in praying for them. 10:48 What is the cost of sending these students 10:50 to the Philippines for school? 10:52 - We're looking at an average of $7,000 per person 10:55 to go to first year. 10:57 And that include their tuition, flight, visa processing, 11:01 passport, all the things they need to get them there. 11:05 - And their tuition and room board. 11:06 - And their tuition, right. 11:07 And the tuition, room, board, food, 11:09 all of that is included in that $7,000. 11:13 - Okay. 11:14 - And we're looking at approximately 13 to 15 students 11:16 that would like to send, we would like to send. 11:19 - Wow. 11:21 - That much because we're doing from K through 12. 11:23 - Okay. - And so you're looking 11:25 at 13 teachers there. 11:26 And I figured, you know, it would be nice to have a nurse 11:30 to not only help the school 11:31 but meet the needs of the community, 11:34 and as the way of introducing the health message, 11:36 helping them to have a better lifestyle. 11:40 And also having somebody that the last person would be 11:44 administrative, accounting, that knows how 11:47 to run the business aspect of the school. 11:50 - I know our original plan was 11:52 that it was gonna be a high school. 11:54 Can you explain why you want the younger grades? 11:56 - The main reason for the younger grades is 11:58 that we have so many children in the village. 12:02 And there is a school in the village. 12:05 They have three teachers for six grades. 12:09 - Six grades, wow. 12:14 - The government made a decision that the school, 12:17 they have too much staff, they need to cut back one. 12:20 So they will only have two teachers 12:22 to teach all those children. 12:24 And so some of them-- - And you told me there's 12:26 about 100 children in the village? 12:27 - Yes, there's about 100 children in the village. 12:29 And so, you know,-- 12:30 - I can't imagine having a classroom with 50 kids in it. 12:33 And that would be two or three different grades, 12:35 four different grades? 12:36 - [Guest Natalie] Absolutely. 12:37 - Wow. - Absolutely. 12:38 And multi teaching. 12:40 One room classroom. 12:41 You know, in our Adventist system we do have more than one 12:43 in a classroom, but it's not big. 12:45 - Right. 12:47 Usually the ratio of teachers to students is 12:50 a lot more reasonable than 50 to one. 12:52 - Absolutely, with multiple grades. 12:54 And so my heart was, you know like, 12:56 you know we have to help 'em. 12:58 - Yeah. - And I feel like children 13:00 are more receptive to the gospel. 13:03 It's easier to teach them. 13:05 And so right before we left to come here, 13:08 they asked when am I gonna start teaching them English. 13:12 And so when I go back, I'm gonna work something out, 13:16 one hour on a Sunday to teach them. 13:19 And I get to share Jesus with them. 13:21 I'm so excited to see how that develops. 13:24 - That's awesome. 13:25 Okay, so that's a lot of money then. 13:27 - [Guest Natalie] Yes, it's a lot. 13:28 - 13 To 15 at 7,000 apiece. 13:30 - Yes. - Wow. 13:31 But God is big, right? 13:33 - He is, this is His project. 13:34 You know, we haven't seen the first dime 13:36 and we're just moving on faith knowing 13:39 that if He brought us this far, 13:41 He'll bring us the rest of the way. 13:43 - Right, and He's guided in looking at which schools 13:46 so that the young people should go to. 13:47 - [Guest Natalie] Absolutely. 13:48 - So well, we'll see what He does 13:51 and we're so excited to see what He does. 13:53 And how He does it. 13:54 - Absolutely. 13:55 - Okay, and on the property itself needs. 13:58 - Yes. - I know you mentioned 13:59 to me about the need for a fence. 14:02 Can you explain that to us? 14:04 - The need for fencing is great 14:06 because a couple times in the middle of the night, 14:10 like two, three o'clock in the morning, people come 14:12 on the property hunting for animals, cutting down trees, 14:19 walking around the houses and it's kind of intimidating, 14:22 and, you know, they're afraid. 14:25 And so I feel like fencing would provide 14:28 some form of security. 14:30 And in addition to that, we have cows 14:32 that come on the property a lot. 14:34 People just let their calls wander 14:35 and they've been doing it for years. 14:38 And so even though we're living there, 14:39 they still have the cows coming there. 14:41 And we wanna do a garden. 14:44 And recently, they started a garden 14:46 and the cows came 'cause no one was there 14:49 and ate all the corn. 14:51 - That's so sad. 14:52 - It is. 14:53 - Oh, that's so sad. 14:54 What is an estimate for what the fencing will cost? 14:57 Do you have any idea? 14:58 - We're looking at approximately 30,000. 15:00 We have 30 acres that need to be fenced. 15:04 And so it's a lot of land. 15:05 - So it would be fenced pretty much all the way 15:07 around, within like one entrance 15:09 on either end of the property or something? 15:10 - Correct. 15:11 - [Natalie] Okay. - Correct, yes. 15:12 - Well, we'll see how God answers that one. 15:14 - Absolutely, absolutely. 15:16 - And then there's a need because of the electricity. 15:19 - We have electricity but we have like only 20 amps. 15:24 And for those who know electrical, 15:25 that's not a lot of amp to meet the needs of everyone. 15:29 - Right. 15:30 - In order to get good electricity, 15:33 we have to get it from the main road 15:35 and we're about two kilometers, I think 1.2 miles, 15:38 something like that from the main road to get it from there 15:42 to where we need it to be. 15:43 Before COVID hit, when we priced it, it was like 30,000. 15:47 - You dug a well, right? 15:49 We have water there. 15:50 - Absolutely, and that's just so exciting. 15:53 - Yeah, it's just that there's a power issue. 15:56 - There's a power issue there. 15:58 Just one quick story. 15:59 The the well was a blessing 'cause in 2020 16:01 when we were there, they told us that the land is 16:03 so dry, you know, there's nowhere you're gonna have water. 16:07 The ground is so hard. 16:09 To get the water from the village, it's a long way. 16:11 - It's a long way. 16:12 - It's a long way, and getting permission 16:14 and, you know, all that kind of stuff. 16:16 And so one of our workers said, 16:19 "Hey, I know somebody who digs well 16:22 "and he dug the neighbor's well." 16:23 I was like, "Okay, bring him here." 16:25 And so he came and he said, 16:27 "Oh yes, there's a riverbed running underneath, 16:31 "on this side of the property that border is the neighbor. 16:34 "I guarantee you water for two years 16:36 "or I'll return your money." 16:37 - [Natalie] Wow. - And so I was like, okay. 16:39 So we hit water at 60 feet. 16:41 - 60 Feet? 16:42 - [Guest Natalie] 60 Feet. - Wow. 16:44 - And he said, "I guarantee that 16:45 "that water will be running 24-7 and not dry up." 16:49 - Wow. - And so I was really excited. 16:50 I was so excited, I was just praising God. 16:53 'Cause you went from this hopeless situation 16:56 to actually have water. 16:57 Now the thing with where the water is 16:59 versus where we live is approximately five acres. 17:02 - Okay. 17:03 - So we have to, you know, get equipment to trench it, 17:06 buy the pipes, get a pump, build some form of tank 17:13 to hold the water and then feed it across 17:16 to everything, to everyone else, and so yeah. 17:20 - There's some more steps to go. 17:21 - [Guest Natalie] More steps to go. 17:23 - God has a way to go. 17:24 - He really does, and you know, I like these opportunities 17:27 'cause you really get to see God work. 17:29 And it's not like Natalie did this or Billy did this. 17:32 No, this was God that did this 17:34 because He really made a way out of no way. 17:37 - It's such a privilege to see how He works. 17:40 - Absolutely, and be a part of it. 17:42 - Right. 17:43 There was another need that you had mentioned 17:45 and that is for the road. 17:47 Can you explain that need? 17:49 - Because of all the work that we did 17:52 on clearing the land, a lot of it is dug up and it's clay. 17:58 - Ooh. - And so when it rains, 17:59 the water just pools and settles. 18:02 And so we actually need a road infrastructure 18:05 to be able to drive in and, or even walk around. 18:10 Because recently it rained and there was just 18:13 so much water just sitting there in a short amount of time. 18:17 And, you know, you get stuck. 18:20 - [Natalie] Ugh. 18:21 Yeah, okay. 18:23 Do you have any idea what that would cost? 18:25 - No, we haven't looked into it, to be totally honest. 18:27 - Okay. 18:29 - But it's something that's on the radar 18:31 to be looking into and we just had, 18:33 you know, trying to get them there, 18:35 teach them English 'cause we're crunched for time. 18:38 And trying to get them to the Philippines. 18:41 - Yeah, well the Lord will provide. 18:42 - [Guest Natalie] He will, He will. 18:44 - Now I know that there's been spiritual journey 18:47 along this way a lot. 18:49 There have been challenges, spiritually and emotionally. 18:52 - Yes. - I know that in the process 18:54 of this, there's something that the Lord has heavily lain 18:56 upon your heart recently. 18:58 Would you be willing to share that with us? 19:00 - Absolutely, I would love to. 19:02 The one passage that God has really brought 19:04 to my heart is Psalms 34:19, 19:08 "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, 19:10 but the Lord will deliver him out of them all." 19:14 And when I looked at that verse, I'm like, 19:15 "Wow, God is promising that we will have affliction." 19:20 It's a guarantee. 19:22 - Wow. 19:23 - And He's right. 19:25 'Cause once we made that decision to go to Cambodia, 19:27 everything-- - Everything 19:29 that could wrong did go wrong. - Absolutely, but then He says 19:32 He will deliver us out of them all. 19:34 He promises that and have seen Him delivered 19:38 over and over again. 19:39 - Wow, praise the Lord. 19:40 - And so as I go through this journey 19:43 of these different things out, He started opening my eyes 19:46 more to the need of those around us. 19:50 And you know, living in Cambodia, there's 16 million people. 19:54 There's 0.01% Adventist, 0.1% Christian. 20:00 - Wow. 20:01 - And I started thinking about, 20:03 are we being our brothers' keeper? 20:06 There's souls that are perishing who's never heard of Jesus. 20:10 We were driving down the street and there were, 20:13 there was an accident and there were two men laying 20:16 in the middle of the road. 20:17 And people were just taking pictures of them. 20:19 And you know, I was just overwhelmed with grief 20:22 because I'm looking at them and saying 20:24 they've never heard of Jesus. 20:28 And all those people around them have never heard either. 20:32 And I can't even begin to imagine 20:34 how God feels in all of this, that He has children perishing 20:41 in this world who's never heard of Him. 20:45 And so many of us sit here know about Him, 20:47 but we don't share. 20:49 Sister White says that once we get baptized, 20:51 once we accept Jesus, we automatically become missionaries. 20:56 Automatic. 20:58 And so yes, everyone is not called 21:00 to the foreign mission field, 21:02 but everyone is called to do something. 21:05 That's been the burden on my heart, 21:08 that we truly aren't being our brothers' keeper. 21:12 'Cause if we were, we wouldn't be so comfortable. 21:15 - Wow. - We wouldn't be fighting 21:16 with each other, arguing who does what, you know, 21:19 who'll bring what for potluck 21:21 or who didn't bring something for potluck. 21:22 You know what I mean? 21:23 - Yeah. 21:24 - But would be thinking of those souls that are perishing 21:27 and in need of Jesus. 21:28 - Wow and it's heavy thinking 21:29 about where that phrase came from in the Bible. 21:31 - Yes, yes. 21:32 - You know, that was Kane's attitude. 21:34 - [Guest Natalie] Absolutely. 21:34 - It was an Abel's attitude. 21:36 - [Guest Natalie] It sure wasn't. 21:37 - And it wasn't, oh man. 21:38 - [Guest Natalie] Yeah. 21:40 - And Kane was the one that knew he was a hunted man. 21:43 - Yes. 21:44 - We need to think about these things. 21:46 - Yes, 'cause you know, there's this code 21:48 in First Testimony, the chapter's entitled 21:50 "Am I My Brother's Keeper?" 21:52 And I would recommend everyone reading it 21:54 'cause there's one part in there, she said, 21:56 "If we are not being or brothers' keeper, 21:59 "we are not worthy of eternal life," 22:02 because Jesus gave up so much for us. 22:06 - And we wanna be like Him. 22:07 You know? 22:08 We say we wanna be like Him. 22:09 - Absolutely. 22:11 - We were with a pastor the other day, 22:13 he was sharing with us the simple gospel. 22:15 - [Guest Natalie] Absolutely. 22:16 - Christ in you, that's the simple-- 22:18 - The Hope of Glory, yes. 22:19 - Gospel. - Yes. 22:20 - And it's like if we don't, if we have Christ in us, 22:24 then we have His attitudes. 22:26 - [Guest Natalie] Absolutely. - We have His love 22:27 for the lost that came to to save me. 22:30 - Absolutely. 22:31 - [Natalie] To save you. - Absolutely. 22:33 - And left heaven, of all places. 22:35 - Exactly. 22:36 - Heaven's better than the US, by the way. 22:38 - Absolutely. 22:40 You know, when I went to Cambodia for the first time 22:42 and you know, you just feel this oppression 22:44 around you, this hopelessness. 22:47 I got like, a microscopic glimpse 22:51 into what Christ must have felt like 22:53 coming to this dark world. 22:55 And it just really blew my mind. 22:56 Like, here I am complaining in my heart, 22:59 "Oh the smell, the taste, the this, the that, 23:02 "the heat." - The heat? 23:04 - The heat. But He gave all that up and I'm like, 23:06 "Lord, forgive me for complaining." 23:09 You know, forgive me 'cause You gave up so much more 23:13 and You didn't do anything wrong. 23:14 - What are we willing to give up for the sake of the lost? 23:18 We were talking about that the other day. 23:20 You know, if you pray, are you willing 23:22 to pray for your enemy until you're willing 23:25 to give your life for theirs? 23:27 - Absolutely. 23:28 - And that's something that most of us have 23:32 no clue what kind of love that is. 23:35 What kind of forgiveness and mercy 23:37 and everything is involved in sacrifice 23:41 is involved in that kind of love. 23:43 - Absolutely, and the other thing I was thinking 23:45 about is oftentimes, you know, we're like, 23:47 "Well, I'm not qualified. 23:49 "I don't have a gift, I don't have this." 23:54 But I'm like, "Where do you find that in the Bible 23:55 "That you need to have a gift in order to do the work?" 23:59 'Cause when you go to Matthew 28, He says, "Go." 24:02 - Right. 24:03 - He didn't say, if you're a teacher, if you're a lawyer, 24:04 if you're a doctor, if you're a pastor, 24:06 if you're a man, or if you're a woman. 24:08 He says go. 24:09 - Yeah. - And that's it. 24:10 - And when He sent out the 70, you know, 24:12 some of them were fishermen, 24:14 one of 'em was a tax collector. 24:15 - Absolutely, absolutely. 24:16 - It's like those guys had been all sorts 24:18 of different qualifications. 24:20 And He sent them all out on the same job 24:22 to tell others about Him. 24:24 - Seek and to save those that are lost. 24:27 You know? 24:28 That's, I mean, that's it. 24:30 We just complicate it. 24:31 - Well, we complicate it because we're afraid 24:35 or we're unwilling or we're not really converted maybe. 24:39 - Yes. 24:40 - [Natalie] And that's a scary thought. 24:41 - It really is. 24:42 - That we're holding onto things 24:44 that come between us and Christ 24:45 and what He wants to do in our lives. 24:47 - Absolutely. 24:48 And you know, you think of too, 24:49 the other thing I thought of was, 24:51 what is the value of one soul? 24:53 'Cause God is constantly asking, "What are you willing 24:56 "to give up so that one person will be saved?" 25:01 I gave up everything and I would do it for one. 25:03 That's a tough question. 25:05 It's an easy answer, but it's a tough question. 25:08 - Right. - But are we ready 25:10 to give the answer that God wants? 25:12 - Usually the answer to that is no. 25:14 - [Guest Natalie] Yeah. 25:15 - We have to fight through it though. 25:17 We have to grab onto Him by faith. 25:19 - Absolutely. 25:19 - And ask Him to help us. 25:21 I mean, that's the only place we'll have the strength 25:23 to do something like that. 25:24 - [Guest Natalie] Absolutely, absolutely. 25:26 - 'Cause when Christ is in us, 25:28 that's the only place that that kind 25:29 of willingness comes from. 25:31 - Absolutely. 25:32 - Those are powerful thoughts and it's a powerful choice, 25:36 that you've had to make. 25:38 And I'm sure it's not, you've made it once and it's done. 25:41 I'm sure it's continually having 25:43 to choose the same choice again. 25:45 And like right now you're in America and Billy's over there. 25:49 And it's like you have to go back. 25:52 - Right. 25:53 - But you have choices, still. 25:55 You know, things that have to be done while you're here 25:57 and while he's there and stuff 25:58 like that have had to be done. 26:01 And some of it's not easy. 26:02 - No. 26:03 - [Natalie] The affliction continues. 26:04 - Yes. 26:05 - And I know that recently your oldest daughter 26:07 has chosen to come back to America for school. 26:11 And I'm sure that involved some choices. 26:13 - Yeah, tough choices. 26:16 Tough choices. 26:18 - Yeah, you were sharing with me 26:19 when you were at the airport and it was just so hard to. 26:22 - It was so hard. 26:24 - It also, I think, the separation from our children 26:27 teaches us a little bit about what God went through 26:29 when Christ came down here. 26:31 - And you know, it's with this same nurture 26:35 and loving spirit that God wants us 26:37 to take to the mission field 26:39 because over there, they've become my children. 26:43 Literally. 26:44 I don't get tired of the hellos when I drive 26:46 through the village, you know? 26:48 I mean, sometimes we go in six times 26:50 and drive out six times, and each time, 26:53 - [Natalie] Hello, hello. 26:54 - Hello, hello. 26:55 - Well, I just wanna thank you 26:56 for sharing your heart with us today. 26:58 - Thank you. 26:59 - I know some of the, some of the points 27:02 that you've shared are a little more touching than others, 27:04 but I just really appreciate you sharing about the project 27:10 and what's going on spiritually, as well, 27:12 the challenges and the afflictions. 27:15 - Yes. - Some of the little glimpses 27:17 into the sum of the afflictions. 27:18 It's a blessing to know what to pray for. 27:21 And so I just really appreciate you sharing with us today. 27:24 - Thank you so much. 27:26 - And I would like to invite you to pray 27:28 for the project in Cambodia, 27:30 for the little villages nearby, 27:32 and for the opportunities that the Lord is opening 27:34 to be a witness in those villages. 27:37 Please also pray for the needs that have been shared here 27:40 because they're real and God has a plan. 27:44 And if you would like more information, 27:45 you can contact us at Jesus for Asia, PO Box 1221, 27:51 Collegedale, Tennessee, 37315. 27:54 Call us at (423) 413-7321 27:59 or visit our website at Jesus4Asia.org. 28:04 May God richly bless you until we see you next time 28:07 on "Jesus for Asia Now". 28:09 (inspirational music) 28:19 (inspirational music) |
Revised 2022-10-17