Participants:
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000147S
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00:00 (dramatic music)
00:21 - Hello and welcome to "Jesus for Asia Now." 00:24 I'm Natalie Wood and my husband Jon is here with me today, 00:27 and we have some inspiring stories from Cambodia. 00:30 Hello, love. - Hi, darling. 00:32 - I'm excited for our story today. 00:34 I know I say that a lot, 00:35 but this one's really neat 00:37 because it shows the fingerprints of God so clearly. 00:39 - Oh, man. 00:40 - And in several different key ways. 00:43 - Yeah, it's like layers of miracles happening. 00:45 You can just really see God moving forward 00:47 based on the faith of some people that stepped out 00:50 without really any solid commitment 00:55 from any donors or anything like that. 00:57 They just stepped out knowing that God would provide 01:00 and to see how he's done it for a very vital need 01:02 for the growth of the kingdom in Southeast Asia. 01:05 - Yeah, so how does the story begin? 01:07 I think it starts somewhere in 2008. 01:10 - Yes, you and I were in Bangkok with our children, 01:13 and we visited a pastor, 01:15 church planting pastor, Pastor Venn. 01:17 And you were old classmates with his wife. 01:20 - Right. 01:22 - And so we struck up a conversation, had a lot in common, 01:23 and I got very interested in his church planting activities. 01:27 - Mm-hmm. 01:28 - And so we decided to do a series, 01:30 a TV series, for Adventist Mission 01:32 about the effect of the decline of giving 01:34 on the frontline church planting efforts. 01:37 - Yeah, so that show is called, "I Want This City." 01:40 - Yes. 01:41 - People can still find it and watch it. 01:42 - Yeah. 01:43 - At iwantthiscity.com. - Yeah. 01:46 And then back in 2008, 01:47 I filmed Pastor Doug in the Voice of Prophecy office 01:50 looking at the literature that they had available 01:53 to them at that time, 01:54 what they had to give to people. 01:57 And we've still got that clip, if you wanna see it. 02:00 - Sure, let's play it. - Okay. 02:01 - God's work is languishing. 02:03 And one example of that here that I live with daily is, 02:08 what is there to communicate the hope 02:11 that we have as Seventh Adventist Christians? 02:14 What is there that communicates to the people around us, 02:18 what the Bible teaches about what will happen 02:23 in these end days? 02:24 And obviously, 02:26 if you go to your local church literature rack, 02:27 you can find tracks on Sabbath and the sanctuary 02:31 and the state of the dead 02:32 and the fact that Jesus is coming so soon. 02:35 But here in Thailand, 02:36 we're here actually in the office of the Adventist, 02:39 the Voice of Prophecy. 02:41 But I want to just have you take a look. 02:47 Here we have photocopies of lessons 02:52 that are what I've been told, they're over 60 years old. 02:58 And you can see here that 03:03 the truth is there, 03:06 but even at my second and third grade level of Thai, 03:10 some of these words, I can't even read what letter this is. 03:13 You know, what is that? 03:15 What is that letter right there? 03:16 It's a blob of ink. 03:18 And so how can the truth be clearly communicated 03:21 when we're dealing with a copy of a copy of a copy? 03:27 And yet I asked Jean Stipon, the Voice of Prophecy director, 03:36 I said, "What will it take to get new lessons printed?" 03:40 And she said to me, "You know, we need money." 03:43 And I said, "Well, how much?" 03:45 And she said, "Well, a typical run of printing 03:48 would be about three to $5,000 to get new lessons made." 03:52 And I'm like, "Three to $5,000 to get new lessons. 04:02 So that way the precious Thai people will have hope 04:08 and they'll know what's coming." 04:12 Here's another set that this is 04:19 because here in Thailand we have Buddhist, 04:22 and they have the worldview is completely different. 04:25 And so here, 04:26 this is a set that looks at what is good in Buddhism, 04:32 how has God used the truth there to then make a bridge 04:37 to the Bible? 04:38 And so here, this is a wonderful set of lessons, 04:42 but you look at the picture and what do you see here? 04:50 - [Interviewee] Just blobs. 04:51 - It's just, it's not quite clear and- 04:53 - [Interviewee] Not very attractive. 04:55 - Yeah, it's needless to say. 04:57 Then we can look here that. 04:59 - [Interviewee] So when somebody calls interested 05:02 in Adventism, this is what we send them? 05:07 - When someone calls, or actually when they write, 05:10 they come, the letter comes here to the mission 05:14 or an email is sent, or churches ask for literature and 05:25 this is what we have. 05:30 - And that was shot in 2008. 05:33 When did you actually shoot the, "I Want This City" show? 05:35 - 2010, 2011 took about, 05:38 I thought it was gonna take about two months, 05:40 but it ended up taking nine. 05:41 - There was a lot of activity going on 05:43 with the church planting and- 05:44 - Yes. 05:45 - So you had a lot of angles and different things 05:47 to film there. 05:49 - Yeah and while I was there filming that, 05:51 I had to film the closing 05:54 of the printing press for Southeast Asia in Bangkok 05:58 and just really felt sad about that. 06:01 They just weren't printing enough books to keep it going. 06:04 In fact, while I was filming in 2011, 06:06 they had exactly zero Ellen White books in Thai in print. 06:12 One of the lay members would print the "Steps To Christ," 06:15 the booklet or the book, the small book. 06:17 But there is no "Desire Of Ages," no "Great Controversy," 06:21 no "Ministry Of Healing," 06:23 nothing like that in the local language. 06:25 And that was Thailand. 06:26 Not to mention Cambodia and other countries that didn't have 06:33 the resources that even Thailand had. 06:35 Now, Thailand's resources at that time, 06:37 the yearly budget for all personal ministries, all outreach, 06:42 all printing literature, 06:43 all that kinda stuff was $45,000 per year. 06:46 We know some churches that have a bigger monthly budget. 06:50 - Yeah. 06:51 - Here in America than that. 06:52 And so they were operating on a very shoestring budget. 06:55 And you can imagine some of the smaller countries 06:58 that don't even have that much. 06:59 Like Cambodia had a budget of exactly zero 07:03 starting out the year. 07:04 - Yeah, it's really, when you think about the disparity. 07:10 - Yes. 07:11 - Between what we have available here 07:12 and what's available there, 07:13 it just really breaks your heart 07:14 because not only do they not have these resources, 07:18 they're not a, how do I put this? 07:21 Like a base Christian country, 07:23 like our country started out as a Christian country. 07:25 - Exactly. 07:26 - But they don't have that, 07:27 they don't have that history. 07:29 They don't have those principles built in anywhere. 07:30 - Right. 07:32 - And then they don't have the resources that we have, 07:34 the spiritual resources. 07:35 - Right, yeah. 07:36 Well our. 07:37 - It's really heartbreaking. 07:39 - Yeah, well our denomination was built on the printed page. 07:42 - It's true. 07:44 - And so to not have that in a country in any language, 07:46 there's thousands of languages 07:48 that don't have the Bible yet, 07:50 but in a major language in a major country, 07:52 to see a printing press close was pretty heartbreaking. 07:57 - Yeah. 07:57 - So after filming that, 07:59 we came home and we did a faith camp up in the Northwest 08:01 and somebody responded, saw the need, 08:05 felt the same way we did. 08:06 - Right and that's what this show is about. 08:08 - Yeah. 08:09 - It's about the Rogers family answering 08:10 the call of God on their hearts. 08:12 - Yes. 08:13 - So we have a little video where they talk about 08:16 how they came to go to Cambodia. 08:18 - Okay. 08:21 (upbeat music) 08:25 - I had a burden for literature that contained the truth. 08:29 So God opened up the opportunity for me to learn printing. 08:34 Up until that point, I was a graphic designer 08:36 and so I knew the computer side of things, 08:39 but to actually run the equipment, like the press, 08:42 the folder, all those things I didn't know. 08:45 So I got the experience with a summer working with him 08:48 and then started my own small print shop 08:53 that was focused on tracks and truth filled literature. 08:57 And during the time 08:59 that I was actually having the small print shop, 09:00 I heard about the need specifically in Bangkok 09:04 of how most of the stuff that they had 09:07 was copies of copies of copies. 09:11 And so some of the pictures, 09:12 you couldn't even tell what it was. 09:14 And I felt sad. 09:15 And so in my heart I said, "Well, I'll pray about it." 09:18 But the idea of going to the missions, 09:21 that wasn't there yet. 09:24 - [Narrator] There are no "Desire of Ages" 09:26 or "Steps To Christ books 09:27 available in the bookstore. 09:28 Yet tens of millions of Thais still live with no clue 09:31 that Jesus even exists. 09:33 The real issue is, am I willing to let it stay this way? 09:37 Do I care enough to do something, 09:39 to give something more than the $21 a year 09:41 that the average North American Adventist gives? 09:44 - Four years went by 09:45 and in some ways I consider myself four years late, 09:50 I ended up going to faith camp and then toward the end 09:56 of the camp meeting, 09:57 again it was presented the needs 09:59 that were in Thailand, specifically around literature. 10:03 And they were the same, nothing had changed. 10:08 And I realize, Lord, I guess I'm willing to help. 10:15 I just said last time that I would pray about it, 10:18 but nothing's happened. 10:19 So if you want me to be a helper, I'm willing to go. 10:28 - Ever since I can remember, 10:30 I've wanted to do something in the mission field 10:34 and we've read lots of mission stories, 10:36 but I've never been out of the continental US 10:40 and Kenton's not the kind 10:41 that would typically choose an adventure like this. 10:44 And so I was excited. 10:46 It wasn't a problem for me. 10:52 - I was looking primarily at Thailand 10:56 and talking with people that had been in Thailand. 10:59 But every time that I would mention to Jon Wood 11:03 that I was considering Thailand 11:05 and what I was finding about Thailand, 11:06 he would also come back and say, 11:08 "Well, have you considered Cambodia?" 11:12 I didn't even know anything about Cambodia. 11:15 So I would just kind of put that off to the side 11:17 and continue looking at Thailand. 11:20 But after the third time that he said, 11:24 "Have you considered Cambodia?" 11:27 I said, okay, God, I'm willing to look at Cambodia. 11:34 So I actually started looking at Cambodia and the laws 11:36 for a foreigner to have a business in Cambodia. 11:40 The difficulties here are less than in Thailand. 11:45 As we were deciding then 11:46 that we were gonna come to Cambodia, 11:48 we had an anonymous donation of $3,000. 11:52 And that's not quite enough to get tickets 11:55 'cause we'd been hearing prices 11:57 more around a thousand dollars a piece. 12:01 So that would be $5,000 that my family would need to come. 12:04 But my sister-in-law, she said, 12:07 "Why don't you just go ahead 12:08 and try see what you can find for tickets." 12:11 So we went ahead and gone online and found 12:13 that we could get tickets and went ahead 12:15 and purchased tickets for $2,800. 12:21 So that was within the $3,000. 12:24 - $2,800 is really miraculous for a family of five. 12:27 I mean they were one way, 12:29 but still that's really, really low. 12:31 - Yeah. 12:32 And these are the things that we see happening 12:34 when people step out in faith and commit to go 12:37 and just see what God does. 12:39 And it's over and over again. 12:40 They see, people see their faith tried 12:43 and then they take the risk 12:46 and then God comes through and their faith grows. 12:48 - Yeah, so that was kind of before they went to Cambodia. 12:51 - Yeah. 12:53 - And this next video is not long after they got there. 12:55 - Yes. 13:00 - So when we got here, 13:01 God led through a very persistent tuk tuk driver 13:05 who volunteered to actually help us find an apartment 13:09 to live in. 13:11 So we ended up moving into an apartment 13:12 that was fairly close to the mission. 13:15 And so we waited for an opportunity 13:18 to talk with the mission president. 13:20 And when we did, 13:22 I talked with him and shared with him my ideas, my goals. 13:25 And he shared with us kind of what's happening in Cambodia 13:30 with the literature. 13:32 So at the end of my talk with him, 13:36 I asked him, what city would be good 13:38 to like have this publishing house had? 13:41 And instead of saying a city, he said, 13:46 "Well how about some property that the mission has?" 13:50 And I was like, "Well yeah, we could go take a look at it." 13:53 So he let us come down here and look at it the next day. 13:57 So we were able to start planning to move here. 14:00 But just at that time is when COVID came 14:04 and the restrictions primarily in small villages 14:08 became very tight. 14:10 And so we were told by the chief that we couldn't move in. 14:12 So we were stuck in still in the main city in an apartment. 14:17 And it came to the place where we had to renew our contract 14:23 for the apartment, 14:24 yet we still couldn't go out to the village. 14:28 We prayed and said, "Lord, this week you either have 14:32 to open up the property for us to move out to 14:35 or we need to go home 'cause we can't just live 14:38 here in this apartment in the city for another six months." 14:45 A friend of ours, David, he called us up and said, 14:49 "Have you been able to get out to the the property?" 14:51 And I said, we said "No, we're still here." 14:53 He said, "Well let's go, 14:54 let's call the the chief and ask him." 14:57 So he called the chief and the chief said, 15:01 "Sure, have them come." 15:03 And this was on Thursday. 15:05 He said, "So have them come Friday 15:07 and we'll fill out all the paperwork." 15:10 Now prior to that he had been closed 15:12 and like, no, you can't come. 15:14 And now he was willing for us to come 15:17 and the chief was like very helpful. 15:20 And so we were able to then move the following week out here 15:24 to the property with no electricity, 15:27 no running water and an abandoned house. 15:32 But God provided for us, that week was hard, 15:36 but we got electricity, we got water and it was much better. 15:44 (upbeat music) 15:51 - Isn't that neat how God kind of arranged things for them, 15:54 already had some property available for them 15:57 to use that wasn't being used? 15:58 - Yeah and how God opened at the right time, 16:02 just when the contract was needing to be renewed 16:05 for their apartment, opened the opportunity 16:07 for them to go to the village 16:08 and then the chief of the village was so helpful. 16:10 - Yeah. 16:12 - At that point he hadn't been helpful at all before, 16:13 but then he was helpful. 16:15 So it just shows God's ability to work 16:17 with people's hearts and to lead them 16:20 like from maybe where they've been to a different attitude. 16:24 - Yeah and I don't know how many of those 16:26 you would actually count as a miracle. 16:28 We call 'em as fingerprints of God. 16:30 - Yeah. 16:32 - You know, that don't just happen by chance. 16:33 - Right. 16:34 - They don't just like fall into place. 16:35 So many little things have fall into place just by chance. 16:39 - Yeah, no, definitely not. 16:41 Definitely a God thing. 16:42 - So we see God moving there. 16:44 - Right and speaking of God things, 16:45 the next video section we have 16:47 is about equipment purchasing and shippings. 16:51 (upbeat music) 17:02 - So after we had been here in Cambodia for about a year, 17:06 Jon Wood asked me to share 17:08 at a faith camp just briefly over Zoom. 17:12 So I said yeah. 17:13 And then he asked me if I had actually thought 17:16 about how much things cost, how much would I need? 17:19 I said, "Well I haven't thought about that." 17:21 So he said, "You need to think about that." 17:23 So I spent a day thinking about, 17:26 well if I got a large copier, 17:29 something that can fit on the table for making books 17:32 and booklets, that would be probably be about $50,000. 17:37 Then I was looking at another size bigger than that, 17:42 and that's not in the house. 17:43 That would be have to be in like a print shop. 17:46 And that came up to be $150,000. 17:50 So when faith camp came, 17:52 I shared mainly just the focus of everything 17:55 and at the end, Jon asked me, "Well how much do you need?" 17:57 And I said, "Well, anywhere between 50 to $150,000." 18:01 And when it came to the end of faith camp, 18:05 there was a matching grant two to one 18:09 of a hundred thousand dollars. 18:12 So that would be once it matched $150,000. 18:16 So to me it's like God wants the $150,000 size. 18:22 So that's what I ended up then looking for. 18:29 I like to watch the printing auctions 18:31 'cause they're selling equipment 18:32 and find out what things go for in the auctions. 18:35 But most of it I can't use. 18:37 But I noticed that there was a large commercial size copier 18:41 and its power requirement was both for Europe and the US. 18:46 So it was actually something that I could use, 18:48 even though I saw this, I wasn't planning on bidding on it, 18:50 but in the middle of the night I was woken up with the idea, 18:55 "You need to bid on that printer." 18:57 So I checked the time, 18:59 it was one hour before the bidding closed. 19:03 I was like, well how much do I bid? 19:05 And the thought came to mind, "You bid a thousand dollars." 19:08 So I got up, 19:10 placed the thousand dollars bid and went back to sleep. 19:12 Woke up the next morning and I had won the bid. 19:16 It was like $960. 19:18 Once it got here though, 19:20 after all the process of getting here, 19:22 it did end up being basically about $5,000 for each machine. 19:26 I had bid on one machine, 19:28 but the guy actually ended up having two more machines 19:31 that he wanted to get rid of and a parts machine. 19:33 So that was four machines that were coming 19:35 and they filled a full 40 foot container. 19:41 I started looking at the need of a folder, 19:45 the need of a perfect binder, 19:47 the need of a cutter and all those things I found in Europe. 19:51 And over the course of about a month, 19:54 was able to make those purchases 19:56 and start those pieces coming in containers to Cambodia. 20:03 - So some more miracles in there 20:05 just happened to wake up just an hour 20:07 before the bidding stopped. 20:09 - Happened to know. 20:10 - Yeah, it's evidently the Lord, 20:13 the Lord cares about printing. 20:14 - Yep, yeah. 20:16 - Lord cares about. 20:17 - And the Lord told him how much to bid. 20:19 - Yeah. 20:20 - And then gave him more machines available 20:23 from the same seller and several things like that. 20:26 It's just like, it's not by chance. 20:29 - Yeah. - Definitely. 20:30 - And the biggest miracles are still to come. 20:32 - Right? 20:33 - Yes. - Right. 20:34 Well let's watch those. 20:35 - Okay. 20:39 - Shipping to Cambodia is not something 20:41 that is done every day. 20:43 So even the people in England that were shipping it, 20:46 were not aware that when you ship 20:49 to the main port in Cambodia, it's connected to the ocean. 20:55 But there's another port that's up by the capital city 20:58 that if you ship to it, 21:00 it has to go through Vietnamese waters 21:02 and the Vietnamese have to have special permits, 21:07 special prices for going through their waters. 21:10 Well this I didn't know and this they didn't know. 21:13 So two of the four containers got shipped through Vietnam 21:20 and as soon as they got to Vietnam, they were held there. 21:23 After waiting about a month, 21:25 I was informed that they were held there 21:27 and every day, it costs money to store it there. 21:32 As time went on, 21:33 I was very much praying 21:35 and asking people to help pray for it. 21:37 So outta the two containers, one container, 21:42 the cinder basically gave up on it. 21:46 So I wasn't sure what to do about that one. 21:49 But as time went on at one point God asked me, 21:52 "Well why don't you ask for me just to send it to you?" 21:56 And so I thought, well yeah, I guess I could ask. 21:59 So I prayed, Lord, 22:01 if you want the container just to be loaded on to the ship 22:04 and sent up the port and unloaded and then maybe you have 22:08 to close their eyes for that whole process, 22:10 then please do that. 22:12 And about two weeks later, 22:14 I got an email saying that one of my containers had arrived. 22:20 And of course, I was very happy. 22:22 And so that started the process of bringing it into Cambodia 22:28 through the customs of Cambodia. 22:30 And I have to pay for offloading off the boat onto a truck, 22:34 which is about $150. 22:37 So when they gave me the bill, it was only for $150. 22:41 And I wrote back to them and said, 22:43 "Well isn't there anything extra charges from like Vietnam? 22:47 And also I'd like to know how you got the container here 22:51 to Cambodia 'cause I still have another one in Vietnam 22:53 and having difficulties with it." 22:55 And they wrote back to me and said, 22:57 "Well, we don't know how it got here, 22:59 we just give you notification of when it arrives." 23:03 That container was loaded without anyone being aware 23:07 that it was loaded and brought here and I'm thankful. 23:10 So that one, he worked without any money, 23:13 but the other one did cost some money to get it. 23:17 And at one point in the process 23:19 I realized that it was gonna be more money than what I had. 23:25 So I didn't know what to do. 23:26 So I went and had prayer. 23:28 But again, discouragement is real. 23:30 And at the end of my prayer I didn't have 23:32 some great like feeling that God was going to answer. 23:36 But what I did know is that he knew about the problem. 23:43 He knew that there was a container there. 23:44 He knew that it was gonna cost more than what I had. 23:50 The next day I got a text message from someone in the States 23:55 and they said that two days prior, 23:58 they had sent a check specifically marked for shipping. 24:05 And it was for $20,000. 24:11 When all of everything was said and done 24:14 for those two containers, it was $20,000. 24:19 So God knew how much it was needed too. 24:22 And he knew and provided the night 24:25 or the day before I knew of it, he provided that. 24:29 So God provides with money and he can provide without money. 24:33 And it's an encouragement 24:35 for me to look back on those and say, 24:38 God knew the problem, 24:40 he had solutions for the problems. 24:43 It's not always money, 24:45 but he is able to work and able to solve it. 24:54 - Isn't that amazing? 24:55 - Wow. 24:57 - Pure miracles. 24:58 - Yeah. 24:59 - Yeah. 25:00 - With money or without money, I love that. 25:02 - Yeah. 25:03 - Because it's so true and you know, like God impressed him. 25:06 Why don't you ask me? 25:07 - Yeah. 25:08 - It's like so many times 25:10 we're like racking our brain trying 25:11 to figure out the solution, trying to solve it, 25:14 trying to come up with the answer 25:16 and we could just take it to the one who knows everything. 25:19 - Yeah. 25:20 - And rest it there in his hands. 25:22 And you never know what he's gonna do. 25:24 - But I think it's key that God asked him to ask him. 25:27 - Yeah. 25:28 - It's like somehow that gives God permission to move 25:30 where he wouldn't otherwise. 25:31 - Yeah. 25:33 - And I remember talking to him via text saying, 25:37 he's telling me the situation and it hasn't come. 25:40 We don't know how to get it to come. 25:42 We don't have any solution. 25:44 And I'm just sitting there like, 25:45 well I guess if you've lost the container, 25:48 you have to start over and just pray for more funds. 25:50 And then it's like the last day before, 25:53 it's like everything. 25:56 It's like he couldn't receive it anymore 25:57 after a certain date. 25:58 And either the day before or on that date, 26:01 it just showed up. - It showed up. 26:04 - And we're all like, wow, that is God. 26:07 - And to get the other one out of Vietnam 26:09 is just as much of a miracle. 26:11 - Yes. 26:12 - Although completely different type 26:13 of ending end result he had to pay, but. 26:16 - Right. 26:17 - Still, it's just like they were stuck there. 26:18 - And then God provided the exact money 26:20 he needed to pay. 26:21 - Right, right. 26:22 - God is good. 26:23 - And that just shows the importance 26:25 of those of us over here 26:26 and the prayers that we pray for these projects. 26:29 - Yes. 26:31 - You know, because God can move because we pray also. 26:33 - Yes. 26:34 - And then he can impress on people's hearts 26:35 to give like that $20,000. 26:37 It's like, why did the donor think 26:39 that they needed $20,000 for shipping? 26:41 How could this not be a God thing? 26:44 - We hadn't advertised that, 26:45 we hadn't sent that out in an email, we're just. 26:49 - Right. 26:49 - Did God impress somebody? 26:51 - Right, so it shows the urgent cooperative. 26:55 - Yes. 26:56 - Supportive effort that we all need to be in together 26:59 for these projects. 27:00 - Yeah, yeah. 27:02 Some people say, or they look at prayer as like, 27:03 oh we just prayed, let's do something real. 27:06 But prayer, active prayer by faith is real. 27:12 It's really the best work we can do. 27:14 It allows God to move in ways that we can't. 27:17 - Right and it makes such huge differences. 27:19 - Yes. 27:20 - So we unfortunately don't have enough time 27:23 to share the rest of their report. 27:25 - Yes. 27:26 - Because there's more to it. 27:28 - Yeah, there's more to the story. 27:29 - So much more. 27:31 - So they have built a print shop 27:32 and they have the equipment in there as we saw briefly 27:36 in one of the clips. 27:37 And so there's a story behind that also, 27:39 several stories behind that also. 27:41 So- - Yes. 27:42 - We'll be sharing that in the next show. 27:44 - Right. 27:45 - And if you would like to support the publishing work 27:47 in Southeast Asia, 27:48 please contact us at Jesus for Asia PO Box 1221, 27:54 Collegedale, Tennessee, 37315. 27:56 Call us at (423) 413-7321 28:01 or visit our website at jesusforasia.org. 28:04 May God richly bless you until we see you next time 28:07 on Jesus for Asia now. 28:10 (upbeat music) |
Revised 2023-06-13