Participants:
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000194S
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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 Hello, love. 00:27 - Hi, darling. How are you? 00:29 - I'm doing well. How are you? 00:30 - I'm doing good. 00:31 - Good. Well, what are we gonna see today? 00:33 - Today we're going to go to India, 00:36 and we're going to see some churches 00:39 that have been closed for many years. 00:41 - Okay. 00:42 - And that's not a really positive subject. 00:44 - [Natalie] Nope. 00:46 - Except that the remedy is very exciting. 00:49 - Okay. Well, let's go straight to our first video. 00:51 - [Jon] Okay. 00:52 - Which is with the president 00:53 of the church in this part of India. 00:55 - Sounds good. 00:57 (gentle music) 01:02 - In the year 2006, 01:05 they had a program called 50 Village Program. 01:08 They had bought land and constructed around 40 churches. 01:13 People from US had come. 01:15 They had evangelistic campaign. 01:19 They were able to establish 01:21 around 50 centers here in Vellore section. 01:26 When they were about to open it or dedicate the churches, 01:30 there was a kind of political issue that came up, 01:36 and the foreigners were forced to go back to US, 01:41 and that is where the problem started. 01:45 And later on, 01:47 there were two basic underlying problems that they had. 01:52 One was lack of finance, 01:55 and secondly, political issue. 01:59 And the third one, I should say, is lack of Bible workers. 02:03 (gentle music) 02:07 After me coming to this place, when I had a survey 02:11 of all my four districts, I found this, 02:15 you know, 50 Village program 02:17 that has taken place in the year 2006-7. 02:22 And then I wanted to implore into all these churches. 02:25 And all these churches were like, you know, abandoned. 02:29 Some of the churches had, windows were broken, 02:32 doors were broken, 02:34 and all the churches were, you know, like Amazon Forest, 02:38 these churches were under the custody of the local people. 02:42 Some of them had used these churches as cow sheds. 02:47 I literally saw the cows inside these churches. 02:51 And some of the churches were literally broken. 02:54 And it was a countryside bathroom, like. 02:59 And I literally had to stand there and cry, stating, 03:04 "God, how could this happen to your church?" 03:07 (gentle music) 03:11 And then I decided that instead of going into a new project, 03:16 let me see how the older projects can come into life. 03:20 And so when I was praying about this, 03:23 one of my good friend, Elder Israel Prasad, 03:26 the JFA director for Asia here, 03:30 he was able to listen to my story, 03:33 the burden that I had for this section. 03:35 And he was able to present this to the JFA group in the US, 03:40 and now we are overwhelmed to see 03:43 that this group has come to us. 03:47 They have, you know, tapped on our shoulder 03:50 and they have just said, "Brother, we are behind you to see 03:54 that these churches are going to be opened up." 03:57 They have given us near about 20 Bible workers 04:01 to work for these churches. 04:03 And that was a very, very, very great help to me. 04:08 And these churches, which were abandoned and closed 04:12 and destroyed, they were able to paint it. 04:16 And now with the furnishing and everything, 04:18 it's a pukka working church. 04:20 And God was so good to us, sending the JFA group to help us. 04:25 And now we are overwhelmed to see 04:29 that the JFA team is in valor to open up seven churches, 04:33 and there are 20 churches more to open. 04:36 (gentle music) 04:47 I think the church is going to grow nicely. 04:50 And we see that, you know, there is a Bible worker in it, 04:53 and the church will function every Sabbath. 04:57 And I see a very bright future 04:59 for all these abandoned churches. 05:01 And I'm grateful, grateful to the Lord Almighty, 05:04 and to the people of the JFA who are so generous, 05:08 and God bless this group called Jesus for Asia. 05:14 - So you can do things in the house with joy, 05:17 and it happens with a song in your mind, 05:19 because you don't wanna stray when the relief happens. 05:23 (congregation shouting) 05:34 So basically what he's saying is that many years ago, 05:37 a group came in and built. 05:39 The target was to build 50 churches. 05:41 They got 40 churches built. 05:43 And he called it a political issue. 05:46 But there is an extremist group 05:47 that kicked them out of the country. 05:49 - Right. 05:50 - So the very first night that they held evangelism, 05:52 they were kicked out of the country. 05:53 And because of the financial challenges 05:56 of supplying Bible workers for all 40 churches, 05:59 the local conference couldn't keep up. 06:01 And so instead of nurturing these churches 06:04 and being able to put Bible workers there, 06:06 they just, all 40 churches were closed. 06:09 - So now he's trying to find them. 06:11 - [Jon] Yes. 06:12 - And he's finding them little at a time, 06:15 which is a huge challenge. 06:16 - Mm-hmm. 06:17 - One of them, I remember they told us a story. 06:19 They only found because one of the pastors was going 06:22 to somebody's birthday party in a village. 06:24 And as he passed by, he saw this roof shape 06:27 that he recognized from off the side of the highway. 06:30 And so he was like, "What is that?" 06:33 And so they went and found out it was an Adventist church. 06:36 - But this is what he's decided to do. 06:38 Instead of building new churches and new villages, 06:40 why not just restart the churches that are already there? 06:43 - Right, and encourage the members 06:45 that were there at the beginning, 06:46 and make it available to those that weren't members yet. 06:50 - Yeah, now that church that you saw in that video 06:52 with all the people, it was packed out. 06:55 (laughs) Why are you smiling so broadly? 06:57 - Because we had the privilege of serving in that church. 06:59 - Yes, yes. 07:01 - And it was precious. It was a precious time. 07:03 - And the other thing that these closed churches do 07:06 is they put a smear on the name, on the face of Jesus, 07:10 because the local Hindus will say, 07:13 "Hey, our God takes care of our temple. 07:15 Look at the beautiful temple that we have. 07:18 What's wrong with your God?" 07:19 - [Natalie] Yeah. 07:20 - Maybe your God doesn't exist. 07:22 - Yeah. 07:23 - And so reopening these churches 07:24 to us has become a huge burden and a joy. 07:27 - Right, right, and yeah, 07:29 the precious, precious people in that church, 07:32 you know, the children, they're so cute. 07:35 They're naughty, but they're so cute. 07:37 - Yes. 07:38 - Precious, precious smiles, 07:39 and to have the young people come and ask for prayer, 07:43 "My exams are coming, 07:45 please pray for me to do well on my exams." 07:48 - Yes. 07:49 - And to have the older people come and say, 07:52 what did Little Baby say? 07:54 - She says, "I'm so thankful that I was able to live 07:57 until this day, until this message came to my village." 08:00 - [Natalie] Right, and she's not a young lady, 08:02 but that is what her name means. 08:04 - [Jon] Yeah. 08:05 - [Natalie] She has a Tamil name, 08:06 but her name means little baby. 08:08 She's quite an elderly lady. 08:09 - Yes, she would come and talk to me after the program 08:12 and she would talk to me, 08:14 and I would talk to her, and she would talk to me. 08:15 I had no idea what each other was saying, 08:18 but I knew it was good. 08:20 And then later somebody came and interpreted 08:24 to us what she was saying, and that's what she said, 08:26 that she's so thankful 08:27 that this message came and she would pray for us. 08:30 Precious souls like that. 08:31 - Yeah. 08:32 - Make it so worthwhile, and how many other villages 08:35 with closed churches have those same kind 08:37 of precious souls just waiting for the good news to come? 08:41 - All right, well, we don't wanna stop now. 08:43 We've got another video from another one of the churches 08:45 that was reopened at the same time. 08:47 And this church is extra special, 08:50 because it was Gayle Haberkam's church. 08:52 - [Jon] Okay. 08:53 - And Gayle is one of our missionaries in Thailand. 08:54 - [Jon] Yes. 08:55 - We took her to India. 08:56 - Yes. (laughs) 08:58 (gentle music) 09:04 - 2006, 2007, this church was built. 09:09 And after it was built, 09:12 the section appointed lay volunteers, 09:17 Bible workers, to take care of the church. 09:20 They took care of the church for some time. 09:23 Due to the financial crisis, 09:26 later they stopped the lay volunteers. 09:31 - DC Kuppam was occupied by one lady 09:36 where she used to put all the grass, hay, 09:39 and whatever, the foodstuff that she used 09:42 to give it to the cows. 09:44 And the cows were inside. 09:46 And just at the entrance there was a cow shed. 09:50 And she wasn't allowing me to go inside. 09:53 Even after throwing everything from the church outside, 09:56 she was not taking the cow shed, which was at the doorway. 09:59 And we had to talk to the village people, 10:02 the village headmen, and to government officials, 10:06 and through which she was forced to, you know, be taken out. 10:10 (cow moos) 10:12 (gentle music) 10:16 - This was painted by Elder Dennis and Judy. 10:22 This couple stayed here almost three months, 10:24 painted many churches, and this was one among that. 10:27 And after 20 years, it's reopened in this year, 2024. 10:34 We had 10 days meeting. 10:36 Sister Gayle present a beautiful message 10:39 to the people in this village. 10:41 And we hope that many will accept Jesus 10:45 as their personal Savior. 10:47 (congregation speaking) 10:48 (gentle music) 11:09 And we like to appoint a JFA Bible worker 11:15 to do the follow-up work. 11:18 And in future, 11:20 we would like to have evening school conducted 11:24 in this place, 11:26 where the students in this community 11:29 will be benefited by studying 11:32 and knowing about Jesus Christ. 11:35 And this will definitely help the community know 11:39 about Jesus Christ, 11:40 and we'll be able to win many souls for Christ. 11:44 (gentle music) 11:53 - Isn't that beautiful? 11:54 - Yeah, and it's so neat to know that, 11:56 you know, they're thinking long term. 12:00 You know, we gotta put a Bible worker here, 12:02 and we'd like an evening school here. 12:04 And speaking about the evening schools, 12:06 there isn't one there yet. 12:07 - [Jon] Correct. 12:08 - But we're praying for the funding 12:09 to be able to open it. 12:10 - Yeah. 12:11 - It's such a beautiful thing 12:13 to have the evening school there, 12:14 because it builds up the church. 12:16 It actually keeps the church building open. 12:19 So there's something happening 12:20 in the church every day of the week. 12:22 So besides giving tutoring in the regular schoolwork, 12:28 it gives them an evening of worship, 12:30 and they can learn stories from the Bible, 12:33 and character building stories, and moral stories, 12:37 and Bible texts and spiritual songs. 12:40 And they also get a meal. 12:42 And the meal is very, very important, 12:44 because many of these villages are very poor. 12:47 And many times, the children get one good meal a day. 12:51 Sometimes they get a second meal, but it's not very good. 12:54 Many times we've seen, 12:55 it'll be like the water from cooking the rice, 12:59 or like a rice soup with a few grains of rice in it, 13:03 and they just drink the water basically. 13:05 And so it's such a huge privilege 13:07 to provide that for the children. 13:08 - [Jon] Yeah. 13:10 - So, and that's just $9 a month per child. 13:11 So we're really praying that we can open a school 13:14 in that village, because it helps the children, 13:16 and it helps the church as well. 13:19 - Yes, yes. 13:20 - So we have another video from another reopened church, 13:23 but it's in a slightly different area. 13:25 - Yeah, it's in the same region of the Adventist Church, 13:29 but it's like an hour and a half away, 13:31 a whole another city with a number 13:33 of closed churches around that city. 13:35 And so we had another team going 13:36 to that place at a separate time. 13:39 - Okay. 13:40 - This is a mountain which is in Thiruvanamalai, 13:44 one of the Holy Mountains, 13:46 which the Hindu people believe that if they come 13:50 and see this mountain once in their year, 13:53 once in their lifetime, 13:55 they feel like all their sins are washed, 13:57 and they feel very holy. 13:59 And this place, by the grace of God, 14:01 God opened the door in the year 2009. 14:05 There were 17 to 28 churches which was constructed. 14:11 And they had a big grand opening, 14:13 and the churches were open, 14:14 But unfortunately, you know, Satan had its own way, 14:19 and he stopped all these churches. 14:22 These churches were locked. 14:23 (gentle music) 14:27 By the grace of God, in the year 2023, we prayed, 14:31 and God showed us this place. 14:33 And the local Vellore section administrators, 14:38 they were really concerned to open these churches. 14:42 And these churches were looking very different. 14:46 Trees were grown, and plants were grown. Bushes were there. 14:50 People started using these places for many other things. 14:54 By the grace of God, this year, 2025, 14:58 in the February month, we were able 15:01 to get into five new villages, five churches, 15:06 which were locked for many years. 15:08 God showed us these churches, 15:11 and helped us to renovate these church, 15:14 and pray for these churches 15:17 and paint these churches, clean the churches. 15:20 And also, God spoke in the hearts of people 15:23 to come from abroad, from US, 15:25 to do one week of evangelism. 15:28 I really wanted to thank the Lord for speaking those acts, 15:32 which need to be spoken. 15:34 Because of that, now all these five churches are open. 15:38 (gentle music) 15:44 - So how many churches have we reopened so far? 15:46 - About 30. 15:47 - That's awesome. 15:48 - [Natalie] Yeah. 15:49 - How many churches left to reopen? 15:50 - About a hundred. (laughs) 15:53 - So a few more. 15:55 - Right, and not just in this one area or this one district, 15:58 there's in other areas of India also. 16:01 - Yeah. So are we planning to do any more? 16:03 - Yes, actually, every year. When would that be? 16:07 - We usually go in the wintertime, so it's only hot. 16:10 - [Natalie] Okay. 16:11 - Instead of really hot. 16:11 - Okay. 16:12 - Or super rainy. 16:14 And we go there and we, as many big groups as can come, 16:18 we form up into teams and we help reopen those churches. 16:21 Sometimes we'll do some paintings, 16:22 sometimes we'll do some medical clinics, 16:25 depending on who's there and what kind of local- 16:27 - Right. And sometimes VBS. 16:30 - VBS, that's a big deal. 16:31 The kids love the VBSs. 16:32 - Yeah, so if there's enough on the team 16:34 and enough children at one of the churches, 16:36 we'll try to do a VBS there also. 16:38 So what time of year would that be? 16:40 What month of the year? 16:41 - Well, we're looking at usually going in January, February. 16:44 - Okay. 16:45 - Sometimes into March. 16:46 But you know, the wintertime for us, 16:47 that's the cool season for them. 16:49 - Okay. 16:50 - However, their cool season 16:51 is still like a mild summer for us. 16:54 - Yeah. 16:54 - So it's very pleasant, 16:55 but definitely on the warm side. 16:57 - Yeah. 85, 90, somewhere in there usually. 17:00 - Right, yeah, and so we have a lot more churches to reopen 17:04 and a lot more opportunity for people to come 17:06 and see, get a taste of what it's really like 17:10 on the front lines. 17:11 - Yeah. 17:12 - And we usually design these trips 17:13 to be two-week trips. 17:14 So if you have a job, you can, 17:16 most people can easily take two weeks off, 17:19 go over to the other side of the world, open some churches, 17:22 meet some people, bless some people, 17:24 come back with a experience of a lifetime. 17:27 - Right. 17:28 Right, well, speaking of experience, 17:30 we have a testimony of one 17:31 of the people who went on this trip. 17:33 - [Jon] Okay. 17:34 - So as I came here for my first mission, 17:38 I'm asking God, "Okay, God, what do you want me to do? 17:41 Where do you want me to go?" 17:43 I had a friend who sent me a book 17:49 written by Tim Maddocks, 17:52 and I was reading the book on my travels here. 17:56 And by the time I finished the book, 17:58 I was just crying and crying and crying. 18:02 And I said, "Okay, God, I understand. 18:04 Well, where do I go?" 18:05 (gentle music) 18:09 I became a massage therapist here. (laughs) 18:14 I was giving, massages at the health camp, 18:17 and it was the most amazing experience 18:20 that I could ever have. 18:21 And I was part of the presentations in the churches, 18:28 me and Elder Douglas and Sister Lenny. 18:36 I don't know how (sighs) 18:41 people can be captive so much, 18:45 and it makes me hate Satan a lot. 18:50 A lot, because we were not made to go 18:54 through this level of suffering. 18:56 God created us and He said that it was good. 19:00 So a prayer walk really 19:05 made me mourn, 19:07 mourn a lot for the people of India 19:10 to recognize how the dissection has been 19:14 so effective in them, 19:18 to look at the darkness that's around them 19:24 and the lack of knowledge that they have faith, 19:29 but they don't have faith 19:30 in the true God that can save them. 19:33 So the more I pray, the more I ask, 19:36 "Lord, You have Your remnant here, 19:42 and I know that You are able to save as many 19:45 as want to be saved." 19:47 And I believe that. 19:49 I believe God is able to save as many 19:51 as who want to be saved. 19:52 It is going to be hard work, 19:56 because culture and the things that, the practices, 20:02 are really hard to break free. 20:05 But God is able. 20:07 God is able to do mighty things. 20:09 (gentle music) 20:16 I live in a level of comfort that now bothers me, 20:21 seeing the amount of need that is here. 20:24 So I am returning, moving forward, 20:28 with the thought and the desire to change my life completely 20:33 and dedicate my life for the rest of the years 20:35 that God wants to give me for missions. 20:39 (gentle music) 20:52 Now being here, seeing the need, there is no way 20:56 that I can return to my regular life. 21:00 My life is too comfortable, and Jesus is coming soon. 21:06 They are so many souls that need the gospel. 21:10 And I am no longer in the desire 21:15 to just stay at home and maybe say, 21:17 "Okay, maybe I can give this amount, 21:19 or maybe I can help this way." 21:21 I wanna be part of the work, 21:23 and it will be more fulfilling for me 21:26 and my personal relationship with God to be here with those 21:31 that are also working so hard to bring souls to the gospel. 21:40 - And so she has decided to become a full-time missionary. 21:43 - Yeah, now the book she talked about 21:45 is "When Sacrifice is Gain" by Tim Maddocks, 21:48 who is a missionary in Cambodia. 21:50 And so we're so thankful for God inspiring Tim 21:53 to write that book. 21:54 - [Jon] Yes. 21:56 - And using it to connect Ruthie with his work. 21:58 - Yes. Can people get ahold of that book? 21:59 - Yes. It is available now at every major book distributor. 22:03 So you can get it online at Amazon or Barnes and Noble, 22:06 you know, whatever your local bookstore might be. 22:10 They might have it in stock, or they can help you order it. 22:13 - Cool. 22:14 - All right. 22:16 Well, we have one more video, and that is of another church 22:19 that needs to be reopened. 22:22 (gentle music) 22:34 - So we're standing in front of a church right here 22:36 that was built, but they weren't able to complete it 22:39 because a local extremist group came and put a stop to it. 22:44 And that was 13 years ago. Now we're trying to reopen it. 22:49 So now we're inside the church. 22:50 And this church just a few weeks ago 22:52 was not painted like this. 22:56 And there was big holes in the wall back there. 22:59 And they didn't, they thought 23:00 that they could reopen this church and have no problem. 23:03 So this was gonna be one of the seven churches 23:05 that we have recently reopened. 23:07 But the property that was access 23:11 to this church has been built over. 23:14 And so now we're looking at having to put a road in 23:17 and a bridge over a big drainage ditch here 23:21 in order to get access 23:22 just so that we can get to the church. 23:24 And so we've got this church. 23:27 We've got this tool for God's kingdom 23:30 that's been sitting empty for 13 years. 23:32 And I just don't think, 23:43 I don't think that it's right. 23:44 (dog barking) I don't think it's right 23:44 to be sitting closed like that. 23:54 (both speaking foreign language) 23:55 (Jon laughs) 23:56 - How are you? 23:57 - How are you? (speaking foreign language) 23:59 - Praise the Lord. 24:00 And how did you become a Seventh Day Adventist? 24:03 - [Translator] I became an Adventist 24:04 after attending a series of meetings held in the area. 24:08 The pastor approached me 24:09 and asked if I knew of any land in this area 24:11 that they could buy to build a church on. 24:14 I owned this land and was in need of the money, 24:17 so I sold this land for them to build a church on. 24:20 - All right. So they came and built this. 24:23 And how do you feel about the fact that it's been empty? 24:27 - [Translator] There was a pastor assigned 24:28 to this church in the beginning, 24:30 but he was transferred to another place, 24:32 and since that time, the church has been unused and barren. 24:36 - Okay, all right. 24:37 Where were you going to church up until now? 24:40 - [Translator] Since this church was closed, 24:41 I've been going to the CSI church. 24:43 - Oh, okay. All right. 24:46 So are you wanting to have this church reopened? 24:50 I imagine you would love to see it. 24:53 - Yes. 24:55 (people chatting) 24:57 - The president's here for the local area of the church. 25:01 He doesn't know how much it's gonna cost 25:02 to put that road in, 25:04 but it's probably cheaper than building a new church, 25:08 buying the land and building the new church. 25:10 You can see the floor (laughs) leaves a lot to be desired, 25:16 so it really needs a little bit more work. 25:18 But still the structure itself is pretty solid. 25:21 I can almost guarantee that if this church was reopened, 25:25 there would be people coming 25:26 to this church, especially children. 25:36 The churches that we have reopened recently in this area, 25:40 as soon as we open them, there's people, there's kids, 25:43 there's grownups, there's people that come to the church. 25:45 They wanna learn about Jesus. 25:48 We had one lady, her name is Little Baby. 25:50 She was crying two nights ago. 25:53 She says, "I am so thankful that I got 25:56 to live long enough to hear this truth. 25:59 I am so thankful." 26:01 And she was crying, and it's like, you know, 26:03 how many other people are like that? 26:06 In this village, you know, 26:07 there may be one soul in this village 26:10 that would love to come to a church 26:12 and learn about Jesus if it was open. 26:14 (gentle music) 26:20 I'd like to invite you to please pray for this church. 26:23 There are people here that Jesus knows very well, 26:26 and I believe that he would love 26:28 to have this thing open again. 26:29 (gentle music) 26:41 It breaks your heart to see a church sitting there. 26:44 So many times we go to cities where there's no church, 26:48 and we're praying, "Lord, please put a church here 26:50 so people can get to know you." 26:51 And there's a village with a church. 26:54 - [Natalie] Yeah. 26:54 - And the church is closed. 26:56 - Yeah, I mean, you think about what the donors 26:58 for these churches and the people who came 27:00 to build those churches, what they went through 27:03 to get the funds together. 27:05 You know, many sacrificed, 27:07 I am sure, to build these churches in the first place. 27:10 And so to now be able to reopen them 27:12 and have them filled with people learning about Jesus 27:16 and hearing the gospel, many for the first time. 27:19 it's just, it's a huge, huge privilege to be a part of it. 27:24 I would like to invite you to pray for funds to reopen more 27:28 of these churches, to sponsor Bible workers 27:30 to keep them open, to put evening schools in these churches, 27:34 and also for people to go 27:36 and conduct these series, to bring the gospel, 27:40 to bring Jesus and hope to these communities. 27:44 If you would like to be involved, 27:46 please contact us at Jesus for Asia, 27:49 PO Box 1221, Collegedale, Tennessee, 37315. 27:54 Call us at 423-413-7321, 27:59 or visit our website at jesus4asia.org. 28:03 May God richly bless you, 28:04 until we see you next time on "Jesus for Asia Now." 28:07 (dramatic music) |
Revised 2025-06-24