Participants: Jeff Reich
Series Code: LM
Program Code: LM000146A
|
00:46 Old India, as it's often been called has a rich history
00:50 that dates back thousands of years. 00:52 Many Hindu temples, both ancient and new 00:55 are seen throughout the country. 00:58 Dynasties have come and gone over the centuries. 01:05 Nearly 80 percent of the people of India are Hindu. 01:20 Islam has a growing presence in India 01:23 with around 14.2 percent of the population being Muslim. 01:27 Islam first came to the western coast of India 01:30 with Arab traders as early as the 7th century AD. 01:34 And eventually spread from the north to the Malabar Coast 01:37 and then across India. 01:39 2.3 percent of India is Christian 01:42 having deep roots to early Christianity. 01:44 In the first century, 01:46 many Jews that had converted to Christianity 01:49 as well as other converts escaped the persecution of Rome 01:52 by following the trade routes all the way to India. 01:57 These were known as the Syrian Christians. 02:00 The Apostle Thomas landed on the coast of Kerala, 02:03 India in 52 AD. 02:06 His converts became knows as St. Thomas Christians. 02:09 Both groups followed the simple faith of the earlier apostles 02:12 and most kept the Seventh-day Sabbath. 02:15 The New World Encyclopedia states, 02:17 "Their tradition goes back 02:19 to the beginnings of first century Christian thought, 02:21 and the seven churches 02:23 that are believed to have been established 02:24 by Saint Thomas the Apostle. 02:27 The Nasrani preserved the original rituals 02:30 of the early Jewish Christians, 02:31 such as covering their heads while in workshop 02:34 and holding their ritual service on Saturdays 02:36 in the tradition of the Jewish Sabbath. 02:39 These early Christian Jews 02:40 believed in Jesus as the Christ, 02:42 but followed Jewish traditions and called themselves 02:45 Nazaraeans or Nazrani, 02:47 meaning Jews who followed the Nazarene Messiah." 02:53 On July 8, 1497, 02:55 Vasco de Gama a Portuguese explorer 02:58 was commissioned by King Manuel I 03:01 to lead a fleet of four ships 03:02 with the crew of 170 men from Lisbon, Portugal to India 03:07 on a conquest for Portugal and the Catholic Church. 03:10 The Hindus in Calicut 03:12 initially welcomed the arrival of de Gama and his sailors, 03:15 but tensions quickly flared up 03:17 after de Gama offered their ruler 03:19 a collection of relatively cheap goods as arrival gifts. 03:23 They also felt victims 03:25 to the wiles of wealthy Arabianmerchants 03:27 who influenced some of the local Muslims 03:29 to attack these Portuguese explorers. 03:32 De Gama returned to Portugal vowing revenge 03:35 and to return to save India from these pagans for the pope. 03:42 A few years later in February 1502 03:45 Vasco de Gama was in charge of another Indian expedition, 03:49 but this time with an armada. 03:51 On his ships, he took with him 03:53 military troops and Roman Catholic priests 03:56 who would serve his spiritual and tactical advisors. 04:00 As the armada approached the shores of India, 04:03 it encountered a ship heavily laden 04:05 with Muslim pilgrims returning from Mecca. 04:09 De Gama ordered an attack 04:11 and watched while these ships went up in flames, 04:14 thus he announced his return to India. 04:22 As de Gama and his accompanying priests made themselves known 04:26 among the inhabitants along the Malabar Coast of India, 04:29 they were very surprised to encounter Christians 04:31 living in this heathen land among the Hindus and Muslims. 04:35 One must remember that Thomas and Syrian Christians 04:38 looked to the Syrian Bible as their guide of faith. 04:42 So when they first met these Portuguese Catholics, 04:45 they were a bit surprised as was recorded 04:47 by the well-known historian Charles Givens. 04:53 "The title of Mother of God was offensive to their ear, 04:57 and they measured with scrupulous avarice 04:59 the honors of the Virgin Mary, 05:00 whom the superstition of the Latins 05:02 had almost exalted to the rank of a goddess. 05:05 When her image was first presented 05:06 to the disciples of St. Thomas, 05:08 they indignantly exclaimed, 05:10 "We are Christians, not idolaters!" 05:17 This is the famous St. Thomas Mount. 05:20 They say that. 05:21 St. Thomas was murdered here or martyred here 05:24 in 72 AD by Hindu fundamentalists. 05:26 It's really hard to know what to believe 05:28 when it comes to the stories about Thomas, 05:32 St. Thomas of the Apostle Thomas 05:34 because revisionist have rewritten history so much, 05:37 so I'd like to show you just a few examples 05:40 of what I'm talking about. 05:54 First of all I can guarantee 05:56 that the Apostle Thomas never came from Rome, 05:58 he most likely came from Antioch in Syria to India 06:01 when he came here to evangelize and share the gospel. 06:04 And secondly, I'm positive that 06:07 the Apostle Luke never painted this picture in 50 AD 06:10 because the adoration of the worship of Mary 06:14 never was really became dogma in the Catholic church 06:16 till 1854 under Pope Pius IX. 06:19 So this would have been a foreign concept 06:21 to the early apostles and any other followers. 06:24 And the whole idea of relics and hold sacred bones 06:31 and different things like that 06:32 are all part of the revisionist theology of Catholicism 06:35 to try to help people or to make people think 06:38 that all of these saints were somehow connected 06:40 to the Catholic church, were all part of the interest 06:44 of the church of Rome 06:46 in propagating its authority and power 06:48 as being the only and one true church. 06:52 The historian Claudius Buchanan 06:54 tells about the contact of the Portuguese Catholic priests 06:58 with these native Thomas and Syrian Christians of India. 07:03 "These Churches,' said the Portuguese, 07:05 'belong to the pope.' 07:07 'Who is the Pope?' said the natives, 07:08 'We never heard of him...' 07:10 'We, ' they said, 'are of the true faith, 07:12 whatever you of the West may be, 07:14 for we came from the place where the followers of Christ 07:17 were first called Christians, meaning Antioch." 07:22 Because these natives would not bow 07:24 to the supremacy of the pope 07:25 and the dominance of the Catholic Church, 07:27 they soon found themselves 07:29 in the midst of the Portuguese inquisition. 07:32 They were told to convert or die. 07:35 Soon, the simple church 07:37 of the Thomas and Syrian Christians 07:39 was dominated by the Catholics. 07:41 It was not till the middle of the 17th century 07:44 that there was an uprising against the Jesuit priests 07:47 for their oppression of the Syrian 07:48 and Thomas Christian churches. 07:51 A significant turn of events took place in Mattancherry 07:54 near Cochin on the Malabar Coast 07:56 when the Thomas and Syrian Christians 07:58 tied themselves to the large cross 08:01 and swear on oath to separate themselves 08:03 from the Catholic Church. 08:05 Unfortunately, the damage was done 08:07 through reeducation and cohesion. 08:10 Their theology and worship styles 08:12 were adopted from Catholicism 08:14 which is still seen today throughout their churches. 08:17 They forsook the Seventh-day Sabbath of their ancestors 08:20 and other biblical teaching of the primitive church. 08:23 Today, the most famous places in India 08:26 have been historically revised to make it appear 08:28 that they are part of Catholic history. 08:32 Adventists first entered North India in the 1890s. 08:36 L. J Burgess and his wife Georgia 08:38 started an outreach for women. 08:42 This picture from 1898 shows 08:44 some of the first Adventist pioneers to India. 08:48 At first the work was slow 08:50 in a country dominated by Hindus and Muslims. 08:53 In 1897, D. A Robinson 08:55 started the first Adventist school for girls. 08:58 He went on to become 08:59 the director of the Indian Mission. 09:01 Unfortunately, he succumbed to smallpox 09:03 and passed away in the year 1900. 09:10 The leadership in India fell on the young W. A Spicer 09:14 who became the head of the Indian Mission 09:16 and the editor of the Oriental Watchman, 09:18 the first Adventist paper published in India. 09:21 At the 1901 General Conference session, 09:24 he was elected to the position of secretary 09:26 for the foreign mission board in America. 09:29 Spicer Adventist University in Pune, India 09:32 still bears his name today. 09:35 The fist Adventist church in Southern India 09:37 is located in Prakasapuram. 09:40 We took a road from Chennai to visit this area 09:43 and to see some new developments 09:44 for Laymen Ministries in this historic region. 09:53 Early in the morning we made our way 09:55 along a new toll highway. 09:56 Finally, India has some decent highways. 10:14 Along the way, we stopped to see 10:15 the famous Ranganathaswamy Temple complex 10:17 located on the Island of Srirangam 10:20 which is positioned in the middle of two rivers. 10:24 This is considered to be 10:25 the largest functioning Hindu temple in the world 10:28 as it covers an area of about 6 million 790,000 square feet. 10:34 People come here by the thousands 10:36 to pay homage to the idol of the God Vishnu 10:39 that sit in the middle of this stone temple. 11:07 Also in this area of Tamil Nadu, 11:09 there are the ruins of the palace and temple 11:11 of the Chola dynasty, 11:13 which is one of the longest ruling dynasties 11:16 in the history of Southern India. 11:19 At one time it controlled the whole southern tip of India 11:22 and its influence was reached as far away as Malaysia. 11:28 These ruins date back to the 11th and 12th centuries 11:32 being built by the famous Rajaraja Chola. 11:41 We drew another six hours to get Parankuntrapuram 11:43 which is near the tip of South India. 11:46 It was here that the very first Adventist church 11:48 was built in Southern India. 11:53 We met with Pastor Jones now retired, 11:56 but used to be the pastor of this historic church. 11:59 He had studied the history of this Adventist church, 12:01 so we asked him to share about 12:03 how Adventists first came to South India. 12:44 This is the first Seventh-day Adventist church 12:47 in South India Union. 12:49 In the year 1907, 12:52 Elder James, Elder Shaw and Elder Enoch 12:56 came to Prakasapuram 12:58 and stayed here for about a month. 13:00 Then they all went back. 13:01 Then in 1908, 13:04 Elder James along with his wife and children 13:07 came and settled here, started his work. 13:12 First work they started was among the sick people. 13:15 It's a kind of medical missionary. 13:19 Then, they had also been giving Bible studies to the people. 13:25 The first baptism took place in the year 1910. 13:31 The first baptism consisted of about 25 people. 13:37 That's how the first church in South India Union 13:41 started here in Prakasapuram. 13:44 Just down the street from the Adventist church 13:46 is the Indian church of only Savior 13:49 which also keeps the Seventh-day Sabbath. 13:52 It's interesting to know that back in 1854 13:55 the founder of this church discovered the Sabbath truth 13:58 from a study of the Bible. 14:00 It was estimated that in the year 1900 14:03 around 500 to 1000 Tamil Sabbath keepers 14:07 were in this area of India. 14:09 It was in search of these Sabbath keepers 14:11 that drew early Adventist missionaries 14:13 Elder Juts and James 14:14 accompanied by two of his friends to this area. 14:19 A more recent historical development 14:21 was a donation of this buildings and land 14:23 to Laymen Ministries. 14:25 In front is an active church 14:27 and the back is a completely functioning community center 14:30 to which we're going to add an orphanage. 14:34 Laymen Ministries has been talking about 14:36 starting an orphanage in India for years. 14:38 There's a real need for that here. 14:40 And after the success that we had in the country of Lithuania 14:43 with helping the government orphanages there, 14:45 we thought the timing is right 14:47 and just recently this facility here 14:49 became available for Laymen Ministries 14:51 to start a really nice orphanage out in the country. 14:54 And so, we're hoping next year, this time, 14:56 when we do a report about our project here in India, 14:59 that we'll be able to bring you here 15:00 and show you the young children 15:02 that will be benefited by being involved with an orphanage 15:04 ran by Laymen Ministries. 15:08 I'm Moses Daniel, I'm a layman, I'm taking care of this church. 15:14 We have five families coming to this church 15:17 and this is very nice to have a community center here. 15:20 We have lot of Hindus and lot of Roman Catholics 15:25 and this church serves them by giving them the real truth. 15:30 This is the building 15:31 which is meant for our community services. 15:34 And we do some technical, 15:38 we give some technical practices, 15:41 trainings like computer services, computer, 15:45 basic computer learning, computer skills 15:47 and spoken English, soft skills like spoken English 15:52 and this is the computer center actually. 16:00 Okay, we have seven computers. 16:03 So far, we have finished three batches of students. 16:08 Our students are from this local area 16:11 and they come here 16:13 and they not only get the education, 16:15 but we also give them our books, our literature, 16:19 our gospel books and we give them, 16:22 we tell Jesus loved them 16:25 and they get not only the training, 16:28 they are trained to heaven. 16:32 The room attached to this is that 16:35 community center which we give sewing training. 16:40 This we especially give training for ladies. 16:44 We bring the unemployed ladies 16:48 and we give them sewing training. 16:51 We have finished three batches and lot of ladies 16:55 from this area both married and unmarried, 16:58 they come and get the training and they're employed, 17:02 they get skills in sewing. 17:07 And they get some money. 17:10 And we want orphanages, 17:13 orphanage to be started with this building which is enough. 17:18 We have enough of bathrooms 17:21 and we have enough of sanitary facilities. 17:24 And to begin with, 17:26 we can use this building for the boys' dorm. 17:29 I myself have studied in orphanage 17:32 for about 15 years. 17:36 And after that, after having my education through an orphanage, 17:41 through the help of an orphanage, 17:43 I have run an orphanage for 12 years. 17:47 We have produced lot of students for this country. 17:52 They're working in various capacities. 17:54 And they still have connection with me. 17:57 And I love them and they love me still. 18:00 Okay, we have to see the kitchen. 18:04 We have already built a kitchen, 18:06 keeping in mind to have 18:08 children or men for the training. 18:16 So this is the kitchen. 18:19 We have all facilities like water, 18:22 water connection and drainage system, 18:25 everything is okay. 18:28 The whole land and the whole building 18:30 has been made only for Laymen Ministries. 18:35 This building and the land is, 18:37 can be used for the Laymen Ministry. 18:41 Laymen Ministries sponsors 24 Bible workers 18:44 along with three team leaders. 18:46 These faithful Bible workers go door-to-door 18:49 working areas of the city giving Bible studies. 18:52 They have a systematic way of working. 18:54 As they approach the door, 18:56 they mention our television programs 18:58 as many of the people are familiar with them. 19:00 This often opens the door. 19:03 Then they share books and literature 19:05 which we print as well. 19:06 Eventually they establish group Bible studies 19:09 which leads to evangelistic series, 19:11 followed by baptisms 19:13 and the establishment of a small church. 19:21 I'd like to show you some examples 19:23 of our new church plans. 19:28 Right now we're heading over to a church 19:29 that's called Nimilitary. 19:31 It's a church that has been established 19:32 by Laymen Ministries Bible workers. 19:34 And, Pastor, did you say that 19:36 local people help get the money together 19:38 to help buy that church, 19:40 to build the church or is that rented place? 19:42 It's a rented place. Rented place. 19:44 It's a rented place. 19:45 Yeah, so that's where we're headed now, 19:46 we're all packed in this car in a lot of traffic right now. 20:11 We first made a quick stop to see 20:12 one of our new church plants 20:14 that's on the roof of a house. 20:16 These church plants eventually end up 20:18 having their own church buildings 20:20 as the congregation grows. 20:55 Pastor Johnson wanted to show us one of the churches where 20:58 the Bible workers did the groundwork 21:00 and now they're running a building here. 21:02 How long ago did they establish this church here? 21:04 Seven months back. 21:06 Okay. This is real recently. 21:07 Yes. 21:09 And they're meeting at someone's home or is it rented? 21:11 It's a rented place. 21:50 Here is still another church plant 21:51 in another rented building. 21:54 One of our Bible workers 21:56 shares a testimony with the believers here. 22:19 On this trip to India, 22:20 I'm trying to get a little bit of an idea 22:22 of what we're doing with the Bible workers. 22:24 Bible workers go into an area, 22:25 sometimes work it for five or six months, 22:28 develop a core of people 22:29 who are interested in studying the Bible 22:30 and then we establish a church. 22:32 This morning we saw one church that was established 22:35 that was meeting actually in a house, 22:37 they're actually renting the house. 22:39 And then, there is different developments 22:41 that are taking place with the different church groups. 22:43 Some of them are well established churches 22:46 where we bought property, build the church. 22:48 Sometimes we do this in connection 22:49 with the local union or the conference here. 22:52 Sometimes with other organizations 22:54 that help with the church building process, 22:56 but nevertheless over the years of being here for 21 years now, 23:00 we've established a lot of churches in the Chennai area. 23:06 When we were here on this trip, 23:08 we found out that there was going to be 11 people baptized, 23:12 again as the result of our Bible workers. 23:15 We never rush people into this decision 23:18 as we want to see true conversions. 23:21 The Bible workers have built 23:22 close relationships with these people 23:24 over the last several months. 23:26 Each has a story to tell. 23:29 Since working in India since 1993, 23:33 by God's grace we have seen thousands of baptisms. 23:42 Twenty one years of journey Laymen Ministry in India. 23:49 I couldn't believe that. 23:51 We just seems to be met but 21 years passed. 23:56 And we met in the city of Porur in Chennai, India. 24:02 We were holding evangelistic meeting. 24:04 Gary Gibbs and you came and to video record that one. 24:10 Then after that I couldn't see you. 24:13 '99 Doug Batchelor came, 24:17 hold a big evangelistic meeting 24:19 and I was the coordinator, one of the coordinator 24:23 and handling all the finance section of that. 24:28 By God's grace when I saw that Doug Batchelor meeting 24:32 and I heard about he was doing TV, 24:34 radio and all of publishing, all of that. 24:38 Then I told in our church 24:40 that we need a TV program in our church. 24:42 Then next year, in 2000 Elder Mark Finley came 24:47 and we hired a big hall, 24:48 Kamaraj Hall in the city of Chennai. 24:51 It too, it is a big hall. 24:54 Then I thought that we need a TV program in India. 24:59 As my church and myself, we're all praying that 25:04 by God's grace that I was able to meet you. 25:08 First we met in Pastor Shadrach home, 25:11 then we met in one of our lay member house. 25:15 And we were talking about how to start a TV program. 25:18 Laymen Ministry is a pioneering for TV evangelism in India 25:24 and Bible worker, then publishing, 25:29 we did a role model. 25:31 Still there are number of ministries 25:34 following other method, 25:36 it is because we have a system to follow in India. 25:43 Laymen Ministries owns and operates 25:45 a television studio in India 25:48 where we produce our own television programs 25:50 that are aired on a number of 25:51 different cable and international networks. 25:54 The upper floor of our studio was for book storage 25:57 and is used for community outreach. 25:59 We have a church behind our studio 26:01 that is used as a training center for laymen 26:04 and has services every Sabbath. 26:08 Our editors work at producing a variety of TV programs. 26:12 We have people come into our studio 26:14 to record sermon presentations 26:15 and sometimes even special musical pieces. 26:19 We produce programs in Telugu, Tamil and English languages. 26:24 Christo Samuel directs our studio operations. 26:28 Here are just a couple of samples 26:30 of some of our programs. 26:37 1 John 3:1, 26:39 "Behold, what manner of love 26:41 the Father hath bestowed upon us, 26:43 that we should be called the sons of God: 26:46 therefore the world knoweth us not, 26:48 because it knew him not." 26:50 May we realize the importance of the love God has given us 26:53 and cherish every moment of it. 27:09 Laymen Ministries started working in India in 1993. 27:14 God has blessed in so many ways. 27:16 Now after 23 years of work, 27:18 the historical legacy continues to be established. 27:21 Over the years we have printed thousands of books, 27:24 tracks and Bible studies. 27:25 TV programs go around the world. 27:28 Bible workers touch people's lives in a very personal way, 27:32 thousands have been baptized. 27:35 And if it were not for people like you 27:36 who support projects like this, 27:38 these blessings would not have happened. 27:41 Next, we plan to reprint books like 27:43 the Great Controversy and the Desire of Ages. 27:46 We'll be adding more networks to air our television programs 27:49 as well as getting our orphanage up and operating. 27:52 Thank you for your support. |
Revised 2016-05-02