Participants: Narrator: Chet Damron/Bill La Bore
Series Code: OTG
Program Code: OTG000036A
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00:01 Adventist World Aviation has a mission outpost
00:03 in Guyana, South America, 00:04 servicing 00:06 the northwestern part of the country 00:07 with aviation services, such as medevacs, 00:11 delivering supplies, and spreading the gospel. 00:15 This mission outpost has been in existence 00:17 for well over 10 years now and just thriving. 00:20 They use airplanes as a vital tool 00:23 to serve the local Guyanese people 00:25 and share the love of Jesus with them. 00:29 There is such a great need for emergency flights 00:31 from deep in the jungle 00:33 that they need two aircrafts to keep up 00:35 with the flight request demands. 01:34 Friendship evangelism is the key for missionaries 01:37 who work in remote corners of the world. 01:40 Initially native people can be very skeptical, 01:44 so it takes time. 01:46 But once missionaries befriend them, 01:49 the doors are often opened wide 01:51 to share the good news of the gospel. 01:55 Jesus said that the harvest is ripe, 01:56 but the workers are few 01:58 and we experienced that here unfortunately. 02:01 The original plan of AWA in our role of the organization 02:04 was we're to come down 02:06 and set up an aviation operation, 02:07 and we were to provide the backbone for ministry. 02:11 An airplane would take people out, 02:13 volunteers from the States 02:14 or anybody that wanted to come and do ministry, 02:16 and we provide the vehicle to get them into those areas. 02:19 But after we moved to Mabaruma and we were here for a while, 02:22 we realized 02:23 that a lot of those volunteers weren't coming. 02:25 We weren't able to get people 02:26 that were willing to come and live among the people here 02:28 and teach them. 02:30 And so, after a period of time, 02:32 we began to realize that 02:33 and decided we have to start doing it ourselves 02:35 and doing what we can to reach people. 02:37 And so we began our own individual ministries. 02:40 Well, I've always said that you can fly all day, 02:43 but if you don't win anybody to Christ, 02:45 what are we doing here? 02:46 And in the beginning, 02:48 we are set up to be the helpers 02:51 or the providers for missionaries 02:53 that were here working. 02:54 We don't have anybody here that's here 02:56 just working as a missionary. 02:58 And so we found ourselves doing double duty. 03:01 We see such a need everywhere we look, 03:03 there's, it's almost overwhelming 03:05 with all the needs and all the opportunities, 03:08 things are just ripe here. 03:11 People coming to us 03:12 and just begging for us to come out 03:14 and do Bible studies with them. 03:15 Different areas have asked us 03:17 to come and do Bible studies with them 03:18 or start churches in their areas. 03:20 We just do not have enough time to do it all. 03:23 And we would love to have more people come. 03:25 You don't have to be a pilot to be with AWA. 03:28 We need volunteers that will come 03:30 and commit themselves for a long term like, 03:32 say, three to five years even 03:35 because it's all about developing relationships 03:38 with the people here. 03:39 And there's just, 03:41 it breaks our hearts to see 03:42 how many people really do want to know more. 03:46 And we just don't have the time to do it. 03:49 Having the airplane here has really opened the doors 03:51 and to the hearts and the minds of the people. 03:54 There's been times when I've flown people in 03:57 and they become more interested on to what we know. 04:01 And they've come to us 04:02 because of a direct response to a flight that we've done. 04:07 And just being here in the community 04:09 and people after a while knowing 04:10 that we are here 04:11 'cause we really do care about them 04:13 and we really do want to help and so because of that, 04:16 then the doors for evangelism have really opened. 04:19 Here in Guyana, 04:20 the same is true 04:22 for the Adventist World Aviation missionaries. 04:26 They've chosen to live among the Amerindian people 04:29 of Northwest Guyana 04:31 and serve them by providing life-saving aviation services. 04:36 But aviation is only a part of the work being done here. 04:40 Evangelism with local villagers comes naturally 04:43 once they see 04:44 how much the AWA missionaries love them. 04:48 Developing friendship with locals 04:50 has a transforming power in a village. 04:54 For example, here in Mabaruma, 04:57 a few of the natives have dedicated their lives 05:01 to ministry, 05:02 and now work alongside the AWA missionaries 05:05 to reach their fellow villagers. 05:08 We realize that the most effective way 05:12 to spread the gospel in the area 05:14 is to train natives. 05:16 They don't have a language barrier. 05:18 Even though they speak English, 05:20 there's words that mean slightly different things 05:23 that it can affect the way that the gospel's understood. 05:27 So what we decided we wanted to do 05:29 is find people who were truly interested 05:33 in doing God's will and getting to know God better, 05:35 helping them do that. 05:37 And then immediately as they're learning, 05:39 have them share it 05:41 with their friends or family or whatever. 05:44 And what we've been able to do 05:47 is we've got a handful of people. 05:50 Three right now actually, 05:53 that we've really focused a lot of time on 05:57 and they really get it. 05:59 I would say the ultimate goal as a missionary 06:02 is not to think that you're going to be here 06:05 for the rest of your life and be doing this work. 06:07 I mean, that's not what we're here to do. 06:09 We are here to teach, 06:12 and to train people locally, 06:17 who lived here their whole lives 06:18 to be able to begin to work and share this message. 06:24 The Adventist message is unlike any other message in the world. 06:27 It is the last message for a world 06:29 that is about to perish, 06:31 and the last call of mercy. 06:33 And the work that we're doing right now 06:37 among the people here 06:38 is we're trying to raise up leaders. 06:40 We probably have now 06:41 I'd say at least five or six of them, 06:44 that are being gradually trained 06:45 in the doctrines of this church and are understanding it. 06:49 And we're working with them to be able to teach it. 06:53 One of the individuals 06:54 that has taken a special interest 06:55 in spreading the gospel is, Rupert. 06:59 The VanFossens, 07:00 AWA missionaries here 07:02 have been mentoring and teaching Rupert, 07:04 grooming him for ongoing work 07:07 here in Guyana among his people. 07:09 I am Rupert John. 07:13 And I live right here at Mabaruma. 07:16 Yes, on Thomas Hill. 07:18 Well the first church I really am. 07:21 I was baptized in the Assembly of God. 07:23 So I went there, 07:24 I was a drunkard really, you know. 07:27 And they invited me, and I went 07:30 and he was preaching on drunkenness. 07:33 And that touched me. 07:34 That message touched me, 07:35 and I give my heart to the Lord. 07:39 So there I started. 07:41 And after a year, they put me, 07:45 you know, they put me to pastor church 07:47 and they... 07:49 We started studying the Bible a little too. 07:53 So when I was pastoring there, I met Brother Greg. 07:55 Brother Greg one Sabbath day, 07:58 I was sitting over there and he come and talk to me. 08:02 So we started having conversation. 08:05 So we started getting close. 08:06 And after a while 08:08 he started inviting me to Bible study, 08:09 right up there by the house there. 08:11 And umm, I said, "Okay, I will come." 08:15 While I was doing the children's program, 08:17 Greg would hang out and he'd visit with the people 08:19 that live really close to the church. 08:21 And one day there was an older man, 08:24 we found out that he was the father 08:26 of some of the people that were attending. 08:28 And Greg was just visiting with him and saying, 08:30 "Oh, we do a Bible study on Thursday, if you'd like to, 08:33 you can stop by." 08:34 And he said he would, but everybody says they would. 08:38 So we didn't really think anything about it. 08:40 But Thursday, he showed up, 08:41 he comes walking across the field 08:43 and everybody in the Bible study 08:46 got really quiet when they saw him come. 08:50 And we almost got the feeling 08:51 like they were expecting some kind of conflict to occur. 08:55 And we had been studying for, 08:58 I don't know, maybe six months 09:00 with this group of people already. 09:02 So we had covered a lot of different things. 09:04 And the way we were leading the Bible study was, 09:07 what would you like to study next week? 09:09 What is your question? 09:10 Well, the question that we were answering 09:12 that week was, is hellfire burning now. 09:14 So we sit down and we had these handouts 09:18 where we have all the Bible texts, 09:20 and we have them summarized. 09:21 That's all that it is, 09:23 is the Bible text with the summary. 09:25 And, so Greg started the Bible study 09:27 after he welcomed Rupert and he said, 09:30 "So, is hellfire burning now?" 09:31 And Rupert's like, "Of course it is." 09:33 And Greg's like, "Well, you might change your mind 09:36 after we read our Bibles 09:39 but, you know, if you choose to believe something else, 09:43 after we've read our Bibles, you know, I'm not, 09:45 we can still be friends." 09:47 And so, Rupert instead of being bristly, 09:49 he kind of relaxed, 09:50 but he was kind of left a little agitated 09:54 and he made the statement, 09:56 "Well, if that's what the Bible says, 09:57 and that's what we have to believe." 09:59 So he has been working as a pastor through 10:04 or I should say 10:06 in a couple of different denominations. 10:09 And he repeatedly had told us 10:13 that he really appreciated the way we studied the Bible. 10:16 And initially, 10:17 there was some agitation 10:18 we observed but realized he couldn't be angry at us. 10:21 He was reading the Bible. 10:24 So he was angry at somebody, 10:26 it had to be a god 10:27 or somebody that had taught him before. 10:31 Well, it was really good to me 10:33 because you know, 10:35 even though I had been pastoring 10:36 different churches, 10:37 you know, I never go so far. 10:40 They never teach us you know, 10:42 what the Adventist really teach, 10:45 you know, so far, you know. 10:49 So my eyes opened to this, to the gospel, and ah, 10:54 you know more and I feel good. 10:57 You know something really encouraged me a lot. 11:00 The next week he came back. 11:03 And we had kind of the same thing 11:05 where he was a little uncomfortable 11:06 at the end. 11:08 And so Greg and I talked about, we thought, you know, 11:10 maybe we should give him the Bible study a week 11:13 ahead of time, because he's a pastor. 11:17 And he's got all these ideas already of what the Bible says, 11:21 maybe if we give him a chance 11:23 to look over the study ahead of time, 11:24 he'll be more comfortable with it, 11:26 or he can come with his questions. 11:28 So that's what we did. 11:30 And we found that when he came, he was like, 11:33 asking the questions that he knew should be asked 11:37 in order to prove the point. 11:40 So he was actually helping teach the Bible studies. 11:44 He has a true hunger and thirst 11:47 for doing what God wants him to do. 11:49 You know the study really touched my heart, 11:52 and umm... 11:53 I'd like to be... 11:55 get more experience you know, 11:57 and I decided to be Adventist. 12:00 After attending Bible studies with the VanFossens 12:04 and wrestling with God over the truths 12:07 he was learning, 12:08 Rupert accepted Christ as his Savior. 12:11 And he became a Seventh-day Adventist. 12:15 I changed because I see the truth, 12:18 and I want to live according to the Word of God. 12:21 Well, when my eyes opened, when I say that you know, 12:25 I mean that I get something more, 12:27 deeper 12:28 than what I used to be studying. 12:30 After Rupert's conversion, 12:32 his former church congregation was not happy with him. 12:36 They couldn't understand 12:37 why he had chosen to leave them. 12:40 Oh, they are not feeling good. 12:41 Right now they are angry. 12:44 They are angry at me now 12:46 because they said that I leave them, you know. 12:50 Rupert did what he believes to be right 12:52 that which is in harmony with the Bible. 12:55 He stays true to the message that's been revealed to him. 13:00 Rupert now is a very active member 13:02 in the local Adventist Church. 13:04 He also has dedicated himself to giving Bible studies 13:07 to other interested friends in his community. 13:11 Rupert cannot keep his newfound faith a secret 13:15 and shares it with anyone he comes in contact with. 13:19 Rupert's life was transformed, 13:22 it all began with the offer of a simple friendship. 13:25 He has, before he was an Adventist, 13:28 he went and did a lot of teaching 13:32 along the river 13:34 and he is wanting to go back along the river 13:36 and meet those people. 13:38 And he says he wants to help set them straight. 13:39 He wants to correct the errors that he taught them. 13:43 So we have a small boat in Georgetown 13:46 that someone donated and a small motor 13:48 and so we're working about bringing that in 13:50 and giving him the opportunity to do what he wants to do. 14:07 We have a youth Sabbath school down at the church we go to, 14:14 and I help with. 14:15 I am teaching the Sabbath School 14:18 down at our church. 14:20 Brandon and Serena work together 14:23 teaching a young adult Sabbath School 14:25 each week. 14:27 They don't have much available space 14:29 so they meet underneath the pastor's house. 14:32 The young adults all crowd together 14:35 and study biblical truths 14:37 in their makeshift Sabbath School room. 14:41 The bonds of Christian friendship 14:43 developed here 14:45 impact not only the attendees, 14:48 but also personally impact these young missionaries. 14:54 Although they're young, 14:55 Brandon and Serena are dedicated 14:57 to their work here. 14:59 Rain or shine, 15:01 they're happy to share the hope that the gospel can bring. 15:04 The Guyanese soak 15:06 in the good news of Jesus Christ. 15:09 Unfortunately, life for them here in Guyana 15:12 is not an easy one. 15:14 And this message of salvation 15:15 is a welcomed opportunity of hope. 15:18 We want to help people empower them 15:23 to share the gospel after we're gone. 15:26 And so we want to have the kind of impact 15:30 that will be lasting. 15:32 And what that means is we have to figure out 15:36 just exactly in this window of time 15:38 that we have here. 15:41 What are we going to try to teach them 15:44 and we don't want to just have proselytes, 15:49 we are interested in sharing 15:52 how to have a relationship with our Creator, 15:54 with Jesus Christ. 15:56 And what that means is showing them 16:01 and encouraging them to do what we're doing 16:04 so that what we're eventually doing 16:07 is what we intended to do 16:09 and that is support the missionaries that are here. 16:14 And we eventually slide out of picture, 16:16 but the work is continuing. 16:20 The beautiful thing about it 16:21 is they have a great passion for the work, 16:23 they want to reach their people. 16:26 And I love seeing that, 16:28 I love seeing the fire in their eyes 16:30 and the desire to go out 16:32 to anywhere God calls them to work. 16:35 It puts us all to shame honestly, 16:38 the way that they see things. 16:40 They don't see anything more important 16:41 than sharing the gospel and nothing gets in the way. 16:44 And, 16:46 so that's the ultimate goal of the project 16:48 is to raise up as many of those as we can possibly get going, 16:52 before we close up here sometime in the future, 16:55 although it won't be happening anytime soon. 16:57 But we pray that one day we planted 17:00 many, many seeds here that when we leave, 17:03 those seeds will continue to grow. 17:05 And more churches can be planted, 17:07 more companies can be started, 17:09 and more people will be in the kingdom 17:11 because of the work we've done here. 17:14 Anne is another story of a life transformed 17:16 all because someone wanted to help her 17:20 during a difficult time in her life. 17:23 A friendship was started 17:24 and now because of that friendship, 17:26 Anne is passionately involved in spreading the gospel 17:30 to her fellow Amerindian natives. 17:35 Anne has a really unique story. 17:37 It's really fun 17:38 because it shows how you never know 17:42 what one little thing you do has an impact, 17:45 years down the road. 17:47 Anne had a daughter several years ago 17:49 that contracted cancer. 17:52 I had a daughter that 14 years old. 17:54 She died. 17:56 And she used to attend, umm, Adventist Church. 18:02 And Anne would attend on occasion. 18:06 And they would give Anne books like Steps to Christ, 18:11 or some of the other Adventist literature, 18:14 and she would read it, 18:16 and she watched her daughter change 18:19 and become where Anne said is a true Christian. 18:22 And then 18:23 when her daughter got sick with cancer, 18:25 her daughter was treated at Davis Memorial Hospital, 18:28 which is our Adventist hospital there. 18:30 And the witness of the doctors 18:32 and the nurses there 18:34 reaffirmed some of the things 18:36 that she had been hearing 18:38 from the literature and attending church. 18:40 After her daughter died, she moved back to Mabaruma. 18:44 And she made the commitment in her head 18:46 that if she ever found an Adventist Church here 18:49 that she would attend. 18:52 Well, in the meantime, 18:54 she'd been reading Desire of Ages 18:56 and Steps to Christ and a few other books 19:00 that her daughter had left after she had died. 19:03 She had some books that she used to read 19:06 like Desire of Ages 19:08 and The Great Controversy, 19:13 and those books, and umm... 19:17 she left those books and Steps to Christ. 19:22 After she died, 19:23 I took the books and I started reading them. 19:26 Before she died, she said, "Mom, you know, umm... 19:29 it is good to be a Christian." 19:30 But when you read these books, you will know the truth. 19:34 And I started reading the books. 19:37 And she's like these books tell me 19:40 that believing in Christ changes you. 19:44 It's not the same person, as you believe in Christ, 19:47 you become a different person. 19:48 She says, "That's not what you see here. 19:50 People become Christian, 19:51 and they're the same old, wicked people 19:52 that they were before." 19:54 And she said it's one thing 19:55 that she really appreciated about the Adventist Church 19:59 was that they talked about a change. 20:02 God changes you. 20:03 He makes you into a true Christian. 20:07 So Greg and I started holding services 20:12 down at Thomas Hill. 20:14 And at first she didn't realize that we were Adventist. 20:16 But then when she realized that we were Adventist, 20:20 she made the commitment 20:21 that she was going to be attending church there. 20:24 From then we started attending their meetings 20:28 and I like the way with the services 20:32 and the lively teaching. 20:34 Most of all, I like the teaching 20:36 because it led me into the truth, 20:39 because before I used to attend Christian church, 20:42 other Christian churches. 20:43 But I never really looked in the Bible, 20:45 I just used to listen to the preaching and you know, 20:49 what the other preacher would say. 20:51 And I never really read the Bible much for myself. 20:55 When Brother Greg and Sister Greg 20:57 startled the meetings, 20:59 then, you know, I asked God to really lead me to the way, 21:03 if this is the real way. 21:05 And I was so happy that, you know, 21:06 I found 21:08 what my daughter found before... 21:14 I read the books 21:16 and then I noticed that the books were real truth. 21:21 And Sister and Brother started keeping services. 21:27 We'll say meetings, 21:29 we'd have Sabbath meetings 21:31 and we agreed at the church 21:33 that we would start doing Sabbath on Saturday 21:38 because we used to have our Sabbath on Sundays. 21:42 And that caused her to start 21:45 making some other adjustments in her life. 21:48 They had always kept Saturday, Sunday, 21:50 like we keep Sabbath. 21:52 They didn't do housework 21:53 and that kind of stuff on Sunday. 21:57 So she had to start changing that 21:59 and then she had to work with her employer 22:02 to start getting Sabbaths off. 22:04 And she took a lot of heat from that. 22:07 A lot of heat. 22:09 After I start looking in the Bible 22:12 and find the truth. 22:14 I realize that, Sabbath should be Saturdays. 22:18 So that is why I decided to continue 22:23 in the Adventist 22:24 because I now know that I am doing the right thing 22:28 in serving God on his Sabbath, keeping the day holy, 22:32 the day that He wanted us to keep holy. 22:35 She is very excited about growing 22:37 and teaching Bible studies. 22:39 She's got like three Bible studies 22:42 that she's doing right now. 22:45 Besides the ones that she's doing with me, 22:48 so that gives her at least five Bible studies 22:50 that she's doing. 22:52 And she says, 22:53 she wants to do more Bible studies. 22:55 She loves giving Bible studies. 22:58 Both Anne and Rupert are changed lives 23:02 resulting from friendship evangelism. 23:06 God used the AWA missionaries 23:09 to touch the lives of these local Guyanese 23:12 and through genuine Christian love 23:14 reaches their hearts. 23:17 By forming friendships with the people around them, 23:20 the missionaries are fulfilling God's Great Commission 23:23 to go and make disciples. 23:27 Both Anne and Rupert are now actively spreading 23:29 the gospel to their fellow countrymen. 23:32 The VanFossens are continuing to teach them 23:35 how to teach Bible and lead others to Christ. 23:41 The Adventist World Aviation missionaries 23:43 are showing the love of Jesus, all they come in contact with. 23:48 Developing friendships 23:50 is an important part of the work 23:52 Adventist World Aviation does here in Guyana. 23:55 Without a doubt, 23:57 the friendships developed here 23:59 deep in these Guyanese jungles will continue to grow. 24:04 Once we all get to heaven, what a day that will be. 24:09 As they start to understand 24:12 that the different church doctrines, 24:15 the different beliefs, 24:18 then they are actually really excited to share it 24:21 with other people. 24:23 So, what our goal has been 24:26 is to take them with us 24:28 when we go and do a Bible study, 24:30 we'll take another church member with us. 24:32 So they learn how to give Bible studies. 24:34 When we do Sabbath School discussions, 24:38 we will show them how to do it for several weeks 24:41 and then we will ask somebody else to lead out, 24:45 so that then they know 24:47 how to lead out in the discussion. 24:49 We give them the opportunity to speak and we help them, 24:53 we support them, and we encourage them. 24:55 A lot of times here in the Amerin... 24:57 among the Amerindians 24:59 they've been told that they're stupid. 25:01 When the white people come in, 25:02 they just want to do everything. 25:03 And so they will let white people do everything. 25:07 And so we want them to take the ownership. 25:10 And we have found that as they're taking ownership, 25:12 they really get excited about the ability to do that. 25:19 And they're going into other communities, 25:22 they're starting great Sabbath schools, 25:24 they're giving Bible studies 25:26 in places that we don't even know about. 25:28 They have connections with family. 25:32 It's just this network that we end up 25:36 being at the base and we give them the supplies, 25:38 we give them the moral support, 25:40 and then they go out and they'll say, 25:41 "Okay, I need stuff for four Bible studies." 25:43 So we give them the materials for four Bible studies. 25:45 But we don't go out and do the Bible studies, 25:48 they go out and do the Bible studies. 25:50 We go out there to give them moral support. 25:53 We're there to answer questions and stuff, 25:55 but we want to empower the natives to do that. 25:58 So when we leave, they're not left with, 26:01 "Oh, we don't know what to do, we can't function." 26:04 But they're like, "Oh, yeah, this is our church." 26:08 This is, they own it. 26:10 They know how to go out and do the ministry. 26:13 They've got some really big ideas. 26:15 I had no plans before coming down here 26:20 doing a church plant, but that's what's happened. 26:23 And it's the Holy Spirit that's doing it. 26:25 I'm just showing up and cooperating 26:28 and so on many different levels, 26:32 it's been an adventure. 26:34 You learn how to trust God 26:36 or I've learned how to trust God 26:37 in a different way than I had before 26:40 and have a little different understanding 26:42 of how He works. 26:55 We're at the point 26:57 where we can't handle anything more, 26:59 we can't do it any more than we've done. 27:01 The project is ripe. 27:02 I can honestly say 27:04 that in all the places I've been in the world, 27:07 I cannot see a more ripe harvest 27:10 than exists in Guyana. 27:11 I've never seen anything like it. 27:13 People come to us, 27:15 entire village is asking us to come 27:16 and give Bible studies there. 27:19 We can't physically do it. 27:21 We don't have the time to do it 27:22 because we're busy doing 27:24 all these other ministries and flying airplanes. 27:27 So if I seem a little animated 27:30 and maybe a little bit heated about it, 27:32 I am because I know there's many people out there 27:36 that feel a call to work for God and then... 27:39 But then there's always the enemy there that saying, 27:40 "Well, you can't go 27:42 because you have a house and you have, 27:43 you know, you have these responsibilities 27:45 and, you know, 27:46 you can't take your kids overseas, " 27:48 and these kinds of things. 27:49 And so they never come. 27:51 And they never fulfill, perhaps, 27:53 what God really has planned for them. 27:56 And I think we need to step out in faith, 27:58 because God is more than able to take care of us, 28:01 provide for us, keep us safe. 28:03 If we're stepping out on His errand, 28:05 He's going to provide the way for it to happen. 28:07 We need to trust more 28:09 and stop worrying about all those things 28:11 and let's get the work done 28:12 because Jesus is going to come. |
Revised 2020-07-23