Participants: Homer Trecartin
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000926
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01:01 I sing the mighty power of God.
01:03 I love this song. 01:04 We have lived beside the ocean, we have lived in the mountains. 01:09 I'm not sure which I love best. 01:11 But I can't wait to thank our Lord Jesus 01:14 for making it all. 01:15 Let's sing this together 01:17 and we'll stand on the last verse. 01:18 I sing the mighty power of God 01:22 That made the mountains rise 01:25 That spread the flowing seas abroad 01:28 And built the lofty skies 01:32 I sing the wisdom that ordained 01:35 The sun to rule the day 01:39 The moon shines full at His command 01:43 And all the stars obey 01:48 I sing the goodness of the Lord 01:52 That filled the earth with food 01:55 He formed the creatures with His Word 01:59 And then pronounced them good 02:02 Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed 02:06 Where'er I turn my eye 02:09 If I survey the ground I tread, 02:14 or gaze upon the sky 02:18 Let's stand on this last verse 02:21 There's not a plant or flower below 02:24 But makes Thy glories known 02:28 And clouds arise, and tempests blow 02:31 By order from Thy throne 02:35 Creatures that borrows life from Thee 02:39 Are subject to Thy care 02:42 There's not a place where we can flee 02:48 But God is present there 02:54 Thank you. You may be seated. 03:02 Good morning. 03:04 Let us stand for a word of prayer. 03:09 Our Heavenly Father, 03:11 we ask that You'd be with us today 03:12 as we hear the presentations that are gonna be made. 03:16 Open our hearts and minds and receptive to Your will. 03:19 Guide and direct us and bless us. 03:21 For we ask in Thy name, amen. 03:25 I have the privilege of introducing 03:26 two gentlemen this morning. 03:28 The first gentleman that will be speaking to us 03:30 is Homer Trecartin. 03:32 And he is the managing director and the in charge 03:37 of planting for our world church. 03:39 And he has a presentation this morning 03:41 that you will be extremely excited about 03:44 and it will be an inspiration to you. 03:47 And of course, our second speaker 03:49 is Pastor Mark Finley, 03:50 who needs no introduction, who is a friend to ASI. 03:54 As I worked with these gentlemen through the years, 03:57 the thing that has impressed me the most, 03:59 is their love for Jesus 04:01 and they are wanting to do everything they can 04:04 to see the Lord come very soon. 04:07 Thank you. 04:23 In 1926, in 1926, Elder William A. Spicer 04:28 published a book, "The Gospel in All the World." 04:32 Its premise, the signs of a time show 04:35 that Jesus is about to come 04:37 and one of the greatest of these 04:38 is the rapid spread of the gospel to all the world. 04:42 Elder Spicer said there was just a little more to do. 04:45 If all would accept 04:46 the Macedonian call to be involved, 04:49 we could finish the work and Jesus would come. 04:52 But time went on. 04:54 Jesus didn't come and in the late 1980s, 04:57 our church went through 04:59 a period of serious heart searching. 05:01 The work wasn't finished yet. 05:03 Many countries were still unentered. 05:05 Huge parts of the world had no Adventist presence. 05:08 Those discussions eventually resulted 05:11 in the establishment of Global Mission. 05:13 Its purpose, planting churches 05:16 in the unentered parts of the world, 05:18 reaching the unreached with hope. 05:21 And Global Mission hasn't gone away. 05:23 It's now being combined with mission awareness 05:26 and placed under the umbrella of Adventist mission. 05:29 So what's changed in these last 20 years? 05:33 I'm gonna be leading you through a PowerPoint 05:35 with a number of slides 05:37 and I need to ask them if they can put 05:39 that PowerPoint up on my monitor here, 05:41 so I can make sure that I'm giving you 05:42 the same thing that you are seeing on the screen. 05:45 Thank you. 05:46 What's changed in these last 20 years? 05:50 Well, a lot, really. 05:51 New words have been added to our vocabulary. 05:55 Twenty years ago, we had never heard of Google, 05:57 text messaging, email. 06:00 In 20 years, traffic in Moscow is gone from 300,000 cars 06:04 to more than three million cars. 06:07 In just the last 12 years, 06:09 gasoline prices in the Netherlands 06:11 have jumped from $4.32 a gallon 06:14 to $8.36 a gallon. 06:18 Twenty years ago, there were 06:20 no World Wide Web servers online, not one. 06:23 Today, there a more than 100 million servers. 06:27 Twenty years ago, there were zero internet users. 06:30 Today, there are between one and two billion. 06:33 And in these last 20 years, we now have podcast 06:37 and video podcast, chat rooms, Skype, blogs, YouTube, 06:41 Facebook, Myspace. 06:43 Nineteen years ago, the Berlin Wall fell. 06:47 Seventeen years ago, the Soviet Union imploded. 06:50 And we have all changed. 06:52 In the early 80s two young teachers 06:55 worked together in a small school 06:57 in Southern Indiana. 06:58 Today, Ella Simmons is a vice president 07:01 of the General Conference and I worked 07:03 for the General Conference Office 07:04 of Adventist Mission. 07:06 Back then Ella Simmons and I, both had little boys. 07:09 And my baby girl was born in New Albany Indiana 07:13 in March of this year. 07:15 That baby girl had her first child, 07:18 my third grandchild. 07:20 Back then, Ella and I talked often and prayed about 07:24 how near we were to the second coming of Jesus. 07:27 We wanted our children and our students to be ready. 07:30 We longed for that day to come. 07:33 We still do. 07:35 But it's been 20 years, we're still here. 07:38 What now? 07:40 Some who were with us in the 80s aren't anymore. 07:43 But even those of us who are still here 07:45 have changed, at least, a little. 07:48 Maybe some of you recognize this handsome young pastor, 07:51 administrator from Ghana. 07:53 Matthew Bediako is secretary of the General Conference. 07:56 And I can assure you that Elder Bediako 07:58 isn't the only one who is matured 08:00 in the last 20 years. 08:03 How about this well-known speaker, writer? 08:05 Any one recognize Clifford Goldstein? 08:10 And I don't know when this picture was taken, 08:12 but if you don't recognize Herald Lance there, 08:14 then try this one. 08:17 And oh, my. 08:19 Do you know this young family? 08:21 Maybe this picture of Henry and Robin Martin, 08:24 a few years later will help. 08:27 I'm not sure which of the Horton family 08:29 has changed the most. 08:30 I'll leave that to your decision. 08:33 But a certain amount of, shall we say, maturation, 08:36 has definitely affected 08:38 at least two of the people in this picture. 08:40 I still recognize Donna McNeilus 08:42 but the other two, my, what a few years can do. 08:48 And even Elder Paulson has changed a bit. 08:51 But you know, we aren't the only ones 08:52 that have changed, 08:53 the world around us has changed 08:55 dramatically over these last 20 years. 08:58 In 1985, only 41 percent 09:01 of the world's population lived in cities. 09:04 But last year, for the first time 09:06 in the history of this earth, 09:07 more than half the people on the planet lived in cities. 09:12 In 1988, the world had 5.1 billion inhabitants. 09:16 Today, there are more than 6.6 billion. 09:20 Church membership has gone 09:22 from 5.8 million to 15.4 million. 09:26 Twenty years ago, some parts of the world 09:28 seemed almost impenetrable. 09:31 How would we ever reach difficult areas like Cambodia, 09:34 Mongolia and Sudan? 09:36 But we moved ahead and God poured out His Spirit. 09:39 Many made tremendous sacrifices. 09:42 Some even gave their lives. 09:44 And look what God has done in these last 20 years. 09:49 Twenty years ago, Cambodia was still reeling 09:51 from the horrors of the Killing Fields. 09:53 We had no Seventh-day Adventists inside the country. 09:56 Today, we have nearly 6000 members. 10:00 Twenty years ago, we had no members in Mongolia. 10:03 The climate was harsh, 10:05 healthful food was scarce or nonexistent. 10:07 But some AFM missionaries made the sacrifice 10:10 to go learn the language, 10:11 make friends, and share Jesus. 10:14 And today, we have more than a 1000 members in Mongolia. 10:18 Twenty years ago, we had 955 members 10:21 in Africa's largest country. 10:23 Today, we have more than 13,000 members in Sudan. 10:28 Our God specializes 10:30 in accomplishing the impossible. 10:32 Around the world, the church has been growing 10:34 rapidly through these years. 10:37 Look at these ratios. 10:39 In 1863, we had one Seventh-day Adventist 10:42 for every 373,000 people. 10:46 Less than 50 years later, in 1900, we have one-- 10:51 had one Adventist for every 21, 000. 10:53 Another 50 years, and it was one for every 3300. 10:57 By 1988, it was one Adventist for every 882 people 11:02 and 20 years later, today, 11:04 it's projected to be one Adventist 11:06 for every 407 people on earth. 11:09 Praise the Lord. 11:11 So are we almost there yet? 11:14 Remember asking that question as a kid? 11:17 Do you ever ask it today as you sit in the committee 11:19 or a board or wrestle 11:21 with some insurmountable problem? 11:23 Are we almost there yet? 11:25 The United Nations says, 11:27 there are now 14 more countries than there were back then. 11:30 Adventists are working in 19 more. 11:33 That means in 20 years 11:35 we have entered five of the remaining countries 11:37 and political areas. 11:39 We have only 26 left to go. 11:42 At that rate, we should have entered every country 11:44 and political area of the world in the next 104 years. 11:50 What does it mean to enter a country? 11:54 Have we finished the work 11:56 when we have one church worshipping in each country. 11:59 What does it really mean to share the message 12:01 with the multitude or preached the everlasting gospel 12:04 to every nation tribe tongue and people? 12:07 Recent research has shown some deeply troubling trends 12:11 are around the world. 12:12 Did you know that in North America, 12:14 77 percent of the Hindus living here 12:17 don't know a single Christian personally. 12:21 Sixty four percent of the Buddhists 12:23 and 32 percent of the Muslims 12:25 don't know even one Christian they can call a friend. 12:29 They may run our hotels, be doctors in our hospitals, 12:32 wait on us in the restaurants, take our dry cleaning, 12:35 drive us to and from the airport. 12:37 But they don't really know us and we don't know them. 12:41 And we live in a free country. 12:43 The situation in Europe isn't any better. 12:46 The same research shows that most of the Muslims 12:49 and Buddhists living in Europe 12:50 don't know even one Christian personally. 12:53 And whose fault is that? 12:55 Is it their fault for secluding themselves 12:57 in ethnic communities? 13:00 Or is it our fault for not finding a way 13:02 to go to them in a free country? 13:05 Almost half the million-- almost half a million Buddhists 13:08 live in Australia 13:09 and three quarters of them say 13:11 they don't know a single Christian personally. 13:14 This picture is from Kuwait. 13:16 We can't work freely with Muslims in Kuwait. 13:19 But we can in the United Kingdom. 13:22 And there are more Muslims living in the United Kingdom 13:24 than there are in Kuwait. 13:26 What are we doing to reach them? 13:29 And what are we doing to reach the six million Jews, 13:31 and five million Muslims, three million Buddhists, 13:34 and one million Hindus living around us 13:36 in the United States? 13:38 I'm going to be talking more about 13:40 the massive unreached areas of the world. 13:43 We desperately need to focus more attention 13:45 on the 10/40 window. 13:47 But I don't want us to forget that we also have people 13:50 living all around us that we could be reaching. 13:53 And we're doing little if anything for them. 13:57 Who was it that said, 13:58 "If you can't keep up with the footman, 14:01 how will you ever run with the horses?" 14:03 It was God talking to Jeremiah. 14:06 If we can't get to know them here 14:07 and become their friends, 14:09 if we don't have the heart or the stomach 14:11 to go into their communities and reach them here, 14:14 how do we expect to ever be able to take the gospel 14:17 to the countries they came from? 14:19 By the way do you remember 14:21 what the rest of that verse said? 14:23 We often quote the first part. 14:25 "If you have raced with men on foot 14:27 and they have worn you out, 14:28 how can you compete with horses?" 14:30 But we rarely look at the second part. 14:32 It says, "If you stumble in a safe country, 14:35 how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?" 14:39 We desperately need to do more in the difficult areas, 14:42 the thickets of this world. 14:44 But how can we hope to be effective there 14:46 if we're still stumbling around in the safe places? 14:51 If we look at the unreached people of the world, 14:54 that's the population minus the membership, 14:57 in 1988, there were 4.4 billion unreached people in the world. 15:02 Today, there are more than 6.5 billion unreached people. 15:07 That's an increase of 2.1 billion. 15:10 And that doesn't count the 1.3 billion 15:12 that died during the last 20 years. 15:15 But let's break that 2.1 billion down a bit. 15:19 Nigeria has 33 million more unreached people 15:22 than it did 20 years ago when we started Global Mission. 15:26 The Adventist church in Brazil has had tremendous growth. 15:29 But there are 44 million more unreached people now 15:32 than there were in 1988. 15:35 Fifty five million more unreached people 15:37 live in the United States. 15:39 And while house churches multiply in China, 15:41 so does the population. 15:43 There are now 224 million more unreached people 15:47 than there were 20 years ago. 15:49 And in India, even with the explosion of growth, 15:53 even with the work of Global Mission 15:55 and Gospel Outreach and many others, 15:57 the number of unreached people has increased 16:00 by 323 billion people during these last 20 years. 16:05 Think about it. 16:06 The increase in unreached people in India 16:09 is more than the total population 16:11 of the United States, just the increase. 16:16 If we thought we had a lot of work to do 20 years ago, 16:19 look at the picture now. 16:21 There are 2.1 billion more people 16:23 to reach than there were in 1988, 16:25 when we were starting Global Mission. 16:28 Twenty years ago, when plans were being laid 16:30 for Global Mission, 16:32 one of the key targets was to plant a church 16:34 in every population group of one million people. 16:38 So how are we doing? 16:39 Well, back in 1988, 16:41 we didn't count companies, just churches. 16:44 Now we count both churches and companies 16:46 and we have about equal numbers of each 16:48 for a total of a 123,000. 16:51 That makes our average, 16:53 one church for every 53,000 people in the world. 16:57 Or 8.1 churches for every million people. 17:01 Obviously, even back in 1988, 17:04 we had already reached our goal, 17:06 if we just looked at the world averages. 17:09 We had way more than one church for every million people. 17:12 But we knew then and we know now 17:15 that we have to look deeper than world averages 17:17 to really see how we're doing as a church. 17:20 Looking at the division levels, 17:25 looking at the division levels, we began to see 17:28 that not all areas 17:29 have 8.1 churches for million people. 17:32 But if we just look at the division totals, 17:35 we are still over that original goal 17:37 of one church for every million people. 17:39 So have we finished the work? 17:42 On the next slides, 17:43 we'll look at a few of the divisions. 17:45 In order not to keep you here all day, 17:47 we're just going to look at 17:48 countries with more than a million people. 17:50 But even then they're too many. 17:52 So we're just going to look at the countries 17:53 with the most and the least churches 17:56 for every million people. 17:58 Remember that the world average is eight Adventist churches 18:01 and companies for each million people. 18:04 Papua New Guinea has a little bit higher ratio than that. 18:08 Five hundred fifty churches and companies 18:11 for every million people in Papua New Guinea. 18:14 Australia is still above the world average, 18:16 but has only 23.8 churches and companies for each million. 18:21 In the Southern Africa Indian Ocean division, 18:24 every country of more than a million people 18:26 is way above the world average. 18:29 Zambia is close to matching Papua New Guinea. 18:32 But even Madagascar has almost nine times the world average. 18:37 East Central Africa is quite a mix. 18:39 Rwanda and Kenya have hundreds of churches and companies 18:43 for each million people. 18:44 Tanzania and Uganda have more than ten times 18:47 the world average. 18:49 But Eritrea has only three. 18:51 And Somalia has zero. 18:54 In the Southern Asia division, none of the countries 18:57 come up to the world average. 18:58 India is almost there. 19:00 But Nepal has barely one church or company 19:03 for every million people and Bhutan isn't listed 19:06 because it has a population of less than a million. 19:09 But we all know that if it was here, 19:11 it would show a big red zero. 19:14 Here's another mixed bag. 19:15 The West Central Africa division. 19:17 Average is 21.3 churches and companies 19:20 for each million people. 19:22 But Senegal, Nigeria and Mauritania 19:24 don't have even one church or company per million. 19:28 The Europe Asia division ranges from Moldova with 59, 19:33 let's see, we've skipped one here. 19:35 The Southern Asia Pacific division has Philippines 19:38 with nine times the world average 19:40 and eight countries with less than five per million. 19:44 Two of those don't even have one church or company 19:47 per million people. 19:49 The Euro Africa division has seven countries 19:53 of at least a million who don't have even 19:55 one church or company per million people. 19:58 These are the Trans European divisions, 20:00 most entered countries. 20:03 But look at the rest of their list. 20:05 Eight countries with more than a million people 20:08 and not even one Adventist church 20:10 or company per million. 20:12 And around the world, most of the churches 20:14 and companies are in rural areas. 20:16 If we go to the cities, the figures are even worse. 20:19 For instance, while the world average 20:21 is one Adventist for every 407 people, 20:24 India's ratio is one for every 903 people. 20:30 But among Calcutta's 13 million, 20:32 the ratio is one for every 23, 000 people. 20:37 But even in the cities, 20:38 where the need is so incredibly huge, 20:40 if you analyze carefully the members we do have, 20:44 you would see that they come almost entirely 20:46 from one or another ethnic group, 20:48 economic strata or region of the city, 20:50 and often missed completely the rest of the city. 20:54 Anthropologists and missiologists 20:56 have calculated that there are 13 more than 13, 000 21:00 distinct people groups around the world. 21:03 Some of them are tiny. 21:04 But if we look at the groups of at least a 100, 000, 21:07 there are 394 that don't have a single known 21:11 Christian among them. 21:13 And if we look at the really big groups, 21:14 those with at least a 100, 000 people, 21:17 there are a 118 with not one Christian. 21:21 That's Christians of any denomination. 21:23 Think of what it would be 21:25 if we were looking at the figures 21:26 for the Seventh day Adventist Church. 21:29 And then there are the language groups. 21:31 Around the world there are more than 13,000 21:33 spoken languages. 21:35 Adventist World Radio is broadcasting in 70 of those. 21:39 That's half a percent. 21:42 Adventists have other forms of work 21:44 in 805 more languages, that's a whopping six percent. 21:49 But there is no administers work of any sort 21:52 in 12,665 languages of the world. 21:57 For 94 percent of the world's languages, 21:59 we have to hope 22:01 that those who have them as their mother tongue 22:03 also speak another language. 22:05 If they don't, we are not reaching them. 22:09 But that's the spoken languages. 22:10 Well, how are we doing 22:12 with the written languages of the world? 22:14 There are 8500 written languages. 22:17 But some of them are quite small 22:18 so let's just look at the bigger ones. 22:20 Let's look at those that have at least 22:22 10, 000 people speaking them. 22:26 There 2937 of those larger written languages. 22:31 And only 13 percent of them have the entire Bible. 22:35 Another 23 percent have the New Testament. 22:38 Another 14 percent 22:40 have at least a portion of the Bible, 22:42 a chapter, or a book. 22:44 But 50 percent of the largest spoken 22:46 and written languages on-- in the world 22:49 don't even have a scrap of the scripture. 22:52 If Adventists are people of the book, 22:54 what are we doing about these groups? 22:57 Remember we aren't talking about illiterate people here. 23:00 We're talking about people who read and write 23:03 but have no piece of the Bible in their mother tongue. 23:06 For that 50 percent 23:08 of the largest written languages of the world, 23:10 we have to hope that they can read another language 23:13 or we aren't sharing God's word with them. 23:17 Back in 1600, a massive mission movement 23:21 was sweeping through the Catholic Church. 23:23 The Jesuits recruited, trained and sent out 23:26 8500 full time foreign missionaries. 23:30 What was the world population in 1600? 23:34 It was 545 million. 23:36 About half of what just India has today. 23:40 No matter what we think of their theology 23:42 or missiological practices, those Jesuit missionaries 23:45 were undertaking a mammoth role. 23:49 If we were to duplicate their ratio today, 23:52 we would need to 20, 000 Adventist missionaries 23:56 to China, 17, 000 to India, 23:59 4000 to the Trans Mediterranean territories, 24:01 3600 to the Middle East Union. 24:05 How many missionaries would we need around the world 24:07 to match that ratio? 24:10 Well, we obviously don't have 24:12 a 102 million missionaries to send. 24:15 We don't even have close to that many members, 24:17 even if we count kids and visitors. 24:21 But let's look at what we do have. 24:23 We have 919 IDEs. 24:26 If you count spouses, 24:28 those are the full time missionaries that are funded 24:31 and sent out by the General Conference. 24:33 We have 2293 Global Mission pioneers, 24:37 544 long-term volunteers and student missionaries. 24:41 A 100 His Hands volunteers, 200 trained tent makers, 24:46 2500 Gospel Outreach evangelists, 24:49 64 Adventist Frontier Missions' missionaries, 24:52 23 AFM student missionaries. 24:55 Even if you count, even if you add in some others 24:58 that I don't have figures for, we still don't come up 25:01 to the raw numbers the Jesuits had back in 1600, 25:04 let alone their ratio. 25:07 Why is that, with a remnant in time message. 25:10 why is it that we have so few missionaries today, 25:13 when the needs are so great? 25:16 Well, back in 1930, for every ten dollars 25:20 that someone put into tithe in the Adventist church, 25:23 they put another six dollars 25:25 into the World Mission offering. 25:28 By 2005, that had decreased to the point 25:31 where for every ten dollars someone put into tithe, 25:33 they put 35 cents into the World Mission offering. 25:38 I praise God that there's been a slight change 25:40 in the last two years. 25:42 For the first time in decades, 25:44 the mission offering has begun to increase 25:46 a little more than tithe. 25:47 I long for the day when we can have a 1000, 25:50 not just a 1000 missionaries but 5000 or 50, 000. 25:55 And remember, the mission offering 25:57 doesn't just send missionaries. 25:59 It also provides appropriations to divisions 26:02 so that they can hire teachers and pastors 26:05 to watch over the churches 26:06 that you raise up in your projects. 26:09 It provides funding to help print materials 26:11 and prepare broadcasts and fund local portions 26:14 of Global Mission and Gospel Outreach projects. 26:18 If the mission offering dries up, 26:20 there will be little that we can do 26:22 in the way of projects. 26:24 What good would it be to build a church, 26:26 if the mission can't afford to help nurture the members 26:29 who come into that church? 26:32 To illustrate the challenge we face, 26:34 let's pretend that we're standing 26:35 on a busy street corner, 26:37 watching people pass at 60 per minute. 26:40 If we could wear a special pair of glasses, 26:42 so that the Adventists feet would stand out, 26:45 how often would we see a Seventh-day Adventist 26:48 walking past us on that busy street corner? 26:52 We're going to show you a short video 26:54 that gives you some figures for the Adventist walking past 26:59 around the world. 27:07 If we had the entire population of the world 27:10 rushing past us, 27:12 including all the Seventh-day Adventists, 27:15 we would see one Seventh-day Adventist 27:17 walk past every 7.2 minutes around the world. 27:24 In Jamaica, at 60 a minute, 27:27 we would see an Adventist every 12 seconds. 27:31 In Kenya, an Adventist would be walking by 27:35 in just under a minute. 27:39 In Central and South America, there would be less than 27:43 two minutes between each Seventh-day Adventist. 27:47 On the continent of Africa, 27:49 we would see an Adventist walk by every three minutes. 27:54 Here in North America, at 60 a minute, 27:57 we would see an Adventist walk by every five minutes. 28:02 In India, it would be fifteen minutes 28:05 between each Seventh-day Adventist. 28:09 And in China, not knowing how many Adventists 28:13 are going to the Olympics, 28:14 there would one Adventist walking by every hour. 28:19 In Israel, one Adventist 28:22 every two and a half hours walking past. 28:26 Twenty four hours a day, 60 people a minute 28:28 in Central Asia, one every two and a half hours. 28:32 And if you were to go to Egypt, 28:33 and we had the people of Egypt walk past 60 a minute, 28:36 24 hours a day, 28:38 it would be a little over one day 28:40 between each Adventists. 28:41 In Turkey, it would be 12.9 days 28:45 between every Adventist. 28:48 In Morocco, one Adventist would walk by every 28 days. 28:55 In Iran, we have a few Adventists, 28:57 one would walk by every 38.8 days. 29:02 In Somalia, it would be 29:04 one Adventist every 102 days. 29:10 In Afghanistan, one Adventist would walk by 29:13 every 119 days. 29:17 In Syria, we used to have a strong work. 29:19 We have nothing now. 29:21 One Adventist would walk by every 225 days in Syria. 29:26 In Yemen, it would be one Adventist 29:28 every two 250 days. 29:31 And in Saudi Arabia, 60 people a minute, 29:34 24 hours a day one Adventist would walk by every 279 days. 29:42 As I watched her singing hymns in the little Adventist church, 29:45 in one of the stance of Central Asia last summer, 29:48 I had no idea that four years ago, 29:51 Igul was not a Christian. 29:53 After the services that morning, 29:55 she poured out her story to us and what a story it was. 29:58 Ten or twelve years ago, she had a baby boy 30:02 but somehow he received a brain injury during delivery. 30:05 Her husband and family told her to put the baby 30:07 in an institution and forget about him. 30:09 But her mother's heart wouldn't let her do that. 30:11 So her husband left her. 30:13 She moved back to her parents' home 30:15 but her stepmother didn't want the baby around 30:17 and made life terribly difficult for them. 30:20 Finally, unable to bear it any longer, 30:22 Igul and her sister moved to another city. 30:25 She worked days while her sister took care of the baby. 30:28 Several years went by during which a Christian, 30:31 a Catholic lady, co-worker begin to reach out to her. 30:35 This Catholic lady kept encouraging Igul 30:37 to go to the church. 30:39 But Igul had never been in a Christian church before. 30:42 And even though she had already been 30:43 thrown out of her family, 30:44 she just couldn't bear to leave the religion of her heritage. 30:49 Finally, one day in desperation 30:51 Igul decided to go visit the Catholic Church. 30:54 But on the way there, she gotten lost 30:56 in the maze of little alleyways 30:58 that you find in Central Asian cities. 31:01 Just then, she passed a group of people 31:03 standing by a gate. 31:05 She stopped and asked them. 31:06 "Can you tell me where the church is?" 31:09 At that point in her life, she didn't realize 31:11 there was more than one kind of Christian Church. 31:15 The group looked questioningly at each other for a moment. 31:17 Was this a trap? 31:19 Was this woman a spy? 31:21 But finally, they said, "Well, this is a house church. 31:24 And we're getting ready to go in. 31:26 Would you like to join us?" 31:28 Igul did join them. 31:30 And she's never gone to the church 31:31 that she was looking for. 31:33 Four years ago, she was baptized. 31:35 Now her sister is studying and they alternate Sabbaths. 31:38 One stays with the little boy at home 31:40 while the other comes to our little church. 31:43 I praise God for His timing. 31:45 Ten minutes, either way, and she would not have seen 31:48 the group standing by the gate. 31:50 I also thank the Lord for the dedication 31:52 of a German missionary who went to Kyrgyzstan 31:55 50 years ago and planted a church. 31:58 Soon that struggling little girl 32:00 began to send missionaries to other parts of Central Asia. 32:04 I'm so glad they had planted a small light in Igul's city, 32:08 one that she could join when she was ready. 32:11 But you know what haunts me? 32:14 It's all the other Igul's 32:15 who have no Adventist feet walking through their streets 32:18 and market places. 32:20 Who will they turn to when the Spirit begins 32:23 to work on their hearts? 32:25 I don't want to leave us in a state of despair. 32:27 I believe it's time for Jesus to return. 32:30 The signs all foretell that. 32:32 But if all we do is pat ourselves on the back 32:35 for how much we have accomplished, 32:37 we show that we are indeed Laodicean, 32:40 asleep and in need of nothing. 32:43 God has given us a task. 32:45 It may seem impossible, but it isn't. 32:47 The Jordon River looked impossible to the Israelites 32:50 but it wasn't. 32:52 As they believed God's promise and obeyed His command, 32:54 as they stepped into the water, 32:56 God opened it up and they crossed over. 33:00 And today, I want to challenge all of us, 33:02 me included, to wade into the Jordan River, 33:04 to really get serious about finishing the work 33:07 and doing anything necessary to send people, 33:10 to be lights in every city and suburb, 33:12 village and town on earth. 33:15 We can't just keep going toward the places 33:17 where it's easy. 33:18 We are a world wide church with a responsibility 33:21 for every human being on earth. 33:24 We have a responsibility to take them the message. 33:27 As you plan projects and trips, 33:30 as you raise money for the work in various parts of the world, 33:33 don't forget the dark places. 33:36 Igul now has a blessed hope and peace. 33:39 She has a new light in her dark life. 33:41 But millions like her still can't see that light. 33:45 When will we light their world? 34:13 There is a candle in every soul 34:20 Some brightly burning 34:23 Some dark and cold 34:27 There is a Spirit who brings fire 34:33 Ignites a candle and makes His home 34:40 Carry your candle 34:43 Run to the darkness 34:47 Seek out the helpless, confused and torn 34:53 And hold out your candle for all to see it 35:00 Take your candle, and go light your world 35:07 Take your candle, and go light your world 35:24 Frustrated brother, see how he's tried to 35:31 Light his own candle some other way 35:37 See now your sister, she's been robbed and lied to 35:44 Still holds a candle without a flame 35:51 So carry your candle, run to the darkness 35:58 Seek out the lonely, the tired and worn 36:04 And hold out your candle for all to see it 36:11 Take your candle, and go light your world 36:18 Take your candle, and go light your world 36:23 Hey, now, na, na, na, na 36:26 Hey now Hey, now, na, na, na, na 36:29 Hey now Hey now Hey now 36:35 Cause we are a family, whose hearts are blazing 36:41 So let's raise our candles 36:45 and light up the sky 36:48 Praying to our Father, in the name of Jesus 36:55 Make us a beacon in darkest times 37:02 So carry your candle, run to the darkness 37:08 Seek out the hopeless, deceived and worn 37:15 Hold out your candle for all to see it 37:22 Take your candle, and go light your world 37:29 Take your candle, and go light your world 37:34 Hey, now, na, na, na, na 37:37 Hey, now, na, na, na, na 37:40 Hey, now, na, na, na, na 37:44 Hey, now Hey now 37:46 Hold out your candle for all to see it 37:52 Take your candle, and go light your world 37:59 Take your candle, and go light your world 38:06 Take your candle 38:16 And go light your world 38:21 Hey, now, na, na, na, na 38:24 Hey, now, na, na, na, na 38:28 Hey, now, na, na, na, na 38:31 Hey, now Hey, now 38:36 When I look at the challenge 38:39 of the vast world's populations, 38:43 it's clear to me 38:45 that unless the Holy Spirit 38:47 works powerfully and dramatically, 38:51 God's work on earth 38:54 will not be finished any time soon. 38:57 Technology is not going to finish God's work. 39:01 Television is not going to finish God's work. 39:05 Radio is not going to finish God's work. 39:09 All of the technological genius 39:11 of the brightest minds of the church 39:13 will not finish God's work. 39:16 God will reveal that He alone 39:20 through the outpouring of His Holy Spirit 39:23 will finish His work. 39:25 I long for meetings 39:28 when the Holy Spirit is poured out in abundance. 39:31 I long for the sameness and the routine 39:34 of the church to be broken up. 39:37 And that the power of the living God 39:39 be poured out upon His people 39:41 because it is Spirit-filled people 39:45 that'll finish God's work on earth. |
Revised 2016-01-11