Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY190048A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:10 - Hello and welcome to another 3ABN Today 01:12 program. I'm Jill Morikone, and we're so glad that 01:15 you've taken time from your day to join us. I 01:18 love the Today programs, because we get to feature 01:20 what God is doing in people's lives all around 01:23 the world-and today is no exception. I have with 01:26 me some, we're gonna say, long-time friends. I like that 01:31 word much better than "old friends," because that would 01:33 date us, and we don't want to do that. But 01:35 some long-time friends who have been passionate 01:37 about the work of God for years! But God is 01:40 calling them now to a new venture, a new 01:43 journey, as it were, and they're stepping out with 01:46 Adventist Frontier Missions, doing mission work in Papua 01:51 New Guinea. So, we want to talk with them about 01:53 their journey, what led them to desire to do this 01:56 mission service, and how God is working in their life- 01:59 so I want to introduce them to you at this time: 02:02 Pastor Jason Slagger. So glad you're here, and your 02:06 beautiful wife Midori. So glad both of you are 02:10 here. We're going to start with Midori just 02:12 for a moment, 'cause Midori, we worked together as 02:16 co-counselors, I guess you could say-Young 02:18 Disciple, Youth Bible Camp... Would it be 20 02:22 years ago, more than 20 years ago? - Yeah, about 02:25 20 years ago. Yeah. - That was when Young Disciple was on 02:28 the campus there of Heartland campus in? in Virginia. 02:31 - Yeah. - It was an incredible experience. - It was a blessing 02:36 for me. - Yeah, absolutely. I remember it distinctly, 02:41 and I don't know why. I think it was the first 02:43 time in my own walk with God that I learned you 02:46 could prayer for other people. I know it seems 02:48 like, why do you wait till you're almost 20 to 02:51 learn that? But I remember just praying together for 02:54 the salvation of our campers; and what a difference that 02:59 made in my own heart. So, thank you for that. 03:02 - Yes! It was a blessing for me to be able to 03:06 be with a slightly older young person and work 03:10 together and be kind of part of the team. That 03:13 was a blessing. - Amen! And Pastor Jason, probably 03:16 18 years ago, you were here at 3ABN doing Faith 03:19 Chapel. - Yeah, that was a long time ago. I try 03:22 to forget about that. [laughter] Life's changed 03:26 since then. - Yes, absolutely. I know you 03:29 spoke at GYC here. Our audience, you might have 03:31 seen Pastor Jason. You spoke in the evening meetings 03:34 for GYC a couple years ago. But tell us a little 03:37 bit before we get into the mission service just 03:38 about your own journey as God led you into pastoral 03:42 ministry. - Yeah. Well, when I graduated high 03:45 school, I didn't take the traditional route of going 03:46 straight into college. Nothing against college; 03:50 it just didn't work out for me. I went to a small 03:52 school where we studied the Bible for a month, 03:55 and then we did a mission trip for a month, and that 03:58 seemed to work real good for me. So I did that for 04:01 a year, and then I did Bible work in Hawaii 04:04 for two-and-a-half years. I always like to tell people 04:06 that somebody's gotta minister to people in Hawaii 04:08 and it might as well be me. [laughter] So that 04:11 was a wonderful experience to do Bible work there on 04:13 the Big Island. And then... I felt the need to get a 04:17 little bit more training on how to do Bible work 04:19 and share my faith, and so I decide to go to AFCOE. 04:22 That was in 2003. Wonderful experience there, learning 04:26 how to share my faith. - And tell us what AFCOE 04:28 is, if someone's tuning in and they say, "What 04:30 in the world is AFCOE?" - Yeah, what's AFCOE. 04:32 It's Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism. And when 04:35 I was there, they let us know about an evangelism 04:38 training program that they were doing to train people 04:40 how to be an evangelist. I love to travel, I love to 04:44 preach, I loved sharing my faith, and so I was 04:46 young, I was single... It was just right up my 04:49 alley. So I investigated into that and ended up 04:52 doing evangelism with Amazing Facts for seven-and-a-half 04:56 years. During that time, Midori and I got married, and 05:00 we were on the road for five-and-a-half years 05:02 together before we transitioned to pastoral work. - Amen! So 05:05 tell us how you met, just quickly. I know the whole 05:07 program isn't about that, but we just want to get 05:09 to know you as a couple before we see about your 05:12 mission work. So how did you meet? - Well, we... 05:15 It's a funny story, but anyway... - It's a LONG 05:17 story. [laughter] - But we'll give you the reader's 05:19 digest version of it. So my family lives in 05:23 England, or lived in England- my mom and my step-dad 05:25 at the time-and she was traveling with a choir in 05:29 Europe doing concerts, and they finished up in 05:31 England when I was there visiting my family for the 05:34 holidays. Her and her sister and two friends, they wanted 05:39 to stay and kind of see England a little bit, and 05:42 my mom said, "Well, we've got a big house. Why don't 05:44 you come and stay at our place?" So that was the 05:47 first time I met them... or met her, anyway. - Yeah. 05:50 So at that point, I was still at school and focused 05:55 on that, and I just knew that he was a very good 05:59 guy. I saw how tidy his room was and how nice 06:04 he was to his mother, and that was it! We 06:07 left. And unbeknownst to me, a year later, he 06:11 was talking to my parents and asking if he could 06:15 date me. - Aww. - So, that's where it started. 06:19 - That's pretty special. Absolutely. So then you 06:22 married, you worked for Amazing Facts as an evangelist, 06:27 and then God called you to- did you go to Michigan 06:29 Conference next, or...? - Correct, yeah. - Okay. 06:31 - So we had our first little baby girl, Evangeline, and 06:34 then the Lord opened up a door for us to go into 06:37 pastoral work, and we've been in Michigan Conference 06:40 for seven-and-a-half years. - Amen! Same church or 06:43 different churches in that...? - Two districts. - Nice, nice. 06:47 That's wonderful. - Good experience. - Oh, absolutely. 06:50 You know, when I think of Jason and Midori, I 06:53 think of a couple that have a heart for God 06:56 and a passion to live, we could say, practice what 07:01 they preach. Some people get up and preach, and 07:03 they preach big, and that's fabulous...but then maybe, 07:07 somehow, the experience behind the scenes is 07:10 different. But when I think of Jason and Midori, 07:12 they're a couple who love God and want to follow 07:16 Him. I have always appreciated that. I'm not sure I've ever 07:19 even told you guys that, but I have always appreciated 07:22 that about you-that you're authentic in your own 07:26 Christianity and in your walk with God, so... - By 07:29 God's grace. - Yes. I think we have a picture 07:31 of your family. - Yes! Yeah. - So let's take 07:34 a look... Oh! Tell us who's who. - So, 07:37 Evangeline is our oldest, and then in the middle is 07:39 Verity. She's our youngest. Evangeline is 7, Verity 07:43 is 3, and then Christian on the end there, he's 5. 07:46 We named her Evangeline because we wanted her 07:52 to be an evangelist to take the gospel to the 07:55 world. We named Verity Verity because it means 07:59 "truth," and we want her to always be truthful and 08:02 share the truth, as well. And we named Christian 08:05 Christian because we want him to be like Christ. - Amen. 08:08 That's wonderful. What great meanings for that. 08:10 - They keep us busy. - Yeah! [laughter] I can only imagine. 08:15 So, let's read a Bible verse here. This is 2 Peter 08:18 3 verses 11 and 12, and then I'll let you all share 08:21 why this verse means something to you. 2 Peter 3:11, 12. 08:25 "Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, 08:27 what manner of persons ought you to be in holy 08:30 conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening 08:32 the coming of the day of God, because of which the 08:36 heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the 08:38 elements will melt with fervent heat?" - So, 08:43 the reason this verse means so much to me is that we 08:48 as Christians, we know that Jesus is coming 08:51 soon, and everything in this world is going 08:54 to be burned up; it's going to be done. So, 08:56 knowing that, what kind of people should we be, 09:00 and what should we be doing? We should be doing 09:02 God's business and telling others that He's coming 09:07 soon and the gospel that Jesus died for them. That 09:13 passage has meant more and more to us as we've 09:18 gotten more serious, really, about doing God's 09:22 work and doing what He needs done right now. 09:27 [Amen.] - You know, I remember my first mission 09:31 trip to the Philippines- it was the first time I've 09:33 ever gone on a mission trip. I remember standing 09:36 at the airport, getting ready to come back to 09:38 the States, and just seeing all of this mass 09:41 of humanity who came to our seminars and were 09:46 just hungry for the truth. I was 18 years old at 09:50 the time, and I vividly remember thinking that 09:55 there are so many hungry people, and if everybody 09:57 needs to hear the gospel before Jesus comes, then 10:00 I need to do something about this. - Mm. - And 10:03 it was at that time that I felt God calling me into 10:05 ministry to help get the gospel to the world so 10:09 that we can hasten the coming of Jesus. - Yeah. 10:11 Would you say that was your first influence toward 10:13 ministry or mission work, or were there influences 10:16 earlier than that? - No, that was... - That was 10:18 the first? - Yeah, that was my first...yeah. 10:20 - Wow, okay. So, you're a pastor, so you could 10:23 think, "Well that's ministry; that's sharing the gospel." 10:26 What led you to feel like, "Okay, I need to 10:30 do more," or, "I need to do more than just pastoring 10:33 here"-God's calling you overseas. - Well, I grew 10:38 up with all the Adventist mission stories, and I'd 10:41 love to sit on a couch and listen to my mom 10:43 read. Those mission stories were very informative in 10:47 my life as a young person; but I didn't really understand 10:52 the vastness of the need, you know? There's 3 billion 10:55 people who've never even heard the name of Jesus. 10:58 How do you even grasp a number like that? And it 11:03 was about 10 years ago, a good friend of mine, Kyle 11:05 Tumberg, who's a missionary with Adventist Frontier 11:08 Missions... He came, he was getting ready to 11:11 launch to Thailand, and he was sharing with us 11:13 his story of how God led him there. He showed us 11:16 a video of the need in the mission field- 11:20 you know, the 10/40 window. - Yeah. - And I remember 11:23 weeping as he shared this video with us. Just the 11:28 amount of people who have never even heard of Jesus, 11:31 and here we are in America. I was down south doing a 11:35 seminar at the time-you know, in the Bible Belt. 11:37 Churches all over the place; Christianity's just accessible 11:42 to everybody; it's the norm. And then he's showing me 11:46 this video of billions of people who have 11:48 never even heard the name of Jesus, and that was, 11:50 for me, a very... It was kind of a turning point 11:53 in my life that I wanted to do something about 11:56 helping that. - Yeah. Wow... What about you, 11:59 Midori? Did you feel the call at the same time as 12:01 Jason, or was it different? - Actually, since around 12:06 the time I graduated from college, I knew that I wanted 12:09 to be a missionary and I was going to be-in my 12:12 plan-I was going to be like Amy Carmichael, the 12:16 famous missionary to India. She just went out there 12:19 by herself, and she lived and died among the people 12:22 as one of them, and that was my plan. But then, 12:27 Jason came along, God brought him into my 12:29 life, and God made it clear that this is His 12:35 plan for me-that being a single missionary was 12:40 not where He was leading. So, my plans for missions 12:46 got put on hold, but I've always loved reading the 12:50 mission stories and the updates from the mission 12:55 field. We've always tried to support missions with 12:59 our finances; made it a priority. But now, God 13:04 has called us up a little higher, I guess you could 13:09 say. - Wow. So can I ask, if this is not too 13:12 personal of a question: so, you felt God calling 13:16 you to mission work right out of college. You're 13:18 thinking, "I'm going to be a single missionary, God's 13:21 calling me to do this," and yet, for some reason, 13:24 God said no, and God said, "I want you to 13:26 marry Jason. You'd have a family, serve as this 13:29 pastoral couple... Then, I'm going to call you 13:31 into mission work." Now, I know God's plans are 13:34 always way better than ours, and we can't always 13:36 see that. But looking back now, what do you 13:38 think are some of the things that God was maybe wanting 13:42 you learn in the process of that?-the waiting time, 13:45 you could say. - Mm. - Yes. I think-... There are so 13:49 many things that I have learned in that interim, 13:53 just the experience of being a mom, I think, is 13:58 going to be very helpful in the mission field, learning 14:02 patience, learning just to buckle down and do 14:06 what needs to be done instead of, maybe, my 14:10 glamorized imagination of what a missionary 14:15 would do. - That makes sense; absolutely. What 14:17 are some of the demographics of Papua New Guinea? Are 14:20 there a lot of Christians there? Do we need to 14:23 go there to evangelize, or...? What's it like there? 14:26 - So, Papua New Guinea is a pretty interesting 14:29 place. It's the most linguistically diverse 14:31 place in the world. There are over 800 languages 14:33 that are spoken in Papua New Guinea. It's technically 14:37 not part of the 10/40 window that you hear 14:39 a lot about. If you go to a website called 14:42 Joshua Project, they kind of track of all the unreached 14:45 people groups in the world. Papua New Guinea 14:48 is technically a reached country. There are a lot 14:52 of Christians that are there; missionaries have 14:54 been in Papua New Guinea for quite some time. So 14:57 then the question is, why are we going there 15:00 if there are so many Christians? - Right. 15:02 - It's already been evangelized technically. The answer to that 15:06 is, it's interesting: a lot of the local people have 15:10 accepted Christianity, but what they have done 15:12 is they've added it to their already-animistic 15:15 beliefs. So, it hasn't been so much- I mean, 15:18 obviously, there've been some who have made the 15:20 complete transformation and have accepted Christianity 15:23 and just Christianity, but what tends to happen 15:26 is there's a synchronistic blending of Christianity 15:29 and animism together, which is spirit worship, 15:33 and so they're not experiencing the true 15:36 liberation from demonic torture that they could- 15:41 that Christianity has to offer. And so, missionaries 15:45 are still needed in that part of the world to help 15:47 show them that there is something better than 15:50 what they have right now. - And also there are so 15:53 many people groups on that small piece of land. 16:01 It's very mountainous, so there are little pockets 16:04 of tribes here and there that don't...they're not 16:09 in contact with the others or with the world, necessarily. 16:12 So those little groups of people may not have 16:17 been reached. A lot of them have been around 16:20 the coast where it's easy to contact them, but there 16:24 are still more in the jungle, in the inland, 16:28 that have not heard the gospel. - So what area 16:31 are you going to and which AFM missionary 16:33 are you going to work with? - So we're going 16:36 to the Western Province, and we're working with 16:38 the Gogodala people. We'll be working with 16:40 Steve and Laurie Erickson, and I think we have a picture 16:43 of them that you can see. They've been missionaries 16:46 in PNG for 12 years. They've just been doing a tremendous 16:52 work over there, and we feel very privileged 16:55 to be able to work with ? the missionaries 16:57 and to be able to learn from them. - Yes... 16:59 Absolutely. So, that is not a coastal region; 17:01 this is more inland where you're going, or...? - Yeah. 17:05 It's along the river; they're river-going 17:09 people. We won't have a car, they don't have 17:12 roads, we'll be in a boat; trade in our 17:16 truck for an outboard motor. - Oh, wow. Wow. 17:21 - Yeah, so the Gogodala people there are about 17:23 33 tribes- or 33 villages, rather. There's about 25-30 17:28 thousand Gogodala people- less than 100 Adventists. 17:31 - Oh, wow. - So they're spread all along the 17:34 Aramia river, and their main form of transportation 17:37 is by dugout canoe. So that's kind of their road 17:41 is going up and down the river. - Have you been there 17:43 before, or...? - Not yet. - No...! [laughter] - So 17:46 this is like Abraham? I mean, in a sense, 17:48 because God is calling you to mission work, 17:51 and at least you know the Ericksons, you know 17:52 that you're going to work with them, but 17:54 you've never even been to a place that you believe 17:56 God's calling you to go. - That's right. - What is 17:59 that like? - It's been really faith-building. 18:03 I kind of feel embarrassed to say this, but we have 18:06 experienced God in a way that we've never 18:09 experienced Him up to this point. Once we accepted 18:11 the call to resign our comfortable position 18:14 here in the States and go into an uncomfortable 18:18 place, we've just experienced God in 18:21 ways that we have never experienced them before- 18:23 and that's been very comforting. It's really 18:26 deepened our relationship with the Lord, and it's just... 18:29 There's nothing like knowing that you're in the center 18:31 of God's will, even if it is as uncertain as what 18:35 we're getting ourselves into. - Yeah. - Yeah. Being able 18:39 to hear God's voice and you feel like you're stepping 18:46 out onto air... [laughter] - Right! - Just take a 18:49 deep breath and do it, because you know God 18:51 is asking you to do it...that has been such 18:55 a thrill in a lot of ways. Yeah. - How do 19:02 you feel about bringing your kids? Is that a 19:03 scary thing, thinking they're going overseas 19:05 or going to... Would you call that a third 19:08 world country? - I guess so. - Yeah. So taking 19:11 your children there, I mean, how do you feel 19:13 about that? - I'll let Midori answer that. 19:16 I'm excited about it. [laughter] I mean, 19:18 there are going to be so many unique opportunities 19:20 that they're going to have, and they'll get 19:22 to learn another language and another culture, but... 19:25 - Well, as we were raising our kids, we want them 19:29 to have a heart for God and also a heart for other 19:34 people. - That's good. - Those are like, the most 19:36 important priorities for us. So- and also, 19:40 God loves our kids more than we do, so He will 19:44 take care of them, I trust, and I believe it'll 19:47 be the best environment for them because they will 19:52 be able to see God working, and also be 19:56 able to participate in the mission even more 20:00 than maybe they could do here. They'll be more 20:03 of a valued part of our mission, and they'll be 20:08 able to get right in there and serve those people there 20:13 with us, and I think it'll be great. Also, the Ericksons 20:19 have raised 2 girls there, and they're beautiful, 20:23 they've graduated from university... So they're 20:27 educated and healthy, and I think they'll be 20:31 fine. - Yeah. You know, kids have a way of 20:37 opening doors that adults don't. - That is true. 20:39 - And we've seen that even in pastoral work. 20:42 They can just get their way into somebody's 20:44 heart and open up doors for us to be able to minister. 20:48 They got fresh little minds that learn new languages 20:51 and new sounds and all that kind of stuff, and so... 20:53 - Now, that's true. - They'll be very helpful 20:55 in many ways. - What language do you have 20:57 to learn? - So, much of the country speaks 21:01 English, but that's not their heart language. 21:05 And then next to that a lot of people speak 21:06 what they call Pidgin, so that's kind of a 21:09 universal language; but the Gogodala people speak 21:13 Gogodala, so we'll be, Lord willing, learning 21:16 that. - Learning Gogodala. - Gogodala, yeah. - So, 21:21 what do you say when some people would say, 21:23 "Okay, why don't you have the local people 21:26 evangelize local people?" So, what are the benefits, 21:30 you could say, for bringing someone in from overseas 21:33 to do that evangelistic work? - That's a good 21:36 question. Ultimately, that's our goal. We're 21:41 going over there to help with the training center 21:43 to train the local people how to share their faith. 21:48 It'll be a contextualized training center for their 21:51 culture; but ultimately, that's what we want to 21:54 do. We want people to learn how to evangelize 21:56 and share their faith with their own people. 21:59 Sometimes, though, it helps to have a foreigner 22:02 come in. Sometimes, there's tribal barriers; sometimes, 22:06 there's cultural barriers that a foreigner can kind 22:11 of transcend a little bit more easily than a local 22:13 person... But ultimately, there's just no way that 22:17 the Ericksons and ourselves can reach 25-30,000 22:20 people. - Yeah. - So what we're really wanting to do 22:23 is to train the local people how to share their faith, 22:26 how to go into those different villages, and 22:28 establish an Adventist presence there. - They 22:31 already have mission established, obviously... 22:33 - Correct, yeah. - ...because they've been there for 22:35 several years. So what sort of outreach do they 22:37 currently do?-and I know you said you're going to 22:39 help with the training center-but what outreach 22:41 HAVE they been doing, and then what are they 22:43 hoping to expand, or what's some of the vision 22:44 for the future? - Sure, sure. Well, what Steve's been 22:48 doing a lot of recently is building buildings for 22:53 the training center; but I've really appreciated what 22:56 they've been doing. They haven't just been building 22:59 just to build; they employ a lot of the local young men 23:03 to come and help them with the building of these 23:06 buildings. And all during that time, they're ministering 23:09 to these young people. And I found just from 23:12 my pastoral ministry that when I work with 23:16 people, that's when I really make a connection 23:18 with them in physical work-some sort of physical 23:22 project that we're working on. Those are the people 23:24 that I have the closest relationships with, so 23:26 Steve and Laurie have been developing a lot 23:28 of relationships with these young people. 23:30 Some of them are Adventist, some of them are not, 23:33 some of them have become Adventist as a result of this... 23:36 So, they're definitely using this as a ministry 23:38 outreach currently right now to reach the Gogodala. 23:41 - Amen. - They've also done things like VBS 23:45 and a lot of medical ministry. Laurie is a 23:48 nurse. - Oh, good. - So they take people to the 23:52 hospital, they help them with their wounds or 23:56 whatever, and the kind of typical things I guess 23:59 that you would see missionaries doing. - Yeah, that makes 24:03 sense; absolutely. So do you have some pictures 24:06 of mission and what it looks like there? - Yeah, 24:09 we do; we do have some pictures. This is a picture 24:12 that really captivated my attention the first 24:13 time I saw it. This is a picture of Steve with 24:16 some of the local village elders. This is not the way 24:19 they dress all the time. - Okay. - And sometimes 24:21 people get a little scared when they see a picture 24:23 like this. [laughter] - War paint and feathers. 24:26 [simultaneous chatter] - Right. So, this is their 24:29 traditional war garments that they would wear. 24:33 But when you see pictures of the locals, they dress in 24:34 shorts and T-shirts just like we do. And so, the 24:37 temptation would be to think, "They're just like 24:39 me!" And although they may dress in shorts and 24:42 T- shirts like we do-they might look like us-but 24:44 this is the way they think: they still have 24:46 a very tribal way of thinking over there. 24:48 - Ah! - So it just kind of paints the picture of 24:52 the difference in culture. You know, we kind of think 24:54 the way Steve is dressed, they think the way that 24:57 they're dressed. And so, it's good to keep those 24:59 things in mind when you're ministering to them. What 25:01 might work over here may not necessarily work 25:03 over there. - So do you do training? Does AFM 25:06 do training like, "Okay, this is how-you're going 25:09 to this particular country- this is how they think, this 25:12 is"... - Absolutely. Yeah. AFM is a wonderful organization. 25:16 They put all of their missionaries through 25:18 summer training before they launch them into 25:20 the field, and many of the trainers have actually 25:23 been missionaries to Papua New Guinea, so that's going 25:26 to be a blessing to us. But yeah, they equip 25:28 us very well before we go into the field. - Amen. 25:31 What are some of the classes you take and 25:33 some of the things you learn in that summer course? 25:35 - I don't know yet. - Oh! So you haven't even 25:38 started it yet. - No, no, that'll be next summer. 25:40 Next summer, we'll be going through that. - So 25:43 right now, we have just- Jason just finished his 25:47 employment at working as a pastor, and now we 25:51 are selling our house and liquidating all of 25:54 our earthly possessions so that we can do some 25:59 fundraising and raise support for the Gogodala 26:03 project and the needs there, and then we will 26:07 go to training...and after that, we will launch. 26:11 - And after that, you actually launch. - Correct. 26:12 - So we're going to put a plug right now since 26:14 you mention raise support. We want to mention that 26:17 specifically when we will mention there 26:19 the website here several times throughout the 26:22 program, but you can go to AFMonline.org. That's 26:27 AFM's website. - Correct. - AFMonline.org, and there 26:32 you can just look for Jason and Midori Sliger, 26:35 would that be right? - Yeah, they can search our last 26:36 name, and it'll come up. - Okay. Just type in Sliger, 26:38 and then you can look and follow what's going 26:42 on with you all-or you have a Facebook page, 26:44 and what's your Facebook page? - Yes. It's Sliger 26:47 Family Mission on Facebook. It's a little page where 26:52 we keep updating what's going on with us: when 26:56 we got rid of the dog, we bought a van to travel 27:01 in-things like that. - Absolutely. - That 27:04 might be interesting. - At 3ABN, we believe 27:05 in mission, because I mean, that... When God 27:08 called Danny 35 years ago to begin a television 27:12 station that would reach the world with the undiluted 27:14 three angels' messages, we believe in mission. 27:17 We believe in spreading the gospel message, 27:19 and we believe in missionaries, so we want to stand in support 27:23 with the Sliger family with AFM. We believe 27:25 in what God is doing through that mission. So, if you want 27:29 to support the Sliger family, we encourage 27:32 you to go to that website to reach out, on the Facebook, 27:35 to contact them, to pray for them, and to support 27:39 what is God is going to do in and through 27:42 them. So, talk to us a bit: why would you go 27:46 overseas if there is such a need in our 27:50 backyard?-if there's people all around us 27:53 who are dying, even without that connection with God- 27:57 why would we go overseas? - Well, the first reason is, 28:03 when God calls, you have to go. He's made that 28:07 very clear to us that that's the direction 28:09 that He's calling our family at this time, 28:12 and so we want to be obedient to that call. 28:16 The other thing to think about is, there's a vast 28:19 amount of workers here in North America, and 28:23 the foreign field is languishing for workers 28:25 right now. And so, one statistic that really 28:29 stuck in my mind that recently kind of helped 28:33 me in this transition, we've had a great 28:36 burden for the Middle East-North Africa Union. 28:38 - Yes! - It's just a largely unreached part 28:42 of the world. I was just kind of looking at numbers 28:45 and kind of comparing between there and North 28:48 America, 'cause they're similar size and population 28:51 (America's a little bit larger). But we have more 28:54 ministers in North America than they have Seventh-day 28:57 Adventist members in the Middle East-North 28:59 Africa Union. - Say that one more time. - We have 29:02 more pastors here in North America than they 29:04 have members over there. - Wow. - For about the 29:08 same number of people. - For about the same 29:09 number of population. - That's incredible. 29:11 - And that just kind of really rips your heart 29:13 out, you know? And William Borden, who was... He died 29:16 when he was young, but he was going to serve 29:18 as a missionary in China. He said, "If you see 10 29:22 men carrying a log, and you see nine men on 29:25 the skinny end, and one man on the heavy end, 29:28 and you want to help, which one are you going 29:29 to help? - The heavy end. - You're going to 29:31 go to the heavy end. And so, things like that 29:34 have really colored our desire or have helped 29:39 us in making this transition, but there's just such a need 29:41 over there-and I'm not saying that there's not 29:43 a need here in North America. There is. 29:45 There are a lot of people who need to be reached. 29:47 But when you look at the 3 billion people who've never 29:50 even heard the name of Jesus, I want to go help 29:53 with that, 'cause the Bible's clear. The gospel 29:56 has to go to the world before Jesus can come 29:58 back. And if we're serious about wanting 30:00 to go home, then we're going to be willing to 30:03 make the sacrifices that are necessary to make that 30:06 actually happen. And we might be uncomfortable 30:08 for a little while, and we enjoy our house 30:10 in Michigan; we enjoy... It's a nice, comfortable 30:13 place to live, and I'm sure the Lord's going 30:15 to take care of our comforts over there as well...but the 30:18 sacrifices are going to be worth it to hasten 30:21 the coming of Christ and to get to heaven sooner 30:23 by God's grace. - Amen. That's beautiful. It's 30:27 all about service, it's about Jesus... - Amen. 30:32 - I like something you said a couple times, 30:33 I think, about wanting to be in the center of 30:36 His will, you know? Knowing that this is God's call on 30:39 your life, and then being willing to step out in 30:43 that. Do you think other people are called to do 30:45 what you are doing? Is mission work-I guess, 30:48 what I'm saying-is mission work a call on everyone's 30:51 life or just certain people? - Yeah, 30:53 well... I won't-... There's a great quote 30:55 in the book Desire of Ages from Ellen White 30:57 where she says that when we become disciples of 31:02 Christ that every person who becomes a disciple 31:04 of Christ is a missionary. - Yes. - And I don't know 31:09 how that's gonna look in the lives of our viewers, 31:11 but we're all called to be witnesses for Christ. 31:16 And whether that's here in North America or 31:18 overseas, the best thing to do is to ask God, "Where 31:21 do you want me to be a missionary?" 'Cause we 31:23 can be missionaries here in North America, as well 31:25 (I mean, it's a mission field), but we're all called to serve 31:28 the Lord. - And at the same time, I would say 31:32 that I think a lot more are called to the foreign 31:37 mission field than are going. It's so hard, 31:42 maybe, to think of leaving your family and friends 31:45 and comforts. But I think if we really ask God what 31:50 is His will for us, we might be surprised. 31:53 - I think when you accept the call into foreign missions, 31:58 you're putting yourself in line of God blessing 32:04 you in just amazing ways- and I think it can happen 32:07 here in North America, as well-but the need 32:09 is so tremendous over there. And like Midori 32:12 said, it's like you're stepping out on thin 32:13 air, going into a place where you're not familiar 32:16 with the culture, you're not familiar with the 32:17 language, you're not familiar with the food... 32:18 There're so many things that are different. But 32:21 when you do that, you're putting yourself in line 32:24 of God just really being able to pour out blessings 32:28 in a mighty way and experiencing Him in a 32:30 way that you wouldn't experience Him living 32:32 a comfortable life here in North America. - Don't 32:35 you think it does something for us as far as dependence 32:37 on God? - Absolutely. - And I'm not saying this 32:39 from retrospect of having served in the 32:41 foreign mission field, but just listening to you 32:43 talk, it seems to me that there is this sense of 32:46 dependence on God where, "Okay, I don't have my 32:49 home I'm used to, I don't have the possessions 32:52 I'm used to, or my car I'm used to, I can't just 32:55 run to Walmart or Kroger or pick up the things I'm 32:59 used to"...and to be honest, you don't 33:01 even have your family nearby. - That's right. 33:03 - So it's almost as if you're cut off from 33:06 the things we normally look to for support... 33:09 ...and then it's just God. - And, you know, 33:11 sometimes, we look at that as a negative- 33:14 but what an incredible experience to be able 33:16 to put yourself in a place where you have to depend 33:18 on God. I mean, we should think of that as a positive 33:21 thing, right?-where we're stripped of everything, 33:24 all the earthly support, and we have to lean on 33:27 our Heavenly Father- and we have earthly 33:29 support. AFM is going to be supporting us, 33:30 we've got the Ericksons, we've got field directors, 33:32 so there are people there that'll support us and 33:34 they'll be there when we need them. But definitely 33:37 putting ourselves in a place where we have to lean 33:39 upon God more so than maybe we have, we 33:43 should have, but more than we have here in North America. 33:45 - Yes! - We've been reading stories of great Christians 33:49 and missionaries lately, and Jason has said a 33:53 couple of times, "I'm tired of reading stories about 33:57 other people who have these amazing experiences 34:00 with God. I want to experience that, too!" 34:03 And so, now, we are experiencing that now. 34:08 - Yeah. Amen. Not just reading about it, but 34:11 seeing it lived out in your own life. What 34:13 would be some ways that you think you have grown 34:15 spiritually through this experience? Or maybe 34:18 what are some lessons that God's teaching you 34:20 through this? - So, I remember right after 34:25 we accepted our call to go to Papua New Guinea- 34:28 it was a bit of a process to get there-but right 34:30 after we accepted that call, I was sitting at home 34:32 and I was having my morning worship, and I was thinking 34:37 about the funds that need to be obtained to be able 34:41 to go. They told us at AFM that Papua New 34:45 Guinea, for them, their projects, is the second 34:47 most expensive place to serve as a missionary 34:49 'cause it's so remote. - Ah, right. - And I'm 34:52 just looking at this and I'm thinking, "Lord, 34:53 this is a lot." And as I was thinking about it, 34:57 He brought to my mind Philippians 4:19, "My 34:59 God shall supply all my needs." - Yes. - And so 35:02 I got out my Bible, and I underlined that promise; 35:05 I put my finger on it like all the great missionaries 35:08 and workers have done before and said, "Lord, 35:09 this is what You said, okay?" - Right. - "And so I'm leaving 35:12 this with You." And then four hours later, I was 35:15 taking my trash out to the end of our driveway, 35:18 and I went over to my mailbox, and I opened 35:21 the mailbox door, and there was one letter 35:24 in our mailbox. There's never one letter in my 35:26 mailbox. [laughter] There's always all 35:28 kinds of other stuff. - Right. - So I took 35:30 out the letter, and it was from 3ABN, and it 35:33 had our address handwritten on the front of it with Midori's 35:38 name on there. - Oh! - And I thought, "Well 35:40 this is interesting," so I opened it up at the end 35:42 of my driveway, and I took it out. Midori's 35:44 grandmother had just passed away. She was 35:47 102...103? - Mhm. - Good for her. That's great. 35:51 - Yeah. She lived a good, long life, but she had 35:54 just passed away, and it was 3ABN notifying 35:58 us that there was money that was left in her trust 36:02 that was going to be coming to us in the 36:04 amount of $7,500. - Oh, wow... - And it was like, 36:08 four hours before, I had claimed this promise 36:11 in Philippians 4:19, "My God shall supply all my 36:13 needs." Four hours later, God is like, "Look, Jason, 36:16 I've got this under control. Money's not an issue. Just 36:19 trust Me, and I'll take care of things." So 36:22 experiences like that, you know, it's just 36:24 like, "Wow, that's so cool!" when things 36:26 like that happen. - So your grandma had a 36:27 trust, then, with 3ABN, obviously, and then she 36:30 must've decided, "Okay, so much is going to 36:32 these different family members," and then... 36:34 Wow! That's amazing. - But the timing! - Yes! 36:37 - Yeah, the timing was impeccable. - Days 36:39 before... - It was two days after we came 36:43 back from AFM that we got the magazine after 36:46 we accepted the call. It was two days later 36:48 that we got the letter in the mail. So, the timing 36:49 was just amazing. - And it's the same morning 36:50 you're praying! - In the same morning I'm praying. 36:52 - And you're claiming that promise in Philippians, 36:54 "My God shall supply all your need," and 36:56 then you get that... What a miracle. - Yeah. 36:58 - So one... Ellen White says that sometimes 37:04 we take such good care of ourselves that God 37:08 doesn't have to take care of us. - Oh, wow. 37:11 - And we have experienced, now, God is taking care 37:16 of us because we don't have a job. That's crazy, 37:22 right? [laughter] - That is crazy! - But that's 37:25 why we believe strongly that that's what God 37:29 wanted us to do. We thought about it and considered it 37:33 and prayed about it, and God is now taking 37:36 care of us in ways that we never expected. - Wow. 37:42 What a miracle. - Yeah. It's been fun. [laughter] 37:47 - Living on the edge. - Yes! It's a journey of 37:49 faith. - Yeah. - I mean, what better place to be 37:51 than in the hand of God? - Amen. - And to know 37:54 that He's leading and directing and guiding 37:56 your life, and to have your faith grow and 37:59 be strengthened? That's incredible. - Yeah. It is 38:03 incredible. - Absolutely. Do we have some more 38:04 pictures we can look at? - Yeah! We've got some 38:06 more pictures from Papua New Guinea. This is a 38:09 typical house that you might find over there 38:12 among the Gogodala people, and some of the kids... 38:14 There's kids EVERYWHERE. All the videos and pictures 38:16 that we've seen, there's kids all over the place. 38:18 - Aww. - And I think the next one, we have 38:20 a picture of a lady cooking over an open fire. - They're 38:22 kind of up on stilts, the houses. - Yes, yeah. 38:24 The houses are higher up. I think that's 38:26 for ventilation purposes, to keep things cool inside. 38:28 - Does it flood? Or not? - There's a lot of water. 38:31 - There's a lot of water where we're at, yeah. 38:33 She's cooking a traditional dish, sago, which is made 38:37 from the sago palm. - It's like, the inside of the palm 38:40 that they scrape out and they rinse it, and they 38:45 squeeze the starch out and they dry it, and 38:48 then they cook it. - Oh, wow! - And that's what 38:50 they eat like rice or potatoes would be for 38:53 us. - That seems like a lot of work! - It is 38:56 a lot of work. - Yeah! - The Gogodala people 38:58 are subsistence livers, so they're out there 39:00 constantly finding food and getting... - Fish. 39:04 - Yeah. They eat a lot of fish and sago and whatever 39:07 they can grow. - Vegetables. - Right. - That they grow, 39:10 yeah. There's not a lot of money that changes 39:14 hands. They can take care of themselves without 39:17 money. - Yeah. Wow, that's amazing. Well, let's look 39:21 at some more pictures here. - Yeah, I think 39:23 we have... This is a group of people that recently 39:25 got baptized as a result of Steve and Laurie's 39:28 ministry over there. - All of these people got baptized? 39:31 - No, I think it's the ones in the front row 39:33 there are the ones that got baptized and some of 39:34 the back are church members, but it was a good-sized group. 39:37 One of the challenges over there that, by God's 39:40 grace, we're going to be able to help out with 39:42 is the local mission. They want ordained ministers 39:47 to be the one to do the baptisms, and obviously 39:50 Steve is not ordained. So, they kind of have to... 39:54 - But you are. - Yes, I am. So, they have 39:56 to kind of pile up their baptisms until an ordained 40:00 minister can come and do those baptisms, so that's 40:02 why they had a large group of baptisms. - They 40:04 actually flew a pastor from the United States 40:06 out there, and he performed the baptisms for them. So, 40:12 they were waiting a long time before they could 40:15 be baptized. - Wow. And now when you go, they'll 40:18 be able to be baptized right away. - Yeah, by 40:20 God's grace. - When they're ready. - Absolutely, yeah. 40:22 Yeah. And I think we have some pictures, 40:24 also, of the training center that they're in the process 40:26 of building right now. The hope by God's 40:29 grace... Oh, actually, before we get to the 40:31 training center... - Oh, here's an aerial view! 40:32 - This is an aerial of the mission property. 40:34 You can see the training center right in the middle 40:36 there; it's the metal building that's in the 40:38 process of being built, and... - And there's the 40:40 river? You said that everything's... - That's 40:42 the Aramia river. - That's their main source of transportation. 40:44 - That's their main source of transportation. And so, 40:47 Steve and Laurie are right there on the river, which 40:49 is a real blessing, because they can have all of their 40:51 supplies shipped right to the mission property. 40:53 - Yes. - This is the building that they're in the process 40:57 of building-the training center-yep. And the hope, 41:00 by God's grace, is to have that done within the next 41:02 year, so it should be finished by the time we 41:05 actually get to the field. - Yes! - It's just a massive 41:08 undertaking. Steve is a tremendous-both 41:10 Steve and Laurie-they're just great people of faith 41:13 to undertake such a huge project...but the Lord is 41:16 blessing. - Yeah. - So, we're excited to see 41:18 what's going to happen. - Oh, absolutely. - God 41:20 gave them a dream to build a training center 41:24 several years ago without knowing who was going 41:28 to come to work there. They didn't have any 41:31 partners or teammates. They started building, 41:34 and they have built several buildings already: a library, 41:39 because they don't have books there... If you think 41:43 about it, they're in the jungle; there're no books. 41:45 So they're going to have a library, they're going 41:48 to have some sleeping houses like dormitories 41:51 so that people can come and stay there and go to 41:54 the training center. The training center will hold 41:57 like 300 people, and there will be places where they 42:01 can train and have meetings- camp meetings, even-there. 42:08 So, they have a big vision, and we are really excited 42:13 that we can fit into that dream. - Amen. 42:18 Now, pardon my ignorance here, but do they have the 42:21 Bible translated into the Gogodala language? - They 42:23 do. We've been told it's not the best of translations, 42:26 so... - Okay. - ...we're going to try to help out 42:29 with- I don't know with an actual translation, 42:31 but doing literacy classes, and maybe they might be 42:34 able to understand the English translation a little 42:35 bit better. We'll have to see how the Lord 42:37 works that all out for us once we get over there. 42:39 - Mhm, absolutely. - Yeah. Literacy is a big deal, 42:43 because they have government schools, but they may not ever 42:50 see words in their day, right? We wake up in 42:55 the morning, and we have a cereal box covered with 42:57 words, right? But they eat things from the jungle, 43:03 and they never see words, and so they're not able 43:05 to be fluent in reading English. So, we're hoping 43:09 to have literacy classes so that they will be able 43:12 to read more easily, and that will help them in so 43:16 many ways, but especially in reading the Bible in 43:20 Bible education. - Of course. - And we'll probably 43:22 do some medical missionary training kind of stuff, as well, 43:26 and Bible doctrines (how to share your faith, 43:28 practical godliness; those types of things, 43:31 as well). - Also, business- teaching them how to have 43:34 little businesses will help them, too. - Amen... 43:38 Amen. - So that's all in the training center. 43:40 You're looking at all these types of almost 43:42 classes, you could say, or training for them in 43:45 that training center. - That's right. - Yeah, 43:47 that's amazing. Okay, so when I look at the 43:50 picture and I see the woman there trying 43:54 to prepare the food, or you look at the houses 43:56 on the stilts, and they look like maybe thatched 43:58 roofs? I'm not even sure. - Yeah. - That's not as 44:01 comfortable as life here in the United States. 44:04 - Yeah. - So, do you consider it a sacrifice? 44:08 To leave here and to go over there. Do you 44:11 feel like, "I'm sacrificing a great deal here"? - It 44:15 is a sacrifice, but it's not as much of a sacrifice 44:16 as what Jesus had to make to go on the greatest of 44:19 all mission trips to save this lost race of people 44:22 here on this earth. He left the comforts of 44:24 heaven to live in an uncomfortable place 44:26 here on this earth to serve as a missionary, 44:29 if you will, and I just want to follow in His 44:33 path. And yeah, there are going to be some 44:36 discomforts along the way, but it'll be worth 44:38 it in the end because we're going to have a 44:40 very comfortable place when we get to the 44:41 kingdom of heaven. And we want to take some of 44:43 the Gogodala people with us to the kingdom of heaven. 44:46 - Amen... Amen. - So. - Something that I always 44:48 think about is that God never asks us to really 44:51 sacrifice; it's always in our best interest, 44:56 whatever He asks us to give Him. - Oh, that's 44:59 good. - It's really for our salvation that He's 45:02 calling Jason and me and our kids to the mission field. 45:07 All of us, when we work for the Lord, we're actually 45:10 working for ourselves! We're the ones who benefit 45:14 most, I think. - Mhm. - Absolutely. We want 45:18 to put up your contact information again. You can 45:21 go to AFMonline.org. Just look up the Sliger 45:26 family there. Go to AFMonline.org. You can 45:30 follow this family, you can support them financially 45:34 or with your prayers. Is there a way that they 45:37 can reach out and email you or contact you through 45:39 that website, too? I didn't ask you that before. 45:41 - Yeah! - They can contact us through AFM, yes. 45:45 - Okay-okay. Perfect. Also, there is the Facebook page, 45:49 and clearly you can contact them through that way. 45:51 You can go to Facebook and just look up "Sliger 45:53 Family Mission," and you can contact them that 45:57 way, as well. There might be someone watching today 46:00 or listening on the radio, Jason, who says, "I'm 46:04 struggling in my own life, in my own heart, 46:06 with whether God is calling me to mission service." "I 46:11 felt the call in my heart maybe from just out of 46:13 college like Midori's was," or maybe, "I 46:16 felt it when I was 18, and I went on a mission 46:19 trip to the Philippines," or whatever. What would 46:22 you tell them? - Yeah, so Jesus says, "The 46:29 harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few." 46:31 And then He says, "Pray ye therefore the Lord of 46:33 the harvest that He might send forth laborers into 46:36 the field." So, Jesus tells us that there 46:38 are plenty of people that are yet to be reached 46:41 and that He's looking for workers. So if you 46:44 have a willing heart and you want to serve God, 46:47 whether it be in foreign missions or here at home 46:51 in America, the Lord is more than willing to plug 46:54 you in wherever He wants you to go. And so I would 46:58 encourage you to take some time to really pray 47:02 and seek the Lord's will in your life, because He 47:06 is more than willing to lead you into just the 47:09 right place. He's giving you the right skills, He's 47:14 giving you the right experience, the right 47:17 connections, and He wants to use that to advance His 47:20 kingdom and to grow the kingdom of heaven. So if 47:24 you're willing to go, God is more than willing to 47:27 send. And it's just... For us, we need to seek 47:30 God and allow Him to be the one that opens 47:32 the door for us where He wants us to serve. 47:36 - Amen. What about you, Midori? What would you 47:38 say to a wife or a mom? Or even a single woman 47:42 who feels called to mission service, what would you 47:44 say? - Yeah, absolutely! If you feel called to go 47:49 to the mission field, pray! The Lord is more willing 47:55 to lead us than we are even to follow Him! So, 48:00 trust the Lord's leading and be willing to step 48:04 out where it's a little bit uncomfortable, 48:06 maybe, because sometimes we get a little too comfortable 48:11 in our spot...but the Lord wants to do amazing 48:15 things in your life, and He will if you are willing. 48:20 - Go ahead. - I like to tell people that there's 48:23 nothing like living life on the edge. [laughter] 48:26 With God. Not just to be a thrill seeker 48:29 to be a thrill seeker, but living life on the 48:32 edge with God, walking by faith one step after 48:34 another... There's just nothing like it. It's such 48:37 a wonderful, rich experience. God's not satisfied with us 48:42 just having the same experience with Him 48:43 day after day; He wants us to experience Him 48:46 in a way that we've never experienced Him before. 48:49 - That's good. - And to do that, He has to bring 48:51 us out of our comfort zones every now and then. 48:53 - Yes. - And stepping out in faith puts you 48:56 in that experience where you're stepping out and 48:58 something that you're not quite comfortable 48:59 with, but you're going to experience God in a 49:01 way that you've never experienced Him before, 49:03 and it's going to deepen your relationship with Him. 49:04 - Yes. What if someone's saying, "I want to go, but 49:07 I'm afraid"? How do you deal with that fear? - I 49:10 think one good way to take baby steps is to 49:16 hear God's voice. Listen really carefully for His 49:18 voice! And if you feel like God is calling you 49:20 to maybe give or to do some work for Him, 49:27 do it in those little things! If we follow Him, we will 49:31 gain more confidence in the Lord, and we'll be 49:36 able to grow our faith so that He ultimately, 49:39 He can take us wherever He wants us to go. - Amen. 49:43 - I think sometimes, fear also comes from a lack 49:46 of trust. And as you go through that faith 49:52 journey with God, stepping out into the uncomfortable 49:55 unknown, the more you do that and the more 49:58 God comes through for you, the less you have 50:00 that fear. - That's good; absolutely. What if someone's 50:04 saying, "Okay, I think God's calling me, but 50:06 I'm not sure it's God." So how does someone 50:10 actually KNOW they're being called as a missionary? 50:12 Is there a fleece you put out like Gideon? 50:15 Is there something that you would actually tangibly 50:17 be able to reach out and say, "Okay, now 50:19 I know. This is my answer." How do you know? - I would 50:23 say everybody's called, but the question is not 50:26 so much, "Lord, do you want me to be a missionary?" 50:28 but it's, "Lord, where do you want me to serve?" 50:30 - Okay. - 'Cause God is calling all of us to 50:33 be workers for Him, whether you call it a missionary, 50:35 whether you call it a pastor, whether you 50:37 call it a Bible worker- whatever it is-layperson, 50:39 we're all called to be workers for Him. But 50:41 the question is, "Where do you want me to serve, 50:43 Lord?" - Okay. - And, you know, I can't say 50:46 that there's a black and white way that this 50:48 happens. It would be nice if there was a formula 50:50 where kind of that type of people, you know, where 50:52 we like formulas...but I think if God did give us 50:57 that, we would not experience Him in a deeper way...right? 51:01 - Okay. - And so God wants us to put our trust in Him 51:03 that He's going to lead us. And then when it 51:05 actually happens, we're like, "That was such a 51:07 great experience with God! Now I've got a 51:08 richer story that I can share with somebody 51:11 else, and it's different than Jason and Midori's. 51:13 It's different than this person or that person. 51:15 This is my unique fingerprint experience that God has 51:18 given to me that has deepened my experience 51:20 together with Him." - Amen! Amen. - The Lord wants us 51:23 to seek Him for Himself, not only give us answers. 51:29 He doesn't want to send us the facts; He wants 51:32 us to come to Him and know Him more intimately 51:35 than before. - Well, it's clear that God has led 51:38 both of you on a more intimate journey with 51:40 Him through this experience of being called to the mission 51:43 field. I want to thank you for coming and for 51:46 sharing your story, for sharing your heartbeat, 51:49 as it were, for God and what's God's doing in 51:51 your life. We're going to go to a break here, and 51:54 when we come back Jason and Midori will give us some 51:57 closing thoughts. But I hope that your heart 51:59 has been encouraged and inspired to keep following 52:04 Jesus!-to see where He is calling you to serve, 52:08 and then to step out by faith and to seek His 52:12 face even more, to get to know Him more, and 52:15 to follow Him-to walk in that obedience. We 52:18 want to encourage you to support Jason and 52:21 Midori and their mission service, to pray for 52:24 them as they're stepping out as Isaiah was in 52:26 Isaiah 6 when he was called. He said, "Here 52:29 am I; send me," and that's God's call for each one of us. |
Revised 2019-09-26