Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY230052A
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00:04 ♪ I want to spend my life mending broken people ♪ 00:15 ♪ I want to spend my life removing pain ♪ 00:26 ♪ Lord let my words heal a heart that hurts ♪ 00:36 ♪ I want to spend my life mending broken people ♪ 00:56 ♪ ♪ 01:08 Hello and welcome to another 3ABN Today program. We are so 01:10 glad that you've joined us today You know you're part of the 3ABN 01:14 family and we just want to say thank you for your prayers and 01:17 your financial support for the ministry, God's ministry, 3ABN 01:20 You know without you 3ABN would not be able to reach the entire 01:25 world. And you know what Jill? Today I'm really excited because 01:28 we have the opportunity, you have the opportunity to get 01:32 involved in evangelism to Africa and actually go to Africa. So 01:37 today's going to be a power packed program. Don't go away. 01:40 This is going to be really fun. 01:42 Absolutely. We're calling it from spectators to disciple 01:47 makers. What does that mean? You have to stay tuned and find out 01:51 how we can become involved in evangelism. 01:54 That's right. 01:55 Our special guest here today is all the way from Africa. This is 01:59 Pastor Emanuel Pelote. I hope I pronounced that correct. 02:02 (Perfect) You are assistant to the president and director of 02:06 communication for the East Central Africa Division. And 02:09 it's a privilege Pastor Pelote to have you here today. 02:12 Thank you so much. It's great to be here. 02:15 And I know you're all about evangelism. 02:17 Amen, amen it's in our blood. 02:19 Amen. We had the opportunity to meet with Pastor Pelote before 02:22 we went on the program here and boy I tell you his eyes just 02:24 light up when we're talking about evangelism and for this 02:27 incredible opportunity that's going to take place this next 02:30 year. And so we're going to tell you a little bit more about it. 02:33 Let's find out a little bit about you personally. Then we'll 02:34 go to some music and then kind of dive into the program but... 02:38 Married? Children? (Yes I am...) You don't look old enough to 02:41 have grandkids but maybe you do. 02:44 Blessings. I have a wife, Karen Pelote and together we have six 02:51 children. Two are grown, one of them actually has given us three 02:56 and a half grandchildren. So... 02:58 Three and a half, they must be pregnant then. 02:59 Three boys and we don't know what's coming next, the next one 03:03 is on the way. And then we have two that are college-age and two 03:07 that are just today going off to start their senior year at 03:11 academy. So we're very excited. 03:14 That's really special. So you've spent your whole lifetime 03:17 serving in the church. Did you always want to be a pastor? 03:20 Or what's a little bit of your history? 03:22 Wow, great question. I...you know I have always wanted to 03:27 walk with the Lord and serve the Lord. I really have felt that 03:29 all my life but I made a covenant I guess with the Lord 03:34 when I was a child and I told him, I don't want to tell you 03:40 what to do with my life Lord. I want you to tell me. So if you 03:45 call me to do anything I will be there. I promise you Lord I will 03:49 say yes. So I went through school. I went to college and 03:56 even had the opportunity to go to Andrews University to the 04:02 Seminary as I was running a software company, a software 04:06 development company. 04:07 Businessman, you're a businessman. 04:08 Yeah. And so I've had many businesses over the years. In 04:12 fact I was an ASI president for the Columbia Union for several 04:16 years before I came to this position. So I was running my 04:20 business, working with ASI and many other organizations when 04:24 the Lord called me to come and be the assistant to the 04:28 president in the East Central Africa Division. So this is 04:31 actually my first employed position within the church. We 04:39 felt like it was challenging because everything was going 04:44 well. The company was going well Was just really enjoying 04:46 ministry and life. But you know when the Lord called I said 04:49 listen, Lord, I have been praying and asking you to do so many 04:54 different things in my life, in my family's life, in my world. 04:59 And God if you're calling me now to also help how can I say no to 05:05 you when I'm busy asking you to help with so many other things. 05:09 So I said Lord, if this is you I'm happy to do anything so we 05:15 left everything, came the follow Him...we didn't know what 05:18 to expect. We had really no plan other than just trust the Lord 05:23 and we believed he was trustworthy and he has been. 05:26 What year did you move over there to Kenya and take that 05:29 That was five years ago in 2018. Everybody said we were crazy but 05:35 you know I think it's crazy not to trust the Lord when he calls. 05:38 Amen, amen. I know I had the privilege of meeting Pastor 05:42 Pelote at the booth, the 3ABN booth, there at ASI, and he 05:45 stopped by the booth and he said we're doing this amazing 05:49 evangelistic opportunity in the East Central Africa Division 05:53 it will be in July of 2024. We want to have, I think it's 05:58 30,000 simultaneous evangelistic sites. And I said, Yes! At 3ABN 06:04 we want to be involved and we want to showcase this and invite 06:08 people. So we're so excited to talk about that initiative here 06:11 today. 06:13 Oh absolutely. Yes. I'm thinking about the initiative of the 06:16 General Conference, I will go. And so I think about 3ABN, Mr. 06:19 Danny Shelton, of course, founder of 3ABN. He's always talking 06:23 about the Go Ye, right? God called all of us to go into all 06:27 the world. So when he asks the question, when Danny's always 06:29 asking the question, How many yes's are in the room, he said 06:32 every hand should go up right. God's called each one of us to 06:35 a mission. It could be in your neighborhood, it could be going 06:37 to the East Central Africa Division for this project. The 06:40 Lord knows and I'm thinking about you too. You were willing. 06:42 You said God I want to be a vessel that can be used by you 06:45 and look at where God has taken you and you're happy. I can see 06:48 the joy in your face. But Jill before we dive into more details 06:52 shall we go to some music right now. 06:53 Absolutely. We have Carlot Dorve with us. He's an amazing trumpet 06:58 player. The song he'll be ministering is The Lord's Prayer 07:00 ♪ ♪ 10:03 Amen. Thank you so very much Carlot. Again, he's a great 10:08 friend of the ministry of 3ABN. What an incredible song, The 10:11 Lord's Prayer. Again we're here with Pastor Pelote, Pelote, make 10:16 sure I get that right. So glad that you're here from East 10:19 Central Africa Division. Tell us a little bit about your 10:22 responsibilities and what the East Africa Division is all 10:24 about, because some people may be like what is that a division 10:27 it sounds like there's a divide Why is the church divided? 10:32 Jesus prayed for unity. (Yeah Exactly) So let's find out 10:33 a little bit and what your responsibilities are in the team 10:35 over there, your leadership team 10:37 Well the East Central Africa Division of the Seventh-day 10:43 Adventist church just means it's a sector, or a region, of the 10:48 worldwide church of the Seventh- day Adventist church. And so the 10:53 headquarters for the East Central African region is this 10:58 division headquarters. Now I work there as the assistant to 11:01 the president for that region. In that region, there are about 11:04 410, 420 million people living in that part of the territory 11:11 (four hundred?) about 410, 420 million people. 11:16 What countries does that encompass? 11:18 It's 11 countries and it covers countries like Ethiopia, Uganda, 11:23 South Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania, 11:31 Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya of 11:36 course where I live. Hopefully I didn't forget anyone. 11:39 That's a lot of countries. 11:41 It is a lot. 11:43 And so that represents about 420 million people there. 11:47 Yeah, Yes and so it's a vast territory but God has blessed it. 11:54 Ah, the Seventh-day Adventist work has been going on in that 11:58 region for just over 100 years. And within the division which 12:04 was officially organized 20 years ago this year there are 12:11 just over five million Seventh- day Adventist members in that 12:16 territory. 12:18 Five million Seventh-day Adventists in this one division. 12:19 That would be the largest division as far as members... 12:23 I believe at the moment this is the largest division in the 12:26 world, yes, yeah. The Lord's really been doing a really 12:30 tremendous work. But the challenge that we have that we 12:35 feel before I tell you even about the leadership because I 12:38 want to be sure and convey that the heart feeling that I get 12:43 from our leaders. Their feeling is yes we may be the largest 12:48 division but the work is far from finished. And you know they 12:53 have such a zeal and such a passion. I mean all three of our 12:57 officers are serious evangelists and they feel like complacency 13:02 is the last place we want to be. We really want to grow and... 13:05 I can see them here. So who are we looking at? 13:07 So in the center, there is the President of the division. This 13:11 is Dr. Blassis Raguri and he has been a strong leader in that 13:18 division. He has been the President, now this is his third 13:22 term as the president. And then there's... 13:26 Strong support then from the people? 13:29 And he...this is a very Spirit- led man. I have to tell you. 13:35 It's something that's hard to explain. You know the title 13:37 doctor doesn't capture it. This man really hears from God and 13:43 it's pretty amazing. The secretary of the division is 13:48 Dr. Mousa Mitcaro and he was recently elected to that 13:54 position last year at the General Conference session and 13:57 then... 14:00 Is he the one on the left in the picture? 14:01 Yes he's the one to the...on the right. He's to the left of 14:06 Pastor Raguri. And then the tallest of the three is Pastor 14:13 Havimanna, Jerome Havimanna. He is executive treasurer there. 14:17 Okay. Wow. Fantastic. What a blessing to have a leadership 14:20 team that's in harmony, going for the same goal, all about 14:23 evangelism and this initiative that we just mentioned, I think 14:26 you said you want 30,000, is that right, simultaneous 14:30 evangelistic series going on? That's an incredible undertaking 14:34 It's amazing. 14:36 It is very extraordinary. Let me I'll tell you a little bit of a 14:39 story behind the scenes, kind of what happens here. So every year 14:43 the world church leaders always gather at the world headquarters 14:48 which is in Maryland in the United States. So these officers 14:51 were all in Maryland and they called us all that were still in 15:00 Kenya, they called us one day while they were under conviction 15:03 at these meetings of the General Conference, and they said listen 15:08 we feel led strongly to do an extraordinary work for the Lord 15:14 between now and 2025. And we didn't even know what to say, we 15:21 just knew it was a God-size vision but it turned out to be 15:25 this incredible campaign that we're calling ECD, Evangelistic 15:30 Impact 2025. And so I've already shared with you the work has 15:37 been there for just over 100 years and now there are these 15:43 five million you know wonderful hard-working members in that 15:46 territory. But the officers are saying now No we don't have 100 15:54 years to wait for the return of Jesus. We want to see the Holy 15:58 Spirit fall and Jesus be able to come as soon as possible. And so 16:03 they have issued the call that every member of the church go 16:09 from being spectators to actual disciple-makers and we double 16:14 the size of the membership in this division from five million 16:18 to 10 million members by 2025. 16:21 Oh, that's an impressive goal. (multiple voices) 16:25 This is a God-size vision. So we are fully dependent upon the 16:32 Holy Spirit to see a work like that done and we know that the 16:36 Holy Spirit doesn't just work through church leaders, not just 16:39 through pastors but through the entire body of Christ and so the 16:44 entire campaign centers on the idea of every single believer 16:49 who trusts in the name of Jesus to receive the gifts and the 16:54 empowerment of the Holy Spirit to share their testimony, their 16:58 witness, their walk with Christ, with one family member, one 17:04 neighbor, one coworker, one friend. Every year just share 17:09 your faith and help them to meet Jesus every year. We want every 17:15 member winning one soul every year and just nurturing them as 17:19 their friend every year. So that's the vision of how we 17:26 would go from five million to 10 million members in three 17:30 years. 17:31 Total member involvement, each member being involved in 17:34 evangelism. 17:35 This is total member involvement This is the priesthood of all 17:38 believers really writ large. And so the campaign next year, we're 17:44 calling it ECD Homecoming Impact 2024 and we're having several 17:54 campaigns in the division where it's not the church that is 17:58 having programs and we're asking members to support It's actually 18:02 now turned on its head. We're asking the members to go out and 18:07 share their faith with their community and the church is now 18:14 creating programs and initiatives to support them to 18:19 help them to harvest those souls that they have been praying for 18:22 and serving and witnessing to all this time. So this campaign 18:29 for next year has really already begun. Church members are 18:33 already out witnessing to so many different people but we are 18:38 organizing a large harvest campaign and this campaign we 18:42 just want the entire world. It won't just be pastors preaching 18:45 We're asking for Spirit-filled church members who love the Lord 18:50 to come and just share a message of faith and belief that Jesus 18:56 is returning soon. That message needs to be proclaimed but it's 19:00 going to be over 30,000 evangelistic campaigns from July 19:06 6 to July 20th. I think it's the largest campaign that has ever 19:10 happened in the history of our church, maybe of any church ever 19:15 So we're really all ready. Prayer is the key. Already we 19:19 are praying heavily over this. 19:21 So this is July 6 through July 20 next year, 2024. 19:25 That's right, that's right. 19:28 So we were mentioning at the beginning of the program about 19:29 you our viewer/listener, family of 3ABN how you can get involved 19:33 So kind of tell us how they could get involved, because 19:36 you're actually talking about you need people again three_ 19:38 around the world to come to the East Central Africa, right? 19:42 Yeah actually... 19:43 To preach evangelistic series. 19:44 Absolutely... 19:46 Or be involved some way. 19:47 Yes. Or there are other people that may be called to 19:50 do other things. Pastor Raguri is issuing his personal 19:55 invitation to 8,000 of our church members from around 20:00 the world to come from outside of our division to assist us, 20:06 to lead these evangelistic campaigns. You know this 20:10 vision is from God. It's not about our division. This is 20:15 about the body of Christ coming together in unity and in power 20:19 to impact the world. You know we you know coming from you know 20:24 America everybody could probably tell that my accent is not 20:27 exactly Kenyan or Ethiopian right? So I was born and raised 20:32 here in the United States and you know I have seen all of the 20:38 infomercials about Africa needs this and that and so forth. All 20:41 of these things all of my life. But you know the answer for 20:46 Africa, the answer for the problems in Africa and in Asia 20:50 and in America and South America, everywhere, it's not to 20:55 be found in government, it's not to be found in policies or you 20:59 know and as good as it is to protect the environment and all 21:05 these different things, the answer for the world is Jesus. 21:08 Yeah, that's right, amen. 21:09 It's in the transformation in hearts that change people and 21:15 families and then churches and communities are transformed. The 21:21 Lord loves every human being on this earth. We are all his 21:25 children and he wants to be reunited with us. And when the 21:29 Lord is able to do that one thing we will see nations change 21:32 we will see Africa change. And so this grand invitation from 21:38 Pastor Raguri is for people to come and help us and I tell you 21:44 when people from the African community hear that someone has 21:47 traveled from somewhere to come and just minister to them. I've 21:52 never really seen such gratitude and joy in people than I've seen 22:00 there. And I've been in so many different parts of the world but 22:03 there is something special about that gratitude that people 22:07 express when you come to serve them there in Africa. So he's 22:12 invited people to come. I think many more people will come and 22:15 hear the gospel simply because they're saying wow someone from 22:19 Germany, someone from Japan, somebody from Canada and from 22:24 Mexico has come to share the gospel with us. We have to come 22:28 and see this. So it's a grand invitation from Pastor Raguri 22:32 and the division is saying this: To anyone that the Holy Spirit's 22:36 speaking to you maybe even right now we want you to feel welcome 22:42 to town. We're asking you to go to ECDhomecoming.org because 22:49 there's a website set up there with a personal invitation 22:50 direct from the president of the division and he'll share 22:54 probably much more eloquently than I can his invitation for 22:59 people to come. And there's a form that people can fill in. 23:01 just telling us a little bit about themselves so that we can 23:06 know about them and try to see which countries would be the best 23:10 fit for them and then we can get back to them about how they can 23:14 participate. 23:16 So I want to talk the person at home right now that'd saying, 23:18 No, I feel impressed to be a missionary. I want to be a 23:21 missionary. Maybe this is an opportunity. I'm just not a speaker 23:23 I'm just not a preacher. Maybe they're only wanting like 23:26 ordained pastors to come. Is that true? Or is this for any 23:31 lay evangelist for the Lord? 23:34 Listen, you know, I don't think you know when we get to heaven 23:36 I don't think you know when the Lord calls us all home, He's not 23:40 going to have a section in heaven for the ordained pastors or 23:44 over here an elected church leader, or were you...You know these 23:47 are all...the Lord just simply says you know I knew you. You 23:52 were my friend. I have a relationship with you. You were 23:56 willing to surrender all to Jesus. And the Bible actually 24:01 says don't worry about what you're going to say if you are 24:04 called before kings. Don't even worry about that. The Holy 24:08 Spirit will give you what to say So this is actually...if you've 24:12 ever wanted to grow in your faith, if you ever wanted to 24:16 grow in your faith, you can't grow in your faith until you put 24:20 your faith is put to the test and you actually say yes to the 24:24 Holy Spirit. Yes I will go and you're in a situation that is 24:28 beyond your capacity, beyond your control. You're having to 24:32 stress yourself a little bit and say Lord I trust you that in 24:35 this situation you're going to come through and you begin to 24:40 give what the Holy Spirit has given to you. 24:43 Question for you: So has your faith been tested because you 24:48 moved, big move right? So Tell us a little bit about that. I 24:50 know you've also been challenged your faith. 24:53 No doubt, for sure. When I went...I left, really I think 24:59 God probably said I was a little too comfortable. You know when 25:02 we're comfortable we tend to rely on ourselves and trust 25:06 ourselves and trust the money we have in our bank account, or you 25:10 know I've got these friends and I've made a nice life for myself 25:12 and I don't have to...you know. But that is not the place where 25:17 we come into an interface with Christ himself. You know the 25:24 places, where we meet Jesus, is outside of our comfort zone. You 25:28 know Jesus was here on the earth doing the will of his Father 25:31 outside of the comfort zone of Heaven, you know. So the place 25:35 where we're drawn into a connection and an interaction 25:41 with the Holy Spirit is a place that is outside of our 25:45 dependency on the things of this world. And I can tell you, for 25:50 me going into countries where I don't speak the language I don't 25:55 know the culture, you know... and I've heard stories that said 26:00 maybe we'll get to this but you know you hear stories about 26:02 Africa. You may be concerned. I'm not sure I can go to Africa, 26:05 that might be you know a little bit you know...but it's not 26:09 about do I trust Africa, or the people there or anything. It's 26:13 do I trust Jesus, and I have had to trust Jesus. And I think we 26:20 don't trust the Lord sometimes because we never allow ourselves 26:24 to be in a position where we need to trust the Lord. 26:28 It's stepping outside of our comfort zone. 26:29 That's great, yeah great advice. 26:31 The Lord is always calling us 26:33 outside of that comfort zone and the challenge that I have is 26:38 that so often times I have told the Lord, no I can't do that 26:42 because I'm not...I'm not comfortable. And the Lord has to 26:46 make us comfortable before we're going to obey him. The question 26:51 we have to ask is that really obedience? You know if my 26:54 children say yes Dad I'll obey you as soon as it's comfortable 26:58 As soon as I have it all figured out and everything's taken care 27:02 of and I know the end from the beginning, then Dad I'll do what 27:08 you ask. But I love my children and I challenge them because I 27:13 want to see them grow. So they'll never learn to ride that 27:18 bicycle, they will never learn how to swim and they will never 27:21 know the depths of walking with the Lord until they dive in with 27:27 both feet and just trust him to go where you know naturally they 27:31 would not have gone on their own 27:32 Yeah, wow, that's powerful. Thank you for sharing that. 27:36 You mentioned how it can seem scary for some people. Oh I 27:40 don't know the country, I don't know the culture, I don't know 27:43 the language. I'm a little apprehensive. What would you 27:46 tell somebody who's maybe thinking of coming and they say 27:48 I want to be involved, I want to speak, I want to come. Will they 27:53 be...will someone pick them up at the airport? Will there be... 27:55 What about the practical logistics. Will someone be with 27:58 them at all times to walk them through that culture and help 28:02 them acclimate or who does that work? 28:04 Absolutely, great question. There's this thing that I 28:08 just...it's called African hospitality. And let me tell you 28:12 don't know hospitality until you've experienced that. And yes 28:16 the leaders in the division are saying if the Holy Spirit is 28:21 calling you and you are invited to come and lead these campaigns 28:26 ECD, the church, will pick you up from the airport, carry you 28:33 back and forth wherever you need to go... 28:34 You don't have to arrange Uber (multiple voices) and figure 28:38 out how to...okay. 28:39 You don't even need to figure out arrange food. You know they 28:43 will make sure that you have good food and let me tell you 28:45 this is good food that you will have in Africa. I'm telling you 28:50 I love being there. I'm even a little bit afraid of coming back 28:54 to the States because over there you know actually, let me tell 28:59 you a funny thing. As a kid and growing up you know my fear was 29:03 I always heard that there's no food in Africa, there's no food 29:05 anywhere in Africa. But I was amazed. I got there. There's 29:09 food everywhere but it was in the garden this morning and 29:14 today it's in the market. And so you're eating what is fresh. I 29:18 mean amazing, amazing food. So trust me. Anybody that comes 29:23 they're going to have excellent food. I'm speaking as an 29:27 American. I can tell you the food is excellent. We will feed 29:31 you. We'll even provide a place for you to stay. The local 29:34 Church, you know whoever's sponsoring that particular event 29:37 will provide accommodations. Maybe it's with a host family 29:40 that you know has the resources to provide the good 29:45 accommodation for visiting guests or maybe in a hotel. But 29:48 don't worry if some of us may say listen I really only want to 29:51 stay at the Marriot or whatever is available. The things that 29:57 the local church is providing will all be free. But if 30:01 somebody wants an upgrade they can certainly choose to do that 30:03 on their own if they want to. There's no problem with that. 30:06 So pay to travel over, you obviously, pay for the ride to get 30:09 over and then to travel back home. And also if they want an 30:12 upgrade they can pay for that. But once they get to Africa 30:14 everything will be taken care of. 30:15 Yeah and I will give you for free, I've never seen this 30:20 myself, it's usually in the States during July, the month of 30:23 July, but every July and early August there is something that 30:28 is known as the Great Migration where thousands or millions of 30:33 wildlife they migrating from one area to another and it's this 30:38 great sight to see. I've never seen it but next year because of 30:41 this campaign I'm going to be there in July and when that 30:44 campaign is over I'm going to go see the great migration. So I 30:47 think people should try that. I'm certainly going to do it. 30:50 Wow. Yeah, praise the Lord. I think about this opportunity and 30:54 it's absolutely incredible. So again maybe give us that website 30:56 We say oh wow that sounds really good. I missed the website. What 30:59 is that again? They can find more information, fill out the 31:01 application. 31:03 ECDhomecoming.org. There it is on the screen right now. 31:07 ECDhomecoming.org Now what about the preaching. I know some 31:11 campaigns people follow...I'm just throwing this out like a 31:15 Share Him campaign or other campaigns where all the speakers 31:19 are kind of following the same outline. Are you going to have 31:22 something like that for all 30,000 sites or do people just 31:26 pick and choose or how is that orchestrated and set up. 31:29 We're very excited about that aspect of this campaign. 31:33 Normally we do and I've done Share Him, I've done Share Him 31:37 in the past and it's been excellent. I was in the 31:39 Philippines for that. It's a great program. We're going to 31:42 do something similar to that. This time we're going to have a 31:48 campaign that is really tailored to speak to the heart needs of 31:53 people who are Indigenous to that region. So people from 31:56 Africa are really going to hear how does the gospel really 32:01 issues that they are dealing with as Africans growing up in 32:06 their nations. We're asking for people to come and preach at 32:10 either in English or we will have translators prepared for 32:15 them. But if there are people, maybe they're originally from 32:19 the East African areas and they speak one of the languages 32:22 there then they won't need a translator. They'll welcome to 32:25 come and preach in their language. But we will have a 32:27 full series that is been produced by the division that 32:32 they can share, they don't have to plan really anything. They 32:37 can just prayerfully study those things, pray, and ask the Lord to 32:40 really do something in their discipleship, to even transform 32:43 them so that they come back home they will be even more powerful 32:48 agents and soldiers for Jesus Christ in their home area than 32:53 even they will have been able to be even in Africa. We're looking 32:58 for a world transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit. 33:00 What are some of the specific means, you referenced that. I'm 33:04 so glad that it's going to be tailor-made specifically for the 33:06 culture and the people and that you've already prepared it or 33:09 will have prepared it by next year. But what are some that you 33:12 referencing needs, what are some of the specific needs for the 33:15 people there? What do they deal with? 33:17 Well you know in fact let me go into a previous 33:22 question you said along with this one. Because you were 33:26 asking me about some of the concerns that people have 33:29 sometimes going to Africa and you know rumors and all those 33:33 things. We want to really address those things. You know 33:38 you hear in Africa about you know there are wars and you know 33:44 different problems of violence. You hear about corruption, you 33:47 hear about you know starvation and all those different kinds 33:50 of things that are happening. Well those kind of things do 33:53 happen even everywhere around the world but it was something 33:58 that was in my mind before I went for sure. But the gospel 34:03 has a remedy for those things. This was not God's plan for any 34:09 human being to ever have to deal with. And so the answer to 34:16 corruption, to crime and all those things are found in the 34:19 gospel in Africa you think about tribes and different countries 34:25 and maybe tribal warfare, tribalism and those things 34:31 really are there but does the gospel has an answer for that? 34:34 Absolutely. Yes. 34:36 Does it speak to that? You know there's tribalism actually 34:38 everywhere in the world possibly except for the United States. 34:42 We know we're just a global melting pot. But the whole world 34:48 is tribes. And I really didn't appreciate that until I lived in 34:52 that context you know for this long. The gospel has an answer 34:56 for that in Genesis. God made one humanity. You know the 35:01 answer to racism, the answer to all those things is that. And 35:04 But people are growing up in these different cultures. We 35:08 don't necessarily appreciate that. So we want to make sure 35:12 that we deal with that issue. We want to deal with the issues 35:15 of poverty or lack of opportunity or even 35:20 corruption where there's pay to play and bribery and all those 35:23 kinds of things. Can the work that the Holy Spirit is doing 35:28 in this world actually address real-world problems, economic 35:34 problems. How do I feed my children or get a good education 35:37 for them? How can they become meaningful citizens and helpful 35:42 citizens in the world? We believe that the gospel has an 35:45 answer for that. These are top priority questions that people 35:48 have in Africa and we want to make sure that we are practicing 35:53 Christ's method of reaching the world which is mingling with 35:57 people as ones who are concerned for the needs of the people on 36:03 the ground. So those are some of the top concerns. And we think 36:07 that Jesus has the answer. We would love for people to come 36:10 share that answer with them. 36:12 Amen! You know how does it look on the local level as far as 36:15 like the local churches. I've wondered that. Or like churches 36:18 like every 10 miles or are churches in some of these areas 36:21 areas of Africa like really spread out a long way apart 36:26 from each other or is it rural? Maybe describe the area. 36:29 You know it really varies so much. You know one of the things 36:33 in the pictures that so many people may have about Africa 36:38 is that it's all rural and that there are you know it's just 36:44 cows and zebra you know everywhere. 36:45 No so describe that to us how this church looks now in all 36:50 those communities. 36:51 For sure, there are places where you will see cows and donkeys 36:56 in the road. You know, you'll see some of that but there are 36:58 also grand cities. Our largest city in the East Central African 37:04 territory which is Kinshasa has over 17 million people in this 37:10 one city. It's a grand urban you know complex. You know sky 37:16 scrapers, banks, businesses. One thing that's unique in Africa 37:21 they have this very robust taxi system using motorcycles. So 37:29 that was new for me. So you have this grand mixture of urban 37:33 settings and you have very rural settings and some of our cities 37:38 like Kigali, Rwanda about one- fifth of that city, one out of 37:44 every five people you run into in that city is a Seventh-day 37:48 Adventist. Isn't that amazing? 37:50 So a big Adventist presence there. Wow. 37:52 But there are so many areas where, in fact, there are some 37:56 areas of our territory you could spend a year meeting people, 38:00 you'll never meet one. So... 38:02 There's a vast disparity. 38:04 A vast disparity. 38:07 There is only one person who can really plan how to reach that 38:11 kind of diversity and that's the Holy Spirit and we're really 38:14 depending on Him. 38:16 So in the cities obviously there are a lot of Adventist churches 38:19 but in some of these communities there may not be an Adventist 38:21 church for miles until the next one then. 38:24 It's very true. 38:25 Are you trying then with this campaign to actually like build 38:28 new churches or actually just grow current churches. Now what 38:31 is the thought? Because to have 30,000 evangelistic series going 38:34 on there's going to be growth. I mean folks you know that right 38:36 We're praying for the Holy Spirit as the pastor was 38:39 mentioning here and there is going to be growth so then 38:42 what's the plan? To expand those churches and make them bigger 38:44 and bigger or to do like branch I'm calling them like churches 38:46 or Sabbath Schools? 38:48 You know I think that what we always have to do...The Holy 38:52 Spirit's always going to call us into a challenge that is way 38:55 bigger than we are. And the result, the fruit, that the Holy 38:59 Spirit wants to give us is going to be unmanageable to us and if 39:03 it is manageable by us then chances are we've not really 39:07 heard him correctly, right? So what he's calling us into is 39:13 enormous, it's extraordinary. So we can't tell you that we 39:18 have it all figured out but here's what we're doing. We've 39:21 decided that we're going to trust God. We're going to go 39:23 back to the Bible and to his plan and when you look at the 39:27 New Testament and the Book of The Acts and the other epistles 39:30 there you see the Holy Spirit calling them into extraordinary 39:34 mission to reach the world. The Bible says that thousands were 39:38 coming to the faith every day and they're a small community 39:41 and it was church members doing it. And you know some of them 39:45 were just meeting by the river you know. Some of them were 39:48 meeting in people's houses. Some of them were you know they would 39:51 go to the temple and come back. We will probably have lots of 39:54 different scenarios like that where we just won't have had 39:58 time to build enough churches for all of those new people but 40:01 it will be member-led, disciple led, a discipleship-led movement 40:06 that'll be fully organized as one body in the community of 40:14 believers. Yeah. 40:15 You know I kind of see, I'm kind of visual. I kind of see like a 40:18 wave, a positive wave, right, just sweeping across the 40:20 continent of Africa, right, because you're talking about the 40:23 early Christian church but just going out, right, going out 40:26 there touching people, making a difference, converting people by 40:28 the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's what's going to 40:30 happen here because like what you say going from five million, 40:33 ten million. When that ten becomes 20, that 20 becomes 40 40:36 right. I'll have 420 million people in just East Africa, the 40:41 part we're talking about, right? That's incredible. That can go 40:43 quickly. I think what you all are doing is what should be done 40:45 around the world. I mean it should be done around the world 40:48 because really each one of us can touch someone and that 40:50 person can touch someone and wow, the work will go quickly. 40:53 Can I give you a couple of stories right here? Directly on this 40:58 topic. Now I was not there at the time. I remember wanting to 41:02 go but I was not able to go to the country of Rwanda in 2016. 41:06 This was done in Rwanda in 2016 where we invited the world to 41:12 come you know. And nobody knew what to expect. This was when 41:15 the General Conference was first announcing Total Member 41:18 Involvement, right? And in 2016 the whole world came. I remember 41:23 Elder Wilson was there. Nancy Wilson preached also, she had 41:29 her own site. I mean...Who had never preached before. You know 41:32 I don't think she'll mind me sharing. She was nervous. 41:35 She didn't even 41:37 plan on preaching when she got there. But the embrace of the 41:40 African community there, Pastor Raguri himself invited her. He 41:45 said no we need you to preach. And she surrendered to the Holy 41:48 Spirit and when she did she was blessed. And I believe it was 41:54 something like 400 people were baptized from her ministry there 41:58 just hers. And overall there were 110,000 people that met 42:05 Jesus as a result of that campaign. That was only about 42:08 2,500 evangelistic sites. 42:12 Wow! And 110,000 people there... 42:15 There were 110,000. And there were only about 300 people that 42:18 came from outside of the division to come and preach. 42:20 So now we're saying 30,000 and we're looking for 7,000 or 8,000 42:28 people to come from outside. And I believe the Holy Spirit's 42:32 really going to move. And I'll tell you my personal experience 42:36 with that. In 2019 the East Central Africa Division had 42:43 another campaign similar to the one in Rwanda. It was not you 42:48 know global invitations like it was in Rwanda and like it is now 42:50 So this is just people from within ECD going into another territory 42:56 within that division and preaching. Now at that time that 43:02 country had I think it was around 120,000 members or 43:11 somewhere around there. My numbers are going to be close. 43:13 And the church had been there for some time but it wasn't really 43:19 growing with power and passion. The members were feeling very 43:23 overwhelmed with the size of the mission. There are about a hundred, 43:29 I believe it's 110 million people living in Ethiopia. It's 43:31 a huge population. And you know they weren't really feeling like 43:38 there was a way that they were going to be able to reach the 43:40 whole country. The entire division came, people from every 43:43 one of our countries. We took evangelistic sites, we preached, 43:48 there for two weeks and they went out during those two weeks 43:53 about 20 or 25 thousand were baptized at the end of that 43:58 campaign. Let me share with you what happened as a result of 44:02 that. Because it wasn't just that campaign. Yes it was a 44:06 jump starts and membership came. People met the Lord and we 44:10 praise God for that. But the effects of the Holy Spirit are 44:14 far more powerful when you look at it from a distance because 44:19 Holy Spirit was just planting seeds. Since that time the 44:23 members had been inspired. The members have been working to 44:28 win souls because now their eyes have been opened. Now they see. 44:31 Wow! God is really going to do this and we will just be 44:35 faithful and share a message. So the unions in Ethiopia had a 44:43 plan. Last year they had a plan. They wanted them to plant I 44:47 think it was about 200 churches over these next three years. 44:51 These are new churches? 44:52 New churches. They wanted 200 more churches. And they said 44:56 okay this is what we're going to do and that's big for us but 44:59 we're going to stretch. We're going do this, but we're not 45:01 not going to do it as a church leadership. We're going to train 45:04 and ask our church members to make disciples and we're going 45:10 to start a movement, a disciple making movement and the members 45:15 have taken that up with zeal because now they have seen from 45:19 2019 on they have seen the Holy Spirit is ready to support them 45:22 and instead of taking three years to plant those 200 45:27 churches, my friends, it has already been done. It's already 45:32 given them that goal. They've already planted those and 45:36 they're going for even more now. So what we're talking about by 45:40 having campaigns like this now what we're saying is you would 45:46 ever pray that the Lord would somehow do something to heal and 45:48 bless Africa, that means the Holy Spirit has called you to 45:52 be part of that solution. And maybe it's in prayer and we 45:57 that you for praying for Africa and for the people there. It's 46:01 so important. But through a campaign like this there's 46:05 something more that we can all do. We're all called to pray for 46:09 everyone but the Holy Spirit always 46:10 calls us out of our comfort zone and you may be called to support 46:15 and help someone else to travel to come to this campaign. I 46:20 would love to see every church around the world to pray that 46:24 should we send someone to be part of this historic event that 46:30 will change the Adventist movement around the world. 46:32 How can I 46:33 support or send someone. And for 8,000 of you, 7,000 of you I 46:39 believe the Holy Spirit is calling you. I think the Holy 46:43 Spirit was calling me even before I came five years ago. 46:45 And I just maybe wasn't listening and so now he had to 46:49 come and say no now you leave everything. Come, I want you to 46:54 work. 46:55 Wow. And look at what the Lord has done. Were you going to say 46:58 something. Say you brought some pictures with you too, but go 47:00 ahead, you were going to say something or do you want to go 47:02 to the pictures. 47:03 Go to the pictures... 47:05 You brought some pictures with you about some baptisms that are 47:06 happening right now. Let's go to those. Tell us a little bit 47:08 about what's happening because this is amazing here, the 47:11 pictures that we're looking at. Look at this... 47:15 This is Ethiopia and you can even see the Ethiopian flag on 47:18 the right-hand side of that picture. These are baptisms and 47:23 in fact, these people come from the community that is strongly 47:28 non-Christian so none of these people had even thought about 47:34 being a follower of Jesus Christ before this campaign. 47:38 You have other pictures too. 47:39 (Yeah.) There are quite a few. Look at that. 47:41 So this is a community again of even non-Christians. Very 47:46 difficult to reach non-Christian communities. This is in Burundi. 47:49 And these are...by the way, these are campaigns, these are 47:54 crowds of people that have been won to follow Jesus and become 47:57 disciple-makers of Jesus through relationships with lay members. 48:02 There are people in the hundreds 48:04 I'm trying to remember which country. I think this might also 48:07 be Burundi. No, no, this is, it looks like maybe Uganda 48:11 Yeah, that's amazing. 48:14 And these baptisms that we're seeing here you told us are 48:16 actually from members being involved, right, going out and 48:19 getting involved in this work. 48:21 This is total member involvement This is a neighbor that you've 48:24 been praying for. This is that coworker that you've been 48:27 praying for. You know, this is that son or daughter, aunt or 48:31 uncle that we've been praying for and they're coming to the 48:33 Lord as a result of their supportive campaign. 48:36 Amen. I was just thinking of Acts 1:8, you shall receive 48:40 power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be 48:45 my witnesses in Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost 48:47 parts of the earth. And we just want to encourage you right 48:50 now and let's go to a time of prayer in just a moment but we 48:53 want to encourage you that we need to pray for the outpouring 48:58 of the Holy Spirit on this coming campaign, July of 2024, 49:04 the East Central Africa Division. The world, the field, 49:09 is ripe for harvest. Where are the reapers? God is calling you 49:13 God is calling us to become involved in evangelism. We can 49:18 pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We can become 49:21 involved. The Lord is appealing on your heart right now to say 49:25 Yes I want to be involved in this evangelistic outreach 49:30 this historic evangelistic outreach. You can go to 49:33 ECDhomecoming.org, that's ECDhomecoming.org. You can fill 49:41 out that application and you can become involved in evangelism 49:45 I just feel in my heart...I know our schedule is tremendously 49:49 busy but if we can work it out I would like to come. Oh! and be 49:55 involved you know in that evangelistic opportunity. But 49:59 let's have a prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit 50:03 for this upcoming campaign. For those people who are watching 50:06 or listening right now and making decisions. Do I want to 50:10 become involved. Is God calling me. Do you want to pray for us 50:14 today? 50:15 Amen. I'd be very glad to. Let's pray. 50:17 Heavenly Father, Lord we love you and we love you simply 50:24 because you have first loved us. Lord, you've called us into your 50:29 marvelous light, Lord, and we thank you for all that you've 50:32 been doing for us. But God we know that you never just bless 50:37 people so that we can be enjoying our relationship with 50:40 you by ourselves. You always give us these blessings that we 50:44 might share it with others. Heavenly Father, I know, I know 50:48 very well that there are so many people who are experiencing this 50:52 program right now who have needs of their own. They're asking you 50:55 God to touch their life in some way. Maybe it's a health problem 50:59 maybe there's an issue in their marriage or in their family. 51:02 There's somebody that is crying out God will you bless my nation? 51:07 will you bless my work? Will you help the world in one way or 51:12 another and the Holy Spirit has put those burdens on us Lord. 51:15 And we don't know how we can be a part of what you are trying to 51:20 do in the world. Lord, all we can do is just call out to you 51:24 and Lord in response God you call us as well. You say I have 51:32 miracles, great wonders still to show you. Come follow me. I will 51:38 show you my wonders. But my wonders are not to be seen in 51:43 your place of comfort. They're to be seen when you take my hand 51:48 and you go with me on my mission on my journey as I seek to touch 51:53 the hearts and lives of billions of people around the world. 51:56 As you pray for the hungry, as you pray for the lost, as you 52:01 pray for the people that are struggling in places that are 52:04 difficult I am calling you to come and walk with me to meet 52:12 the people, to hear their voices to join me in catching their 52:17 tears. Come with me and then you will know my heart. God, I'm 52:23 praying for everyone that is hearing the program or watching 52:26 this program that you will touch them in a very special way. 52:30 That you will meet them. Lord that you will draw near to them 52:34 and that they will experience your power. And Lord that you 52:39 will call them into a deeper walk with you. Not just 52:43 experience and knowledge of you but the walk Lord God with 52:47 you. That is the only way to truly know you. Lord, I ask that 52:51 you will help them to know clearly, whether or not you are 52:55 calling them to be part of this campaign, whether it's through 52:59 prayer, whether it's through sponsoring someone to go or 53:03 whether it's through saying yes I will go and I'll be a part of 53:07 this thing. And I want you to teach me Lord how to be a 53:11 disciple maker myself. (Amen, Thank you, Jesus) Lord, I pray 53:15 that you will bless them and that they will find healing 53:19 and regeneration Lord God in you A special touch for the Holy 53:24 Spirit in you as they choose to come and walk with you. 53:27 Thank you, God. 53:29 Thank you heavenly Father for hearing our prayers. In Jesus' 53:32 name, Amen. 53:33 Amen. Thank you so very much. Pastor what we're going to do 53:37 right now is to go to a little break and we'll be right back 53:40 with some closing comments. |
Revised 2024-06-27