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Answered prayers in Tokyo.
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Modern day tent making and an urban center
of influence in western Poland.
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All this and much more from the frontlines
of mission
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Coming up next.
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Hello and welcome to Mission 360.
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I'm Gary Krause.
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Today's program is coming to you
from the city of Zielona Góra,
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which is in western Poland,
not too far from the German border.
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And this is a city
that has a lot of history.
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And behind me you can see the town hall.
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And it was originally built back
in the 15th century as a wooden structure.
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But through the years,
there have been fires and reconstructions.
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And this is the latest incarnation.
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What we're going to be looking at mission
right here in Poland.
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On today's program, we're going to also
learn about one year and mission.
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We're going to travel to Tokyo.
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But first up, modern day tent makers.
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I'm standing among the ruins
of ancient Corinth.
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This large and influential city
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was a center for religion,
culture, and trade.
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When the Apostle Paul
arrived in Corinth around 50 AD,
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he found work as a tentmaker
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with a husband and wife business team,
Acquila and Priscilla.
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Acquila and Priscilla
had a heart for mission,
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and they faced
a formidable mission challenge
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in this pagan city.
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Tentmaking may have been Paul's trade,
but mission was his calling.
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And the Bible tells us that he reasoned
every Sabbath in the temple
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convincing both Jews and Greeks.
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Today, we have modern tentmakers.
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They don't necessarily make tents,
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but like Paul,
they use their trade or profession
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to support their mission.
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They are missionaries,
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but they don't get a salary
from the church.
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They find their own jobs
in the marketplace,
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and their salary comes
from their employers.
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Tentmakers usually work
in countries and areas
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where regular mission work
is difficult or not possible.
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They can work in places
where missionaries are not allowed.
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They follow Christ's method of ministry--
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mingling, showing sympathy,
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ministering to needs,
and winning confidence,
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so that they can then
bid people to follow Jesus.
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Adventist Mission's Global
Mission Initiative
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helps local fields support tentmakers
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by providing training and materials.
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Global Mission also helps
with spiritual retreats,
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so that tentmakers can meet together,
share experiences, get training,
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and, most important, fellowship,
and be spiritually refreshed.
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Tentmakers often work in isolation,
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and this connects them with others
who are facing similar experiences.
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If you're feeling God's calling
to become a tentmaker,
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and you have a job that can get you work
in a veiled country or city,
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visit our website for more information.
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My guest today is Pastor Jarosław,
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who is the president of the West
Polish Conference.
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Pastor, thanks so much for joining us.
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We're standing in a center of influence
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in a city in western Poland.
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Can you describe for me
the territory of West Poland?
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Tell me about the people.
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Tell me about the region.
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The Western Polish Conference
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covers nearly 2/5 of Poland's total area
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and is home to almost 14 million people.
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Among them,
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there are about 1700 Adventists.
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The challenge is huge.
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As for every Adventists,
there are 7700 known Adventists.
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Our missionary work tackles
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this enormous task.
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What happens here in Zielona Góra
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is a guideposts.
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It shows the direction
for our church mission in other places
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in our conference.
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So Pastor, you have a big mission challenge here?
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It's a
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big challenge, but also a joyous one.
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For years I have dreamt of a Polish center
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of influence.
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A few years ago,
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we met with people who shared this dream,
and the result
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is this project.
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It's began with dreams
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and through discussions,
we moved to further
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details.
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Three years ago,
we had concrete ideas of the center.
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But the COVID 19 pandemic stood
in our way.
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Yet, thanks to God's grace
and our members enthusiasm.
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Last year,
we opened the center of influence
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in Zielona Góra.
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So Pastor, in In the center of Influence.
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Here we see Christ's method of ministry
being put into practice.
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Why is that method so important?
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I am convinced that
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the method we use is crucial.
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Jesus was a friend to people,
not just a teacher.
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He was a healer.
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He mingled with people
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Our work in Zielona Góra
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uses of a method of Jesus.
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We go to people, meet with them
and talk with them.
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We share stories about their struggles
and problems.
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We offer help in many different fields.
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We offer the best we have,
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and this gives us great joy.
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People come here willingly.
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They befriend us.
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They feel very happy with our presence.
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So a center of influence
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requires people who are committed
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and willing to invest in this ministry.
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Describe the people who are
who are working here for the church.
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The talks about the center of influence
in Zielona Góra begin with meetings
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and discussions
with Alicja, a pastor's wife
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serving here in Zielona Góra.
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Then we talked to Asia, a young person from Gdańsk.
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She lived far from Zielona Góra, but
was facinated by this kind of work.
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We found
numerous Ukrainian community members
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who also joined us here
in the Zielona Góra.
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Thus, our team began to build
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and we all work
in the center of influence.
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Our team hosts people from various fields,
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including plastic arts and massage.
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Sister Joasia is our coordinator.
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Sister Alicia helps
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people who are in need of family guidance.
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This is our focus here.
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We decided to call the Center of influence
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the holistic center of the family.
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Of course, we help not only families,
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but also people who need, for example,
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physiotherapy.
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The people in the center form
a well-coordinated team.
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They create a family like atmosphere,
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welcoming outsiders in.
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So that's a wonderful blessing.
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Pastor, as you look at this center
and you look at your mission challenge,
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what is your hope for the future?
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Our experiences
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in Zielona Góra may serve as an example.
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Maybe we will not be able to replicate
this project's scale everywhere,
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but I know that wherever Adventists are
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and where we have congregations,
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we can create centers of influence
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to a size according to our abilities.
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We can offer help to people based on God's
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given potential and in modest conditions.
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We offer what God has given us.
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I am convinced that this way
we can carry out the God's mission
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to the world
and He can work through us in the cities
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where we live.
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Pastor, thank you so much
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for sharing with us today
and viewers at home.
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Christ method of ministry
is still the best method of ministry,
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and we see the center of influence here
making connections with the community.
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That wouldn't be possible
in any other way.
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And we thank God for the way that he's
led, committed church members
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to give of their time
to invest in the center of influence.
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And we pray that more centers
will be started all through Poland.
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We'll be right back after this break.
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Welcome back to German Agora.
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And behind me you can see just a fragment
of the city walls that were built
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back in the 1430s during the Hussite wars.
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They were only demolished 300 years later.
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As the city expand.
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Well,
next up, we're going to meet a young man
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who is serving in Bangladesh.
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I'm here in Brazil, with a young man
Kevin Dantas
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who decided to give one year of his life
in mission.
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So tell me about that one year,
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Where did you go
and what did you do?
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Ok, I went to Uruguay in the year of 2014
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and work as a Bible worker there.
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We were making some projects
with people on health
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and teach campaigns and classes and everything
and working with
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the preaching
based on on relationship with people.
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Now, some people may not know
what One Year In Mission is
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Can you tell me a little bit about what
that is and how did you find out about it?
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Okay.
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The One Year In Mission
project is a project with
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young people
that want to take one year of their life
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and work, as missionary
something special
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And the main
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the main reason of the project is to
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create, to build
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some leadership on the young people.
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So, I heard about this
in my union here
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and they told me if I want to go,
asked me if I want to go
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and I tried
and they call me to go there.
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Did you enjoy it?
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Oh, a lot!
Not only One Year In Mission
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I didn't want to stop doing this.
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I wanted to continue doing it.
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And so after one year,
you wanted to keep going.
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Now there's different types of mission.
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There's Bible work that you're doing,
but there's also another type of mission
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where we are helping people
physically touching their lives.
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And so you went and you volunteered to do
humanitarian work.
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Now, where was that?
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In Bangladesh, like the second
year in Mission. One Year in Mission,
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two years in Mission. So I work there as
a graphic designer.
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So I went in every place in the country
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to work with them, know them,
help them, and show them the
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love of Jesus
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So Jesus take a look into your life
and sees helping people now.
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You said you went to graphic design.
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Is that all you did?
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No. So I went through
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a lot of places
knowing the people, showing
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how they could make some things
to help their lives get better.
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So we have had projects in education
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00:15:10,509 --> 00:15:13,345
and finances and everything like this.
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So graphic design one
was one of those things I did in there.
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The graphic design is
what got you out there,
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00:15:20,419 --> 00:15:22,688
but then followed you
in almost everything.
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So teaching people how to make you earn
a living, is that what it was?
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What they call income generation? Yes.
Yeah.
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Oh, wonderful.
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So when you're looking at a country
like Bangladesh and it's so different,
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what do you think
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you learned
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by going someplace
so different from where your home is?
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I really enjoyed being there
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because they teach me a lot of things.
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And one of those things is to know
that I’m not alone in this world.
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And I know a really different situation.
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And I, I was seen in my country.
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So it helped me to look at the world
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as the world, not only my country.
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So would you say that going to a country
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that's so different from your home
country took you out of your comfort zone?
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Of course. Of course.
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So I didn't know how to show the love
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of every people in the world.
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So I did.
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I didn't know in Brazil how, okay,
how could I do this?
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But now I needed to learn
how to speak to other people,
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how to go to other country
and other culture and and talk to them.
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So this was a reminder for me,
the the world is big.
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Really big.
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Now, is there a
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story that you can share either
from your time in Uruguay or
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00:16:52,778 --> 00:16:56,015
you know what you're doing or Bible work
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00:16:56,548 --> 00:16:59,418
or when you're working on
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Bangladesh, when you're
helping people in a more different away?
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Is there any story
that stands out in your mind there?
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Oh, the there are a lot of stories,
but one of them,
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we were in a village.
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They had some religion there.
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The they
they believe the gods were among them.
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But in another
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another dimension like this.
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So we were there and helping the people,
taking care of them.
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And when we were going out in this place,
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they started to make noise. So.
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So we said, why?
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Why are they doing this?
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So the guy who was with us
explained to us like
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why they were doing this, to call their gods
who to be with them and protect them.
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So we said, Okay.
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But you told us
that they come during something.
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So but now is time already.
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So he said no.
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They believe you were sent by
the gods to help them, to carry them.
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So to protect them.
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Now, you are leaving,
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Now they are calling them.
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So they are calling them because you're leaving
because they thought you had been sent
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Yeah.
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Also help you because you are doing things
to make a positive change.
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Yeah. Yeah.
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And now that you are going now,
they could call them back.
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Now they need it. Yes. Wow.
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Just shows what a world of difference
we live in when it comes to believes.
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And how do we really find
that way to share
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I think the only way is to have God's presence with us.
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Thank you very much
for sharing your experience. Thank you so much.
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Welcome back to Zielona Góra.
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And we're in the old market place here,
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which dates back to the beginning
of the 14th century.
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Well, next up, we're going to travel
to Tokyo and learn about answered prayer.
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And it's going to be showing
what has happened with the generous
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giving of church members to a project.
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There.
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It's said that a true friend
will be there for you
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both in good times and bad.
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For nearly 50 years,
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Terumi Akiho has been
Kaoru Tanuma's best friend.
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They first met back in the Academy,
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and they have remained best friends since.
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Terumi is a volunteer worker
who has been serving with her husband
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on Mission Unusual Tokyo projects
for about a year.
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Kaoru had always hoped that Saori,
her eldest daughter,
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would accept Jesus and be baptized,
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but sadly, she showed no interest.
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In late 2021, Kaoru was hospitalized
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with a potentially crippling brain disease
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in the midst of complications
brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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At that time, the doctor told me
that she had a chance to live.
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However, the chances of regaining
consciousness were very small.
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It was really difficult for me
to accept this reality.
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I was shocked about the news.
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I soon arranged a prayer group
with her friends
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at the Academy Alumni
to pray for her healing.
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With the power of prayer and God's grace,
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the prayer was answered.
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She woke up from her state
of unconsciousness
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and regained consciousness.
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Seeing how Terumi and her friends
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came together to pray for her mother,
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and witnessing what happened
with her mother,
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triggered in Saori an awareness
of God's existence.
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She looked for her Bible
and started to read.
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As she read, Saori remembered
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that her mother's great hope
was to see her get baptized.
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She started looking
for an Adventist church nearby,
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but because of Covid-19 restrictions,
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churches with large congregations
were closed.
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Fortunately, Saori found
an Adventist church that was still open.
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I contacted the church members
and the pastor
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and told him that I wanted
to be baptized on my birthday, March 17th!
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Excited about the change in Saori's life,
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Terumi connected her
with the church planting team
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of Mission Unusual Tokyo.
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Since November 2021,
while still attending Funabashi Church,
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Saori has created strong ties
with the volunteer workers at MUT.
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Every Friday, she joined
our small group online meeting.
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We all grow spiritually with each other
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by sharing and praying together
every single week.
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It's so encouraging to see
some good things happening to Saori.
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Chizu, who lives
at the Yokohama JUC campus in Tokyo,
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became a mentor to Saori
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and provided her personal,
wholistic support.
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A small discipleship team naturally formed
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as these three ladies enjoyed
the NEWSTART concept together.
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We spent time together
experiencing all eight parts of it,
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walking around, testifying
and praying with each other,
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eating healthy, drinking enough water,
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and worshiping God together
in my apartment.
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It was the way of life
of the Adventists around me
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that boosted my confidence
towards baptism.
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I saw genuine love, care,
and support from this group.
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I am happy I can meet these people.
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God is real!
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Love can break through the hardest things.
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This includes peoples' hearts
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and also the steel and concrete cities,
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like Tokyo, Japan.
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To reach more people in this city,
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the Adventist church in Japan
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00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:25,971
invited the General Conference
and the Northern Asia-Pacific Division
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00:23:25,971 --> 00:23:29,174
to partner with them
to create Mission Unusual--
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a comprehensive church planting
and disciple-making movement.
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00:23:34,379 --> 00:23:37,949
Tokyo is among the largest cities
in the world,
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making it a focus
for Mission to the Cities
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and Global Mission.
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A team of church-planting missionaries
is already on the ground,
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learning the language
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and how best to share Jesus
with the Japanese.
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00:23:51,229 --> 00:23:55,167
Mission Unusual Tokyo
involves Global Mission pioneers,
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00:23:55,167 --> 00:23:57,068
Urban Centers of Influence,
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00:23:57,068 --> 00:23:58,737
Global Mission Centers,
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00:23:58,737 --> 00:24:00,872
volunteers and tentmakers
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in a concerted effort
to reach the city for Jesus!
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Please pray for Saori,
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the first person baptized
from the Mission Unusual Tokyo Initiative.
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And please pray for the missionaries,
the Global Mission pioneers,
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and the volunteers.
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We believe God has big plans for this,
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the largest city in the world.
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Well, that's about it for today's program.
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And I hope that you've enjoyed
what you've seen and heard.
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But more than that,
I hope that you've been challenged,
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as you've seen frontline mission
around the world.
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As you look at
what Global Mission is doing,
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you'll see that
there's one thing in common.
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Whether it be an urban
center of influence, whether it be
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a Global Mission Pioneer, church planter,
and that is Christ's method of ministry,
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00:25:01,900 --> 00:25:04,903
where we mingle with people,
we we show sympathy.
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We minister to needs, we win confidence,
and then we bid them to follow Jesus.
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And I want to thank you for your part
in making this happen.
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Thank you so much for your prayers
and thank you
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00:25:16,748 --> 00:25:20,018
for your financial support,
your donations to Global Mission.
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00:25:20,418 --> 00:25:23,288
And thank you
also for your personal involvement.
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Well, for Adventist Mission, I'm Gary Cross,
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and I hope that you can join me
next time right here on Mission 360.