From Maasai pastures to the people

Transcription

1 Introducing people to Jesus in the 10/40 Window January 2019 From Maasai pastures to the people by Beverly Thompson G ary Fuller copies audio Bible files onto handheld, solar-powered audio players. These talking Bibles can be programmed in many languages. The players go to the 10/40 Window and are used and distributed by the Bible workers there. I recently had an opportunity to ask Gary more about this ongoing project. Beverly: You spend many hours doing this work. Why? Gary: It s rewarding. Sometimes I hear good stories like what has been happening in Maasai country in East Africa. Beverly: I remember going to Tanzania in We were on a public bus when a The semi-nomadic Maasai tribe of Africa numbers more than 800,000. very tall Maasai man hailed the driver to stop. The two men yelled at each other, and the bus took off without the Maasai because he wouldn t leave his long-handled spear behind. Gary, tell me your story. Continued on page 3

2 Global Perspectives PUBLICATION TEAM Editor: Nadine Dower Circulation Manager: Nadine Reneau Creative & Production: Tell It Media Printing: College Press ADDRESS CHANGES Newsletter Circulation P.O. Box 8 College Place, WA office@goaim.org ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS President: Brent Scully VP for Administration: Richard Madson VP for Field Operations: Pat Gustin Treasurer: Lois Hellie Associate Treasurer: Danielle Stewart BOARD OF DIRECTORS Larry Dodds, chair Brent Scully, secretary Carl Bauer Ken Crawford Jon Dybdahl Rick McEdward Shirley Panasuk Leo Ranzolin Robert Rawson Published monthly by Gospel Outreach Vol. 27, No. 1 goaim.org Dwight Rose Steven Rose Marj Simons Beverly Thompson Bruce Thorn Kevin Waite Fred Webb Janet Wilkinson Lenard Wittlake GOSPEL OUTREACH P.O. Box 8 (712 NE C Street) College Place, WA USA (509) office@goaim.org GOSPEL OUTREACH CANADA P.O. Box Kelowna, B.C. V1X 7L7 (778) GOSPEL OUTREACH BRAZIL Instituto de Disseminação do Evangelho Caixa Postal 44 Engenheiro Coelho, SP ide-go.org.br secretaria@ide-go.org.br TO LIVE AND BREATHE AGAIN If the lives of people that live close to or around a church are not improved, then the church should be shut down. Pavel Goia, editor, Ministry Magazine Many churches today are stuck in a rut. We re losing our young people and our spiritual vitality. Why? Aren t we at the end of time? Shouldn t we be taking Bible prophecy seriously? Don t we have work to do to reach people who are suffering and in need? If I could sum up the ministry of Jesus in two words those words would be prayer and service. Prayer. Christ Brent Scully, spent hours a day president communing with His Father to receive the Holy Spirit s power. Power for healing, caring and tending to the needs of the broken and hurting. Power to forgive sins and cleanse people s hearts. Service. When Jesus entered communities, His mind was set on identifying needs. He prioritized relationships, building bridges of trust. Could this, my friends, be the formula that our lukewarm North American church needs today to live and breathe again?

3 Continued from page 1 Gary: Two short stories, actually. First, when Maasai people have a toothache, they often pull out the tooth. But dentists from Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center knew they could save many teeth, so they set up a dental clinic. At the clinic, solarpowered talking Bibles played the New Testament in the Maa (Maasai) language. When the dental work was done, patients could take the audio players home to share with family. The second story is about a Maasai chief s son. This young man went to a Christian school and decided to follow Jesus. The school used Maa talking Bibles with the New Testament. One day the chief s son discovered there were many more books in the Bible. Unfortunately, the Old Testament hadn t been recorded yet in his language. This young man wanted to make the whole Bible available to his people. So, when the chief s son returned home, he herded sheep, goats and cattle as was the custom. But he also added a second job. He took along his Bible, a microphone and a recorder. As the animals grazed peacefully, he sat in the grass and read Verse by verse, the Maasai chief s son recorded the Old Testament in the Maa language while herding sheep, goats and cattle. aloud his Maa Old Testament into the microphone. Later he copied the recorded audio files onto solarpowered talking Bible memory chips so that all of God s Word could be shared with the Maasai people. Beverly: That s wonderful. His recording studio was a pasture! Did the Word of God bring changes to the Maasai warrior tribe? Gary: Yes, I understand that since Christianity has begun to be accepted, this tribe is starting to live more peaceably with its neighbors. Thank you to those who help support the sharing of the gospel by sponsoring talking Bibles. A DV E N T U R E S I N M I S S I O N S 3

4 Beyond the shadow... Asleep at the wheel. A semitruck. A horrific crash. Was it the end for Pavel Goia and his load of illegal Bibles? Passionate about prayer and following Christ, Pavel Goia, editor of Ministry Magazine, spent more than half of his life enduring trial after trial against his faith in communist Romania. In a country where, at the time, it was illegal to have a Bible, he bravely took multiple trips in his car to transport hundreds of Bibles. His trust in God never faltered. WHERE IS THE MAN IN THE CAR? On one occasion, Pavel fell asleep while driving a large bundle of Bibles tied in a blanket in the backseat. He hit a semitruck, completely shattering his small car. An encounter with the police could result in life in prison if they caught him with a Bible, and communist by Tifany Lindsay prisons were nothing like prisons in North America. Prisoners often faced severe mistreatment, beatings and malnourishment. Pavel s accident was so bad that the police asked him, Where is the man who was in the car? I am he, Pavel replied. The police looked at him in amazement. Car parts littered the highway in every direction, and yet Pavel didn t have a scratch on his body. Even more astonishing, not a single Bible was in view. All remained snuggly tucked away in the backseat of what remained of the car. The officers, shocked that Pavel had not joined his car on the concrete, forgot to search the vehicle. Instead, they called a tow service to pick up the car and safely transport it and its precious cargo to Pavel s home. 4 ADVENTURES IN MISSIONS

5 What a blessing to have Pavel Goia, editor of Ministry Magazine, present The Holy Spirit & Prayer series at the Gospel Outreach mission rally weekend in October. PRAY AND PRAISE MORE What has impressed me about Pavel as a pastor, speaker and man of faith is his focus on prayer. He has studied more than 600 recorded prayers in the Bible not just for a theological overview of how to pray, but to put those insights into practice, seeking God through daily and labored prayers. His sermon series (available on YouTube) that dives deeper into the Lord s Prayer found in Matthew 6:9-13 encourages followers of Christ to seek God with their entire heart and to spend much more time with God in humble adoration and devotion. We are to do this not because God is a praise-hungry, exacting Creator who requires our small offerings of thanksgiving to boost His ego, but because our praise reminds us of the God we worship and serve. It reminds us of the wonderful and mighty things He has already done for us. This step helps bring us into unity with God s plan, which is far better than attempting to align God s will with our plan. Pavel advises us to labor in prayer for others, to trust in the Lord with unfailing faith, remembering it is He whose very words speak things into existence. As we pray, grow and serve, may we know our Savior s loving character and trust Him in all things beyond the shadow of a doubt. Tifany Lindsay was a student at the Walla Walla Community College in Walla Walla, Wash., when she wrote this article. She has graduated with a human and social services degree. She interns at the Young Women s Christian Association during the week, working on prevention and advocacy. Request Pavel Goia s Holy Spirit & Prayer series A four-part series by Pavel Goia, titled The Holy Spirit & Prayer, can be viewed at goaim.org/hsp online. The series also is available on DVD at no cost for single copies. To order by phone, call our volunteers at (509) with your name and mailing address. Ask for the Holy Spirit & Prayer DVD. To order by , send your request to office@goaim.org. Please include your mailing address. ADVENTURES IN MISSIONS 5

6 Bonnie Orser, regional director, introduces guests to the work in India. Thanking God for 25 years A Sabbath afternoon mission rally, held Oct. 20 in College Place, Wash., included presentations from several regional directors, music by the Melashenko Four, and a keynote message from Pavel Goia, editor of Ministry Magazine. A video feature, 25 Years of Miracles, told the story of Gospel Outreach and described a vision for fulfilling the Great Commission. Lobby activities and displays represented some of the 50-plus countries that Gospel Outreach serves. Rally attendees sampled popular foods from various cultures, such as Chinese egg rolls, Indian pakoras and samosas, and African plantain chips. Moving forward, please pray for God s spirit to lead and guide in finishing the work so Jesus can return and take all of us home at last. 6 A DV E N T U R E S I N M I S S I O N S Sampling the anniversary cake. The Staffords talk about Africa. Volunteers receive thank yous.

7 Mailbox It s so great that you re publishing honors and memorials. A. W., Montana With how much joy I read every story of the workers and converts. H. B., California I love watching your television show, and I ll enjoy reading Adventures in Missions. I m thankful for what you do. May God richly bless. A. C., Maine God s blessings for the wonderful ministry of Gospel Outreach. E. G., Washington Watch Adventures in Missions 3ABN 3abn.org Blue Mountain TV College Place, WA bluemttv.com Good News TV Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Flagstaff, Payson, Phoenix, Prescott, Tucson and Yuma mygoodnewstv.com HOPE Channel hopetv.org KBLN Grants Pass, OR betterlifetv.tv /gospel1040 KHBA Spokane, WA khba.com LLBN Loma Linda, CA llbn.tv SacFaithTV Sacramento, CA sacramentofaithtv.org Roku Add the Gospel Outreach channel to your favorites. SAFETV safetv.org /gospel1040 If the Great Commission is true, our plans are not too big; they are too small. Patrick Morley founder of Man in the Mirror IN MEMORY Hazel Boucher Barbie Brooks Larry Claridge Robert Graham, MD Victor Merth Lester Ruud IN HONOR Roger & Amy Krum (missionaries to Guam) ADVENTURES IN MISSIONS 7

8 Go ye into all the world. ADVENTURES IN MISSIONS TV TUNE IN TODAY Discover and be part of reaching evangelism s final frontier. HOSTED BY Julie Sanders Keymer Lonnie Melashenko Ole Olesen Lynelle Ellis Dick Duerksen Seen on the Hope Channel, 3ABN, LLBN, numerous regional networks, and our website. goaim.org PO Box 8, College Place, WA Address service requested Non-Profit US Postage PAID CHATTANOOGA, TN Permit No. 1114