A QUARTERLY REPORT OF WORLD MISSION APR-JUN 1990 CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF ADVENTIST WORLD MISSION NORTH AMERICAN DIVISION, Second Quarter 1990, Vol. 79, No. 2 MISSION (ISSN 0190-4108) is produced by the Seventh-day Adventist Church Ministries Department, 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904 George E. Knowles, Director Janet Kangas, Ph.D., Editor Patricia Wegh, Layout Cover: 1990—Year of Adventist World Mission Illustration by: Marcus Hamilton CONTENTS Leader's Planner � 2 Make Missions Meaningful! � 3 Mission Goals for 1990 — General Conference Session Offering � 4 Weekly Reports Cover Story: Apostle to the Indians � 5 North America: Then and Now � 7 North America: Challenges and Projects � 9 Rehabilitation Plus Regeneration 11 Now! � 13 A Generation Missed � 14 First of a Kind � 16 We Have You! � 18 The Missing Story � 20 Frontline Troops � 22 Global Outreach Starts Next Door � 24 Death Row � 26 Missions Court � 28 Editorial Missions or Mission? � 31 Texts credited to NKJV are from the The New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. Bible texts credited to TEV are from the Good News Bible— Old Testament: Copyright © American Bible Society 1976; New Testament: Copyright © American Bible Society 1966, 1971, 1976. 2 LEADER'S PLANNER 1990—Year of Adventist World Mission The first story dips back into Adventist mission history, featuring the work of F. A. Stahl, who worked among the Incas of Peru early this century. The cover features the two halves of the stone broken by Stahl fitting back together as he had told the natives they would when he sent back a true teacher. The true teacher would produce the other half of the stone. Another story about the Stahls appears in junior MIS- SION, which the adults might enjoy. Please promote this quarter's emphasis for 1990 by distrib- uting copies of the Adventist World Radio-Europe Project on page 4 to your members. Mission Emphasis Sabbath On the following page are various suggestions for making missions meaningful that can be adapted to a special mission program highlighting mission needs. Also, refer to this section in junior MISSION. Thirteenth Sabbath Program This includes a skit of a courtroom scene. Please consider that God as judge is very different from judges on earth. Be sure the one chosen to act as judge is a kindhearted person who can pronounce the three guilty sentences with visible pain that this final job falls on him/her. Avoid all allusions to a legalistic religion by not having a judge who would enjoy this powerful role. Enjoy Junior MISSION Dr. Benjamin Carson, a Seventh-day Adventist neurosur- geon at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, attracted interna- tional news coverage with his 22-hour surgery that separated tlw Bender twins. These Siamese twins from Germany were joined at the back and base of their heads. Your members may appreciate this story, and the one that precedes it about his early childhood training. North American Division Territory The North American Division includes Bermuda, Canada, Johnston Island (part of Hawaii Conference), St. Pierre and Miquelon (islands on Newfoundland's south side), and the United States. MAKE MISSIONS MEANINGFUL! Prison Pen Pal The Prison Ministries Pen Pal Program is look- ing for church members to write to inmates. All pen pal mail is channeled through a post office box, and your home address is not revealed. Mail call is an important part of the day for a prisoner. For further information on pen pal prison ministries in Canada, write Ken and Honey Hope, Prison Ministries, P.O. Box 1839, Sittsville, ON KOA 3G0 (phone: 613/829-3820). For the U.S. pro- gram, contact Don and Yvonne McClure, P.O. Box 4037, Hopkinsville, Kentucky, U.S.A. 42240. Your group might wish to join a jail band if your church has one, or form one and pay a visit on a Mission Emphasis Sabbath afternoon follow- ing a potluck dinner. Sign Language If someone in your membership has communi- cated with the deaf through sign language, ask him or her to sign a memory verse for the group and see if they can identify the text. Request the presenter to proceed slowly. If you enlist the assistance of a deaf person, be sure that he is familiar with your plan of presentation beforehand. St. Louis Center for Child Evangelism One of the programs at the center will be to dramatize contemporary problems for youth. Ju- nior MISSION suggests that the classes might pre- pare a drama to present for their group and then discuss whether they believe this approach will help inner-city children in St. Louis. You might invite them to give their presentation for the adults. Acadien-Quebecois Project This project can be illustrated as follows. Call two youth to the front, and have one plug his or her ears. Then ask someone else who speaks a second lan- guage, foreign to the group, to begin telling the two youth about Christ in this foreign speech. Point out that neither youth is receiving the gospel in his or her own language. The nonhearing one needs sign language, and the other one needs his or her native language. Emphasize their helplessness. There is nothing they can do to understand the gospel mes- sage until someone crosses over the barrier to enter their world of understanding. Yakima Valley Evangelism Center Some Spanish church workers have come from Inter-America to evangelize the influx of migrant workers in the northwestern United States. Ask your members to determine where the nearest con- centration of people belonging to their nationality is located. Offer them a few moments to write down a plan of action for their people and share with the group. This will stimulate ideas. Adventist World Radio—Europe Project Remember Guam? Everyone responded to the call for the Guam radio station, and the project was an overwhelming success. Can we do it again for Europe? This project has been designated this quin- quennium as the General Conference Offering re- cipient. Ask your members how many can report that someone in their family, perhaps themselves, or in their close circle of friends joined the church through the Voice of Prophecy, Quiet Hour, Your Story Hour, or some other Adventist radio pro- gram. Ask someone to tell a personal experience. 1990—Year of Adventist World Mission Suggest reading books on Adventist history this year, especially the four-volume set by Arthur W. Spalding, Origin and History of Seventh-day Ad- ventists, and the more recent book by Richard Schwartz, Light Bearers to the Remnant. If these are not available in your church library, see whether your group can obtain them to circulate this year. The story of F. A. Stahl in this issue was adapted from Spalding's book. Harvest 90 This quarter concludes Harvest 90, with the final celebration to be held at the General Conference session in Indianapolis, July 5-14. Did Harvest 90 affect your church? There are three months left in which to have a part. Ask your members to each choose one nonmember for whom they will devote the time to develop a meaningful relationship. Plan a Visitors' Sabbath near the end of the quarter to which they may invite this special person. Plan to double your Sabbath School attendance that day. 3 1990 GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION OFFERING There is great excitement when a response from a radio listener is received from a country that we have been unable to enter physically but can do so via the airwaves. In giving these modern methods of reaching people throughout the world, God has opened the way for them to be reconciled to Him. There are some large areas of the world that it seems the gospel cannot penetrate except through radio communication. Much of the world has been surveyed as a place for a second major shortwave and medium-wave station similar to the statior that was established on the island of Guam. The radio station on Guam has reached Donald F. Gilbert, � across country barriers to Asia. It is a marvelous tool for the proclamation of the GC Treasurer �gospel. Now it is time to look forward to a second station, to be located somewhere on the continent of Europe. The present evident site would be in Italy. The conditions and the possibilities seem best from Italy and could reach to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. It is conceived that the broadcasting equipment could be quite directional and thus broadcast into areas with a substantial high power station. In addition to locating a radio station, the church must also have locations where programs can be prepared that will meet the needs of the people who are to be reached and where they can be done in a very professional manner and on a timely basis. This is a major portion of the challenge after the radio station is located. It is estimated that the cost of a radio station in Europe will be approximately $6 million. In addition to this, it will take approximately $1.5 to $2 million per year to operate a station of this magnitude. This will mean ongoing expenses into the future. The value of a soul reached for the Master and reclaimed for eternal life is worth the investment. Excellent contacts have been made in Italy and can be developed in a firm and permanent manner. The Seventh-day Adventist Church membership has a committed goal given to us by our Lord and Saviour. We must reach every person on the globe and give them an opportunity to share in the beautiful love of our Creator. We need to hurry. Many may go to a Christless grave. Sin and suffering has gone on long enough. It is time for the Lord to come. As we look at this challenge, we find that it is too large for any individual, but for God's family in a concerted effort and self-sacrificing participation, we can all provide enough money to make this evange- listic tool a reality and an ongoing evangelistic outreach. Thank you for participating and making this 1990 General Conference session offering sufficient to include not only the basic cost of a radio station but also the establishing of an operating fund. I know God will bless, and I know that each of us will be blessed as we participate. As we give, God has promised that He will refill our hands. If we do not give, we cannot receive God's blessing as we would otherwise. Not only for our own salvation, but for the salvation of those who will be reached, will this radio station become a marvelous and glorious reality. As colaborers with God, we have this special privilege of reaching out. Please make this your very best offering, and make it a sacrificial one. How appropriate that during 1990—the Year of Adventist World Mission—the opportunity is ours to participate in this far-reaching global project for the Great Commission. 4 Apostle to the Indians � Arthur W. Spalding; adapted Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Stahl April 7 The gigantic Indian took Mr. Stahl by the arm. "Do you mean to tell me that Jesus loves me?" he asked fervently. "Yes, my son, He does!" Mr. Stahl told the young man, who was a wreck from drink and cocaine. Tears were streaming down the Indian's rough, scarred face. "Oh!" he cried, "tell me again! Do you mean to say that Jesus loves me?" It was almost more than he could believe after the life he had lived. These "Adventista Indians" eventually became known for their sobriety, dependability, cleanli- ness, and smiling faces, whereas before they had been drunken and sullen and filthy. When the Stahls first came, they reported, "The Indians never bathed or changed their clothes. We saw children there who had their clothes sewed upon them, it never being intended that the garments should be removed until they actually fell off from decay because of the filth." Where did these Indians live? We are talking about the Peruvian Indians in South America by Lake Titicaca. It was 1911, almost 80 years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Stahl cleaned the Indians up, taught them to bathe, to wash their clothes, and to clean their houses. The Stahls even ministered to those who were dying. They would put their arms around them and tell them the Saviour loved them, had died for them, and now lived for them. And many died knowing only this much about Jesus, but they went down to death with a smile! Even the Stahl children were mission workers, because there were never enough missionaries to meet the calls. Frenita in her teens helped mother Indian children, and some other Indians who asked for a teacher ended up begging for 12-year-old Wallace, since he soon was well able to speak the Indian language. In fact, Wallace acquired a good understanding of the Indian language sooner than his father. One day as they rode through a village, the people scowled and shouted angrily to the horsemen. But since they were nearly always scowling, Mr. Stahl did not think they were particularly hostile. He understood their shouts as greetings. So he smiled, bowed, waved his hand to them, and gave the common phrase that returned a greeting: "Who- maris-ucom-aki!" After they had ridden through, Wallace turned to his father. "Papa, do you know what those people were calling you?" "No, my son, I do not." "They were calling you a devil, and all sorts of bad things, and said you had horns and hoofs. And you said, 'The same to you!' " Deliverances and Nondeliverances Yes, there was hostility. Many times there were miraculous deliverances. Once a mob—incited by priests—besieged a native house in which Mr. and Mrs. Stahl were ministering. The mob stoned and wounded them, set fire to the roof, broke in the door, and were ready to kill them, when suddenly they all turned and fled. Mr. Stahl asked a lone trembling Indian who remained what had caused their flight. "Don't you see that crowd of armed Indians yonder, coming to your rescue?" the man asked. The Stahls looked, but they saw no such rescu- ing party. Yet the Indian insisted they were still there, advancing, and the flight of the mob proved that they too were seeing them. Another time, the mission station at Plateria was to be utterly destroyed by priests and a mob, and the missionaries killed. For three nights they came. The first night the mob heard drums and saw a company of soldiers debarking from boats on the 5 lake and coming toward the mission station. The second night they saw the mission property sur- rounded by soldiers, and also the third night. The mob gave up. Months afterward some of that mob approached the mission and asked to see where the soldiers hid. The puzzled missionaries let them examine every nook and corner. And then, reluctantly, the Indians told their tale. The mission people had never seen this guard the Indians said was there. Not always were the workers protected by mira- cles, however. The converted Indians often dotted the land with little mission schools they began themselves. One teacher, Luciano, went with the Stahls through fire and blood and stonings and near death. Another, Juan Huanca, who refused to join in the feasts or to drink alcohol, not only was beaten, but had liquor forcibly poured down his throat as he was held on the ground. Only because he was faithfully nursed by Mr. Stahl did he escape death. Like these teachers, there came to be doz- ens—then scores—of devoted Indian teachers who were faithful right through beatings and robberies and imprisonment and, for some, even death. Cultural Substitutions These Indians were used to drunken festivals, and Mr. and Mrs. Stahl recognized that they needed something in their place. They introduced athletic games, social parties, and fairs in which the students displayed their products. Music was natural to the Indians, and they had their native bands of primitive instruments, and they loved to march with banners and display. Often these bands would welcome the missionaries when they came "a-visiting." Mr. Stahl sent to the states for some modern band instruments, and, what a refreshing part of the recreational program music came to be! Assurance of a True Teacher In 1916 Mr. Stahl made his first trip through the Moho district on the north side of Lake Titicaca. He was well received and was asked by a certain village chief when he would return. "I cannot tell," Stahl answered. "But I want to know when you will come to us again and teach us." "We are so few," Stahl answered, "and your village is so far away, I cannot tell." "Oh, but I must know!" the chief insisted. Finally Stahl said, "If I do not return, someone else will." "But how am I to know that this will be the someone else who will teach us the same things?" Mr. Stahl thought a moment. Then, stooping down, he picked up a small white stone, broke it in two, and handed one half to the chief. "When our teacher comes," he said, "he will bring you my half of this stone, and when you see the two fit together, you will know this is the person I have sent." "It is well," said the chief. The Indian chief hid his half of the stone away so secretly that even his wife did not know where it was. Every year a delegation went to the central mission station with a new plea for a teacher. Finally one was found. The teacher came, and the chief brought out the little broken white stone. The two halves fit together, and so the chief gladly welcomed the teacher! Eventually the mission that was established here was called Broken Stone Mis- sion. Prayer Request Recently the officers of the Lake Titicaca Mis- sion were asked to inform a visitor of their greatest need. They replied that each pastor baptizes about 400 people a year in water with temperatures of around 35° F in the highlands of Peru. After about the third baptism, their teeth are chattering so hard they cannot speak. Their wish was for chest-high insulated wading boots and warm sleeping bags for their traveling pastors. The visitor saw that these needs, so basic, were filled. Please pray this week that all our workers will have the basic necessities and not suffer in silence. Distribution of Membership by Unions Swe www ee w cwen awe, eerve ow*. • wew ,wwwa wwww new. wwwwe North America: Then and Now � Jean Thomas Jean Thomas, administra- tive assistant, North Ameri- can Division Church Minis- tries Department For this dialogue, ask a senior member to re- semble a pioneer. Narrator: Lovers of liberty of whatever nation- ality who come to the United States and visit the New England towns of Plymouth, Salem, Boston, Lexington, and Concord are impressed not only with the beauty but also with the historical signifi- cance of the area. The old buildings and monu- ments bespeak the faith of those early settlers who, having left the religious intolerance of their home- lands, came to establish a new home in a country that would in a few years declare: Pioneer: ". . . that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights . . . that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foun- dation on such Principles and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." I Narrator: From this background of religious freedom and tolerance in the mid-1800s New En- gland pioneers William Miller, Joseph Bates, Stephen Haskell, and others forged the beginnings of a new and vibrant religious movement that be- came the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Coming together from various walks of life and differing religious views, these pioneers delved into the Scriptures, spending hours, days, and months studying, praying, debating, checking, and cross- checking biblical references to make sure they were understanding these scriptures correctly. Un- der the guidance of the Holy Spirit, these rugged individualists stepped out in faith, expounding their April 14 newly found beliefs to all who would listen. Pioneer [astonished]: How could we pioneers ever have envisioned that in the years to come the membership in the Seventh-day Adventist Church would grow from that small handful of believers in the early 1850s to a world membership today of nearly 6 million! Narrator: One November day in 1848 Ellen White said to her husband, "You must begin to print a little paper and send it out to the people. Let it be small at first; but as the people read, they will send you means with which to print, and it will be a success from the first. From this small beginning it was shown to me to be like streams of light that went clear round the world." 2 James White trudged down the road from Rocky Hill to Middletown, Connecticut, taking his first manuscript of Present Truth to Charles Hamlin Pelton's third-floor printshop. Pioneer: If only James White could have looked into the future and known that this one little paper would expand until Adventist literature would be printed in more than 700 different languages! How could we envision that from this small beginning, the publishing work would grow to include more than 7,000 literature evangelists! Narrator: In 1853 James White organized the first Sabbath School (parallel with the thrust of the Sunday School movement), in Rochester, New York. He felt that if there were but two or three children, they should meet in a Sabbath School. The emphasis of these early Sabbath Schools was learning memory verses. One little girl was re- ported to have learned 892 memory verses in six 7 months, for an average of 34 verses a week. Pioneer: 0 that we could have seen that it would be used as a model and that it would multiply in North America until there were more than 4,500 Sabbath Schools with an approximate membership of 540,000! And that it would be duplicated in the world field to include another 60,000 Sabbath Schools with a membership of more than 6 million! Narrator: In 1874 church leaders bade farewell to the first Adventist foreign missionary, J. N. Andrews, as he sailed from America for Europe. Today the Adventist Volunteer Service is an- other North American Division program of out- reach that is proving a blessing to many parts of the world field. Retired workers, students, and profes- sionals give part of their time to help in areas of need. In addition, academy and college students are finding fulfillment in volunteering for short- term projects such as constructing church or school buildings during their spring breaks. Pioneer: How could we have realized that John Nevins Andrews would set an example to be fol- lowed by more than 13,000 other missionaries! Narrator: In 1874 the Educational Society of the Seventh-day Adventists was incorporated to raise money for a school. James and Ellen White donated $1,000 to this school so that lightbearers could be trained to be sent around the world. Later that year Battle Creek College, forerunner of An- drews University, opened the doors of its three- story brick building. Pioneer: Little did we know that this institution would spawn 84 colleges and universities, 655 sec- ondary schools, and 4,583 elementary schools. Yet how discouraged we would have been had we known that there would be this many to go before Jesus comes! Narrator: Also in Battle Creek in 1866 our first medical facility, the Western Health Reform Insti- tute, was born. It was later headed by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, who invented corn flakes—the breakfast cereal perfected and produced by his brother, W. K. Kellogg. Now our largest Adventist medical facility is Florida Hospital, with 1,145 beds. Pioneer: Yes, I knew Dr. Kellogg; everyone did. He would never have believed that today around the world there are 147 hospitals and more than 15,000 medical personnel. If only he could hear this! Isn't this expensive? How does the Ad- ventist Church manage? Narrator: The NAD per capita giving for tithes and offerings of $840 makes up a sizable portion of support for the world field. (The runner-up is the Trans-European Division, with $406.80.) The faithfulness of the members of the 4,374 churches in the NAD is illustrated by such people as the two retired ladies living in the hills of Penn- sylvania who take $20 from their Social Security checks each month, wrap the bills carefully in foil, place them in an envelope, and mail them to the conference office. God's blessing accompanies this type of giving! Reaching out to others, letting them know of God's love through generosity, kindness, and car- ing, is part of the Caring Church philosophy of the North American Division. God chose this country for the birth of Advent- ism, but we had no idea we would still be living here so long afterward. Now this is truly the "land where my fathers died." Pioneer [slowly, with feeling]: And, because God chose us, "land of the pilgrim's pride." From Declaration of Independence. 2 Life Sketches, p. 125. What I spent I had, What I kept I lost, What I gave I have. 8 North America: Challenges and Projects � Jean Thomas Jean Thomas, administra- tive assistant, North Amer- ican Division Church Min- istries Department Growth, expansion, and change bring about all kinds of interesting challenges, and in today's con- text time and expertise are often in greater demand than money! North America's Caring Church phi- losophy encourages outreach to all segments of society by meeting their needs. Challenges Evangelism in North America faces these major challenges: (1) reaching new people groups, (2) reclaiming inactive members, (3) keeping its youth, and (4) ministering effectively to complex congregations. Unreached peoples. One of these challenges is to reach today's secular mind with the truths of the Bible. How can we find common ground to ap- proach today's baby boomers and yuppies? What can be done to make an impact on their offspring? And what appeal can be found for those whose material needs are all taken care of? Some of these challenges call for careful thought and a planned and tested strategy. The Adventist Information Service, based at Andrews University in Michigan, has worked with the Seltzer-Daly researchers to uncover profiles of people groups in the many economic structures throughout the U.S.A. in order to help target their felt needs. It is then possible to plan programs that will appeal to them. For instance, baby boomers are very family- and health-oriented. Correctly planned programs in these two areas would appeal to this group more than an evangelistic series. Inactive members. NAD officers in their 1988 year-end meeting in Minneapolis challenged union and local conference presidents to reach their inac- tive church members. It is estimated that there are as many inactive as active members in the church. The year 1989-1990 has been captioned the "Year of Homecoming" in the NAD. Many local April 21 churches have accepted this challenge and are mak- ing a concerted effort to visit missing and former members. Their objectives are to renew friendships and help them feel comfortable about returning to regular church fellowship. Where this is happen- ing, members are returning. Retaining youth. Pathfinders and camping make a profound impact on developing minds. Twenty-eight thousand teens enrolled in the 1988 summer camp program. Adult staff who work with the 25,000 Pathfinder youth in grades 5 through 10 give to the church a minimum of 350 hours per year of volun- teer time, with some reaching 500 hours. Pathfinder Friendship Camporees are an evange- listic outreach; the one held at the Agape Camp- grounds in Pennsylvania in 1989 was attended by more than 14,000 young people. Vacation Bible Schools are another outreach used to generate interest in Adventism. Attendance climbs each year, especially when churches plan follow-up programs such as a Story Hour or a children's church. In 1989 approximately 29,000 non-Adventist children attended Vacation Bible Schools in North America. Complex Congregations. Another area of chal- lenge is planning the nurture of the church's grow- ing multiracial membership, where in a single con- gregation there may be a cultural mix of French-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Korean-, Chinese-, and English-speaking groups. Their cultural prefer- ences may not always be compatible. Add to this the singles and single parents along with the intact families—and the mixture becomes even more complex! Several large churches are experimenting with methods to accommodate this complex audi- ence by developing special interest groups. Mission Offering Projects We turn now from these overall challenges to the 9 five focused challenges of this quarter's Thirteenth Sabbath Offering recipients: Quebecois Project, Canada. For generations the peoples of northeast Canada and northern New England have been unreceptive to religious changes. Now they are showing an eagerness to break away from tradition, as they look for modern-day answers to their questions. Conse- quently, these French-speaking Acadien Quebecois are accepting invitations to Bible study. Literature evangelists, who at one time were unable to penetrate the territory, find a new recep- tiveness in their homes. Three literature evangelist families have been sent into unentered areas of Quebec to plant churches where there are no Ad- ventist believers. The nurture of these new interests is limited by a lack of funds and French-speaking workers. The special offering is targeted for evangelistic endeavors, including church materials in their own language. Preschool Sign Language Books. Of the 21 million hearing-impaired persons in North America (2 million of whom are profoundly deaf), the esti- mated 15,000 small children below third grade who cannot yet read need our help. There are no Bible story books available in sign for them. Chris- tian Record Services, the church's publishing house for blind and deaf individuals, plans to use this special offering to produce three books in sign. This will give these nonhearing, nonreading small children—for whom English is a second language —access to story books of Jesus. Yakima Valley Evangelism Center. Native Americans are another people group whose cultural teachings have inhibited the spread of the gospel. This has also deterred their educational progress. But now a change of "atmosphere" is apparent. There is a willingness to become more involved in current affairs. More young people are staying longer in the educational system, with some going to college. Since their spirit worship is very differ- ent from that of the Bible, it is heartening to see a growing number of Indians involved in Bible stud- ies such as Revelation seminars and cottage meet- ings. The Yakima Valley Evangelism Center, made possible by this special offering, will serve the second largest Native American reservation in the U.S.A. There are very few, if any, baptized Ad- ventists among this people group. Adjacent to the reservation are 100,000 Spanish-speaking Mexi- cans, some of whom are Adventists who have accepted the challenge of reaching out to the Na- tive Americans. The pastor of two of the three Spanish churches in the valley is a physician who uses health emphasis as an opening wedge. Plans are proceeding for a complex that will meet both the spiritual and vocational needs of those on the reservation and in the hispanic community. Inner-City Child Evangelism. The church is reaching- out to millions of unchurched, low- income families crowded in downtown apartment houses in areas where drugs are used openly on the streets. With this special offering, leaders of the proposed St. Louis Center for Child Evangelism in Missouri plan a program of outreach to the children in the inner city. We must begin with the children in order to reach back into the cities for a new generation whose parents have become a "lost generation" to Christian exposure since the inner- city flight of the 1960s and 1970s occurred. During the past few years several Investment projects have also been directed to this type of outreach for New York; Detroit; Vancouver; Bos- ton Van Ministries; Baltimore; Manchester, Ken- tucky; Better Living centers; and the homeless shelter in Metro Atlanta, Georgia. Prison Ministries. North America has more than 850 prisons with 700,000 prisoners. Presently the Texas Conference Prison Ministries services 1,500 inmates and their families, and receives about 40 letters a day. The NAD wishes to consolidate the various resources of the conferences and set up models such as this one across North America. Specifically, this special offering will cover the administration costs of organizing the new system. The NAD aim is to offer Jesus to the inmates, help keep their families intact, and extend hope in a sanctified life that will keep them from returning to prison after release. Commitment Like the pioneers of the mid-1800s, Adventist church members in the NAD are committed to reaching the indifferent and unreached peoples within its sphere. Like those early pioneers, the desire for Christ's return is still uppermost in the hearts of sincere believers. Only one life; 'twill soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. 10 Rehabilitation Plus Regeneration � Tim and Lynda Culver; adapted Timothy and Lynda Culver, directors of prison minis- tries, Texas Conference Have a couple representing Timothy and Lynda Culver on the platform. Call Mrs. Culver to the microphone first. Superintendent: When the Lord touched Lynda Whitford's life with Timothy's, she married a new ministry for herself as well as a husband. Lynda, would you step to the microphone and share with us? [Superintendent backs away and resumes seat.] Lynda Culver: That is true! I hope that the Holy Spirit and I will "hook" you on prison ministries as much as the Holy Spirit and Tim "hooked" me, because this Thirteenth Sabbath we hope to estab- lish a network of jail ministries, like the one that Tim began in Texas, all over North America with its 850 prisons and 700,000 prisoners. The first six months of our ministry was a whirl- wind of paperwork that excluded any personal prison ministry for me. However, I did manage to study data on incarcerated women and began shar- ing this information in our prison ministries work- shops. It was at one of these workshops that I was approached by a woman who looked me straight in the eye and said, "Which jail do you visit, dear?" That is when it hit me that I had not uncovered anything firsthand; I was merely repeating the col- lected data of others. Since I had not gone to the mountain, God brought the mountain to me! God gave this third-generation Adventist who had never even seen the inside of a jail the courage that first week to go and share the miracles He had performed in my life. Others tell me they feel something happen in the pit of their stomach when they hear the doors lock behind them: I have never experienced that sensation or fear. I know this is a gift from God. April 28 After that first service, I was hooked. Stories of the women I have met and prayed with are too numerous to relate here. Many are coming down off various drug habits, and most have children they are crying out for. At least 70 percent of the female prisoners have children under 18 years old. These children have not committed a crime, but they are serving time. There is a special need to help them nurture their relationship with the incar- cerated parent whenever advisable. As for mar- riages, studies have shown that 90 percent will end in divorce when a spouse is incarcerated. But those who are able to stay in close contact with their families do significantly better, and of these, 90 percent never return to prison. As I visit the women, I share, cry, sing, pray, and talk about Jesus' indescribable love for them. Since most of them have never known real love, it is thrilling to see their faces when they first grasp His love. They are always so thirsty for more! When I first emerge into the bright sunlight after visiting in the jail, I often feel so out of touch with reality. I observe people pursuing their usual activ- ities, and I wonder if they know—if they care —about those people in that jail! Now meet my husband, Timothy Culver—pas- tor, full-time student, and director of prison minis- tries for the Texas Conference. But first let him introduce himself as Timmy Culver, 4 years old —and give us his earliest recollections. [Lynda backs away and resumes seat.] Pastor Culver: It is very dark in the hotel room we call home, with only the street lamps outside to give some form to the objects in my room. I am crying because I am all alone and hungry, and I can't locate the bathroom. I know that I am doing something wrong, but in desperation I relieve my- self in a corner. Eventually my parents return, and 11 my father goes into a rage over my "accident." I can still remember being tied to the bedpost and beaten with an iron cord. After a childhood that produced similar agoniz- ing memories and lifetime scars, my alcoholic par- ents eventually sent me to live with my grandpar- ents. A few years later my little sister, Denise, came too. The bright spot was being taken to church by my grandparents. Although they went for traditional reasons and did not understand the power of God, the stories of Jesus made an impact on my tender heart. How I loved this Jesus, who promised to be my friend and stay with me always! One day when I was feeling desperately alone and scared, I made a little altar in my bedroom and gave my heart to Jesus. I believe that He heard and honored the prayer of that hurting little boy and consequently watched over me with special care during the self- destructive years that followed. The pain that my grandparents could not kiss away finally led to years of drug abuse. As I fell deeper into addiction, I gave Dennie the same start. She died from an overdose while sitting under a tree in California. The guilt I felt drove me deeper into abuse. Because drug addiction is expensive, I soon had to become a manufacturer. This illegal behavior naturally led to imprisonment. The result of 23 years of drug abuse was 11 years of incarceration in state and federal prisons. One day I lay on the floor of a prison cell in the very pit of earthly existence. I weighed 135 pounds, was urinating blood, and had pus draining from oozing sores all over my body from the 4,000 to 6,000 milligrams of methamphetamine I had been pumping into my veins each day. Someone gave me a Good News Bible, and I held it to my heart. With tears running in rivers down my face, I asked God to let me die in peace. Instead, I lived. When the new Tim Culver was born on that prison floor, I found I was still a recovering drug addict, still in prison, and still must learn how to live for Jesus. I began by reading my Bible. Often my mind could not grasp the truths, but I would continue. That first year I read the Bible through eight times! The joy and peace in my heart just spilled out everywhere and onto everyone who came near me. The guards would hear me singing and praising the Lord in my cell and would come over with a bottle for a urine specimen—sure that I was still taking drugs! I attended every Protestant worship service, and eventually someone provided me with a set of C. D. Brooks's sermon tapes, "God in Bad Com- pany." I thought, Whoever this man is, I want to belong to his church! Later some Adventist layman came to give Bible studies at the prison, and I recognized the same precious truths. One laymen in particular, Wendell Elkins, studied with me faithfully week after week. He even took me home on a Christmas furlough with his family. As soon as possible, I was bap- tized into the Adventist family. I settled back to serve the remainder of my sentence with peace of mind. Then God intervened. The sentencing guide- lines were changed, and I was released two and a half years earlier than I had dreamed possible so that I could attend Southwestern Adventist College in Keene, Texas, to study for the ministry. But before I left prison, God had shown me that, like the demoniac in Mark 5, I was to return to my brothers and sisters in prison and "tell them how much the Lord has done" (verse 19, TEV). I am now studying to become a Seventh-day Adventist minister. God has restored not only my health and freedom, but my mind as well. I am able to graduate with honors. He next gave me a wonderful Christian young woman for a compan- ion, and we are pastoring two small churches and directing the prison ministries for the Texas Con- ference. Your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will be applied to the organizational costs of expanding a network of this prison ministry from Texas across North America. Prayer Request This week please pray for the drug addicts in North America, and specifically for those who are our Seventh-day Adventist youth. Love is like five loaves and two fishes— It doesn't seem like much until we start to give it away. Send our love to North America this quarter. 12 Now! � Fred Christiansen May 5 Deaf children say thank you for your offerings. In the late 1700s a French abbot was visiting the homes of his parish. At one home the mother of twin deaf girls, concerned for their salvation, begged him, "What will become of my girls? Must they perish for lack of knowledge?" In response to that heart cry, the Abbe De l'Epee formed the first school for the deaf and the first formal sign language. And it was there that Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a young pastor, learned how to do the same for America. My wife and I learned how that French mother felt when our 6-month-old baby daughter, Mo- nique, totally lost her hearing. In technical terms, with a hearing loss of more than 100 decibels, she was profoundly deaf. My wife and I were nearly as deeply saddened as if there had been a death in the family. Not only were we sad because she had lost her hearing; we were in anguish over some very impor- tant consequences. How could we tell her about Jesus—that He is her Friend? How could she learn to pray? How could we tell her Bible stories? Oh! how we wanted her to know the Bible heroes and heroines—Esther, Joseph, and Daniel! What had been so easy to communicate to her sister now presented a great challenge. Through prayer and the ministry of friends, it became clear that our family must learn sign lan- guage. We could not wait. Monique could not wait the years that it takes to learn to lip-read a suffi- cient amount of what is spoken. She needed lan- guage now so that she could tell us when she was happy, sad, scared, or hurt! She needed language now so she could understand those wonderful words—Jesus loves me! So it was that we began taking sign language classes. At home we would sign simple prayers, such as "Thank You, Jesus, for the food. Amen." We would tell Monique simplified Bible stories. Sometimes it was hard for her to visualize the story. We had to learn to be more animated, to put more expression into our eyes, faces, and bodies. We used dolls to act out stories. We did skits. Monique began to understand who Jesus is. The Need Like her hearing sister, as little Monique grew, so did her thirst for stories, stories, and more sto- ries. While this delighted us, the demands often exceeded the supply of time. Unlike her hearing sister, when storytime with Mommy and Daddy were finished, we could not send her off to listen to Your Story Hour tapes. A new question presented itself: Where were books that could "speak" to her? Now if all we wanted were books for Monique to learn language by associating sign words with written English words, Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., could help us. Gallaudet is the only liberal arts university in the world for the deaf. Gallaudet publishes a small collection of chil- dren's books in sign, from simple ones (I Am a Cat) to the conversational level of a hearing 5- year-old. Because of the signs, Monique could read the simple ones by herself when she was 3 years old, and by 7 she could read them all. But where were books just like these that told Bible stories? Must she wait until she can learn to read in school in order to have the world of Bible story books opened to her? Our big question was Don't pre- school deaf children have access to Bible story books? In our search for Bible stories with signs, we contacted the American Bible Society and the Bap- tist Sunday School headquarters. We talked to Lutherans, Catholics, and Mormons. All of these churches have developed ministries for the deaf to 13 a greater degree than have Seventh-day Adventists. But none had anything for small deaf children. At Last Then our sign language teacher, aware of our search, found a photocopy of Jesus and the Storm in sign. We wept for joy! We finally had a Bible story in sign for Monique to read with us and by herself! But we had no idea where it had come from, for the title page was missing. A year later, at the deaf camp meeting in Milo, Oregon, a young deaf man who lived near Gallau- det University said he had seen an original Jesus and the Storm in the school's bookstore. He soon secured one for us, and that is how we learned that it was produced by Gospel Publishing House of the Assemblies of God Church. We lost no time contacting Gospel Publishers, hoping they would have more. Well, there are two more such books, one about Noah and one about Samson. These were less polished and more cari- catured. Sum total: three books. Our question: Why are there not more in the Christian world? When we evaluate the quality of such Adventist children's books as My Bible Friends, the Ladder of Life series, or My Church Teaches series, we exclaim that they are without peer. But because a deaf child's English reading skills develop signifi- cantly slower than a hearing child's, these simple books cannot be read by a deaf child for a long, long time. But if they were available with accom- panying signs, deaf preschool children such as Mo- nique would devour them. Not only would the Adventist children benefit, but also the Christian world. The books would, in fact, be marketed to the estimated 15,000 deaf children below third grade across North America, including non-Christians as well. What a witness this will be! We have established that the sum total of Bible story books for them amounts to three. Christian Record Services, the church's publishing house for blind and deaf individuals, plans to use this special offering to produce three books in sign: about Jesus, Creation, and Moses. This will give these nonhearing, nonreading small children—for whom English is a second language—double the number of books they now have, for a total of six. Prayer Request The cry of that French mother still rings out more than 200 years later. Will you pray this week for these parents who are asking, "What will be- come of our little deaf Adventists—and those oth- ers who could be reached? Must they perish for a lack of knowledge?" A Generation Missed � J. Paul Monk, Jr. J. Paul Monk, Jr., presi- dent of the Central States Conference May 12 God chose the great land of America to grace with omens and portents of His soon return—the signs in the sun, moon, and stars. Yet under this prosperity and opportunity, with hundreds of churches of every kind around, the clouds of a neoheathen, even satanic, aura have been settling in. Under these shadows are the inner cities of our large metropolitan areas—burdened with malnutri- tion, intellectual impoverishment, and spiritual malaise. 14 Seventh-day Adventists have raised up defenses against this gross darkness. We have our schools, churches, inner-city programs, van ministries, hos- pitals, clinics, food stores, and bookstores. But we are losing ground, and now, with our regular lines of work fully committed, we must mount yet an- other major offensive. The Exodus In addition, the economics of the situation exert continuous pressure to force us away from our target population in the inner cities. As people accept the Lord, their lifestyles and tastes change. They find it necessary to move away from territo- ries in which the more debasing kinds of evil run nearly unchecked. So our churches move out; our schools move out. Our hospitals and clinics cannot survive financially in these inner-city pits. They also leave or shut down. But exoduses always have occurred for God's people, and they are phenomena to be expected. Yet the mission remains. So like fire fighters we rake the rescued ones from the scene of destruc- tion only to return with renewed zeal and a fresh approach to snatch away a few more precious ones before it's all over. Since the flight began, a whole generation of inner-city dwellers in the 1960s and 1970s were left without anyone from whom to hear the gospel. A missed generation. Now their children are growing up likewise. Far from being able to reap here, there is an immedi- ate need to break up the ground, sow seed, and cultivate. We must start at the bottom again, with the children, using a fresh approach. Or will we leave this whole group of unreached people by default to other Christian evangelicals? But pres- ently no one is now reaching out to this growing pool of children who live in society's back streets. What is our fresh approach? It is the St. Louis Center for Child Evangelism. St. Louis, Missouri, has tens of thousands of these children drifting further and further out of reach of our traditional evangelistic methods. Some of the high-priority programs will be: Dignity School These activities will aim at raising self-esteem among children. At the same time its goal is to develop within the children's perception links be- tween performance and result, work and reward, behavior and consequences. One of the enduring legacies of slavery in America has been this broken link. For many Blacks, hard work has not meant prosperity. Sacrifice today has not meant reward tomorrow. It seems useless to judge behavior for its moral worth. Good actions as often as bad resulted in unfavorable consequences. Thus any action that ensured survival was the correct action. In our target area, children cannot see a career path through school and the entrance to a respect- able place in society. Instead, they see all around them that the path to success is in trafficking drugs and other contraband. Their own subteen peers already have adult financial resources through these means. They have funds and status. Moral judgments seem irrelevant, since nearly all exam- ples of society's standards are compromised in their neighborhoods. Christian Video Library A base irony of life in the United States is that despite the poverty, crime, and even malnutrition, the poor have their televisions. Increasingly, the VCR is owned in inner-city homes. Some figures place the number close to that of overall America. The center will produce and collect tapes for lend- ing, similar to the commonplace practice with sec- ular videos. But our video library will contain Christ-filled literature, including videotapes of Christian TV programs such as From Jesus With Love, produced by the Central States Conference. Christian Drama Center Of all means of communication, drama most fully approximates life. Chancel drama groups from the center could confront issues of teen preg- nancy, morality, parenting, the blending of fami- lies (mingling stepchildren), substance abuse, and other issues. They would perform by request in churches and schools. Morally correct lines learned by children in plays, the acting out of proper be- haviors, and dramatizing the results of wrong ac- tions will provide lasting impressions in the young minds. AIDS Intervention Essentially this will be a health education and referral program. It will enable Adventists, re- nowned for health concerns, to be on the cutting edge of teaching children about the perils of the disease and the lifestyles that facilitate it. A whole range of educational techniques will be used to reach children where they are. Program Staging Center The center will serve as a recruitment/staging area for friendship camps, handicapped camps, and day camps. This important function will eliminate much of the guesswork in predicting which activi- ties to sponsor and depending on local churches to locate participants. Implementation An empty school building is available for a rea- sonable price because it needs repairs. The location and facility are ideal. The Thirteenth Sabbath Of- fering will be used almost totally for one-time capital expenditures. The operating budget will be self-sustaining. Highest priority will be accorded those programs that give promise of self-support. 15 Prayer Request Executive committee members of the Central States Conference pray that the St. Louis Center for Child Evangelism will provide a model and example for worldwide emulation in reaching non- churched and nonreligious children who will grow up to be Christian adults—a reached generation. Will you, this week, pray with them? First of a Kind � Rose and Tom LeBlanc and R. Robichaud The Robichaud family. Interviewer: Elder Robichaud, this report's title is "First of a Kind." What are you the first of? Robichaud: I am the first Acadien Seventh-day Adventist minister to work among my own people in North America, just since 1988 when I gradu- ated from Canadian Union College. The work really only opened up in our French-speaking Acadien-Quebecois area in about 1984, you know. Interviewer: And what were you before that? Robichaud: A hippie! My wife, Debbie, and I were hippies. Interviewer: Long hair and all the rest? Robichaud: Oh, yes. Very long hair, and a long beard, too—even by hippie standards. Very anti- establishment. Debby and I had built our own log house in the backwoods of New Brunswick, and we had three children there—with no electricity, no running water! Interviewer: And how did the Holy Spirit begin to move into action there? Tell us. Robichaud: We began reading the Bible on our own. Later we went to Alberta and became ac- quainted with a Sabbathkeeper called "the garlic man" because of his strange diet. He was a non- Adventist, but he happened to have some Ellen White books he gave us to read. There we started 16 May 19 to clean up our lifestyle, became vegetarians, and began keeping the Sabbath. Then in 1981 we moved back home to our backwoods log house. Interviewer: So you now kept the Sabbath? Robichaud: On our own. We were still pretty "hippified." But then a friend of "the garlic man" contacted Elder Lawton Lowe, president of the Maritime Conference, that a family near Moncton (ours) was keeping the Sabbath. Well, Elder Lowe and the local pastor, Barry Hubley, waded through the mud in their visiting clothes and low rubbers to find us in our little house in the big woods. Look- ing back, I see why finding us was so important to them. Interviewer: And why was that? Robichaud: Because even though the work en- tered the area in 1849, the membership of French- speaking indigenous people by 1981 was still only 100—and all of these were in Quebec. Only 100 members in a population that today amounts to 7 million French-speaking Canadians! If there was one more potential member, they surely wanted to find that person! Interviewer: And so you were baptized? Robichaud: Yes, after the ministers had clari- fied just a few items we were baptized a month later. I began colporteuring, but that was less than lucrative for me since I spent so much time talking about the Bible! The benefit of this was that I learned I liked to give Bible studies. Interviewer: And then in 1985 something trau- matic happened. Robichaud: Yes. Our house burned down. This was all we needed to make our decision to go to Canadian Union College to study for the ministry. We sold our Clydesdale horse and foal for gas money to get to Alberta. Debbie and I worked our way through school and I paid my tuition by work- ing as a licensed carpenter. I finished college in April 1988. After graduation I joined Gerard Dis in an evan- gelistic campaign that produced a French-speaking company with 18 members in Moncton. Moncton already had an English-speaking group of 100, and our French-speaking company meets in their church on Sabbath afternoons. This is the first French-speaking company in New Brunswick, which makes me the first Acadien SDA minister to work among my own people. Interviewer: I understand that you have lost but few of the members or interests gained so far. What nurturing programs have you utilized? Robichaud: A stop-smoking plan, a Revelation seminar, a nutrition seminar, and a mini three- week campaign using Steps to Christ. After the stop-smoking program, the participants insisted on taking up an unscheduled offering, even though they had already paid a fee to attend, so that a similar program could be conducted somewhere else! Interviewer: Pastor, you mentioned that you were not too successful in literature evangelism. Can you comment on how others are doing? Robichaud: Yes. Literature evangelists are usu- ally the first troops to enter dark areas. In Quebec, their number grew from zero in 1985 to eight in 1988. These eight sold $440,000 and generated 13 baptisms in 1988, outselling all the other confer- ences in Canada. And there have been exciting results in French areas of New Brunswick, even with only one literature evangelist working just a few weeks a year. Interviewer: What other methods of evangelism have been successful? Robichaud: The French It Is Written television program, with Pastor George Hermans, began about 15 years ago. Until now, however, we have had no organized follow-up plan to foster these interests. Now we are training "interest coordina- tors." Evangelist Gerard Dis has been successful in conducting major evangelistic campaigns. We are also exploring media possibilities and seminars such as "Revelation," "Church Planting," and "Friendship Evangelism." All of these evangelistic and nurturing efforts are coordinated through a special project, geared to reach as many French-speaking people as possible: Project Acadien-Quebecois. PAQ is targeting this people group in an all-out effort. We are using all the money, resources, and people available to max- imize the results while the Spirit is opening hearts among these people. Interviewer: In your evaluation, what is the greatest challenge facing the Acadien-Quebecois workers? Robichaud: According to PAQ director, Tom LeBlanc, it is the difficulty of obtaining workers and materials in the French language. In Quebec, for instance, workers have had to come from around the world: Canada, Mauritius, Haiti, France, Switzer- land, Portugal, Bermuda, Jamaica, Trinidad, Philip- pines, and Panama. "We are truly a United Nations," says LeBlanc. "We have had little success in getting English- speaking Canadians to learn French. Nearly every- thing that we receive from the North American Division is written in English, and so the materials must be translated on our own. We desperately need French evangelism materials. Our call is out for those who have French language skills." Interviewer: This question sounds oversimplis- tic, but why do you not just send for workers from France? Robichaud: In Quebec we have been doing just that for years. Dedicated and talented workers have been drawn from many French-speaking countries and they've done a great job. But the principle of homogeneous evangelism—people working for their own people—teaches us that this is the ideal. The Quebecois and Acadien people compose two cultures—two distinct cultures that have not been integrated into the general melting pot of North America. Our dream is to draw workers from our own people. 17 Interviewer: Why do you suppose PAQ director LeBlanc says the time is ripe for evangelism among the Quebecois now? Robichaud: It had to be the signature of the Holy Spirit—the climate in this traditional culture began mysteriously to change about 1984. Previ- ously church growth had always hit a brick wall. Those who accepted the message were often re- jected by their families and social circles. In Quebec, some recent positive influences were active evangelism by the Adventists, an infusion of immigrants in the 1970s, a massive turning away from Roman Catholicism—many of whom con- tinue to search for God in other churches—Advent- ists who have returned to Quebec to reach their own people, the success of It Is Written, more full-time literature evangelists, a Spanish congre- gation that attracts 300 people every Sabbath, and a few published materials in French. Interviewer: Can you share the significance of this breakthrough? Robichaud: We are speaking of bringing the message to one fourth of the population of Canada! These 7 million people populate an area of nearly 1 million square miles —almost four times the size of Texas and twice as large as Alaska! This area did not have even one full-time literature evangelist working among them as recently as 1985. Interviewer: Thank you, Pastor Robichaud, for sharing your experience of being one of a kind. Around the world we will pray this week that you will be followed by many more of your kind. We Have You! � Joaquin Cazares Dr. Joaquin Cazares Imagine with me that you belong to a little church of 36 members. Now imagine a surprise: when you arrived this early spring Sabbath morn- ing the church was already full! Altogether there are more than a hundred people present. And a bigger surprise: the people are hungry. In fact, some have not eaten for a few days. This actually happened— in North America. Had it been your church, what would you think? Would you be tempted to tell them to come back for a food basket on Tuesday when the Community Services center is open? Now allow us to cushion your initial shock. Would your reaction be different if you knew the group was from your own native homeland, and they, too, had come to this foreign country for a different life? How would you feel toward them now? If your reaction to this additive was different, should it have been? 18 May 26 This incident occurred in an area that is one of the five recipients of this quarter's Thirteenth Sab- bath Offering in North America—the Yakima Val- ley in the state of Washington, where many His- panics and Native Americans (Indians) reside. The visitors were migrants from Mexico who had ar- rived to work the farms. After the services, the pastor and several members distributed food among the desperate visitors and found places for their families to spend the night. But 1987, the year before, had been hard and difficult for many farm workers, and especially so for Agustin and Maria Concepcion Suarez, who by faith took four of these people home with them. They prayed that the Lord would provide food enough for all of them, as He had for the widow of Zarephath. They got through Sabbath all right—but what about the next day? Maria declared, "God will provide," and the six of them, the Suarezes and their four visitors, knelt and prayed: "Lord, You know that none of us have work, money, or food; but Lord, we have You, and You will give us what we need to testify for You!" This prayer was one that the Lord took only a few minutes to answer. A member of Agustin's family came and said, "I've come to inform you that the rancher we worked for about five months ago told me they have a check for us." Early the next morning the two men went for the check, which they expected to be $3 to $5. To their surprise, it was much more—enough to buy the needed food supplies for a week! Thanks to God, Agustin and Maria worked the following week. The Valley The Yakima Valley is an area about 50 miles long and 7 to 10 miles wide in the state of Washington, home of approximately 100,000 residents in roughly 10 to 12 towns and outlying farms. About 60 percent of these are Hispanics who have migrated north from Mexico to work the farms, which are rich with pears, apples, peaches, prunes, cherries, and a great variety of vegetables and other fruits. Another 24 percent of the residents are Native Americans, on whom we will focus next week. Both will benefit from the Spanish and Native American Evangelism Center, which is one of this quarter's special projects. The Spanish work in the territory began a little more than 20 years ago when a company was organized in Toppenish, now in Granger, which presently has 150 members. It took another eight years to found the second Spanish group. In the past five years the work has grown from these two congregations to 13 Spanish-speaking groups in the valley. Most of this growth resulted from numerous evangelistic series during the past five years by Robert Goransson, Spanish evangelist from the North Pacific Union Conference. Another thrust came in 1987 when all the members of two churches delivered Voice of Prophecy lessons to homes in the valley. Out of 400 students, 308 graduated in a beautiful ceremony in which the world director for the radio school, Oscar Hernan- dez, was present to present the diplomas. Perhaps you missed the significance of the hours of labor involved. These members didn't just dis- tribute enrollment cards. They distributed each les- son. And not only did one lady, Enedina Zagal, distribute the lessons after she hurried home from work to get her missionary box, but she most often read the lessons and helped write the answers, for most of these students did not read nor write. Even Enedina knew very little herself, for the need to work early in life had allowed her but a few years of education. But 60 of the 308 graduates who received their diploma in that historical graduation in the Northwest were there through the efforts of Enedina! Missionaries to North America Recently, along with the migrants has come a little company of Spanish workers. In the valley are Spanish denominational workers from Guate- mala, Chile, Nicaragua, and Mexico. There are presently eight Spanish workers in the conference, seven pastors, and one Spanish assistant in the Publishing Department. One of these pastors is Dr. Joaquin Cazares from Veracruz, Mexico, a physician who pastors two churches in the valley and produces four radio programs in addition to counseling at six farm- worker clinics and authoring articles. Dr. Cazares says that "when the Adventist Church began in North America, the attention was given to proclaiming the three angels' messages in foreign countries. The ideal was to sacrifice eco- nomic and human resources for foreign evange- lism. Today, North America says, 'Come back and help us.' North America is its own Macedonia. And some Hispanic professionals," Dr. Cazares concludes, "are coming to North America to help our own people, as we were trained to do in Inter- America. " A caring aspect of the Hispanic groups is their willingness to take on as a special project the work- ing for the Native Americans who live adjacent to them, an arrangement that has worked well in the Southwest. The proposed evangelistic center, ac- cordingly, will include specialized training pro- grams for the Hispanics to work among the Native Americans in addition to the evangelistic programs that are already working for their own people. Prayer Request This week please praise God for the fast- growing work among the Hispanic people in North America as well as Inter-America. Thank Him that they are concerned about their own people here so much that they are willing to come to North Amer- ica and minister to them. And more, to reach out to the Native Americans as well. Ask God to make the prayer of Maria Suarez your prayer: "0 God, we have nothing, but we have You, and You will give us what we need to testify of You." 19 The Missing Story � Janet Kangas, Editor June 2 The missing converts This is the story that isn't. It is not a mission story, but a missing story. I know it's missing because I made eight phone calls across the country to find it. Then I concluded I shouldn't run the General Conference phone bill any higher after something that isn't. Last week's report, you recall, covered the ex- panding Hispanic work in the Yakima Valley where this quarter's offering will open an evange- listic center. Both the Hispanics and the Native Americans are to benefit from this project, and, accordingly, this second half of the report today was to feature the Native Americans in the Yakima Valley. But because of the sensitive issue of how the Native Americans were treated by the conquer- ing Americans, I wished them to speak for them- selves. I preferred to have one of the Native Amer- ican Indians give a moving conversion account—and let us see through Indian eyes how this process occurs. Since their converts are few, we might learn how best to present the gospel to them after all this. But I was not able to locate a first-person con- version story out of the three Yakima Valley tribes: the Umatilla, the Walla Walla, and the Cayuse. In fact, some reports say there are no converts there, while other reports indicate very few. The safest phraseology is to report very few, if any. Not far from the valley a free Adventist school for Indian children exists, and a Native American camp meet- ing is held every June. There is even an Adventist company there of about 20 members that includes six baptized Native Americans. But the evangelis- tic attempts for the Indians within the valley have been meager. Efforts have been few, and unsuc- cessful. Part of the problem is a carryover from the past. If the Indian doesn't trust the White man, why should he need the White man's God? Another 20 problem is that training is required in meeting the Indian mind. A zealous person cannot just show up with an evangelistic series or know how to befriend them. Another challenge is that the best way to know an Indian is to live among them. But little hope exists in reaching the adults. Like the inner- city work, we must start by dipping into a new generation of children, as with the St. Louis Center for Child Evangelism. A Plan Forms Leaders of the Upper Columbia Union Confer- ence feel that some of the Spanish workers who have offered to take on the special project of working for the Native Americans would have a better opportunity in reaching them. This idea at first sounds strange, because the Spanish likewise fought the Indians, and they do not speak the same native tongue. Reasons given in favor of this arrangement are that their culture and back- ground are quite similar, plus many Hispanics are now fluent in English. Hispanics working for In- dians has been demonstrated successfully in the Southwest. Accordingly, a program at the new center would be designed to train Hispanic workers to reach Native Americans as well as their own people. Other proposed programs at the center include * Alcohol prevention and rehabilitation. * Health education such as programs for stopping smoking, drug abuse, nutrition, physical fitness, and first aid. * Child evangelism including Story Hours, Path- finders, Vacation Bible School. * Vocational training since the work of both groups is usually seasonal. * Language classes particularly for the Spanish people to learn English. * Lay training for witnessing because most are first-generation Adventists without this back- ground. * Radio evangelism. * Adventist Book Center for Spanish literature and what little we have published for Native Ameri- cans. * Friendship prayer ministry because both groups respond to friendly visits that include prayer min- istry after acceptable approaches are acquired. * Exhibits displaying their culture. The building will have two meeting halls, one for 250, the other for 100, to accommodate both groups simultaneously. The likely location is in the Toppenish area, the same general area as the Yakima National Cultural Center. Encouragement Although our few efforts in the past have not met success, there are indications that the "atmo- sphere" is changing. There appears to be a willing- ness to become more involved in current affairs. More young people are staying longer in the edu- cational system, with some going on to college. A growing number of Indians around the valley are involved in Bible studies such as Revelation semi- nars and cottage meetings. This is especially en- couraging if we consider that their form of spirit worship is very different from our worship. But God understands how to reach them through their own form of worship, and, as with all people in every culture, is already there, working among them in ways that will reach particular minds. In the words of Walter Douglas, "our first task among unreached people is to discover how He is already at work, what form His presence has taken, and what earthen vessels He has selected to com- municate" (Adventist Review, June 16, 1988). Ellen White says, "In various ways God will reveal Himself to them and will place them in touch with providences that will establish their confi- dence in the One who has given Himself a ransom for all" (Prophets and Kings, p. 378). Note that we are the second half—the provi- dences. Missionaries are not bringing God to the Indians; God was there first and is bringing the missionaries to the Indians. He is now impressing us that the time has come. With this preface, we may be ready to look at the phrase "In various ways God will reveal Him- self." We have already mentioned that the Indians observe a different kind of spirit worship. Perhaps God will use this area of their sensitivity to first reach their mind. It has been said, "Don't make a principle out of your own experience. Let Christ be as creative with others as He is with you." Evidence It is commonly understood in the valley, reports a pastor, that there appears to be a "Sabbath con- sciousness" throughout the valley Indians, al- though its origin remains veiled. We don't know when this awareness began, but it remains; the reports have been "recent," the pastor says. We might speculate here that perhaps God has been reaching for them in ways sensitive to their culture, but that would be to write the missing story beforehand. In His own good time, God will reveal His workings among the Native Americans of the Yakima Valley. For now, it seems that He is telling us that He is ready to "place them in touch with providences that will establish their confi- dence." That is our part. Most of us North Americans do not feel respon- sible for what our forefathers did in losing the faith of the Indians. Now, a few generations later, we can understand God's reference in the second com- mandment that what the fathers do will bear on the children to the third and fourth generations. How can we rectify their misdeeds? Prayer Request Please pray this week that nothing you do per- sonally will ever create a barrier that will cause another to shut out Christ. And pray that someday the missing story can be told. Membership Size Distribution Pe.11/ 01,00 � e.. 21 Frontline Troops � Robert Fournier Jean-Guy Tremblay in ac- tion. June 9 Guess who you are. You command the frontline troops in infiltrating dark-area work in Quebec for the Lord. As recently as 1985 your job did not even exist, but in that year you were put in charge and acquired yourself a force of one! Then three. Now 10. The first year yielded no surrenders in baptism. But in 1986 your outfit produced nine, and 1987 saw 49! Then in 1988 there were 13 more captured for the Lord. Who are you? You are the publishing director in Quebec, but recently your territory has expanded so that you direct the publishing work in all of eastern Canada. This includes Quebec, the Mari- time provinces, and Newfoundland. In 1988, your troops led Canada with sales of $440,000. By the way, your name is Robert Fournier. First Literature Evangelist Now let's review the providential way God brought the first literature evangelist in touch with you to be hired. In the latter 1970s, Jean-Guy Tremblay showed up at a stop-smoking clinic—the Five-Day Plan—led by Pastor Richly. But Jean- Guy didn't smoke. His father, however, had just died from cancer, and Jean-Guy's desire to find the reason why drew him to learn more about the dangers of smoking. And so he appeared at the clinic. Jean-Guy, however, wanted nothing to do with the religion involved. He was present merely for the information about smoking related to cancer. But when Pastor Richly invited him to watch the religious program at home on television, It Is Writ- ten (II Est Ecrit), by George Hermans, in French, that sounded less threatening. Besides, he was cu- rious to find out why this young pastor carried such confidence in life and peace within his heart. Within a short time Jean-Guy was quite im- pressed and drawn to recognize God, love Him, 22 and give Him his heart. He searched his own heart and knew he must learn the principles and disci- plines of Adventism. Would you believe he took two years off work so that he could study the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy! This sabbatical was spent to understand God—His will and His way. During this time, though not working, he did perform public work for the nonsmoking clinics. He followed Pastor Richly from clinic to clinic until he learned how to present the programs him- self, which he then did. Jean-Guy took off with zeal. In a very short time he was named president of the Nonsmokers Association of Quebec. Now Jean-Guy not only managed to conduct the stop-smoking clinics, but shortly he found himself on many radio programs, talk shows, and televi- sion programs. A great deal of attention was drawn to the health ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. A New Plan By and by God moved in to shift Jean-Guy's zeal from Plan A to Plan B. After he had been president of the association for a while, he was by now running out of funds. He thought it was high time to start thinking about what he could do to work for the Lord. He had heard a little about the publishing work. One of his nonsmoker's appointments took him north of Ontario, where he stayed overnight in some Adventist homes. One family were close friends of the Fourniers, who, Jean-Guy was in- formed, were moving into the province to reinstate the publishing work. Not only was Jean-Guy in- trigued with this news about some people named the Fourniers, but Robert Fournier was likewise intrigued when the mutual friend informed him about Jean-Guy. In no time, a meeting was ar- ranged. Jean-Guy decided to give his full concentration and consecration to the literature evangelism as he had to the Nonsmoking Association. Accordingly, he left his presidency post. Jean-Guy had taken more than 200 people through the nonsmoking pro- gram by then, and only five participants had re- mained smokers. Jean-Guy, however, still received call after call requesting his help with clinics. Again he carefully examined his life and believed that, for him, his work in publishing was more important to the Lord. But the calls kept coming, and so Jean-Guy carried on in both areas. During the weeks of his clinics he would spend his days canvassing and appearing on the talk shows, radiobroadcasts, and television. Then he would present his stop-smoking clinic in the evenings. The next day would be the same, and the following evening he would return to the clinic to carry on. This went on for weeks. Throughout this stress and demand, Jean-Guy al- ways managed to sell more than $1,000 of books a week! Jean-Guy's promotion of health by the nonsmok- ing emphasis has lent credibility to his sales. This merger was given a boost when Dr. Sang Lee came from Weimar Institute to the camp meeting Jean- Guy attended. Overwhelmed with her simple and practical applications of health, Jean-Guy took notes of every word. These he took to heart, prac- ticed himself, and began to teach to others. Expanded Influence His sales increased, and so did his influence in the medical field. A conference of four hospitals was scheduled to plan a program to discourage all their hospital staff from smoking. Jean-Guy was called to meet with the head doctors, head nurses, and head pharmacists beforehand. This preconfer- ence was not limited to smoking, but included the eight laws of health as well as the immune system and use of endorphins. These department heads were impressed with two facets of Jean-Guy's pre- sentation: his simplicity and his spirituality in ev- erything he proposed. Now they wanted to know more, buy his books, and meet with him in their homes at night to talk more about relieving stress in their responsibilities. In Jean-Guy's first year, he realized four bap- tisms. Then two more. And then two more. Jean- Guy is now the assistant publishing director to Robert Fournier, serving as the district leader in Quebec. Were You Aware? As you heard the sketch of Jean-Guy's story, were you aware of the different evangelistic ap- proaches mentioned that touched his life? First was the stop-smoking clinic—which answered a felt need in his life. Next was the It Is Written televi- sion inreach into his own home. Then he became involved in literature evangelism outreach. Pro- ceeding, he began to use the broadcast media him- self. Finally, he bonded with the medical profes- sion in a conference at the hospital. Notice, in not one of these evangelism ap- proaches did this report mention a church! Not often do prospective members merely appear in our churches, asking to be harvested. No, some- thing usually occurs first that awakens an interest, a desire. Prayer Request Although It Is Written has been broadcast in Quebec for 15 years now, there has been little accountability for follow-up of the contacts stimu- lated. This is changing, and interest coordinators are being appointed. In the literature evangelism as well, new contacts must be not just made, but also looked after. A new program allows a literature evangelist a stipend to assure that new companies will be cared for. The contacts of broadcasting and literature are being made. Please pray this week for the spiritual discernment of our evangelists in both programs, that they will perceive when follow-up nurture is productive. Offerings are offered weekly, but prayers can be offered daily. Thank you. Put not your trust in money, but put your money in trust. 23 Global Outreach Starts Next Door � Lynn Bratcher Lynn Bratcher June 16 Greg, Jodie, and Jennifer Bratcher The blended voices ring out through the open windows of the small rock church, "I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord. . . . I'll say what You want me to say . . ." From my wooden pew I can see new buds on the tree limbs. Today is welcome relief from the icy winter weather of the past few months. The song service is speaking directly to my heart. The words of this song are so true for me—I am ready to go to the ends of the earth for my Lord! I am a brand-new Adventist, and today I know that at last my search for mean- ing is over. It is too good to believe! How can I tell as many people as possible about Jesus? There isn't much time! Silently I pray, "Dear Lord, I do want to go anywhere in the world You want me to go. I want to say the words You want me to say. It is impor- tant that I tell others this good news as soon as possible!" Since I'm now working two full-time jobs-80 hours a week to support my two children in college and high school—the Lord will surely change my situation so that I will be free to spread the gospel. Facing a word processor all day as a legal secretary and then sitting five nights a week as assistant dispatcher in the police department does not allow much time for missionary work. Besides, how much missionary work can be done in a small country town like Duncan, Oklahoma! Well, until I receive my mission from God I will try to give more money to help support the weekly Sabbath School offering for foreign missions. How exciting to think that by prayer and financial sup- port I can have a direct part in the foreign missions work! And perhaps that will hurry my dream. After all, "to show a liberal, self-denying spirit for the success of foreign missions is a sure way to ad- vance home missionary work; for the prosperity of the home work depends largely, under God, upon 24 the reflex influence of the evangelical work done in countries afar off" (Gospel Workers, p. 465). Days and weeks pass, and I receive no clear message from the Lord. Could it be that I will not get out of the dungeon of boring work—a seem- ingly impossible situation? Doesn't the Lord real- ize how effective I could be if He would set me free to tell the world? Then I recall something I saw in my daily Scrip- ture reading—something Paul wrote as he sat in a dungeon. "I have learned to be content in any situation." I pray to be forgiven for my ungrateful- ness. Then I thank God for my health so that I can work 80 hours a week to support my two marvel- ous children. I have a grown niece and her baby living with us, too. The nice part about living in a small town is that my home and two jobs are only five minutes apart. In the evening I can go home on my dinner break from the police department to eat with my family. I thank God for that, too. Of course, Sabbaths are really a welcomed blessing because I can be with my family from Friday afternoon until Saturday night. Coworker In the legal office, I am being particularly ha- rassed by one of my coworkers. She is not a Chris- tian, and it seems she takes a special delight in poking fun at my newfound belief and finding errors in my work. She receives a call from the school that her small boy has been hurt on the playground. She asks if I can possibly finish up her legal brief this afternoon. I will have to work hard to complete her work in addition to my own rush job. I would like to tell her, "Sorry, that's your problem." Then I remember something I read re- cently: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you" (Matthew 5:43, 44, NKJV). I think, Oh, What can 1 lose! and say, "Yes, I will complete the brief for you. Go ahead and look after your child." Out of the blue a puzzling emo- tion of sympathy and love for the young mother comes over me. I can't seem to remember why I was so upset with her in the past. Neighbor Telling my next-door neighbors about Jesus is going to be particularly difficult since they think of Jesus as a vengeful God who is waiting to "get you" when you do wrong. Then one night I am asked to drive them to the hospital. Their son broke through a window of the house and cut an artery in his arm. He is bleeding badly. As we sit in the hospital waiting room, they speak of their love for this only son. I point out God's love for us in giving us His only Son. Even though we disappoint Him and disobey His commands, He continues to love us—just as we continue to love our children even though we have to punish them for wrong deeds. After this night these neighbors seem more receptive to hearing about God. Strangers Each day now something new comes into my life and God's word comes to mind. Like the rainy night I took in a family of five whose car had broken down. They had no money for repairs, gas, or food. The car was towed into the police station, and the family sat on the benches there—some frightened, some hungry, some wet. It was about 1:00 a.m. I recalled the words, "Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me" (Matthew 25:40, NKJV). What a wonderful opportunity to do something for my Lord! I asked, "When I get off work at 1:30, would you like to go to my home and eat something hot and get some rest?" The look on the children's faces was pay- ment in full for all the inconvenience this family may have caused me. As we became good friends they listened intently to my stories of Jesus' love and what He has done for me and my children. They even came to church with me the next Sab- bath. We filled a whole church pew. A Missionary? Month after month passes, and one day I realize that God did answer my prayer to be a missionary. He placed me in Duncan, Oklahoma, to give the gospel, among others, to those sitting at the desk next to me, to my neighbors, and to the strangers who wandered through town. Now I can sense some of the difficulties that foreign missionaries must have as they try to tell people about Jesus. At least my culture and lan- guage are the same as that of the people with whom I am working. The mission story holds a greater interest for me since I recognize a kinship with these missionaries. We are all carrying the good news to the world. My desire to give to the mission offering has increased. Each new day brings spiritual growth and joy. My boredom with life is disappearing. I can hardly wait to get to work to see whom the Lord will place in my path to share the good news with. "We must be always on the watch for opportunities to use for God the talents He has given us" (Testimonies, vol. 8, p. 27). And "The most successful toilers are those who cheerfully take up the work of serv- ing God in little things" (Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 115; italics supplied). Years pass, and my son Greg, a student at An- drews University, along with his wife and daugh- ter, hopes to be a foreign missionary. They want to reach some new group of unreached people. Could my interest in being a missionary in Duncan, Okla- homa have influenced my son to be a foreign mis- sionary? A good beginning in global outreach may be to begin today and go next door to "witness to all men of what you have seen and heard" (Acts 22:15, NKJV). Editor's note: Lynn Bratcher now works at the General Conference and is the founder of the K- COM program (Kingdom Come Operation Match). K-COM is a "talent bank" in which individuals "deposit" a talent (a few hours of some service they can provide) for someone else who has a need to "withdraw" at a later time (see Worker, January-March 1989, p. 5). Recently a newly con- verted member from the Jehovah's Witness faith, after observing Lynn, signed over a nearly new automobile to her because he believed every mile would be used in mission. Let's send our love to North America this quarter! 25 Death Row � Linda Culver Leta Schroeder leaves for her Sabbath afternoon jail music ministry. Death row inmate 759 at the Walls Unit in Hunts- ville, Texas, died by lethal injection a few minutes after midnight on February 19, 1987. He had been sent to death row for the murder of six people during a drunken spree. When inmate 759 was sentenced to death, the conviction that justice had been served was felt by many, including this inmate who stopped his appellate process accordingly. Inmate 759 was Eliseo Moreno, 27 years old. He was born into a family of hardworking parents with 11 children. Eliseo became a chronic alcoholic in his youth. Probably the best way to describe Eliseo is that he was always in trouble, always in fights, and always drunk. He married, had four sons, and left his wife for a younger woman, who eventually left him. One night, after he had drunk himself into a stupor, he shot and killed his brother-in-law and wife following an argument. Eliseo never remembered the next three hours, but after he was arrested he found that he had killed four other persons, including a highway patrol officer. What is it like to be on death row? Eliseo, who produced many descriptive poems and drawings in prison, said it this way: Silent tears at night, My heart within would cry. But no one ever noticed, For my eyes were always dry. The depths of sorrow and anguish Seemed more than I could bear With metal bars around me And my loved ones all out there. Was suicide the answer To end my grief and woe? Or was there something else That I just didn't know? 26 Yes, there was something out there Eliseo didn't know. It came to him when an elderly couple, Martin and Leta Schroeder, appeared to minister to any prisoners who might accept it. At first Eliseo resisted their ministry. But Mrs. Schroeder just played beautiful Christian music on her tape re- corder and was available to talk. Eliseo found him- self attracted to the peace and joy and realized how lonely and scared he had been all his life. He picked up the Bible his parents had sent him, and began to read. His poem continues: Had someone finally noticed My silent tears at night? Or was I going crazy And about to lose my sight? Something strange was happening, Of this I had no doubt. Was this the love of Jesus I had heard so much about? In the midst of my heart's mourning, These words broke softly through: "As one whom his mother comforts, So I will comfort you." This verse indicates that Eliseo was able to make a transference of his mother's comfort to God's comfort. In spite of having 11 children, she must have made some time for Eliseo. In another poem, one about what it was like to be in jail, he referred to her also: We all live here with one fear or another. Mine is how this hurts my mother. The pain I see behind her eyes, Can't be hid, regardless how she tries. June 23 Eliseo Moreno, the week of his death Along with these emotions, Eliseo fought others as well. He mentions in another poem: You all know we are here to die. We ask for help, but you won't try; You just don't care about us men— You think your killing ain't a sin. But Eliseo found that the Schroeders did care, for his original poem continues, The silence calms my heart And causes my tears to cease, While Jesus said once more, "My son, I bring you peace." "But Lord," I kindly said, "Look what I have done." And He responded to me, "You're not the only one." So now I know for sure He cares for everyone. When we can give ourselves to Him And say, "Thy will be done." O silent tears at night, Which no one else could see, Could never have gone unnoticed To the One who died for me. Before Eliseo died, he made a beautiful small church out of matchsticks for the Schroeders. He drew a picture of Jesus with outstretched arms for four names he artistically placed as the receivers of the invitation: his four sons—Andy, Mike, Adam, and Eliseo, Jr. He studied and prayed with other inmates, and he wrote long letters and poetry to dozens of people. He used his clever drawings to brighten many lives around him. Eliseo stopped his appellate process because he was guilty of the crimes and felt he deserved his punishment. He believed that continuing the pro- cess would go against his Christian beliefs. And 13 days before his death for the capital murder of a Texas peace officer, Eliseo Moreno was voted into the membership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He died treasuring his Bible, and wrote: Our Saviour's words in red "I shall forsake you never," Assures that even "I" Can live with Him forever! Prayer Request Next week is Thirteenth Sabbath. Please spend some time in prayer this week asking God to soften hearts around the world for an outpouring of love and appreciation to North America next Sabbath. As we prepare our hearts for the Communion ser- vice by spending time with the Lord, let us also spend time with Him planning our decision for missions in North America, so that we will not be caught without the Spirit's leading next Sabbath. Church Size vs Union Membership Distribution .946 of rne be Church Size n 600+ O 300-599 Ea 100-299 II 0-99 Number of Members 150000 100000 50000 All � Col � Lak � Mid � NPa � Pac � Sou � Swe Unions 27 Source: The SDA Church Director/ - Ccpyright 1987. Review 8 Merck Publishing Assodalron. Research 8 Development Thirteenth Sabbath Program Missions Court � Dorothy Eaton Watts June 30 Preparation: Ask the juniors or earliteens to be the participants in the court scene. Place a sign, "Missions Court," in front of the pulpit. Place the pulpit to the left of the platform to serve as a judge's bench. To the left of the pulpit place a raised platform with a chair to serve as the witness stand. Place a table for the bailiff to the right of the platform. He remains seated during questioning, rising to call defendants and administer the oath. The defendants sit together on the front row to the right of the platform. Take care in your arrangement so that all in the audience can see the entire setup. Bailiff [pounds table twice; uses loud voice]: Everybody stand! [Judge enters and assumes place at pulpit.] Bailiff [motions for audience to sit]: Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! The Superior Missions Court of � Sabbath School is now open. Judge: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury [mo- tioning to audience], this court has issued sum- mons for five members of the � Sabbath School to appear before this court to defend them- selves against serious charges. It is your duty to weigh the evidence, to stand on the side of justice, to give a verdict of guilty or not guilty as you believe the case to be. Bailiff, please call the first defendant to the stand. Bailiff [reads from list on a clipboard or note- book he holds in his hand; reads out actual name of individual; person comes forward and stands facing the bailiff]: Raise your right hand. Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and noth- ing but the truth? Defendant 1: I do. [Takes place on witness stand.] Judge: � , you are charged with ignoring the Lord Jesus Christ, not caring for His welfare, refusing to do what you could to help Him when He was in need. Is your plea guilty or not guilty? Defendant 1: Not guilty, Your Honor. I would never ignore Jesus Christ. I love Him too much. Judge: But what about when He was deaf? You ignored Him then, didn't you? Defendant 1: I don't understand. I never heard of Jesus being deaf. In fact, I know He isn't, for He hears my prayers! Judge: Think carefully! What about the thou- 28 sands of deaf children in the world? Have you done anything to care for them? Defendant 1: Well, no. I don't know any deaf children, though I suppose they are out there. But I don't see what that has to do with my case! They are not Jesus! Judge: No? Then listen to this testimony: Hidden microphone: "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me" (Matthew 25:45). Defendant: Excuse me, Your Honor, but I didn't know any deaf children! Honestly! Judge: That is no excuse. You have been in Sabbath School for the past 12 weeks and heard the needs of the deaf children in the mission reports. You have known that money was needed to help the Christian Record Braille Foundation print sign- language books for deaf children, and yet you chose not to help. You spent your money foolishly, on junk and junk food. The needs of the deaf children meant nothing to you. You have ignored their needs, and by so doing you have ignored Jesus Christ. [Defendant 1 hangs head, covers face in shame.] Judge: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what is your verdict? Is the defendant guilty or not guilty? Foreman [stands]: The jury finds the defendant guilty as charged. [Policeman escorts defendant to side room] . Judge: Next defendant take the stand. Bailiff: � , will you please step forward? Raise your right hand. Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Defendant 2: I do. [Takes place on witness stand.] Judge: � , you are charged with neglect- ing to visit Jesus Christ when He was in prison. What is your plea? Defendant 2: Not guilty, Your Honor. Judge: Please give me the dates when you vis- ited Jesus Christ in prison! Defendant 2: Well, no, Your Honor. I haven't actually been inside a prison to visit anyone, but I really do care about the 700,000 inmates of prisons in North America. It matters to me that 40 percent of the jails have no Christian witness. I do care that 10 million juveniles and young adults are involved with criminal justice. I care about their rehabilita- tion and their families who are hurting. Judge: Interesting. But what proof do you have that you care for prisoners? Defendant 2: I have been saving money every week to give to missions. This quarter, you know, one of the Thirteenth Sabbath special projects is for prison ministries in North America. I have a good offering to give today! Judge: We have the testimony of one more witness: Hidden microphone: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40). Judge: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what is your verdict? Foreman: Not guilty, Your Honor. [Defendant 2, smiling, resumes seat in audi- ence.] Judge: Next defendant take the stand. Bailiff: � , please step forward. Raise your right hand. Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Defendant 3: I do. Judge: � , you are charged with discrimi- nation against Jesus Christ. What is your plea? Defendant 3: Not guilty, Your Honor. I love people of every race and color. I would never think of slighting anyone because of his origin, espe- cially not Jesus! Judge: Would you agree that it would be a form of discrimination to refuse to give light and help to someone of another cultural heritage? Defendant: Yes, of course, but I don't think I ever did that. I want the whole world—every one of the 16,700 people groups, to hear the gospel. Judge: But the question is, what have you done to back up your belief? Have you been giving to world missions every week this quarter, or did you sometimes hold back so that you would have more money to waste on yourself? Defendant 3: Well . . . yes . . . sometimes. Judge: Do you have an offering today to help take the gospel to Native Americans through the Yakima Valley Evangelism Center? Do you? Defendant 3: No, Your Honor. Judge: Listen to this testimony: Hidden microphone: "Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me" (Matthew 25:45). Judge: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what is your verdict? Foreman: Guilty, Your Honor. [Policeman escorts Defendant 3 to a side room.] Judge: Next defendant take the stand. Bailiff: The fourth defendant is � Raise your right hand. Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Defendant 4: I do. [Takes place on witness stand.] Judge: � , you are charged with not caring about the well-being of Jesus Christ—physical, mental, or spiritual. Are you guilty or not guilty? Defendant 4: Not guilty. I love Jesus. If He were alive today, living in my city, I'd sure do everything I could to make Him happy and com- fortable! That's a fact! Judge: But He is alive! He is wherever people are in need, wherever people are hurting. He is in places like St. Louis, for instance. Does that ring a bell? Defendant 4: No, Your Honor. It doesn't. Judge: Haven't you heard of the plans to reach the children in the inner city with the love of Jesus through the St. Louis Center for Child Evange- lism? Defendant 4: Well, yes. I have heard something about that in our mission reports, but I don't see why I should be concerned about them. There are plenty of needy people right here in my own town! Judge: You need to be concerned because Christ is concerned. Urban America is a mission field because at least half of the 175,000,000 people who live in urban areas of North America are unevangelized. They are lost, just as surely as those living in the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea or Brazil. What evidence do you have that you are concerned about the unreached people in the cities of North America? Defendant 4: None, Your Honor. Judge: Listen to the testimony of this true wit- ness: Hidden microphone: "Inasmuch as ye did it 29 not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me" (Matthew 25:45). Judge: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what is your verdict? Foreman: Guilty, Your Honor. [Policeman escorts Defendant 4 to a side room.] Judge: Next defendant take the stand. Bailiff: � , please take the stand. Raise your right hand. Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Defendant 5: I do. Judge: You are charged with gross neglect of one Jesus Christ. Do you plead guilty or not guilty? Defendant 5: Not guilty, Your Honor. I love Jesus and try my best to reveal that love to every- one. I want the whole world to hear about His love so that He can come back again soon! Judge: The whole world? Even the people of North America? Surely they have heard the story of His love. Defendant 5: The truth is, there are vast multi- tudes of Americans who will live and die in North America without ever once hearing the gospel. They are immigrants, speaking a language other than English. They are isolated in ghettos or ethnic concentrations all over North America. Judge: Can you give some examples? Defendant 5: Yes. For instance, 94 percent of the more than 1 million Chinese in America have not been reached with the gospel. Seven hundred thousand Japanese live in the United States, most of them Buddhists—most of them untouched by the gospel. There are the Vietnamese, Indians, and Arabs who now live in North America. Mosques, Hindu temples, and Buddhist shrines are being built in every major center. Then we don't want to forget the 7.5 million French-speaking people of North America, most of whom live in Quebec. Judge: Stop! I can see that you understand the problem, but what are you doing about it? Defendant 5: I am praying for these people groups. Then I am giving to help take the gospel to them. This quarter our church is having a special fund-raising project called the Acadien Quebecois Mission Project to reach the French-speaking peo- ple in Canada. In fact, I have my special offering for this project right here in my pocket. [Pulls it out.] Judge: I'm impressed. Listen to the final wit- ness: Hidden microphone: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40). Judge: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what is your verdict? Foreman: Not guilty, Your Honor. [Defendant 5 takes seat in audience.] Judge: Will the court officer please escort the three guilty defendants into the courtroom to re- ceive their sentence? [Policeman escorts three prisoners into court room. They stand facing the audience]. Judge: There's something I want you to hear. [Skit temporarily ceases.] SPECIAL MUSIC: juniors/earliteens: "Inas- much" [see junior MISSION, page 29]. If enough young people are not available, duplicate the song, and the audience can sing. ACROSTIC: primaries [see junior MISSION, page 30]. SPECIAL MUSIC: cradle roll/kindergarten: "I Want to Help" [see junior MISSION, page 10]. [Skit resumes.] Judge: What is your response? Defendant 1: I am very sorry, Your Honor. I would like a chance to show that I really do care for the deaf children. Defendant 3: I regret my behavior, Your Honor. Please give me one more chance to prove that I do care for the Native Americans and their need to hear the gospel. Defendant 4: Please forgive me, Your Honor. I did not realize that how I respond to the needs of children of the inner city in St. Louis shows how much I love Jesus. I would like another opportu- nity. Judge: I am satisfied that you have learned your lesson. I will give you an opportunity now. [Hand offering plates to three defendants.] Please go to the members of the jury and collect an offering for missions in North America, and then to the audi- ence. Offering: Organist plays "Inasmuch" while the Thirteenth Sabbath Special Projects Offering is col- lected. Please pray with your program participants beforehand. 30 Editor EDITORIAL: Missions or Mission? � Janet Leigh Kangas Is there a difference? In most minds, missions is correlated with money, while mission stirs up a vision of people with a calling. Does the little s afterthought on one of the words subtlely make the terms mutually exclusive? Or, oversimplified, is missions merely the plural of mission? Someone suggested that if a MISSION article vibrated with a sense of mission throughout, there wouldn't need to be an appeal for missions at the end. I like this concept, because the first MISSION quarterlies I prepared (last quarter's) have already generated within me a dislike for tacking on a "commercial" at the end for offerings, as if the listeners on Sabbath morning would miss the point unless they were told. For now, let us hold to the distinction of missions or mission, as money or people. North America, the recipient division this quarter, holds the leadership in the world field in the sense of missions. It contributes 56 percent ($22,771,688) of the World Mission Offering. In our context of mission, let us consider that 62 percent of the world's Adventist missionaries are from North America. Here, also, NAD holds the lead. In fact, I have been so immersed all my life in the idea that missionaries went from my North America, that I was quite speechless when one of my seminary professors a few years back introduced himself as a missionary on call to North America from Australia! To think I was old enough to do graduate work before I became aware that North America has unmet needs in her ranks to be responded to by a sense of worldwide mission! The membership growth rate within the NAD, however, is but 1.5 percent. Actually, the ratio of Adventists to the population (1:335) is impressive, compared to other parts of the world. Has the NAD already been reaped so that its growth potential is exhausted? No! say NAD officers. The Missions Advanced Research Center lists 112 people groups in the NAD in which less than 20 percent of their members are affiliated with a Christian church. The largest groups include 2.7 million Vietnamese refugees, 250,000 Indians in northwestern Ontario Province, 200,000 West Indians in Toronto, 150,000 Hindus in New York City, and 150,000 homosexuals in San Francisco. The "unchurched" portion of North Americans who have no religious affiliation, or are only nominal Chris- tians, compose 69 percent of the 265 million residents. It is evident, then, that that which has been flowing out of the NAD is also needed within the NAD. But which is lacking—mission or missions? I submit that missions is not a plural of mission, nor are the terms mutually exclusive. As I see it from the editor's desk, missions are a part of mission. Mission is the calling of the members, and missions is a means to fulfill that calling. The Lord told us more than 90 years ago through Ellen White that He has placed within His church the provisions needed to finish the work. But mission—the sense of responsibil- ity—precedes missions—the cents of responsibility. North America has long felt the sense and cents of responsibility for the world field. Now she feels a renewed urgency for herself. North America, then, is a mission field. And this is not a commercial. —JLK 31 Georgia 61 ()Bermuda Miss Ala Louisiana Colorado Maine Church Unions Population Churches Members Atlantic 30.497.460 364 62.811 Canada 26.487.596 294 37.595 Columbia 47.654.913 564 82.778 Lake 33.940.450 484 65.117 Mid-America 21.512.000 495 54.264 North Pacific 10.041.367 378 68.194 Pacific 40.285.063 583 169.370 Southern 38.860.776 784 127.461 Southwestern 25.955,915 478 53.112 Totals June 30 1988 275.235.540 4.424 720.702 NORTH AMERICAN DIVISION Northwest Territories Yukon Territory Saskatchewan British Columbia Alberta Manitoba Labrador Minnesota Pacific Ocean Washington Montana South Dakota Nebraska North Dakota Iowa 4 M ssour Ontario New Hampshire � Mass cRohnnocle Island New Jersey elaware Maryland District of Columbia ginia New York Quebec New Brunswick Nova Scotia Newiounaiar, New Mexico Oklahoma Ar ansa Kentucky Tennessee North Carolina South � Atlantic Ocean Carolina Vi Wyoming Texas SDA Church in Canada PROJECTS 1. Christian Record Services sign language books for deaf children 2. Prison ministries program 3. Yakima Valley Evangelism Center 4. St. Louis Center for Child Evangelism 5. Acadien-Quebecois mission project