Adventist Mission Magazine for Youth and Adults - 4th Quarter 2009

MISSION MAGAZINE

A D V E N T I S T YOUTH AND ADULT

QUARTER 4

2009

featuring:

NOTHING TO LOSE pg 12|The Invitation pg 20

www.AdventistMission.org

SOUTH PACIFIC DIVISION

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On the Cover: The village chief dresses in traditional garb to welcome visitors in Papua New Guinea.

AUSTRALIA 4 Hope and a Future | October 3 6

One Day | October 10

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The Visible Church | October 17

FIJI AND THE SOLOMON ISLANDS 10 A Changed Heart | October 24 12 Nothing to Lose | October 31 14 A Passion to Teach | November 7 16 The Power of Forgiveness | November 14

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 18 The Unexpected Church | November 21 20 The Invitation | November 28

NEW ZEALAND 22 Coming Home | December 5 24 Longing for Love | December 12 26 Samson Wises Up | December 19

RESOURCES 28 Thirteenth Sabbath Program | December 26 31 Resources

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Dear Sabbath School Leader, This quarter we feature the South Pacific Division, which includes Australia, New Zealand, and the islands of the Pacific south of the equator including the Cook Islands, Fiji, Pitcairn, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, and others.

The Challenges Some 34 million people live in this region, including more than 400,900 Adventists. That’s a ratio of one Adventist for nearly every 85 people.

However, New Zealand and Australia have ratios of one Adventist for about every 370-390 people. The majority of Adventists live in other island groups such as Fiji (one Adventist in 33 people), Papua New Guinea (one in 27), the Cook Islands (one in 16) and the Solomon Islands (one in 14). The countries with the highest standard of living tend to have the smallest proportion of Adventists. This creates challenges, not just for reaching those who have not yet been reached, but for financing the work in the rest of the region.

While the ratio of Adventist to nonAdventist is high in many of the island nations, leaders have few resources to nourish their members. Children’s leaders have no lesson quarterlies, no felts, and no pictures to hold the children’s attention during Sabbath School and impress in their minds God’s eternal lessons.

The South Pacific Division is preparing durable laminated picture charts containing colorful artwork from the Sabbath School lesson studies to help children understand and learn Bible lessons.

Fulton College is one of three university-level Adventist schools in the South Pacific Division. Built on land leased from a tribal group in Fiji, the school must now relocate its aging campus. The division has found land and is beginning to build a new, more efficient campus where they will not be forced to move.

This quarter we can help this division train its youth and reach even more people for Christ by giving a generous Thirteenth Sabbath Offering.

Yours for the kingdom,

This quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help ¾ provide a new campus for Fulton College, the primary college for the eastern island nations. ¾ provide Sabbath School lesson picture charts for children of the South Pacific islands.

Charlotte Ishkanian Editor, Mission

www.AdventistMission.org

OPPORTUNITIES

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H OPE AND A F UTURE October 3 | Lonisa, James, and Ashleigh

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hat can a school in a disadvantaged, sometimes troubled neighborhood do to change the lives of people? Plenty!

In 2005 riots broke out in a housing development in Sydney, Australia.

Helicopters hovered overhead and police combed the streets. The neighborhood looked like a war zone.

In the midst of this troubled region of the city stands Macarthur Adventist College, a primary and secondary school that is a sentinel for God. A large portion of the school’s student body comes from this troubled neighborhood. And three quarters of the school’s students come from non-Adventist homes. Some parents work two or three jobs to pay their children’s school fees. They are drawn by the spirit of family and the love of Christ that the staff and students model. Principal Jill Pearce sums it up this way: “Our aim is to give children a hope and a future, to know they are loved and that they can achieve.”

A Dream Becomes Reality For years the school’s staff has wanted to reach out more effectively to the

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community by planting a church on its campus. But funds just weren’t there.

The staff held Friday night praise services, and 40 young people came every week. “When are you going to start a church?” students would ask, for the nearest Adventist church was too far away for the children to attend. The need for a church became urgent.

Chaplain André led worship on Sabbaths in the school’s science lab until a donor gave the school a prefabricated classroom block that became home for the church. Close to 100 adults and children worship together here. Most are students and their families.

Eternal Difference What difference does this school make in the lives of its students?

James first learned about Macarthur Adventist College when a friend invited him to attend the Friday evening program. “I was surprised how much fun Christians could actually have while worshipping!” James says.

James was having trouble with bullies at his school and wanted a change.

He asked his parents to let him enroll

FAST FACTS ¾ Australia is the smallest continent in the world and the largest country in the South Pacific Division. It is a largely secular nation with a high standard of living. ¾ This isolated land is home to some of the world’s most unusual animals, such as the kangaroo, the platypus, and the koala. ¾ For more on Macarthur Adventist College and other stories from Australia, watch the Adventist Mission DVD this quarter.

Mission Impression Last year the school took several students to Papua New Guinea to work in a village. Even though the students themselves come from disadvantaged homes, they experienced an even poorer life in the village and wanted to return and help. Three students want to return to Papua New Guinea after they graduate to teach or work in the local hospital, and another group plans to go next year to help build an Adventist high school.

Adventist schools around the world are truly mission schools. They teach strong Christian values and plant seeds of faith that children take with them in life. Your weekly mission offerings help support these schools and give hope and a future to thousands around the world. à

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where they’re not exposed to some of the behaviors my neighbors’ children face every day.”

When Sue’s sons asked to go to church on Sabbaths, she dropped them off. They were so excited about church that she decided to find out what was happening inside. She visited the worship services and kept attending.

“What I find at church helps me in my spiritual journey,” she says.

“I’m happy that my children and I are going to church together. We love it, and I need the support—something I don’t think I’d get elsewhere.” The chaplain adds that Sue brings people to church with her who have no Christian background. One friend started coming after church just to talk. Then she came for lunch. Eventually she came at 11:00, and now she comes early and even helps in the kitchen.”

www.AdventistMission.org

at Macarthur. They weren’t sure they could afford the tuition, but they talked with the principal and worked out a plan. “There are no bullies at this school,” James says. “We’re family; it’s a good place, a safe place to be.”

Ashleigh [ASH-lee] is James’ friend.

She was having problems in school too. James’ mother talked to Ashleigh’s mother about the school, and recently Ashleigh enrolled as well.

“I had some friends who weren’t good examples, and I was heading in the wrong direction,” she says. “My mom asked me to consider studying at Macarthur. I visited the school and enrolled. I’ve changed so much since I came here. I’ve learned to love Jesus and to pray.

“My mom drives a school bus and works in the cafeteria to support the school. I never went to church before I came to this school. Now I love it.”

Sue found Macarthur when she tried to enroll her sons in another private school. “I’m glad my children are here,

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October 10 | Tracey

[Ask a woman to present this first-person report.]

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y name is Tracey. I am an Australian Aborigine. I grew up in a tiny settlement in Western Australia. Although my mother claimed to be a Seventh-day Adventist, I was the only one who went to church. I loved church; I felt safe and loved there.

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Uprooted When I was in high school, my parents moved our family to the suburbs of Perth, Western Australia’s largest city. To a girl from the bush, Perth was a scary place. There wasn’t an Adventist church near our home, so I quit attending church. However, I promised myself that I would never drink alcohol.

I had grown up seeing how liquor destroys people’s lives, and I wanted nothing to do with it.

When I finished high school, I moved north to a small town to start my own life. I met a man, and soon we moved in together. I was surrounded by people who urged me to drink, and soon I started drinking. My life began spiraling out of control.

But God kept calling me. He drew me like a magnet toward the life I knew I should be living. I felt tormented, and the only place I knew to find peace was in church.

Stubborn Friendships I found an Adventist church in town and began attending. There I met two people who changed my life: Pastor Davey and a laywoman, Val Royce. Val visited me often, and we became friends.

Although she knew that I was drinking, she continued to encourage me. She often said that God was working in my life. I know now that she could only have seen this by faith.

Pastor Davey and his wife also visited me often. He, too, knew that I drank.

But he and his wife loved my family and me, even when my own relatives rejected me. Often he said, “One day, Tracey, one day.” I didn’t know at the time what he meant by that.

I was in a downward spiral, drinking every day. But on Sabbath I took my daughter to Sabbath School, where I found a few moments of peace and joy.

MISSION POST ¾ Aboriginal Australians, the original settlers of this land, lived off the land, hunting and digging for food in some of the most inhospitable regions of the world. ¾ The Adventist Church has a number of missions and schools to reach the Aboriginal people. One of them is Mamarapha Bible College, which is located just outside Perth, in Western Australia. A Thirteenth Sabbath Offering several years ago is helping this college minister to Aboriginal Australians and train them for ministry. ¾ For more on the work among the Aboriginal Australians, watch the Adventist Mission DVD this quarter.

Upward Climb I finally kicked the alcohol habit and left the center. I moved to a women’s refuge where I also worked as a volunteer. I didn’t trust myself to stay away from alcohol, but after two years I finally felt ready to try to get my children back.

I found a job at a school where my children had grown up, and we became a family again. I took them to church, and my daughters were baptized. But I still felt something was missing in my life.

One day Val told me about Mamarapha Bible College, an Adventist Bible school in Western Australia. I liked the idea and decided to enroll. It was there that I began to understand just what God had done for me.

Jesus stole my heart, and I decided to follow Him completely. At last Pastor Davey’s words, “one day,” finally made sense. That day had come, the day I surrendered to Jesus.

I’m completing my studies at Mamarapha Bible College, a school that your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering has helped establish. At this school I studied the Bible deeply and began to realize how much God loves me.

I’ve given my life to Jesus and want to dedicate what’s left of my life to sharing God’s love with the Aborigines of Australia, just as Pastor Davey and Val Royce did for me. à

AUSTRALIA

Downward Spiral My drinking got so bad that my boyfriend and I split up. My sister took my children when I couldn’t take care of them. I was devastated, but I still drank. Trouble broke out in town, and my aunt put me on a bus and sent me to Perth to stay with another relative. I continued to drink for weeks.

One day I decided that I had to get my life back. I entered an alcohol detox center. While I was there I learned that Pastor Davey was in Perth. I asked the nurse to call him and ask him to visit me.

Pastor Davey came to see me. He encouraged me during his visits and continued to tell me, “One day, Tracey,

one day.” I still didn’t really know Jesus at this point in my life, but I saw God’s love reflected through Pastor Davey’s life.

While Pastor Davey was working with me, Val Royce was working with my children. She took them to Sabbath School and church every week and taught them that Jesus loves them.

www.AdventistMission.org

Pastor Davey was assigned to another church. Before he left he visited me and told me “I will always have faith in you.” I was drunk at the time, but his words penetrated my alcohol-fogged brain and touched my heart.

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THE VISIBLE CHURCH October 17 | Pastor Loren Pratt

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vibrant and growing church can’t be business as usual. And the Northpoint Adventist Church in Melbourne, Australia, is an example of a vibrant and growing church plant.

Since it began with four members in 2003, the Northpoint church has made it their goal to reach out to others. “We want to be visible," says Pastor Loren Pratt. The members have developed creative ways to show their interest in their neighbors.

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Being Visible Every month members visit their neighbors bearing small gifts. One month they gave away lightbulbs, saying they wanted to brighten their neighbors’ day. When daylight saving time approached, they gave out batteries for smoke alarms. And at Christmas Pastor Loren’s wife makes 300 handmade Christmas cards for members’ neighbors.

Sometimes people chuckle when they see church members coming with small gifts. But these church members think that it’s more fun to give something than to ask them for something.

And people have responded. In 2004 they formed their first cell group with

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just four people. Within a year that group grew to 25. They formed other cell groups, and so far the church has celebrated 54 baptisms and averages about 70 in weekly attendance.

The church has other outreach ministries, such as a vegetarian cooking club that invites people to come, eat, and talk together over a healthful meal.

“They see who we are, and it breaks down prejudice,” the pastor explains.

Religion in a Barbecue?

Another family lives in a low-income apartment complex where many of the residents are immigrants to Australia.

Mary; her husband, Alex; and Mary’s mom, Sara, are new members of the church. They wanted to reach their neighbors for Christ, but they knew that traditional outreach wouldn’t work.

So they chose to have a barbecue for their neighbors. The first time they did it 80 people came. Now they have a neighborhood barbecue every month and invite their neighbors. Other church members help the trio to prepare the food and mingle with the people. It’s free, and neighbors enjoy eating and chatting with people they don’t get to see regularly.

Try It; You’ll Like It Anthea [AN-thee-ah] and her family have been blessed by members of the Northpoint church, who worship in a neighborhood community center. “I had wandered away from God,” Anthea says.

“But when I was ready to come back, God provided a church right across the street!”

Anthea became so excited about this church and its ministry to the community that she invited her parents, her siblings, and her friends to come. One by one they attended and realized that this wasn’t your traditional church. This was exciting worship and outreach. Eventually several

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members of her family have come to Christ through the Northpoint church plant. But her husband hesitated.

Then on Mother’s Day Anthea told her husband, “The only thing I want is for you to attend church with me.” He surprised Anthea by attending when she didn’t expect it. And he continues to attend. His faith is growing.

The Northpoint church members believe that faith must lead to discipleship and outreach. And this outreach has brought dozens to Christ in a short time.

Your mission offerings help support church plants throughout Australia, one of the most secular nations in the world. And through these vibrant new churches, hundreds are finding faith.

Thank you for sharing your mission offerings so that others may know about God’s vibrant love for them. à

MISSION POST ¾ Most people think of Global Mission projects existing in areas of the world dominated by nonChristian religions. But several Global Mission outreaches across Australia and New Zealand are establishing new churches in major cities and many towns where the need arises. ¾ Several Global Mission outreach projects are planting churches near universities in large cities in Australia, including Melbourne and Perth. These projects focus on reaching university students and young professionals in the city centers. ¾ Pray for these outreach efforts and for the young lives they seek to touch.

www.AdventistMission.org

Food is expensive, so Mary’s mother asks for food donations from friends and businesses. “Why do you do this,” a police officer once asked them.

“We want people to know that we care about them, that the church cares about them,” Sara replied. The officer was so impressed that he offered to help provide food for the event.

“This barbecue has helped me get out among my neighbors,” says Mary. “We get to know them and the problems they face. Then we can offer our help.”

“We’ve made lots of friends through the barbecues,” Alex adds. “It’s great to see people sitting around the tables eating and visiting. I notice that they are looking out for each other more now.”

One woman in the neighborhood was initially unkind to Mary when she first moved to the neighborhood. Recently she asked Mary to take her to church.

Other people are struggling with drugs, being single parents, or other issues.

“We try to help them and invite them to church,” Sara says. “They come and find a ministry, and they do it. That’s what church should be.”

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A CHANGED HEART October 24 | Veresa

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ourteen-year-old Veresa [veh-REHsah] listened quietly as the doctor spoke to his parents. “Your son has a hole in his heart,” the doctor said.

“That’s why he gets so many headaches and why he’s tired and can’t run like other boys. But a team of doctors from Australia can repair his heart and give him a chance at a normal, healthy life.

I’ll put him on the list for surgery when this team arrives.”

Veresa lives in a village in Fiji, an island nation in the South Pacific.

He was relieved that doctors could do something to help him feel well. He tried not to worry about the surgery and focused instead on hope for a better life after his heart was repaired. He looked forward to the day that the medical team would come and perform his surgery. He just wanted to be well.

New Health, New Life Veresa’s surgery was a success, but he remained in the hospital for a month while he recovered. His parents couldn’t stay with him in the hospital, so his nurse often stopped by to chat when she didn’t have another patient to care for. The two got to know each other

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well, and Veresa looked forward to her visits and chats to cheer him up. Often she talked to him about Jesus and many things from the Bible.

Veresa had grown up attending church with his parents every Sunday, but he had never heard some of the things that his nurse talked about and read to him from the Bible. Two things in particular stood out in his mind: the Sabbath and unclean foods.

At last Veresa was able to leave the hospital and return home. He remembered what his nurse had said, and on the first Sabbath home he decided to go to the nearby Adventist church. He wasn’t sure what his parents would think of his going to this church, so he didn’t tell them. He dressed in everyday clothes and tucked his dress clothes into a bag.

Then he changed into church clothes when he arrived at the church.

Veresa found the pastor and peppered him with questions about the Sabbath and other things the faithful nurse had told him about.

Why Are You Doing This?

Veresa attended the Adventist church for several weeks before he decided

A Door of Hope Veresa shared what he was learning at church with his parents. And when the Adventist pastor announced a one-month seminar, Veresa invited his parents, his aunt, and his sister to attend the meetings with him. The

FAST FACTS ¾ Fiji is a nation of about 800 islands located about 1,900 miles east of Australia. The largest islands are mountainous and are covered with tropical vegetation and forests. The coral reefs and atolls that make up the remaining islands are popular tourist attractions. ¾ Just under a million people live in Fiji. Roughly half of the people are ethnic Fijian of Melanesian descent, and the remaining half are of East Indian descent whose ancestors came to work in the sugar plantations that prospered in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. ¾ While most ethnic Fijians consider themselves Christians, a large proportion of the Indian population has clung to its traditional religion. Only a few have embraced Christianity.

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entire family attended all the meetings.

Veresa’s heart swelled with hope that his family would join him in the Adventist Church. But when he invited them to follow God’s truths and be baptized, they refused.

“To this day they’ve not become Adventists,” Veresa says. “They keep the Sabbath just as I do, from Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon, but they don’t go to church with me except on special occasions. We have a good relationship, and I hope that one day soon they will join God’s family and we can worship together again.”

Pray for Veresa and his family. And remember that your mission offerings help give people around the world an opportunity to hear God’s truths and accept His love in their lives. à

www.AdventistMission.org

to tell his family where he was going.

They were even more stunned when he told them that he wanted to become a Seventh-day Adventist. “Why would you leave our church?” they wanted to know. He tried to explain what he had learned in the hospital and from the pastor. He wanted them to understand that he wasn’t leaving their church; he was following God’s way.

“If you insist on going to this church,” his father said, “then don’t come back home.” Veresa was saddened by their response to his desire to know God, but he quietly packed his few clothes and his school books into his bag and left for church.

After church Veresa told the pastor that his parents had told him to leave, and that he had nowhere to go. “You can live with us,” the pastor said. Veresa was baptized and stayed with the pastor and his family for five months. Every Sabbath he walked by his family’s home on the way to and from church. But when he stopped to talk to them, they sent him away.

Then one Monday morning Veresa’s parents went to visit the pastor. They asked the pastor to send Veresa back home. Gladly Veresa returned home, for he had missed his family. And they welcomed him back warmly. They didn’t try to force him to attend church with them or to change his mind about his new beliefs.

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NOTHING TO LOSE October 31 | Solomoni

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olomoni [sohl-oh-MOH-nee] sat with his face in his hands. What’s happened to me?” he wondered. He had drifted from his parents’ church and had joined a group of boys who used drugs and stole from people. For a while Solomoni had gotten away with his misdeeds and grown bolder in his badness.

His misdirected life haunted him. God has condemned me for what I’ve done, he thought. I’m lost. I have nothing to lose.

He continued with his life of crime.

Eventually he was arrested for robbery and sent to prison. He continued his criminal activities within the prison and returned to his criminal lifestyle once he was released.

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The Dreams Then Solomoni had a series of dreams that haunted him. In one dream a woman stood over him crying. He recognized her and knew that she was a Seventh-day Adventist. Solomoni decided that he must visit the Adventist church and learn why God had sent these dreams.

He entered the church dressed in a T-shirt and casual trousers. No one mentioned his clothes; instead they

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welcomed him to the service. He sat down and focused on the sermon so intently that some people wondered whether he was on drugs. But Solomoni was sober; he had left that life behind.

Breaking Ties, Forging Bonds Some of Solomoni’s drug dealer friends saw him and asked where he’d been. They said that they missed him.

When Solomoni said that he was no longer dealing drugs, the men warned him of the consequences if he tried to leave. “Do whatever you want to me,” he told them. “I’m going to church.”

Solomoni found God’s love and acceptance in the church. Although he knew little about God and salvation, he understood that God was offering him another chance to be His child, and Solomoni accepted. Just as he had believed that he had fallen from God’s love and had nothing to lose by stealing and doing drugs, now he realized that God had never let go of him. He realized that he had nothing to lose by trusting God. Solomoni’s parents were surprised at the changes in their son. When his mother realized that her son had indeed

Moving Forward in Faith Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help to establish a new campus for Fulton College to allow more students to prepare to serve their Master. Consider now what you can do to help further the work in the South Pacific through Fulton College. à

MISSION POST

FIJI AND THE SOLOMON ISL ANDS

Responding to God’s Call A chill went through Solomoni as he heard the pastor’s challenge. “God has done so much for me, I want to work for Him,” he said. “But with my past, could God really use me as a pastor?”

Some Sabbath School members offered to teach Solomoni how to lead a Sabbath School class, and he accepted.

But when the church elders urged him again to consider studying at Fulton College, he hesitated. “I’m not sure I’m worthy,” he said. “I don’t want to bring disgrace to God or His church.” But encouraged by the church members, Solomoni enrolled at Fulton College to study theology.

He had no financial support, but he went in faith that God would provide.

He worked hard to pay his school fees. Although he often missed classes because he couldn’t pay his school fees, he never doubted that God would work it out. “I know that God is calling me to serve Him, and I won’t turn back,” Solomoni says. “I see how low I fell during my life of crime and how far God has lifted me up. My life text is

Matthew 6:33: ‘Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’ [NIV]. I know that my past isn’t far behind, and it wouldn’t take much for me to fall back into that life. So I fix my eyes and my faith on Jesus.”

Solomoni has seen a difference in his parents’ lives. Recently his mother told him he is heading in the right direction. “One day I will come too,” she promised.

¾ Fulton College is one of four tertiary institutions owned by the Seventhday Adventist Church in the South Pacific Division. It serves such Pacific island groups as the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu. ¾ The college was first established almost 70 years ago to train young people to serve God and their country through degrees in business, education, and theology. ¾ The college stands on land that was leased from local people. The lease has expired, and Fulton must move.

A new location has been negotiated, and the college campus will soon move to its new location.

www.AdventistMission.org

given his life to God, she wept, for this was an answer to her lifelong prayers.

Solomoni asked to be baptized.

When some of his former friends saw the changes in his life, they wanted to know what had happened to him.

Solomoni invited them to church, and several friends went. They knew that it would take a powerful God to change Solomoni, and they wanted to know God too. When Solomoni was baptized, three of his friends—all former gang members—were baptized with him.

The pastor urged Solomoni to consider letting God use him in ministry.

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A PASSION TO TEACH November 7 | Donato

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[Ask a man to present this first-person report.]

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grew up living with my grandmother.

When she died, I went to live with my mom. We didn’t have money for shoes, so I went to school wearing flipflops. The other kids teased me, and I became self-conscious of our poverty.

I have learning disabilities, and reading and writing were hard for me.

Some of my teachers didn’t understand and accused me of being lazy. But I discovered that I could learn by listening and memorizing. By doing this I finished high school.

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Dream and Determination In spite of my learning difficulties, I wanted to become a teacher. I learned about Fulton College and applied to study education. I didn’t pass the entrance exam for education, so I studied another course instead.

I had no money, but I had faith. And God provided. I worked hard, and God impressed people I didn’t even know to help me when I could see no way to help myself. But the most wonderful thing He did for me while studying at Fulton is that God made it possible for me to learn

phonics, and instantly I could read!

I earned a diploma in theology and then studied two more years to receive a diploma to teach. Those were difficult years, but I was determined, and God blessed me. I knew that God was calling me to be a teacher. And praise God, I finally received my diploma in education!

A Teacher at Last I took a position in a government school on a small isolated island in northern Fiji. There I was assigned to teach sixth through tenth grades to a room full of students with little more than a few textbooks and some chalk. Life was rustic, and we had no electricity or running water.

I discovered that the students couldn’t speak English, the language of instruction in Fiji. I had to put aside the curriculum and teach them English. We held longer class days and met for classes on public holidays so that the children could learn English. The children were eager learners, and their parents supported our extra efforts, for they wanted their children to have a better life.

MISSION POST ¾ For almost 70 years Fulton College has trained young people for Christian service. Soon it will move to a new site where a more serviceable campus will be built to meet the needs of a changing church. ¾ The new land, located on the western side of the main island of Fiji, is more accessible, especially to international students who arrive in Fiji via commercial aircraft. ¾ Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help move the school to its new location so it can better serve the youth of the church in the twenty-first century.

Fulfilling a Mission Fulton College helped shape my life and prepare me to teach others about God. The difficulties I have faced while studying have helped shape my character and my faith. When I had nothing, God sustained me through Christian brothers and sisters. This struggle has made me a better Christian, a better citizen.

Fulton College has a unique ministry teaching young people from throughout the islands of the South Pacific. The staff and administration at Fulton know the struggles the students face; they believe in prayer and believe in helping where they can.

Fulton College, like its students and staff, has a mission to fulfill. Now it stands at a crossroads. The school must move from the land on which it was built nearly 70 years ago. This can be seen as a setback or a stepping stone.

A new location has been found that is more convenient for the thousands who come to Fiji to study. New buildings will be built that are better suited to today’s needs. This quarter on Thirteenth Sabbath, you will have an opportunity to help provide this pioneering school with new facilities to minister to youth in the twenty-first century and beyond. Ask God what He would have you do to help finish the work in the South Pacific. à

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minister through education, sowing seeds of faith among my students. I know of a number of students and their families who have accepted Jesus and become Adventist Christians because of my influence on their lives. I believe that is what God called me for.

www.AdventistMission.org

Finding God’s Calling It was a difficult year, but I loved it. I had found my calling, to teach the poor and disadvantaged children God put in my path. I was offered a job teaching in an exclusive school in the capital city of Fiji, but I refused. I wanted to make a difference in the lives of children who really needed what I could give them.

I had a diploma to teach, but I wanted to earn my degree in education.

So last year I returned to Fulton College to complete my degree. Soon I will receive my degree after so many years of working and waiting.

I want to continue working with disadvantaged children, children who must struggle in school. This is my ministry; I understand what they struggle with.

I can’t share my faith with children in government schools, but I can share my values. And I can pray in class. I

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T HE P OWER OF FORGIVENESS November 14 | Alick

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lick’s [AH-leek] life was filled with anger and violence. He started drinking as a young man, and alcohol fueled his violent temper. He often got into fights and was arrested for assault. But when he was released from prison he fell into his old habits and soon was arrested again.

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A Vow of Revenge While in prison, Alick learned that his wife had been assaulted by another man. Alick vowed to kill the man when he was released. He searched for the man, but the man had disappeared.

Alick couldn’t control his seething anger, and soon he was back in prison.

In 2005 when Alick was released from prison, he realized that he couldn’t keep living this way. Something had to change. He sensed that his only hope lay in God. Alick asked God to show him a better way to live.

Alick sensed God telling him, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” Alick knew about the Ten Commandments, but he hadn’t attended school and couldn’t read the Bible for himself. He remembered hearing a Seventh-day Adventist

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say that the Sabbath of the Bible is Saturday. Alick began to keep Sabbath.

One day he met an Adventist lay Bible worker and asked him for help to understand God’s Word. The Bible worker visited Alick’s home every day and explained the Bible to the family for hours. Before long Alick and his family decided to give their lives to Christ and be baptized.

Power of Forgiveness Alick learned firsthand the power of forgiveness that comes through Christ.

Several years earlier, he had worked as a security guard in a hotel. One day a man forced his way into the hotel and tried to take hostages. Alick stepped between the man and the hotel guests to protect them. The man raised his knife and slashed at Alick, cutting deeply into Alick’s head. Alick slumped to the ground, unconscious. Many feared that he was dead.

Alick survived the attack, but he swore that he would kill the man who had attacked him. However, when he was released from the hospital he couldn’t find his attacker.

Then one day after Alick was

FAST FACTS ¾ The Solomon Islands lie northeast of Australia, between Papua New Guinea and Fiji. The nation is made up of about 30 islands. Most Solomon Islanders are of Melanesian descent. Many earn their livelihood by farming and fishing. ¾ English is the official language, but 80 local languages, including a form of Pidgin, are spoken throughout the islands. Only about half the people in the country can read. ¾ During World War II the Solomon Islands suffered a great deal during military battles played out on their shores and in the waters surrounding their islands.

Converting a Pastor Shortly after his own conversion, Alick visited his cousin Joel, who was a Protestant pastor. The two men talked about their faith, and Joel revealed that he had been troubled about some church doctrines that didn’t seem to align with the Bible. One of these was the Sabbath. He mentioned how God had impressed him that he was preaching heresy and leading others astray, and that he had been praying that God would lead him to all truth.

Alick shared what he was learning, and invited Joel to his home to study the Bible. As Joel listened to Alick, his wife, and the layman who had led them to Christ, they realized that the Adventist Church was indeed God’s true church. Joel and his wife were baptized, and now he is working to lead his church members to the truth as well.

Because of a lack of materials, Joel struggles to teach the children Bible truths he now loves. But this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help make that job easier. Part of this offering will help provide Bible lesson picture charts to children’s Sabbath Schools throughout the South Pacific. à

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forgiveness. Alick hugged him and shared his faith with him. Today this man has given his life to Jesus and the two men are friends.

The love of Jesus flows through Alick’s life as he seeks to share Jesus with others. “God changed me from a drunk and violent man to His son,” he says. “Now I ask God to lead me to the people I had hurt during my violent years so that I can ask their forgiveness.

I want them to know that God has made me new.”

www.AdventistMission.org

baptized, he was walking down the street when he recognized the man who had attacked him. What do I do now? he asked God. God impressed him that he must love his enemies and forgive them, even those who had hurt him. Alick walked up to him and put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “Hello, my friend,” Alick said.

The attacker turned and looked into the face of the man he had tried to kill. Fear filled his eyes. “Don’t worry,” Alick said. “I’m not going to hurt you.

I’ve come to tell you that I’ve forgiven you, just as Jesus has forgiven me. Now I want to pray for you.”

The man fidgeted and wanted to get out of the public eye, but Alick said, “You attacked me in public, and I want to pray for you in public.” The man allowed Alick to pray with him and was so moved by Alick’s prayer that he began to cry and ask for Alick’s

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THE U NEXPECTED CHURCH November 21 | Dorcas

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welve-year-old Dorcas leaned forward on the log bench under a makeshift tent and listened carefully to the teacher tell a Bible story. She was attending summer camp in southeastern Papua New Guinea. Dorcas loved the crafts and the singing and the games they played. But most of all she loved learning more Bible stories. Every day the teacher gave the children a Bible verse card and challenged them to memorize the text on it.

When camp ended, Dorcas boarded a truck for the long ride to her village. As the truck bumped along, Dorcas formed a plan in her mind.

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Dorcas’s Plan When she arrived home she asked her father, “Will you make copies of these Bible texts so I can give them to my friends at school? They don’t have Bibles and don’t know any Bible texts.”

Dorcas’s father hand-copied the Bible texts for her, and Dorcas took them to school. She invited her friends to meet her outside during recess. There she gave each of them a Bible text and invited them to memorize the verse.

18 Dorcas promised more Bible texts when

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they’d learned the first ones. The girls agreed to meet the next day.

The next day 10 girls gathered around Dorcas during recess. The group met every day and continued to grow. In two weeks 20 girls were meeting during recess.

A Bigger Plan When Dorcas told her mother that 20 children were meeting every day, Mother suggested they come to their house after school. So she invited her friends to her house. She planned a program, taught the children songs, told Bible stories, and did crafts like those she had learned at camp. And the group continued to grow.

When the children learned about the Sabbath, they asked to meet on Sabbath as well. Within six months 50 children came to the Bible club, and almost 100 people—including some parents—came on Sabbath. Dorcas’s parents helped her lead the large group.

Dorcas’s parents wanted her to attend an Adventist school, but the nearest one was 16 hours away by cargo boat.

Dorcas was excited about her new school, but she didn’t want to leave her Bible club. Her parents assured her that

¾ About 6.3 million people live in Papua New Guinea. More than 237,000 of them are Seventh-day Adventists. That’s more than half the 400,000 Adventists living in all of the South Pacific Division. ¾ Dozens of mission schools, from primary to university level, teach young people, reaching thousands of homes with the gospel message while they train their students for service. ¾ Even so, hundreds of villages throughout this mountainous country and thousands of people still don’t know that Jesus loves them, that He died for them. ¾ For more on Dorcas’s story, see the Adventist Mission DVD for this quarter.

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Newest Member At the end of her Christmas break from school, church members gathered at the riverside where Dorcas and her friends first started learning Bible verses. Several of the girls walked into the water with Dorcas and the pastor.

The friends had already been baptized because of Dorcas’s testimony, but they wanted to stand with Dorcas as she, too, was baptized.

Dorcas returned to school, where she has started an early-morning prayer group before classes. She also formed a singing group that ministers through music during the church services at the school. “I’m looking for other ways I can serve God,” she says. “I’ve learned that it’s easy to do things for Jesus. Just do what you like to do, but do it for God. He’ll make it a success. It’s hard work, but it’s a joyful thing to do.”

Our mission offerings help plant churches such as the one Dorcas and her family planted in their village in Papua New Guinea. Thank you for your faithful sacrifices that help lead others to Christ. à

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The Surprise Church When Dorcas came home six months later, she was excited to see that her Bible club had grown into a church! And 34 of them are baptized Adventists, including some of her friends from school.

Last December Dorcas came home for Christmas break and joined the believers who were meeting under a large tarp. They sit on logs lashed together a few inches off the ground.

But the group is growing stronger and reaching out to others.

Early one morning Dorcas got up and dressed to go to the marketplace, where children from her church go twice a week to sing songs and speak over a

loudspeaker to the people setting up for market day.

“I’m happy that God used me, a child, to help others come to Jesus,” Dorcas says. “I never expected a new church to form when I started giving out Bible verse cards. I just wanted to teach my friends who are not Adventists to love the Bible. Most of the children in my village don’t have Bibles, and I wanted them to meet Jesus and know Him as I do.” She looks around at all the people smiling at her, and then she adds, “I guess that it’s working.”

www.AdventistMission.org

they would continue the Bible club.

And they did.

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THE INVITATION November 28 | Lloyd Sane and his mother

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loyd Sane [SAH-neh] is a teenager in Port Moresby [MORES-bee], Papua New Guinea. Although his father grew up as an Adventist, he left his faith, and his family didn’t attend church. Then his friend Isaac invited Lloyd to attend church with him.

Isaac is older than Lloyd, but he treated Lloyd with respect and showed God’s love through his kindness.

“Church is fun,” Isaac promised. “We have lots of young people, and they will welcome you.” So Lloyd agreed to go.

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A Warm Welcome On Sabbath Isaac walked to Lloyd’s home, and the two boys started out for church. Still, as Isaac and Lloyd approached the church, Lloyd became a bit nervous. After all, Lloyd’s family didn’t attend church, and it was new to him. “Isaac introduced me to several of his friends, and the boys made me feel comfortable.”

Isaac joined Lloyd and the other young people for the youth worship service, and Lloyd truly enjoyed it. He had never realized that church could be fun!

As the two boys walked home after the service, Isaac smiled and said,

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“So, did you have a good time?” Lloyd nodded, for he truly did enjoy church.

“Then come with me next week,” the older boy urged.

Expanding the Invitation From that week on Lloyd went to church with his friend Isaac. Lloyd wanted to share what he was learning with his family, and invited his parents and brothers and sisters to go with him.

Lloyd’s mother was happy to let the children go to church, for she knew they were involved in something good.

But she worked on Sabbaths and had difficulties getting time off to go to church. Father owned his own business and worked on Sabbaths.

The children often returned home from church about the time their mother returned from work. They would sit around and talk about what they had learned in church.

For the next year Lloyd took his brothers and sisters to church. When one or another of the children didn’t want to go to church, Lloyd encouraged them to go as a family.

Lloyd joined Pathfinders, and his brothers and sisters joined Adventurers.

¾ Papua New Guinea (PNG) is an island nation located north of Australia. Most of the people of PNG live on the main island of New Guinea, which is shared with the Indonesian province of Papua (formerly Irian Jaya). ¾ The mountainous terrain and tropical climate makes travel difficult in this region, but small aircraft work well. In 2005 part of the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering helped purchase a new plane to serve these people. ¾ For more information on Papua New Guinea and the missionaries and plane that serve this region, watch the Adventist Mission DVD this quarter.

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Keeping a Promise Mother kept her promise, and the first Sabbath after she was released from the hospital, she went to church with her children. It wasn’t easy for her to juggle her work, her family, and God; and she almost lost her job when she told her boss that she could no longer work on Sabbaths. But God worked it out, and Mother now has Sabbaths off.

Recently Lloyd’s mother was baptized, and Lloyd is preparing for baptism too.

Mother is grateful that her son persisted in inviting her to give her life to God. She in turn urges her husband to return to the church of his childhood so the family can be united in faith.

Lloyd rejoices that his friend Isaac led him to church and that God used him to invite the rest of his family. Mission starts at home and spreads outward in ever wider circles of influence. Our mission offerings make it possible to share our faith with those we may never meet on this earth. à 21

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A Wake-up Call But still Lloyd wasn’t content. He wanted his parents to go to church with the family. He often invited them, and both Mom and Dad said they’d come.

Mom arranged her schedule so she could attend one Sabbath.

Mother had to go on a business trip.

She promised that she would go to church with the children when she returned. But when she returned home,

she became ill and spent two weeks in the hospital. Lloyd visited her and prayed for her. He shared Bible verses with her and encouraged her to trust God. Sometimes Lloyd’s sister went with him to the hospital. The two would sing songs of faith for their mother.

During her illness, Mother had to think about her family and her spiritual life. She felt bad that she was not setting a good example for her children by going to church with them. And she was more than a little curious about what made her children so faithful in their church attendance. Before she was released she promised her children that she would go to church with them as soon as she was able.

www.AdventistMission.org

During Pathfinders Lloyd learned about family worship and decided to have family worship in his home.

Someone gave him two devotional books, and he called the family together before breakfast and before dinner to read a devotional and pray together.

They enjoyed singing the songs that the younger children had learned in Sabbath School.

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COMING HOME December 5 | Crystiane

[Ask a young woman to present this first-person report.]

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grew up in an Adventist family in Brazil. But my faith was shaken when my parents divorced and my grandfather suddenly died. How could a loving God take him from me like this?

I wondered.

I stopped attending church and drifted with my non-Adventist friends.

My family tried to reason with me, but I didn’t want them telling me what to do.

I wanted to live my own life. So during my last year in university, Cezar, my boyfriend, and I decided to escape as far away from Brazil as possible. We moved to New Zealand.

However, our new life in New Zealand was not as glamorous as we had imagined. We lived in a van and could barely afford to buy bread. We moved to Australia and found jobs in a restaurant.

We worked like crazy to pay the bills, but I hated it. I missed home and my family. I was lonely and miserable. But my pride wouldn’t let me go home.

A Change of Heart When I got pregnant, I missed my mother more than ever. She begged

me to come home to visit, so I went. I apologized for the way I had acted. My mom is my rock; she helped me feel strong again.

Reconciled with my family, I returned to Australia a happier person. I found an Adventist church and started attending.

The people loved and welcomed me, even though I had no decent clothes to wear. I felt safe there and could be myself as I worked my way back to God. I felt content.

A few months after our son was born, Cezar and I moved back to New Zealand to build a new life. In time I found a little group of believers that have helped feed my soul. I took our son and our new baby daughter to church, and they loved it. I began to appreciate the Sabbath as I never had before. When I was younger I thought that the Sabbath was the day I couldn’t do things. I couldn’t watch television, couldn’t play with my friends. I just had to sit and listen to sermons I didn’t understand. But suddenly I began to see Sabbath as a day of physical rest and spiritual feasting. Cezar didn’t go to

¾ New Zealand lies southeast of Australia. It consists of two main islands and several smaller islands.

Most of the 4 million people who live in New Zealand live on North Island.

The largest city, Auckland, has just over 1.1 million people. ¾ New Zealand has a temperate climate, rich soil and mineral deposits, and a high standard of living. ¾ The original settlers of New Zealand were from Polynesia and came to be known as the Maori [MOW-ree].

They make up less than one tenth of today’s population.

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Attitude of Gratitude Now I thank God for each day God gives me. I’ve learned that problems can be blessings in disguise. And that even the simplest things are blessings from God. I pray that my husband will see God’s love and beauty and will join me in worshipping in the Adventist church.

I thank God for believers who prayed for me, who cared for me, who loved me, even when I refused to acknowledge God in my life. And I thank God for my little church, a Global Mission church plant in our little city. Most of all I thank God for every member around the world who cares about others and shares God’s love in their lives and through their mission offerings. God is using you to make a difference in someone’s life. à

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Unexpected Blessing Then one day I injured my knee while skiing. I was in terrible pain. The doctors put my leg in a cast from my hip to my ankle. But my knee swelled up, and I had to return to the hospital.

Doctors said that I had a broken knee.

They replaced the cast and sent me home. I couldn’t walk or work.

I dreaded the thought of wearing a cast for six weeks and not being able to get around. But the church members rallied around me and helped me in so many ways! Church members brought dinner and stayed to eat with us, and our pastor and his wife visited often. The pastor arranged to hold the

midweek prayer meeting at my house so I could attend. It was then that I began to see God’s blessings in my disability.

My husband sometimes joined us for midweek prayer service, and he became more comfortable with my faith as he got to know the church members. Then a girlfriend asked me about God, and I had time to study the Bible with her. As I saw these blessings, my attitude toward my injury changed.

Six weeks later when I returned to have the cast removed, the doctor examined my knee again and told me that it had not been broken. I was sure that it had healed, but he showed me the scans and insisted that my knee had never been broken. He could not explain it, but I realized that God had used this injury to work out a plan for my life.

www.AdventistMission.org

church with us, but he knew how much my faith meant to me and supported me.

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LONGING FOR LOVE December 12 | Nigel and Dragiša

[Ask a woman to present this first-person report.]

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was a career woman with great hopes for the future. But life was difficult after Communism fell in my native Ukraine. Some friends invited me to travel to Dubai to work. I scraped together the airfare and arrived with just $7 in my pocket. I found a job working for a Japanese company as a Russian-speaking marketing manager. Suddenly life was good. I had everything I wanted, but I felt an emptiness in my life.

I grew up during Communist times in Ukraine, and my grandmother feared telling me about God. But in my heart I knew God existed, and I had searched for Him. That need for God in my life returned in Dubai. But I didn’t know how to find Him. I met people from all countries, all faiths. I questioned them about their beliefs. I learned a lot, but I still didn’t find what I was looking for.

I was lonely and wished I could have a nice man like some of my girlfriends had. Not just any man, however. I wanted a man with high standards.

Friends introduced me to men, but none

of them fit what I was looking for.

The Date So when a friend offered to introduce me to his friend, I was not sure I wanted to meet him. I knew many of this man’s friends already, and none of them appealed to me. So I ignored him.

Months passed. Then my friend invited me to a party. I had just returned from overseas and was exhausted. I tried to get out of going, but my friend refused to take no for an answer. So finally I agreed to go to the party just to appease him.

My friend introduced me to the friend he wanted me to meet, Dragiša [drahGEE-shah.] I sensed that Dragiša was different. As we talked I sensed that he was special. And before I left the party, we exchanged telephone numbers.

I couldn’t get Dragiša out of my mind. My friends at work noticed that I looked different. “I’m in love,” I told them. They were surprised, for I was so picky about men. They thought I wasn't sentimental enough to ever fall in love.

Dragiša and I spent lots of time

¾ New Zealand’s relatively small population (just over 4 million) includes thousands of immigrants.

While most are from the South Pacific islands, a significant number have come from Eastern Europe and Asia in search of a better life. Immigrants are often more open to exploring their faith than those who have lived in a country for generations. ¾ Global Mission pioneers have been commissioned to plant churches among these minority and immigrant population groups. The church plant that Ninel and her husband attend receives help from Global Mission as well as the mission offerings to build its new congregation.

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A New Career But things were not easy. I received enticing job offers from companies, but turned them down because I would have to work on Sabbath.

After we had married, Dragiša and I left Dubai and had settled in New Zealand, where Dragiša’s business has an office. We joined a local Adventist church and met several other Russianspeaking Adventists.

The little Russian-speaking group meets in an English church, but we’re growing. Recently we were blessed with our own Russian-speaking pastor to help us establish a new church in New Zealand. We have great plans! We want to start a Russian-language TV program and a Hope Café that serves healthful food in an atmosphere where people can meet and attend seminars.

I have left my career so I can devote my life to my family and the church. I want other people who are searching as I was to know that God can make a difference in their lives.

Your mission offerings help searching people find Christ. They also help establish new congregations of believers around the world. à 25

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Meet the Parents When Dragiša’s parents came to visit him in Dubai, Dragiša warned me that his parents had never liked his girlfriends. But when we met, we were quite comfortable and quickly became

friends. By the end of the evening they were calling me daughter.

I spent every spare moment with Dragiša and his parents. Dragiša’s father was a pastor. I peppered him with questions, and he answered them all.

As I saw how God fit into their lives, I realized that God was becoming more real in my own life. My relationship with God was growing, for I had found a new family, God’s family. I accepted Christ and was baptized. Soon Dragiša and I were engaged.

www.AdventistMission.org

together. But whenever I invited Dragiša out on Friday evenings or Saturdays, the times I didn’t have to work, he would turn me down. “Why?” I asked.

“I’m a Seventh-day Adventist,” he said. I thought “Adventist” was a political group or a business or something. But one evening at dinner Dragiša started talking about God. I listened and asked him all the questions I had wondered about for years. Dragiša answered each one, and his answers made sense to me. I forgot where we were, forgot everyone around us as we talked for hours.

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S AMSON WISES UP December 19 | Samson

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amson grew up in an Adventist home, but as a teenager his heart wandered to the life he saw his friends living. He heard them talk of their freedom to do as they pleased, of their refusal to be governed by others’ rules.

Samson unwisely left the church and followed his friends. Soon he was partying with them, drinking, and using drugs.

At age 14 he was sent to a juvenile home, but he escaped and returned to the streets. Each time he was caught, authorities sent him farther from his friends, and each time he ran away again. He spent several months in a juvenile survival camp designed to teach teamwork and responsibility. But when he was released, he returned to his friends on the street and soon was in trouble with the law again.

When he reached 18, he was sent to prison for his crimes. He decided to obey all the rules so he could get out earlier.

Fateful Decision Samson noticed that a group of Christian prisoners seemed to get more privileges than he did, so he pretended

to become a Christian to get in good with the guards. But things didn’t work out as he planned.

He joined a Bible study group and attended chapel services. One day a choir had come to present worship.

As he listened, he felt a strange sense of peace. He fought the feeling and thought about leaving, but a voice told him, “Just sit and listen.” He knew God was speaking to him, so he stayed and listened. The music took his breath away, and the message of love and redemption brought tears to his eyes.

That day Samson surrendered his life to God. “Do with me whatever You want, Lord,” he prayed. From that day on Samson’s life hasn’t been the same.

Test of Faith He had plenty of time to read the Bible and pray while in prison. And his prayer was always, “God use me to serve You.” A few months later he was released.

This time, instead of heading back to his friends on the streets, Samson found an Adventist church and began attending. He was determined to stay

¾ While 60 percent of New Zealanders consider themselves Christians, many seldom attend worship services. Of the remaining 40 percent, most claim no religion at all. ¾ Immigrants to New Zealand have a much higher rate of faith than those of European descent or those who have been in the country for more than a generation. Pray that believers will share their faith with family and friends and encourage others to give their hearts to Jesus. ¾ Just over 11,000 people in New Zealand are Seventh-day Adventists. This is a ratio of one Adventist for every 372 people. Pray that the church will grow strong in the coming years.

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NEW

A New Ministry Samson remembered how the choir he’d heard that day in prison had touched him. He was musical and

wanted to serve God through music. He invited his brother and sisters to join him and form a musical group. They did, and God opened doors for them to present the gospel message through music in New Zealand, Australia, and beyond.

“It feels so good to see people turn their lives over to God,” Samson says. “I know the power of music in a person’s life.”

Samson remembered how he had wanted the glory of becoming a leading drug dealer, but God made him the leader of a musical group instead to sing for His glory. Samson became youth leader in his church and director of the choir. He shares his faith with choir directors from other denominations, and three of them have asked for baptism.

“God answered my prayers, but in ways I could never have imagined,” he says. Today this 26-year-old ex-convict’s only goal is to share his faith with young people, so that they will avoid the pitfalls he fell into.

Samson has returned to jail to minister to the convicts, and many have turned their lives over to God as a result of his testimony.

“It feels good to be on the right side of the law,” he says. “The police sometimes ask what I’m doing now, and it gives me a chance to share my faith with them.

And when I pass by the places I used to hang out, I see the same people inside still living the same dead-end life. If they ask, I tell them that thanks to Jesus, I don’t come there anymore.”

Our mission offerings help provide funds for ministries to youth, to prisoners, to anyone who needs to know God’s love firsthand. Thank you for giving. à

www.AdventistMission.org

faithful to God. But life became busy, and soon Samson discovered that he wasn’t spending as much time reading the Bible as he had in prison. Before long he stopped reading it altogether. Then he stopped praying, and eventually he started drinking again. But he continued attending church on Sabbath.

One night while he was out drinking, he fell and seriously injured his head.

When he sobered up he realized that he had broken his promises to God and deserved to die, but God had saved him again. Samson asked God to forgive him and remove the desire for alcohol from him. He hasn’t touched it since then.

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THIRTEENTH SABBATH P ROGRAM O

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“Give of Your Best to the Master” The Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, no. 572

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Superintendent or Sabbath School teacher

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“Discipling Our Youth ” While the offering is being taken, ask the children to sing “Jesus Loves Me” in the languages that they have learned this quarter.

“Lead Them, My God, to Thee,” The Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, no. 653

AY E R

Discipling Our Youth Participants: Three speakers—a narrator and two reporters. [Note: participants do not need to memorize their parts, but they should be familiar enough with the material that they do not have to read everything from the script. Practice so that participants can feel comfortable adding inflection where appropriate.]

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Props: A large map of the South Pacific Division. (Scan the map on the back page of the quarterly and project it onto a screen, or draw a map on a large piece of paper.)

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Narrator: This quarter we have focused on the South Pacific Division.

Our Thirteenth Sabbath Offering today will help the youth there grow in God’s love and be trained for His service. Two special projects will help make this happen.

Reporter 1: Imagine a children’s

Sabbath School with no lesson guides, no felts to illustrate the story, no pictures to color. Teachers would struggle to hold the children’s attention.

In many of the islands of the South Pacific, children have no Sabbath School lessons. Their teachers have no felts to put on a board. They have no pictures to illustrate the Bible

can help too, as part of our Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help fund this important project to teach children in the South Pacific that Jesus loves them and has a plan for their lives.

Narrator: Thank you.

Our other Thirteenth Sabbath project also focuses on providing training for service to God, but to a somewhat older audience.

For almost 70 years Fulton College in Fiji has trained hundreds of young people for ministry. The school is entering another phase of its ministry and needs our support to see that this important college continues to shed God’s light into the corners of the South Pacific Division.

Reporter 2: In the 1940s three small institutions of learning in Fiji merged to form Fulton College. The new college was established on a dairy farm on the main island of Fiji. Through the years the campus grew to accommodate some 400 students.

But when the lease on the land ran out a few years ago, efforts to re-negotiate the lease failed. It became apparent that Fulton College would have to move. It’s a good time to move, as many of the early buildings need extensive repair or replacement.

After extensive searching throughout Fiji, a piece of land was located and a perpetual lease agreement signed. The new location offers several significant advantages over the current site. The property is just 15 minutes from the international airport, and thus is far more convenient for those international students arriving in Fiji. Electricity,

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stories. Let’s visit one island church today and use our imaginations to understand what Sabbath School is like for these children.

It’s 9:00, and the head deacon picks up a metal pipe and bangs it on a large metal cylinder hanging from a tree branch. He’s calling everyone to Sabbath School. The children come running. They sit on benches under a thatched roof or on the ground under a tree. The teacher greets them and starts with singing. Oh, how they love to sing!

Then it’s story time. The teacher tells the Bible story the best she can. She has no felts to illustrate the story and no picture for the children to see and understand. She uses her voice to make the story as real as possible.

When she finishes the story, she repeats the Bible text to the children.

They have no Sabbath School lessons to read, so they must learn their Bible verses by repeating them after the teacher and perhaps writing them with a stick in the sand that covers their island.

We know that if we cannot hold the children’s interest, we’ve lost a teachable moment. So to help impress the children with the truth of the story, the South Pacific Division plans to print pictures from the children’s Sabbath School lessons and laminate them so they’ll last. These will provide a focal point for the children as they listen to the Bible lessons we know and take for granted.

Our children are joining children in Sabbath Schools around the world to help make it possible for their little friends in the South Pacific to have these Bible lesson picture charts. We

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water, and other amenities will be available, and the threat of damage from cyclones that threaten the region will be less serious. And the site offers extensive farmland that will provide much-needed work opportunities for students.

Sometimes what appears to be a setback, such as the failure to renegotiate the lease on the land where Fulton College currently resides, turns out to be a blessing from God. Today’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help move this

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ADVENTIST MISSION South Pacific Division

Narrator: It’s inspiring to see young people come to Christ and receive the training they need to live a life of service to God and humanity. That’s our vision as we dig deeply to help the youth of the South Pacific prepare for service until Jesus comes.

[Offering]

F F E R I N G S

“The church has come!” the people shout as they watch the sleek new airplane land on their grass air strip on the top of a mountain. Three years ago, part of

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important institution of learning forward into a new century and a new phase of God’s work.

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your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering helped to buy this mission plane for Papua New Guinea. The believers in Papua New Guinea say a hearty “Thank you!”

FUTURE THIRTEENTH SABBATH PROJECTS Next quarter the East-Central Africa Division will be featured. Special projects include a health clinic in Burundi and a French-speaking university in Rwanda.

Second quarter 2010 will feature the Euro-Africa Division.

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For more information on the cultures and history of the South Pacific, check the travel section of a local library. Visit a travel agency for brochures featuring photos of these countries.

Visit our website for additional photos, recipes, language pages, puzzles, and other activities that you can download and print to make mission more fun for children. Go to www.

AdventistMission.org. Click on “Resources” and “Children’s Activities” in the pop-up menu. Go to “4th quarter” and select the activity you want.

Adventist Mission DVD is a free video that features stories from the featured countries as well as the worldwide mission of the Adventist Church. Ask your Sabbath School superintendent to make you a copy of it. Or go online at www.AdventistMission.org to download one of the DVD programs.

Embassies and Tourism Offices sometimes can provide interesting information on their country. In North America, contact: Embassy of Australia, 1601 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036. Phone: (202) 797-3000; website: www.usa.embassy.gov.au/whwh/home.html.

Embassy of Fiji, 2000 M Street, NW, Suite 710, Washington, DC 20036. Phone: (202) 466-8320; fax: (202) 466-8325; websites: www.fijiembassydc.com/. Click on “About Fiji,” or go to www.fijiembassydc.com/default.asp?contentID=506.

Embassy of New Zealand, 37 Observatory Circle, NW, Washington DC 20008. Phone: (202) 328-4800; fax: (202) 6675227; website www.nzembassy.com/home.cfm?c=31.

Embassy of Papua New Guinea, 1779 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 805, Washington, DC 20036. Phone: (202) 745-3680; fax: (202) 745-3679; website: pngembassy.org/tourism.html.

Embassy of the Solomon Islands, 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400L, New York, NY 10017. Phone: (212) 559-6192; fax: (212) 6618925; website: www.VisitSolomons.com.sb. Find interesting photos on the website for the embassy of Solomon Islands in Taiwan at www.Solomons.org.tw.

An offering goal device will help focus attention on world missions and increase weekly mission giving. Ask your Sabbath School council to set a quarterly mission offering goal; then chart the weekly progress toward the quarter’s goal on the goal device.

If you can find an old children’s picture roll in your children’s division, select a picture from it and photocopy it, full-size if possible. Cut the original into 13 equal parts (or more if you wish). Every week that you reach your mission-giving goal, glue one of the picture pieces in its proper place (over the photocopy if you were able to make it full size). When you reach your quarter’s goal, you will have a completed picture. Remind members that part of their offering will help provide picture rolls for Sabbath Schools throughout the South Pacific islands.

Remind members also that the ongoing work of the world church depends on the weekly Sabbath School mission offerings. On the twelfth Sabbath, report on mission giving during the quarter.

MISSION ADVENTIST

FOURTH QUARTER 2009 SOUTH PACIFIC DIVISION EDITORIAL Charlotte Ishkanian Alita Byrd Esther Lipscomb Hans Olson Emily Harding

OFFICE

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Editor Contributing Editors Managing Editor Graphic Designer

ADVENTIST MISSION

Gary Krause Ganoune Diop Rick Kajiura Nancy Kyte Marti Schneider Homer Trecartin

Director Study Centers Director Communication Director Marketing Director Programs Director Planning Director

COMMUNICATION STAFF Laurie Falvo Charlotte Ishkanian Hans Olson Daniel Weber Andrew King

Projects Manager Mission Editor Projects Manager Video Producer Video Producer

Website: www.AdventistMission.org Mission (ISSN 0190-4108) is produced and copyrighted © 2009 by the Office of Adventist Mission, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists®,12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904, U.S.A. Printed in U.S.A. Volume 98, Number 4 ADVENTIST® and SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST® are the registered trademarks of the General Conference of Seventhday Adventists®.

Texts credited to NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Permission is granted to reproduce material from this quarterly for use in local Sabbath Schools and children’s ministries programs. Permission to reproduce any portion of this material for sale, publication in another periodical, or other commercial use must be authorized in writing by the editor at the above address.

For subscription inquiries, e-mail Julie Haines at jhaines@rhpa.org or call 800-456-3991 or 1-301-393-3280. Annual subscription rates per edition: domestic, US$7.50; international, US$14.50.

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South Pacific Division

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1

53,535 17,521 237,532 92,306

POPULATION 21,003,500 4,713,000 6,331,000 2,070,500

Relocate Fulton College, Fiji Flip for Jesus picture rolls for children’s Sabbath Schools throughout the South Pacific

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PROJECTS

Total 1,862 400,894 34,118,000 (as of June 30, 2008)

414 136 868 444

CHURCHES MEMBERS Australian New Zealand Pacific Papua New Guinea Trans Pacific

UNION