Frontline Edition by Global Mission - 2nd Quarter 2011

Help Us Say Yes!

FRONTLINE

Brand New at 95 G LO B AL

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The Dusty Road •

Stories and News From the Heart of Mission

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New Work in Polynesia

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Brand New at

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TESTIMONIAL

By Kikue Takagi

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uring the eight years following my husband’s death, my life was lonely. I lived by myself, my relatives lived far away, and my friends had died. Then suddenly, with a knock on my door, everything began to change.

Last year two Seventhday Adventist Christians, Mr. Yoshida and Mr. Nakam,

visited me. They talked and prayed with me and invited me to visit their church.

For years I had worshipped my ancestors, but I was looking for something to make life more meaningful. I wanted to visit the Adventist church, but I wondered if the members would accept me. “Of course, they’ll accept you!” the men

said. “They will love you as their mother and sister.”

“Then let’s go!” I said.

When I went to the meeting, I hesitated at the door.

Then a young woman took my hand and greeted me. Pastor Lee Sung Hoo gave me a warm welcome as well. All my doubts fled and I felt at home.

I felt the love immediately!

www.BridgesForMinistry.org G. T. Ng –General Conference Secretary FRONTLINE Hindu Study Center griswold@loxinfo.co.th Southern Asia Division is published quarterly by Gary Krause –Director Post Box 2, Global Mission, part of the CentER for Secular and HCF Hosur 635110 Office of Adventist Mission, Ganoune Diop –Study Centers Director Tamil Nadu India Post-Modern Studies at the Seventh-day Adventist Rick Kajiura –Communication Director Phone: 91 (4344) 26-2170 Kleber Gonçalves Church World Headquarters.

Fax: 91 (4344) 26-2090 Rua Gabrielle D’Annunzio, 246 Tax- deductible gifts for Global Nancy Kyte –Marketing Director Brooklin, 04619-000 Mission projects can be sent to World Jewish-adventist DELBERT PEARMAN –Planning Director São Paulo, Brazil Adventist Mission Friendship Center Phone: 269-757-0790 12501 Old Columbia Pike KARLA RIVERA –Donor Services Representative Richard Elofer Fax: 269-757-0790 Silver Spring, MD 20904 P.O Box 592 www.secularandpostmodern.com Laurie Falvo –Communication Projects Manager 800-648-5824 or online at: 94186 Jerusalem klebergon@gmail.com http://giving.AdventistMission.org Israel Charlotte Ishkanian –Mission Editor Phone; 972 (2) 6251 547 Fax: ©Copyright 2011 General Global Center For Andrew King –Video Producer/Editor 972 (2) 6251 391 Conference of Seventh-day Adventist-Muslim www.jewishadventist.org Hans Olson –Communication Projects Manager Adventists.

Relations rielofer@netvision.net.il Lester Merklin Shyamala Ram –Senior Office Assistant ADVENTIST® and SEVENTHAndrews University Buddhist Study Center Nimfa Sumagaysay –Donor Response Coordinator Berrien Springs, MI 49104-0220 DAY ADVENTIST® are the Scott Griswold registered trademarks of Phone: 240-338-6681 P.O. Box 15, Nakhon Luang, Stella Thomas –Administrative Assistant Ayutthaya Thailand 13260 the General Conference of Fax: 269-471-6252 2 G L –O B Producer/Editor A L M I S S I O N E-mail: • MerklinL@gc.adventist.org w w w . g l o b a l - Phone: m i s66s 818 i o 515 n .414 o r g • 8Seventh-day 00-64 8 - 5 ®8. 2 4 Daniel Weber Video Adventists

Him. My greatest delight is to go to church each Sabbath.

Now 96, Mrs. Takagi is very active, sharing the love of Jesus and enjoying many hobbies. Here she is playing a musical instrument called a taisho koto.

I couldn’t stop smiling I had found just what I needed. I felt like a child discovering something new.

At 95 years of age, I was baptized.

Until I gave my heart to God, I hated my husband for being unfaithful while he was alive. Now I am filled with happiness, supported by God’s word and the love and prayers of my church family.

The only regret I have is that I didn’t meet Jesus sooner. If I had known about this church, I would have known this happiness long ago. Now that I know Jesus, I want to spend the rest of my days with Him and die trusting

The pastor who warmly welcomed Kikue Takagi at the Amami Seventh-day Adventist Church is Pastor Lee Sung Hoo. When Pastor Lee left his home in Korea five years ago to serve as a Pioneer Mission Movement pastor in Japan, the Amami church had about 10 members. Under his servant leadership, membership has grown to more than 30 with many more people preparing for baptism. This is phenomenal growth for an Adventist church in Japan!

Your support of Global Mission helps fund pioneers such as Pastor Lee. Mrs. Kikue Takagi was baptized last year at the age of 95. Now 96, she is actively involved in sharing the love of Jesus with her community.

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he congregation of Amami Oshima meets in a crowded rented room. The Thirteenth Sabbath Offering for first quarter 2012 will help them have a church home of their own. Mrs. Takagi says, “My sole wish in life is that the new church will be built before I die.”

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The congregation of the Amami Oshima Seventh-day Adventist Church in Japan. Pastor Lee is on the far left in the back row and Mrs. Takagi is third from the right in the second row.

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2Q 11

F E A T U R E

The Dusty Road

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outhern Malawi. Not the first place you would think of when you consider areas where you can tell people about Jesus.

Here, walking and riding a bike are considered forms of mass transit. This is as close to a traffic jam as you’re going to get in this part of the world.

One of the people who travels these roads is Goodson Magalasi, a Global Mission pioneer. His job is to visit people who live along these dusty roads. He’s answering the call to tell everyone he can about Jesus.

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Some days Goodson has to travel up to 45 kilometers one way, about 28 miles, to visit the families that he’s teaching about Jesus. He’s usually able to stop and visit 10 families each day.

Goodson is one of only two Global Mission pioneers

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trying to cover an area of more than 1,500 kilometers with a population of several hundred thousand people.

Goodson has started a church with more than 90 members. The only problem is that his church doesn’t have a roof. The members

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have to sit under the hot sun as it beats down and threatens to bake them, just like the clay bricks that make up the

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walls of their little church.

Despite the warm weather, the members are open to the good news of Jesus that Goodson shares with them. They bow their heads in prayer as they thank God for the opportunity to worship Him along this dusty road. Goodson has one wish for the people of southern Malawi —that God will help “them

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come to our churches for salvation.”

Your faithful support of Global Mission funds the frontline work of dedicated pioneers like Goodson.

Please pray for all the pioneers around the world who walk dusty roads, inviting people to know Jesus.

Dan Weber Adventist Mission DVD Producer

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Warm Greetings T

his Bangladeshi woman greets the photographer with a smile and the traditional “Namaste” (NAHmah-stay) greeting of India and Bangladesh. She lives in the crowded city of Dhaka in Bangladesh, a country formed when India partitioned off East and West Pakistan in 1947. Bangladesh gained its independence from Pakistan in 1971.

The majority of people living in Bangladesh are Muslim, with a small popu-

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lation of Hindus and a very small percentage of Christians. The country is one of the most densely populated in the world. Most of the people in Bangladesh are poor, living off what they can raise in small plots of land.

The Adventist Church in Bangladesh numbers about 31,000

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members or one Adventist for every 5,000 people.

Your donations are currently supporting 39 Global Mission projects in Bangladesh.

Photo credit: Siegfried Mayr, retired president of Bangladesh Union Mission.

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Praying for Change This story is from the second quarter 2011 Adventist Mission DVD. You can watch the Adventist Mission DVD in your local church or online at www.AdventistMission.org.

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lexandar serves as the head elder of the Tomsk Seventh-day Adventist Church in Siberia, Russia, where he loves to help lead a small group of believers. Every Sabbath they meet in a house church, down a back alley on the outskirts of town.

More than 120 people pack into a room not much bigger than a living room. There they study God’s word and grow closer to Jesus.

Many members in the congregation have seen tremendous changes take place in their lives.

But none has been more impacted by change than Alexandar.

“For the first five years of my marriage everything was fine with my husband,” says Alexandar’s wife, Lubov. “But then he started to drink alcohol.

“It caused problems in our family. I didn’t like the constant drinking and I didn’t think that he was being a good example for his young sons. I didn’t want them to start doing the same thing.”

Before the fall of Communism, Alexandar held a prestigious job working for the government. When he lost his job, he became depressed and started to drink.

One day Lubov knelt down on the floor of her apartment and cried out to God. “If you truly exist, then help me. You know what is happening with my family.”

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A few days later she was given a flyer for an upcoming evangelistic meeting. The flyer invited anyone with family problems to come to the meeting. Lubov decided to go, hoping that this might be the answer to her prayer.

Lubov attended the meetings and soon became a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tomsk. Alexandar didn’t like this, and he knew how to handle the problem.

“I was going to save my wife,” says Alexandar. “I went to the church to cause a problem, but when I arrived I was shocked. The members were rejoicing that I was there and I didn’t know what to think.”

Alexandar had come to the church as an enemy, but God used the members to show him His love. Alexandar decided that he needed to follow this new lifestyle with his wife.

Alexandar was baptized and today he and Lubov live in a loving, Christian home. What was once a place poisoned by depression and alcohol became a place of love and peace.

Your Global Mission offerings help start church plants, such as the Tomsk congregation, all over the world. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Daniel Weber Adventist Mission DVD Producer

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Global Neighborhood Springtime in the Zones

11 Mediterranean Spring Salad—Serves 6-8

Four of the countries in the list below are located in the North Temperate Zone. They would typically experience spring during the months of March, April, and May. The other four countries are in the South Temperate Zone, which means they are likely to enjoy spring in September, October, and November.

Which four countries are in the South Temperate Zone, and would expect tulips to bloom in September, October, and November?

Ingredients • ½ pound new potatoes, cooked, peeled and sliced thin • ½ cup olive oil • 2 tablespoons lemon juice • 1 ½ teaspoons oregano, dried • ¼ teaspoon salt • 1 clove garlic, minced • 6 cups mixed salad greens • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half • 1 medium green bell pepper, sliced thin • 1 small purple onion, sliced thin and separated into rings • 1 medium English cucumber, sliced thin • ½ cup feta cheese, crumbled Directions 1. Cover potatoes with water and boil for about 25 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool slightly.

2. Peel potatoes and slice thin; place in a shallow bowl.

3. Combine oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt, and garlic.

Whisk until combined.

4. Pour oil mixture over potatoes; marinate for one hour.

5. Place salad greens in a large bowl.

6. Arrange potatoes, tomatoes, green pepper, onion, cucumber, and feta cheese over salad greens.

7. Toss lightly and serve.

Greenland Norway New Zealand Great Britain South Africa Uruguay Russia Australia

Answers: New Zealand, South Africa, Uruguay, Australia

2Q

World Division with the Most Countries The world division in the Seventh-day Adventist Church with the most countries is the Trans-European Division. The 41 countries are: Albania Bahrain Bosnia-Herzegovina Channel Islands Croatia Cyprus Denmark Egypt Estonia Faeroe Islands Finland

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Greece Greenland Hungary Iceland Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Jordan Kuwait Latvia

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Lebanon Lithuania Montenegro Netherlands Norway Oman Pakistan Poland Qatar Saudi Arabia Serbia

Slovenia Sudan Sweden Syrian Arab Republic Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Yemen

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Nancy Kyte Adventist Mission

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2Q MISSION NEWS 11

New territory for church in Polynesia V

olunteers supported

by Global Mission have established Aratika as a new territory for the Seventhday Adventist Church in the French Polynesia Mission.

Evangelistic work on this island of some 200 inhabitants began three years ago when a small group of church members from Tahiti stayed for three months, sharing their faith. As a result of those evangelistic efforts, seven people were recently baptized.

“This highlights the excellent work that can be

accomplished through the support of Global MisFriends and family watch as the first people sion when to become Seventh-day Adventist Christians all church on the island of Aratika are baptized. entities, from the General Conference to the local Through the generous supmission, work together to port of Global Mission, the contribute financially towards church was able to purchase helping unentered territories,” land in Paparara for the consays Pastor Jerry Matthews, struction of the new building. president of the New Zealand The small group of volPacific Union Conference. unteers in Aratika is reaching Pastor Marama Tuariimore than 20 people every hionoa, president of the week; many are attending French PolyWednesday evening and Sabnesia Mission, bath programs. accompanied With five archipelagoes, by 20 volunFrench Polynesia consists of teers from 118 islands, 67 of which are Tahiti (the inhabited. main island This vast, newly-growing where the territory needs your prayers capital is situand support. ated), helped build a new church with

By Ambroise Colombani, a church member from French Polynesia the capacity Volunteers built the Paparara church with Mission and Pablo Lillo, head of news and of 100 seats Global Mission funding. editorial for the South Pacific Division. in 18 days.

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2Q Meet a Global Mission Pioneer 11

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n the Solomon Islands and many other island nations of the South Pacific, individual villages and even entire regions are under the domain of a single church. It’s often difficult to gain access to these villages, for the people’s culture and identity are wrapped up in their church affiliation.

Breakthrough at Bebe Village As a Global Mission Pioneer, I wanted to enter one of the villages dominated by another Protestant denomination. I asked permission to take some Adventist young people to the village to do community service work. The village leaders agreed to let the young people help repair the church roof, but they wouldn’t allow us to hold public meetings. We agreed.

The village provided a house for us while we worked, and as the young people worked with the villagers, they became friends.

Every morning and evening we gathered outside our house to sing and pray. Some of the villagers joined us, and this strengthened the bonds of friendship.

We had planned to spend Sabbath at a small Adventist

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church in a nearby village, but the religious teacher of our village invited us to worship in the church we were repairing. We gladly accepted, but we were surprised to find this man had invited the villagers to join us for worship. The majority of the village came to our worship that day. We told Bible stories using picture rolls and sang songs of praise.

The people loved it!

After worship a man named George told us that he had been accused of sorcery and had been beaten to drive the spirits from him. He was knocked unconscious, and no one helped him. With tears in his eyes, George explained that he felt he had been rejected by his own village.

We prayed with George and gave him a Bible that he had requested. We arranged

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to return to the village and study the Bible with him.

When George learned that I planned to hold evangelistic meetings in the next village, he gladly agreed to come.

We invited others from the village to join us for Bible studies, and several have asked for Bibles of their own. We promised to give them Bibles if they’d come to our meetings, and many did. They’re thrilled that other Christians would come and help them repair their roof and worship with them. A little kindness goes a long way toward building bridges—and church roofs.

Wilson Kuki is a Global Mission Pioneer working on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

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KENYA

In Honor of Mothers Around the World

BANGLADESH

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hroughout the ages, mothers have been loved and honored CAMB by their children in every country of the world. In fact, more ODIA than 40 countries have officially designated one day each year to celebrate that special bond. Many countries have chosen to commemorate mothers sometime during the month of May. The way tender emotions are expressed may vary from one culture to another, but the strength of love between mothers and children is universally understood.

In tribute to mothers everywhere, we share these heartCHINA warming photos.

CHAD

CONGO

MONGOLIA

INDIA

CUBA

IA

INDONES

PAPUA NEW

PAKISTAN

GUINEA

LESOTHO

MYANMAR

(BURMA)

NKA

SRI LA

UNITED STATES

TURKMENISTAN

RUSSIA

For stories about women in mission, visit www.AdventistMission.org.

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A note F R O M our planning d irector

Reaching Our Big Cities “T

hen Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:35-36).

The year 2008 marked the first time in history that more than half of the world’s population (3.3 billion) lived in cities. By the year 2030, the urban population is expected to swell to 5 billion people, many of whom will be poor.

On the continents of Africa and Asia, it is projected that 81 percent of the population will be living in cities.

Ellen White had much to say about the conditions existing in the cities of the world in the last days. She described them as hot beds of crime, vice, and disease,

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CITY, Country

Rank Population

TOKYO, Japan

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36,700,000

and warned us DELHI, India 2 22,100,000 to move out of SAO PAULO, Brazil 3 20,300,000 them. Yet, she admonished the MUMBAI, India 4 20,000,000 church that we MEXICO CITY, Mexico 5 19,500,000 have a great work to do in NEW YORK CITY, U.S.A. 6 19,400,000 the cities.

SHANGHAI, China 7 16,600,000 “MissionarKOLDATA, India 8 15,600,000 ies are needed to spread the DHAKA, Bangladesh 9 14,700,000 light of truth in BUENOS ARIES, Argentina 10 13,100,000 . . . great cities, KARACHI, Pakistan 10 13,100,000 and the children of God—those The Economist Pocket World in Figures, 2011 Edition whom He calls the light of the world—ought to be doing all tunities for the church to they can in this direction” (Be establish centers of influence Like Jesus, page 281). to quickly reach the masses The concentration of povfor Christ. erty, slum growth, and social disruption on one hand and the accumulation of wealth, greed, and pleasure seeking Delbert on the other, paints a dismal Pearman picture of our cities; yet the Planning Director, very concentration of souls in Adventist Mission confined geographical regions provides the greatest oppor-

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General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904

Millions of eyes will turn to television to watch sports, festivals, and exotic travel in other countries.

But how many eyes will be turned to Jesus?

Ancient temple in Cambodia

Global Mission pioneers are trained and ready to go to big cities and rural areas to tell the world about God’s love, but they can’t do it alone. Your support will help give them the resources they need to take the good news of salvation to every part of the world. One hundred percent of your donation to Global Mission goes to support frontline workers and projects.

Thank you for making it possible for millions to see Jesus. www.global-mission.org.