Picture Story by Global Mission - 3rd Quarter 2009

DEAR FRIENDS

I

meet Alex not long ago in a small town in Central Siberia.

He seemed a little embarrassed to tell me his story. Alex is a humble man. Last year he sold his apartment and used the money to buy a house that will soon serve as a Global Mission church in his town.

The money Alex gave wasn’t enough to make needed repairs, so Alex and some area Adventists are renovating the house and turning into an inviting place to bring friends and neighbors to worship. Few Adventists live in Siberia, as many have left for better opportunities in other parts of Russia. This means church growth is vitally important to keeping the flame of Adventism alive.

Every day thousands of Adventists are telling the world about Christ in one-way or another. Some serve as Global Mission pioneers or Bible workers, some as fulltime missionaries, some as volunteers, some—like Alex—are able to give money to support mission, some are sharing Christ with their neighbors, and some are simply praying. As the apostle Paul said, all are part of the body of Christ. Is one part less significant than another? All parts are needed to make the body whole. Christ asks us to be a part of the body and to touch our part of the world for Him. What are you doing for Christ today?

Thank you for your ongoing support of Global Mission around the world.

PICTURESTORY reaching

12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904

Hans Olson Communication Projects Manager Adventist Mission

General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists®

In Christ,

the

unreached

with

hope

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KAZAKHSTAN

LESOTHO

THAILAND

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Kazakh-speaking Global Mission pioneer leads this small group a few hours outside Almaty, Kazakhstan.

His group is made up of ethnic Kazakhs, the majority population in Kazakhstan, but a minority population in the Adventist Church. Over the past decade the Adventist Church membership in Kazakhstan has fallen 9 percent as many ethnic Russians and Germans have returned to their homelands. If the Church is to grow in Kazakhstan, Global Mission needs to reach the Kazakh people in their own language and culture.

Although its northern neighbor is much larger, Kazakhstan is the largest country in Central Asia, with a growing economy bolstered by Kazakhstan’s oil and gas industry.

The country today is caught between it nomadic roots, its Soviet past, and its capitalist future. New luxury cars speed past donkey-drawn carts on city thoroughfares. And while many live in luxury, many others live below the poverty line. This transitional period in Kazakhstan’s history has opened people’s hearts to the gospel.

Please pray that Global Mission will find ways to keep reaching people.

Major Languages: Kazakh, Russian

hese women hold up clothes they handmade made as part of the Adventist Church’s HIV-AIDS program in Lesotho, Southern Africa.

This program gives women hope and a livelihood after they discovered they have HIV-AIDS. In Lesotho HIV-AIDS is considered an imminent death sentence and without hope can cause people to become extremely depressed, sometimes dying within a few weeks. HIVAIDS can also cause people to be outcast from society and make it hard to earn a living.

By some estimates 70 percent of new Adventists have HIV-AIDS. They come to the church because they believe the Adventist Church can offer them something more in life.

Programs such as this one helps make people self-sufficient and gives the Adventist Church an opportunity to be Christ’s loving hands on earth and make a practical difference in people’s lives. People are more receptive to the gospel once they feel that Christians love them and have something to share. Thank you for your continued support of Global Mission, which is taking the gospel to all people, including the outcasts.

Major Languages: Sesotho, English, Zulu, Xhosa

hese two women market produce from their floating stores in Bangkok, Thailand. This is a common sight in many parts of Southeast Asia, where waterways are often major arteries of local travel.

Thailand lies at that heart of Southeast Asia between Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. This is the center of one of most unreached areas of the world. Most people here don’t even know a Christian. Their cultural background and beliefs give people ideas of salvation and an afterlife that are far different than ours. They have no concept of a Savior who loves and forgives them. This makes it difficult to share the gospel.

Bangkok is a particularly challenging place to share the gospel as it is filled with everything from busy post-modern business people living and working in high rise buildings to people living in poverty, isolated from much of the world. For these reasons Bangkok is one the target city, which is part of the Hope for Big Cities program sponsored in part by Global Mission.

Please pray for this wonderfully diverse country to know Christ.

Major Languages: Thai, English, regional languages

Religion: Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, other 7%

Religion: Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20%

Religion: Buddhist 95%, Muslim 5%, Christian less than 1%

Population: 1.8 million*

Population: 65.7 million*

Population: 15.5 million*

Adventist Membership: 5,757*

Adventist Membership: 12,083*

Adventist Membership: 3,186*

Adventist to population ratio: 1:312*

Adventist to population ratio: 1:5,437*

Adventist to population ratio: 1:4,859*

Churches: 31*

Churches: 42*

Churches: 54*

Companies: 17*

Companies: 82*

The Adventist Church has grown in many parts of Africa. Yet major challenges still remain. Religious, social, and ethnic persecution makes church growth difficult in some areas.

Your support of fund number 5220 will help ensure that the Adventist Church keeps growing and taking Jesus’ love to all of Africa.

Worldwide there is one Seventh-day Adventist Christian for every 450 people; but in Asia only one person in 1,404 is an Adventist. . In Taiwan, there is one Adventist for every 4,416 people. In Laos there’s not one ordained Seventh-day Adventist pastor for the country’s six million people. And in Japan, the church is struggling to survive with few baptisms and an aging church population. Your support of fund number 5240 will help the Church grow in this region.

Companies: 32* For thousands of years the Silk Road that ran through Central Asia was the main trade route between China and Europe. Five countries make up Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Your support of fund number 5250 will help reach the 60 million people who live in this culturally diverse region. * Source: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Office of Archives and Statistics 145th Annual Statistical Report—2007

* Source: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Office of Archives and Statistics 145th Annual Statistical Report—2007

* Source: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Office of Archives and Statistics 145th Annual Statistical Report—2007