Upon my arrival to the Philippines, my first thought was, “Wow, it feels like a hot steamy shower!” The humidity was pretty intense in the beginning. But, having the mindset to adapt and survive, I learned to adapt. I believe that is the key concept while heading into evangelism! While adapting to the heat, atmosphere, and culture, I realized that the people of Digos (a city in Mindanao) were looking at me as if I was one of their own. The only difference is that I’m a lot bigger than most Filipinos. Hence, my nick name, Big Filipino.

The Adventists in the Philippines are, without a doubt, some of the most gifted people when it comes to music. After preaching 17 sermons, I was privileged to hear two 2-year-old boys sing a full-fledged gospel song in English. It wasn’t even their native language, and yet, with strong passion and dedication, those two little boys sang with all of their heart and soul; plus, THEY WERE IN TUNE! As much as I would like to claim those two little angels as the climax of my story, they aren’t. Yes, the Philippines is a hot country; yes, Filipinos are very talented musically; and yes, I am bigger than most of them; but, the life changing climax of this trip lies in the hearts of the people. At first, I thought I was just teaching them via Share Him sermons by Elder Folkenberg. Wrong! Never in my life, which includes a pretty extensive amount of experience with mission trips, have I ever seen such a hospitable people. They happily serve others as a culture, like we happily shout when our team is winning the Super Bowl. It’s raw. There is no act. There is only genuine joy and happiness doing what they do best: serve! I might look like a big Filipino on the outside, but it is the inside of the Filipino that I deeply desire to imitate: their hearts of service! Amen.

~Chad Angasan

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…” This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to spend three weeks in the Philippines, preaching God’s Word to the people there. Before Jesus left earth to return to His home, He commanded us to go, but I would like to argue that the most important part of His command was the promise: “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” While we spread the gospel, we need to remember that Jesus is with us, because it is not possible to spread any good news without Christ.

Late August and early September are still part of the rainy season in Mindanao, Philippines, where we were. It may be sunny one moment, with few to no clouds in the sky, while the next moment it is pouring almost as enthusiastically as Palouse Falls. Yet, during the majority of our time in the evenings, we were blessed to have no rain. Now, here in the states, it would be difficult to imagine rain prohibiting evangelistic meetings; but, in Mindanao, where the roads are poor—sometimes mud—and most Adventist churches only have a tin roof and concrete floor, it is not so hard to imagine. I remember one night in particular when the rain started. The hundreds of gallons per minute of water coming down on tin roofing makes the Awakening seem conservatively quiet. The water building up on the outside of the church makes the water rippling down the sides of any street in winter seem nonchalant. In such a circumstance, God’s power seems all-encompassing.

For the moped driving Filipinos, however, it is much more of an inconvenience. In such situations, church attendance can be pitiful. One night, after about 24 hours of tropical rain without cessation; and with only three church members showing up for the meeting, my pastor decided it wasn’t worth preaching. So, back to the hotel we went.

Difficulties like this, and others on the trip, would make God’s justice seem lax. Yet, our God is an awesome God. He rules in strange ways sometimes, but His purpose is always accomplished. Only once were meetings stopped by the rain. Although there were difficulties, God’s righteous right hand was overarching. His word is true, and His promises never fail. On the final Sabbath, from 13 sites, we baptized 247 new believers.

Mission work is one of those “must-have” experiences. Whether you have been on many mission trips or none at all, I would highly recommend going. Look for opportunities around you this year. Strive to serve others, whether locally or abroad. Only one thing is needed. Open up your heart to the world outside of yourself. Give up what holds you back. When God asks, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” answer, “Here am I! Send me.”

~Philip Duclos

On August 22 at 6am with blood-shot eyes and a spirit of adventure I boarded the first of four planes that would fly me to Davao, Philippines. From there awaited an hour car ride to the small city of Digos, just at the southern tip of the island of Mindanao. This wasn’t my first mission trip to Southeast Asia; it was however my first experience preaching. Of course I’d taken speech class in high school and the previous year in college, and I’d given 10, 15, 30 minute worship talks to my peers, but never had I preached a sermon to a congregation, much less an entire evangelistic series! Part of me felt the nervous twinge creeping up my back at the thought of it. The other part of me though, rested in the confidence that I was in that city for a reason—I was on a mission to do God’s work. And my usual attitude for mission trips kicked in, allowing me to reason that if God had called me to do the work, He would enable me to do whatever the job entailed…Even if that meant preaching 18 sermons in 15 days.

The first night was fantastic! God gave me energy and enthusiasm, and great harmony with my translator. And through the weeks I not only taught, but was taught. I befriended several of the children who regularly attended the meetings and learned about 20 of their names. When I arrived at the church they would surround me and shout “Ate Elizabeth,” an affectionate term meaning older sister or aunt. Before each meeting, we would all gather in the church, singing songs, telling jokes and stories. The 30-70 minutes before the meetings was a special bonding time between us and I will not soon forget the memories I made with those beautiful kids.

The days flew by, and before I realized it, the trip was halfway over. And at that moment a realization dawned on me. I was journaling and reminiscing on my first encounter with mission trips…I was in the eighth grade and several people at my church, as well as one of my own classmates went to India during Spring Break, and for their first Sabbath back they all shared their experience. I was completely intrigued and wished I had gone, but was also afraid of the thought of using strange bath and toilet facilities. But gathering up courage, I prayed and told God that if there was to be another trip to India I wanted to go, and I wanted to be used by Him. He heard my prayer, and before I knew it sent me to Borneo, Malaysia my junior year of high school. Then during my year off of school after graduation, I went to Mexico and had a memorable experience there. And at that moment I realized that God had taken me, a shy, not very social little girl, and transformed me into someone who was unafraid to leave the comforts of home. My fear of being up front was replaced with peace and boldness in front of a crowd.

It’s amazing to think what God can do with a simple ‘yes’ or an earnest ‘Lord I am willing, send me.’ For me, it has been a life changing adventure that is still unfolding before my eyes. I never know what God has next for me, but that is the beauty of the journey. His faithfulness has never failed me, and I know it never will. So with whatever He asks me to do, wherever He sends me, I will continue saying “Yes Lord, send me.”

~Elizabeth Wagner

A week and a half before my 51st birthday, I boarded a plan for the Philippines. As a student of Theology at Walla Walla University, I signed up to go on a ShareHim Evangelism trip with 8 other students. Little did I know, but the world as I knew it was about to charge, and my life with it.

I boarded the plane that morning leaving the United States for the first time in my life. I truly didn’t know what to expect when I arrived in Digos City on the island of Mindanao. Everyone was warm and friendly. The children were so accepting.

At the church where I spoke, the children would be waiting for me every night. They sang special music several times while I was there. Their voices so beautiful as they sang with all their heart for the Lord they love.

Every meeting my translator picked me up, and brought me back, on his motorcycle. By the end of the first week, we anticipated 10 baptisms with a possible 9 more the next month. On Friday night of the last weekend 13 came forward as ready for baptism. I said “Praise the Lord” for what He had done in that church. Then came Sabbath morning, and after the meeting I asked my translator to make a final appeal for baptism. I can only say praise the Lord, 21 souls were baptized into that church that afternoon, another 10 or so are expected next month. This added to the other 16 sites totaled 400 baptism that Sabbath afternoon.

Now for the part of this trip that I didn’t expect. I fell in love with the people in the Philippines. They are not a rich people. They don’t have a lot, but they are happy and grateful for what they have. A lesson I feel, we in America sometimes need to learn. The people there accept you with open arm and open hearts. To suspect you of having a motive for what you are doing is not in their nature. You are accepted as you are, and they love you for taking the time to come and help them.

As I left the Philippines, I felt as though I was leaving a part of my family as I returned to my own. I pray that if the Lord see fit, I will see my family in the Philippines again someday. If not on this earth, then in the earth made new.

~Tim Mendenhall

Ever since I come back to the Lord last September, I have felt God leading me to become an evangelist. So I was quite excited when the opportunity presented itself to preach a Bible prophecy series in the Philippines this past summer. Perhaps my excitement got the better of me, but, for whatever reason, I signed up without giving a lot of thought as to how great a responsibility it is to be the only speaker for an entire evangelistic series. I gave even less thought to the difficulties posed by doing so in a foreign country whose language and culture I was completely unfamiliar with.

In retrospect, I may have been better off not worrying about it. But as I stood there next to my interpreter in front of 100 or so Filipinos that first night, reality crashed down on me. I remember thinking “What in the world made me think that I could do this?” And as it turned out, I couldn’t. At least, not very well. That first sermon was an absolute disaster! The subject was Nebuchadnezzar’s dream from Daniel chapter two and right about the time that I started talking about the Medo-Persian empire, I started to see people dozing off.

For reasons I couldn’t understand, nothing that I said was connecting with the congregation. I tried to get more lively in my delivery. I tried gesticulating like a man possessed. I tried speaking louder. I tried speaking softer. I tried everything I could think of to get these people interested in the words that were coming out of my mouth, but nothing worked! For an hour and a half, I failed miserably at preaching the Word of God.

When it was finally over and the people had gone home, I was at a loss for words. My first instinct was to try and convince myself that more preparation, more time with the material, more time practicing would make it better. But deep down I didn’t believe it. I was a failure as an evangelist. The main thing I felt that God was calling me to do in my ministry and I couldn’t do it. I didn’t understand how this could be. It didn’t make any sense. And so that night I asked my Lord “Why?”

To be completely honest, I wasn’t actually expecting an answer. In my despair, there were a million things running through my head, all of them negative. So I was stunned when suddenly a verse jumped to the forefront of my thoughts. It was a verse I had spent a lot of time meditating on earlier in the summer. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord” (Zech. 4:6). Not two months prior, I was struck when I read that during my morning devotions. I’d heard it many times before, but that morning in June it had inspired a treasure trove of thoughts that I had jotted down with the intention of basing a future sermon on those wonderful words.

Now, here in the Filipino heat of August, that text came back to me. But it still didn’t make sense. “I spent a lot of time in prayer asking You to speak through me in these meetings,” I said to God. “Why didn’t You show up?” And it was true, I’d spent hours on my knees praying about these meetings and I wasn’t the only one. People around the world were praying that God would work in a mighty way through this series. God had failed to hold up His end of the bargain.

Again, those words flashed through my mind “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.” Suddenly, the answer dawned on me. It wasn’t merely that I was incapable of preaching the Word of God to others, it was that I was also completely undeserving of such a wondrous privilege. I had walked up to that pulpit thinking that I was well-suited to tell them of the eternal love and the endless grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But I had lost sight of why I had needed so much grace in the first place.

That evening, I had forgotten about the drinking and the partying. I had forgotten about the immorality and the obscene language. I had forgotten about my time in the Army and the year I spent in Afghanistan. I had forgotten that I am a sinner of the worst kind who has broken every single one of God’s ten commandments. I had forgotten that I have no right to live, let alone to speak on behalf of the Almighty One. But now I remembered.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.” For what seemed like the thousandth time in the past year, I found myself on my knees with tears streaming down my face. “Forgive me for my insolence. Forgive me for my wretchedness. Forgive me for my pride. Forgive me… Forgive me… Forgive me…” I don’t know how long I was on my knees, but I spent quite a while pleading for forgiveness. And then I asked God to take control. Not simply because I was unable, but because I was unworthy to speak on His behalf.

That next evening, the topic was the 2300-day prophecy. I was pretty sure that if they didn’t like hearing about the Babylonians and the Greeks and the Medo-Persians from the night before, then they certainly were not going to enjoy a prophecy that involved math. So during the special music right before the sermon, I pleaded with the Lord again “Please take control – we’ve already seen what happens when I try this on my own.” Then, I got up to preach.

Unlike the previous night, the congregation listened intently as I spoke. Even as we worked through the math to finally arrive at the year 1844, everyone seemed to be awake and interested in the message. I can’t claim to have done anything different in my delivery. But it felt different. As we neared the end of the sermon, I knew in my heart that the Holy Spirit was at work. I knew that even though it was only the second night, I had to give an appeal.

So I told one of the best appeal stories I had ever heard. Then I asked the congregation to stand up if they wanted to make a decision for Christ that night. As one, the church jumped to their feet. Some people had tears in their eyes. Others wore big smiles. But every face was earnest.

Knowing that at least half the people there were members in the church, I asked those who were making a decision for the first time to come forward so I could pray a special prayer with them. I had barely gotten the words out of my mouth before half the church was already crowding forward. By the time my interpreter had translated my words, the other half had joined us up front. The Spirit was moving and everyone wanted to be a part of it.

The humility I experienced in that moment was astounding. I knew that the people weren’t responding to anything I had done. I knew it was the Holy Spirit that had convicted their hearts. But God allowed me, a sinner of the worst kind, to be a part of this marvelous work. What a generous Lord we serve!

I’d like to say that every night of the series was as awesome as that second night. But the truth is that there were still ups and downs. What exactly caused those fluctuations, I couldn’t tell you. I do know this, though – the Holy Spirit was at work the entire time. And the 247 baptisms that we witnessed on our last Sabbath in the Philippines bore testament to those beautiful words from Zechariah: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.”

~Matthew Axford

This summer, I and a number of my colleagues from Walla Walla University went to the Philippines for a three-week-long mission trip through the ShareHim program. We preached in and around Digos City, Mindanao. Despite health troubles during the trip, I was greatly blessed. It was like a taste of heaven on earth, and my time there has made me long all the more for the second coming of Christ. Though when the trip was over I was sad to leave the new friends I had made in the Philippines, I knew that I was leaving them for but a short time.

~Michael Acker

I was worried during orientation when my translator did not show up. It turned out that the pastor who was supposed to translate for me had been transferred, so his wife was going to fill in. When I met Ivy for the first time we didn’t outwardly appear like the perfect match; she was a mere 4’10” and I towered above her at 6’2”. But right away I saw her passion for serving God.

Ivy is a mother of two girls, Jeia and Janeen, ages 7 and 9, holds a job, and is apart from her husband most of the time as he pastors a church over an hour away. Somehow she still found the time and energy to review the sermon notes before each meeting. She also coordinated special music for the service, sometimes doing it herself or having her girls sing. She adopted me into her family and I became “kuya” or “older brother” to her girls.

Just over a week into the meetings I was beginning to think that things were going too well. God was blessing and the attendance was growing each night. Monday morning I woke up and during devotions had a gut feeling that something was wrong with my family back home. I began to pray for each of them.

There were no messages or emails, but later that morning I was standing by one of our hosts when she received a phone call. I heard a mix of words that didn’t sound good, including accident, hospital, unconscious.” The problem wasn’t back home; there was something wrong in my adopted family.

Julie, Ivy’s pastor husband, was driving the girls to school on the family’s motorcycle when another bike pulled out in front of them. Julie was the only one with a helmet on. Jeia was the only one taken away still conscious from the scene; Janeen had fractured her skull, Julie broke his clavicle, and Jeia was very scraped up. At the hospital Ivy did all she could to try and mend her broken family. We had received close to the most devastating blow, but God had protected their lives.

I had to go on without Ivy, so I was assigned a fill-in translator, whom I expected to use through the end of my sermon series. Just two nights later Ivy came back to continue translating for me, even while her family was still in the hospital. Though the devil tried to stop the meetings, they continued and many were baptized and the church was uplifted.

By the time the meetings were over Julie had been sent home and Janeen was responsive and sitting up, eating spaghetti as I said goodbye. Two weeks after the accident, Janeen was released from the hospital without surgery, a huge answer to the prayer of many.

Back at home I was watching a short video clip of Janeen singing special music before the accident. The phrase she sings in the clip is “…and when I am put through the fire, I come out shining like gold.” God only knows why this accident was allowed to happen, but through it, God has brought this dedicated family out shining like gold.

~Bradley Lalonde

One thing I know for certain – I will never forget my Share Him trip to the Philippines.

I was hesitant to go with the group of students from Walla Walla University, but it was my father who asked me to join him. He wanted to go on this trip, and neither of us had ever been outside of the United States before. So, with financial help from the Voice of Prophecy, we all set out on a journey that would change our lives.

Nothing could have prepared me for what I experienced in Digos City. I was greeted and welcomed warmly by everyone. People who had far less than I were eager to present gifts for me and the others. The drab church buildings were illuminated by the faces of smiling children. Warm smiles were everywhere to be seen. I went to the Philippines to share the message of Jesus by words and power point, but they shared the message of Jesus with me by their actions and love.

In my two weeks there, I acquired many dear friends…and it saddened me to leave. I pray I will make it back there some day – but if not, I look forward to seeing them in Heaven.

~Jeremy Mendenhall

Our group arrived in Digos City, which is on the island of Mindanao, Aug. 24. There were a total of 17 of us with 14 speakers. Each speaker would go out to his/her own site and have a meeting every night and twice on Sabbath. After a little mix up I was assigned to work with a church in the fishing community of Badiang, which is about five miles north of Digos. The church was right next to the ocean it was a beautiful location. The nightly attendance at my location was between 150 and 200 in a church with about 70 members. Our meetings were attended by local fishermen to leaders of the Catholic Church and even a Pentecostal pastor, so the audience was very diverse.

The church members there are like a family and in that setting they have to be. It is amazing to see how much they rely on each other. Their dedication to evangelism is impressive. The head elder Jun Plenos, who is in his 60’s worked so hard while we were there. He would go to his job as a security guard for the government from 11 pm to 7 am, then he would go to a Bible study from 9:30 am to noon, another Bible study in the afternoon from 3 pm to 5:30 then to the church until about 10 pm. I don’t know when he slept, it was awesome to see how badly he wanted others to hear the gospel, even though there was a language barrier you could sense that in his own tear filled appeals, he wants people to hear the good news and accept it. His own story is amazing, in the community he used to be known as a drinker and a fighter, and when he had his conversion experience no one in the town believed it. Then they obviously started noticing the differences in his life. Needless to say he has a lot of influence in that community because of his testimony.

It was amazing to see all the ways God worked and answered prayers. There are many stories but one that sticks out in my mind is the rain or lack there of. We were there during the rainy season, that does not mean sprinkles, it means torrential downpours and that would keep people away from the meetings. But God was good, we had amazing weather and it only rained two nights during the meetings. On those two nights the church I was assigned to was still able to continue. Again the dedication of the Badiang church amazed me. One elder would go and pick people up on his tricycle (a type of motorcycle taxi), and another would make multiple trips on his motorcycle picking people up, all in the pouring rain! It was extremely dangerous, but God protected! I know it was dangerous because one of the nights it was pouring we were picking up a translator from the hospital (where her daughter was recovering from a motorcycle accident, a whole other story of God’s mercy) and the emergency room was full of people that were banged up due to the dangerous road conditions.

One family, who came by canoe every night, still came on the nights it poured, and they were some of the people who made a decision for baptism. It was humbling to see the discomfort they were willing to endure so they could attend the meetings.

On the final Sabbath we had a mass baptism from all 13 of the sites. A total of 29 people committed their lives to God from the Badiang church. It was awesome to see them beaming with joy as they went down into the water and were raised up in Jesus. We will never forget our “family” in Badiang, and how they grew larger because of your help!

Thank you again for all of your support. This trip really showed me how we can all work together as part of a global family to introduce people to Jesus, and spread His love to those who need it most. Seeing the good news in action and knowing that this is the one thing that truly sets people free no matter what race, age, location, or economic status. Galatians 3:26-28 is very fitting, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Kim and I are forever grateful for the support we got from all of you, and one day I can’t wait to introduce you to the wonderful people who came and heard because of your generosity. Pray for that day to come soon!

~Justin Knapp

After weeks of prayer, someone donated a piece of land on a hill next to the neighborhood where they were looking to open the new church. Happy with the response from the Divine they began to raise the funds necessary to begin the construction. And in His time, the same God who put in the hearts of a group of leaders, the desire to open a new Church opened the doors so that his name be exalted.

As part of the sowing stage they began to have classes of vegetarian food, week of health, classes about stress and others.

Finally they had a week of evangelism with the goal of planting and securing a new Church in the Cámpora neighborhood in the vicinity of Alem. Each night in a building that is not yet completed 100-120 people meet together and more than 40 people are visitors. Pastor Alejandro Dovald preached about the importance of having our names written in the book of life, in a series titled “Write your name”. At the end of the week 8 people were baptized and another 6 people are preparing for the next baptism.

Today, we have a new Church that shines with the truth of Christ!!! Finally the Church was built and every Sabbath almost 100 people meet together and glorify the Creator.

Hundreds of families live on the median strip of a road in the Port-au-Prince area.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Hundreds of displaced families live perilously in a single file of flimsy shanties planted along the median strip of a heavily congested coastal road here called the Route des Rails.

Vehicles rumble by day and night, blaring horns, kicking up dust and belching exhaust. Residents try to protect themselves by positioning tires as bumpers in front of their shacks but cars still hit, injure and sometimes kill them. Rarely does anybody stop to offer help, and Judith Guillaume, 23, often wonders why.

“Don’t they have a heart, or a suggestion?” asked Ms. Guillaume, who covers her children’s noses with her floral skirt when the diesel fumes get especially strong.

Six months after the earthquake that brought aid and attention here from around the world, the median-strip camp blends into the often numbing wretchedness of the post-disaster landscape. Only 28,000 of the 1.5 million Haitians displaced by the earthquake have moved into new homes, and the Port-au-Prince area remains a tableau of life in the ruins.

The tableau does contain a spectrum of circumstances: precarious, neglected encampments; planned tent cities with latrines, showers and clinics; debris-strewn neighborhoods where residents have returned to both intact and condemnable houses; and, here and there, gleaming new shelters or bulldozed territory for a city of the future.

But the government read more

At the first meeting with my church’s pastor and my translator, my Pastor Luiz asks me if I can give two mission talks a night.  Oh wow.  Should I ask our group leader?  Is this guy asking too much?  Can I do this?  Will I get too tired?

I said yes.  So many prayers were being said for me, by me, by and for the group.  I hoped that the Holy Spirit was involved in my answer.  But I knew God had given me a strong voice and I can talk tons – so say yes.

I’m so glad I did.  The two congregations were both fabulous that first week.  They were separated by about a 5-8 minute bumpy car ride.  

On the 2^nd week of the mission, we did another church – a chuch that had been built by a Marnatha group.

We did quite a bit of visiting that week, one of which included a 12 year old boy whose parents ran a restaurant in Trujillo.  We went to the restaurant, it was closed and only young “Jimmy” was there.  He was very gracious and quite mature. 

I told him that there was nothing in life more important that making that commitment to the Lord.  This life is short and eternity is so long.  We want to make it.  We want to be there with God and all his angels. 

I believe “Jimmy” had already made his decision but it was gratifying to see him get baptized on the Sabbath.  Hallelujah !!!

If something happened out there, there is no way to get help in a timely manner. Further, feelings remain intense. We were informed that violent Hindu extremists continue to regularly visit Christians and threaten that if they don’t reconvert to Hinduism, they will be targeted for violence again. Because of this pressure, many Christians have abandoned the faith.

I began questioning the wisdom of going out to visit our members in such a remote, volatile area. So I prayed. Sometimes we pray and we hear nothing. Sometimes we pray and the Holy Spirit gives us direction that is so loud, and so direct we do not dare ignore it. In this case, the answer was overwhelming – we should go. Not without some concern, but in faith, we set out. Leading our little group was Pr. Jena the president of the conference and with me was Dr. Christo, the secretary of the Division, who like myself had never been there.

A Trip to Hell to Find a Piece of Heaven

We left Bhubaneshwar at 6 a.m. Although the trip from Bhubaneshwar to Kandhamal is only 250 kilometers, it takes over 5 hours to drive it. The roads are choked with everything from cows, to bicycles, from slow moving trucks to goats, dogs, and not infrequently, people. Some of the trip was quite rough.  As some of you know, I have a degenerative back disorder, and some of the bigger bumps took my breath away with pain. But overall, it wasn’t too bad. As we went further and further, the area became more and more remote. After about 4 hours, we drove into the mountains that are thickly forested. It was in these forests that Christians hid during the attacks against them.

As we got closer to our destination, we began passing burned out churches and the rubble of destroyed Christian homes. We also passed some areas where Christians are living in temporary relief tents. It was extremely moving. Between them, was Hindu temple after temple, thriving and undamaged.

When we arrived, we found our church members meeting under a tree besides the shell of their burned out church, and near to the remains of one of their homes. After examining the burned out church, we sat in the service. Despite having no pastor – their pastor was cut into pieces nearby by Hindu radicals during the violence – the faithful continue to meet. It was very touching to see them holding their Bible’s with our church emblem on them, and the elder holding his Sabbath School quarterly. The members sang hymns from memory, clapping their hands for accompaniment. There were roughly equal numbers of men and women, and a very lovely group of children. They were so welcoming, so full of faith, it was truly inspiring.

After we spoke, we had a sort of impromptu town hall meeting to learn how they were faring and what we, as the church, could do to support them. It is almost impossible to understand the depth of their faith in the face of such overwhelming setbacks. This is particularly true after hearing what we heard next.

Why did it Take You So Long To Come?

The first thing that was asked was a simple, but very cutting question:

“Why did it take you so long to come and visit us?”

This was the first time since the violence that anyone from the Division or the General Conference had visited them.

“The other church leaders came soon after the events,” the man went on, “where were you? Did anyone know about us?”

I apologized on behalf of our church for coming so late. I explained that when I was at the Commission, we had tried to secure visas, but the Indian government denied them. I also assured them that Adventists around the world were indeed aware of their plight and had interceded on their behalf with the Indian government. Dr. Christo told them that we’d been told that coming might be provocative. But in all, that just wasn’t good enough, because, in truth, our response has been overwhelmingly insufficient.

The church’s insufficient response was compounded by a dispute within the local conference, where the president and the secretary were at odds and subsequently had to be replaced.  The dispute between the officers consumed much of the energy between them. So these faithful men and women in Kandhamal, the best among us, have not only felt they were abandoned by our church, but they were in fact abandoned in every practical way.

They then told how other churches have helped build back some of the church buildings and some of their member’s homes. We saw a new village of simple homes built by an organization called “Gospel for Asia.” Very simple, very small homes, but a home none the less. Each home cost less than $2,500 to build. But Orissa is one of the poorest states in India, and Kandhamal is one of the poorest districts in the state. Thus $2,500 is a huge amount of money.

Worse, they asked why their children haven’t been sponsored to go to school. They said in their congregation alone, there are six children whose parents are desperate for them to get an education, and roughly 70 Adventist children in the entire effected area, but none of them can afford it. India’s public school system is very weak, and spotty – and practically none existent in the region. Thus these children will get an education unless they go to the Adventist boarding school about 4 hours drive from their homes. It costs less than $30 a month to send a child to the Adventist boarding school, but that is far out of reach of our members in Kandhamal.

We visited the Adventist boarding school Friday evening. It is very well respected, though very sparse. The children live in medium sized rooms with over 40 children per room. There are so many bunk beds in there that you can hardly walk. I can’t imagine how stifling it must get in this very hot state. Nevertheless, it is considered a very, very desirable school with many parents dreaming of one day sending their children there if they can only afford it. Asian Aid, an Adventist organization out of Australia, sponsors many students, but since the recession, we were told, giving is down a little, so the number of children able to attend it down. It is that simple in such a poor area.

Maybe worst of all has been our complete abandonment of the widows of those killed. The previous evening we met the widow of Pr. Samuel Naik. Pr. Naik was the pastor of the congregation we worshiped with in Kandhamal. During the violence he refused to abandon his people. Tragically, he was chased down killed in the road by a murderous Hindu mob, who cut lifeless body to pieces in their rage.

She came dressed in a pure white sari – white is the color of mourning in the east – with her son. She sat silently with tears rolling down her cheeks as her son spoke with us. It was very, very moving. But what we heard was outrageous. Since her husband died, the stipend they were living on – about $50 per month for his work as a pastor – has been cut off. She received a onetime payment from the government which is largely gone. And now they are destitute and dependent on assistance from Baptists.

Similarly, the son wants to follow in his Dad’s footsteps and go back and pastor in the very place his Dad was murdered. What faith! But he is studying at the Baptist seminary because our church hasn’t sponsored him and after his father died, they have no money.

When we were at the church in Kandhamal, we heard of another widow whose husband was murdered during the violence because he was a Christian. She has two children – a three year old and a five year old, and she too is destitute without support from our church.

When I heard her story, I felt ashamed. Here I was hesitant to come and visit them because I have two young children. And here a woman with two children roughly the same age as mine was living destitute because her husband had the courage to claim the name of Jesus even though they were threatened constantly. And she has remained faithful. If you want to find faith in this church, look at people like these – people who are giving up everything, even their husbands and wives, everything to follow God. As one thin church member told us, “things have been difficult. Sometimes we’ve gone hungry.”

What We Can Do

I came principally with the goal of discovering what we can do to prevent further violence, with an eye on interacting with the government authorities on return to Delhi.  And, in a turn of events that I have to believe was providential, we had meetings with Mr. Advani, the leader of the largest Hindu nationalist party, the BJP, in his office in the Indian Parliament before we left for Orissa. It is hard to overestimate the unlikelihood of Christians meeting with him. But Dr. Christo worked through a personal friend who happens to be both a former classmate and a very close friend of Mr. Advani and the unlikeliest of meetings occurred. We will follow-up with him on our return to Delhi. And we also met with the US Embassy in Delhi before leaving and will brief them on our return. But what I learned was that we have a lot we can do as a church – practical, tangible things – to help these best and truest followers of Christ.

Not because they are begging for assistance, quite the opposite. As one of our church members said to us in Kandhamal “we aren’t looking for your help, we have God, and He is all the help we need!” Imagine saying that as you stand by the ruins of your home, and worship next to your burned out church. Incredible faith! And though at times they have gone hungry, they gave us a large bag full of mangos they collected in the forest. It is almost beyond comprehension the Godliness exhibited by our brothers and sisters hanging onto life by the edge of their finger tips, but refusing the pressure to abandon their faith.

Sunday morning the conference president, the division secretary, a layman well acquainted with the area and I met to devise a plan to tangibly assist our church family in Kandhamal. Our brother in Kandhamal was right, God is all the help our members need, but I feel very strongly that God is moving on our hearts to be His hands in this case. All of four of us were profoundly moved by what we saw on Sabbath, the people we met, and to stories we heard. I know I am not doing the experience justice in this write up. It is hard to put what I saw and experienced into words. It was one of the most overwhelming spiritual experiences of my life to spend time with our brothers and sisters in Kandhamal. It was deeply, deeply profound.

Specifically, we met to discuss how we as a church family can –

• Provide continued assistance to the widows of the violence
• Provide an education to the children from this violent area – most of whom were made homeless when their houses were destroyed by Hindu radical mobs
• Send Pr. Naik’s son to an Adventist pastoral training course and employ him upon graduation to minister in his Dad’s old territory
• Rebuild the homes of our members
• Rebuild our churches
• Re staff our church in Kandamal with spiritual leaders.
• More generally help the economic development of this very poor area as economic deprivation and profound lack of access to basic education is a contributing factor to the violence (it’s estimated that roughly 80% of the population is illiterate – including most of our church members).

This is a complex area – complex politically, complex ethnically, complex logistically and the church administration can be just as complex. Getting good things done can be hard. But where Christ is, all things are possible.

After our discussion, we concluded as follows:

• I will try to find/raise the money necessary to support the widows at a rate of $50 per month for at least two years. This money will be sent from the GC to the South Asia Division which, I’m assured, has the capacity to deliver the money to the widows. I will work through Stanley Poniah is GC treasury. Hopefully, we can arrange for much more than two years of support, but we start where we start.
• I will try to find sponsors for each of the 70 Adventist children from the affected area to school. I will likely work through Asian Aid for sponsorship coming from family and friends in Australia, and through the General Conference for sponsorships from family and friends coming from the US and Canada (Gideon Dyak who works in Risk Management overseas the student sponsorship program there).
• Dr. Christo will work through the Division to sponsor Pr. Naik’s son to go to pastoral training and ensure he is hired as a pastor upon completion.
• Dr. Christo and I will approach ADRA about how best to approach rebuilding the homes,
• Dr. Christo will work with the Division on rebuilding our churches.
• We will seek advice from ADRA, the South Asia Division Women’s Ministries Department and other church and secular entities to try to accomplish the following steps to help the development of the area -
  • Dr. Christo will work with the Women’s Ministries Department to get adult literacy teams into Kandamal. I’m told that these teams are very popular, and very effective. People are desperate to learn to read, and as the people in this area are from a disadvantaged background, they are routinely exploited by better educated people. These programs are offered to Adventist and non-Adventist alike, and are both a wonderful way to introduce people to our church and to break down prejudice and hostility towards Christians.
  • Dr. Christo will work with ADRA to try to get a goat bank program established for the area.
  • Similarly, we will try to get a program of digging wells established. Many of the people in Kandamal have to trek into the forest in order to get water at streams. This is very time consuming and doesn’t necessarily result in the cleanest drinking water. ADRA has a wonderful well drilling program, as do other aid agencies. We’ll try to get some wells dug – particularly in the area where tensions remain so high.
• Dr. Christo and I will touch base with Global Missions to explore the possibility of sending new pioneers into Kandhamal to provide for the spiritual needs of our people there. Pr. Jena believes there are local people capable and very willing to be pioneers despite the risks. The faith here has to be seen to be believed.

No doubt there are many other things we can, and should do, but this is at least a start. Too late, for sure, too little, certainly. But better now than never, and better something than nothing. You may have many other better ideas of what you can do and how you can do it. There is no end of what good can be done by each of us, and our church collectively.

Before I close, I should add that Pr. Jenna, the recently named conference president, arranged our visit to Kandhamal and has been outstanding. He is very, very moved by the conditions of our members there and has great love for them. He took a risk taking us there – even his Union president told him not to take us. But he felt it was critical that we visit our members in such dire need. He was right. Further, Dr. Gordon Christo arranged my visit to India, and has an outstanding job. From arranging our meeting with the head of the BJP Hindu nationalist party to providing expert advice on the culture and background dynamics of every situation we’ve been in, he has proven as wise as he is passionate for our church and its members. Finally, but by no means least, my wife, Leisa’s, willingness to let me come to such a troubled area is also so much appreciated. It’s not easy on her to have me over here in such uncertain areas. Without her support, I couldn’t do it. God is good to give me such a wonderful partner through this life.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I have to say this has been a life changing trip for me. I feel spiritually reinvigorated by meeting people with such immense faith. And I am looking at our religious liberty work in a slightly different way. I hope and pray that we never, ever, ever leave our members who are victims of persecution in such difficult situations for so long again. We are a large, wealthy church. We can rent an enormous stadium in Atlanta and pack it to the rafters. We can broadcast television 24/7. We can fly our personnel from Washington to almost any place on earth, and return them safely home. Surely, we can provide a little practical assistance to those who suffer in for the name of Jesus. We can. And, under God’s grace, we will.

All the very best from Bhubaneshwar,

James

P.S. One of the groups blamed for stoking the violence in Kandhamal is the BJP Hindu nationalist party. As you know, we met with the leader of the party, Mr. Advani, at the Indian Parliament on Thursday. We informed him we’d be traveling to Orissa this weekend. We will follow-up this week. From the top, to the bottom, to in between, it is important to do all we can to help prevent more violence and ensure our members are not pressured by Hindu radicals to reconvert.

P.S.S. We will also be meeting with the US Embassy, where staff last week tried to explain away the violence as being largely an issue of resource allocation and ethnic conflict. For some reason, this is often the explanation given when violence is inflicted on Christians. But in this case, it doesn’t hold water. Firstly, the people attacking our church members are from their same ethnicity. Secondly, church after church was smashed to pieces but not a single temple was damaged. Christians are the ones living in tents by their destroyed homes today, irrespective of their economic class or ethnicity.

We had the opportunity to visit several of the interests in their homes. Most of these people had been studying with a member of the church and had been through a series of Bible studies prior to the meetings. Still, there were several who really struggled in making the decision to be baptized.

Two young men we visited from our first church, Sesar and Xavier, were both struggling with Sabbath work issues. Sesar’s wife had left him and taken his two year old daughter. He was so afraid that if he chose to fully follow Jesus he would lose his family for good as well as his job. We talked with him about the faithfulness of God, that God has a plan for his life that can only be fulfilled if he follows by faith. In the end, Sesar chose to be baptized and we heard that he quit his job so he could find employment that would allow him to keep the Sabbath. We’re praying that God will sustain him in this difficult time.

In our second church, El Recreo, we visited with a young man who had been through a set of the Bible studies but still hadn’t made a decision for baptism. In visiting with him, it became clear that he didn’t understand conversion. So we talked with him about giving his life fully to Jesus as Lord and Savior and experiencing the new birth. We had the privilege of kneeling with him in that living room and leading him in a prayer receiving Christ as his personal Savior.

An experience that was as fulfilling for me as any was having my daughter with me. She was with me on all the home visits, listened to the sermons, and watched people wrestle with Satan to break free and make decisions for Christ. She saw the battle between good and evil take place over and over in the meetings and in people’s homes. It became very real to her and changed her life as well!

The members welcomed us with open arms, open hearts and kisses. At our first evening meeting the church was full, and we were amazed that the whole program was coordinated and executed by young people. They were amazing. They did everything from the introduction of the program participants, to special music and prayer. And were they ever enthusiastic, I was really inspired to preach.

After the meeting on Saturday night, some of the young people asked us to come to their games program the next day. They gave us directions and we promised to be there. It presented a challenge to our taxi driver, but we finally arrived at the games park. We were immediately surrounded by all of the young people from our church – they were so glad we came. We had a great time. We shouted and cheered with the best of them for the home team and I did my best to shout their Spanish sports slogans. It was a greater bonding experience with those young people than I expected.

Each evening as we arrived for the meeting, and at the end of each meeting, the young people would gather around us and engage us in their practicing English or asking questions about all sorts of things, even personal items like our weight, age, height, children, etc. They went visiting with us, prayed with us, translated for us, took us out for pizza, walked with us for protection, gave taxi instruction for us, had their pictures taken with us, laughed with us and even cried with us. The hardest thing we had to do was say good bye to them – we all cried, and hugged and cried some more. I had such a wonderful unforgettable experience with those young people as they accepted us into their hearts. Their final words to us were “don’t ever forget us.” How could we, they were unforgettable. It was truly a blessing to be part of a team with a group of inspired and inspiring youth doing the work of the Lord.

The Lady the Story is about, Amber Spoon, Carol Bovee in the Back, and Georgiana

We walked down a long narrow corridor/street, lined with flagstones and broken tiles, stepped over a skinny dog and knocked on the fourth short wooden door.  Our group from Milo had already been some interesting places for visitations and Bible studies; a banana stand, a bus station, a house formed by blankets and tin in the back end of an alley, and a garage.  We had been to some nice homes too, and had been well received by most all of the people we had been visiting.

As the smiling woman opened the door and swept us unto her little home, I was struck again by the fact that it did not matter at all what people had, we were still invited to share it!  The lady found a chair for Amber Spoon and I, and a box of some sort for Philip Duclos to sit on, and our church sister, Georgiana, who was with us sat on an up-ended bucket, while the owner of the house perched on the edge of her bed.  The bed, and a skinny 1 x 2 foot table piled high with reeds, were the only furnishings.  The house was stifling hot with only a little airvent through the thatched roof letting in whiffs of fresh air, but the beaming face of our hostess made that unimportant.

Lady (in brown) who lives on the end of an alleyway…she was baptized our last Sabbath there

We chatted for a bit and were introduced by our church sister as visitors from North America.  Our hostess’ eyebrows went up at that and she turned to me,  “Then why are you here in my humble home?” she asked in astonishment. 

I told her of our love for the Lord and that we believed what the Bible says, “Go into all the world and teach all nations” and that my students and I were here in Trujillo, Peru, to do just that.  She stared at my two students in amazement, “Do you all care that much?” 

That was a simple answer of yes, which seemed to spark several questions and a fairly long conversation.  Georgiana then informed us visitors that this wonderful hostess had been baptized a year before, but had not been back to church since.

Banana Stand Bible Study

I asked her if she had some questions, or issues of concern.  “No,” she shook her head sadly, “Sister, the thing is, I absolutely believe everything that our church teaches.  It’s just that, well, I know this house isn’t much, but right after I was baptized, we almost lost it and I have been working seven days a week to be able to keep this house, humble though it is, and to have food! If I don’t get out on my bicycle to sell, we have no money!”

The night before our sermon had been on the 10 Commandments, and before that, on the soon coming of Jesus, but my mind was a little blank when presented with the real problem of eating, versus church attendance and Sabbath keeping.  I prayed silently and quickly.  Then I told my students the problem and asked them to pray, while I trusted the Holy Spirit to give me the needed words.

I began to talk, not sure what I was going to say, but trusting in the power of God’s word.  I told her of God’s unconditional love, and of His desire that we follow His commandments – all of them!  We then talked of faith, and of taking little steps at a time and of trusting enough to wait and see what God would do.  I told her that I was sure I couldn’t afford to fly to Peru to preach of God’s love, but that God had indeed provided a way and here I was in her house!  I urged her to trust God enough, to keep His Sabbath as He had asked.

Her eyes widened and she stamped her foot in the dirt floor.  She shook her head and I immediately began my apology over my insensitivity and my plea that I had not intended to give offense.

Members of the Church Los Tres Angeles

She shook her head and tears welled in her eyes.  “Sister!  I am not offended.”  She swallowed hard and so did I.  “How can I be offended?  You just said the exact words of Jesus!”

This time MY eyes widened.  She continued, “Oh Sister.  A week ago last night I had a dream that Jesus was knocking at my door.  When I opened the door, He told me I needed to come to church.  He told me that I knew the right church and the right beliefs, but that I needed to trust Him and keep His Sabbath.  Sister, I could not do that, and I went to work last Sabbath.  But all week that dream has bothered me.”  She turned to me a grabbed my hands.

“Last night, I again had the dream that God was knocking on my door.  I was afraid to open the door, because I knew what He would say….that I needed to keep His Sabbath.  So sister, I did not open the door!”

Tears were rolling down both our cheeks now, as well as Georgiana’s.  I was so involved in the story I had forgotten to translate for Amber and Philip, who were both sitting, praying for the words to come to me.  Amber’s hands were absently stroking the skinny dog and Philip’s head was bowed over his camera.

Bus Station Bible Study

Our hostess shook my hands, where they were clasped with hers.  “I cannot believe, that here you all are, sent by God all the way from the United States, to tell me what He tried to tell me in a dream.  You knocked on my door, just like God did!  Oh my sister, if I am that important to God, I had better learn to trust, hadn’t I?”

We prayed together, and that next Sabbath, when I stood up to talk, I saw Georgiana, grinning from ear to ear, as she frantically waved my gaze across the church.  And there I saw the beaming face of our humble hostess, light shining from within as she began to walk in faith and keep God’s Sabbath.

I could take time and tell you of the many miracles God pulled off to help me go on this trip. And not only me, but my wife, two daughters, and two of my church members were also able to join me.  God is so good to us! He knows who we are and where we can best be used every time. The challenge is being willing to follow His leading, even on short notice and when it seems to go against all odds.

One thing that is always memorable, but not necessarily a happy memory, that comes with oversees mission trips such as this one is the flights to and from the destination. Our first flight was delayed and we nearly missed the second one. And not many people enjoy being crammed into small spaces for long periods of time and fed “strange food” repeatedly at very odd hours. But it makes you that much more excited to arrive.

The Peruvian people were very warm and friendly! They told us they feed people to let them know they appreciate or love them. So based on my returning weight, you could say I was really loved and appreciated! Trujillo was uniquely beautiful with a great deal of cultural history. Downtown we even saw a floor that was made out of the spinal bones of deceased slaves from many years before. The various archeological sites were also very interesting and enjoyable to see. It is just sad to see how far people can go without God in their lives.

Beyond the culture and food, is where we find the best part about mission trips: Being able to witness to multiple people and watch them make decisions that will impact them for eternity is comparable to nothing else. I watched people transform from hopeless and stressed to having joy like they’d never known showing radiance in their smiles and words after coming to know their personal savior and friend, Jesus Christ.  This is why mission trips are so important; to share Christ with others in order that they might have life and that our spiritual lives might also be fueled.

Such experiences as what my family and I had in Peru are priceless. They fuel us spiritually and cause us to lean on Jesus more. Especially when we are stripped out of our comfort zones and are thrown in with people that desperately need what we all too often take for granted. We likely receive more than we give, no matter how much we give. This is what God intended all His disciples to experience.

So as I waited there, I decided to go to the bathroom to fix my hair and I met the cleaning lady, and since there were no plugs inside we stood outside and I fix my hair as I shared with her the Love of Jesus.  She gave me all her information so she can be contacted for the meetings.  After a half hour I decided to sit close to a gentleman that was listening to our conversation.  I greeted him and he said “can you tell me more about Jesus?”  So I gladly did and also told him about the meetings, and he said ”I have to tell you something:  My wife called me at 6pm and asked me to come home, but I felt the need to stay a little longer; now I know why, the Holy Spirit was speaking to me. I needed to hear this.”  Then he said, “my marriage is at a point of separating, but I felt the need to wait a little longer, and this is why I am glad I did.  Can you tell me about tithes?  and the Sabbath?” So I did the flight was delayed one more hour and I was glad.  He said “I need to share with my wife why I stayed and we need to accept Jesus as our Savior.” 

The first Sabbath I was there the pastor took me to visit the tents, this one was set up at a park.  When I was there a woman came through walking they ask her if she would like them to pray with her, and of course she said yes.  As they took her into a private area she explained the need for prayer over a surgery that was coming up for her gallbladder.  I was introduced to her and we visit and I invited her to the meetings and she attended all the meeting and on Friday the last day she came to the front on the call for accepting Jesus and be baptized. 

While in Peru I wanted to purchase a comfortable pair of shoes to walk.  So on Thursday after we got through eating pizza, the pastor wanted to show Pastor Herald and I the mall.  So we walked, then we came to a shoe store, and I said “Pastor do you mind if I get a pair of sandals that are more comfortable than this?”  So I walked into the store and right away this young lady walked towards me and asked if I was visiting?  I said “yes”, She asked “are you a christian?” I said “yes.”  She then said “I need to tell you something:  I had a dream that all Trujillo was destroyed and there were people moaning, crying, it was total destruction, and I know that something is coming.”  So I explained about Mathew 24, 25 then I invited her to the meetings along with two other girls that were listening, and after she gave me all the  information, I introduced them to the pastors who were waiting for me.  We left and I still did not have the shoes.  So the next day I askd a friend to come with me to look at the mall for a comfortable pair of shoes.  I ask the Taxi driver to take us to a different entrance from the previous night, so he did.  We entered the store, I had blisters on my feet from my shoes.  As we walked in I noticed something familiar and it was the same store.  The girl Idania run to me and said “I must tell you what happen last night.  When I got home I told my husband what you said and we took out our Bible and read both chapters and my husband said to me, honey the only sign left is the spreading of the gospel and Jesus will come.  We want to go to the meetings!” 

What a Joy for me.