When you see these things. . .”

Whole villages were flattened or washed away after four tsunamis hit in rapid succession in the South Pacific region of Samoa and Tonga after a killer earthquake measuring 8.3. Death and destruction were everywhere. In rapid succession there has been massive unprecedented destruction in the Philippines as a wave of typhoons has hit that area causing millions of homes to be destroyed or damaged. More than a million people are homeless. Again, more destruction is seen in Indonesia after an 8.0 earthquake hit the area collapsing thousands of buildings and homes causing death and destruction everywhere. … Read more

Pastor Bill Tucker,

Quiet Hour Ministries president and speaker

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Jamaica, an open door for evangelism: After years of encouragement and support, God has opened every possible door for Quiet Hour Ministries — by request of the church in Jamaica we will be holding meetings in the city of Mandeville, from November 6 to 21, 2009.

As you read this message, Christians in Jamaica are preparing the harvest by inviting friends, family and neighbors to their Bible study programs and services. Here in the U.S. mission team members are collecting medicines and other supplies to take with us when we go. … Read more

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The Cruise and the Kodiak … Revelation 14:6 talks about the sight of another angel “flying in the midst of heaven…” with a gospel for those that dwell on the earth, regardless of culture or geography.

Quiet Hour Ministries is an invited guest on the Morning Song eStore Caribbean Cruise. The highlight includes a group of artists used to the hustle and bustle of travel – rushing through airports… the typical challenges of planes, trains and automobile rentals. … Read more

September 25, 2009 my wife and I headed for Erode, Tamil Nadu. For several years brother Moses had invited us to come to his school of nursing, where some of our workers & pastors children and other poor young people have been trained to become nurses with minimal tuition fees, but we were never able to do so until that evening.

Now on that particular night we were to be at the train station by 23:55, O clock. The instructions were that when the train came into the station we were to count the bogies and ours would be number S-6. Each bogie holds about 60 people and we were to find Moses’ son in Bogie # S-6 who would have our tickets in hand and would help us find our place of lodging on the train.

I did not have the name of the train, nor a train ticket, and the question in my mind was could I find the compartment (Bogie Number S-6) with the gentleman who had made arrangements and was to meet us on the platform having boarded the train in Bangalore.

At the enquiry window I asked the clerk what the name of the train was that would be heading to Erode from Bangalore at 23:55 O’ clock. He indicated that it would be on platform # 2 on the other side of the station. It was scheduled to arrive on time but would only wait about 2 minutes to have passengers board.

Up over the trestle we went with our baggage to the other side, found a place to sit down and waited for the train. As the train came into the station I began counting the bogies and when I got to number S-6 I saw a young man stick his head out the doorway and say “Hello Pastor Robinson”. Now that was music to my ears. But the train just kept on going.

It finally came to a stop a LONG ways down the track. We began HURRYING down the platform while Moses’ son jumped off the train and ran to help us with the luggage. The conductor was telling us to quickly jump on the train or get left, so we hopped on at the nearest door.

To read more stories from this Children’s Magazine Click Here.

Larissa and Rosette live in the tiny country of Burundi in eastern Africa. [Locate Burundi on a map.] Larissa is 8 years old, and Rosette is 7. The girls live near each other and are best friends.

Larissa’s Invitation

Larissa and her family are Adventists. One day while the girls were playing together, Larissa’s mother called her to come into the house for family worship. Larissa looked at Rosette and said, “Come on! It’s time for worship!” Rosette followed Larissa into the house. The family sang a song about Jesus, then Mother read a Bible story and they all prayed.

“I liked Larissa’s family worship,” Rosette says. “My family doesn’t have worship together, and I wanted to worship with Larissa’s family again.”

Come to Sabbath School

“Then Larissa invited me to Sabbath School,” Rosette says. “I told my parents about Larissa’s family worship. I told them that Larissa wanted me to go to Sabbath School with her. I’m so glad that they said I could go. I love Sabbath School!”

Rosette has been attending church with Larissa for three years now. “I really like Sabbath School,” Rosette says. “I like the songs we sing and the Bible stories that we hear. We also memorize Bible texts, and I like learning those too.”

Rosette often told her mother about what she was learning in Sabbath School. Sometimes she recites the Bible texts that she’s learned, and sometimes she sings the songs she has learned in church. Her mother listened as Rosette talked about the fun things she did in Sabbath School. Rosette even liked the worship service that followed Sabbath School.

Life is so busy and life is but a moment in passing it seems. While attending a Camp-Meeting in West Virginia I noted in a restaurant a sign which read. “Every old man looks at his life and says, How in the World Did I get here?” Here I am 67 years old and enjoying my work tremendously. One of my favorite physicians friends, age 92, told me I should come home and spend the rest of my life in a more convenient environment. Less risk to health I suppose.

After graduating from Oregon State University my employment placement advisor looked at my past employment record and flat out told me I would never be satisfied with any job here in USA.

While on furlough at my home in Sutherlin, Oregon. I ate supper with Jack and His wife Ellen. I normally just invite myself over and they add water to the soup. At the time of leaving Jack presented me with two flashlights. The reason he gave them to me was so that I could give them to some small child and make them smile. It was a one cell flashlight with a small light in front and a tube on the end like a florescent. One of the tubes was blue and the other red. I put them both into one of the suitcases along with other purchases. They are quite small and could fit in most any corner. I assumed they cost one or two dollars each. I never dreamt though how important they would be on our journey home.

We arrived in India at midnight and by the time we cleared customs and were ready to leave on our two 1/2 hour journey home, it was already 1:30 am. Immediately the sky opened up and we were welcomed with a rain storm. Therefore the journey home was a bit slower.

It would seem that, at that time in the morning there would be light traffic. However, in India they are now restricting truck traffic in and out of the cities, so the large lories are driving the roads at night. On the main road it is just one continuous line of them.

You may have been hearing more rumblings recently regarding the validity of the Creation Week as recorded in the book of Genesis. This year is the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin.

AWR believes that God created the world in six literal days, using the same creative power that Jesus Christ uses to transform people today and will use to recreate the earth in the future. And as our story demonstrates, God is still transforming people using interesting means to do so.

“Creation Leads Evolutionist to Believe in God”

Andrey had been an atheist since he was a child. That’s what nearly everyone was in communist Russia in those days. As he grew, he developed an interest in things of science. In school he was taught that humans evolved from lower forms of life. The earth and life on earth just “happened” to develop by a series of random events over many millions of years. Evolution was considered fact, as it continues to be in many parts of the world today.

One day, when Andrey was about 18 years old, he obtained a radio and began listening to it. By “chance,” he says, he heard a program that was talking about the creation of the world. It was the Voice of Hope program broadcast by Adventist World Radio. It caught his interest, and he continued to listen intently to the series of broadcasts on creation. He had never heard of the concept of the creation of this world by someone called God, especially in six literal days.

Islam’s View of the Bible

I have often been asked, “What does Christianity have to offer Muslims?”

I can only report from my own experience and from personally witnessing the effects on thousands of others that have come to Christ from Islam through our ministry. By far, the most expressed benefits are peace and joy – which are direct results of salvation. As Jesus says in the Gospel of John 14:27 (KJ): “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.”

Muslims do not enjoy the assurance of salvation. I have heard the prayers of devout Muslims begging God to deliver them from torture in the grave and the fires of hell. Unlike Muslims, Christians have the assurance of salvation. For Christians it is a gift of Grace – Acts 16:31 (KJ): “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”

When I accepted Christ as my Savior, my heart was filled with peace and joy. Now, one of the greatest rewards of my ministry is to hear the same expressions of peace and joy from thousands of Muslims who have come to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and His assurance of salvation.

The Qur’an vs. the Bible

According the Qur’an, the Scriptures of the Jews and Christians, the Bible, has been “corrupted.” In their view, the Qur’an is the “pure” word of God which explains for them the many ways in which the Qur’an differs from the Old and New Testaments.

For example, the Qur’an teaches that Jesus (or “‘Isa”) is only a human prophet, like Abraham or Moses, and is not divine. Abraham was called to sacrifice not Isaac, but Ishmael, from whom the Arabs claim descent. Thus, many Muslim governments, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, forbid the printing, importing and distribution of Bibles in order to keep their people ignorant of the Gospel and its Old Testament roots.

Muslim evangelists attempt to mislead those in the West by claiming commonalities between the Qur’an and the Bible while concealing their true views that the Bible is unreliable and has been changed over time. In fact, discoveries such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and early New Testament manuscripts prove the integrity of the Scriptures over thousands of years.

IAM’s “Bibles for Iran” ministry, as well as our pastoral call-in satellite TV show and Persian-language teaching materials, have opened the eyes of hundreds of thousands in Iran to Bible truths. Persian-language Bibles and New Testaments are available for purchase from the IAM web site for those in the West who would like to provide them to their Iranian friends and neighbors. We appreciate our wonderful donors who enable us to provide Bibles and New Testaments for seekers in Iran.

Radical Muslim finds Healing, Joy in Christ

Netherlands, Zari: If your Jesus is real…!

Zari, a fanatic Muslim woman who now resides in the Netherlands, called us a few months ago almost in a rage. “If your Jesus is who you are saying He is, then He has to heal my three-year-old granddaughter, ‘Kimiya’, who is suffering from seizures.” I began by trying to explain to her why she first needed to accept Jesus as her Savior. Before I could continue, she interrupted me by saying, “Jesus is only a good prophet.”

“Can I at least pray for you and your granddaughter since you called us?,” I asked. She agreed. After prayer, I challenged her to ask Jesus herself for Kimiya’s healing.

Last week, we received a call. One of our prayer counselors answered. “This lady insists on talking to you,” she said. I took the phone and heard a lady who was adoring Jesus and calling Him Lord and Savior. “Do you remember me?” she asked. “I apologize, your voice is very familiar but unfortunately I do not remember who you are,” I replied.

Then she began to tell me the story. With huge joy and excitment in her voice she said, “I am that fanatic Muslim woman who called you a few months ago for a healing prayer for. . .” Interrupting her, I exclaimed, “Oh, I remember! You called for your granddaughter, Kamiya.” “Yes, yes,” she said and and began to laugh.

“Jesus completely healed my granddaughter. He is not any longer a ‘good prophet’ for me but my Lord and my Savior,” Zari proclaimed with zeal and assurance in her voice. I answered her with a hearty, “Praise God!”

Zari continued, “My daughter-in-law, Kimiya’s mother, is expecting another child. Would you please pray with me for this new addition in our family so that the baby will not go though the same thing as Kimiya did?” Gladly, I agreed. I prayed with Zari who was very exuberant and expecting the Lord to grant her new grandchild radiant health.

Our counselors rejoiced in another Muslim finding salvation and answer to prayer through Christ.

(To protect new believers and their families, the names in our

testimonies have been changed.)

How You Can Help

We depend on the prayers and donations of those in the West to support our dear Iranian brothers and sisters in the East. New Iranian Christians face severe persecution every day. Your donations help us to bring Iranians to Christ, while stregthening the faith of new believers. With your help we can ensure the continuation of our 24-hour Christian satellite TV broadcasts into Iran, the delivery of Persian-language Bibles and New Testaments, the training of leaders and providing humanitarian relief. In addition to ministering to Iranians, IAM is using Iran as a gateway for spreading the Gospel to the whole Arab and Muslim world. Please prayerfully consider what you can do to support this ministry. We are sure that God will bless you many times over.

 

– Pastor Hormoz Shariat

President and Senior Pastor

International Antioch Ministries

www.iam-online.net

750 E. Arquez Avenue

Sunnyvale, CA 94085 USA

IAM is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Donations are tax deductible.

With the threat of political unrest coming to Bangkok, we seek prayers so that many Thais can hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Eight sites held public reaping evangelistic meetings September, 2009!

1. Ramkhamhaeng International Church (RISDAC) – an established international church worked with the Ramkhamhaeng Advent International School (RAIS). Ps. Wendell Mandolang from the Southern Asia Pacific Division (SSD) was the speaker. This was our first school & church partnership in reaping evangelism! Ps. Mandolang presented to the students in the morning, and to the parents in the evening. He used the materials prepared by Pastor Scott & the team from the Center for Ministry Among Buddhists (aka Global Mission Buddhist Study Center). The target audience was the 600 families attending this school.
2. Minburi: Jun Tao Tao, TAM Publishing Director spoke, and Danai Agasupa, TAM Education & Pathfinder Director translated. Praise God for our laymen who have been working! Several Thais were baptized the first week! Through the moving of the Holy Spirit, this local church plant has born fruit already this year! I conducted a baptismal service where we had a couple baptized during May 2009.
3. Bangna Udomsuk: Pastor Wirachai, the Ekamai Thai Church Pastor, spoke at this H4BKK Church Plant. Go online to see pictures, Click Here.
4. Sukhumvit Thai: Pastor Somchai, one of our Thai pastors from Mission College, spoke at this H4BKK Church plant. This church has conducted several community outreach programs that have been well received. Go online to see pictures, Click Here.



5. Muangthonthani: Ven Bermudez from the Southern Asia Pacific Division (SSD) conducted the “Happy Family Seminar” and Dr. Surachet Insom was the translator. This is one of our local church plants, supported by the Trinity International Adventist Church (TAIC). See the flyer on the left.
6. Nonthaburi: Mrs. Miriam Andres from the Southern Asia Pacific Division (SSD) presented. She used the materials prepared by the Center for Ministry Among Buddhists (aka Global Mission Buddhist Study Center). We had one baptismal candidate at this center, and several others are being prepared. Go online to see pictures, Click Here.  
7. Bangkok Noi: This H4BKK Church plant conducted an evangelistic health seminar during the day for their community. Pastor Pamor, Mrs. Suporn, a Thai pastor’s wife & some other Thai laymen taught the people in this area the Gospel by using the health message. During the evening, interests commuted to Nonthaburi to join Mrs. Miriam Andres from the SSD.
8. Thonburi Church Plant: Shannon Green, Jon Wood, with Jesus for Asia (http://www.jesus4asia.org/wp/) conducted a video editing seminar as they trained our Thai media team during this evangelistic meeting. So by the end of these meetings, we had DVD / VCD’s available for our Thai members to share with their friends! Check out this church plant online, Click Here.  

–

Let’s Uplift Christ!

E. Douglas Venn

Hope for Bangkok Church Planting Initiative

Thailand Adventist Mission

Bicycle donation to the Cambodian Mission workers

 When you hear the word BMW, you immediately may think of fancy cars. But I would like to introduce you to a different BMW: Bicycle Mission to the World. This pioneering mission group within Korean Church Association in the States has been actively at work abroad several times thus far, already having gone 18 times.

I began participating in this mission activity since 2007, this year, I have been to Cambodia and Vietnam.

 

Sabbath Worship

In Cambodia, there is an orphanage run by an Adventist lay elder, Mr. Choi. There the missionary members established the base camp and gave medical treatment(including oreintal medicine) and conducted evangelistic meetings morning and evening.

 

We gave free medical treatment to more than a thousand people, and on Sabbath, the institution offered free lunch to about 400 people.

 

Baptismal service on Sabbath afternoon, Pastor Lee is on the left

The highlight was the baptismal ceremony on Sabbath afternoon. 82 precious souls were harvested. The country is an idol-worship infested land but God blessed us with this joyful event.

 

BMW donated 50 bicycles to the Cambodian Adventist Mission as well as 5 bicycles and 30 cows to the orphanage.

 

Pastor Lee presenting the Spirit of Prophecy books to the orphanage workers

In vietnam, BMW also donated 50 bicycles for the home-church lay ministers.

 

Kang Soo Lee, pastor

Oregon Central Korean Church

NOTE- In 1917 Orley and Lillian Ford, both in their early 20s, sailed from New Orleans to South America to serve as Seventh-day Adventist missionaries near Lake Titicaca, Peru. Sensing the call of God, they left having no idea if they would ever see family or friends again.

Here is a written record of the first thirty days of their mission adventure, taken from Orley’s typed and handwritten diary by his granddaughter, Pat Ford. (This diary is not to be published in any form without permission from the Ford family since all rights are reserved for possible future publication.) To preserve the original document there have been no corrections for spelling, grammar, or what might be considered today to be politically incorrect statements.

As you read you will be inspired by two young adults, ready to go to the ends of the earth to let people know about Jesus and His return. For more stories of the Ford’s mission adventures read the books These Fords Still Run, by Barbara Westfall, and Mission in the Clouds by Eileen Lantry. [Add hyperlinks to Amazon.com page for each of these books]

 

On Board the S S Abangarez in the Gulf of Mexico

Dec. 23, 1917

To our dear friends in the Homeland:

I am out on deck passing the time away by writing on my typewriter. Instead of writing a regular letter I am just going to copy part of my diary and send that to you. Probably that will tell you more than a letter. I will begin on the day we reached New Orleans.

 

Thursday, Dec. 20th Reached New Orleans 12:00AM. My expectations went down several degrees. Instead of the pretty city I had expected I think it is one of the most unattractive cities I have seen in the U.S. The streets are narrow and most of them seem to be paved with cobblestones. At least all except a few of the most important ones. There are a few nice buildings but along side the few nice building are a multitude of old buildings and dirty shops. Every thing has a dirty appearance and the large negro population does not make things look more attractive. About the first brake we made was to sit down in the back seat of a street car and the conductor had to come and tell us that the back seats were for negros only and that we would have to move forward. We have been very busy this afternoon getting our tickets arranged and doing some final shopping. On account of a meeting in session in Atlanta, Ga all the conference men are out of town so we have had no help in arranging passage. Our room is in the Hotel St. Charles, a very nice place but rather expensive. Had to pay $5.00 for room and bath. They say tho that all the good hotels here charge the same at this time. The city looks dirtier than ever tonight as the war condition causes them to only light the streets very dimly and things look dark to us tonight anyway as this is the last night we expect to ever spend in the U.S. Lillie and I have just been talking of the alls our friends we are to leave behind and of the many things that will probably happen before we see them again. We never expect to see any of them again until we meet in the New Earth.

In March of 2009, Ohana Christian Fellowship of Seventh-day Adventists (West Linn, Ore.) and Portland Adventist Academy co-sponsored a mission trip to southern Ethiopia.

The 34 participants engaged in evangelism, construction and development of an adult literacy center and medical and dental ministries in the towns of Awassa and Tula. Students from PAA preached to more than1,000 people in Tula and Doug Franzke, Ohana Christian Fellowship pastor, preached to approximately 1,500–2,000 people in Awassa.

Read the rest of this story on the Oregon Conference Web site.