Frontline Edition by Global Mission - 3rd Quarter 2009

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FRONTLINEedition

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he gospel commission has always compelled the Adventist Church into mission.

As a result, despite the many challenges, we’ve pushed forward with evangelistic initiatives one after another to reach the unreached.

Part of our calling in the East-Central Africa Division is to not just focus on the easier-to-grow regions of our division, but to pay attention to the harder-to-reach areas as well. When Global Mission started in 1990 we began a special initative to reach the people groups and areas where no Adventists—or even Christians—had ministered.

It has been challenging, but we’ve never given up. Our territory includes 10 countries, six of which are located in the African Great Lakes region and four in the 10/40 window.

Most of the Great Lakes region countries—such as Burundi, DR Congo, and Rwanda—are known as wartorn countries whose socioeconomic atmoshpere has yet

Reaching the Unreached in

East-Central Africa to be stabilized. This creates many challenges as the wars destroyed church buildings and displaced congregations.

Resources to rebuild are scarce.

The other four countries— Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Djibouti—lay within the 10/40 window, a region of the world home to more than two-thirds of the earth’s population, many of the world’s major religions, some of the largest and fastestgrowing cities, and few Christians.

The church continues to grow in Ethiopia, predominetly outside the large cities. Today more than 160,000 members live in this country. Ethiopia’s captial, Addis Ababa, however, has only 3,000 Adventists and some four million people.

Next down the list, Eritrea has only 516 Adventist in the whole country and a popultion of 4.9 million people. The last two, Djibouti and Somalia, offically have no Adventists.

These are great challenges to mission. In the face of all the challenges, Global Mission pioneers are doing their best

to reach into these unreached communities.

Another challenge is providing Bibles for people to read. There are few Bibles in the local languages and less than 20 percent of new church members can read.

This means pioneers can’t provide Bible study lessons for people to study on their own.

Often pioneers must read the Bible to people personally.

In this region many people hold onto traditional animist beliefs. Many aspects of their lifestyle are in direct contridiction to Adventist beliefs such as polygamy, female circumcision, and beliefs in witchcraft.

It is hard for people to fully give up their beliefs and totally commit theirselves to Christ.

Please pray for this region of the world. We know God has a special plan for it. Also, thank you for your ongoing support of Global Mission.

Noah Musema, Adventist Mission Director, East-Central Africa Division

MICHAEL L. RYAN –Chairperson, Adventist Mission FRONT LINE EDITION HINDU STUDY CENTER is published quarterly by G. R. Mohan Roy GARY KRAUSE –Director Global Mission, part of the Southern Asia Division GANOUNE DIOP –Study Centers Director Office of Adventist Mission, Post Box 2, at the Seventh-day Adventist HCF Hosur 635110 RICK KAJIURA –Communication Director Church World Headquarters.

Tamil Nadu India NANCY KYTE –Marketing Director Tax- deductible gifts for Global Phone: 91 (4344) 26-2170 Mission projects can be sent to Fax: 91 (4344) 26-2090 MARTI SCHNEIDER –Programs Director Global Mission mohanroy@sud-adventist.org HOMER TRECARTIN –Planning Director 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904 WORLD JEWISH RUTH DUNBEBIN –Donor Services Representative 800-648-5824 FRIENDSHIP CENTER LAURIE FALVO –Communication Projects Manager www.global-mission.org Richard Elofer P.O Box 592 CHARLOTTE ISHKANIAN –Mission Editor 94186 Jerusalem GLOBAL CENTER FOR ANDREW KING –Video Producer/Editor Israel Phone; 972 (2) 6251 547 ADVENTIST-MUSLIM Fax: 972 (2) 6251 391 HANS OLSON –Communication Projects Manager RELATIONS www.jewishadventist.org Jerald Whitehouse SHYAMALA RAM –Senior Office Assistant rielofer@netvision.net.il AMRNET PO Box 1223 NIMFA SUMAGAYSAY–Donor Response Coordinator Loma Linda CA 92354 USA Phone: (909) 558-4563 BUDDHIST STUDY CENTER STELLA THOMAS –Administrative Assistant Fax: (909) 558-4845 Scott Griswold 2 G L O B A L M I S S I O N • w w w . g l o b a l m Box i s 15, s i Nakhon o n . Luang, o rg • E-mail: jwhitehouse@gcamr.org DANIEL WEBER –Video Producer/Editor P.O.

Ayutthaya Thailand 13260 griswold@loxinfo.co.th Phone: 66 818 515 414 www.BridgesForMinistry.org

CENTRE FOR SECULAR AND POST-MODERN STUDIES Miroslav Pujic 119 St. Peter’s Street; St. Albans, Herts AL1 3EY; ENGLAND Phone: 44 (1727) 854-229 Fax: 44 (1727) 866-312 www.reframe.info ask@reframe.info ©Copyright 2009 Seventhday Adventist® Church.

ADVENTIST® and SEVENTHDAY ADVENTIST® are the registered trademarks of the General Conference of 8Seventh-day 0 0 - 6 Adventists 4 8 - 5 ®8. 2

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The Little Church Planter This story is from the Third Quarter 2009 Adventist Mission DVD, which features stories from the South American Division. You can watch the Adventist Mission DVD in your local church or online at www.AdventistMission.org.

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itoria seems like any active 10-year-old girl. She loves to spend time with her parents and brother, Daniel. She even has a pet toucan, named Samson. Yet Vitoria has done something most kids her age haven’t done.

She’s planted a small group that meets every week to study the Bible. One day a week Vitoria climbs into her small canoe and paddles her way up the river on which her family lives.

Her village, in the northern part of Brazil, is along one of the many rivers that make up the Amazon River basin.

With skill and determination she makes her way up the river to the houses of friends that she picks up to take to the Bible study. Vitoria says that she is willing to navigate such a big river in such a small boat because, “I had no way of going in a bigger boat, and I’m small, so I had to go with a canoe.”

After she’s picked everyone up they head to a small opening in the jungle where there’s a path of fallen logs on top of the thick mud that covers the jungle floor. Eventually they reach a small hut on stilts. This is the home of a young friend who has offered to host the Bible studies. The young people start with prayer and quickly open the “small groups” magazine produced by the South American Division, to use

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as a study guide. They also use the Sabbath School lesson to guide their studies. After a discussion on the topic of the lesson, they sing songs and close with a prayer. Vitoria gives a simple reason for wanting to tell her friends about Jesus, “Because I want to be in heaven with them.”

Because of her witness three of Vitoria’s friends have been baptized and they are inviting more friends to their weekly small group.

If a young child is willing to brave a big river to share her faith with her friends, just imagine what we can do to help spread the gospel around the world. All we need is a little faith, courage and the work of the Holy Spirit and we can do wonders in Jesus’ name. Just like a little girl on the Amazon River.

Brazil is just one of the many countries of the South American Division of the Seventhday Adventist Church. Your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering this quarter will support various projects throughout this division. To learn more about Thirteenth Sabbath bbath Offering please visit www.AdventistMission.org Mission n.org

by Daniel Weber Daniel is a video editor and producer for the Office of Adventist Mission.

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F E A T U R E

Getting to know Jesus by King b Andrew A d Ki

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s a boy Tolessa Kano had never heard the name of Jesus. He lived in a home that worshiped idols.

But this didn’t stop him from discovering the Bible, and becoming a respected Global Mission pioneer with a thriving church in the rugged hills of Central Ethiopia.

Small homesteads dot the hills of rural Ethiopia. The vast majority of the country’s 85 million people live outside the cities—surviving on the food they grow. Many outsiders marvel that Ethiopian farmers can seemingly grow food directly on the rocks that cover much of the country.

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Tolessa grew up as one of these farmers in an area known as Wadessa—about 16 miles (25 kilometers) from the nearest town and paved road. One day an evangelist from another Christian denomination came to Wadessa to reach out to Tolessa’s community.

Tolessa opened his home to the preacher, who lived with Tolessa while he was evangelizing in the area. The preacher showed Tolessa his first Bible.

As Tolessa read the Bible he discovered the gift of the Sabbath. “I asked the evangelist about the Sabbath, but

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he couldn’t answer me from the Bible.”

Undeterred, Tolessa dug deeper into Bible study and prayer each day.

Tolessa offered to give the evangelist some of his land so that they could build a church for the people who lived in the area. This excited the evangelist, but Tolessa had one condition—they could only worship on the seventh day Sabbath. The preacher refused. Tolessa held strong to his beliefs; he had faith that one day he could build a church where people would follow all the teachings from the Bible.

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“I journeyed to the nearest town, Ambo, to find an answer to my question,” says Tolessa.

After a great deal of searching he found a Seventh-day Adven-

After just a few Bible studies, Tolessa knew that he had found the truth. As the weeks

Tolessa held strong to his beliefs; he had faith that one day he could build a church where people would follow all the teachings from the Bible.

went by Tolessa took every opportunity he found to meet with his neighbors and tell them about the good news he was learning in his Bible studies. Soon after Tolessa was baptized into the Adventist Church.

Tolessa was an active member of his community; he spoke their language, knew their

tist church. After talking to some people he met at the Adventist church, they sent someone to study the Bible with Tolessa in his home.

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struggles, and was trusted by those around him. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ethiopia saw Tolessa’s potential and asked him to become a Global Mission pioneer.

He now receives a living stipend, which allows him to concentrate his efforts on spreading a message of hope to the people in his community.

Tolessa is so passionate about his ministry that he donated land for a church. He even built it with his own money.

He has been working tirelessly, spreading the gospel for the past seven years, and now has 80 members regularly attending church every Sabbath.

During the week Tolessa walks from home to home, sharing his love of Jesus and offering Bible studies. Homes in this region are spread very thin and many times it takes Tolessa eight hours or more to reach the home of the family he will visit that day.

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Unfazed by the challenges, Tolessa says, “I will continue to preach the Word of God to these people.”

As he works hard to share the gospel with those who will listen, Tolessa says that the devil continues to twist the truth in some members

of the community. Please pray for Tolessa, his community, and the strength of the church members in Wadessa.

Because of your support of Global Mission, pioneers like Tolessa are able to share Jesus with people across Ethiopia.

Andrew King is a video editor and producer for the Office of Adventist Mission.

Look for more stories on Ethiopia on the Adventist Mission DVD coming out 1st quarter of next year.

ETHIOPIA E

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thiopia is one of the oldest nations in the world and the second most populous in Africa. Located on the horn of Africa, Ethiopia is bordered by Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, and Sudan.

The country survives predominantly on agricultural exports, such as coffee, cotton, pulses, and animal skins. The landscape varies from sub-sea level plains in the east to 8,000 feet (2,500 meters) plateaus and mountain peaks reaching 15,000 feet (4,600 meters) in the west.

Knowledge of the living God came to Ethiopia as a result of the Queen of Sheba’s visit to the court of King Solomon, long before the time of Christ. The queen brought back Jewish priests and Levites who left a spiritual impression on the land.

The first Adventist missionaries arrived in Ethiopia in 1921 and established schools, clinics, a press, and a hospital in the capital city, Addis Ababa.

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Even though the Adventist Church is well established in Ethiopia, opia, i and many other parts arts of Africa, there are still many challenges.

Religious, social, and ethnic persecution makes church growth difficult in some areas.

Vast regions have yet to meet a Christian who speaks their language. Global Mission has taken on the challenge to tell the world, the whole world, about Christ. One of the key tools to reaching into new communities is Global Mission pioneers—just like Tolessa Kano Global Mission pioneers are church members who volunteer at least one year to establish a new congregation within their own culture. They share the good news through a holistic ministry including: caring for the sick, teaching agricultural skills, running literacy programs, holding evangelistic meetings, and giving Bible studies. Thanks to people like you, who support

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CAPITTAL: L Addis

Ababa

LAN NGUAGE: Amharic, Orom mo, Tigrinya, and Somali

Christianity, C Islam, and indigenous beliefs

RELIGION:

POPULATION:

77.1 million*

ADVENTIST MEMBERSHIP:

163,524* ADVENTIST TO POPULATION RATIO:

1:472*

*General Conference Office of Archives and Statistics, 145th Annual Statistical Report

Global Mission, some 3,000 Global Mission pioneers are now working around the world. Since 1990 pioneers have helped establish more than 11,000 new Seventh-day Adventist congregations.

Your support of Global Mission fund number 5220 will help ensure that the Adventist Church keeps growing and takes Jesus’ love to all of Africa. Thank you for your support.

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3Q WHAT’S COOKING IN ETHIOPIA? 09

ON THE MENU: • Mamitu’s Ethiopian Vegetables • Addis Market Cucumber Salad • Fresh Fruit Platter

Hospitality in Ethiopia • Ethiopians are hospitable and like to entertain friends in their homes.

• An invitation to a private home is considered an honor.

• Shake hands with each individual, but not too firmly.

• The meal begins and ends with ritual hand-washing.

• Expect to be urged to take more food. An abundance of food is a sign of hospitality

MAMITU’S ETHIOPIAN VEGETABLES Serves 6-8

ADDIS MARKET CUCUMBER SALAD Serves 6

This nourishing dish is frequently served in Ethiopian homes. Some cooks take pride in grinding their own spices each day; while others enjoy selecting finely ground spices from the local open-air market. No one will be late to dinner when the savory scent of these vegetables and spices begin to waft from the kitchen.

Serve over couscous or as a side dish.

The open-air market of Addis Ababa is reported to be the largest and most exciting in all of Africa. No matter where you shop, choose the best quality cucumbers for this refreshing salad.

INGREDIENTS: • 4 tablespoons olive oil • 6 carrots, sliced thin • ½ teaspoon sea salt • ½ teaspoon ground coriander • ½ teaspoon ground cumin • ¼ teaspoon turmeric • 2 garlic cloves, minced • ½ head cabbage, shredded • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice • 4 potatoes, peeled and diced into cubes PREPARATION: 1. Cook carrots and onion in olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes.

2. Add the salt, coriander, cumin, turmeric, garlic and cabbage. Cook for another 15-20 minutes, stirring several times.

3. Stir in the lemon juice and potatoes. Cover and reduce heat to medium low. Cook for 15-20 minutes, turning vegetables frequently, or until potatoes are soft.

INGREDIENTS: • 3-4 cucumbers, peeled, sliced and seeded • 1 garlic clove, crushed or pierced with a fork • 1 tablespoon olive oil • 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice • 1 teaspoon sugar • ¼ teaspoon salt PREPARATION: Mix together and chill for at least 30 minutes.

FRESH FRUIT PLATTER Dessert is not usually part of an Ethiopian meal, but sometimes a platter of fresh fruit is served. On such occasions, sliced pineapple or watermelon are the usual choices.

If these fruits are not in season where you live, feel free to choose any other kind of fresh fruit for a sweet ending to your meal.

–Nancy Kyte is the marketing director for Adventist Mission. She enjoys experimenting with new recipes and confirms that global cuisine is one way to travel vicariously.

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WORLD NEWS

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Pro Light Day Café Russia

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hey wanted to be creative. They wanted to reach young people in their community. So earlier this year Michael and two friends started a small group that meets once a month in a downtown café—called the Pro Light Day Club.

Michael, a Global Mission pioneer in Omsk, Russia, wants to give hope and share the light of Jesus with young people who have no faith at all. This city of three million people in Western Siberia has only 400 Seventh-day Adventists in it and just 20 are between the ages of 14 and 30. According to some sources, two-thirds of Siberia’s youth and young adults are not part of any kind of faith community.

People in Siberia don’t generally respond to public advertising for large-scale evangelism programs and are not willing to visit an Adven-

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Global Mission pioneer Michael (right) and two of his friends, Sergei and Sasha, started Pro Light to reach out to the youth in their community.

tist church on their own. This can make outreach difficult, so Michael and his friends, Sergei and Sasha, invite their friends, who invite their friends, who in turn invite their friends to Pro Light.

Michael says this type of outreach makes it easy to share their faith in God right away, because people from the community who are already

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friends with an Adventist are more open to learn about Christianity. Now 30 youth come each month.

Since Pro Light is youthbased, Michael has integrated the Internet into his ministry.

He started an online forum where youth can voice their thoughts and ask questions.

Michael finds that often people are too shy to speak up at the meetings, but are willing to share online. He also puts videos from each meeting online so those who

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were unable to come can still be part of the community.

Michael plans to build the group by taking advantage of the long Siberian days this summer when the sun barely sets and organize sports

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nights when youth can invite their friends to get together and enjoy the great outdoors.

He says one of his greatest joys is to see how the youth from the local Adventist church have come together

and are actively involved in this ministry. Most of them thought it was impossible to share their faith. Now because of this Global Mission project, they are telling others about Jesus.

the tremendous opportunity available to them to reach this group of people and called a volunteer missionary from South America to come and work as a Global Mission pioneer in Toyota City.

Rege Sand, and his wife Milca Casali de Sand, worked as volunteer missionaries in Brazil for five years before coming to Japan. They know the language and the culture so they are able to easily integrate into the Brazilian community. They will only be in Japan for two years, but hope to start a new congregation through small group evangelism during the time they have.

United States

NEWS

Japan The Adventist church in Japan is dying. This ultramodern secular country has an aging membership and few baptisms. But with the help of Global Mission things are changing.

Japan’s large automobile industry brings thousands of foreign workers to its shores each year. In fact, in Toyota City, the home of Toyota Motors and some 400,000 people, live 54,000 Brazilian nationals. Brazil is one of several countries where Toyota manufactures cars in South America. The Adventist Church in Japan recognized Toyota City, Japan

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The United States has long been a haven for those seeking a new life. Over the past few years Utica, New York, United States, has become a home for Burmese refugees. Today some 2,500 have settled here. This is a unique opportunity for the local Adventist Church as they are more open to the gospel than when they lived in Myanmar.

The local pastor reached out to the community and now some 60 immigrants, mostly from the Karen tribe, are attending the local Adventist church on a regular basis. A small Burmese school has been started in the church with twelve students and a volunteer teacher.

The local pastor hopes to plant a church specifically for his city’s Burmese population in the near future.

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India A huge group of Global Mission projects were recently launched in Western India. A total of 175 projects, all taking places over the next two years, are part of the “New Project” program. This program will plant new congregations in many of the unreached areas of Maharashtra, India. A Global Mission pioneer will serve in each of the 175 unreached communities this program plans to reach.

People in these communities are generally poor and unable to read. Most subsist from the profits of small rural farms or familyrun businesses. There are few Christians in this part of India, so unless a Global Mission pioneer goes to tell people about Jesus, they might never hear His name.

In this part of the world it is vital to have a church building for new members.

Without a place for regular worship, new church mem-

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bers are less likely to stay. To give their new congregations the best possible chance, each pioneer plans to purchase small plots of land and build a church while they reach into the community. This way they will have a house of worship for new Adventists.

Myanmar Dim No works as a Global Mission pioneer in Myanmar’s northern hill country.

She currently has two small groups. The first group of 35 members lives near and works in the Yandana Teingyi Mines. Although it is still considered a small group, plans are underway to make it an official church in the near future.

Since her first group is firmly established, Dim No decided last year to start a new group in a very remote area of Myanmar, a ninehour, tiger-infested, jungle walk from her home near

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the mines. Because it is so far from home, she spends long weeks with this group.

It is especially hard on her, as she must leave her husband, who works in the mines, and two of her three children at home. So far, 20 people have decided to be baptized.

There is an evangelist who plans to come to the village later this summer and hold an evangelistic series where many more may decide to be baptized.

When asked what motivates her to be away from her family so long, Din No says, “I love the people and want them to know about Jesus and His salvation.

Please remember Din No and all the 3,000 other Global Mission pioneers working around the world in your prayers.

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SPECIAL OFFERS

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God’s Great Missionaries

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ver time and through real life experience, missionaries have learned that building bridges of understanding with people in other cultures is absolutely essential. There is much to consider before we start calculating potential baptisms.

To be effective, personal outreach must match the particular need.

Consider these situations: • A starving person’s first priority won’t be a lecture on the Book of Daniel.

• A Thai Buddhist won’t be overly interested in why Saturday, rather than Sunday, is the Sabbath.

• An atheistic investment banker in New York City won’t suddenly believe in God if we read her twenty “proof” texts.

Reaching out to people where they are and in a way they can understand is the passionate theme of God’s Great Missionaries. Gary Krause, director of Adventist Mission, shows how the lessons learned by missionaries in the Bible can help us make a difference where we live today.

Please visit www.AdventistMission.org/book-offer/ to order the book or call us at 1-800-648-5824. We’ll send your free copy right away while supplies last.

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Remember when mission work was the most important thing we did as a church?

It still is.

Every day nearly 1,000 Adventist missionaries serve in more than 200 countries around the world. Your support of the Fall Mission Appeal offering on September 12 will help give them the resources they need to tell the world about Christ’s love.

For more information visit: www.AdventistMission.org. www.AdventistMission.org Thank you for being part of it!

Be part of it!

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

Courtesy of Gener

al Conference Offi

ce of Archives and

Statistics