The Priceless Gift Catalog (2019-2020) by ASAP Ministries

The

Priceless

Gift

REACH THE

REACH THE WORLD

WORLD ASAP

ASAP

OUR MISSION: ASAP Ministries multiplies disciples through ethnic missionaries serving holistically among the unreached, refugees, persecuted, and poor of the 10/40 Window.

WHAT’S INSIDE

On the following pages, learn about some of the ways you can help ASAP missionaries and projects meet the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs of the world’s most vulnerable and least-reached people groups. Then visit our online gift catalog to view a comprehensive list of projects. Education Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Evangelism Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Humanitarian Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 Projects Serving Refugees & Persecuted Peoples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 Special Feature: Tentmaker Missionaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0

ASAP Ministries, PO Box 84, Berrien Springs, MI 49103 1-269-471-3026 | office@asapministries.org | www.asapministries.org ASAP Ministries, Inc. is fueled by mission-minded individuals like you, whom God impresses. Be assured that 100% of your donation goes directly to the project(s) you specify. However, in the blessed event that the project you chose is fully funded, ASAP reserves the right to use your gift for a similar project or where needed most. ASAP is a §501(c)(3) non-profit organization so your donations are tax-deductible in the USA. ASAP has been a member of ASI (Adventist-laymen’s Services and Industries) since 1996 and is grateful to be an ASI grant recipient. EXECUTIVE EDITOR/COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR John Press ASSOCIATE EDITOR/DIRECTOR Julia O'Carey COPY WRITERS Julia O'Carey, John Press, Sandra Stebenne The

Priceless

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COPY EDITOR Brenda Kiš DESIGN Robert Mason

THE SEVEN SADDEST WORDS IN SCRIPT THE 7 SADDEST WORDS IN SCRIPTURE URE

It was a high Sabbath in Jerusalem. As Jesus walked, seemingly unnoticed, among the crowds making their way to the temple, He came upon a pitiful scene. “Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda… Here a great number of disabled people used to lie – the blind, the lame, the paralyzed” (John 5:2-3, NIV). Popular belief held that the first one to enter the pool after a supposed supernatural stirring of the water would be healed. But in reality, many died at the pool’s edge (see The Desire of Ages, p. 201). In this mass of suffering humanity, “the Saviour saw one case of supreme wretchedness.… a man who had been a helpless cripple for thirty-eight years” (Ibid., p. 202). Drawing near, Jesus bent over the man and asked, “‘Do you want to get well?’” (John 5:6). Ignorant of his questioner’s identity, the invalid scarcely looked up as he lamented, “‘I have no one to help me…’” (John 5:7). They are perhaps the saddest words in Scripture. And they echo today in the cries of the poor, the persecuted, refugees, and the unevangelized billions of the 10/40 Window. Yet surely Jesus is as near to these suffering ones as He was to the invalid at Bethesda on that long-ago Sabbath. They just don’t know it yet. But you can change that! As the cry, “I have no one to help me!” rises from Eritrean refugee camps (see p. 17), the drug-infested Golden Triangle (see p. 6), impoverished Laotian villages (see p. 13), and countless other places, each item in this gift catalog represents an opportunity to respond. Help is on the way! “Lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28b, KJV).

COVER: A family in northeastern Laos (photo by Anthony Isensee) *At times, photos are blurred and pseudonyms given to protect the safety of God’s workers and those they serve.

John Press Communications Director, ASAP Ministries GC2020

REACH THE

REACH THE WORLD

WORLD ASAP

ASAP

OUR MISSION: ASAP Ministries multiplies disciples through ethnic missionaries serving holistically among the unreached, refugees, persecuted, and poor of the 10/40 Window.

WHAT’S INSIDE

Priceless

Gift

COPY EDITOR Brenda Kiš DESIGN Robert Mason

THE SEVEN SADDEST WORDS IN SCRIPT THE 7 SADDEST WORDS IN SCRIPTURE URE

COVER: A family in northeastern Laos (photo by Anthony Isensee) *At times, photos are blurred and pseudonyms given to protect the safety of God’s workers and those they serve.

John Press Communications Director, ASAP Ministries GC2020

“All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children” (Isaiah 54:13, NKJV).

GIFT #2 – EQUIP A NEW SCHOOL FOR SYRIAN REFUGEES The Bishmizzine Adventist Learning Center in Lebanon offers six hours of tutoring per day to children in the first through seventh grades. While the school primarily serves Syrian refugees, it also helps underprivileged Lebanese children from one of the country’s poorest regions. Since the students’ families struggle to supply even their basic needs, it is only through the generosity of donors like you that they can receive a quality education in a Christian environment.

$75 per month ($900 per year) to provide drinking water $120 per month ($1,440 per year) to provide basic classroom supplies $1,000 to provide two field trips for the entire school

GIFT #3 – TRANSFORM KAREN SCHOOLS INTO CENTERS OF INFLUENCE

Education GIFT #1 – INTRODUCE A CHILD TO JESUS Sreyoun is a second-grader at the ASAP-supported Takong Adventist School in Cambodia. She lives with her grandparents, because her mother and father moved to Thailand to find work. She misses them terribly. Sreyoun plans to become “a good chef” when she grows up. Like other children her age, she loves to play and sing. Although her entire family is Buddhist, she especially enjoys learning to “sing God’s songs” at school. She has also started attending church every week because she likes the Bible stories she hears there. Her favorite is the story of Jesus, and Sreyoun thinks she might like to get baptized someday.

ASAP supports 19 schools on the Thai-Myanmar border, serving more than 2,200 Karen students displaced by the long-running battle between armed ethnic groups and government forces. But these schools provide more than education. They also serve as churches and community gardens, among other things. With your support, they can become centers of influence and hope for the war-weary Karen people.

$10 per Karen Bible (155 needed), Karen hymnal (155 needed), or garden tool (machetes, hoes, shovels, posthole diggers, etc.; 136 needed) $70 per month for a teacher’s stipend

When you sponsor students like Sreyoun, you make an immediate difference in their lives through education. But the true impact of your gift will only be known in eternity.

$30 per month ($360 per year) to sponsor Sreyoun* *Visit the sponsorship section of our online gift catalog to view more students in need of a sponsor.

“All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children” (Isaiah 54:13, NKJV).

$75 per month ($900 per year) to provide drinking water $120 per month ($1,440 per year) to provide basic classroom supplies $1,000 to provide two field trips for the entire school

GIFT #3 – TRANSFORM KAREN SCHOOLS INTO CENTERS OF INFLUENCE

$10 per Karen Bible (155 needed), Karen hymnal (155 needed), or garden tool (machetes, hoes, shovels, posthole diggers, etc.; 136 needed) $70 per month for a teacher’s stipend

When you sponsor students like Sreyoun, you make an immediate difference in their lives through education. But the true impact of your gift will only be known in eternity.

$30 per month ($360 per year) to sponsor Sreyoun* *Visit the sponsorship section of our online gift catalog to view more students in need of a sponsor.

GIFT #4 – FALL IN LOVE WITH THE CANAAN SCHOOL The Canaan School provides a haven for children of heroin-addicted parents in the Golden Triangle (the area where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet), the second largest opium-producing region in the world. Through the care and instruction of the dedicated teachers at this boarding school, many at-risk students experience the beauty of Jesus’ love for the first time. But the school has outgrown its current facilities. Some classes meet in the kitchen, dormitories, and even staff members’ homes due to lack of space. Fall in love with this beautiful missionary school as you pray for and support it in ways big and small!

$5 to provide a mosquito net for one student $11 to feed one student for a month $1,000 to support one teacher for a year $1,830 for a new welding vocational training program $8,000 for a new classroom building extension project

GIFT #6 – CHANGE LIVES BY SPONSORING A TEACHER Nhem Navan teaches third grade at the Chamroeun Phal Adventist School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Recently, she learned that one of her top students, a boy named Wanara, was leaving the school. After his father’s death, Wanara’s mother left him in the care of his grandmother, who decided to move to the countryside. Knowing how much Wanara needed the Christian love and instruction he received at the school, Nhem Navan rallied the staff to pray for the boy. Because of their intercession, Wanara’s grandmother allowed him to stay in school. When you sponsor a teacher at an ASAP school, you give students more than an education. You give them advocates whose faithful witness and prayers change their lives.

$160 per month ($1,920 per year) to sponsor Nhem Navan or another teacher in Cambodia* *Visit the sponsorship section of our online gift catalog to view more teachers in need of sponsors.

GIFT #5 – BRING EDUCATION & LIGHT TO A CONFLICT ZONE In the Kayin State in eastern Myanmar, families live in poverty and fear due to decades of ethnic violence. Reaching the remote villages in this conflict zone is a challenge, often requiring hours of travel by boat and by foot. But recently ASAP stepped out in faith to adopt 15 schools in this region. These schools are often the only source of education and the only Christian presence in this predominantly Buddhist area. Contact us to adopt a specific school or give a gift of any amount to support this project.

$2,400-$8,400 per school, depending on the number of students

$160 per month ($1,920 per year) to sponsor Nhem Navan or another teacher in Cambodia* *Visit the sponsorship section of our online gift catalog to view more teachers in need of sponsors.

$2,400-$8,400 per school, depending on the number of students

“‘… I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me’” (Acts 26:17b-18, NKJV).

GIFT #8 – SEND A YOUNG PERSON TO A YOUTH CONFERENCE For the first time in the history of Cambodia, the Adventist church is holding a nationwide youth convention! Many young people are interested in attending but cannot afford the full registration fees and travel expenses, despite fundraising and saving whatever money they can spare. Help bring these precious young people closer to God, and equip and empower them to serve Him by sending them to the GO 2020 Youth Conference!

$675 total to assist 150 young people

Evangelism

GIFT #9 – ENCOURAGE LABORERS IN DIFFICULT FIELDS

GIFT #7 – SEND AN ETHNIC MISSIONARY TO THE UNREACHED Myaing* was angry when her husband got baptized. They often argued about the idol she kept hidden under her pillow. One Sabbath, Myaing reluctantly accepted her husband’s invitation to attend church. But soon after she arrived, she began worrying about the bananas she’d left drying in the sun. What if it rains? What if animals take them?

Can you imagine the loneliness of ASAP missionaries laboring for God in countries where they are despised for their faith and considered traitors for leaving the religion of their culture to become Christians? Visiting discouraged church planters, medical missionaries, and teachers is one of the most important roles of ASAP field supervisors. Their counsel, nurture, and prayers strengthen these courageous missionaries to persevere and stay faithful to their calling.

$100 per trip (average) for travel expenses

“God will protect them,” ASAP missionary Deborah Chaw* assured her. Myaing decided to stay for the worship service, and when she arrived home, to her amazement, the bananas were safe. Soon after, she accepted Bible studies from Deborah, and recently, before her own baptism, Myaing disposed of her idol, replacing it with Jesus in her heart. The faithful prayers and support of a sponsor encourage ASAP missionaries like Deborah as they labor in difficult mission fields. Will you help them turn people from idols to belief in the true God?

$40-$160 per month, depending on job and location, to support an ethnic missionary* *Give a one-time gift to support ASAP missionaries, or consider becoming a monthly sponsor. Contact us or view our online gift catalog for more information.

$675 total to assist 150 young people

Evangelism

GIFT #9 – ENCOURAGE LABORERS IN DIFFICULT FIELDS

$100 per trip (average) for travel expenses

GIFT #10 – BREAK NEW GROUND THROUGH HEALTH EXPOS In Myanmar, ASAP missionaries often make initial contact with unreached villages through health expos. This strategy paves the way for evangelistic meetings, baptisms, and ultimately new church plants! The leadership team of the Central Myanmar Mission has prayerfully selected three health expo sites for the coming year. Help them them break new ground for the Gospel work!

$1,000 per health expo (covers medical equipment, supplies, food, and travel)

GIFT #11 – HELP CHURCH PLANTERS REACH CHINA… IN HOUSTON

GIFT #12 – BUILD A CHURCH IN ROVIENG Ping Sothy has worked as an ASAP church planter for nearly 15 years, building up four congregations in the Preah Vihear province of northeastern Cambodia. The group he serves in the Rovieng District has earnestly prayed for a new church building for many years. Their current church, a wooden house on stilts, is in poor condition, which hinders their outreach efforts. Cambodia Adventist Mission has pledged to provide 25% of the project cost, and the church members, though poor, plan to help in whatever ways they can. Will you add your support to their prayers and hard work to make the new church building a reality?

$28,350 to fund ASAP’s portion of the project cost (any amount appreciated)

Houston, Texas, is home to large and growing Chinese and Taiwanese populations; however, there is no Adventist pastor or Chinese-speaking congregation to reach out to them. A small but dedicated group of Adventist Mandarin-speakers, led by church planters William and Rachel, have begun meeting for church and reaching out to non-Adventist and non-Christian acquaintances and neighbors through friendship, English classes, health evangelism, and community service programs. Their small group is growing, and the new friends they have made are asking deep questions as they learn about the links between physical and spiritual well-being. Your gift will help this ministry continue to thrive!

$400 per month ($4,800 per year) for literature, health education supplies, and transportation $700 per month ($8,400 per year) for rent $2,000 per month ($24,000 per year) for the church planter’s stipend

$1,000 per health expo (covers medical equipment, supplies, food, and travel)

GIFT #11 – HELP CHURCH PLANTERS REACH CHINA… IN HOUSTON

$28,350 to fund ASAP’s portion of the project cost (any amount appreciated)

“For You have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat…” (Isaiah 25:4, NKJV).

GIFT #14 – PROVIDE CLEAN WATER FOR CAMBODIA In Cambodia, recent droughts reduced the Mekong River to its lowest levels on record and water sources that many rural villagers rely on ran dry. Approximately 1 out of every 5 Cambodians (roughly 3 million people) lacks access to a safe water supply (Water.org). This negatively impacts hygiene, contributes to the spread of disease, and causes children to miss school because they must travel long distances to get water for their families. Your donation will help members of four ASAP church plants build wells to provide clean water for their villages.

$500-$700 per well, depending on location

Humanitarian Aid GIFT #13 – LOOSEN POVERTY’S GRIP Ask 14-year-old Nita which Bible hero she would like to meet in heaven, and she answers, “Job, because he had strong faith in spite of many difficulties in his life.” Nita can relate. Her courageous smile conceals a history of abuse, poverty, and neglect. But when Nita was seven years old, her auntie took her in and enrolled her at the Chamroeun Phal Adventist School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where she learned about Jesus and developed a love for math.

GIFT #15 – GIVE HOPE WITH GOATS You can “teach a man to fish” with goats! Nearly one quarter of Laotians live on less than $2.00 per day (The World Bank). ASAP is partnering with church leaders to launch a new project to lift struggling church members out of poverty. Families will receive a pair of goats, training on how to breed and raise them, and materials to build a goat shelter. As their small businesses become selfsustaining, each family will give one pair of goats to expand the project to other families in their church and, eventually, in their community.

$125 per goat ($250 per pair) $50 per goat shelter $5,500 to fund the entire project

Nita hopes to become an accountant someday, but by the time she graduated from primary school her dream was all but dead. The law prevents students without birth certificates from attending secondary school, and Nita’s auntie could not afford the fee to obtain the needed document. But through an ASAP fund that provides help to families in need, Nita got her birth certificate just in time to enroll for the new school year! ASAP has established similar funds in each Southeast Asian country we serve. In addition to meeting needs like Nita’s, your donations loosen poverty’s grip by providing food and other basic necessities to families in times of crisis.

$50 suggested gift (any amount appreciated) 12

“For You have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat…” (Isaiah 25:4, NKJV).

$500-$700 per well, depending on location

$125 per goat ($250 per pair) $50 per goat shelter $5,500 to fund the entire project

$50 suggested gift (any amount appreciated) 12

GIFT #16 – SAVE LIVES WITH TOILETS Did you know that 4,500 people die every day due to poor sanitation and hygiene (The World Bank)? Inadequate waste removal systems are often to blame. A lack of toilet facilities also places women and girls at greater risk for sexual violence. ASAP donors recently funded a clean water system for one village in Laos. The project was so well received that the government asked church leaders to lead a follow-up project to provide toilet facilities and hygiene education for the villagers. Your gift to this project will help keep families healthy and safe while creating goodwill toward the Adventist church.

$105 per toilet (200 toilets needed) $21,000 to fund the entire project

GIFT #17 – HELP KIDS WASH THEIR HANDS Many of the sicknesses that animists attribute to evil spirits can be prevented through proper hygiene and health practices. On an upcoming mission trip, ASAP volunteers will build a handwashing station and clean-water drinking fountain for a school in Laos. Students will also receive instruction in Biblical health principles. Help us improve the lives of these students and their families while carefully building their confidence in the teachings of God’s Word!

$3,000 (Mission trip participants will fund the remaining costs)

GIFT #18 – EXTEND THE RIGHT ARM OF THE GOSPEL “Medical missionary work is to the cause of God as the right arm of the body” (Lt 55, 1891). When ASAP missionaries encounter resistance to the sharing of the Gospel, they often find an entrance through health evangelism. In these last days, ASAP believes that equipping our church planters, teachers, and youth evangelists with medical missionary skills is key to advancing God’s work throughout the 10/40 Window. Help 25 ASAP missionaries extend the right arm of the Gospel in their territories by sending them to our new medical missionary training center in Myanmar!

$180 per trainee $4,500 to train all 25 missionaries

$105 per toilet (200 toilets needed) $21,000 to fund the entire project

$3,000 (Mission trip participants will fund the remaining costs)

$180 per trainee $4,500 to train all 25 missionaries

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:35, NKJV).

Refugees & Persecuted People GIFT #19 – AID GOD’S WORK IN CLOSED COUNTRIES Liem* and Mai* had no need of God. Their lucrative jobs and connections to the Communist party afforded them privileged status in the closed country where they live. But then a stroke left Liem paralyzed. Despite his access to the best medical care in the country, his condition did not improve for three years. Desperate and exhausted from providing round-the-clock care for her husband, Mai resorted to visiting a shaman, but Liem remained paralyzed. When Aaron, an ASAP church planter, learned of the couple's situation, he visited and offered to pray with them, knowing full well that they might report him to the authorities. “My God is a mighty God,” he told them. “He can do wonderful things.” Having exhausted every other option, Liem and Mai accepted Aaron’s offer. As he continued to visit and pray with them, Liem’s condition improved. Once unable to move, he now walks with the aid of a cane. Better yet, he and Mai are eagerly studying the Bible with Aaron to learn about the God who is doing for them what money, doctors, and shamans could not.

them in your prayers and through your gifts to our GWIDOP (God’s Work in Dangerous, Oppressive Places) fund.

$100 suggested gift (any amount appreciated)* *Those who give $100+ monthly or $1,200+ per year receive the monthly Team GWIDOP report on ASAP’s work in closed countries.

GIFT #20 – BROADCAST TRUTH TO ERITREAN REFUGEES IN ETHIOPIA Orthodox Christian and Muslim Eritrean refugees living in Ethiopia desperately need to hear the everlasting Gospel. The Ethiopian Union Mission is stepping out in faith to establish a new television station to help reach them. Your gifts will purchase air time on this station for Dr. Bemnet Meried and Brother Anteneh to share messages of health and truth with their people.

$5,000 needed (any amount appreciated)

GIFT #21 – COMFORT A CHILD WITH A CUDDLY MEGAVOICE© Help frightened and at-risk children fall asleep hugging a stuffed animal equipped with a solar-powered audio player that plays peaceful songs and stories from the Word of God. We plan to put a MegaVoice© Wildlife Storyteller™ in the hands of every student in the 70+ schools that ASAP supports. God has already provided the funding for 1,000 of these special stuffed animals for our schools in Cambodia. Will you help provide 3,000 more for internally displaced and refugee students at our schools in Myanmar and Thailand?

$30 each (plus $5 each for shipping and port fees)

Every day, ASAP missionaries like Aaron risk fines, harassment, and imprisonment to boldly share their faith in closed countries. Please remember 16

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:35, NKJV).

them in your prayers and through your gifts to our GWIDOP (God’s Work in Dangerous, Oppressive Places) fund.

$100 suggested gift (any amount appreciated)* *Those who give $100+ monthly or $1,200+ per year receive the monthly Team GWIDOP report on ASAP’s work in closed countries.

$5,000 needed (any amount appreciated)

$30 each (plus $5 each for shipping and port fees)

Every day, ASAP missionaries like Aaron risk fines, harassment, and imprisonment to boldly share their faith in closed countries. Please remember 16

GIFT #24 – TEACH AFGHANI REFUGEE CHILDREN OF JESUS’ LOVE ASAP’s Reach the World Next Door (RWND) project in Houston, Texas, ministers to Muslim refugee families through its weekly Rise High programs. RWND and local Adventist church members visit refugee apartment complexes, teaching healthy habits and character-building values through Bible stories, object lessons, crafts, and other child-friendly activities. As friendships form, barriers fall and hearts open to the Gospel.

$150 per weekly program ($7,500 to fund Rise High programming for the year)

GIFT #25 – BUILD A CHURCH FOR DISPLACED KAREN ADVENTISTS

GIFT #22 – RESCUE A FAMILY IN DANGER The Churan* family is urgently seeking a way of escape due to intense persecution against Christians in their home country. Adventist Frontier Missions (AFM) will match the funds raised by ASAP donors to help relocate this Adventist family to a safe country where both the parents and their two daughters can attend school and prepare for future missionary service.

A large group of Karen Adventists displaced by a recent bombing have relocated to a new village. ASAP Bible worker Udom Veera* is ministering to these traumatized families, but they have nowhere to gather for worship. You can offer them stability and facilitate the healing process by providing funds for the construction of a new church building.

$4,000 (any amount appreciated)

$7,300 needed for ASAP’s share for the first of four years

GIFT #23 – PROVIDE PLACES OF WORSHIP IN A CLOSED COUNTRY Adventist believers in a closed country open their homes each Sabbath to function as churches. But many of these house churches need renovations in order to provide a suitable place to worship. Local church members will raise half the cost for the needed repairs. Let’s come alongside these brothers and sisters and honor their faithfulness by providing funds to rebuild the six house churches in greatest need of renovations.

$2,500 each ($15,000 total) for ASAP’s share of the project costs 18

$150 per weekly program ($7,500 to fund Rise High programming for the year)

GIFT #25 – BUILD A CHURCH FOR DISPLACED KAREN ADVENTISTS

$4,000 (any amount appreciated)

$7,300 needed for ASAP’s share for the first of four years

$2,500 each ($15,000 total) for ASAP’s share of the project costs 18

“Paul was a tentmaker, and he supported himself by working at his trade. While working thus, he spoke of the gospel to those with whom he came in contact and turned many souls from error to truth” (Ellen White, Lt 107, 1904).

Tentmaker Missionaries GIFT #26 – HELP CORNELIUS LAUNCH AS A TENTMAKER MISSIONARY Cornelius* grew up as an animist in a family of ten. He and his siblings felt sorry for their youngest brother, who was born with a crippled foot and had great difficulty walking, but no one knew how to help him.

program in Thailand. Now he is preparing to launch as a tentmaker missionary, farming in his home village while sowing Gospel seeds in the hope of planting a church there. Help Cornelius and his fellow graduates become self-supporting missionaries to the unreached.