"Thank you to those of you who support and help give hope and meaning to the world," said Rick McEdward, a missionary working in Sri Lanka. This was the message of a special program held today at the Seventh-day Adventist world church's official gathering
“Thank you to those of you who support and help give hope and meaning to the world,” said Rick McEdward, a missionary working in Sri Lanka. This was the message of a special program held today at the Seventh-day Adventist world church’s official gathering. Today was a day of rest and thanksgiving, and songs, video clips and live interviews with missionaries, including a live telephone interview. The Adventist Church has a soft spot for mission.
Over the years church members have faithfully given money that supports the world church’s primary mission of sharing the Gospel with those who have never heard it. Some people, inspired by videos, pictures and stories sent by missionaries surviving on very little pay, living among people of another country and culture, send money to keep the work going.
Over the years the face of mission has changed in the Adventist Church. Missionaries are no longer majority white, North American men braving third world conditions. Today the church encourages each member to participate in mission in any way possible, and because of that, missionaries are young and old, come in every shade of the rainbow, and travel from anywhere to anywhere. The entire globe is a mission field.
The afternoon program, organized by the Office of Mission Awareness and Global Mission departments of the world church, featured missionaries from, among other places, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Chad, the Solomon Islands and India. Their stories told of their faith and commitment despite challenges.
Dr. James Appel and his wife Sarah, a nurse, work at a remote hospital in Chad.
“I wanted to go to a place where no one else wanted to go,” said Dr. Appel. “I wanted to fill a need there that no one else wanted to fill.”
Appel is fulfilling a six-year commitment in one of the world’s poorest countries.
“Most of the things I do were not included in my nurse’s training,” said Mrs. Appel. “I’ve had to deliver babies by myself, give anesthesia, do sutures, revive babies, and do health education. We’ve been in many hopeless situations that make me long even more for heaven, make me see that suffering was not a part of God’s plan.”
While missionary life can be extremely difficult, today some shared stories of heart-rending tragedies. Some have spent years in prison for their faith.
Lance Gerbasch, his wife Jean and daughters, Anita and Louise were living in New Castle Australia when the family decided to go to the Solomon Islands for mission work. Lance worked as a business manager at Atoifi Adventist Hospital. He was beheaded while there.
Twenty-year-old Justin McNeilus and his 18-year-old sister Christina led a major evangelism outreach in Cambodia last Christmas. They believe that the Adventist Church has too powerful of a message not to share.
“With all the people in the world, God chose me, a shy young person ... with no formal training,” said Justin.
“Each night we preached we got to know those who came to the meetings better,” said Christina. “To see the transformation is amazing. I knew it wasn’t anything I did. It was God.” Christina says they plan to return to Cambodia this Christmas.
Their efforts in the Buddhist country,torn apart by years of civil war and the Pol Pot genocidal regime, led to hundreds of baptisms.
“The Adventist Church is in great hands with people like Justin and Christina,” said Mark Finley, director of Global Evangelism for the Adventist world church. He also spoke about the Elijah project, which has more than 60,000 young people, ages15 to 30, leading evangelism meetings around the world. Already due to these efforts 20,000 people have been baptized into the church.
The Adventist Church struggles daily in the country of Sri Lanka, which is 70 percent Buddhist and 15 percent Hindu. W. D. Anthony, president of the 3,500 member church in Sri Lanka, told ANN that opposition from Buddhists in that country is very strong.
“Some who distribute literature are handed over to police and are sometimes beaten,” he said. In spite of such challenges, 200 people joined the church in Sri Lanka last year.
Jan Paulsen, president of the world church, said his early experiences as a missionary has shaped his life. At 26, he and his wife went to Africa to do missionary work. “I felt like it opened a door to a huge new world never seen before—not just geographically or culturally or to different languages—but to the real mission of the church. The experience has remained with me ever since,,” he said in an interview with Adventist News Network after the program. “The church is alive when it is engaged in mission.”
Church members support more than 1,000 Adventist missionaries worldwide, said Pastor Matthew Bediako, world church secretary.
“Thank all those of you for your years of support for mission support,” said Robert Lemon, treasurer for the world church. “Over the years we have received around $50 million each year. That offering reaches every country of the world, even those with no officially organized church.”
Benjamin Banaag, from Simi Valley, California said it’s about time the church reach out to all corners of the world. For the past 19 years he and his wife have worked on a project called “Partnership in Evangelism” in the Philippines.
“Every year we send three Americans to hold evangelism meetings. There have been 78,000 have been baptized since we started,” said Banaag.
Paulo Jose Peixoto from Portugal said the program was inspirational. “This is the kind of work we try to do locally. With this kind of vision, it is very, very important to share news like this with members in my country.”