Come find out HOW our church’s publishing work started, WHAT we are doing now, and WHY it will continue to the very end. EGW R.E. Publishing Ministries: “From this small beginning it was shown to me to be like streams of light that went clear round the world.”

GYC 2016: When All Has Been Heard

<p>Come find out HOW our church’s publishing work started, WHAT we are doing now, and WHY it will continue to the very end. EGW R.E. Publishing Ministries: “From this small beginning it was shown to me to be like streams of light that went clear round the world.”</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

Mission Possible!

Kamil Metz

1. Introduction into Literature Ministry

This message was presented at the GYC 2016 conference, When All Has Been Heard, in Houston, Texas.

For other resources like this, visit us online at www.gycweb.org.

Father in heaven, we want to thank you for bringing us together to look at the past, how we have led us in the past with the publishing work and what you are doing through our young people and through faithful members today and thank you that will be reminded also what's in store for us in the future.

We just pray for your presence, we pray for the Holy Spirit to be our teacher this morning and we pray for in Jesus name, Amen.

So you just watched a video of our young people working for God.

It's very inspiring to see what young people are doing for God today.

But you know, we are building up on something that was set in the past, the foundation that was set in the past.

And if you go back to the proclamation of the message, you really have to start with William Miller.

He was a farmer that God called to preach.

And there's something about God calling people from business world into the ministry they always add something special to it and so William Miller really didn't want to preach but finally in 1831 he responded to the call and began to preach.

The problem was that he was getting too many invitations, too many people wanting him to come and preach.

And he says I have to deal with this problem.

And the way he would deal with this problem was that he would publish his sermons.

He would print those sermons thinking if I can only print those sermons, I will have less invitations Well, that was not the case in fact Many more people want him to preach now And so he learned that when you combine the preaching of the ministry with the printed word you can actually do so much more for the Lord.

He was a man who had a gift in marketing and he was an organizer.

And when he listened to William Miller, he says, man, you got a great message.

You got to be going to bigger halls and preach before bigger crowds.

Himes, he made many contributions but 1 of them was the printing aspect of the ministry.

And he's the 1 who actually started the signs of the times magazine.

Now within 4 years the Advent message was proclaimed in different cities and different cities would have different magazines like the Midnight Cry, the Glad Tidings, the Advent Chronicles, the Jubilee Trumpet, the Philadelphia Alarm, the Voice of Elijah, the Southern Midnight Cry, the Western Midnight Cry, the True Midnight Cry, and many others.

Before the great disappointment of October 22, 1844, 8000000 copies of Adventist literature found the people and spread the word.

There were around 20 million people living in the United States at the time and they were in those 4 years they distributed 8000000 pieces of literature.

Now after the great disappointment, this was now a year later, 1845, the Sabbath message was introduced in a major way.

There was a man by the name Thomas Preble and he wrote a tract and this was the title of the tract.

Tract showing that the seventh day should be observed as a Sabbath instead of the first day according to the commandment.

It's almost like half of the tract you know the title was pretty long.

Well there were a couple young men 1 of them was John and Andrews and the second 1 was Marian Stowell.

Now they lived together you see at that time the people believed that Jesus was coming soon and so they would sell their properties they would sell their homes to their farms and now the Stowell family had nowhere to live and so the Andrews family embraced them and they stayed with them And these 2 young men got hold of that tract by Preble.

And the whole, both families began to observe the Sabbath.

Another man that got a hold of the same tract was Joseph Bates.

I'm here, you've heard of Captain Joseph Bates, right?

He read the Sabbath tract as well He didn't believe in the Sabbath till then but when he read it He got really excited and so that day he traveled to see Frederick Wheeler He knew this man believed in the Sabbath message.

So he traveled to his home he arrived around 10 o'clock in the evening knocked on his door and of course they're like who is at the door but you know people back then were very hospitable and it was not uncommon for people to knock on people's doors and spend the night with them and he says you know I need to talk to you about the Sabbath and the whole night they had a Bible study and they studied the Sabbath message when Joseph Bates was coming home he was welcomed by his neighbor who actually was a fellow believer but didn't believe in the Sabbath and he says what's the news Captain Bates?

He says the news is that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord our God.

The Adventists had a model to follow in sharing the message through preaching and publishing.

That was something that was established by the Millerites and when we have moved on with the movement, we have adapted that concept.

She says, our publishing work was established by the direction of God and under his special supervision it was designed to accomplish a specific purpose that's very comforting to know that this work The publishing work was established under the direction of God.

Now when I read it was designed for a specific purpose, I want to know what that is.

Because if we are involved in the publishing work, we want to make sure that we're doing the right work right?

This is what she says she says the publications sent forth from our printing houses are to prepare people to meet God.

That is the purpose of our publishing work to prepare the world to meet God.

And then she says, throughout the world, they are to do the same work that was done by John the Baptist for the Jewish nation.

John the Baptist had an important role to play in preparing the world to meet Jesus when he came the first time and she Ellen White says before Jesus comes a second time the publications will play that role so Joseph Bates believed now in the message only a year later he produced a 46 page booklet.

That meant that man was studying the Sabbath message and this was the title of that booklet.

The Seventh Day Sabbath a perpetual sign from the beginning to the entering into the gates of the Holy City according to the commandment.

I'll tell you what the inside is pretty deep too.

Now James and Ellen White read that tract.

They were just married and they read the tract and they believed in the Sabbath message as well.

It was only 2 years later when Sister White had a vision.

It was a vision about the publishing work and she says, she says, at a meeting held in Dorchester, Massachusetts in November 1848.

They were meeting there, it was called the Sabbath Conference.

They would meet to discuss the Sabbath message.

And they had the conferences in different times of the year.

And so this was in November, and she says, I had been given a view of the proclamation of the sealing message and Of the duty of the brethren to publish the light that was shining upon our pathway So she says the sealing message must be published.

Then she says, After coming out of vision, I said to my husband, You must begin to print a little paper and send it out to the people.

Let it be small at first, but as the people read, they will send you means with which to print, and it will be a success from the first." And that's exactly what happened.

They began to print a little paper, they would send it out and people would begin to send money and she was able to print more and more and more books.

But then she gives a beautiful promise to the future she says, from this small beginning it was shown to me to be like streams of light that would clear around the world.

She says it will start small but it's going to end big.

You know I can just imagine the pioneers starting the publishing work and they would pass the baton of somebody else, the torch of light passing on to another generation and another generation.

If I could only see with the eyes of faith, seeing the pioneers looking at us today.

And we're holding the torch and they're just cheering us on.

It started small, but it will be big at the end.

And so a year later you know it's it's really funny she kind of shows the nature of husbands a little bit.

In 1848 she had that vision she tells her husband James we must begin to print the paper.

And of course he wrestles with this, they have no money.

There's around 100 believers, 100 church members.

There's not many people and he wrestles with it.

Finally he's in a meeting with some other brethren.

And they say, oh we must begin to print the paper.

And he comes home and says, Eleanor, we must begin to print a paper.

And I can just imagine, I don't know if she would do that, but you know, well I told you so.

And Here's a description from Sister White of what was happening.

They printed those papers, they would fold them and they would kneel down.

She says, the precious printed sheets were brought into the house and laid on the floor and then a little group of interested ones were gathered in and we knelt around the papers I just love the spirit there and then she says and with humble hearts and many tears we saw the Lord to let his blessing rest upon these printed messengers of truth only God can give us the passion for souls like our pioneers had.

You know, it was like John Knox, the great reformer of Scotland, he says, Lord give me Scotland or I die.

You know, when he prayed for the country of Scotland, he says, Lord, give me Scotland or there's no reason to live.

And these are pioneers with tears in their eyes, just prayed for those piece of literature.

You know, as we hand out books, as we hand out tracts, why not pray for the books?

I remember I was coming here to GYC and I had to get gas and I picked up my family at the hotel and we left some literature in the hotel and we said let's just pray for the literature.

Let's just pray that it will reach the right people.

And here is a picture of James White walking 8 miles to Middletown to carry the liturgy to be sent off.

Shawn Craig

2. Introduction into Health Ministry

I'm going to step away from this because I have 2 mics going.

I'm not trying to interfere with the camera either.

My name is Sean Craig, and I'm really happy to be here, a part of the Mission Possible seminar.

But specifically, I'm really excited to be here presenting to you an introduction to health ministry.

My background, I've worked with missionary groups and specifically with a group, Wildwood, as well as Lighting the World, a lay institute for global health training.

For the past 8 or so odd years, doing health evangelism, We traveled to different countries and taught different groups and we raised up different health evangelism training schools and we'll talk about that maybe a little bit more in detail a little later.

But today I'm really excited because health evangelism, Health ministry is really exciting.

When you think of health ministries, what do you think of?

This is the only way this kind of thing will work.

And I'm actually not gonna be up here for very long.

I'm just getting the preliminary stuff out of the way and then we're going to, I'm going to get in there.

So when you think of health ministries, what do you think of?

Chip, okay, I thought you said Chipotle for a second.

I was like, no, he couldn't have said that.

Okay, you said the chip program, lovely program, great program, what else?

What I want to do today, I want to maybe take a step back.

I think a lot of times when we look at health ministries, health evangelism, We kind of have a, and all the answers you gave were great, but we kind of have a boxed approach to looking at it.

And what I want to do, I want to kind of take a step back, make some big definitions and kind of blow up the box and see what else we can put in, well, not a box, but you know what I'm saying.

Let's start with a word of prayer and let's jump right into the subject.

Eternal Father, we wanna say thank you for giving us another day of life.

Lord, for your grace, your mercy, that you continually bestow upon us.

And Father, we're here today because we want to learn from You, not from a person, not from a man, not even from my experience, but Lord, from You.

We're asking that Your Spirit would do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we can ask or think.

Now being that this is the Mission Possible, I love the name, it's really, really catchy.

Being that this is the Mission Possible, I love the name, it's really catchy, being that this is the Mission Possible seminar, I thought I would, before I jump into health evangelism, go into a quote or 2 with reference to, well, Mission Possible.

This is from Evangelism, page 122, and it says this.

Let every worker in the master's vineyard study, plan, devise methods to reach the people where they are.

We must do something, what does that say?

We must do something out of the common course of things.

In the cities of today, now mind you, what does it say at the bottom of the screen?

That was written, does anyone, any super Adventists here know the answer?

It was written way, like 100 some odd years ago.

It says in the cities of today where there is so much to attract and please, this is before the iPhone, this is before you can fill in the blank social media, Instagram, Snapchat, wherever you want to use today.

In the cities of today where there is so much to attract and please, the people can be interested by no ordinary efforts." What did she have back then that was so exciting?

Look at what she says, "...Ministers of God's appointment will find it necessary to put forth extraordinary efforts in order to arrest the attention of the multitudes.

This is really significant because, well, this is what we're doing in these sessions.

We're talking about different avenues of ministering to God's people, not just your traditional route.

I want to show you something interesting.

Now, who brought a pencil or something to write with?

If you can take these 9 dots and connect them.

You can only draw 4 lines and you cannot lift up your pen.

Now this is where the camera people are going to be upset with me.

I'm going to move away from the camera, but you can still hear me, right?

So you have to figure out, if you start here, you gotta, I don't know, figure out how to draw your box with covering every single line with only 4 lines.

That may be sound a little funny, that sounded funny to me, let me try it again.

You need to draw, Just cover every dot in the box with 4 lines without lifting up your pen.

Naomi Jackson

3. Introduction into Outpost Ministry

My name is Naomi Jackson, and I'm just going to be sharing a little bit about Outpost ministry, just really broad what that is, my personal experience with that, some stories and what some of those opportunities are out there.

So before we get started I just want to invite you to have a word of prayer.

Heavenly Father, we are so privileged to be here in Houston for GYC.

We thank you for the opportunity to be worshipping together, to be learning new things, meeting new people, and also just taking a closer look at our own lives and how you would have us to get involved in your work.

I want to ask that you would be with us during this hour.

I ask for your presence, for your spirit that you'd give the words and bring to mind the experiences that may need to be shared for someone here in particular.

Thank you so much for being with us and for allowing us to work alongside you in Jesus name, amen.

When you think of missionaries, like when I say that word, the first thing that comes to your mind, what do you think of?

Just tell me the first word that comes to mind.

What type of occupations does the typical missionary have in your mind?

More specifically, what sort of occupations do we think of?

What sort of work do we think of maybe when we hear the word missionary?

Oh, that's, if they're a missionary, they're probably this, this, or this.

Well, yeah, for me When I first was thinking about what it is to be a missionary, some of the things that you mentioned are exactly what came to mind.

And some of what you mentioned were completely foreign to me.

So I thought of a pastor or a Bible worker, somebody who is specifically out there to do evangelism, to preach the gospel.

You know, you hear of the teachers that go overseas to teach people English or they're working in a school, in a village or something like that.

And I also thought of the medical professionals, the doctors and the nurses, the physician's assistants.

So, the question then becomes, what do you do if you're not any of those things?

Could I ask if there are there any pastors here or Bible workers here?

I don't know if any of you have asked yourselves that question, like, what do I do if I'm not a pastor, I'm not a Bible worker, I'm not a teacher, I'm not a medical professional.

I know some people, I know that when I'm just here to work, I can go to churches and stuff.

Well, in my case, you know, I really wrestled with that.

How am I supposed to be a missionary if I'm not any of those things?

That's what I studied, that's what I graduated with, but I really have not seen like this major demand for singers out there in the jungle.

And so I kind of had to reckon with that.

Though I will share that I was actually mistaken, but that was my background.

And so I was really asking myself this question.

And I was interested in missions from, you know, my teenage years, but wasn't really sure how to answer that question for myself once I got to college and started studying music.

And, you know, I happened to go as a student missionary to an Adventist school in Austria.

I was assistant deaning there at my Adventist university, and maybe any of you here that have gone to Adventist universities, you've heard this said as well, that we should give 1 year for the Lord.

We should like dedicate a year to the Lord.

And so I went off to Austria, you know it's kind of funny because we would have these mission classes in preparation for all the student missionaries.

And they'd say, you know, you're gonna get that package with toilet paper And you know that those big francs and you know those products that you so needed that you thought you'd never get.

But being there, I realized that's when like the training began to really kick in that, you know, we say we should dedicate 1 year of our lives.

But really, that's just like the kickstart.

Like really, our whole lives are supposed to be dedicated.

I, after my time in Austria, went to, started nannying in Germany for a non-Christian family.

And that was my first time outside of the Adventist world, you could say.

I mean, I grew up in an Adventist Christian home.

I went to Adventist schools all throughout my life.

And now I'm taking care of 4 children in Germany, and they're not even Christian.

How was I even supposed to share my faith with them?

I remember, unfortunately, when I got there, I don't know why it didn't dawn on me that maybe I should mention to them that I'm vegetarian, which for a bread and meat eating people and potatoes, that's critical.

Just that whole shift in my thinking, I'm praying over my meal and the children are asking, what's she doing, why are her eyes closed, what's going on?

You know, like try and concentrate on the prayer, pray a blessing over this jam, you know, whatever.

And I realized I needed to learn how to really share my faith, how to relate to people that were not of the same faith.

I mean, it was a blessing to be in that community, in the Adventist community, but how was I supposed to come outside of that?

And it was from that experience working in that non-Christian home for 10 months that I decided to go to a mission school in Norway under the Heartgood Foundation.

It's the name of the foundation that still exists.

You can look online, the Heartgood Foundation.

And I decided, you know, I want to train to become a missionary.

I want to learn how to share what I believe and learn how to work with people.

And this was my second experience in an outpost ministry.

The first experience, I was 12 and didn't even realize what was going on.

So I'm now college age in Norway, and I'm saying, OK, so we have this mission school here, and we're all here for like 9 months of our lives.

And we're learning how to give Bible studies, and learning how to give a massage, and learning how to do hydrotherapy, and all these things, and working in the garden.

And I'm trying to figure out how to plant cucumbers and tomatoes and this is so foreign.

I'm from the city and you know, then you go walk down the street a little bit and at the church building they also have the bakery and the health food store and you know, that's great and take the take an hour trip and you're in the mountains with their lifestyle center and all these things.

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Series

Mission Possible!

1. Introduction into Literature Ministry

Transcript

Description

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Parts

1. Introduction into Literature Ministry

56m

2. Introduction into Health Ministry

1h

3. Introduction into Outpost Ministry

57m

4. Introduction into Global Mission/How to be a Missionary

59m

5. Introduction into Public Campus Ministry

1h 11m

6. Introduction into Wealthy, Worldly, and Well-educated Ministry

1h

Sound Doctrine