7 July 2015 | San Antonio, Texas, USA [Katie Allen, tedNEWS] César García, General Secretary of the Mennonite World Conference, addressed Session attendees, on Tuesday, 7 July, encouraging them to continue bringing hope to people that are suffering and helping them to know Christ. He closed emphasising the theme for this year’s Session, ‘Arise! Shine! Jesus is coming!’
Dr Jairyong Lee, President of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD), was escorted on stage, immersed in a vibrant crowd of traditionally dressed members of his Division.
“There are 1.4 billion in China, 420,000 Adventists and 80 of them are here with us”, introduced Dr Lee. “Mission challenges are our mission opportunities, we are working together to spread the Gospel message until we fulfill the Gospel commission God has given us.”
Breath-taking time lapses from the Division’s countries began the NSD video report; highlighting how only 4% of the population are Christians. Many other traditional religions dominate the various cultures and are deeply rooted in the lives of people across the territory.
Mission is the top priority of the NSD with 12 missionaries, in 16 different countries, seeing 140,000 baptisms. These numbers, coupled with the results of the influence of the Chinese Hope TV, established in 2011, prove a great increase in those who have accepted Christ through the Division’s focus on mission.
The second report of the evening was from the South American Division (SAD), whose strategy of ‘Mission to the Extremes’ has yielded eye-opening results.
One story, of going to the extreme to save, followed a sergeant of the Argentinean army who went on a group assignment to Antarctica. His belief is that if he wants to talk about God, he has to learn about his surroundings. By doing this, he became friends with each person on his trip, sharing his beliefs throughout the mission.
A moving story focused on Ruth Tesch, known by prisoners as ‘Mother Ruth’, who has taken mission to the extremes by spending her time in a prison, ministering to the inmates. Over 2,000 people have left the prison transformed by the Gospel and many that remain have also accepted Christ. Among these is a man, sentenced to 76 years, who was baptised through Mother Ruth’s spiritual care.
Closing the presentation, SAD President, Erton Carlos Köhler, shared that they have a mission to plant an Adventist flag in every country in their Division as a reminder that God is coming back soon.
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tedNEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
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