Mission - AdventistMission.org - 2018 QUARTER 4 SOUTHERN ASIA-PACIFIC DIVISION
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Mission
YOUTH & ADULT
2018 • QUARTER 4 • SOUTHERN ASIA-PACIFIC DIVISION
AdventistMission.org
Contents
O n the Cover: Saengsurin “Ann” Phongchan is principal of the Adventist International
Mission School-Korat, a 13th Sabbath project in Thailand. Stories, pages 26-30.
MYANMAR 18 Life-Changing Garbage | Nov. 24
4 Knowing the Right People | Oct. 6 20 Poisoned by a Mother | Dec. 1
6 Water of Life | Oct. 13
EAST TIMOR
CAMBODIA 22 Baffling Bible | Dec. 8
8 Floating Hand | Oct. 20
10 Experiment in Church | Oct. 27 THAILAND
24 Living by Faith | Dec. 15
PHILIPPINES
26 Praying for Missing Sister | Dec. 22
12 Flying for God | Nov. 3
28 Thirteenth Sabbath: Temper Trouble | Dec. 29
INDONESIA 30 Future Thirteenth Sabbath Projects
14 Preaching Physicians | Nov. 10 31 Leader’s Resources
16 Healing Lime | Nov. 17 32 Map
= stories of special interest to teens
Yo u r O f f e r i n g s a t W o r k
Three years ago, part of the Thirteenth Sabbath
Offering helped open Timor-Leste Adventist
International School in East Timor’s capital, Dili.
Read a story from East Timor on page 22.
Adventist Mission Southern Asia-Pacific Division
© 2018 General Conference of
Seventh-day Adventists ® • All rights reserved
12501 Old Columbia Pike,
Silver Spring, MD 20904-6601
1-800-648-5824 • AdventistMission.org
2
D e a r S a b b a t h S c h o o l L e a d e r, Andrew McChesney
Editor
This quarter we feature the Southern In this Mission quarterly,
Asia-Pacific Division, which oversees we are highlighting two
the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s centers of influence in
work in 14 countries: Bangladesh, Brunei the Southern Asia-Pacific Division:
Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Adventist International Mission School
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, – Korat in the Thai city of Nakhon
Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, East Ratchasima, and the Essential Life
Timor, and Vietnam, as well as Pakistan. Center in Battambang, Cambodia.
The region is home to 1 billion people, You also will meet a business owner
including 1.4 million Adventists. That’s a winning souls in East Timor and a pilot
ratio of one Adventist for 707 people. who flew helicopters for the U.S. military
This quarter’s seven Thirteenth until he felt convicted to keep the
Sabbath projects primarily represent Sabbath — and now he flies for God in
“centers of influence,” places used by the Philippines. You won’t want to miss
Seventh-day Adventist church members stories about a floating hand in Cambodia
to connect with the local community. A and a healing lime in Indonesia.
center of influence can be a bookstore, a
vegetarian restaurant, or a reading room. Special Features
If you want to make your Sabbath
School class come alive this quarter, visit
our Facebook page at the link: facebook.
Opportunities com/missionquarterlies. Every week,
we post additional photos, videos, and
The Thirteenth Sabbath Offering
activities to go with the mission stories.
this quarter will build or expand:
You could show the photos on your
Better Living health center, computer or mobile device while you read
Lahore, Pakistan the mission story, or you could print the
Adventist International Mission School, photos to decorate your Sabbath School
Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand room or church bulletin board.
Essential Life Center, This quarterly contains just a sample
Battambang, Cambodia of the latest mission stories from the
Namthipsavan Language School, Laos Southern Asia-Pacific Division. For more
stories, visit bit.ly/ssd-archive. At this
Youth outreach centers,
link, you can also search for stories by
Peninsular Malaysia
country and theme.
Literacy training center, Lake If you have found especially effective
AdventistMission.org
Sebu, Philippines
ways to share mission stories, please let me
Children’s project: Eleven children’s know at mcchesneya@gc.adventist.org.
Sabbath School classrooms,
Sarawak, Malaysia
Thank you for encouraging others to be
mission-minded!
3
Knowing the Right People
MYANMAR | October 6
Samuel Saw
the Adventist world church, recognized
the need for the new school building
and approved a request from the
Southern Asia-Pacific Division, whose
C onnections are essential in Myanmar. territory includes Myanmar, to allocate
It’s not who you are or what you part of a 2012 Thirteenth Sabbath
have. It’s who you know that counts in Offering for its construction.
this Southeast Asian country. The money was collected, but local
But connections didn’t seem to be church leaders still couldn’t find the right
working for local Seventh-day Adventist connections in the city government to
leaders who needed authorization to build approve the project. Three years passed.
a larger school in Myanmar’s capital, Then new church leadership was
Yangon. Enrollment had reached 650 chosen during regular elections. The
children in two small buildings used since new leaders didn’t have any connections
1975, and teachers had no choice but to in the city government, and they threw
turn away new students. up their hands in dismay. The situation
Adventist Mission Southern Asia-Pacific Division
Church leaders approached Yangon city seemed impossible.
authorities for permission to construct a Samuel Saw, president of the
brand-new building, but no one seemed Southern Asia-Pacific Division and a
to want to sign off on the paperwork. Myanmar native, gently reproached the
The leaders reached out to their personal church leaders.
acquaintances in the city government for “Yes, you don’t have the connections
help, but again nothing happened. and don’t know the right people,” he said.
In the United States, the General “But we have God. If we ask Him, He will
Conference, the administrative body of get us through.”
4
keep Jesus at the heart of education and
Stor y Tip described the school was an important
M YA N MA R
“center of influence” in Yangon, a bustling
Find photos for this story at the link: city of 5 million people.
bit.ly/fb-mq
School treasurer Wesley Doe expressed
gratitude to church members for giving to
Mission Post the school on the Thirteenth Sabbath of
Myanmar has 233 churches and second quarter 2012.
30,920 members. With a population of The Thirteenth Sabbath Offering
52,414,000, that’s one member for every provided $300,000 toward the building’s cost
1,695 people.
of $1.3 million. Another $425,000 came
Myanmar has two seminaries for training from private donors and a land sale in the
pastors, a publishing house, and a Voice Myanmar Union Mission, while $400,000
of Prophecy correspondence school.
came from the General Conference’s
unusual opportunities fund and $200,000
He suggested that the leaders pray and came from the Southern Asia-Pacific
file a new request for a city building permit. Division. ADRA gave $50,000.
The leaders prayed and went to the The school aims to be a beacon of light
city office, where a woman greeted them to the community, said principal Saw Lay
at the front desk. Her face lit up when Wah. The new building will accommodate
she heard that they represented Yangon 800 children, and even more students can
Adventist Seminary, as the grade 1-12 attend if the older buildings continue to
school is known. be used, he said. The school currently has
“You’re from that school!” she 648 students, 28 percent of whom come
exclaimed. “I studied at that school. I like from Adventist homes.
their values and their education so much Samuel Saw, the division president,
that two of my children are studying there who attended the ceremony, called the
right now.” construction of the school building an
Learning about the school construction absolute miracle.
plans, she immediately declared that “We may not have connections with
she would make sure that all necessary the authorities, but we have the most
documents were approved. important connection of all—with God,”
he said.
“I will help you,” she said. “I will work
“Ellen White says, ‘God will do
for you.”
the work if we will furnish Him the
And she did. In a short time,
instruments,’” he said, citing a passage
construction started on the school building.
from the book “Testimonies for the
The new, six-story school building was
Church Vol. 9,” p. 107. “When we trust
dedicated to God at a 2017 ceremony
in Him, have faith in Him, and seek Him,
AdventistMission.org
attended by Adventist world church He will guide us through. God is always
president Ted N.C. Wilson and dozens of here because this is His work.”
teachers, students, and church leaders.
Wilson urged the teachers to always By Andrew McChesney
5MYANMAR | October 13
Water
of Life
Tr a n q u i Ve r g a r a , 4 4
T his is the story of how a small act
of kindness paved the way for the
opening of a Seventh-day Adventist
nearest source of water was a reservoir
located 1 mile (1 kilometer) away, and
the villagers walked back and forth
school in a hostile village in Myanmar. with buckets.
A group of 32 student missionaries The student missionary, Janiz Shuk
arrived on the Thailand-Myanmar Ching Li, felt compassion for the families.
border for a one-week visit in January “She really pitied them, and her
2016. The young people—from Hong heart was touched by their condition,”
Kong Adventist College and the Korean Tranqui said.
Advanced Preparatory Academy in When Janiz returned to the refugee
South Korea—came to teach music to camp at the border, she told the other
schoolchildren, install a cement floor in a student missionaries about what she had
kindergarten, and find other ways to help seen. The students decided to donate
Myanmar refugees at the border. 50,000 baht (about U.S.$1,500) to lay a
At the beginning of the one-week water pipeline from the reservoir to the
visit, a student missionary from Hong village. The money was what remained
Adventist Mission Southern Asia-Pacific Division
Kong joined two missionaries from from funds that the students had raised for
Thailand and their photographer the mission trip through bake sales and
for a one-hour motorcycle trek into other fundraisers.
Myanmar. The four people wanted to The students were back home in Hong
access the needs of a small village of 14 Kong and South Korea when work finished
families, said Tranqui, one of the Thai on the water pipeline a month later.
missionaries who went on the trip. Tranqui e-mailed photos of the pipeline to
At the village, the visitors witnessed the delighted students.
a daily struggle for drinking water. The But the pipeline ended up providing
6more than water. It opened the way for
the village children to receive the Water Stor y Tips
M YA N MA R
of Life, Tranqui said.
“The villagers weren’t Christians, and Pronounce Tranqui as: chran-KEE
they didn’t want anything to do with Find photos for this story at the link:
Christianity,” Tranqui said. “But when bit.ly/fb-mq
they saw this simple act of kindness by
Christians, they wanted a school for Fa s t Fa c t s
their children.”
Myanmar was known as Burma until
At the invitation of the villagers, 1989, when the military junta renamed
the Seventh-day Adventist Church the country Myanmar. The capital,
opened a school in the village in Rangoon, became Yangon.
June 2016. The school now has 40 Both men and women in Myanmar
students—every school-age child use a yellow paste from the bark of the
in the village attends, as do several Thanakha tree as a cosmetic. Applied to
children from neighboring villages. the face, it is an effective sunscreen that
also tightens the skin and prevents oiliness.
“Now this village is so happy,” Tranqui
said. “They have a water system and an A typical meal in Myanmar includes
Adventist school through the kindness of steamed rice, fish, meat, vegetables, and
soup served at the same time. Locals use
those students.” their fingertips to mold rice into a small
ball and then mix it with various dishes.
Tranqui, 44, does regular mission
The traditional Burmese dress is the
work on the Thailand-Myanmar border.
longyi, a wraparound skirt worn by men
He also is the physical education and and women. Men tie theirs in the front
art teacher at Adventist International and women fold the cloth over and
Mission School – Korat, a K-9 school in secure it at the side.
Thailand that will receive part of this The Intha people on Inle Lake grow
quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering. vegetables on floating islands, which are
Thank you for your mission offering. a collection of floating weeds and water
hyacinth. These floating garden islands
By Andrew McChesney can be cut, rearranged, and moved by
boats and even sold like a piece of land.
The Water Festival of Myanmar (also
known as Thingyan) is a four-day water
fight that takes place throughout the
country to celebrate New Year. Thingyan
is the country’s biggest event and is
a popular festival for both locals and
tourists alike.
The mountains in Myanmar are home
AdventistMission.org
to many precious stones. Around 90
percent of the world’s rubies come
from Myanmar. Sapphires and jade
A villager using a faucet at the end of the are also abundant.
new water pipeline.
7CAMBODIA | October 20
Floating
Hand
Sorn Som An, 40
Sorn Som An, an only child raised
by a single mother on a farm in
Phnom Penh to inform Adventist leaders
about their decision.
Cambodia, started attending church The 30 church members were later
because he hoped to win over a girl. baptized. Som An also was baptized, but
But it took more than a girl for him to he didn’t really believe in God.
break free from family religious tradition. “I was born into a non-Christian family,
It took the vision of a floating hand. and change didn’t come easily,” he said.
As a teen, Som An followed his After his baptism, he moved to Phnom
girlfriend to her church every Sunday in Penh to study at a university. With little
their hometown of Doun Kaev, located money of his own, he asked church
about 45 miles (70 kilometers) south of leaders for help. He was given the keys to
Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. a small one-room house, where he could
“I was not interested in the good news,” live rent-free.
he said. “I was interested in a good girl.” Som An fell terribly ill during his
Adventist Mission Southern Asia-Pacific Division
One Sunday, a Seventh-day Adventist second year of studies. His body burned
gospel worker spoke to the congregation hot, and he could barely move on his bed.
at the invitation of one of the church’s He thought he was going to die. Then
30 members. The Adventist’s message he remembered hearing that Jesus was a
intrigued the members, and they invited powerful God. He thought, “Why don’t I
him to speak again the next week. After try to pray and ask God for help?”
the third sermon, the church members He tried to get out of bed to kneel,
unanimously agreed to become Adventist, but he collapsed back on the mattress.
and they asked Som An to travel to He tried again to get up, but failed.
8Mustering all his strength, he finally
managed to push himself onto his knees Stor y Tips
on the third attempt.
Pronounce Som An as: sohm ANN
Closing his eyes, he said, “Dear Lord,
would you please help me?” Watch Som An at the link:
As he began to speak, he saw a spark of bit.ly/Sorn-Som-An
light emerge from his forehead, burn brightly Find photos for this story at the link:
C A M B O D I A
for a few seconds, and vanish. Startled, he bit.ly/fb-mq
thought, “This is the power of God!”
But he didn’t pause his prayer. “I heard Mission Post
that you are a powerful God,” he said. “In Cambodia Mission has six churches
the Bible, you healed many people. I hope and a membership of 6,719; with a
that you can help me and heal me. Thank population of 15,797,000, that’s one
you for everything that you helped me member for every 2,351 Cambodians.
with. Amen.” The first Seventh-day Adventist worker
Som An sank back into bed. At that to enter Cambodia, then a part of
moment, with his eyes still closed, he saw the Indo-China Mission, was Fred L.
Pickett, who arrived in January 1930.
an outstretched hand and arm appear When the government refused to give
above his feet. The form appeared to be him permission to build a church, he
made of pure light, and it slowly floated established a church of 32 Cambodian
from his toes to his knees. As the hand members at Tinh Bien, a village near
Chaudoc, in neighboring Cochin China
passed over his legs, the fever left that part (now Vietnam).
of his body. Then the hand moved up to
his stomach. Whatever the hand passed
over was healed. When the hand reached “I really believe that God used His
his head, he felt completely well. power to change my heart,” he said. “If
Overjoyed, he sprang out of bed and ran God had not performed the miracle, I
outdoors. He ran and jumped around the probably wouldn’t believe in Him today.
small house, exclaiming again and again, Now I strongly believe in God. No
“Thank you, God, for Your power! Thank matter how difficult life gets, I will still
you, God, for Your power!” believe in Him.”
He was 20 years old.
Today, Som An is 40 and a theology Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth
teacher at a private university in Sabbath Offering will help construct a
Battambang, the second-biggest city community center at Som An’s church.
in Cambodia. He is active in the local The “center of influence” will feature a
church and readily tells everyone about medical and dental clinic, a vegetarian
God’s power. restaurant, an organic produce shop, a
AdventistMission.org
“My heart is so stubborn, like Thomas,” juice bar, and a fitness center. Thank you
he said, referring to the biblical disciple for your mission offering.
who refused to believe that Jesus was
resurrected until he saw evidence. By Andrew McChesney
9Experiment in Church
CAMBODIA | October 27
Yin Pheara, 20
P heara decided to test God at the age on special occasions like the Cambodian
of 19. New Year or a traditional celebration of
The teenager had been attending the the dead. But he had never handed Pheara
Seventh-day Adventist church for several money for no particular reason.
months in Battambang, Cambodia’s Pheara was stunned.
second-largest city. He had heard the But even then he wasn’t ready to
pastor read the promise of Malachi 3:10, believe that it was a gift from God.
which says, “‘Bring the whole tithe into The next Sabbath, he decided to test
the storehouse, that there may be food God again. When the offering bucket
in my house. Test me in this,’ says stopped by him, he put in another 1,000
the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not riel. This time, he had 5,000 riel in his
throw open the floodgates of heaven and pocket, but he needed every bit of it to fill
pour out so much blessing that there will up his motorcycle with gasoline during the
Adventist Mission Southern Asia-Pacific Division
not be room enough to store it’” (NIV). next week. After giving the 1,000 riel, he
So, when the offering bucket came didn’t have enough money for gasoline.
around on Sabbath, he dropped in a 1,000 “But it turned out that I wasn’t short at
Cambodian riel banknote (about 25 U.S. all,” he said. “During the week, friends and
cents). It was all the money that he had in relatives suddenly decided to start giving
the world. me money, so I always had enough for gas. I
The next day, his older brother Phirun never had to ask anyone for money.”
inexplicably gave him 10,000 riel ($2.50). A few weeks after that, Pheara got into
His brother sometimes gave him money serious trouble. The church organized a
10with theft. He didn’t know what to do.
Stor y Tips “Then I remembered that the pastor had
taught me to pray,” he said. “I prayed.”
Pronounce Pheara as: pee-RA Another police officer walked over
Pronounce riel as: ree-el and asked what was happening. Pheara
explained the situation, and the officer
Watch Pheara at the link: said, “Well, just give me 20,000 riel, and
bit.ly/Yin-Pheara you can be on your way.”
C A M B O D I A
Find photos for this story at the link: Pheara had no money, so he could not
bit.ly/fb-mq be on his way. But he did have an old
computer in his backpack that he had
Fa s t Fa c t s unsuccessfully tried to sell for several
weeks. He left his motorcycle with the
Apart from Afghanistan’s national flag, police and walked to a nearby pawnshop.
the national flag of Cambodia is the The shopkeeper immediately gave him
only other national flag in the world to 40,000 riel for the computer, and Pheara
incorporate an actual building on it.
paid the police.
Khmer, the national language, is spoken The incident strengthened
by about 95 percent of Cambodians. Pheara’s faith.
French is the second language and is
often used in business and official circles.
“This was evidence to me that God
exists,” he said. “God helped me and
Cambodia›s economy has been based answered my prayer when I was in trouble.”
traditionally on agriculture. About 85 His friends without helmets, who were
percent of cultivated land is devoted to
the production of rice, while rubber trees watching to see how he would deal with
account for most of the rest. the situation, expressed their surprise
once they arrived at the church Christmas
program. “Your God really helped you
Christmas program, and Pheara invited 15
with the police,” they said.
friends to attend. But he had to ferry them
Pheara borrowed helmets from church
in threes on the back of his motorcycle to
members before riding off to fetch the rest
the church.
of his friends for the Christmas program.
As he neared the church on one trip,
Today, Pheara is the only baptized
a police officer pulled him over. None of
Christian in his family. He also is a
his passengers were wearing helmets, a
university student and teaches weekly
requirement under Cambodian law. computer classes at the church. His
But the police officer did not talk classes will move into a new community
about helmets. Instead, he asked for the center that will be funded by part of this
motorcycle ownership papers. Pheara quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering.
called his brother, who owned the vehicle, Thank you for your mission offerings
AdventistMission.org
and was told that the documents had been that help people like Pheara reach out
lost long ago. to their communities.
Pheara was worried. The police could
confiscate the motorcycle and charge him By Andrew McChesney
11PHILIPPINES | November 3
Flying
for God
D wa y n e H a r r i s , 3 9
Dwayne’s sister called to say that their
parents’ home had just burned down in a
fire. No one was hurt, but Dwayne, who
was living there, lost everything that he
owned, including expensive toys such as
scuba gear and snowboards.
While listening to the mission pilot
D wayne Harris never imagined leaving
the U.S. military to become a mission
pilot in the Philippines.
talk the next day, Dwayne thought, “God
has removed all my worldly material
distractions.” Turning to the pilot, he made
But then he lost everything in a house fire. a promise. “If I can get free of my contract
Dwayne, raised in a Seventh-day with the Guard, I would be willing to start
Adventist family in the U.S. state of something in the Philippines,” he said.
Montana, loved airplanes as a boy and
wanted to become a mission pilot. Finishing New Priorities
high school, he enrolled in flight school at Dwayne had no idea how he would get
church-owned Walla Walla University in out of the contract. He had about four
the neighboring state of Washington. years left on a six-year commitment with
After a year, however, he returned to the Army National Guard. He began to
Montana, where he earned an aircraft pray about the matter.
mechanics license and finished getting his “When the house burned down, it
pilot’s license. He purchased a damaged got me thinking about priorities in life,”
airplane, rebuilt it, and joined the Army Dwayne said. “It made me realize that
National Guard, which sent him to flight the material things that we collect on
school for helicopters. Earth are nothing compared with eternity.
Adventist Mission Southern Asia-Pacific Division
But he was lukewarm in his The only thing that matters is our own
Christian experience. salvation and the salvation of others.”
One day, a relative put him in touch For the first time, he started to read the
with a mission pilot who was visiting the Bible and pray daily.
United States. Dwayne flew his plane to “As I did that, God started to change
Kentucky for a meeting with the pilot, who me,” he said.
wanted to discuss his ideas for a helicopter After praying for several months, Dwayne
ministry in the Philippines. became convinced that he needed to stop
But the night before the meeting, compromising the Sabbath. Every month
12he was required to participate in a three-
day drill, from Friday through Sunday, and Stor y Tip
he had been violating the Sabbath for the
past four years. Find photos for this story at the link:
bit.ly/fb-mq
Dwayne asked his company commander
for permission to fly on Friday and Sunday
and make up for Saturday on another day
Mission Post
of the week. The commander refused. So, Seventh-day Adventist work started in
when Dwayne reported for the drill on the Philippines in 1905 with the arrival of
the next Friday, he announced that he Australian colporteur R.A. Caldwell, who
successfully sold Spanish-language health
would miss Saturday and return Sunday. and religious books.
“I can’t give you an excused absence,”
the commander said, sternly. In 1915, for the first time, the people
of the Philippines heard the Adventist
“You do what you have to do, and
PHILIPPINES
message preached in their own native
I will do what I have to do,” Dwayne tongue, Tagalog, by a Filipino, Bibiano
replied, respectfully. Panis. As a result, early in 1916, 104
The commander wasn’t sure what to do. people were baptized, and a church was
Up to that time, Dwayne had a flawless organized with 116 members.
military record.
Dwayne only came in on Fridays and Today, Dwayne, 39, and his wife,
Sundays for several months. He kept Wendy, a missionary nurse whom he met
praying, “Lord, put me where You want in the Philippines, are the directors of
me to be. If it is here, fine. If it is in the Philippine Adventist Medical Aviation
Philippines, I will go there.” Services (PAMAS), a supporting church
ministry that uses aviation and medical
Answer to Prayer assistance to spread the gospel.
Finally, the commander called him in.
“It’s been 10 years since I came here, and
“I spoke with the battalion commander,
God has been faithful in providing for our
and we have decided not to waste any needs one month at a time,” Dwayne said.
time or resources pursing negative actions “We have been able to continually expand.”
against you,” he said. “We will give you an From the honorable military discharge
honorable discharge.” to his current aviation ministry, Dwayne
Dwayne was shocked. Thanking God, has seen Romans 8:28 in action. The verse
he immediately organized a trip to the reads, “And we know that all things work
Philippines to assess the situation there. together for good to those who love God,
Everything fell into place after that. Within to those who are the called according to
months, someone helped him buy a small His purpose” (NKJV).
helicopter. He used what savings he had, “God has put everything in place to
and contributions came in from unexpected work things out,” Dwayne said. “We
AdventistMission.org
sources for other needs, including shipping just have to take hold of His promises
and duty fees for the helicopter. by faith.”
“God had everything lined up,” Dwayne
said. “I didn’t do any fundraising.” By Andrew McChesney
13Preaching Physicians
INDONESIA | November 10
J a y M . To m b o k a n
This is an update about Manado Adventist The hospital’s 2017 evangelistic
Hospital, which received part of a Thirteenth campaign, organized in cooperation with
Sabbath Offering in 2012. local conference, resulted in 69 baptisms.
Another 53 people were baptized in 2016.
Every year, Jay takes several
weeks from his busy schedule
Only doctors preached at those two series
of meetings.
as a physician and the president of That changed in 2018, with the
the Indonesian hospital to lead an hospital expanding to three campaigns:
evangelistic series. one led by doctors, a second led by nurses,
He encourages his hospital staff to do and a third led by hospital administrators.
the same. “We need unity before we treat the
Adventist Mission Southern Asia-Pacific Division
Doctor Jay has found that public outside world, and we become united in
evangelism keeps both him and his our vision when we participate in public
coworkers united in their mission of evangelism,” Doctor Jay said.
treating patients and preparing them for That was Doctor Jay’s experience as
Jesus’ return. president of Bandung Adventist Hospital
“Evangelism is my breakfast and my on the Indonesian island of West Java.
lunch,” Doctor Jay said in an interview in In five years, 4,000 people were baptized
his office at Manado Adventist Hospital, a through that hospital’s evangelistic
150-bed facility on the island of Sulawesi. meetings. The Adventist Church operates
14four hospitals in Indonesia; the other two
are Bandar Lampung Adventist Hospital Stor y Tips
and Medan Adventist Hospital, both on
Find photos for this story at the link:
the island of Sumatra.
bit.ly/fb-mq
Manado Adventist Hospital had 50
beds when it opened in the church union’s Fa s t Fa c t s
former headquarters in December 2007.
With the help of a Thirteenth Sabbath Indonesia is enormous, with 17,508
Offering collected in 2012, the hospital islands covering about 1,192,700 square
miles (1,919,440 square kilometers). The
expanded to 150 beds in 2013. country has three time zones, and it takes
Doctor Jay said the hospital faces a more than 12 hours of flying time to get
serious shortage of qualified full-time from one end of the country to the other.
specialists, particularly doctors. It has The Indonesian side of Timor is known
384 staff members, 90 percent of whom to be home to the last remaining
are Adventist, and it cares for 700,000 headhunting villages.
patients every year. Indonesia exports 3,000 tons of frogs’ legs
Doctor Jay, who moved to the to France each year.
Manado hospital in 2015, never expected Bahasa Indonesia is the national
to work for the Adventist health system. language of Indonesia, but there are
An OB/GYN doctor, he worked for more than 700 indigenous languages.
seven years for the government but then Most Indonesians are bilingual—they
speak their indigenous language as their
I N D O N E S I A
faced a Sabbath conflict. He left his job mother tongue and Bahasa Indonesia for
and was soon hired to work at Bandung school and work.
Adventist Hospital, where he made
public evangelism a major part of its
outreach efforts.
Doctor Jay praises public evangelism baptized in 2016, and two more were
as a way to not only share the gospel but baptized in 2017.
also to strengthen the faith of hospital “Matthew 28:19, 20 is our priority,”
workers. His staff members preach or Doctor Jay said, referring to Jesus’ command,
participate in free medical clinics and “Go therefore and make disciples of all
health seminars offered simultaneously the nations, baptizing them in the name
with the evangelistic meetings. of the Father and of the Son and of the
“When we go outside and strengthen Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
others, the benefit comes directly back to things that I have commanded you.”
us,” he said. “We recognize that Jesus is coming
The Manado hospital itself has four soon,” Doctor Jay said. “Jesus is
chaplains, and they oversee a dynamic coming soon.”
AdventistMission.org
spiritual program, including two Weeks
of Prayer every year, a 10-days-of-prayer Thank you for your mission offering.
initiative, and daily morning worship in
every department. Nine patients were By Andrew McChesney
15INDONESIA | November 17
Healing
Lime
Ce r e n Wu y s a n , 2 7
Ask a young man to share this One day as we were hiking between
first-person account. villages, a man from our village asked us
to take a look at a blind relative named
T he mission plane dropped off my
friend and me at the foot of a
mountain in Papua, Indonesia.
Marius. We went to Marius’ home and
asked Marius what had caused him to go
blind two years earlier.
We went into town to do some last- “I don’t know,” he said, shaking his
minute shopping before climbing high head. “It happened all of a sudden.”
up the mountain for our year of student The other villagers, however, had
missionary work. We didn’t have much no doubt about what had caused the
money, but we saw one thing that we blindness. They blamed evil spirits.
wanted at the main market: a bag of green Marius and his family begged for help.
limes. We loved limes, and we knew that They asked for medicine and for prayers.
we wouldn’t find any on the mountain. My friend and I didn’t know what to do.
Two weeks later, we found ourselves in We returned home and prayed, “Lord, if
Adventist Mission Southern Asia-Pacific Division
the mountain village of Tinibil, and we this is the way for our missionary work to
were unsure how to share Jesus. We had begin, please perform a miracle.”
received training from the 1000 Missionary We remembered the bag of limes that
Movement organization, which had sent we had purchased down the mountain. We
us to the village, but we couldn’t figure out weren’t doctors, but we knew that limes
how to interest the villagers in the gospel. had medicinal qualities. So, we took a lime
We remembered that if we don’t know when we went to Marius’ home the next
what to do, we had been trained to pray. morning. We sliced the lime in half and
So, we prayed. prayed. Then we squeezed a few drops of
16lime juice into his eyes and prayed again.
In the afternoon, we returned to Marius, Stor y Tips
prayed, and squeezed a few more drops of
Pronounce Ceren the same as the
lime juice into his eyes. We prayed again.
English name Karen.
We did this every morning and evening
for a week. Nothing happened, and we Ceren served as a student missionary
in 2016. He is now a theology
considered giving up. But after the second student at Universitas Klabat near
week, Marius told us that he could detect Manado, Indonesia.
light for the first time in two years.
Do not try lime juice as an eye
We felt encouraged and prayed medicine at home
even more.
Watch Ceren at the link:
A month passed, and Marius announced bit.ly/Ceren-Wuysan
one day that he could see a little.
That same day, we ran out of limes. We Find photos for this story at the link:
bit.ly/fb-mq
didn’t tell Marius that we had no more
limes. We just told him, “For now on, we Read another story about Ceren at the
link: bit.ly/chief-breaks-vow
have a new treatment. We are just going
to pray.” Mission Post
Several weeks later, we arrived to find
Marius gazing at a field near his home. He The Adventist Church in Indonesia is
was walking around freely. He could see! comprised of the East Indonesia Union
Conference, with headquarters in
Marius told us that he didn’t have perfect
I N D O N E S I A
Sulawesi, and the West Indonesia Union
vision, but he could see enough to live a Mission, with headquarters in Jakarta.
normal life.
Marius was overjoyed, and he told the Adventist work in Indonesia began in
1900, when R.W. Munson, formerly a
other villagers that Jesus had restored his missionary for another denomination in
sight by defeating evil spirits. Singapore, opened a mission at Padang,
This opened the door for us to share the on the west coast of Sumatra. One of
gospel. The news about the miracle spread his first converts was Tay Hong Siang,
a Chinese Christian preacher, who
across the mountain, and people began to as an orphan had been in Munson’s
contact us for prayers and medical help. orphanage in Singapore years earlier. In
They insisted on calling us “pastor” and 1903, the East Indian archipelago was
“doctor,” even though neither of us were made a mission field of the Australasian
Union Conference.
pastors or doctors. They wanted Bible
studies. This was an answer to prayer. In 1905, Immanuel Siregar, from
Seven people were baptized. Batakland, accepted the Adventist faith
after Bible studies with R.W. Munson
and became the first Indonesian
Thank you for your mission offering convert. He then returned to the
that helps spread the gospel to the
AdventistMission.org
uplands of North Sumatra, land of the
farthest corners of the world, even to a cannibal Bataks, taking the message to
mountaintop in Indonesia. his own people.
By Ceren Wuysan, as told to Andrew McChesney
17Life-Changing Garbage
INDONESIA | November 24
P e t r u s To b o l u , 5 0
Adventists, the result of the work of two
student missionaries.
One day, Monika came home with a
box of Adventist books. Enraged, Petrus
seized the box and threw it into the
garbage hole in their backyard. But as the
box crashed to the ground, it burst open,
spilling out its contents. A book caught
Petrus’ eye: “The Almost Forgotten Day”
by evangelist Mark Finley. He secretly
fished the book and two Adventist World
magazines out of the garbage.
The next morning, he took the book
F armer Petrus Tobolu was furious
when he learned that his 19-year-old
daughter, Monika, had been baptized
and magazines with him to the field. But
he couldn’t concentrate on his work. He
into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. worked until 10 a.m. and then read the
He had served as the lay pastor of book and magazines for the rest of the
the Soahukum village church on the day. The same thing happened the next
Indonesian island of Halmahera for day. He compared the Bible verses in the
35 years. He didn’t understand how publications with the verses in his Bible.
the Adventist pastor could baptize his He studied the materials for eight months.
daughter without seeking his permission, “I noticed that what was written there
and he worried that the Adventist was actually also in the Bible,” Petrus said.
teachings were satanic. “I kept studying and I was impressed with
Adventist Mission Southern Asia-Pacific Division
So, he raised a big stick and beat Monika. what I learned about the Sabbath.”
“Denounce your convictions!” he yelled. After he understood that Saturday was
Monika wept but didn’t say a word. This the biblical Sabbath, he began to preach
confused her father, and he wondered why about the Sabbath in his church.
she wasn’t angry. “Why don’t we worship on Saturday?” he
Monika was one of four young people asked. “If we don’t follow what the Bible
who were baptized after Bible studies says, then why do we have the Bible?”
and an evangelistic series on Halmahera After the sermon, startled church
island. They were the island’s first four members approached him.
18“No one has preached like this in a long
time,” said one. Stor y Tips
“Maybe you want to bring is a new
Watch Petrus at the link:
doctrine?” said another. bit.ly/Petrus-Tobolu
Petrus hadn’t thought that he was
introducing Adventist teachings to the Find photos for this story at the link:
bit.ly/fb-mq
church. He understood the biblical truth,
and he was only trying to preach what he
had learned. Eventually, he decided to Fa s t Fa c t s
worship on Saturday. Of Indonesia’s 17,508 islands, only
When Petrus’ older sister heard about about 6,000 have people living on them.
his convictions, she suggested that he Indonesia is home to thousands of
join the Seventh-day Adventist Church. different flora and fauna, making it the
She had heard about the church from country with the second-highest level of
her daughter, who had studied at the biodiversity in the world after Brazil.
Adventist-owned Universitas Klabat on Indonesia is the only place in the world
another island. to see a Komodo dragon in the wild.
Sumatra is the only place outside of
Sometime later, Petrus invited several Borneo to see orangutans in the wild.
visiting Adventist pastors to worship at
his church. His church members, however, Indonesia is situated on the Pacific
Ring of Fire and is home to about 150
attacked the building with stones while volcanoes. They’re mostly dormant,
I N D O N E S I A
the pastors were inside, and Petrus had to but the country does experience around
whisk them out of the village to safety. one volcanic eruption and one powerful
The villagers were waiting for Petrus earthquake per year.
with sticks when he returned, but he
somehow managed to evade them and Two years later, they returned home
leave the village. He decided to be and renewed their friendships with the
baptized into the Adventist Church. villagers. The villagers’ attitude toward
Petrus took his family to Manado, a city the Adventist family changed.
near Universitas Klabat, and was baptized “We mingled in the community and
shared,” Petrus said. “We started with my
during an evangelistic series there.
relatives. In three years, we had 27 baptized
When he and his family returned
members and organized a church.”
home, they found their house occupied
Today, Petrus is 50 and serves as church
by other people. They moved to a small
elder. He led the first evangelistic series in
hut in their field, and lived there for two
the village in September 2017, and three
months. Petrus’ two other children, boys
people were baptized.
aged 13 and 17, also were baptized during “The villagers, starting with me,
that time. persecuted Adventists at first,” he said.
AdventistMission.org
But the villagers forbade the family “But today eight families worship together
from worshipping on Sabbath, so they every Sabbath.”
moved to Manado to deepen their
understanding of the Bible. By Andrew McChesney
19Poisoned by a Mother
INDONESIA | December 1
Desi Natalia Ango, 21
village and announced the big news.
When the young missionaries arrived, the
villagers welcomed them with a traditional
ceremony. A young chicken with black
feathers and black feet was roasted, boiled,
and offered to the visitors. The villagers
themselves ate regular chicken.
“We didn’t speak their dialect and didn’t
know what they were saying,” Desi said.
“We didn’t know what to do.”
More important, she had no idea how to
share her love for Jesus. She and her friend
fasted and prayed for two days.
E ighteen-year-old Desi Natalia Ango was
thrilled when she and a fellow female
student were assigned to spend a year as
Charcoal and Papaya
On the second day, a village woman
missionaries in Limbong in the south of the asked for help. She led the two
Indonesian island of Sulawesi. missionaries to her mother, Indo Reko,
Desi thought it would be a good who was ill in bed. The elderly woman was
placement in a big city. suffering from a flow of blood, much like
But when she and her friend arrived the woman whom Jesus healed in Mark
at the local conference office, they 5:25-34. The missionaries didn’t have any
were directed into a car for a three- medical experience and didn’t know what
hour drive. Then they transferred to to do. But they did have some charcoal,
motorcycles for a five-hour trip up a and they mixed two spoonfuls with water
mountain. The road was slippery, and and asked for permission to pray.
Adventist Mission Southern Asia-Pacific Division
Desi kept falling off the motorcycle. “We prayed, ‘Lord, we believe that you
When the road ended, the young can heal this woman with this charcoal,’”
women learned that they would have to Desi recalled. “But we were thinking,
hike another eight hours. But first, they ‘What else can we do?’”
had to stop by the local government They decided to call the campus of 1000
office at the end of the road to receive Missionary Movement, the organization
permission to climb the mountain. that had dispatched them to the village. To
Several people from Limbong were at the get cellphone reception, they had to climb
office, and they excitedly beat Desi to the another hour up the mountain. The phone
20Her friend nudged her and said, “No,
Stor y Tips you first.”
Desi asked the woman, known as
Watch Desi at the link:
bit.ly/Desi-Natalia-Ango Mama Wandi, if they could pray together
before eating.
Find photos for this story at the link: “We are Christians,” Desi said. “We believe
bit.ly/fb-mq in praying for everything that we do.”
After praying, the young women ate the
call went through, and a campus nurse food—and nothing bad happened.
advised the young women to mash a small Mama Wandi invited the missionaries
papaya—seeds and all—with a regular- back the next day and fed them again.
sized banana and feed it to Indo. They prayed and again nothing bad
Back at Indo’s house, Desi told the happened. This happened every day for
woman, “We are Christians, and we two weeks. Finally, Mama Wandi told
believe that Jesus will help you. If you eat the other villagers, “These missionaries
this, you will get better.” are not ordinary people. I have been
The missionaries fed the papaya-banana poisoning their food for two weeks, and
they never get sick!”
mixture to Indo daily for 30 days. They
The story spread that throughout the
also taught her not to eat unclean meat.
village that the missionaries were immune
When the month ended, the blood flow
to poison, and many people came to them
had stopped and Indo was her normal self.
to hear about their God.
I N D O N E S I A
The other villagers were amazed and
Desi is now 21 and an education and
asked the missionaries to care for their ill
English major at Universitas Klabat, an
relatives. The missionaries relied on much Adventist school on the northern tip of
charcoal and prayer. Sulawesi island. She hopes to return to
Warning About Poisoning the village after she graduates and open
The villagers appreciated the assistance, an elementary school. She has visited the
and they offered their own advice. One village several times since her yearlong
after another, they told the missionaries to stay, and she is thrilled that Mama
stay away from a certain village house. Wandi is now studying the Bible.
“One thing from the Bible that really
“Don’t go there because you will be
strengthened us during that year is Job
poisoned,” they warned.
42:2, which says, ‘I know that You can do
The missionaries ignored the advice,
everything, and that no purpose of Yours
believing that the Lord had sent them to
can be withheld from You,’” Desi said.
visit every village family.
“God really can do everything.”
When they knocked on the door, a
woman in her 30s greeted them with joy
Thank you for your mission offerings
AdventistMission.org
and immediately offered food and drink. that support the gospel work of
Desi looked at the cassava and purple missionaries around the world.
corn and turned to her fellow missionary.
“You first,” she said. By Andrew McChesney
21EAST TIMOR | December 8
Baffling
Bible
Z e l i n d o J o ã o L a y, 4 2
Z elindo was a troublemaker in East Timor.
He loved to drink, smoke, and gamble.
He got tattoos and started a street gang.
he read. To his astonishment, he began to
understand the Bible. He stopped at the
second commandment in Exodus 20:4, 5,
He went to church every Sunday but where God says, “You shall not make for
felt miserable. yourself a carved image—any likeness of
At the age of 21, he suddenly was anything that is in heaven above, or
overcome with an irresistible desire to read that is in the earth beneath, or that is in
the Bible. He didn’t own a Bible, so he the water under the earth; you shall not
texted his sister in Surabaya, an Indonesian bow down to them nor serve them.”
city located 900 miles (1,400 kilometers) “Why do we have carved images in my
to the west. church?” he wondered.
“Can you buy a Bible and send it to me?” He kept worshipping on Sundays and
he asked. reading the Bible every night for three years.
Two weeks later he received the Bible, He also got married and opened two shops.
and he read it from Genesis to Revelation One day, a Seventh-day Adventist,
Adventist Mission Southern Asia-Pacific Division
in a month. But he didn’t understand what Thomas Lopes, entered one of his shops
he read. He read the Bible a second and a and sold him a book called “The Almost
third time, but still he didn’t understand it. Forgotten Day” by evangelist Mark Finley.
Frustrated, he knelt and prayed, “God, Zelindo was shocked to read that
I want to understand Your Word, but I Saturday is the biblical Sabbath. He found
don’t know how. Please send Your Holy Thomas’ phone number written in the
Spirit to guide me.” back of the book and asked him to return
Then he read the Bible a fourth time— to the shop.
and prayed for the Holy Spirit every time When Thomas arrived, Zelindo
22approached Zelindo after the Saturday
Stor y Tips morning service.
“Why do you come to church on
Watch Zelindo at the link:
bit.ly/Zelindo-Bible
Saturday instead of Sunday?” he said. “I
see your wife and child on Sundays.”
Find photos for this story at the link: “My understanding is Saturday is the right
bit.ly/fb-mq
day of worship, not Sunday,” Zelindo said.
Read another story about Zelindo at the “No, it’s Sunday,” the priest said.
link: bit.ly/wife-miracle Zelindo felt increasingly uncomfortable
at his church. Every time he entered, he
Fa s t Fa c t s passed carved images. He knelt before them
The national dish of East Timor is Ikan and asked, “God, is it OK to have these in
Pepes (Ikan means “fish,” and pepes is church? Do you allow carved images?”
the cooking technique), fish steamed
with chili sauce in a banana leaf.
One day, he read Isaiah 42:8, which says,
“I am the Lord, that is My name; and My
According to legend, Timor was glory I will not give to another, nor My
formed after a crocodile transformed praise to carved images.”
into an island as compensation to a The words filled him with fear. He
boy who helped the crocodile while it
realized that God forbids the worship
was unwell. The boy’s descendants are
supposedly the natives of Timor. of carved images, and he decided not to
worship them anymore.
Wildlife in East Timor includes the He telephoned the priest, “I need your
cuscus (a species of marsupial), monkeys,
deer, civet cats, snakes, and crocodiles.
help. If you don’t help me, I will leave
the church.”
When the priest arrived at his home,
immediately demanded, “Why does this Zelindo asked many questions about
book say Saturday and not Sunday?” carved images and the Sabbath.
Thomas didn’t give a direct answer. “Brother, just believe,” the priest said.
“Read the Bible, and allow the Holy “That’s enough.”
Spirit to answer you,” he said. Zelindo wasn’t convinced. After reading
E A S T T I M O R
Zelindo read the Bible again. When he the Bible so many times, he understood
reached the New Testament, he read in that belief must be backed up by action.
Matthew 28:1, “Now after the Sabbath, as He became an Adventist.
the first day of the week began to dawn, Four years later, he is a prominent
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary church member in East Timor, and he has
led many people to baptism.
came to see the tomb.”
Then he had his answer. The Bible
Part of a 2015 Thirteenth Sabbath
describes Sunday as the first day of the
Offering helped build the first Seventh-day
AdventistMission.org
week. The next Saturday, he closed his
Adventist school in East Timor’s capital,
shops and attended the Saturday morning Dili. Thank you for your mission offering.
service at his church.
After a few weeks, the priest By Andrew McChesney
23Living by Faith
THAILAND | December 15
Yo y o S h i m r a y, 3 3
M arriage can be messy.
Take the case of Yoyo, a high
though he had plenty of money, he didn’t
like working five days a week in Bangkok
school teacher from India who worked in and commuting to Korat on weekends.
Thailand’s capital, Bangkok. He dreaded the drive back to Bangkok on
His Filipino wife taught at a Seventh- Sunday evenings. He decided to find a job
day Adventist school in Korat, a city in Korat.
located a five-hour drive away. Their But for some reason he couldn’t find
young son lived with her in Korat. a job. Yoyo felt that he was qualified for
Yoyo supported the arrangement at first. nearly any job, and he was inundated
He made good money teaching computer with teaching job offers in Bangkok. But
classes at the private school in Bangkok. nobody gave him a job in Korat.
Adventist Mission Southern Asia-Pacific Division
He also taught IT seminars on the side, Once, a school in Korat even called
bringing in even more money. So, he Yoyo’s school in Bangkok with a job offer
decided to stay in Bangkok when his but was told, “No, he’s already signed a
wife, Carla, announced that she had been contract with us.”
offered a job as a kindergarten teacher Nothing worked out for three years.
at the Adventist International Mission During that time, Yoyo began to think
School in Korat. hard about his priorities. He had been
But after a while, Yoyo realized that raised in an Adventist pastor’s home in
he didn’t like the messy marriage. Even India but had started compromising the
24said. “I was used to working and feeling
T H A I L A N D
Stor y Tips important. It was a very disappointing
time of my life.”
Watch Yoyo at the link:
bit.ly/Yoyo-Shimray Then the principal of the Adventist
International Mission School told Yoyo
Find photos for this story at the link:
bit.ly/fb-mq that the school had an opening for a
computer teacher. Yoyo had just the
Korat is the commonly used nickname right qualifications for the job. But, the
for the city of Nakhon Ratchasima.
principal said, the position was for an
unpaid volunteer.
Mission Post Yoyo didn’t think twice. He gladly
Thailand Mission has 52 churches, volunteered to teach.
with a membership of 15,385. After three weeks, the school principal
With a population of 65,323,000, hired Yoyo to work full-time as the
Thailand has only one member for
every 4,245 people. computer teacher and IT manager.
Today, Yoyo is the sole breadwinner in
The early work in Thailand was
conducted mostly among the Chinese. the family. Carla quit her job after their
The first Thai convert was a young second child was born and homeschools
man who was baptized in 1925 and the children. The family has considerably
later became the assistant business
manager of the Bangkok Sanitarium less money than before, but Yoyo said he
and Hospital. has never been happier.
“I’m the only one who is earning, but
we always have food on the table,” he
Sabbath after finishing college. He had said. “It makes me wonder, ‘Where was my
moved to Thailand at the invitation of his faith before?’”
sister, who lived there. Then he had met His favorite Bible text is Philippians
and married Carla, an Adventist woman 4:13, which says, “I can do all things
from the Philippines. He attended church through Christ who strengthens me.”
out of guilt as a pastor’s son, but he didn’t “I am very happy,” he said. “I am
have any love for God. very content that I am working for a
Finally, Yoyo prayed, “Lord, I can’t greater cause.”
do this on my own. I want to come
back to You.” Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth
He quit his job in Bangkok and moved Sabbath Offering will help the Adventist
to Korat. For the first time, he was International Mission School construct
dependent on his wife’s income from the a new campus. The new classrooms will
Adventist mission school. Yoyo prayed allow the K-9 school to expand to the
AdventistMission.org
fervently for a job. 12th grade and to accept more students.
Two months passed, and he grew Thank you for your mission offering.
increasingly discouraged.
“I was frustrated and irritated,” he By Andrew McChesney
25Praying for Missing Sister
THAILAND | December 22
Ann Phongchan, 38
“God can perform miracles for anyone,”
the teacher said. “You just need to trust in
Him. If you trust and obey, and you pray,
He will bless you.”
Ann didn’t believe him.
“If you pray with all your heart, God will
answer,” the teacher said.
Ann still didn’t believe him.
First Prayer
During summer vacation, Ann got lost
at a new shopping center near her home
village. She was supposed to meet Mother
at 4:30 p.m. to go to the bus station to
A nn never intended to become
a Christian.
Raised by a single mother, Ann
catch a bus to Mission College. But she
couldn’t find the meeting spot. Ann
frantically searched for Mother until 5 p.m.
meditated regularly at the temple in a and, overwhelmed with worry, remembered
Thai village on the border with Laos. the Sabbath School teacher’s words about
She participated in temple activities. prayer. She tried to pray.
Sometimes she slept in the temple. “Lord, if You really want me to go back
Then she decided to attend Mission to Your place and want me to know You
College (now Asia-Pacific International more, show me my mother,” she said.
University), a Seventh-day Adventist When she opened her eyes, Mother was
institute located 15 hours by bus from her standing in front of her.
home. She heard about the college from a Ann didn’t miss the bus. When she
visiting graduate and learned that its work arrived at the bus station, she learned that
Adventist Mission Southern Asia-Pacific Division
program covered tuition costs. its departure had been delayed because of
“We have no money, and I need to mechanical problems.
study,” Ann told Mother. “I want to go to “I was amazed,” Ann said. “That was the
this place.” first time that I experienced God’s power.”
At Mission College, Ann immersed But Ann still didn’t want to become
herself in her studies and work. She had a Christian.
no interest in God. She attended Sabbath
School to improve her English—and heard Second Prayer
for the first time about the power of prayer. Mother moved to Bangkok to be closer
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