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12501 Old C

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DEAR FRIENDS

For two years I’ve been asking myself, what am I doing to share God’s love with the people around me. I have

been praying daily for the people living in the 24 apartments in our building. I have wanted to be their friend. I have wanted to be there for them if they needed someone to talk to. I have longed for the chance to share Jesus with them. But sometimes weeks go by without us seeing a single one of our neighbors. Then I heard about 1752 Evangelism. This personal evangelism program, which started in Northern Asia, asks church members to pray for “1” person every day for “7” days and then send or give them a book, tract, or magazine. If you do that for a year you will have prayed for and mailed or given something to “52” families, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. I thought about it for a month or two and then one day I said, “Homer, why are you just sitting there thinking about it--wishing you could do something but feeling you can’t. Why don’t you do it? It won’t cost much. It isn’t terribly difficult. Just do it!” So I did. And it’s really fun. Each Tuesday morning I ask God to show me whom I should pray for that week. All week long I pray for them and talk to God about what I should give them (I also ask Him how I should give it to them). Some weeks it has been neighbors. Some weeks it has been extended family members. One week it was my barber and another week it was a taxi driver. Sometimes I dropped a book in the mail. Sometimes I hung it on their door with a note. Sometimes I carried it around with me for several more weeks till I saw them and gave it to them in person. It is amazing how many different ways there are to try and touch their lives, even if I don’t see them for weeks at a time. Maybe you would like to give it a try. Simply set a goal to experiment with it for one month and see how it goes. Maybe, just maybe, if you and I become that Adventist “plant” in our neighborhoods it will inspire someone else to be the “plant” in theirs, and who knows where it will go from there! Yours in Christ,,

Homer Trecartin Associate Secretary, General Conference Director, Adventist Volunteer Service Planning Director, Adventist Mission

DEAR FRIENDS

My wife, Milagros, and I serve as Global Mission

pioneer in Israel. Although we’ve found public evangelism extremely difficult in Israel—it is possible. I’m happy to report that last June at the conclusion of an evangelism seminar in the Haifa Church, five were baptized. At first there were 50 persons who planned to come down to the River Jordan to witness the baptisms. But when the appointed Sabbath rolled around there were too many people for one bus, so we chartered another one. How exciting! Each seminar we hold is an opportunity for our non-Adventist friends to make a decision to give their hearts to Jesus Christ. But the hard work begins months or even years before when people first join a small Bible study group. It is also a chance to introduce people to Christ for the first time. Nothing can hinder the work of the Holy Spirit. He did it at Pentecost and He can do it again. Please continue to pray for the progress of the work in Israel.

I’m from a town in Northern Namibia where there are no

Seventh-day Adventists. People here haven’t even heard of us. I wasn’t raised as a Christian, but a couple years ago I was taking a class a few hours from my home when I made some new friends who told me about Jesus Christ. I was excited to hear about a living God who offered me salvation. I accepted the message and was baptized. When I got home I started by sharing my faith with my family and friends. At first they rejected my message, but over time their hearts were softened and they accepted Christ and were baptized. I tried to start a weekly church service. However after our first Sabbath service, the village headman sent someone to tell me to stop what I was doing. I didn’t know what to do, so I prayed that God would give me wisdom to know what to say to him. Brothers and sisters in Christ, God really works wonders. I went to talk to the headman. He was so kind to me that at the end of our meeting he gave us a place to worship for free. There are now nine baptized members in our little church. Please pray for my ministry as a Global Mission pioneer in Namibia.

Reaching the Unreached in Israel by Julio Mendez

Reaching the Unreached in Namibia by Rauha Shipandeni

Reaching the Unreached in Canada by Jason Williams

Languages: Hebrew (official) and Arabic (officially used for Arab minority)

Religion: Jewish 76.4%, Muslim 16%, Arab Christians 1.7%, other Christian 0.4%, Druze 1.6%, unspecified 3.9%

Population: 7.3 million*

Adventist membership: 833*

Adventist to population ratio: 1:8,809*

To support Global Mission work in Middle Eastern countries, such as Israel, please give to fund number 5280.

* General Conference Office of Archives and Statistics, 145th Annual Statistical Report

Languages: English, Afrikaans, German, indigenous (Oshivambo, Herero, and Nama)

Religion: Christian 80-90%, indigenous 10-20%

Population: 2.1 million*

Adventist membership: 16,625*

Adventist to population ratio: 1:125*

To support Global Mission work in African countries, such as Namibia, please give to fund number 5220.

* General Conference Office of Archives and Statistics, 145th Annual Statistical Report

Languages: English and French

Religion: Roman Catholic 42.6%, Protestant 23.3% other Christian 4.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other and unspecified 11.8%, none 16%

Population: 32.9 million*

Adventist membership: 57,770*

Adventist to population ratio: 570*

To support Global Mission work in unreached North American communities, such as this one in Canada, please give to fund number 6500. * General Conference Office of Archives and Statistics, 145th Annual Statistical Report

I had knocked on nearly every door in one section of the Grand Falls-

Windsor community, on the Canadian island of Newfoundland, and was getting ready to move on to another area when someone mentioned that I should visit a specific couple. I had already knocked on the couple’s door before, but no one had been home. A week later I stopped by this house again. This time Ruth* answered the door and invited me in. I introduced myself, and we spoke for a few minutes before I arranged for a more formal visit a week later. When I arrived at the house the next week, Ruth greeted me again and introduced me to her husband, William.* It was evident he had had his share of trials in life. Over the years he’d lost two fingers, has diabetes and kidney trouble, his eyes are failing, and most recently one leg had been amputated from the knee down. Since his leg amputation, William hadn’t been able to attend church. He asked me to pray with him, and to give him Bible studies. After several months William and Ruth asked if they could visit the local Adventist church with me. I wonder what might have happened had I ignored the suggestion to visit a home that I had already passed by. *Names changed by request