Mission Matters September 22

Bible Verse

Matthew 4:23 - And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Inspiration

Ministry of Healing, p. 143. “Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Savior mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me.’”

In Georgia, almost all Bibles are in an ancient dialect of the Georgian language, which nobody speaks. As a result, people have to ask their priests what the Bible means, and many of the priests can’t read this ancient language. Furthermore, if you want to purchase a Bible, you have to buy a large desk Bible, which is way too heavy to carry around, and this has the books of the Apocrypha within it.

The local Bible society does have a modern translation of the Bible into the Georgian language, and it can be printed without the Apocrypha. The cost is $50,000 for 5,000 Bibles (the smallest print run possible). During our recent Mission Emphasis Weekend at the church, a local donor from the Loma Linda area came forward with a pledge of up to $25,000 to fund the printing of these Bibles. If these Bibles are printed, AFM will donate 500 to the local SDA Mission in Georgia – which has about 100 members, mostly in the capital city of Tbilisi, and will use the rest to distribute to the members of the underground Bible study groups who are studying by themselves or under the leadership of AFM personnel.

Donations are sought to match the $25,000 pledge to raise the total needed of $50,000. All donations should be made to the Mentone Seventh-day Adventist Church. Our treasurer will then forward them to AFM for the Bible printing. Any funds received in excess of the target amount will be used for the Padilha career missionary family when they serve in the Republic of Georgia.

You can give securely online at AdventistGiving.org (at the bottom of the Local Church Giving Category choose Bibles for Georgia) or by using an offering envelope and writing Bibles for Georgia.

Thank you for impacting countless lives with your gift!

During our annual Christmas offering in 2023 we choose to sponsor 12 precious orphans at the DEWS Sweet Home orphanage in India.

We are working with International Children's Care (ICC) to get updated progress reports for you to see how these kids are growing closer to Jesus.

If your Sabbath school class would like to send a card of encouragement to one of the kids please contact Pastor Bowes by email or text.

Click on the images below to learn more about how you can get involved.

A messenger from heaven stood in our midst, and he spoke words of warning and instruction. He made us clearly understand that the gospel of the kingdom is the message for which the world is perishing, and that this message, as contained in our publications already in print, and those yet to be issued, should be circulated among the people who are nigh and afar off.—Testimonies for the Church 9:67.

This month’s emphasis is Work & School! The idea is to distribute literature in the context of your workplace.

Talk with a few fellow church members about their jobs and how they could distribute literature where they work, and think about how you intend to distribute literature at your own workplace. If you’re in school, you can distribute literature, too; sharing with your classmates, leaving tracts in the classroom and more. Don’t forget to share testimonies on Sabbath from your workplace or school to encourage one another!

Glow Ministry Ideas

• Go to a children’s hospital cancer unit: Pass out goodie bags, read a Bible story and give
  a GLOW tract.
• Back to School: Go to high schools during after-school time and give away pens or pencils with GLOW.
• On Day of Peace (September 21), pass out 100 “POP” and say, “Happy Day of Peace!”
• Find a Fall Festival near you to pass out as much GLOW as you can.
• Google some charity events near you. Visit them to give out GLOW to everyone.
• Go around your neighborhood on Good Neighbor Day, and give
  GLOW to your neighbors saying, “Happy Good Neighbor Day!”
  
  

Click on the images below to be taken to resources that you can share with people in your circle of influence.