1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:14,760 Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church Henley and thanks so much for tuning 2 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:17,000 into our podcast. 3 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,680 Our prayer is that through this podcast you can have an encounter with Jesus that will 4 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:22,800 change your life. 5 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:28,640 And now get ready for an inspiring message from our preaching team. 6 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,440 So it really is good to be at Henley. 7 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:36,280 I was just walking here and saw the banner on the side of the road and I thought, yeah, 8 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:38,880 praise God, this is awesome. 9 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:41,480 You guys are breaking ground here. 10 00:00:41,480 --> 00:00:46,400 And I was chatting to Bob earlier about Grainge and the history of Grainge and the hospitality 11 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:47,880 they're showing at Henley. 12 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:50,280 The kingdom of God just keeps growing. 13 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:56,120 God is up to something in Henley and in Grainge and he's ordained you guys to be a part of 14 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:57,120 it. 15 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:02,400 There's incredible leaders in Tim, Tex and Ash and Cara and the rest of the team. 16 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:04,000 It's fantastic stuff. 17 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:05,000 It's good. 18 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:06,240 It's good, Ash. 19 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:07,240 It's good. 20 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:08,240 Okay. 21 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:11,240 Let me pray and then I'll stop babbling and start preaching. 22 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:14,240 Jesus, we're thankful for you. 23 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:15,320 Who are we without you? 24 00:01:15,320 --> 00:01:16,840 What have we got without you? 25 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:17,840 Nothing. 26 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:22,240 We throw ourselves on your mercy and we're so thankful for your joy and the way you pour 27 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:23,480 yourself out for us. 28 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:27,080 So this afternoon God may have been not my words, but yours. 29 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:33,160 May you be lifting people up, impacting, changing lives in Jesus' name. 30 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:34,160 Amen. 31 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,000 All right. 32 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:42,120 When I read a passage like we just heard in the teaching text today, it reminds me that 33 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:47,680 sometimes I will, probably not you guys, probably just me. 34 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,880 Sometimes I'll read something in the Bible and I've read the Bible a few times by this 35 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:52,520 point as you'd hope. 36 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:57,760 And I'll get, I'll get to a part and I'll be like, Oh yeah, absolutely. 37 00:01:57,760 --> 00:01:59,880 But I won't really think about it. 38 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:04,400 And then I'll just stop and read it again and be like, that's not true. 39 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:05,400 I'm just owning it. 40 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,360 I'll read stuff and be like, that's not true. 41 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:10,160 Let me just read that again. 42 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:15,080 Blessed are you who are poor for yours as the kingdom of God. 43 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:19,760 How much, I don't know how many of you have experienced poverty in your life and whether 44 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,320 you were like, man, what a blessed time. 45 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:24,800 I'm a uni student. 46 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:26,240 I have no job. 47 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,160 I am subsiding purely on ramen noodles. 48 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:33,880 Someone is gifting me because I can't afford them myself. 49 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:34,880 How blessed am I? 50 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,400 Now that doesn't mean God's wrong. 51 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:42,080 It means I read them and I go that, that can't be right. 52 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:43,080 Come on. 53 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:44,200 Yeah, I'm not the only person who does this. 54 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:45,200 I know. 55 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:46,920 But this is what Jesus says. 56 00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:49,520 Blessed are you who are poor. 57 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:51,160 Blessed are you who weep. 58 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:52,840 Blessed are you who hunger. 59 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:59,640 Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject 60 00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:03,640 your name as evil because of the Son of Man. 61 00:03:03,640 --> 00:03:08,520 It's hard to read those like seriously read them and go, yes, I'm a blessed man. 62 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:10,560 Yeah, they're there. 63 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:12,600 The words of Jesus challenging us. 64 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:16,640 And if we take Jesus seriously, we have to take those words seriously. 65 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:20,760 So we're in a brand new series here at Henley, Mission in Motion. 66 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:25,520 I'm excited for this because God has a mission for His church, amen. 67 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:29,560 And it's designed to be active, not static, which means we go about it. 68 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:35,600 It's a call to every person who follows Jesus and it's not only active, it's pervasive. 69 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:38,280 So it's to be involved in every part of your lives. 70 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:41,960 You don't get to go, I'm on mission here, but not over here. 71 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:43,480 That's not how it works. 72 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:46,840 Every part of your life, when you're at work, when you're at uni, when you're at school, 73 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:49,160 when you're at home, when you're with family, when you're with friends, when you're with 74 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:53,000 complete strangers, when you're with neighbors, you are on mission. 75 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:54,560 That's how it works. 76 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,320 And over the next four weeks, you're going to hear from a range of people about that. 77 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,240 So I don't want to over explain it, but today, the basic thing I want to share with you is 78 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:02,240 this. 79 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:04,040 God loves the poor. 80 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:10,960 God loves the poor in spirit and He calls you to be a part of blessing their lives. 81 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:16,120 So a little bit of info here about Encounter's mission strategy as a church. 82 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:17,840 Again, I won't talk about what mission is. 83 00:04:17,840 --> 00:04:20,400 I'm going to leave that for the good preachers still to come. 84 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:22,640 But how do we actually do missions? 85 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:25,040 How do we do it here at church? 86 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:28,880 So start with, Encounter is Tex and Cara. 87 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:33,840 So helpfully explained before, there's this rule of thumb called tithing for Christians. 88 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:35,800 If you're not familiar with it, that's all right. 89 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:39,920 But the basic rule of thumb, and this is a rule of thumb, not a rule, is that Christians 90 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:41,680 give a tenth to their local church. 91 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:43,880 The word tithe literally means a tenth. 92 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:46,560 If you want to know more about that, it's on our podcast at Prospect. 93 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:48,240 I preached about it a couple of weeks ago. 94 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:52,720 Look it up on YouTube or a podcast when you got some time. 95 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:57,240 But Encounter at Prospect and at Henley, we then turn around and give 10% of our finance 96 00:04:57,240 --> 00:04:58,600 back out. 97 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:03,720 So we receive a tithe from the people who are a part of our church, and we then send 98 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:06,680 a tithe back out into the wider church. 99 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:12,320 So to be clear, that 10% is not exclusively for poor people, it is for missions. 100 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:13,560 How do we look at missions? 101 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:14,960 This is how we look at missions. 102 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:19,480 Through the lens of Acts chapter one, verse eight, which is Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, 103 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:20,680 and the ends of the earth. 104 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:25,280 So this is what Jesus says, but you will receive, I know it's Acts, but this is Jesus, sneaky 105 00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:27,400 little bit before he ascends to heaven. 106 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:32,200 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses 107 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:38,240 in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and all the ends of the earth. 108 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:40,160 Here's where this is helpful. 109 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:48,520 These represent basically local mission, regional mission, mission to the poor and global mission. 110 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:49,520 You with me so far? 111 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:51,520 All right, I'll explain it a bit. 112 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:53,920 That was underwhelming, but I'll just keep explaining. 113 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:58,600 In Jerusalem, so their local spaces Encounter does things like we give to specific personal 114 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:02,440 needs sometimes we give to local domestic violence shelters. 115 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:07,600 Sometimes we partners with streetlight ministry who work with street kids down south and out 116 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:08,600 north. 117 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:10,120 So they're a strategic partner we work with. 118 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:15,240 So that's all local ministry in the ground nearby to us. 119 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:17,520 So their places we can go and visit any day we want. 120 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:19,960 In Judea, that's regional spaces. 121 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:21,440 So we'll often give to other church plants. 122 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:22,440 It doesn't have to be an essay. 123 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:23,440 It could be nationally. 124 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:25,440 We'll give to other mission organizations. 125 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:28,560 We love to give to one off things like bushfire appeals. 126 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:33,160 We want to have money handy ready so that when somebody says actually something awful 127 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:34,400 has happened, we go great. 128 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:36,200 We've got some money we can bless with straight away. 129 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,480 We don't have to come around rattling a tin in front of you. 130 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:44,480 But because you have generously given, we have money prepared in advance to hand back 131 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:45,480 out. 132 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:47,240 So we're trying to strategically think about that. 133 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:48,480 So that's Judea. 134 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:53,880 In Samaria, Samaria is the place where you think of where it's people that are like us, 135 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:57,440 but just different enough to cause us a bit of discomfort. 136 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:00,440 So those are spaces where we minister to the marginalized. 137 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:05,840 So we support spaces like Steve, I's homeless ministry at Enfield or the Congress church, 138 00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:10,840 the indigenous church at Unedada, who we just bought a bunch of chairs for their church. 139 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:13,600 And at the end of the earth, where the ends of the earth is kind of self explanatory. 140 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:15,560 The ends of the earth is the ends of the earth. 141 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:16,720 It's global mission. 142 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:22,440 And there we primarily aim to support Indonesia and specifically we aim to support Java. 143 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:27,960 Okay, now obviously we could support ministries in a whole bunch of different countries. 144 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:30,960 It's not like we look at Indonesia and go better support there. 145 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:31,960 Africa has no more needs. 146 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:32,960 They're good now. 147 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:33,960 No, no, of course not. 148 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:35,640 But here's the thing. 149 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:37,920 There's like 30, 30 odd people in the room. 150 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:41,720 If all 30 of you went, there's something I want to do in a little way for 30 different 151 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:42,720 places. 152 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:43,720 That's good. 153 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:48,520 But if 30 of us combined together and focus our prayer, our resources, our passion, our 154 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:52,920 thinking into one place, we can have a bigger impact. 155 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:55,920 So that's why we support Java. 156 00:07:55,920 --> 00:08:01,640 It's prayer giving relationship, maximizing our impact in spiritual, economic and relational 157 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:02,640 ways. 158 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:05,760 We call this the Java project because it's mostly focused on impacting the island of 159 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:09,320 Java, where the largest portion of population is. 160 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:11,520 All right, stick into it. 161 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:12,520 Why Indonesia? 162 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:14,760 I'm going to talk a bit about the Java project now. 163 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:18,640 And then I'm going to kind of get back to closing off the message part of it. 164 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:22,600 There's a number of practical reasons we support Indonesia specifically. 165 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:24,680 Number one, size. 166 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:28,240 Indonesia is country of around 281 million people. 167 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:33,080 So it's more than 10 times the size of Australia, which means there's great, great need. 168 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:39,280 And our contributions even maximize together as Henley and prospect, all focusing in on 169 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:41,080 the one island, not even all of Indonesia. 170 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:42,560 It's a drop in the bucket, right? 171 00:08:42,560 --> 00:08:46,440 But it's a bigger drop than if we weren't focusing at all together. 172 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:49,240 The second is the amount of believers in Jesus. 173 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:50,880 So this is a spiritual impact. 174 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,240 Only 34 million people claim to believe in Jesus. 175 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:55,240 That's a lot. 176 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:56,760 That's a lot more than here. 177 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:03,600 But that means there is a 250 million person mission field. 178 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:05,360 That's worth some effort. 179 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:10,200 And the Jesus that we understand and believe in means that's 250 million people who lack 180 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,320 the eternal hope that Jesus brings. 181 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:14,320 Amen. 182 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:16,040 That's a big need. 183 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:18,160 The third thing is relative closeness. 184 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:23,080 Indonesia's 4,500 K's away, which in Australian terms is like a next door neighbor, right? 185 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:25,560 This is the next cattle station. 186 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:29,800 It's about a six hour flight from Adelaide to Jakarta and from Darwin to Bali. 187 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:30,800 It's like an hour and a half. 188 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:33,040 Like it's really, it's really not very far. 189 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:36,440 And so that's one of the reasons it is relational. 190 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,120 And this map should give you a bit of a sense of how close it is. 191 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:42,280 You know, Australia is just this massive, like we are the ends of the earth. 192 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,560 So when we talk about going to the ends of the world, we're already here, so we got to 193 00:09:45,560 --> 00:09:46,920 go somewhere else. 194 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:50,600 And so when you look at our nearest neighbors, you see Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste and 195 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:53,600 Indonesia, that's what's right there above us. 196 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:57,880 And so that's one of the reasons we go there. 197 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:00,560 Next slide just gives you a bit of an impact. 198 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:04,080 Number four is the relative poverty of Indonesia. 199 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:06,920 Just under 10% people live below the poverty line. 200 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:11,760 3% of them live on less than $2.15 a day. 201 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:17,160 One in 25 kids in Indonesia under the age of five doesn't make it past their fifth birthday. 202 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:20,800 So if there's 100 kids in a room and they're four years old, four of them aren't going 203 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,160 to make it past five. 204 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,040 One in six children in Indonesia is underweight. 205 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:29,600 One in four children in Indonesia has stunted growth. 206 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:35,040 Globally, 57 million children don't attend school and 400 million children live under 207 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:37,800 that $2.15 a day poverty line. 208 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:40,040 That is unacceptable. 209 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:41,840 Unacceptable. 210 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:45,280 It's bad enough that we need to do something. 211 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:50,120 You know, Jesus consistently again and again says, let the little children come to me. 212 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:51,480 You got to become like a child. 213 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,280 If you want to understand me, be more like a kid. 214 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:55,280 Why? 215 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:56,280 They're rich in faith. 216 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:57,280 They're rich in love. 217 00:10:57,280 --> 00:10:58,280 They trust. 218 00:10:58,280 --> 00:10:59,280 This is who you need to be like. 219 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:03,280 So if we want to bless Jesus, we bless the vulnerable, we bless the children. 220 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:06,520 I'll leave that one there, but you can talk to me about it later. 221 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,760 Number five is the amount of persecution. 222 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:14,280 Conservative Islam is a huge form of persecution for believers in Indonesia. 223 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:18,720 Now I want to be very careful there that the phrase there is conservative Islam, not radical 224 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:19,720 Islam. 225 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:24,000 Radical Islam is presuming that everyone is under terrorist threat at all times. 226 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,760 There's two spaces in Indonesia that are under constant terrorist threat. 227 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:31,880 That is the far northern end of Sumatra in an era called Aceh, which you might have 228 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:33,920 heard of because that's where the tsunami hit. 229 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:37,120 That is, that's a very dangerous place. 230 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:41,080 And throughout some of the western reaches of Sumatra, the same island is also a very 231 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:42,360 dangerous place. 232 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:47,360 So in the north and in the west of Sumatra, Sharia law is in place, which means it's illegal 233 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:52,560 to be a Christian, which means it's legal to kill and persecute Christians. 234 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:57,040 Two years ago, there was a church attack three years ago, sorry, in Makassar. 235 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:03,400 There was a bombing at a church and very no repercussion because of that. 236 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:09,480 And when Christians enter power, they undergo tremendous persecution. 237 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:15,360 So the governor of Jakarta in 2017, Jakarta's capital city is a Christian and he was quite 238 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:20,200 public about his faith, but of course very, very careful and both Christian caring towards 239 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:24,760 Islam and also politically caring, thoughtful towards Islam. 240 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:28,680 But as soon as he slipped up in any way, shape or form, it's not that they didn't vote him 241 00:12:28,680 --> 00:12:31,120 back into office, they threw him in jail. 242 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:33,640 So that's the level of persecution that happens in Indonesia. 243 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:39,360 It is an unjust political system marked by corruption and markedly driven by conservative 244 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:41,360 Islam that persecutes other places. 245 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:46,880 And again, I want to be really clear here, in other places, for example, in India, the 246 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:48,680 Hindu population persecutes Muslims. 247 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:53,640 So it's not, I'm not trying to have a dig at Muslims for their own sake, but in Indonesia, 248 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:55,520 there's the situation. 249 00:12:55,520 --> 00:13:00,840 Number six, in Indonesia, there are organisations we can partner with on the ground. 250 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:06,280 The reason this is important is because well-meaning Christians for generations have stuffed up 251 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:07,720 in overseas missions. 252 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:12,360 So there's this famous story of a Canadian church that went over to, I think it was Kenya 253 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:14,520 and they built this beautiful school. 254 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:18,920 They paid for themselves, they built to themselves so much time, effort, money. 255 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:24,680 And a couple of years later, some more missionaries came across and the Kenyan tribe said, oh, 256 00:13:24,680 --> 00:13:26,960 you have to come see this school. 257 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:28,120 It's amazing. 258 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:31,720 And so they took them up to it and showed them and they walked around the school. 259 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:36,600 And then as they stood in front of it, the missionaries said, can we go inside? 260 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:41,040 And the tribe said, no, no, this is our most beautiful building. 261 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:42,720 No one steps foot in this building. 262 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:48,320 So, oh, so we built this school and nobody goes in it because we didn't actually ask 263 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:50,760 what do these people need? 264 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:53,560 We just came and said, this is what we can do. 265 00:13:53,560 --> 00:13:56,400 We'll do the work so we can't employ you so we don't lift you out of poverty. 266 00:13:56,400 --> 00:13:58,560 There's a number of problems with that. 267 00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:04,440 So by partnering with open doors and compassion, we minimise the Western mistakes we can make 268 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:05,440 in missions. 269 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:06,440 Does that make sense? 270 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:08,320 All right, I'll kick it on. 271 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:09,320 Why open doors? 272 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:14,320 Really briefly, open doors is an organisation devoted to supporting the persecuted church 273 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:15,320 through native leadership. 274 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:18,640 That means on the ground leadership in these countries across the globe. 275 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,440 We partnered with them for more than six years in Indonesia. 276 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:26,920 Last year we donated more than $6,500 to them to projects that include discipleship seminars 277 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:30,560 for Muslim background believers because if you come from an Islamic background, you're 278 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:32,080 kicked out of your family. 279 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:37,320 So there's a discipleship seminar, series of seminars that helps create them in a sense 280 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:41,320 of community and equips them to share the gospel with their community. 281 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:46,360 And it's theological and pastoral education to equip pastors to lead their people effectively 282 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:51,560 in Indonesia and there's persecution preparation training, teaching church and volunteer leaders 283 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:54,280 how to respond biblically to persecution. 284 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:58,260 So we partnered with open doors because that is us as encounter standing with the global 285 00:14:58,260 --> 00:15:01,120 church in the middle of their persecution. 286 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:06,000 We refuse to turn a blind eye to the pain of the global church. 287 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,360 So why compassion? 288 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:12,640 Well, compassion, every year at Encounter we highlight their work. 289 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:14,840 Usually we call it Compassion Sunday. 290 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:16,920 Here today you've got me, but you also got Hannah. 291 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:18,880 Everybody say hi to Hannah. 292 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:20,960 Hannah's here from Prospect with us as well. 293 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:22,840 Hannah's also our admin officer on staff. 294 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:26,880 So if you send an email to Hello or admin at Encounter out of late or you've probably 295 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:31,080 got like six email addresses that feed in there Hannah, you're talking to Hannah. 296 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,280 And so always say hello to her. 297 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:39,360 If you're wondering what makes their weekly email so spicy when you get it, it's Hannah. 298 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:42,480 Loves an emoji. 299 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:47,840 Every year at Encounter we help highlight compassion because compassion is an organization 300 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:52,640 whose mission is to release children from poverty in Jesus' name. 301 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:54,160 Let me say that again. 302 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:57,920 Their mission is to release children from poverty in Jesus' name. 303 00:15:57,920 --> 00:15:58,920 Huge mission. 304 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:04,160 It is not just to eradicate poverty, but to do it for children in particular and in the 305 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:05,160 name of Jesus. 306 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:10,600 So it's Christ centred, child focused and church based. 307 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:14,600 So to do this, they make a very complex thing, very simple. 308 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:20,000 Through local churches like ours in developing countries and in Australia, they connect individuals 309 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:21,640 together in a sponsoring relationship. 310 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:23,360 Now a lot of you will know about this, right? 311 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:24,360 World Vision Compassion. 312 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:25,860 It's very familiar. 313 00:16:25,860 --> 00:16:30,040 They connect one child with one sponsor, but they facilitate it through the community and 314 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:31,840 integrity of the local church. 315 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,480 So it's not just throw you over there, throw you over there, hope for the best. 316 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:36,480 No, no, no. 317 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:41,800 We know that there's actually a development center happening on the ground in Indonesia. 318 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:46,200 And we know that over here there is a church committed and focused to praying for them 319 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:47,560 and lifting these people up. 320 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,120 It's not just money, it's prayer, it's heart. 321 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:51,120 There's more than that. 322 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,480 If it's just money, it's not enough. 323 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:58,520 But right now, more than two million children are sponsored through Compassion. 324 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:03,400 So not throughout their history, like today, right now, more than two million kids. 325 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:05,320 I would have thought that's pretty good. 326 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:08,120 Two million kids lifted out of poverty. 327 00:17:08,120 --> 00:17:13,120 The finances have integrity, their organization is successful, and they do it all in Jesus' 328 00:17:13,120 --> 00:17:14,120 name. 329 00:17:14,120 --> 00:17:16,160 So that is why we work with Compassion. 330 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:18,920 We sponsor around 50 kids as a church across both our sites. 331 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:23,040 I've got no idea how many are here and how many are there, but about 50 across Adelaide, 332 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:24,440 which is awesome. 333 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:26,040 And I know many of you are a part of that. 334 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,720 And so I had the privilege earlier this year of going to Indonesia with Compassion, which 335 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:30,720 was just amazing. 336 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:35,800 So I got to meet one of our sponsor kids, my family sponsor kids, to see how Compassion 337 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:36,800 operates. 338 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:40,120 And I was really interested because I've sponsored Compassion Kids for a long time. 339 00:17:40,120 --> 00:17:42,240 Been a big advocate for a long time. 340 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:46,160 But you always kind of secretly go, how's the sausage made? 341 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:48,560 Like, okay, let's be honest. 342 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:52,800 When you give money to a charity, you go, where's the money going? 343 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:53,800 I get it. 344 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:54,800 I'm giving it to the charity. 345 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:57,240 It's a good thing, but where's the money going? 346 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:58,240 Just tell me. 347 00:17:58,240 --> 00:17:59,240 Just tell me. 348 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:00,240 It's okay. 349 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:01,240 I'm fine. 350 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:02,240 But just tell me. 351 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:06,240 Compassion is more impressive behind closed doors than they are in front of them. 352 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:07,240 Far more impressive. 353 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:12,320 You go behind and to see how the sausage is made, way more impressive behind closed doors. 354 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:14,560 I've got a limited amount of time. 355 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:21,320 But this idea of bringing one sponsor and one child and using the church to bring them 356 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:24,840 together is way more complex than it seems, right? 357 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:29,200 When you go to the shops and you take your phone and you tap to pay for something, that's 358 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:31,600 incredibly easy for you. 359 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:36,800 And it's incredibly difficult for a back-end person somewhere who's organised an entire 360 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:41,680 system that's enabled some dude to go to coals and pay from their bank. 361 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:42,840 And you know what I mean? 362 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:47,360 That transfer is complex behind the scenes, but for you, very, very easy. 363 00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:48,600 That's what Compassion is like. 364 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:53,440 They have turned it into being a very easy thing to sponsor a child by making all the 365 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:55,760 complications on the back end. 366 00:18:55,760 --> 00:19:00,760 So they deal with that in an incredible way, both in Australia and on the ground in Indonesia. 367 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:03,360 Ask me later if you want more of that information. 368 00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:04,360 I don't have time. 369 00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:07,880 But I wanted to talk a little bit about the blessing of meeting my sponsor, Keith. 370 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:10,160 So this is Vero. 371 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:16,880 We went to a theme park and we're hanging out behind the people in green are people that 372 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,600 work at Compassion's office. 373 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:21,640 No, not Compassion's office. 374 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:25,640 Sorry, they work at the church, the child development centre, the church, same thing 375 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:29,720 over there, in Jogjakarta, which is where Vero is from. 376 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,280 The lady directly behind her is a mother. 377 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:36,080 It's Reverend Josh Shearer off to the side and there's me looking happy. 378 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:41,560 Why don't we just zoom in at how happy my sponsor child is to be at a theme park? 379 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:43,200 She's never been to a theme park before. 380 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:45,520 It's all she wanted, having the time of her life. 381 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:49,240 I still get a couple of other photos, just having a great time at a theme park. 382 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:52,320 Here's her celebrating, getting a lovely gift from me. 383 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:56,800 There's a side eye there so strong that I'm not sure her eyes ever straightened again. 384 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:58,760 There's her enjoying being on a ride. 385 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:00,720 Why don't we just zoom into that one, Chels? 386 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:06,560 You see there her mother physically holding her hand up to wave to me. 387 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:10,240 I don't want to miss how much she did not want to wave to me. 388 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:14,320 This poor kid's like eight years old and my daughter is really her sponsor. 389 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:15,880 She got there, she travels two hours. 390 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,240 She was up four in the morning because she was excited. 391 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:19,400 So she's exhausted. 392 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:20,360 She's traveled for ages. 393 00:20:20,360 --> 00:20:21,120 She gets there. 394 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:24,840 And then instead of my daughter, Grace, who was this beautiful, sweet person, 395 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,840 she's like, who is this middle aged white guy? 396 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,080 What is happening? 397 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:32,080 It is. 398 00:20:35,360 --> 00:20:40,760 Wait, she did or I did because I'm paying the money in this situation. 399 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:42,200 Was there a mutual catfishing? 400 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:42,880 I don't know. 401 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:50,480 Anyway, but if you look at her mother there, the look in her eyes is not 402 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:54,520 faint because an eight year old kid doesn't understand how their life has 403 00:20:54,520 --> 00:21:00,520 been changed, but her mother understands that our family has invested finances 404 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:02,960 in her prayer, communication. 405 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:04,760 My daughter writes to her often. 406 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:09,040 And now I've traveled all the way over Indonesia because I care enough about 407 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:11,200 this girl to meet her in person. 408 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:17,280 And so when I met her mother, she was in tears, bawling, because she understood 409 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:21,960 the importance of what it means and how it has changed her entire family. 410 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:26,760 Now, Vera is not the most amazing meeting your compassion child story. 411 00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:29,200 So let's meet Elisa instead. 412 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:30,280 This is Elisa. 413 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:34,040 Elisa is sponsored by Haley Stephen, who's part of our prospect community. 414 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:36,040 Many of you will know her. 415 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:39,640 I told Haley beforehand that I was going to be preaching at the church where 416 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:44,280 Elisa worships and so she was like, OK, so she organized this teddy bear. 417 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:46,240 So it's like a builder bear koala. 418 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:50,480 And when you squeeze a tent, Haley's got a prayer that she's praying over Elisa 419 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:52,400 so she can hear her sponsor's voice. 420 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,760 Now, Elisa was there because she had to be it was church. 421 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:59,840 But there was these sponsors that had come with us from Queensland. 422 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:01,760 They sponsor, they're just a couple of farmers. 423 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:05,080 They sponsor 10 kids, 10 kids, this family. 424 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:08,760 And so they seated them all up before them like this giant Brady bunch thing. 425 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:13,200 And and there's all these gifts and photos and Elisa's brother is one of them. 426 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:15,400 And so it was amazing for their family. 427 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:16,240 Mum and dad were there. 428 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:17,240 They're taking photos. 429 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:20,280 Guess who can feel a little bit left out in that situation? 430 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:23,080 Elisa, she's dressed up because she had to do a performance. 431 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:26,280 But but her brother is sitting there with her compassion sponsor. 432 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:29,480 And she's just sort of off to the side watching it going, oh. 433 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:34,640 And then I walked up with a translator and I explained that her sponsor 434 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:36,560 knew her and saw her. 435 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:40,840 And from all the way over in Australia had sent me with a special gift for her. 436 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:44,680 And her smile could have lit up the room. 437 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:48,040 Which was very helpful for me after the amusement park experience. 438 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:53,960 Here's the thing. 439 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:56,200 Poverty looks different from person to person. 440 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,080 Geese, this is the most Christian thing I've ever seen. 441 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:01,360 There are like nine free seats. 442 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:02,360 Just sit in the free seat. 443 00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:04,600 Come down the front. 444 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:06,480 This is like, no, no, I'll get extra seats. 445 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:08,480 Sit further up them. 446 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:13,040 Yeah, no. 447 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,720 And I was trying to absolutely remove that. 448 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:17,520 Here's the thing. 449 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:20,200 Poverty looks different from person to person. 450 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:21,120 Looks really different. 451 00:23:21,120 --> 00:23:21,520 Right. 452 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:23,720 In Indonesia, it's not really about food. 453 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:26,120 They live in a climate where it's quite easy to get food. 454 00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:28,400 Education is a huge problem. 455 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:29,840 And it means it caps out. 456 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:34,080 And because education not only caps out for them early, but it's really expensive. 457 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:40,160 It means that if they can't, yes, they can afford food, but living is expensive. 458 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:42,000 And that means they can't afford education. 459 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,120 And if they're going to continue to afford to be able to live, 460 00:23:44,120 --> 00:23:47,240 they need to pull kids out of education and put them into the workplace earlier. 461 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:48,880 That's what happens. 462 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:51,600 But the great gift of compassion is that they are geniuses 463 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,800 at eliminating the poverty of opportunity. 464 00:23:54,800 --> 00:24:00,680 That is the poverty that comes from never being able to break the cycle of poverty. 465 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:04,440 Less ideas, less hope, less chances. 466 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:08,920 So compassion provides finance and opportunity for a kid, 467 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:13,320 meaning the family has more income for food and then the other children as well. 468 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:17,800 So if compassion kids, the compassion kid gets a bigger boost than the rest of the family. 469 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:19,000 That's just that's just true. 470 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:19,680 Right. 471 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:24,760 But the entire family rises because this compassion kid gets all these opportunities 472 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:28,560 and some of the normal things they'd have to pay for get paid for by a sponsor, 473 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:31,440 which means they don't have to get paid for by the family, 474 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:35,040 which means the pool of money that they're scrimping and saving to pay for this kid, 475 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:38,120 they can then guarantee their other kid gets an education. 476 00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:41,120 And then they can guarantee that they're in stable living environments, 477 00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:44,360 which means they don't have to pull the kid out of school early, 478 00:24:44,360 --> 00:24:47,920 which means the kid can be working, working, not working, 479 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:52,320 but remain in education and go through and break the cycle of poverty. 480 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:53,120 That's what it does. 481 00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:57,120 So I need you to know that when you sponsor a compassion kid, it's one to one. 482 00:24:57,120 --> 00:25:00,240 But the entire family is lifted out of poverty. 483 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:02,840 It's extraordinary. 484 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:04,960 So then then I met Jova. 485 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:09,640 Jova, this was a little boy whose family I went to visit. 486 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:10,840 There he is. 487 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:12,040 He's the baby being held. 488 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,880 That's his eldest brother and then his middle brother down there on the ground. 489 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:17,480 I'm up the back there somewhere. 490 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:20,320 And when I went to his house and I saw it, 491 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:26,480 that I'm standing in what is his brother's bedroom slash living room slash kitchen. 492 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:27,320 They have two rooms. 493 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:31,760 There's that in the next door is where the parents and the two youngest kids sleep. 494 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:33,560 That's it. That's how they live. 495 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:34,640 They're in they're in Indonesia. 496 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:37,400 It's 2024 and they're in an urban area. 497 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:38,400 This is how they live. 498 00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:39,920 This is the poverty they have. 499 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:44,160 Is that and then later, the old guy at the back, Simon, 500 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:45,880 he was running the trip. 501 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:48,440 He said, listen, Jova needs a sponsor. 502 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:52,080 I was like, yeah, I knew we would come back with another sponsor child. 503 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:54,200 So let's lay it on me. 504 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:55,520 This is great. 505 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:57,280 And so that's that's Jova's letter. 506 00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:58,440 Obviously, he's pretty little. 507 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:01,120 He can't write very much, but he's now a third sponsor child. 508 00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:03,360 I just I had to sponsor him. 509 00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:04,600 I saw his life. 510 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:08,760 I saw what compassion could do and I saw what I could do if I plugged into that system. 511 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:12,880 So now we have three sponsor kids one for each of my children. 512 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,360 So they line up and they connect with them. 513 00:26:15,360 --> 00:26:18,560 This next photo is a photo of a bunch of compassion. 514 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:20,080 Oh, no, let's go to the next one. 515 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:21,480 Sorry, my fault. 516 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:22,520 Sorry, Chelsea. 517 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:25,080 This is a bunch of compassion alumni. 518 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:26,520 OK, so we had a dinner with these guys. 519 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:31,040 These are all people who have come through compassion on the far left. 520 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:31,920 Your left. 521 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:35,560 Yeah, everyone's left, whatever is is owner. 522 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:37,920 Owner comes from Batak in Sumatra. 523 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:39,960 He's an economics and accounting teacher at St. 524 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:41,400 John's Christian School. 525 00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:43,960 He's writing curriculum across multiple schools. 526 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:47,400 He's doing his master's of education at the University of Bundle. 527 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,160 Next to him is Simon Simon from Jogjakarta. 528 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:51,240 He's an entrepreneur. 529 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:53,000 He's an owner of an EV franchise. 530 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:57,480 And he dreams of funding his own public primary school by the age of 50. 531 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,080 The next kid is the next guy is Krishna Bagus. 532 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:02,560 But great last name, Bagus just means good. 533 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:05,080 And and he's from Salatiga at a church. 534 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:06,240 I actually got to visit. 535 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:07,160 He's an entrepreneur. 536 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:09,080 He owns seven laundry franchises. 537 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:12,400 He dreams of a thousand across multiple continents. 538 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:14,120 And the final one is Charisma. 539 00:27:14,120 --> 00:27:15,800 What a name the guy with the microphone. 540 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:19,960 He's from Kupang, which is a tiny poverty stricken island. 541 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:23,880 It's one of those tiny, tiny islands in the archipelago. 542 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:27,400 He works as a project management officer for a private equity firm. 543 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,640 And he dreams of transforming public education policy. 544 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:35,960 These guys are unbelievable. 545 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:41,320 You hear that and you're like, oh, so they started in poverty 546 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:43,680 and they're doing better than me now. 547 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:50,120 And Charisma with the microphone, he told this story. 548 00:27:50,120 --> 00:27:57,920 He he told a story about how he was so blessed because he was sponsored consistently. 549 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:01,680 But in in his school, everyone would get the letters all at once. 550 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:02,680 You got to be realistic. 551 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:03,680 They get bulk delivered. 552 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:05,840 And so all the kids would get their letters. 553 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:09,080 But but Charisma's sponsor never wrote to him. 554 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:13,880 So all the kids would be getting letters and he's there with nothing. 555 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:16,880 Now, he's lifted out of poverty economically. 556 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:23,680 But but relationally, there's a pain in his heart as every other kid gets a letter. 557 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:27,680 And he turned to us and he said, honestly, it doesn't matter how bad your letter is. 558 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:28,680 Just write something. 559 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,680 You have no idea how much it matters. 560 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:35,680 If you've got a compassion kid, they are desperate to get these letters from you. 561 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,480 All they want is to hear from someone who loves them. 562 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:43,480 And the things that are boring and mundane for you are unusual and special for them. 563 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:44,680 You don't have to write much. 564 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:46,080 You don't have to write anything amazing. 565 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:47,480 Just write something. 566 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:49,080 Just write something. 567 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:52,880 And so afterwards, I was chatting to Krishna, the guy just next to Charisma there. 568 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:55,480 I said, mate, you're unbelievable. 569 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:55,880 Look at you. 570 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:59,680 You've worked so hard for this and compassion has blessed you so much. 571 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:00,680 You're doing a great job. 572 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:02,680 Compassion is doing a great job. 573 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:06,480 And he looked at me as if like, like as if he was translating what I was saying, 574 00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:08,480 but his English was too good for that. 575 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:09,480 So he wasn't. 576 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:10,480 And then it kicked in. 577 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:13,480 He's like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 578 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:15,480 Compassion, they're great. 579 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:16,480 And yes, I worked very hard. 580 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:18,480 You don't understand though. 581 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:20,480 It's like you've missed the memo. 582 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:22,480 God has blessed me. 583 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:24,480 God has done this. 584 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:25,480 It's not an organization. 585 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:26,480 It's not a sponsor. 586 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:33,480 God has lifted me out of poverty and created for me a new life and a new opportunity. 587 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:34,480 He has given me everything. 588 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:36,480 They're not only further along in life than you. 589 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:38,480 They are better Christians than you. 590 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:44,480 Compassion is a revival factory, man, because they pour it out through the local church. 591 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:49,480 Now I'm being a bit tongue in cheek, obviously, but they are pouring out through the local church. 592 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:55,480 So that hand in hand, they get the gospel economic opportunities, relational opportunities, 593 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:59,480 spiritual opportunities, everything rises with them all of it together. 594 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:04,480 So an entire family is lifted out of spiritual poverty as well as economic poverty. 595 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:06,480 Unbelievable. 596 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:13,480 And God is doing something with us encounter Henley and with Indonesia, especially in Java, 597 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:15,480 especially as a place called Soliti. 598 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:16,480 Get to figure back to that one. 599 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:18,480 I put in the wrong order for you, Chelsea. 600 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:19,480 This is my friend Liberty. 601 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:20,480 She was our translator. 602 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:21,480 She's my friend. 603 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:22,480 She speaks four languages. 604 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:24,480 She's warm and funny and brilliant. 605 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:27,480 And of course, she's a compassionate kid. 606 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:28,480 She came through that. 607 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:29,480 Now she works for Compassion. 608 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:36,480 Her job is to deal with the pastors as they come over and explain to them exactly what Compassion does. 609 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:38,480 And I said, I was so sorry. 610 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:43,480 And that's the Java project. 611 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:46,480 That's our long-term plan to partner with Indonesia. 612 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:48,480 Our next steps to begin some regular visits. 613 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:53,480 And I mean, conversation with Compassion about that and partnerships with individual churches on the ground 614 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:58,480 so that we know them church to church as well as person to person, then who knows? 615 00:30:58,480 --> 00:30:59,480 Maybe we'll plan a church there someday. 616 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:04,480 I know at least one of our staff team desperately wants to. 617 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:07,480 So as I go towards the end of this, I just say this. 618 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:09,480 Compassion eliminates the poverty of opportunity. 619 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:11,480 Sponsorship creates the opportunity. 620 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:15,480 Opportunity then gives the kids permission to actually dream about their future. 621 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:19,480 Those alumni can dream because they're out of poverty. 622 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:21,480 When you're stuck in poverty, you're not allowed to dream. 623 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:23,480 What are you going to dream about? 624 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:29,480 And then dreams allow them to actually live out their lives in the image of God, their father, in the image of the creator. 625 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:32,480 They become creators themselves. 626 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:38,480 And so you donate into Compassion literally lifts families out of poverty economically, relationally, spiritually. 627 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:44,480 And the Compassion supply chain starts with you, your money, your prayers and your letters. 628 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:47,480 Do not forget the letters. 629 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:54,480 So to go back to tithes and offerings in your personal finances, tithes are where God challenges you to give to the church. 630 00:31:54,480 --> 00:32:00,480 Offerings are how God challenges you to support organizations like Compassion. 631 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:04,480 Now, why talk about all this in a sermon and why is this all so important? 632 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:06,480 Let me come to a close. 633 00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:11,480 Jonathan Edwards, the great Christian reformer in the 1730s, he said this, 634 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:17,480 there's nothing more clear in the Bible than the command to care for the poor. 635 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:25,480 Jesus told people to give to the poor in Mark 10, 21, said that we should invite the poor into our lives in Luke 14, 13, 636 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:29,480 that he comes to bring good news to the poor in Matthew 11, 5, 637 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:34,480 and most tellingly that there is judgment upon us when we do not care for the poor. 638 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:44,480 There is a parable in the Gospel of Matthew where he tells a story about a king casting people out of the kingdom of God who profess to be followers of Jesus, 639 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:46,480 but do not care about the poor. 640 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:52,480 And he says, you've rejected me by rejecting them. 641 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:56,480 The story of the rich man and Lazarus and Luke 16 echoes that. 642 00:32:56,480 --> 00:33:01,480 Now, you may push back on this and say, oh, well, Mike, Jesus says we always have the poor with us. 643 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:06,480 That is Jesus guarantees until the kingdom of God comes in full, there will always be poverty on earth. 644 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:07,480 How brilliant is that? 645 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:11,480 You will never lack an opportunity for generosity. 646 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:16,480 The poor you will always have with you, so never forget them. 647 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:21,480 Now, that doesn't mean each one of you is solely responsible for every poor person in the world, 648 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:24,480 because sometimes that's how it feels, the weight on your shoulders. 649 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:28,480 It just means for Christians, it's non-negotiable to love and serve the poor. 650 00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:30,480 It's non-negotiable. 651 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:35,480 And for us in wealthy Australia, if we can read the passages about the poor in scripture, 652 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:40,480 they could motivate us, but they could also make us feel weighed down with guilt. 653 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:44,480 But the poor are not our opportunity for guilt, they are our opportunity for grace. 654 00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:47,480 Let me borrow from Tim Keller to explain. 655 00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:51,480 Our generosity comes from a place of grace, because in the Sermon on the Mount, 656 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:58,480 when Jesus says, blessed are the poor, we heard it before in Luke, blessed are the poor, Jesus is speaking to us. 657 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:05,480 And in Matthew's Gospel, we hear a different translation. Jesus says, blessed are you when you are poor in spirit. 658 00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:07,480 Now, who's poor in spirit? 659 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:11,480 You are poor in spirit. You are. 660 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:13,480 You are the ones who need the Gospel to rescue you. 661 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:21,480 In fact, Keller would say, the only way for you to come to God is by being poor in spirit. 662 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:26,480 Recognizing that we have nothing without Him, I have nothing without Jesus. 663 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:33,480 The rejection of God gives Him every right to condemn us to hell and yet, 664 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:41,480 and yet instead, God in His generosity to us has become poor on our behalf. 665 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:45,480 God reaches out with compassion towards us because we are poor in spirit. 666 00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:49,480 He has lifted us up and out of our sin away from death and into hope. 667 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:50,480 How has He done that? 668 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:52,480 Through Jesus. 669 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:55,480 Jesus became poor on our behalf. 670 00:34:55,480 --> 00:35:00,480 God enthroned in glory in heaven was born in a dirty stable. 671 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:06,480 The Son of God with all power born to poor teenage parents. 672 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:11,480 He possessed power and authority over everything yet He comes to serve the people of the world. 673 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:15,480 He enters His royal city, Jerusalem on a donkey instead of a stallion. 674 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:17,480 His crown is made of jewels. 675 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:20,480 It meant to be made of jewels instead it's made of thorns. 676 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:25,480 He crucified on a junk heap outside of the city buried in a borrowed grave 677 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:30,480 and even His last item of clothing is stolen by soldiers gambling for it. 678 00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:39,480 Jesus knew poverty and He impoverished Himself for you, for everyone here 679 00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:45,480 that you might understand the compassion and grace and hand of God towards you. 680 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:49,480 Jesus came to bring good news to the poor and the poor in spirit. 681 00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:55,480 This is what He says, I've gone to prepare a place for you in the house of the Father. 682 00:35:55,480 --> 00:36:03,480 So don't seek treasures on earth, seek them in heaven because Jesus has invited you to His table. 683 00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:09,480 And in heaven you and I will sit side by side with Indonesian heroes of the faith 684 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:17,480 and cry and hug and worship and celebrate that we've been welcomed into the kingdom of God together. 685 00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:21,480 God has eliminated your spiritual poverty. 686 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:27,480 You come to Him bringing poverty of spirit and exchange your receive God's spirit. 687 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:29,480 So what's the point of this? 688 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:31,480 What's the point of Encounter's Mission? 689 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:33,480 What's the point of the Java Project? 690 00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:37,480 Here's the point, to help you as the church to have a practical understandable way 691 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:40,480 of how you can love and serve the poor. 692 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:43,480 To not reinvent the wheel but say actually can we help you to do this 693 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:49,480 because it is essential for your soul. 694 00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:57,480 So I think there's two things that need to be addressed in a message like this. 695 00:36:57,480 --> 00:37:02,480 And I've very kind of mentioned them but I want to talk about them as we have a time of response. 696 00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:10,480 The first is that when we have a time like this we can feel guilty about what we haven't done 697 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:17,480 and let ourselves be beaten up and God's saying in this moment, don't feel judgment. 698 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:21,480 Jesus didn't come to bring judgment but forgiveness. 699 00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:25,480 Jesus comes to set you free from guilt and shame. 700 00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:31,480 So if you're feeling a bit guilty about what you haven't done from the poor, give it to Jesus. 701 00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:39,480 The flip side of that is you may actually need to repent of what you haven't done for the poor. 702 00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:41,480 And maybe you're here and you're like, Mike, I'm a Christian. 703 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:43,480 I've been a Christian for a long time. 704 00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:45,480 Okay, how have you loved the poor? 705 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:48,480 That's between you and God. You don't need to tell me. 706 00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:53,480 But you may need to repent of what you have not done to the poor. 707 00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:59,480 But I think more than anything at the end of this we are reminded that we are not all economically poor. 708 00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:02,480 Most of us in this room probably aren't. 709 00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:06,480 But we are all poor in spirit. 710 00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:16,480 And I sense as I was praying for this service that God, if you're here and you would identify with feeling poor in spirit tonight, 711 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:24,480 God wants to minister to you. His spirit is present. His Holy Spirit is with us in the room. 712 00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:31,480 And really what it takes from us is a response where we acknowledge, God, I need you. 713 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:34,480 I feel broken. I feel poor in spirit. 714 00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:37,480 And that's not a thing for people who aren't yet believers. 715 00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:44,480 I mean, it can be, but for everyone, you can be a pastor here and go, I feel poor in spirit tonight. 716 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:48,480 I need instead the spirit of God poured out on me. 717 00:38:48,480 --> 00:39:00,480 So I just wonder if you could take a second to close your eyes and bow your heads, just to create a bit of a bit of space, a bit of anonymity. 718 00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:12,480 And if you're here and as you've been hearing all this and going through your life and feeling you're weak from week to week and maybe feel exhausted or tired or I don't know. 719 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:20,480 But if you would identify with that and say, Mike, I feel poor in spirit and I need God's spirit to fill me. 720 00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:26,480 Would you just slip up your hand while people's eyes are shut? You get a bit of anonymity to do that. 721 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:30,480 That's great. Don't be ashamed. If you need what God's got, slip it right up. 722 00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:40,480 Leaders, new people, don't be afraid. The spirit of God is with you. 723 00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:46,480 I'm going to pray a prayer now for this time, by the way, for you to join those people who put their hand up. 724 00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:50,480 But I'm going to pray a prayer for all of you and I just invite you to receive the spirit of God. 725 00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:58,480 And then I'm going to be over to the side here and I would really encourage you to come and let me pray for you in person. 726 00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:04,480 Because there is something about bringing yourself in humility before God and letting him minister to you. 727 00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:12,480 So God, I just come right now and I ask for those people that have slipped their hand up to say, God, I need you. 728 00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:18,480 I am poor in spirit. Would you pour out your Holy Spirit on them today? 729 00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:21,480 Right now in the name of Jesus. 730 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:24,480 Pour out your spirit, Lord. 731 00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:32,480 Father, we come to you empty. Jesus, through your kindness and through the spirit of God, you leave us filled. 732 00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:38,480 You don't leave us where you are, but you move us on. 733 00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:44,480 God, in our humility of spirit, would you meet us with the truths that Jesus tells us? You are my child. 734 00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:52,480 You are dearly loved. I call you daughter. I call you son. I have never forgotten you. I have never overlooked you. 735 00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:59,480 But come, come. Jesus has this moment in the Gospels where he quotes from the book of Isaiah. 736 00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:07,480 He stands up on the last day of the festival and he says, if anyone is thirsty, come to me and be filled with living water. 737 00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:21,480 That's the promise of Jesus for you tonight. If you are poor in spirit, weary, Jesus promises living water. 738 00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:33,480 Holy Spirit, come. And as we respond, as we sing, would you pour yourself out on us tonight in Jesus' name? 739 00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:39,480 Amen. Amen. I'm going to be off to the side. I would love to pray for you. 740 00:41:39,480 --> 00:41:44,480 I know what can feel a bit confronting to sort of come down the front for prayer. 741 00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:54,480 Here's the question you want to ask yourself. Am I more worried about what someone thinks than I am about being prayed for and filled with the spirit of God? 742 00:41:54,480 --> 00:42:04,480 Only you can answer that. It's up to you, but I would love to pray for you.