Call him Nikita. His mother died long ago. His father, an alcoholic, constantly beat him. In fact, the beatings were so severe that the Russian government took the young lad away from his father. Since there was no orphanage in Neftekamsk, Russia, he was placed in a home for elderly citizens, where he grew more depressed daily. At 15, life seemed desperate and lonely. But then one night, things changed. Nikita heard of a Friend of the friendless—Jesus. He had to hike ten kilometers each night to hear about this Friend. The Adventist preaching of the gospel gripped the young man's heart. "For the first time in life, I now have hope," said Nikita.
What a privilege it is to share Jesus with the world.
At the close of an evangelistic meeting in Romania, a tall young woman spoke to the evangelist. "You saved my life tonight."
"How is that?" asked the preacher.
"Three days ago my fiance dropped me. I was crushed. I was on my way to purchase some poison to end my life. I happened to pass by this theater. The music was so different from anything I have ever heard that I decided to drop in. As I listened to the message from the Bible, I accepted Jesus as my Saviour. I will not die tonight."
Every day, around the world, men and women find new reasons for living as they hear the story of Jesus.
Seven thousand persons gathered for the closing service of an evangelistic program in Papua, New Guinea. A man stepped up to the top of the ladder leading to one of the large baptismal tanks and gave his testimony.
"Six years ago I attended The Quiet Hour evangelistic service held in this same tent. I came disguised, with my sweater pulled up over my nose and my hat pulled down over my forehead. I didn't want anyone to know me. I attended each night in my disguise. As I listened night after night, I was impressed that every point the preacher made was supported by Scripture. I purchased a Bible and many other books. For six years I have made careful study of the Adventist message. I am convinced that every point is based in the Bible. I will be a Sabbath keeper for the rest of my life. Friends, I have a request. The Bible says that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:27). From this day of my baptism I want you all to call me by a different name. Please call me Newman."
The North Pacific Union Conference has requested The Quiet Hour to join forces in fielding 285 evangelistic teams to nearly 40 countries around the world. This is in addition to another more than 100 teams that The Quiet Hour sends out from other parts of North America. These teams generally include a health presenter and personnel to conduct a health screening program, a person or couple to present a family lecture, and people to lead out in a children's program.
Challenges and opportunities
Witness the challenges and opportunities that face us. As hundreds of pastors and their congregations study the needs, it is our prayer that we will find 400 volunteer evangelistic teams.
The Muslim opportunity. The Quiet Hour has conducted nine seminars dealing with Adventist-Muslim relations. The purpose of these seminars was to develop mutual understanding. The Qur'an urges all to read the Bible. Lesson guides have been prepared to help teams have meaningful meetings with the followers of Islam who are committed to the God of Abraham as they prepare for the final judgment. We have a large number of Muslim communities in Eastern Europe that have invited teams to come.
The challenge of India. The population of India will soon surpass one billion persons. While the Indian government has made great strides in helping the villages, there is still much that can be done. The Quiet Hour has been invited by friends in India to develop a plan to construct village chapels that will serve as educational centers and will assist the villagers in the areas of health, family, and spiritual uplift. These village prayer chapels will become social centers for these communities.
The Buddhist opportunity. The world has over 600 million Buddhists. Pastor Cliff Maberly, the coordinator for Adventist Buddhist relations, has developed some indigenous materials that are designed to help Buddhists become acquainted with the Bible and the Lord Jesus. These materials need to be field tested by local citizens. Guest teams are needed to conduct public meetings in these selected communities in the countries of Asia.
The challenge of Eastern Europe. The door is still open for guest evangelistic teams to work in this part of the world. While these communities are going through great adjustments since the collapse of Communism, we have invitations for nearly one hundred teams to work in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Romania. The Quiet Hour, working with Global Mission, will train 200 lay persons to do groundwork in unentered cities. These "pioneers" work in their assigned city for 12 months. A guest evangelistic team follows up with a harvest meeting in their support.
A new challenge. An invitation has just arrived from Poland. Plans are currently being laid to prepare the way for guest teams to support lay persons who are being trained to work in over one hundred cities of this land.
A challenge from the Asia-Pacific region. We have received invitations from the following countries to send guest evangelistic teams: the Philippines, Indonesia, Guam-Micronesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Palau, Sarawak, and Sabah, with more to come.
The challenge from the South Pacific. The Quiet Hour has conducted meetings in Papua, New Guinea; Solomon Islands; Fiji; Vanuatu, and other islands of this tropical paradise. Scores of teams will be needed for the South Pacific.
The challenge from South America. From past evangelistic experiences, The Quiet Hour gives the highest recommendation for teams to consider helping in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. We will need some Spanish-speaking teams. For some locations, those without the gift of Spanish will work with translators.
The challenge of Africa. Africa is a great place for evangelism. Recently one of The Quiet Hour evangelists working in Ghana had an attendance of 60,000 persons and saw more than 4,000 persons baptized. While these large results are unusual even for Africa, we have opportunities for more than one hundred evangelistic teams to select cities from several countries.
Opportunities for youth evangelism. One of the newest evangelistic experiences of The Quiet Hour has been the new youth evangelism program. As we write, we have fielded over fifteen teams of youth. Their youth pastor, academy teacher, or college evangelism instructor conducts a field school of evangelism for his own youth who are joined by national youth. A portion of each day is spent in home visitation. The youth give Bible studies, offer prayer, and answer questions in homes. They assist in the evening meeting. Schools and churches have been transformed by this program. We need teams for several countries where English is used. This makes home visitation much easier because translators are not needed.
A great opportunity for retired persons
The Quiet Hour invites any pastor, Bible teacher, or retired minister interested in participating in this evangelistic outreach to contact either James Zachary (909-769-9984) or Jim Neergaard (909-793-2588) for more information or an application.
