Month: June 2010

Today i met the president of the SDA church in Armenia while in the bathroom. I had stayed at his house when i was in Azerbaijan. The other “chance” encounter was with the man in charge of Jeeva Jyothi in India. Just a 1/2 year ago i spent a couple of nites at his place, wondering if the wild elephants would come and rampage and tear the place down. His wife was even with him, saying it was the first time she’d ever come to America. No doubt it looks cleaner to her in many ways, and there are no wild elephants to worry about, but maybe the lack of people induces loneliness or the absence of neighbors calling out to her might make her feel left out….

Someone called Bill while i was there and told him to go to the NEST booth and see their animations of the Bible. I thot they were pretty good, and faithful, but i do understand the concern that children will think they are “just cartoons”, and put them in the same category as other cartoons. Using illustrations is fine tho according to what God said thru Ellen White, so i just cannot believe that there could be anything wrong with putting pictures together to make a “moving” picture.

There were several good talks with people regarding the 1858gc book, and i passed out maybe 20 – 25 copies again today. The “goose bump” moment which i’ve had every day here, happened today when i talked with someone from Oklahoma Academy, and he seemed to understand immediately some of the deeper reasons for the need for this book. Thank you Lord for leading me to these people, and help me not to pass by anybody just because they “look” like they wouldn’t be interested.

The man at the E.G. White center was talking to others about the Great Controversy book. There is a little exhibit in a glass case with some letters supposedly from Ellen White showing how she corrected the manuscripts, how others tracked down references for quotes, and how she was so pleased with the new 1911 edition. hmmmm. Of course to most people passing thru, this is all “yes yes”, but to someone studying what is going on, it looks like an attempt to put down fires or prevent future fires. He did say that this 1858 Great Controversy started to be known by the name “Spiritual Gifts Volume 1” in 1860, as that is when “Volume II” came out.

With my 1858 Great Controversy books in hand, i went around the exhibition hall at the General Conference Session in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center to see how to spread them. There are “Marketplace” tables along one wall which cost 30$ each/day. The main table space (booths) cost 800$ for the entire duration of the session. Anyway, i could not buy a booth last year, and the marketplace tables are all taken too, so i just went around trying to find people who looked like they might be interested, and gave them out. Most all of them took the books, and many of them seemed very glad to have them. Of course most of them have read “Spiritual Gifts Volume I”, but almost none of them had studied the differences, so i was able to inform them. A few people turned them down, like the dentist who checked my teeth and said i need to clean them and have 2 fillings re-filled, but there were 3 or 4 who seemed deeply touched with what i’m trying to do by travelling around getting this book translated, and i even teared up when a Review and Herald man said that he was glad i was doing this work, as a large organization sometimes cannot move so nimbly in small countries etc. One other man said he used to be a literature evangelist, and in talking to me, got more inspiration to think again about working full-time for God 🙂

A man told my Korean friend in the afternoon that he could display his books at his table, so the friend invited me to join him, but something happened and it didn’t work out. That’s OK.

I approached Doug Batchelor, and told him i appreciated his secretary’s humble answer to my email several years ago about his using too much joking in his sermons. He said nicely that he had dictated that email, and somehow it got sent out under his secretary’s name, and he appreciated it. What another nice shock at his humblesness 🙂 John Lomacang seemed quite happy with my giving him this book too. Oh yes, the man at the Biblical Research Institute (didn’t find out his name) talked very nicely, and told me that if he wasn’t Adventist, he would be Catholic. Goose bumps went up and down my arms, as i have told this to a few people in my life, and it seemed like no one could understand me, but here was a man who was telling me the same thing i have thot – either keep the Bible first, and or else put man (RCC) first. The other Protestant denominations don’t have a leg to stand on.

Some of the music at the Session is good, and some is quite bad, but i haven’t heard outright “rock” music yet. The food at the restaurants in the GWCC has been all vegetarianized, but i have gotten 2 meals now at the red and white tent outside for 3$. Rice and beans with collard greens and corn bread is good without any lard in it 🙂

Here are some pics from Sabbath, 26, 2010.