great controversy book work

Great Controversy full audio (1858 edition)

Today I put up the narration of the Great Controversy full audio book on Youtube. You can see it here:

Great Controversy complete book’s audio.

Since Youtube doesn’t allow just audio, I put up a different pic at the start of each chapter. If you want to go straight to a particular chapter, you can do that easily by clicking on the little white arrow which should open up a listing of all 41 chapters. Choose which one you want, and get there with one tap. 🙂

So why haven’t I done this before? Well, in the back of my mind, I’ve wanted a new pic for each paragraph in this book for a long time. Rather than wait any longer, it’s time to get something done right now! Actually, I would like to make the whole book into an animated movie.

The Great Controversy audio was recorded in India

This was recorded in India in 2006, and while listenable, not top quality. I really appreciate the help given me there to do this!

I am aware that there is another recording made of the Great Controversy full audio several decades ago, but perhaps this version I did will be of value to some who prefer a different voice.

One cool thing about having it all in one Youtube video, is that if you login and watch it (and like it I hope!) you can logout, and then pick up at the exact place next time you login.

Read along with the entire text of the Great Controversy

The book that this is narrated from is available free on my web site at:
The Great Controversy Between Christ and His Angels, and Satan and His Angels (1858) original edition

I pray this will give glory to King Jesus, and listeners will be saved in His kingdom, forever and ever.

Downloads of Great Controversy books in 2020

Here are the results of 2020 downloads of Great Controversy books from my www.earlysda.com site. Next to the language will be the number of books downloaded in the language for 2010, followed on the right by 2020. Some languages were added in the intervening years, so have nothing in the 2010 field. Google is penalizing my site for not being mobile-friendly (which I’ve recently fixed), and for not having security certificates (which I’m considering), so the traffic to earlysda site is down roughly 30% from 2010 levels. Also, there are many more “Great Controversy” sites on the web, and many more people go to Youtube too instead of a static web page. A couple of sites copied all the 1858 Great Controversy books, so many people are no doubt getting their books there, instead of my site, which I’m fine with. 🙂

If you have any ideas on increasing traffic, please let me know!
May God receive all the glory, and may His words not return unto Him void is my prayer.
………………..2010- 2020
tagalog …. 3290- 1189
hindi ……… 2867- 402
georgian .. 2791- 473
english ….. 2674- 3728
nepali ……. 2196- 477
tamil ……… 2121- 958
german ….. 2114- 1093
vietnamese 2076- 574
malay …….. 1850- 1174
bengali ….. 1518- 450
ilonggo ….. 1516- 1068
cebuano … 1493- 1089
korean …… 1469- 675
ukrainian .. 1442- 589
sinhala …… 1395- 526
ilocano ….. 1259- 1110
russian …… 1197- 399
polish ………. 961- 502
japanese ….. 800- 616
assamese …. 728- 343
spanish ……. 721- 596
romanian …. 511- 1043
malagasy ….. 652- 881
thai …………… 321- 475
myanmar ………… 651
kannada ………….. 518
chinese ……………. 145
khmer ……………… 364
armenian ………… 392
santali …………….. 316
TOTALS .. 37962- 22816

大闘争

イエスとイエスの天使たちと
サタンとサタンの天使たちと
の間の
大闘争


すべて存在するものを創ったイエス・キリストの最初作はルシフアー、創られたものの中で極めの美で、完璧だった。 なぜ堕落して悪魔になったか? 神様はなぜ人間を創ったか? 神様には人間的な感情があるかな~? 人間の歴史の裏に何かが動いているような気がするけど・・・最終的にどうなるの? 今どうしたらいい?

この本はエレン・ホワイトが1858年に神様からの幻を見、書かれたものです。
http://earlysda.com/nihongo/gcn/index.html

「イエスとイエスの天使たちとサタンとサタンの天使たちとの間の大闘争」は聖書に次いで、世界で一番大事な本だと固く信じています。 より深く理解するために「スタディーガイド」を作成して、このリンクで全部読めるようにして、それに、各章の下にその章に関連する質問を付け加える事にした。

質問などあればコメントして下さい。
主イエス・キリストが崇められますように。

experience like a comic book scene

Last week I went down to the island of Shikoku. JR has a one-day rail pass where you can take the slow trains for around 23usd, so my 8-hour journey was quite inexpensive. I stayed in some building up on the top floor where there was nobody, and enjoyed the nice view from the open window. The concrete floor was a bit harder than the park bench a few weeks ago in a different city, but there were absolutely no mosquitoes. 🙂

The city is said to have 172,000 people, but, like most smaller cities outside of the Tokyo/Osaka/Northern Kyushu areas, it is bleeding young people, and dying. I asked someone where the busy part of town was, and they mentioned “Ginza Street”. When I arrived at the long shopping arcade around 6:30pm, it was ghostly silent except for the sounds of a few high school students going by on bicycle. Not a small number of buildings in the city looked abandoned, and some cats surprised me when jumping out of what I thot was the window of somebody’s house, but coming closer, saw that it was a hole into a really dilapidated “cat house”.

Anyway, my purpose was to go to the Seventh-day Adventist church there. I heard they have the 2nd largest SDA church on this island of over 4,000,000 people. Around 20 people attended on Sabbath, and I was refreshed to see the pastor basically agree with me about the sad pace of evangelism in Japan, and how our SDA church needs to be more active in winning souls, and less compromising with the world. Also, there was a young lady from Africa there, and we had a heartfelt talk about faith and Jesus and duty, and near the end of my time there she said that I must have been sent by God to help her faith. 🙂

But the comic book scene happened in the morning, just a few meters away from the church in the parking lot of a convenience store. My stomach wasn’t right, so I had sat down on a curb in front of the store. An elderly Japanese man came out, and sat on a block behind me, but soon came over and sat by me. We had a good talk, but with his old-folks’ accent/mumbling (probably caused by him not having many front teeth!) I couldn’t understand more than around 30% or so. Then one of his friends came down to sit by him. The 3 of us talked about things in that city, island etc. We talked about bicycles, as many people ride a special bicycle path there (I did too around 13 years ago), about the Hiroshima Carp baseball team who won their league pennant this year for the first time in 30 years, fishing, sightseeing etc.

Then they asked me what I was doing there. I pulled out my Japanese 1858 Great Controversy, and showed them. They didn’t say much, and I didn’t press it, just told them that I came to go to the church just across the way. But around a minute later, the second man who came to sit (who was drinking sake) started talking about religious things. He said Japan has many gods, and we respect them all. I mentioned something about how we should worship the one true Creator God. His voice got a little edge to it, and before I knew what was happening, I saw the first man riding away on a scooter. That’s when things got interesting.

He started talking about how we must have the sun to live. I said the one who created the sun is more important than the sun. Then he asked me if I knew about “Evolution” (all this was in Japanese). I said “yes”, and then took a light tone, (perhaps it seemed almost mocking to him?), asking him if it was possible that a rock could, over time, turn into a human? He said that it is like a child comes from its mother. I asked him if his mother’s mother’s mother was an ape or a rock. He seemed to soften a bit, and said “Well, all the gods are the same, they all lead to the same place”, to which I replied, “There is only one true God – Jesus Christ. He made everything, and we should worship him”. Suddenly his eyes changed, and he picked up his cane pointing to me like he was going to hit me, and said “You’d better not ever say things like that in Japan! Get out of here!” It was all so sudden, and comic-book-like, here’s an old man with a palsied arm starting to get tipsy, suddenly angry to the point of violence about being told that there is only one true God. I was smiling, and thinking he was half-joking at first, but when I saw his grip tighten on the cane, and his face turning a bright red (perhaps 1/2 from the sake?), I decided I’d better go, so picked up my backpack, and without turning around, walked away. I did notice that there was a young man at the smoking stand watching us, and could hear the old man talking excitedly to him as I walked away. Who knows, maybe a seed was planted in the young man’s heart?

Yes, the Great Controversy is alive and well, and being played out in big and small ways all over the world. Just as the title says, it’s between Christ and his angels, and Satan and his angels. We have a big role to play too. May we be ready to fulfill that role at any moment, even if it is like a comic-book scene. And yes, the thot did cross my mind, that doing this same thing in this same city around 80 years ago would have gotten me thrown in jail or worse. Let’s work to redeem the time, because that will happen again, but on a global scale in the end-times.

Pentecostal church in Philippines becomes SDA after reading 1858 Great Controversy!

I’ve been supporting/working with a SDA Brother in the Philippines for the last 12 years or so. He has been faithful in seeing that the 1858 Great Controversy book by Ellen White has gotten translated into Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilonggo, and Ilocano. I’ve met him twice in Sabah Malaysia, and twice in the Philippines, so know how humble and diligent he is.

He sent this awesome email last week:

A pastor from southern Mindanao called me. he needs more cebuano GC books, but i have no stock of cebuano, until now the CVM press continued fix the error (the press that prints our books found out after the latest printing that they had made an error). That missionary pastor is always travel for his supported continued promoting GC books to the churches. He always invited to the churches to give a sermon, and his beautiful and exited preaching is always about the 1858 GC books. that why i counted the GC books that he got to me since he started promoted this 1858 GC book to many churches that he visited, the GC books he got are more than 1000 copies of books.

He has give a GC book and doing a Bible study to the other protestant pastors and their church members and all the members from Pentecostal born again christian church was baptized and they quickly change their front signboard to Seventh-Day Adventist, then they are all happy and crying reading the 1858 GC book. the pastor said, they were amazed when they read the 1858 GC book. I always prayed to God that all the hand had received and accepted the GC book will read and read more and know the truth to the Bible.

Praise God!
All glory to his name!
May his words continue to spread far and wide is my prayer.

Vietnamese Great Controversy and other Ellen White books up on net (Sự Tranh Đấu Khốc Liệt)

I was put in contact with a Vietnamese pastor around 2003, and he kindly translated the 1858 Great Controversy book by Ellen White into Vietnamese. I then sent some funds to print a thousand copies or so (once then and then again to help with reprinting later), and also put this book up on the internet (PDF) at:
http://www.earlysda.com/books/vietnamese-1858-great-controversy.pdf
Sự Tranh Đấu Khốc Liệt

giữa Đấng Christ cùng các thiên sứ Ngài

với Sa-tan và các quỉ sứ nó

Around 2000 of these books were downloaded from my web site in 2009.

Just the other day I received this nice email from that pastor:
————-
It is with great pleasure I would like to let you know that we just created a website of Ellen G. White writings in Vietnamese.

Why?
We have seen more and more of our own SDA members showing their doubts in her prophetic gift, with the hope to stop this trend and defend for our faith, we decide to put up this website

theheritagekeepers.org

with the financial support from our friends in Portland, Oregon.
As for now, only the writings in Vietnamese are up there, but soon we will have Q & A on Spirit of Prophecy, videos and so on.
We also would like her Vietnamese publications to be used in different part of the world and the internet is the best tool. In fact, I got this idea from you 🙂

May God bless you!

Thailand Mission to print 1858 Great Controversy

The Thailand Mission is getting ready to print the Thai edition of the 1858 Great Controversy. This book was translated around 7 years ago and we printed 1,000 copies privately, but now it has been edited, and the Thailand Mission is going to print it thru the help of an organization set up to print/reprint Ellen White books in the Thai language.

May God receive all the glory.

Update July 12, 2015:
I’ve gotten word that somehow the funds have dried up, and that no one is willing to work to do the layout work to print it.
Please pray for this project.

基督及他的天使们和撒旦及他的天使们之间的大争战

The Chinese 1858 Great Controversy is finally available on earlysda.com/chinese/great-controversy-chinese.html”

My first attempt to get it translated into Chinese was in 1997 when I stayed with Br. Samuel Wang in Tennessee for 2 days. He said it could be done quickly, but he seemed to prefer the later edition, and it was obvious he had too many other pans on the stove to get involved with another one, so I didn’t press him. Next, I had contact with a Taiwanese man studying to become a SDA pastor in America in 2002, and he translated it, but the quality was poor, so it could not be used. A SDA Sister in Singapore in 2007 was contacted by a pastor there, and she translated it better, but still not faithful to the original. Then in 2008 a Chinese Sister in Malaysia invited me to come stay with an elder’s family near her house so we could work together on this, and she did a good job up to chapter 13 where she inexplicably said “good bye”, and dropped off all further contact.

Then, around 6 weeks ago, a Singaporean Brother asked around for me, and found this book on the Chinese Union Mission website. Actually, I had asked the Chinese Union Mission people at the 2010 GC Session in Atlanta to translate it for me, and one person said “sure”, and then he pretty much just walked away. I even went to Hong Kong and talked to the Mission publishing leader there in 2011, but nothing was forthcoming. So I was surprised to see it up on the net, and even more surprised to look carefully at the first two paragraphs, and see that they were quite faithful to the original (the only difference I found was that “all the angels” was translated as “armies of heaven”). I emailed the person contact person there, and quickly found out that I had to write in Chinese. So, by using machine translation, and knowing a bit about the meanings of the Chinese characters (as I know Japanese), I was able to get permission to put this up on my web site. I massaged it a bit, and put it into html format at the link above, and then put everything together in one PDF book available for downloading also. I just pray that many people can be benefitted by reading and adhering to God’s words!

Now if someone can help get this translated into Arabic (had one person say they would do it, but they didn’t), Portuguese (ditto), and French (totally quiet), that would be wonderful! Can you help? Let’s make sure God’s words don’t return unto him void. 🙂

encouraging 1858 great controversy work in philippines

Good morning Robin-san,
I got the following email from the Brother i sponsor in the Philippines to spread the original 1858 Great Controversy book.
————————-
How are you?.. 3rd week of september i’ve got a new reprinted copies of cebuano version of 1858 Great Controversy book.
i was there at CVM press last week, another challenges to continue promotion, lots of cebuano GC book to the church. When i’d coming back here to this city, two sda brethren waiting for me to buy a GC cebuano book. Last Wednesday evening i’ve been there in north east of this province, i am the one to speak during med-week workship of that church. After our evening med-week program the brethren got 66 copies of cebuano GC book.

Last sabbath i attend a district fellowship meeting, lots of brethren from 11 churches who gather the fellowship rally. and they gave me a time to promoted the GC book, more than 50 copies distributed at that time.

Yesterday, today i took boxes of GC book from mission office that i had stock there, some of stocks i transfer to my house and the other it is store in the mission office. And more CG book still at CVM PRESS. One brethren yesterday i had met at mission office, he inform me that the cebuano GC book that he bought from me before, he distributed to the none SDA. After 4 months some of them that reading GC cebuano were accepted the bible study and be baptized now. And the other a husband not SDA and his wife is sda reading GC cebuano, after reading they accept to be baptized.. Glory to God.

please continue pray for this missonary work to spread this great controversy book to many places. In a southern city one of our brethren an a lawyer, also a city councilor we met again and i heard his sermon and seminar at the afternoon program about the great controversy book. He said to me he needs more copies of cebuano GC book for his seminar program. He said that we must more deeply study GC book and let us united and help for mass distribution of the great controversy book to people that needs the gospel messages.

Here in the SDA Central church i heard a revivalist pastor, he delivered his sermon from GC 1858 edition,,, after i hearing that sermon a big encouraging for me, and I’ve got more ideas how to promote this GC book to churches.
Thank you for a prayer and encouraging,,
———————
Let’s keep this Brother in our prayers, and may God use this inspired book to raise up a group of people who will stand for the truth tho the heavens fall.

kannada 1858 great controversy on net!

Finally, 3 1/4 years after meeting someone to translate the 1858 Great Controversy book by Ellen White into the Kannada language, it is done!

http://earlysda.com/books/kannada-1858-great-controversy.pdf

Praise God that his words are being spread around the world, altho it is much more slowly than i would like.

May many of the 38,000,000 speakers of this language (60% literacy rate), mostly based in Karnataka, India (Bangalore), find this book, and may the Holy Spirit work on their hearts to help them prepare for the soon-coming TIme of Trouble, and save them at last eternally safe in his kingdom is my prayer.

If anyone can translate into other languages like Chinese, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Malayalam etc., please let me know.

1858 great controversy book work update

What’s going on with the 1858 Great Controversy book work?

One of the biggest reasons i came back to Japan last year was not only to recharge my own life by being in comfortable surroundings, but to also work to earn money to support further expansion of the 1858 Great Controversy book work. Here is what has occurred within the past year:

Japanese: The Kobe church promoted this book, and gave away around 50 copies to members one Sabbath. There was lots of talk about letting me give studies of the book, but so far, only talk. One man of Brazilian origin ordered a box of 100 of these books, so now there are around 300 left of the 5,000 printed 10 years ago.

Romanian: The Romanian translator diligently promoted this book this year, and towards the end of the year sent me a email saying that all 4,000 copies printed in 2009 have been distributed 🙂 I have offered to support him to print more and travel to promote it. May God’s will be done, and many people there read this book.

Portuguese: A man emailed out of the blue saying that he has just completed translating this book. Being very happy, but with caution learned from many such experiences, i sent a reply to which i’m still awaiting a response.

Spanish: The Romanian translator has been working on a re-translation of this book, as the first translator did not translate faithfully. I believe he is about done, so hopefully we can print soon. There are many Romanians in Spain, so perhaps this Brother can work at distributing books in both languages in Spain?

Armenian: It is frustrating to know that the translation has been completed for quite a while, but it is languishing for lack of proofreaders. I’ve been told that the 1911 edition has recently been translated, and the proofreaders are busy on that, and there is no word when, if ever, they will get to this translation. Finally i asked the translator to find someone, and he said his pastor father would work on it. I’m currently in the process of making the cover art for this book, and hope to see it printed this year.

Tonga: A Brother in Zimbabwe who has emailed me on and off for almost 10 years finally got my attention this year, so i sent him some funds to purchase a computer. He has been a Global Mission Pioneer before, and has recently been elected elder for a wide area in his country, so i hope and pray he is trustworthy.

Kannada: The translation was finished in the early part of 2011, and there were some emails with the translator’s son, and we agreed that it needed to be proofread. Since then, there has been almost no contact.

Gujarati and Marathi: Still in the same condition as when i was in Pune in 2009 – translation completed, but no electronic input done. Praise God that the Brother there sent a email just this week saying that starting next month he will work full time spreading this book in the various languages in India!

Tibetan: Money was sent to the pastor in Northern India at the end of the year to reprint this book which was poorly printed around 7 years ago, and all copies had to be destroyed.

Hmong and Laotian: Just today a email was received saying that a young man in college is working on translating into these two languages.

Indonesian: A young man met in Indonesia in 2010 said the translator i met who promised me he would translate it, is now going around to churches severely denouncing this book! So my friend found someone else to translate it, and told me the translation was completed, but even after many months, there has been no new information.

Filipino languages: My contact in the Philippines wants to work to earn money in Malaysia until his son graduates from college, at which point he will be willing for me to support him while he travels around spreading this book. In the meantime, his wife is handling the few requests for books, and he sent a very interesting email explaining how a former Catholic priest found this book and is captivated by it. Hopefully by this summer, or end of the year at the latest, distribution will start up again in the Philippines for this book.

English: There are still requests for boxes of the books once in a while.

Misc: Just last week a email came from someone in the U.S. saying that this lady’s son would like to devote some time spreading this book in the Philippines and Thailand.
Around 55,000 of these books were downloaded from the internet last year, for which i’m very thankful, and praise God for working on people’s hearts, and leading them to this book. May many souls be in the kingdom because of this is my prayer.

great controversy books downloaded 2011

It is amazing how God has led people to my web site, and impressed them to download books. http://www.earlysda.com/books/other/great-controversy-books-downloaded-2011.pdf

Last year, (extrapolating), over 55,000 1858 Great Controversy books by Ellen White were downloaded. 46,000 Testimonies to the Church and over 8,300 William Miller books were downloaded also.

I remember when i first put the English one up on the web in 1998, i prayed to God that he would help get up to the great total of 100 people a month to download it! Now it is what, around 150 copies per day!! Hope these seeds spring up some day and bear fruit.

Of course i understand that many of these downloads, (maybe 10%?) are just spiders and bots etc., but i really hope that the people who downloaded them will be led by the Holy Spirit to prepare now for the soon coming end times.

hong kong

After arriving at Hong Kong airport on June 22nd and exchanging some money, i found a $40 (hkd) (5.5usd) bus to the city. There was very little other than trees and hills and sea for the first 30 minutes, and i was starting to wonder if this was really the super city i had heard about. Well, that was answered quite breathtakingly after coming around one curve to see what may be the largest container dock in the world – what a sight! The mounds of containers forming a little city by themselves, with 5 or 6 huge cargo ships willing to piggyback them to ports afar….just thinking about how much time and energy went into just getting all these containers to this one place, let alone producing all the stuff that is in them is mind-boggling. Yet, somehow it gets done.

hong kong island skylineclick for huge amazing hong kong skyline

The Seventh-day Adventist church in Happy Valley (love that name!) is having Prayer Meeting as i arrive. It is all in Cantonese, so i just sit in the back and look thru the hymnal. There are only 5 attendees, and as they break up to leave they ask me individually about where i’m from, my purpose here, and where i’m staying. When i tell them i might stay at the McDonald’s or in the park, they look a little flustered, and walk off, except for the young man who calls a friend who he thinks might be able to help me, but gives up when no one answers.

So i see them all off, then sit down on the steps to spend the nite. Fortunately there is a ledge high above the door which keeps out most of the rain, as the last stages of a tropical storm pass over. It is a good time to reflect on the goodness of the Lord, and think about the many things that have happened in my life. To enjoy a passing cloud, to hear a bullfrog praising God, to see the rain coming down in sheets in the lights of the horse racetrack over in the distance, to see the parade of luxury cars and taxis going by, feeling the wetness, feeling the hardness, all the sensory things that make life, life……to wish for sleep – ha! Sleep finally does arrive around 3am, as i learn i don’t have to just sit, i can actually lay down (a little slow on things). My bottom on my pants gets a big red “C” on it from the plastic bag i’ve put under me to keep me dry, but it just brings a smile to me and many memories of the supermarket i got that bag at in Thailand over a year earlier, and of course of the many people i met and stayed with there, and what “might have happened”, had the school kept going, had the friend decided to start our own school, etc etc.

Morning comes early, and hot. I’ve had a long sleeve shirt on all nite, partly because of the chill, but also to keep the mosquitos off, and it has worked perfectly, for which i’m most thankful. Taking it off to reveal just the short sleeve shirt below feels nice for a while, but then the red, itching welts pop up pretty quickly, forcing me to get a move on. There are 7-11s everywhere, and like in many SE Asian countries there is a huge selection of different kinds of soy drinks to choose from – yum. The nuts and raisins brought from Japan are enjoyed in a little park with the soy milk and rolls. Breadmaking skills never really arrived in the Far East outside of the former French areas, but it is palatable.

The Chinese Union Mission office is my main goal for the day, so i head off to the subway (MTR) to the place where i found it on the web. I really hate Google, but their map search is the best i know of. Today tho, it produces an epic fail. No one around the station where i get off, and go to the place marked on the map has even heard of the area, let alone the building name! I quickly find out that Hong Kong is very different from my expectations of something similar to Singapore in English skills, as i find many people cannot even read English, let alone speak it. In the city center there are lots of foreign-looking people, and lots of signs in English, but just a couple of miles from there plants you firmly in Chinese-speaking territory. Finally one man pronounces the address i’ve written in Roman letters, in Cantonese, and tells me i need to go to a place 4 train stops away. How to find the place once i get there? I have not a clue, but have come this far so……. Getting off at that station i look for an area map, when i notice right below the exit sign a list of places it serves, and there is the name of the building i’m looking for! Thank you Lord for helping me this far.

The Chinese Union Mission office is located on the 12th floor of an office building way outside of the city center, in a mostly residential area. The lady i’d contacted before on the internet seems a bit flumfluxxed about why i’ve come, but quickly becomes very friendly and helpfully introduces me to the publishing director who talks with me over 20 minutes about this book and Ellen White. We have some common ground as he went to school at Southern Adventist University in Tennessee (i didn’t go to school there, but have been there many times), but lose our common ground when he says regarding Ellen White books being published in the Chinese language: “We have too many Ellen White books already”. Perhaps he meant that there are many books not being read enough, but more talking reveals that he has some problems with Ellen White. He gives the same reasons as many others have about why this 1858 edition of The Great Controversy is not necessary, with the main reason being that Ellen White got better and better as she went along, and corrected her earlier works. Ouch. I agree that everything has to be read in context, but believe there are no mistakes in the earlier works. He then shows his views regarding the Bible, as he says Paul told the people in Corinth that a woman should cover her head, and not teach over a man, but that was just because Corinth was such a wicked place. So we must consider all the context of everything written. I keep mostly quiet, but demure a bit, saying that all the words in the Bible are inspired, to which he seems to politely disagree. He mentions that next year the General Conference is instructing to print many Great Controversy books, to which he shows his reluctance to perform, saying that he would rather give Desire of Ages to someone who doesn’t even know about Christ, unlike those in Western societies. I agree that to non-Christians, Steps to Christ should come before The Great Controversy.

seoul delight

From the 24th to the 29th i was in Seoul, Korea. The new Japanese church in Yongsan-gu were extremely hospitable hosts, letting me stay there, making sure i had enough to eat, taking me to see other Seventh-day Adventist institutions and to the public sauna/baths, and even letting me give the sermon/1858 Great Controversy study in the church on Sabbath with around 15 in attendance. This was truly amazing. Being in Japan for 15 years, i’ve only been asked once before to give a sermon. And here, with a pastor i’ve never met before, he trusts me to feed his very youthful flock without even having ever met me! Amazing.

The pastor had told me in a email that he wanted me to give a testimony, so i was expecting 10 minutes or so during the Sabbath School time. But when i arrived, he said i was the main speaker! When i told him i’d like to study chapter 32 of the 1858gc with everyone, he said i could do my testimony and then the study, which we did after putting all the chairs in a circle. I guess there were around 15 present. I think 3 or 4 of the people are not SDA and maybe not even Christian yet. Even tho over half of the people were Korean, they were typical Japanese style with keeping quiet most of the time. After the study one couple seemed deeply affected, and asked a few questions. It was a great experience for me to be able to carry out a study in Japanese. One nice thing was, there was no spirit of doubt in the writings of Ellen White, and there was no put-down of myself either, both things that are quite common in my travels. I gave everyone a book, and pray that the Holy Spirit will work on hearts now. Around 1/2 of the people stayed all afternoon, and we had a little sundown-worship too. The pastor told me there are quite a few young pastors in the Japan Conference who are very dedicated, and waiting for opportunities to help lead the starving sheep into green pastures. May God hear their earnest cries, and incline his ears to my heartfelt prayers that something be done to awaken the sleeping church in Japan.
yongsan-japanese-church.com

The pastor said that he read that Japanese were 30 times more likely to become Christians while outside of Japan, rather than in their own country. I can believe it, because i’ve heard of quite a few cases like that myself. He said even a Japanese ambassador’s wife was baptized into the SDA church last year! But really, one of the best ways to evangelize the Japanese, may be to approach them when they are not in their comfortable “cocoon” of this island nation. Then again, maybe a certain nuclear reactor will drive them out of their cocoon soon!!

Thanks for everyone’s prayers to come back into Japan. I was forced for the first time to buy a ticket back to Korea before i could leave Seoul. But Asiana airline refunded all except around 35usd after i arrived in Osaka, so not too bad. The immigration officer didn’t say anything, but again, that may have been because i did have that ticket carrying me back out of Japan, something they like to see.

I really have to get a visa soon. More and more it is on my heart and hands that i need to WORK for my own health’s sake, and especially to help spread God’s words in the various countries. Please pray that if it is the Lord’s will i stay here in Japan, that the Lord will open the way. I just want to follow where he is leading 🙂 Thank you Jesus for this wonderful experience in Seoul, and i pray that the Yongsan Japanese Church will grow brighter and brighter in leading many to Jesus there.