happy news from vietnam!

Leave a Comment / great controversy book work / October 6, 2009

The following is a email received:
————————–
I have a great news to share with you.
A friend of mine just sent me money to reprint 3,000 copies of the Great Controversy.
In fact, we are out of stock for sometimes already and thinking to reprint it, but don’t know where can we find the money.
We just prayed!
And out of the blue, this friend of mine wrote me an email …

Usually it will take a month to finish the printing.
However, this coming Oct. 22 will be our 80th anniversary of the Advent message came to h tVietnam. I will talk with the publisher tomorrow morning, hoping we can beat the time and make the book come out at that special occasion.

Please pray for us.

Just share with you a great news.

Figures, Characters, and Avatars by Les Pardew

1 Comment / book and video review / September 27, 2009

Figures, Characters, and Avatars. The Official Guide to Using DAZ Studio to Create Beautiful Art by Les Pardew (2009)
B

reviewed September 27, 2009

This book does accomplish what the stated goal is: “to unlock the 3D artist in you using the incredible power of DAZ Studio….You will learn how to build sets, and populate them with amazing characters…create movies…improve drawing skills, make you a better artist..” But probably most of the purchasers of this book are hoping to learn specifically how to use the Daz Studio software, and seeing that there is much more theory than actual software practice, they (and a little bit myself too) are a bit disappointed. Having said that tho, the book, as a whole, fulfills what i wanted it to do. The main reason i bot it anyway, was for the super software bundled with the book – Carrara Pro 6, Hexagon 2.5, and Daz Studio 2.3, plus a lot of content.

The book helps explain artistic theory for total graphic idiots like myself. So explaining the “whys” of posing a figure, instead of the “hows” is very useful, and will hopefully help to keep down amateurish mistakes, which can be seen all over the internet. Theory about composition, posing, lighting, animating reactions is given in a very simple manner, which is what i need. There are also examples of actually using the software to do certain tasks like using Puppeteer to do animations, or how to use the various tools to do the poses, Mimic Pro to lip sync etc.

One somewhat odd thing, is that some parts of the book seem to be advertisements for various software programs. The oddest example, is a large section of one chapter is given to what Bryce is all about with even an actual example, but then Bryce is not included on the DVD that comes with the book. On the opposite side of the coin, Hexagon is not mentioned in the book at all, but IS on the DVD. Keeping with what i’ve noticed of the Daz company in the few months i’ve been following them – they are just not coordinated well.

For minor gripes, mostly of a grammatical nature:
p.59 shows how to put clothes on a figure and fit it, but no clothing comes with the base program. p.64 explains what to do with a opacity map, but there is no example of how to make the map. p.82 says “next chapter”, but the chapter referred to is the “next next chapter”. p.157 called “drop shadow” on the pic, but “cast shadow” in the explanation. p.170 and 191 right and left are mixed up. Again, Bryce is highlighted in the book, but not included on the DVD. However, you can download version 5.5 for free on cnet.

Carrara Pro 6 alone is worth far more than the cost of this book. So while the coordination between Daz and the author seems to have been shaky at best, the DVD itself contains programs and 3d figures and characters worth many hundreds of dollars, so i’m very happy with my purchase 🙂

Hopefully i can use this to give glory to God, and be a good representative of what a dedicated Christian can do with just a little mammon and modern technology availabe today.

plan for future?

4 Comments / 3D animation work / September 17, 2009

I’m in the land i’ve been aiming for since at least one year ago, yet it seems like i’m no closer to realizing my dream of making the original Great Controversy Between Christ and His Angels and Satan and His Angels into a movie than i was last year at this time. Actually, that’s not true, as i do have some 3d software now, and have learned one of them fairly well.

I’m working on The Two Crowns vision animation first before i tackle the full-length book movie. The storyboard i completed 2 days ago, and the material/prop list i completed yesterday. Now what? The audio? I’m still not sure what software i should use for the main working of the movie. The software i learned (Bryce) is mostly for terrains or space shots. I’m trying to learn Daz Studio, and hoping soon to get my book with the free Hexagon and Carrara 6 software included. Hopefully Carrara will do the job.

The reason i came here there has very little to do with hardware, and mostly to do with finding people who will work the software. India is famous in the computer world for having 3d animators, and i know that there are many SDA young people who have a hard time finding a job, so thot it would be relatively easy to find some to start a little training school, then do this project, then they could support themselves with this skill, or they could start their own training center to spread these skills, especially using this skill to spread the Three Angels’ Messages.

While a couple of people have shown a bit of interest, no one has shown a lot of interest. Two months have gone by. Just today i realized that i am past the “disappointed” stage now, and am in the “acceptance” stage. In a way that is good, and in a way bad. I’m happy in every situation, which God says to do, but then i’m losing interest in this animation too, and just living day to day. I enjoy very much homeschooling 2 children, but there must be a greater good i can do for the cause of Jesus Christ….isn’t there?

India is more difficult on the psyche than i had imagined. My memories of the horrid time i had here in 1998 have mostly faded, and i had an interesting time in 2006. I even gained weight that time! But this time the water doesn’t like my intestinal microbes, and i’ve gotten ill twice, and have churning nearly always, and the knowledge of the police killing some people just to get rewards for killing “terrorists”, and the fact that the lady in the building i’m staying in got hit by a motorbike and died just a 1/2 mile from here, and another man got hit by a motorbike and got his leg broken recently, and the open idol worshipping with the story of the angry young men among them last year who came to my friend’s apt building intending to kill someone last year and the constant noise and smell and filth, it is all enough for me to say “You win India, i lose. Let me out”. But again, not my will, but yours be done Lord.

So my thinking now is — to maybe go somewhere where i can find 2-4 young SDA people who are interested in learning 3d software to use for the glory of God, and who would be willing to work for around 200usd/month at first, until they get producing material, when i could probably pay up to 300/month. I haven’t had any income except for a few donations for 1 1/2 years now, but am very willing to use up my remaining savings to realize this movie. While i’m working to make this movie, i would be very happy to be of service to the surrounding people – by working at an English language school 3 or 4 hours a day for example, and being of help to the church. I really believe this idea could work in SE Asia, and in fact, what made me think of this, is that a friend in the country of Georgia has expressed an interest in doing this very thing.

Show me Lord, what your will is.

rst seminars

Leave a Comment / christian study / September 15, 2009

I got a email with an attachment recently with “RST Seminars” mentioned. Now my “interest-meter” was maxing out, as this group is promoting research into the prophecies of Revelation and Daniel, especially showing how some things that us Seventh-day Adventists teach – like the 7 Trumpets being in the past – is in the future. Yes!

So i contacted this group, and received a email with 5 newsletters attached. Mostly what was written was good, but a few clear “supposition” things (like how 666 refers to the number of people Satan leaves alive in each of his cell groups at the end time!?!) were written too. However, their view that Ellen White is not a prophet of God is absolutely wrong.

The reason for this post is to warn anyone who has any contact with RST Seminars (Revelation Speaks Today), and its owner, Sandi Evilisizer Kosak, to not have anything to do with them.

Sandi wrote me: “The problem is that in order to keep their financial positions within the church, they are teaching the false idea that there are “dual” fullfilments. That they happened in the past one way as symbolic, and that they will happen in the future as literal. This cant be farther from the truth. A seal can only open once and trumpet number 1 can only sound once.

As people come into this understanding, if they abandon the historical view completely, they are disbarred from the church. It is because of SOP, in holding up EGW above the Bible. The ones who hold the historical view cannot abandon it without admitting EGW was infallible. Because she says the seals and trumpets were in the past, they cannot change the church doctrinal position on the prophecies. If she were alive today, she would be changing her position based on new light that she consistently spoke of.”

When i wrote her explaining that i had found some good material in the 5 newsletters, and a couple of strange things, and to believe in Ellen White as God’s prophet she wrote: “All of the prophets in the Bible have been wrong.”

Well, now we see that there is no common ground at all, so i sent a email asking to her repent, and she wrote back: “The only things written by your “prophet” (I say this because I am not an SDA), ” and “Please do not contact me again.”

This is exactly the worst thing that i have thot of happening to this new light in the prophecies, is that some disgusting group will promote it, to turn away honest souls from seeking the truth. Please avoid RST Seminars until they repent and believe God’s prophets,

Read Revelation to see what it says for yourself. I understand that Pastor John Lomacang believes (to what degree i don’t know) that the 7 Trumpets are future. Doug Batchelor, Marvin Moore, Ken Cox, and John Carter are said to be believing along these lines too 🙂 It IS super clear that the 7 Trumpets must have a final fulfillment in the future, as the locusts under the 5th Trumpet only hurt those without the Seal of God in their foreheads, and up until now, September 2009, no one has ever had the Seal of God in their foreheads!

counterfeit water

1 Comment / daily rambliniscings / September 13, 2009

After feeling lethargic for 4 weeks, and vomiting twice during that time, i finally got smart and decided to buy bottled water. Now during this time i was using boiled water, which should be ok, but it was not. The first taste of the bottled water (20l) revived me, and i felt very good for the remainder of that bottle and the next bottle. But last week we got a new bottle, and when i woke in the nite and took a sip of it, i knew exactly what it was – the same water as our boiled water. Sure enough, i could not eat breakfast, and was on the verge of upchucking everything most of the day. When a little bottle was brought me, it tasted so good.

I felt like i shouldn’t be such a weaky, so washed my cabbage and carrot in the old bottled water last nite, and ate. Within 30 seconds, i needed to use the toilet. I couldn’t even finish my meal without going to the toilet.

We were told at the shop that all the big bottled water is basically the same, they just have different stickers to put on the outside of the bottle so people think they are getting something different. I’ve found that most everything in India is relative, with police officers killing innocent people to get rewards, people selling things that have no relation to anything in reality, and people pushing religion for reasons they don’t even know themselves. What a cesspool. And to think that this place also has some of the grace of God… It makes me shudder to think what Satan wants to drive us all down to.

moneybags

3 Comments / daily rambliniscings / August 31, 2009

I’ve been here over 5 weeks now, staying in Mumbai the first 4 days, then here in Pune, then 2 days back in Mumbai, and possibly going to Mumbai again next weekend. There are a few strong Christians i’ve met, but most everybody, even of the church members, are just looking for money. And with this face, i look like Mr. Moneybags, so i have to be on my toes. I’ve already been approached to “invest” money so someone could lay claim to their 18,000,000usd inheritance from South Africa. They wanted me to pay several thousand dollars so they could buy some liquid to pour on the US money that had been covered with something black to keep from counterfeiting. They showed me lots of important looking papers from the US Embassy, from the United Nations, from the World Bank etc. etc. You would think that someone hoping to scam thousands of dollars from someone would at least go to the trouble of making sure the spelling on their fake documents would be correct, but, well, i guess they are just scam “artists”, not scam “professionals”. Yet, i heard later that someone did get scammed in a similar manner. May these men (one a church members) realize they are doing a bad thing, and stop, and do something productive to help society.

where in the world?

Leave a Comment / daily rambliniscings / August 28, 2009

I’ve told several people that i’m 100% sure that i should be busy about making a movie on the 1858 Great Controversy book (hence this web site’s domain name). But i’m not sure about “where” to do that. I’ve thot India was best for several reasons, such as availability of talent and skilled people in the animation field, and also for the low cost of labor. My ability to accept awfulness of surroundings tho is deteriorating as i get older, and the wretched smells and noises and sights of India are reallly wearing on me.

Let’s see, a lady in Malaysia said i am welcome to come there anytime. A doctor in Alabama said i am welcome to stay as long as i work there. A friend in Switzerland basically offered me help to settle there for awhile. My old landlord in Japan offered her house for me too. Probably one other friend in Thailand would like to have me there too. A man in Vietnam invited me to come to a school there in the future. Then yesterday i got an offer from Georgia asking if i would consider teaching at their new English language school they are opening up, and that i could have plenty of free time to work on my animation too.

All so attractive, but i’m afraid not God’s will. By his mysterious providence, i’m homeschooling the 2 children of the house where i am staying, and am committed to help them for at least one school year.

Lord, give me patience with these children, give me signs showing you are leading with this animation – like providing some workers and funds, and please accept my humble efforts to give you glory in any area of service to which i’m called – big or small (as seen by human eyes).

“Behold Your God” by Fred Wright review

86 Comments / book and video review / August 21, 2009

“Behold Your God” by Fred Wright (1979)

F

I first heard about this author and book from a fake missionary in Brunei in 2005, but was not proffered the book. In 2006, while staying in India, i was told to read the book by the lady of the house where i was staying, so, to please her, i did decide to read the book.

This book has many quotes from the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy (Ellen White’s writings), and has a very attractive tone, but with a fatal conclusion — that God does not destroy. How anyone can read their Bibles or SOP and come to this conclusion is beyond me, but like i say, it sounds attractive to itching ears, ears which don’t want to hear that there will be a judge we have to meet at the last day to whom we must answer for all the deeds in this life, and who has power to “destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28)

Fred Wright is deceased now, but he formed a church organization claiming about 2,000 members. He claimed to be the “4th Angel’s Messenger”, similar to the way in which Mrs. White was the “3rd Angel’s Messenger”. Just this equating himself with someone who was inspired of God should give a serious pause to anyone considering whether this man is true or false.

So what is the main theme of the book? — that God does not kill. Beings who choose to rebel against God just put themselves outside of the “lifeforce” of love that is God, and they destroy themselves.

Starting in the preface to the book, we see a sentence that gives cause for pause: “He (Jesus) loved the Romans as much as he loved the Jews, neither was it his way to use force to accomplish any desired objective.” There are many places in the Bible showing that God specially chose and loved the Israelites, and did not love some other nations, even destroying them, as written in many places such as Isaiah 43:3-4 “For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.” If he loved Israel the same as the other nations, what was the whole point of separating them out from Egypt, driving out the nations from Canaan, bringing them back again from Babylon and Assyria etc.?

p.13 (Regarding Satan) “he worked at deceiving them into believing that God was a liar and destroyer”. This is just speculation on Mr. Wright’s part. We know from the 1858 Great Controversy that “Satan was insinuating against the government of God, ambitious to exalt himself, and unwilling to submit to the authority of Jesus.” There is nothing about him trying to show God as a “destroyer”.

p.15 Lucifer made progress “….until he became the brightest of all the creatures.” Pure speculation.

p.23 “… those who have made the fatal mistake will die, not because God will strike them down, but because they have placed themselves where life is impossible.” This is the heart of the false doctrine of this book. But what does inspired word say? Isaiah 14:30 “And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. ” Some may say, “Oh, that is the Old Testament God”. OK, Revelation 2:23 “And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.” The 1858 Great Controversy says regarding the final destruction of the wicked: “But fire from God out of heaven is rained upon them, and the great men, and the mighty men, and the noble, and poor and miserable men, are all consumed together”
…

“Behold Your God” by Fred Wright reviewRead More »

animated imagery

3 Comments / 3D animation work / August 20, 2009

I wondered for several years after first getting the idea to make the 1858 Great Controversy into a movie if this was even God’s will. I know that we are not supposed to have “drama”, and we should shun the theater. Yet i also knew that illustrations are not all denounced in the Spirit of Prophecy, and in fact, the 1843 chart was “directed by God”.

I had read enough to be absolutely convinced that if done in a proper manner, to give glory to God, that making a movie of this book could be a great way to spread the words in it, thus giving God glory. So i had already decided to try and find friends in India, where there are many animators and who will work for less than astronomical rates, to help, and i would go physically and work on it myself.

Well, i came to India 4 weeks ago, and the main man whose family i am staying with, and who was a bit reluctant about helping very much in this project over the 3 years that i have known him, opened up Child Guidance, and read the following quote which greatly strengthened my conviction that this movie idea is definitely from God:

God commanded the Hebrews to teach their children His requirements, and to make them acquainted with all His dealings with their people. The home and the school were one. In the place of stranger lips, the loving hearts of the father and mother were to give instruction to their children. Thoughts of God were associated with all the events of daily life in the home dwelling. The mighty works of God in the deliverance of His people were recounted with eloquence and reverential awe. The great truths of God’s providence and of the future life were impressed on the young mind. It became acquainted with the true, the good, the beautiful.

By the use of figures and symbols the lessons given were illustrated, and thus more firmly fixed in the memory. Through this
animated imagery
the child was, almost from infancy, initiated into the mysteries, the wisdom, and the hopes of his fathers, and guided in a way of thinking and feeling and anticipating, that reached beyond things seen and transitory, to the unseen and eternal.

May God guide and direct this project, and give me wisdom into how to get started!

stomach turning

Leave a Comment / daily rambliniscings / August 11, 2009

There are many “interesting sights” in India. I remember thinking while here 3 years ago that there is no need for a tv, (i don’t watch anyway), as there is always something “impossible” happening just outside your window.

My friend here likes to say: “India, where the impossible is always possible”. I’d like to change that to: “India, where the only “impossible” is “impossible!”

Yesterday i rode from Mumbai to Pune by train. After getting into the mountains it was beautiful, but up to that point – oooh no! – the worst you can imagine, and then some. Just the smell passing thru nearly made me sick. How can the people live in that mess?

But the “cake” for this category was in watching from my balcony the other day. Now i’m staying in a relatively nice, quiet area of Pune….. A cow walked down the middle of the asphalt road, and left a big pie — ooooooooh. Within one minute an auto-rickshaw had made a u-turn in the middle of it, making it a bit like a pancake — yucko. Then soon after, a dog came, eating it up — (insert appropriate response here).

homeschooling

Leave a Comment / daily rambliniscings / August 11, 2009

Today i started homeschooling the 2 children of the family i stay with – 7yo and 4yo. It is a precious experience, as i love children, and love to see them grow close to Jesus. It is good therapy for me too, to get me away from doing too much computing – ha! Just while typing this the 4yo girl told her brother who wouldn’t let her play with his blocks: “Then i don’t want to be your friend anymore”. It didn’t escape my ears, so i went over to her and asked her what she said. She wouldn’t say, so i said if it was something good, then there was no need to hide it, but if something bad, then Jesus knows all things. I asked if she remembered what we studied this morning – the motto of our whole homeschool: “Do to others what you want them to do to you”. She nodded, and said again what she had said. I asked if she wanted her brother to say this to her. She said “no”, and soon we were on our knees asking forgiveness from the brother and from Jesus too. What a nice experience 🙂

We did worship, exercises, Bible reading in Matthew 7:12, ABC writing, punctuation marks, how to ask questions, walked around the streets with me asking questions about how metal and concrete is made, and how God protects the various fruits we see (papaya and cocnut) from being eaten easily by animals, 5 minutes of addition, typing on the computer, and then the 3 names of big wind storms. It was sad to see that over 400 people are feared dead in Taiwan because of a typhoon.

Lord, please bless the start of this little school, and may we do everything to your glory. Please send your angels and Spirit here to keep a pure atmosphere around these precious little ones, and give me patience and wisdom with dealing with them.

india after 2 weeks

Leave a Comment / travel spreading 1858gc / August 7, 2009

Here i am, right in Pune city which had the first death from swine flu in India, and with schools closing and people thronging hospitals and other states quarantining Maharashtra, there is a mini-panic going on. But praise God, other than a bout of vomiting yesterday, i’ve been feeling mostly fine. By God’s grace i’m in a place that is not too heavily traveled, so the honking noises are not too severe, and there is no visible huge trash pile within 50m, so there are not that many crows or stray dogs or cows, and being of a higher elevation than many Indian cities, it is very pleasant temperature wise – 27/23C (81/74F).

I found out that we still have around 5,000 English 1858gc, 3,000 Tamil, and 3,500 Punjabi books left. I went to the Oriental Watchman Publishing House yesterday and met several people. The place is run-down terribly. Electricity was off, as it usually is for most of the day on Thursdays, so the people were sent home. I’m not sure what the managers are thinking, but i did find out that several workers there have not done any work for several months. Actually, it looks like the Divison is trying to shut it down, as things have been deteriorating for a long time. If only the missionaries who sacrificed to put this plant in order could see it now! So basically no progress was made on distribution of these books. Surely there are some faithful Literature Evangelists (or former) who would be happy to have inspired material to sell to others. It looks like i will have to work church by church tho…

The plan was to make a 3D animated movie of the 1858 Great Controversy book when coming, but, while continuing a few more tutorials in Bryce, and reading a bit more on the internet, and talking to 2 people who are both slightly interested, i haven’t made any progress in that direction. May God please lead the right people to me.

My friend has asked me to homeschool his children, and while on the surface of it, it looks to be a great departure from my goals of coming here, the idea of being with children, training them up on the way of the Lord is very appealing, and i believe will contribute a lot to my sanity. Instead of spending 16 hours a day looking at a computer screen, hopefully this way i can keep it at a healthier 10 hours or so. Also, i want to have a part in training up young minds to serve Christ. Who knows, he may lead others here too! If we do the little things that lie near at hand, i believe God will work out the “great” projects

Just today a young Brother came up from Mumbai by train. I met him 2 weeks ago there, and was very happy to see him again. He is studying to become a doctor, but is troubled about having to prescribe drugs/exams on Sabbath etc. By God’s grace i was able to show him several quotes from the inspired writings where a medical missionary can do tenfold more labor for God’s cause than a minister can. If he stays true to Jesus, he will be much more powerful in reaching hearts than even a pastor. It was touching to see him rejoice in hearing these words, and immediately calling up a friend who had just quit the medical doctor course at college this week, encouraging him to hang on 🙂

home schooling philosophy and curriculum

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized / August 3, 2009

Home Schooling Philosophy and Curriculum (based on the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy)

The objective is: “the highest development of every power. It means that in the whole being–the body, the mind, as well as the soul–the image of God is to be restored.” (CT)

“Now as never before we need to understand the true science of education. If we fail to understand this, we shall never have a place in the kingdom of God. ‘This is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.’ If this is the price of heaven, shall not our education be conducted on these lines?” — (Christian Educator, August 1, 1897)

The Bible is the greatest book ever given to humans, and as such, should be the foundation of all education. In practical terms, the Bible can easily be used to teach English (spelling, grammar, and composition), some science (origins especially), a little math, and lots of inspired history with its attendant geography.

“Agriculture is the ABC of industrial education.” (2OM ) To fulfill this “ABC”, a small garden will be started and tended.

“Children are sent to school to be taught the sciences; but the science of human life is wholly neglected. That which is of the most vital importance, a true knowledge of themselves, without which all other science can be of but little advantage, is not brought to their notice. A cruel and wicked ignorance is tolerated in regard to this important question. So closely is health related to our happiness, that we cannot have the latter without the former. A practical knowledge of the science of human life, is necessary in order to glorify God in our bodies. It is therefore of the highest importance, that among the studies selected for childhood, Physiology should occupy the first place.” (HR 1866-08-01) To fulfill this “first place” study, anatomy and health principles will be taught and applied.

“Before children take lessons on the organ or the piano they should be given lessons in cooking. The work of learning to cook need not exclude music, but to learn music is of less importance than to learn how to prepare food that is wholesome and appetizing.” (SW 1901-10-30) While music will take a place in the curriculum (hopefully keyboard and/or guitar), cooking will be even more emphasized. Commom household tasks such as cleaning, sweeping and washing will also be done.

“Regularity should be the rule in all the habits of children.” (CE) “There should be rules, regulating their studies to certain hours, and then a portion of their time should be spent in physical labor.” (22OT) Everything we do will be according to these rules.

“The common branches must be thoroughly mastered, and a knowledge of bookkeeping should be considered as important as a knowledge of grammar. All who expect to engage in the work of the Lord should learn how to keep accounts. In the world there are many who have made a failure of business and are looked upon as dishonest, who are true at heart, but who have failed to succeed because they did not know how to keep accounts.” (CT) Financial fundamentals will be taught by practical things as much as possible, using real money.

“Small children should be left free as lambs to run out of doors, to be free and happy, and be allowed the most favorable opportunities to lay the foundation for sound constitutions.” (22OT) Much time will be spent outdoors in gardening and exercising.

Requirements of teachers:
“If they would gather the children close to them, and show that they love them, and manifest an interest in all their efforts, and even in their sports, and sometimes be even a child among children, they would make the children very happy, would gain their love, and win their confidence. And the children would sooner respect and love the authority of their parents and teachers.” (22OT)

“The principles and habits of the teachers should be considered of greater importance than even his literary qualifications. If the teacher is a sincere Christian, he will feel the necessity of having an equal interest in the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual education of his scholars. In order to exert the right influence, he should have perfect control over himself, and his own heart should be richly imbued with love for his pupils, which will be seen in his looks, words, and acts. He should have firmness of character, then can he mold the minds of his pupils, as well as to instruct them in the sciences. The early education of youth generally shapes their character for life. Those who deal with the young should be very careful to call out the qualities of the mind, that they may better know how to direct their powers, and that they may be exercised to the very best account.” (22OT)

Don’t judge the results based on what is seen after a short time, or by worldly standards:
“But those who make it their object to so educate their pupils that they may see and feel that the power lies in themselves to make men and women of firm principle, qualified for any position in life, are the most useful and permanently successful teachers. Their work may not show to the very best advantage to careless observers, and their labors may not be valued as highly as the teacher who holds the will and mind of his scholars by absolute authority; but the future lives of the pupils will show the fruits of the better plan of education.” (22OT)

“Only those who co-operate with heaven in the plan of salvation can know what true education in its simplicity means.” (CT p.15)

Reference: “What Shall We Teach?” (1PH)
============================================
A daily course might look something like this. Regularity will be observed in the overall progression of subjects, but there will not be strict timings for each subject length. So it is possible that if Bible reading goes 1 hour, that there would be no Math that day.

8:00 Worship, praise, and prayer
8:15 Exercise
8:30 Bible reading and English
9:00 Math/Science
9:30 Cleaning and Health/Cooking
10:00 Computer/Finance
10:30 Gardening
11:00 History/Music/Geography/Government/Art This class period would end sometime between 11:40 and 11:50
Note: “/” means that this time period rotates classes. For example, 9:00 would maybe have Math on M,W,F, and Science on Tu,Th.

turkey to georgia to turkey again

Leave a Comment / travel spreading 1858gc / August 3, 2009

I arrived in Istanbul Otogar bus terminal a bit before 6am July1. I really don’t like taxi drivers, so rolled by them all looking for the Metro (subway). I exchange 10usd for 15ytl at a kiosk, buy a token, catching the first train of the morning, and get off at Aksaray station. Now the info i had from the internet to find Emniyet bus terminal is that it is behind the McDonald’s which is near the station. Not only is there no Mc, no one around knows where it is either. Of course the taxi drivers are like vultures, so i steer clear of them. After wandering around with my heavy stuff, i finally find a policeman who tells me the bus terminal is 50m behind the Avrupa Goz building. That is easily visible, and he is very correct, except the Emniyet bus terminal is around 200m behind that building. Happiness 🙂

It is past 7am now, and i walk into the smallish terminal. Otogar bus terminal must be one of the largest in the world, but this one is quite small. It seems to only service buses going towards Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Walking into the area, 2 groups of men appear. One from each group grabs an arm, and i become a human tug-of-rope. I’m not amused, but my angry-painful reaction seems to amuse them. I look at the info i wrote down from the internet. It says Maghogdomlu and Metro are the two better choices. They were probably correct on “Metro”. But the Metro office is not open, and one arm is taken by this Maghodghomulu or whatever guy, so i buy a 40usd ticket and go out trying to lay flat in on the sidewalk in front of a mosque for an hour, then sightsee a cool, old neighborhood that i remember from 3 years ago, then lie on some more cement by the sea, then back to my bus departure at noon. I’m tired. For some reason, nearly all the companies’ buses leave about the same time.

Some young Azerbaijani man sits next to me for a while and talks mostly interestingly, but i can tell he is not listening to anything i say. Fortunately some lady gets on and takes that seat, relieving me from answering the same question more than 2 or 3 times. This guy is a “Muslim”, but likes to talk dirty, and even says he’ll “kill me” jokingly of course later. I’m not amused, and tell him that God will judge us for every word that comes out of our mouths. He makes new friends and leaves me alone the rest of the ride. The traffic jam out of Istanbul is huge, and we have the longest wait to toilet break i’ve ever had on a long-distance bus – 5 hours. Seeing the “Welcome to Asia” sign after we cross the Bosphorus Bridge makes things interesting for a while tho. I listen to Japanese Revelation on my camera to use the time wisely, but at this stage, i’m mostly droning/dozing/zoning.

The peepee tax in Turkey is the highest i’ve seen anywhere in the world – 1ytl which means around 65cents usd. Usually i wander around the 20 – 30 minutes that comes with every rest stop while everyone else is eating and smoking, and “learn the neighborhood”. I do pay the fee when nature so demands once, and see that there are no gold-plated faucets even at that price (no toilet paper either). Bus stop food is extremely expensive, and i’m glad i’ve stocked up on bread and cucumbers from Romania, and i still i have some 6-month old raisins and crackers from Japan 🙂

The Turkish immigration was so professional, i was hoping that Georgia would have made some progress too in the last 3 years, but it was not to be. We were herded like cows into a little area where the guard opened the gate to let whoever could push thru the hardest, then he shut it again. Of course this instigated several shouting matches. I was to learn that Georgians love to shout and get angry, making me think that the nasty arguing i saw on tv in America was much better, in that it at least was almost never seen out in public – ha! I mean this as no offense to my Georgian friends, but i found out that Georgians are generally among the rudest and crudest people on the face of the earth (that i’ve met anyway). They are very friendly when they are friends, but in general, and it can be seen by the way they drive their cars, they have no concept of “do to others what you want them to do to you”.

One other interesting thing that happened at immigration, is that the officer leading everyone into the “waiting pen” checked my passport, and then announced to everyone (i guess) to let me go to the front of the line because i’m American. Most of the people opened a path for me to go, but a few shouts were heard, and i was making my move to go to the side at the end of the line, so that ended that incident, but it made me feel good to see that someone at least respects what the US has done to help their country. While traveling, it was kind of spooky to be seeing place names that were in the war with Russia last year. We crossed one bridge that looked like a temporary affair. You could see a broken-down one next to it. My bus-mates told me that the US had brought in this temp bridge for them. In that same town (Gori), you could see rows of newly-built block houses. They are for the refugees who fled the fighting.

The lady next to me lets me call my friend, and he picks me up at Ortachala bus terminal in T’bilisi, and saves me from some tout who is mad at me because i’m not interested in buying a ticket to Trabzon. He takes me to his flat, marking an end to my 61-hour journey. Whew! Perhaps i dozed 5 or 6 hours during that time. Thank you Jesus for keeping me safe, and mostly sane. And please don’t let the rumours be true that Russia is planning to attack this country again next week!!!

About 80% of the whole reason i came is to see my friend. I’ve been very interested in coming again ever since talking with him on skype last year while in Malaysia, and learning that he is wanting that close walk with God like he had when i was here 3 years ago. Unfortunately, most of the time is not used to talk and pray and study about getting right with God again, and partly i wonder why i came here. We finally do get to have a deep conversation 2 or 3 times while here, and i pray the words i could speak were uplifting, pointing him to Jesus. He treated me well, being over-cautious that i find the SDA mission headquarters etc.

The first Sabbath here is at the Georgian-speaking church, where i see quite a few people i met here 3 years ago. Seems the main mission church has split into Russian-speaking and Georgian-speaking groups, which is better for all i guess. In the afternoon i go up to Kajori with my friend’s family. Kajori is a summer-resort place, only about 30 minutes up the big slope from T’bilisi, but probably about 600m higher, and about 5C cooler 🙂 The quiet and coolness finally puts my alpha waves back in sequence 🙂

My friend works on Sabbath now, and not because he “has” to either. He let me have worship on Saturday evening, and i tell the “Elephant” story i learned in Thailand, which everyone, especially the 4 kids, seem to enjoy. After the closing prayer, his wife and he both are a little red-teary-eyed, and he translates to me that she believes God sent me there to help their family get right with God again. I sure pray so. But as i will repeat many times while here, it takes one step at a time. Rather than wait for some “life-earthquake” to come into your life forcing you to make drastic changes for the better, it is best to make a daily step in the right direction, doing everything you know God wants you to do, one thing at a time. Each day that goes by knowing that you are disobeying God’s will, you are making it that much harder to return to God in the future.
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new sister

Leave a Comment / daily rambliniscings / July 31, 2009

I arrived in India on July 23, and spent the first Sabbath travelling around 4 small meeting places in the slum area of Mumbai. It was nice to see people interested in following Jesus in the midst of the inhuman mess 😉

Yesterday i met a woman who i have been able to call “Sister” for 12 days. She went to a former church member’s home where she was given one of these English 1858 Great Controversy books about 2 years ago. She emailed me, and i got her in contact with a faithful Brother who lives in the same city she does. He wrote me often about how strong the simple faith is of this lady, and told me recently that she was already giving testimonies in church that were making church members wake up from their Laodicean slumber! In her emails she told me stories etc. of how her Hindu family members would persecute her physically and emotionally, but she stayed true to Jesus. Then, when she was grounded in the truth and desirous of baptism, she was refused by the SDA pastor who was afraid that her family members might cause him trouble. But praise God she finally found a blind pastor who isn’t afraid, and he baptized her Sabbath a week ago. It was wonderful to meet her, and to get the joy of knowing a tiny, little bit that you have had a part in bringing someone to Jesus, to live forever together 🙂

India is a crazy, dirty, awful place desperately in need of Christ, and thankfully, many people are desiring a better life than they now have.

Now i’m in Pune, laying plans on how to spread this 1858gc book, and how to make a 3d movie of it. Everyone’s comments and advice is welcome. Of course anyone who wishes to work on making this will be very very very welcome!