WEBVTT 00:00:05.361 --> 00:00:07.281 We've come to the Shetland Islands. 00:00:07.282 --> 00:00:10.663 The reason being, there's 23,000 people here, 00:00:11.186 --> 00:00:12.713 and not a single Adventist. 00:00:12.947 --> 00:00:14.759 We want to reach them with the gospel, 00:00:14.760 --> 00:00:18.210 and we'd love to see them ready for Jesus to return. 00:00:20.422 --> 00:00:22.375 The Shetland Islands are part of Scotland 00:00:22.702 --> 00:00:24.735 and the northernmost part of the United Kingdom. 00:00:25.311 --> 00:00:26.331 Anthony Kent, 00:00:26.332 --> 00:00:29.590 the associate ministerial secretary at the General Conference, 00:00:29.590 --> 00:00:32.758 put together a small team of pastors from Scotland and the UK 00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:34.991 to spend one week cycling through the islands 00:00:34.992 --> 00:00:38.145 to tell people about Jesus and hand out Christian literature. 00:00:39.017 --> 00:00:41.457 After an overnight ferry ride to reach the islands, NOTE Paragraph 00:00:41.457 --> 00:00:44.357 the team prepared to set off to reach the unreached. 00:00:45.858 --> 00:00:46.938 As far as we know, 00:00:46.939 --> 00:00:50.485 there are no Adventist members on the Shetlands. 00:00:51.198 --> 00:00:54.974 And how do you approach trying to make contact? 00:00:54.975 --> 00:00:58.742 What would Paul and his associates do 00:00:58.743 --> 00:01:01.178 if they were doing a missionary journey 00:01:01.179 --> 00:01:02.967 and they landed in Lerwick, 00:01:02.967 --> 00:01:06.871 and they were to start in the Shetland Islands? 00:01:07.253 --> 00:01:09.021 Maybe Paul also would have used a bicycle 00:01:09.021 --> 00:01:10.790 to share Jesus with people today. 00:01:11.250 --> 00:01:14.169 The team set out to ride through every inhabited street, 00:01:14.169 --> 00:01:15.845 stopping with anyone they met. 00:01:16.522 --> 00:01:18.035 Much like the apostle Paul, 00:01:18.036 --> 00:01:20.022 Anthony and his team had to endure hardships 00:01:20.022 --> 00:01:22.402 in the form of wind, rain, and hills. 00:01:22.786 --> 00:01:24.200 It's cold. 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:25.557 It's cold. 00:01:25.557 --> 00:01:29.563 But this is still really good fun and people's hearts are open. 00:01:29.564 --> 00:01:31.820 The weather's cold, but the people are warm. 00:01:31.821 --> 00:01:33.254 Praise God for that. 00:01:33.255 --> 00:01:35.155 This isn’t the first I Will Go bike ride. 00:01:35.703 --> 00:01:37.446 Anthony has led a cycling ministry trip 00:01:37.446 --> 00:01:41.376 from Washington DC to St. Louis, as well as some in Australia. 00:01:42.408 --> 00:01:45.272 What we found is, it's a wonderful way 00:01:45.273 --> 00:01:49.918 to generate significant but brief conversations 00:01:50.178 --> 00:01:52.605 and an opportunity to share the gospel. 00:01:53.131 --> 00:01:54.911 So it's worked in the past, 00:01:55.978 --> 00:01:59.237 and we thought we'd give it a go in Shetland. 00:01:59.728 --> 00:02:00.768 There’s a special reason 00:02:00.768 --> 00:02:03.125 the Shetland Islands were chosen for this ride. 00:02:03.503 --> 00:02:04.863 A man named Philip Reekie 00:02:04.864 --> 00:02:08.430 emigrated from Scotland to Australia in the late 1800’s. 00:02:08.825 --> 00:02:11.918 He rode his bike thousands of miles around Australia 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:14.395 sharing the gospel with anyone he rode past. 00:02:14.707 --> 00:02:16.709 One of those people happened to be 00:02:16.709 --> 00:02:19.230 Anthony Kent’s great-great-grandfather. 00:02:19.948 --> 00:02:23.073 Philip Reekie rode up to him on a bicycle 00:02:23.455 --> 00:02:26.321 and shared with him the Great Controversy, 00:02:26.322 --> 00:02:28.669 and it completely transformed his life. 00:02:28.670 --> 00:02:30.000 Now, in our family, 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:33.770 there are seven generations of Adventists, 00:02:33.770 --> 00:02:38.000 as a result of Philip Reekie doing that wonderful ministry. 00:02:38.465 --> 00:02:42.344 Our dream was to take the spirit of Philip Reekie 00:02:42.345 --> 00:02:47.891 and his desire to lead people to Christ back to his homeland. 00:02:48.768 --> 00:02:50.581 Following Philip Reekie’s legacy, 00:02:50.869 --> 00:02:53.888 the team took Jesus’ call to go to the ends of the earth 00:02:53.888 --> 00:02:55.941 and applied it to their work in the Shetlands. 00:02:56.250 --> 00:02:57.517 We’ve literally gone 00:02:57.910 --> 00:03:00.929 from the very south of the Shetland Islands, 00:03:01.420 --> 00:03:02.920 to Sumburgh, 00:03:03.683 --> 00:03:08.978 and we’ve gone all the way north as far as we can ride a bike. 00:03:09.370 --> 00:03:12.010 From sea to sea in a sense. 00:03:12.325 --> 00:03:14.338 We haven't just stayed on the main roads. 00:03:14.772 --> 00:03:18.392 We've deliberately ridden past homes. 00:03:18.915 --> 00:03:21.208 We've seen people out and about, 00:03:21.209 --> 00:03:24.668 whether they're cutting their grass, putting their washing out, 00:03:25.232 --> 00:03:29.191 walking their dog, farming, working in the outdoors. 00:03:29.633 --> 00:03:32.547 We've gone to where people are available, 00:03:33.060 --> 00:03:35.555 and we've had wonderful conversations with them. 00:03:36.198 --> 00:03:38.649 Although this is not the way they normally witness, 00:03:38.651 --> 00:03:41.186 they've seen the value of trying unique methods of ministry. 00:03:41.493 --> 00:03:43.720 We have here a group of pastors. 00:03:44.860 --> 00:03:46.133 They're not cyclists. 00:03:46.565 --> 00:03:49.587 They're willing to go to the ends of the earth, 00:03:49.587 --> 00:03:54.850 even if it means riding a bike, in wet, cold, windy conditions, 00:03:54.850 --> 00:03:58.037 if it may lead one person to Jesus. 00:03:59.833 --> 00:04:03.099 My dream is that people will look at unentered places. 00:04:03.742 --> 00:04:08.214 Places where we don't have any followers, 00:04:08.628 --> 00:04:11.810 and do what you can do to reach them. 00:04:13.178 --> 00:04:14.538 Please pray for ministries 00:04:14.539 --> 00:04:17.529 such as the I Will Go Bike Ride, and others around the world 00:04:17.530 --> 00:04:19.739 who are using unique methods of ministry 00:04:19.739 --> 00:04:21.169 to reach the unreached. 00:04:21.578 --> 00:04:23.525 Thank you for your support of Mission. 00:05:03.211 --> 00:05:06.124 Well, first of all, when I ride this, 00:05:06.419 --> 00:05:07.753 it's so much fun, 00:05:07.975 --> 00:05:10.315 and I literally feel like a kid again. 00:05:10.968 --> 00:05:15.391 Like a young person with wind blowing in my face, 00:05:15.391 --> 00:05:17.729 and through my hair, what hair is left. 00:05:18.607 --> 00:05:22.841 And I really sense the pleasure of God, 00:05:23.573 --> 00:05:27.549 that this is something that we're doing together. 00:05:27.549 --> 00:05:31.289 When a witnessing opportunity comes, we do that together, 00:05:31.289 --> 00:05:36.168 and it's just incredibly good, fun.