WEBVTT
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We've come to the Shetland Islands.
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The reason being,
there's 23,000 people here,
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and not a single Adventist.
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We want to reach them with the gospel,
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and we'd love to see them
ready for Jesus to return.
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The Shetland Islands are part of Scotland
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and the northernmost part
of the United Kingdom.
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Anthony Kent,
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the associate ministerial secretary
at the General Conference,
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put together a small team of pastors
from Scotland and the UK
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to spend one week cycling
through the islands
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to tell people about Jesus
and hand out Christian literature.
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After an overnight ferry ride
to reach the islands,
NOTE Paragraph
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the team prepared to set off
to reach the unreached.
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As far as we know,
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there are no Adventist members
on the Shetlands.
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And how do you approach
trying to make contact?
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What would Paul and his associates do
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if they were doing a missionary journey
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and they landed in Lerwick,
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and they were to start
in the Shetland Islands?
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Maybe Paul also would have used a bicycle
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to share Jesus with people today.
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The team set out to ride
through every inhabited street,
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stopping with anyone they met.
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Much like the apostle Paul,
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Anthony and his team
had to endure hardships
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in the form of wind, rain, and hills.
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It's cold.
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It's cold.
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But this is still really good fun
and people's hearts are open.
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The weather's cold,
but the people are warm.
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Praise God for that.
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This isn’t the first I Will Go bike ride.
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Anthony has led a cycling ministry trip
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from Washington DC to St. Louis,
as well as some in Australia.
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What we found is, it's a wonderful way
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to generate significant
but brief conversations
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and an opportunity to share the gospel.
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So it's worked in the past,
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and we thought
we'd give it a go in Shetland.
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There’s a special reason
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the Shetland Islands
were chosen for this ride.
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A man named Philip Reekie
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emigrated from Scotland
to Australia in the late 1800’s.
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He rode his bike thousands
of miles around Australia
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sharing the gospel
with anyone he rode past.
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One of those people happened to be
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Anthony Kent’s great-great-grandfather.
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Philip Reekie rode up to him on a bicycle
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and shared with him
the Great Controversy,
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and it completely transformed his life.
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Now, in our family,
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there are seven generations of Adventists,
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as a result of Philip Reekie
doing that wonderful ministry.
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Our dream was to take
the spirit of Philip Reekie
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and his desire to lead people
to Christ back to his homeland.
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Following Philip Reekie’s legacy,
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the team took Jesus’ call
to go to the ends of the earth
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and applied it to their work
in the Shetlands.
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We’ve literally gone
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from the very south
of the Shetland Islands,
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to Sumburgh,
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and we’ve gone all the way north
as far as we can ride a bike.
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From sea to sea in a sense.
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We haven't just stayed on the main roads.
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We've deliberately ridden past homes.
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We've seen people out and about,
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whether they're cutting their grass,
putting their washing out,
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walking their dog, farming,
working in the outdoors.
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We've gone to where people are available,
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and we've had wonderful
conversations with them.
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Although this is not
the way they normally witness,
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they've seen the value of trying
unique methods of ministry.
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We have here a group of pastors.
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They're not cyclists.
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They're willing to go
to the ends of the earth,
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even if it means riding a bike,
in wet, cold, windy conditions,
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if it may lead one person to Jesus.
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My dream is that people
will look at unentered places.
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Places where we don't have any followers,
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and do what you can do to reach them.
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Please pray for ministries
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such as the I Will Go Bike Ride,
and others around the world
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who are using unique methods of ministry
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to reach the unreached.
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Thank you for your support of Mission.
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Well, first of all, when I ride this,
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it's so much fun,
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and I literally feel like a kid again.
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Like a young person
with wind blowing in my face,
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and through my hair, what hair is left.
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And I really sense the pleasure of God,
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that this is something
that we're doing together.
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When a witnessing opportunity comes,
we do that together,
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and it's just incredibly good, fun.