Mission150

David and Sam, in part one of two, tell the story of the truly legendary Adventist missionaries, Ferdinand and Ana Stahl, who spent three decades as missionaries in South America. This episode tells the story of their time in the high Andes Mountains, working around Lake Titicaca.

David and Sam interview Erton Köhler, the Executive Secretary of the General Conference, about his history in ministry, and about his vision for worldwide mission. In particular, they talk about the GC's "Mission Refocus" initiative, which aims to revitalize mission and involve more of the world Church in mission to difficult territories and people groups.

Sam and David interview Douglas Venn, who with his family served ten years as missionaries in Southeast Asia. Doug now serves as leader of "Adventist Possibility Ministries", which aims to minister to (and mobilize for mission) people with disabilities, health challenges, and their careers.

David and Sam tell the story of how Adventist church leaders, in the depths of World War II, when some might have retrenched, instead adopted a bold plan to prepare missionaries for the first moment that missionaries would be able to be sent out again. And they focused on mission to the Islamic Middle East and to China––preparing for mission to non-Christian peoples.

David and Sam are joined by the distinguished Adventist historian Alberto Timm to talk about the origins and early history of Adventist mission in South America. The work began with a dedicated self-supporting lay missionary.

Sam and David are joined by Mildred Castillo, who talks about working in foreign countries for eighteen years, living in seven different countries on three different continents, and about helping to the children of trainee missionaries to understand what mission service will mean for them.

David and Sam are joined again by Adventist Church world president Ted Wilson. In this episode, Elder Wilson shares his vision for the future of Adventist mission, inspired by 150 years of history.

Sam and David are joined by Ronald Kuhn, who has worked as a missionary in ten countries for many years. He shares how the best way to learn to adapt to a new culture is by humility and learning from mistakes; and his love for the people he worked among is obvious. He shares about his current job, training new missionaries for intercultural assignments.

Sam and David are joined by Elder Ted Wilson, president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, who talks about his and his family's experiences as missionaries in West Africa and the former Soviet Union in the 1980s and 1990s.

David and Sam are joined again by historian Michael Campbell to talk about early Adventist mission in the South Pacific islands, and especially in Fiji. They discuss not only early missionaries but also early indigenous converts, thanks to whom the preaching of the Adventist message really took off.

Sam and David are joined by historian Michael Campbell but this time not to talk history, instead to talk about Michael and his family's history of ministry, incliuding as missionaries for six years in Southeast Asia

David and Sam tell the stories of two missionary families: the Cotts, who served in the 1920a and 1930s among the indigenous people of Guyana; and the Haydens, who served for nearly four decades in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. For more information, read D. J. B. Trim, Living Sacrifices (Pacific Press, 2019).

A new Adventist motion picture is being released this April 2024, The Hopeful, which tells the story of the origins of the Adventist Church, from William Miller to John N. Andrews, and features Andrews and his children. In this episode, Sam and David talk with Kyle Portbury, director of The Hopeful about the movie and what Kyle hopes it will do.

David interviews Sam about his fascinating career that has taken him to serve mission in Brazil, Britain, and now the United States of America, where Sam serves the world Church.

This episode explores in more detail how the General Conference Secretariat established complex structures and proceesses that made it possible to greatly increase the numbers of missionaries sent out by the Seventh-day Adventist Church all around the world. Without the administrative infrastucture, frontline missionaries could not work.

This episode focuses on two more missionary families, the Appels and Longways, who committed to nearly life-long service in the mission field, serving in the Far East (especially China) and the Middle East.