The Blog of Gordon Pifher

Eight hours of driving from Abbotsford and we approach the city of Creston, BC. Remembering recent miracles, I push the seek button on the radio and watch the numbers appear and vanish as the FM dial is frantically scanned. Suddenly the numbers stop and the sound of Lonnie Melashenko saying, “Friends, Jesus is coming soon”, fills the car. Only three radio stations on the dial and VOAR, Voice of Adventist Radio is one of them. Sabbath morning, in Cranbook, our radio brought us an Adventist worship service. We listened to wonderful Christian music punctuated by “Your Story Hour” and a friendly voice wishing everyone a “Happy Sabbath”.

The door for Adventist radio in each BC community is now open and the BC Conference is running through the door. On April 12, I received the following email. I could sense the excitement as I read these words from church member and media expert, Warren Tombs. “The broadcast is on the air in Prince George. The frequency is 107.3 and we are getting it in cars all over the main part of the city. Our broadcast power is a full 50 Watts ERP. Thank you for all your support in prayer.”

Hundreds — thousands are now listening to Adventist radio.

Four days after the first Prince George broadcast, VOAR got this email. “Just wanted to drop you a line, and say thank you, thank you, and thank you for broadcasting in Prince George. I love the station. I put a plug for you in our church bulletin this Sunday, so you will have some new listeners soon!

VOAR Rebroadcast Launch Dates • Golden – March 1, 2007
• Cranbrook – December 7, 2006
• Creston – April 11, 2007
• Prince George - April 12, 2007

• Your town or city? – Contact Stan, Communications Director, at 604.853.5451 sxt 405 or sjensen@bcadventist.ca

Four hundred youth and leaders participated in 3 days of concentrated training and spiritual growth at the Delta Airport Hotel in Vancouver on April 5 - 8.

Participants - • 35 - 40 from the US • 50-60 from Alberta • 300 or so from BC This was the third ACTS for Christ training event in Canada. The others were conducted at Canadian University College and in Red Deer, Alberta.

Inspirational Speakers and Seminar Presenters - • Pastor Matt Para from Michigan gave nightly challenges • Dan Augsburger provided seminars on building a relationship with God • The Radiant Living Team gave a daily Bible Boot Camp on door-to-door witnessing and Bible Study • Missionary David Gates challenged the youth to be radical missionaries during radical times • Pastor Ivor Myers from California talked about a “more than able” lifestyle

A Weekend of Youth Commitments • 60 youth made decisions for baptism • 40 came forward in a call to make a commitment to overseas missionary work • Most of the youth stood to signal their desire to be faithful to God’s leadership in their lives

Special Thanks to the BC ACTS Leadership - • Royce Odiyar - the program coordinator - One of our own “BC and CUC boys” • Fountainview Academy provided support and leadership

ACTS 2007 Helped Me Remember -

400 Youth Made a Commitment to be Faithful to God - • Pray for them! • Support them! • Empower them!

The BC Conference has begun a process of helping local churches seek Sikhs. Mary Pillai, from our Ministerial Department, organized the first 2007 Seeking Sikhs Committee, held in Surrey, the most concentrated location for Sikhs in Canada.

The goal of the meeting was to develop resources to help our members grow friendship with their Sikh neighbors. The Seeking Sikhs Committee has two Sikh Adventist families. Also, some members are from Punjab, India, and have worked in the Sikh culture for many years. Why a Seeking Sikhs Committee in BC? • Sikhs are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in many of our BC communities • Many are devout spiritual people and are willing to learn more about their Creator God • The Gospel Commission includes the 23 million Sikhs • God has sent close to 200,000 Sikhs to be our neighbors

What I’ve learned already at the Seeking Sikhs Committee. • Industrious people. It would be difficult to find a Sikh begging anywhere in the world • Family-oriented. When you touch a life, you touch a family that extends all the way to the Punjab, where 90% of the Sikhs still live • Sikhs need spiritual non-Sikh friends to help their families face the tremendous changes in adapting to Canadian culture

Sikh Religion • Origin in the 1500’s in Punjab, Northern India • Grew out of a culture that was surrounded by Hindus and Muslims • Sikh means disciple. Guru means teacher. • The holy book is called the Guru Granth Sahib - teaching of their first teacher and the writing of 9 special Gurus • Unlike the Hindus, they believe in one God • Feel that God gave them their teachings • They identify five special evils: ego, anger, greed, attachment and lust • They feel that a dedication to daily devotions attains salvation and a personal union with God

Adventist Message Provides Common Ground • Major emphasis is the Creator God • Health Message –Vegetarian, no smoking or drinking • Emphasis on developing an inward personal knowledge of God • Disciplined approach to having devotions at least twice each day • Very generous people. A major emphasis on giving free food and charitable donations to better the community. They will actively join with us in programs that defend fellow human beings and help those in need • Friday through Sunday, 48 continuous hours are spent reading the writings and singing the songs written by the Gurus • We are welcome to attend their temple services. Participants show respect to God by entering shoeless and wearing the provided head covering Sikhs worship on Sunday morning around 11:00. They join in singing, prayer and a wonderful vegetarian meal • They will not feel offended if we invite them to worship with us • Sikhs don’t aggressively attempt to make people Sikhs but are interested in mutual understanding

Main Reason To Seek Sikhs • Balwant Mann, recently shared the following, “When I became an Adventist, I learned I have a Saviour. I now know where I came from and most important, I know where I am going.”

Do you have a Sikh neighbour? • Talk about our Creator • Make a friend for God • Seeking Sikhs will change your life as well as their’s.