Laurelbrook Academy SDA Church

Home> Ministries> Church Services> David Armstrong Talked About the Family's Nepal Work

David Armstrong Talked About the Family's Nepal Work

 

The church service in the Laurelbrook Seventh-day Adventist Church on June 22, 2019 began with Rodney Herra welcoming everyone and making announcements. He reminded the congregation that they needed to pray about the selection of a new Laurelbrook president. Heissel and Daphne (seniors) led the group in singing hymns, accompanied by Leilani (senior) on the piano. Ruan Swanepoel read the second reading of the Laurelbrook church officers for the new school year. The new officers will take office July 1.

 

Leilani played an introit on the piano.  David Armstrong had the invocation.  The congregation sang “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”. Rodney Herra had the main prayer.

 

Gustavo (senior) called for the offering, which will go to the Georgia-Cumberland Conference Ministries.   Sebastian Roy-Lavallee and Daryen (senior) collected the church offerings. Gustavo then prayed for the offering. Beth Brandt told the children a story of how her family members came to Laurelbrook and others who came due to the influence of her grandmother.

 

Rodney Herra then read Isaiah 60:22 “A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.” David Armstrong then spoke on the topic “In His Time,” updating the congregation on their work in Nepal. The congregation sang “Just When I need Him”.  David Armstrong had the closing prayer.

 

Personnel Other Than Students:

 

Beth Brandt – wife of Clayton Brandt, who works with Laurelbrook’s heavy equipment / mother of Kristi Armstrong

David and Kristi Armstrong – home temporarily from their work in Nepal (Eden Blossoms Ministry)

Ruan Swanepoel – Laurelbrook farm manager

Rodney Herra – local head church elder / operates an auto repair business on State Highway 30

 

Following are some notes from the sermon:

 

1. Being in mission service shows you all the weaknesses you have.  God has to supply the power and direction to make the work a success.
2. Saturday is a weekly holiday in Nepal so many Sunday-keeping churches have services on this day.
3. The couple started a translation project and live in a closed Adventist hospital building.
4. Mark and Angela Kent came to help them move from their apartment and repair the old hospital building, staying for a whole month.
5. Their young son really enjoys all the animals.
6. After they moved, they had to face how to use the Primary Sabbath School lesson book and how to start Sabbath Schools for the young people. The believers there put together a committee to see what could be done.
7. They started three-day children Sabbath School workshops for each Adventist district in Nepal. All those attending wanted to implement what they were hearing.
8. In the middle of these workshops, David took a month-long course in teaching ESL classes.
9. They hired two pairs of ladies to travel from church to church to check on the progress of the children Sabbath School program in the churches.
10. Other workshops introduced crafts to the program.
11. Each Adventist section started the first quarterly at the same time.
12. Then they realized that the program could stop at any time.  What then? How could they help these Sabbath Schools endure?
13. So they invited local members to help word the mission statement for the lessons project.  What is the purpose of this project? What is the vision for the project?
14. Purposes included the priority of Jesus in the children’s lives.
15. Then the group realized that they couldn’t control what these children actually learned.
16. The travelling workers checked to see the actual experiences local Sabbath School leaders were experiencing. Then they consulted with the local church and stayed as long as needed to give extra training and encouragement.
17. Ellen White says that to achieve our goals we have to have a definite aim in mind.
18. Then at a Sabbath School retreat, the local Sabbath School teachers were divided into four groups, one for each travelling worker.  Each group then clarified their aims and experiences and reported back to the whole group. The group came up with aims and visions similar to those the travelling workers and David and Kristi had in mind.
19. The travelling workers have finished with one local section and moving on to another section.
20. David and Kristi have realized that these quarterlies could be used to help people from Nepal who live in other countries.
21. Ellen White says that the Sabbath Schools are an excellent way to turn people to Christ.