What do Adventist world radio and Total Member Involvement have in common? The answer is: a lot more than you think! Total Member Involvement, also known as TMI, is an initiative by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to encourage evangelistic participation and action from a grassroots level. Adventist World Radio is a piece of the puzzle that makes up the bigger picture. To discover exactly how, join the conversation with Esther Louw and Kyle Allen.

<p>What do Adventist world radio and Total Member Involvement have in common? The answer is: a lot more than you think! Total Member Involvement, also known as TMI, is an initiative by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to encourage evangelistic participation and action from a grassroots level. Adventist World Radio is a piece of the puzzle that makes up the bigger picture. To discover exactly how, join the conversation with Esther Louw and Kyle Allen.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

Shauna Chung

Lisa Topete

GYC Beyond

01- Incorporating Evangelism into Your Life

Mark Finley

02- How to Live a Consecrated Life

Sebastien Braxton

03- How to Navigate Past Brick Walls

Amy Sheppard

04- Leadership and Time Management

Gem Castor

05 - How to Have a Powerful Life of Prayer

Natasha Dysinger

Esther Louw

06 - How to Have a Vibrant Devotional Life

Justin Kim

07- How to Teach an Interesting Sabbath School Lesson

Adam Ramdin

08 - Discovering Our Christian Heritage

Anthony Bosman

09 - Why Christianity?

Moise Ratsara

10- Why You Should Be Involved in Your Local Church

Janet Page

Jerry Page

11- How to Experience Revival and Reformation

David Skau

12- How to Reach Out to Refugees and Immigrants

Neale Schofield

13- How to Use Media and Art for God

Tara Vang

14 - The Power of Sharing Your Faith

Lela Lewis

15 - How to Get Involved in Medical Missionary Work

Carl Brugger

16 - Why You Should Volunteer for GYC

Andy Im

17 - How to Overcome Temptation

Michelle Doucoumes

18 - The Heart of Ministry

Doug Batchelor

19 - How to Overcome an Ice Cream Addiction

Kyle Allen

20 - How to be a Part of Total Member Involvement

Nathaniel Justin Khoe

21 - How to Create a Social Media Ministry

Wayne Blakely

Michael Carducci

Danielle Harrison

Ronald Woolsey

22 - Coming Out Ministries: Sexual Identity & Adventism

Gary Blanchard

23 - How to Live Dangerously for God


What do Adventist World Radio and Total Member Involvement have in common? The answer is a lot more than you think. Total Member Involvement, also known as TMI, is an initiative by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to encourage evangelistic participation and action from a grassroots level around the world. Adventist World Radio is a piece of the puzzle that makes up the bigger picture. And well, I will let you discover exactly how as you listen to this episode of the GYC Beyond podcast.

Hi, this is Esther Lo in conversation with Kyle Allen. Hi Kyle, welcome to the GYC Beyond podcast and thank you so much for coming here to share with us. I want to find out a little bit about who you are. What do you currently do? Thank you Esther.

I am currently serving as the Vice President for Adventist World Radio, which is a ministry of the General Conference. It's the radio arm of the Adventist Church. You've got television, which is Hope Channel, and AWR is the radio ministry of the church. So I've finished working for ASI for the last 4 years. Okay.

I really enjoyed that ministry and have enjoyed interacting with GYC as well through that experience, but the Lord led me to work with AWR and it's a great blessing to see how God is moving around the world. So what is your experience through AWR with the concept TMI or total member involvement? So total member involvement is the, it's you know we say TMI and we think of it, oh what is that? You know it's an initiative of the General Conference and sometimes that sounds like some you know something up there in the sky We're not really sure what it is. But really it's the idea that every member of the church is called to be involved in evangelism.

That all of us have a role to play in helping hasten our Lord's return. We're told in the Spirit of Prophecy, in 1 of my favorite quotes that I often mentioned in talking to people about ASI, but it's really not, I mean ASI is about lay people getting involved in ministry. So this quote is from Testimonies Volume 9, page 116, and Ellen White says that, the work of God on this earth will never be finished until the members of the church unite with church officers and pastors to finish the work. So it's really clear the work of God on this earth will never be finished and if you stopped right there it'd be kind of a, You know, not a good quote, just a depressing quote, but it continues and it says, until the church members, the men and women, she actually says, the men and women comprising our church membership unite with our church officers and pastors to finish the work. So we know that the work will not be finished until all of us are involved.

And the vision of TMI is that every corner of the church, from the general conference to the various divisions around the world, to every union and conference, and really where the rubber meets the road is every local church. Yeah, definitely. Taking that vision of saying, how can we get every single member involved in doing something for God? So that's really what it's about. How does AWR and you, yourself, play into this?

Because I know for myself, often in church, we come to church every week and we have this idea that it's optional to get involved. You can sit in a church pew if you don't feel like you've got a lot of talents or you just don't really want to take it further. And some special people do things like give Bible studies or preach. Yeah, well, maybe I'll back up on the first part of your question regarding AWR. So AWR is Adventist World Radio.

As the radio arm of the church, was started back in 1971 as a way to reach the hardest to reach places on the earth. You know there's many countries where missionaries cannot go. Right. You know, it's illegal or it's, you know, dangerous, quite frankly. And so the story goes even beyond earlier than 1971, of course, because radio, pioneered by Elder HMS Richards, who wanted to reach the world through Technology to spread the 3 angels messages Through through technology and back then radio was was the thing.

I mean there was no social media. There was no Facebook There was not even television at first. It was radio, right? I mean, maybe there was Morse code before that, but we didn't use it. So AWR, the mission was to take radio and use it as a means to spread the gospel to all the areas of the earth.

Started with shortwave, which if you're not familiar with radio, shortwave is a type of broadcast that can go very far. You can broadcast from 1 location literally thousands of miles into all corners of a whole continent for example. Started with Shortwave and through the years has developed into over a thousand radio stations the church runs and operates around the world. FM, AM, another type that's coming out now is called DAB, or Digital Audio Broadcast, and still shortwave. We still operate a huge shortwave station in Guam, which reaches most of Asia with the gospel.

And so that's AWR, and so you asked how does that connect with TMI. And Just a few years ago, Dwayne McKee, Elder Dwayne McKee, who's been a servant in the church for a long time, he has served in a number of positions, but He's really an evangelist and he loves to see people give their hearts to Jesus and has a great vision for that. He was the director of Sabbath School and Personal Ministries for the GC when he was called to AWR and he was also the TMI director or the special assistant to Elder Wilson for TMI. So he took that passion with him to AWR and he said, how can we use the radio? Broadcasting is amazing, it's wonderful, but how can we connect the dots?

How can we help people who've been listening to our broadcasts not only just listen, but eventually make a decision for the Lord and to follow his truth? And so, Duane, in thinking about this and praying about this and working with the AWR team, they decided to incorporate TMI into the mission of AWR to say, ìHow can we lead people from broadcast to baptism?î So thatís kind of our motto now, right? So for example, in an area where you're wanting to have an evangelistic effort, the radio is being broadcast, you have health programs, family programs, and prophecy programs that all point people to our message. And you lead people, you kind of prepare the soil, so to speak, for evangelistic efforts. And TMI, of course, the idea that we involve everyone in evangelism, 1 of those ways is to help people learn how to preach.

We have held meetings all over the world where lay people can preach evangelistic meetings. What just happened in Africa, they had A thousand meetings across Zambia. Across the country of Zambia. And a lot of these were preached by lay people. Elders.

You know, there's not 1 pastor will have 20 something churches. So these are lay people preaching, some of them very young people. We also had people coming from US and from Europe and so I was actually there in Lusaka and I preached a series myself. This was just like, well, just over a month ago. And to prepare the soil, AWR was broadcasting.

So preparing people for the meetings, telling people about, you know, messages, prophetic messages, health messages, getting people ready to make decisions. So the radio prepared the soil, we had the evangelistic effort, and then by God's grace, we had over 18, 000 baptisms. 18, 000. In the country of Zambia. So yeah, If I could just share 1 other thing, I know I'm talking a lot.

But we were there in this pool. We had a mass baptism, Olympic-sized pool. The pool was crystal clear. It was nice and blue at the beginning, like a nice pool would be. But there were so many people.

I've never seen this many people at a baptism. I mean, it was just like a sea of people. And I was in there and we were baptizing for probably 2 hours. 2 hours? Literally, 35 pastors just, And we're not talking long time in between.

They would say the vows and then baptize. I'm serious to say that at the end of that 2 hours, that water had gone from beautiful blue to very, very dark brown. But we said, you know what? We didn't care. It was a joyous day because it was a symbol of all those sins being washed away.

And thousands of people gave their hearts to Jesus that day. That's amazing. So, yeah. So, that's kind of a model that we want to promote that as far as AWR is concerned, radio, not only radio, but internet, podcasts, because we're not just doing radio now, we're doing various other types of ways of getting the message out through audio. All of these different avenues can be a means to help lead people to make a decision for Christ.

That's wonderful. What about your own experience? You said that you preached in Lusaka. What did that experience do for you and how do you view TMI differently? Wow.

I have 2 questions in there. Yeah. Let's just start off with your experience. You know, I've been a pastor now for almost 10 years, which is scary. I remember going to GYC, my first GYC was in 2004, no 2003 in Ann Arbor.

I still think of myself as a young adult, but I'm about to reach the threshold here this year. So 10 years being a pastor and I've done a few evangelistic meetings during my time as a pastor, but you know it's been a few years actually since I've done 1 and I really felt convicted earlier this year that I really needed to do another evangelistic meeting. And there's something about being in ministry where you can go through the motions, to be honest. Like, especially if you're, you know, in administrative roles or even as a pastor preaching week after week, you can still go through those motions. And I think the Lord knew that I needed the experience of being there in Zambia and preaching.

It really deeply impressed my heart again, Esther, as to the beauty of our Adventist message. And the way that God has given us these beautiful truths from the Bible that are so clear and when people hear them it's just like you can see the the light coming on in their mind, in their heart. And so night after night, I was actually preaching in an outdoor, like under the stars, literally I would look up and see the stars. And to see the people come forward, you know, night after night, We had about 70, I can't remember the final number that we had, between 70 and 80 decisions just at my site and then all the sites combined, you know, was into the thousands. But it was just such a blessing to be able to preach our message again.

And I would encourage anybody out there who's listening, you may never have preached an evangelistic meeting, but if you have the opportunity, even if you don't think of yourself as a preacher, God can use you. It just takes a willing heart. Yeah, and my second part of that question was, you know, how do you view TMI differently? Oh, right. I think that everybody, everybody has a calling.

You know, I think that if we're going to say, how do I view it differently after having been in Africa? You know, there were some people that came from Europe. And Europe is a tough place right now for evangelism. But there were some people that came, And they were really transformed by being there and preaching. And the funny thing was, actually, there was a lady who came.

She was a wife of 1 of our ASI leaders in Europe. She did not plan on preaching. She actually said, I will go but I will not preach. And her husband was like, okay, I just want you to come and support me, fine. But long story short, there was an opening, there was a site that did not have a speaker, and the speaker had to go home for a family emergency.

And we didn't have any other speakers and we asked if she would be willing. And at first she said no, but then she felt convicted by the Holy Spirit to preach. And you know, she gave her testimony at the end. And she was like the enemy had tried to discourage her so bad, like even from giving her nightmares and she was really scared and didn't feel like she could do it. But in the end, she was so, the Lord really gave her the strength, and it was a life transforming experience for her to preach our message and to stand up and share.

And she never thought that she was a preacher. She never thought that she had the gift of being able to share and God empowered her. So what that taught me, Esther, is that there are people who really, like they may not think that they can do it, but as they surrender their will to God, as they're open to His leading, God can do incredible things through someone who simply wants to say, Lord, here I am, use me. I've seen that time and time again in ministry and being in Zambia just really reminded me of that. Wow, that's a really great reminder that, you know, it doesn't matter if you don't feel like you have the talent, but as you step out in faith, God supplies that difference perhaps.

Amen. We talked a bit about what AWR is doing with TMI and then yourself personally. And you mentioned that TMI is a general conference initiative, what does that mean? Like can I be part of TMI? Can I be part of it in North America or Europe or elsewhere, what does that mean?

So I know when some people hear that something is a general conference initiative, it sounds so high up there. I'm like, I could never be involved in that GC initiative. But really, all it is, it's a vision. It's casting a vision for what the church really should be doing. And Elder Wilson really believes that every 1 of our church members need to be out there doing evangelism.

And so whether it's from the General Conference, the Division, the union, the conference, the local church, it's really about every single person being involved. And it's here in North America too, it's not just overseas. So there are so many opportunities for people to get involved. I think of Your Best Pathway to Health. That's a wonderful ministry that has, I know you guys have interviewed on this podcast in a previous broadcast, but they have, they've done incredible things of engaging people from all walks of life, both medical and non-medical, into doing something for Christ.

And you and GYC, you've had done various mission projects as well. All of these are TMI. Okay. Even, I would say, at your local church. Let's say you have a glow outreach, you know, where you go and you distribute literature in your town.

That's TMI. You go to a nursing home and you sing for the residents. That's TMI. You go and give a Bible study. That's TMI.

You go help the neighbor next door, that's TMI. The idea is that all of us, total member involvement, it's not just some of us, it's total member involvement. So all of us are doing our part because again like we heard from that statement, right, from Spirit of Prophecy, the work of God will never be finished until the men and women, comprising all of our church membership, unite together to finish the work. Okay, and like I think I said this earlier, it's, you know, we have this idea often that only special people do ministry, but it's really the calling that we all have. And so taking part in TMI is just where we exercise that calling.

And I really believe, this is so important for GYC to emphasize too, because young adults in our generation, they need something to live for more than just a career. Something to live for more than just this life. It's not about, I mean, it's good to have a good career and to be able to support yourself and all these things, but that's not what life is about. Life is about the mission that we've been given to take the gospel to the world in this generation. What greater calling could any of us have?

And the amazing thing is it's all of our calling. Like we all share in this amazing calling as Seventh-day Adventists. And there is no higher mission than any of us could have than to be a part of this great movement to take the 3 angels messages to the world in this generation. And every 1 of you, every 1 of us is called to be a part of that. That's a great way to kind of close off, but before we're done, is there like a website that people can go to to find out more about TMI?

You said you preached in Lusaka. If someone wants to have that opportunity, is there anything coming up? Absolutely. Thanks for mentioning that. So it's very exciting.

Next year in 2019, we have some very exciting opportunities coming up. So the focus for 2019 is the nation of India. Okay. And India is an incredible place. As you as you might have heard there's over 1 point...

I'm gonna get it wrong. I don't want to say the exact number. It's 1 point something billion people that live in India. It is a massive place and by God's grace the the church has said can we do 4, 000 meetings across India in 2019. 4, 000 evangelistic meetings held by lay people both in India and from coming from the outside.

So Elder Wilson is going to be doing a series in Calcutta. You've heard of that huge city there in northeastern India. We're also going to have a TMI focus in the city of Chennai, which is more towards the south. There will probably be a couple other locations. We will have some opportunities for people to come and preach in India next summer.

In addition to India, the General Conference Youth Department has set a tremendous vision for 2019. They have said, what if we can have 100, 000 young adult-led evangelistic meetings across the world? 100, 000. 100, 000. 100, 000.

And I would just say, powerful. I mean, what if we had GYC, all of the young adults, what if we had all of these people from all over the world preaching evangelistic meetings during 2019? I mean, we would see amazing things happen. Wow. And even if each of those campaigns only got 1 baptism, that would be 100, 000.

I mean, and you know, you think about in Zambia, we had a thousand meetings, 18, 000 baptisms. Look, God can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or imagine. So I would just encourage anyone that wants to know more, there's a lot of things that are still being, plans that are still being laid and are in the works, so stay tuned. The website to find out more on TMI is tmi.adventist.org. So that'll be the the hub for finding out information about 2019 and I'm sure that we'll have more information coming out through the various social media channels and a GYC, hopefully, this year.

So we will look forward to what God will do next year. That sounds really exciting and I hope that everyone listening gets excited too about total member involvement where each of us plays a role in proclaiming the gospel. Amen. Thank you so much for being a part of this conversation today and for sharing with us. Thank you for having me.

Thank you for spending your time with us. We hope that you have been inspired to join a global movement seeking to make an eternal difference. Once again, to hear more episodes, simply follow us on iTunes or go to gycweb.org slash beyond to find out more.

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GYC Beyond

20 - How to be a Part of Total Member Involvement

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Other Teachings in Series

01- Incorporating Evangelism into Your Life

02- How to Live a Consecrated Life

03- How to Navigate Past Brick Walls

04- Leadership and Time Management

05 - How to Have a Powerful Life of Prayer

06 - How to Have a Vibrant Devotional Life

1 more

07- How to Teach an Interesting Sabbath School Lesson

1 more

08 - Discovering Our Christian Heritage

09 - Why Christianity?

10- Why You Should Be Involved in Your Local Church

11- How to Experience Revival and Reformation

12- How to Reach Out to Refugees and Immigrants

13- How to Use Media and Art for God

14 - The Power of Sharing Your Faith

15 - How to Get Involved in Medical Missionary Work

16 - Why You Should Volunteer for GYC

17 - How to Overcome Temptation

18 - The Heart of Ministry

19 - How to Overcome an Ice Cream Addiction

20 - How to be a Part of Total Member Involvement

21 - How to Create a Social Media Ministry

22 - Coming Out Ministries: Sexual Identity & Adventism

3 more

23 - How to Live Dangerously for God

Sound Doctrine