Latest / Mission SONlight CHATT / Mission SONlight Chatt Season 4 Ep. 37 Mark Mapes - Literature Evangelist

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Mission SONlight Chatt Season 4 Ep. 37 Mark Mapes - Literature Evangelist · Mission SONlight CHATT

0:12
Welcome to Mission Sunlight Chat from the Media
0:15
Missionaries of Network 7 Media Center. We are
0:17
at the General Conference Session Exhibit Hall
0:20
here in St. Louis, Missouri in the United States.
0:22
The General Conference is the world business
0:25
meeting of the Seventh -day Adventist Church.
0:27
They hold every five years. And the Exhibit Hall
0:29
is filled with exhibitors who are interested.
0:32
in sharing what God is doing in their field,
0:36
or they are trying to support others who are
0:39
involved in ministry. So a lot of fun conversations
0:42
happening here. One of those is happening right
0:45
here at our booth with our friend Mark Maples.
0:47
Mark, you are a student canvasser, which means
0:52
you share the gospel through a variety of books
0:56
and magazines, and you give out those materials,
1:00
if I remember right, to... to some extent, free
1:03
but for a donation. That's 100 % correct. Okay.
1:07
All right. So before we get started, Mark, before
1:10
we hear about your story, would you pray with
1:11
us? Oh, yeah, 100%. Okay, let's pray. So, dear
1:15
Heavenly Father, please send your spirit upon
1:17
us as we have this conversation, and please help
1:21
many people to be blessed and other people to
1:23
come into the ministry that may be wanting to
1:27
or just have not done it before. And place your
1:30
spirit upon them and convict their hearts as
1:32
well. And thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.
1:33
Amen. Mark, thank you for coming on the podcast.
1:38
I'm curious if you could just give us some background
1:40
about who you are and what you've done in your
1:42
life. I'm going to guess that you're around 20,
1:45
maybe a little younger, a little older, but just
1:47
in that vicinity. And you are a Seventh -day
1:53
Adventist Christian. Tell me about your youth,
1:55
your childhood growing up. What was it like for
1:56
you in your home, and how did you get to know
1:58
Jesus? Well, I guess before I'm going to start
2:01
about my life, I'm going to start about my grandfather's
2:03
life. He's the one that started us into this
2:05
ministry. He was a drug addict. He was on alcohol.
2:09
He was a pharmacist as well, so he had a nice
2:11
degree. A canvasser came to his house. They sold
2:14
him The Desire of Ages, which is a book that's
2:16
written by Ellen White that has the story of
2:20
Christ's life. And so he got that book, changed
2:23
his life. He stopped pharmacy, went into canvassing
2:27
work. He made more money canvassing than he did
2:30
as a pharmacist, which is about $100 ,000 a year
2:33
back then, which is, I don't know, $200 ,000
2:36
a year. That's good money. Yeah, going door to
2:39
door. And then my mom started with it. She put
2:43
my dad through a physical therapy school. And
2:46
then throughout my whole entire life, I've been
2:49
a canvasser. So I've done it when I was two years
2:51
old, being pushed in the little stroll, you know.
2:54
Yeah, yeah. Hand the great controversy marks,
2:55
I would just hand them the great controversy
2:57
and go to the next person, you know. So it's
2:59
in your DNA from your grandfather forward. Oh,
3:01
yeah, 100%. So you said your grandfather was
3:05
really living quite a rough life, and someone
3:09
handed him a book. Yeah. So he was at his job,
3:14
and he started conversing with another one of
3:17
his coworkers. that was working there who so
3:21
happened to be a Seventh -day Adventist, knew
3:22
Carl Porter. They sent Carl Porter over to his
3:24
house. He bought everything, like the blue Bible
3:28
story sets. It's Uncle Arthur sets, 10 volumes.
3:31
And he also bought The Desire of Ages. So for
3:33
those that don't know, Uncle Arthur is children's
3:36
bedtime stories. Excellent book. And I'd like
3:39
to say that it's not just for children. I enjoy
3:42
the stories too. Yeah, for sure. Okay, so grandfather
3:46
was, Converted, we say. Led into sharing his
3:54
own faith, his own journey with others. And your
3:57
mother caught the fever for it. And I have met
4:01
your mother. She is a pretty serious canvasser.
4:03
She does really, really well. And I love the
4:06
books. I wish we had brought a couple of those
4:07
on the set. Maybe in the second segment we can
4:09
show a few of the books that you do share in
4:12
canvassing. The question I have for you, what
4:16
was life like in your home aside from canvassing,
4:19
aside from books? We've always been, I don't
4:24
know, into the mission field. But I think canvassing
4:28
is mainly our main thing. Just going out into
4:31
the community, just talking to people. It's mainly
4:34
with books because we've done it all of our lives.
4:36
Like I've gone to elementary school that is Christian.
4:40
And for those that don't know, Adventist education
4:43
is very expensive. It's like $3 ,000 a year for
4:46
elementary. For high school, it's like $11 ,000.
4:49
For college at Weimar University, it's $24 ,000
4:52
a year. And you can't just pay that from, I don't
4:54
know, McDonald's or something. You have to do
4:56
something else. Got to find a way to bring in
4:58
income. And as a Christian, we try to find a
5:02
way to do it with the way God is leading in our
5:06
lives. And if there's a ministry connection we
5:09
can make for it, we try to see what the Lord
5:11
is doing there, right? For sure. Yeah. So you
5:16
talked a little bit off camera about your hopes
5:19
and dreams for a medical future for you. Tell
5:23
us a little bit about that. Yeah, so I'm wanting
5:27
to become an emergency room doctor. And the main
5:29
reason why I want to do that, because I read
5:31
a book. It's called The Flying Doctor of the
5:34
Philippines. So basically what it's about is
5:36
a doctor that went to the Philippines. He was
5:39
a pilot. He knew how to do tons of mechanic stuff.
5:42
And he was also a surgeon. And he could go out
5:45
into the community with like a truck. They convert
5:48
it into like an ambulance type of thing. They
5:50
could do surgeries. And he could do everything.
5:53
So I wanted to do that too. So, of course, I
5:55
wanted to have the natural side of stuff. He
5:57
didn't have that. So that's why I'm going to
5:59
Weimar University is I want to have that type
6:01
of background. And Neil Nedley, he's the president
6:04
of Weimar University. He is very knowledgeable
6:07
on that type of stuff. After that, I'll be going
6:10
to Loma Linda University. And they do a lot with
6:14
medications, as many other colleges, universities
6:17
do. And then after Loma Linda, I'm going to be
6:20
doing residency. And I can learn surgeries, go
6:25
farther into the medical field. And then I can
6:31
become a doctor and live the dream there. But
6:36
before medical school, my plan is to treat 1
6:38
,000 different patients. Using like emergency
6:41
medical technician. It's EMT in the back of the
6:45
ambulance getting calls. And then as well as
6:48
going and doing presentations. I've already done
6:51
10. I'm going to do 100 before medical school.
6:55
And then also... What kind of presentations?
6:58
Health presentations. Health and Bible, but mainly
7:00
health. So really health and wellness and holistic
7:03
approach to good health. Yeah, for sure. It's
7:07
like going to different churches. I'm actually
7:09
wanting to start my own podcast. Okay. Well,
7:12
you're starting on the right foot. You're doing
7:14
a podcast. Yeah, might as well. Right on. What
7:18
would the podcast be about? I don't really know
7:20
yet. I think God should lead on that. We'll find
7:23
out. It just sounds entertaining. You can be
7:25
on air. Other people can hear you. You can change
7:27
other people's lives. Who wouldn't want to do
7:30
that? Be a blessing. Yeah, 100%. Be a blessing
7:33
and live a blessing. Excellent. Not just be the
7:36
blessing, but live the blessing. I like that.
7:38
Oh, yeah. Sound like you've said that before.
7:40
No, I haven't. Well, it was good anyway. Yeah,
7:43
for sure. So in order to do the things that you're
7:46
talking about, what is the very next thing for
7:48
you? To be able to get all the money for the
7:52
podcast, I have to sell a whole bunch of books.
7:54
So I have a cookbook. I'll show you the next
7:56
segment, but I have a cookbook, One in Christ's
7:58
Life. They call him Jesus. I'm also selling big
8:02
books, but I get 25 % of whatever the profit
8:07
is because, yeah, my mom gets the percentage
8:10
for the books, and then the other percentage
8:14
goes to my tuition, and I get 25 % for me personally
8:17
to put in podcasts, to become a pilot. and to
8:20
live the dream there. So, of course, I'm going
8:23
to have to be selling a whole lot of books. A
8:24
lot of Desire of Ages have to go out, and a lot
8:27
of people are going to have the chance to change
8:30
their lives through that, which I think is incredible.
8:34
There's no other better foundation to build your
8:38
podcast foundation off of than ministry. All
8:42
right, so we want to check out some of those
8:43
books. We want to learn more about canvassing
8:46
and how people can connect with doing that, particularly
8:48
other young adults like yourself. We'll do that
8:51
in a moment when we come back. First, I want
8:52
to remind you, you can connect with us at missionsunlight
8:54
.org. We'll be back with more. Mission Sunlight
8:58
Chat. Being a media missionary can mean many
9:09
different things. It means the love of a home
9:12
at the heart of the planet, the intrepid spirit
9:15
of a village, and the vibe of a great metropolis.
9:19
It means camera one and camera two. It means
9:23
transforming a school, orphanage, or hospital.
9:27
It means fire, rain, ice, and snow. It means
9:32
gifts by the dollar and by the check. It means
9:35
donations that roll and donations that fly. It's
9:41
a movement on a trail or down a motorway. It's
9:45
family. All of us together. And individually.
9:51
It's who you are or who you are becoming. And
9:55
to her, it's a simple gesture that means hope.
9:59
Whatever it means to you, being a media missionary
10:03
means more than you might think. Welcome back
10:14
to Mission Sunlight Chat. We are talking with
10:17
Mark Mapes, a young canvasser for Christ. And
10:22
as a canvasser, tell us what is the definition
10:25
of a canvasser? A canvasser is anyone that gives
10:28
out literature. spiritual literature or health
10:31
literature for money okay so you're looking for
10:36
a donation or people can buy the books however
10:38
however the process rolls out as you're meeting
10:41
and visiting with people okay so we have a number
10:45
of books here illustrated that just so we can
10:48
show the kind of things you do. You mentioned
10:51
a book that changed your father's life, your
10:53
grandfather's life. Why don't you tell us about
10:54
that? So this one is The Desire of Ages. It's
10:57
written by Ellen White. It has a different cover.
11:00
And the reason why is because many people, they
11:02
don't like Ellen White or they've heard, oh,
11:04
Ellen White is something off in the best. They
11:07
don't like her. So it doesn't have anything to
11:09
do with Ellen White. If you could just hold that
11:10
up for our camera there like that, that's great.
11:12
That's great. Tell us about it again. So this
11:15
book is written by Ellen White. Of course, and
11:19
it's the Desire of Ages, but it has a different
11:23
cover, and it's not going to say Ellen White
11:25
on any page. Okay. And so when people get this
11:30
book, what kind of results have you seen from
11:33
that? So I'm a canvasser, so I just hand them
11:36
the books. They give me money, and I have no
11:38
idea what's going to happen after that. Okay.
11:40
There's no follow -up. It's just in God's hands
11:44
after that. You never know. Okay, so you have
11:46
to wait for the kingdom. For sure. What else
11:49
do you have there? So this one's on Christ Life,
11:51
of course. This one is healing through foods
11:53
instead of medicine. So this is kind of what
11:55
I want to do later in life by becoming a doctor.
11:59
So it names like 60 main diseases, foods that
12:01
can help to prevent them. And then after that,
12:04
we have a flyer, but this is, we have like a
12:08
flyer that they can mail in, but this is just
12:10
like pamphlet. This is what they get at the end.
12:12
Okay, so that's just something to lead them to
12:15
what? So it's Bible studies. Okay. So this has
12:19
a pamphlet. So what basically is just a flyer.
12:22
They put their, you can hold it. It's just a
12:24
flyer. They put their name, address. And then
12:27
when Amazing Facts gets the card, they send them
12:32
that flyer. And then it also has Bible studies
12:35
with it. And there's like 10 different flyers
12:37
or something like that. Okay. So there's a pretty
12:40
good color, nice looking brochure. They get this
12:43
at the end, gives them some information about.
12:46
what's happening in the world. And also, I would
12:49
say it encourages them to consider studying the
12:54
Bible more deeply and being prepared. Would you
12:56
agree with that? 100%. Okay. And I'm just looking
13:02
here. Enrollment now open. There you go. So there's
13:05
a way that they can sign up. It says afco .org.
13:07
And this particular one, I have seen others where
13:09
they can do Bible studies after from other sources.
13:16
This is the idea that a canvasser kind of closes
13:19
the deal and encourages them to take the next
13:23
step. And again, as you said, it's up to the
13:25
Lord. It's up to the Holy Spirit. We don't want
13:26
to force people on their spiritual journey. We
13:30
want them to take it on their own time. Yeah,
13:32
it's kind of interesting how you said that because
13:34
that's a lot of people, what they do. Become
13:36
a canvasser. They just try to win more church
13:39
members. So be willing to talk to a person for
13:41
an hour, two hours. I've done that before. I've
13:44
never gotten any. seeds from that so i just go
13:47
to the next person they don't want to buy immediately
13:49
then i go to the next person next person next
13:51
person so i can get out a whole lot more books
13:53
than them get a whole lot more money which can
13:56
fund my education can fund other things so it
13:59
can also help me to become more of a generous
14:01
person as well which is nice so i want to talk
14:04
about this next book tell me about it what am
14:05
i holding so that one's a cookbook it's a vegan
14:07
cookbook it was written by remnant publications
14:11
okay So if you want to live better and eat better,
14:16
check this out. Sunrise granola. You know, that's
14:19
one of my favorite things for breakfast. Oh,
14:20
for sure. Yeah. Okay. What else am I looking
14:22
at here in this magazine or this book? So there's
14:26
tons of different recipes. There's salads. There's
14:29
taco salad. Yeah. We call that haystacks. Yeah.
14:34
Yeah. It looks like some sauces. And there's
14:38
also desserts in the back, like there's a lemon
14:40
pie. Well, let's just skip right to that, right?
14:42
Looks like there's some bread. Making mom's muffins
14:47
here. Oh, there's some desserts. Strawberry pie.
14:51
Peanut butter pie. Jordan, I'm getting hungry.
14:54
Not only that, you can't tell here in the exhibit
14:57
hall at the general conference session, but somebody
14:59
is cooking something, and it smells really good,
15:01
and I haven't had lunch, so I'm all over that.
15:04
Supper can't come soon enough. How about that?
15:06
Look at that beautiful cheesecake. I want this
15:09
magazine or this book. I like it. It's a very
15:13
lightweight format, and it seems like it'll be
15:15
really super easy in the kitchen. You can lay
15:18
this out flat, and away you go. Look at that.
15:21
There's a recipe for sour cream, cream cheese
15:23
spread, better than butter, delicious whipped
15:25
cream, and information where they can connect
15:29
with further learning, right? They can go to
15:34
other websites. There's information about how
15:36
to. Find out more if they enjoy these recipes.
15:41
And ultimately, we would be leading them to what
15:46
you talked about there, Bible studies, right?
15:48
Yeah. What else do you have? Let me take those
15:50
from you and just tell me what else you've got
15:51
there. This one was called Fighting Disease with
15:54
Food. By the way, can they find any of these
15:56
resources online or only through a canvasser?
15:59
They can find all these online besides the next
16:02
books I'll be holding. Okay. And you said this
16:05
one, they call him Jesus, is Desire of Ages.
16:08
Yes, sir. Okay, and what else do you have? So
16:10
this comes as a seven -volume set. I could not
16:12
take all seven because we're still out canvassing.
16:16
Well, we still need the other books. But this
16:19
is in a seven -volume set. It goes through the
16:22
Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. So it's kind
16:25
of nice because it begins each story with where
16:26
it's found in both of them. If you can kind of
16:28
hold that up at an angle, our camera will be
16:30
able to pick that up and people can look along
16:32
as you're telling us about what we're looking
16:33
at. So right up here it has where it's found
16:36
in the Bible so that people can... So the people
16:39
in the community, they can read along with the
16:41
Bible and then also in the Spirit of Prophecy.
16:43
So they'll be like, well, what's that? So they
16:46
can do further research, hopefully get the books
16:48
that you're holding, the one on Christ. So for
16:50
our listeners and viewers that aren't familiar
16:52
with Seventh -day Adventist publications, when
16:55
we reference Spirit of Prophecy, it's a series
16:57
of books written by L .N .G. White. You mentioned
16:59
they call him Jesus. There is referenced in that
17:02
particular chapter, Patriarchs and Prophets.
17:05
Excellent book. to just give us a little better
17:08
understanding of what the patriarchs and the
17:11
prophets of the Old Testament, what their storyline
17:13
was. But go ahead. Okay, so further on it has,
17:17
this has about three to five minute stories,
17:20
beautiful pictures. In the end it has a prayer,
17:22
thought questions, and a QR code. So that brings
17:26
them to the website. So they have all the stories
17:27
in the book. And they can also play games, puzzles,
17:30
even Bible studies. So that's another. way to
17:33
reach people. I see. Kind of flip through and
17:35
show me, is there more detail in the back cover?
17:38
Is there an appendix? Or if people want to learn
17:41
more, I'm just curious how it ends. There's nice
17:43
pictures, but no, there's not. Okay. So the stories
17:47
end with saying a prayer and asking some hidden
17:50
treasure questions. So the idea there is that
17:52
there is more to study and there's a QR code
17:54
on the page as well. So that takes them to a
17:57
deeper level, right? Of course. Okay. And what
17:59
else do you have there? This is Patriots and
18:02
Prophets. Rise of the Prophets. Yeah. And this
18:05
one is Prophets and Kings. Okay. Similar format
18:12
as this first book. Yeah, of course. And now
18:15
an adult may enjoy reading these as well because
18:17
they can develop their own study with this. Yeah,
18:20
of course. Of course, it's not as detailed as
18:23
like the King James Version. Sure, sure. Much
18:24
other people read that than this, but it's still
18:27
incredible. Yeah, well, I just like the fact
18:29
that it points them to Scripture so they can
18:31
read these, understand the basic story, and then
18:33
study in Scripture for themselves. And as you
18:35
pointed out, if they have access online, all
18:37
of the books of Spirit of Prophecy, they can
18:39
Google those titles and they can find them online.
18:43
This can be a stepping stone to a deeper study
18:45
for maybe an adult who doesn't have as much of
18:48
a background as you and I might. Yeah, excellent.
18:50
And again, there's the QR codes. There's the
18:52
details of how they wrap up each chapter there.
18:56
So what a nice clean format that it has. You
19:00
mentioned a moment ago that one of the things
19:02
you do is you sell big books. I didn't question
19:07
you at the time because I wanted to come to this.
19:09
Explain to us what big books are. To understand
19:13
big books, you first have to understand mega
19:14
books. Mega books are just soft cover books.
19:17
They call them Jesus. Okay. It's very cheap.
19:23
I can get those. That would be this one here.
19:25
Yeah. They call him Jesus. I could get those.
19:27
Soft cover. Yeah, I could get those for about
19:29
$2 a piece. Yeah, I can hand them out. I can
19:34
do whatever I want with them. Bigger books are
19:36
more costly. They range between like $60, all
19:40
hardcover, $60 to over $300. Would the children's
19:44
books be considered in the big book section?
19:46
Yeah, so they're hardcovered, and they're also
19:48
over $60. So yes, they're big books. Okay, gotcha.
19:51
So it's really about the binding? It's about
19:55
the binding and their cost. Okay, sure. That's
19:57
all it's about. This is a nice book, but it's
20:00
paperback. It has a really nice cover on it and
20:04
quite a bit sturdier book. Okay, we've learned
20:09
a little bit about publication and a little bit
20:12
about sharing the gospel and that there is a
20:15
cost to it. It isn't free. And one of the blessings
20:19
of the canvassing program is that youth, young
20:22
adults are able to go out, earn money towards
20:25
school, and also share Jesus in a community that
20:28
might not otherwise have known him. I love the
20:32
idea of this canvassing program. Go ahead. Yeah,
20:34
I love that. So just a few stories. I don't know
20:37
if you're going to ask these. But I've had incredible
20:39
stories of people wanting to get the Jesus book,
20:43
like an example of Satanists. They read the Bible.
20:48
They also read the book of Satan. And when they
20:50
see Jesus, many times they want to buy it, which
20:53
is... I just cannot believe it. You would just
20:56
think Jesus, Christians, no other people, atheists
20:59
hate it, Satanists hate it. But that's really
21:01
not the case. I've had tons of atheists buy the
21:03
Jesus book. I've had tons of Satanists. I've
21:07
had one in a Satanist family. They were in two
21:09
different cars. I went to the first one. They
21:12
didn't want to buy anything, except they saw
21:15
the great controversy. And like, okay, I'll give
21:17
you five bucks for that one. So give me five
21:18
bucks. I went to the next car. I didn't understand
21:21
at the time, but they're a husband and wife.
21:23
And she decides to get the, they call him Jesus.
21:27
And she paid $20 for it. So between the two of
21:30
them, they had a great controversy. They have
21:32
the desire of ages. And I cannot think of anything
21:34
better. Yeah, excellent material. If they pay
21:37
money for it, they're much more likely to read
21:40
it, much more likely to take it in. And I think
21:42
that's one of Satan's... Satan's biggest fears
21:45
is that people start to read the Bible and start
21:48
to read the great controversy and books on Christ's
21:51
life. Wow. What a story. Two cars of Satanists
21:57
buying books about Christ and who he is. Yeah.
22:01
And there's of course going to be people that
22:04
are going to be against you. Like I've had people
22:05
pull guns on me all the time. I mean like two
22:08
times so far. I've had tons of people threatening
22:10
me. At the end of the day, God's in control.
22:14
At the end, they see Jesus, like, oh, wow, I'm
22:17
a Christian. I need to support this ministry.
22:19
I've had that so many times. People look at the
22:22
cookbook, like, no, I don't want that. Then I
22:24
take out the Jesus book, and I'm like, okay,
22:26
show me all the books you got. I got time for
22:28
this. I was on a phone call with a business partner,
22:31
but Jesus is more important. So they take their
22:34
time, and I've had one person that I was like,
22:37
okay. you don't know who I am. I was like, okay,
22:39
cool. So I hand him like an amazing fax flyer.
22:42
He's like, you don't know who I am. So I was
22:43
like, okay, that's cool. So I took out a whole
22:45
bunch more amazing fax flyers, gave them to him.
22:48
And again, he said, you don't know who I am.
22:49
So of course I took all of them, gave to him.
22:51
I smiled, gave him a handshake. That makes people
22:55
so happy when they can really help other individuals.
23:01
And when you give them different books. When
23:06
you share with them, you take your time with
23:08
them. That makes them feel more important, and
23:10
they're more willing to read the books, and hopefully
23:13
he might give out the literature, and there might
23:15
be tons of people in heaven because of that.
23:17
I don't know. Mark, thanks for sharing. We're
23:20
going to come back in a moment with a little
23:21
bit more. We're going to take a break for a moment.
23:23
We'll be back with more Mission Sunlight Chat.
23:33
Our salvation is a day -to -day matter, isn't
23:36
it? The real principle of the Sabbath is reconnecting
23:43
ourselves. with the Creator. We must learn to
23:49
abide in Jesus now. We move ahead with our mission
23:53
objectives, recognizing that we are serving together.
24:10
Welcome back to Mission Sunlight Chat. We are
24:12
at the General Conference Session 2025 in St.
24:16
Louis, Missouri. And not only are we at the session,
24:18
we are in the exhibit hall right here in the
24:21
heart of people coming and going. sharing in
24:25
ministries. Jordan, I'm just going to ask you
24:27
to swing that camera around and let folks see
24:29
here. We are across from Amazing Facts, just
24:32
a little further over, Outpost Centers International,
24:35
Uchi Pines, Adventist Tour Group, then we have
24:42
Alltech, Media Solutions Group, Jewel. church
24:46
accounting software. There are a number of ministries
24:50
here and businesses here that are talking about
24:53
ministry. It's really cool to be here with hundreds
24:55
of others. A little further down the aisle, you
24:58
see the North American Division, Southwestern
25:00
Adventist University, Walla Walla, Una Deca,
25:02
one of the other ministries that we talked to.
25:05
Just multiple organizations within the Seventh
25:09
-day Adventist Church supporting the Seventh
25:10
-day Adventist Church and supporting those that
25:13
are supporting the Seventh -day Adventist Church.
25:15
It's just really great to see hundreds of ministries
25:18
here in the exhibit hall. You hear the sounds
25:20
throughout this podcast and throughout this series
25:23
of podcasts that we've done from the General
25:25
Conference, and you know that what God is doing
25:28
is bountiful and happening around the world.
25:32
One of the ways that things happen are through
25:35
youth and young adults who are sharing Christ.
25:38
wherever they are placed. Mark Mapes is here
25:41
with us. Mark is a, really, I want to say a professional
25:45
counselor. You're a young man, but you have really
25:47
taken to heart sharing the gospel through books
25:50
like I am holding here in my lap. You have shared
25:53
with us a number of different kind of books.
25:55
I think you call these big books. Would this
25:58
be one? Or do we have one that you would call
26:00
a Magabook? I heard you reference that. So we
26:03
have three that would be a Magabook. The first
26:05
one is a Calm Jesus. Okay, that's this one. Yeah,
26:08
so that one's the Desire of Ages. We have another
26:10
one that's Find Diseases with Foods. Okay. And
26:13
then the last one is a Cookbook. Okay, Better
26:15
Way of Life. Yeah. So lots of different kind
26:18
of book materials that a canvasser would take
26:22
out and share, expecting a donation. Or people
26:26
would just say, I want to buy that book. And
26:29
your experience you were sharing in the break
26:30
is sometimes when you share a book, they see
26:33
one and they go, well, what's that one about?
26:35
And they're interested in another. And maybe
26:37
they transition to looking at the other books.
26:41
Have you had any experiences like where somebody
26:44
just bought everything you had or just something
26:46
unusual when you went to hopefully sell them
26:48
one and you ended up with a surprise that they
26:50
got more than you expected? So, yeah, I have
26:52
several like that. But one that first comes to
26:55
mind was I showed them a cookbook. He was on
26:57
the phone. He had an important business call.
27:00
He didn't want to look at any of them. And then,
27:03
of course, I'm not going to quit. I brought out
27:05
the They Call Him Jesus. Yeah. Yeah, I brought
27:09
out the They Call Him Jesus, and he saw the cover.
27:11
If you want to show the cover really quick. Okay.
27:13
Yeah, it's that one. And it has the cross, and
27:17
it also has three nails and a hammer. And, of
27:20
course. It's such a beautiful picture. You cannot
27:22
pass that one up. So he immediately put down
27:25
the phone, hung up. I don't know what type of
27:27
business call it was, but he completely hung
27:29
up on that one. He wanted to see all my books,
27:32
so I put them all on his trunk cover. It was
27:36
a cookbook. They call him Jesus. There's also
27:38
another one that's fine diseases of foods and
27:40
kids' books. And he gave me $150. He took all
27:43
the books, and I gave him tons and tons of them.
27:49
The Amazing Facts flyers. And so he not only
27:52
was presented with elements of the gospel through
27:56
health and through scriptural stories, but you
27:59
also gave him an opportunity to continue studying
28:02
beyond that. You know, I believe one day, Mark,
28:04
that you're going to stand before Jesus and you're
28:06
going to find that there are a lot more results
28:09
than you could have imagined. You never know
28:12
when you're leading one person to knowing Jesus,
28:15
how they will impact others. So speaking of impacting
28:21
others, would you close our program today with
28:24
a word of encouragement to our listeners and
28:26
viewers? Yeah, I can. How much time would I have
28:31
to do it? Just take the time you need. Okay.
28:33
So I just wanted to go over Luke chapter 10.
28:36
I think there's a chapter that a lot more canvassers
28:39
need to spend more time on. And I'm going to
28:41
read the first seven verses. In between, I'm
28:43
going to say a few words, if that's okay. Yeah.
28:46
Okay, so this is Luke chapter 10. I'm reading
28:49
the New King James Version, and it says in verse
28:52
1, After these things, the Lord appointed 70
28:55
others also, and sent them two by two before
28:57
his face into every city and place where he himself
28:59
was about to go. And the important thing about
29:02
this is that he sent them two by two. Many canvassers
29:04
are going by themselves into the communities.
29:07
They get rejection. They get really frustrated,
29:10
and it's very easy to quit, and you don't have
29:13
a partner to keep on encouraging you. People
29:16
that go two by two are usually going to sell
29:18
anywhere between twice as much to five times
29:22
as much in a day. It's a positive reinforcement,
29:25
I guess. 100%. And then in verse 2 it says, So
29:31
I think that a lot more people need to pray over
29:38
our ministries. Like we have so many ministries.
29:41
It's over 7 ,000 ministries in the SDA church
29:43
probably. And if people would really support
29:46
them with prayers, donations, mainly prayers
29:49
for us personally. And then in verse 3 it says,
29:53
Go your way, behold, I send you out as lambs
29:56
among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack,
29:59
nor sandals, and greet no one along the road.
30:01
But whatever house you enter, first say, Peace
30:04
to this house. And if a son of peace is there,
30:06
your peace will rest on it. If not, it will return
30:09
to you. And then in verse 7 it says, and remain
30:13
in the same house, eating and drinking such things
30:15
as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his
30:16
wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever
30:20
city you enter and they receive you, eat such
30:22
things as are set before you. So I think this
30:28
is incredible because we're supposed to stay
30:31
in the same city until, like we've gone to so
30:35
many different cities, we've talked to so many
30:37
different people that after the end, everyone
30:39
knows us in the city. I think that's how it should
30:41
be. We don't just go into the city, sell two
30:43
books, go to the next. That wastes time. But
30:46
if we just stay in the same city until they give
30:49
out enough books, then I think that's so much
30:52
more important. Covering the city with the gospel.
30:55
Completely covering it. Isn't that what the apostles
30:57
did in Acts? Yeah. And we're out there reaching
31:00
people two by two, covering the city. For sure.
31:04
Mark, thank you for sharing. Thanks for telling
31:07
us what a canvasser is and sharing from your
31:10
heart. We appreciate it. Well, thank you. Thanks
31:13
for having me. Jordan, would you wrap our program
31:16
up with a word of prayer as we conclude here
31:18
from the exhibit hall in the general conference
31:20
session? Sure, let's have a prayer. Heavenly
31:22
Father, we thank you for the time that we've
31:24
had to hear Mark's testimony about how you've
31:27
led him and led his family and how you're working
31:31
through them to spread your gospel through canvassing.
31:33
Pray that you continue to bless him and his family
31:35
as they do this important work. to reach those
31:38
around us that may not have other connection
31:41
with you and may actually be going down paths
31:44
that are completely opposite of you, but just
31:47
the cover of a book or a picture may catch their
31:52
intrigue and stop them in their paths and make
31:56
them consider what they may have with a life
32:01
with you. I pray that you continue to bless their
32:04
ministry. Continue to guide us all as we finish
32:08
up here today. In your name, amen. Amen. Thank
32:11
you again, Mark. Thank you, Jordan. And thank
32:12
you for joining us from the exhibit hall at the
32:15
general conference session here. We have been
32:17
blessed to be here and listen to stories from
32:20
all of the, not all of them, but many of the
32:22
exhibitors and sharing in the variety of ministry
32:27
that is happening. If you want to connect with
32:29
us more, you can do so at missionsunlight .org.
32:31
You can text us at 1 -423 -855 -4877. You can
32:35
also email hello at missionsunlight .org. Please
32:40
click the share button. Let others know if you
32:42
enjoyed today's program. Let them know where
32:44
they can find more of these episodes from mission
32:47
and ministry, stories behind them. Thank you
32:52
for joining us. Thank you for your prayers as
32:53
well. Mostly, we thank you for your prayers.
32:56
They mean a lot to us. Know that we're praying
32:57
for you as well. That is today's program. This
33:00
is Mission Sunlight Chat. This has been a Beeson
33:05
Brook production in association with Network
33:08
7 Media Center. Executive Producers Christopher
33:12
and Rebecca Beeson. Roddy Scarborough. Associate
33:15
Producers Jordan and Ashley Wagner. Gary and
33:18
Dina Bartle Wagner. Your host today, Christopher
33:21
Beeson. Director of Production and Audio Engineer,
33:24
Jordan Wagner. To suggest guests, topic questions,
33:28
to pray with us, or to give, visit missionsunlight
33:31
.org or text us at 423 -855 -4877. You may write
33:38
to us at Network 7 Media Center, Box 25468, Chattanooga,
33:44
Tennessee, 37422. This has been a production
33:48
of Network 7 Media Center.