1. Junior and/or Earliteen Sabbath School
January 24, 2009

2. Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer

3. This Quarter the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering is going to the Southern Asia-Pacific Division
Information adapted from Adventist Mission, Youth and Adult Magazine and the SDA Encyclopedia.

4. The Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will be used to help:
Build a junior college classroom block for Palawan Adventist Academy in northern Philippines
Build a classroom block for a secondary school in Dumaguete, central Philippines
Complete a secondary school in Zamboanga, in southern Philippines.

5. The Philippines
On any given week, more than 555,000 Adventists could greet you with “Maligayang Sabado” [mah-lee-GAI-yahng SAH-bah-doh] Happy Sabbath! in Pilipino (Tagalog), the official language of the Philippines.
Picture by Rick McEdward

6. The Adventist Church was first introduced in the Philippines in 1905.
Aerial view of Southern Asia-Pacific Division headquarters, Philippines
In its 100 years of work in the Philippines, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has established more than 4200 churches, seven hospitals, hundreds of schools, including two universities, making it the largest Protestant educational system in the Philippines.
Source: Adventist News Network

7. The Philippines is a nation made up of more than 7,000 islands
The Philippines is a nation made up of more than 7,000 islands. Most of the people live on the 11 largest islands.
Much of the land is mountainous, and some of the mountains are volcanoes. Several of these volcanoes have erupted in recent years, destroying villages and farmland and even killing people who did not leave the area in time.

8. The island of Palawan [pah-LAO-wahn] is a long, narrow strip of land to the west of the main islands that make up the Philippines. Two hours south of Puerto Princesa stands the Palawan Adventist Academy (PAA).

9. To travel to PAA, you might travel in a jeepney, the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. Originally made from left over US military jeeps, they sport eye-catching decoration and usually very crowded seating.
Photo by Rick McEdward

10. For more than 50 years Palawan Adventist Academy (PAA) has taught God’s love while training young people for Christian service.
Palawan Students

11. Children in the Philippines attend primary school for six years and secondary school for four years. So many are as young as 15 when they complete secondary school.
There is no Adventist college or university on the island of Palawan where these young people can study, so they must choose between studying in a government university and leaving their home island to study in one of several Adventist colleges throughout the Philippines.

12. Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help build a junior-college-level school at Palawan Adventist Academy so local students as well as Adventist students from throughout the island can study courses such as computer science, auto mechanics, and take basic college courses in an Adventist institution close to home. Adding a block of classrooms to accommodate these additional classes will expand the outreach of this school and its mission to the community.
PAA New Boys’ Dorm
PAA cafeteria

13. In 1999 part of the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering went to replace the dormitories at PAA. The old boys’ dormitory will be used for an auto mechanics class in the new vocational-technical school to be built with this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering. Please give generously.
Old Boys’ Dorm at PAA—to be Remodeled into an Auto Mechanics Classroom

14. Collect Offering

15. Exploring God’s World
In this section we study one of the countries in the division where our Thirteenth Sabbath offering is going.

16. Today we are going to learn about Palau.

17. Where is Palau ?

20. Palau’s Flag

27. Time for the Mission Story
We are taking the good news to the entire world.
Read the Mission Story on pages 10 and 11 of the First Quarter Adventist Mission Youth and Adult Magazine
while slowly progressing through the next 3 slides.

28. The name of the person in the story is “Brian.”

29. This story is from the Philippines.

30. The title of the story is “Lessons I’ve Learned.”

31. Lesson Study Time

32. The title of our lesson is:
Let’s Get Organized!

33. POWER POINT God teaches us to serve Him in an organized way.
Photo by Neva MacPhee

34. Power Text
1 Corinthians 14:40, NIV

35. “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.”
Photo by Neva MacPhee

36. Have you ever felt that a task facing you was overwhelming?
Photo by Neva MacPhee

37. Have you ever felt stressed?

38. God wants to teach us to approach our lives, and our service
for Him, in
an organized
way that will
help relieve
stress.
Photo by Neva MacPhee

39. And He will teach us how to do that, just as He did Moses.
Photo by Neva MacPhee

40. Jethro looked out of his tent
at his daughter, Zipporah,
who was laughing with her
two sons, Gershom and
Eliezer.

41. He thought about the day his
son-in-law Moses, Zipporah,
and the two boys had set off
for Egypt.

42. God had spoken to Moses in
a burning bush and told him to go and lead His people, Israel, away from Egypt and back to their home, the land of Canaan.

43. Moses had been nervous
about going, but was
trying to trust God.

44. On the way, Moses had been
worried about what might
be ahead for Zipporah and the
two boys in Egypt. So they
had come back to Grandpa
Jethro.

45. Here they were living the life
they were used to, but
without their father, Moses.

46. Now Jethro had news of
Moses. He called out to
Zipporah and his grandsons.
“Come,” he said. “I have
news for you.”

47. Jethro told them what he had
heard about the Red Sea,
the water from a rock, the
manna--

48. all the things that God was doing for Moses’ people, who were now safely out of Egypt.
“Shall we go to him?” Jethro asked them. He needn’t have bothered; they were already starting to pack.

49. Jethro sent word to Moses
that they were coming.
Moses met his father-in-law,
wife, and
sons at the
edge of the
camp and
led them to
his quarters.

50. There was so much to
talk about, so many stories
to tell about the bad times
and the good times, but
most of all, about God’s
guidance.

51. Jethro praised God. He led in a sacrifice to God
Jethro praised God. He led in a sacrifice to God. Aaron and the other elders joined him.

52. The next day Jethro watched
the people flock around
Moses. Moses sat in a seat
outside his tent and all the
people came
with their
complaints
and troubles.

53. Big troubles,
little troubles,
they all brought them to Moses.

54. Jethro just watched. But that
night he asked Moses, “What
are you doing? Why do you
sit there as the only judge for
these thousands
and thousands
of people?”

55. “You are going to wear yourself out and be unable to lead the people all the way to their promised land.”

56. “Well,” Moses replied, “they
all look to me as having the
word of God. They have
seen the way God has sent
messages to them through
me.”

57. “And after I make their
judgment, I teach them God’s
ways. Actually, it feels a lot
like when I was herding
your sheep, Jethro.”
Moses laughed
at the
comparison.

58. “Yes, that’s a funny picture,”
Jethro replied. “But this is no
laughing matter, Moses. I have some advice for you.”

59. “You are the people’s
representative before God,
and you must teach them
His ways, but you can be
organized about it.”

60. “Choose trustworthy men from
the people and organize them
to be in charge of groups of
thousands, hundreds, fifties,
and tens.”

61. “Then you can train those men, and they can train the people under them.”

62. “And when people have
problems with each other,
they can bring them to the
man in charge of them.
Only the most difficult cases
will come to you.”

63. “I believe God is the one
prompting me to give you these
instructions,” Jethro continued.

64. “And if you follow them, you will be able to stand the strain of this
leadership position, and
the people will
go home
satisfied.”

65. Moses listened carefully. The
very next day he started
choosing men. He made them
officials over
groups of
thousands,
hundreds,
fifties, and
tens.

66. The difficult cases they brought
to Moses, but the simple ones
they took care of themselves.

67. By the time Moses said
goodbye to his father-in-law,
who was headed back to his
home in Midian, the camp of
Israel was a
much more
organized
place.

68. Moses was a lot less stressed
and he even had some time for
Gershom, Eliezer, and Zipporah.

69. It was obvious that God was
a God of order, but He was
also a God who was willing to
teach His children
how best to serve
Him. God always
provided what
was needed.

70. Activity Section
Activity Section

71. What were the benefits of Moses’ organizing judges to help him in his work?

72. What might have happened if Moses had chosen to continue to do it all by himself?

73. How do you think Moses felt with the extra help and new organization?

74. EXPLORING THE BIBLE

75. Let’s read what happened in the early church.
Acts 6, NIV The Choosing of the Seven 1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them
4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." 5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

76. Why was a welfare organization needed?
What were the benefits of this orderly way of doing things?

77. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is structured to bring organization to the needs of our members worldwide.
We’ll use the local church in Grants Pass, Oregon (USA) to illustrate how it works.

78. Level 1: The Local Church
A group of Seventh-day Adventist believers living in a community make up the local church. There are about 62,000 Seventh-day Adventist churches around the world (along with 61,000 “companies” or groups not large enough to make up a church).

79. Level 2: The Local Conference
Churches in a given state, province, territory, or area work together in what is known as a conference. Campmeetings are usually organized by conferences (at least in North America).

80. Level 3: The Union Conference
The next level of organization is made up of several conferences working together. Unions often publish a periodical with news and encouragement for the church members in their area.

81. Level 4: The World Division
There are 13 world divisions made up of unions. Divisions organize and oversee the work in a certain part of the world. They provide training and materials in the different languages spoken by the church members within their borders.

82. Level 5: The General Conference
The highest level of organization, the General Conference, oversees the work of the entire worldwide church providing support for the divisions. Currently there are more than 16 million Seventh-day Adventists around the world.

83. How is this like or unlike the way Jethro told Moses to organize the Israelites?
How does it feel to be a part of an “organization”?
What advantage can you
see to having organization?

84. Some advantages include:
It provides a system for collecting tithes and offerings to be used around the world.
It provides a worldwide school system.
It provides a system for sending missionaries to places where they are needed.

85. God teaches us to serve Him in an organized way.

86. Important Information
PowerPoints® art copyrighted © 2003 by the Review and Herald® Publishing Association.
Text and illustrations from Adventist Mission Youth and Adult Magazine is copyright © by the General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists.
Scriptures quoted from NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright © 1973, 1980, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
ClickArt Infinity by Broderbund, © 1999 TLC Multimedia Inc.

87. Notes to Teachers
You will want to have a hard copy of the Mission Story ready to read during the Mission Story section. You can find the story on pages 10 and 11 of the First Quarter Adventist Mission Youth and Adult Magazine. The title of the story is “Lessons I’ve Learned.” You can go to the website and find the link titled “Publications” to download the Adventist Mission Youth and Adult Magazine.

88. Copyright Notices
Art and graphics copyrighted by the General Conference and the Review and Herald® are included on slides 42-46, 48, 51, 56-58, and
Images and artwork are copyrighted by the Pacific Press Publishing Assoc., Review and Herald Publishing Assoc., It Is Written and others. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Copyright Grants Pass Seventh-day Adventist School

89. Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer