There is a quote in the book, Maranatha, that says: “There is no limit to the usefulness of one who, putting self aside, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart and lives a life wholly consecrated to God.” Sometimes, it’s tempting to feel like our efforts to win souls aren’t making a difference. Or, perhaps, we think that the small things we do don’t really matter that much. In this episode of the GYC Beyond Podcast Esther Louw interviews Tara Vang as she shares a powerful testimony of God’s faithfulness and ability to use even the smallest things to make an eternal impact. Tara is the vice president of evangelism for GYC and also serves as the GLOW Project Manager at the Pacific Union Conference.

<p>There is a quote in the book, Maranatha, that says: “There is no limit to the usefulness of one who, putting self aside, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart and lives a life wholly consecrated to God.” Sometimes, it’s tempting to feel like our efforts to win souls aren’t making a difference. Or, perhaps, we think that the small things we do don’t really matter that much. In this episode of the GYC Beyond Podcast Esther Louw interviews Tara Vang as she shares a powerful testimony of God’s faithfulness and ability to use even the smallest things to make an eternal impact. Tara is the vice president of evangelism for GYC and also serves as the GLOW Project Manager at the Pacific Union Conference.</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


There is a quote in the book Maranatha that says, There is no limit to the usefulness of 1 who, putting self aside, makes room for the work of the Holy Spirit upon his heart and lives a life wholly consecrated to God. Sometimes it's tempting to feel like our efforts to win souls aren't making a difference. Or perhaps we think that the small things we do don't really matter that much. Hi, this is Esther Lo. In this episode of the GYC Beyond Podcast, I sit down with Tara Vang as she shares a powerful testimony of God's faithfulness and ability to use even the smallest things to make an eternal impact.

Tara is the Vice President of Evangelism for GYC and also serves as the GLOBE Project manager at the Pacific Union Conference. Hi Tara, welcome to the GYC Beyond podcast. I'm really excited to have you. Could you share with us who you are and what you do? Well currently I'm the vice president of evangelism for GYC, but for work I work for the GLO ministry and I get to work on GLOW tracks, reading, editing, and expanding the ministry.

That sounds really exciting. How did you get there? What is your testimony and your experience with Jesus? Yeah, so it's a long story, but I would love to share sort of like my background. So it can give you a context of how I grew up and how I found Christ.

So I'm gonna start in 1976, which is a year after Vietnam War, when the Vietnam War ended, Hmong people, which are the people that I represent, they were, they supported America in the war, so they actually were experiencing genocide. But before the war, thankfully, there were Adventist missionaries that came to the country of Laos, which is where my parents are from. And Laos is next to Vietnam. Yes, Laos is a country that is landlocked and it's between Vietnam and Thailand. And it's usually a forgotten country because it is 1 of the poorest in Southeast Asia.

But in the midst of a war that was about to happen, there were Adventist missionaries that came to the villages of northern Laos, which is where my grandpa and my parents lived. So by God's grace, my parents heard the Adventist message and they became Adventists. And it was out of, they became Adventists because they observed the missionaries, and granted, there were missionaries from all different denominations, but what they learned was that when the Adventists prayed God answered their prayers. That's powerful. And when they be when Adventists when Hmong people became Adventists they were baptized They had to get rid of all their idols and anything that reminded them of the traditional faith, which is spiritualism, shamanism, but spiritual worship.

Worshiping demons. Worshiping demons, but worshiping, it's really to, it's a faith that is based out of fear, and you want to please the spirits. Once a person became an Adventist in the Hmong culture, there was healing in that home that day. So if someone was dying, they were healed. And because of these powerful miracles, my parents believed that this was the true faith.

And so they became Adventists. But in this year 1976, they were escaping the country. They were experiencing genocide from the Vietnam war and they came to this river and at this river, the Minh Cong river, which separates Laos from Thailand, They had to escape in the middle of the night, monsoon season, so that the Vietcong, or the Vietnamese could not catch them. Monsoon season, crossing a river, it must have been a bit of a dangerous experience. It was extremely dangerous, extremely tense.

They were very anxious. They didn't know if they should go, but by God's grace, they prayed every step of the way. They prayed for what night to go, when to go, where to go, what step to take. They came to this riverbank and what happened was the boatkeeper, someone who has a boat, my dad rented this boat and told the boatkeeper, We need 2 rides across this river and I'll pay for it. But with his group, with the whole group that was on this exodus, there was too many people that the boat started sinking.

And so the boatkeeper said, if any of you want to survive, somebody has to volunteer and stay behind. There's no way we can get everyone in the first trip. So no 1 wanted to get out. Time was ticking, and they could hear soldiers in the back and basically they had to find volunteers who were willing to stay behind. My grandpa, he's really the patriarch of the family And he's the reason, he's the 1 that decided that we should become Adventists.

He volunteered to stay behind. As well as about 2 other adults. So the first boat made it across to Thailand, which at that point was safety during this war. The boat came back to pick up the remaining 3 and that second ship never made it. And so this was basically my parents, they were devastated.

They could hear my grandpa screaming out my dad's name because he knew he was drowning. And, so he sacrificed so that my parents could make it. My parents went to the refugee camps of Thailand and then were relocated to America. So I guess at this point, you are not in the picture yet. I'm not, Yeah.

When did you come into the picture? So my parents relocated in Santa Barbara, California and many of the Hmong people wanted my parents to become part of the community of refugees that moved and relocated But my parents became, they didn't want to go back. And so they actually isolated themselves from the community and were finally connected with the Adventist church in this town. That's right, you know, and then about 6 kids later I came into the picture. Which number are you?

7. You're number 7. Of 8. This is a really powerful story about how God brought your family both into Adventism and then to America. How did your spiritual experience start from this heritage that you had?

I just remember just a very loving church. They always give us toys, food, clothes. We were always first at potluck. They picked us up for vacation Bible school. Just loved us to the best that they could.

And I remember my favorite day was the Sabbath, going to Sabbath school, learning the stories of the Bible. You know, my home life was chaotic, to say the least, but Sabbath was rest and respite from, you know, 10 people in 1 home. 1 apartment, really. Oh wow. But I grew up in public school.

I grew up with a very world view of life, despite growing up Adventist. And I really struggled with that all my life, but I also knew I was different. I knew I didn't do certain things, I didn't eat certain ways, but yet I didn't grow up with really any Adventist friends. And so when I went to college, I actually left the church. I didn't really continue in my faith because I felt my identity was not really established fully.

But it wasn't until I went to graduate school when God called me out of the world and basically said go to Loma Linda. And just pausing here, what was your background? What were you studying at graduate school and what did God call you to study at Loma Linda or do at Loma Linda? Okay, so my undergraduate degree was in urban and city planning. So I really believed in the idea that we need to build healthy communities.

Well, it naturally led me to public health, which is a study of understanding community needs and how to address them. And I actually lived in Washington, DC before I went to Loma Linda. So I was really big on this. I grew up within that generation that said, we need to change this world. And I still believe in that, right?

So I thought the best way to change it would be to go to Washington DC but in the midst of this trying to find myself I realized I wanted to change the world yet there was something that I wasn't changing. And that was when God spoke to me and said, if you continue down this route, you'll lose me forever. And that thought gave me a sense of fear. Like I don't want to lose God, but what does that even mean? How do I find him?

And that's when I was praying to go to what's the next step in life, and God made it very clear, go to graduate school, go to Loma Linda University. So then I went. And when I went I was just, I remember my first class and the teacher prayed for the class and the teacher told us, I want you to pray. Take the next 10 minutes to pray and study the Bible and discover why God brought you to this school. And this is the first time you'd been in an Adventist school?

This was the first time, first class, first experience. Wow. And I remember when- Powerful. Yeah, you know, when she prayed, I was in tears because I was like, I've never experienced this in my life. Well, let's fast forward a little bit.

You were studying at Loma Linda, you were studying public health? Yes. Okay, how did you get from public health and into GLOW? You said you work with GLOW. Yeah.

The GLOW tracks. Uh-huh. Well at Loma Linda I was praying for what type of young adults I should be around because I wanted to know the Bible, wanted to study. Well, I was connected with a group, they're called Advent Hope, and they would go on outreach. And I remember 1 particular Sabbath where we were, the speaker was speaking about GLOW.

And at this point in my life, I was like, oh, that's cool. There's like little pamphlets and we distribute them. Well, I read the 1 on health. And it was a passing thought at this time, but I was like, oh, that'd be so cool if that was in Hmong. And then it just escaped me.

But when I graduated Loma Linda, okay, sorry, let me backtrack a little. During my time in Loma Linda, that was when I prayed for this group, and I basically asked God, I want to go to a young adult group that had a convicting message and they would invite me to potluck. I was like, Lord, if those 2 things are met, I'm gonna know this is where you want me to be. So I remember the Sabbath I went to Advent Hope. Randy Skeet was the preacher.

Very strong. I was but I needed that. I'm that type of person where I need that tough love. So it convicted you? I was so convicted like I need to study my Bible and then on my way out I was like but Lord you only answered half of my prayer.

Right as I'm like speaking and saying that a young girl stops me and says hey are you new here Would you like to come to potluck with us? And I was like, Lord you have such a great humor. I accepted that invitation, decided to keep going to Avinhope. That girl actually becomes the girl that gives me personal Bible studies. And I learned the sanctuary message.

Completely changed my life. I didn't even know the full extent of the plan of redemption. And I remember just crying, thinking, does our church know that this is our message? I hear from you that this was really a key point where instead of just having your parents' identity and being an Adventist because of what your parents experienced, now it was your identity. Yes.

This was the turning point. This was the why that I needed. Okay, so now that you find your why, how did that go to GLOW? Well, I remember I, we would do outreach with this group. I graduated and I moved and I was given a job offer to return to DC, Washington DC, or go to Fresno.

And I prayed about it. My heart wanted to go to DC mm-hmm but the Lord is like go to Fresno so I went to Fresno and when I went back to Fresno I was reintroduced to the GLOW ministry And so I phoned them up and I said, I would love to get this in my own language because we don't have a Bible accurately translated. And we have 0 spirit of prophecy. So if somebody wanted to know the truth, they wouldn't be able to find it. And that just broke my heart.

And it's devastating that if anyone wanted to know the truth, they can't really find it. So that's really what called me to action, to move forward with doing something. So GLOW is an opportunity to provide literature. You're now working with GLOW and you have a lot of different aspects of that job that you do. What is GLOW for people listening and how can they use that in their own life to reach out to others?

GLOW stands for Giving Light to Our World. It is a small pocket tract ministry that is there to help everybody share the gospel in a tangible way every single day. And as God provides opportunities, you share your faith. And I really started to believe in literature ministry when after we translated these mantras, we would pass them out and people would start calling me. And they would want to join the church, and they wanted to study the Bible.

From a simple little tract? From a simple little tract. That's powerful. And especially the tract on the Sabbath Truth. It is the most popular, the most called back on track for my community.

They simply tell me, we just didn't know. Are there any short, interesting stories about sharing glow that has really had a powerful impact in someone's life? Well yeah for my community and I do it for the general audience too. I do pass out English glow tags but for my for my community there was a lady So every year in December we have a festival and as refugees and as a culture we love to get together. We're very community orientated.

So every December we have a seven-day festival in Fresno, California where I'm from and over a hundred thousand Hmong people come to it. So I used to go to be entertained, but now I go with glow tracks. And they're from all over the world because we're refugees. We're everywhere. We're in South America, we're in Australia, We're in Europe.

Wow. And they all come from all these countries once a year you said? Once a year to this big festival. Yes. Wow.

And we did it for 3 years. So since 2014 we've been passing these glow tracks out. And in 2017, just this past year, a lady and her husband are in my church and they're reading glow tracks. And for someone like me, that's just like, ooh, Who are they? What are they doing in here?

And how, you know, I actually took a picture of that vision, of that image, because I was like, this doesn't happen very often. So after the services, I spoke to them, and the lady is from Minnesota, but she's in Fresno at my church. I asked her, how did you hear about our church? She said, well, we're currently going to the church in Minnesota, and we just started keeping the Sabbath since January. At this time, it was April.

I asked her, how did you guys hear about it? And then we walk in our lobby and she says, well you know your like these little papers in your lobby, well somebody passed out this 1 and she was pointing to the Sabbath tract in Hmong and she said you know every year she's a vendor at the festival and she has been for 10 years she says every year someone has been giving me these papers. Wow. So she had gotten them more than once. She had gotten them more than once.

And then she said, this past year, I was asking God, what really is the true day of worship? She's also Christian, but she was going on the first day to worship. And she got this glow tract. Somebody from my church faithfully went, passed it out. She received the Sabbath tract.

She read it, went to her Bible, studied it, went to... And she's like, I need to keep the Sabbath. So then once she went home from the festival back to Minnesota, she started keeping it and then she connected with a Hmong Adventist group in Minnesota. From 1 little tract on the Sabbath. Yes.

That's really powerful. And you know what excites me about GLOW is you don't have to have any particular skills to pass out GLOW tracts. No. And you can just give them out anywhere to anyone. What languages are they available in?

We have GloTracks in about 70 languages and growing. So literally anywhere in the world. Yeah, it's funny, I worked with translations and now I'm working with a global translation process of GloTracks and so we're continuing to expand and it's all based on volunteers who want literature in their own language. So I love this idea that it doesn't matter which country you might be from when you're listening to this podcast, but you could probably find a GloChat in your language or a language that you know and you could pass it out in your community. Yeah, if you go on gloonline.org, you'll find a list of different titles and languages.

That's really beautiful. Now I just want to, as we kind of wrap this up, you started off just talking about how an Adventist came to Laos and introduced a message to your grandpa. Yes. How does GLOW intersect with that and what does it mean to you personally? Well, you know, I think the sacrifice of 1 young person, because the missionaries were young people.

Oh wow. They gave up, you know, the cares that they could have had in this world to come to the jungles, mountains, to just be with people who were pretty much forgotten to the outside world. And they brought the beautiful message, physically brought a beautiful message to my people. And my parents, you know, became Adventists. And now I believe by providence and sacrifice the message has to go forward.

And it has. In fact, I've gotten calls from Vietnam saying we've read the Sabbath tract, we've read the materials. And so God is up to something big, and it's beyond me. And I'm just grateful for Him being able to use me. And I feel the Lord has finally given me the identity I really needed to know.

And really it's to finish His work. It's almost like the story has come full circle. You're now doing what those young people did in your home country of Laos. You're now with the opportunity to do that same mission work and make a difference in other people's lives. Yeah, exactly.

I believe God has called me for a special purpose to reach my own people because I can in the language that I speak. And so It's beautiful to learn all these people who are learning the truth. Thank you so much for sharing with us today, and I just appreciate how you're saying it's God called you in your setting with your people in your language and he can call anyone else with a simple resource like a glow tract to make a difference in someone else's life. Thank you. Much appreciation to Tara for sharing her experiences with us.

We hope that this episode serves as a reminder that every effort to lead souls to Jesus is precious to the heart of God.

Series

GYC Beyond

14 - The Power of Sharing Your Faith

Description

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Other Teachings in Series

01- Incorporating Evangelism into Your Life

20m

02- How to Live a Consecrated Life

26m

03- How to Navigate Past Brick Walls

33m

04- Leadership and Time Management

24m

05 - How to Have a Powerful Life of Prayer

30m

06 - How to Have a Vibrant Devotional Life

30m

07- How to Teach an Interesting Sabbath School Lesson

20m

08 - Discovering Our Christian Heritage

21m

09 - Why Christianity?

21m

10- Why You Should Be Involved in Your Local Church

24m

11- How to Experience Revival and Reformation

30m

12- How to Reach Out to Refugees and Immigrants

29m

13- How to Use Media and Art for God

20m

14 - The Power of Sharing Your Faith

22m

15 - How to Get Involved in Medical Missionary Work

17m

16 - Why You Should Volunteer for GYC

16m

17 - How to Overcome Temptation

23m

18 - The Heart of Ministry

25m

19 - How to Overcome an Ice Cream Addiction

17m

20 - How to be a Part of Total Member Involvement

21m

21 - How to Create a Social Media Ministry

22m

22 - Coming Out Ministries: Sexual Identity & Adventism

33m

23 - How to Live Dangerously for God

32m

Sound Doctrine