Feature

   What is ASI?

What is ASI? It's a common question. Even those who have been active ASI members for decades sometimes have to stop and think before answering. Maybe the confusion arises from the words "What is...?" You rarely define an organization in terms of what it is. Instead, you look at what it does. That does not remove the complexity when it comes to explaining ASI, but its mission is pretty clear. Long-time ASI member and past president Harold Lance, a retired attorney, reflects on that mission in this way:

"Almost every ASI member I know doesn’t come to ASI to learn how to 'make it' in business or their profession , but rather how to serve Jesus within the ministry, business, or practice he or she already has. In my professional career, I relied on 'in the trenches' experience, peers, mentors, and seminars to learn trial practice skills. What I learned at ASI was how to share Jesus in my marketplace—with my clients, my office associates and staff, judges, juries, and opposing lawyers. They observed that at least there was one lawyer (doctor, manufacturer, book salesman, dentist, contractor, car dealer, realtor, printer) who was dependable, truthful, trustworthy, and who had something to say that was worth listening to.

"ASI doesn’t have the resources to teach new business people how to succeed in the business aspects of their various careers (others can do that, and better), but it does have the tools to teach every Adventist business owner, ministry leader, and professional how to be a committed Christian witness within the sphere of their operations—one who knows that God is faithful to those who serve Him with an open heart and purpose to spread the Three Angels Messages to a waiting world, one who is sensitive to the needs around us, and one who expects Jesus to come soon."

This sums up the ideas that have gone into planning the upcoming ASI International Convention, Aug. 7–10, in Orlando, Florida. The theme again is "It's Time...To Be About Our Father's Business," with an emphasis on prophecy filled.

Next time someone asks you, What is ASI?, perhaps a good place to start would be, "ASI members are just everyday people who really want to be about their Father's business."

Project Report

     SperantaTV Romania

Pastor Adrian Bocaneanu recently shared the first project report for SperantaTV Romania, a 2012 recipient of ASI project funds for the purpose of producing 13 half-hour documentaries on OCI/ASI institutions in Europe.

Bocaneanu reported that filming trips last fall covered five different institutions in the Ukraine, France, Switzerland, and Portugal. Currently, work is being done on translating and editing interviews in preparation for preliminary versions of the first five documentaries.

Filming at seven more institutions in Norway, Austria, Prague, Sweden, Romania, Moldova, and Poland is planned for the coming few months. Pastor Bocaneanu will also film interviews with Nick Dan, OCI vice president for development in Europe, and Angel Duo, president of ASI Europe.

"My plans are to have a preliminary version of the first five films before this summer and to make them available to the respective institutions for review and suggestions," says Bocaneanu. "By early fall, the same should be available for the last eight programs, [with plans] to finalize the whole project before the end of the year."

Bocaneanu reports that the funds provided by ASI are being used for airfare and other expenses related to actual filming at the various locations. Hope Channel Romania is very supportive of the project and is covering salaries for him, a cameraman, and editors, as well as providing all the filming and editing equipment. Some translations are done on a voluntary basis.

"Without the strong support of Hope Channel Romania, it would be impossible to produce this series of documentaries," Bocaneanu says.

Depending on the timely completion of this project, I consider submitting another application for funding for a second series of documentaries on the remaining OCI/ASI institutions of Europe which could not be covered in this series.