Pastor Rosangpuia Fanai - PhD Degree Lak Pathian Hnena Lawmthu Sawina

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:02:40]many 7day Adventists. It's a work day.

[00:02:44]So many are even our own members are not here. Not everyone is here. But I'm sure they are on their way and there are many out there in the kitchen.

[00:02:58]uh our women from our church have prepared food. So I would ask all the visitors to stay back and eat with us as we celebrate with food. Also I have known pastor Puya for the last 50 no 14 or 13 years and he came to this country as a teenager and now he's a grown man a pastor a PhD degree holder and a friend my wife and had and I had the opport opportunity to visit him in Hawaii when he was uh pastoring two churches there and he was also the pathfinder director in the Hawaii conference and uh we had a good time with him for a week. We stayed with him uh being a bachelor we ended up cooking for him.

[00:04:11]Anyway, I'm glad you all are here. I just want to acknowledge just a few people who have come. Uh Pastor Robbie Burgham who is going to give the devotional. He's a vice president in the hope channel.

[00:04:33]Originally, he's from Australia. He has worked as a pastor in Australia and in Taiwan.

[00:04:41]Uh we welcome you today.

[00:04:44]>> And we want to welcome also uh another vice president from Hope Channel, Morin Wellen and Ray, her husband.

[00:04:54]>> Thank you very much for coming.

[00:04:58]>> Oh Sam.

[00:05:00]>> Oh, Pastor Sam also you just walked in, sir. Welcome.

[00:05:12]Pastor Graduation.

[00:05:36]foreign.

[00:05:52]Closing pray.

[00:06:07]Second program.

[00:06:17]Elder.

[00:06:33]Okay.

[00:06:46][music] Thank you.

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[00:11:17][music] [clears throat] Oh, hallelujah.

[00:11:36]Amen.

[00:11:42]Pastor, Ph.D.

[00:12:00]degree foreign.

[00:12:20]Amen.

[00:12:40]program.

[00:12:47]Amen.

[00:13:04]for Amen. Amen.

[00:13:38]>> [cough and clears throat] >> Pastor Robie Vice President Australia Australia Taiwan Pastor Robbie.

[00:14:11]>> Good evening.

[00:14:13]>> Good evening.

[00:14:14]>> This is a real special treat for me. Um, Puya, I [clears throat] don't like you sitting behind me. I'd prefer to look at you when I'm talking, but it I just want to thank you for the invitation.

[00:14:30]to share just a few thoughts um in light of this celebration and an achievement.

[00:14:40]I first met Puya uh last year I think it was we uh in Dubai and I had come from Australia straight to Dubai and Puya was there and the rest of the Hope Channel team were there and by the way my colleagues are here Meen and Sam and uh Vetaslav Pastor Vetlav our president would love to be here but he doesn't arrive until tomorrow so you're one day too early for his uh his appearance.

[00:15:13]But I I arrived there in Dubai. I didn't know most of the people there. And the president of Hope Channel said, "I want you to spend some time with your team.

[00:15:24]Who will become your team?" I had just been elected into this position. And I said, "Sure. Who is my team?" And he said, "That guy over there." And he pointed to Puya.

[00:15:34]And when I looked at poi in the distance, he was sitting behind a table sort of near a registration table and he looked really depressed.

[00:15:45][laughter] He looked miserable and I thought, "This is my team." So I walked up to Puya and I said, "I'm Robbie. I'll be working with you uh when in maybe a year from now when all the visas and things work out."

[00:16:03]And Puyo and I sat there for probably what, three or four hours.

[00:16:08]And uh he told me all of the things that was wrong with the world.

[00:16:14]And he said everything that there was about what was happening at work, at home, at everywhere. And um I sat and I listened and I sensed very strongly that in Puya's heart is the heart for souls.

[00:16:36]I don't know how many times you told me in those three hours that his passion is preaching. Do you remember this?

[00:16:44]>> I do.

[00:16:45]>> My passion is preaching and I just want to preach. I just I need more chances to preach.

[00:16:51]And I said, "Puya, I don't know what the future holds, but I know that we're going to work well together."

[00:16:57]And uh fast forward over a year now, and we've been working in the last 6 months or so here in in Maryland, and I've come to really appreciate Buyer.

[00:17:11]He's not just a uh a good-looking guy. I don't know why he's still single.

[00:17:17]Um, we'll do our best to pray this evening that uh he won't be single for too much longer, >> but I have come to appreciate his uh bluntness. You you're really learning how to be Australian.

[00:17:30]>> That's right.

[00:17:31]>> I've asked you to be blunt and you're doing well at doing that. Um, and I've appreciated his insights and his uh experiences and it's been a real pleasure. And so being asked to come and share some thoughts here this evening, I I really want to let you know that I was I'm privileged to do this for you. So I asked Puya, well, what do you want me to to share? And he said, well, I don't want it to be about me. I want it to be about thanking God for the opportunity.

[00:18:03]And so I've been reflecting for the past week or so on this idea of being thankful for the opportunity to learn.

[00:18:15]And so I want to share a few thoughts with you from scripture and then I want to refocus these in light of the accomplishment that you have been through but also with the next steps that are right in front of you.

[00:18:29]So I'll just share a few scriptures here. Most of them will be familiar.

[00:18:35]This first one comes from Psalm chapter 1, sorry, Proverbs 1 verse 5. It says, "A wise man will hear and increase in learning." A wise man, he will hear and he'll increase in learning. and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel.

[00:19:01]Solomon is saying in this passage that wisdom it's not a destination.

[00:19:10]It's not something you you gain and then you arrive and that's it.

[00:19:17]Wisdom is a posture that you maintain and a truly educated person never stops being a student.

[00:19:32]Never stops. If you think you've arrived, then uh the scripture would call you a fool.

[00:19:42]The posture of continued learning is exactly what leads to the kind of understanding that shapes us, but it also shapes others.

[00:19:53]And this is what brings us to this next passage in Proverbs chapter 9:9 where it says, "Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser.

[00:20:06]teach a just man and he will increase in learning.

[00:20:11]The principle here is that education multiplies in the hands of a person who is already committed to growth.

[00:20:24]And this is the person that you need to continue to be. Buyer, you need to be a person that says I have not arrived.

[00:20:34]I have gained and now I will allow education to multiply in my hands.

[00:20:43]You can't pour into someone who has decided they're already full.

[00:20:52]Are you full today?

[00:20:55]I hope you feel full. But when you evaluate again, you'll realize there's still room for growth.

[00:21:04]You can pour into someone hungry and the return is extraordinary.

[00:21:10]The hunger for truth does not stop with an academic thought.

[00:21:16]It eventually finds its highest expression in the word itself.

[00:21:24]Which brings us to Paul in 2 Timothy chapter 2:15. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God. the workman who does not stand sorry does not need to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth. Paul is calling Timothy to the same rigor that any serious student any serious scholar would bring to their discipline. Intellectual honesty before God is not optional.

[00:21:58]It's a standard. It's the kind of diligence applied faithfully over many years.

[00:22:06]That's what produces not just knowledge but wisdom. I once had a pastor who was a mentor and he said, "Robbie, do you know the difference between knowledge and wisdom?

[00:22:21]Should I ask our PhD candidate or graduate now the difference?" He said, ' Robbie, do you know what the difference between knowledge and wisdom is?

[00:22:32]And I was a naive student at the time.

[00:22:37]And I said, "Pastor, tell me." He said, "Robbie, the difference between knowledge and wisdom is that wisdom is knowledge applied.

[00:22:50]Knowledge is easy to get.

[00:22:53]So you have knowledge.

[00:22:56]Now the question is can you apply it because that is what wisdom is and that's goes for every one of us. We have knowledge knowledge of the word knowledge of our creator but the question is have we applied it? Are we applying it? Is it becoming wisdom?

[00:23:13]Which transitions us to wisdom? Proverbs 4:7 says wisdom is the principle thing.

[00:23:21]Therefore, get wisdom and in all you're getting, get understanding.

[00:23:27]Information without wisdom is just noise.

[00:23:33]And there's a lot of noise in the world today. The world is full in this media space that we work in. It's full of influences with lots of noise. But is there wisdom?

[00:23:46]Ecclesiastes 7:12 says, "For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense. But the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it."

[00:24:00]Boyer, I my prayer is and I know it's the prayer of your family, the prayer of your church, that what God has blessed you with with gaining this knowledge will lead to a wisdom that will not only impact your own life, but the lives of countless thousands and I hope it's millions.

[00:24:23]You are placed in a a period of ministry where you have the opportunity to influence an entire generation.

[00:24:32]The opportunity is there and is my prayer that you will seize the opportunity.

[00:24:40]In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 18, it says, "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

[00:24:54]Paul wrote this from prison.

[00:24:57]He's not talking about giving thanks when it's comfortable, giving thanks now that you've graduated. It's giving thanks in the difficult times ahead.

[00:25:07]What you have been through has given you a foundation and we give thanks to God that you've had this privilege and this opportunity.

[00:25:17]Do we give thanks this evening church?

[00:25:21]Amen. Colossians 3:1 17 says, "And whatever you do in word or deed, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

[00:25:35]And so we give thanks to the father. We give thanks to the son and we give thanks to the spirit and we give thanks to the family. We give thanks to this church, those who have sacrificed to help Buyer achieve this outcome.

[00:25:56]Ellen White writes in the book education that the true object of education is to restore the image of God in the soul.

[00:26:11]The true object of education, it's not credentials, it's not career outcomes, it's not even knowledge itself.

[00:26:22]The object is restoration, the image of God in the soul.

[00:26:29]In every year that you are now a doctor, every year now going forward that you have this title, it is your obligation to help restore the image of God in those that you meet, in those that you speak to, and those that you minister to.

[00:26:51]Ellen White writes this too. She says, "Those who work for God should be men and women of thorough education and their education should be a of a character that will fit them for their special work." And so Puya, it is my conviction that you have been called to a special work and now you are equipped with the skills with the knowledge.

[00:27:28]And our prayer now is that this translates into wisdom that will be felt in the lives of those that you minister to.

[00:27:38]So congratulations.

[00:27:40]It is a privilege to work with you as a co- laborer in ministry and I look forward to seeing and hearing the good report of this milestone played out in your life. Friends, I'm going to ask if my colleagues Sam and Meen if you'd come up here with me. We work with Puyer every day and I'd like to invite you to come. We're going to this isn't on your program, but we're going to have a special prayer for Puya and then we'll continue on with the program. Ch join us. Puya, come stand in front.

[00:28:14]Marine, would you like to pray first and stand?

[00:28:17]>> Okay.

[00:28:18]Heavenly Father, we count it a privilege to join together in celebration and acknowledgement of the accomplishment that Pu Puya has had here. And we know it is only through your Holy Spirit and your power. and we're so grateful for the opportunity for him being part of Hope Channel International and sharing his skills and this huge accomplishment.

[00:28:39]We know dear Lord you'll continue working in his life. Jesus name. Amen.

[00:28:43]>> Amen.

[00:28:47]Heavenly Father, I second that prayer and I thank you for the privilege of working with Puya and watching him be used by your spirit in a media context.

[00:29:03]Father, we have seen Puya's development and skills that come as a consequence of this difficult program.

[00:29:12]And father, we can only imagine how your spirit would use him henceforth.

[00:29:17]I pray Lord that you will expand the opportunities that he has now to use these new skills and knowledge to reach people and share with them in an ever more simple way the truth about Jesus.

[00:29:36]>> Father, we are in a battle where your character is at stake. And I pray that not only Puya, but all of us may reflect your character in a way that inspires others to draw closer to you.

[00:29:49]>> We long for the sky to open up soon and your son to return to take us home. But until that day, I pray that you would give us and especially Puya energy and focus to do your will. Mhm.

[00:30:07]>> In the name and under the authority of Christ we pray. Amen.

[00:30:11]>> Amen.

[00:30:16]>> Pray for me.

[00:30:21]>> [laughter] >> away from the >> Well, for those who don't know what Puya does, Puyer is a uh one of my team members whose focus is on digital evangelism.

[00:30:37]And you may have seen him on such shows as Hope Sabbath School. He uh he's got a passion for teaching. He's got a passion for preaching and I believe that Jesus has got a special place for him in his work.

[00:30:57]I don't know what his future will hold, where he will be in 10 years or 20 years from now. I hope it's all in heaven. But it po I would like to hear if we're not working together in 10 years or 20 years from now that God has done tremendous things because you have made yourself available.

[00:31:15]Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for Puya. We thank you for the privilege of being able to celebrate with him the result of many years of hard work, many late nights, many library visits, many uh keys being uh typed on a keyboard, many hours of prayer.

[00:31:38]We thank you for this successful outcome of his doctorate studies.

[00:31:45]And we pray as has already been mentioned that you would use him to your glory. But father, as we conclude our prayer service at this time in this section, we want to uplift him and his future with a spouse.

[00:32:02]Father, at some point he needs a spouse to complete him in ministry. And I pray that you would prepare the way even now for that to become a reality. bring someone that would help that he can help to and may they be a family through which millions will come to know of your great love and join your kingdom. We thank you for his family. We thank you for his church family here as well in Jesus name. Amen.

[00:32:30]>> Amen. Thank you.

[00:32:40]Thank you pastor Burham for the inspiring words.

[00:32:45]It was uh you were addressing it mostly to pastor Puya but it was inspiring to all of us and I'm sure inspiring mostly to the young people who are still studying at this time.

[00:33:02]Thank you again.

[00:33:33]BCD degree.

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[00:34:36]Uh for those who uh do not speak Mizo, I'm going to sing Mizo song. And the song the main idea of the song is that uh all the challenges good bad everything happen in our life God allows it so that we will see his face. So that will be draw closer to him. And uh at the end of the day, he deserved the praise and all the glory.

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[00:39:40]Elderly after that we will call the proud parents of pastor Puya pastor and Mrs. letter. We have an eye pastor Dr. title.

[00:40:31]Hello Oh my god. Teenager.

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[01:08:06]At this time, we'll call Elder Kylie and Hower to offer the thanksgiving prayer.

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[01:15:07]Hello m at this time we'll call the proud sister Miss Rebecca and I to give us a special music Elder John just mentioned that I'm the proud sister. Um, but I'm also very proud of my favorite brother cuz he's my only brother, but he likes to give me shirts that always says bye-bye your favorite brother. But I'm very grateful to be here and grateful to be um present in good health. So, and so so um but to be able to sing about God's goodness to not just my brother, but to our family, to our church, and to our community as well.

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[01:18:14]You have led me through [music] the fire. [singing] In darkest nights, you are close [music and singing] like a father.

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[01:18:31]I've known you as a friend.

[01:18:35]And I [music] have lived in the goodness of God. [music] All my life. You have been faithful.

[01:18:53]All my life. You have been so [music and singing] so good with every [singing] breath that I am made. [music] Oh, I [singing] will sing of the goodness of [music] God.

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[01:19:31][music] >> [music and singing] >> Sweet.

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[01:20:27][music] All my life you have been so so good with every breath [singing] that I am made.

[01:20:44][music] Oh, I will sing of the goodness [music] of God. I'm going to sing. Yeah, I'm going to sing.

[01:21:00][singing] [music] >> [music] [singing] >> Oh god.

[01:21:30]Each little [music] say, beautiful song.

[01:22:00]Uh for those who have not known them before, you can see now that this family is filled with talent and we are so fortunate to have them in our church.

[01:22:15]Thank you again for that beautiful song.

[01:22:18]At this time we'll call the man of the hour, Pastor Osampai.

[01:22:25][clears throat] >> Thank you, Elder. I'm not the man of the hour. The person of the hour should be God, right?

[01:22:40]Happy Mother's Day.

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[01:27:16]I am very thankful to God for all of his blessings uh for health, for opportunities, for finance, for family, church, community. And this is Pastor Sam Marin, Pastor Robbie. This is the kind of community we have in our miso community, you know. So, we we come from a very strong community and I I did not ask for this. This is insisted by my church family and the community. So, I'm very very happy to be a part of this wonderful uh community. Beyond that, I am very grateful to God for Hope Channel International because it's not easy to study full-time and work full-time without the support of my employers. Uh my employers have been very supportive from the very beginning. I wish uh our president of Hope Channel International, Pastor Vietl was here this evening, but he's traveling for ministry. So he has been very supportive from day one when I mentioned to him that uh I am working on my PhD and I would need occasional uh remote work option for me to study from Andrews University or from South Carolina where my university is based in and that I will need some you know flexibility and hope channel international leadership has been so so very very understanding. I know that I will not find this sort of uh supportive employers anywhere else because they allowed me for uh periods of time where I was just gone from Maryland and allowed me to work remote uh through remote option and being able to study and you know work on my dissertation from a library. And so I am very very grateful to God for Hope Channel International.

[01:29:13]And thank you, Pastor Sam, Maren, and Pastor Robbie for being here this evening. Thank you very, very much. Um, opportunity.

[01:30:20]Um, scholarship.

[01:31:14]It's on >> [laughter] >> Amen.

[01:31:38]Opportunity opportunity.

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[01:33:27]What's my dream for the future? PhD degree philosophy.

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[01:34:22]Christian practical life. Christian, PhD degree.

[01:34:53]Hey, hey, hey, Capun. This is my boss.

[01:34:56]Robbie is my boss at work. And I know that we have many book projects. So, that's my dream that I'll get to write uh many, many books uh uh to be able to help spread the word of God, the hope that we have in Jesus. And beyond that, uh I hope to be able to preach and serve God for the rest of my life. And so, I ask for your prayers that I will be used by God for his glory and his glory alone. And I hope that today's program and event will all be for the glory of God alone.

[01:35:40]Amen. Amen.

[01:35:53]Indonchech.

[01:36:18]Ah, silo China.

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[01:41:15][music] Amen.

[01:41:39]Amen. Amen.

[01:41:57]Amen.

[01:41:58]Amen.

[01:42:19]Amen.

[01:42:26]Amen. foreign.

[01:42:30]Amen.

[01:42:41]>> Thank you. Congratulations, doctor.