Josh preached this morning at a 6:00am church service and Steve preached at a different church at 9:00am. Thank you for your prayers. We were unable to take the hospital tour yesterday so we took the tour today and learned the history of Baptist missions in Indonesia. What an incredible ministry!!
The highlights:
Southern Baptist missionaries started ministry in Indonesia 60 years ago.
There are now 500 Baptist churches throughout the Indonesian islands.
There are 4 seminaries and 3 hospitals.
We are staying on the island of Sumatra which is Indonesia's poorest island.
It has 140 churches and 1 hospital.
The average size of the church is 50-100, the largest church is 300.
The churches are altogether under one denomination called the Union Baptist Church denomination.
They are now fully independent of American Missions.
Even the hospital that was started by a Southern Baptist missionary in the 80's is now completely run by the Indonesian nationals.
It is a self-supporting hospital that generates income and financial support to all the area churches as well as the Christian schools that the Baptist churches have started.
What amazing things God is doing in this country! It is a privilege to work alongside these people for God's kingdom. And there are still many needs! Our ministry here is establishing a network of partners with American churches to provide help in any way we can. Our main mission is not to break-ground but to provide support.
Indonesia is the fifth most populated country in the world and still 90% Muslim.
- The Churches have a great desire to grow and start new churches (as you can see there are over 500), but they want to do much more! (Steve and Josh will be involved with the Sumatra Missions Conference starting on Tuesday through Friday)
- The teachers at the Seminary lack extensive theology knowledge and the churches could use better theology training.
- The one Christian school in this area next to the hospital started 4 years ago and has 400 students in grades K-3. Becky and Jodie will be working with these teachers for the next 5 days doing education training. The teachers here are eager to learn.
Please pray this week for God's work in Indonesia.
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