Thank you for your prayers for the church in Indonesia while we were there the past week. God has raised up incredible leaders that have a true vision for church planting across the entire nation of Indonesia. Steve and I were able to visit a “free Medical services” clinic offered by the hospital in a town 45 minutes outside the city. Some 500 people went through the clinic that was hosted inside the town’s government office, which is predominately Muslim. Steve was able to talk to one of the former leaders who claimed to be Muslim.
The hospital is a vital asset to the church community providing a positive influence on the community in order for churches to be established without resistance. Each person has to claim a religion and have their license id card labeled as “Christian” or “Muslim” or “Hindu” or “Catholic… If you are a Christian things don’t come easy for you. You are not allowed to have any signs for your church or proselytize. In order for a church to build a building there must be a certain number of members AND a petition has to be signed by 60 or more non-members from the community. These types of things make establishing churches difficult.
After the Medical services visit, Steve and I traveled another 20 minutes to a local church plant that is the 3rd church plant by the senior Pastor in his area. They meet in a house and are planning to build a church building next to the house property but they are waiting to build until they have enough funds. They have the foundation laid on a plot of about 1080 square feet which will be used for a church that will seat approx. 80 people and a parsonage for the pastor to live. Completion of the project is on hold for funds that would equal what you and I would pay to buy a used car.
Becky and Jodie ran a teacher’s education conference from Monday through Saturday totaling approximately 50 hours of training for the teachers of the Christian schools that are run by the churches in Sumatra. It was a huge success and Becky and Jodie were loved by all the teachers. These Christian schools are an amazing tool for ministry and evangelism in the local communities here. One school in North Sumatra has 1000 students for just an elementary drawing many non-Christians in attendance. Most all these schools have been started in the last five years so they do not have the established grades past junior high but that is where they are headed in the future. I was able to talk to the pastor of this church during the Mission’s Conference and he was expressing to me his desire to see an American teacher come and teach English for a semester and teach from God’s Word. This is what Steve’s ministry is all about – Partnering with the local ministry to provide ministry help in any way we can. We are praying for these kinds of opportunities and praying for those who will answer the call and be willing to come from America to teach for a semester here – possibly a college student, or recent graduate.
God has taught me many things about the ministry here in Indonesia and it has been a true blessing to be a part of the Mission’s Conference for Team Sumatra. I was surrounded by 50 incredible pastors that have a great heart for evangelism and church planting. While they gave me the opportunity to speak with them about a couple of things such as God’s plan for the church to reach all the nations to bring citizens into the Kingdom of God and from John 17 about the importance of prayer in evangelism – I most certainly had many more things I learned from them and their experiences. I also had the opportunity to preach both Sundays we were in Indonesia and I pray that God’s word was a blessing to the congregations. As we leave Indonesia pray for the ministry there that God would bring many more people to faith.
We are now on our way to Charachandpur, India where we will be for the next five weeks – pray for us and also as we are here, pray for the church in India and specifically for the region we will be ministering in. The region surrounding Churachandpur has 65 Baptist churches in the New Testament Baptist Churches association, with a seminary, Christian school, and an orphanage. This area is rural and “in the hills” with limited resources, but we know that God does mighty things from the lesser of things among us.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Suitcases and Strikes and Roadblocks……OH MY
We left Delhi this morning with our 14 suitcases, 11 carry-ons, and 1 red pan. We have added one more member to our team which means 2 more suitcases! It has been quite an experience traveling with so much. We have had some trouble with some of the airlines because of the amount of suitcases. We try to explain to them that most of the luggage are supplies for kids in an orphanage we are visiting, but I don’t think that really matters to them. However, one of the pastor’s brother in law works at the Delhi airport and helped us get through a lot of our luggage without having to pay for a whole lot of extra weight!
The five tired travelers landed in Imphal excited to get to the orphanage and settle in for the next five weeks. However, upon landing and meeting the local pastor in Imphal we learned that the people who were supposed to pick us up and take us to Churachandpur couldn’t get through because of a strike. Locals who are upset with the government are on strike and block the roads so no one can pass. This also meant that instead of getting out of Imphal and onto Churachandpur we had to get a hotel in Imphal and hope that the strike ends tomorrow so we can get to our final destination.
So….the five of us with our many suitcases rode around Imphal in 3 separate cars with the people from the church here trying to find a place to stay! We are in our hotel rooms now waiting out the strike Thank the Lord for fellow believers from Imphal who so willingly helped us.
We had a nice relaxing time in Delhi. We ate at KFC, McDonalds, and Pizza Hut! We also had traditional Indian food in the YMCA where we stayed. Josh and I had a wonderful cockroach friend that joined us in our room at the YMCA I woke up one night to Josh on the floor with my shoe reaching under a cabinet trying to kill the pest. He claims he got it; however, I saw one in the bathroom the morning we left. Not sure if it was the same one or a different one
We were able to do some shopping in Delhi. Everywhere we went people were following us trying to give us directions, asking us for something, or trying to get us to buy something. I think by the 3rd day they were used to us walking around and didn’t come up to us as much.
Wednesday night in Delhi we went to a church and were able to minister to the people there through drama, singing, and testimonies. There was a boy at that church who was in the orphanage in Churachandpur 3 years ago when I was there. He was a part of the group that I taught puppets and drama! He is now in Delhi going to school and studying botany. It was neat to be able to see one of the kids I had taught 3 years ago.
The five tired travelers landed in Imphal excited to get to the orphanage and settle in for the next five weeks. However, upon landing and meeting the local pastor in Imphal we learned that the people who were supposed to pick us up and take us to Churachandpur couldn’t get through because of a strike. Locals who are upset with the government are on strike and block the roads so no one can pass. This also meant that instead of getting out of Imphal and onto Churachandpur we had to get a hotel in Imphal and hope that the strike ends tomorrow so we can get to our final destination.
So….the five of us with our many suitcases rode around Imphal in 3 separate cars with the people from the church here trying to find a place to stay! We are in our hotel rooms now waiting out the strike Thank the Lord for fellow believers from Imphal who so willingly helped us.
We had a nice relaxing time in Delhi. We ate at KFC, McDonalds, and Pizza Hut! We also had traditional Indian food in the YMCA where we stayed. Josh and I had a wonderful cockroach friend that joined us in our room at the YMCA I woke up one night to Josh on the floor with my shoe reaching under a cabinet trying to kill the pest. He claims he got it; however, I saw one in the bathroom the morning we left. Not sure if it was the same one or a different one
We were able to do some shopping in Delhi. Everywhere we went people were following us trying to give us directions, asking us for something, or trying to get us to buy something. I think by the 3rd day they were used to us walking around and didn’t come up to us as much.
Wednesday night in Delhi we went to a church and were able to minister to the people there through drama, singing, and testimonies. There was a boy at that church who was in the orphanage in Churachandpur 3 years ago when I was there. He was a part of the group that I taught puppets and drama! He is now in Delhi going to school and studying botany. It was neat to be able to see one of the kids I had taught 3 years ago.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Fried Bananas, Fish heads, Chicken feet…..YUMMY!!
Yes it is true we have been served these delicacies! The fried bananas are really not that out of the ordinary and they taste great. The other 2….not so much. I’m not really all about eating something while it’s still looking at me (fish). Okay so that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it’s not too far off…I mean we were served the whole fish….Josh ate it with great gusto (as he eats all food), holding it up for me to see and waving around the bones of the fish (all still in one piece) when he was finished. The heads of the fish were lying on his plate looking as if they were missing a part of them.
Chicken feet were in a soup served to us for lunch at the teacher training. I chose not to take that part of the soup! The food has really not been bad just a few surprises here and there. They always warn us if something is going to be hot (spicy) so we don’t take too much of it
The teacher training is going well. The teachers are responding well to all that my mother is presenting them. She is doing a lot of group work and various activities that they are not used to; however, you wouldn’t be able to tell from watching them. They have participated with great enthusiasm and thoughtfulness. They also seem to enjoy the math activities that I am showing them. They are used to solving math problems the way the teacher shows them and in some schools if a student gets the right answer but gets it a different way the teacher tells them they are wrong. In my workshops I am explaining to them that it is important to let students share how they got an answer and encourage them to explore different ways as it helps to build great problem solvers and higher level thinking. I am also trying to show them that math can be exciting!!! The first day I asked who liked math and none of the 24 teachers raised their hands. Hopefully that is changing as the week goes on.
Josh has had an opportunity to speak to pastors about church growth in the seminar that my dad is doing and it went well (he will have to write more about that later).
We are all still getting adjusted to the different time zone. I wake up in the middle of the night and stay awake for about 2 hours before I can fall back asleep. Josh has been getting up around 4 am and working on stuff for his classes before our actual day begins. We are 11 hours ahead of EST and 12 hours ahead of CST.
We have been spoiled here in Indonesia. Although it is extremely hot and humid outside we are able to sleep in an air conditioned room!!!!!! Thanks for all your prayers. Things have gone very well as far as ministering to the people, please pray that will continue and we will remain in good health.
Chicken feet were in a soup served to us for lunch at the teacher training. I chose not to take that part of the soup! The food has really not been bad just a few surprises here and there. They always warn us if something is going to be hot (spicy) so we don’t take too much of it
The teacher training is going well. The teachers are responding well to all that my mother is presenting them. She is doing a lot of group work and various activities that they are not used to; however, you wouldn’t be able to tell from watching them. They have participated with great enthusiasm and thoughtfulness. They also seem to enjoy the math activities that I am showing them. They are used to solving math problems the way the teacher shows them and in some schools if a student gets the right answer but gets it a different way the teacher tells them they are wrong. In my workshops I am explaining to them that it is important to let students share how they got an answer and encourage them to explore different ways as it helps to build great problem solvers and higher level thinking. I am also trying to show them that math can be exciting!!! The first day I asked who liked math and none of the 24 teachers raised their hands. Hopefully that is changing as the week goes on.
Josh has had an opportunity to speak to pastors about church growth in the seminar that my dad is doing and it went well (he will have to write more about that later).
We are all still getting adjusted to the different time zone. I wake up in the middle of the night and stay awake for about 2 hours before I can fall back asleep. Josh has been getting up around 4 am and working on stuff for his classes before our actual day begins. We are 11 hours ahead of EST and 12 hours ahead of CST.
We have been spoiled here in Indonesia. Although it is extremely hot and humid outside we are able to sleep in an air conditioned room!!!!!! Thanks for all your prayers. Things have gone very well as far as ministering to the people, please pray that will continue and we will remain in good health.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Sunday in Indonesia
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.
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.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Indonesia for the next 10 days
After a day and a half in London, we traveled for the next 36 hours on three plane trips through Singapore and Jakarta on our way to Bandar Lampur (I spelled it right this time). In those 36 hours, Steve, Josh and Jodie only slept for about 3 hours and thankfully Becky was able to sleep much longer, but we were all exhausted. We only had one hiccup at the airport in Jakarta. Our luggage did not arrive with our flight because the layover in Singapore was 1 hour and the bags were not able to get to the next plane fast enough. However, they were on the next plane to Singapore and we got them before we left Jakarta to fly to Bandar Lampur. We also had a little trouble getting our boarding passes at the Jakarta airport because of the language barrier but it all worked out and we are here. Last night we got caught up on some much needed rest. Currently we are 12 hours ahead of you all in the states. It is Saturday morning and Becky and Jodie are printing their education workshops notes for the education conference that starts on Monday (Jodie will be teaching every day). And Josh and Steve will be preaching this Sunday at two different churches. In a couple hours we will all head over the Christian hospital for a tour (we are staying at the house of the director of the hospital). Please pray for education conference this next week. And the guys who will be preaching that we will effectively work with translators and the God’s Word will be an encouragement to the churches here.
Monday, June 20, 2011
In the Airport
We are sitting in the airport waiting for our plane to board! It has been an amazing week of getting things ready. We arrived at Dulles with 12 bags to check :) and all of my class notes ready :) Thank you for all your prayers, for I know the Lord provided us with God-speed in finalizing all of our preparations. Please pray as we travel through the airports along the way that we keep our luggage intact. The extra luggage is for supplies and gifts for our partners in India. The next few days we will find ourselves in London, Jakarta, and Barlombam(I spelled that wrong)before we end up in Indonesia for a week and a half. Josh will be doing is final class prep while attending an Indonesian Mission's Conference. At this conference Jodie and her mom will be leading education seminars. We are excited and our plane is boarding :)
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