In April we did a missions outreach in Papua. This time we travelled deep into the jungles of Papua, in order to minister to a tribe out on the border between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. We spent a few days among this wonderful group of about one hundred people. They are originally from Papua New Guinea but have settled on the Indonesian side, now being Indonesian citizens. To my great surprise and joy, they were able to speak English due to the fact that English is the official language in PNG (Papua New Guinea). So I was able to communicate with them without a translator which was wonderful. We shared the gospel message with them, taught them the Word of God, spent a lot of time just fellowshipping with them and visiting every family. We also prayer for those who were sick and all who prayed for, got healed. In order to get to this tribe, we needed to drive about 3 hours on roads that were flooding like a river and then we continued another 3 hours by a boat, more like a canoe, through the swamp lands which were known for their crocodile population. It was a true adventure, something I’ve never done before and I loved it. We made wonderful new friends there and will return back later to further equip and train them. Right now we’re trying to get together a small resource library for them so that they can grow in their faith in Jesus. Many are able to read and the chief of the tribe expressed his deep concern for his people’s spiritual development and pleaded with us to help them get resources which they can use to teach their own people. They have no spiritual input among them, no people coming from outside to minister to them in a language that they would understand. Even though they now live in Indonesia, it is not their language. They would need teaching and training in English.
If you have material you could give away (books, audio or video from children to adults) please contact us. By giving out your used books and other resource material, you’re helping these precious people grow in their faith in Jesus. The material should be in English and we’re trying to collect together mainly spiritual teaching material but other books such as children’s books or videos (DVD, MP4) of any kind would also be a great blessing to them.
In that very remote place, there’s also a tiny army post of Indonesia. A few soldiers live there to guard the border. The commander of this group hung out with us a lot and asked us many questions. He was clearly very interested in our faith in Jesus, himself being a moslem. I didn’t know that he was listening at the back when I shared the gospel with the tribe but later he said to two of our Indonesian team members that he for the first time ever heard the gospel and finally understood what it’s all about. He was very impressed about our team and the way we lived among the tribe those few days and just served and loved on them. For the first time he saw the love of Jesus in action and he expressed his interest to know more. And our team continued talking with him for hours and explained things to him. God is now at work in his life! Let’s continue to pray for this young man.
PRISON MINISTRY & KKR IN MERAUKE
After we got back from the tribe, we had a lot of program in Merauke. I preached in a Sunday service at one of the local churches about obedience and the response was very strong. It was so easy to preach there and I just flowed with the Holy Spirit and left my notes completely. It was a powerful morning. During the week we ministered one morning in a local prison and it was wonderful how the Holy Spirit encouraged and built the inmates up. There were rededications as well as first time decisions for Jesus. It was so clear to see the change of atmosphere in that room – from hopelessness and self-condemnation to hope, freedom and acceptance.
That night we also did a big KKR (evangelistic event outside the church walls) and it was very well attended. Great worship filled the place and the message pierced into the hearts. About 20-30 first time decisions and countless rededications took place that night. God also moved powerfully in healing and several people got instantly healed from different physical ailments. Two ladies were healed from pain in their legs and back and as a result they were able to do movements that weren’t possible before. The one lady said she had been in therapy for several years but it had not helped and she was not able to squat or go on her knees. God touched her and she showed us on the stage that she could now squat like a young girl. This was a lady in her 70s! Another lady, in about the same age, said she wasn’t able walk properly, let alone jump. God touched her and she was jumping on the stage!
MISSIONS SEMINAR, STREET CHILDREN & KIDS’ MINISTRY
Later that week, we did a seminar on missions. God helped me to choose the bits and pieces out of my quite vast teaching material, which the people needed to hear. And the Holy Spirit moved upon the hearts. People were very excited, attentive the whole time, nodding their heads and clapping and shouting hallelujah and wiping tears from their eyes. By the grace of God, I was able to cast the vision about the enormous task that we still have, and I had the feeling, this was a ground breaking morning that’ll have lasting impact on the individuals who attended. Indonesia is very strong when it comes to prayer and worship but they lack the vision of reaching out. Evangelism and mission is lacking. So what encouraged me very much at the end of the seminar, was a lady who came up to me and said God spoke to her during my message and now she wants to go to a Bible school in August in order to prepare herself for the call she feels to missions!
As usual, we had bought snacks and a lunch pack for the seminar participants and at the end had some left over so we decided to go and give the rest out to some street kids who hang out by a river. They were totally excited as we came! They were swimming in the river and run out of the water as they saw our car. The kids were so happy to receive such a great lunch box and everyone was beaming and cheering.
Towards the end of the stay in Merauke, we did a children’s outreach far out in a village, on the border to Papua New Guinea. The local pastor had gone through an enormous effort to make it as good as possible so he had built a stage, a tent and printed a large banner as an advertisement. About hundred kids plus parents attended. I did the message and told them the basic gospel through a children’s story and an exciting illustration everyone always finds fascinating, even the adults. At the end I asked who wants Jesus to clean their heart and give it to Him, and all hands went up. The kids prayed the prayer if salvation. After that we showed them a children’s movie about forgiveness, which they all loved and watched in total silence. Even adults find this movie really great. Then we gave out snacks and drinks and every child received a children’s bible. After the event we went to visit a lady who was sick at her home nearby and Jesus came and touched her. When we came, she was very weak and could only walk with crutches. After we proclaimed the healing power of the blood of Jesus over her, she was able to walk without the crutches and an hour later, her sister told us that she was feeling great.
From Merauke, we flew on to Jayapura where we did two meetings, both very blessed. Again, God healed several people and many committed their lives to Jesus. I’m very grateful to you for all your prayers and to God for all He did here in so many people’s lives in different parts of Papua. All glory to Him alone! Stay in touch with us and follow what God is doing in the nations! If you’d like to become a part of what God is doing, please contact us for different options and see how you can get involved!
