Dear Friends,

Janice and I send you greetings from Jakarta. We are now into the rainy season with the ensuing flooding that comes to Jakarta. Most of the people that live here in Jakarta have long grown use to the flooding, and for the most part, life continues as usual with minor adjustments to accommodate the high water. Likewise, despite the continuing gains of the fanatical Islamic elements to limit gospel penetration among the common people, our churches here continue to battle for higher ground. Your effectual prayers for the ministry here in Jakarta are so important. We do appreciate you folks and we want you to be well informed as you continue to labor with us here in Indonesia.

Graduates from Palmerah Campus

During the second week of December, we had our Bible school graduation. There were fourteen graduates. Five of these graduates have gone to Kalimantan , two are now in Nias, one is in Bali, one has gone to the Manado area in Sulewesi, and the other graduates are working in our churches here in Jakarta. Pray for these graduates as several of them are facing difficult circumstances as they seek to start new churches or develop existing ministries.

We were involved in many Christmas services this year. We started in Batam island, where we were involved in several different Christmas services. Pastor Desa, who is starting a new work in Batam center, had a good group of people out for his services. At Pastor Andar's church, six adult men professed Christ during the services.

Returning to Jakarta we were involved in Christmas services at the Cipulir, Cijantung, Shalom and Cileduk churches. The good news about these services was, not only that we had several people profess Christ, but also that we had many visitors come from within the local communities. All of this is quite amazing to us as our churches here in Jakarta have recently come under a lot of pressure. The more fanatical Islamic groups are continually agitating to close our churches, often using people imported from other areas to carry out the actual protests. The willingness of the local people to attend our services seems to indicate that these local folks are not interested in allowing their communities to be run by minority fanatical Islamic elements. We do appreciate your prayers for our churches here in Jakarta as they continue to proclaim the gospel to their communities.

Also, pray for the situation here in Indonesia. Our government leaders claim to believe in religious tolerance, but they continue to allow: forced church closures by fanatical Islamic groups, forced closure of moderate Islamic groups that do not satisfy the fanatical Islamic teachings, and the enactment of Islamic law on whole cities and areas by local fanatical Islamic leaders. These events have caused large outcries from the more moderate Islamic people here in Indonesia, but so far governmental promises to correct such practices have remained essentially fruitless. Sadly, it seems that most Indonesians are not for this continual drift that is pushing Indonesia toward a totally intolerant religious society, yet this country seems to be inextricably bound to placate the agitative spirit of fanatical Islam. Hmm, seems like that is going on all around the world!

Back to the prayer letter. The first week in January, I traveled to Nias to work on the water filter projects there while helping out with the churches we have started in Gunung Sitoli area. The church in Gunung Sitoli is going through some difficult times, but basically the work is sound. The Botolakha church,
that started out of the Gunung Sitoli church, is coming along. The Botolakha church has built a nice little building and they have several families that are faithful to the work, however, they desperately need somebody to minister to them in a regular manner. Yarro, one of the graduates from our Bible school in Jakarta has gone to help in the ministry in Gunung Sitoli. I spent several days with Yarro while I was there and I do believe he will be a real help to these ministries. Pray for these churches in the Gunung Sitoli area.

While I was in Gunung Sitoli, I had a conversation with Dr. Mendrofa, the director of the main government hospital in Gunung Sitoli. He told me that it has been agreed upon to completely rebuild the hospital due to the damage done by the earthquake. However, it will be several years before the program is completed and there will not be any new water source until the new hospital is completed. Right now, the hospital is getting their water from the two wells that we drilled for them last February (2005) using the tsunami money. Also, the only pure water they are getting right now is coming from the one water filter we have installed. Dr. Mendrofa asked if we could help them try and get another well to hold them over until they are able to get the hospital rebuilt. I provided them with about $1,000 to try and drill another well and install a pump. In the end, they were able to drill two new wells that will enable them to basically provide water for the whole hospital. Over the next few months we will try to get the water filter set up to provide drinking water for the operating room and some of the patient rooms of the hospital.

Right now, I have three water filter units that have been donated to be used in Nias. Pray about the placing of these units as we seek to use them in a manner that will not only benefit the local community but also open ministry doors. Right now, these three units will need to be transported to Nias. If any of you folks are interested in helping with these projects please contact us.

On my return from Nias, Janice and I attended our yearly Independent Baptist fellowship that was held in Central Java this year. Over 130 pastors, church workers and their wives gathered from our Independent Baptist churches here in Indonesia. The Lord has blessed our churches over the past year. We were thrilled to be with the pastors and hear the reports from the many different works here in Indonesia.

On our return from the fellowship meeting, I made another trip to Central Java, this time to the Wonosari area with Pastor Raso, his family, and Yonatan who is one of our Bible school students. The main reason for the trip was to survey the area with the aim of starting a church. The secondary reason for the trip was to attend a Javanese wedding. The groom was the son of Tusim, a lady we have known for years. Tusim came to Jakarta as a young lady looking for work in the late 70's. While working in our home, she received the Lord and was baptized into our Mampang church. Having saved her money, she returned home to Wonosari, married her sweetheart and raised a family. She has led each of her children to know the Lord while actively serving the Lord in the only church located in her area. Actually there are several people like Tusim who came to know the Lord through the ministry of our churches in Jakarta that now live in the Wonosari area of Central Java, yet for some reason, we have never started a church in that area. Pastor Raso, Yonatan and myself spent two days visiting families in the Wonosari area. The opportunity is there, we just need somebody to go and start the ministry. Pray that one of our students, perhaps Yonatan, will feel called to begin a work in the Wonosari area.

I returned from Central Java just in time to start a new semester in our Bible school. We have a good group of new students and I'm excited to be back to teaching again. I am teaching a full load of classes this semester while also teaching computer classes. Pray for our students, and for me as I teach.

This semester I am setting up a linux computer lab at Pastor Markus' church where I hope to not only train our Bible school students to use computers but also train at least one man to administer a linux network. At the same time, I am trying to upgrade the computer lab we have at our Palmerah campus. Like all my computer projects, there are lots of frustrations, so we do appreciate your prayers. It is my desire to give all our young Bible students a working knowledge of computers and legal software. I believe it is one of the best skills they can use to not only help support their ministry, but also they can use to make contacts within their communities.

We would like to remind you to pray for Pastor Hadir, his wife Vera and their two boys. Pastor Hadir leads the Sunter work and you have been praying for him. Please continue to pray. He has won a new family, but there are still many problems in the work. Pray that the older members will work with Pastor Hadir, not against him. Then pray that Pastor Hadir will be nice to the folks the Lord has given him! Thank you for your prayers, it has made a difference. Let's keep praying for Pastor Hadir, Vera, and two little boys!

Janice and I are fine. I take my vitamins regularly, but Janice still thinks I'm skinny. I think I am healthy. Forgive me for the long letter, but I did want you folks to be able to pray and give effectively for the work here in Jakarta.

For your faithful prayers and financial support we are truly thankful.

In Christ,