Dear Friends,

          Janice and I send you greetings from Jakarta. These last two months have been an exciting time here in Indonesia. Indonesians went to the polls and elected a new parliament and president. The election seemed to go quite well with the former president being reelected by a large margin and the new parliament consisting of mostly secular political parties. Humanly speaking, the political landscape in Indonesia looks good for economic growth, and hopefully an increased opportunity to spread the gospel. However, politics never seems to work out like we hope! So let me share what we know has been happening over the last couple of months in our effort to get the gospel out here in Indonesia.
          In June, our Bible school here in Jakarta finished the semester with a graduation service. There were five graduates. The graduates are now headed off to various ministries. Two have gone to Kalimantan (Borneo), one to Sumatra, one to Bali and one plans to start a new church in Surabaya, East Java. Pray for these graduates as they seek to fulfill God's calling in their lives.
          For the most part the churches in Nias are doing good. We would ask you to especially pray for Pastor Formil and his wife Christina. Pastor Formil was the first minister that we sent to Nias. He has a done a fine job over the years at the Soonegeu church in South Nias. However, he and his wife have been experiencing marital problems. The situation has become quite serious and the Soonegeu church has been devestated. Pray for Pastor Formil and his wife, but especially pray for the Soonegeu church.
          Please remember to pray for the other churches in Nias. The little church in Botalakha is continuing to work on their building. They call me regularly to tell me how the ministry is going. Pastor Arohati and his folks in Hilifalago, Pastor Yawasa and his folks in Hilifalawu, and the little church in Hilidohono -- all hope I can help them with their buildings. Thanks to you folks and your faithful prayers, I try to help a little each month. Let's continue to pray and give.
          A special thanks to the folks at Kelview Baptist Church in Midland, Texas who gave a generous offering to help Pastor Andar and his folks in Batam with their building. God has blessed the work on Batam.
          The churches here in Jarkarta are doing good. Thanks to your prayers, Pastor Raso's church in Cileduk was able to overcome some community problems. In July, they invited me to speak at their anniversary services. The church has done well over the last year: good increases in new families reached with the gospel, good increase in missions and general giving, and a good increase in young people committing their lives to serve the Lord. Despite the community problems, the church has been running evening Bible school classes in their facilities. Lord willing, they plan to begin having daytime Bible school classes this next semester.
          I can't stop without telling you about the Cipulir church here in Jakarta. Once again thanks to your prayers, Pastor Pri and the folks at the Cipulir church have begun to heal from their recent church split. The church is doing fine. The Sunday school is growing and they continue to reach out to the community where the church is located.
          Last Saturday (11 July), Pastor Pri and the folks at the Cipulir Baptist Church hosted a fellowship meeting of the Independent Baptist preachers in Jabotabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang, Bekasi). Pastor Pri asked me to give a presentation on missions for the pastors. I presented a short presentation of how God used the first three Independent Baptist churches here in Jakarta to start about 50 churches that are spread over 12 Indonesian provinces and one foreign country. The presentation ended with a challenge of the tremendous work that the Lord yet has for us to do. The pastor's meeting lasted for 5 hours as the different pastors continued to challenge each other with the need to be serious about missions. Hey, we did break for lunch -- after all this was a group of Independent Baptist preachers!
          I do want to remind you that Janice and I plan to be in the States from September 2009 until April 2010. Lord willing, we hope to visit most of our supporting churches. If your schedule is full already, we still hope to be able to drop by each church and thank you for your faithful prayers and support. Hopefully, we can have an opportunity to share our ministry in Indonesia with you folks. You can contact me at tjcford@gmail.com  or 417-429-0398. If we already have a date with your church, a confirmation of that date should appear at the bottom of this letter.
          Janice and I are both fine. I faithfully eat my papaya leaves, drink my kombocha tea, drink my black strap molasses, and take large handfuls of vitamins each day. Janice looks on approvingly. She continues to tell me that I must outlive her!
          For your faithful support, both financially and prayerfully, we are thankful.

In Christ,

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