Fabulous view of the Bird of Paradise bay on the way to Ransiki
Never before have I been surrounded by so many Cocoa trees in my life. But as we traveled the approximately 3 hours by four wheel drive truck to Ransiki 117 km south of Manokwari in West Papua we passed cocoa trees for more than 50 Kilometers of that trip.
Ransiki is a sub-district of the Manokwari regency. The government has slated Ransiki to be come a district of its own in 2015. Chocolate is its number one crop. Lots and Lots and Lots of chocolate. When you eat Chocolate think to pray for Ransiki
Along the side of the road people place the cocoa (Chocolate) beans out to dry in the sun.
While Chocolate is in abundance in this region and people number 7,700+ -- Adventists are few – eight to be exact. But those eight have banded together to seek to share and expand. We’ve placed two volunteer missionaries in this area. Its an area with about 10 unique tribes non of which know about Adventism.
Volunteer Missionaries who have worked for the past 10 months in Ransiki
Our Volunteers have prayed with hundreds of people every day in the Ransiki town. Their ministry has been mostly with Children. Teaching children to read and write. Teaching them to love Jesus. If you notice in the picture above their students eagerly look on in the side ground.
In the late 1990’s a retired Soldier, Mr Rumander, who had served in both the old Dutch East Indies Army and in the Indonesian Army decided to retire to his birth place of Ransiki. During his years around Indonesia he had learned of the Seventh-day Sabbath and had become an ardent spreader of the Gospel of Jesus. He has prayed for years that an Adventist church could be established in his home place. In 2003 a church plant was launched in the small home that is located in the picture below. Today, there is a group of 8 adults and approximately 10 children trying to reach 7,700+ people.
Key People in this picture: Left most = Pastor Arthur who leads from Manokwari, Mr Rumander stands to the immediate right of Pastor Arthur.
This is the project of the Sanggeng Adventist church in Manokwari. Manokwari is the capital of the West Papua province in Indonesia. The Sanggeng church sacrifices nearly 1/4 of its Church Budget to pay for the two student missionaries who have been working in Ransiki.
Mr Rumander has promised a nice piece of land located next to the current home that is being used for the church. On this land he hopes we can help find sponsors to help them build a Jungle Chapel, School and Pastors home. He is praying that someone can come that will help lead them in becoming knowledgeable in health ministry and leading young people to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
We dream of having a full time pair of workers who can build a school, church and workers house in this region of Chocolate. So the next time your tempted by that Chocolate bar as you check out at the Grocery store – say a prayer for Ransiki and if God should convict donate for a full time worker, a jungle school, church and pastors house in Ransiki. Think Chocolate Think to pray for Ransiki.
For those who like to look at GPS on google earth or other such maps The above is my GPS screen shot.
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