No Money, No Gas, No Fruit, No Phone

Bank BRI and Bank Papua both have ATM’s but both were “out of Money” both inside and at the ATM in Bade

Bank Papua in Bade actually closed its doors until money could be shipped in.

We made plans to go to Bade and simply use it as a base to visit Amk and Kepi.   We made provision to bring enough gas so that we could rent a boat and go up river to Amk to drop our Global Pioneer who will be working for the next 3-5 years in planting an Adventist Church and school in Amk/Sengge.    Turns out we seriously underestimated.   We needed 15 more liters than what we brought.   So we had to beg, borrow and promise to get enough fuel to return to Bade from Amk.

To make the trip more interesting when we stopped to get fuel the boat was clearly leaking more than a little.   So we took turned bailing water.

Who needs a bilge pump when you can bail?

Upon returning to Bade after dropping our worker in Sengge we made straight to the bank knowing we’d need more money since we had to pay a premium to buy gas from passing boats on the Digal river.   We’d siphon a liter here and pour 4 liters from there each time spending our available cash.   We actually had enough gas back in Sentani but in an effort to lighten the airplane load we put part of our gas to be brought for our pick-up flight.   Our thinking back then was that we’d just buy enough in Bade to fill in the gapes.

At the bank I tried every Debit card I had but no money would cough itself out of the machine.   No matter how sweet I tried to talk to the machine it just wouldn’t do it.    It was after hours so we just went around back and woke the banker up and asked why the ATM wasn’t working.   “Oh you can only get a small amount out at a time.”   But that failed too.   Finally Pastor Rellely got 50,000 RP (approximately $5 USD) out.   Evidently that was the last $5 to be had.   The next day the machine wouldn’t do anything.   We each were spending the last of our money just to eat.

Then the cell phone signal just quit for no apparent reason.   There was no bad weather. . . no loss of electricity. . . just No signal.

I went to the market and there was plenty of “Catch of the Day” fish and even deer meat but No Fruit!!!!!!!   Only a few cooking bananas and lots of various types of roots and sweet potatoes but where was the fruit?????   No Fruit.   How’s a Vegetarian suppose to eat without Fruit.    Finally we found some green oranges which in the tropics are usually quite delicious but when we opened them up we discovered they were large unripe lemons.   No edible Fruit.  

No Money, No Cell Phone, No Fruit, No Gas.

We prayed and finally after a good nights sleep the Gas ship came in but the rations were no more than 10 liters of gas per person per every other day.   We needed 60 liters and had to leave now if we were going to make it back in time for Friday’s pick up with Pilot Bob Roberts from Adventist Aviation plus we needed money. . . On the same ship as the gas came the money.   The money was carried in a simple pull along suit case.  There was the person to pulled the money around followed by a soldier with a fully automatic machine gun and then a security officer to make sure that neither the “puller” or the “soldier” worked together to heist the money.   I noticed that each of the three were from different tribes to insure there were no inside jobs done with the money.

We waited a few minutes for them to load the ATM machines and then we went to give it a try.   But they informed us that the machine doesn’t work until the Cell Phone signal is working.   Ah!  Man!    For crying out loud!   We prayed and in another 30 minutes my phone beeped signaling I had a text message which meant the cell phone tower had been restored to its former glory.  

Off to the ATM machine and I punched in the codes and eureka I was able to pull out the daily maximum for this city which is 700,000 Rupiah ($70).   Now what?   Our Hotel was going to cost us more than that.   Don’t freak out just call my secretary and get her to send an envelope of money and we’ll pay our bills that way.   We finally managed to cobble enough money together to leave Bade with no personal debts.   But next time I think I’ll bring a Sat phone and a shipment of Mangoes and a barrel of gas together with a good size piggy Bank so we can survive.

Then again I did notice this Mango tree where every one stood to get out of the blistering heat just outside Hotel Auyu (in the background).   Maybe in just need to time my next visit with Mango season and come on the ship because with it comes Money and Gas.

Bade–The Frontier Town to the mighty Digal River

Bade started as a small trading post along the mighty Digal River.   The Digal’s drain basin starts from high in the mountains more than 500 river kilometers to the north of Merauke, Papua.    Each day some 5 meters (16 feet) of tide pushes up the river for several hours and more than 50 miles inland.    The water changes colors daily as the water flows out to sea on the low tide cycle its seriously red and silt filled.   If you dare to taste the water during the low tide phase it would be salt-less.   But as walls of water rush back in from the ocean some 30 miles away the Digal gradually changes from reddish to dark blackish as mangrove tar is mixed with salt water and red silt-filled river water.

Termites, barnacles and a rapidly changing tide and massive tropical downpours formed the “perfect storm” to end the life of this small wooden ship on the Digol river at Bade’s water front.

In the late 1990’s a soldier from the Indonesian army prayed he would note be assigned to Bade.   Why?  It had no phone and no bank and very little shopping but that was Not the reason he prayed he would not be assigned to Bade.   He prayed not to be assigned to Bade because he knew he would be 2 days by ship from the nearest Adventist Church.   But the day came when all the soldiers in the officer training class were given their assignments for managing the posts in remote locations along the south coast of Papua province Indonesia.   He found his name written under the post of Bade.   “Why me?   Why Bade?  I will be alone without my family and without my church family and with many temptations.   How can I make it?”

This soldier moved to Bade and began keeping Sabbath faithfully in his home but completely alone.   One Sabbath it occurred to him that if there were ever to be an Adventist Church in Bade he would need to buy the land and donate it to the Adventist church. . . He expected that the leaders in Jayapura would be thrilled to learn that free land was being given to them when he procured all the documents and paid the last payment for the land.   He expected that someone would come see him and make plans for a Global Pioneer missionary to be sent but because there was a change in leadership at the mission office and then this soldier was reassigned to the main post in Merauke this land document sat in a file cabinet until not long ago when one of our workers in the mission office commented/asked, “Why do we have land in Bade but no church?”

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We hope that on this hill can be built the Bade Seventh-day Adventist Church and school.

On April 1 Pastor David Rellely and myself together with Mr Masak Waramori landed in Bade thinking it would be a small village with a few hundred people, based on the report the soldier made  from when he was there.   But to my surprise I discovered there were 2 banks, a large port for ocean going ships to dock at, more than 100 stores and businesses, government district offices, a Hospital, a hotel and cell phone coverage.   The airstrip had recently been paved and they built a terminal and now have 2 flights weekly from Merauke scheduled with Susi air plus the normal charters that come in as needed.   Large ships (300-400 foot long) bring supplies either direct from Surabaya or Merauke.   These ships ultimately go to Tanah Merah several hundred river kilometers to the north.   From Tanah Merah (Red Land) planes take things to remote villages in the mountains.   Roads are being built into many of these mountainous areas and prices are falling as a result.

A large ship plows by on the Digal River

If we were just now buying land it would cost us nearly 10 times what it did back then.   At present there is only 1 Adventist Family that is native to Bade.   They have to travel nearly 100 Kilometers by boat to get to the nearest church. 

Even with all the above information somehow non of us thought of the need for a permanent church in Bade. . . But God had other plans.   First we ran out of fuel and couldn’t buy enough to go to the next location.   Second, we went to the bank and both banks were “Out of Money”.   We tried every ATM card that we could find and indeed they were out.   Third, because we had all this time on our hands we went walking around this out post town and discovered where the soldiers donated land was.   It was located on the highest small hill in the city which is very important when your located on a place that is subject to flooding.   From this hill you can see all the town and you can see the airport and river.   Though I didn’t make the trip to the top of the hill because it appeared to be tall grass which is perfect home to pythons and other snakes.  

Surrounding the “Adventist” hill are local people who are all relatives of the 1 Adventist, Mr Amos Ndiken.   He has tried to share his faith with them for years and they know it but they keep asking, “When are you going to get your church interested in coming here?”

Pastor David Rellely, with the tan baseball cap hat, gives counsel and prays with the man in the red shirt who appears to have diabetes.   One drink of herbal tea had this man going again.

As we prayed for various members of the family we found many who were sick.   Pastor Rellely remembered from a class on herbal medicines taken a number of years ago various tree leaves that needed to be boiled into an herbal tee and then drunk for cures to the ailments of the people.   One man was suffering from what appeared to be diabetes to me but after just one treatment with these herbal medicines he was up and around without even a complaint.    Another man appeared to have severe malaria and we got him to the hospital and on malaria medicine and he was claiming we were miracle workers. 

We left Bade with the feeling that we needed a base church and middle/high school to support our new work in the Auyu tribe.   This will be an expensive undertaking for the Papua Mission as it will cost higher than normal to build a church and school and pastors house in this remote post due to transportation costs for materials.   We’re still calculating the costs and seeking donors who can help partner  with this project.

Perhaps you would like to adopt this project as your sister church or partner with several churches to help reach the more than 5,000 citizens of Bade.

Sunset from the middle of the Digal River over looking Bade.

One TV Station. . . Could we one day have some services on this station?

Children come running to the airport terminal to see what plane is here on a non-flight day for the twice weekly flights.

Many of the old streets in Bade are like this because of the swampy conditions.  Open sewer ran under these board walks.

Amk–Sengge 2 whole villages want to become Adventists

Along the mighty Digol River in the Papua province of Indonesia on the Island of New Guinea are 2 villages called Amk and Sengge.    Born into Amk was a boy by the name of Amos Ndiken.   Amos, like all other boys in Amk,  was highly active and curious.    Amos father taught him to fish with his bow and arrow or a net by the time he was age 7.  He knew how to build a fishing net from vines and later from nylon before he was 11.    As a boy the Indonesian Government sent teachers to start a school in the 1970’s.  He eagerly studied and distinguished himself above the rest as a brilliant student.   The teachers soon suggested that Amos be sent to a city to learn more.   Amos went to Manokwari in what is now the West Papua province capitol city.    He soon entered the “Best” school he could find which was our Seventh-day Adventist Kindergarten through High School.   

Amos Ndiken is the one coming out of the front of our hired long boat.

He eagerly studied Math, Reading and Writing but he was best at learning languages of which he eventually mastered English, German, Dutch, Indonesian and Pigeon in addition to his native Auyu language.  He especially enjoyed the Bible classes because in them he chose to make Jesus his Lord and Savior.  In time he was baptized.   After graduation from High School he began working for a Korean Logging Company that specialized in making plywood.  He never forgot his Adventist roots.  Even though he was sometimes 300 Kilometers from the nearest Adventist Church he would worship each Sabbath in his home.   His job moved him to Bade about 25 miles by river away from his native village of Amk.   Eventually he took an early retirement and still lives in Bade.   Today, Amos goes regularly to share Bible studies and to teach how to practically live what the Bible teaches to Amk.

About a year ago I heard about a village somewhere in the far south that had heard about the Sabbath and wanted to become Seventh-day Adventists.   I even saw a proposal that the Adventists come and build them a school, a hospital, an airstrip, a church and more.   In my heart I couldn’t decide whether these were people who were truly converted or just wanted things for nothing.   For a variety of reasons I couldn’t accompany anyone to this location.

In early January 2014 the Papua Mission decided to send a Global Pioneer (Bible Worker) to Amk where Mr Amos has been seeking to get our attention for a long time.   Amk has been divided into 2 villages now.   Those believing in the Seventh-day Sabbath moved to the new village Sengge

On April 1 we flew from Sentani with chief pilot Bob Roberts from Adventist Aviation and Pastor David Rellely Papua Adventist Mission Director of Global Evangelism and Ministerial and Mr Masok Waramori Director of Education for Papua Adventist Mission.   Accompanying us was Fernando Krey and his wife Marie and their son -  David.   They are our missionaries being placed in Sengge.

Marie (mother), David (son) and Fernando (Dad) Krey our Global Pioneer Missionaries going to Amk and Sengge in the Auyu Tribe along the Digol river.

Fernando and Marie Krey have been Global Pioneers before in another place.   They are faithful workers with a passion to reach souls for Christ.   Pastor Rellely has been to Amk before and held evangelism meetings in which 19 were baptized.   They built a small jungle church to worship in but even now the termites are taking this church home apart.   Mr Waramori was along to get information to make a proposal for a school.   I was along to help write proposals for the Krey’s and to seek donations from readers like you for funding for this important project.   Pastor David Rellely was along as the boss for the Krey’s.

On April 2 we found a boat that would take us the 26 river miles up the Digol River from our base town of Bade where Bob Roberts had dropped us off.    We loaded our fuel and off we went for a “two hour trip”.   Two hours came and went.   Three hours came and went.   Finally after four and a half hours we make it.   A small 40 HP engine pushing a 50 foot Long Boat is not the most efficient.   I checked our fuel.   We had used more than half.   Not good!    how were we going to get home?

We walked off toward the village and soon met a man and his wife and kids,   She was working in the garden between breastfeeding her baby and tending to the needs of more than 1 toddler.   Father had been digging out a new log for his dug out that will take probably 3 months of continuous digging to build.   The hard part about dug outs is that they have no preservatives and therefore only last 3-4 years in these brackish waters near the south coast of New Guinea near Manokwari.

We soon found the path leading all the way into Sengge.   We found some excited children and mostly women in the village as the men are either working at the nearby plywood factory or they are busy hunting deer meat or fishing or gardening their sweet potatoes.   Marie soon unpacked a pan or two and sent a new found helper to get some water for cooking lunch. 

The delegation of men and pastors from the mission and me went around to check about the future of this project.   We saw their simple church. . . We saw the future home of the Kreys. . . We saw the water source for the village.   We calculated the best place for a future school and church and the length they would need to clear if an airstrip were to be built.

The Current Seventh-day Adventist Church Structure that is being quickly eaten by the termites.   You could literally hear them eating if you were quiet inside the building.

I made lots of notes.   We need Money for: 1) a Church, 2) a school, 3) a small engine for a dug out boat to support the Krey’s. 4) a house for the Krey’s  5) a chainsaw for clearing the airstrip and making lumber for the church and school.    Of course we could continue to build new native material churches and schools from now until heaven comes for relatively cheap but soon ones heart grows weary in racing against the termites.    So for that reason we’ve decided that if we can help raise the funding we’d like to build a cement, metal and hard wood structure for all of the above listed buildings.   We’re still calculating all the costs so stand by for news.

About a year ago Pastor Rellely was able to come to Amk and hold an evangelism meeting that resulted in 19 Baptisms.   There are around 500+ living in Amk and Sengge and most of them are saying they belief the Sabbath is God’s special day and for that reason they want to join the Adventist believers each Sabbath in worshipping the Creator God who set Sabbath aside as a special day of Rest and a memorial to God’s Creative power.   They recognize that this same God rested in the grave on Sabbath and was resurrected as a sign that he can re-create us.    They discovered that the New Testament believers worshipped on Sabbath (Saturday) long after Jesus was resurrected back to heaven.   They discovered in the new testament that the sign of accepting the resurrection power was not worshipping on Sunday but rather baptism.   Today, the Krey’s are helping to prepare the whole villages of Amk and Sengge to accept this Seventh-day Adventist message.

Please, remember to pray for the people of Amk and Sengge and their whole tribe who are saying they want to follow God’s Bible Sabbath.   Don’t forget to uphold the Krey’s in your prayer.    They are 4 hours from the nearest cell phone service and in a Malaria infested swampy area.  Yet they willingly went.   We are planning to see them in October next but we hope to find donations for a small boat and motor and some money for fuel and oil soon so they can get out in case of emergency and can help spread this Adventist message to other villages.

GPS Coordinates of the Church in Sengge.   Amk is located more toward the lower right hand corner of this photo.