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?”

‘

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.

My Ruth

My Ruth!    The most wonderful gift that God ever gave me in this life – Sorry Mom, Sorry sons!    Yes, my mother is wonderful but there comes a time in life when there is an unexplainable push to leave and cleave with someone else.   And so God created my Ruth.

A couple years ago now but My Ruth looks even better today.

Recently, when Ruth was off to England to Celebrate the life of her beloved Nanny, Grandma Cox, I especially felt the amazingness of my wife.   The freezer was stocked to the hilt and I mean to the hilt – nearly took a strap tie to hold it shut.   There were nearly a dozen loaves of bread and at least a dozen entrees.   There was a breakfast idea’s list complete with all the exact instructions.    That’s especially meaningful to a man like me who is hopeless in the kitchen – Well not really, I just like being the Dame in Distress or the Lad in Limbo in the kitchen.   Or then again ask the boys about the time when dad confused the all purpose flour for gluten flour.   That made for some rubberized inch thick pancakes.   Now we know what they make bouncy balls out of.   Call it Home schooling Science with Dad.   Ok back to the subject!   My Ruth!!!! 

 

One of many lists of things we guys were suppose to remember while Ruth was in England for her Nanny’s memorial service.

My Ruth!   In her excitement to see her family, or was it her worry that dad/I would accidentally kill the family if I actually did pour the wrong ingredients together, Ruth had each of our favorites for breakfast ready on the day of her departure to England.   Hot cereal with peanut butter for me and a fruit smoothie --- Shh! don’t tell Ruth but even I can do that meal and not add gluten flour.   But I was impressed that Mrs “must leave everything in absolute order before a major trip” because “who wants to return to a messy house”, had the time to cook specialty breakfasts for her family of 5 men.   Come-on guys, eat your hearts out, I got the Prov 31 gal – Nah!  Nah! Nah! Nah! Nah!

 

Our fruit smoothie and my hot 8 Grain Cereal with peanut butter stirred in.   Now that’s a Breakfast.

At 5 a.m. I rolled over to let my Ruth know that it was time to start getting up only to find there was a void where she should have been. . . Wait she shouldn’t be gone yet!   I followed my nose to the kitchen.   “Honey why are you cooking more?  It’s 5 a.m.”

“’Cause I want to!” Ruth giggled.   “I can’t let my men starve.”   

“Don’t worry we won’t starve!    Do you realize how tall our freezer is?   Do you realize that we use to put a whole winters supply worth of foods in a freezer like that in America?   We aren’t going to starve.  Relax woman!   We’re going to be okay!”

But Ruth being determined as she is was worried about too much food in England.   So she went to her ‘boot camp’ work out at Hill Crest International school on the way to the Airport.   On the way to the airport, My Ruth,  ran up the “Hillcrest Mountain” several times and then did Sworkit (S-work-it) with her fellowess moms who are determined that “when you go on furlough Thou Shalt not return with the Furlough 15.”  15 pounds that is.    My philosophy is, enjoy it, cause when you travel like I do you’ll lose that furlough 15.   So bring on Grandma Joyce Draughns Banana Pudding or a few boxes of Little Debbies.   Extra sour cream, Please, on my Three 7 layer Taco Bell Bah-Reet-Toes.  But My Ruth is on a mid life exercise kick that has her lookin’ ummm!   Hmm! So fine!!!!!!

Relax woman!   We’re going to be ok. . . But I must admit, for a brief moment as I watched Ruth walk into the Sentani Airport at 9:00 a.m. that morning I thought,  “I sure hope you come back cause I don’t know what we’d do without you.   I sure love being the Dame in Distress in the kitchen.”   One blessing of being at the end of the food chain is that they don’t have Gluten Flour to screw me up in the kitchen.   Flour here is flour but my Flower keeps on blooming in my life – My Ruth.   Thank God she is back safe and sound!  My Ruth!

A brief moment of panic hit me as Ruth disappeared into the Sentani Airport hear our house.

Club Sehat–The Healthy Grocery Store Ministry

As I write I’m in Jakarta for several meetings.     I had some time yesterday and I decided to go look up a ministry I’ve heard a lot about – Club Sehat – or Club Health we’d say in English.    Club Sehat is the brainstorm of some Adventist businessmen who wanted to follow the counsel of our Adventist forefathers written over 100 years ago.   Here’s my paraphrase of that 100 year old counsel “In our Cities and in Resort areas let Health Restaurants with treatment rooms connected to it be started.   Let them be connected to our churches as centers of influence.    As customers come, the workers should be always be alert to the spiritual, physical, emotional and mental needs of those who enter the doors.   Offer classes on health, cooking and treatment, etc.”

I called my friend Pastor Kaleb Segala who graciously agreed to take me on a tour of Club Sehat.   The first of 2 stores we toured was the Club Sehat in Pluit (North Jakarta).   As we arrived I was impressed by a nice looking store front in a nice area of North Jakarta.   This is an old China town that has been majorly re-made into a modern area of mega malls and shopping centers, interspersed by high rise town homes and golf communities of Jakarta’s wealthy and mid-class people. 

As we entered the store the store manager met us and introduced us to the staff. 

4 or 5 full time employees work in this particular store.   In every store they always hire 1 or more pre-Adventists who’ve been touched by Club Sehats ministry and usually they will be a member within a year or two.   On first glance you think it’s just a health store.   But as you read nicely designed advertising you see up coming Seminars are “How to Prevent Cancer”, “Weight and Diet Management”, “The Best Diet” and “Heathy Exercise”.  

Then there is the large poster for the upcoming Club Sehat 2 week course in a Mountain retreat a couple of hours away from Jakarta.   “Oh, Cool, there’s a cool class coming this Saturday,” I think to myself, “Wish I could come.”

Second Floor

Then they take me to the second flour where they teach the classes.   It’s a simple room that seats 65-80.   “How full do you get here on Saturdays I ask?”

“Well when we do our teaching about Cancer we usually have over flow to the 3rd floor.  We have a closed circuit camera on the 2nd floor so we can project to the 3rd floor.”  

I quickly calculate in my mind.   “So you have 80 on the 2nd floor and how many on the 3rd floor?”

“Sometimes that many again.”  Ellen answers

One Section of tables on the 3rd floor where they have healthy food potlucks.

We go to the third flour where I see the cook school room and potluck room and the consultation room for when they do seminars.   The forth flour is still under construction but will house hydro-therapy and massage therapy rooms.   Man, Jakarta won’t seem so stressful when they get that built.

“So what does your Saturday services look like?”   I ask.

“We usually have Sabbath School first at 9:30 followed by a health teaser and then a sermon.   Then we invite the guests, which are usually double or more than our members, to eat a healthy potluck meal that we plan.   Then they can join us for the health lecture.   After the sun goes down on Sabbath night we open the store because often the guests want some ingredients that they’ve tasted in the healthy potluck.”  Ellen tells us.   “We sometimes stay afterwards and eat popcorn and fruit salad and play games.”

Me:   So have you had any that come back every week?   I mean that’s a long day!

Ellen:   Most. . . We collect their names and information all week as they come to the store and then we invite them on Fridays to come on the weekend for seminars or sometimes week night programs.   Club Sehat has grown so fast that we’ve started 5 in 5 years and 3 of our locations have become organized Seventh-day Adventist churches.  (Note: Pastor Segala tells us that no other ministry in the Seventh-day Adventist church in Jakarta has had this kind of success in growth).

Me:  So who comes?   Is this mostly Chinese Christians that we steal from other denominations or is this from Vegetarians in the city?  And how do they come to find out about your Club Sehat?

Ellen:  Let me answer your second question first.   We get on local radio stations, usually the government station, and have them interview us about health.   With millions of listeners its not hard to get people interested.   Now your first question:   We have a majority who are not going to any church when they first come to us.   There are Buddhists, Hindu’s, Muslims, Christians and some who are no particular religion or some other type of religion that maybe I forgot to mention.   If you want exact statistics we can tell you on our computer.    (We laugh) (Note: I’m not use to such scientists of souls here in Indonesia or anywhere for that matter.)

Success stories written on the wall.

Me:   Tell me a success story.

Ellen:  On the wall in the grocery store and on our web site www.clubsehat.com you can see testimonials.   There was one lady who came to us with Stage 4 cancer in her breasts, ovaries, back bone and neck. . . the Docs had given up.   But she heard us on Radio and looked us up.   We started working with her and within 4 months the cancer was seriously reversed – To God be the Glory.   She joined us and continues to live the healthy lifestyle that we advocate.   She has a tractotomy as her proof that the cancer was indeed so bad before.  She was one of our first customers back 5 years ago.   We worked together with a Doctor who prefers to practice prevention and we could watch her getting better.   This was an amazing miracle.    When the traditional Western Medicine had told her she only had a short time to live God did something to help us.

On the Forth floor will be a Hydrotherapy and Massage Clinic.  Its still being built out.

As I shopped the grocery store I couldn’t help but think. . . wouldn’t this be cool to have in Papua?   There were things like Flax seed and raw sunflower seeds and nuts of all sorts and whole wheat flour and then there were hundreds of little things that I have no idea what they were because I’m no cook. To you cooking sorts. . . next time you’re in Jakarta check out their amazing stores and ministry.   You can shop online and see what they have.   www.clubsehat.com  More Club Sehats are in the plans.

The Screenshot of where we were at the Pluit Store.

Attacked in Dempta

 

Dempta is the small port town that exports ships full of palm oil to the rest of the world.

We rode for 3 hours and went about 25 miles “as the crow flies” but about 60 miles as the road bounces.   If you look at my GPS we’re virtually back to where we began.   Dempta was our destination but the road to Dempta goes around the mountain and through the woods.   3+ hours of Rock-n-roll roads.   Just 6 inches of black top on top would have made this journey less memorable but 6 inch potholes make it highly memorable.   Then just 5 minutes before we arrived an elder from the Dempta Adventist church came zipping up the hill on his dirt bike to intercept us.   “Can’t come right now!   Police are everywhere.   They’ve done it again.”

“Who has done what again?”   I asked.

“The local churches from other denominations have banded against us.   They’ve torn our tent and decorations down that we had set up for the Ground Breaking.”  Said the elder. (The same happened last time we tried to come here for the Cornerstone laying Celebration.

“What’s going on now?”  Pastor Hugo asked.

“They are waiting on Pastor John Umbora (mission secretary) to come and talk with the head of police.”

Finally, Pastor John and his family arrived behind us.    As we rounded the corner we caught sight of the beautiful village of Dempta.

Getting closer to Dempta.   The day was windy and wavy.

We soon passed the site where we were coming for the ground-breaking and laying of the first stone for our new Seventh-day Adventist Church.   Police stood all around bearing machine guns.   “What has happened?” I asked not fully understanding the Indonesian that everyone was rapidly chatting in.

The Tent that was temporarily built for the Ground Breaking and laying of the Cornerstone Celebration was lying mostly on the ground.   Locals had come early and attacked the deacons who’d come early to wait for our arrival.   Police had been called and stood bearing machine guns all over the grounds of the Adventist’s land for our future church building.

“The area protestant churches have incited a band of thugs to stop our building of the church here in Dempta.   See the tent that’s torn down and the chairs thrown everywhere?”   Someone explained

We all sat in silence not sure what to do.   Pastor Arie Dien the Global Evangelism Coordinator from the Union asked for a place to go to the bathroom and I thought it was a good idea, too.   We’d been in the car for over 3 hours sloshing around at breakneck speed on “Rock-n-Roll” roads.   My bladder was full but where was there a private location.   Someone mentioned that we could go to the Police station and take care of our needs there.

We arrived and all the locals had gathered in force to be heard by the Head of Police.   Some had been brought in by force to share their opinion.   There were more in favor of the Adventist side than any others thanks in large part to the vast caravan of cars that had come to witness the Ground breaking and Cornerstone laying service.   There was representatives from the largest church in Papua.   A Parliamentarian from Papua’s Autonomous Parliament was present.   The head of the Education Department from the region was present.   The Adventist Mission Secretary who is originally from this booming town was present.   After taking care of mother-nature in the “very clean” police headquarters toilet I rounded the corner to see what was going on on the Head of Police’s front porch.

75-100 people stood surrounding the Head of Police’s office.   He has a big front porch for events like this.  Tensions filled the air.   Prayers were being whispered in small groups in the parking lot.

Soon the Mission Secretary, Pastor John Umbora, motioned to me to come sit beside him.   It was an honor to be seated in this impromptu hearing by the Head of Police.   The Secretary from the synod of the largest protestant church was shouting, “They can’t come to this town.   They’re not from here.”   Never mind the fact that not more than 50 meters away the Muslim Mosque blared the call to prayer 5 times per day.   Never mind that she was from another part of Indonesia entirely.   Never mind that the Adventist representative of Parliament was native to this tribe and she was trying to make a point that Adventist are not Papuan but outsiders.   Never mind that Pastor John Umbora the same position as the lady now shouting is born of this tribe.   Some of the locals said “Amen” to her.   But the wise Police Chief listened back and forth to both sides for about an hour.   The tension was high.

In the middle of one of the more tense filled speeches a gust of wind blew so hard that the bolt on the flag pole broke sending the flag pole crashing on to the parking lot.    “Clang-Clang-Clang” sounded the metal flag pole as it bounced on the gravel parking area.   Nearly everyone raced to see who might have gotten struck by the flag pole but amazingly it missed everything including a small 18 month old who was running right into the path of the pole when it fell.   His mother grabbed him up and cried her delight out that her daughter had been spared.   Now we all trudged back to the “hearing”.

When at last the Head of Police spoke he basically gave the speech that No church has the right to religiously oppress any other.   Indonesia is in theory a country of Religious Freedom.   One has the right to listen to the dictates of his or her conscience. 

Here’s my rough interpretation of this man’s passionate speech:   “Look at the Muslims they worship loudly 5 times a day and non of them are from Papua.   Look at you, your religion came by missionaries who came from outside like this pastor (pointing to me).   I don’t know him but we’re grateful for him.   I belong to your church (pointing to the leader who had been speaking against the Adventists) but today I want it to be known I’m embarrassed by my church inciting this illegal display of public demonstration against some of God’s people, The Adventists.   If you want to threaten anyone’s lives go do it someone other than here,  Not in Dempta,  Not in Papua, Not in Indonesia.   For this reason I declare my decision, On the Third full week of February the Adventists will be allowed to peacefully go about laying the first cornerstone.   You may ask, why the third week of February?  Because there are some who are threatening to shoot any Adventist who lays the cornerstone.   Give us time to find these crooks and deal with them in just ways and then you can come again for your celebration.   Welcome Adventists!”

The rest of the day went relatively peaceful with a prayer and food and a few dignitaries making speeches about the hope that the Adventists will build in Dempta and be a light to the surrounding village.

The lady in the Green uniform is the head of the local regions schools.   She hopes that one day Adventists can build a school in this community.

As we asked questions we realized there are several opportunities for our Adventists in this growing town.   1) We need to work hard to make good relationships with the local community churches.   Perhaps doing things like basic charity clinics together with them in their own churches.  2) Using the influence we have with the Parliament to reach some of the goals that the town has for itself.  3) Working together with our Adventist Doctor and nurses who work in the Local government clinic. 4) Friendship, Friendship, friendship.

Please, pray for our leaders in this new church that is developing in this small port town of Dempta.   Pray that despite the threats and attacks God’s work will grow and go to surrounding places.

Behind Every Good Pastor stands a Great Wife

Behind Dwight Nelson stands Karen. . . Behind Dr Derek Morris stands Bodil. . . Behind Mark Finley stands "Tinnie" (Earnestine).   But what about the rest of us pastors are our women just as supportive?   Yes and even more important to us.

Recently at the ordination of the 9 Pastors here in Jayapura my attention was drawn to the fact that standing 2-3 paces behind the ordination candidates were 9 women.   Many of these women have moved many times in support to difficult places in support of Pastors whose mission is constantly in a state of move.

9 Pastors wives stand as the Prayer of ordination is prayed over their husband Pastors.
There are very few callings or jobs in life that are more publically scrutinized than that of being a Pastor.   Frankly, if it were not for the calling of God most of us would find something far less open to peoples opinions to do for work.   You can finish working a 80 hour week and then find someone who says,  “Pastor I don’t know why you Never returned my phone call this week.   Honestly the last pastor was way better. . . he came to see my Grand-Nanny 3 times a day 8 days a week for the last 590 days of her life.”   (exaggeration intended for emphasis of the point). 
  
Dr/Pastor Bruce is backed by his wife, Dewi, who has moved with him for the past dozen plus moves.
So how do we Pastors make it through all the criticism and stressors of living in the public eye?   By God’s grace!   And in God’s grace he gave us a wife. . . who sometimes has to sit quietly by watching as the members verbally beat on us.   Sometimes she knows we deserved it yet she still supports us.    She is the fill in Pastor when we are called away for the Wedding, Funeral, Baby Dedication, Evangelism Meeting, Board meeting, Committee Meetings, Conference or Mission office, Youth Camping, Church building project, Baptism and countless other things that we preachers do.    She does all that while dealing with our sick kids and answering our phone calls and planning the social that should be planned by someone else but they decided “they aren’t going to do anything this year because they are needing to take a break.”
Pastors wives keep us Pastors going.   Without them we’d be non productive.   Pastors wives cook our favorite meals before that high stress event and then consul us after that high stress event doesn’t go as well as we’d hoped for.   Pastors wives have to give us that helpful challenge to our prideful selves that will keep us from getting to high on ourselves.

Mrs Dike (with the Mic) gives a charge to the pastors wives.
But enter the Pastor and his wife from the third world. . . They take the meaning of “behind every good man stands a great wife” to a new level.   I’m use to Pastors being able to stay in his district until God impresses him that its time to talk to the Conference office about a potential move.   But here, often with the first complaint from a church member, the Pastor is moved.    One retired pastor moved 36 times in his 40 year ministry.   That’s even more amazing when you consider that his last 5 years were spent in 1 house.    He and his wife had 4 children and 2 of them died while he served in a remote location where there is no phone service and then his wife died while he was taking a boat down river to try to get help for burying his children – Malaria.   He eventually remarried and as I talked with him he said, “Thank God for a Great wife but why did my first wife have to die?   That was probably the lowest I’ve ever felt in life.   I was feeling low about loosing my 2 youngest children but when I learned my wife died I just wanted to die myself.”
These Pastors wives have to be ready to move with only a day or two notice and often to locations that have no consideration to the needs of their family at the particular time.   Through giant waves and torrential tropical downpours.   Having to feed every guest who decides that He’s out of food, ‘So lets just go to the pastors home’ to dealing with disgruntled members.   She is the wind and sometimes even the wing that keeps the pastor going.   Pastors wives house hundreds each year as they pass by their house.   They give and give and give and get little in return.    Thank you ladies for your incredible support to your husbands and for keeping his head high even in stress-filled times.

As for this pastor.  I know that without my Ruth I’d be Ruth-less.