Last night the grandfather and grandmother of Tomas (Ke’ & Ne’ Tomas) were here visiting. This dear couple have been tirelessly involved in the outreach ministry of our church here. They were excited to tell us about the progress in the outreach in the Tanang Paoh area. It used to take 13 hours to walk there but these days the trip is made in three or four hours by motor cycle over very muddy, nearly impassable roads. After several concentrated visits over the past years to train leaders in ministry, this group of around 300 people are finally ready to ordain leaders. Two men will be ordained as pastors and two as deacons who are already functioning in those capacities. The church is planning a special Bible Conference the end of this month to not only celebrate Easter, but also to carry out this ordination. It is a long process to train people from the simple jungle life style to the depth of understanding God’s Word needed to handle the responsibilities of a growing church.
Lest you think, "that’s impossible", remember we serve a great God of the impossible.
Ke’ Tomas himself is a product of that wonderful God. He was once a powerful witchdoctor in this area. He resisted the first efforts of people bringing the gospel. When his uncle became a believer, Ke’ Tomas asked him if he could have all of his witchcraft items since his uncle would no longer be using them. His uncle refused this request, and instead urged Ke’ Tomas to put his faith in the Lord for salvation. Ke’ Tomas and his good friend Ke’ Owen decided that they would begin to study the scripture with the missionaries and eventually came to understand their need of a savior and found new life in Christ. Since that time both Ke’ Tomas and Ke’ Owen have served faithfully as evangelists in the surrounding villages.
It was a delight last night to be caught up in his excitement over the newly translated book of Romans. This is the subject of several of the training programs around the Semandang speaking area right now. They have now spent several weeks teaching the book of Romans and have only gotten to chapter seven. Ke’ Tomas’ comment was, "there is sooo much for us to learn from the study of Romans." Can you relate to that joyful frustration?
Nita and I want to thank you so much for your partnership through prayer for the Semandang churches and the translation project.
Darcy continues drafting Luke and doing comprehension checking of Revelation. Pa’ & No’ Yut faithfully give their time each week to help with the drafting process and Oke comes from her village to help check Revelation. Her comments over lunch are incredible. She has read these portions in Indonesian but never understood them. She always gives us a good recap of the judgements that God is sending to try to convince people. Actually, I don’t think they are as clear in English for us as they come out in the Semandang translation.
Nita and I and Darcy will appreciate your prayers as we make our way to Singapore for medical check-ups. We are scheduled to be there a few days the last week of April. After that I will be involved in field leadership meetings and then some special meetings with our church leaders.
Thank you again for your partnership with us.
Joyfully in His Service,
Ron & Nita
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