October 5, 2002
From Indonesia

Dear Praying Friends--

Greeting from Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. I have been here for a week and have again been touched by the stories and lives of the brave saints of East Indonesia. I am here with an 11 person team from Taree, NSW, Australia. We have had some awesome times together this last week. I am learning a new foreign language--Aussie. We have had a fast paced schedule--totally full of "God moments".

The following are highlights and updates of the efforts here. I want to encourage you to keep praying for the situation here. It has been nearly four years since the attacks against Christians began in this region--and we still are receiving reports of attacks and destruction. Thanks for your partnership in prayer. Keep lifting your voices.

More Attacks in North Maluku--four Christian villages were attacked a week ago on the Island of Morortai. This brief report is a call to keep praying.

A Tribute To The Eleven--the mission team from Taree, NSW, these Australians have been such a blessing to the refugees they have touched. I can't say enough about what God has done to and through them.

Lepers Worship Too!!!--it was a special night of worship among the afflicted lepers as we all forgot who and where we were. We were just worshipers together doing what worshipers do--lost in the wonder and praise of a great God.

Feeding of the 500--this is a joyous story of Jehovah Jirah. A God of provision hearing the cry of the destitute. IFC got to be the delivery system the Lord used.

Agus--one of the "least of these"--this little boy is a six year old orphan that got into all of our hearts.

Ester and her disciples--Ester is the director of the clinic and is training 14 future medical staff. She has energy, endurance, and patience that are all divine gifts. She is greatly loved by the refugees she treats and the students she is teaching.


More Attacks in North Maluku

Reports have come to us from a remote region of North Maluku about attacks on four Christian villages. The attacks on the Christian population of this region have now gone on for nearly four years. The efforts of the government to bring stability and safety have been stymied by regular attacks on Christian villages by jihad soldiers sent to rid the region of the infidels. There were no deaths in the attack on these villages on the northern edge of the island of Morotai. Their home have been burned to the ground and 300 of the villagers have fled to the Christian refugee camps in Tobelo on North Halmahera. There are some 50,000 plus refugees in Tobelo. Tobelo has had a number of threats and small incidents over the last three months. Large caches of weapons have been confiscated among the Muslim population. There still remains much uncertainty about the security of this region and the recent attack on Morotai heightens the uncertainty. Please pray for these families who have now lost everything and are now seeking refuge in Tobelo.

A Tribute To The Eleven

Have you ever heard of Taree? I had not until just this March. I was in Australia sharing with churches the stories of the persecuted saints of Indonesia. I spoke all around New South Wales. I did a radio interview on a Christian Radio station in Newcastle. When the interview was broadcast a truck driver was tuned in and called his pastor and told him about it. That pastor, Ed Trotter, met me at one of the churches I spoke at and we had an immediate connection. Ed was the Associate Pastor of Manning Valley Church of Christ in Taree. I got a call from him and was invited to speak at their church. I met Glenn and Felicity Hodson the pastors of the church just before the meeting began. What happen that night will be in my memory for ever. We had a time of intercession following the service that was such a tender and broken time. We all wept, repented, and groaned over the sufferings of the Indonesian saints. We prayed for around an hour and then a peace came. We knew God had heard our prayers.

This church later contacted me about bringing a team to Manado. All my stories of the conditions didn't dissuade them in the least. A date was set and I met them here in Manado on Saturday, September 28. I have been spending all my waking hours with The Eleven form Down Under. I am learning to speak Australian. That means using phrases like--Good on ya! Ga Day Mate--all in one breathe.

On a serious side--I have been with some of the dearest and most compassionate people I have every served with. They spent 10 weeks preparing in weekly prayer meetings to come here. They had the heart of God when they came. They learned to sing a couple songs in Indonesian and some of the basic greetings. This team has two young men who are "full on" for God and a wonderful saint in the golden years of her life that is every bit as "full on" for God as the youth. The team was well organized and all the crafts, skits, and ministry were all A+. The ministry in the Word has been "spot on". Kindness and concern are the graces that join the ministry in the Word. Pastor Felicity has a way of making you sense peace and assurance. They are truly leaving a part of themselves here. I can't thank the Lord enough for the sheer joy of serving along side them. There is something going on in Taree. Don't be surprised if I go there for more of what they have.

Lepers Worship Too!!!

The Eleven and I went to a refugee resettlement site in the hills above the local garbage dump. We arrived and saw the many refugees--both young and old gathering for the service. The church fill inside and out. Many sat on benches around the outside of the windows. Then I noticed that these refugees had an affliction that deformed their bodies--these were not machete cuts or the scars of bombs this was leprosy. I have read about this in the Bible but had never touched a leper with my own hands.

God had made an appointment for me and the rest of the team. He was saying--do you remember what you prayed today about the steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord. Well welcome to the leper church. I like that about God--He says ready or not here it comes. We were about to find out what happens in a leper church.

The service was filled with glorious worship. The level of joy in that place just seemed to increase until we could not hold it back. There was a release--something broke and we all--Australians, American, and Indonesian were praising the Lord in elevated celebration. It didn't matter who we were or where we had come from--we were not a church with Western Christians and refugee lepers--we were simply WORSHIPPERS. I could see white hands raised to the heavens, I could see the deformed hands of these afflicted lepers raised in praise to the Lord. We shouted, we wept in total joy, we layed down burden and sorrows, and we were held in a divine moment. It was bliss. The pastor of this flock was so excited. He was contagious.

We got the humble privilege to pray for them before we left. We have a great God! Who loves to show up at leper churches. It wasn't the leprosy that attracted Him--it was the heart to worship. He seeks out worshipers.

Feeding Of The 500

Jesus fed 5,000 and we got to be the delivery system He used to feed about 500 desperate refugees here in North Sulawesi. These people are from a village that was brutally attacked and all these villagers were held for 20 months by their jihad captors. They had escaped and were now safe but still suffering. We found out about the most recent conditions facing these people. These 143 families had virtually no food and were suffering from the effects of malnutrition. The recent death of an infant and the hospitalization of others children was an alarm sounded.

IFC exists for a situation like this. Funds were sent and the food was purchased. The staff here in Manado made the arrangements for the food to be delivered. I wanted to be there when the food arrived. I wouldn't miss this for anything. The team from Taree and I witnessed the distribution of the food. It took us two trips at two different sites to deliver to all the families. When we told them that each family was going to receive a 50 kilo sack of rice they looked at each other in near disbelief. This will last a family for about one month. Along with the rice we provided powdered milk and eggs. The need they have is for better nutrition. The staff will deliver more food in the next weeks. We will be providing eggs and fish in those deliveries.

The cost of the rice was about $ 1,600 USD, another $ 800 USD for the milk and eggs, and about another $ 1,600 USD for the rest of the month--a total of $ 4,000 USD. That provides the basics for 143 desperate families for about a month for a cost of less than $ 30 USD--that is a dollar a day to feed a family. I want to thank many of our supporters for giving to this work. This is a credit to all of you and the generous way you have provided so we can meet needs of grateful refugee families. I will keep you posted on the situation with this group.

Agus--One Of The "Least Of These"

Agus (pronounced-ow-goose) is a six year old orphan who lives at the orphanage in Tondono. He immediately captured all of our hearts. His mother died in giving birth to him. He later lost his father and was brought to the orphanage by a relative. He could not speak Indonesian and would not eat anything for his first days in this new place. He has overcome the eating problem as we all witnessed. He is a little child with a face of a man. He is more than busy--going from one place to the next. He loves to sing almost as much as he loves to see himself sing on the playback on the video camera. He sang all the songs with great gusto--all his heart. He is one of those rare little gems. You see him going about and wonder if he might be in charge of the place. He knows everyone and knows how to handle each one of them.

The team from Taree had all the little ones make finger puppets. Agus leaned over the table as he cut and glued the felt to make his puppets. He was on task and could not be distracted. He made two smiling faces on his felt puppets. The first was a dark brown face with a blue crown. I wondered--What are you telling us little man? Agus paraded his new creations around the room one on each index finger.

Later in the day he blessed us all by singing the song--Shout To The Lord!. Here was an Irian orphan singing an Australian worship song in Indonesian with intense concentration. I wouldn't have missed that for anything.

Please pray for Agus and the other orphans from East Indonesia. Many are now alone because one or both of their parents have perished in the attacks and there are others who because of uncontrolled circumstances were abandoned. We said--Good bye to these children. We all knew we could have spent our whole time just in the orphanage. By the way--they get out of bed at 4:10 a.m. each day and are in bed at 9:00 p.m. with a two hour rest in the middle of the day. They do chores and have two devotions each day. These children are loved and well cared for. Remember what the Lord told us about the "least of these".

Esther And Her Disciples

Mercy is a dangerous gift to have. Esther Scarborough is the director of the medical clinic her in Manado where she and her students care for the sick and dying. She is both blessed and driven by a mountain size measure of mercy. Blessed because she is doing what the Lord has called her to do. She is showing compassion upon the afflicted. She is driven to help as many as she can and only has 24 hours in a day and is able to be in but one place at one time. She works hours that would make most of us drop in full exhaustion and she does it day after day.

In the morning Esther is training a group of 14 medical staff. She is assisted by a wonderful Australian couple, Alistaire and Ruth McKeown, who are as full on as she is. These are their disciples. Esther has a way of seeing potential in the lives of these young people. Her group is held to very high academic standards as she wants them to offer the best care that they can. All of these health care workers are refugees. A couple of them were captured by jihad and held captive for about two years. A sharp young man in her group has seen the beheading of his best friend and has fought as a teenager against the attacking jihad warriors. Esther is raising up this tattered lot to be mercy workers.