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At the end of June, we set out for another outreach in Indonesia. For those interested in knowing more about what God did there this time, below is a series of Kaisa’s Facebook posts, which give a good overview of the whole outreach:
TORAJA
“The next couple of days I’ll be posting stuff from Indonesia where I just spent a month traveling and ministering in different locations. This first post is from a region and people called Toraja. PLEASE NOTE: SOME OF THE PICTURES ARE NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART! This tribe lives on the island of Sulawesi, high up on the mountains, and they’re known for their rather eccentric death cult and demonic traditions. These people keep their dead for long periods of time at their homes before they’re buried. Sometimes even for years. The burial traditions involve massive slaughtering of pigs and buffalos, and drinking their blood, which they believe will guarantee salvation for them in eternity. They put their trust in the shedding of the blood of these animals. One pig costs 1200€, one black buffalo 3000€ and a special white buffalo around 30.000€! And you need a whole lot of those in order to make sure your transition from this world to the next will be smooth and your destination pleasant… So dying is very expensive and everything in their lives revolves around death. All their lives, they need to save money for the sacrificial animals, hoping that they’ll have enough pigs and buffalos to make it safe to the next life when the time for them comes… But it doesn’t end there: they also keep bringing their dead out of the tombs once a year, clean the corpses, feed them, put on new clothes and celebrate with them. They feel obliged to do so till there are only plain bones left of the person. These people have no idea that Jesus came a long time ago, shed his blood, died for them and said “It is finished!” – and that in his blood alone there is eternal salvation, freedom and forgiveness of sin. There are no missionaries known to be working among this tribe… So that’s why we went and shared the message of the cross with them. By the grace of God, about 110 Torajas received the free gift of salvation, freedom and new life that only Jesus can give! We’re certainly going back there many times again in the future, and reach out to these precious people who so desperately need to hear the gospel message.”
MANADO
“After the time in Toraja, we flew to a city called Manado and ministered in that region for four days. In Manado area, majority of the people are Christians so we naturally concentrated on preaching at churches. The program was very full, and never have I done 4 FULL SERVICES WITHIN 24 HOURS after only three hours of sleep and having traveled in the car through the night before all this!!! But that’s part of missions. When we go, we work and we work hard! We’re not there to sleep! That you can do at home… And that’s where also the passages “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” and “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” become a proven reality!!!
Just to mention a few things, I again got to minister at the largest Pentecostal church in the city of Manado. They have five services every Sunday, and the sanctuary seats around 3.000 people being pretty much filled up every time. I was invited to share the word at their 7pm service, which is also geared more towards the youth and always full. I love this church and highly appreciate their leader, Ibu Yvonne, a strong woman in her 70s. This time, I also got to know an excellent translator, Nina, who was a true blessing for me that night, fully preaching along with me.
Another wonderful friend, Professor Paul David Saerang, had also invited me to share a word in his church, and it was a real joy and honor for me. He has a strong church with many young people!
Another, a rather spontaneous invite to speak at a special “Thanksgiving Festival” in Minahasa, in the outskirts of Manado, came in the last minute and I accepted it. After the service, there was a big buffet prepared for the whole congregation.
Apart from all the ministry, meeting good old friends, Roy and Chen, and staying at their wonderful home and enjoying their great company, hospitality and lovely family, made the stay in Manado very special and pleasant. Roy also invited me to come and minister to the crew of his cruise liner, which was a whole new experience for me. His 16-year-old daughter Erica, translated me and did a great job! Naturally, we also took a bit of time for just fun and relaxation and saw the sights of Manado, and outside the city, enjoyed some fresh coconut. And then it was time to leave Sulawesi and move on to Papua…Sadly, the photos of this post are nothing spectacular and I don’t have pictures from all the meetings…”
SORONG
“After very intense and blessed two weeks on the island of Sulawesi, we continued on to West-Papua. We first flew to a city called Sorong, where I personally have by now been several times, and where we work a lot as Mangapul and his family also live there. A team of four flew from Germany to meet us in Sorong and join us for two weeks. For all four, it was their first time in Indonesia and they loved it from the beginning on! Everything was amazing and exciting for them! Just before we arrived, it had rained heavily for some days and many streets and housing areas were under water. But when we came, the weather changed after the first day and since then we had sunshine every day till the end.
On the first day after the team arrival, we went early in the morning to pray and worship on the highest point in Sorong. The same afternoon, we visited a children’s home where we by now know the children well since we visit every time I come. These wonderful kids grow up so fast and now most of them are already teenagers.
The next day was a Sunday, and we ministered at our pastor friend, Rudi’s church in Sorong. Caren shared the word and Tabea gave a testimony. It was a 4-hour service with great worship and communion. We loved the worship and how kids were involved in everything. After the service, they had baptism in the ocean just across the street. What a wonderful start for the outreach in Papua!
In Sorong region we did two large children’s events. One of them was a city-wide event with about 400 kids. It was wild and loud and the kids had a great time! At the end, there was a time of worship and it was really touching to see the children so deeply moved by the Holy Spirit. No one told them what to do. Their response was totally authentic as you can see in the photos.
The other event we held outside Sorong, about a two-hour drive away from the city, on a palm oil plantation where many kids permanently live with their parents who work there. The ride there was quite an adventure and for our car it was a real challenge at some points where it got pretty muddy but we made it there and back safely. About 100 children came and we did a full kids program, which was a blast in a place where they normally have nothing for children. There was laughter, joy, singing and dancing as you can see in one of the clips.
At the end we showed them a great children’s movie about forgiveness. They all loved the movie and you could have heard a pin drop when the kids were watching. Every child got a balloon figure and a little present at the end before they went back home. Papuan kids are so precious and have a special place in our hearts! We just so love them!”
MANOKWARI
“Part of the outreach was a two-day stay in Manokwari, a city further out in West-Papua, about one-hour flight away from Sorong. I had received an invite to do an open-air evangelistic campaign there. A little over hundred people gave their lives to Jesus during the two nights.
We also ministered in a prison and also there about fifteen people wanted to make it right with God and get saved. In that prison, many of the inmates were already believers and had gotten saved during their sentence there. The time of worship with these wonderful men and women was fantastic and so touching! We got to encourage and build up the faith of those behind the bars. This was one of my highlights.
On Sunday, we ministered at one of the local churches. Andreas and Tabea shared the word and I gave some words of knowledge. During our free time, we took a boat trip with our wonderful hosts to an island, where the first missionaries arrived in the 19th century and brought the gospel to Papua. These men were Germans, and they are still today well known and honored all over Papua.”
TEMINABUAN AND RAJA AMPAT
“This is now my last post from Indonesia. Outreach is not just hard work, it’s also a lot of fun between the long and hard days. We took time to enjoy a jungle river and a natural “whirlpool” in Teminabuan where we also ministered, and at the very end of the whole trip, we traveled to Raja Ampat and spend two days there just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful nature.
Papua is breathtakingly beautiful! In Raja Ampat, there are no tourist groups or noisy crowds, no trash lying around – just the clean and pretty much untouched nature. They call it the last paradise on earth… and I see why.”
This is what the team members have to say:
“After two years of Crosswalk Bible School training, my husband and I participated in a three-week mission trip to Indonesia. It was wonderful to see God’s kingdom grow in a totally different. I was particularly moved by our visit in a prison, where we were allowed to bring the Good News to the inmates, together with the local pastors. The Holy Spirit touched so many hearts there. Already the worship time in this sad place was incredibly moving. It was as if the sky had opened up and come a little closer. We sung, clapped, danced, waved, cheered …, there was such a joy in their praise, almost indescribable. After the message, many people were very touched and came forward to the cross and we were allowed to experience the following up close in prison: Where the light of God falls, darkness must give way!! The presence of God was so tangible and after this visit we all felt richly blessed by God.
I am very grateful to God that we were able to attend this mission trip in West Papua, Indonesia. We have gotten to know a wonderful country with its happy and valuable people. To worship God at night in the dark jungle in some “bush community” with many Indonesian and Papuan brothers and sisters was a very special experience. What a great God: no language barriers – he sees our hearts, beyond all cultural differences! God has opened my heart to the many different people in this world through this journey and I am very grateful to him for his faithfulness to us, which he proves again and again. This mission trip will probably be remembered for a long time.”
“Those who get to know the country and its people through the preaching and teaching ministry, have experienced more than any tourist after 30 years in the same place. That’s how I experienced it during our mission in Indonesia / West Papua. The way the people encountered us was very touching and I really appreciated the “take it easy” -mentality. Great people, great country, great time. ”
“The outreach in Indonesia was a big highlight for me. Most of all I was enthusiastic about the passion and dedication of people in praise and worship. Also discovering God in the breathtaking creation kept astonishing me again and again. Every day was a special day, and what could be nicer than preaching the gospel and seeing how it has the power to save and change lives ”
We thank everyone who prayed for us or financially supported us during this time. Your prayers and giving has truly made a lasting difference. You share in everything that God did during the time in so many different lives. Through your giving and your prayers you have sowed a seed for yourself, and that seed will yield a harvest for you in the age to come. What a wonderful time it was indeed, so many lives changed, so much impact, so many big and small blessings we were able to give on and that way build God’s kingdom in Indonesia. We are truly humbled by it all and deeply thankful to God for having given us this great door of opportunity in this nation. We’re already planning the next outreach and would love to take you along!
Would you want to see God use you and your giftings to make an eternal difference in someone else’s life? If that’s you, stay tuned for more information concerning the upcoming outreaches in different nations in 2018.
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