Southeast Asia: Indonesia
Discipline builds character
This school is special. One of the course goals is the development of character. When some students complained asking why the program is so tough, they were told that if they can’t make it through the year at school, how are they going to survive in more demanding field conditions? These young people are really getting ready to face the challenges of the fields. Maybe that’s why about 90% of those sent persevere until they succeed. However, the determining factor for success is their prayer life. Morning prayers start at 4:00 a.m. and everyone participates in them if they plan to continue their studies.
Prayer chain over the decades
Another feature of the school is the prayer chain that has continued for 39 years without a hiatus. It works on a 24/7 basis. During the course, the students are responsible for the continuity one student cell at a time.
Between annual courses, the school staff is responsible for the prayer chain. I was happy to hear that GNN missions and supporters were on the prayer list from the beginning!
Fasting Fridays during the course weeks train the students to be disciplined, and even before the course ends, everyone quiets down for a three-day fast. Then, for many, their own vocation is confirmed.
Iron sharpens iron, and man sharpens man …
Around the time of the pandemic, online Bible schools started to emerge in Indonesia. Everything has its advantages, of course, but virtual education, even if it is high-quality, cannot train character. And that is exactly what is needed behind the difficult connections in the demanding field conditions, where the young pioneers are sent like sheep among wolves. But they also have prayer support behind them.
Yes, also this school also used virtual learning during the restrictions. But when other schools closed their doors for a year, even then the students stayed at this school. Teaching continued within strict health regulations and the school was kept closed to outsiders.
What kind of conditions do the pioneers face?
Agus (31) was sent in 2021 to a village of the Dayak tribe on the southern coast of Kalimantan, Indonesia. The villagers are bound by shamanism, powerful witchcraft and tribal traditions. Outsiders are treated with suspicion and avoidance.
There he started from scratch. Now, through many difficulties, a small congregation was born in the village, which meets in rented premises. Agus is currently building a prayer room on the lot which he received as a gift. Along with the Sunday meetings, he goes around meeting those who have come to faith and tries to build relationships with the villagers.
Facing the power of witches
In the beginning, the village shaman used his witch powers to send Agus a painful and itchy rash. No treatment given by the doctor worked. After a couple of months of suffering, Agus remembered from the Bible how the prophet Elisha cleaned the spring by throwing salts into the water. He got an idea from that and threw a handful of salt into the bath water in faith. The prayer of faith helped. He recovered from his affliction and was able to resume his work.
Life threatened
A young man in the village hated Agus because he had evangelized his grandmother. In the end, he took a hunting rifle and went with a couple of his friends to shoot Agus while he was in the toilet. After hearing two “bangs”, Agus peeked out the window and started shaking. He realized he was being targeted by three men. They fired a third time and disappeared from the scene, thinking they had succeeded.
Miraculously, Agus was spared unharmed. After later encountering Agus alive in the village, they concluded that he had greater power than themselves.
The work continues
Despite the opposition, Agus continues praying that people will come to faith and that the church will grow as a witness to the villagers, who are bound by witchcraft and prostitution.
He was motivated by Acts 20:20,
“You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house”.
