furnas ed louise 1973 indonesia

8/13/2019 Furnas Ed Louise 1973 Indonesia

1/6

T^rf^-^ -m:-- : .^ K ivv NEW TESTAMENT EVANGELISM....BRINGING LIGHT INTO DARKNESS

June 1973Dear Christian Loved Ones JUN 25 t973

Since we l as t wrote to you, we have real ly been on the move, l i tera l ly Havingcompleted our-formal language study and-init ial period of adjustment to this, verydifferent culture, we desired to locate v^ere the Lord could best use us.The Ritchey f amily joined Casses and Sigafooses in Central Java in December1972, while the Fish now on furlough) and Idnegarner families remained in Bandung,

West Java. V.hile thousands of vil lages in I.est and Central Java s t i l l have neveryet had Christian teaching, the two remaining areas of Java (East Java and the nationcapitol, Jakarta) were as yet totally untouched by our churches. Although both ofthose areas do have missionaries from various denominations, most of themin Jakartaare in administrative positions and not involved in actual Bible teaching, evangelism,or church planting. After much prayer we fe l t we should move to Jakarta.Jfe-ny of you know that we had prayed about moving to Central Sumatra ever sinceI made a survey tr ip there in October of 1971* However many doors seemed closed byproblems with existing churches there. Ive also realized that I would have to spendmuch time traveling between small, widely separated villages. Ety contrast, Jakar ta(present population estimated in excess of 5 million) is the most densely populated

a r ea i n Indones i aMongether positive reasons for choosing Jakarta as our base of operations werethe invitations extended to us by various area churches to come teach. To date, Iam teaching Chris tian doctrine couras within two churches. Both of these congregationshave branches that we will also begin serving in the near future. One of the branchesa Sunday school, is in our part of town (the Pejompongan area). I have asked themother congregation for the names of children attending this Bible school, with thei nt en tion o f cal li ng upon al l the families involved. Vfe vjant to invite th e adu lts toa weekly Bible stucly session with the goal in mind of them establishing a new congregation. This area now has only two churches, one Catholic and one Presbyterian. Outreach of the Presbyterian church is limited by i t s use of the Javanese dialect ratherthan the Indonesian language. Please pray that God i d.l l t urn this dream of extensive

Christian outreach in the Pejomongan distr ict into a real i tyAnother positive aspect of our ministry here i s tha t Jakarta is a s trategic pointfrom whidi contact with other islands can be made. Despite government transmigration

programs, the influx of persons from out er a re as i s a majo r cause of Jakarta* s populat ion increase. Almost every Indonesian t r ibal group is represented here. Also, peop]are regularly commuting to Jakarta from outer areas. Persons who become acquaintedwith Christ here may take the message back to loved ones or business associates onother islands. e don*t have any specific plans at present for making use of thesepossibil i t ies. But we hope God will lead us to persons and situations th at w ill helpus formulate definite p lans , goa ls , procediires, etc. in this regard.Apart from a direct evangelistic/teaching ministry, we can also be of serviceto our other missionaries. Jakarta i s the center for much of th e le ga l work tha t hasto be done between mission and government. V e can help the visa applications fornew missionaries move quickly (or even move at al l through the necessary red tape.Assis t ing with any necessa ry e r rands for o the r miss ionar ie s wi l l save them t ime-consuming (and oft times useless) trip s to Jakarta. We are also opening our home toout-of-towners w^ have business to conduct here. Certainly these activities takeonly a small poriSon of our time, but we feel i t is all part of a wonderful opportunit

tha t Christ has given us.


2/6

We^ve been host ing famil ies and individuals since our f i r s t week in Jakarta.Jean Comer left fo r furlou^ in late April, followed on May 10 by the Lew Cassfamily, who have completed five years of pioneer work here. All of us are here as aresult of I^w s efforts, so again we send our thanks to them. Casses furloughaddress is C O E. A Paxton, 2245 Olive Ave., Fremont, Calif. 94538i enjoyed thefellowship with Jean and Casses, as well as with our missionary families who came tose e them o f f

Then our most recent visitors from the States were ^Ir. and Mrs. Jim Smith andBob Maclean. Bro. Smith is director of Christian Missionary Fellowship and Bro.Maclean is a missionary recruit planning to return with his family in January 1974.Both were here to survey the mission situation with both our group and others also.We were thrilled to hear of new families with a vision for the work in Indonesia. Praythat God will hasten their coming, and that of others also. One prayer we familieshere are shying this year is that twelve missionaries will be recruited to &idonesiain 1973. Another of our prayers, for 200 new Christians and 4 new churches, has beenpartially answered by the baptism of over 25 people in a village near Salatiga, CentraJava. As far as we know, this is the first new Christian church begun here. This isan inspiration to all of us, especially to those laboring in Salatiga Praise God

In a few weeks you ll hear from us about more of the family details involvedin our move*

Isles-of- the Pacific^Chr is t ian MissionMr. and Mrs. Harold EasthamForwarding Agents ;Box 3Vermilion, I l l inois 61955

e -

God bless you as you l ive for Him,Ed and Lou is e F ur na sKotak Pos 27/K B Ykebajoran BaruJakarta, Java, Indones ia


3/6

A

Dear Friends and Loved Ones,

' ' ' /- - i ^ y;T>

f.'.~:iT:r=>'*-^.j.^r - ^ - y ^ NEW TESTAMENT EVANGELISM....BRINGING LIGHT INTO DARKNESS

1 7Augus t 1973

I.e hope most of you were able to attend the NACC l a s t month and t ha t as a resul tof the fellowship shared there you*re how even better equipped and more zealous toserve our marvelous Lord. Someone said the fe3J.owship was like a l i t t le preview ofheaven l.e look forv/ard to such reunions in *75, but until then, let*s help andencourage one another t o tell ll the world about Jesus

In our last two letters we*ve told you about our move to Jakarta and reasonsfor doing so. ow we'd like to acquaint you more thoroughly with theêaghingin which I ve recently been involved. I ve been teaching Qirist iîrine courses and occasionally preaching in two churches, both of which haveextensions in other areas in the form of other churches or Sunday schools. Our necrt.le t ter to you about the more discouraging of these two classes. Buta posiMvs: with the f i rs t of these, the3CLESIA CHRISTIPENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT CHURCff -

This is a wei].-established congregation, begun by the Dutch about 50 years ago.Thc^y have an avera,ge attendance.of almost 1,000 which is fairly equally divided into3 v;orship services. There are branch Sunday schools in five different areas ofJakarta as weJl as established churches in Bandung and North Sulaweei (island N E ofhere). Doctrinally, they are much the same as our churches, observing the independent status of the local chnrch and follcrwing the scriptural plan of salvation.Variations from our position would include their observance of the Lord's supper onlyonce a month and the fact that only four times a year do they hold baptismal servicesin which thoses people vho have confessed Christ during the past three months may beimmersed. Their Pentecostalism could only be described as very conservative andi s expressed in decency and in order .

Ive've asked ourselves why I m even teaching there, when i t seems that much ofthe mater ia l concerns things they already believe. In past letters we've explainedour reasons fo r try ing to work through already existing diurches. In addition, thefollov/ing two convictions have helped me in times of discouragement.First, we believe the leaderîp must be tau^t to express their beliefs clearlyand to pass this understanding on to the congregation (something they have failed todo). Furthermore, the eldership needs an awareness of its responsibility as spiritual overseers tha t wil l motivate them not to permit the people to be exposed toerroneous teaching sometimes delivered by guest evangelists) during the v/orshipservice, Khile these leaders are not swayed by such teaching, there s always th e

danger that members of the congregation who are yet babes in Christ could be ledaway from teadiings of the Bible. e would like to see ttiese elders develop enoughconfidence, determination, or whatever you want to call i t to safeguard theircongregation even a t the r isk of offending such abovementioned teachers. But avoiding offense i s a very i nt eg r al par t of thei r culture. e don t know th e answer tothis problem. . However, we've been encouraged that some of these leaders, includingthe minis ter, comprised half of the 10-12 students who attended ny weekly classtaught from Paul Benjamin's course on Christian Growth, vdiich began April 4. We'renow beginning a course on personal evangelism.Secondly, I think these leaders are an excellent contact to help us open anew church in the Pejompongan district of Jakarta, where they have a branch Sundayschool. Ive're thinking particularly of a man named Daniel Sukendra, now a sub-minister at Ecclesia Christi. Perhaps I should expla in the term sub-minister .The Ecclesia Christi congregation trains those aspiring to become teachers ormembers of the majalis (the equivalent of our elders and deacons) by assigning them


4/6

to observe and help the present teacjhers, elders, and deacons. All leaders, withthe exception of the preachers, learn entirely through this apprentice system. Thereis no printed material which they can use or can study to learn more about the purposor importance of their position or better teaching methods. In addition to completin,the above training, preachersto-be must also complete a ministerial apprenticeship program. During this time there are a few books that must be studied andmastered. Following this, the man is given a preaching post - i .e. , he is sentto one of their branch Sunday schools to begin teaching, leading and calling onfamilies. It*s hoped, but not required, that a new congregation will develop;Daniel plans to move into the Pejompongan area soon, so any church begun herewould have the benefit of his t raining. e is already dedicated to the lord s workin a specialized w3y but does not receive a church salary. e works in the repair

shop of a local company and spends his evenings for the church. However, Daniel seffectiveness might be fairly limited to people having a Chinese background, sincehe himself is a Chinese i?idoriesia.n, and therefore seldom well accepted by nativeIndonesians . But Daniel has proven himself att avid worker and one id.lling to learnand grow in understanding of God s word. Please remember this man and our relationship with him in your prayers. e appreciate your continued support and love. God bless you richly.

In His blessed name.

Ed a nd L ou ise R im a sKotak Pos 27/KBYKebajoran Baru-Jakai t.a , Java -Indonesia

Isles of the Pacific Christian Mssion U. S. PostageIfr. and Mrs. Harold Eastham Non-Pro fit Org.Forwarding Agents POSTAGE PAID3 Vermilion, 111.Vermilion, Illinois 61955 61955

Permit 1 ^ .

OrV\ 5 S\oKe >rv\p\:io


5/6

P^ÂJU yi\jhO

ipilNEW TESTAMENT EVANGELISM....BRINGING LIGHT INTO DARKNESS

September Jfewsletter.-- .1973Deat Ortes in Christ,

Maybe this is a bad way to begin a newsletter, but we*ve h^ a depressing morand want to t e l l you about i t . Sometimes we a l l get the feelfogÛiaL lllLle Isgoing right, and i t s hard to rem^ber ishat all things work together for good tothem that love the Lord. This is such a time in our work h^re. As you know, we vebeen working with two churches here in Jakarta. . This l e t t e r was to be about thesecond one. However, lately we ve f e l t i t would be better to get involved in directevangelism and church planting rather than trying to teach and work through existingindependent congregations./ Both of ny classes begain with 12-15 students. That number held for several/months but then began dropping, unti l i t settled down to only four s tudents for theJerusalem church. In addition, because the f irst church (see last month s letter)fouled up announcements concerning the evangelism course, i t began a month late.Finally, Daniel Sukendra, the minister with whom we hoped to work in establishing achurch in this area, has decided not to move here until Feb. 74 , i f then. Thus,our discouragement.

In looking back, i t seems I ve relied too much upon what men mi^t do a or planto do) rather than upon God. e st i l l believe that God has led me to teach in thosetwo churches, so I l l continue to do so. I t will be a work th at w ill have futureresults. But now we want to give priority to reaching into the kampung areas (intercity villages) here. Please pray for us as we take this new step of faith.Now-we want to ttpll rtp>Y BHja. Jerusalem Pentekostarerxigajem-iPsnêcos^l hurch a skedme to teach there evenbefore we moved from Bandung, i t became obvious soon after I began that his main

desire was to get^ree-^BiKUânri Engl i sh-ftQunaesr-foruiiis children (in t he ir l at eteens and early twenties). There i s no desire on the part of t He minister or anyof the other present leadership to learn more about the Bible or to make any ofthe many needed doctrinal changes. As i t became clear that there would not be freeEnglish lessons, but only Bible studies, the attendance began to dwindle to thepresent class of the preacher s three chi ldren and his future son-in-law, Santono.V.hile these young people will probably be future church leaders, and are even nowbeginning a Sunday School, ihe situation certainly hasn t boosted my seIfr:QQidenceI know i t s important thou^ to learn confidence in the ILord and not~iri myselfTVke have hope that Santono. especially, wil l continue to grewspiri tually andfeel a zeal for evangeSsm. He is new Christian^ s t i l l forming his doctrinalposition. Unlike so many othersT^^heis to decide for himself whatthe scriptures say. Since this is practically unheard of here, Santono i s mostunusual. Understandably enough, many of his questions center around the basic teachings of Pentecostalism. I ve t r i e d to take t he pos it iv e approach in my answers,as when he asked, Vihan hri l l T t.h a baptism of the^Hgly^Spirit? I said,If you are a Christian you have already received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3^). Aswe grow from being babes in Christ to the fullness of the spirit or spiritualmaturity, we learn to draw more and more upon the power of the Holy Spiri t in ourlives. As to miraculous spir itual gif ts , we need to look at I Cor. 12-14. ^-îchof the many gifts should we select or earnestly desire? Well, Paul mentions onemiraculous g i f t that i s better than a l l the others, LOVE . Is there anyone whocan say that love i s any less a mirac le than tongues? So don t worry about theother g i f t s . God has the power t o give you any of the other miraculous g i f t s but

your responsibility is to seek and develoit^ChcÎ f Santono continues h is quest ioning, he wil l soon have a sol id base uponwhidi t o build his Christian l i f e . As a medical supply d i s t r i b u t o r he w i l l have many


6/6

opportiinities to share the good news with o thers in many West Java villages. Wes t i l l believe that i f the church in Indonesia i s going to be a l iving, growing, andreproducing body, it id.l l be through the leadership of men l ike Daniel and Santono,P le as e p ra y f o r them,

FAMILY NEWS;^e*ve dianged vehicles For the past year and a half we have used a 1961Landrover jeep However the Jak^ta heat and filihi plus the fact that Louise couldnot drive it^ made us i t a r t Scat ^ciateihing more praciicaX. ite are now thecwtters 6f a 1967 Qiwy n Sed^* Xt'e audi cleaner and cooler^ aal Lmiiao candrive i t (altheogh Karen says she Hkee ny drivifig better. Ha )The rainy seaspn i s here again. I t becomes very obvious vitien Jeanne goes ou tside fo r a few minutes and comes back i n leaving a t r a i l of st icky red mud. I t shard to believe she *s already a year old and that Karen wil l soon be 4 They makeour day very busy,'but, happy. Our'special thanks to the three childreite group bhat.have been corresponding with them latelyl

Yours i n C h ri st f or ev er

Ed a n d L ou i s e P u r n a sKotak Pos 27/KBYKebajoran BaruJakar ta , J ava, Indones ia

4}. ^ Jj -St- -it- -JJ- j ^ -K -K- ^ -K -K- * JHIrr R E M E M B E R *26th National Missionary ConventionVr ^^ Oklahoma City - Nov 20 - 23 *-M- ** Convention Office: Box 11, Copeland, K^sas 67^37 Hr* ' ' ^^ ^ ^ ^ ii: i t 4^ ii ^5- ^ -a -K- JJ -K- * * -Ji- Ji Jt * ii }{ -K K * -K-

I s l e s of the Pdcific Christian Mission U. S. PostageMr. and Mrs. Harold Eastham Non-Profit Org.Forwarding Agents POSTAGE PAIDBox 3 ' . o Vermilion, 111.Vermilion, Illinois 61955 r < 61955Permit 1

'77V ?

furnas ed louise 1973 indonesia

Documents