furnas ed louise 1976 indonesia

8/13/2019 Furnas Ed Louise 1976 Indonesia

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INDONESIAN CHUHCH OF CHRIST MISSION6.1955llinois

9 t978

Fol low me a n d I v / i l lmake you f i she rs ofmen. Mat t 4^:19

Dear Ch r is ti an f ri en d sThis past year has been a busy one for us. Itseems most of our time has been spent in getting^râd-y-.to move, isioying or trying to get setcledv/ithout g e t t i n g too se t t ledFrom January until May 23, when we l ef t Indonesia,

Louise and I seldom saw each other. When I wasin Jakarta, I was either, teaching or spending most of my days in ôffices. Typical of the jobs to be done were visa processing xoi uneJohn Harpers and Linda Joyner (hers is st i l l not completed ^Sigafoose is handling tiiat now), clearing personal eiiects -ôrtjieDennis Frees obtaining visa renewal l e t t e rs from ourgroup, seeing off other families Winegarxêrs and ^^^^cheys ^ ^ ^tfurlough too) and greeting returning favj.ilies ^^-Saxooses).daily arrival of new house guests kept Louise busy, ^s ort out ou r house to decide what-v/as..:co w.aab was .was to be sold. T h a t s iiard enough a task when you ^^^ve notions but Wihen company comes it becomes almosu laipossiLl . J .we put guests to work too (the MacLeans caîe die hectic,our house lust to help us pack crates and drums) s t ^l l

wieksr Then there wei^tTWir ^f -2-3 day axesion a^d a 3- th e f or me r h os le m whom I B a p t i z e a . in o u ror k day vi s i t w ith K a dir uxic ^ v-ic,i-fc.next newsletter to you we will describe in greater detail the visitsto Sumatra and some o f o u r piôjected p l a n s .We l e f t Indonesia May. 23 and flew to A us tr alia . ,to speak in 2 of the Church of Christ (Christian) în several churches. Louise and the kids xlew on tovisit some TrteHds there-so-we nTere--apart- for a )that in the neai- future -lissionaries will be sent to Indonesia ronMAustralia. It v;as the purpose of our visit there to encourage uheijiyto do j u s t t h a t yJe arrived back in the Stages Way 31 but we didn t feel we were homeuntil June I'lfhen v/e landed in Indtahapolis. I t was a totally wonderful reunion with both the lAirnas and Bates families. e spent3 weeks visiting family, car hunting.and house hunting (with no successand then began t.he speaking tour. Our travels have kept us mostly inIndiana and I l l inois but we did make one t r ip to Joplinthen down to Houston, Texas. We Vve^ spokQxi behali of the-n JIndonesian v/ork, had 2.1: weeks of canp, 1 faich promise rally an / ya t t e n d e d 2 c o n v e n t i o n sWe have had some really wonderful experiences in a ll this traveling.The 2j- weeks of camp renewed my hope in the future. Our churcheshave some really wondefiuX liks In tnem and we should be constantly^trying to build them up in the Lord. The camp_ers_gjave n^^^^money but têLi&el^^s-.--JP4ia5i A'teâ^halleng^^ta.help in the purchasing15f*^ClFisti&Ti^^^ Bibles and A.V. aids and they more tnan metthe challenge. V/e had planned to spend about ^1000 for this projectand in 2} weeks of camp, th e total offering came to almostP r a i s e th e Lo r d 11The conventions gave us a much needed spiritual boost and wer e - r e c r u i t e d to r e t u r n to Indones ia I t would be a l i e to say tîatwe are biting at the bit to return. We have feelings and emotionstoo. We miss family and loved ones j ust as you would and we too enjoy

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the more modern v/ay of l i f e but a t the same.t ime we re al iz e th at theLord has ca l l ed us to t h i s work and t ha t i s our joy and peace, SPECIAL NOTICE ^ *

We ve made a l o t o f changes . i n ou r miss ions s e t up s ince ou r a r r i v a lin the U.S. The b igges t change i s t h a t we a re no longer v;ith theI s l e s o f th e Pa c i f i c Ch r i s t i a n Miss i on . We had felt keen ly t h a t ou rp r i o r a r rangement was no t th e ideal-s- i t -uat- i-on. We wanted to be underth e d i r e c t con t ro l o f one group o f e ld e r s from one o f ou r suppor t ingchurches because we f e e l t h a t t h i s is more in keep ing w ith the Scr ipt u r a l pa t t e r n . And while we r e a l i z e t ha t the board o f the I s l e sconsis t s of f ine Christ ian men, they did not know us personal ly andwe did not know them, (except Max Ward Randal l ) . Therefore we withdrew f rom t h e sles and a r e now . b e ne a t h t h e el ers o f t h e Mar i o n,Church-Of-Christ, Marion, Indiana. For tax purposes , they haveformed a non -p ro f it o rg an is a ti on known as INDONESIAN CHURCH OF CHRISTMISSION o f v/hich Louise and I a re p re s en t l y th e so l e employees , ^Donatio ns s hould cont inue to be s en t to Box 5 , Vermil ion , I l l i n o i s ,61955* I f you want to claim your donat ions as tax deduct ions , makethem payable to INDONESIAN CHURCH OF CHRIST MISSION. A ll donat ionssen t to tihe above address a re used by us fo r our miss ion ac t i v i t i e sand s a l a ry . w about our finances-^.^ anyof you have asked how we are doing andyou should know7 \Ve have in the bank as of Wov,30,1975, S70l6-2/| .Our return t r ip plus house rent (must be paid 3 years in advance)wi l l cos t us abou t SGOOO. There wi l l be add i t i ona l co s t involved inbuying vehicles (probably a truck and a motorcycle) but these shouldbe offse t by the sale of our present car p lus the one we l e f t inIndones ia . The fj;i200 fo r l i t e r a t u r e and A.V. mate r i a l s must a l socome from the above î;7000 which l eaves us a -tf200 but t ha t was amonth ago and we should be well into the black by now and we stillhave 5 months before we re tu rn in which to bui ld up some rese rvefor those unexpected expences. So, a l l things considered we aredoing ex t ra f ine. I f you as an individual or as a church o r m issio nscommit tee would l i ke a more d eta ile d f in an cia l re po rt you can r ece iveour monthly s ta tements upon r eques t .Our personal f inances did fine for about one month af te r our returnhere,^^ We would go into stores, see the vast selection, go intoshock and leave without buying a th ing. However, Louise recoveredand our budget hasn t been the same since, HaJ We real ly are^spending a good deal of money but we expected to as we are trying toresupply for the next 5 years . Don t get the idea tha t we are inthe poor house though. We re far fro;ri i t . In fact , we .just arepraising the Lord for a l l He has p rovided for us. The church folkshere in Marion have loaned us furniture, appliances and utensels ,Vi e have a very nicc 3 bedroom home and lo ts of yard space for thek i d s . What more cou l d v/ e wan t ? P r a i s e th e Lo r d ;

Yours in C hr is t ,Ed and Lou i se and k id j

P.S . Come and see u s . Our add res s is. : 3^3 Br inker DriveMarion, Indiana / 6952Phone: 317-662-3333

INDONESIAN CHURCH OF CHRIST MISSIONBOX 3VERiîlLION, ILLINOIS 61935

8 JAN/Q76

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nroONESIAN CHDRCH OF CHRIST MISSIONBox 3

Vermilion, I l l i n o i s619^^Dear Brothers and S i s t e r s i n Chris t ,

I t s the l a s t week in February, which means only 2^ months l e f t unti l were turn to Indonesia. Our passports are being renewed and packing has begun.We re now v i s i t i n g with students a t Ozark Bible College. Next week Louiseand the kids w i l l be back home, while I ll be a t Kentucky Christ ian College.Doctor s appointments and four speaking engagements w i l l keep moving u n t i lthe l6th when I go to St. Louis Christian College, then Cincinnati BibleCollege, then E. Columbus, Indiana for a f a i t h promise ral ly , Johnson BibleCollege w i l l be the l a s t stopping place of the month before another f a i t hpromise r a l l y i n Terre Haute, Indiana. Somewhere i n a l l t h a t we hope to seea l o t of you f o l k s and a l s o t o f i n d a t l e a s t twelve new r e c r u i t s f o r Indonesia .More specif ical ly, we expecially ask prayers for co-workers in our new f i e l dof work, the i s land of

S m T R A

We want you t o become acquainted wi th Central Sumatra and the work wewant to begin there in June. The Riau Province takes up about 1/^ the totalland mass of Sumatra and has about 1 m i l l i o n people. For Indonesia, thatseems very sparsely populated. However, we believe God i s guiding us awayfrom the capital of Jakarta where we worked from Dec 72 until May 75) tot h i s receptive area.

A PROGRESSIVE AREARiau i s one of the r i c h e s t provinces i n Indonesia due-to i t s t imber andoil . Several large lumber firms and Caltex (Standard of Calif, and Texaco)

O il Co. a r e l o c a t e d t h e r e Severa l hundred American f a m i l i e s l i v e i n C a l t e x sthree base camps, the main one located only 10-1^ miles from the tovm ofPekanbaru, where we ll be l iving. The Americans seldo m v i s i t Pekanbaru, orother Indonesian towns i n the area since l anguage and customs form a barrierthat few are willing to cross. But Caltex s presence in the area i s a positivefacto r f or us. They have a small hospital staffed by Indones ian and Britishdoctors, an e lementary school our children can attend, and recreat ional f a c i l i t i e sw e m a y use

Because there two industries are in the province and new industry plusfarming i s developing, more and more peeple are moving there from overcrowdedJava and starting a new l i f e in Riau. With new peole and new industry comessocial and spiri tual upheaval, thus setting the stage for religious change-hopeful ly i n the d i r e c t i o n of Jesus.RELIGION I N RIAU

The original ingabitants of the area are predominantly animistic. Ofcourse Islam is the religion most commonly claimed in Indonesia, and e feelMoslems in Riau are definitely more outspoken than most of those we personallymet in West Java. Bu t l e t s look jus t now a t what influence Christianity hashad on the area. There are seven denominations in the province but only threeare strong numerically. They are the Presbyterians, the Lutherans, and thePentecostals . jThe Lutherans have showii:^no desire at a ll for fellowship with us. Their sis a tribal church, rigidly s-fenictured, and the oldest in the area. I t wasstarted by Indones ian evangelists sent there for the sole purpose of main ta in ingBatak Lutherans who had moved there. Only five years ago did t hey beg in anevangelistic outreach t o the area s nomadic Sakai t r i b e However, t h i se f f o r t has been l a rge ly inef fec ti ve since the Bataks are church building orientedand f r u s t r a t e d by the nomadic Sakai l i f e s t y l e Even the Sakai who have becomeChrist ians through Batak influence s t i l l hold many animist ic b e l i e f s Sadbut t rue , t h i s i s encouraged by the Batak Lutheran ministers, such as the onei n the p i c t u r e who i s holding the drum. Ife be ats th e drtim to c a l l e v i l s p i r i t sto a s k a d vi c e a b ou t how t o c u r e d i s e a s e s

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The vil lage chief i sholding a spear thathe claims is a t igerki l ler meaning tha tit has the power tok i l l a t ige r . Otherspears may have suchpower in them bu t itcan t be proved. Hewould not pa r t withthat par t icu la r spearbecause o f it s obviouspOT^e r s .

The Presbyterian minister in Pekanbaru has begun a deeper study of theBible. He has asked me to teach him and to allow him to tra vel with me onevangelistic trips. His openness to the Word has given me hope that he mightbe the national co-worker we ve been praying for. n mericanmissionaryworked with this church for about ^ years, but since his departure yearsago, there have been no missionaries of any kind (except for two Catholics)in the province .The Pentecostals, vrhile very friendly tovrard us , seem resistant to doc tr inalchanges. For this reason, we won t spend as much time teaching them as we didPentecostal groups in Jakarta. That method has possibilities, but we believeother approaches wi l l be more ef fec t ive .A fourth group, working exclusively with Chinese Indonesians, is knownas Kalam Kudus Their schools in Sumatra hold a doctrinal position very closeto ours. However they worship in Chinese, which eliminates active work on ourpar t except through in terpreters .In our next letter, we ll describe in more detail the types of work that e will be involved in and the four other areas which could become sepesateministries i f the workers were available. The potential throughout Indonesiais just fantas ti c. To f i l l a ll the needs would demand a missionary forcenumbering in~^h hundreds^ut for this year, we are asking the Lord for only12 couples. Please join \is in praying for them and as you pray, ask the Lordi f you might be one of those couples.

INDONESIAN CHURCH OF CHRIST MISSIONBox 3Vermilion, Il l inois 6195S

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//I 1911-

INDONESIAN CHURCH OF CHRIST MISSIONNEWSLETTER

Dear Christian F^ly ~a '^ / ]. ^hour tr ip^ from Ind ia i^ theiêH ' PTL^ w i sleeps a Bangkok hotel. All three girls traveled very monthcs -in +v^ ^ ^ honestly feels good to be backi Our last' fewand supiDlie5^ n filled vath hectic travel, last minute buying of clothesThere simniv PS-cJ^g.and goodbyes to many of you. V/e apologize to all we missed,to be with + enough time. One year at home didn't really satisfy our desiretoward the Pnn'v, i refreshed and renewed. Several special moments ftîendc, T?^>. owe eyes on Jesus whi le leaving our beloved family, andgraduation a+ humbly thankful. I was able to attend my brother. Paul'sto my needs 5n College May I5. The music, sermons, and prayers .ministereds t i l l in mv mi way. The song Mien I Survey the Wondrous Cross ismany nrecioiK our l i fe our soul, our all . Sofor a lovelv 1 drift through our minds as we thank~ yo u once againy r. We re thrilled to be your co-workers in the kingdom of God I ^

>3alatiga, JatengI n done s i a May-July 1976 .

NEV; BEGINNINGS

^J5i^-.^he:-red tape, hot food, relaxed-Mfeour case in some areas, particularly inPhonedto 7 rtroUble came May s, whe^tot^.families into Rian Pv. . ^^^*^ îonal New Tribes Mission had recently sent twoes into Riau Province, but they were having problems. 'books learneH 20-June 7,, Ed renewed our visas and policePekanbaru, distribii+A forbidden to travel outside the city ofScLlatiga,'in Central Ta - or hold any meetings. June 8 we drove out toreturned to Jakarta to +aii, vf? staying with the Ron Bltcheys. June 14, EdChristian section of +h ^ Tribes Mission persohhel^^^d the head of thêHe then flew on tn ^ligion concerning the Sumatra situation,ment personnel and talk with local officials June 24-July 1. Govern-now needed not lust an n moving there has changed during our furlough. Wechurch. The Dreaoh(=Y. to sponsor us, but an already established localHe wrote to his Jakar'+aô?^^^ (equivalent of Presbyterian) was willing to help,in evangelism between ii their approval of plans for a joint ventureserved the purpose of i ^congregation. The synod's approval could haveTribes had. -Ed-maric^ +t + sponsorship, possibly giving us more freedom than NewJuly 28 thsyLreJected'fh ^ Jakarta in July to meet with the synod. However,particularly iinimî^ because we wouldn't compromise oiir doctrinal position,report on this situa+^r^v^^' ? other possible sponsors. Amore completeagents, or from the obtained from the Harold Easthams, our forwardingom Lne elders of our regularly supporting churches.five years. Id visited ^ma+ would be very hard to give up a dreaai offurlough it seemed the Hooy. tmes during our first term and just beforethis sudden change but hsTH being opened to us. We don't understandfeel a confidence tha+ through the situation one step at a time, weSumgtFa still net^ the Thousands of villages 1^-workers there. P > so please continue to pray for open, doors and.neededus news that the hea u area who wants Christianvillage, abouE ^îes'sE of Indonesians went to the friend'sone villages in that district are intS^S ^ learned that not only one, but twenty-share more news about this in i ++ m recexving Christian teaching, ife lloui^next letter, but we think we'll be locati^ in


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Boyolali* I t s been thr i l l ing during our stay in Salatiga to see our men so involves,in church planting, new vil^.ages coining one af ter another, and people so excitedabout receiving the Gospels t.v Udri .,' we -III get x.o be a part of a l l th i sTEACHING M a t e r ia l s

A word to a l l campers v^o gave t he i r mission money for books and oeaohingmaterials: ^329el2 was spent on O.T. f i lmstrips before we l e f t the Sta:eSc Sincere turning we've been buy ing more books and pictures for our planned reading x'ocm andalso for the joint l i terature project which our man discussed July >< (W9 havealmost v900 to uf=o for this, and that because of your lovei) Ttis men are purchasingand reviewing Chris t ian l i t e ra tu re already published by other groups in Indonesianand Javanese: An f-nnotated bib?-iography such inaterials is being made (l) to finr.s.-~\.3t:U-g -aaterials we can use and (2) to help detennine exactly wh

furnas ed louise 1976 indonesia

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