MissionIndonesia

Leper Colony Ministry

2007-01-14T19:00:00.000-08:00

Leprosy! Yes, it still exists in our world today. A men's group that Phil has become involved with has begun exploring ways to assist the ministry in a nearby Leper Colony. This group spent several hours recently visiting with the Pastor and a number of members of a Christian church located in the middle of the leper area. The congregation has approximately 200 members and a Sunday School attendance of 50. Many of these are lepers, but many are Christians living in surrounding neighborhoods too. The congregation itself owns 14 dwellings for those who are unable to sustain themselves through meaningful work. The initial goal for this group of men will be to assist the congregation in establishing a medical clinic on site. A doctor has already volunteered his time twice a week. A building on the church property needs some badly needed repairs and furnishings to enable this to take place. Other ways of ministering are being discussed and explored to ease the burden of the community and the congregation. Pray for success in this new ministry outreach. (No pictures are available at this time per the request of the congregation.)

Tollway Ministry

2007-01-13T14:00:00.000-08:00

Imagine living under a freeway bridge. Shortly before Christmas we had the opportunity to join with members from one of our local Christian congregations in spending time with a group of very poor Christians who live and worship under a series of bridges that comprise the tollway to the local airport. It was an amazing day in sharing the Christmas story, joining in singing, distributing gifts to the children, food to the families, and taking a walk through their "village". Most of these families do have "homes" built of wood nestled under the bridges. Some simply spread their blankets, etc. on the dirt and curl up to sleep. The village has its own chief. An area is set aside for the Christian community to worship as well. They have electricity thanks to tapping into the street lights from the tollway. They also have a regular community toilet area, a well for fresh water, and a place for bathing. It was quite interesting as well as eye-opening to see this side of life in Jakarta!

Malaysia R & R (October-2006)

2006-12-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

Rest and Relaxation!

First term came to a merciful end in the middle of October. Boy were we ready to take some time away from the hectic schedule as we traveled to the east coast of Malaysia for a much needed period of kicking back and relaxing! The east coast is absolutely awesome with beautiful sandy beaches and very calm water. Our time share exchange gave us an opportunity to relax at the beach as well as relaxing at the beautiful pool area. Quite a bit of our time at the pool was spent in conversing with three young ladies from three separate countries - Vietnam, Brazil, and the Philippines. It was interesting finding out more of their individual cultures. We were disappointed in not being able to take short excursions as the resort required at least 4 people to sign up for side trips. We determined to become brave one day and flagged down a bus headed north. We took a 2 hour ride to Kuala Terenggu to do local shopping. Our next stop on our two week wanderings was Beijing, China.

China (Beijing to Shanghai) - October, 2006

2006-12-22T15:52:00.000-08:00

The Great Wall!
Wow! We were blessed with the opportunity to visit and walk on the Great Wall - only a dream from the past! In addition to walking the wall we spent time at the Ming Tombs, Tianamen Square, The Summer Palace, and The Forbidden City. All of these were highly prized experiences as Phil has taught about these in his World History classes in past years and now has actually experienced them in person! Shopping till we dropped was also a theme of our four days touring the city and surrounding areas. We were introduced to the local culture by touring a variety of manufacturing outlets where we spent time watching how a wide range of items are made. These included Jade, fresh water Pearls, Porcelain, and Silk. Needless to say our pocket book was considerably lighter after these visits. To top everything off we rode a bicycle powered rickshaw through an authentic preserved village in the heart of Beijing. This was an absolutely awesome four day experience!

Shanghai saw our shadows next. The major reason for entering this city was to attend the ALEA conference held at Concordia International School of Shanghai (CISS). The conference had some very interesting speakers with us having the opportunity to be refreshed while sharing with fellow educators from many countries. Phil especially enjoyed the chance to meet the Mehl brothers who share a bit of past history. Their grandfather served as pastor for 32 years in a tiny farming community in north central Kansas at the same time as Phil's grandfather was serving in the Lutheran School for 40 years. Within the church body the world does certainly seem like a small place! While touring Shanghai, we found it to be an ultra-modern city in places, especially in the eastern part which has been designed for the expat community. This is the location of CISS. We continued to help the Chinese economy as once again the shopping was a part of our time of touring! It was difficult to say goodbye and once again return to Jakarta to begin our second term of educating those whom God has sent to our classrooms.

Back At The Books

2006-08-26T22:57:00.000-07:00

Here it is the end of August already! We have had great joy in beginning another year of ministry with a new group of special children.
Carrie is now the Kindergarten Principal with duties to teach English and train the national teachers. It seems hard to believe that she has already completed 6 weeks of classes this term! After battling bronchitis/pnumonia for two weeks she is finally getting into a regular routine of business and lesson planning. She has been very well accepted by her peers and truly enjoys what she is doing in her small portion of God's Kingdom!
Phil continues to work with grade 7 students in the areas of Math and Science. He has been blessed with another group of really friendly students - 66 spread through 3 separate classes. Grade 7 has grown to 5 sections this year with a total of 109. Since his school had a later start he has completed only 4 weeks thus far. He again is experiencing having students that display great personalities and genuinely seem to appreciate what he is trying to accomplish. He also has accepted the role of mentor for a new teacher in his department who arrived in July from Chicago.
Continue to pray that the ministry we are in will be used to plant the seed of faith in those who are not yet a part of Christ's Kingdom and to strengthen the faith of those already a part of the Kingdom!

USA Sharing

2006-08-26T22:18:00.000-07:00

From mid-June to mid-July we were priviledged to spend time back in the states. We enjoyed our time visiting with a wide variety of friends, colleagues, family, and new found acquaintances.

One of our goals in our visit was to share through powerpoint presentations our experiences during our first year overseas. It was exciting to be able to tell our story through word and photos to so many fellow Christians.

Sharing was done with a wonderful group of friends at the home of Bill and Kathy in West Bend, WI. They were kind enough to open their home for a great morning brunch followed by an opportunity to share our story.
Our next opportunity was a Bible Study time in our home congregation in Glendale, WI. Many were in attendance and felt inspired by the message given.
The following week found us in Lockwood, MO visiting our cousins, Jan and Terry, where we shared with a great group of new acquaintances during a Bible Study time. The attached pictures are from this great group of new found friends!
We finished the task in the St. Charles, MO area as we had a small Saturday morning group of Men's Bible Study in our son's home to share with. They were very attentive asking many questions about our experiences. We shared the next morning with a great group of people in attendance at a Sunday Morning Bible Study at our son's home church. They too have become a new circle of friends for us to relate to.

A big portion of our sharing centered around our Indonesia Church home's ambitious goal of providing many of the Arch books translated to native languages for the children of our land. This project is geared to spread to other Asian countries as well as the need for funds becomes known and contributions begin to pour in. These children's ministry books are an awesome way to spread the news of Christ's Salvation for all to gain!

Each place we visited, we left a CD about Arch Book Sunday and the three books we have already translated into Indonesia, thanks to Audra's home church which provided most of the money and our little church here in Karawaci. The Lord is showing us many ways to spread His Word without getting into trouble with the locals. They are so hungry for books, that many Muslims took our books during our SPH's Easter Egg Hunt. Keep all in prayer that these books will soften their hearts to hear the true words of our Savior!

If interested in receiving a CD about Arch Book Sunday, please contact us and we will work something out.
Shalom

Mt. Merapi/Earthquake

2006-06-10T02:34:00.000-07:00

We are doing well. The volcano, Mt. Merapi, is about 250 miles southeast of us. We did not feel anything from the last earthquake. Yogjakarta area is south of the volcano. There were over 6,000 killed. Many villages were destroyed and a lot of the towns had many, many homes destroyed. The towns are getting help, but many of the village people have been forgotten as they are hard to get to, or unable to get to because the bridges were destroyed. Some of our staff members have relatives in the area. Some were killed, and many of the relatives homes were destroyed. Both of our schools collected food and money to help the people. They are still suffering, and they also have the problem with Mt. Merapi. Many of the people from the villages around and on the mountain are leaving their villages because of the activity of the volcano. The news said that the top of the cone was enlarging which is a bad sign. Many people were removed from the mountain about 2 months ago, with some going back to attend their flocks, but now many more are leaving. They believe by offering food to the mountain and having a special ceremony, that they will please Mt. Merapi’s god and he will stop his anger and not erupt. Oh what hopelessness they have. However, all things work for the good of those who love the Lord! The area is opened up now for Christians to enter and minister to the people and show their love. Through natures disasters, our heavenly Father enables His children to walk in and reach the unsaved. It’s not something that happens overnight, but the doors are opened for us to enter. The Christians here who truly know the Lord are on fire and they don’t look at denominations when spreading the word of God. Churches of different denominations will join hands and go to other islands or someplace on Java and help them get water to their villages and spread the Gospel quietly through what they do. What amazing people this Indonesians are. Only about 5% of Indonesians are Christians and the area that our Seward, NE college kids when to the last two weeks, Nias, claim to be Christians, but many of them do not truly understand the bible. Even when Phil went to Medan and Lake Toba in March, the Christians are a combination of Lutherans and Reformed beliefs. Wherever we go, Christian people are begging for Christian material for Sunday school and church. Please keep all in prayer. One truly can't envision what life is like for these people until you see them. Jakarta is like any other huge city, but when you get out into the country, you see what life is like for most people.
God's blessings to all.

Spiritual Retreat -- SPH

2006-05-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

Grade 7/8 Spiritual Retreat
May 3-5, 2006
Mambruk Resort -- Anyer, Indonesia

What an awesome experience our grade seven and eight students had as we traveled to Anyer to spend time reflecting on our faith, encouraging each other, fellowshipping, playing, and relaxing.

Approximately 175 students plus adult staff were refreshed by this experience.

Our bus ride

Eating time

Small group discussion

Our view toward Sumatra

Line dance challenge

Gorgeous sunset

Worship & Praise

Prayer time

Young lady in the middle received the Holy Spirit ! Please pray for her continued growth.

Another receiver of the Holy Spirit !
Please pray for his continued growth.

And yet another young convert !

Please pray for his continued growth.

Team building
Early morning exercise time

Some of our national
staff

Bonfire and evening worship

Contemplating the message of salvation

MISSION INDONESIA

2006-03-05T02:28:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Phil & Carrie's Mission Indonesia

(Click on photo to enlarge)

Arch Book - Indonesian Distribution, April 2006

Poster child for Arch books: Part of the Easter Saturday egg hunt was an opportunity for our small church group to distribute Arch books translated into the Indonesian language. The young man pictured on the left was so engrossed in reading his new found friend that he was bumping into others! We were able to give away 1000 books in just a short two hours. Our Church of All Nations through the encouragement of Audra M. (a former CPH employee now teaching in our SPH system) has taken on the task of translating Arch books for distribution throughout Indonesia. CPH has been very generous in supplying us with computer based English layouts for a number of their titles. We are then locally having these translated and printed. They are identical to the English ones in quality including the same glossy artwork. Our cost is 35 cents per book. We ambitiously want to produce thousands of these books for distribution through the generosity of people from America. Our first printing was a total of 15,000 paid for by one congregation from America. Pray for the success of this endeavor!

Easter Saturday - The Great Egg Hunt - April, 2006

Easter Saturday was a special day for residents in and around our community of Karawaci. The youth group that meets at Phil’s school every Friday evening took on an ambitious community service in hosting a huge Easter egg hunt. 100,000 plastic eggs were stuffed with candy and Bible verses. Approximately 10,000 neighboring children were witnessed to through this event. The 7^th grade students from Phil’s school listened to each child read a scripture verse found in one of their eggs. Then the children each received another bag of goodies. We don’t know what the future results will hold for many of these children. We do know that the Holy Spirit used this event to further the Kingdom! (Couldn't resist taking photo to the right with a young man trying to find one more piece of candy!)

Good Friday-Easter, 2006

Scene One: a small group of international Christians gathered together on Good Friday to reflect on the awesome things our Savior accomplished for us as we traveled through 7 stations of the cross set up at our in-home congregation. The Smiths established for us a series of stations as we moved from one to the next at various places indoors and outdoors. It was inspiring to know that our Lord gave His life for us, a collection of Christians from America, Australia, Scotland, Germany, and Indonesia. We were blessed to have two special Indonesians worshipping with us, one a recent convert from Hinduism, and the second a young man from the island of Sumatra who has been a HKBP (Batak Christian church) member for his entire life.

Scene Two: an inspiring Easter Sunday worship event to celebrate Christ’s victory in our place. Enjoyed by all prior to worship was a breakfast potluck provided by an accomplished contingent of cooks. Our worship reflected on our risen Savior and concluded with a beautiful solo sung by the young man from Sumatra who again worshipped with us. The Lord truly blessed us on our celebration of His victory!

Pictured on the right is our Sumatran Christian friend singing a beautiful solo for us in his native Batak language!

Carrie's Break - March, 2006

Arrived in Batan Aceh late afternoon. The left two pictures are the mass grave sight for the tsunami victums. The house is where the Muslims go to pray and mourn for the dead.

The picture to the right is the main mosque in the province of Aceh.

The pink house is where I stayed while in Aceh. It is where the World Harvest center is located. The white second floor by the arch was my bedroom. Yes, they gave me a room with air-con as it is called here!

The man in the black shirt is Sam. He is in charge of the center where I stayed and also the refuge camps that I visited.

He wants more Lutherans to come to Aceh to help in the schools and with the people. He is associated with World Harvest Ministry. All the workers under him are all volunteers. Sam has been at the center since the tsunami. Above are Dotty and Ray from Seward, NE who are LCMS voluunteer teachers for six months in Aceh. They are teaching in the middle grades in a Muslim school. They are in their uniforms. The female expats are not required to wear the head dress, but out of respect for them, many do.

The next four pictures are from the refuge camp that I call 'tent city'. There are still 10,000 people living in the tents with no hope when they will get regular housing.
Right after the tsunami, there were 40,000 people living here.

The boy to the right is blind. His name is Ferry. He is a bright young boy and very smart. What will happen to him once he grows up is not really known, but most likely he will become a beggar. He can read braile, and loves stories to be read to him. He asked me to tell him a story about a fox and the only one I could think of was the 'Three Little Pigs'. Oops, I had to quickly change the pigs to goats. It ended up being really funny. He loved it!

The building to the left is another center. This one is in a neighborhood. The children come here for recreation and to learn how to use the computer and the girls do needle work.

Here the children are drawing and coloring.

Here the nurse is doing surgery to a young
man's toe--yep--right out in the open where everyone who wants to watch can. No, I did not watch.

I am now on my way to the second refuge camp that I went to. This took me past the area where the tsunami hit. Everything was wiped out except one home.

The river dwellers are all new since the tsunami, yet the shacks all look like they are more than 10 years old. They are made from anything that the people could find.

The tiny dark spot behind the palm tree to the far left is an island. From the road to the sea, I was told was about 1 km. There are some homes built back on the land, however, much of the land is still under water. Many of the people are afraid to live in the houses that have been built in case there is another tsunami. Yet the fishermen need to live near the sea as that is what they do for a living.

The far away palm trees are next to the ocean. To the right are some old foundations from the homes destroyed.

These are some houses built for the people. The houses were mainly pinkish or green. I asked why and they said that's the only colors the builders had, so you knew which builders built the houses.
These homes are not built on the tsunami land.

This is the entrance to another refuge camp I visited. The house is the World Harvest center for the people.
Here the little ones come in the morning for activities and the older children come after their school day.

I am serving the little ones cookies and milk that the center provides.

The center celebrated being in the camp for one year. It was a great big festive day. All of World Harvest workers came for the feast. The elders of the camp came and gave speeches. This dish began the festivity. It's a special sweet dish to say 'thank you' to the elders of the camp.

Little ones doing school work.

Barrack type housing that the people live in. One large room, about 13' x 13' where they live, cook, eat and sleep.

The watering hole where laundry is done.

Everyone wanted their pictue taken with me. The little one belongs to the lady on the right.

I'm holding the little one and I told her to take a picture. She didn't understand, but went to get someone to interpet and the young man took the picture.

In the afternoon, the children recited poems and stories and had a coloring contest.

The little ones were given a picture to color (far right picture) and the older ones were told to draw and color. This is one of which a young girl did. I had to leave before finding out who won.

Here a number of ladies wanted me to be in their picture. The young man once again took our picture. I will be sending a CD with all my pictures on it and Sam will print the pictures of the people and give to them. All in all, the Lord let me show love to these people. They are lost in darkness, yet our outreach to them has made them look at Christians and bules (Westeners) not as enemies, but as friends. One day, they too shall know the Lord as their personal friend and savior.
Our God has opened the doors to these people. Many had never seen a white person before and feared them when they first came. Pray for them that they may come to know the Lord and will accept Him.

March 26-30, 2006

Medan & Lake Toba

Phil recently had a wonderful opportunity to visit on the island of Sumatra. He accompanied two other couples to view firsthand the work being done by the Lutheran Synods in a very Christian part of Indonesia. The first stop was at a seminary in Medan where Rev. Bob and Mr. Richard were guest speakers. They shared vital tips in assisting these young seminary students in their preparation for ministry. The campus was rather spartan but the 400 + students were there to prepare for their future calling.

Pastor Jaharianson and his wife (head of seminary)

Juli (a delightful young student Phil visited with)

The second stop was a resort hotel on Samosir Island, Lake Toba. Here Richard shared how to witness with the catechism (translated in the local dialect) while Bob encouraged the prayer life of the conference attendees. Those present included pastors from local congregations. Our travel through the countryside showed a large number of Christian churches, something that is found few and far between in the Jakarta area. The Holy Spirit was certainly using these two men in their presentations.

Pictures shown below are various scenes as we made our journey between Lake Toba and Medan. Picture 4 is of an active rubber plantation.

March 17, 2006

Happy Birthday Rumah Anugerah!

In 1999 a religious war broke out in Ambon between Christians and Muslims. Many lives were lost and many homes destroyed. From this tragedy a large group of refugee children were brought to Jakarta to begin a new life. These children have shown their resiliency to adversity in their lives. They have become outstanding witnesses to their faith. They have become a very close knit group of young Christians living in a home called Rumah Anugerah. On the 17th we had the priviledge of sharing their 6th birthday party here in Karawaci. Our church, Church for all Nations, is one of many sponsors for this family of believers. In the beginning they had approximately 60. Some have graduated from Senior school and have left the home, while others are in University training. At present time they have 40 young people still under the umbrella of Rumah Anugerah. Many of them still have family back in Ambon while a few have no family to return to. They all have the vision of someday returning to their home and continuing the mission of evangelizing the people. We have been so blessed to have had the opportunity to have them be a part of our worship on two occasions this year. They have beautiful singing voices and love to praise their Savior. Hendrick, the one playing the guitar is currently shadowing teachers at SPH as he has a desire to become a Christian school teacher. We ask that you keep this family of believers at the heart of your prayer list!

March 12, 2006

Pulau Umang R & R

Once in a while a missionary has to take a little bit of R&R to recharge the batteries. That is just what we did over the weekend. We joined three other couples and had a relaxing visit to Palua Umang Resort located on a small island off of the west end of Java. The fellowship, food, and laid-back atmosphere is just what was needed at this time. We had a beautiful location for a worship service overlooking the sea. The view from our villa focused on Krakatoa and the son of Krakatoa. The swimming pool on the edge of the small beach area definitely saw action from all of us. We even went fishing Indonesian style at 10:00 in the evening. It happened to be a full moon time so needless to say the action was a bit slow. We simply dropped a line over the edge of the boat without the need for a fishing pole. Rather interesting way to fish I might say. We were also celebrating Bob's 65th birthday and he is in love with fishing! He was excited to at least hold a fish in his hand even if it was one that was caught by someone else! Enjoy the pictures of our venture!

March 12, 2006

Typical life in West Java

January-February 2006

ACEH Volunteers

What a delight the last month has been serving in Indonesia! Our small group of LCMS missionaries has been blessed with hosting a wide range of volunteers who mainly are coming to work in the Tsunami ravaged area of Aceh. Ray & Dottie from Seward, NE were the first to arrive on their way to spend a 6 month period working with ESL. Right on their heels were 3 delightful young lady volunteers from Taiwan and 2 volunteers from Macau, all planning to spend 9 days of their Chinese New Year holiday assisting with ESL. Next in line saw 6 volunteers arriving from western Iowa on their way to Aceh! Butch and Judy Almstedt (Florida) flew in late on that same evening. Butch, chairman of LCMS World Mission board, was able to see first hand the mission opportunities that abound here. Kim Myers became the next visitor. She and her husband, Matt, will be relocating to Karawaci this summer after spending their last eight years in Vietnam. They will become a part of the local Christian University team. Our final visitors for this stretch of time are John and Linda from Japan. They came to head up a team to present an English teacher workshop in Banda Aceh. It has been somewhat exhausting but exhilarating at the same time to see so many dedicated Christians desiring to serve their Lord! All of these volunteers came knowing that they could not directly present the Gospel message, nevertheless, their presence was one way that the Holy Spirit someday will be able to make a difference in someone’s life. One difference already has been shared in that the short term volunteers have all been literally begged to return for more interaction. Continue to hold the people of Aceh up in your prayers on a regular basis.

Ray & Dottie
Chinese New Year
January 27, 2006

Chinese New Year is celebrated in different ways in the schools. A lot depends on the ancestry of the children. Phil’s school did nothing at his school. Carrie’s school which is mainly Chinese ancestry put on a huge performance for the parents. The children learned Chinese poetry, Chinese dancing and of course Chinese songs. They had the Lion Dance and the Blessing Tree. Both of these brought on big discussions with the teachers. It’s very much like Halloween in America with all the discussions about celebrating it or not. Both the Lion Dance and the Blessing Tree has non-Christian values and some of the teachers didn’t want them. A number of us talked about putting Christian values with the meaning of the two. That’s really what we did with all the other pagan celebrations we took and made them Christian celebrations. The main reason for such a big celebration was to help the children learn about where their families came from. Back in the 70’s through 90’s all the Chinese people had to change their names to Indonesian names and were not allowed to speak their language. Now the new President is allowing them to use their real names and speak their native tongue and the people are taking advantage of it. All in all, everyone at Carrie’s school had a great time.