Jan 2007 / Feb. 2007 / March 2007 / May 2007 / June 2007 / August 2007

BANDA, ACEH MINISTRY

I was privileged to spend two days with Samuel and Martha in Banda, Aceh. I say privileged because it was a joy and encouragement to me to see how sincere they are in serving Jesus in a very difficult area, one that truly needs the hope of Christ in each person’s life. They work very hard visiting several families every day. They picked me up at the airport in a rented van looking like a typical Acehnese couple, Martha in her head covering and Samuel with a little beard.
Since my last visit to Banda, which was just a few days after the tsunami disaster more than two years ago, a lot of rebuilding has been done. The survivors are going on with their lives, but there is still despair and sadness which can only be relieved by turning to God in Christ.
We did a lot of driving; their points of ministry are not close together. Most of them I could only see from afar and I stayed in a hotel. Why? I am a white man, and in the minds of most people in Aceh this means I have a lot of money and I am Christian so of course I am there to Christianize Aceh. To be seen with me wouldn’t help Samuel and Martha’s ministry. They are known as Christians; they are not pretending to be anything else, but they live very humbly and help in any way they can. The Acehnese come to them, I’m sure, because they can see very caring, loving hearts in both Samuel and Martha.
In the photos above you can see a mosque, the center of Acehnese life; Samuel and Martha in the center, and on the right are girls on motorcycles in tight jeans, but they have their heads covered!
At the bottom left is a portable food stand and some plastic tables and chairs. Samuel and Martha still need a reason to be living in Aceh, and hope to purchase a stand and a few tables and chairs for a “jamu” (health drink) business. They need this not just for a reason to be there now, but for an income in the future.
The bottom right hand picture shows them with a family they visit, teach, and pray with regularly. The father is a retired policeman; the son is on a hospital bed in a coma. The parents are like family to Samuel and Martha. They do believe; pray they will have the courage to be baptized, even though it will have to be in secret. They could lose their lives if their conversion is made public.

THANK YOU DERRILL
ROBERTS & KEITH KNEPPER
Derrill Roberts, President of ICM Council for almost three years, spent a tremendous amount of time organizing the board, visiting the churches in Indonesia, setting up a realistic budget each year, setting up a website, representing ICM at schools and churches, improving the newsletter by helping Jan with Microsoft Publisher and using Mission Services to mail it out each month. He says it’s time to spend more time with his wife, Betty.
Keith Knepper, ICM Treasurer for more that two years, set up the “Money” program for Jan. Each month he incorporated the field “Money” report into “Power Church” and sent out detailed monthly reports to all council members and required reports to IRS, and every month sent wire transfers to Indonesia for field expenses.
They submitted their resignations last July and August, but stayed with us until March 1 while we were looking for their replacements. Derrill and Keith, we appreciate all of the time you spent helping and working with ICM. Thank you.

YOUTH EVANGELISM
BY DANIEL ZEBAOTH
The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 directs every student/believer/follower of Jesus to take the Good News/Jesus’ Gospel to everyone. Many haven’t heard, many don’t understand what salvation is or why they need to be saved from their sins. In this age, many people are not thinking of such things. They only look at wealth as a standard of success. They don’t realize that real wealth or success in life can only be through faith in Jesus Christ.
The young people of this generation will become the pillars of the church, but they need a radical faith in Jesus. They must understand that they have the responsibility of carrying the Gospel to those around them. For this they need to be led so they will become victorious in Christ. As a servant of Jesus Christ, I am trying to bring this into reality. I have a goal of beginning a church and, to begin with, am focusing on the youth. Many young people make bad choices and then feel trapped and find it hard to turn their lives around; they need help and direction.
At the beginning of March, I began visiting young people with a couple of the dedicated youth in the church here. I had planned to begin a cell group for youth in April. The Lord has blessed us early. We had our first group meeting Thursday, March 22, at Nelly and Ary’s home. Next week it will be at another home. We want to begin a Sunday evening service too. For our first meeting we sang and prayed together and watched “The Pursuit of Happyness.” It’s not a “Christian” film, but one that can help the young people understand they need to work toward a goal and not give up. For other meetings we have a Bible study course planned and also the film, “Facing the Giants” which teaches everything is possible with God. Good Friday is a public holiday here so we are hoping to have a young people’s retreat from Thursday evening to Saturday morning. Through our cell group we want to disciple these young people to believe in Jesus, to be baptized, and then to an understanding of victory in Christ Jesus. We want to help restore relationships between the youth and God and the youth and their families. My aim is to help these young people to have a vision of walking with the Lord every moment of every day and to carry out the Great Commission.

PRAYER & PRAISE