"And thus I aspired to preach the gospel not where Christ was already named, that I might not build upon another man's foundation; but as it is written, 'They who had no news of Him shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand. " Romans 15: 20, 21
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David's Report Vol. XIII No. 3 & 4 April 30, 2004 David Buskirk Sekolah Alkitab SJK Urei Faisei Pos Waren Serui, Papua 98261 INDONESIA Dear Brethren,
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that you are doing well and prospering as your souls also are prospering.
I am currently back in the United States. I arrived in Detroit on March 18 after a long journey. It is good to be back in the States and see some of my family and friends, take hot showers and eat American food. It was very cold when I arrived. That afternoon it was snowing. I was freezing! But I have adjusted to the cooler weather.
In my last newsletter, I reported on my travels in visiting most of the churches in Papua. I returned to my home in Urei Faisei after being on the road (or on the seas) for five and a half weeks. I had less than two weeks in Urei Faisei to get everything done and packed to go on furlough.
On February 27, I chartered an outrigger to go to Bariwaro. Several brethren from Serui and Urei Faisei accompanied me there. The ocean had been very calm all week long; however, the morning of 27th I woke up to heavy winds and rough seas. I often wonder why it is like that. This is not the first time that this has happened. Very often when I plan to go to Bariwaro, the weather is calm all week until the day that I leave. The day that I leave it is raining or windy and the seas are rough. It is frustrating. It looked like we were not going to be able to leave on the 27th I wanted to leave at 7:00 in the morning to get there early in the afternoon. Thankfully about 9:00 the wind died down and the ocean got a little calmer. So we left.
It was a three and a half hour ride up the coast to the mouth of the Barapasi river. The river is very wide and there are many tributaries. It had been over a year since I was last up there. Though the others had been to Bariwaro, none of us could remember which rivers we had to take to get there. So we got lost traveling the rivers trying to figure out which way we were supposed to go. Finally we met some other people on the river who told us where to go. We finally arrived at Bariwaro about 4:00 in the afternoon, a couple hours late.
The church in Bariwaro is doing well. There had been some minor problems that we helped to solve while we were there. I preached that Sunday. There were about 30 present. We returned to Urei Faisei Sunday after worship.
I am now in the U.S. I will be here until May 24 when I return to Indonesia. I have been traveling and seeing friends and family and also visiting several congregations who support me and reporting on the work in Indonesia. I am sorry if I did not have the opportunity to visit you. I am also sorry if I did not contact you on this visit. If you would like for me to visit you on my next furlough, please write to me and let me know. I thank you for your continued support. May God bless you.
Cesar's Report Vol. XIII No. 3 & 4 April 30, 2004 Cesar Basantes Kotak Post 228 Manokwari, Papua 98311 INDONESIA Manokwari, Irian Jaya Papua Barat
Distinguished elders and other members of the body of Christ, greetings from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ I wish to address the brothers in general with the desire to make you know the advances of the missionary work in the region of Manokwari. On Wednesday, January 7, I boarded a passenger ship that was sailing to the island of Biak with the purpose of renewing my residency visa at the immigration office. Once I obtained my visa and other necessary documents I decided to immediately return to my place of residence to continue my normal work.
With respect to the gospel meeting and seminar that was planned for February, it was not realized due to the following reason: my funds were not enough to cover the costs. For that reason I decided to delay it and possibly to have it in the future. For the moment no definite date has been set.
The following point concerns David Buskirk's visit to the churches of Christ in the city of Manokwari and the villages of Wariori. To tell you the truth, those visits were a great blessing to the two churches. Besides that, on Friday, February 12, there were two baptisms. Glory and honor to God in the highest. One of these men who was baptized was Greemaldy Nayoan who has resided in my house since last October. The other was Benny Sedik who was a faithful student in studying the word of God. Taking advantage of David's visit, these two men decided to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, for which David did the baptizing in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. This agrees with the word of the Lord: I planted, Apollos watered, but God gives the increase. Therefore neither the one who plants, nor the one who waters is anything, but God who gives the growth. I Corinthians 3:6-7.
Finally I will close. Actually the two churches of Christ each have five members for a total of ten and about fifteen or twenty visitors. For this reason I have decided to travel to the village of Wariori two times per week (Thursdays and Sundays) to carry out worship service.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you spirit.
Your Brother in the Lord Jesus
s/Cesar Basantes This report was translated and edited by David Buskirk If you would like to receive this newsletter via e-mail, please send an e-mail to admin@meadowview.org with "Indonesian Missions" in the Subject Line. And we would be happy to forward you a copy. Thanks.
