Happy Sunday
I’d like to share a few things from my week-long ministry trip to Mentawai. I hope this provides inspiration, a reminder and encouragement for us all.
Mentawai Regency is part of West Sumatra Province. There are four main islands. My ministry this time was on Siberut Island, specifically in the sub-district of South Siberut. The challenges faced by the local people there, including God’s people, relate to the state of the infrastructure. Although it is a single island, there are no roads. So, to travel between sub-districts or villages, one must take a boat. There are no flights from Padang either. I took a speedboat, and even that took 7 to 8 hours. It depends on the weather, and there isn’t always a speedboat available
This also means that the selling price of farm produce cannot be high, due to the difficulty and high cost of transport. Given the economic circumstances of the church members, this naturally affects the church’s financial capacity, including its ability to cover the high cost of transport.
The number of ministers is not commensurate with the number of churches that need to be served. Therefore, serving various remote areas naturally requires time and money for transport. If travelling by motorboat, a journey lasting several hours can consume 50 litres of fuel. There are no petrol stations there. So, fuel must be bought from local retailers. That amounts to more than Rp 750,000.
When I was attending a church service. An announcement was made that the total collection during the Sunday service was less than Rp 200,000. So how can they cover the costs of ministry all the way to the remotest areas and the mountains? This sort of situation is a reality I frequently encounter in every remote corner of the interior. Therefore, establishing a church branch is a sacrifice that requires total commitment.
Whilst in the city, one often hears of competition for congregants, in the remote areas there are sometimes congregants who are ‘left behind’. When a minister of the Lord can no longer bear the hardships and leaves the congregation, there is not necessarily anyone willing (or able) to take over.
Ministry in remote areas often faces a shortfall. Servants of God go to preach, perform wedding blessings or conduct funeral services. At best, they are treated to a meal or given produce from the garden. Yet the cost of fuel for travelling by boat or motorbike is very high.
For certain churches that have a support system from the city, there is, of course, cross-subsidisation. This enables them to send ministers from the city to support ministry in remote areas. This also includes financial assistance. But what about local churches that do not have regular donors?
Yet the Word of God must continue to be proclaimed. God’s people must continue to be served. When the church is absent or God’s ministers are absent, the sheep are easily led astray. They abandon their faith due to various life difficulties and economic pressures. That is why there is always a need for people who care for their fellow members of the Body of Christ. Without distinguishing between church organisations or denominations.
I have travelled into the hinterlands dozens of times. Concerns about the lives of God’s people in remote areas often stand in stark contrast to the lives of abundance enjoyed by some of God’s people in urban centres. Funds, human resources and facilities are plentiful. How many still have the sensitivity and willingness to share with or help those in need in these remote areas?
We are reminded of God’s Word in Romans 10:14–15, which reads as follows,” But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? How can they hear about Him if no one proclaims Him? And how can they proclaim Him if they have not been sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’
Praise be to God, aid has been entrusted to me for God’s people in Mentawai. The total amount is around 76 million rupiah, donated by 34 people. I have channelled this aid to 25 churches and 18 individuals for various needs.
My main purpose in travelling to Mentawai was to provide training / motivational sessions to the PBA (New Bible Readers) tutors. However, in addition to this, there were also seminars for young people, sermons in churches and visits.
PBA (New Bible Readers Programme) is one of LAI’s programmes designed to help illiterate Christians acquire basic reading and writing skills. It has been running since 1998 in various remote areas of Indonesia. In 2023, it is being run on Siberut Island, in the Mentawai Islands, covering three sub-districts: South, Central and South-West Siberut. Participants number 1,400, ranging from young children to adults. They are being taught by 70 tutors.
LAI is able to run the PBA Programme in various remote areas across the country thanks to the support of God’s people. On its own, LAI would be unable to run it, as it requires a very large amount of funding. The LAI team continues to work hard to raise funds for this PBA programme, including through various KKPDs (Fundraising Working Groups). They submit proposals, give presentations to churches and organise various other activities.
Programmes such as the PBA are a manifestation of the unity of the Body of Christ. Those raising funds will not ask, ‘Which church is supporting this programme?’ We are one in the Body of Christ. I have worked for over 27 years in various companies. I have witnessed countless members of God’s people whose endeavours and work have been blessed by the Lord. When we are blessed with salaries, benefits, bonuses and abundant profits. Do we still remember and feel moved to help those who are poor, destitute and neglected? Or are we preoccupied with all our desires, aspirations and self-interest?
If more of God’s people care and are willing to help, then more people will be blessed. In Mentawai, we used a boat belonging to a church. The Reverend told us that the boat, including its engine, was a donation from a church in Jakarta.
In Sumba, back in 2022, I saw a new church building being constructed to replace the old one that had been destroyed by a tornado. All the villagers helped one another to build it. Although they belonged to different church organisations, they were willing to help one another.
These are some of the things I can share from our ministry in Mentawai. May the Lord Jesus guide us always.
Greetings and prayers
Ulbrits Siahaan
www.ulbrits.org
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