Tim’s heart is BIG for Sulawesi, but that is simply because God’s heart is BIGGER! He has worked, prayed, fasted and sacrificed tirelessly to see the Kingdom of God expand and grow and the church established in village after village for the past 17yrs. We have rejoiced in victory and been frustrated at setbacks, but through it all the Lord has been faithful and has brought likeminded Indonesian brothers and sisters along to join in the work. Many of these have been teachers and colleagues at the Bible School that we helped re-start in 2011, but the majority of the church planters going out have been former students.
Even with the slow steady expansion of the Kingdom of God across the southern west peninsula of the island, the southern east peninsula has proven much more difficult, resistant, and still contains greater obstacles. Infrastructure is not as good, so travel is long, rough, and slow. Villages and towns are much more isolated. So many places have never heard the Gospel or met a follower of Jesus. So when Tim had the opportunity to travel there with a team scouting places in Southeast Sulawesi to begin a targeted effort in prayer and relationship building, with the end goal of church/ministry planting he excitedly jumped on board!
The team faced challenges with weather, bad roads, vehicle trouble, etc. but they pressed on. They traveled the area with purpose keenly attentive to the leading of the Holy Spirit for a week. They are both excited for the future of church planting in this area, as well as sobered by the immense challenge it poses.
In the whole area over the last 17yrs, two church have been established (but they are struggling) and two small church plants have started. One is in a remote area, south of Kolaka. Tim preached in a muddy alley in front of a village home, under a tarp, in dark and the rain. He was very discouraged that night, but all that changed when he later learned that after that night a group of people came to the pastor/church planter and expressed their desire to be part of the church. With the addition of these new souls the size of the church has doubled! Praise the Lord!