On
March 25 (Good Friday) after arriving in Pontianak, we took a three-hour
speedboat ride to Batu Ampar where we had a joyful
reunion
with the
believers over whom we labored for seven years from 1980 to 1987. The
story is in our book, Dancing on the Edge
of the Earth. They have continued
in the faith which we shared with them years ago. In the evening we
ministered at their Good Friday service, and with the help of the Lord
we re-ignited their faith for the powerful signs and wonders which
occurred in their midst during the earlier years of the church. Several
miracles of healing took place during the course of the meeting.
On
Saturday the next day we returned to Pontianak by speedboat and held
our Seminar on the End Time Model of Evangelism in the morning and
afternoon, followed by a Crusade meeting in the evening. An elderly
man who had been paralyzed by a debilitating stroke had been brought
to the Crusade meeting by his sons. During the time of mass healing,
he suddenly stood up from his seat, rejecting help from his sons, and
began to walk. Back and forth in front of the people he paced briskly,
raising his arms in the air in victory over his infirmity. The people
erupted in praise and astonishment at the miracle they were watching.
Quickly I told them that the miracle was the proof that Jesus had authority
to forgive our sins. (See Mark 2:1-10 where Jesus healed a paralytic
to prove that He the Son of Man had authority to forgive sins.) Later
more miracles of healing occurred as the believers trained in the Seminar
ministered to the sick. When I gave the invitation to accept Christ
as Lord and Savior, precious souls responded, having heard the Word
of God and witnessed the confirming miracles.
On
Sunday morning there was still another Crusade meeting that was broadcast
throughout West
Borneo on the radio a couple of hours later. The listeners heard the
gospel as well as the testimonies of people who had been healed, including
a man whose hearing was restored after 30 years of hearing deficiency.
In these meetings we also met people whom we had discipled decades
ago in Batu Ampar when they were still children and who had since moved
to Pontianak after growing up. They are faithfully serving the Lord,
some as pastors and pastors' wives, some as successful businessmen.
They brought their children for us to see, introducing us to them as "Grandpa
and Grandma." We really don't feel or look that old, but we were
so honored. What joyful encouragement the Lord gave us to be reunited
with them after the passing of 18 years when we last saw many of them!

Some of our spiritual descendants who have moved
from
our village of Batu Ampar
to the city of Pontianak
At 6 AM also on Sunday, we also ministered in the Sunrise Service
of the Pentecostal Church of Indonesia (Gereja Pantekosta di Indonesia)
in Pontianak. It was Pastor Luwuk, the gentle Dayak pastor
of this church
(now with
the
Lord) who
welcomed us and provided a legal covering for us when we
arrived in Pontianak in 1980. The Lord graciously used us
to return a blessing
to this church as miraculous healings were performed in the
name of Jesus Christ during the meeting. One of the miracles
involved a sister
with a chronic thyroid condition that disappeared. The swelling
of the glad had simply vanished during the time of healing
ministry. On
Sunday evening I ministered in one of the largest and fastest-growing
churches in Pontianak, River Jordan Church (Sungai Yordan).
They have 100 hundred full-time workers in West Borneo. Once
again, the Lord
was
gracious
to multiply
miracles of healing during the service.