West Kalimantan, Indonesia
April 2013
Back to “Our early missionary adventures in Indonesia & The Sequel“
When as missionaries to Indonesia we first met Kit Chiang in Batu Ampar in 1980, he appeared to be a boy of about eight years old. His mother had died and his widowed father labored in a saw mill and struggled to raise him and his little brother. Dropping by at their home for a surprise visit one day, we found Kit Chiang at home alone with his little brother. He was standing atop a little four-legged stool in front of a kerosene stove frying eggs for the two of them. He had to stand on the stool to cook because he was too short to reach the pan on the burner. We later discovered that Kit Chiang was actually 14 years old. Not only was he tiny for his age, he could not read or write.
Our heart reached out to him, and Kit Chiang came to stay with us in our home. He helped out around the house with daily chores, and listened to the word of God. He attended Lucille’s daily class in our home where she taught illiterate local children to read and write in the Indonesian language using materials from the Bible. (See the photo at the bottom.) During his time with us he grew in faith and in the knowledge of the Lord. In 1987 we were expelled by the Indonesian government and returned to the United States. But the Lord was with Kit Chiang.
Today Kit Chiang has a Master’s degree in Theology. He married A Ki, the daughter of one of our original eight cell group leaders in Batu Ampar. They have four lovely daughters between the ages of 10 and 17 years old. They pastor a church which has two services on Sundays since their facility cannot seat everyone at once. Kit Chiang is also the Chairman of the pastors’ fellowship in his town of Sungai Pinyuh in the province of Kalimantan Barat.
How powerful and fruitful is the Word of God when planted in a heart where the soil is fertile!
On the right Kit Chiang (aka Antoni Benghur Yudha) & his wife A Ki
Batu Ampar, 1980: Children in Lucille’s class learning to read and write. In the front row you can see A Ki on the right, and Kit Chiang in the third row on the extreme left with his head down writing his lesson.
April 2013: As Chairman of the Pastors’ Fellowship in his area, Kit Chiang (second from left in back row) arranged for us to train some of the area pastors with The Elijah Challenge