The beginning of the Independent Baptist work in the nation of Indonesia was blessed very early with a number of young men being saved and called to preach. There was no money to send them outside Indonesia to study. So a Bible Institute was started in our garage and later moved to an old building which we rented for our church. Most of these men lived in the church building and studied for five years. They ministered to missions which we started throughout the Island. Some of those missions have become strong churches and are not only supporting those men as pastors but are also supporting students in the Bible Institute.

It was my dream to see an Independent Baptist Church on each of the 16000 Islands of Indonesia. The Great Commission has commanded that the gospel be preached to every person. The church that Jesus founded was commanded to see that the job was carried out.

In 1970 there was one small Independent Baptist Church in the capital city. Today there are over 100 such churches in the nation of Indonesia. I receive reports from one or more of my former students almost every month.

I am including a report that came to me from Markus dated Aug. 2008, I won Markus to the Lord in 1970 in the mission that I had started in a small Muslim village which was a suburb of Jakarta. Please take the time to read his report.

Markus was the third man called of God to preach under our ministry there. He entered the training program, in the Bible Institute, which we were conducting and graduated with honor along with five other students in 1975.