Dear Friends and Partners of Java Evangelism,
You have been praying with us about a way to make impact for the Lord in the poorer, mostly Muslim, areas of Ambon city. We are negotiating for a building located in a “border area” between Christian and Muslim sections of the city. If you will notice to the left of the building pictured below, you will see only the hull of the structure remains. It was burned by an angry resident [probably a digruntaled employee] at the time of the September 11, 2011 conflict in this area. This reminds us that we are to be people of peace as we express the love of Jesus.
If the Lord wills, the 3-story building we are negotiating on will provide a location for a mini-mart to generate income to assist in outreach ministries; an operations center for the project; and some team housing.
As this is being written we are awaiting a response from the landlord to our counter proposal to their opening price. We would like to sign the contract this week and begin serious preparation for opration.
We are planning to call the program “OK” which stands for “Operasi Kesempation” in Indonesia. That translates as Operation Opportunity. We want to make sure that children in our city have the opportunity to succeed and to know the Lord of our Lord.
Here are a few more prayer points:
… Win and Yanti are to arrive on June 18. Yanti will join the “Fast Start”
staff. Win will manage the mini-mart; and help with “OK”. They have
two children, Aldo (9) and Grace (2.5).
… Narto will marry Reni, a “Fast Start” teacher on July 29 and will join the
efforts of “OK” a couple of weeks later.
… Mike who will be one of our field workers is burdened with the care of his younger brother who has been suicidal and is behaving very strangely. Some say he is under spiritual oppression. Some think he has
neurological or psychological issues. It could be all of the above.
His care demands Mike’s time so that he cannot carry out his
duties properly.
… Jerry, a local man, is considering my offer to join the efforts of
“OK”. He and I are both aware that this will require more focus on one thing that he has been inclined toward previously.
… We must fine a good administrator to help Dennis with the
management of the project and to care for all the governmental
details.
Thank you for praying with us about these matters. We will keep you informed.
Many of you know from Facebook th
at my older brother, Morris, passed away on May 28. We have been strengthened by the prayers of many and blessed by your expressions of concern. I would appreciate your prayers for my mother, Ruby, especially. When she married my dad she was only 16 and Morris, whose mother had died in childbirth, was already 6. Nonetheless, Mama had 3 boys; even if she only gave birth to two. Step- and half- were unused terms in our family.
Yours Until All Have Clearly Heard,
Dennis and Lynn Free
