the PI, and an orphanage. While Uncle Marsh traveled with us, he
missed many of the ministries because of an upset stomach. That is
why I have the responsibility of sending this update. Uncle Marsh
felt much better after we prayed for him this morning, but he still
did not eat anything for breakfast and lunch. For those of you that
know Uncle Marsh, missing meals is a big deal. He was able to eat
some food for dinner tonight but he still covets your prayers for him.
This morning, we took a 44 seat bus several kilometers up a very steep
hill. The road was very narrow and in poor condition, but we managed
to make it to the Agape Quilts & Crafts factory. Agape is a ministry
of PI that employs people in local villages to make quilts and other
handiwork like pillows, coasters, and oven gloves. It was founded in
1991 with the vision of creating a place where believers and non-
believers would be able to work side-by-side. While they still have
optional prayer meetings every morning, they have discovered first-
hand the difficulty of workplace evangelism. Today Agape employs over
100 people in four villages to help make the quilts. Without these
jobs, these people would have to leave their village for the big
cities to work as maids. These numbers are a fraction of what they
were prior to the economic tsunami. The products that they sell are
all 100% handmade which results in long lead-times and high labor
costs. For example, they showed us a beautiful twin-bed sized quilt
with Noah's ark in the middle with all sorts of cute animals. This
quilt would take three months to create and would retail for $200 US;
however, Agape would barely break even on the sale. So they face
significant spiritual and financial difficulties. There are currently
plans in the work to transform Agape from a centralized model (only
one warehouse) to a decentralized model (multiple local warehouses) in
hopes of lowering costs. On the spiritual front, they have discovered
that counseling is one of the best ways of ministering and witnessing
to non-believers.
From the factory, we chartered two small minibus taxis to take us down
the hill and to Agape's retail store. Hundreds of these minibuses
ferry people up and down the hill. We packed these minibuses which
are meant for eight people with up to 15 people. At the store, Vision
did our part to help support Agape's ministry and the local economy.
We then went to PI's office where they presented us with their
strategy of mobilizing the Indonesian youth to pray for their people
and their country. As a result of their presentation, Uncle Marsh
encouraged Slim and Czrilla to take the Perspectives course that
starts in January at Lake Ave.
We next went to an orphanage where we were met by a couple dozen of
boys and girls ranging from 6 years old to university age. Vision
performed a 45 minute program with songs, the heart skit, and
testimonies by Brian Chioy and Czrilla. Brian talked about how God
answered his prayer for a car and Czrilla testified about how God
answered her prayer to bring her dad home early from work. After
Vision sang, we broke up the group into kindergarten to 5th grade and
6th grade and up. Aunty En took the younger group and told a story to
them. At the end of the story, she made a call and all 14 of the
children raised their hands to accept Jesus Christ. On the other side
of the builder, Pastor Ben was preaching to an attentive audience.
From the older group, four men raised their hands to accept Christ.
Praise the Lord! We then regrouped and sang "Lord Bless You and Keep
You." That, however, was not the end of our ministry. We then spent
an hour playing basketball, soccer, and having fellowship.
We then ended the day with dinner at one of the Indonesian girl's
uncle's restaurant where we had a great meal!
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