Batam Update

Dear Brethren,

The later part of January and the first part of February have been focused on starting a new school session for Batam Bible College. We had expected between twenty-five to thirty students to arrive in the third week of January. However circumstances, mainly family problems prevented numerous students from returning or entering the school. This resulted in nine students returning for the second term and six entering the first term for a total of fifteen students this year. We try to promote older married men and women (25-50 years old) to attend the school as they have far more influence in their local communities with corresponding results from their ministries after graduation. However the up side to this is that next year should show expanded classes as those who couldn't come this year will return or come next year.

We are repainting the building as the original paint job was somewhat lacking in quality and simply was washed off in many places by our tropical rains. We have also installed a voltage stabilizer for the entire building as the electricity here fluctuates at lot during the course of a day. We have also been able to purchase four computers for our teachers which will help them tremendously. We are thankful to the Cherokee Hills church of Christ for contributing the funds to make these things possible.

I have just returned from a trip to South Sulawesi, specifically the area of Tana Toraja. This is a Christian area that we had hoped to plant a church this year. However on doing our survey of the area we found that the area didn't really fulfill the criteria that we use for church planting. We surveyed Rantepao, a mountain city of twenty thousand, which is the largest town in Tana Toraja. We found many cultural and physical things that would prevent the planting and development of a church there within a five year period of time. This resulted in our looking at the city of Palopo which is located at the foot of the mountain range of Tana Toraja. This city has a population of over one hundred thousand with various ethnic groups from all over Indonesia which makes penetration into the community a lot easier. This is also a growing port city located on the Trans-Sulawesi Highway that has a growing economy where the youth of the area come to find work. We have already located housing for the mission team of brothers Wilanor and Bantu. We will keep you posted on the progress of this work and the other mission teams that are located through out the vast country of Indonesia.

We are looking forward to a fruitful year in the kingdom of the Lord and thank you for your faith, love, and contribution to this work. God Bless You All!

Your servant in Christ

Winston Bolt