January 1991 A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way. ISAIAH 35:8 Great Things are Happening in Sangihe-Talaud Recent reports from Sangihe tell of exciting new advances in the work there. The Lord is opening new doors of ministry, not only on the island of Sangihe, but also on Talaud and several other islands as well. It appears that our work in the region has passed through some difficult times of testing and is now reaping the fruit of the struggle. The region of Sangihe-Talaud consists of 77 small islands located north of Celebes and south of the Philippine Islands (See map on page 4). The islands have a comparatively small population. The principal town of the islands is Tahuna on the island of Sangihe. The principal industries are copra (from coconut palms) and spices. The population is largely Christian, but their Christianity is generally very formal and superficial, and mixed with various occult practices. Moral standards are not as greatly improved as one might hope from Christians. In 1972, held a conference in Lawang on "The World Mission of the Church." In a very supernatural way, this conference gave a vision for effective ministry to the islands of Indonesia and beyond. A number of teams were appointed and sent out. One of these teams came to the islands of Sangihe and Talaud, where they introduced quite a lot of people to the power of the living God and to life in the Spirit. The people of the region sent quite a number of their young people to our training center in Lawang, East Java. Several of them have since returned to Sangihe Talaud and have become leaders in training programs wherever they have gone. Several other Holy Way teams have visited there from time to time and kept the fires burning. Opposition, until recently, has been severe, coming from church people who hadn't bothered to understand and were afraid of anything new, and also from unbelievers who were threatened by the manifestation of God's power. Persecution usually took the form of physical violence-throwing rocks, burning houses, and personal violence. One young evangelist had his eye ball knocked out by a rock. His team-mates put it back in and prayed for him and he was unharmed. Almost from the beginning, some of the local people have had a vision for a training center of their own on Sangihe Island and have prayed to that end. Andrew and Conny Stube were stationed in Tahuna, the principal town on the island of Sangihe, from 1981-1985 to help with the beginning of the training center there. Working against great 1
odds and with much opposition, they were able to secure a wonderful plot of land with many tall coconut palms right on the seashore and to erect a training center building there. They were able to train a few young people, some of whom are now forming a nucleus for our work there. Others have moved out to other towns or to nearby islands to start new works for the Lord. After Andrew and Conny left, Horman and his wife Eles, who had been part of the staff of our training center in Manado, returned to Tahuna. Simon, who had been pastoring a church in Central Java, also returned to be a part of the Tahuna training center. Through their strong leadership, the training center is preparing young people for ministry and sending out teams for ministry on the island of Sangihe and on other islands. They have learned to rely on the Lord's provision for their material needs, His guidance in all that they do, and His empowerment for ministry. Recently, their work has been officially sanctioned by the mayor and the police department. Since the islands were formerly ruled by local kings, the people have a built-in respect for authority. Consequently, this official sanction means that Holy Way teams can go anywhere in the whole area and the local governments will support them and open doors for them. There is also a growing unity amongst the serious believing/practicing Christians. The teams from our training center are receiving many invitations from churches of several denominations. At present, there is a powerful move of God taking place in the city of Tahuna. This began with seven days of fasting and praying. Wonderful things have happened as they have continued to sit in His presence and receive His guidance. Up to 300 people attend the twice-monthly public meetings for worship and praise in which many of the local churches participate. These meetings are characterized by free worship in the Spirit and ministry by the whole Body of Christ. Money has come in, in answer to prayers, and an additional building is going up at the training center. Many people come from Manado to help with the revival that is going on. Every Wednesday is a day of fasting and prayer for the intercessors. People come from towns for miles around. Fridays are days of fasting and prayer for everyone. Prayer meetings are held every Tuesday and Saturday at 7 a.m. This enthusiasm continues to spread to other places. Manganitu Manganitu is a small town about 5 miles from Tahuna. Both the Catholic and the Protestant churches used to have their headquarters there. "Grandpa" Damar and his wife are a center of the work there. Mr. Damar had an administrative position at the University in Ujung Pandang (in southern Celebes). There he made many contacts amongst the current Protestant pastors who were at that time ministerial students from the SangiheTalaud Islands. Several years ago, he retired to Sangihe. He and his wife are on fire for the Lord. They get up every morning at 4 o'clock to pray. They have opened their house for prayer groups. Last year, when Horman was there, remarkable healing miracles took place. A man who was expected to die was totally healed. Now the prayer fellowship is large. They send intercessors to the intercessors' meeting in Tahuna every Wednesday. Tagulandang In the late 1970s, Conny VanDiest (later to marry Andrew Stube) went with a team from Manado to Tagulandang, an island between Manado and Sangihe. One person who heard their proclamation of the Gospel was a medical practitioner named Mr. Kaudis. He was not a Christian, and he did not like what he heard. But that night he couldn't sleep. He gave his heart to the Lord. The very next day he handed over a whole bucketful of occult charms to be destroyed and 2
committed himself fully to the Lord. Now there is a large and spiritually mature fellowship that meets at his house. At present, two of the training center students from Tahuna are there helping out and gaining experience. Dear Friends of : We bring you greetings at the beginning of this new year. We want also to celebrate new beginnings for. board in this country is just emerging from a time of trial and confusion. Now, after some serious repentance and reorganization, we face confidently the challenge of the years ahead. Recently we have held several board meetings for reorganization purposes. At present, I am serving as chairman, Bill Dodds as vice-chairman, and Jim Roosevelt as secretary and treasurer. I am also serving as editor of the newsletter. Officers for the next year will be elected at the annual meeting in January. I am happy to be doing the newsletter again. I have missed this contact with each of you, our friends and supporters. I will attempt to get the newsletter out regularly every two months. There is quite a backlog of marvellous reports, which will appear as space permits. We do greatly need your prayers in this time of reorganization and redirection. Please pray with us that we will be completely in the Lord's will and faithful to Him in all things. We love and appreciate you. In Jesus love The Rev. Edwin Stube Tawali A continuous revival goes on in Tawali, another town near Tahuna. A young man named Pilipus, a graduate of the Tahuna Training Center, pastored a church there for five years. After that, he returned to the training center as a member of the staff. During this time, he was instrumental in starting a revival in his own village. He married Loisa, another training center graduate. They have now been sent to Talaud to coordinate the work there. Indonesia consists of approximately 13,000 islands. The Sangihe-Talaud (pronounced "song + ear & tah + loud") group is an overnight boat ride south of the Philippine Islands. Talaud Island Formerly, the people on Talaud Island were quite hostile to our proclamation of the Gospel. When our people gathered for prayer and fellowship, they could expect hailstorms of rocks from unbelievers and from nominal Christians who disapproved of a powerful Gospel. Horman visited there. He called on government officials and established rapport with them. An elderly man, who was near death, was miraculously healed. He brought his children to be discipled by our team. He has given a plot of land for the use of our work in Talaud. 3
Betsiana; a young lady from Talaud, came to the training center in Tahuna. After graduating, she returned to Talaud and started a prayer group which is the nucleus of our work there. At first, their meeting place always received a rain of rocks, but they persisted anyway. Now their fellowship has received local approval and is growing rapidly. Siau For many years, Mrs. Makahanap, a leader of the Lord's work in Tahuna and the wife of a high government official, has prayed for her native island of Siau. Recently, those prayers have been answered. Two school teachers have been transferred from Sangihe to Siau. There they have opened their houses for prayer meetings and have formed cell groups. As the above stories indicate, the major thrust of our work in the islands of Sangihe-Talaud has been the formation of strong prayer group fellowships. These fellowships have become a powerful instrument for: 1. Bringing personal renewal, vital faith, and deepened spirituality to nominal church members. 2. Training people in the Christian faith and Christian living. 3. Preparing people to fulfill their Christian discipleship in effective ministry and outreach. This is another wonderful example of how a strong and stable Christian work can grow out of a time of terrible opposition and struggle. About the Holy Way in this country has always been basically a fellowship of prayer for the support of our work in Indonesia and in other countries. was incorporated in 1964. Barbara and I and five of our children were sent to Indonesia with a vision for evangelism and training young nationals for ministry. In due course, a training center was established in Lawang, East Java. The training model has been non-formal and on-the-job training, following as closely as possible the pattern used by Jesus in training His disciples. Since our family returned to the United States in 1977, the work is being carried on entirely by nationals with great commitment and sacrifice and frequently serious danger. God has blessed this work with signs and wonders and with abundant fruit of their labor. Almost from the beginning, the training center in Lawang received a vision for outreach to the islands of Indonesia and beyond. Teams have been sent out to many of the islands and even overseas. training centers in Indonesia are at present graduating about sixty students a year. Most of our graduates are in full-time ministries of various sorts all over the islands. Many have pioneered new works and reached out to new tribes. Some have reached hundreds of people who reach others, so that the fruit of the ministry multiplies. Others have formed interdenominational prayer fellowships in which Christians find a deeper walk with the Lord and more effective ministries and outreach. The mission has spread all over the country and has had an impact on churches, hitherto unevangelized tribes, and, in some notable cases, the governments. The training centers give full scholarships to most of their students since few who come can afford much. In spite of this, the older, more established works are self-supporting. Most of our assistance at present is for major capital investments-new buildings to house new training centers, new roofs and other major repairs, and the establishment of new works. The record of the work that is being done in comparison to the very limited financial assistance we have been able to give is an awe-inspiring miracle. The basic philosophy of funding has been to rely completely on the Lord. We have rarely made 4
any financial pleas or even made needs known. We have learned by much experience that a work which attempts to rely on the Lord's provision for its support is subject to fluctuations which correspond accurately with its faithfulness and obedience to the will of the Lord. I always felt that the most valuable course at our training center was the one the Lord gave us when the money ran out and the food ran low. The Lord uses our financial state to indicate His evaluation of our spiritual state. In this way, He keeps a short rein on us. It is not surprising that in the past two or three years, support has dropped off dramatically. Since the repentance and reorganization mentioned on page 3 of this newsletter, there have been clear and dramatic indications of the Lord's favour, including the substantial funding of an agricultural project in East Kalimantan, which encourage us to believe that we are on the right track. We thank you for your faithfulness and love as we continue to learn and pursue the Lord's best for this work. The purpose of this newsletter is to let people here know what is going on in Indonesia and our other places of outreach. More than anything, your prayers are important to our workers on the field. In the next newsletter, we will give names and addresses of many of the leaders so that you can pray for them individually by name, and hopefully even write letters of encouragement to them. -Ed Stube Help us update our mailing list! As we are in the process of reorganizing the United States branch of, we find that our mailing list has become very outdated. We are hoping with this mailing to get it up-to-date. We anticipate a considerable cost for address corrections and for undeliverable mail. We ask your help in sending us address corrections-your own and/or anyone else's you know about, and also anyone you know who might like to receive this newsletter. We are enclosing an address card for your convenience. If, as it may happen, there are some who would like us to discontinue mailing to your address, we would greatly appreciate your letting us know, so that we will not waste the Lord's provision. We want to have our funds, as much as possible, go to the work overseas. Please note the following addresses: Holy Way Addresses Newsletter Editor: Treasurer: The Rev. Edwin B. Stube Mr. P. James Roosevelt 827 W. Cross Street P.O. Box 720 Baltimore, MD 21230 Oyster Bay, NY 11771, Inc. 827 W. Cross Street Baltimore, MD 21230-2501 Non-profit Org. US. Postage PAID Permit No. 3195 Baltimore, MD Address Correction Requested 5