Pioneering in - Far Eastern Bible College

villages with about four hundred believers. Being out of ourbounds, we could not visit them again. Now since they refused toaccept the leadership of the Church there they declared, “Everyman has his father, every tree his trunk.” For this reason the casestood pending several years while they remained unvisited byevangelists. During these years this region became an evangelisticvacuum. The most that evangelists had visited them totalled notmore than three or four times. Every time the visit lasted at mostthree or four nights. This shows that they did not receive much ofthe Word. Such a lonesome, under-nourished situation was pitifulindeed. But they astonished you in the degree of their keeping theFaith. From their receiving the Word and baptism to this day, eightyears have elapsed, and all the opportunity they had of listening tothe Word was during the three or four nights. But they knewprayer, and everyone knew how to sing.I just now related the story of that girl. Well, she belonged tothat district. From whence did they obtain these? Who had beentheir succourer and shepherd? The fact is they knew that we had aresident Dyak preacher in every village on the Kutai side. So theiryoung people have been coming over successively to learn fromthese preachers. After three months or so they returned with theknowledge received to teach the village folk. They knew that wewere prevented from visiting them or from sending workers tothem by the boundary problem. So they have sent young men tocome and learn the doctrines. How assiduous is such pursuit ofknowledge!There is a village with a four-year-old Church, but nevervisited by any evangelist. In my recent visitation, I came here forthe first time in order to baptise a group of ten. Such a Church,like one with neither father’s upbringing nor mother’s nurture wasno better than a forsaken orphan. It began with several from thatvillage hearing the Word at a neighbouring village and receivingbaptism. These went back and gathered a group to hear the Word.142