After a full day of meetings and preparation at our embassy (office) in Jakarta, our small team departed for our 10:15pm flight that flew all through the night to Jayapura, the largest Indonesian city in Papua. Arriving at 7:00am, we met the local team and were on the road one hour later. It would be a long 10 hour journey on a dirt road that is certainly one less traveled. And being a new road to some very recently added regions of Indonesia, it was extremely rough.
Throughout the course of the day, we crossed more than 250 of the worst bridges I have ever seen in my life. Most were just large trees, felled across each chasm with planks laid crossways; quick and temporary, but adequate.

With a local population of only 11,000, we knew that this would not be one of our larger Hope Festivals. But whether many or few, where there are people, the gospel must be preached. We are called to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth… and Sarmi qualifies. I was told that I was the first foreigner ever to preach there, and we gathered ripe harvest of souls.
Evening Meetings

The final night provided a most triumphant ending with more than 4500 present. This was apparently unusual and was told that this was by far the largest gathering the area has had in its entire history! Four hundred people responded to the gospel that final night. Altogether, over the four days, more than 1300 people completed a decision card; committing their lives to Jesus Christ.
Healings
We prayed for the sick every night and healings flowed like water. Jesus is so faithful! In the very first meeting a blind woman received her
sight. She stood on the platform beside me with tears in her eyes. Another woman whom I had seen standing near the front had come with a tumour on her neck. But Jesus touched her that night and she came forward to show that it was no longer there! Both sides of her neck were now completely normal. On other
nights, we witnessed more. One man had a swollen stomach and had been in the hospital 3 days before being released without a diagnosis. Doctors had no explanation for him, but Jesus healed him and his stomach returned to its normal state. Also, a woman who previously had two toes amputated because of diabetes was also not able to use her right leg for 3 years and was healed; completely able to move and walk on her leg.


One afternoon, a man asked us to come to his home to pray for his legs. It turns out that he previously could not walk but was healed the first night of the campaign. He felt so good the next morning that he decided to take his elderly wife, daughter, grandchild, etc. for a walk. Well, they must have walked more than 7 kilometers! Then 2 days later, his legs were so sore that he wanted prayer for healing again! We simply explained that he had exercised too vigorously and rest would be just as good as prayer this time 😉 But Jesus had healed him.


Morning “Fire Festival”


Final Count and Response

I thank god for all of our ministry partners who make all of these campaigns possible. Together, we are seeing Jesus making a difference.
Together in His Service,
Jason Betler