In the island country of Indonesia, Words of Hope’s ministry partners are working to establish listener communities in all of the areas where rural, small language broadcasts can be heard.
Local pastors often facilitate these listener communities, relying on the material from Words of Hope for training and small group resources. In rural Indonesia, it is common for one pastor to be responsible for as many as three church congregations.
This is necessary both because individual church congregations lack the funding to be able to support a pastor salary on their own, and because there are so few pastors who speak any given language in a country with hundreds of unique language groups.
The Words of Hope videos and audio recordings used by listener communities are a way to train up lay leaders within church congregations for the in between Sundays when the pastor is at one of the other churches.
A Changed Way of Thinking
One member of a listener community recently shared how God has been at work in her life thanks to your support.
Diana says that since joining the listener community, she has had a change in her way of thinking. As a wife and mother, Diana’s time was consumed by family responsibilities. Cooking, cleaning, and caring for her children were always at the forefront of her mind.
While attending the listener community, however, Diana began to sense that there was another—even more important—focus that should take priority.
“I am invited to bring up my children in a family that lives in the fear of God and can be a blessing to others,” she says.
A Changed Way of Life
Compelled by the things she was learning about in her listener community, Diana decided to invite her husband and children to start each day together in quiet before the Lord, asking for his presence in their family life.
“At first this was hard to get used to,” she says. “But praise God, from day to day I keep trying. My children and husband are getting used to it and are starting to enjoy our quiet time together as a family.”
Diana’s children are beginning to ask questions about the devotionals they read together, and Diana feels more empowered to answer because of the Bible knowledge she is gaining through the listener community.
Thank you for supporting small language ministry like this in Indonesia and around the world. God truly is at work through you.
