THE SCOPE OF MISIONS
Ed ited b y Oran H . Smith
Chairman, Dept, of Missions, Biola Bible College
the applicant meets all these require ments and the quota for foreign im migrants has not been filled, a visa will be granted. Communications Postal communications are quite slow and undependable in the inter ior, but near the coast there is good service. There are three mail planes each week from Pontianak and sev eral ships to Djakarta and Singapore. Parcels can be received from the USA, provided they do not exceed 11 pounds in weight. Religious Work in Kalimantan Barat There are numerous indigenous Christian works, including the Pr5t- estant Church, which is an orthodox liturgical state-supported church, the indigenous outgiowth of the Dutch Reformed Church; the indigenous Pentecostal move'runt; the Batak Church, ministe West Borneo W e have walked over steep mountains and dense jungles, pedaled bicycles over narrow, muddy trails, driven jeeps over near ly impassable roads, bounced many miles on rickety buses and heavily- laden rubber trucks, navigated boats large and small on waterways large and small—all this in order to inter view missionaries, visit mission sta tions, national workers, a score of government officials and hundreds of Dyaks, both Christian and heathen. Geographic Description The third largest island in the world, the island of Kalimantan, known as Borneo in English-speaking countries, straddles the equator and is a land of jungles and broad rivers. The northern portion, British Borneo, is administered by England. The southern part, about 72 per cent of the total, comprises Kalimantan or Indonesian Borneo. The total land area is 293,832 square miles with a population of over 3 million Malays, Chinese and Dyaks. Political Condition More than 25 parties representing every political color and shade exist under this multi-party system in which there is absolute freedom of political expression. Largest and most powerful of them all is the Moslem party (Masdjumi), deriving its strength from the fact that approximately 90 per cent of the Indonesian people are Moslem. The party is rather conservative in Borneo, but in a few instances mem bers have openly opposed missions. Second is the Nationalist party (Partai Nasional Indonesia), a socio- democratic party. This group dis approves missionaries because they are foreigners and it does not like Christianity because of the erroneous concept that it is Western in origin. Next in line come the Socialists, the Greater Indonesian party, the Communist party, the Communist People’s party, the Catholic party, the Christian and the Labor party. In addition to the perpetual en mity between the Chinese and the Malays, there is a current struggle between the Chinese Communists and those who support the Nationalists. All activities in Kalimantan Barat are watched and controlled by the police, who are predominantly Am- bonese Christians, and the military, who are predominantly Moslem. Visa Regulations Somehow the erroneous report has gone abroad that no new mission aries are being granted visas for Indonesia. The facts are that many new missionaries are entering and the prohibitions are only against new missionary societies. In granting visas the Department of Immigration is working within de fined limits. (1) A prospective mis sionary’s application must first be approved by the Department of Re ligious Affairs. (2) He must be able to prove that he will not be a finan cial burden to the Indonesian govern ment. ( 3 ) ( He must prove that ade quate housing is available. (4) There must be an invitation from a local church. (5) He must be sponsored by a recognized missionary society. If About This Story Thrilling days of pioneer mis sionary effort are not all in the past. This has been proved by a group of B iola graduates who have made a recent survey of West Bor neo in the interest of Christ for Indonesia Fellowship, an infant mis sionary society, b om in the halls of B iola in 1951 under the leader ship of M r. Ais Pormes, a native of Amboin, Indonesia, with the or iginal objective of establishing a Bible Institute to train national Christian leaders on the island of Java. This courageous group of young people made their w ay first to Singapore, which has served as their headquarters pending their approval by the Indonesian govern ment to enter the land. Although permanent visas have not been issued to any member of the party, several visits have been made into Indonesian territory, the most important of which was a recent trip to Borneo, where the follow ing survey was reported by Ernest N. Poulson and Basil B. Costerisan. Other members of the Christ for Indonesia Fellowship now on the field are Mrs. Ernest Poulson, Mrs. Basil Costerisan and Miss D ixie Oehler. — ED. TH E K IN G 'S BU SINESS 28
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