Andrew Buchanan, Abi Tandiseru and Timothy are STILL awaiting all the paperwork to be cleared for their return to Toraja, Indonesia. Timothy has never met his grandparents and cousins from this side of his family- what a joyous return it will be!

Andrew wrote this comment about Christmas up there….

In Toraja, ministers are run off their feet with Christmas celebrations. In a large church, each sector will have its own celebration for everyone, another for the women’s group, and others yet, for the youth and Sunday School, and maybe for the men. This is in addition to the congregation-wide celebrations for each of those groupings. In a large church, this means dozens of celebrations within the church community alone. Each celebration begins with a short service, followed by speeches and other sundry items, and concludes with a meal. Since a service implies a sermon (and most of these groups will want a minister rather than an elder), a lone minister in a congregation can be invited to lead several dozen of these celebrations. The challenge of preaching something fresh for Christmas year-in-year-out that ministers face in Australia is multiplied many times. It nevertheless remains a big pastoral opportunity both to mix with the congregation, including some who are not regular at church, and also to proclaim Christ.

If you would like to get Andrew’s monthly newsletter and prayer points, go to “cms.org.au” and search for him in “missionaries”.