We believe that by adding practical training to our discipleship programme, our inland people will also benefit in practical ways. In this way, we not only give them spiritual input but also see positive material changes in their lives. We believe that Papua is blessed to be a blessing for the whole of Papua, for Indonesia and for the nations.
GENERAL OVERVIEW
Generally, West Papua has great potential for many things. Furthermore, from an agricultural perspective, the island of New Guinea is more than five times larger in area than the island of Java.
As a missions organization, the Love Papua Centre has the intention of empowering people. We want to see their lives transformed both spiritually and physically. The Love Papua Centre is based in the Warmare district of the regency of Manokwari in the province of West Papua, Indonesia. After 4 years of mentoring people we are now using an agricultural-based training programme as a tool to empower people. We will be involved in providing spiritual mentoring for these people as well.
SPIRITUAL EMPOWERING THROUGH PRACTICAL THINGS
“Life-changing Project for the Community (LPC – the Seeding)” is a tool to give spiritual input for the community we serve in the district of Warmare, Manokwari, West Papua because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is our main goal. We believe in balancing the spiritual with a practical side.
ENLARGING SPIRITUAL CAPACITY THROUGH PRACTICAL THINGS
Whilst believing and praying for Isaiah 54 v 1-4 concerning God’s promises for enlargement, we at the Love Papua Centre are doing some preparatory work with a seeding company. They are partnering with us and will provide us with the technical support we need. This will enable us to bring about a knowledge transfer in intensive agricultural techniques.
This programme started in January 2020 in the Warmare District. We at the Love Papua Centre have already provided the people with spiritual input over the last 4 years. Our intention is also to enrich the spiritual lives of the people on this programme by providing our own discipleship programme together with it.
There will be 100 participants enrolled in the first batch of training. There will be 5 demonstration plots that will serve as a model and will be replicated by the participants on their own piece of land. Participants will receive agricultural training on a daily basis from a designated trainer. They will also receive spiritual input twice a week from the Love Papua Centre team.
For the first 2 months, we as the Love Papua Centre team will need to attend the training each and every day to encourage the participants to pray before their daily activities and training. Furthermore, we will also need to encourage certain participants who show real potential (champions) to take a more active role in prayer and in giving encouragement and motivation to the other participants on the programme. We believe that these spiritual aspects are ultimately even more important than the transfer of knowledge in farming techniques.
Subsay village and Madrat village have become the two villages that have received this empowering programme. There are 2 demonstration plots in Subsay and 3 in Madrat. All participants work without anyone paying them BUT they split their harvest evenly among themselves.
Subsay needed to overcome the fact that most of their soil is rocky and sandy. However, they understand that if they can succeed using that type of land then it will be easier using their fertile soil. They are learning how to make their own fertilizer out of biodegradable waste. They are also learning how to make a cultivating hole system in the ground and how to pick the best seeds.
Madrat had a different situation in that they needed to prepare a new piece of ground for their demonstration plot. They did it using manual tools for a number of weeks while praying for an excavator to help them clear the land. They received the answer to their prayers when a partner helped us by providing an excavator. This helped to remove the roots of the large trees which had been cut down when clearing the plot of land.
At the time of writing this report, both locations already have even more demonstration plots that they are taking good care of on a daily basis. The participants cultivate short harvest time crops that can be harvested every 25 days while waiting for the long harvest time crops. In doing this, they are able to learn how to plan their system of cultivation. Together, we learn how to choose which plants to cultivate in order to give the maximum benefit to the participants.
MAXIMISING THEIR POTENTIAL
We believe that by adding practical training to our discipleship programme, our inland people will also benefit in practical ways. In this way, we not only give them spiritual input but also see positive material changes in their lives. We believe that Papua is blessed to be a blessing for the whole of Papua, for Indonesia and for the nations.
“Small trees are our responsibility; HE will take care of the BIG tree.”
Pak George
Love Papua Centre team