| Steve and Susan Waller lived in Indonesia from September 1998 to September 2008. Indonesia is the fourth largest nation in the world with a population of over 250 million people. It is the largest Muslim nation in the world with 88% of the population following Islam. Indonesia consists of approximately 17,000 islands which straddle the Equator in southeast Asia. Jakarta, the capitol, on the island of Java, has a population of 15.1 million. Java has the densest population of any place in the world. The Wallers worked to teach others the gospel of Jesus Christ and help young Christians and young churches develop according to the New Testament pattern.
Steve has been a gospel preacher in America since 1966. These years of experience in local church work have served to help in the work that he and Susan did as missionaries in Indonesia. Susan has taught Bible classes of women and children in the church for many years. She also has taught full-time in both public and private schools on both the elementary and secondary level. The Wallers traveled to various islands in Indonesia to fulfill their mission goals. This mission work was unique and different in some ways from what one thinks of as the usual mission work. They worked primarily in the area of Congregational Development. This involved the following activities and works: 1. Work with local churches which have already been established and with individual brethren. 2. Teach and train in the area of Church Leadership: help develop men to become elders, deacons, and preachers; help the women to understand their role as the wives of such men; show how to blend these areas of service into effective leadership for the local congregation. 3. Congregational Development: Day-to-Day activities of the local congregation: Business Meetings; Church Finances (the treasury, budgeting), Preacher and His Work, Church Planning, Congregational Outreach in the Community; Spiritual Development of Members in Christian Living; Problem-Solving; Benevolence, etc. 4. Develop members to become Bible Teachers of both adults and children; Develop Bible School programs and classes; Materials and Methods: help show how to utilize ordinary and commonly used tools and products to use in teaching children. 5. Help develop a library of books in the Indonesian language which can be used over and over by the Indonesian brethren in guiding them in the "whys" and "how to" of church work, and in gaining a better general knowledge of the Bible. Steve accomplished this through writing his own materials, and through obtaining authorized permission from American authors who are Christians for the purpose of translating their materials into the Indonesian language. 6. The Wallers taught any number of other topics where they saw a particular need within a local congregation. Steve and Susan studied the national language, Bahasa Indonesia. This was an ongoing process. |