Bastian serves as a translator and church planter in Papua with the Fuau people. The Fuau live in a remote region and do not have the Bible in their language. Bastian has already translated and recorded key Bible stories for these semi-literate people, and he’s preparing to translate the entire New Testament, as well. He is married and has seven children.
Testimony of Conversion
When I entered Primary School in 1977, a teacher sent by God through the RBMU mission agency raised me. We lived in a dorm built by missionaries in Taiyeve village, and I was educated with the Word of God. When I finished elementary school, I was transferred to town to continue in Junior High School. I stayed in Maranata dormitory in Jayapura for three years, but I did not finish junior high school because the dorm was problematic. So all we who remained in the dormitory all scattered and I finally returned home with no school.
Although I had been educated with the Word of God, I did not open my heart for the Lord Jesus to enter in to control my life. I continued to do dark deeds. After I was 23 years old, in 1983, I married. My wife is named Mau. She was converted from her sins as a young woman.
When I stayed with my wife for two years I continued to receive the ministry of God’s Word by the local assembly, where I realized that I was a sinful man who could not save myself – only the Lord Jesus could save me. In 1985 I was baptized as a sign of becoming a Jesus-follower. After I was baptized, the assembly chose me to help them in the service of the congregation and Sunday School. In 2003 my local congregation sent me to the School at STAKIN (Evangelical School of Theology and Vocation). I got deep in the Word of God for four years, and that is where my wife and I married with a Christian marriage ceremony by Rev. Yonatan Marweri. I finished from STAKIN In 2007.
Ministry
In 2008, my ministry began with a Bible translation program to translate the Bible into the Fuau language of Abawiri. I was encouraged in the ministry. He helped me so that every time there was a training or Bible translation course; I always took part. We also recruited a member of the Korean SIL [name withheld] to help us in the written translation of the Bible, but she did not endure here, and after one year she went home. Even when she returned home, we did not lose hope, but we continued to pray and hope in God. We feel that this work is an exceptional job and although there are many difficulties and challenges of life, but my family and I did not retreat.
In 2011 the Indonesian linguistic organization, Kartidaya, planned a One Story Workshop (preliminary stage) in Ambon and, on that occasion, my friend, Yulianus Wau and I, were encouraged to participate in this workshop for three weeks. Pastor Johnson also arranged for us to attend the second stage training held in Jakarta in 2012. Therefore, I am very grateful to God because through this process that we went through God shaped me with His power and His great love. I could never have imagined something like this that God has done through our thoughts and deeds. We now have 25 Bible stories in our tribal language Tribe.