A Long-Awaited Connection-Indonesia Satellite and Health Ministry
Written by Ramon and Shandy Tengkano
Internet. Finally!
To everyone who reads this newsletter, this picture of a pole probably means nothing. But to us it means that eleven years of waiting are finally over: sometime this month we will finally have a fiber-optic high-speed internet connection to our campus in the mountains where our production studio is located. This is a BIG accomplishment.
When we built our home and clinic in the village in 2010, we had no idea we were going to wait this long for a decent internet connection. We applied for the service in October 2010. We knew we were far away from the grid, and we were willing to pay extra charges if necessary. The provider, a giant state-owned telecommunication company that is also our satellite provider, has been putting our request on hold ever since. They told us they needed more customers in the area to justify building the infrastructure.
For the past ten years, we made one appeal after another without success. Even though new neighbors, who also needed the internet, started building homes nearby, they still did not respond. Finally a friend from our cycling community got a position on the company’s board of directors. One conversation about our internet problem during a cycling trip with him was all it took. The next day his staff called us to apologize for the long delay. Within a week the company started the work that we thought we had to give up on. They finally installed a pole signaling that the connection will be established soon.
Why is it really important? At the end of 2020 we were requested to move to the satellite company’s lower service because we often paid our bills late. They saw that it was more workable for us financially, and less risky for them to retain us as customers. The service was cheaper, inferior, but it required high speed internet connectivity which we didn't have in our studio. This forced us to relocate our server to an apartment in the city of Jakarta where high speed connectivity is available. Since we do not have enough room to make a studio there, we had no choice but to stop our regular live programs (we usually do up to five in one weekend). These programs require the studio and the server to be at one place, or connected by fast internet. The live programs have been very popular with the viewers, and they have wondered why there have been no live talks for the past eleven months.
With the soon-to-be-ready internet connection in our studio, we will bring the server back and resume the live programs. And with the satellite bill at half the amount that we used to pay, we're surprised to see the picture quality of our programs remains the same, despite the lower bandwidth. God is good, and the work continues.
What we have learned is that when we think God fails, He always proves Himself—His plans are not our plans. We just have to wait for His perfect timing. God is good to allow us to get behind in our payments, only for us to discover equally good alternatives. And He places us among the right people who can help us to do His work while we serve them with Christ’s passion. Let us keep praying for the television work in Indonesia and the activities to reach out to city people through health. Thank you all for your support and prayer.
Editor's note: The Indonesia Satellite ministry broadcasts across the country with Bible-based programming, and it only costs $10 per hour of programming. If you would like to support this satellite ministry or the Tengkanos' health outreach, please click the button below.