Sigafoose Robert Diane 1983 Singapore

8/11/2019 Sigafoose Robert Diane 1983 Singapore

1/8

JAN

28 983

^

i wiiii

Go therefore and make disciples

h o f

n tions ..

Box 67, Collinsvine, Illinois

6^ 23 3

BOB and D IANE S IGAFOOSE

Dea r Fr iends

in

Chris t .

It has been an

exhausting

joy to be back in

the

States once again

to

visit

al l

of

you here.

We have t rave led many miles already and

look forward to t ravel ing many

more during

our stay.

Visits to

our

supporting

churches

have

been

thrilling ones, especially

when

we

share

ideals,

work, and

goals

to those during

class time

and also to

those w ee

ones

in

children s worship.

They

get so

excited

when

we

talk about living

in

a country

so

fa r

f rom

home

We count it

a

blessing

to

be able

to

share

with

you, to

let

you know

that

God is

still

working. Through your

prayers

and

your

financial support , the church is wonderously

growing in areas allover the world. We know

that

fo r a fact as we labor in Singapore . . .

your efforts

are not in vain

There

are

family

members we have

not seen,

but

hopefully

that

will be done by the end of

our

stay in

the

States.

it has been a special privilege to spend

time

with our

two

girls

and have

treasured

every

second of it.

Some

of you may not know tha

Debbie

developed

acute

pericarditis

in

October. During her hospital time in

inten

sive

care, the-doctors

also

found

she

had a

hea rt mu rmur l ab el ed

mitro

valve prolap

se . The valveproblem does not concern the

doctors at this time, hoping

medication wil

dear up

the

infection

around the

heart. We

ask

you to be in

prayer

concerning this

dif

ficult

time.

Debbie is

working and

even play

ing

volley ball,

so she

is

much

improved.

Laurie is finishing her

final

year at Artesia

Christian College.

She is still undecided a

to her future, as there

a re s ever al

areas o

service

to consider.

Her graduation

date

i

May

11th.

In

Chris t ian Love,


2/8

1 7 rT j : :: r

The c o s t o f

living

in Singapore h a s sky

rocketed

b e c a u s e

o f

the

c o s t o f

hous ing

a n d

transportation.

it is necessary

to raise

an

additional

800.00

permonth

support.

Some of the support may

c o m e

f r o m t h e

c h u r c h e s

t h a t

h a v e

n o t

Excerpt from Singapore

Times , Apri l

21.19

S'pore fourth most

expensive

city

NEW YORK, Tues.

Singapore

ha s

been

rank

ed fourth among

th e 10

most e xp en si ve c it ie s in

th e

Asia-Pacific

region,

according

to

Business

I n t e r h a t i o n a l s

1982

world

wide survey of

executive

living

costs.

Th e

magazine's

survey

l is ted Tokyo

as

the

most

expensive, with

a cost -o f-

l iving index rating of 137.

Second is J a k a r t a with

an.index of 120

an d

Taipeh

t hi r d

with

113.

S i n g a p o r e ,

on 110

points, c a m e ahead o

Sydney 108), Melbourn

106),

Seoul

101),

Hong

kong

100 , ^ngkok

85

an d

Auckland

(80).

B u s i n e s s

I n t e r n a t i o n a

s ai d i t

bas ed i ts

survey

on

th e c o s t of

c e r t a i n

food

i t e m s ,

alcoholic b e v e r

ages.

household

supplies

p e r s o n a l

c a r e

i t e m s

tobacco,

utilities, clothing

domestic help, ^recreation

a n d

e n t e r t a i n m e n t a n d

transport.

AP .

helped

us before,

but much o f i t w ill have to

come

from

our

friends

who have

so

faithfully

been beh ind

us

all

these

years. While we are

busy

reporting

to our c hu rc he s a n d

Bible

Coll eges , wil l you pray that

our needs

might

be m e t ? Can we

count

on you?

5

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3/8

IMW

3 98

therefore

and^

make disciples

ox 67,

Collinsvil le,

Il l inois 62234

Greetings I

Many

thousand

miles

have

passed

s ince

we l a s t

re p o r t e d t o you. A f t e r

we

t o o k L a u r i e t o s c h o o l f r o m h e r C h r i s t

mas b r e a k we then went on to t h e West

c o a s t . The warm fe l lowships and hos

p i t a l i t y

more

than made up f o r the

heavy r a i n s which f l o o d e d

many

p a r t s

o f C a l i f o r n i a . On

our

way back, we

s p e n t some t ime i n

Albuquerque with

the Cass

family .

On February 5 t h Bob

performed the

wedding

ceremony

of

M e l i s sa C a s s a n d R u s s D o r c a s .

^-Thile

t r a v e l i n g through Texas,

we

s t o p p e d t o v i s i t

a

Doctor f r i e n d o f

ours

t h a t we knew b o th m ed i c a l l y and

p e r s o n a l l y i n I n d o n e s i a . He g r a

c io u sl y o ff er ed

h is s ur g ic al a b i l i t i e s

t o

remove

s e v e r a l

c y s t s from Bob s

eyes

f r e e

g r a t i s . t was a t o r t u r o u s

t r i p home a f t e r

t h a t

s u r g e r y because

o f d r i v i n g w i t h p a i n f u l s w o l l e n e y e s ;

b u t

committments made it n e c e s s a r y

to

h u r r y

home.

I n

M a r c h

we

travelled

t o t h e E a s t

C o a s t . Along w i t h church

committments

in

Ohio, Kentucky,

Virginia , and

North

C a r o l i n a

we managed t o

v i s i t some

of

Diane s

family

which

she had

not

seen f o r more

th a n fo u r

y e a r s .

Throughout all o f

o u r

t r a v e l i n g

t h i s

f u r l o u g h

t h e Lord has

given us

good

weather . We were

p r a y i n g

f o r

a

mild

w i n t e r e s p e c i a l l y

i n th e

c o l d mid

w e s t

so

perhaps your mild w i n t e r

was a

p e r s o n a l

answer

t o

t h a t p r a y e r .

for

u s .

We w i l l

be

r e t u r n i n g

t o Singapore

on

t )ur IMMEDIATE n e e d s a r e :

T r a v e l

to

return

t o

t h e

field

. . .

2000.00

Housing

3 months

d e p o s i t

p l u s

one

m o n t h s

r e n t

i n a d v a n c e . .

3200.00

O u r

next i m m e d i a t e

n e e d is a

trans

p o r t a t i o n v e h i c l e

on

t h e

f i e l d .

We

s h o u l d be

a b l e

t o g e t

a used

one

f o r

about 6000.00.

OTHER PROJECTS

. . .

Teaching

m a t e r i a l s

f o r

all a g e s .

We a s k t h a t

t h e r e

be enough

w o r k b o o k s

o r

m a t e r i a l

f o r a n

a v e

rage c l a s s o f te n members.

VES

m a t e r i a l w i l l be

a c c e p t

ed if

they

a r e f u l l packs and n o t

u s e d .

S t a n d a r d q u a r t e r l i e s a r e

a l s o

good .


4/8

Idols destroyed in 2 homes

(The following art ic le was In a newslet

te r recent ly received from Singapore .

Lee

Ee Tat was

one

of

the

f i r s t

Singa

poreans

to

help Bob Diane vhen they

f i r s t arr ived in

Singapore.)

Las t

month,

two

fami l ies

came

to

know

the

joy and

peace

of Jesus

Chr is t and

had

i do l s removed from t h e i r

homes

by

th e ch urch .

When Sow

Leng, the wife

of Area

Leader

Lee

Ee

Tat became

a

Chris t ian in

1973.

her grandmother

strongly

opposed

and

t r i ed ways and means to stop her . Las t

month,

af t e r

10 years

of prayers , sh e

to o h as d e c id ed t o f o l l ow J e s u s and des

t roy

a l l the ido ls a t

home.

I'Jhen I

became

a

Chris t ian

Sow

Leng

sa id

my granny was

the

one who really

t r i ed to s top ime. So what I did

was

to

give her some t racts and

prayed.

She would read

those

t r a c t s

according

to

Sow Leng, but she also

reads

a

lo t of

o ther mater ia l s

and

i s knowledgeable

bu t

skep t ica l .

In sp i te of

her

skept icism she kept lo t s

of gods around the house

ki tchen god,

l iving

room

god

and

par t ic ipa te

de l i -

gent ly

i n a nc es tra l worship .

Late l a s t

year she

f e l l f rac tured a

thighbone and was hosp i ta l ized . In^

the

hospi t a l she

would

become

hys te r ica l

and

had

to be se da te d a s

wel l as

phys i

ca lly re stra ine d.

Sow

Leng bel ieves

th t

th e

r e a s o n f o r h e r

b e h a v i o r

was

mainly because

o f

f ea r and

her

r e a l i z a

t ion tha t her gods cannot

do

anyth ing .

When

she was

discharged a

month l a t e r

she

was

a

changed

person.

She

no

longer

bothered w ith the dai ly r i t u a l of

an

ce s t r a l

worship

and even

mentioned

about

want ing to become a Chr i s t i an .

All

th is had

come

about

in God s

good

time

according to

Sow

Leng^ The

family s

washing

lady

was a recent

Chris t ian

and

she

would give her

t rac t s

to read.

The

family had also engaged a pr iva te nurse

and sh e was a l s o a Ch r i s t i a n .

Then one night las t month, in one of her

frequent v i s i t s .

Sow Leng

asked i f she

would

l ike to accep t Christ as Lord

and

Savior. Her grandmother said yes and

together t hey p rayed. But Sow Leng

want

ed fu r the r

conf i rmat ion

she

wanted to

s e e th e

i d o l s

r emoved .

Tliat eventual ly

came to pass when in

the

cou r s e

o f

a

chu r ch

visit a

member

o f th e

v i s i t a t i on team

suggested tha t it would

be good

to have

the

idols

removed and

her grandmother

agreed.

And so Sow

Leng

got

he r conf i rmat ion and i s even more

convinced t h a t

her God i s a prayer

answer ing God.

CINDY LIN,

of MA 2 had been

praying

for

her

mother

fo r

a

long

t ime.

One

day

in

January ,

in

the course of a conversa t ion

her mothe r b eg an

ta lk ing about

the prob

lems in her

l i f e . Taking

th i s

opportun

i t y Cindy s ha re d w ith her abou t

Jesus

and found t h a t

she

was

ac tua l ly l i s t en

ing and

rece iving

ll she had

s a i d .

Encouraged

and

r e jo ic ing

Cindy went

to

her home fe l lowship and shared her joy .

Lee

Ee

Tat , Cindy s area leader was

pre

sen t

a t tha t meeting

and suggested

tha t

th e

chu r ch

st ff

visit

h e r

mo t h e r .

So

it was ll ar ranged.

On

the

eve

o f

the

planned v i s i t Cindy

prayed hard ,

r e a l j i a ^ .

The

nex t morning, Cindy went to work

f u l l of

exci tement and expec ta t ion .

That

morning, with the church .members

p r e s en t he r

mother decided to

en t r u s t

her

l i f e to Chris t and to

accep t Him as

Lord and

Savior .

She

a l so

reques ted

th t t h e idols t

her home b e

r emoved

t ha t same

morning.

\^en

they

were

re

moved, she found t h a t

the heavy head

aches and

pains

she had been having were

ll gone. She was f i l l e d with joy .

So now Cindy s

mother i s cons tant ly

t e l l i ng

h er fr ie nd s and

r e la t ives

about

the goodness

o f

the

Lord.


5/8

:Ut5

Box 7

ColUnsville,

Illinois 6 4

Greet ings from Singapore I

We

o f t en

wondered J u s t

how f a r

one o f ou r walk ing t r e k s

i n c l

uded , so th e

o t h e r

day

we

de

c i ded to

f i nd

ou t

by

u s i ng a

pedome te r

t o

add

up

ou r

mi l e s .

We wen t t o town on b u s i n e s s ,

a n d that half hour business

t r a n s a c t i o n co s t us nea r l y

s ix

mi le s i n

walk ing

p l u s unnum

bered b u s miles. .. .a total of

ne a r l y

s ix hou r s be ing away

f rom home.

It was

an ave r age

day .

We

a re

happy

t o

be back

in

Singapore Churches

a re much

a l i v e and growing

by

l e a p s and

b o u n d s . Demand s o n

our

teach

in g

a re beg inn ing to p i l e up

a l r e ady . Get t i ng

s e t t l e d

i n

aga in

has been qu i t e an expe r

ience

with the rst

f ew

weeks

o f

J e t - l a g , p lu s

ge t t i n g

used to th e

hea t

aga i n , we pu t

in some

very d rag gy days .

How

ev e r ,

t h a t i s now

beg i nn i ng

to

wan e a n d we c a n see mo r e clear

ly some

o f th e

r e s p o n s i b i l i t

i e s fa c in g u s .

At

th e t ime o f

t h i s

wr i t i n g , ou r v i s a

has

been

t u r n ed in

to th e

immig r a

t i o n

a u t h o r i t i e s , bu t has

n o t

been

g ran t ed

a s

ye t .

We we r e able to

rent

a h o u s e

app rox ima t e l y

13 k i l ome t e r s

from th e main

p a r t o f th e c i t y

and main

chu rch

work ing a r e a .

It

was

c he a pe r th an

any

o t h e r s

we looked

a t

and f e e l ve ry

f o r t u n a t e

in hav ing

it. The

80B

and DIANE SIGAFOOSE

er ings for

t h i s

needed expense

as

we l l

as con t r i b u t i o n s from

i n d i v i du a l s . We f e e l wi thou t

t ha t help a t th a t p a r t i cu la r

t ime o f

need ,

we would not

have been ab l e

to

r e t u r n to

t h i s

exc i t ing

area

of

se rv ice .

We are

ex t remely g r a t e f u l

to

t h o se

who have

such

a

v i s i o n .

Na t iona l s

he r e have loaned us

money

for the

f i r s t primary

expenses .

We

had

to

borrow

2,000

U.S.

At

the

t ime

of

th i s

wri t ing,

we

have

repaid

1,000,

but s t i l l

need 1,000

more . We

have

a s su re d th e s e

loving folks we wil l

pay

back

the rest as s o o n as we p o s s

i b l y

cou ld .

To show

you

how the

Lord

does

t a k e c a re

o f us

i n sma l l

ways ,

we

wi l l

share

an

i n c i d en t

with

you. When

we

were t rying

to

get

set t led into a

banking


6/8

pay th e fe e as

t h e r e

would

n ev e r

be

t h a t

much money

in

the

b a n k

a c c o u n t that we

used

eve ry penny eve ry month .

Af t e r minu te s

o f a rgu ing t h a t

we wou ld e v e n t u a l l y have

more

money,

we

s a id ,

no,

we

never

would . The g i r l l e f t us

sit

t i ng

f o r a

few m in ute s o nly to

r e t u rn l a t e r to s ay , 0 . K .,

you r

a c c oun t has been wa ive r ed

. . . y ou

do

no t have t o have

th e

minimum i n you r a c coun t , no r

do you have to pay a

month ly

fee . Well , we were in

awe

How th e Lord is go ing t o

change a r egu l a t ed banking

computer ized

system

i s beyond

us , but

He

i s

We were t r e a t e d t o a t im sum

lunch

on

Sunday. Tim

sum i s

Ch i n e s e

h o r s d * o e u v r e s . It was

qui t e a

unique exper ience as

they brought around c a r t

a f t e r

cart

of tidbits. You we r e to

choose wha t e v e r s u i t e d you r

fancy.

Unfor tuna te ly , we did

no t

know

what

our fancy

was

a t

t h a t moment . Shr imp

p a s t a ,

shrimp ba l l s , shrimp f r i t t e r s ,

and

shrimp

cakes were

some

o f

th e first i t em^ we

t a s t e d .

Late r , we were encouraged

to

t ry

some glut inous

r i ce which

took courage

to

ea t . Hong Kong

nood les

came n ex t (which s u i t

ed us b e s t o f all f o l lowed by

coconut

pudding

and lychee

f ru i t Jel lo

for desser t

(of

a

so r t ) .

However

t he re i s a

good

l o c a l b r a nd o f alka seltzer

av a i l a b l e

t h a t we

r u sh

f o r

f rom t ime t o t im e

after t h e s e

Sunday ba t t l e s . Don' t th ink

f o r a

minu te we

have f o r go t t e n

th e

t a s t e o f

t hose

g r i l l e d

s t eak s ,

Bar-B-Qued chicken and

s t rawberry

shor tcake .

We wan t

to

t a k e this t im e to

t hank

all

o f

you

who

were

so

k ind to us

dur ing

our s ho r t

fu r lough i n th e S t a t e s .

How

we

app rec i a t ed t hose who

f e a s t e d

us w el l w ith food ,

p lus

en

cour agemen t and

let

us

s h a r e

o ur a dv en tu re s from S ingapo r e .

It is t r u l y

a wonde r f u l

exp e r

i ence

to

be

he r e se rv ing

th e

Lord.

Well-educated

and

more

easily trained

' 'SINGAPOREANS wifrk hard a n d a r e

proad of the ir

worh/'

said Mr

Jerry

Con-

stanttne,

genera

manager of Watt and

Akhermans, an engineering

repair

and

servicing company.

The Japanese, however, feel a Singapore

engineer needs more snpervislen than his

Japanese

counterpart, who will a lso do

more

work .

In Japan, 1 need employ only one engi

neer to look f tf te r the packing machine, the

conveyor

beltand the

biding.

HereI neMat

least two, said Mr Takuya Ninomiya,

managing director

of Orient Bulk

Terminal

whicb packs fertilisers for re-export.

Another

Japanese

senior executtve

said

the Singapore worker does not think beyond

his Job.

He

does

not

think

what will happen if he doe s

something

this

way

or

that . H is wo rk h aU t is also

not good.

For

example, he

will not

clear

U s t ab le b e

fore

he goes

home. Nex t

morning, he wastes Hme

eleanlng

his work area.

However ,

an

Asean

Industrialist had something

complimentary

to say.

Singapore

workers are

bet ter educated mid so

can

be tndned easily.

T he fa ct

t ha t

fliere

a re

vocational t raining pro

grammes

and money from

the Skills

Development

Fond

to train te


7/8

^3

was

a sure thing th t Matthew 28il9-20 Therefore

go

and make

disciples

of l l

nations,

baptizing

them

in the

name

of the Father and of

the Son

and of

the Holy

Spiri t

and teach

ing

them to o bey everything 1

have

commanded you , was not on Bo b

Sigafoose s

mind in

Aiigust

of

1965. A

persistant preacher

from the South

Side

CJhurch

of

Christ

in Danville,

Ill inois kept

Bo b

on

his

visitation l i s t ( Diane was already

attending

church and was

baptized in

May

of

that

year). But the last day the minister visited the Sigafoose home,

he was not so

poli tely

and not

so gently removed

from

the i r home. In jus t

a

matter of

days following the incident,

the

minister, along with an elder plus a pi lo t

were

killed

in

a

plane

crash on

their

way to Grundy, Va.

Needless

to

say

that tragedy

le ft i ts

im

pact

on

Bo b.

He took a long, hard look

at

his

l ife,

wondering

i f

i t was

being

used

for

^ purpose. He decided

i t

wasn t... .and

in Novemher

of

that same

year

was baptized

into Christ

.From

the haptistry to the mission field in five short years, he went.

Bo b and Diane entered Singapore in I970 and waited there eight

months for

a visa to

Indonesia

which

was the

goal of their vision.

Ohen

in May of I971, they were at last

granted a visa to

work

in that country. After settling in Central Java, the work of

establishing

churches soon

began

to grow. With a

tremendous team

effort, many,

many

soula

were added to

the Lord s church. Surely the Lord

must have wept

with joy. They

did.

However, the government vowed to oust

all

the missionaries from Indonesia by I98O.

Bot, ^ong with one of the co-workers, lew Cass, then decided to move to another area

in

Tduch

there

were

no

Christian

churches/Churches of Christ. While

the country of

ang

ladesh

was to

hecome their nert goal, it

was

not the Lord-s , at that time. So,

another

new

field,

namely Portugal, was

decided upon. In

1979,

along

with

the Lew

Cass

family,

oh

and Diane

went

to Portugal, staying

until

I981.

WhUe

-Hiere,

oh

helped with surveying

working out government red tape,

plus

establishing Portuguese

Bihle

Studies and starting

an

E^lish-speaking congregation.Kiis

was

all done so

as

to lay the

foundation

for new

missionaries to

come

and

stay on

a

pemanent

hasis, hoping hy

that time the

door

might

he

open

to

Bangladesh.

It

wasn t. Singapore,

then, seemed

the next logical

country

geograph-

i


8/8

< im P

see

the

need. We

feel

t

is

a good vision as Singaporeans can

enter

most all

of their

surcoiinding neighbors, including India and CSiina with the problem of a

visa

Not

only can Singapore

be

used as

a

base for sending out missionaries

,

but als o

used

as

a

base for our own missionaries

in

Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia They can live

here and work out of this country, going back and forth into Indonesia to l t up and

continue

to

teach national

leaders

and when the need arises Religion is now comp-

ulsary in the public school system

and

Ghristainity s

one

that s included

Bob has a

certificate from

the government

to

teach

Christianity

in the Schools.

However

at the

time of

this writing the

plans for this particular program has not been

finalized

Althou^

not

started

be

Bob

and Diane, there

is

a

Ghxncch

of Christ

in

Singapore, a

break-away

from

another group. They have welcomed

Bob

and Diane into the fold and very

of;fefiiJ_ar6_asked to

preach, teach and help with Bible

camps

or

in

any capacity they see

the need of support. Start ing the

first

of the year, iiiey

will

be working together to

start a new congregation in the area

where

the Sigafooses are living. Survey and planning

is

being

done

in the

meantime.

Bob

has also

been

asked

by

anothe

New

Testament congrega

tion to lead

them

as

their gi^wth

was down.

They wanted

somewone

who

could

speak

Englsih

with a strong Bible Doctrine, KLus working between the two congregations,

Bob

and Diane

have been holding Christian-living and Christian-family seminars. Because of the rapid

growth

of

Ghr^ianity here the new Singaporean Christian does not know the values or

principles involved

in living

as a Christian. Their deep-seeded ciature and customs are

having to change . While t is a very difficult task for them they are eager and willing

to stand

strong in

their committment for Christ Aside from the

work

load

of

their

teach

ing,

Bob and

Diane s home

has

been turned into a hotel .

Because Singapore

is a cross

road of Southeast Asia,

many

missionaries

travel

throughgoing to and

from

the

States

There

have been occasions for missionaries to bring their children to Singapore seeking

medical help and they need a place to

stay

for this reason.

Bob was bom on September 30, 1933 in Danville, Illinois His parents, sister and broth

er still live in that area.

His

former employers

were

the U.S. Navy ( 3 years), the U.S.

Postal Service

(

years and had been trained as

a

computer machinist for Caterpillar

Tractor

Go.

in

Davenport Iowa

at the time of his decision to give his

life

and service

fully to

the

Lord. Bob then

receceived

his training

from Lincoln Christian College

spec

ializing

in

Missions and Bible,

which

prepared

him

for the

field

Diane

was bom on February 3, 938 in the Danville area also although her parents now

l ive

n Nasville Tennessee

Bob and

Diane

were married

on June

l6th, I956 From this

marriage they

have

two daughters

Debora

who was schooled

at Lincoln Christian

College

and Artesia Christian

College

ard

is

now

married

nad

living in Mitchell,

South

Dakota.

Laura, gratuated from Artesia Christian

College

in May of I983 and is living in Gatesville, Texas teaching in a Day-Care

Center

Sigafoose Robert Diane 1983 Singapore

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