Johnny and Paige Byrne-Mamahit were recently reassigned to serve in Pontianak, Indonesia in the area of outreach ministries.  They were orginally appointed by CBM in May 2002 as Global Field Staff for a new church planting ministry in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.  

Johnny Byrne-Mamahit was born in Seretan, Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, into a large family. His father was a pastor in an Indonesian Baptist Church and when Johnny was young his family moved several times within the 'Minahasa' area. Johnny had a sense of the love of Christ from his earliest day and came to faith in Christ when he was a small child. He was baptized at the age of eighteen at the Iman Baptist Church, Manado, Indonesia. Johnny is a graduate of the Seminay Telogia Tingi, in Manado. While at seminary Johnny focused his studies on Christian education. Just prior to coming to Canada, Johnny was an interim missionary of the KGBI (Kerapatan Gereja Baptis Indonesia) in Jakarta.

Paige was born in Brantford, Ontario, the second of three daughters of Frank and Jane Byrne, CBM missionaries to Indonesia. Paige grew up as a 'missionary kid' in the Minahasa area of Indonesia. She came to faith in Christ at the age of seven and was baptized at the Baptist Church at Manado when she was fourteen. Paige is a graduate of the University of Guelph in International Development, and did some studies at Tyndale Seminary in Toronto. During her high school and university years Paige often found herself working with and among missionaries.

Johnny and Paige met in Manado, Indonesia in 1993 when Paige was on a short term mission project with Canadian Baptist Ministries. They were married later that year in Cambridge, Ontario.

Johnny has always felt a calling to tell others about the love of Christ. After years in Canada Johnny's desire to serve God increased and focused as he learned more about Christianity and the global issues of justice, poverty and evangelism from the perspective of his new Canadian culture. Paige has felt the call to missionary service (to Indonesia or elsewhere) since she was a young adult and her university and seminary studies, and the mission trip with CBM in 1993, further focused and established that call.

Both Johnny and Paige love spending time with their two children, Nakita and Shoshannah. Johnny also enjoys fixing cars and cooking; Paige enjoys photography, reading, and eating Johnny's cooking.

In September of 2001, after Paige completed six months of language study in Bandung, Indonesia, the family moved to Balikpapan, located in Eastern Kalimantan on the island formerly known as Borneo. It is a city of over a quarter of a million people made up mostly of Muslim workers who have come from all over Indonesia to work in the oil industry.  Their task was to establish a church in the heart of the city.  Friendships were established with different segments of the community and out of those friendships and other contacts a church was born.  The congregation which first met in their home has now moved to rented quarters on one of the main streets but is looking forward to the day when it will have its own land and building for worship and for service to the growing city. 

Through innovative ministries that take place in parks, on the sports field, on the beaches, local gymnasiums, coffee shops, restaurants, hotels and in homes the church continues to grow in numbers but also spiritually and in the development of its lay leadership.

In addition to Johnny’s work as pastor of the church – developing and growing a never ending list of contacts - he also works in conjunction with two other Indonesian missionary families involved in church plants in the neighboring cities of Samarinda and Grogot.  Frequently the families get together to share, consult, encourage each other and to pray and plan for the future growth and outreach of their churches.

Paige, in addition to her family duties and that of hospitality, is involved in a number of different ministries to children, young people, women and to the nurturing of relationships with people in the wider community of Balikpapan

Verse:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..." 1 Pet 1:3

E-mail Address:
johnnybm@telkom.net

Address:
Kotak Pos 1051
Pontianak 78010 Kalbar
Indonesia

Country Involvement

• Indonesia