Johnny and Paige Byrne-Mamahit

(Nakita and Shoshannah)

In May 2000 Canadian Baptist Ministries appointed Johnny and Paige Byrne-Mamahit for a new joint pioneer outreach - church planting ministry in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. 

Johny Byrne-Mamahit was born in Seretan, Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, into a 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 and came to faith in Christ when he was a small child. He was baptized at the age of eighteen at the Faith Baptist Church, Manado Indonesia. Johny is a graduate of the Seminary Telogia Tingi, at Manada. 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 Indenosia. She came to faith in Christ at the age of seven and was baptized at Faith Baptist Church at Manado when she was fourteen. Paige is a graduate of the University of Guelph in International Development, and is continuing her education 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 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 six 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 (1995)and Shoshannah (1998). Johnny also enjoys fixing cars and cooking; Paige enjoys photography, reading, and eating Johnny's cooking.

After Orientation in Toronto for the month of June 2000 and deputation that fall, the Byrne-Mamahit familyleft Canada for Indonesia January 24, 2001. January to July was spent in Bandung upgrading language skills before moving to their ministry location in the city of Balipapan, on the East coast of Kalimantan. Johnny and Paige work in church planting ministries as part of a team made up of themselves and four other Indonesian families. 

HANS ELLENS

MISSIONARY VENTURES CANADA