REGULAR MINISTRY IN INDONESIA

This posting focuses on the regular ministry activities while in Indonesia. I still travel and preach and teach in various churches and schools, which makes regular (daily, weekly, or monthly) ministry quite difficult. I have agreement that while I am in town I will be with these groups.

ANAK TERANG

I am involved with a ministry Anak Terang (Bright Children) which gathers 5th and 6th graders from lower income families and helps them with school. I helped them institute a program which they call BOS (Indonesian words for Diligence Brings Success, loosely translated). The kids sold cookies at a large industrial firm during the Muslim holiday Ramadan (a custom in Indonesia). They were trained in the shop keeping and sales techniques, and worked in teams. When I joined them this November, they had presentations and awards. Many of the parents were able to attend. The photo above shows me giving one of the groups their award, which included the profits from the sales, which they divided among themselves.

The group tutors the kids, helps them prepare for examinations, and reviews childrens’ progress with parents, suggesting reasons and methods for improvement for weak areas. When I am with the children I play games which require them to understand and respond to questions or commands in English.

YOUNG COUPLES

I am working with a group of young couples that meet once a month. Most of the guys are former disciples who have gotten married, some have children now. In past blogs you can see photos of some of their weddings. This was my second meeting with them. I separated them and had them fill out a form, then they compared and we discussed. It’s about communication and understanding. It is one of the games I use with the FLO group. I find these young people are much more aware of each other. Not surprising, since they are newlyweds and still paying attention to each other!

MONDAY DISCIPLE GROUP

This group continues now for more than 10 years, although many have moved on, I still have four from the original group. We have met on different nights (started on Saturday evenings) over the years, now it is Mondays so I identify it by Monday. At present I have no other weekly groups.

The Monday after Thanksgiving (third Thursday in November) I cooked turkey dinner for them, complete with stuffing and cranberry sauce, tho’ missing some other key features such as pumpkin pie (could not find here in Indonesia). It was a smashing success, and was enticement enough to get nearly all to come. Only two were absent. Usually there are 8-12 that come, we had 15 for dinner!

CITA HATI CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

You have seen much in this blog. We recently celebrated our 17th anniversary. I have been with the school for 5 years now. I am officially listed as ‘Advisor,’ or sometimes ‘Pastoral.’ I was originally requested to be spiritual father to teachers and staff. I am regularly in the school two days a week, plus once a month with kindergarten teachers, also participate in many special activities, such as retreats, leadership seminars, prayer meetings. I lead Bible studies and devotions, meet with individuals for counseling and prayer.
It is a blessing to be with this school which is so obviously God’s work in progress! The school is expanding - opening a new school in West Surabaya and also planning a new one in Kalimantan (what we call Borneo)