For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’
Acts 13:47
In this new year, God has given us the privilege to carry out the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here are several wonderful things that the Lord has done in our church family:
Sunday Worship Service
For our church, Sunday worship service is the time when the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ fellowship together. Our primary activities are praise, prayer, Bible reading, and Bible teaching through Bible preaching and study. Bible study is conducted for adults and children.
Bible study is held after each sermon. The material of Bible study for adults is the sermon that was preached. Children’s materials are taken from the book, The Big Book, which focuses on teaching the confession of faith to children.
In Bible study, adults are divided into several groups. Adult groups are single female, single male, and a family group. Group leaders are church members who volunteer to lead the group. For the teaching of the Bible to children, it is taught by church members, as well.
We believe that the Lord Jesus is the head of the church, and the purpose of our church is to preach His Gospel, teach His Bible and strengthen the hearts of His disciples in our church, in our church planting areas, and in our partner churches. We have chosen Acts 13:47 as a foundational, guiding verse for our church’s ministry throughout 2018.
We are grateful for the prayer support of every person who knows us, especially the ministry of the Lord through HeartCry Missionary Society. Our prayer and hope in 2018 is that we may become more solid in our ministry. We cannot carry out the Great Commission by ourselves, so we need to serve with other fellow servants of God that have the same vision and mission for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mission
As a church belonging to the Lord Jesus, we are fully convinced that we exist to carry out the Great Commission by having a mission in our local area and outside our local area. Mission in Bandung (December 19th, 2017 – January 19th, 2018). The mission of our church at the end of 2017 is the visit of one sister in our church to Bandung. She was in Bandung for a month. She was delighted by the service alongside the house church and Freedom House ministry in Bandung. Praise the Lord for the ministry invitation from Bandung for her.
P—, Sumatera (21-27 January 2018). In early 2018, the Lord Jesus gave us the opportunity to do a one-week mission trip in Pekanbaru. Some of the mission trip purposes in Pekanbaru are:
- Biblical teaching to the congregation at P— Baptist Church.
- Visiting and strengthening the hearts of the families involved in ministry in Pekanbaru, especially the whole family of brother JR and the church leaders at P— Baptist Church.
- Opening opportunities for implementing the student hall that is cooperating with Pandau Baptist Church.
What is the student hall we want to make together with P— Baptist Church? It is a place where students who are members of the church are taught the Word of God and are trained on how to evangelize and disciple fellow students on their campus. The focus of campus outreach is the R——- State University and the Islamic University of R——. According to the information we were given, at these two universities there are many Christian students (who have Christian ID cards) that are not served by churches or student Christian fellowships. We pray that this student hall can be the center of Bible teaching in this city. In this partnership in the future, our church will plan to visit P—— for 3 days every month with the main focus of Bible teaching and guiding the youth who have been discipled.
P— Baptist Church will be responsible for directing the students how to serve in the local church and carry out mission trips in some areas around their city. Please pray for this plan that we will be fully committed to do it in accordance with God’s good plan and not our own.
J—-, Sumatra (22-25 January 2018). The same mission team from our church also visited another province. Brother JR who is shepherding at P— Baptist Church helped our mission team to Jambi. Our purpose is to visit the family of a doctor who was formerly in our church and who now serves the Lord as a doctor in this province. It took 11 hours by road using a car from P— to J——-. Our mission team was welcomed by the family of the doctor. Here is an excerpt of what is experienced by one brother who participated in the trip:
After traveling for about 11 hours for about 400 km, we eventually arrived at the village at around 17.30. About 30 km of our journey was through forest along damaged and bumpy roads. Praise the Lord who accompanied us on our journey so that it can run smoothly and we could arrive safely.
The mission team consisted of a unique composition: different ethnicities and citizenships. I am Chinese, brother JR and brother R— are Javanese, while brother Richard himself is a caucasian from the USA. The shadow of what will come at the end when there are
“a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands”
Rev 7:9
(Rev 7:9 ESV) was seen from our trip.
Despite all of our different backgrounds, the four of us were equally united in one heart and mind, aware of our capacity as unworthy servants who have only done what was their duty (Luke 17:10). Therefore, our Master and Lord commanded the four of us to
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you”
Matthew 28: 19-20
(Matthew 28: 19-20 ESV); it is never an option for us. This is what we long for, and it is a joy for us to do.
Our host was a brother who was the father of the doctor. Since becoming a transmigrant from 1985, he already has a heart serving the Lord. He pastored his fellow Javanese transmigrants who wanted to study the Bible. In his limitations, he faithfully preaches Christ to the people of his village.
From what God did from the trip, we draw some conclusions:
- There is a door that the Lord Jesus opened to pioneer the church in this area through our host family.
- The way we will be used if God wants to pioneer the church in that area is to open a Bible class or Bible study to the family and to some people whose hearts are opened by the Holy Spirit.
With the open hearts of the family and others in this area who long to study the Bible, we plan to visit the family regularly for a long period of time. Brother P—— deeply longs for the people of the area to follow Jesus Christ and live in His enduring Word.
