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On Saturday, October 21st, HeartCry missionaries Alah’bi and Rahmat traveled to Timor Leste together. Some of you may remember Rahmat’s trip there last year in November. Below is a brief recap of the trip last week.

On this trip Rahmat and Alah’bi returned once again to Lospalos in the eastern part of the country. The church there was established in 2005. It has since planted one other church in Dili (the capital city), and is also in the process of establishing two other churches closer to Lospalos. Although the work has been going on for more than a decade, there is still a lot of work left to be done in order to train leaders and help the churches become more healthy. HeartCry missionary Francisco is currently ministering in Lospalos, helping the church to become more mature. It’s possible that he would move to Dili in the future in order to pastor the church there since the church in Lospalos has two other leaders, whereas the church in Dili has none.

Rahmat and Alah’bi had a long day of travel on Saturday. Rahmat left Bandung at 6:20 am for Bali, and Alah’bi left Jakarta around the same time. They then arrived in Dili, Timor Leste, around 2 pm. After eating lunch, Francisco and Rahmat rode on a motorcycle for about 8 hours, arriving in Lospalos about 11 pm.Alah’bi remained in Dili in order to preach on Sunday at the Baptist church there. After Sunday worship, Alah’bi also traveled 8 hours to Lospalos for the seminar. 

The seminar lasted for two days. Rahmat and Alah’bi taught on:

  1. The nature of the church
  2. The attributes of the church
  3. The marks of the church
  4. The membership of the church
  5. The polity of the church
  6. The discipline of the church
  7. The purpose of the church
  8. The hope of the church

Along with Sunday worship and the seminar, they also had the chance to teach God’s word several other times: morning and evening devotionals, evening worship services, and question and answer times. There were also many profitable conversations during the break times related to the doctrine of the church and other theological topics. It was very encouraging to see their hunger to study God’s word. Leaders not only attended the seminar, but there were also many women and youth who came as well. The youth especially show a great desire to study God’s word and give their lives for the sake of Christ’s kingdom. There are no doubt several future leaders among the young men who came. Pray that God’s word would continue to shape and direct the church in Timor Leste; pray that Christ would also continue to build His church and raise up leaders within it.