One of the great joys I often get to experience is meeting different pastors and hearing their stories. Today, I was out in Jakarta meeting up with a pastor who was introduced to me through one of the HMCC of Ann Arbor member’s father. This pastor was the shepherd for the member’s family while they were in Indonesia.
It was encouraging to hear how their church got started. In fact, it was a powerful testimony of God’s faithfulness and provision. The fascinating part of their story is that they were one of the first international churches in Jakarta. Their beginnings go back to 1974. They were also probably the first church to meet at a hotel. It was unheard of for a church to meet in a hotel back in 1974, but now practical most of the churches in Jakarta meet in hotels.
As they were targeting English speaking people, their Indonesian member population began to grow and now it out numbers the English speaking congregation. This is the first time hearing about a church that started off as an English speaking church and then grew in their Indonesian speaking membership. God works in funny ways.
I also had the privilege of meeting his sons who are helping out with the ministry. It is always a great testimony to the pastor’s life when their children want to follow in their father’s footsteps.
Now, in September they will be celebrating their 35th anniversary. It was great meeting most of their staff. They are doing a great ministry in Jakarta.
There are some more pastors that I will be meeting next week as well. It is always good to know that there are many workers in the harvest field. I would love to see all of us working together for the Kingdom one of these days.
The English service meets in a mall that was designed to make it look like Las Vegas