It is hard to believe that our departure date for Jakarta is approaching so quickly – July 7th, 2009. It just seems like yesterday that Christina and I were praying about whether to take this step of faith to plant our first international church. Things have moved along so quickly within the past 9 months.
We have taken steps to prepare our family and the team as best as we can for the transition. We have made the contacts with the people that will be part of our church. We are patiently waiting for some last minute logistics to settle into place.
But we always feel a greater need for prayer.
Even though we have casted the vision numerous times to our leadership and to our church congregation, I realized that it I need to share it consistently and clearly. Until every single person in our church owns the vision and articulates the vision, the vision has to be shared.
It is humbling to know that there are close to 238 million people in the great country of Indonesia. It is made up of close to 17,000 islands ranging in all different sizes and inhabitability. Close to 86% of the Indonesian population are Muslims (depending on who you ask). There is a growing population of unreached Indonesians who are back in their country after studying aboard in the States, UK and Australia.
With this great harvest field, we are compelled by God’s radical love to plant this church. Our team consists of 13 people total (including our family). We have recent graduating seniors, some single adults and a college student who have all radically decided to give one year of their lives to bring the Gospel to the people of Indonesia.
There are three specific target groups that we are going to reach out to from the onset of the church. The first group of people are the expatriates (Westerners who moved to Indonesia for work) that live in Jakarta. There are many who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. The second group of people are the Indonesians who studied aboard. Some of them are alumni from the University of Michigan. The third group consists of Indonesians who never left their country but are open to the international scene.
It is our prayer that through this first step, we will be able to reach out to other Indonesians who not only live in the city, but in the various villages and islands. The way we want to accomplish this is by raising up national leaders who have a passion for God’s mission, God’s people and God’s Church.
We want to see Indonesia being “filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab 2:14). This means that we have to build up a church that will be a visible display and a viable demonstration of God’s love.
As the departure date gets ever closer, please join us in prayer.