We got up in the morning and headed out for the 11AM service at the International English Service, one of the handful of international churches out here in Jakarta. The preacher spoke on Acts 2:42-47, the classic passage on community and the early church. They were trying to promote their small groups. It reminded me that even though churches are different various ways, it will always have the same biblical elements.
Then after the service we met up with Dave Kenney, the lead pastor of the IES church. It was great sitting down with him and hearing his story as well as asking him a ton of questions. There were a lot of things that said really confirmed everything that we have been thinking about and praying about in regards to starting an international church in the future. One thing he said was that one of the growing group of people that are not being reached in Jakarta are those people who have studied aboard and no longer go to church after coming back.
It is just refreshing to meet people with a Kingdom vision and Kingdom mindset. I did not sense a spirit of territorialism even as we shared about the possibility of starting an international church in the future. In fact, he quoted what Rick Warren once said – churches that fight over territory or people are like ants fighting over who is going to eat the elephant. In essence, the needs are so great and the harvest is so huge, especially in Jakarta where over 8.5 million people live. Hmm… that is an elephant and I feel like an ant.
It was cool finding out that he personally knows Gordon Fee and sat under his teachings as some of his classical commentaries were written.
Then we had lunch with a brother named Omega. As he shared his testimony, it was quite moving as he was a Muslim convert. He was brought up in Holland but during his college years he began to ask some serious philosophical questions about life. It is interesting that a lot of Muslims who convert to Christianity get some kind of revelation or they experience some kind of theophany when they come to Christ. It was a powerful testimony of God’s revelation about His love and truth. He has never looked back and now he is having online discussions with other Muslims to challenge them to think about the validity of Christ’s claims.
We then just walked around the market. It was a different sector of society but God spoke to me about the importance of reaching out to “all peoples” for His name sake. We finished off the day with some time talking with some business people in the area. It was so refreshing.
Here are people who are in their late 20’s and early 30’s who have made realizations that people in their 40’s and 50’s make as they go through mid-life crisis. They know that no matter how much money they make, it will never bring them happiness. The thing that is motivating them to do what they do is because they want to make a lasting impact for Christ. They are truly entrepreneurs who want to use their gifts and talents in the business world to bring lasting impact in the country of Indonesia. This is the “C” or the whole Transformasphere Movement in action. I can spend time with these kinds of guys all day.
Omega (2nd from right) who is a Muslim convert blessed us with his testimony and reminded us that it has to be the power of God when it comes to in salvation
In the background on the left is the oldest cathedral and in the middle is the largest mosque and then on the right is Monas, the national mounment