Jakarta Part 1 - March 5, 2007
In March 2007, while The Emmanuel Quartet was singing at an AWR donor event in Silver Spring, Maryland, we were approached by Gerry Karst, one of the General Vice Presidents of the GC. He asked us if we would like to go with him on an evangelistic trip to Jakarta, Indonesia in July. The crusade was part of the “Hope for the Big Cities” Evangelistic Series, and he wanted us to provide music for the meetings. Since it was toward the end of March, it meant we had less than three months to raise over $23,000 for the trip and expenses.
Also, each of us had full-time jobs and we knew it would be difficult to take off two weeks at such short notice. It seemed impossible that the Lord would want us to try to go to Indonesia, but immediately he started to open doors. We made appeals in churches and to individuals whom we knew could help. The funds started to come in. Our passports, which normally would have taken eight months to process, were in our hands in only one month. There were no difficulties with our visas or vaccinations and, miraculously, all of our jobs worked out so that we all could be gone for two weeks.
A week before our flight, a generous donor provided us with the last amount of money we needed to meet our expenses for the trip. After saying goodbye to our families and praising God for his providence, we embarked on the 34 hour flight to Jakarta, Indonesia.
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Located on the northwest coast of the island of Java, it has a population of around 9,000,000. Followers of a form of Islam make up 87 percent of the population of Indonesia, making Indonesia the largest Islamic country in the world. Christians represent 9 percent of the total population.
There are many Christians living in the city, and about 8 Seventh-day Adventist churches in the metropolitan area. The Jakarta Conference is in the Southern Asia-Pacific Division and West Indonesia Union. Over 30 church leaders in 30 different sites held the week-long evangelistic meetings, many of them from the General Conference, like Gerry Karst. Many of the local church leaders and laypeople started laying the groundwork for the meetings as far back as January, leading small group Bible studies and helping people prepare for baptism. Pastor Samuel Simorangkir is the Communications Director for the Jakarta Conference and he served as our translator and tour guide for the entire week, and we’re very thankful to him and all of the Conference leaders who showed us exceptional hospitality.
Along with Pastor Sam and his family, the quartet would like to thank several other individuals who showed us hospitality while in Jakarta: Muriel and Tony Siagian, Mutiara Pasaribu, Janet Lalenoh and her aunt Christine. She made wonderful dinners for us every night and brought them to the meetings. We’d also like to thank Wendell for providing us with fruit baskets and bottled water. All the Indonesian people were friendly and welcoming to us and we thank them all.
At the final meeting on Sabbath, July 28, over 2,000 new Christians were baptized. The Emmanuel Quartet is honored to have been a part of these meetings and to have witnessed the work of the Holy Spirit as He changes the hearts of so many people in another part of the world.
In March of 2008 the quartet will be traveling to the Philippines for another evangelistic series. Please pray for us and for the people there that their hearts will be open to the Holy Spirit. Thank you.
Also, each of us had full-time jobs and we knew it would be difficult to take off two weeks at such short notice. It seemed impossible that the Lord would want us to try to go to Indonesia, but immediately he started to open doors. We made appeals in churches and to individuals whom we knew could help. The funds started to come in. Our passports, which normally would have taken eight months to process, were in our hands in only one month. There were no difficulties with our visas or vaccinations and, miraculously, all of our jobs worked out so that we all could be gone for two weeks.
A week before our flight, a generous donor provided us with the last amount of money we needed to meet our expenses for the trip. After saying goodbye to our families and praising God for his providence, we embarked on the 34 hour flight to Jakarta, Indonesia.
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Located on the northwest coast of the island of Java, it has a population of around 9,000,000. Followers of a form of Islam make up 87 percent of the population of Indonesia, making Indonesia the largest Islamic country in the world. Christians represent 9 percent of the total population.
There are many Christians living in the city, and about 8 Seventh-day Adventist churches in the metropolitan area. The Jakarta Conference is in the Southern Asia-Pacific Division and West Indonesia Union. Over 30 church leaders in 30 different sites held the week-long evangelistic meetings, many of them from the General Conference, like Gerry Karst. Many of the local church leaders and laypeople started laying the groundwork for the meetings as far back as January, leading small group Bible studies and helping people prepare for baptism. Pastor Samuel Simorangkir is the Communications Director for the Jakarta Conference and he served as our translator and tour guide for the entire week, and we’re very thankful to him and all of the Conference leaders who showed us exceptional hospitality.
Along with Pastor Sam and his family, the quartet would like to thank several other individuals who showed us hospitality while in Jakarta: Muriel and Tony Siagian, Mutiara Pasaribu, Janet Lalenoh and her aunt Christine. She made wonderful dinners for us every night and brought them to the meetings. We’d also like to thank Wendell for providing us with fruit baskets and bottled water. All the Indonesian people were friendly and welcoming to us and we thank them all.
At the final meeting on Sabbath, July 28, over 2,000 new Christians were baptized. The Emmanuel Quartet is honored to have been a part of these meetings and to have witnessed the work of the Holy Spirit as He changes the hearts of so many people in another part of the world.
In March of 2008 the quartet will be traveling to the Philippines for another evangelistic series. Please pray for us and for the people there that their hearts will be open to the Holy Spirit. Thank you.