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Jakarta UBF left for Mt. Geulis (meaning Beautiful Mountain) on Aug. 14-16 to hold a Summer Bible Conference. The venue was 2 hours away from all the polluted air in Jakarta. It was a very refreshing place. The theme for this year’s SBC was “The Kingdom of God Is Near.” The issue of whether one is alive or not is truly an issue of whether the kingdom of God exists or not. This generation has led many souls away from the truth and is filled with the worldly reign that leads others to lose their lives. Indonesia especially has started to open her eyes to the international society. Unlike in the past, it has been made easier for one to retrieve any kind of information through smartphones and the internet. As a result, it increased the use of smart phones by the college students and has led them to busy and self-centered lives. They assume that their lives belong to themselves. In addition, as a country with a large Muslim population, there are many teachings on Islam. They seem to always include a Muslim ritual or festival in the school programs. This situation may not seem to harm or disrupt the Christian college students. Moreover, there are more Muslims who impact good influences on others. While the president of Indonesia, Joko Widodo has a high concern for the citizens of his nation, Christian leaders are too busy seeking their own advantage.

What we were mostly thankful about this year’s conference was that Sh. Isabella had the chance to join us. In the past, Sh. Isabella received a full national scholarship as a Malaysian to study in Indonesia as a medical student and graduated from medical school after seven years of study. Afterwards, she was sent as a missionary to Sarawak, Malaysia this past May. At this moment, Sh Isabella is working full-time as an intern in the biggest national hospital in Sarawak, from 6 am to 10 pm. Although she has barely any time to rest or take a break, Sh Isabella has stood her ground firmly by eating Daily Bread every day and having a solitary worship service every Sunday. In the midst of this, she especially asked for a leave from work to attend the Summer Bible Conference. 

During this year’s conference, 22 people attended in total. The Lord sent four new freshmen college students. In addition, a Muslim sister attended. We thank the Lord for sending five new faces and guiding them to listen to His words. The message on the first day was served by Brother Juni from Mark 4:1-20, with the title: “The kingdom of God.” In the past, he was a person who would earn money from working, and go out drinking, smoking, and mingling with those who were worldly. Despite the fact that he was born in a Christian family, he had no clear identity. However, as he attended the worship service, his desire to study the Bible grew. And through the study of God’s word, he met God the Creator, and decided to submit his life to the Lord. He vowed to be a semi-shepherd and established a house church with Sh. Sri. Through the message, he proclaimed that the kingdom of God has come to his life through the word of God that his shepherd sowed. Then, he decided to repent daily and to be molded into the good soil. For the evening program, Sh. Eta served a message about a Canaanite woman from Tyre and Sidon. Through this message, we learned that the Lord’s work would wonderfully happen if we simply receive the word of God and believe it 100%.

Throughout the whole conference, we woke up at 6 am and held a morning aerobics. And then, the first message on the second day was delivered by Sh. Carolus from Mark 8:27-38, entitled, “Who Do You Say I Am?” He boldly confessed that, through this message, he believe in Jesus as his personal Savior and Christ. For the evening message, it was delivered by Sh. Hengky from Mark 15:1-47, and he shared the message of the cross. Last year, Sh. Hengky was going through tough times due to intestinal cancer, but God healed him. Starting this year, he was sent out for the pioneering work of campuses in West Java. During the life testimony program, Sister Marito shared about how God’s word has led her life. This lady was born into a Christian family but did not know the gospel and did not have spiritual values. She followed her boyfriend around to go to cathedral, yet she was only filled with the sin of lust and without any joy. Eventually she broke up with him, and she was church-hopping here and there, but still could not find any true gospel. God led this lady in this situation to Jakarta UBF and opened her eyes through the word of God. At this moment, there may be persecution from her family, but she is living as a shepherdess who has accepted the calling to campus mission. 

The Sunday message was delivered by Msn. Peter on Mark 13:1-37, “The Gospel Must First Be Preached to All Nations.”  We have learned that the gospel of Jesus cannot be blended with any other things and that numerous architectures, sculptures, and works of art rival God and lead people to worship idols. After the message, there was a sister among us who was from a Buddhist family background who also worshipped Bodhisattva of compassion, but through the message, she desired to accept Jesus as her Savior and to follow Him. 

We thank God for granting us the message from Mark in this conference. Please pray for the following:

• Msn. Peter, Sh. Hengky, and Sh. Carolus’ Sunday messages.
• 7 pioneered campuses, and may God raise one Abraham and one Maria in each campuses. 
• Sh. Isabella may pioneer the campus of UNIMAS in Malaysia. 
• 5 new faces of Bible students who attended the conference to grow into Bible teachers. 

Chris Sherrill