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I AM THE WAY

 Praise the Lord! He is the only way!!

The 2011 Summer Bible Conference of Jakarta UBF was held on August 26-28 on a beautiful mountainside in a suburb of Jakarta, Indonesia.  The conference venue was Rothem house in the Sukabumi province, located 70 km north of Jakarta. A huge mountain was looking down at us right in front of us and various vegetables and trees were surrounding us. Even various kinds of livestock were seen around the conference site. In the early morning, wrapped by clouds coming down around us, we all woke up, like heavenly bodies, ate and shared Daily Bread, and prayed together before breakfast. For the first time, this summer Bible conference was prepared only by Indonesian leaders. M. Peter K. just observed and checked each message; other than that, a total of 8 leaders gathered together to pray, make plans, and carry them out for this summer Bible conference. 

On the first day, we had lots of fun time. After we arrived at the conference site, we all left for hiking. There was a huge waterfall under a mountain nearby. We walked down there, smelling the fragrance of pine trees on the way to the mountain which was 1500 m high. The height of the waterfall was about 30 m high. The water was clean and green and cold, but it was shallow, so everybody could get in safely and cooled down their bodies in the hot summer day. Also, the scenery around the waterfall looked like the Garden of Eden where maybe an angel was around somewhere.  Our eyes enjoyed looking around at all the beautiful things of nature around us. Among us, the happiest person was Dwi, who worked very hard, more than anyone else, for this conference. Even though he himself was supposed to deliver a message, he also worked on making the titles of the other messages to be delivered during the conference and made the 34 paged conference booklets. Also, if the conference had not been postponed by one week, even 3 students that he had invited could have come with him. He is one of the hardest workers in Jakarta UBF.

After a dinner of baked fish and chicken, we had the evening schedule, still welcoming late comers. We had a joyful sing-along time led by Carolus and Etta. They have been a couple serving this praise team together for a year. And then we listened to the opening message delivered by Sri (senior at E. U. University). She has grown faithful and prayerful in the service of God.  The title of the message was “The Kingdom of Heaven is like Hidden Treasure” based on Matthew 13:44-46. Following the message, we had a Night of Indonesia, listening to special presentations about each big island of Indonesia, such as Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Irian Jaya, about their culture, language, business, industry, population, and campuses. Through this meeting, many of us came to cherish a campus pioneering spirit.

On the second day, from the early morning, we all concentrated on the words of God. From 6:00-8:00 a.m., each one of us read deeply the Daily Bread Bible passage and then wrote a testimony and shared them and then prayed together. After the breakfast, we had group Bible studies and shared fellowship. Interestingly, the group Bible studies were led by the shepherd with the students he/she invited in his/her group. If he/she had no students, they went to their own Bible teacher’s group. They were like small groups, some groups even looking like one-to-one Bible studies. After the Bible studies, we listened to the message titled, “Jesus, the Living Water.”

Carolus delivered this message. He is a sincere servant of God in Jakarta UBF. He is handsome and talented, but he used to indulge in homosexuality. Even though he was a medical school student, he wandered spiritually and physically, abandoning all his academic work. However, before the word of God, he has been regaining his lost image of God. He met Jesus, the living water, personally. He is now a wholesome man. He married E., who is one of the ancestors of faith like Sarah in the Bible for Jakarta UBF. He has composed many beautiful songs. One of the songs was sung as a special song by the women leaders during the conference. After this message, we had a testimony writing and sharing time. During the testimony writing time, we had a great time with 5 new students. Many of them have never studied the Bible or joined a worship service. Among them, Y. is Hindu and we had a great time talking about spiritual thirst with her.

In the evening, even though we had a food problem, we had a graceful and joyful time. Our conference days overlapped with Indonesia’s big holiday, Lebaran, so many shops and restaurants were closed so that we had a hard time to obtain food. However, regardless of the lack of food, we all gathered together at the main lecture room.

First, we had a joyful sing-along time led by Carolus and shepherdess Etta. Then Dwi. delivered a message with the title, “I Am the Way to the Father,” based on John 14:1-6. Dwi is a full-time ministry candidate in Jakarta UBF. His message touched all our hearts and minds to accept the truth that our Lord Jesus is the only way to the Father in heaven. After Dwi’s powerful and spirited message deliverance, we had a joyful time watching a Taekwondo dance as a special program. Everybody was excited to watch the beautiful, but powerful Taekwondo dance. Through watching the dance, we saw a vision to pioneer the 7 universities in Indonesia: Ukrida, Untar, Trisakt, Atmajaya, Esaunggul, IKJ, and IPB.  After the Taekwondo dance, we were happy to watch a beautiful Indian dance done by Isabella (sophomore of U. medical school) and several other female students.

On the third day, although it was the last day of the conference, we had many things to do. We woke up early again at 6:00 a.m. to eat Daily bread and Share. After breakfast, we studied the Bible in groups. Because of typhoid, I have been sick, but I participated in the Bible study on the third day. I joined the group with M. Peter K. and Pastor Lim. After the group Bible study, we all gathered to the main lecture room to hear the message, “When the Holy Spirit Comes,” based on John 16:1-33 delivered by Hengky. He is an ancestor of faith like Abraham of Jakarta UBF. He delivered his message powerfully, memorizing all the words in the manuscript. After he obtained his job that is two and a half hours away by airplane, it has been very hard in cost, health, and time for him to join the Sunday worship service every Sunday.  However, by faith, he has been living joyfully and full of spirit all the time, only depending on the Holy Spirit who takes care of his family and himself. After the message, Isabella also gave us a much grace of God through sharing her life testimony. Although she is a very smart student that transferred to Indonesia from Malaysian University with a government scholarship, she has been worrying too much about her grades and future security. However, she has had peace and joy in her heart through meeting Christ Jesus, the only way, and has set up a new life plan by faith.

After the life testimony, we had a joyful time and delicious lunch. We took a group picture. The apple that we ate at lunch was one of the most delicious ones we had ever eaten. Right after lunch time, M. Peter K. gave us the closing message titled, “Life After Baptism,” based on 1 Corinthians 10:1-6. He advised the students to make a wise decision after they went back home, whether they would remain in the world or come back to Jesus. During the worship, many felt tired, so they stood up to listen to the message. After the message, we all colored masks sitting on the floor. These masks are Korean traditional masks to be used for a mask dance. M. Rebecca K. told us that we will put them on to dance for this coming Christmas worship service. A total of 30 people joined the conference. Among them, we had five new Indonesian students. We pray that they may be able to meet Jesus personally and continue to study the Bible.

In conclusion, we had a joyful and spiritual summer Bible conference conducted mostly by our 8 Indonesian leaders. This gave M. Peter K. confidence to pioneer other campuses continually, trusting the shepherds now growing in Jakarta UBF. The conference period of 3 days and 2 nights was neither short nor long, but the important thing was that all the leaders independently managed all the preparations of the conference and took care of the invited students with the word of God as well as with food. In watching over the growing leaders, the missionaries gave thanks to God with praise and honor.

Prayer Topics:

1. Seven brothers and sisters who attended the SBC may remain and grow through 1:1 Bible study

2. Indonesian leaders may be independent disciple-makers through prayer and the Holy Spirit.

3. M. Peter K., H., D., and Ca. to prepare for Sunday messages in spirit and truth

4. Regular 30 1:1 Bible studies and 30 Sunday worship attendees 

From Jakarta UBF, By M. William K.