Published by Indonesian
Christian Mission
4640 South Terrace St.
Visalia, Ca. 93277
Contributions
P.O. Box 457
Livermore, Ca. 94550-1956
Volume 34 ..........................June
Number 6 ..........................2007
Reaching Indonesia for Jesus
Bob and Jan MacLean,
Missionaries
Email
mackurus@yahoo.com
ASCENSION DAY, MAY 17
A DAY FOR BAPTISMS
The Ciracas Church used Ascension Day, a public holiday, May 17th, as an opportunity to get away for a two-day retreat. They spent two nights at the Puncak (mountain top). We were invited to meet them there Friday to participate in a baptismal service. Bapak & Ibu (Mr. & Mrs.) Banggung, a new family from East Java, and Ibu Harno were baptized into Christ. Pak Banggun’s twelve year old son had just cut his foot and couldn’t go into the pool with it; he will be baptized another time.
TRUSTING GOD &
EVANGELISM SEMINAR
Evangelist Andreas Samudji from East Java taught five sessions on Trusting God using scripture and examples from his life to help our evangelists and church leaders to grow in Christ. Andreas was one of our first students in 1987; he helped establish several churches in Jakarta and Sumatra. Bob was impressed with Andreas’ work and faith when he visited him in Surabaya in February and asked him to speak to our evangelists. We knew he hadn’t been perfect in the past, but because of his honest testimony he was really able to connect to our evangelists and people in Ciracas and Ciputat. When Andreas left Jakarta, he married a preacher’s daughter and worked in his father-in-law’s church. He needed an income so went into business starting as a salesman and worked his way up into management and eventually owned the company himself. He traveled all over the country and outside Indonesia. He began to live the “good life”. As he got further into the world, he got further away from God, and fell deeper and deeper into sin. In 2000 he repented, sold his business, returned to school and got his bachelor’s degree in Theology. In 2003-2006 he served as preacher of Surabaya Christian Church where his father-in-law had been. During this time Andreas decided to trust fully in the Lord for all his needs. It wasn’t easy; they had to sell many things to survive. On Christmas Eve 2005, he needed money for refreshments for the next day’s service and didn’t have any money. He had one souvenir, a statue, left from his “good” life worth about $300; his wife suggested selling it so he agreed and she got $80 for it so they ordered food from the bakery for Christmas Day. Andreas told this story to show that he had to give up everything from his past before he could be blessed by God. The next morning when they picked up the food, the bill had been paid and at the church, two gifts of money were waiting for his family. His brother-in-law leads that church now and Andreas has started seven Bible studies in less than a year and is training men to lead them. He has been given a motorcycle, a car, and his family hasn’t been without food or money to pay the school bills since he truly committed to trust the Lord. When Bintang preached Sunday, he said Andreas had scolded him. He told him that he thought and worried too much, to let his brain go and his mind be filled with God’s leading, wisdom, and positive thoughts. Besides five teaching sessions, Andreas counseled with couples and individuals encouraging them to deeper faith.
NEW OFFICE COMPUTER We now have a brand new Dell PC installed in the mission office at Bukit Indah. For some time we have been repairing Jan’s seven-year old (or more) laptop. This year the ICM board of directors voted to set aside $1,000 of money already in Indonesia to replace it. The new mission-owned Dell replaces an old Dell laptop Bob bought for Jan several years ago. The old laptop worked well, and is still working, but we thought it makes more sense to put the money into new equipment rather than into constant repairs, inconveniences, and frustrations of trying to keep an old one running. The new PC has most, if not all the bells and whistles. We have a larger HDD, but still modest at 160 gigabytes. It will burn DVD, CD, whatever. It could go wireless and on and on. Let us just say we are grateful to have a newer, more capable, reliable piece of equipment to assist us in our evangelism of Indonesia. Thank you to our board of directors who work so hard to responsibly administer our income and thank you to all friends who donate this income.
PRAYER & PRAISE
1. Praise for Pak & Ibu Banggun and Ibu Harno who were baptized into Christ May 18th.
2. Pulomas restoration project is almost complete. See July issue for pictures.
Please continue to pray for:
1.Final Title on mission property at Bukit Indah.
2.New car fund
3.New cell groups in the Ciputat church.
4.Safety for our evangelist as things get tougher in Aceh.
5.Health for all our evangelists.
6.Strength and guidance for three siblings working with us whose father faces health issues.
7.Special guidance for secretary, Linda, who is our liaison at the national land office.
Andreas was one of our first students in 1987; he helped establish several churches in Jakarta and Sumatra. Bob was impressed with Andreas’ work and faith when he visited him in Surabaya in February and asked him to speak to our evangelists. We knew he hadn’t been perfect in the past, but because of his honest testimony he was really able to connect to our evangelists and people in Ciracas and Ciputat. When Andreas left Jakarta, he married a preacher’s daughter and worked in his father-in-law’s church. He needed an income so went into business starting as a salesman and worked his way up into management and eventually owned the company himself. He traveled all over the country and outside Indonesia. He began to live the “good life”. As he got further into the world, he got further 
away from God, and fell deeper and deeper into sin. In 2000 he repented, sold his business, returned to school and got his bachelor’s degree in Theology. In 2003-2006 he served as preacher of Surabaya Christian Church where his father-in-law had been. During this time Andreas decided to trust fully in the Lord for all his needs. It wasn’t easy; they had to sell many things to survive. On Christmas Eve 2005, he needed money for refreshments for the next day’s service and didn’t have any money. He had one souvenir, a statue, left from his “good” life worth about $300; his wife suggested selling it so he agreed and she got $80 for it so they ordered food from the bakery for Christmas Day. Andreas told this story to show that he had to give up everything from his past before he could 
be blessed by God. The next morning when they picked up the food, the bill had been paid and at the church, two gifts of money were waiting for his family. His brother-in-law leads that church now and Andreas has started seven Bible studies in less than a year and is training men to lead them. He has been given a motorcycle, a car, and his family hasn’t been without food or money to pay the school bills since he truly committed to trust the Lord. When Bintang preached Sunday, he said Andreas had scolded him. He told him that he thought and worried too much, to let his brain go and his mind be filled with God’s leading, wisdom, and positive thoughts. Besides five teaching sessions, Andreas counseled with couples and individuals encouraging them to deeper faith.
We now have a brand new Dell PC installed in the mission office at Bukit Indah. For some time we have been repairing Jan’s seven-year old (or more) laptop. This year the ICM board of directors voted to set aside $1,000 of money already in Indonesia to replace it. The new mission-owned Dell replaces an old Dell laptop Bob bought for Jan several years ago. The old laptop worked well, and is still working, but we thought it makes more sense to put the money into new equipment rather than into constant repairs, inconveniences, and frustrations of trying to keep an old one running. The new PC has most, if not all the bells and whistles. We have a larger HDD, but still modest at 160 gigabytes. It will burn DVD, CD, whatever. It could go wireless and on and on. Let us just say we are grateful to have a newer, more capable, reliable piece of equipment to assist us in our evangelism of Indonesia. Thank you to our board of directors who work so hard to responsibly administer our income and thank you to all friends who donate this income.