by Brett Johnson

We are closing in on the end of the first phase of our visit here… but my report covers the trip over and arrival. The flight was long, but pretty good. Philip snoozed next to me most of the way, and I, fortified by a double-tall-non-fat-no-foam-extra-hot-latte at the Hong Kong Starbucks – I know, you are tired just reading it – did not sleep much at all. Which would be fine except that we went directly to meetings when we arrived and the festivities went on forever. By midnight we reached the hotel after 48 hours of sleeplessness.

The Indonesian welcome was wonderful. The people are extremely gracious, and we enjoyed getting to know a little about their cultural dances, food, costumes and heritage. The people are welcoming and flexible. I had fun reconnecting with friends from different parts of the world and hearing about the amazing things that God has been doing in this special land.

The phone system is less friendly than the people, however, and we received 4 wakeup calls at 5 a.m. each morning, forcing us to switch off the ringers on our phones. So if you have been calling… we are not ignoring you, just trying to sleep.

From Day 1 we had lots of wonderful connections with people. It seems highly likely that things will continue for equip here in Indonesia. On tiptoes.

Brett

by Evita Twerdahl

John 13:14-17
Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

We started our first full day at the conference with worshiping, and washing each other’s feet. The washing of the feet is such a powerful reminder that we are here to serve and love each other as Jesus has taught us. The church here is very expressive in their worship and we were really moved and energized through their worship.

We then split into focus groups and Brett facilitated the marketplace track. We have representatives from Indonesia, US, South Africa, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, Kuwait, Malaysia, and Australia in our track. Part of the time we broke into smaller groups to discuss the definition and purpose of the marketplace from scripture perspective. There is an Indonesian businessperson in my discussion group who had been serving the poor in different islands. He testified that one time the police was going to arrest his wife in Madura island, but the local Moslem cleric protected her. The cleric said that this woman has not done anything wrong but serving the poor and loving them and their children. I’m looking forward to hearing more stories like this.

Our team had done very well to stay awake the whole day considering we only had a few hours of sleep the night before. For some reason all of us got wake up calls twice/three times at 5 AM in the morning. Our program was very packed from 8:30 AM – 9:30 PM. Around 6 PM we managed to break for dinner before we headed back to the church to hear testimonies about world transformations in the Arctic, Philippines, North Uganda, Colombia, etc. God is everywhere and he has a plan for Indonesia as well.

God doesn’t waste our time here. I was supposed to meet my small group to finish our vision paper at 10 PM, but some of our team members had an impromptu meeting with another person and I had to wait for them. While waiting for my team, I met Lany who had been working in Aceh for the last few months and was in the area where we are going to visit this Saturday. She works for a nonprofit who is trying to help create economic development in Aceh. Lany is planning to start a computer vocational training school in Aceh and shared her view of the business environment in Aceh. I have a feeling that our team is going to meet more people like her.

Tuhan berkati - God bless

by Philip Lee

In the morning I was touched by seeing a video about children being involved in an prayer movement in Africa. As a former Sunday school helper for pre-schoolers, I’ve marveled at the simple faith of children’s prayers. The video helped me envision how these heartfelt prayers can transform communities and lives, and I flashed back to a prayer walk I did in Kayamandi in September 2004 with my equip teammates. I remember Lauren, who was 11, pray out loud for a villager, and I could sense the man being touched by the prayer and the Spirit moving in a fresh way.

In our afternoon marketplace discussion, we drafted a covenant statement of how Christian businesspeople need to become a powerful witness for the Kingdom by humbling themselves and working to transform society, seeing their business as a ministry and not just a barely tolerated way to make money for personal needs and church donations.

At night we went to the mall as a group of 5 and we stuck out quite a bit with a blonde, brunette, redhead, and two Asians. As people kept looking at us, I hope they saw the diversity and loving fellowship in God’s family.

by Robert Winter

What a day the Lord gave us. The night before ended with an exciting meeting between Roy K., President of Lipo (one of the largest companies, several billion dollars in revenues, in Indonesia—Roy is one of the top 5 execs.) and several of our team members. Bottom-line: Roy expressed a strong interest in working together to help plant and build Christ-centered businesses in places like Aceh. We were all truly amazed at the speed in how interest led to initial action—the Lord is working away.

Then we had another meeting to talk about building hundreds of homes in the Aceh area to support the community and the businesses. The objective was to understand what it would cost in construction. They expressed an interest in building schools. Some $30M is earmarked from a ‘country-led contribution’ to build 300 schools throughout Indonesia. Don Cook of our team shared that the pre-fab design could be used to build schools as well as homes. With further discussion, it became clear that they had an interest in building a proto-type in the Jakarta area as soon as possible. Again, too good to be true. Sounds like the Lord working again.

Much needs to be done, but there is definite groundwork being laid. Thanks for all the prayers.

On a personal note, I am truly amazed at the some 55 nations here. It seems that in every meeting that I’m in, or someone from our group, involves nations from several countries. For example, I was in a meeting of six yesterday with Christians from Kuwait, Australia, South Africa and Indonesia. There is, as well, a truly gracious spirit about the people here. It is eye opening.

Well, we are winding down the event of the Transform World conference and moving into meeting to set the stage for our departure on Saturday to Aceh. We have a meeting with some 50 Indonesian individuals (not including the some 8-10 of us on Friday night). We have talked to many people about Aceh—it is clear the area has suffered tremendously. Continue your prayers.

Tuhan berkati - God bless - Robert Winter

by Don Cook

After the Great Trek from the Imperial Hotel to the Sangrila Hotel, we spent the morning and early afternoon in a gathering where each focus group and regional group summarized their activities at the conference and presented plans for the way ahead. In many cases, groups used communication tools such as skits, video clips music and dance to present and impart their ideas and incentives for their plans. Brett presented a report for the Marketplace group and identified a number of “giants” that would be addressed in Indonesia and South East Asia.

This was followed by lunch and a meeting with leaders who are looking into working with equip to develop their activities in educational and humanitarian arenas.

The major event of the day was a prayer gathering of roughly 80,000 Christians in the National Stadium in Jakarta. This was linked to large prayer gatherings in 56 other cities in the country. Graham Power was one of the speakers and described the growth of national prayer meetings in Africa and the Global Day of Prayer scheduled for May 15th.

Don Cook