Medan
Our first stop on our fall trip was in Medan, the capital city of North Sumatra where we lived in the 60’s and 70’s. The population is now in excess of 3 million. It was the rainy season and many places in North Sumatra were flooded with roads and bridges washed out and homes uninhabitable. At the same time Java, and other places south of the equator were suffering drought with some areas not receiving rain for over five months. We had nightly classes at the Selayang congregation and a shared fellowship meal on Sunday. My sermon topic at each place we visited on Sunday was on the Power in the Blood of Christ. I emphasized that the sacrifice of
Christ’s blood in His death is absolutely necessary for our salvation, and pointed out that it is only in baptism that we contact the cleansing power of the blood. Contrary to the denominational dogma that baptism is not necessary for salvation, scripture teaches that one must contact the blood of Christ through baptism in order to be washed from sins, and before that takes place one is not saved.
There have been several baptisms over the last few months at Selayang since our last report and brother Ndruru continues to serve and lead the congregation very capably. His son, Yosua was hospitalized the day after we left Medan with the onset of juvenile diabetes. They didn’t know he had it
until he was in serious condition. His mother died of diabetic complications several years ago, as did his mother’s father. He also was born deaf and attends a special school for the deaf.
We enjoyed lunch one day with Andrew and Uli Banjarnahor. We recently supplied funds for literature that Andrew uses in training and evangelism in South Nias and in Sidi Kalang, North Sumatra. There have been several baptisms in South Nias recently.
BEKASI
From Medan we visited Bekasi in the Jakarta Metro area. The 5 city metroplex has a population of over 28 million, and Bekasi has more than 3 million. If you are out in traffic it would seem that no one is at home; all of them are on the road in cars and trucks and on motorcycles and bicycles and on foot. Because of the horrendous traffic, it makes attendance at seminars and personal Bible studies difficult, since so much time is consumed in going and coming.
Naomi, the wife of local preacher Daniel Setiabudi had surgery on both knees this year; one in April, and the other right before we arrived there. She also has heart problems, high blood pressure and diabetes, all of which complicate her treatment and recovery. We helped secure some funds to defray the costs of those surgeries as they were not covered by insurance. Indonesian insurance is very selective in what it covers and pays minimally even when something is covered.
We had a Bible seminar on Saturday and as usual the attendees had many questions. We always field questions about baptism of the Holy Spirit and miracles and tongue speaking. The charismatic doctrine on those subjects is widely held by denominations in Indonesia. We have written tracts and booklets on those subjects and make them available to querists. The Indonesian Bible mistranslates the passage in 1 Corinthians and has “spiritual languages” where it should be just “language/s”. There is an Indonesian Literal translation that correctly translates it as “tongues/languages” but it is not readily available. We met one day with a denominational group that Daniel has been studying with for some time. He teaches them English using the Bible. They had a lot of questions about proper worship especially when I pointed out that N.T. worship is without instrumental accompaniment. I sent Daniel the manuscript of J.C. Choate’s book on N.T. worship which I translated many years ago and he has copied that and passed it on to them.
The children in Connor House that Daniel and Naomi oversee and serve are doing well. We had a birthday party for them as most of them were born in October. Support for them is urgently needed as their regular monthly support was discontinued the first part of this year.
SEMARANG/LIMBANGAN
From Bekasi we traveled to Semarang in Central Java. There is no congregation is Semarang now, but there is one at Limbangan about 20 miles out of town. We had Saturday night Bible study in the home of Bung Rustomo, the preacher for Limbangan, who lives in Semarang. He teaches school in Semarang, and serves the congregation in Limbangan each week. At the Bible study everyone used their hand phones to access the songs and scriptures. How times have changed!
On Sunday we worshiped at Limbangan and I taught the Bible class and preached. We were joined in Semarang by Widyanto and Alip from Jakarta. They are leaders in the Blok M congregation in Jakarta and Alip makes regular trips to Limbangan and Yogyakarta to encourage and strengthen the brethren. He also translates the materials from Truth for Today and I edit it. We have been doing this for almost 20 years and have translated reams of material. From Limbangan we went in Alip’s car to Yogyakarta, which was about a five hour drive. We had nightly Bible classes in Yogya at the hotel where the church meets on Sundays. One question that came up in the studies was, “Is God really good if He disciplines and condemns”? We explained that God is both good and severe and used Hebrews 12 to show that God disciplines us for our good. Also God demonstrates His wrath against sin which is a violation of His law and he must uphold His law and hold violators responsible for their transgressions, else He is no longer a God in control.
One night we went to Sentolo , an hour’s drive from Yogya for a home Bible study with the family of a lady who was converted through the Indonesian World Bible School courses. Her relatives are Catholic and they had questions about purgatory and inherited sin. The term for purgatory in Indonesian is “ Purifying Fire”. We showed them from scripture that neither of those doctrines is true.
JAKARTA
From Yogya we returned to Jakarta and on Sunday worshipped with the Blok M church where I preached and later conducted a Bible quiz and discussion based on the sermon. There was a good fellowship meal afterwards.
After services Ellen and I met with brethren from the Tanah Abang congregation for a meal. They usually change their morning service to the afternoon so we can worship with them, but they could not do that on this particular Sunday. They are doing well and their attendance has increased since our last visit.
RADIO
The weekly radio program that I produce here and broadcast by short wave aimed toward S.E.Asia continues to receive lot of visits. From August through November there were 1418 visits to the web site connected to the program and 53 lessons in PDF format were downloaded. We get visits from a wide range of countries, including U.S.A. China, India, Indonesia and Singapore and several European countries.
LITERATURE
I am working on a book of sermons on various relevant topics to be printed and distributed to congregations across the country, as well as preparing a study booklet on remaining faithful and other needed materials to strengthen the church and reach out to the lost.
INDONESIA DAY BY DAY
Indonesia re-elected the incumbent president, Jokowi, for five more years. He had to form coalitions with several parties to get elected and then had to pass out cabinet seats to many in the various parties to try to keep peace between factions from all groups. There are about 12 major parties and each one thinks their leaders should have prominent positions. Political pundits predict that his government will be weakened by the choices he made in the cabinet appointees. Time will tell.
Areas all across Indonesia are being investigated for getting government aid for projects in “false villages” which only exist on paper. The local leaders are very astute in manipulating data and processes to fill their personal coffers at government expense and at the expense of the local people who should be receiving aid.
ELLEN’S NOTES
It is always good to get back to Medan and visit with the Christians there, especially those we have known for so many years. In Medan our usual mode of transportation is by becak, a motorcycle with a side cart for passengers. I really enjoy that as it allows us to see so much of what is going on around us as we travel from place to place. It is like having a window to see into the daily lives of people there.
When we arrived at Daniel and Naomi’s home in Bekasi (the Connor House) Naomi was still in the hospital recovering from her second knee surgery. Thankfully she did not have the complications from diabetes and a heart condition which she experienced after the first surgery.
As Colin mentioned, we had a birthday party for the little ones while we there since most of them have October birthdays. We were visiting at the Connor House when they were just babies and it has been enjoyable to see their growth through the years.
I was so glad to be able to visit the churches at Limbangan and Yogya since it has been several years since we last visited them.
Family News
Colin and I have two new great grandchildren. Webb Henry Huggins, son of Pierce and Lauren Nichols Huggins was born on September 7, and Ellie Rose, daughter of Caleb and Ansley Huggins Bearden, was born on September 9. Our son, Marcus, is doing well as his latest scans were clear and his doctor was very pleased with his status. We are so grateful for all the prayers and thoughts on his behalf.
We wish for each of you a wonderful Holiday season!
Colin & Ellen McKee
