What a wonderful time we had ministering in Central Java, Indonesia last week!
I arrived in Yogyjakarta on 13 November and departed on the 18th. Between those days, my fithful friend Wibowo and I had ministered side-by-side in several cities.
In Solo, we were able to spend time ministering to a family and then had a joint meeting of 2 High Schools. I was surprised by their passion to be used by God. Nearly every young person from both schools ended up at the altar.
In Wonogiri, many young people attended a meeting despite heavy rain. (FYI for readers in the US, most young people in Indonesia travel by foot or motor-scooter and so it is difficult to gather when the rain is heavy.) The word seemed to hit the target and the Lord had a word for every person I prayed for. (Evangelists can also prophesy, you know. We are of the same Spirit. 😉
Semarang was wonderful. We met another friend there and ministered in four churches that weekend. The first church was Presbyterian (NOT to be confused with “vegetarian”) and the Lord moved in power. many people made a decision to follow Jesus there. They had also asked me to minister on family life which I was glad to do, but of course the main focus is always the cross of Jesus Christ!
In one church, I gave the call to salvation and half of the attending 150+ indicated they had made a decision for Jesus! We were so surprised. And again, the Lord spoke through prayer and prophesy to many.
It touches me when a wounded congregation trusts a bold evangelist to come and minister, but sometimes that is exactly what is needed! BOLDNESS. This church in particular was hurt through a split and it was an honor to have their trust to minister there that day. We spoke longer than usual but it seemed that every idea seemed to speak to their situation. It would be worth a second visit at sometime to see how they are doing.
The last church we visited was in a non-Christian area yet had grown from 5 to more than 100 people in the past year. It is marvellous to see a harvest-minded fellowship growing like this. I believe they will grow exponentially to thousands. The harvest is plentiful!
This was of course not a “headlining” trip for us. It was not a big event, but necessary. There in Java, the most densely populated island in Indonesia, I could smell the harvest. Souls are ready for Jesus everywhere. The dream and vision grow. There is work to be done.
We will be back soon.