Pastor in Indonesia Renews His Vision to Reach the Unreached with the Gospel

AIMS News: Posted 12/1/2004

In 1999, "Pastor Buti" heard Dr. Howard Foltz, founder and president of AIMS, speak in Medan about sharing the Gospel with people who have the least opportunity to hear the Good News. He was amazed. For years, he had been pastoring a church in Bekasi, Indonesia, but he had never thought about specifically targeting people with little or no access to the Gospel in their own language and culture. His heart burned with the desire to do something, but he was not sure how to begin.

When "Gideon" (AIMS Director of Asia) contacted Pastor Buti in 2004 about hosting a full Equipping for the Harvest conference in Bekasi, the pastorís heart stirred again.

"God reminded him of that desireand rekindled it," said Gideon, who co-led the conference with "Andrew" (AIMS Southeast Asia Coordinator) in August 2004. More than 120 church leaders, branch pastors, and Bible school students attended the week-long event. From 8 a.m. each morning until 9 p.m. each night, these pastors and students listened as Gideon and Andrew shared strategies to reach unreached people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Just outside the capital city of Jakarta, Bekasi has many opportunities to minister to the unreached. People from other parts of Indonesia flood into Jakarta to find jobs. Many unreached people groups, like the Bugis, settle in squatter villages (the slums) scattered around the city. About 95% of the more than 3 million Bugis living in Indonesia are Muslim and have been very resistant to the Gospel. The few who do choose to accept Christ are often persecuted.

By the end of the week, the leaders and students who attended the conference adopted 24 unreached people groups, most of which are locally accessible in Jakarta. They committed to pray for efforts to begin within each of these groups. Some have even made plans to begin working among them. Others pledged to inform area churches about the opportunities within the city and beyond.

"There are so many unreached around them," said Gideon. "They are able to reach out without having to go to other regions."

Pastor Buti left the conference with renewed vision of what his church in Bekasi could accomplish. He plans to establish a missions department within the church network that can serve as a sending agency, form a missions school for students interested in cross-cultural missions, and develop a missions curriculum for their existing Bible seminary. Plans are also being made to hold a follow-up conference next year in Bekasi.

Related Stories: