[News] Christian societies of Korea and Indonesia became one by the Word

Christian societies of Korea and Indonesia became one by the Word

 

Establishment of collaboration agreement between the Christian Council of Korea (CCK) and the Fellowship of Indonesian Evangelical Churches and Institutions (PGLII), and Book Launching Thanksgiving Service for the Indonesian version of the 3rd and 4th book of the History of Redemption series

The Christian Council of Korea (Rev. Hong Jae-Chul, Executive Chairman of CCK) and the Fellowship of Indonesian Evangelical Churches and Institutions (Rev. Nus Reimas, Executive Chairman of PGLII) held a collaboration agreements signing ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, on March 18, 2014. At the ceremony, both parties agreed to promote the relationship between the Christian societies in both countries, via sharing missions and education programs, holding mutual visitations, coping with Islamic expansions in Korea, etc. The PGLII is the largest Christian organization in Indonesia consisting of 178 religious bodies.
At the ceremony, CCK’s executive chairman Rev. Hong Jae-Chul stated, “Despite the short 130-year mission history and amid chaos and confusion, Korea has grown to a powerful missionary country with 12 million believers and about 60,000 churches.” 
He added, “I hope that Indonesian Christian society? which is well familiar with Islam? will help us in preventing the spread of Islam in Korea.” PGLII’s executive chairman Rev. Nus Reimas stated, “out of 200 million Indonesians, about 95% of the population are Muslims and less than 5% are Christians.” He further commented, “due to the active ministry of Korean missionaries, increasing numbers of Indonesians are converting to Christianity. (Article from Kookmin Daily newspaper dated February 21, 2014)

On February 18, 2014, CCK, a representative of the Korean Christian society, met with PGLII, the largest Christian organization in Indonesia. On that day in the same place, a History of Redemption seminar was also in session. This was in conjunction with the Book Launching Thanksgiving Service for the Indonesian version of the 3rd and 4th book of the History of Redemption series. The event was held at Ritz-Carlton hotel in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. There were about 1,000 attendants including the leaders of PGLII as well as the presidents of various Christian associations, organization leaders, pastors, theologians, and congregation members of the churches in Indonesia. 

The Indonesian pastors and theologians welcomed the author, Rev. Abraham Park, with great joy. Through numerous seminars held over the years, the majority of these public figures were already acquainted with the History of Redemption series, its author Rev. Abraham Park, and Pyungkang Cheil Church. At this meeting, they especially expressed special thanks to Rev. Park and Pyungkang Cheil Church for bridging the Christian societies in Korea and Indonesia after overcoming many difficult hardships and becoming the leading member in CCK, which represents the Korean Christian society.

History of Redemption promotion video filmed many renowned pastors in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, who expressed their respect and admiration for Rev. Park. The video created solemn atmosphere among the attendees, shocking CCK’s chairman Rev. 

Hong as well as its fifteen other executive members. They were amazed to witness the fruition of the missionary work in Indonesia as well as Southeast Asia, which Rev. Park and Pyungkang Cheil Church undertook even while facing hardships in Korea.

Most of all, Pyungkang Cheil Church’s branch church in Jakarta caught the attention of the executive members of CCK. They were not only impressed with the size of this 500-member-church in Jakarta, the capital of the Islamic nation. They were more impressed with the fact that almost all members of the Jakarta branch church were Indonesians; this was in contrast to most Korean branch churches in foreign countries where congregational members were entirely Korean. The moment the guests from Seoul, including the executive members of CCK arrived at the airport, the Indonesian church members welcomed them with exceptional servanthood in Christ. The visitors from Seoul expressed that they felt a sense of unity through the Word and kinship through faith from these Indonesian church members.

“About 200 members were waiting at the airport. Their eyes were fixed solely on the author of the History of Redemption series. From their reception at the airport and the hotel to picture taking, catering services, managing the event hall, and every event of the ceremony were all implemented systematically, much like an army. For five days four nights, from dawn to dawn, the Indonesian church members carried out the tightly planned schedule with full dedication.
On the day we were scheduled to leave for Bandung which is near Jakarta, our program ended at 1 AM and the Indonesian members left us, only to return at 4 AM with our breakfast. We were speechless because something like this is rarely seen in Southeast Asian countries. We thought Southeast Asians would collapse without naps; but some of us even said, ‘They look like Korean youths and Korean women, only with different skin tone.’ There was not one person who remained still. Seeing them doing their utmost best in their given task made us feel ashamed of ourselves. 
All of us could sense the depth of their kindness and generosity in their hospitality.” 
“We thought a Bible study was out of the question for them because they looked so tired. However, we were moved to see them pull themselves together with a new energy as soon as someone said, ‘Let’s do a Bible study!’ During the Bible study, they would stare intently at the interpreter and repeat over and over ‘Amen, Amen.’ 
After the Bible study, they would return to their given task with no one complaining or grumbling. All their hard work and preparations brought tears to our eyes. There is a stereotype that ‘Southeast Asia is a difficult place to get people to come out for dawn prayer meetings.’ However, we have witnessed that we can transcend nations and regions when we are unified in the Word.” 

“It was truly moving to see the Indonesians bowing to greet the guests from Seoul. Anyone can easily feel it when something is genuine?like their faithfulness before the Word of God or the way they shed tears when touched by the Word. I felt this ‘oneness’ from the moment we arrived. The praises sung by the three Indonesian young adults before the worship was so powerful that it was completely impregnable against Satan’s attack. They also sang various redemptive history songs in Indonesian. It was truly captivating to watch about 100 Indonesian children singing the redemptive history songs in both Korean and Indonesian. They even displayed subtitles in Korean, English, and Indonesian, and it is just impossible to list all of such meticulousness in their work. Seeing their manner of faith in which they worked so elaborately and perfectly, we could not but wonder, ‘Can discipline of faith possibly reach this far?’ All of our executive members of CCK exclaimed, ‘When did Rev. Abraham Park accomplish all these?’”

In fact, the commitment of the Jakarta branch church in the mission work with the word of redemptive history is internationally recognized. Their dedication and financial support have reached almost all branch churches in Southeast Asia as well as in the Eastern and Western United States. Their zeal for the History of Redemption series is so great that they have picked up the speed in publishing Indonesian translation of the series under a goal to outrun the English translation.

The Indonesian version of the History of Redemption series is even recognized as the best of all the translated versions. Comments like “the Indonesian version is just like the original” lead us to realize how much prayers and funds must have been invested. It has been a long time since church members took the initiative to form teams and go on home visitations so that Rev. Yoon Do-Hee could focus on translating the History of Redemption series throughout the week. From that perspective, we can say that the Jakarta branch church produced evangelizers even before the mother church did. Identifying themselves as missionaries, the Jakarta church members took Bible studies along with lectures on the History of Redemption from very early on. One layperson even teaches more than ten “evangelizers lectures” per week. 
After the establishment of the branch church in Bandung, 120 km away southeast of Jakarta the capital, evangelism and the redemptive history studies boomed to an extent that someone had to commute four hours each way to teach there. Such zeal paved the way for the author of the History of Redemption series to take the time out of his busy schedule and visit Bandung in person. 

With their overflowing zeal and love for the History of Redemption and their unity in the Word of God, the branch church in Jakarta of Indonesia has certainly shared great blessings with many people through this event. 

 

by Ji-Eun, Lee