NEWSLETTERS

august (1) 2023

Summer 2023 Has Ended

The month of August means the summer is over. Not only in the US, Indonesia follows the same trend. The new school year begins and the business is as usual. Government agencies begin their budgeting for following year. Economy is slowly tapering after spending seasons of Ramadhan and family vacations.

We finished Faithcamp tours in the US and the 6800-mile journey ended where it started: Collgegedale, Tennessee, at Jesus for Asia’s new headquarters. It was exciting to share the front-line updates with fellow missionaries from around the world. The churches we visited were all participating in their missions, and everyone got to share what a joy to see that God is preparing His people for eternity and that it actually begins now in God’s grace!

The final three faith camps (Red Bluff and Fresno in California and Amity in Arkansas) felt physically the longest because we had already finished five and we were all looking forward to the end of summer when we could all go back to routines. The three Faithcamps shared one common thing: Extremely hot temperatures. Red Bluff weekend was a constant 108F or 42C and we had to park our RV in the church’s parking lot. The heat did not stop the faithful from gathering from morning to evening, from Wednesday to Sunday. The members and pastor welcomed us really well and we made new friends there. The meetings went well and the weekend ended with the sadness of separation. Upon leaving, the heat was so intense that the front tire blistered by almost a third of the circular wall, and we did not realize until we drove to Fresno, five hours away. God really kept us away from danger in that journey.

Fresno meetings were a week long. Jesus For Asia team took turns recording videos with Secrets Unsealed Tv on Monday to Thursday. We finished 23 sessions in four days along side Gayle Haberkam from Thailand, Israel Prasad from India, Gem Castor from ASAP, Natalie Howell from Cambodia, Hannah Jobe, Sharon William and Jon Wood from Jesus for Asia, with SUM Tv’s online audience. it was not much fun for some of us talking to sets of cameras, but the experience of speaking in exactly 58 minutes gave us confidence that God has to put words in our mouths, and clocks in our heads. Then Friday to Sunday Faithcamp went well as we got reunited with some people from last year’s short Faithcamp. Gem Castor opened the weekend with spiritually uplifting message, and all the meetings followed well.

Amity, Arkansas was four days of driving from California, with an RV. At one stop in Arizona, we were faced with a generator that suddenly stopped working, giving us a night without AC while it was 104F or 40C outside. We could bear it only for three hours and we were forced to drive for another two hours to a campsite with shore electricity, and we fixed the problem following day. Amity church is situated closely to a seminary and attendants seemed to be people who study their bible diligently. We had a productive meeting with everyone there and left on Sunday back to Tennessee.

The journey of encircling the US ended in Jesus for Asia’s new headquarters, in Collegedale Tennessee. We finally had a Faithcamp in home office! God has shown miracles in providing JFA with a new place, which means the mission work will only expand even further. The Grand Opening events coinciding with Faithcamp were filled with sharing stories, encouragements, guests participating in music and giving presentations. We wish them luck in their office and continue praying for His guidance in the future.

We have all returned back home to Indonesia and the work here resumes. The television, aviation outreach, city evangelism and building continue the whole time we were in the US. Let us all pray that God brings more people into His kingdom!