Mennonite Weekly Review

BERASTAGI, Indonesia — The group rose early for gymnastics and stayed up late praying for unreached people.

The World Missions Institute group poses for a photo at the Samadi Maranatha Retreat Center in the mountains of northern Sumatra. — Photo by EMM

At the Indonesian World Missions Institute on Nov. 9-21, 64 Indonesian, Chinese and North American young adults trained for missions together.

PIPKA, the mission agency of GKMI Mennonites in Indonesia, collaborated with Eastern Mennonite Missions to plan a two-week missions course at the Samadi Maranatha Retreat Center in the mountainous town of Berastagi in northern Sumatra.

Chinese participants were members of the “Back to Jerusa­lem” missionary arm of the unregistered churches of China. The North Americans were members of a Youth Evangelism Service team spending eight months studying and serving in Java.

Eleven speakers from five countries taught 47 sessions on topics such as biblical foundations of mission, history of missions, the gospel and world religions, cross-cultural communication and spiritual formation.

(The names of some participants quoted in this report are omitted due to sensitivity in the countries where they live.)

The World Missions Institute “was an incredible time of seeing God move among us,” said EMM’s co-director for the institute and area representative for Indonesia. “Teachers came and went, sharing teachings without knowing what others had said, but what they said flowed so well with what had gone before. Truly God was reinforcing his messages and truths.”

Many found a teaching on “Intimacy with God: Hearing the Mission Heart of God” by a long-term EMM worker to be a highlight. During a time of listening prayer, many testified that they felt God calling them to serve in places such as Indonesia, India, Pakistan and Tibet.

One woman said her church was so small she wondered what she could do. But she said God told her that God “can do great things with those who are willing.”

The group also did outreach and sightseeing. They visited a park dedicated to the memory of a German missionary, Ingwer Ludwig Nommensen, who came to the region 150 years ago.