Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13–14)
ON THE GROUND IN INDONESIA
It was a humid morning as our small team traversed a narrow, slippery path with tenuous steps down the steep, tropical mountainside. We were journeying to a small enclave where the village school was anticipating our arrival. There are no cars in this village, and only an occasional motorcycle would laboriously sputter as it made its way past us uphill to the top of the mountain, where it joined a road that wound its way down the other side, into the heart of civilization. We encountered a steady trickle of villagers on the path, all of whom would politely greet us with a smile, nod of the head, and a simple and kind “selamat pagi” (good morning).
Our team consisted of our Westminster contingent and three Indonesian professionals from Jakarta who had committed a week of their time to join a church organized gospel rally on the island of Ambon. Over the course of the week, people from the church, along with Westminster seminarians and President Lillback would share Christ from his Word to children in grades 1–12.
Drenched in sweat from the rigorous hike and warm humidity, we saw the little school materialize through the trees as we made our way down the path. The school was constructed in a U-shape with a large courtyard (typical for schools in Ambon). As we entered the courtyard, surrounded on three sides with open doors and windows, a small boy jumped into the first opening that we passed, announcing our entry into the courtyard with a yell.
WATER FROM THE WELL
We were greeted by the principal and a young teacher, and then ushered into the principal’s office for tea. They were expecting us. She recited the history of the school and village. Both professing Christians in a predominantly Muslim country, they shared the needs that they hoped we would address in our teaching to what would be the majority of the school’s students. The young teacher had grown up in the village, gone to the school, left to be trained as a teacher, and returned to educate the village’s students as her mission and witness. They were delighted to hear that we would be preaching to the school from John 4 about Jesus’s encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well.
We were led from the principal’s office, through the courtyard and into a large classroom where multiple grades filed in and were seated. The students looked quizzically and enthusiastically at their guests, clearly of different ethnic backgrounds from the Ambonese (Ambone is a three-hour flight from Jakarta. Indonesia is an archipelago with over 17,000 islands and 1,300 distinct ethnic groups). We introduced ourselves with the help of a Jakartan interpreter, and knew immediately that we would have a lively and engaging conversation. When asked if they wanted to hear about a well from which springs of living water flowed, the students excitedly replied in unison with “YA!”
We invited the students and teachers to trust Christ, the Messiah who had come to them to convict and free them from sin and death, and to also become as the Samaritan evangelist, proclaiming to their friends and family, “Come, see!”
Ambon is replete with flowing wells due to its mountainous geography and long rainy season. Almost every school we visited had their own well, and this village was no exception—its well fed a steady stream of cool water that flowed along the path.
We began with a biblical text where the theme of water is so prominent, something that these people are very familiar with. “What is it like to drink water from a well?” we asked.
“Cold! Fresh!”
“What if you could drink a type of water that would take away your thirst forever? Would you want that?”
“YA!”
We would go on to share how Jesus went out of his way to enter Samaria where, like Ambon’s tension between Muslims and Christians, the Samaritan’s beliefs conflicted with those of the Jewish people. Jesus, an Israelite, went for the purpose of reaching a Samaritan woman, who would arrive at the hottest time of the day in order to avoid people because of her shame of repeated sinful, broken relationships. In his engagement with the woman, he reveals that he knows of her sin but offers life, “springs of living waters welling up from within,” by which she would never thirst again. She leaves her empty jar at the well, running with courage and abandon to the very people she was avoiding in order to declare that the Messiah had come. She became the first Gentile evangelist, proclaiming, “Come, see” the Messiah. They came and believed.
We invited the students and teachers to trust Christ, the Messiah who had come to them to convict and free them from sin and death, and to also become as the Samaritan evangelist, proclaiming to their friends and family, “Come, see!”
…biblically Reformed people should be an evangelistic and missional people. Sharing Christ is what Christ’s people do.
This was a repeated experience, each day for a week this last October as teams like ours spread throughout the island in an incredible, orchestrated effort to saturate Ambon’s students with the Word of God. This was carried out by a group of 60 Jakartans from the Reformed Evangelical Church of Indonesia (RECI), accompanied by a group of students and leaders from Westminster. We were led by Pastor Benyamin Intan, also the President of the Reformed Evangelical Theological Seminary in Jakarta and a native of Ambon.
GOSPEL RALLIES AND A COMMITMENT TO EVANGELISM
Gospel rallies are a regular part of the rhythm and annual calendar of the Reformed Evangelical Movement in Indonesia, started by Dr. Stephen Tong in 1984. From the inception of this denomination, the expectation is that a biblically Reformed people should be an evangelistic and missional people. Sharing Christ is what Christ’s people do. Many of those we were traveling with were influenced or became Christians as a result of past rallies. They could point to a time when someone from the church came to speak to them while they were students. And as a result, their lives were changed. It was the reason they were here now. Those who were once sought out were now seeking others out as fishers of men.
The commitment to evangelism in the Reformed church in Indonesia is starkly more palpable than our experience in the West. Perhaps even more impactful than the evangelism itself was the experience of being joined in gospel labor with these ardent believers, as our Westminster students can attest to:
Kimberlyn—“I can still remember a group of us driving to lunch on our last day in Indonesia with some of the new friends and ministry partners we had made along the way. As we drove, they told us story after story, recounting the ways the Lord was working through their evangelistic opportunities and in their own lives. These testimonies of God’s grace moved me in a way that they would not have at the beginning of the trip. That entire week, I had watched these servants of God step away from their successful careers, engaging in intensive, fast-paced evangelism with us on a neighboring island, all while showing us radical hospitality and giving God all the glory for the fruit. What they believed and proclaimed was consistent with the way they lived. Praise God for the power of the gospel!”
Sophie—“On our first Sunday morning in Indonesia, we stood amidst a lively congregation of fellow Christians and recited the Apostle’s Creed together in different languages but in one voice. This was the first time I had ever been able to see and experience the universal church so visibly. The ability to worship beside our fellow brothers and sisters and experience their love and hospitality has left an indelible mark on my life. Following our week in Jakarta, when we went to Ambon, this impression only grew. Seeing men and women put everything in their lives on hold for the thing that is truly the most important to them, the gospel, has reoriented how I live my life on the other side of the world. I don’t think I will ever be able to truly and succinctly express how grateful I am for this experience and the friendships I gained. Through it all, Christ’s love, mercy, and provision was leading the way, and it was seen by me with clear sight that is far too often clouded.”
All told, God’s word was proclaimed to over 53,000 students, 10% of the population of Ambon Island, in one week’s time.
Shelby—“What a joy it was to worship and serve the cause of Christ with so many brothers and sisters on the other side of the globe! I thank God for the chance to catch a glimpse of the kind of unity the people of God are privileged to experience when we turn our gaze towards the things of Christ, that is, towards the very one who has drawn us together in the first place.”
John—“It was about halfway through the gospel rally week, and we had met with numerous beautiful, wide-eyed, and excited students from all over the island of Ambon. And one night, after hearing report after report, I stood to share a heartfelt conviction and amazement: On the island of Ambon, we were not the ones going out to meet these students. It was Jesus who was expressing his going out of the way to meet with them, and we were a simple part of his passion for his glory and plan to raise worshipers for his name. He is the one desirous of the people he calls and saves, and we were all merely participants. He was the one going out of his way to meet with people. We became, and wherever and whenever there is missions, we become participants in God’s ultimate going out of the way to raise up a people to declare that he is the God who sees way beyond anyone’s capacity, and quenches a thirst that no well can satisfy.”
All told, God’s word was proclaimed to over 53,000 students, 10% of the population of Ambon Island, in one week’s time. But for those of us from Westminster, witnessing the impact of God’s Word, even when spoken through an interpreter, was profoundly moving for the 6 people that flew to the other side of the world to share the gospel, only to be profoundly evangelized by it and the lives of their Indonesian brothers and sisters in Christ.