How a Jakarta Church is Living 360 Discipleship
By Bruce Swanson
Eric and Tina Yee’s church members are creating exciting impacts in all of their circles – personal, professional, and community. Eric has been discipling the church to obey all Jesus commanded, including living as salt and light. It is so cool to see them doing that with courage and sacrifice.
From the Eric & Tina Yee’s Update | 04/22/2020
When COVID-19 began to enter Indonesia last month, everyone was unprepared for how quickly it escalated from precautions to closures to deaths.
While it has been a difficult season, including the infection and/or deaths of some of our members’ family and friends, we have also been incredibly humbled as we’ve seen our church community really step up in demonstrating love for their neighbors during this time.
- Several members have generously given towards our Benevolence Fund and joined our Benevolence Team to help meet the felt needs within our spiritual family and with our neighboring communities.
- A few GP doctors in our church offered to give informal medical consultation to anyone with medical concerns, suggesting medicine and lab tests that can be taken in private labs, so as to avoid going to hospitals unless it’s an emergency.
- A few members and friends of our church who have formal training in counseling offered to provide counseling to those in need via video call.
- Some of our members partnered together to provide food packages and masks to an underprivileged community in West Jakarta that they’ve had a long-standing relationship with (they’ve provided weekly education for the children there over the last few years).
- One couple had to permanently close down their cafe but took out a personal loan to help care for their employees’ needs beforehand, knowing that they’d have a difficult time finding another job in this difficult season.
- One member has been raising funds for medical supplies to help healthcare workers outside of Jakarta through doctorSHARE.
- One member reconnected with some ex-colleagues via video call to catch up and see how they were doing the past month; even though they’ve only ever talked about work in the past, she ended up doing a Bible Study with them and they may have more sessions in the future.
- One person had the opportunity to share the gospel with his clients via video call through the song “Amazing Grace” and the story of its composer, John Newton, even though he was fearful that he might lose them as clients.
- A few members have started praying together daily and reading/discussing weekly Coronavirus and Christ by John Piper with their parents who are not yet believers but are currently open to it in the midst of feeling heavy anxiety.
It’s been personally encouraging and inspiring to see our members “live out loud” their faith in Jesus Christ throughout this time, letting their light shine before others, so that they may see their good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).
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This stuff is the fruit of “360 discipleship.”
Email Bruce at b.swanson@worldventure.com for more info
and resources that Eric has been using.