Anniversary 2013

AdvisorsRev. Wilson Suwanto

Daniel Loe

EditorsRachel AtmadjaKenny GozaliMerissa Halim

Hubert KusdonoJocelyn Lee-Tindage

Hendry WijayaWemby Wijono

DesignersBuddy Chung

Eva LeonyFransisca SugiantoVincent Yobeanto

Cover PageBuddy Chung

PrintingSemiwati Oei

E-mailagape_gii@yahoo.com

Production of GII Azusa

539 N. Sunset Ave.Azusa, CA 91702

Telp: (626) 812-0326http://lax.gii-usa.org

This year marks the 30th Anniversary of Indonesian Evan-

gelical Church. A perusal of the pictures hanging in the courtyard

reveals God’s work in making this church grow and fl ourish. Each

smile, each celebration, each Kodak moment is evidence of God’s

handiwork. Surely, we can say, “Every good gift and every perfect gift

is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom

there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). Yet a

church that grows is a church that will face sorrows, heartaches, and

challenges.

How do we, for example, deal with the issue of generation gap as a

multi-generation church? With the rapid advancement of technol-

ogy and the speedy spread of information, lives are changing faster

than we had ever experienced. It is not unusual for people with an

age difference of merely fi ve to seven years to experience a discon-

nect in the way they think or view life. Will such differences tear

apart a church? Are generation gaps correlated to spiritual gaps?

Or how do we answer the age-old question of evil? “If God is all

powerful and all good, then why is there evil in the world?” The as-

sumption is that if God is all-powerful and all-good, then evil must

not exist; otherwise, He is good, but powerless to stop evil, or He is

powerful but not benevolent enough to stop evil. Thus, evil, in this

question, doubts the goodness of God. How can we answer such

a question without having our faith in the goodness of God shaken?

These questions and challenges often reveal the underlying assump-

tions of the questioner or the believer. To answer them, we have

to go back to the basic, and defi ne what exactly is God’s goodness.

Anniversary 2013 1

Editorial ]

Contributors

Christopher AtmadjaRev. Kristianto Hosea

Bina KusnohadiEugene Laksana

Daniel LoeGeorge Macamay

Joy SimonaFerry SoendjojoEv. Julia Suwanto

Rev. Wilson SuwantoJocelyn Lee Tindage

Hendry WijayaDarwin WangDavid Wangsa

Nathan WangsaRev. Moses Yang

Vincent Yobeanto

How can we understand, measure, and identify the goodness of

God? How important is such an understanding in the life of a be-

liever? These are all questions that we hope to answer in this issue.

Evangelist and biblical scholar, A. W. Pink (1886-1952) wrote, “The

goodness of God is the life of the believer’s trust.” If we cannot be

certain that God is good, then we will forever be questioning the

acts of God in our lives. In good times, we will wonder when this

good time will end; in bad times, we wonder if the bad time will go

on forever. It opens us to doubt, to anxiety, to worries and fear,

to anger and bitterness. If we cannot be certain that God is good,

then we can only despair at every trial and tribulation.

So we hope to dive into the goodness of God, to understand what

it is or what it isn’t. We will see how it manifests in the world, even

in affl iction and discipline. Most of all, we will see how it has mani-

fested in the lives of our brothers and sisters here at IEC. In this

way, the next time we sing, “God is so good,” we sing with assur-

ance and a Sunkist face, for we know that indeed, “No one is good

-- except God alone.” (Mark 10:18)

2 Anniversary 2013

foothill blvd.

N

210

6TH ST.

5TH ST.

4TH ST.

vernon ave.

ORANGE ave.

SUNSET ave.

ANGELENO ave.

SAN GABRIEL ave.

AZUSA ave.

Anniversary 2013 3

4 Anniversary 2013

There was a woman who was mournfully wronged

She walked around singing a bitter song

Of a lover who scorned and bade her leave

In the bitter cold of Christmas Eve

She walked and sank 'to a desponding mire

Her heart was heavy with a burning ire

She gave up hope and began to think

Into death and mire she shall surely sink

Till Help came by with a lending hand

And pulled her up that she might stand

He told her of a Prince who saves

A new heart to the wounded He gave

With Help by her she began to seek

This Prince who's powerful, kind, and meek

Till she came to Him and bowed at His feet

Indeed a new heart He gave when they meet

Now the woman who was mournfully wronged

No longer sang a bitter song

"Jesus Christ, my Lord and King,

Your Praises, glory, forever I'll sing."

Anniversary 2013 5

6 Anniversary 2013

Menjelang HUT ke-30 GII Azusa, apa yang paling penting

kita lakukan? Yaitu hendaklah kita bersyukur kepada

Tuhan senantiasa. “Mengucap syukurlah dalam segala

hal sebab itulah yang dikehendaki Allah di dalam Kristus

Yesus bagi kamu.” (1 Tesalonika 5:18) Kehendak Tuhan

terhadap kita adalah Dia ingin kita bersyukur senantiasa

kepada-Nya. Bagaimana kita bersyukur senantiasa

kepadaNya khusus rangka HUT ke-30 GII Azusa?

1) Dia telah menyediakan rumah rohani yang indah untuk kita.

Pada tahun 1983, GII Azusa meminjam tempat di Azusa Pacifi c

University untuk tempat kebaktian. Tuhan tahu kita sangat

perlu mempunyai rumah rohani sendiri. Dan pada tahun

1991, Tuhan menyediakan rumah rohani untuk kita sehingga

kita dapat melayaniNya dengan bebas dan indah dan penuh

dengan sukacita. Dan pada tahun 2008, Tuhan menyediakan

rumah sebelah untuk anak-anak sekolah minggu oleh sebab

itu hendaklah kita bersyukur senantiasa kepada-Nya.

2) Dia telah memberkati GII Azusa selama 30 tahun.

Tuhan sangat memberkati GII Azusa selama 30 tahun. Berkat

apakah yang diberikan oleh Tuhan selama 30 tahun? Anniversary 2013 7

a. Berbuah dengan berkelimpahan. Yesaya

37:31: “…dan menghasilkan buah ke atas.”

GII Azusa selama 30 tahun telah berbuah

banyak untuk Tuhan khususnya di Indonesia

maka hendaklah kita bersyukur senantiasa

kepada-Nya karena banyak jiwa-jiwa yang

hilang telah kembali kepada Tuhan.

b. Berakar kemana-mana. Yesaya 37:31: “…

akan berakar pula ke bawah.” GII Azusa

selama 30 tahun telah berakar dimana-mana

khususnya di Indonesia banyak anak-anak

Azusa yang kembali ke Indonesia berakar

dimana-mana serta menghasilkan banyak

buah untuk Tuhan. Maka oleh sebab itu

hendaklah kita bersyukur senantiasa kepada-

Nya.

Akhir kata, hendaklah kita terus-menerus

bersyukur kepada-Nya karena Dia telah

memelihara dan memberkati GII Azusa

selama 30 tahun. Dan segala kemuliaan dan

kehormatan kita kembalikan kepada TUhan

Yesus Juru Selamat kita. AMEN!

Give Thanks to the Lord (1 Tessalonians

5:18)

As we are approaching the 30th Anniversary of IEC Azusa, let us always give thanks to the Lord. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) God’s will for us is to always give thanks to Him in all circumstances. How can we give thanks to God as we

celebrate the 30th anniversary?

1) He has provided a spiritual home for us.

In the year of 1983, IEC Azusa borrowed

a room from Azusa Pacifi c University for

Sunday service. God knew our need to have

our own spiritual home. And in the year

1991, God provided us with a spiritual home

so that we can serve him more comfortably,

wonderfully, and joyfully. And in the year

2008, God provided the next door house

for Sunday School children. Because of all

these, let us always give thanks to the Lord.

8 Anniversary 2013

2) He has blessed IEC Azusa for 30 years.

God blessed IEC Azusa abundantly for 30

years. What are His blessings?

a. Bountiful fruitfulness. Isaiah 37:31: “…and

bear fruite above.” IEC Azusa for 30 years

has borne fruit abundantly, especially in

Indonesia; therefore, we always give thanks

to God. Many lost souls have been found.

b. Deeply rooted. Isaiah 37:31: “…will take

root below.” IEC Azusa for 30 years has

grown deep roots especially in Indonesia.

Many of the church members that returned

to Indonesia for good have grown deep roots

and borne bountiful fruitfulness. Therefore,

we always give thanks to the Lord.

In closing words, let us always give thanks

to the Lord because He has provided and

blessed IEC Azusa for 30 years. All the glory

and honor we give only to Jesus Christ our

Savior. AMEN!

Anniversary 2013 9

10 Anniversary 2013

Yesus juga berkata, “Tak seorangpun yang baik selain dari pada Allah

saja” (Luk. 18:19). Tuhan adalah sumber kebaikan. Segala sesuatu

yang baik dalam hidup ini datangnya dari Tuhan sendiri (Yak. 1:17).

Berulang-ulang Kejadian pasal 1 dan 2 menyebutkan bahwa segala

yang Tuhan ciptakan itu baik adanya. Allah itu baik, maka seluruh

ciptaanNya juga baik pada mulanya.

Zaman sekarang, banyak orang mempertanyakan kebaikan Tuhan.

Ketika ada gempa bumi, serangan teroris, kelaparan, peperangan

yang memakan begitu banyak korban yang tidak bersalah, beberapa

orang bertanya, “Mengapa Allah membiarkan semua ini terjadi?

Bukankah Ia baik?”

Mudah sekali berkata bahwa “Tuhan itu baik” ketika segala sesuatu

berjalan lancar. Siapa yang bisa melihat kebaikan Tuhan ketika krisis

datang? Siapa yang bisa memuji kebaikan Tuhan ketika kesulitan

menguasai hidupnya? Mungkin pertanyaannya bisa dibalik seperti

ini: Siapa yang meragukan kebaikan Tuhan ketika krisis dan badai

kehidupan datang? Kalau kita jujur, kita sering meragukan kebaikan

Tuhan di dalam masa-masa sulit. Mungkinkah juga kita meragukan

Anniversary 2013 11

kebaikan Tuhan sewaktu segalanya berjalan

lancar? Mungkin sekali, bahkan pernah terjadi

dalam sejarah.

Adam dan Hawa hidup di dalam dunia yang

sempurna pada mulanya. Tidak ada dosa,

penyakit, kelaparan, bencana alam, kematian,

dan lainnya. Suatu hari Iblis datang dan

mencobai mereka. Intinya, Iblis menaruh

benih curiga di dalam hati Hawa sehingga

Hawa dan Adam meragukan kebaikan Tuhan.

Mungkin di dalam hatinya, Hawa berpikir,

“Mungkin juga Tuhan melarang kita makan

buah itu karena Tuhan mau menindas kita,

dan tidak mau kita sama denganNya.”

Kecurigaan dan keraguan terhadap kebaikan

Tuhan adalah benih dosa di Taman Eden, dan

kita tahu apa yang selanjutnya terjadi.

Sebagai anak-anak Tuhan, kita telah menikmati

dan mengecap kebaikan Tuhan yang terbesar,

yaitu: keselamatan. Ketika kita meragukan

kebaikan Tuhan, kita boleh melihat kepada

Kristus yang diberikan bagi kita. Kristus

memikul dosa-dosa kita, dan menerima

murka Allah dan segala sesuatu yang tidak

baik, sehingga kita boleh menerima kebaikan

dan rahmat Allah. Bagaimana kita dapat

senantiasa menghargai kebaikan Tuhan? Kita

harus mengingat beberapa hal di bawah ini:

Banyak orang mengerti istilah “baik” secara

subyektif dan relatif. Kalau sahabatnya

menolongnya, ia menyebut orang itu baik.

Tetapi kalau sahabatnya berkata “tidak”

terhadap permintaannya, ia menganggap

sahabatnya itu tidak baik. Ketika seorang

ibu berkata “tidak” terhadap anaknya yang

meminta sebuah pisau, ibu itu sangat baik

kepada anaknya. Sebaliknya, ketika seorang

ayah berkata “ya” kepada anaknya yang

meminta minuman keras, ayah itu tidak baik.

Kebaikan manusia sangat relatif dan

subyektif. Kebaikan manusia sering berpusat

pada diri sendiri. Hanya Tuhan sendiri yang

benar-benar boleh disebut baik, seperti kata

Yesus sendiri. Karena Tuhan adalah standar

kebaikan, kita harus mengukur baik atau

tidak baik dari sudut pandang Tuhan, yakni:

dari fi rmanNya.

Apapun yang sesuai dengan sifat Tuhan

adalah kebaikan, dan apapun yang berlawanan

dengan sifat Tuhan adalah tidak baik. Sebuah

obat terlarang (drug) bisa membuat orang

“feel good” tetapi obat itu sama sekali tidak

baik buat orang tersebut, dan orang itu

sedang melakukan sesuatu yang tidak baik

12 Anniversary 2013

dan melanggar hukum. Sebaliknya, seorang

anak yang harus makan sayuran sedang

mengalami kebaikan dari orang-tuanya. Anak

itu tidak suka akan sayuran, tetapi sayuran itu

baik dan sehat untuk anak tersebut. “Baik”

atau “kebaikan” itu tidak berhubungan

dengan perasaan, tetapi dengan fi rman Tuhan.

Tanpa kebaikan Tuhan, kita tidak bisa

membedakan mana yang baik dan mana yang

tidak baik. Tanpa kebaikan Tuhan, segala yang

jahat itu tidak jahat, dan yang baik itu tidak

baik. Sering orang bertanya, “Kalau Allah

itu baik, mengapa Ia membiarkan kejahatan

terjadi?” Mungkin kita tidak bisa menjawab

dengan tuntas sehingga memuaskan orang

yang bertanya tersebut, tetapi paling sedikit,

kita harus mengakui adanya Tuhan. Banyak

orang menjadi “ateis” karena melihat banyak

ketidak-adilan dan kejahatan dalam hidup ini.

Ketika kita mengalami kesulitan, ketidak-adilan,

bahkan bencana, justru kita memerlukan

kebaikan Tuhan. Bisa dibayangkan kalau Tuhan

itu tidak baik, atau tidak ada Tuhan sama

sekali, dari mana seseorang bisa mempunyai

pengharapan? Kita tidak bisa menjelaskan

mengapa sesuatu terjadi, tetapi kita dapat

berpegang kepada kebaikan Tuhan. Roma

8:28 berkata bahwa Allah turut bekerja

dalam segala sesuatu (baik maupun tidak

baik) untuk mendatangkan kebaikan bagi

mereka yang mengasihi Tuhan, yaitu: mereka

yang terpanggil sesuai dengan rencanaNya.

Yakobus 1:17 berkata, “Setiap pemberian yang

baik dan setiap anugerah yang sempurna,

datangnya dari atas, diturunkan dari Bapa

segala terang; pada-Nya tidak ada perubahan

atau bayangan karena pertukaran.”

Kita sering memikirkan mengapa di dunia ini

ada begitu banyak kejahatan, padahal di dunia

ini juga ada banyak yang baik. Matahari, bulan,

bintang, dan musim yang teratur adalah baik.

Persahabatan, keluarga, dan persaudaraan

adalah baik. Pekerjaan, kesehatan, kecukupan

makan dan minum adalah baik. Gereja,

pelayanan, dan kebebasan beragama adalah

baik. Begitu banyak hal yang baik di dunia

ini sehingga memungkinkan orang hidup,

berkeluarga, beranak-cucu, membesarkan

anak, mencapai sesuatu yang berarti dalam

pekerjaannya, bersukacita, dan hidup dalam

damai.

Tidak heran kalau Daud berkata, “Kecaplah

dan lihatlah, betapa baiknya TUHAN itu!

Anniversary 2013 13

Berbahagialah orang yang berlindung pada-

Nya! (Mzm. 34:9). Daud mengatakan kalimat

ini bukan waktu situasi lancar, tetapi ketika

ia dikejar-kejar oleh Saul untuk dibunuh.

Bukan hanya itu, Daud harus berpura-pura

seperti orang gila supaya luput dari ancaman.

Di tengah kesulitan hidup, di tengah himpitan

situasi, Daud masih melihat kebaikan Tuhan.

Allah kita itu baik dan berkuasa. Ia mampu

menjalankan apa yang baik pada waktuNya.

Sementara kita hidup di dunia ini, kita melihat

begitu banyak kejahatan, tetapi semua itu

hanyalah sementara. Ketika Kristus datang

kedua kali, Ia akan melenyapkan segala yang

jahat, dan Ia akan menghapus air mata dan

dukacita kita. Ketika kita di sorga, kita hidup

di negeri yang baik, negeri yang hanya ada

kebaikan, dan negeri yang selamanya baik.

Tidak ada kejahatan lagi karena tidak ada

dosa. Tuhan yang baik itu akan menjadi terang

kita selamanya.

Ketika Tuhan menciptakan dunia dan segala

isinya, Ia melihat bahwa semuanya amat

baik. Dosa telah mencemari ciptaanNya,

namun rencana Tuhan tidak mungkin gagal.

Ia mengirimkan Yesus untuk memulihkan

seluruh ciptaan. Memang belum nampak

apa hasilnya sekarang ini, namun kita selalu

ingat bahwa apa yang Tuhan mulai, akan Ia

selesaikan pada hariNya. Di dalam dunia ini,

kita melihat kejahatan, tetapi kita juga melihat

penghakiman Tuhan. Tuhan yang baik tidak

akan tinggal diam. Semakin banyak kejahatan,

semakin besar penghakiman Tuhan. Dan

Tuhan menghakimi dan menghukum dunia

ini karena Ia baik dan adil. Kalau Tuhan tidak

menghakimi yang salah, maka tidak ada

kebaikan dan keadilan.

Pada akhirnya, kita bukan hanya memuji

kebaikanNya, tetapi juga keadilanNya,

kekuasaanNya, penghakimanNya, dan

anugerahNya. Kebaikan Tuhan adalah jendela

kepada isi hatiNya yang terdalam, yang

mengasihi manusia berdosa. Ketika kita

percaya bahwa Tuhan itu baik sekalipun situasi

kita sulit, mata kita bisa melihat lebih banyak

kebaikan Tuhan dalam hidup ini. Mulut kita

akan menyanyikan pujian dan kidung tentang

kebaikan Tuhan. Ketika kita memuji kebaikan

Tuhan, kita akan mengecap lebih banyak lagi

kebaikan Tuhan dalam hidup ini.

14 Anniversary 2013

The fact that God is good is a theme that

is frequently found in Christian songs and

hymns. The word ‘good’ is so close in spelling

to the word ‘God’ that when people write

or describe that something is ‘good,’ it is

natural for people to also think of ‘God.’

In the book of Luke, Jesus said to the rich

ruler, “Why do you call me good? No one is

good except God alone…” (Luke 18: 19). The

Lord is a source of goodness. Everything that is

good in this life comes from Him alone (James

1: 17). Genesis chapters 1 and 2 repeatedly

proclaim that His creations are good. God is

good; and therefore His Creations are also

good in the beginning before sin entered the

world.

In this present time, many question the

goodness of God. When earthquakes, famine,

terrorism, and war claim the lives of the

innocent, many ask, “Why does God allow

these disasters to happen? Isn’t He good?”

It is easy to say that “God is good” when all is

well.Who can see His goodness when crises

strike? Who can praise God’s goodness

when life is fi lled with hardship? Perhaps

the question can be reversed: Who doubts

God’s goodness when crises and life storms

come? If we are honest with ourselves,

we will admit that we often doubt God’s

goodness in diffi cult times. Is it possible for

us to doubt God’s goodness when all is well?

It is very possible; in fact history records

some of those instances.

In the beginning, Adam and Eve lived in a

perfect world. The world was without sin,

disease, famine, natural disasters, death, and

other calamities. One day, the devil came

Anniversary 2013 15

and tempted them. The devil’s intention was

to sow seeds of doubt in Eve’s heart. The

devil’s intent is for Adam and Eve to doubt

the goodness of God. Maybe in her heart,

Eve thought, “Perhaps the Lord forbid us

from eating that fruit because He wants to

oppress us and prevent us from someday

being of equal level with Him.” Doubting

God’s goodness was the seed of sin at the

Garden of Eden and the rest is history.

As children of God, we have savored the

ultimate goodness of God: Salvation. When

we doubt the goodness of God, we can look

to Christ who was sent as our Savior. Christ

took our sins upon Himself and bore the

wrath of God in our place so that we may

be righteous before God and become the

benefi ciaries of His goodness and wisdom.

How can we always have faith in God’s

goodness? By reminding ourselves that:

Many understand the term ‘good’ in a

subjective manner and relative to personal

circumstances. If a friend lends a helping

hand, we tend to consider the friend a good

person. But if a friend says “no” and refuses

to help us, then we no longer consider the

friend a good person. When a mother says

no to her children who asked for a knife,

the mother is doing a good deed and she

is behaving in the child’s best interest. If a

father says yes to his children when they ask

him for hard liquor to drink, that father is

not a good person.

The goodness of man is very subjective

and relative. The goodness of man is often

centered on himself. Only God Himself can

be called truly good because, as Jesus said,

16 Anniversary 2013

God is the standard for goodness and we

must judge what is good and what is evil

from His perspective according to His Word.

All that is consistent with the characteristics

of God is good while all that opposes the

characteristic of God is evil. A certain illegal

drug can make a person “feel good,” but that

drug is not good for that person’s health. In

obtaining the drug, the person also places

himself against the law.

Conversely, a child who is being forced to eat

his vegetables is experiencing the goodness

of his parents. The child hates eating the

veggies; but eating the veggies is good for the

child’s health. “Good” or “goodness” has to

do with the Word of God, not the emotion

of the moment.

Without the goodness of God, we cannot

differentiate what is good from what is evil.

Without God’s goodness, what is good

becomes evil and what is evil becomes good.

People often ask, “If God is good, then why

does He allow evil to happen?” Maybe we

cannot give a satisfactory answer to people

who ask those questions, but at the very

least we must acknowledge the existence

of God. Many become atheists after seeing

the injustice and evil in this world, but we

must hold on to our faith that the evil in this

world does not negate the existence of God.

Romans 8:28 records that God uses all

circumstances regardless of whether they

are good or bad in order to bring good to

those who love Him: that is those who have

been called according to His plan.

James 1:17 proclaims, “Every good gift and

every perfect gift is from above, coming

down from the Father of lights with whom

there is no variation or shadow due to

change.”

We often think of why the world is fi lled with

evil; but we never consider that the world is

also fi lled with what is good. The sun, moon,

stars, and seasons maintain their perfect

order. Friendship, family, and brotherhood

are all good things. Work, health, and having

enough food and drink are all good things.

Church, ministry, and the freedom to choose

one’s own religion are also good. There are

many things that are good on this earth that

allow people to live, marry, raise children,

achieve something meaningful and signifi cant

Anniversary 2013 17

Evidence of God’s GoodnessBy Jocelyn Lee Tindage

He was only a teen when the people closest to him betrayed him. They tore him away from his family and subjected him to enslavement. The enslavement was followed by wrongful accusation and imprisonment. But God was with him and gave him success in all that he did. At thirty, he was released and subsequently made the second most powerful person in the nation. Then, he would be at least thirty-seven, if not older, before he was reunited with his family. By then, his family no longer recognized this man who had been deemed dead for twenty or more years. Despite all this, he said to his betrayers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20). That was the familiar story of

Joseph: betrayal, enslavement, false accusations,

imprisonment, and separation from family. His early life was hardly the picture of a good life. Yet despite it all, Joseph was able to see the goodness of God in his life of trials. And Joseph was not the only one to do so. Scripture and history are fi lled with men and women who were affl icted, and yet still praised and saw the goodness of God in their lives: David, Naomi, Hannah, Paul, and perhaps most well-known of all, Job, just to name a few. The cloud of witnesses that has gone before us often shares with us their joys, pains, and sorrows; yet through it all, we can still fi nd evidence of God’s goodness in all areas of life. Goodness in Discipline King David, known as the man after God’s heart, famously affi rmed God’s goodness in Psalm 23:6 where he proclaimed, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” David was a man who believed in and attested God’s goodness, yet David was not without faults and consequently,

18 Anniversary 2013

not without God’s discipline. At one point, David ordered the commander of the army, Joab, to take a census of fi ghting men even though Joab protested, saying, “May the LORD add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord’s servants? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?” (1 Chronicles 21:3). While taking a census itself is not wrong, David’s motives may have been – whether out of pride for his army’s strength or a lack of trust in God’s strength. So, as Joab forewarned, God was angry with David and brought upon a three-day plague. The result of God’s judgment and discipline was David’s repentance that he might walk closer to God. As David himself wrote, “Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way” (Psalm 25:8). Although David sinned, God disciplined the king as a loving Father chastened his son (Hebrews 12:6); otherwise, how could “God be ‘good’ if He punished not those who ill-use His blessings, abuse His benevolence, and trample His mercies beneath their feet?” (Pink). Therefore, God’s mercy and love shine through His discipline for us as evidence of His goodness.

Goodness in Affl iction In 1940, Corrie Ten Boom was a forty-eight year old watchmaker who lived in Haarlem when the German forces invaded the Netherlands. Two years later, Corrie began running an underground network of people who helped Jews escape capture. Some stayed in Corrie’s home by hiding in her secret room while others were given safe passage out of the country. However, Corrie, her elderly father, and older sister were arrested on February 28, 1944. Her 84-year old father died soon thereafter, never having said goodbye to his daughters. Corrie and her sister Betsie were sent to prison and then to a concentration camp where Betsie died just 12 days before Corrie’s release from the camp. Before the war came, Corrie had thought that her peaceful days as a watchmaker were going to last until the end of her life. The loss of family and friends in the war and the abuse and horror she endured in the camp was an unexpected affl iction that happened through no wrongdoing on her part. But from that affl iction, wrought with heartaches and sorrows, came a greater trust in God’s

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faithfulness and a deeper conviction of His love. Corrie spent the rest of her life speaking of God’s steadfast love and providing a place for people to heal from the scars of the war – both psychically and emotionally. In doing so, she fulfi lled her sister’s dying wish to tell the world, “There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.” Goodness in Protection and Provisions Gladys Aylward (1902-1970) was a missionary in China when the Second Sino-Japanese war broke out. In an effort to save the orphans that she had gathered under her care, she proceeded to march all 100 of them from Yangcheng to Xian, a journey that took days of trekking over mountains and rough terrains. Twelve days into the journey, the group of children and Gladys came to the Yellow River, only to fi nd that all the villagers nearby had taken the boat to escape to the other side. They seemed to have come all that way for nothing.

Suddenly, one of the children asked

Gladys why they simply did not ask God to part the Yellow River as He parted the Red Sea. Gladys responded dejectedly, “I am not Moses, Sualan.” The little girl’s faith was unwavering in her reply, “But God is always God” (Piper 97). When the children began to sing hymns, an offi cer nearby heard their singing. He was able to bring the boats back for them and brought them safely over the river. In providing for Gladys and the children, the goodness of God is manifested through His faithfulness, love, and omnipotence. Even when Gladys thought that all hope was gone, God came to their aid. He has fulfi lled his promise to care for His people, to provide all that they need (1 Peter 5:7, Matthew 6:32) because He cares for them and has the power to do so. Goodness in Redemption In the beginning, when God created the world, its creatures, and the fi rst Man and Woman, He declared everything good. As “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1), Creation is another manifestation of God’s goodness. The world was perfect, but the Serpent tempted Eve to

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disobey God, and the rest, as they say, is history. Yet God did not give up on His marred creation or on Adam and Eve who disobeyed Him. Instead, He promised the couple that One will come to bruise the head of the serpent. And so, to fulfi ll this promise, Christ gave up his heavenly throne to become one of us, tasting sorrow, betrayal, hunger, temptation, even death so that he is able to sympathize with us (Hebrews 4:15). In the most amazing act of love, faithfulness, kindness, mercy, and grace, God sent forth His Son “made of a woman under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5) (Pink). This is the culmination of His goodness: in the act of redemption, He displayed his “good-will toward men” (Luke 2:14), that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God’s goodness is manifested in all aspects of life:In discipline, we see His mercy and love.In affl iction, we see His faithfulness.In His provisions we see His power and strength.In redemption, we see His justice, mercy

and grace.

God’s goodness refl ects all His attributes and “may thus be viewed as one facet of His glorious nature and character and also the overall summation of His nature and character” (Deffi nbaugh). And so one cannot help but make a joyful noise in praise and worship, for the LORD is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations (Psalm 100:5).

Work CitedPiper, Noel. Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books. PDF.

Pink, A. W. “The Goodness of God.” The Attributes of God. < http://www.pbministries.org/ books/pink/Attributes/attrib_11.htm>

Deffi nbaugh, Bob. “The Goodness of God.” Bible.org. < https://bible.org/seriespage/goodness-god>.

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22 Anniversary 2013

The Goodness of God

to All Generations

The Bible is full of testimonies of the goodness of God throughout generations. The Psalmist wrote, “For the LORD is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100:5, ESV Bible). This passage alone attests to God’s goodness towards His people. Regardless of the unfaithfulness of His people towards Him, God remains faithful. Throughout generations, He was known as the God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob; the three generations of patriarchs.

Although God bestows His goodness to all generations, the way that we respond to His goodness is infl uenced by our cultural backgrounds and the values prevalent in the generation we belong to. In today’s churches, it is apparent that a gap exists between the spiritual cultures of the older and younger generations of Christians. However, God’s kindness and goodness transcends all cultural and generational boundaries and the church should be united spiritually. What is that spiritual culture in Christ that transcends cultural and generational gaps?

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Perspective OneBy David Wangsa

A united church will have strong spiritual unity in terms of worship, prayer life, ministry, and fellowship because Christ will be the center of that church. In my humble opinion, the spiritual culture in Christ that transcends the generational and cultural gap starts with the Christ-centered life. Christ-centered worship, Christ-centered ministry, Christ-centered prayer, Christ-centered teaching (discipleship), and Christ-centered fellowship. When every member of congregation realizes their need for a Christ-centered life, they will be able to transcend their age or cultural differences because the need for Christ trumps what cultural or generational differences that exist within the church.

One important aspect of church growth is discipleship (regeneration). The younger generation needs to be trained and

equipped in order to someday become leaders of the church. Some churches prepare their future leaders by sending them to leadership training classes or training through mentor relationships. Some churches do nothing to train the future generation and hope when the time comes, these future leaders will rise to the occasion. The unfortunate situation with the latter group is that when the church does not devote enough attention to train and equip the youth, the youth may feel that their talents are not needed and may decide to go fi nd other churches where their talents will be appreciated more. When we get the youth involved in church ministry and leadership the way Jesus involved His disciples in His earthly ministry, the outcome will certainly be positive.

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We ought to look to Christ’s earthly ministry as our model for discipleship; this is why it is so important that the church makes Christ the center of its regeneration efforts. We must be watchful and guard against anything that detracts the focus away from Christ. For example, our church has the habit of always serving food any time there is a fellowship. This is not a bad practice as long as the food does not become the center of the fellowship, or the fellowship revolves around the food. Christ needs to be the center of our fellowship. The food is secondary. Fellowship should appeal to people’s spiritual appetite for fellowship, not food. When we adhere to Christ-centered principles; there will be a strong bond across cultures and generations within the church because then we are focusing on Christ who

unites us rather than our differences. When we pray we need to pray as Christ would pray. In John 17, Jesus’ prayer transcends the present and looks to the future. Not only did He pray for the present generation of believers; He prayed for the future generation of believers as well. His prayer was not self-centered but rather focused on glorifying God the Father.

Perspective TwoBy Nathan Wangsa

A united church in Christ will have church members who are more focused on Christ who unites them rather than what separates them. As long as church members adopt the attitude of mentally segregating one another based on age and culture, the church will never attain true unity. It is human nature to focus more on the differences rather than similarities. However, focusing on our

differences gives

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rise to the mentality that although we belong to one church, there are separations within the church. And before we realize it, we use that separation mentality as the basis for not reaching out to one another.

The church should instead focus on the common spiritual need of all members: Christ. Our church has different ministries that are geared to the needs of certain age groups. On one hand, it is good that there are ministries tailored to the needs of certain age groups; but on the other hand, this segregation of services further reinforces the factors that make us different from one another. To rectify this problem, many times the church would attempt to schedule an inter-congregational fellowship event in order to foster more unity across the different members that attend separate services on Sunday. However, a church can not depend on a ministry program to develop a heart for unity amongst its members. The members themselves must

have the heart for unity and be willing to discard what mental segregation they have against one another.

Being united in Christ does not mean that we ignore the reality that there will always be a gap within the church, be they cultural or generational. Certain aspects of Christianity are more emphasized in one generation and less emphasized in another generation. For example, the younger generation tends to emphasize the freedom we have in Christ while the older generation tend to emphasize debt we owe to Christ. The truth is that we need equal emphasis on all aspects of Christianity. We can not fully appreciate the freedom we have in Christ without understanding what it costs Christ to give us that freedom from sin. We must remember the blood of Christ’s sacrifi ce; but that should not prevent us

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from being overjoyed for having been saved from the wages of sin.

Christians must be united in Christ in order to be in the world, but not of the world. With each successive generation, the culture of the world has become more and more hostile towards Christians. It is much more diffi cult to stand fi rm in Christ now because the social persecution that comes with it has grown much worse. Not only should we be united in our joy for Christ, we will also be united in suffering for Christ. Let us stop focusing on our differences and focus on Christ who unites us.

Conclusion

The reality is that differences in culture, generational values, and personalities

exist in all churches. These differences manifest itself in the church members’ preferences for worship and ministry. Some church members prefer a solemn worship atmosphere from start to fi nish while some prefer a more casual worship atmosphere. But regardless of your preferences for worship, Christ must be the center of your worship. Churches also differ in the way they focus their efforts in ministry. Some churches have extensive out-reach programs while some others hold many revival meetings; inviting many non-members to attend. But when you are caught up with your own ministry and forget to put Christ in the center of it then you are laboring in vain. Let us not forget that Christ is the center. [RA]

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28 Anniversary 2013

Kebaikan Tuhan

untuk Semua Generasi

Indonesian Version of the article “The Goodness of God to All Generations”

By David Wangsa

Allah menganugerahkan kebaikan-Nya kepada semua generasi, meskipun cara kita menanggapi Kebaikan-Nya sangat dipengaruhi oleh latar belakang budaya dan nilai-nilai yang menonjol pada generasi tertentu.

Alkitab penuh dengan kesaksian tentang kebaikan Tuhan turun-temurun. Dalam kitab Mazmur pasal 100 pemazmur menulis, "Sebab TUHAN baik, kasih setia-Nya untuk selama-lamanya, dan kesetiaannya tetap turun-temurun." Bagian ini sendiri memberi kesaksian atau membuktikan kebaikan Allah terhadap umat-Nya. Terlepas dari ketidaksetiaan umat-Nya kepada-Nya, Tuhan tetap setia. Dari jaman ke jaman, Dia dikenal sebagai Allah Abraham, Allah Ishak, dan Allah

Yakub, tiga generasi leluhur. Di dalam Alkitab kita dapat membaca bagaimana bangsa Israel mengalami kebaikan Tuhan yang puncak nya terdapat dalam kematian Yesus Kristus di kayu salib sebagai korban yang sempurna untuk penebusan dosa manusia.

Dikemudian hari di dalam Alkitab kita juga belajar bahwa kebaikan Allah tidak berhenti hanya di kalangan orang-orang Yahudi, tetapi juga dilanjutkan kepada orang-orang bukan Yahudi yang menerima kasih karunia Allah melalui Yesus Kristus. Lebih lanjut, kebaikan-Nya tidak berhenti di mana cerita Alkitab berakhir tapi terus menerus dari angkatan ke angakatan yang terdahulu, sampai kepada generasi mendatang.

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Hal penting yang kita tahu pasti bahwa Allah tidak berubah sepanjang jaman, tetapi manusia berubah. Manusia mengalami perubahan, tetapi mereka juga berbeda berdasarkan batas-batas geografi s (budaya). Bahkan di dalam etnis yang sama budaya masyarakat mungkin berbeda berdasarkan kelompok usia mereka. Orang-orang yang lebih tua cenderung lebih konservatif, sementara orang-orang muda cenderung lebih progresif (liberal). Perbedaan-perbedaan (etnis dan budaya) dapat menghasilkan respon yang berbeda terhadap Tuhan. Perbedaan terutama dipengaruhi oleh pengalaman pribadi mereka atas kebaikan Allah.

Dalam gereja-gereja saat ini, tidak dapat disangkal bahwa ada kesenjangan budaya rohani antara generasi

tua dan muda Kristen. Budaya rohani dari generasi tua cenderung didasarkan pada ketakutan, rasa bersalah, dan kewajiban (sungkan) sedangkan budaya rohani generasi muda lebih cenderung didasarkan pada konsep kebebasan. Namun, kebaikan Tuhan melampaui semua batas budaya dan generasi, dan gereja harus bersatu secara rohani. Apa itu budaya rohani di dalam Kristus yang melampaui kesenjangan generasi?

Menurut pendapat saya, budaya rohani di dalam Kristus yang melampaui kesenjangan generasi dimulai dengan kehidupan yang berpusat pada Kristus. Setidaknya ini berarti ibadah yang berpusat pada Kristus, pelayanan yang berpusat pada Kristus, kenidupan doa yang berpusat pada Kristus, pengajaran

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(kaderisasi / pemuridan) yang berpusat pada Kristus, dan persekutuan yang berpusat pada Kristus.

Beberapa gereja menempatkan penekanan yang berbeda pada ibadah mereka. Ada yang berpusat pada suasana khusyuk dari awal sampai akhir sementara beberapa mencoba untuk membuat suasana ibadah yang lebih santai. Ketika anda melihat kedua jenis tersebut anda dapat dengan mudah mengidentifi kasi bahwa gereja jenis pertama lebih mengarah generasi tua sedangkan yang kedua lebih mengarah orang yang lebih muda. Beberapa gereja menekankan pada pujian klasik sementara beberapa yang lainnya berpusat pada lagu-lagu Kristen kontemporer. Sekali lagi, anda dapat dengan mudah melihat jenis gereja yang

menarik sekelompok orang. Kemudian beberapa gereja-gereja lain mengadakan beberapa kebaktian dengan pendekatan yang berbeda untuk dapat menangkap beberapa kelompok orang yang berbeda. Tapi jika anda tidak hati-hati, anda bisa dengan mudah terhanyut dan lupa bahwa Kristuslah seharusnya pusat ibadah kita. Ketika setiap anggota jemaat menyadari keperluan tersebut tanpa memandang usia atau generasi maka yang lain-lain tidak menjadi masalah lagi. Semua akan bersatu secara rohani melintasi batas etnis, generasi dan budaya.

Hal serupa juga terjadi di pelayanan gereja hari ini. Beberapa gereja memiliki program penjangkauan keluar yang luas sementara yang lain banyak menyelenggarakan kebaktian

kebangunan rohani sambil

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mengundang banyak non-anggota untuk menghadiri. Di lain pihak ada gereja-gereja yang hanya memiliki kapasitas untuk melayani kebutuhan internal. Ketika anda terjebak oleh kesibukan pelayanan dan lupa untuk menempatkan Kristus di tengah-tengahnya maka sia-sialah pekerjaan anda. Sebaliknya, gereja-gereja yang menempatkan Kristus sebagai pusat pelayanan mereka akan menemukan bahwa mereka melayani sebagai satu tubuh dengan Kristus sebagai kepala atau pemimpin.

Ketika kita berdoa kita perlu berdoa sebagaimana Kristus berdoa. Dalam kitab Matius pasal 6 Yesus memberikan contoh bagaimana kita harus berdoa. Lebih jauh sedikit, di dalam kitab Yohanes pasal 17 Yesus menyatakan bagaimana ia berdoa secara transendental. Bukan saja Ia berdoa untuk orang-orang percaya saat itu tetapi juga untuk orang-orang

percaya yang akan dating (termasuk kita-kita ini). Doanya tidak egois melainkan terfokus pada kemuliaan Allah Bapa.

Salah satu aspek penting dari pertumbuhan gereja adalah pemuridan (regenerasi). Calon-calon anggota generasi muda perlu dipersiapkan atau diajar untuk suatu hari nanti menjadi calon-calon penerus serta pemimpin gereja. Beberapa gereja mempersiapkan pemimpin masa depan mereka dengan mengirimkan mereka ke kelas pelatihan kepemimpinan. Beberapa gereja tidak melakukan apa-apa dan berharap ketika saatnya tiba pemimpin masa depan akan muncul sendiri. Situasi yang tidak menguntungkan dengan kelompok kedua adalah ketika para pemuda

32 Anniversary 2013

kurang mendapatkan perhatian yang cukup mereka mungkin berpikir bahwa bakat mereka tidak diperlukan dan memutuskan untuk pergi mencari gereja lain di mana bakat mereka akan lebih dihargai. Ketika kita melibatkan generasi muda dalam program kepemimpinan gereja sebagaimana Yesus melibatkan murid-muridnya, hasilnya akan sangat mungkin positif. Jadikan Kristus pusat upaya regenerasi gereja.

Gereja kita memiliki kebiasaan menyuguhkan makanan pada setiap persekutuan. Hal ini baik selama makanan tidak menjadi pusat persekutuan atau persekutuan hanya berkisar di sekitar makanan. Kristus perlu menjadi pusat persekutuan kita. Makanan adalah hal

sekunder. Kita perlu merasa rindu untuk menghadiri persekutuan apapun karena pertemuan dengan Kristus bukan karena makanan yang akan disajikan.

Saat kita menjalankan konsep kehidupan yang berpusat pada Kristus akan ada ikatan yang baik di dalam kesatuan rohani lintas-budaya dan lintas generasi di gereja kita. Seperti apakah sebuah gereja multi-generasi dan multi-budaya untuk memiliki kesatuan budaya di dalam Kristus? Singkatnya, akan ada kesatuan rohani yang kuat di dalam gereja dalam hal ibadah, pelayanan, doa, pertumbuhan dan persekutuan di mana Kristus adalah pusat dari setiap kegiatan gereja.

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George Macamay:IEC has grown tremendously compared to 6-7 years ago. Now we see a basketball court, fi sh pond, renovated English sanctuary, new library, multimedia offi ce, a balcony in main sanctuary for sound system, renovated restrooms, and more. We also see the fruit of the spirit among the congregation, helping each other out and carrying each other’s burdens, through prayer. All of these are the result of being obedient to the Lord, and He, in return, has truly blessed IEC. Hope these would carry on to our next generation.

Darwin Wang:I’ve been in this church for 8 years, unlike most of the other youth who’ve been here ever since they were born. In the beginning, I went to church like a regular member, ate lunch, fellowship for a little, and then went home. Then eventually, I was drawn closer to the church, like we’re a big family. It was because of this church that I learned how to play the bass. I never knew how to play an instrument before, then our church held a guitar workshop, and ever since then I was part of the worship team for a few times up until now. Through IEC, I learned how much I really like worship, how important it is in preparing our mindset for the word, and how we can use music to touch people. And now I’ve also joined the worship team in my school's Christian fellowship.

34 Anniversary 2013

Christopher Atmadja:I came to IEC when I was around the third grade. Back then, I didn't take church as seriously because to me, church was just something I went to with my family every Sunday, in other words, a routine. As I grew older, I began to realize the signifi cance of what it really meant to be a Christian; how amazing it was for God to be in my life. With spiritual mentors as well as fellow Christians who listen to each other and who pray for each other for strength, support, or any other form of need, I was able to see God and how He worked within each and every one of us as His children. I began to see church as more of a place I wanted to go to, rather than a chore every Sunday and I began to see that worship, fellowship with other Christians, and supplication through sermons and prayer meetings are a necessity for my life in this world, which I still believe to this very day. Without IEC, I wouldn't be the person I am today. With the guidance of my spiritual mentors and fellow Christian friends, I learned to become a better person through humbleness, being respectful onto others, to know what's right and what's wrong in God's eyes in a more in-depth perspective.I would like to thank God for this church and how He brought me and my family onto it. This church is irreplaceable and holds a special place in my heart because of all the memories I have growing up here, both spiritually and physically, and for the many friends and mentors I've come to respect and look up to.

Anniversary 2013 35

Nathan Wangsa:My time at IEC has been one of growth. I fi rst came to the church when I was born and have been here ever since. Looking back on my nineteen years, I can see the changes that occurred with my relationship with the Lord and with me as a person. Growing up, many of us came to church just because that is what we were taught. We came out of habit and out of obligation. I was guilty of this until I was about fi fteen or sixteen. I liked coming to church to hang out with friends after service and eat good food for free. Overtime, I started to face more and more diffi culties. I was challenged physically, mentally, and spritually in the face of depression, anger, and loss. Many times I was self-destructive and would hurt myself physically and blame myself internally. In my mind, it was always my fault. Whenever things went wrong, it was because I was not good enough. I won't go into detail, but there were dark times when I did contemplate suicide. In my heart, I had no real purpose and that nearly drove me over the edge. To make matters worse, I did not want to talk to my parents. I did not want to talk to my friends. Or rather, I couldn't. Everyone has their secrets and their demons. Things that they wish did not exist. I started hating myself for my shortcomings and did not tell anyone. One night I opened up the Bible, looking for anything to hold on to. As the Bible's cover thudded against my desk, I looked and saw Isaiah 6:8. It read, “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then I said, 'Here I am! Send me.'” It was here that I found my purpose. The world could not satisfy the need to know the Lord. It was that night that I truly came to know Jesus. I prayed, tears streaming down my face, as I called out for help. Since then, everything has changed. It is not like I do not face trials and tribulations anymore, but the way I approach them is completely different. At the same time I still fall and make mistakes, but now I move to change for the better. I live not for myself, but for Christ who died for me. IEC let me learn more about being a better Christian and let me learn to serve and not be served. I still have a long way to go, but the Lord will be there every step of the way.

36 Anniversary 2013

Vincent Yobeanto:I have attended this church since 2003. From that time until now, many things change and are different while some stay the same. For example since I was in college when I fi rst attended IEC Azusa, I recalled we had active youth fellowships and activities. Since we aged and moved on from youth group and no new college-age students came, we had to change the type of the fellowship. People come and go in this church especially since we are an Indonesian church, so some went back to Indonesia. Sadly though, I think we have less people in the church now compared to when I fi rst came here. Spiritually, I can't speak for the entire church members, but for myself, I am grateful that God has led me to this church. From the teachings of the pastors, I have gain insight into the word of God. This has led me to a better understanding of my Christian life. In the future, I hope God will continue to bless this church, not only in numbers, but more importantly in terms of spirituality. May God renew us daily so we can make a blessed difference in church.

Bina Kusnohadi:I remember the time when our Sunday School was just one class attended by children of different ages. Under a tree, next to the Azusa Pacifi c University Recreation Building, where Sunday Services were held, Mrs. Paula Hosea taught seven children. That was 1984. Since then, God has blessed our Sunday School tremendously. It has grown into 8 classes ( Nursery , Toddlers, Preschool, Kindergarten - 1st, 2nd - 3rd, 4th - 5th, 6th - 8th, and High School Class) to serve the needs of about 70 children of different ages and grades. As we celebrate our church's 30th Anniversary, may God continue to bless our Sunday School to be a place where children hear God's Truth," receive Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith just as they were taught, and abounding in Thanksgiving." (Colossians 2:6)

Anniversary 2013 37

Eugene Laksana:As a student aspiring to pursue an extensive career as a computer scientist, I've always been able to relate with the apostle, Luke. He was traditionally known to be a physician — a scientist, who like today's researchers, was on a constant quest for practical truths and knowledge, made evident through his writing and interpretation of the Gospel. His information was derived from personal testaments and observations made throughout the Lord's ministry. This was real time data that we researchers are very accustomed to collecting: an act evidently practiced at least for two thousand years. Yet, the word, science, holds such a derogatory connotation in today's religious society. Science— the art which proposes that we humans were derived from primates, the heresy whose doctrine states that our universe was a result of some arbitrary cataclysmic collision, the dark practice suggesting that God, the Creator of this universe does not exist, and that our faith is a manifestation of ignorance implanted by a corrupted institute.

I'm not writing to argue this logic because our editor has provided me a prompt that explicitly stated for me to discuss my growth at IEC, not to harass a fl awed idea. Rather, I mention this perspective because of how faultless our God is. For those who have been made to suffer Sunday school or Friday night Bible studies with me in our younger days, you understand that I'm an extremely skeptical individual, constantly questioning the validity of Scripture and sometimes of God's existence. Nonetheless, anybody familiar with the scientifi c method also understands that an inquisitive nature leads one to truth and further discoveries. In a 1825 letter to express the intents of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson stated to Henry Lee that truth is not an element to be feared.

Yet, in many Christian communities, people are disappointingly terrifi ed and even repulsed by questions. I often attempt to raise discussions with my believing friends about the Nephilim, free choice vs. predestination, God's purpose in creating

38 Anniversary 2013

the world, and other hotly debated topics. Sadly, many of them were raised in an environment where their leaders seemed to have instilled this idea that faith is not something to be questioned by to be blindly followed. Rather, they retort by asking whether these are "forbidden topics" that are a sin to even discuss. Though, I don't claim that our God will never ask us to walk by faith and not by sight, He is faithful to never allow His children to fall back on blind assertions. Romans 1:20 states how all of creation screams out God's name, and in His encounter with Thomas, often known as "the Doubter," Jesus even allowed His disciple to validate His resurrected body. In short, we serve a God that CAN be questioned and will be found blameless every single time.

And this is something that IEC has tremendously blessed me with. I've been plaguing my youth leaders for the longest time with occasional extremely controversial questions, and to my initial surprise, they tolerated my attitude. As a result, I've grown tremendously through this liberty to perform my "scientifi c arts" of questioning and data collecting within this church. To add to it, there's even been an anonymous Q&A box added to our ministry for quite a while that especially appeals to researchers, such as myself. In conclusion, I've developed exponentially as a believer because of how open our Lord is to questioning and validation. Even those of us with little faith have no excuse to deny the sovereignty of an omnipotent King, and this is one prominent element that has stabilized my "crazy belief" in a dying world— that there IS a God, He loves us to literal heartbreak, and His name is Jesus.

Anniversary 2013 39

Ferry Soendjojo:I came to IEC back in 1986, I remember I joined the combined Thanksgiving Retreat with our sister churches in San Francisco & San Jose. The retreat was held somewhere near Yosemite, perhaps somewhere near Oakhurst? Looking back, I really have grown with the church as Pastor Kristianto Hosea was the minister offi ciating our wedding, both of our sons were dedicated and baptized at IEC and I have the privilege to witness my mom baptized by Rev. Kristianto Hosea as well. When I joined the church back in 1986, we met at the recreation room of the Azusa Pacifi c University, and later on we moved to use the Chapel and from time to time we have to move to different places since the Chapel might be used for other events. So it was kind of diffi cult when you don’t have a permanent location to worship; however, I remember the fun time we have even with these challenging situation we faced, since the church itself is the body of Christ, not the physical building that we worship, even though it will be nice to have it both. There is no question that Our Lord has blessed our church grow both physically and spiritually through all these years. Physically God has provide us with this special church building that we are currently used, He even gave us the next building that we use for Sunday School Classes and Youth Services and now even has the Basket Ball Court to play. He has provided our fi nancial need in miraculous way even during these hard economic times through the generous contribution of our church’s members. Spiritually, God has blessed our church with people being saved and become believers and more importantly have our spiritual needs nurtured through IEC, thanks to Rev. Kristianto Hosea, Rev Wilson Suwanto and all the pastors that has been serving faithfully through this church. There is no question that there is always room for improvement to have our spiritual growth to grow even further, this is a challenge to each of us including myself to face. And my prayer is for IEC to be able to reach out to more and more people to know Jesus as their personal Savior, not an easy challenge but are we willing to give it a try? Let’s each of us ask ourselves of what we can do for our church; instead of asking what the church can do for us. With each of us pitch in and no matter how small our contribution and effort is, we trust we could help our church to grow. Soli Deo Gloria.

40 Anniversary 2013

in his or her work, rejoice, and live in peace.

It is no surprise that King David wrote,

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

(Psalm 34: 8)

David did not write these words when all

was well for him, but when Saul who seeks

to kill him was chasing him. Not only that,

David must also pretend to be a crazy

person so that he can escape danger. In the

middle of life’s hardship, in the worst of all

situations, David still sees the goodness of

God.

God is good and powerful. He is able to

execute His goodness in His time. While we

live in this world, we see much evil, but all

that is only temporary. When Christ comes

for the second time, He will destroy all that

is evil, and He will erase our sorrows and

tears. When we are in heaven, we will live in

a good nation under God. A nation where

God’s goodness reigns forever and where

evil and sin are no more. Our God who is

good will be our light forever.

When God created the world and all that

is in it, He saw that all was good. Sin had

tainted Creation, but God’s plan will not be

thwarted. He sent Jesus to redeem all of

creation. It is true that we do not see the

result of Christ’s redemption in this present

time, but we are always reminded that

everything that Christ begins, He will fi nish

on the day He returns. On this earth, we see

evil; but we also see the justice of God. God

is good and He will not stay silent. The more

evil happens, the more severe His judgment

will be. And Jesus judges and punishes the

world because He is good and just. If God

did not judge sin, then He is not good and

just.

In the end, not only will we praise the

goodness of God, we will also praise His

justice, power, and grace. The goodness of

God is a window to the deepest heart of a

God who loves sinful men. When we believe

that God is good although our situation

is diffi cult, our eyes will see more of the

goodness of God in this life. Our lips will

sing praises of His goodness. We will praise

God’s goodness and taste more of His

goodness in this life. [RA]

Anniversary 2013 41

There were a lot of tragic stories in the news

recently, from disaster to mass murderers.

One of the most tragic stories is the Sandy

Hook shooting that happened December

of last year. The shooting happened at

an elementary school in Newtown,

Connecticut where twenty kids were killed.

I cannot imagine the shock and grief of the

parents. They might even ask why. Why is

this happening to me? Why didn’t God stop

it? Why doesn’t God care? These questions

have been asked many times down thru the

centuries by suffering people as well, even

Christians. How can a good God allow evil

to happen in this world?

We as Christians know the characteristic

of God: all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-

good; yet evil exist in this world. If He is

good and there is evil, then He must not be

all-powerful or if He is powerful and there

is evil then He must be not all-good. All

of the characteristics cannot all be true if

there is evil in this world. Then to believe

wholeheartedly in a loving and omnipotent

God, do we have to paper over the reality

of evil and pain around us? Of course, as

Christians, that is not an option. God’s love

and the presence of evil are both true at the

same time.

There is a quote from Augustine who said:

“Since God is the highest good, He would

not allow any evil to exist in His works

unless His omnipotence and goodness were

such as to bring good even out of evil.” In

every suffering and pain that we experience,

there is always an opportunity of good.

There is always something that we can learn

from those hardships. I would even say those

hardships are necessary for me because

they shaped me into a better Christian. Of

course, I am not saying Christians can always

see the good when they are in a hardship

or immediately after that. I am saying we

as Christians have a good God and He will

always have a purpose in everything we

experience; we just need to actualize it.

42 Anniversary 2013

ByHendry Wijaya

Our pain and suffering will also help us

realize how much we need God in every

aspect of our life. They will always drive us

back to God and to His Word. In 2 Corinthians

12:7-8 Paul said: “Because of the surpassing

greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to

keep me from exalting myself, there was given

me a thorn in the fl esh, a messenger of Satan to

torment me – to keep me from exalting myself!

Concerning this I implored the Lord three times

that it might leave me. And He has said to

me, ‘My grace is suffi cient for you, for power is

perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore I

will rather boast about my weakness, so that the

power of Christ may dwell in me.”

They will equip us to help and understand

people who are experiencing pain and

suffering. Christians who have experienced

pain and suffering can be a better witness

because people will see that God can bring

hope for people. Everyone will be more

willing to listen to people who have been

there and experience it rather than people

who only know it from a distance. There is no

skeptic that can deny a Christian who said he

experienced God’s goodness through deep

pain. It is a powerful testimony for a person

to say that God was holding his hands in the

deep – dark place and He infused his life

with a new purpose and meaning so that he

can make a difference to others.

Pain, suffering, and evil are there not to

repudiate the existence of God and His

characters. It is the opposite; they exist to

show that there is a God and we should

depend on Him. Christ is a God who

understands all of our suffering because

He experienced the real world of pain in

the cross. I like the saying by a prominent

British pastor, John R. W. Stott: “Christ laid

aside His immunity to pain. He entered our

world of fl esh and blood, tears and death. He

suffered for us. Our sufferings become more

manageable in light of His. The cross of Christ

is God’s only self-justifi cation to the world of

pain and suffering that we lived in now.”

Anniversary 2013 43

One petition in the Lord’s Prayer says, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matt. 6:12). The question is why did Jesus mention, “as we forgive our debtors?” It would be much simpler and clearer if Jesus just said “Forgive us our debts” and stopped there. None of us has a problem with asking for forgiveness, but when it is related to the command to forgive others, we have a mixed feeling about it.

Forgiving sins is the nature of God, and not forgiving others is the nature of human. We were born in sinful condition so that it is very hard for us to forgive others. It cannot come naturally. We need the supernatural power in order to forgive, and that power can only come through the cross of Christ.

The petition in the prayer also reminds us that we can truly forgive after we truly receive God’s forgiveness. When someone does not experience God’s forgiveness personally, it will be hard for him to forgive, and while this is probably understandable, it is still inexcusable. But it will be much more inexcusable when a Christian refuses to forgive. Jesus concluded the Lord’s Prayer with the warning, “But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matt. 6:15). This is not to say that God’s forgiveness of us depends on our forgiveness of others. This does not teach that forgiveness is human merit in order to earn God’s gift of forgiveness. What it teaches is unless

you forgive others, you will not experience God’s forgiveness to its fullest extent. You will think and live as someone who has not been forgiven. In short, you will live in the prison of anger, hate, and unforgiveness.

Forgiving others is hard, but it is necessary. Christians are not called to an easy life. Jesus described the path to follow Him as the narrow road that few want to tread. Forgiving others is part of our battle against our old sinful self. What is forgiving others? Forgiving others is releasing others from the debt of guilt that they owe us. We do not count those debts against them. Now this sounds unfair and a bit unreasonable, but actually it does not. There are several reasons why releasing them of their “debts” against us are reasonable:

God takes into account what they do to us. So, instead of demanding them to pay, God will make them pay. “Vengeance is Mine,” says the Lord.

We are happier than the person we forgive.44 Anniversary 2013

This is in accordance with Jesus’ saying that to give is more blessed than to receive.

We will experience the same power that enabled Jesus to die on the cross in order to forgive those who sought His death. It is the power of the Holy Spirit. This power will be released when we choose to forgive instead of holding a grudge against our enemy.

We will have the assurance of walking within God’s will. When we do what our fl esh does not want to do, we can be sure that we are doing God’s will, not ours. Knowing that will give tremendous amount of joy and strength.

These are but a few rewards that await those who choose to forgive just like they have been forgiven by Christ. In practice, how can we forgive? How can we make it a habit to forgive others?

Realize that we also make the same mistakes in different or similar situation. Knowing your own weaknesses will enable understanding, which in turn, will make it easier to forgive.

Realize that the offenders act out of ignorance of God. Even when we think that they were strategizing their mistreatment of us, they were

still ignorant of the consequences that would be brought by God upon themselves. Dealing with ignorant people requires patience, and yes, sacrifi ce.

Pour out your anger and sadness before the Lord because He cares. Whenever we are hurt by others’ treatment, bring it to the Lord. Do not let it grow and develop into hate and bitterness. Ask God for strength and wisdom to deal with the sadness and anger inside.

Confront the party who wrongs you with love. There are times to remain silent under mistreatment, but there are times to speak out. When we do so, do it with love and gentleness.

Remember that in the end, it is about your own character as a person and a Christian. Whether you choose to forgive or not will impact who you are. It will also affect your relationship with God as your heavenly Father. It is a spiritual issue, and a spiritual battle. You must be clear where you stand with regard to the Lord.May God help each one of us so that we may forgive our debtors, as we have been forgiven.

Anniversary 2013 45

The ministries of the Evangelical Mission and Seminary International started from

the Life Fellowship which was established in New York City in 1968. In a blink of an eye,

forty-fi ve years had passed. In another fi ve years, it will be half of a century old. Although we

have established more than fi fty churches within forty-fi ve years, I still refl ect on my service

in the past years. I wonder if I still fall short of the tasks that God has entrusted us. I wonder

if God is asking us to do more and greater things for Him. Or is our faith still so small that

we cannot see the vision that God wants us to see?

During our forty-fi ve years of ministry, not only we did we do pioneering work, but

we evangelized, established, and built churches. Our strategy of evangelism is taught at the

seminary. We call our strategy the three “precious” courses: personal evangelism, small

group Bible study and preaching. And of course our 50 plus CEC churches also subscribe

to the same direction.

46 Anniversary 2013

The emphasis of our mission is to

reach out to the unreached places and to

share the good news of Jesus Christ. In the

past forty-fi ve years we did not hold large

scale evangelistic meetings and never invited

a famous evangelist to lead an evangelistic

meeting. We did not hand out fl yers for

fundraising nor spend large amount of money

for mission. This is usually the secular ways

of doing things. We used the oldest method

which is sending a small group of 2-3 people

to scout out an area and prepare the ground

work. Even though there are only a few

Christians in that area, as long as we see the

needs of the Chinese, we are willing to go

there. We have a set of personal evangelism

tactics of our own called the fi shers of men

evangelistic method.

All of our evangelists know how to

evangelize. Not necessarily in terms of mass

evangelism, but in terms personal evangelism.

The problem with mass evangelism is that

after hearing the message, people left and

they were never seen again. In personal

evangelism, we can minister to the people

on a personal basis in order to bring them

to the Lord. This is the evangelism method

that the CEC has been using in these forty-

fi ve years.

If seminary students at the

Evangelical Bible Institute (EBI) do not master

personal evangelism, then they cannot serve

in the CEC churches. They cannot be our

evangelists, because we cannot wait for

the sheep to come to the church on their

own. I always say that CEC churches are

not “spiritual nurseries.” CEC churches are

also not “ immigrant churches” in the sense

that we lure members from other churches

to join our church. If visitors from other

churches come to our church, they are

always welcome. But we do not grab church

members from other churches.

After a new believer prayed to

accept Christ, we follow up and continue

to nurture the new believer. We care for

their spiritual needs, and most importantly

we lead them to study the Bible. We help

them to understand God’s will and to walk

according to God’s will.

The emphasis of CEC is that the

pastors and evangelists should focus on the

teachings of the Bible, avoid vain chatter,

and avoid bringing secular things into the

church. We prepared abundant spiritual milk

for the new believers. It is based on God’s

Anniversary 2013 47

Word: the Bible. The evangelists of the CEC

are diligently and continually trained and

equipped in studying the Bible so that they

may provide spiritual nourishment for the

spiritual lives of the church. This is how the

Bible study groups in CEC are established.

Additionally, we train our

seminarians and pastors not to become bi-

vocational. We emphasize this especially to

seminarians that are still in training. The

purpose of this practice is for seminarians

to exercise their faith in going into full-time

ministry. They need to depend on God fully

to provide for their daily needs. EBI made

this requirement so that all the pastors can

learn and experience God' s wonderful

provision, and walk a life of faith in service.

We establish Bible study groups to

teach the newcomers to understand God's

Word. Little by little, the church is built up.

We hope that when the church members

have their own spiritual home, a place to

worship and listen to the Sunday sermons,

they will be rooted in God's truth. And they

will use God's truth in solving the diffi culties

in life. The CEC is God's family. We welcome

everyone who comes to the church. But

we do not want to build the church on the

foundation of any other principles other

than God’s Word.

For forty-fi ve years, we serve by

faith and God's Word. The Evangelical Bible

Institute (EBI) trained our seminarians in

three important areas: conducting personal

evangelism in leading people to Christ,

leading Bible study to nourish spiritual lives,

and establishing churches to preach God's

Left: IEC Azusa members in front of EMSI church building, New Jersey, during the 45th EMSI an-niversary celebration

48 Anniversary 2013

word. These are also the important training

for the evangelists in serving God at the

mission fi eld.

By faith, we are able to lead people

to Christ and establish churches. Sometimes

we do not know the source of our fi nancial

resources in purchasing a church building,

but we purchase one when the need arises.

The CEC on the average purchases a church

building every two or three years. We do

not wait for a church to have one hundred

church members before purchasing a church

building. Some of our sister churches were

provided with their own building even if

they only have 40-50 members. We trusted

in Jehovah Jireh; not denominational support

or the number of church members we can

marshal. This is how the CEC expanded our

ministries!

EMSI is a pioneering organization.

We fi nd our own sheep, train our own

pastors, and pastor our own churches. We

went to many unreached places. We follow

the Great Commission of our Lord to

the disciples and spread the gospel to the

ends of the world. Thank God that we have

established more than 50 CEC churches in

these forty-fi ve years. Out of all the churches,

26 have their own church building. We want

to give all the glory to God. We believe that

when we follow God's will in serving Him,

He will provide for all our needs.

Rev. Moses Yang

Towaco, NJ

July 30, 2013

Right: IEC Azusa mem-bers with Rev. Moses Yang during the 45th

EMSI anniversary cel-ebration

Anniversary 2013 49

Saya mengucapkan syukur kepada Bapa di Surga dan banyak terima kasih kepada anak-

anak dan cucu-cucu di GII untuk merayakan hari ulang tahun saya ke-80. Saya senang sekali

menerima banyak hadiah, juga cash, juga decoration, special dinner, birthday cake, dan

lainnya yang saya tidak sebutkan.

Tuhan berkati kalian (Lukas 6:38). Dan terakhir saya salut kepada Rev. Hosea dan Ibu Paula

dan Rev. Wilson dan Ibu Julia selama 23 tahun saya di gereja ini. Juga terima kasih kepada

yang memuatkan kabar ini. Amin

50 Anniversary 2013

Anniversary 2013 51

1999

2000

1999 Retreat1999 Retreat

1999 KKR1999 KKR

1999 IEC Azusa 161999 IEC Azusa 16thth Anniversary Anniversary

1999 Mother's Day1999 Mother's Day

1999 Drama1999 Drama

2000 IEC Azusa 172000 IEC Azusa 17thth Anniversary Anniversary

2000 Retreat2000 Retreat

2000 Easter Choir2000 Easter Choir

2000 Easter Play2000 Easter Play2000 Vocal Group2000 Vocal Group52 Anniversary 2013

TAHUN 1999

• Di dalam kepengurusan 1999 GII Azusa,

Ev. Timothy Chuang melayani Keluarga

GII Azusa sebagai Assistant Pastor ke-II

melayani di kebaktian muda/i, sementara

itu Ev. James Yu sebagai Assistant Pastor

ke-I melayani di English Fellowship.

• Sementara anak-anak sekolah minggu di

GII Azusa semakin banyak, maka gereja

berbeban untuk menambah guru sekolah

minggu. Maka pada hari Sabtu tgl June

12, gereja mengadakan penataran guru-

guru sekolah minggu bagi mereka yang

berbeban untuk menjadi guru sekolah

minggu.

• Untuk mempersiapkan guru-guru

sekolah minggu yang dominant dan untuk

melatih guru-guru sekolah minggu yang

baru maupun yang lama supaya mengerti

Firman Tuhan dan mengerti kebutuhan

anak-anak sekolah minggu akan Firman

Tuhan maka gereja mengadakan

SUNDAY SCHOOL TRAINING, dimulai

September 19 sampai October 17, 1999

setiap hari minggu setelah kebaktian. Di

kordinir oleh Ibu Ev. Paula Hosea dan Ibu

Ev. Mariany Chuang.

• Memasuki tahun 2000, ke-paranoid-an

akan tahun 00 menghantui hampir semua

orang, banyak orang mempersiapkan

persediaan makanan yang berlebihan

di rumah mereka, mereka besiap

siaga kalau kalau tahun 2000, sewaktu

electricity system dan segala sesuatu

yang di kerjakan secara otomatis oleh

komputer tidak berfungsi dengan normal,

karena bilangan komputer dimulai

dengan digit 000. Kita sebagai orang

Kristen harus bersikap bagaimanakah?

Untuk menjawab pertanyaan tsb, gereja

mengambil Thema MILLENIUM 2000

di dalam retreat tahun 1999 ini, dengan

pembicara Pdt. George Onko Sanusi.

• Puji Tuhan, salah seorang Saudara jemaat

GII Azusa Stephen Yustanto menulis

drama Natal yang berjudul 'NOTE

DIDALAM MELODY'. Rupanya ini

menjadi kenang-kenangan darinya karena,

di tahun yang akan datang Sdr. Stephen

dan keluarganya meninggalkan GII Azusa.

TAHUN 2000

• Memasuki Tahun 2000 ini, seperti halnya

memasuki tahun-tahun sebelumnya.

Tidak terjadi computer error, atau utility

system yang stop karena mamasuki

tiga digit nol. Akan tetapi di tahun ini

Ev. James Yu mengundurkan diri dari

Anniversary 2013 53

2001

2002

2001 Retreat2001 Retreat 2001 Children's Christmas Play2001 Children's Christmas Play

2001 Christmas Service2001 Christmas Service 2001 Om Kiatt's dan Peter 2001 Om Kiatt's dan Peter Subadya's BirthdaysSubadya's Birthdays

2001 Rev. Hosea's Birthday2001 Rev. Hosea's Birthday

2002 Rev. Hosea's New Car2002 Rev. Hosea's New Car 2002 Christmas Play2002 Christmas Play

2002 Christmas Cantata2002 Christmas Cantata

2002 IEC Azusa 192002 IEC Azusa 19thth AnniversaryAnniversary2002 Retreat2002 Retreat 2002 Retreat2002 Retreat

54 Anniversary 2013

• kepengurusan di English Fellowship, di

gantikan oleh Ev. Timothy Chuang.

• Puji Tuhan di tahun ini mulai bulan

September, Ev. Edward Syu melayani di

GII Azusa sebagai Hamba Tuhan khusus

menangani Sunday School.

• Di bulan October, gereja mengadakan

Refreshing Rohani, untuk seluruh

anggota jemaat GII Azusa. Refreshing

Rohani ini di pimpin oleh Pdt. Joshua

Ong dan Ev. Dedy Sutendi, dengan

Thema 'Bertumbuh didalam Iman,

Berbuah didalam Pelayanan.'

TAHUN 2001

• Setiap tahun pasti ada sedikit perubahan

di dalam susunan pengurus GII Azusa.

Di dalam susunan pengurus yang baru

di tahun ini, Tjandra Afandi mengadakan

reformasi di dalam majalah gereja Agape,

perubahan tersebut adalah Sdr. Tjandra

yang pertama kali membuat majalah

Agape yang selama ini terbit secara

Quaterly, bisa dilihat secara online.

• Perubahan ini adalah sangat tepat dan

memang sudah waktunya lah. Dimana

sesuai dengan kemajuan tehnology dan

komputer, maka mulai tahun ini siapapun

bisa melihat majalah Agape secara

online. Perubahan lain yang dilakukan

oleh Sdr. Tjandra terhadap majalah

Agape adalah majalah ini terbit dengan

sampul yang full color. Sebelumnya

majalah Agape terbit secara sederhana

dengan cover yang tipis dan hanya

dengan warna hitam putih.

• Siapa yang akan menyangka bahwa

Negara America yang oleh bangsa-

bangsa lain dianggap sebagai Paradise,

atau Surga Dunia ini akan menjadi

Sasaran atau Target serangan kaum

Terrorist!! Di pagi hari dimana setiap

orang sibuk menuju tempat kerja

atau Kantor mereka, yang bertempat

di Gedung Pencakar Langit, di

Pusat Business yang terkenal di

seluruh Dunia, di KOTA NEW YORK

pada tanggal Sebelas September atau di

dalam bahasa Inggris nya 911. World

Trade Center dan beberapa

tempat penting di East Coast

telah menjadi sasaran serangan

kaum Terrorist dengan cara

yang tragis membajak beberapa

Pesawat Terbang America dan

menabrakan Pesawat berserta

seluruh penumpang yang naas

itu kegedung WTC, Pentagon

dan beberapa tempat penting

Anniversary 2013 55

• lain nya di bilangan East Coast.

Tragedy sempat membuat seluruh

penduduk America berbalik kepada

Tuhan dan di dalam beberapa bulan

setelah terjadi nya peristiwa 911 ini

memenuhi gedung-gedung Gereja.

• Jemaat GII Azusa sempat mengadakan

khusus Persembahan untuk

meringankan sedikit beban bagi

saudara seiman kita yang ada

di New Jersey, yang sudah pasti

terkena dampak yang merugikan

gedung gereja dan tempat tinggal

para jemaat yang ada di New Jersey.

• Puji Tuhan di dalam perayaan Natal

tahun ini, sekali lagi gereja mendapatkan

kesempatan untuk melakukan

Pementasan Drama yang ditulis dan

dipersembahan oleh Sdri. Tatean Paat,

pernah beberapa tahun melayani di GII

Azusa. Dan sebelum Sdri. Tatean Paat dan

keluarganya kembali ke Indonesia for

good, beliau berbeban menulis Naskah

Drama Natal yang berjudul 'Kristus

Telah Lahir', setelah 4 tahun kemudian

drama ini baru sempat dipentaskan.

TAHUN 2002

• Pada tahun 2002 ini kita mendapat tiga

orang Hamba Tuhan, yang secara

resmi melayani di GII Azusa. Yaitu Ev.

Edward Syu yang dari September

tahun lalu sudah mulai membantu

pelayanan di Sunday School, maka di

dalam susunan pengurus baru tahun

2002 ini Ev. Edward Syu secara resmi

melayani di GII Azusa. Pendeta Billy

Lim, membantu pelayanan di English

fellowship, menggantikan Ev. Timothy

Chuang yang pindah ke Seattle untuk

menangani cabang GII yang ada di Seattle.

Sedangkan Hamba Tuhan yang lain

yang membantu GII Azusa adalah Ev.

Wilson Suwanto, yang khusus melayani

di kaum pemuda/i Indonesia.

• Pada bulan Agustus, Sdr. Rocky Tindage

dan kawan-kawan dari English Fellowship

mengadakan Musical Drama berjudul

'The Truth Slayer' dipentaskan

pada hari Sabtu dan Minggu 24 dan 25

Augustus, 2002.

• Sementara itu Ev. Edward Syu,

mengadakan Parenting Seminar,

untuk para orang tua supaya mereka

lebih mengerti jiwa anak-anak mereka.

Sehingga sebagai orang tua Kristen

mereka tahu harus bersikap bagaimana

terhadap anak-anak mereka. Parenting

seminar ini diadakan dua kali yaitu

56 Anniversary 2013

2003

2004

2003 IEC Azusa 202003 IEC Azusa 20thth Anniversary Anniversary 2003 Sunday School Drama2003 Sunday School Drama

2003 Christmas Cantata2003 Christmas Cantata

2003 Thanksgiving Drama Lenong Jakarta2003 Thanksgiving Drama Lenong Jakarta

2003 IEC Azusa 202003 IEC Azusa 20thth Anniversary Anniversary

2004 Easter Baptism2004 Easter Baptism

2004 Summer Camp2004 Summer Camp

2004 Retreat2004 Retreat

2004 Chinese New 2004 Chinese New YearYear

2004 Joel 12004 Joel 1stst Birthday Birthday Anniversary 2013 57

2005

2006

2006 Easter2006 Easter

2005 Caroling2005 Caroling 2005 Retreat2005 Retreat 2005 Thanksgiving2005 Thanksgiving2005 Children's 2005 Children's Christmas PlayChristmas Play

2005 Cantata2005 Cantata

2006 IEC Azusa 2006 IEC Azusa 2323rdrd Anniversary Anniversary

2006 Mrs. Paula's 2006 Mrs. Paula's BirthdayBirthday

2006 Easter 2006 Easter 2006 Mother's Day2006 Mother's Day

58 Anniversary 2013

• pada tgl 28 September dan 25 October.

• Ev. Edward Syu juga mengadakan

Sunday School Teacher Training

pada tanggal Nov 2.

TAHUN 2003

• Di tahun ini dimana fi lm dan Novel tentang

Harry Potter begitu mendominasi jiwa

anak-anak remaja. Sehingga ini membuat

kuatir para orang tua Kristen. Dan tentu

saja hal ini juga tidak luput dari kaca mata

pengamatan hamba-hamba Tuhan

di gereja kita, khususnya Ev. Wilson

Suwanto. Karena itu pada hari Sabtu

malam March 14, di kebaktian Muda/i

Indonesia, Ev. Wilson mengadakan

cerama dan tanya jawab tentang Harry

Potter dengan Thema; “Harry

Potter, Friend or Foe”

• Pada hari Minggu March 15, setelah

kebaktian Ev. Edward Syu mengadakan

Sunday School Teacher Training.

• Gereja mengadakan “Training

Evangelism Explosion” yang

mengambil tempat dan waktu

selama 5 hari di dalam waktu dua

minggu. Jadwal Trainning adalah sbb:

Jumat tgl 28 Maret jam 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM

Sabtu tgl 29 Maret jam 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Minggu tgl 30 Maret jam 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Sabtu tgl 5 April jam 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Minggu tgl 6 April jam 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM

• Seperti tahun-tahun sebelumnya

setiap Sabtu pertama bulan Desember,

gereja mengadakan Thanksgiving

Night, untuk memberikan kesempatan

pada jemaat yang berbeban untuk

menyumbang pelunasan gedung gereja

dengan diramaikan oleh drama singkat.

TAHUN 2004

• Pada tahun ini Sdr. Rocky banyak membuat

acara-acara yang meramaikan GII azusa.

Salah satunya adalah di dalam rangka

merayakan Paskah tahun ini, maka hari

Sabtu sore. Tanggal 10 April, 2004 jam

7 malam, dari Engish fellowship

mengadakan drama symbolic dengan

judul “The Character of God.”

• Pada bulan Mei tgl 8, hari Sabtu jam

6 Malam, sehari sebelum perayaan

Mother's day, di kordinir oleh Sdr.

Rocky Tindage dan kawan-kawan dari

English fellowship, mengadakan

Appreciation Night for the

Mothers. Acara ini adalah untuk

menghormati dan menunjukkan rasa

terima kasih kepada para ibu-ibu,

Anniversary 2013 59

2007

2008

2007 Rev. and Mrs. Lim's Birthday2007 Rev. and Mrs. Lim's Birthday

2007 2007 IEC Azusa 24IEC Azusa 24thth Anniversary Anniversary

2007 Rev. Billy Lim Farewell2007 Rev. Billy Lim Farewell 2007 Beach Trip2007 Beach Trip

2008 Drama Penyakit Cinte2008 Drama Penyakit Cinte

2008 Talent Show2008 Talent Show 2008 Mr. Yusran's 802008 Mr. Yusran's 80th th BirthdayBirthday

2008 Retreat2008 Retreat

2008 Mr. Kiatt's 802008 Mr. Kiatt's 80th th BirthdayBirthday 2008 The New Church Building2008 The New Church Building

60 Anniversary 2013

• dengan menjamu mereka makan malam

bersama dan menghibur mereka dengan

serangkaian acara hiburan dan acara

ini ditutup dengan memberikan door

prize kepada ibu-ibu dan pemilihan

Mother of the Year, dimana pada

tahun pertama ini yang terpilih sebagai

Mother of the Year adalah ibu

Naomi Lim, istri dari gembala sidang

English fellowship Pendeta Billy Lim.

• Siapa yang menyangka di ujung tahun ini

yaitu tgl 26 december 2004, hari minggu,

sehari setelah perayaan Natal, terjadi

Tsunami di Indonesia, di daerah Aceh

dan sekitarnya meliputi Srilanka,

Philiphina dan Thailand. Waktu dan

tempat di darerah bencana Tsunami

tgl 27 Desember, hari Senin. Sementara

waktu di America adalah tgl 26 Desember.

TAHUN 2005

• Di awal tahun ini Sdr. Jeffrey Ibrahim

mengadakan basketball club for the kids.

• Di dalam perayaan Hut GII Azusa

tahun ini gereja merayakannya dengan

Ramah-Tamah dan pementasan

sandiwara bergaya Srimulat

dengan Judul “Walang Keke”

(Lirikan Mata Seorang Bidadari)

patut untuk dikenang karena untuk

pertama dan terakhir kalinya gereja di

dalam perayaan Hut gereja menyampaian

pesan Firman Tuhan melalui drama.

TAHUN 2006

• Di dalam tahun ini Ev. Edward Syu

meninggalkan GII Azusa, karena beliau

sekeluarga pindah ke Texas, disana

beliau melanjutkan studynya untuk

mencapai gelar yang lebih tinggi di dalam

specialty in Children education.

• Pada tgl 10 June, 2006 Ev. Wilson Suwanto

graduate from Fuller Seminary, Ev.

Wilson mendapat gelar Master Degree.

• Karena banyak anak-anak yang sudah

menginjak dewasa dan memasuki High

School, karena itu gereja membuka

persekutuan untuk mereka yang sudah

remaja. Di bulan October tahun 2005

gereja membuka High School Service

or High School Fellowship.

TAHUN 2007

• Setelah hampir dua tahun absent,

maka di tahun ini gereja kembali

mengadakan Sunday School Teacher

Training. Mengambil tempat setiap

Anniversary 2013 61

• hari minggu sehabis kebaktian mulai tgl

25 February sampai tgl 1 April, 2005.

• Di pertengahan tahun, Pdt. Billy Lim dan

Ibu Naomi Lim, mengakhiri pelayanannya

di GII AZUSA, karena visa missionary-

nya telah berakhir di tahun ini, dan beliau

akan kembali ke Australia untuk kembali

melayani di gereja dari mana mereka

berasal sebelum mereka mengunjungi

America Serikat.

• Puji Tuhan!! karena Tuhan mengetahui

kebutuhan gereja kita dimana jumlah

anak-anak sekolah minggu di gereja

semakin bertambah, belum lagi

persekutuan untuk anak-anak High

School. Setelah selama ini kita berdoa

maka tibalah waktunya, dimana tetangga

kita sepasang suami-istri yang ramah

bermaksud menjual rumah mereka

dan mereka akan tinggal di rumah

untuk Senior Citizens. Dan gereja

membelinya dengan harga yang relatif

murah, dan gereja juga mendapatkan

mortgage untuk pembelian rumah tsb.

Maka pada bulan November, gereja

secara fakta telah memiliki gedung baru

di sebelah gereja kita yang lama.

• Gedung yang baru ini adalah untuk anak-

anak sekolah minggu classrooms dan

juga untuk High School service, plus

a little sanctuary untuk ibadah anak-

anak Sunday School atau dalam keadaan

darurat bisa dipakai untuk kebaktian doa.

TAHUN 2008

• Setengah Tahun setelah pembelian

gedung gereja yang baru, maka pada tgl 18

May 2008, gereja mengadakan peresmian

untuk gedung gereja yang baru. Khusus

di dalam 'Dedikasi untuk Gedung

Gereja' yang baru ini Founder dari

GII Azusa, yaitu Rev. Moses Yang

dari New Jersey, khusus datang ke Los

Angeles untuk menggunting pita dan

meresmikan gedung gereja yang baru ini.

• Pada tanggal 8 sampai 10 Agustus 2008,

gereja pusat di New Jersey mengadakan

HUT-nya yang ke-40. Karena itu gereja dari

pusat mengundang cabang-cabang gereja

yang ada di San Francisco, Sacramento,

San Jose, Seattle dan Los Angeles untuk

menghadiri perayaan ke-40 ini. Gereja

pusat juga menyediakan tempat tinggal

dan makanan di hotel mulai dari hari

Jumat sampai hari Minggu siang.

• Ulang Tahun GII Azusa di tahun ini

sengaja diundur satu minggu, karena di

dalam tahun ini gereja akan men-tahbis-

kan Ev. Wilson Suwanto

62 Anniversary 2013

2009

2010

2009 Chinese New Year2009 Chinese New Year

2009 IEC Azusa 262009 IEC Azusa 26thth AnniversaryAnniversary

2009 Rev. Wilson's Birthday2009 Rev. Wilson's Birthday 2009 Caroling2009 Caroling

2010 Retreat2010 Retreat 2010 Children's Christmas Play2010 Children's Christmas Play

2010 Thanksgiving Drama2010 Thanksgiving Drama 2010 IEC Azusa 272010 IEC Azusa 27thth Anniversary Anniversary

2009 Talent Show2009 Talent Show

Anniversary 2013 63

• menjadi seorang Pendeta. Rev.

Moses Yang mempunyai kesempatan

untuk datang dan mendedikasikan Ev.

Wilson menjadi pendeta pada minggu

ketiga September. Karena itulah Hut

gereja tahun ini dirayakan pada tgl 20

dan 21 September, 2008.

• Pada tgl 19 October, Pdt. Wilson

memberikan ceramah untuk para guru

sekolah minggu dan para helper atau

mereka yang berbeban untuk mengajar

sekolah minggu. Topic yang dibawakan

adalah God's creation or Nature's

Evolution.

TAHUN 2009

• Pada tanggal 25 January 2009, di

dalam rangka merayakan perayaan

Imlek yang pada tahun ini jatuh pada

hari minggu tgl 25 January ini. Maka

Gereja mempersembahkan Drama

Chinese New Year berjudul “Wong

Kam Poeng” (The Legend of A

Swordman).

• Pada tgl 26 April 2009, gereja mengadakan

Sunday School Teacher Training.

• Pada tgl 2 Agustus, gereja pusat telah

membuka cabang GII di San Diego pukul

5:00 sore Pdt. Jonathan Loawidjaya

yang akan memimpin dan mewakili Pdt.

Stephen Hosea untuk mengembalakan

jemaat baru di San Diego ini. Dan banyak

jemaat GII Azusa yang turut meramaikan

pembukaan cabang GII di San Diego ini.

TAHUN 2010

• Tidak ada kejadian khusus yang terjadi

di tahun ini, semua berjalan secara

routinitas. Akan tetapi perlu diperhatikan,

bahwa jemaat yang mengunjungi GII

Azusa agak berkurang. Faktor ekonomi

bisa memegang peranan, karena resesi

di Amerika yang berlarut-larut banyak

orang yang kehilangan pekerjaan.

Sehingga membuat orang harus bekerja

setiap hari Minggu.

• Alasan lain juga karena America adalah

negara immigran, sekarang sudah tidak

seperti dahulu lagi dimana banyak orang-

orang yang sekolah di United States ini.

Akan tetapi sekarang semakin berkurang

orang-orang dari Indonesia yang sekolah

di Los Angeles.

• Faktor yang paling besar adalah sekarang

banyak sekali gereja-gereja Indonesia

yang bertebaran di Los Angeles ini.

Beberapa puluh tahun yang lalu gereja

Indonesia di LA bisa dihitung dengan jari.

64 Anniversary 2013

2011

2012

2011 Easter2011 Easter 2011 IEC Azusa 282011 IEC Azusa 28thth Anniversary Anniversary

2011 Mother's Day2011 Mother's Day

2011 2011 IEC Azusa 28IEC Azusa 28thth Anniversary Anniversary

2011 Easter2011 Easter

2012 Retreat2012 Retreat

2012 Easter2012 Easter

2012 Christmas Cantata2012 Christmas Cantata

2012 Chinese New Year2012 Chinese New Year

Anniversary 2013 65

• Tetapi sekarang gereja-gereja Indonesia

di Los Angeles ini lebih dari 250 gereja

dan terus semakin bertambah.

• Jemaat yang menghadiri Azusa sekarang

adalah sektiar 200–250 orang.

TAHUN 2011

• Banyak anak-anak Sunday School yang

sudah menginjak dewasa dan sudah

kuliah sehingga mereka yang kuliah

di luar kota sudah tidak menghadiri

kebaktian di Azusa lagi. Dan di dalam

banyak hal banyak juga teman-teman

mereka yang biasa menghadiri kebaktian

di gereja juga tidak bisa datang karena

mereka juga kuliah atau mereka segan

karena tidak mempunyai temannya lagi

di GII Azusa ini. Itu semua adalah faktor

yang membuat keadaan gereja pada masa

ini adalah “survive”.

• Seperti biasanya acara tahunan

berlangsung sesuai dengan schedule.

Cuma satu hal yang patut diingat. Biasanya

di dalam perayaan Father's Day, gereja

biasanya meminta Pdt. Yakub Susabda

untuk memberikan ceramah. Tapi

kemudian Pdt. Yakub Susabda berkata,

bahwa istrinya juga bisa memimpin

ceramah, malah khusus di dalam

menangani kejiwaan dan pergumulan

seorang anak di dalam menginjak usia

yang semakin dewasa. Sehingga sejak

tahun yang lalu Parenting seminar

selalu di pimpin oleh Ibu Ester Susabda.

TAHUN 2012

• Mungkin untuk orang-orang tertentu

mereka tidak bisa menerima

'kekalahan'. Kekalahan disini adalah

bahwa kenyataan yang menghadiri gereja

kita secara total menurun 'drastis'

jemaat yang hadir secara rata-rata tidak

melebihi 200 orang. Tetapi kita sebagai

Anak Tuhan tidak melihat Quantity

tetapi adalah Quality.

• Hal lain lagi yang harus dilihat dengan

kenyataan yang terjadi di gereja

kita adalah Chinese Fellowship,

mengadakan 'kebaktiannya yang

terakhir' pada tgl 24 June 2012. Maka

sejak tanggal 1 July 2012, Chinese

Fellowship di gabung dengan kebaktian

umum jam 10:30 pagi. Banyak alasan yang

membuat kebaktian Chinese ini harus

digabung, karena jemaat yang hampir

tidak mempunyai waktu datang pada

kebaktian setiap hari minggu jam 4 sore.

Waktu yang melintang diantara kegiatan

66 Anniversary 2013

2013

2013

2013 Valentine's Day Drama2013 Valentine's Day Drama

2013 Basketball Court2013 Basketball Court

2013 Easter2013 Easter

2013 Mother's Day2013 Mother's Day

2013 Mother's Day2013 Mother's Day 2013 Easter2013 Easter

2013 Easter2013 Easter Anniversary 2013 67

• yang biasanya dilakukan oleh jemaat

gereja, baik untuk latihan choir, atau

latihan apapun untuk mempersiapkan

diri melakukan suatu penampilan

adalah mengambil tempat yang kritikal

dimana sewaktu kebaktian Chinese

berlangsung. Di samping kadang-kadang

kesulitan untuk menemukan pembicara

yang only Chinese speaker, hal yang

lain yang memberatkan adalah hampir

semua jemaat Chinese Fellowship

mereka bisa berbahasa Indonesia dan

bisa menghadiri kebaktian pagi jam 10:30

pagi.

TAHUN 2013

• Di dalam tahun ini, hampir baru pertama

kali jemaat GII Azusa mengadakan dua

generasi tour ke San Fransisco di

dalam rangka merayakan hari libur 4th

of July. Ini adalah suatu tanda positive

dimana tua-muda, dua generasi bisa

mengadakan tour bersama-sama selama

tiga hari dua malam.

• Puji Tuhan, di tahun ini gereja pusat

di New Jersey merayakan HUT-nya

yang ke-45 dan juga mengundang jemaat

GII Azusa, untuk bersama-sama datang

merayakan Berkat dan Anugrah

Tuhan kepada Gereja nya di New

Jersey selama 45 tahun ini.

• Puji Tuhan juga, memasuki HUT GII

Azusa yang ke-30 tahun ini, gereja

mencapai kestabilan baik secara

Quality maupun Quantity, jemaat

Azusa yang datang stabil diantara 175–

200 orang. Dan banyak orang-orang

baru yang berbeban untuk membantu

Sunday School. Gereja kita juga

sudah sejak tahun lalu ada Sunday

School Choir, dipimpin oleh Sdri.

Nadya Yobeanto dan Sdri. Fairlyn

Soetojo.

• Gereja juga mempunyai 'Choir untuk

orang dewasa' yang dipimpin oleh

Sdri. Binawati Kusnohadi, ke –

Unique – kan dari Choir Dewasa

ini, mereka seringkali bernyanyi di

dalam bahasa Mandarin.

• Untuk kegiatan sekuler anak-anak

sekolah Minggu, bertempat di gedung

yang baru gereja kita mempunya

Lapangan Basket, setiap hari Jumat

jam 6 sore ada latihan basket buat

anak-anak, yang dilatih oleh jago basket

Indonesia Joyo Prayitno.

68 Anniversary 2013