Trip Recap: Indonesia
Name: Sid & Donna Ward
Organization: Crown Financial Ministries
Ignite! Training Attended: May 2008
Country, Cities: Indonesia - Tarakan, Bali, Balikpapan
Dates of Teaching: May 20, 21, 22, 25 and June 3, 2008
Translations Used: English materials, Translator for English to Indonesian
Brief Summary:
God's Ownership, Ethics, and Integrity modules of the Crown ignite! seminar were enthusiastically received in Indonesia in churches, home studies, and a government project venue. While visiting MAF missionaries Robby and Carol Matthews, we had four opportunities to talk about Crown Financial Ministries and what God says about money and honesty. Before we arrived, a local pastor and leading businessman asked that we talk about Crown to GKII Jemaat Siloam, a church located in Tarakan on the island of Borneo - 95% Muslim population. The pastor announced our arrival from the pulpit and invited the people to a day of learning. Their hunger for the word of God and desire to learn what God says about money was huge.
On Buddha's birthday, an Indonesian national holiday, the church held an all day meeting to hear what the Bible says about money and integrity. Our MAF friends had translated all the PowerPoint slides and arranged for a translator for us. The next night, as people attended a prayer meeting at our MAF missionary family's home, again more people asked about Crown Ministries and how to learn more. The next night, May 22, long-time MAF pilots and their families gathered to hear a two-hour overview of Crown and see the film trailer for Widow and Oil. They were very excited and plan to train their children and house workers with Crown materials.
On May 25, in Bali, we met and presented Crown to Larry Vaughn, a C&MA missionary who has been teaching Crown to the Indonesian Christians in Bali and will take it into a NGO agricultural project. On June 3, Robert Nemmers arranged for Sid to speak about Crown and God's ownership at his church in Balikpapan. At every speaking engagement, we gave the information for the Crown global contact for Indonesia, Dr. Suparno and we showed the Indonesian Crown website which has practical application materials translated into Indonesian. We showed several Larry Burkett books translated into Indonesian. Sid also researched the local "scams" using the purchase of a refrigerator on credit. These people were naive, completely amazed at the cost of credit.
Results:
Over 100 people were taught God’s financial principles. They plan to incorporate Crown materials into two churches in Tarakan, in Bali, and in Balipapan!
Best Practices:
Giving personal testimonies. Sid is a Journey to True Financial seminar instructor and is an accomplished presenter, using many testimonies. Donna is a professor for BIOLA and has had more than 1000 graduate students, many international students, including those from Iran and India. Integrity is a struggle for Indonesians; even the pastors were surprised by the concepts of God's standards of honesty. Donna described testifying at two sentencing hearings for her computer students who had committed felony crimes and the cost of heartbreak to the families.
Testimonies:
As the MAF missionaries who arranged for our speaking opportunities and got the translator, they stated, “God opened doors everywhere. Many long time MAF missionary families were blessed to have you here though they had done the 12-week Crown study together. The local pastors are delighted with your teachings.”
One pastor stated that he had never heard a sermon on money and honesty, and had never preached about it in his church.
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