Because this question haunted me, I searched for the answers for years. I prayed, "God, I want to know you more. Show me the way to understand more about you." And just what Matthew 7:7 says, "Ask, and it will be given to you." God answers my prayer in unique ways.
My First Presbyterian Church
My first visit to Presbyterian happened when I visited Singapore in 2017 as part of our Papua community presentation. I could stay over in a hostel/hotel in Singapore, but I would like to have more friends in Singapore. Therefore, I sent a couchrequest from Couchsurfing website. Danny & Lisa gladly accepted my couchrequest, and later on, I found that they are also Jesus Followers.
Lisa, Danny, the kids, and I were visiting their church, which is a Presbyterian Church. It's a Calvary Pandan Bible Presbyterian Church. Lisa and Danny didn't know that I had my birthday three days ago, and I thought my visit to Singapore this time must be extraordinary for my character growth.
At that moment, I was pretty dizzy because I was confused with some weird men's attempt at romance for me, but they were not Jesus Followers. I still remember that time the Pastur said it loud, "Bible is the answer for all our problems." His statement had an impact on my heart.
The Bible
Therefore, after the Sunday service, I visited the book store on the second floor of the church building. And I saw there were many kinds of bibles there. FYI, the bible is translated into many languages, with different versions, and I hold my sight longer on this KJV grey bible.
I stopped over for a while, checked on the bible, and was surprised to know that this is not an ordinary Bible. It is a study bible with cross-reference and footnotes based on data/reflection. I thought it was a perfect bible for me to know more about God. Even though I have a bible at home (the Bahasa Indonesia's bible), I do not think it suits what I need to learn more about Jesus. Since then, the bible has been within me, but I only open it occasionally.
Moved to Batam
I moved to Batam in 2018, where geographically, it is near Singapore, only around 40 minutes by boat. Before leaving Papua and flying to Batam, I prayed that I believe that Batam is where God has a plan for me, and I wish God bless my way there and the people I am going to meet.
I was looking for a church where I could learn more about God. I joined a bible study for three months in a local church in Batam. However, upon " graduation " in November, I knew it was not the place. That's not the place where I could grow spiritually. I prayed again and asked God, "Please, God show me where I can learn more about you."
Orchard Road Presbyterian Church
That December, my family visited me in Batam, and we traveled between Batam, Bintan, and Singapore. However, on that Christmas eve, I knew I could not miss going to church. Therefore, I skipped my shopping time with my family and visited the nearest church on Orchard Road, Singapore.
I found several churches nearby, but when I read "Orchard Road Presbyterian Church," I knew I would go there! I still remember the beautiful moment I had in the Presbyterian Church in 2017. Surprisingly, I got the church book of worship and a brochure for their upcoming schedule. Their schedule was 'crazy' and exactly what I had been praying for!
The church shared their bible studies annual program called School of Ministry (SoCM), with the subject's titles to learn and the schedule, which Sunday they will run for the program! They made the schedule neatly, to have the SoCM only twice a month after the Sunday service, where I knew this was something I could not miss! I would attend the whole sessions of SoCM. Rev Clive was the one who taught us about what is Christianity from the basics.
Rev Clive did not teach us only who Jesus is as part of the knowledge, but he challenged us to be more like Jesus. Whether Jesus is God or not, heresies of Jesus, Christology, Discipleship, Knowing God, what is Presbyterianism, having all the church members as part of it, and what we will do after knowing these all? SoCM indeed became my blessing.
Therefore from 2019 until now, even though we are the pandemic, we can still manage to have SoCM through Zoom. The church also provides the voice recording and the presentation file through the church's website. However, they did not include the question-answering session in the recording.
Only by God's Grace
The SoCM sessions in 2018-2019 were no longer available on the church's website. However, this was something I could predict because of the website's memory capacity. Therefore, I saved every recording we had, and I know these files are precious, and it is only by God's grace I could find God through Orchard Road Presbyterian Church. And the KJV Bible that I bought became very handy and helpful in knowing more about God. I still have it with me and read it more frequently now.
After all, this is not the end of my journey in seeking God. More stories are upcoming after this post. Stay tuned.
Jakarta, 2 July 2022.
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