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The national election for 2009 in the Republic of Indonesia is drawing near. The heat of the social and political situation is rising, demonstrations and riots scatter in the streets with people voicing out for opposition parties.
The Adventist Church in Indonesia has approximately 200,000 baptized members who are eligible to vote. This is obviously quite a significant number.
A recent issue spread that the election may be held on a Saturday, the day of worship of the Adventist community, and if this is true Adventist voters could not vote. For that reason, the leaders of the Adventist church in west Indonesia (WIUM) felt necessary to clarify the issue with the General Elections Commission.
On Tuesday, June 17, 4 Adventist representatives visited the General Elections Commission headquarters in Jl. Imam Bonjol No. 29, Jakarta. They are, Jahotner Manulang, WIUM Communication/PARL director, Kaleb Sagala, WIUM Youth director, Franklin Hutabarat, assistant to the WIUM Communication director, and Samuel Simorangkir, Communication/PARL director of Jakarta Conference of the church. They were welcomed by the Commissioner of General Elections Commission, Sri Nuryanti, S.IP, M.A.
In their meeting, Manulang explained the purpose of the visit, which was to request that the Election will not be held on a Saturday. Manulang also gave Nuryanti a copy of an article about the Sabbath Doctrine which, the General Elections Commission said, will be studied.
Nuryanti confirmed that the Commission has considered the election to be on a Saturday, because the Indonesia Government Law states that “The Election will only be held in one day, during holiday or a special day which is designated by the government.”
This law also causes a problem for Indonesian citizens abroad in countries not affected by Indonesian holidays.
This is why the Commission tried to find an alternative day, which happened to be Saturday, where Indonesians in the country and abroad can take the day off to vote.
There are 4 million Indonesian citizens abroad.
But Nuryanti also said that if ever the election will be on a Saturday, the Commission will try its best to make special voting venue for Adventists to vote in the evening.
This arrangement happened before during the Governor’s Election that fell on a Saturday in North Maluku, Indonesia, when the provincial elections commissions made a special voting venue available during the evening. (F Hutabarat/AND)
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Members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Singapore went to three different assembly points—Jurong, Thomson Road (Chinese), and Dunman (Maranatha), to catch the buses that would take them to Sofitel Palm Resort in Johor Bahru, Malaysia for the Ambassadors for Christ event, a spiritual weekend retreat, organized by the Adventist Church in Singapore.
The June 6-8 event was graced by no less than the Philippine’s Ambassador to New Zealand, his Excellency Bienvenido Tejano, himself a Seventh-day Adventist minister; and Pastor Norman Yu, church pastor of the Taichung Adventist Church in Taiwan.
The four-hour ride could have been tiresome and boring were it not for the ingenuity of Delia Faina, Jessie Quilindo and Melissa Leong, of Balestier Adventist Church who saw to it that the long journey was made lighter by singing their way to their destination.
The cozy hotel beds and rooms seemed complementary to sleep away the tired and aching muscles but everyone wanted to hear spiritually refreshing messages.
“I was extremely impressed and inspired by Pastor Tejano’s testimonies at the camp meeting. He was God-sent and we need more pastors like him. I was spiritually blessed. We were immensely enwrapped to his true-to-life experiences,” said Maiden Edora, a member of the Filipino Ministry.
“Pastor Tejano shared very empowering statements of how God strengthened him as ambassador for Christ while serving as ambassador of his country to New Zealand. His experiences manifested God’s love and power as he stood before kings and political figures,” added Norman Fernandez, complementing that “there exists modern Daniels who stands firm amidst challenges to ones belief and faith.”
The 3-day camp was aimed at bringing together church members to a spiritual feast, revival, fellowship, and experience with the Holy Spirit, and to empower every believer to become effective ambassadors for Christ.
The last session appeared emotional. Eyes misty, hearts touched, and commitment said—a commitment to serve God in the workplace and bring others to the feet of Jesus Christ.
“The event was really empowering and uplifting,” concluded the participants. [Shirley Apostol]
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The Adventist church is unique with its health message that is still beneficial today even as chronic diseases get rampant in today’s society.
This was the central emphasis during the Health Minister’s Training held June 10-14, at West Indonesia Union Mission (WIUM) in Jakarta.
With the theme “Health Message in Today’s Ministry,” 200 delegates, mostly pastors and medical doctors from West Indonesia, gathered together at WIUM’s headquarters to share their knowledge and insights on the importance of the church’s health message. The program was coordinated by the Health Department of the Adventist church in West Indonesia (WIUM), under the leadership of J.A. Mamahit.
Johnny Lubis, WIUM president, speaking to the participants, said, “God has blessed the Seventh-day Adventist Church with the health message, a most precious gift. It is to be shared with all nationalities in all parts of the world. It encompasses the entire being spiritually, physically, mentally and socially. Wholeness and health have been the emphasis of the SDA Church since 1860s when the church began.”
Reminding the participants their bodies are the temple of Holy Spirit, Lubis added, “We have been entrusted with the privilege of maintaining and improving our spiritual, mental, social and physical health. Health and wellness are necessary to support each individual spiritual well being this ministry is as vital tool the work of the church as any other. Therefore let us use the health message which was given by God to us, so that we can reach more people to come upon Him.”
Among the speakers was Houtman Sinaga, Ministerial secretary for the Adventist church in the southern Asia-pacific region (SSD), who stressed the true benefits of a diet of whole natural food like grains and nuts as mentioned in the Bible. He also spoke on ”Stress: The Silent Killer,” and ”Stress Management for Pastors.”
Dr. Edwin Supit, a medical staff of the Adventist Health Center of Guam, strongly emphasized God’s health principles and presented seminars entitled ”Decreasing Body Toxicity,” ”Strengthening Your Immune System” and ”Antioxidant: Disarmed Free Radicals,” and ”Management of Inflammation.”
Dr. Blessie Varona, professor of the Adventist University of the Philippines and medical counselor of the Central Bank of the Philippines (BSP) explained several topics about “Heart Disease and Gout,” “Prevention of Cancer, Heart Disease and Diabetes,” “Nutrition Issues” and “Diet Therapy and Workshop.”
Dr. Gina Siapco, professor at the Adventist International Institute for Advanced Studies (AIIAS) gave seminars on “Fats: Are they bad for health?,” “The Benefits of Nuts,” “Psychochemicals: Extra Heap of Benefits” and “Nutritional Consideration of a Vegetarian Diet.”
Pastor Abraham Carpena, SSD Health director, caught up at the last day to present the topic “Science Confirms E.G. White’s Writings.”
Enthusiasm could be felt during the seminar despite the hectic schedule of the participants. One participant observed that “the church’s health message is taken for granted and that nowadays we rarely can hear it being preached even in our very own churches.”
CD materials were distributed containing tools to be used to share the health message. (F Hutabarat/AND)
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“Along with the rest of the Indian subcontinent, the territory now comprising Bangladesh was part of British India until independence from India in 1947. Then Bangladesh was part of Pakistan, until it gained independence in 1971 following a bloody civil war. Bangladesh was primarily a Hindu country until mass conversion to Islam in the 13th century.”
Floyd McClung, Light the Window, Seattle, WA: YWAM Publishing, 1999) 26-27
For more information about the Adventist Church in Bangladesh, CLICK HERE
John 15:5: I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
I hardly noticed a mango shoot spring up just across from our house. That was many years ago, and as I returned home after years in a boarding school, my sense of direction was disturbed for a while, because right in front of me was a mango tree displaying its sturdy trunk and verdant foliage. The last time I visited home, I enjoyed munching its luscious fruit. That shows a fact: The tree has been growing—first the shoot, then the trunk and leaves and finally the fruit.
If Jesus is the Vine, it’s incredible to see branches growing the same number of leaves for years; slim branches as they were five, ten, twenty, or forty years ago. Incredible indeed, but that was what actually happened—to Jim. Jim had been attending church for more than ten years. Since his conversion in high school, he felt not much had changed in his walk with the Lord. He was the same hot-tempered but weak-willed Jim, easily giving in to his heart’s selfish desires.
Sensing something was amiss, Jim did his best to straighten out his life. His effort didn’t seem good enough until he realized, from a book he read, Jesus’ declaration: “Without Me you can do nothing.”
Jim became penitently shocked. Tears welled up in his eyes as he re-examined his life: How can I claim to be a Christian all along while I don’t have a real practical connection with Jesus!
Determined to lock his life up in Jesus, Jim turned to the 15th chapter of John for guidance. And he found some helpful thoughts in verse 7:
If you abide in Me. Right then and there, Jim recommitted himself to Jesus, singing the song “…No turning back, no turning back.” He decided to make Jesus his Lord, pleasing Him above himself or anyone else.
My words abide in you. Jim started to reorganize his life by making a schedule for regular reading and studying the Bible. In one of his group’s Bible studies, he testified on the power of God’s word that snatched him away from sin.
Whenever I am faced with a hard situation, I would remember first what God says before I react,” he declared. “I learn my personal duties to God from my readings, and I am thankful God soaks my head with His useful promises.”
You will ask what you desire. This time Jim’s life takes on a different spin. Where, before, Jim would ask God for material favors in his rather scarce prayers, now he asks God for the real wants of his soul. He pleads for spiritual blessings more than earthly goods. He daily asks the Holy Spirit to lead his day. Expressing his desire to bear the fruit of the Spirit, He prays God to help him overcome his temper and make him more and more Christ-like. He also prays for opportunities to share to someone the living experience he now has in Christ.
Not only does Jim notice the changes his life takes in Jesus; his wife, Shiela, does too. “I wonder why he’s getting more responsible. And he’s no longer rude to me and our children,” she confides to an old college friend.
An old quote says, “When a tree stops to grow, it starts to die.” Grow or die down in stagnation. These are the only choices we have in our Christian walk. Jim, however, has chosen to grow in his relationship with Jesus.
MICHAEL T DALIDA is copy editor of Philippine Publishing House
I received an invitation late last year to be baccalaureate speaker of the high school graduating class of South Philippine Adventist College this month of March. I requested the officers to send me their class philosophy sooner so I would have enough time to prepare for my message.
Months went by I didn’t realize the event was only a couple of weeks to go. I called the college president requesting information about the class’ philosophy so I could write down my thoughts to address these young people. I was intrigued by their chosen philosophy. It does not only appear paradoxical, it was a revelation of young people’s assessment of the present societal culture. It was a downright opposition to the existing worldly lifestyle of greed and avarice.
“Descending into Greatness” What a philosophy for a Class!
I asked one of the student leaders what influenced them to come up with this philosophy. The answer was revealing—“The youth of today are tired of ‘upward mobility’ that is fueled by greed.” I pressed a bit further to comprehend what this kid was saying. I understood that they were fed up by the display of corruption at every level of governance as exposed by whistle blowers over what appear anomalous transactions by public leaders. But what relation has this to their philosophy? Isn’t greatness synonymous with upward mobility? And why descend to greatness if upward mobility is the norm? Could there be downward mobility to greatness?
I searched the Scriptures to find support to this adopted philosophy. And I have discovered this passage:
“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:5-11).
This ‘going down to go up’ was modeled by Jesus when He was born human and lived to serve the poor, the needy, the sick and the outcasts. Eureka! Descending into greatness would then mean following the path of service Jesus had trod. Leadership is service! So is greatness! It is a total riddance of greed or even “moderate greed.”
These young people have seen a better direction for their life even before working toward a college degree. They said they would set a new trend—attain greatness through service, putting wealth—time, effort, money and riches to help others enjoy life. What a noble aim! Indeed, this pathway is not easy. I am sure there are many who will chose to counter the flow. But the possibility is not remote for the coming generation of leaders if we who precede them will model it now, set the trend ourselves!
The SSD Outlook website hosts information published at the Southern Asia-Pacific Division’s (SSD) official bulletins: Adventist News Dispatch (AND) and the SSD Outlook. The SSD Outlook attempts to capture events happening within the 18-member countries of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the southern Asia-Pacific region. It is published bi-monthly. Most of the news stories at the SSD Outlook are published on the Adventist News Dispatch (AND), which is a weekly electronic publication that goes into thousands of subscribers.
While the SSD Outlook and Adventist News Dispatch (AND) editors reserve the right to reject or edit manuscripts that come to their editorial offices, they welcome news articles, devotional write-ups, news pictorials, literary pieces, and letters to the editors from all Adventist members within the southern Asia-Pacific region. The Outlook will assume a different format as it enters its 94th year of publication in 2008.
This website may also publish announcements of important events, programs, and church advertisements.
These two publications are commissioned to “Tell the World” the eternal salvation that comes only in believing Jesus Christ and His imminent return to this world.
Sabah, Malaysia – In collaboration with the Adventist Church in the Southern Asia-Pacific region (SSD), Sabah Adventist Mission (SAB) held a news writing and e-publication seminar at its headquarters June 9-11. Inspired by a seminar which he attended in March in Kuching, Sarawak, Pastor Daniel Bagah, SAB executive secretary, arranged with the SSD communication department to hold a similar training here.
“Like Sarawak Mission, we have plenty of news out in the field but we hardly receive any for publications,” stressed Pastor Bagah during his opening remarks to the 33 pastors, teachers and departmental directors in attendance. “It is my desire that after this seminar all of us are properly equipped to meet the demand of our responsibilities and callings.”
Dr Jonathan C Catolico, SSD communication director, led a team who made their services available for the SAB participants. They were: Jose F Sarsoza, Jr., vice president for editorial services of the Philippine Publishing House, and Rhoen P Catolico, assistant program director for Adventist World Radio Asia/Pacific region. Sarsoza, a journalism graduate with vast working experience in and outside of the Philippines, lectured on news and feature writing, while Rhoen Catolico spent a day giving the participants hands-on training on graphic software application, audio production. Dr Jonathan Catolico made a presentation on photojournalism and digital photography.
“I like the way news writing was taught,” said a participant. “It came with illustrations that helped me understand better.” Another participant commented, “Now I know what news writing is and hope to contribute news that would go to publication both locally and regionally!”
“Almost all of us do not know how to use computer to do voice recording. I am enriched and thankful for this seminar. Now I know how to operate it,” said a pastor.
“Recently, upon the request of the Media Center (SAB), the Mission has appropriated RM10,000 to the Center to augment its facilities. With the Media Center fully equipped, pastors with newly acquired knowledge should be able to utilize to produce quality DVD or CD for church consumption,” said Pastor Francis Lajanim, SAB president. [Lim S Him/SAB Writing Participants]
Twenty years to his professional life that started from elementary classroom teaching and climbing through the ranks in educational leadership has made Dr Lawrence Domingo fit and qualified to become associate educator director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in southern Asia-Pacific region (SSD).
Dr Domingo was chosen in May to replace Dr Gladden O Flores, who was earlier elected as president of the Adventist University of the Philippines. Domingo, his wife Everlita, and two children arrived at SSD on June 17.
He worked as elementary school teacher for four years before taking his master’s in educational management. Proceeding to the doctoral program afterward, he completed his course work and was conferred a doctorate in education (Ed D) at Southwestern University in Cebu City in 1994.
With a doctorate in education he was called for professorial assignment at Central Philippine Adventist College in Murcia, Negros Occidental and on concurrent capacity as dean of the department of education in the same college. In 2002 he was appointed principal of Negros Mission Academy (NMA) but after a year he was elected as education superintendent for the church in Negros Occidental (NOC). Following a year of stay at NOC was his election to a higher post. He became the education director for the church in the central Visayas (CPUC) where he served until his appointment at SSD.
Dr Domingo’s wife Everlita has been working as elementary school teacher until their transfer to the SSD. The Domingos have a 20-year old daughter, Lynelle and a 17-year old son, LeGrand Lyle. Both are fourth year and first year nursing students, respectively, at Mountain View College in southern Philippines.
“I am glad for the trust given me by the executive committee of SSD. I will do my best to work towards achieving the goals of the department as embodied in the functions set forth for the position,” said Dr Domingo when asked to comment on his election.
“Dr Domingo’s acceptance of the position will bring to the department years of educational experience that will help meet the department’s goals,” remarked Dr Mike Lekic, SSD education director. “He will fill up the void created by Dr Flores’ election to the presidency of AUP. Certainly, Dr Flores, who had been my faithful, dedicated and very able partner since my coming to SSD would be missed, but Dr Domingo’s coming would cushion the impact,” concluded Dr Lekic. [AND Staff]
The beneficence of youth need not wait for tomorrow, it should show evidence now. This concept gave the participants opportunities to do community work and make an impact for Jesus during the 3-day activities of the “Youth Impact” in Negros Occidental, May 12-14.
Held at the Convention Center of the Adventist Church in Negros Occidental (NOC), the activities gathered together 600 youths from the church’s territory. One activity that caught the attention of ABS-CBN television was the daily morning cleaning of Bacolod City’s major thoroughfares. This activity was covered in the station’s evening news report.
Another community service participated in by the young people was the bloodletting activity sponsored by the Philippine National Red Cross-Bacolod Chapter May 16. Led by Dr Babylin Drilon in coordination with the Adventist Rescue Organization (ARO) and the youth department of NOC, this activity enabled 25 participants to donate blood which reached a volume of 11,250cc. “We look forward to your invitation of conducting bloodletting activity in the near future. We are willing to help you in this very noble and life-giving project that you have initiated,” said Dr Drilon.
Other highlights of the event included ballgames in the afternoons and talents’ show in the evenings.
Encouraging the participants to get involved with community projects, Pastor Von John Sanchez, NOC youth director, said, “We are here to let the people know that we are interested in the welfare of our community.”
Pastor Ebenezer Orquesta, NOC executive secretary, challenged the youths to become “leaders now even before tomorrow comes,” and added that they are the “embodiment of the good news Jesus’ soon coming.”
Pastor Jobbie Yabut, youth director for the church in the southern Asia-Pacific region (SSD), in his morning messages, delved on the role of young people in reaching out to their fellow young people and challenging them to spend their energy “fishing for people to Christ” rather than fighting each other. “God will use you if you do this, and if you want revival to come it must start with you as you make an effort to become faithful witness for others,” he stressed.
The dedicatory prayer of Pastor Charlie T Jondonero, NOC president, capped the 3-day activities. “This event made an impact on our lives as we do our task in the finishing of God’s work by proclaiming the good news of His soon return, “ participants were heard to say. [Heber A Bacolod]
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