A group of thirteen people from St Paul’s Lutheran church, Box Hill, Victoria recently visited Pematangsiantar, North Sumatra to spend time with their overseas congregational partner GKPS Jalan Jenderal Suriman. The visiting group ranged in age from 18 to 75 years; and included five young adults, congregation chair Ben Gargett, and Pastor Neville Otto. ‘I […]

A group of thirteen people from St Paul’s Lutheran church, Box Hill, Victoria recently visited Pematangsiantar, North Sumatra to spend time with their overseas congregational partner GKPS Jalan Jenderal Suriman. The visiting group ranged in age from 18 to 75 years; and included five young adults, congregation chair Ben Gargett, and Pastor Neville Otto.

‘I had never been outside of Australia before I travelled to Indonesia, and I don’t think I could have had a more enjoyable first overseas experience. Indonesia is full of life, colour and love. It seemed to me that every person in the GKPS Jalan Jenderal Suriman community lives and breathes their faith. And it isn’t something they do just on the weekend; it shone through in all their words and actions while we were visiting with them for 10 days.
We were welcomed into their community with numerous handshakes, gifts and smiles, and plenty of food and drink. Two fellow team members, Sherley and Steph, became close friends with two local young adults, Feby and Hannah. Having first met them at home groups, they then took us out for shopping and ice cream. Sherley described how their friendship encouraged her to ‘openly display [her] faith’ and made them feel like old friends.
I honestly didn’t know I could feel so at home and welcome in a foreign place that is so different from where I’ve been all my life. In a country and culture that couldn’t be more different from Australia, surrounded by many people who I couldn’t even communicate with, I kept expecting the day when I would feel completely out of place. But it never happened.
No matter how many times I try, I can’t find the words to accurately express the truly life-changing nature of this mission trip. Despite returning to Australia with fresh perspectives and feeling utterly transformed, I found that everything here had remained the same while we were away. The world around me now didn’t reflect the change I felt within.
Our love for Christ lifted any socially made barriers that I expected to hold us back in Indonesia. We understood that we are all children of God. It didn’t matter that we spoke different languages or that I was accustomed to much stricter road rules – and far less chilli in my food! With Christ walking beside us and the Holy Spirit working within us, the power of Christ’s love became more apparent every day of the visit. It was Christ’s love that shattered social constructs in a way I didn’t know possible until this trip.
This experience wasn’t just amazing – my whole world pivoted. The people I met in Indonesia changed the way I see society and the way I look at what God has blessed me with. The people of our partner congregation have formed lifelong relationships with us and transformed how I see my faith, calling and purpose. Every day I thank God for giving me this opportunity.
The thirteen St Paul’s members were so blessed to see the power of Christ’s love at work in Pematangsiantar, and I commend going on an overseas experience like this one to anyone fortunate enough to have the opportunity.’ – Brianna Coulston

‘‘Horas! Tuhan Memberkati! Welcome! God bless you!’. We have been so loved by the people of GKPS Jalan Jenderal Sudirman. What a joy to share a partnership in the gospel with these beautiful people of faith who have a vibrant Christian spirituality! The trip has been an outstanding start to the partnership and a joyful success. Now we look forward to next steps.
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:3-7a; 9-11).’ – Pastor Neville Otto

‘Wow! It is impossible to fully convey what our little band of thirteen people from St Paul’s, Box Hill experienced on our visit. We were humbled by the welcome and honour that we were shown on every occasion. When language failed there were always lots of smiles, laughter and of course sooooo many photos!
There was no doubt that for the members of the GKPS congregation, their faith is a living, all-encompassing part of their life, not just something for Sunday mornings. Their passion for music shone through. At every possible occasion our small group was invited to the front to sing, often without warning! No place for the performance-shy.
Upon arrival at Medan airport, we were met by Dr Ridwin Purba, who became our best friend, guide and translator, along with the District red bus, driven so capably by Mr Tambunan, or Mr T for short. Both men served us selflessly, always with a smile on their faces.
The highlight of our visit was attending the Sunday church, 73rd anniversary. It started at 8:00am, when we were dressed in traditional ulos shoulder sashes and head wear for older members. There was two hours of dancing outside the church, including a request for our group to perform a song, before the service started. The service went to about 3pm but it was an incredibly uplifting experience.
Our little band of choristers sang a verse of “Shine Jesus Shine” at the front of the church. We gave it our best shot and then had the amazing experience of looking out over the packed church while everyone joined us in singing the remainder of the song.
Our very own Pastor Neville did us proud preaching an excellent sermon from a pulpit way up in the rafters of the church and Chairman Ben did us proud making a presentation to the church. How they survived so many hours in a suit without melting I do not know.
Our mission was to form relationships with women, youth and teenagers, and the elderly, and I think this was very successful through all the different groups we attended. At each event there was a chance to introduce ourselves and share worship and mission ideas. We joined the women’s Thursday service, with their amazing choir, and attended Friday home services. Morning sports and worship with elder/retired members was a lot of fun. Neville and Ben rocked their matching shorts and t-shirt outfits. The Sunday School children and teenager and youth service saw more inspiring singing.
Bishop Dr Purba and General Secretary Dr Munthe welcomed us at the GKPS Head Office where we shared information about our two congregations.
We visited a church that was developed by GKPS Jalan Jenderal Surdiman, where we were presented with beautiful ulos sashes, handmade by a congregation member.
On a day visit to Pematangraya, we visited the 1903 church which was founded by missionary Rev. August Theis. This was followed by a visit to a GKPS secondary school where students and teachers sang beautifully and told us about their school. The day’s final visit was to GKPS Rehabilitation Centre, run by church volunteers to provide help for disabled children. Once again, music broke the ice, as we sang “If I were a butterfly” to the children, and then they sang and acted out songs for us.
Hopefully a proposed return visit of GKPS members to Melbourne next year will turn into a reality. We at St Paul’s will have a tough act to follow!
At our final farewell on Saturday morning, it was difficult to believe that this amazing visit had come to an end. There were moving speeches from members of both churches and Rev. Marlan individually affirmed each member of our group.’ – Ellen Wissing

‘My experience in Pematangsiantar, has taught and transformed me in ways I couldn’t imagine. I have learnt so many different customs and traditions throughout this trip. I especially hold on to all the relations I have built over my time there. More specifically the friends I have made. The immense amount of love and care they have shown us, through their hospitality, gifts and being welcomed into their families, has truly made me feel special. I hope and pray that we will be able to give them the same love, care and welcome when they come and visit us.’ – Sherley Pidakala

‘We left on this journey knowing that God had prepared the way for us (Deut 31:8). Little did we know how well He had prepared it and how He would bless us through the love, welcome and hospitality of the people of GKPS Jalan Jenderal Sudirman. These Christians live out their faith every day, centering their life around service and worship of God.
Our team had so many wonderful moments, so many laughs, so many experiences. There was always something somewhat unexpected around the corner: being fed birthday cake at the front of the church, or being handed a microphone at the celebration worship with 1,000 people attending and being asked ‘just pray to thank God for this day,’ or on behalf of the group being gifted a ‘twice cooked chicken’ for us to share by a lady speaking very passionately and loudly into a microphone while standing right in front of me!  So many stories :).’ – Ben Gargett

‘Honestly it is really hard to put into words how much this trip meant to all of us!
Wow, what an experience of a lifetime! Not only did I meet so many incredible people but I made genuine friendships with the young adults from their church (definitely a personal highlight for me). Their active church community also inspired me to live my faith openly and to embrace our church community to a much greater extent at every opportunity.’ – Steph Day

‘My heart was appreciative of two main things:
1. An overwhelming welcome and generosity where many things were done to prepare the groups for our fellowship.
2. We travelled to a Rehabilitation Centre ‘Rehabilitasi Berbasia Masyarakat’ at Merek Raya, where children up to 16-18 years can be brought by their parents. One girl, 17 years old, was carried to the mat area where the children gathered and was then supported by her carer on the mat. There was no wheelchair in sight. The centre is staffed only by volunteers who are not trained, but seeing the children dance and sing – their demeanors lifted markedly. It was a joy to see, INSPIRING! The female Reverend Chitra Sipayung at this centre had a vision disability but was inspiring. The children and the volunteers will be in my prayers.’ – Sue Otto

‘An extraordinary welcome. From the moment we arrived until the time we departed we experienced nothing but kindness, love and respect. We were certainly blessed. The cultural divides were evident, but the tight-knit bonds of our Christian faith were truly something to behold. The highlight was an invitation to participate in the 73rd Anniversary celebrations of the GKPS Jalan Jenderal Sudirman’s church (Simalungun) with hundreds of men and women in traditional ceremonial costumes dancing in searing tropical heat.  It was very special and will be a lasting memory. As too were the thousands of photo opportunities!’ – James Jones

‘Our beautiful hosts had the gift of making us feel part of their family from the time that we arrived – firstly by giving each of us an assigned family name (one of four family groups), which enabled people to identify with us on many occasions.
Then as we arrived for the big celebratory service on Sunday, we were each donned with a traditional hat (for the married ones) and a hiou (type of shawl over the right shoulder) before we were caught up in several hours of dancing together at the entrance to the church.’ – Jennie Jones

‘This trip has changed me, especially with how I view my relationship with God. This trip has also shown me how I can connect with my faith in various aspects of my life, such as with the people around me and regular worship services.
One highlight for me was visiting the SMA GKPS 1 high school, where we met with both teachers and students from the school. They all performed songs for us in English that were quite moving. By the end of the session, we were all up and singing ‘How Great is our God’ together, which was very fun and enjoyable.’ – Emily Barr

‘I would say a highlight for me was being given an Indonesian surname when we first arrived. It made us all feel welcome and part of the Indonesian congregation family. Mine was Janet boru Saragih which was Pastor Marlin’s family name. So whenever we introduced ourselves with our story at an event, we said our given surname and there would be a big cheer from the members that had that last name. There seemed to be 5-6 major family names.
When you come back to Australia you realise how good we have it here. Even though I know it was 80% humidity, with a temperature in the mid to high 30s most days, we are ever blessed to have experienced our sister congregation GKPS in North Sumatra, Indonesia. They showed us another higher level of praising Jesus with song, fellowship and commitment to the church and surrounding community. I pray we can pass this experience and enthusiasm onto our church community in time.’ – Janet Dittrich

If you, your school or your congregation, would like to know how you can connect to the mission of God through a LCA International Mission partnership, you are invited to phone Erin on (08) 8267 7300 or email erin.kerber@lca.org.au. For more information, go to www.lcamission.org.au/join-gods-mission/start-a-partnership/

Read more stories about congregational partnerships at www.lcamission.org.au/category/stories/local-partners/congregations/