Indonesia - the city of Surabaya on the island of Java is encircled

Two evening training sessions were held here in the city of Surabaya---the second largest city in Indonesia on the island of Java. The venue was Gereja Bethel Indonesia Diaspora Pondok Daud. On the second evening during the final "rehearsal" in preparation for the Evangelistic Healing Service on the third evening, several people testified of being healed by the Lord of various infirmities as the believers ministered to them. The level of the miracles almost approached those that usually take place during actual Healing Services. Perhaps this was because this particular group of believers was mostly indigenous Indonesians, not ethnic Chinese. Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia are usually better off economically than the indigenous Indonesians, and it appears that the Lord gives more grace to the poor. This is often the case in actual experience.

At the Evangelistic Healing Service on the third evening, the Lord multiplied the miraculous healings after the preaching of the gospel from John 14. He demonstrated without a doubt that Jesus is the only way to Him through the miracles as the newly-trained believers laid hands on the sick and exercised their authority over disease and demons in Christ's name. There was a 33-year-old woman who was brought to the meeting. Because of a congenital heart defect, she was told she would not live beyond seventeen years of age. Although she lived far beyond her doctor's prognosis, she had constant tightness in her chest and could not walk a few steps without running out of breath. During the time of ministry by the trained believers, the tightness completely left and she was able to climb up to the stage and walk around without feeling short of breath.

One of the believers brought his neighbors, a Muslim couple, to the meeting. The husband had suffered from a stroke and could barely stand up. But after the brethren ministered to him, he was able to take steps while holding on to people.

His wife now wants to follow Isa Almasih (Jesus Christ) as her Lord and Savior, and it appears her husband as well. She was told that she does not need to give up her religion and then convert to the highly institutionalized, western religion known in Indonesia as "Christianity." (It can bear very little resemblance to the vibrant faith that born-again believers share.) She was told that she does not need to "go to church." Giving up their religion and going to church will result in what could be unnecessary persecution and thus discourage others like them from following Jesus Christ. The Lord never specifically commanded people to "convert to the religion of Christianity" and then to "go to church." This woman and her husband can be discipled in their home as followers of Isa. Something similar is happening in the underground Church in China.

It appears that the Church in Indonesia has no problem with such an approach to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Great Commission here simply cannot be fulfilled through the traditional way of preaching the gospel and then discipleship by going to church. If the Church insists on such a method of obeying the Great Commission, the result could be a disastrous religious war with the majority Muslims. Few if any believers in Indonesia want that scenario, and neither does the Lord. Unfortunately, godly believers raised in the west or who have a background influenced by traditional western Christianity can have great difficulty with the non-traditional approach.

A good number of the believers in Bethel Church of Indonesia Diaspora are former Muslims, as is the Senior and Founding Pastor Sudhi Dharma. This church has thirty branches around the world, mostly in Indonesia.