Beyond Sunday

The past few months have been an exciting time for us at the APBF, especially for me personally in my oversight of the CPCT (Church Partnership for Community Transformation) program of the APBF. A field monitoring visit was done by our team, and the reports coming from the field were inspiring and very encouraging.

The team assessed the effectiveness of neighborhood church bible studies and community engagement initiatives. Their evaluation revealed that a substantial portion of participating church members are progressing beyond routine Sunday services to integrate biblical principles into their everyday routines. Bible study groups are gathering consistently for shared prayer and study. These spiritual habits have triggered immediate, tangible neighborhood involvement, such as road maintenance, bridge building, fresh water setups, and grassroots micro-finance initiatives. For instance, a congregation in Bangladesh donated livestock to a household facing severe economic hardship, empowering them to establish and manage a thriving independent enterprise.

Having a role in developing and overseeing the CPCT program is a privilege for me, and hearing stories and looking at pictures from the monitoring trip our team took was uplifting. This small sample of a CPCT initiative is a larger picture of the APBF's overarching strategy of ministry called the Holistic Transformation Movement. HTM is a calling for all Baptists across the APBF to be mobilized to the community, be present, and be a part of the community to bring Gospel-based transformation, locally and in places where there is no Gospel witness at all.

We are grateful for God's continuing sustenance for my family. My oldest daughter has submitted her thesis and is waiting for the Thesis defence to be scheduled, the last step before graduation. My youngest daughter is finishing her 11th grade, and is doing well at school. We are grateful that we can serve as a family in our local church. My wife faithfully serves the toddlers' Sunday School class, my oldest serves in music, and the youth group, and my youngest supports the worship team by playing the violin and the multimedia team, the choir, and the youth group. For me personally, even though I am not serving in a formal/official capacity, the church has asked me to stay on as part of the pastoral team, and still have the opportunity to preach periodically.

As a network of Baptist conventions and churches, the APBF is involved in serving our members. An opportunity that we have is for me to train missionaries, both existing on the field and also candidates. It was wonderful to be able to share my experience with 19 field missionaries and 6 candidates in a training session. 13 of the participants were mission workers in the most unevangelized area of Indonesia, with 4 more to be deployed to strengthen the existing team and start engaging a new mission field. We are grateful, even though the APBF does not send mission workers directly, but, through our networks, we can be involved in the sending process of mission workers, especially to the most unreached areas.

A very important lesson learned from our team's monitoring trip to Bangladesh and Nepal is the importance of a biblical foundation for an obedient life, which includes social interactions with the community "outside" of the church. Engaging the community will be different in different parts of the world; sometimes, our own worldviews shape our expectations and ideals. Learning from the field really helped us to see what we see on paper (in reports), to real-life actions to give a deeper meaning to what we do.

Personal prayer points:

- My oldest daughter's final stage of her undergraduate degree in Psychology.

- My youngest daughter's future plan, as she is praying through where God is leading her to go for university.

Work:

- The continuation of Holistic Transformation Movement in all aspects of ministry, to truly bring Gospel-based transformation in all places of APBF.

- Unity and effectiveness of the APBF staff and team to be obedient and faithful in doing His vision.

What a blessing and strong encouragement it is for me and also for my family, knowing that brothers and sisters across the world are praying for us and supporting us in every way. We are encouraged by your faithfulness to continually pray for us. We pray that the Lord will bless you all.

Ardi