GKJTU Newsletter

GKJTU Newsletter Published by:Synod of GKJTU (Gereja Kristen Jawa Tengah Utara / Christian Church from North Central Java)

Jl. Letjend Sukowati 68-74, Salatiga 50712; PO BOX 105 Central Java, Indonesia.Phone: +62 298 321149, Fax: +62 298 325674

Comments and Stories can be sent to: newsletter.gkjtu@gmail.com

The wise say, indeed every day that we gothrough is war with ourselves.  At suchpoints, we will be tested whether werespond properly to remain peaceful, orotherwise angry, to blame others andcircumstances.  Remember, people,situations, and stuff are just triggers, theproblem is within us. As Peter experiencedwhen the Lord Jesus was on thecross. There Peter faces a war in himself,which is between the honest answer andthe denial. In Acts we find Peter wasfalling in denial of Jesus Christ. The storiesin Acts 2: 14-40 is different from theprevious story of Peter. He was brave. Inthe midst of the crowd he was brave towitness the purpose of the coming ofJesus Christ. Many people were fascinated

by Peter's sermons. Even in verse 38, whensomeone asks, Peter firmly answers"repent and give yourself to be baptised." What Peter did was not an act of norisk.  In the midst of a tense situationpostponing the crucifixion of the Lord,Peter could have been arrested. Further,it would not have been impossible toexperience the same fate as the LordJesus, which was crucified.  The story inthese verses is very interesting.  It turnsout that Peter's power is from the HolySpirit, and now he is a differentperson.  Peter is now a person whomanages to fight the fear inside him. Peterwon the battle in himself.

So it is in our faith life. When we relyon our strengths, what happens is that we

lose in the situation, and we are controlledby the situation. Through this story we arereminded that only with the power fromHim, then we will be able to choose theright choice, the choice that gives impactsfor our neighbors andourselves. Remember, every time we arefaced with a life test, and our enemies arenot those people whom we do not likesuch as our competitors, or perhaps thedevil.  No, he is not our greatestenemy.  Our greatest enemy isourselves!  In this world, nothing causesmore problem other than ourselves. Maywe believe that only the Spirit of Him whowill enable us. Amin.

CONTENTS:

● Farmer Group of Bangkit Merbabu: 1000 OrganicVillages….………………………….………………………..Page 2

● Health Services to Children Outside GKJTU..………..Page 2

● UMOJA Mentas: Coaching and Mentoring……….……Page 3

● Evangelical Training of Classis Salatiga………………Page 3

The Holy Spirit Make Us Able (Acts 2: 14-40)

Training participants are discussing, and have simulation practice. Besides, theresource persons and facilitators are delivering materials.

FARMER GROUP OF BANGKIT MERBABU: 1000 ORGANIC VILLAGES

On 13 to 17 July 2017, a farmer group named Bangkit Merbabuparticipated in an exhibition held by SAE (Soropadan Agro Expo)of Central Java Provincial Agriculture and Plantation Office. Thisannual event became a very special event because the CentralJava Provincial Agriculture and Plantation Office asked theBangkit Merbabu farmer group to make 500 parcels as asouvenir for the invited guests. The parcel package contains avariety of vegetables packed in a beautiful box that will bedistributed to the invited guests. “The ordered vegetables are such as: pumpkin, carrot,bouncis, big red chili and Beat. We take all kinds of vegetablesfrom the farming groups of Merbabu Bangkit”, said Mr. Rebo asa group manager in Marketing.

Through this routine Expo activities performed by theCentral Java Provincial Agriculture and Plantation Office, it is asa means for Bangkit Merbabu group to promote OrganicFarming activities and its organic agricultural products. The highlevel of commitment of the members of this farmer group hasalso been the key to success in organizing organic farming.

The government program that launched 1,000 organicvillages has been carried out by the Bangkit Merbabu group byassisting organic farming groups in the area. Through thisassistance, it is expected that more farmers are aware of theimportance of organic farming.

CORRESPONDENCE TRAINING FOR ADOPTED CHILDRENIn order to improve communication between adopted children and sponsors to be closer and warmer, then Sion Foundation

conducted correspondence training. The training activities targeted at adopted children as well as their parents who made lettersto the sponsors. The letter is as a means to report chidren’s activities and progress to sponsors, particularly children’s academicprogress.  This event was held in Wonorejo on May 31, 2017, attended by 28 adopted children and their parents. The next training is in Blora, attended by 20 adopted children and their parents. Another training was held on June 12th 2017 in Bojonegoro, attendedby 14 children on June 12, 2017. In the event, each adopted child practiced writing letters to his/her sponsor. It was expected thatthrough the correspondence training each child knows how to write letters in a good and correct writing technique.(Continued to the next page….)

The Lentera Mas health program builds networking with churches outside GKJTU including the Isa Almasih Church (GIA), theChurch of Pentecost in Indonesia (GPDI), and GSJA to serve 7 PPAs of 1.259 children in the district of Semarang.

Children aged 3-18 years are highly susceptible to infections of digestive diseases (such as Thypoid) and upper respiratorytract infections. Therefore 7 churches in the Semarang District along with the Sion Foundation conducted a health check for PPAchildren, as well as providing Thypoid vaccine for 3-12 years old children and Influenza vaccine for 12-18 years old children.There has been 442 children aged 12-18 got Thypoid vaccine and 348 children aged 3-12 year olds got the Influenza vaccine.Therefore the total number of children who got the vaccines from 7 PPAs are 790 children. It is hoped that after they got thisvaccine their bodies are getting immune from thypoid and influenza for approximately two years.

The health services for PPA children was a great experience. Through this health care, we felt touched to meet children whohave specific needs but have a wonderful spirit. There has been gratitude and joy filling our hearts that God's presence is real inSion Foundation’s service.

HEALTH SERVICES TO CHILDREN OUTSIDE GKJTU

CORRESPONDENCE TRAINING FOR ADOPTED CHILDREN (continuation)

Leaders are the key elements to develop and empower an organization.It is the same with church leaders who are the role models of the church indeveloping and empowering their church members to realize the vision of thechurch. Therefore, proper guidance and training is needed to address thedifficulties faced by the church members. That’s why, skills in guiding andtraining is one aspect that every leader should have in order to guide the peopleto achieve good transformation.

Due to the importance of mentoring and training skills, therefore theUmoja-Mentas of Sion Foundation held Coaching and Mentoring Training onApril 3-4, 2017. This training is followed by Umoja Team of Sion Foundation,Umoja Program Coordinator, Partner Coordinator, Umoja Program’s Partnerssuch as GPIL, GKPM, GKJ Sragen and Sion’s staffs. For the participants, this

training is very helpful in the process of assistance and development for the assisted community.

UMOJA MENTAS: COACHING AND MENTORING

Through this correspondence training, the adoptive children can tell about thecondition and progress of their education clearly. On the other side, the sponsorsbecome more understandable and get a clear picture of the condition of theiradopted children.

SALATIGA - On June 19-21 2017, the Deparment of Ministry and Witness worked together with Classis Salatiga, held an evangelicaltraining. The theme is “Preaching the Gospel Wisely and Politely”.  The training was attended by 29 persons. They are delegatesfrom congregations in Classis Salatiga, both men and women, both clergy and lay person. In this training, the material presented is a combination of evangelical needs in GKJTU.The resource person or facilitators arealso a combination of both inside and outside GKJTU.This is very interesting because in the process of evangelism training, GKJTUoften depends on others. This is of course a significant progress because evangelical courage, consciousness, and practice is inprogress. The follow-up plan of the training is to apply the evangelism method in church and there will be monitoring three months afterthis activity was done.

EVANGELICAL TRAINING OF CLASSIS SALATIGA

Synod board of GKJTU : Rev. Heru Purwanta, S.Si, M.Hum (General Chairman), Rev. Juwasto, S.Th (Vice General Chairman),Rev. Paini (General Secretary), Rev. Akris Mujiyono (Vice General Secretary), Rev. Eliezer Budiono (General Treasurer)

Newsroom Team : Rev. Y. Paini (Chief Editor), Members : Debora Suparni, Pebri Gossweiler, Melati Pusparani, Danar SriWijayanti Contact Us: newsletter.gkjtu@gmail.com; we love to receive short story / news / photo on GKJTU / our

partnership ministry.