docGKJTU Newsletter - Neukirchener Mission
download 
Report Transcription
GKJTU Newsletter - Neukirchener Mission
GKJTU Newsletter Edition 28, July-August 2015 For Partners only Page 1 Contents: GKJTU SROYO The Ordination of Vicar Yosua Sudarso...Pg 2 UEM Asia Partnership Seminar……....Page 3 Igniting Hope in Udan Wuh village.…..Page 4 Workshop on Nationalism……………..Page 5 Moers Classis Visit GKJTU……..……..Page 6 Thanksgiving Worship for 70th Indonesian Independence Day in GKJTU Salatiga..Page 6 Monitoring on the Training Mission for Lay People…………………………………...Page 7 Photo Gallery…………………………...Page 8 And many more stories…. The Meaning of True Freedom In this world there is no nation and no people who wants to be colonized by others. All wants to have independence, freedom, and do not want to be handcuffed or controlled by other parties. Thus the struggle for independence that had been pursued by Indonesia 70 years ago, which finally resulted in the independence on the date August 17, 1945. Similarly, there had been liberation received by the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, to the bleesed land of Canaan. Basically, an independence can be received or obtained through a struggle and also through the provision of grace. But the essence of freedom is a liberation from the shackles of power from other parties. The independence is expected to provide an atmosphere of human life that is peaceful and prosperous. Therefore freedom can be beneficial to us as well as others, able to build a better life, and more importantly is that the independence makes us to glorify the Lord. God's word in I Corinthians 10:31: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.." Independent life is like a slave who is free from his/her wrong master and free from his/her miserable life, and be a servant of the right master. Therefore the freedom is not to hurt other people, but more to love others. A freedom does not mean that we are free to do anything as we wish, but we realize that freedom with constructive and positive goals. This is the meaning of responsibility of freedom. People expects physical freedom such as free from pressure, free from corruption, free from terror, free from bombs, free from poverty. On the contrary, independence is supposed to have not only a freedom of occupation from outside ourselves, but the liberation of "occupation" from within us. When we are not being "colonized" by ourselves, then we will be able to do good in freedom, able to help, and able to love, even we will be able to glorify God. Human often make mistakes such as we are oppressed by our personal interest and our wants, that makes us unable to do good things, and the mistakes brings a lot of suffering. We must be able to feel the freedom within ourselves. Therefore independent life means able to be a servant, able to respect everyone, able to serve others, and always fear God. Then the responsibility of a freedom is to be realized in obedience, testimony of faith and service based on brotherly love. Freedom is having no regret for our kindness. Freedom is not imprisoned in our personal interests and wants. Freedom is feel free to do good things. Freedom means living as a serving servant. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, I Peter 2:16 said: " As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Bravo Independent!. Rev. Agus Trisarjoko PRAYER FOR BUILDING AND RENOVATING These are congregations which are building and renovating their churches such as GKJTU Sroyo, GKJTU Bojonegoro, GKJTU Banaran and GKJTU Kwangen. GKJTU Sroyo is renovating their church building and it has completed approximately 75% of the building. Then, GKJTU Bojonegoro is building their Sunday School building. They have finished making the foundation and the pillars of the building. Finally, GKJTU Kwangen is building thier konstituri room which has been 70% completed. For those who are encouraged to take part, please contact the church or you can contact them via the GKJTU synod. (hp-dsw) GKJTU Edition 28, July-August 2015 Newsletter Page 2 The Ordination of Vicar Yosua Sudarso as a Reverend Friday, August 21st, 2015 Joy seemed to be particularly felt by the whole congregation of GKJTU Jepon. A figure of reverend that has been desired now has come true through the ceremonial ordination of reverend upon Vicar Yosua Sudarso. The ordination service held on Friday, August 21th, 2015 in GKJTU Jepon Church. The days of waiting for the presence of a reverend of the church has been undertaken since many years ago. Some vicars have served as a preparatory period for being reverend candidate, but they didn’t pass to the ordination process. Even the late Rev. Em. Krisno Yuwono spent time in his emiritus time to serve as consultant reverend, who then prepared vicar Yosua Sudarso to be the reverend of the church. Step by step have been through, started from the vicariates period in the Jepon congregation for 5 years, then went through vicar evaluation, then the candidate peremtoar exam, which eventually passed to the advanced stage of reverend ordination. All procedures have been carried out by the Jepon congregations and the vicar Yosua Sudarso, under the guidance of Rev. Thomas Gudarso, SmTh as a substitute of consultant reverend Rev. Em. Krisno Yuwono who has been passed away some time ago. The spirit and struggle of Jepon congregations who have spent all resources now eventually produced the fruit of joy. On August 21th, 2015 there has been the ordination of reverend, as the culmination of the process of calling a reverend. In the ordination sermon, Rev. Thomas Gudarso gave some encouragement words in the sermon themed "Chosen to be a leader", with the nature story of Joshua, who was chosen to replace Moses led the people of Israel. Have a good time to serve, Rev. Yosua Sudarso! Congratulations to all congregations of GKJTU Jepon who now have a reverend! Have good time working, so that church growth is getting better and glorify the name of God on this earth. God bless! (us/dsw) News from Counseling Ministry Department CMD volunteers worked with the patients of “Efata” Mental Health Rehabilitation Center. toral Counselor Formation (PCF) Intensive Course, 18 – 29 August 2015 in Salatiga. 15 paricipants came from around Indonesian regions joined in the program and 14 of them were committed to go to the next process which is a 12 supervised counseling practice in the own ministry setting. Supervisor will supervise though face to face meeting and long distance communication means. 1 reprensented GKI Tanah Papua, 4 represemted GPM (Molucca), 1 represented GMIM (Celebes), 2 repreented GPIB, 3 represented GKJ (Central Java), 1 represented GKP (West Java), 2 represented GKI (Surabaya and Semarang), 1 represented Indonesian Baptist Church. (tws) July was Ramadhan (Fasting Month) and a week long Idul Fitri Holiday. GKJTU Counseling Ministry only executed its routine pastoral care ministry, such as pastoral care ministry for 40 residents of Salib Putih Nursing Home, 17 residents of Mandiri Nursing Home, 20 residents of Maria Marta Nursing Home, and 50 patients of Efata Mental Health Rehabilitation Center, and 12 HIV/ AIDS patients referred by Ario Wirawan Lung Hospital. In August GKJTU Counseling Ministry Department (CMD) continued executing its routine pastoral care ministry as mentioned previously. There were two important programs. First, CMD conducted Monthly Volunteer Meeting on August 15, 2015. 16 volunteers joined in the program, shared their ministry, and listened to Rev. Agus Trisarjoko’s presentation. He shared about his own experience to donate one of his kidneys to his daughter’s kidney tranplantation operation. He is the Chair of CMD. 14 participants of PCF 2015 are committed to go to the next Second, in cooperation with Indonesian Associa- process: a 12 months supervised counseling practicum. ton of Pastoral Counselors (IAPC) CMD conducted Pas- GKJTU Edition 28, July-August 2015 Newsletter Page 3 UEM Asia Partnership Seminar 2015 To maintain, to sustain, to develop the partnership and to implement the concern of UEM GA 2014 and AsRA 2015 on partnership, UEM Asia has conducted partnership seminar for all UEM members in Asia region on July 29 – August 5, 2015 in Wamena and Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia. The theme of this seminar has been decided by UEM General Assembly 2014: “Sharing the Good News: Grace and Faith in Partnership Action”. This theme is a way to promote the developing and formulation of the new shapes/forms of partnership actions as the effort to share the good news on earth. The partnership in Asia now focuses mainly to the south-south partnership among Asia and even among Indonesian churches. This seminar was attended by 69 participants including participants from the Philippines, Hongkong, and Sri Lanka, as well as the stewards and observers from GKI-TP as a hosting church of the Seminar. Participants reflected the Biblical/Theological view on the theme through the Bible Study every morning, and the discussion on the theme in session of the seminar. Besides, the participants also share and update information as well as experiences of networking among Asian members, sug- gest new forms of partnership, conduct more school to school partnership, and give feedback for Partnership Handbook Asia. This seminar really motivated and inspired UEM members to build more partnership between them, for the glory of God. (mp) All participants in UEM Asia Partnership Seminar 2015 ONE DAY SEMINARS: PHILOSOPHY OF CHURCH ASSET MANAGEMENT AND OFFERING AS THANKSGIVING On July 2015, the GKJTU Commitee for Asset and Self Reliance held a one day seminars in Pemalang classis including two sessions. The first session themed “Philosophy of Church Asset Management” with Rev. Paini (general secretary of GKJTU Daily Synod Council) as the speaker. In this session, the participants were asked to understand the importance of church asset management as a responsible attitude to develop the grace of God, so that could be a blessing. While in the second session, Rev. Heru Purwanto (the chairperson of the GKJTU Daily Synod Council) presented a theme of "offerings as an expression of gratitude". In this session, participants understand the goals and how to dedicate to God properly. Those two seminars are so important for GKJTU, considering the number of church assets that have not been well-organized and the church members have lack of a sense of giving to the church. So, with those seminars, GKJTU is expected to be more independent and be a blessing for others. The events held in GKJTU Pemalang, was attended by 40 participants including representatives from churches in Pemalang classis. After the seminar, the participants got more insight and knowledge regarding assets and offerings. (akr/dsw) Zion Foundation Middle Year’s Working Meeting (RAKER) On 15 to 16 July 2015, Zion Foundation held a 2015 Mid-Year Working Meeting, which was attended by 75 participants consisting of the foundation board and staff. The goal of this meeting is to monitor the program and budget planned in advance, making it possible to hold the adjustment and preparation of the new strategy in achieving the appropriate goals of the institution, through the three divisions: Community Development Division, Division of Education & Dormitory and Independence and Human Resource Division. The main thing of this RAKER happened on July 16 2015, where there was a handover of Zion Foundation director position for the period of July 2015 to July 2020, from Tulus Supriyanto, SE.MTh to Debora Suparni, SS. MA. Furthermore, for regular works remained to be assisted by 3 chief divisions in doing their own responsibility. Hopefully, as an implementation of Zion Foundation Vision: "Being an institution that increasingly reliable, productive and innovative in empowering the community holistically" will consistently be achieved in the next 5 years. (ds/mp) GKJTU Edition 28, July-August 2015 Newsletter Page 4 News from Education Department of Zion Foundation 4. Semarang District Parade in Senjoyo (August 18, 2015) With a team performing Paskibraka, berets, identity and black mask, SMK Tarunatama gained the crowd’s attention in the Semarang District parade in Senjoyo. It is one effective way to promote SMK Tarunatama outside Getasan area. 5. Getasan Village parade (August 22, 2015) By performing a series of parade line divided into several teams, beginning from the time before being independent (shown by some students acted as troops To celebrate the 70th Indonesia Independence Day and to from Sriwijaya and Majapahit Kingdom), the days of develop the spirit of nationalism, creativity and nobility, the struggle, the era of independence and the time of SMP Kristen and SMK Tarunatama Getasan joined a sedevelopment (beret, identity, creation and black mask ries of activities organized by both Getasan village and the team), SMK Tarunatama gave its own color in the Indonesian Education and Culture department as follows: parade conducted by going around Getasan village. 1. District Getasan Marching (August 12, 2015). With This the assistance of Sigid Indrastyanto, S. Pd., SMK Taactivity runatama marching team consisting of 10 students of is also class X, won the 3rd place. in2. Fun Walk in district Getasan (August 15, 2015) tended A fun walk event was held to celebrate Indonesian for beIndependence Day and tighten the togetherness in ing a district Getasan. All teachers, employees and students promoof SMK Tarunatama participated in this activity. tional 3. Flag Ceremony to commemorate the Proclamation tool to Day (August 17, 2015) introThe ceremony which started at 09.00 AM run duce SMP Kristen Getasan Drum Band Team smoothly and in order. SMK Tarunatama did not only the participate as participants, but 14 students of SMK existence of SMK Tarunatama to the surrounding Tarunatama joined in National Flag Raisers community as well as improving creativity, imagina(Paskibraka). Likewise, SMP Kristen Getasan drum tion, expression and exploring the student’s talents. band served as an accompaniment during the cere(ksn/mp) mony. Igniting Hope in “Udan Wuh" village "Udan Wuh" (in Javanese meaning trash rain), is a village where Rumiyati (45 years-old) lives. It is a remote village and underdeveloped when compared to other villages. Stigmatization as a remote village, underdeveloped and being left-behind, have motivated Rumiyati to change her village to be equal with the. She changes the “trash rain” slogan into "Udan mas" or Golden Rain in her village. Together with the other 5 women, she formed a women farmers group named "Udan Mas". The main activity of this group is to make use of bio-slurry as an agricultural fertilizer. Bio-slurry or biogas waste is a product resulted from the processing of biogas made of manure and water through a process without oxygen (anaerobic) in an enclosed space. "BSP" (Quail Bio Slurry) is this group’s main product, which is promoted to the surrounding area, government institutions both to the Department of Agriculture, BaperMades. In August 2015, this group joined an exhibition at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC). Various tests and laboratory analysis is used as an evaluation to improve BSP "Udan Mas" product quality. Now, a lot of farmers in this region use the BSP as a plant fertilizer. BSP "udan Mas" liquid organic fertilizers that is environmentally friendly, can restore soil fertility which been damaged by chemical fertilizers. (wps/mp) “KOPLING”: COMMUNITY FOR CARING ABOUT ENVIRONMENT One of the interactive and attractive activities of GKJTU/Zion’s Umoja group, particularly in GKJTU Ngelo is environmental awareness by establishing an environment caring community (KOPLING). The purpose of this group is on how the church initiates the trash care movement, that became a major problem in most area in Indonesia. The group started with only 12 people, the members of GKJTU Ngelo. Yet now, the members of the Umoja becomes 18 members and “Kopling” group becomes 50 persons, including people outside the church. The main activity of the garbage bank is non-organic household waste-collecting which is considered to be useless to add household income (sorted and sold) as well as utilize the waste to become handicrafts such as bags, tablecloths, wall hangings etc. Recognition of this community is also given by the government in Getasan village, by including “KOPLING” to become one of the participants in the 70th Indonesian Independence Day on August 22, 2015. “KOPLING” managed to win the 3rd place of 63 participants in this carnival. This event was a means to prove and promote the church’s active participation for the sustainability of preserving the nature to save the integrity of God's creation, as a concrete manifestation for the Salvation derived from the Lord Jesus as the chosen Christians. (pur/mp) GKJTU Edition 28, July-August 2015 Newsletter Page 5 Visitation of the Chairperson of GKJTU to Congregations In order to strengthen the bond of communion and to listen the church members’ voices directly, during July and August 2015 the chairperson of GKJTU visited Todanan and Gayam congregation in Blora district, July 12th , Ngawenamba congregation also in Blora district, August 2nd, Bojonegoro congregation, August 8th, GKJTU Kwangenrejo, August 9th, and GKJTU Samirono in Bendosari district, August 16th. Regarding the number of church members, GKJTU Todanan and Gayam is small church, consist of 60 people. But, although it is small church, the congregations that’s leaded by Rev. Timotius Supar has strong spirit of communion, witness, and serving. They serve new comers even though they should go through far distance. GKJTU Ngawenamba has own uniqeness. The interesting thing about this congregation is their influence in their society. The founders and fighters of GKJTU Ngawenamba are public figures, such as the head of the village and officer. Mr. Pintarto, an elder who lead the congregation, has a batik home industry that accomodates 35 workers who are local people. The visitation to Bojonegoro congregation was in the context of resolving a case of GKJTU’s land. Rev. Heru Purwanta attended a meeting of the committee of GKJTU property in Bojonegoro congregation to take strategic steps to recovere the church’s assets. The visitation to GKJTU Kwangenrejo, a small church in a remote area in Bojonegoro, was to lead Sunday Service and socialize some decisions taken by second annual assembly of GKJTU, particularly the governance of GKJTU’s assets. The visitation to GKJTU Samirono was also to lead Sunday Service. After the service, Rev. Heru Purwanta had a dialog with the church members, discussing various church struggles. (hp/dsw) Workshop on Nationalism 2015 LP3K News Events In order to participate in celebrating the 70th Indonesian Independence, GKJTU through LPPL held a "workshop on nationalism" on Friday August 28, 2015. The workshop organized in collaboration with the Indonesian Ministry of Religion in this case the Bimas Kristen Salatiga, took a theme "Religion education and Noble Character Counteracting Intolerance". This activity was followed by teachers/ Christianity teachers of elementary school, junior high school, high school in Salatiga, representatives of SMPK Getasan and SMK Tarunatama, for around 30 people. By using the experience in Tolikara Papua as an example of intolerance case, this workshop specifically described and discussesd the Religious Education and Noble character in the flow of Intolerance as well as Values of Noble character as a Sustainer for Indonesian sustainability. The speakers were Bp. R Julius Bambang (Chief Organizer of Bimas Christian Salatiga) and Bp. Rev. Daniel Heri Iswanto (BKGS Chairman and former Chairman of GKJTU MPH). They straightforwardly described the material, and got a great response from the participants. It could be seen from many responses and questions submitted by attendees. Bimas Kristen Salatiga expected this kind of activity could be scheduled on a regular basis as well as enlarged the possibility to cooperate in other activities. (viha/mp) Imperceptibly, Indonesia 'new' government under Jokowi -Jusuf Kala has been running for a year. At the beginning of his reign, Jokowi-Jusuf Kala which carries out the slogan “mental revolution”, is expected to really bring a change in the whole life of the nation, so that the new Indonesia will be the Indonesia that upholds the values of freedom, justice, equality, and social welfare for all Indonesian people. But a year after their reign running, doubts and even pessimism begin to grow within the people of Indonesia. Many people judge Jokowi-Jusuf Kala policy and their government officials are not in accordance with the slogan taken during the campaign. Responding to this nation development, on July 29-31 2015 GKJTU held a workshop for the development of theology in the new era. The workshop was attended by 27 GKJTU pastor and vicar specifically looking at the vision, mission and policies of Jokowi-Jusuf Kala. The goal is to see the opportunities that can be applied by the church in carrying out its responsiblity in the midst of the Indonesian people. Workshop that presented two main speakers, namely Rev. Prof. Dr. John A. Titaley (Rector of Satya Wacana Christian University Salatiga) and Rev. Drs. Heru Purwanta, S.Si., M.Hum (Chairman of GKJTU Synod), managed to detect some of the problems faced by Indonesia and then created the direction of the development of theology in the church as its responsibility in the midst of Indonesian people. Direction of the development of theology is a theology that is oriented to these values: Value of Equality, Diversity, Nationality, Independence, Poverty Alleviation, Sensitivity to the environment, openness, development of local wisdom (local knowledge), and the value of justice (cb/mp) GKJTU Edition 28, July-August 2015 Newsletter Page 6 Moers Classis Visit GKJTU Nine persons from Moers Classis group visited GKJTU on July20th-29th 2015. They are Rev. Claus Brandis, Rev. Em. Helmut Keiner, Mr. Arnold Bretzke, Mrs. Ursula Bretzke, Mrs. Lydia Stoklossa-Theune, Mr. Uwe Stoklossa, Mr. Klaus Franzen, Ms. Herma Koster and Ms. Brigitte Beez. During their visit at GKJTU, the group led by Rev. Claus Brandis visited some congregations of GKJTU such as Ngelo, Senden, Diwak, Krangkeng, Ngaduman, Tayeman, Cuntel, Widodaren, Tugu, and Salatiga. They also visited GKJTU’s projects such as LPPL building, Suara Merbabu Radio, waste bank at Ngelo, biogas in Tayeman, PPA Kinasih, and Sion foundation. They also traveled to Prambanan temple, Borobudur tem- ple, Yogyakarta. When they visited Widodaren, they stayed one night in Guci. In addition, Rev. Claus Brandis and Mr. Uwe Stoklossa were accompanied by Rev. Viktor and Rev. Joko when they do mountain climbing to Merbabu mountain. They went to the top of the mountain, and stayed overnight at the top of Merbabu Mountain. On Sunday, July 26th, they joined Sunday service in GKJTU Tugu in the morning and GKJTU Salatiga in the afternoon. They were very impressed with the Sunday service at Tugu which used variative liturgy. Mr. Klaus Franzen stated that it was the best Sunday service he had ever attended. They were very impressed because the elements of the liturgy are maintained but also accommodates contemporary songs which are very suitable for youth and teenangers. The worship and songs were sung with heart. The Sunday service led by Rev. Dhani, and the sermon was delivered by Rev. Helmut Keiner, translated by Danar Sri Wijayanti, a member of GKJTU partnership team. In the worship, it was wonderful that Rev. Claus Brandis served a marriage blessings for the happy couple: Mr. Uwe Stoklossa and Mrs. Lydia Stokllossa. In this visit, they put concern for LPPL building, whose construction has been temporarily stopped due to lack of funds (we need 70 euro to finish it), and they promised to help as much as 40 thousand euro to continue the construction. (pn/dsw) THANKSGIVING WORSHIP FOR 70th ANNIVERSARY OF REPUBLIC INDONESIA INDEPENDENCE DAY IN GKJTU SALATIGA CONGREGATION Peter 2: 13-17, with the theme "Creating Independence with Responsible Living." In his message, Rev. Heru said that every church and every Christian individual in Indonesia, should be able to become “forts” for Indonesia: fort Pancasila, Homeland fort, fort cultural and moral fort. This is the poetry of independence read by Deacon Agus Budi Harjono in the worship. Do not say independent if there are children whimpering hungry. Do not say independent if there are homeless children. Do not say independent if there is danger when worshipping. Do not say independent if there are still marginalized and oppressed. Do not say independent if fear still running around. Do not say independent if the corruption and greed still rule. On Monday, August 17, 2015 at 16:30 to 18:15 PM, GKJTU Salatiga held a Thanksgiving Worship for 70th Anniversary of Republic Indonesia Independence.This worship is specially packaged with a special liturgy, which is compiled by the Rev. Heru Purwanta and roled by GKJTU Salatiga’s Men categorical section. What is unique and special in the liturgy include: beginning with the impressions of reading the text of Proclamation by Sukarno, the proclamation meaning from poetry readings, and singing the anthem "Tanah Airku" and "Rayuan Pulau Kelapa”. The Bible passage of this sermon was taken from Deuteronomy 15: 13-18 and 1 Freedom is happiness and wealth. Freedom is the courage and self-esteem. Freedom is justice and honesty. Do not say free if you neglect when your fellow suffers. Do not say free if you're still proud of greed. Do not say free if you are still shackled yourself with sin. Freedom is a dignified life. Free shares care. Free from the shackles of sin. Freedom is with God liberate the world. (hp/mp) GKJTU Edition 28, July-August 2015 Newsletter Page 7 The pilot project of Transformative Deacon Sustainable program becomes very important for the sustainability of an institution, including the church institution. Therefore, GKJTU emphasizes the monitoring and careful evaluation of all the programs and activities that have been or will be implemented. Results of the monitoring and evaluation decide the programs and follow-up activities that need to be followed for the development of GKJTU ministry rooted from the needs of local congregations. Workshop activity on Transformative Deacon Capacity Building Towards Independence and Evangelization Classis Blora and Bojonegoro had been implemented in Bojonegoro on 17-19 July 2014 with the full support of the GZB. This activity was then followed up through the Monitoring Action Plan for the commitment of the participants who attended the workshop on 15 November 2014. In this monitoring, Group Sami Aji (Ngrangkang), KSU Grasia (GKJTU Bojonegoro) and GKJTU Mojoranu became the center of attention. After the monitoring progress, the Association of Sami Aji elected with economic development programs with agricultural cooperatives and GKJTU Mojoranu with agriculture in maroon program to encourage the utilization of house yard to create food security in congregations, to be a pilot project. To support this pilot project, GKJTU provide assistance and investment. Besides capital, GKJTU also provide debriefing capacity for each representative to manage the capital provided. This activity lasted for two days on 12 to 13 July 2015 in GKJTU Pepanthan Ngrangkang, Ngawen congregation. GKJTU sincerely hope that this program can be developed well and will be monitored in early December 2015. (jstm/mp) Monitoring on the Training Mission for Lay People Monitoring on the Training Mission for Lay People One of the Followup Plan of Training Mission for Lay people held on 29 to 31 January 2015 by the support of the UEM is the monitoring of the activities planned by Klasis Kopeng, Klasis Getasan, and Klasis Bendosari. At the time of training, Klasis Kopeng planned mission activity for lay people through the syrup-making from Tamarillo. Classis Getasan wanted to do the knitting activity for women. And Klasis Bendosari wanted to disseminate to the public about the biopori program. On August 13, Department of Witness and Diaconal (Service) had done the mnitoring for a full day at the 3 Classis. From the results of the monitoring, the planned activities are going well, although there are various kinds of obstacles. For example, in Classis Kopeng, Tamarillo syrup sees trouble to find experts who can be used as a resource. Although there is no such person, groups of classis Kopeng women try making it on their own way, that the results are not so well so it is not worth selling. In classis Getasan, knitting activity keep on running even though there are not so many women interested in this activity. Various kinds of knitwear has successfully been sold for example clothes, scarves, handbags, shoes, etc. Interestingly, there are women from other religions getting interesetd and want to learn to knit. In Classis Bendosari, the biopori making run really well as shown by the community positive response. More people are awarene of importance of public water catchment for daily needs in Butuh Kidul area. From monitoring this activity, GKJTU see the needs of the lower level needed concern and response. Looking ahead, various programs conducted by GKJTU will be based on the needs of the bottom, not from the top (top-down). (jstm/mp) Capacity Building on Transformative Diaconia in Classis Pemalang The development of Transformative Diaconia ability for Classis Bojonegoro and Blora run very well. This activity is not just seminar andworkshop course, but actually being acted out and have positive impact on the existing churches. Given this reality, GKJTU sees the importance of dissemination of the same activities for Classis Pemalang. As a classis located in the most west corner, classis Pemalang plays a very important role in the service to the public. Therefore, we need an activity to encourage and guide so that the service can run at a maximum phase. In response to this, with the support of GZB the department of witness and service (diaconal) held a seminar and workshop. This seminar was attended by 27 participants out of 5 congregations in classis Pemalang, as well as the representatives of diaconia department, and the Synod board of GKJTU. This activity run smoothly and in a comfortable atmosphere. GKJTU Nyamplungsari as the only church which is located at the edge of the northern coast of Java also provide maximum service as host for 3 days, August 24 to 26, 2015. As a conclusion from this activity, the participants get an understanding other than just a charitable deacon and reformative course. It is also taking transformative form that reach people to get out of the problems faced by emphasizing on inde- pendence, mentoring and empowerment. It is also important to pay attention that even a transformative deacon falling to the wider community, we need to consider the balance between social services and the witness about the identity as followers of Christ. (jstm/mp) GKJTU Edition 28, July-August 2015 Newsletter PRAYERS for GKJTU Synod PRAYERS for ZION FOUNDATION 1. 2. 3. 4. Pray for Zion Foundation Management’s Diacon Learning group, consisting of the Board, chief of the Division and Head of Unit, in order to improve the quality of Zion Foundation organizational performance to be more effective and professional. First Stage of Entrepreneurial training for students in SMP Kristen Getasan and SMK Tarunatama (20 students) , particularly in the field of food and cafeteria business management held at the School, from August to September 2016. Training for Disciples for Development (D4D) for Umoja facilitator, pastor and vicar who have Pilot Project Umoja, on 29 September to 3 October in Zion Foundation by Cambodia and USA team. Renovation of the retirement house that will be prepared for the second Zion Foundation office, planned to be completed in September 2015. Page 8 1. Emiritation service for evangelist Sumadi Suyono, Kanaan Getasan congregation on October 8, 2015 and evangelist Kuwatu Iskak, GKJTU Cuntel on October 14, 2015. 2. The construction of LPPL Kopeng building which runs really slow because we are running out of funding. 3. UEM Council Meeting which will be held on 4-8 October 2015 in Laras Asri hotel Salatiga. GKJTU is the host of this meeting. 4. Seminar and Training on “The Community Learning of Theological Education by Extention (CLTEE)”, in cooperation between GKJTU with CLTEE Korea on 13-15 Ocober 2015. Photo Gallery SMK Tarunatama in Getasan village parade for celebrating 70th Indonesian Independence Day Exposure in children development program in GKJTU Widodaren. “KOPLING” community in a parade Rumiyati (45 years old), with the BSP product in Udan Wuh village. 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. Endang Setyomurti (General Treasurer) Newsroom Team : Rev. Y. Paini (Chief Editor), Members : Debora Suparni, Pebri Gossweiler, Melati Pusparani, Danar Sri Wijayanti Contact Us: gkjtu.newsletter@yahoo.co.id; we love to receive short story / news / photo on GKJTU / our partnership ministry.
