Simon moved to Indonesia in 2019 to join a church planting team focused on reaching Indonesians in the city. He began to learn the language and culture right away and prayed for opportunities to meet people.
Simon chose to walk from his dorm every day instead of riding his motorbike in order to meet Indonesians. He met Ray at a “warung” (food stall) on one of his walks and Ray ended up becoming his closest Indonesian friend. Simon shares about his experience below.
Divine Meeting
“Ray is the first Indonesian that I met. I believe it was one of those meetings that was ordained by God from the start. He spoke English and since it was my first week I did not speak any Indonesian yet.
Ray is a highly intelligent man who can speak 6 languages. He is the leader of the Go Jek drivers (like Uber drivers on motorbikes) and very influential in his community.
We quickly started having spiritual conversations and Ray had a lot of questions about Jesus and the Bible. These conversations paralleled a book I had read called “Seeking Allah Finding Jesus” by Nabeel Qureshi. Nabeel was a devout Muslim that took many years to follow Jesus. Ray’s questions were almost exactly the same as in the book so God had prepared me to be patient but also to not be surprised by the questions.
He would ask questions like “Who created Christianity?” and “Where in the Bible does it talk about Jesus and God being the same?” I would always show him passages in scripture that would answer his questions and discuss it with him.
Much of his training is common to the devout Muslim people. Ray was taught scripture out of context and fell very short of the true gospel. What great opportunities to open up the Bible and read him the scripture that was wrongly taught and surround it with more of the story of the sacrificial love and life of our Savior.
Continuing to Seek Truth
I have been back in America for a while now and Ray continues to send questions and scripture for me to help him understand. He understands that you cannot take a sentence out of a book and know how the story ends. I gave him a Bible when I left Indonesia because of Covid. I often send him scripture now written in Indonesian for the Spirit to speak to him.
Others I may have stopped investing in, but Ray continues to have interest and he is a leader in many groups. I am prayerful that the Word will penetrate his heart because many look to him as someone wise that makes thought out decisions.”
Join us in praying for Ray to truly believe Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Pray he would be God’s chosen instrument to lead many Indonesians in the Kingdom.
