Today, I talk to Pastor Antonius from Madan, Indonesia to discuss the incredible growth of Christianity in this diverse, predominantly Muslim nation. Hear how Pastor Antonius has planted multiple churches through relentless evangelism, and learn how the Indonesian church is uniquely positioned to reach the rest of Asia for Christ. This is an episode you won’t want to miss!
Summary:
- Pastor Antonius has been a pastor in Indonesia for 25 years, starting as a local missionary and then becoming a church planter, planting three churches before becoming a pastor at the request of his congregation [0:18].
- Indonesia is a diverse country with over 17,000 islands, 200 local languages, and a population of over 300 million, with Christianity making up about 12% of the population according to the government, though the actual percentage is believed to be higher [1:06].
- Indonesia has seen a significant movement of conversions from Islam to Christianity, with many people finding Christ through social media and digital technology [1:38] [2:13].
- Pastor Antonius planted churches through evangelism, going house-to-house and to public places to share the gospel, and then forming cell groups to disciple new believers [2:29].
- The church in Indonesia faces persecution as a minority, but this has led to greater dependence on God and a forgiving spirit that has attracted new believers [3:39] [5:12].
- While some churches in Indonesia are wealthy, there are also many poor Christian communities, and the church is working to reach both the rich and the poor with the gospel [5:31] [6:38] [7:33].
- There is a great hunger and passion for God among the younger generation in Indonesia, who are heavily engaged with social media and digital technology, providing new opportunities for evangelism [8:15] [9:18] [9:24].
Transcript:
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King. I’m excited about telling people about Jesus today. I have a very special guest with me, Pastor Antonius from Madan Indonesia. Thank you for being on the Evangelism Podcast.
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (00:13):
Thank you so much.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:14):
Alright, so tell me a little bit about your ministry. What do you do?
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (00:18):
Well, I’ve been a pastor for 25 years, and first of all, at the time I was a local missionary since I had a personal encounter with God and then become a church planter after I planted three churches. And then the last one that the member say that if you are leaving us, then don’t plant a church. So we want you to become a pastor. So that’s the story that I can become a pastor.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:47):
Okay. So tell us a little bit about Madan and about Indonesia. I’ve been to Indonesia several times, and I know it’s a land of many islands and a majority Muslim. But kind of give us a picture of Indonesia and what God is doing there.
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (01:06):
Yes. Indonesia consists of 17,000 islands,
(01:11):
And then we have more than 200 local languages and dialect, and we are so diverse. And now probably we have about 300 million peoples in Indonesia. And according to the governments, the Christianity is not modern 12%, although we believe that should be more than that. Why? Because you’ve seen that God has been moving so greatly in Indonesia. We are so grateful having the social medias and also digital technology now where people can hear the gospel without any limitations. And as the result now you can easily find Indonesians people who used to be Muslims now become a Christians and they’re now become the Apollo
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:12):
Wow.
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (02:13):
Reaching out their communities, their original communities. So you can easily find that in social media.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:22):
And so you were a church planter? Yes. What was the process that you used to plant a church?
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (02:29):
Evangelism. So evangelize people, I come to house to house, I come to the people, wherever peoples gather together, the coffee shops. I come even to the petty field just to share about the gospel, to share about Jesus. That’s how I find the lost soul. And then after that, I formed the cell groups, so I disciple them. Those that disciple then feel that they need a church, and that’s become the church that we have planted.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:06):
And so you did that in three different places. Were they all on the same island of Sumatra or did you go
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (03:13):
To Yeah, they’re all in Sumatra.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:14):
All in Sumatra?
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (03:15):
Yeah.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:15):
Okay. And tell me what the feeling is among the church in Indonesia for evangelism. Are you praying for the loss to be saved? Is the church of Indonesia concerned about evangelism? Is there persecution with evangelism? What’s happening in the church in the area of
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (03:39):
Evangelism? Being minority in Indonesia is not easy.
(03:45):
So that’s also makes you become totally surrender to God. You really depend on God. And that’s why we pray a lot. We pray for our salvations and we also, we pray for those who persecute us. And as a result, we see God moving mightly and even sometimes really out of our mind, people just asking for Jesus. And last time, what I heard from one of my colleagues who converted to become a Christian, I asked him, why are you converted to become a Christian? I never asked you to become a Christian. And he says, well, you know what? I’ve seen a lot of persecution, a lot of bad things that has been happened to Christianity, but you guys never rev revenges. You guys never saying even bad things. You always say, just let them do it. Just forgive them. And it’s really make me think about it again, this guy is kind of come from the other planet. They have a different perspective on seeing this, and that’s why I want to know more about Jesus. And I found out that’s exactly what Jesus taught you guys. So that’s why I would like to follow Jesus.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:08):
Wow, that’s a great testimony.
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (05:12):
Exactly. My friend become a Christians, not because someone came to him, but because his college from his previous religions treat us badly and we don’t fight back for that.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:31):
I find the church of Indonesia to be very unique because many of the Christians come from a Chinese background,
(05:40):
And the Chinese traditionally are very good at business. And so because of that, the church is in Indonesia, not all the churches, but a big portion of the church. It is a wealthy church compared to some of people, which is a very different situation than in Pakistan. Like in Pakistan, all the Christians are very poor and they have been kept from being successful in business because of oppression and that type of thing. And so they find it very hard. But the neat thing about the church at Indonesia is that you have a lot of resources, and I believe that with the right prayer and the right training, the Church of Indonesia could reach many people for Jesus, not just in Indonesia, but to have reach throughout all of Asia. What do you think of that analysis?
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (06:38):
Yes and no. Why do I say yes? I agree with you. There are a lot of rich church in Indonesia, especially in the big cities. It’s like Jakarta, Suraya, Madan, Bandon. But there is a research that has been done by the Christians organizations. Indonesia consists of 38 provinces. Out of those 38 provinces, 12, the most poor provinces are predominantly Christians. So that’s another story of that. Yes, we are very rich, but in some area and yes, we have capacity even to reach out to beyond our nations. That’s why now we start sending the missionary to many countries, even in Africa. We have the missionaries there now,
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:31):
But
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (07:33):
On the other hand, we still have to look after those 12 provinces that are so poor.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:42):
Of course, there’s people everywhere that live in poverty. Last year I was at the Empowered 21 conference in Jakarta, and it was so beautiful because there was an auditorium filled, I think it was about 17,000 young people who were passionately following
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (08:03):
God.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:04):
And I said, wow, this is amazing that there are so many young people in Indonesia that are excited about serving God. Yes. Are you seeing that also in Meen?
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (08:15):
Yes. We are really enjoying God moving throughout the young generation now. They are really awaken. I see the hunger for Jesus, for the young peoples. I see that because of three reasons. First of all, it’s also because of the Holy Spirit. Secondly, there are a lot of worry, uncertainty, and they just need to look up for someone that can assure them a brighter future. And thirdly, because of the technology, it’s really helpful because in Indonesia there was a research saying that almost 80% of Indonesians has two cell phones. And if I’m not mistaken, each person in Indonesia spend at least four hours a day scrolling in social
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:16):
Media. Wow.
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (09:18):
Yeah.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:18):
So if we’re going to reach them, everyone has their cell phone in front of their face, we’re going to have to use our cell phones.
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (09:23):
Correct. Yeah.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:24):
Wow. Well, the good thing about a cell phone is when you lead them to Jesus, you can have a salvation service right there on their cell phone.
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (09:32):
Exactly.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:33):
Yeah. Alright, well it’s so nice to talk to you and we pray for Indonesia to be saved in Jesus
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (09:39):
Name.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:40):
Thank you so much. Thank you for being on the Evangelism Podcast.
Pastor Antonius – Indonesia (09:42):
Thank you. God bless you. Bless you.
