Dear Friends,
Thank you for interceding with us for Dr. Sutrisna Harjanto in Indonesia.
Famous for its coffee, volcanoes, and komodo dragons, the Southeast Asian nation of Indonesia comprises over 13,000 tropical islands, including Java and Sumatra. Indonesia is also the world’s largest Muslim-majority country. Its 270 million people (87% Muslim, 10% Christian) represent more than 1,300 native ethnic groups and speak over 700 languages. Indonesia’s national motto – Bhinneka Tunggai Ika (“Many, yet One”) – reflects the archipelago republic’s shared national identity amid great diversity.
Sutrisna is Principal of Bandung Theological Seminary in Indonesia. He holds a PhD in Educational Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (USA). Sutrisna’s research focused on marketplace missions and vocational stewardship among Indonesian Christian professionals. Prior to his studies, Sutrisna served with Perkantas (IFES Indonesia) for over 20 years. Sutrisna and his wife Lily have a daughter, Laura, and a son, Alex.
Sutrisna shares the following message:
Dear ScholarLeaders Community,
Greetings from Bandung, Indonesia!
Praise the Lord for His mercy during the pandemic. Although Indonesia is highly vulnerable as the country with the world’s fourth largest population, in God’s mercy we have gone through the pandemic with the situation relatively under control. We praise God for His grace through the country’s leadership, who have been making wise decisions in complicated situations.
Bandung Theological Seminary
We are grateful that Bandung Theological Seminary (BTS) has been able to pass through our online educational activities quite well over the past two semesters.
Online education has been more challenging for our undergraduate students, who are spread all over Indonesia, with differing Internet accessibility. Yet, it has been a timesaver for our graduate students, who live in other cities, since they didn’t have to come to campus for intensive classes. Auditing students from various cities were also able to join our ThM, MCE, and MMin Marketplace classes with greater ease.
The developing online educational culture has become good soil for us to develop online non-formal programs this past year.
Prayer Requests
As Christians, we have learned a lot about the meaning of God’s work through common grace over the past several years through our country’s leaders. Please pray that, in God’s grace, the plan to vaccinate most of the population by the end of this year could be met, so that many daily activities, including those of churches and seminaries, could resume safely.
Please pray for our seminary:
1. Pray for God’s wisdom and protection as we plan to resume on-campus education for our undergraduate students starting in August.
2. BTS has plans to conduct a webinar every Saturday morning in June to highlight our vision of theological education, in hopes of encouraging churches and other seminaries with a similar passion.
Pray for our webinar series, named “From Theology to Mission.” We have invited key evangelical leaders, such as Richard Pratt, Riad Kassis, Hwa Yung, and Michael Crane, each paired with local speakers, to speak on theology and mission from global, Southeast Asian, and urban contexts.
3. Pray for the contribution of our seminary – through our students and graduates, and as an institution – to the transformation of individuals, families, churches, and marketplace lives in Indonesia and beyond.
Thank you for all your prayers,
Blessings,
Sutrisna Harjanto