Nearly 200 members from RMC’s Indonesian community held their first joint retreat Aug. 12-14 at the Ramada Inn in Glenwood Springs.
Made up of three churches—Colorado Indonesian-American, First Denver Indonesian, and Rocky Mountain Indonesian-American—they chose as their theme Unity in Christ, based on the text, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” from Psalm 133:1.
Ronald Rangung, president of Manado and North Maluku Conference in Eastern Indonesia Union, emphasized the importance of being united in Christ’s suffering while Nestor Soriano, Campion Academy associate pastor and speaker for the youth program, suggested that to be united in Christ, we must first be united to Christ.
Dr. VicLouis Arreola III, director of the North American Division Asian/Pacific Ministries, challenged listeners to not only serve their immediate community, but to expand and plant more Indonesian churches in North America. One Christian pastor, attending from abroad, said she would love to be baptized and accept the Adventist faith, especially after attending the retreat.
Presented by a group from Colorado Indonesian-American Church, retreat music featured a kolintang, or a traditional Indonesian pitched percussion musical instrument.
“I am happy to be here,” Dr. Arreola remarked at the end of the conference, “and see that church members have worked [together] to create this event. We will continue to support the Indonesian convocation in any way we can.”
–Barry Manembu is a member of the Colorado Indonesian-American Church.
