Today is a sunny unstructured day. My client, Mr. and Mrs. Seliang, came during lunch time and we decided to have our discussions in the restaurant, where other consultants and clients were also having lunch together.

I’m grateful to have Mr. and Mrs Seliang as my client, as they’re so committed to this venture. I have been learning a lot from them. Mr. Seliang is an entrepreneur/luminary type of person that has lots of great ideas in his mind. Mrs. Seliang is a manager type of person who is good at doing administrative matters. What a great combination!
The couple is currently running embroidery business. In the past they owned 8 restaurants and all of them have been closed. They have been serving the Lord by leading 16 cell groups. Lack of oversight in their business and lack of trained people lead to the decision to close all restaurants.

When walking thru all scorecards that were prepared by the couple and “fine-tuned” by my co-consultant, Donald, we discussed again the new purpose for the business. This venture had opened their eyes to repurpose their business to glorify God with core values of integrity, quality, and family; but we have been struggling to combine the idea into a Purpose Statement.

We also discussed about the directions that this couple had been thinking and praying. Mr. Seliang, who is originally from Menado, is so passionate about restaurant business and had a dream that he and his family would go back to Menado and build a restaurant in his home town. When doing a survey in Menado, Mr. Seliang saw a big opportunity for a new sea food restaurant to grow in Menado. So, one opportunity is selling the existing business and moving to Menado to setup new restaurant. The other is staying in Jakarta and continue running the embroidery business.

God lead us to an idea to build a financial forecast for each opportunity and continue praying for both opportunities. At the end of our discussions, Donald proposed a purpose statement that combined all ideas thrown by the couple. We’re all so happy.. Thank God, we’re making a lot of progress today!!

Ritha Nainggolan, Indonesian Consultant

If God owns your company, nothing is impossible for HIM!  All the glory to the LORD!

In fact God has a family business and it is the business of transforming peoples lives. As anyone in eastern culture knows (Christianity is at heart an Eastern Faith) fathers expect their children to join the family business. So if that is true, our posture ought not be to go to God and ask Him to put His blessing on our business … no instead it ought to be a posture of humility, perhaps instead asking God, “As my CEO, what do you want me to do with your business today?”

Someday when we enter heaven God will ask, ” Where is the return on MY investment for allowing you to run MY company for 30 years on earth. How did you use MY business to change the lives of people that I gave you to influence for me?” 

Wednesday morning we had a refreshing testimony from a Indonesian CEO that took that training to heart. He shared that Tuesday morning he went to his office and headed for his desk as usual, but this time he closed the door and pulled out his CEO chair and asked Jesus to sit in the chair he routinely occupied daily. He instead went to the other side of the desk and sat in the client chair. “For the first time Tuesday I had a meeting with my CEO and asked Him what I am supposed to do with His company he said,” with emotion across every crease and line in his face.

“I spent almost an hour listening to God. It was the most powerful time.

After finishing my meeting I logged into the internet banking window and was shocked to see that we were at a $200 USD balance in our checking account for the business. We were facing a number of overdue invoices and I felt the pressure greatly and took this back to God.

I said, “God if you are CEO I need you to meet this need so I can maintain integrity with my vendors.” I felt the anxiety melt away and be replaced with trust.”

Later, my wife who handles the accounting called me in a panic, saying we are in trouble the bank account is tapped out. I told her, with a confidence that I have never had before in these kinds of situations, “don’t worry, I have spoken with my CEO this morning and He has assured me He will take care of this problem.”

Of course she thought I was nuts, but I was able to share with her what had happened in in my office in the beginning of the day.

“I left the office after finishing the call with my wife and was gone for 1 hour,” he continued.

“I had just settled back into my desk when something prompted me to log into our online electronic bill pay system. To my amazement, one of our vendors, during the hour I was gone, paid a $10,000 USD outstanding debt online and the money was pending to our account. Though I had prayed I was astounded at God’s so immediate provision.”

That was the beginning of a number of Marketplace Miracles and breakthroughs we have seen in the first week of Jakarta Venture number IV. God is doing an amazing work and is awakening men and women to the vision of transforming their city with the life changing message of Jesus Christ.

This week will mark the completion of repurposing 42 companies in Jakarta. The group of 8 companies alone we are working with week have a combined reach to 5.5 million people they influence in this city of 24 million. That translates to 20% of the total population of Jakarta through their repeated contact and influence with their customers, vendors, employees and others they are with, week in and week out. 

Pray that God lights a fire in each of these CEO’s to surrender all they are and have into God’s hands where it belongs! God says in Jeremiah 5:1

“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem (Jakarta), look and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city.”

God can transform a city with just one man or woman, who is sold out to him! We are nearing the repurposing of 42 leaders and their companies. If God can heal a city with one what can he do with 42 righteous and dedicated men and women and their corporations!

Please pray for us as we kick off week two Monday morning (Sunday night Calif time).

 Bob

The group agreed to do have an ecotourism experience at Sental City, a former equip client.  Errol and Joel planted rice with locals, and we all meandered through a cassava field and a rural village, ultimately trekking up and up to a pine forest with hot springs. 

I’ll now admit that it was a bit too much for me after “falling” knee high in the river and then into the rice paddy a couple of minutes later.  I didn’t really eat much for breakfast and the heat and humidity was a little more than I’m used to on a daily basis.  The final straw was that my ankle (an old injury) was starting to act up.   After Bob’s wise counsel, we agreed that I should back to the village with one of the guides to wait for a vehicle to drive me to the spings for lunch.

As the guide and i waited under an open air hut, soft breezes would come up.  One of the fellows in the hut starting singing a sweet melodious tune.  Children were playing outside as one woman was cooking and another was hanging clothes to dry.  I realized that I couldn’t pay for this experience and that I was witnessing how people there go about their lives.  Sitting there, I felt some of the love that God has for his children in Indonesia.  When we drove out, I prayed for the villagers that they might also know the God that loves them enough to send his son Jesus to pay for their sins.

It was a long day!!  We capped it off looking for things to bring back from Indonesia for our friends, family and supporters and had a wonderful time of fellowship over dinner at Sate Khas Senayan.   i had durian juice for the first time, and find that I really like the taste.  Why not experience a taste a bit of God’s glory?

• Previous Client testimonies were awesome again dealing with Positioning & People.
• Current clients and consultants were touched by some previous client testimonies covering presence, position and people.  It was wonderful to see how God is working in previous clients businesses.
• Teaching on encouragement had a good impact on all that were there.
• General tone of the day was very positive gauging from the client’s reactions.
• Breakthroughs are starting to happen in teams.
• Original “blanket” hanging over the place before starting seemed to lift after the prayer time.
• The venue and food is excellent.

We are celebrating the Ascension of Christ today.

Some of the clients are having services in their local church, so their consultants get a break in the midst of this week for relaxing and reviewing scorecards.  Others will still meet their clients to work on scorecarding, but there but there are no onsite visits today.

We are also having a delicious dinner with past clients at a restaurant belonging to Haryaman and his partners, all of whom are former equip clients.  There are serious conversations on how to expand equip’s presence in Indonesia and help them in the process of repurposing their businesses to make a bigger impact.

Tomorrow is still a holiday due to national forced leave, so most companies are closed for a long weekend.  It makes Jakarta suddenly quiet and fresh as there are no traffic problems during this last four days of this week.

- Yao

As part of the short notice preparations I was able to meet Brett & Lyn at a breakfast meeting on Saturday 5 May. It was a GREAT reunion between myself and Natchi from India and then also to meet some of the early bird USA consultants who were coming to the Cape Town Venture.

This was followed by a delightful tour of the Cape Peninsula with Natchi and Dena (USA) on Tuesday the 8th.
On Wednesday I was up early to get Nerina to the airport and then visit the Cape Town Venture and get to know the rest of the squad (clients & consultants). They then prayed for me and the Venture in Jakarta (folk normally pray for the people I’m going to and I’m not sure what lies behind that). There was great support that was a really great blessing to me in particular.

On Saturday (12th) I was to start my journey from home quite early at about 07:15 and then flew to Johannesburg and Doha where I spent a few hours before flying to at 00:40 to Singapore and then eventually arrived at the hotel in Jakarta at about 17:15 on Sunday (13th). The rest of the team were already heading to Suprano’s home (our host) for a combined meeting of all consultants and then supper with clients added (not for supper – I mean not to be eaten – yet anyway).
A VERY quick (I’m loathe to say shave because some wise guy will say “where?” because of my beard), shower and a change of clothes (the others will have to be burnt).
No, I’m NOT going to make a scene about the food except to say that you missed some thing there alright. Just picture me (us) sitting on a warm Sunday evening (having been collected from the palace (I think they call it a hotel, but palace will do nicely for me) in a car, but I digress. There I am sitting next to the pool with candles all over the garden for lighting (not good enough for me – and others – not to have first walked on water – of the pool, but I digress, again). A long table of interesting discussions (no rugby or politics – no I’m NOT digressing), just good personal, getting to know you stuff – VERY stimulating. Some of us were not paying as much attention as we normally could (or should – I think we had other things on our minds, but I’m not sure if some of our minds were functioning at this point – I’m trying to not digress).
A late night to bed (ah, BED – a forgotten luxury to some of us, but then even that was small comfort to some because the power also went to bed for some and an uncomfortable night was spent praying (and not for electricity to get the air conditioner  on – I think).
An early start with breakfast and then our devotions starting at 07:30 so that we could have time to also be ready for meeting clients as they arrived.

It would be glib to say we met some of the finest Christian business men and women, but let me say that anyway. As usual, but still remarkably, the Lord matched up consultants as only He can and then also clients for each consultant pair. I think that is why we call such things miracle because we expect (hope for) it, but are still taken by surprise each time and because we couldn’t do it ourselves.

Bob’s first day was something to experience as, tired (probably more so than most with all the leadership responsibilities and work on his shoulders) and not as good looking as I remember seeing him before, he presented the introductory sessions in a God-inspired way and in power. I was SO aware of God’s presence most of the time as I sat and listened to him getting the message across.

He was ALMOST outdone by what was nothing less than an inspired performance by the young man (Pascal) who translated for him and then into English for the locals when they spoke in tongues. What an inspiration!!

A powerful day was fittingly added to by a most powerful testimony by Haryaman of how God turned him around as a direct result of being a client on a previous Venture. I think Billy Graham would have been proud to have given such a simple, down to earth message that had the power of God thundering through him. I was actually in awe of what was happening today and don’t forget (to some of you it might be news, but) I’ve been around since 2004 – no, that’s not right – I’ve been around Equip since 2004 – and I’ve seen some remarkable things happen in Cape Town and India.

So, if the first day starts like that, then one wonders what is going to happen next. So, it does mean that we all need to be vigilant in prayer because today must have been a bad hair day for Satan.

Thank you for praying up to this point, but we ALL need some SERIOUS prayer for the days that lie ahead. We ARE all tired (23:15 and there is still the devotions for tomorrow morning to prepare) and there is much still to do as we continue to prepare the local Indonesian to “take the city” of Jakarta and the nation. Please pray for them too as they will be facing many obstacle over this period as well.

God bless you & regards – Errol Smith (Cape Town, South Africa).