Grubb Mission Report - April 2010

Grubb Mission Report

A Work of the Duluth church of Christ

SINGAPORE AND INDONESIA TRIP

For pictures of this trip, go to my Facebook page

On March 9th, I departed on my 36th mission trip since 1992. Dave Komisak took me to the airport in the morning so I could catch my flight to Singapore via Tokyo. The flights were uneventful and I was able to sleep some on both flights.

Brother Eddy Ee met me at the Singapore airport. He took me to the guest room at Four Seas College, which is located on the 3rd floor of the Jurong church building. By the time I had unpacked and put things away it was 3 AM local time. I set my alarm for 8 AM and was able to get up and eat my breakfast, walk four miles, and get cleaned up. I also went to buy a few things at the grocery store.

Sharon Chan fixed my lunch and ate with me at the Jurong church building. In the afternoon, I caught up with emails, my blog and facebook postings. I also worked on finalizing my lessons for the gospel meeting at Jurong.

I spoke at the Lim Ah Pin congregation on Thursday night for their English Bible class. It was good to see many familiar faces and several new faces as well. Among those faces was Amy, Jireh, and Jedediah Yuan. (Amy is the daughter of brother and sister Wang in Hualien, Taiwan.)

On Friday, I was able to eat lunch with a friend of many years, Ullas Nair. I met Ullas, the first time, at the Eastern Shore Lectures in Tasmania back in 1997. I have had the privilege to see him a few times since then. It was good to visit with him and also to see his family again.

The gospel meeting at Jurong began on Friday night. The topic for the evening was, “God’s Word is Relevant.” We had good attendance for every service of the meeting. I provided a basic outline on powerpoint for those who attended the meeting.

The Lim Ah Pin congregation was well represented on both Friday and Saturday nights. The heat and humidity was much worse Saturday night. It had rained just before services. Jurong is planning on installing air conditioning later this year, but right now it can be quite “sticky.” It had been a long time since I had been soaked from head to toe (literally) after preaching. Please do not misunderstand. I am enjoying the warm weather over here. We had a colder than normal winter in Georgia this year. This is the first time in weeks I haven’t been cold. Also, because of the humidity, this is the first in weeks my hands haven’t felt like sandpaper.

As many of you know, I have been on a diet since October. It was a great challenge to stay on this diet while I was overseas. It was very encouraging to me when the brethen here helped me to find places I could eat that enabled me to stay on my diet. Before leaving on this trip, I had lost 72 lbs. (By the end of the trip, I had lost a total of 82 lbs. since the middle of October, 2009.)

Sunday was a wonderful day. I was able to finish the gospel meeting at Jurong with good attendance and attention. It is my hope and prayer that much good was accomplished by this effort. As always, I received much strength and encouragement from the brethren here in Singapore. They are not only reaching people in Singapore, but also are active in supporting works in other Asian countries as well.

After eating lunch with some of the brethren at Jurong, I headed over to Lim Ah Pin to speak in the Chinese services there. I was able to arrive in time to hear the last few minutes of John Moore’s afternoon presentation. John and I were able to visit for a few minutes before the Chinese services began.

After eating dinner with some of the members, I was transported back to my room so that I could get most of my packing done getting ready to depart for Indonesia on Monday morning.

On to Indonesia

I left the Jurong church building to head for the airport to fly to Bali. This would be the first of four stops in Indonesia. This would also be the first time I had ever been to the island of Bali. The airplane trip was basically uneventful and I arrived about twenty minutes late to the airport. Victor Nainggolan and two of the local brethren were there to greet me.

The church in Singaraja is almost three hours drive from the airport. It is in the north part of the island almost 30 miles from the main tourist area. Besides this, the road goes over a mountain. In addition, I happened to arrive on the eve of a Hindu holiday called Nyepi, which is the Hindu day of reflection before their Balinese Hindu New Year. The day before Nyepi there were many parades being held on the roads, so the traffic was extra slow. There were many people crowding and blocking the road and large statues were carried as part of the parade

I did not realize how long it would be before we arrived at the hotel. It was about 6 PM when we finally arrived. After putting my things away, I ate one of my replacement meals to keep from having to go back out to find something I could eat. I also started working on my powerpoint presentation for this trip. I planned to have it completed just as soon as I return from this trip.

Because of the Hindu holiday, we were not able to leave the hotel area all day (this is practiced by all locals as well as visitors to the island). In the morning, I was able to walk around for my exercise. Since we were right on the beach, I walked a little bit on the beach. I have the new ShapeUp shoes by Sketchers, which is supposed to simulate walking on wet sand. So I was walking on wet sand in shoes that simulate walking on wet sand! Ha. I worked on some of my on-going projects (lectureship lessons, translation of lessons to film at TFTW and WVBS) in the room. This holiday also did not allow us to meet with the brethren on this day.

On Wednesday, we met with the brethren here in Singaraja studying the Bible for two hours before eating lunch and heading for the airport to fly to the island of Java and the city of Surabaya. This is the second largest city in Indonesia next to Jakarta.

Because we had a two hour delay going from Bali to Surabaya, our class on Wednesday night was delayed until almost 9:30 PM. We talked about principles of leadership in the session. On Thursday, we spent almost three hours in the afternoon meeting with the brethren in Surabaya.

On Friday, the local preachers went to teach at the prison. I was not able to go because I did not have a permit. We met again on Friday afternoon to continue our study of the Bible.

On Friday, we spent the second day in classes with the brethren in Surabaya. Again, after the lessons, we had a Q&A session to complete the afternoon.

On Saturday morning, we headed back to the airport to begin our journey to Jakarta. We have a safe trip and were met at the airport by Jacob Susetyo. He and his family provided us with a place to stay while in the city. I have known Jacob, Kim, Daniel, and Shannon for many years. I stayed in their house in Vancouver when I visited there many years ago.

After arriving, we made preparation for the afternoon class from 1-4 PM. There were about 15 members of the congregation who were able to attend. All of the sessions on Saturday and Sunday were on the subject of the “Eldership.” We spent eight hours total discussing this topics. This included the question and answer sessions. There were many good questions on the subject. The church is hoping to appoint elders in the future and wanted to talk about this important subject.

There were four members who were ethnic Chinese and I was able to visit with them between sessions. We also were able to enjoy a meal with all of the members after the morning services.

In the evening, we were able to spend some time with the Susetyo family before packing and getting ready to leave the next morning.

Lampung, Sumatra

Our flight to Lampung was at 8:00 AM, so we left the house at 6:00 AM to reach the airport and get ready to head for Sumatra. Even though our flight was a little late taking off, we had a good ride and arrived safely. Alex Daniel and Bonar Segala met Victor and me at the airport. Victor’s full-time translating and guidance was coming to an end. He spent almost seven full days ferrying me around Indonesia. He did a great job. I appreciate the great sacrifice he made to make my trip more successful. He is a great soldier in the Kingdom.

On Tuesday morning, I was able to get back to walking. I was able to walk about two miles. Thanks to Harun Tamale, one of the teachers at the school, for walking with me each morning. From Tuesday through Friday mornings, I taught materials on Leadership from the book of Nehemiah. I also spoke at chapel on Tuesday.

Beginning Tuesday evening, we started the first service of a three day gospel meeting. The topic for the first night was “How Sin Entered into the World.” All three nights of the meeting were designed to help motivate those who have been studying the Search for Truth materials in private Bible studies. One obeyed the gospel the night before the meeting began.

Wednesday was much the same as Tuesday. We had the four hour class in the morning, then office work in the afternoon, and the gospel meeting in the evening. I believe the attendance for Wednesday night was even better than the night before.

Thursday was almost a carbon copy of the two previous days. Morning classes, afternoon internet and report work, gospel meeting in the evening. The best attendance of the meeting was on Thursday night. I am thankful for the privilege to have a part in this effort.

While I was in Indonesia I received some very sad news. My good friend, Butch Young, passed away. Butch was a long-time member of the Leoni Church of Christ in Woodbury, TN. I am sorry I was not able to be there to attend the funeral. My sympathies are extended to Louella and the rest of the family. He was a faithful soldier in the Kingdom and he will be greatly missed!

On Friday, we finished the classes for the week. It was a great joy to be at the school and to be able to enjoy the fellowship with the brethren there. We had students from Java and Sumatra in the class. Also, all of the teachers at the school were participants in the class.

After lunch on Friday, Alex and Victor took me to the park that has a buoy in it as a result of the tsunami in 1883 caused by the volcano Krakatou. This buoy is located about a mile uphill from the ocean. Everything below that point was destroyed by the tidal wave. Offices located around this park have regular tsunami drills, where all the people go to a point above where the buoy is located.

It was a joy again to be with the brethren connected with the Southern Sumatra Bible Academy. They continue to train men and women to take their proper places in the church to help spread the gospel throughout the country. For the last twenty-five years, I have had contacts with one or more of these good men who have become part of this work. Please continue to pray for the efforts being made from this location in Indonesia.

On Saturday morning, I went to the school to play ping pong with the students. After lunch at Alex Daniel’s house, we went to the airport to meet Michael Leong. Unfortunately, his plane was almost two hours late. After we got him to his hotel, Alex’s family, Mike and I went to dinner. I ended the day on Saturday starting to arrange my suitcase for departure to Jakarta the next day.

On Sunday, I taught the morning Bible class lesson to all of the older children and adults. Alex translated for me. During the worship, Michael Leong presented a lesson in Indonesian. He used a Powerpoint presentation to assist in his lesson. It was well-received. After the morning service, we had a potlock meal with many kinds of dishes.

In late afternoon, Alex, Victor, and Mike took me to the airport to send me off to Jakarta. I arrived safely in Jakarta, spent the night, and went on to Singapore on Monday afternoon. After arriving safely in Singapore, I went to the Jurong church building to spend the night before heading back to the United States.

The flight home came off without a hitch. I arrived in Atlanta right on time, cleared customs and immigration, got my luggage and headed for home. I was able to get laundry completed and some other things done before going to bed just after 10:00 PM.

Thanks to all the brethren who helped to make this trip both possible and successful. We were able to accomplish all of our goals on this trip. We pray the result of this trip will be God will be glorified.

Malaysia and Singapore – June 2010

We have made final plans for the June trip to Singapore and Malaysia for the CABL and gospel meetings. We will talk about the details of this trip in our next report. The dates of this trip will be June 1-21.

In addition, I have been invited to speak at the Four Seas College Lectureship the first five days of December 2010. My topic is “The Transformed Life.” I will be working on arranging other speaking appointments in connection with this effort near the end of the year.

News and Letters from Around the World

ST GEORGE, SC: My name is Roy Knight and I am the preacher at the St. George church of Christ in South Carolina. I have a question that Mrs. April Meacham said that you might be able to answer: Why is there over a billion Chinese people in the world and I can't find one good brotherhood tract for them? Can you help me find some? This past Sunday (March 21st) we had the pleasure of baptizing a young Chinese lady into Christ. They own a restaurant in town and she has been attending church faithfully with us. We have several bilingual Chinese/English Bibles that we use. Do we have any brotherhood tracts/material that may help her to grow?” – Roy Knight. (NOTE: I replied to brother Knight while I was overseas and told him about our Chinese website and the materials available from World Video Bible School. JMG).

SINGAPORE: “Greetings! I just thought that I would send you an email to share with you how encouraged I am by your preaching and sharing of the gospel. I really am thankful for brethren like you who are motivated and enthusiastic for the Lord. Thank you again for all you've done, and have a safe journey to Bali on Monday. Looking forward to your lessons in the morning!” – Willy Chin. (NOTE: This email was received during my trip. JMG.)

SINGAPORE: “It has been a long years since we met again at Lim Ah Pin Church of Christ in Singapore. I am so happy and proud of you of having a desire to put so much effort to learn new language so you can teach the Bible with the people of other races. It is very encouraging and motivating for me to see your enthusiasm, concern and the true love for the lost soul specially in Asia. It is very difficult to find a faithful brother like you who has the heart to sacrifice and go to learn the people's culture for the sake of his love to God and to a fellowman” – Ludina Carrido. (NOTE: It was good to see Ludina after many years. JMG.)

ON-GOING PROJECTS UPDATE

Editing Old Chinese Sermons

Over a decade ago, I recorded 60 lessons on VHS tapes at WVBS. I have decided to re-record these lessons and edit them here at Truth for the World. This will also be an on-going project for the next two years. I have completed translating about 30% of the nineteen outlines that will be available to go along with the lessons and also to use on the teleprompter. 　　

I continue to edit the audio from these old video programs for our radio program. So far, I have completed the editing on 50 out of 60 of these radio programs. After completing this editing, I will begin editing the audio from the “Chinese Sermons and Outlines” series. There will be an additional 58 lessons from this to add to the radio program rotation.

Working on Materials for Future WVBS Filming Projects

I will continue to prepare outlines for the current Chinese series on “Leadership.” In addition, I am continuing to prepare English lessons I record each time I travel to WVBS. These English lessons can be used by churches that do not have a preacher. They are now being used on Gospel Broadcasting Network under the title, “Faith-Building Sermons.” These lessons air four times a week (Sunday – 5:30 AM; Wednesday – 2:00 PM; Saturday – 5:00 AM and PM) on GBN.

Chinese Songbook – Completed!

I have completed the project to record Chinese songs out of the book used by some of the Chinese brethren in Asia. I recorded the songs and burned them to CD in early March. I took five MP3’s and five CD’s to Singapore for the brethren there to distribute them and, of course, to make as many copies as possible. Thanks to Dave Komisak, our production engineer, who helped me to get this CD finished. We hope much good will come from this effort. I will take a few with me in June as well.

Chinese Website Update

At this writing (since January 2007), we have had over 30,000 visits to our Chinese website from people in 134 countries. This includes over 10,300 visits from at least 387 cities in China.

Through the distribution of our new DVD and radio lessons, and now having the lessons on YouTube, more people are becoming aware of our website. On YouTube search: “John Grubb Chinese.” Please tell others of our Chinese website: www.tftwchinese.org. Do not forget to check out my Facebook page for pictures and news about my trips.

SPEAKING SCHEDULE

2010

April 17-18 – Hubbard, TX Lectures
April 19-23 – WVBS Filming
April 25 – New Hope Church Family Day
June 1-21 – Section 17, Genting, Klang, Malaysia, CABL (Singapore)
June 28-30 Banner of Truth Lectures
Nov. 29-Dec. 13 – Four Seas College Lectures, and other venues

You can view an video update on the work we are doing in preparing Chinese materials at the website below: http://oabs.org/Archives/Lectures/msop2009.htm

“Chinese Radio Program” We have an hour of programming on AM 1206 in Taiwan. We first air our English Truth for the World broadcast, immediately followed by our Chinese program. This one-hour program has a potential audience of 197 million people. This is aired on a 100,000 watt Radio Station in Taiwan. Four eastern provinces in China are able to hear this program, as well as three central counties in Taiwan. Please continue to pray for these efforts. These programs are also available on our Chinese website: www.tftwchinese.org.

– John M. Grubb