Grubb Mission
Report – June 2016
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature” (Mark 16:15).
A Work of the
Chestnut Mountain Church of Christ, Chestnut Mountain, Georgia USA
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PLEASE PASS THIS
REPORT TO THOSE YOU THINK MIGHT HAVE INTEREST IN OUR WORK!
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If anyone would
like for me to come and give a report of my work, I would be happy to schedule
it.
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Indonesia and
the Chinese Asian Bible Lectureship
On May 4th I departed for a five week
trip to Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. This was my 59th mission trip. And
as I did a few years ago, I made this trip with a broken foot. Only this time,
it is my left foot that is broken.
In spite of the long trip with my boot, I
made the trip pretty well. My foot did swell a bit, but after my first night’s
sleep in Indonesia it looked a lot better.
Denpasar, Bali
Alex Daniel met me outside of customs at
the International airport in Denpasar, Bali. The traffic was pretty bad there,
so it took quite a while to get to the hotel and try to get settled in. Before
we could do that, we had to leave for the evening class at the Denpasar
congregation.
The theme of the trips around Indonesia
was “Basic Facts of the Faith.” The first time I taught this material in
Indonesia was in 1989 or 1990 at the Southern Sumatra Bible Academy when it was
located in Gisting, Sumatra.
While in Denpasar, I had the privilege to
teach four lessons to the brethren there. On Monday morning, we boarded a plane
to head to Surabaya. Traffic in Surabaya
was just as bad as Bali traffic. On the way to Surabaya, my phone died. I went
to buy a new one (as cheaply as possible) to use.
Surabaya
Classes were conducted on Tuesday and
Wednesday evening. We had about thirty to attend the Tuesday evening class.
There was good interest and several questions were asked during the question
and answer session. There were also two new Bible studies set up as a result of
the Wednesday night class.
Sunter, Jakarta
On Thursday, we left for Jakarta. On
Friday night, we had a Q&A with those members who were able to attend. On
Saturday, we met from 10 AM to 4 PM studying Romans chapter 12. We would have a
Q&A after each study session. On Sunday, the Block M congregation joined
the Sunter congregation for worship, Bible study, lunch, Bible study, and
Q&A. About 100 were in attendance for the Sunday services.
Thanks to Jacob and Kim Susetyo for all
of their help and good work. It was good to get to know the members in Jakarta.
Manado, Suluwesi
On Monday, May 16th, we flew to Manado to
begin a week long effort with the church there. A great place to eat fish is in
Manado. I ate tuna. In fact, I ate fish
at least once a day while in Manado.
On Tuesday through Saturday, we met each
night (except for Friday) in classes and singing training. I had the privilege
to meet with two different congregations in the Manado area. On Friday we were
taken into the mountains to visit various sites (including an active volcano).
We were able to visit with several of the members while we there and answer
many of their Bible questions.
On Saturday afternoon we went to eat
lunch with Mike Rotinsulu, the mother of the Rotinsulu boys. That evening we
conducted classes for over three hours at the Suwaan congregation. On Sunday
morning, Alex returned there to teach and preach while I went back to the
Manado congregation for Sunday services.
On Monday morning, we headed for the
airport to begin our trip to Lampung, Sumatra. We finally arrived there about
5:15 PM.
Southern
Sumatra Bible Academy and Three Congregations in Lampung Province
On Tuesday through Friday mornings, I
taught from 8 AM until noon at the school. It had been over 25 years since I
had taught “Basic Facts of the Faith” at the school, so that is the material I
taught this trip. Of course, 25 years of experience added to the original
material. I am going to revise the material and they are going to translate it
and put it in print for use among the students and prospects.
Each evening, I preached at a different
congregation in the province. On Tuesday night, I spoke at the TanjungKarang
congregation. Wednesday night, I was at the Pelita Baru congregation. On
Thursday night, we traveled to Uwe Slawe to conduct a one night service there.
There was a good number who attended this service. They were there waiting for
us when we arrived. I had a different translator each night of these meetings
and they did a good job of translating.
Batam
On Saturday, May 28th, Timbul Siriat and
I traveled to Batam for my last stop on this trip in Indonesia. Several of the
staff and students went with us to the airport to see us off. We arrived safely
in Batam, was met by one of the brethren and went to the hotel to rest before
the Bible class on Saturday night.
We had good sessions on Sunday morning
for Bible study, worship, lunch, a presentation about the school by Timbul,
then finally a question and answer session to finish the day. Monday evening
was another wonderful three hour session of lesson and question and answer
session.
They had asked me about coming back and
Timbul had mentioned it would probably be in two years. When I thought about
how close it is to Singapore and how easy it is to get to Batam from Singapore,
I mentioned that I should be able to come back next year for another weekend.
This was after the sessions were ended for the night. I was shocked and
surprised when all of the members broke out in applause.
On Tuesday morning, I departed Batam by
ferry and headed to Singapore. This was the first time I had used this method
to enter Singapore. I spent the day on Tuesday getting settled in to my room,
met one of the members for tea, and organized my luggage for the upcoming trip
to Malaysia.
On Wednesday, the skies opened and I was
kept in my room for most of the day. On Wednesday evening, I traveled to the
Jurong congregation to attend midweek Bible study.
On Thursday morning, I went back to
Jurong to ride their bus to the Chinese lectures site. I was the first speaker
on the program and then was on the panel for the question and answer session.
The Chinese lectures continued all day
Friday and through lunchtime on Saturday. There were a total of ten different
speakers with three question and answer sessions. On Friday evening, I also
spoke to the English Bible class for the local Melaka congregation and several
other English speaking visitors from around Asia also attended. There were
between 175 and 200 Chinese people attending this event. There were two baptisms
on Friday afternoon. I returned to Singapore arriving late Saturday night.
On my last day in Asia, I spoke at a
Bible class and preached in worship at the English congregation of the Jurong
church of Christ. In the afternoon, I taught the Chinese Bible class at the Lim
Ah Pin congregation.
Early Monday morning (June 6th), I flew
back to the U.S. and arrived safely back home. I am so thankful for all of the
prayers, assistance, and hospitality of all who helped make this trip possible.
My
next overseas trip is scheduled for August 24th – October 10th. I will be
traveling to Taiwan and China at that time. In between now and then, I have
four separate trips I will be making here in the states.
Check out all the pictures on my Facebook page.
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SPEAKING
SCHEDULE
2016
June 19-21 Coal
City – Gospel Meeting
June 22 Ben’s Camp – Angola, IN
July 15-17 Martinsville – Gospel Meeting
July 24-28 Power
Lectures
Aug. 24 – Oct.
10 – Taiwan/China
October 14-15
World Evangelism Seminar
October 16-19 –
Gospel Meeting – Cartersville, GA
October 22 –
Chestnut Mountain Youth Day
October 29-30 –
Southeast GA Lectureship
Nov. 21 –
Dec. 19
– Singapore/Malaysia
23-26 Nov. Four Seas College Lectures
27 Nov. JB and Skudai
2-7 Dec. Section 17 Meeting and Camp
9-11 Dec.
Kota Kemuning
11-15 Kampar, Ipoh, and Taiping
16-18 Dec. Subang Jaya
2017
Jan. 31 – Mar. 7
– New Zealand (Arrive 2-2)
Apr. 24-25
McCaysville Lectureship
Singapore-Malaysia
China-Taiwan
2018
Apr. 22-25
Gospel Meeting – Collinsville, IL
– John M. Grubb
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Chinese Website:
http://www.grubbchinese.org
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