Faith Across Cultures: Discovering the Joy and Hope of Indonesian Seminary Students

Over JTerm 2025, three CTS students joined Dr. Yudha Thianto for an experiential learning and study trip. Read Jin Soo Park’s reflections below!

Indonesians are beautiful people. They are very kind, hospitable, and welcoming. I could observe that it takes time to build a relationship, but they are very curious about us. They wanted to get to know us and spend time with us. I personally had a wonderful conversation with some of the seminary students at Southeast Asia Bible Seminary or Seminari Alkitab Asia Tenggara in Indonesian (SAAT). One of them was named Gita. He came from Kalimantan, an island north of Java that borders Malaysia. He was a banker before he came to SAAT. He witnessed the dichotomy of Christian Indonesian young adults. They will come to worship on Sundays but from Monday to Saturday, they are like everyone else outside the church. Gita was living like that too, and he said, “No more. I need to be doing what I am saying . I need to be right with God first.” He initially wanted to be a model of a good Christian in the workplace. However, God had different plans and led him to ministry. He dropped his job at the bank and packed his bags and came to seminary. Here, he is in a group like our Formation Group where they practice specific spiritual disciplines and have accountability partners and mentors. One of the disciplines he is doing is to fast social media. The students were very serious about following Jesus Christ.

Indonesia has 17,000 islands with 700+ language groups and 600+ ethnic groups. There are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. It is a very unique and diverse country. Moreover, with the history of colonialism, immigration, and maritime trade the country is an amalgamation of different cultures (Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, Arab and local cultures). The students come from all over Indonesia and they are the very few Christians in the country, let alone, Christian young adults. I saw light in their eyes as they were learning. They were excited to absorb all the learning from Dr. Thianto. They were asking questions and going to him after class. They were thirsty for knowledge and wisdom. They were passionate in serving God. Every morning, when I stepped into the chapel I would get goosebumps listening to them worshiping God in unison. The phrase that came into my mind was, “the fullness of God.” I could feel the fullness of God in that small room where they were praising and praying out loud. I was almost in tears as they sang “Jesus Loves Me” in such beautiful harmony. You can see purity and joy as they praised God. Yes, they also go through struggles of their own. However, as I spent time with them, I could see hope in this country through the SAAT students. They are the hope and the light of Indonesia. I am honored to be in the same class with them. Despite being a religious minority, they were not afraid to live for Jesus Christ. My heart goes out to them. May the LORD continue to bless them as they learn theology, read difficult texts, share their stories, and live out their callings.

I am humbled beyond measure. I live in the sea of Christians in Grand Rapids. All my life I have been surrounded by Christians. I took Christian education for granted. However, meeting and building relationships with the SAAT students, I was humbled to see how precious the Word of God is. There is beauty in learning the Word of God, there is joy in studying theology, there is humility in interacting with people of different cultures and denominations, and there is hope in witnessing faith in Jesus Christ through fellow brothers and sisters in Christ half-way across the world. Finally, there is love when we gather to learn and break bread together, because ultimately we are all living for His glory alone. I am excited to see how God will direct the students at SAAT and what a privilege and honor it was to be a part of their lives now.