Lausanne Fall 2019 Newsletter

Exploring Christmas In Jakarta
When the Christmas season
arrives, its celebration dominates
the commercial environments in
some parts of Jakarta. It doesn’t
take much to find the international
and western expressions
of Christmas throughout the
malls and stores. You can find
Christmas trees, Santa Claus,
Frosty, snow globes, an home
decorations within easy reach.
If you look carefully, you might
even find a nativity scene or
two to purchase. All this sparks
an interest about this holiday
surrounding Isa. This is especially
true in our international
university village where I live.
Rather than only relying on the
traditional church services, our
church started searching for ways
to introduce others to the story
of Jesus through small intimate
concerts. With the help of one
of our church members who own
a desert shop, we conducted an
acoustic concert entitled “When
He Came”. The intent is to
provide a neutral venue where
members of our congregation
The band who presented “When He Came”
can invite their friends they are seeking to
disciple and spark conversations about this
incredible story of Jesus coming to earth.
The concert included traditional and original
contemporary songs that would imagine what
that first Christmas was like for who
witnessed His coming. Video presentations
and short dramas helped set the stage for the
stories the songs would explain. Short
intermissions gave the audience an opportunity
to discuss what they were hearing and
explore the stories further over their favorite
desert.
The warmth
and interaction
were an
encouragement
to us.
The entire audience
included people
from several
countries beyond
Indonesia. There
were students and
young professionals
from places like the