11 Jan Moving To Jakarta

9 Dec 2021

During morning prayers, see a faint presence of Holy Spirit come over a land (sense is Indonesia). Impression is more outpouring of the Holy Spirit over the land of Indonesia. verse I saw was Psalms 146:1-5

Praise the Lord.[a]

Praise the Lord, my soul.

2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.

8 Jan 2022:

Spoke to an assigned mentor for 2 hours as part of a program. Had a very direct, honest, authentic and vulnerable conversation.

As part of the conversation, the mentor asked if I’m ready to move to Jakarta. My first response after 5 seconds of thinking was: No, I don’t think so. (main reason was family. My son just got into primary school, God had just moved us into this new place for 1 year, I’m not sure what my wife would think of moving again!)

However we continued the conversation and then I began to think he may be right and I sensed that God indeed seem to be planting this idea in my mind through him to re-locate to Jakarta. We basically broke down the various parts.

– My heart has always been for Indonesia both intellectually (4th most populous country, young demographics, dynamic population, cheaper cost base, bigger market etc) and also spiritually (all along I know God is going to bring us into Indonesia for His work)

– My wife is a home-maker, baby girl is reaching 1 year old which is good time to move (We moved to UK when my elder son was this age too). I had some concerns for primary school for my elder son. Parents are independent and don’t need me physically.

–  God has been opening doors for Jakarta over the last few months, I had began to build a team in Jakarta and indeed already have full timer there working. On the flipside, God “cleared” the team and I actually have no one working full time in Singapore for now.

That night I told one of my cell groups, my Jakarta full timer and my wife that God seems to be asking us to re-locate. In my quick conversations with God that evening while travelling I sensed yes, maybe. That night my wife told me she is actually excited and will just go with the flow. Her only concern was healthcare in case the kids get Covid. She has no much concerns about education etc which caught me by surprise.

The next morning I learnt from people that I can apply for a Leave of absence for my elder son and anytime we want to come back he can return to the primary school. Now I know why God wanted us to enter the school first even though we may have to move soon.

Apart from the general logistics, suddenly there isn’t much hurdles for our re-location now. Continuing to seek God for clear leading on this matter.

12 Jan 2022

Corporate prayer: see the word Jakarta, then John 5:16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. then Jakarta again with a white dove at the right top corner. God is speaking about persecution? So we move to Jakarta with our eyes wide open expecting persecution, but Holy Spirit will help us.

13 Jan 2022:

Had a good catch up with a pastor and missionary. Regarding the recent call to re-locate the family, he provided great counsel to allow the call to cultivate by “throwing it back at God” by asking God continuously about it. If this is His call, lead the way etc. The clouds will gather and accumulate and when it finally rains, we know for sure it’s time.

18 Jan 2022:

Continue to feel excited (with a little sense of not knowing what to expect) and peaceful as a family regarding moving to Jakarta. Most people I spoke to gave me a sense of peace too.

This morning during worship, I was thinking of Indonesia and Jakarta when this song by JPCC came up. I started crying. Especially the parts “如今我全然相信，深知在祢凡事都可能“。 It’s like Abba giving me confidence and assurance that going to Jakarta will be ok and good.

4 Sep 2022

Over the year, I made a few trips myself and have always been praying for the right school for Sean, so that we will live near the school to reduce commute time. God was silent all the while so I kind of guessed perhaps God will reveal when wife is here, which is actually better.

In my own search and shortlist, I chose the north side, Pluit and PIK area. maybe can consider west. followed by south. then central. In this order of preference.

We started the trip staying in airbnb in apartment/retail complex but we found some small cockroaches which became worse in the morning after pest control guy came and sprayed insecticides around the house. This disrupted my workflow as we have to suddenly prepare to move out and attend online ACS openhouse on zoom, then I have to travel to St Vincentius Orphanage for work. It was a hectic morning, disturbance but as we prayed, things were manageable.

In terms of shortlisted school, I mainly chose schools in the north. A few people mentioned ACS to us a few times but I wasn’t keen for two main reasons, it’s far out in the south/east. It’s expensive. However as they happen to have zoom openhouse I just signed up to listen.

During the online open house, the principal spoke. A sister who was introduced to us by our missionary friend had given good comments about the principal and the principal’s wife. I already had a good impression. When I saw the face of the principal, my mind was blown. He is actually my sec 3 and 4 math teacher. God works in the very small details. He is one of the teachers I liked, as I was not a typical good student, I have few teachers I liked. Standards under him will be high as I knew it from my secondary school. Sean’s education is a major factor in our “worries” for this move and this was very assuring. God is also showing me that indeed He is working in advance, in the background to bring about His leading and His will.

I told the sister that principal was my teacher, she then connected us to the principal directly. God is leading us towards ACS.

9 Sep 2022

In terms of schools, we still viewed all the shortlisted schools as planned and in our hearts, we knew that if God is opening door to ACS, He will shut the doors to the others to help us be sure. True enough in our school viewings, ACS is our top choice. I had a good catchup with principal in person too!

For houses, we viewed all the shortlisted houses in the north as planned.

We then also took the chance to view some houses near ACS. In the end we liked a particular estate near ACS the best. Better than the north.

One “problem” was the area God is leading us to is least developed and relatively dangerous.

I then had a meeting with a brother and told him the updates and also some “worries” I have regarding the area. He basically told me that the area is more “un-churched” and it makes sense for God to lead us there. I was like, true…

26 Oct 2022

We are not attached to any mission organisations. I understand the importance of spiritual covering and even though I was not active in seeking out my covering, God arranged it such that my own home church is likely our covering.

Pastor in charge referred to the church missions committee to have a conversation.

Meanwhile I learnt from ACS Jakarta principal that they do not have missionary discount. SPH told me they have up to 50% missionary discount. So I was a bit confused but see how God leads for the right school.

In terms of visa, I felt it’s impossible for us to have our own entity and visa. It cost too much as well. Agreed to help the other venture and hopefully use their entity and visa.

27 Oct 2022

Meeting with home church missions committee. Felt really tired and lonely after the meeting. The church just is not aligned to what God’s model is for us. Felt very discouraged and tired of explaining and explaining. That everything needs to be forced into a box. When God cannot be forced into a box. Posture of heart is, I still love the people, in fact they are mentor figures and people I respect. But in my spirit I’m tired. During the meeting I told them that God has been speaking to me about prayer house but I cannot give a workplan because I don’t know where or what this prayer house is about yet.. I need to move first. I also cannot just force myself into a mission organization because God has not led it this way.

28 Oct 2022

I was sharing with my two brothers that I don’t have capacity to help much as God has placed three things on my plate, a startup, non-profit and in ministry God is speaking about prayer house in Indonesia. Few days later, one of the brothers remembered I mentioned prayer house and told me their church has just started supporting a Zion House of Prayer in Indonesia. So we checked the location (as Indonesia is big) and it’s an hours drive from where God is asking us to live. So now we suddenly have this prayer house to visit in a week’s time! God literally brought this prayer house to me!