First - the Blitz is very appropriately named. We covered a LOT of ground in a short time with a relatively small team. Thinking back a month to when we were planning, I remember how I was concerned that we wouldn’t have enough clients to occupy all of the consultants who were signed up for the Blitz – what a surprise God had in store for me! Through the extraordinary efforts of Felly, Evonne, Errol and the rest of the rēp Indonesia team, we ended up seeing over 50 past clients in 8 days. This kept all of us on our toes!

Second – God has used rēp and blessed our efforts. Client after client that I met with throughout the Blitz shared with us how their venture experience was radically impactful - not just to their view of business, but to the way they are doing business. Even more, many told us how the venture has impacted their lives and the lives of those around them for God’s glory.

Third – and closely related to the second - the massive impact that rēp consultants have had on the lives of so many in Indonesia just because they were obedient to God’s call to go to Indonesia. Every past client that I spoke with mentioned their consultant by name and shared a story of something that consultant had said or done that blessed them and changed them. I would love to list by name each past consultant and share a story of how their effort made an impact. I won’t do this here, but I will tell you that I can’t wait to see my past co-consultants and share with them the incredible stories I have heard. With that said, I feel compelled to single out Bob Norsworthy and Rebecca Muir. Bob led the first four (out of seven) Jakarta ventures and his fingerprints are all over the place. Bob’s boldness in coming, his creativity in adapting the rēp venture to the Indonesian culture, and the grace and love that Bob lavished on clients and consultants alike set the stage for what we were privileged to do during the Blitz. Rebecca took the baton from Bob and led the last two ventures, adding best practices along the way and providing a firm foundation to launch the Blitz from. Thank you Bob and Rebecca!

Finally – the strength of the team that the Lord pulled together for this Blitz. Random thoughts around this: Dena’s constant encouragement and instruction to the team on “prophetic consulting”, Adrienne’s repeated connections with just about every client that had an education ministry (good thing she has an MBA in Finance;-), Selim’s directness and ability to get straight to the heart of an issue with his clients, Julie’s availability to go along with Selim on his visit to Bambang which effectively turned into a separate consult to Bambang’s wife and mother who are both passionate about Kingdom business (I expect that we will see this bear much fruit in the future), Katherine’s broad knowledge and her ability to get to root cause quickly then create a new consulting tool on the fly, Bobby’s mix of practical leadership experience and spiritual discernment – clients just couldn’t get enough of him, and finally Michelle’s “out there” personality which kept us all engaged and entertained and had some clients insisting that Michelle be their consultant. What a team and what a blessing to be called to serve alongside and actively take part in the transformation of society in Indonesia for the glory of God!

Paul Busk

Today our team hosted a “10-P Booster,” which basically means we helped a group of past clients to review what they had learned during their past rep Venture and showed them how to use their “Scorecards” (a helpful tool which lists goals and strategies) more effectively and actively as management tools.

I worked with Heru, who owns a restaurant, and Wanto, who owns an auto repair business. When Heru arrived this morning, he told Wanto that before going through the rep Venture, he was not happy with his work and he was very stressed out by the problems at work. Since the Venture, he now enjoys going to work every day, and he has not been stressed out at all. The problems are still there, but he approaches them differently, recognizing that the business is God’s business, and for His purposes, not Heru’s business. He says that the atmosphere in his restaurant has improved significantly since then. My other client, Wanto, was so encouraged by Heru’s testimony, that Wanto and Heru decided to start meeting on a regular basis for prayer,encouragement, accountabilityand to share kingdom business strategies. Wanto committed to having a good attitude at work in all situations.

The business owners who came today left at the end of the day glowing. Everyone said the 10-P Booster was really helpful, and stretched and refined their visions beyond what they had developed during their rep Venture.

My client has two more new goals: First, he wants for his company to sponsor an orphanage with like-minded leaders. Second, he intends to review his scorecard on a weekly basis with his business partners (his brother and sister, who went through the venture with him). This second new goal will enable him to more effectively implement the goals he developed during the Venture, i.e. it will help him to develop a kingdom business. He left the meeting very happy and encouraged, with improved strategies and commitments.

It was also encouraging to see and hear how much of their Scorecards these previous clients had already incorporated into their businesses, and how much their vision of kingdom business had expanded.

It was a wonderful day for all of us! : ) Thanks again for all of your support and prayer coverage!

Adrienne Busk

Day Twelve of the formal blitz and to look at us, we may not seem to be moving at blitz-neck speed! Fatigue, exhaustion, and regular bouts of Deli Belly have set in impacting each of the team members at various times. Although down trodden (or toiled bound!) we are not defeated! Consider Brett who came in late Tuesday night from the States, and still managed to stay awake long enough to share with us his favorite color, animal and drink (tee hee) before going to bed. Consider Paul with his extra responsibilities as team lead, and Adrienne with her de facto nutritional role in providing pro-biotics, vitamins, and a host of other ingredients to try and keep us healthy. Consider Felly and Evonne who spend endless hours on the phone, ringing and sending texts to clients (or is it the home shopping network?) into the wee hours of the morning. Consider Bobby who now must manage all our technical (is the button on?!) needs alone now that Selim is back in the States. Or Dena who manages to get her laundry and her ironing done regularly and present herself refreshed as if it is a mild 70 degrees on any given day, whilst some of us are melting with the humidity! And dear Errol, what does he do all day?! He mans the fort in a myriad of ways we don’t even know, and for him, this is two weeks out of the more than two years he has already been here. The long haul, and not a word of complaint. And for the Julie and Katherine, not only must they share an apartment with Michelle (and the late night bonding that implies) they no longer have the luxury of local consultants translating and escorting them on every client excursion. And apart from getting into the wrong car every now and then (they look Indonesian!) they are prevailing! And lastly, there is the joy of waking Michelle by the “gentle” ringing of the phone next to her bed when it was evident she was not on time for morning devotions (what’s new?!). Yes, we may be tired, but to see the tremendous impact and miraculous transformations in the companies and lives of our clients makes it all worthwhile.

On another note, some random thoughts:

Ø Picture signs in the bathrooms instruct you how to squat on the floor and NOT on the toilet (instead of the traditional “how you wash your hands” signs in the states);

Ø Smoking areas in restaurants are inside the buildings/restaurants not outside;

Ø There are metal and bomb detectors at every entrance to shopping malls, restaurants, office buildings, hotels. Not to worry that they beep repeatedly, you are usually just waved through;

Ø Although Jakarta is predominantly Muslim, most women do not wear head coverings and most people are in western dress

Ø It is rude to put your feet up; or otherwise touch anyone with them;

Ø It is not rude to pick your teeth at the table with a toothpick, as long as you cover your mouth;

Ø No one says “God bless you” after you sneeze, or “Allah bless you” for that matter;

Ø When you ask someone if they’ve done something or gone somewhere and they haven’t; they usually answer “not yet” rather than just “no.”

Ø I understand there is water nearby, that we are actually on an island, and that you can see it once in a blue moon; or should I say, on a clear, low pollution day!

Michelle de Young

Dear friends! Greetings from Indonesia, also known as the Spice Islands, native to nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon!

The delicious and flavorful Indonesian cuisine reflects the country’s agricultural heritage. We have tasted an array of flavors offered in the local cuisine such as nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice), satay and oxtail soup. The team has stayed in good health with the exception when western food such as pizza and fish-n-chips were ingested. Speaking of food, the mosquitoes are having a grand feast! They really like me!

Praise God for his provision as we continue to rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the Word to direct our meetings. Today was another action packed day as we eagerly await to meet our clients. Michelle and Hong Lim met with a trading company (chemicals), Katherine and Felly with an architectural firm, Bobby and Dr. Suprano with a property developer, Dena and Evonne with a cell phone provider, Adrienne, Joshua and Julie with a book publishing and bookstore franchiser. At the end of the day, we found that one company is regularly using the 10-P scorecard (strategies, action items key performance indicators to align a company’s values with biblical values) at its management meetings, another company is expanding its kingdom principles in business into kingdom lifestyles, while another is growing in God’s truth.

The evening was topped off with the most “enak banget” (scrumptious) meal catered by one of our clients, Endang. Our charming activities coordinator, Michelle, lead us in yet another fun team building activity. We listed our favorite colors, animals and drinks and 3 adjectives to describe each of our “favorites.” The attributes reveals how we see ourselves, (future) partner and romance.

Today’s reflections:

1. Be ready to share the Good News. “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” I Peter 3:15. To whom shall the Indonesian “booklets” be given to?

2. God may prompt us to delve into topics that may not make any sense to us, but He’s taking us exactly to where he wants to be. If we have any doubt, he will often use scripture to confirm his leading.

3. Believers of other religions will recognize truth in the gospel and want to have it.

Thank you for praying! Terima kasih untuk berdoa!

 Julie Su

I’m so excited exciting to be a part of this Blitz, where I have seen the longer-term impact of the rep ventures. It’s encouraging to hear story after story about people who had thought that the primary purpose of their businesses was to make a profit or perhaps to fund ministry, then learned through the venture of their calling to minister through their business. Now we are able to seethese stories unfolding in powerful ways. One ofPaul’s clients from two years ago, Yayang,was a new believer at the time of the venture. The concept of kingdom anything was still new to him.He decided when he came to Christ that he would stop engaging inunethical and sinful practices as part of his business. During the venture he also committed to visiting all hisemployees’ homes to ensure that they had adequatebathrooms (a sign ofwhether their living conditions were adequate).Through the blitz, we learned that Yayangis working ona new vision: to have every one of his employees own their ownhomes within five years. There are many other goals he had two years ago that not only are being fulfilled, they are being expanded and used to glorify the Lord. Yayang brought his best friend, Wijaya,to the venture two years ago.Wijaya became a believer the last night of the venture. What had looked like a very hard heart for 9 days of venture turned into the Potter’s clay that last night. His life was transformed, and his business was transformed. It is encouraging to see how much Wijaya has grown in the Lord, how he’s using his business to transform society to the glory of the Lord, and how the Lord is using him as a leader in an impactful ministry at his church. Something else that has touchedmy heart during this Blitz:the Lord has given me many clients whohave a vision for education. My first client, Seemun, runs a chain of schools, preschool through 6th grade (expanding through high school over the next few years), throughout Jakarta. She is a beautiful woman with a beautiful heart for the Lord, and she has a vision for raising up godly leaders to go throughout the world to make disciples of the nations.The schools have won many awards of excellence, the students are from many different countries. Walking through the schools, I could see tha there is something really special about the children the Lord has brought to Seemun’s schools, it’s almost as if we could see the hand of God training and instructing these children—at least you could see it reflected in their faces, which shone with joy. As part of the training, theschool is now implementing achildren’sprogram of Crown Ministries into the curriculum. (Seemun’s husband Suparnoleads the Crown Ministry program here in Jakarta). We prayed over the graduating 6th grade students, one by one. It was touching to see the children, who were at first reluctant, to come forward excitedly to be prayed over, and to see the other students come forward and lay hands on their classmates while praying (see photo). The school also reaches out to the prarents through Bible studies, prayer meetings, and counseling. Bobby and I met with Seemun’s husband, Suparno, for a day as well. He, too, has a heart for glorifying the Lord through education. He has used profits from other businesses to build a chain of education centers for people who have graduated from high school. It is encouraging to see how the Lord has been expanding his businesses and using the businesses for His glory. Paul and I were driven to a city about 30 miles (3 hours) away from Jakarta to meet with Martha and Budi. Martha came to the venture 3 years ago with one goal in mind, to make a HUGE PROFIT (her words) with her coffee plantation. By the end of the venture, she repurposed her life and her business to be aligned with kingdom principles. She also had a vision to build a Christian school to raise up godly leaders. She first met Budi at the next rep event and encouraged him to participate in a venture. Budi came from a family business thathad aligned itself from the beginning with kingdom principles. His mother had startedthe dress-making business with one sewing machine and a heart to pray and to make excellent dresses that glorify the Lord. She now has thousands of workers at the factory who they minister to and pray for on a daily basis, and they sell dresses throughout the world. They lead and fund many other ministries through this business. Also,as Martha and Budi were getting to know each other, theylearned that they both have the same vision towards education. A yearafter meeting,Budi and Martha were married, and a year after that (this past year) they began a preschool-1st grade program with 40 students, purchased about 10 acres in their city to build a preschool-high school facility, and are planning for construction to begin soon. (They also have a beautiful baby girl). They are involved in many similar ministries, i.e. they are currently building an orphanage for 50 children, and they are teaching others how to integrate business and ministry. I could go on for several pages, sharing story after story of transformed lives and the Lord’s provision. I cannot even begin to tell you how thankful we are as a team that the Lord has brought us here and for all of your prayers. We sense spiritual warfare often, and we also sense that we’re being prayed for by many people at home, and the Lord turns the spiritual warfare into spiritual growthfor His servants.

Adrienne Busk

Indonesian business is marked by greed, corruption and manipulation; everyone who doesn’t have wants and those who have want more. Bribery and multiple accounting ledgers are commonplace. Police and authorities are immune to the practices and exact payment from bystanders and partners – as well as pay out to those pressuring them.

All this is done in the name of “peace” – if payment is given, pressure lifts, slander stops and the world spins smoothly. If the judge, policeman, marketer, landlord, boss, “connection” isn’t paid all hell breaks loose and not uncommonly, a prison sentence ensues.

Most of our Indonesian clients face these issues. One woman is in the hospitality industry. She provides meals for hundreds of individuals a day – she didn’t get payment to one of her marketers in time and her contracts were cancelled, her name slandered and she has spent months recovering from the incident. Another man refused to pay a bribe and was jailed on trumped charges…for three years! Another man was stopped at a toll booth where the policeman demanded extra payment. My friend told the officer no and a stare down ensued; the authority then noticed all the “bules” (fair skinned foreigners) in the car and waved us through.

Fear is rampant. Intimidation normalcy. Why do those exacting the bribes, those acting corruptly, those threatening others not get their due? Why are they allowed to rule and reign?

Bribery is wrong. Extortion is wrong. Manipulation is wrong. Bullying is wrong. But it continues because it is easier to pay than risk loosing a business, a home, a livelihood. AND, the law isn’t on your side so a jail or prison sentence is most likely eminent because the judge and authorities are in someone’s pocket!

“Oh God, where are you in all this mess?”

He responded that most of us are more afraid of man than we are of him. Most of us are afraid of what others will think, what others will do, what others will say; than what God’s opinion or thought is.

Ouch. He was right. How often does the fear of man keep us from doing what God wants us too? How often do the thoughts, responses, reactions, or even looks of someone hold us back? When did we become more afraid of man than of God?

God is loving, is kind, is caring and fatherly…but he is also all-powerful, almighty, and sovereign. I think we forget that a lot and put what men think above what God thinks.

Dena Andrews

I’ve seen teams come and go and quite a few “Ventures” in which we facilitate the refocusing of business owners on God’s ownership and claims to their businesses and His desire to use and bless their businesses for Kingdom purposes as we impact societies and nations through our businesses.

This time we have had the team come from the USA to help us reconnect with as many as possible of the past 72 clients that have been through the process of “repurposing”. So far (by the 12^th) the team has been able to connect with 33 of those alumni clients (some a few times) and there are another 18 to go in this next week (15^th to 19^th).

We call such a “reconnecting”, a “Blitz” because it is a VERY brief encounter of no more than one day. If one calculates the traffic of Jakarta into such a visit, then, as in one case (within the city) you travel a total of 9 hours for a 4-hour visit. So, getting to a total of 51 alumni clients within a 10-day period is no mean achievement by anybody’s standards. To then also make a significant impact during that short visit requires divine intervention.

So, we (the locals – of whom I am now considered one, according to the locals) have been blessed by the flexibility and dedication of this USA team and the local businessmen and women who have supported them as co-consultants and interpreters, in these efforts. God honors obedience and “stick-ability” and this team has demonstrated that in so many ways.

We are blessed to have them here and to hear their reports of what has transpired during each visit and have been able to pray with and for so many local business people during this time. They have given our local efforts a MAJOR boost ahead and bloodied the nose of the one who seeks to destroy our witness and testimony by keeping us so busy doing business the way the world has taught us and we have not seen the power and potential of doing business God’s way and created the impact on society that He so longs for us to make.

Please continue to pray with and for us and the alumni clients because the work is still not done. Thank you for sharing with us up to this point, but keep at it. The power is His to give as we pray our own thoughts and plans into submission of His thoughts and plans. God bless you.

Errol Smith (originally from Cape Town, South Africa)

 
Today I got the privilege to participate in Blitz Bandung, my hometown! Michele, Bob and Julie arrived from Jakarta in the morning and we were picked up by our clients Samuel and Yvonne. Michelle went with Samuel to his place and Yvonne took Bob,Julie and me to a new development area outside Bandung to meet our client Henny for lunch. Our lunch was located at a hotel restaurant with a beautiful view of paddy fields and a volcano. Both Yvonne and Henny gave us a very warm welcome and we felt very spoiled by their hospitality.

After lunch Henny took Julie and I to visit her towel factory where she has 200 employees. We were excited to learn that Henny and Pengky had made progress in implementing their scorecard items especially in the process, product planning and people areas. They have seen prayers being answered when employees who are not aligned with their principles started resigning for various personal reasons. Other area that Henny is struggling with is to come up with new products that will replace the current demand of “branded” towels and to translate their company’s purpose statement to Indonesian. Afterwards Henny took us to Starbucks where we met with her husband Pengky and prayed over their business.

Michele spent some time discussing Samuel’s business and afterwards they went to pray for Samuel’s wife who is sick with dengue fever. We ask that you also pray for Samuel’s wife health.  Yvonne took Bob for a tour of Bandung, a massage and some outlet shopping.

As consultants we were really struck by the hospitality and servant hearts of our clients. We were there to offer them help with their business, but they were more concerned about making sure that we get to experience Bandung. Our day ended with dinner at a German restaurant where Michele and Julie almost did some karaoke.

Personally I felt very blessed to be able to combine family visit and participating in the blitz. In this venture God gave me the opportunity to experience and see my own country in a new light.

Evita Twerdahl

Did you know that Adrienne spent a summer living in the jungles of Brazil? Did you know Julie ran with the president of Taiwan? Did you know Michelle has been bit by a boxing turtle? Did you know Bobby has never played a game of basketball? Did you know that Katherine has slept in the deserts of Jordan? Did you know that Errol has never come to the aid of a bird which was attacked by a shark? Did you know that Selim has been to the ER over 10 times? Did you know that our team has had a breakthrough in our unity? Indeed!

Today during our team sharing we discussed the things that have gone well and the things we wish to improve. We are so thankful to Errol and his Indonesian team for the amazing work they’ve done to prepare for our arrival. The planning and logistics have been phenomenal. We always know who we’re meeting, when, where, and how. We are scheduled to meet with over 50 clients over the course of 2 weeks! What we also noticed was our team has not been connecting in a way which we’ve desired. Michelle, our lovely events coordinator, wasted no time in helping us battle this by planning a game night today. We played 2 truths and a lie.

During the day we met with 3 clients. One of them has experienced huge breakthroughs since their last venture with the owner going from being entirely quiet and skeptical

to quite outspoken and excited about what God is doing in his business. He insisted our consultant pray over his business and when she was done he immediately inquired, “Did you hear God say anything?” So cute! One client opened up about her disappointment in her partner recently dissolving their relationship. Through her tears one of our most wise and compassionate consultants was able to encourage her. The last client brought his whole family along (including his mother) to hear what these American consultants had to say including an impromptu visit from his Singaporean partner. God was busy.

Tomorrow half of our team is leaving to Bandung, a neighboring province. It’s a 2 hour bus ride and they will be spending the night there. We are excited!

It’s been a great day. It’s been a great week.

Selim

For the past few years I (Paul) have been wondering what impact the ventures had on our clients. Were the transformations in their lives and their businesses lasting? Were their visions growing?

I had the opportunity to spend the day today with Benjamin (Bambang) Juwono. Benjamin was my client on my first rep venture in May 2006. Benjamin is the managing director of a company that manufactures and distributes chemicals for the textiles industry. Benjamin is very active in several ministries, working with the Gideons, the International Christian Chamber of Commerce and his local church. I had a wonderful time in 2006 working with Benjamin and was very eager to catch up with him.

Benjamin arrived at the hotel with his 10-P scorecard in hand, ready to discuss how the Lord has impacted his life and his business, and to discuss next steps. First, we reviewed his latest strategic plan and discussed changes to his business in the last three years. He pointed out that in addition to manufacturing specialty chemicals, his business’s mission is to be a “solutions provider”, which has become part of his purpose statement. This tied directly to a strategy that we had developed in 2006 that followed my observing his problem-solving skills as he received numerous requests from clients who had issues with their fabrics. His purpose statement is essentially the same as the one developed during the 2006 venture: To inspire business people to integrate their faith and business by modeling kingdom principles as we provide quality and innovative solutions to our customer. While modeling these biblical principles in his business, revenues and profits have doubled in the past three years.

I was still curious about one thing, though - the physical and spiritual welfare of his employees. Benjamin has always had a passion for evangelism and a love for people, but I had not seen how that carried over to the people in his business. When I pressed him to provide specifics, the first thing he told me was that he completely changed his lifestyle. He moved from a nice house in the city to a more humble house in a poor neighborhood near his factory. He goes to a church where the church body is the working-class and the poor, and he sold his nice car and drives a car more appropriate for the area. Ben said, “They now view me as their friend, not just as their boss.” He also pays the workers much more than he is required to, making sure that their compensation is adequate, feeds them lunch at work, and provides for the education of their children.

I remembered that in addition to employees, we had developed a strategy that Benjamin would get to know his customers personally. I asked him what he had done in this area and he related this story to me….because of a relationship he had developed with one of his customers – a manufacturer of batik materials – Ben challenged the man to consider Jesus his Lord and savior and left the man with some reading. He continued to give him devotional readings every time he met with over the course of the following year. His customer became a believer, and the man led his brother-in-law to Christ, and his brother-in-law is now a very powerful evangelist. His brother-in-law has lead hundreds, perhaps thousands to Christ.

The sum this up, at the end Benjamin declared, “I’m in a new season of life now.” “What season?” I asked. “Fruitfulness.” I asked what season of life he was in three years ago. “Searching,” he replied.

Paul Busk