MAY 2020 FROM THE DESK OF THE NATIONAL PRESIDENT Shalom .... God's partner in the marketplace. Happy Labor Day or Mayday for all those who move in the world of the marketplace. I believe that now we are getting used to being at home all day, also worshiping every Sunday at home. Like it or not, circumstances have forced us to be like that. The government issued a regulation to remain at home because of the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. The world has really changed, even there is no guarantee this will really pass in the near future because the vaccine has not been found and is still going through a process that requires time before consumption by humans in very large quantities. The latest is information from WHO that there is no evidence that those who have recovered will actually have immunity against Covid-19. Another impact is the world is on the verge of an economic crisis and food crisis. I do not want to convey whether the truth of God's Word is behind all this, because I truly believe you have heard it from so many servants of God. God says, whatever you do, do it with all your heart, as for God and not for humans. Every one of us must learn to accept the changes that occur with thanksgiving, even changes that shock the world today, no one predicted this before. Unfortunately, so many people are not ready for this. But remember, the way God wants, keep doing anything with all our heart. In our homes, there are families we must serve with all our hearts, out there are many people who still need us with all our hearts through our gifts, depending on the resources we have. In any case, David is singing, it is better one day in the house of the Lord than 1000 days in another place, make our lives today from home, is a place that scorch our hearts for God. This is what should never change even though everything has really changed ... staying in God's house all the time ... here .. right now. Brothers and sisters, thank you for all your prayers, donations and participation for ICCC-Indonesia (International Christian Chambers of Commerce) See you in the next month edition, and the Lord Jesus bless you and your family. Umbu Pekuwali National President ICCC Indonesia www.iccc-indonesia.com 1
NATIONAL BOARD ICCC INDONESIA Pada hari Sabtu 25 April 2020, pkl. 09.00 selama l.k. 2 jam, ICCC Indonesia National Board mengadakan National Board Meeting melalui Aplikasi TEAMLINK sebagai alternatip dari ZOOM dan cukup baik dalam gambar maupun suara. Hadir 1. Umbu Pekuwali – National President, 2. Benjamin B. Juwono – Regional Director for Asia, dan National Board member lainnya: 3. Tonny Soetjoadi 4. Mohan U. Vasandani 5. Simon Aditan 6. Efendi Sitorus 7. Maria Sitorus 8. Hendro Tjahjono, 9. Darius Pasaribu 10. Eliezer H. Hardjo
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ICCC REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR ASIAPada On Saturday April 25 2020, at 11 a.m. meetings have been held through Zoom, ICCC Asia, New Zealand and Australia, listening to the presentations related to Covid-19 with keynote speakers James Lockett - co-founder of ICCC and Alan Curie of ICCC Australia. The Indonesia National Board also participated in this important teleconference. The background of Teleconference via Zoom is related to the current world situation that is being hit by the COVID-19 virus outbreak, where many believers are also struck by worries, anxiety about this outbreak and what will happen in the future. Responding to that. ICCC held a Zoom meeting that discussed the future state of the financial sector.
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Summary of Zoom Meeting above is:
o Gold / gold, precious metals become a safe and attractive investment in the future compared to the USD which is predicted to decline, in line with American debt that continues to swell. o In the Bible gold has been mentioned since God the Father made the Garden of Eden, and gold is a symbol of God's glory o But the Word of God teaches us to seek first His Kingdom, more than worldly possessions. o Ask God for wisdom to invest. o Relationship / intimacy with God obedience to Him is more valuable than gold and silver. o In the future the Block Chain system with Crypto Currency will play an important role in line with the digitalization of the world. o Ask God for wisdom to choose what Digital Currency is worth buying.
Note: All material in this meeting is recorded, both video and presentation.
1. For those who want it, can contact Benjamin B. Juwono - +628111152808
To learn more and get OneNote, visit www.onenote.com.
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WISDOM & TESTIMONY A Christian Response and Witness in the time of COVID-19 By Annette Brownlee On Friday, March 13, 2020—just before the University sent out its directive moving all classes online—several students said to me over the course of the day, “I’ve never been through something like this.” The current global pandemic is unprecedented in the experience of almost everyone living. There have been, to date, greater death tolls (the 1918 flu pandemic killed 50 million worldwide, the 2009 swine flu pandemic killed 150,000 to 575,400 worldwide). There has been greater national and international devastation (WWI and WWII). But the COVID-19 pandemic has its own distinctive character: states of emergency, nation-wide lock downs, travel bans, the closure of most public institutions, and dire economic repercussions due to this devastating virus. How do we shape a Christian response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
First, we follow all directives of public health officials, the University or other places of employment, and follow the advice of medical experts. This includes suspending the primary Christian practice of gathering to worship the Lord. It is our Christian duty to take responsibility for ourselves and those we live with, so that we do not inadvertently spread the virus and tax already overwhelmed health care systems.
We pray for all medical personnel daily and repeatedly. They are risking their own health to care for others. They are already exhausted; and they carry the burden of having to make difficult decisions about the allocation of scarce resources, such as ventilators and in some places, oxygen.
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We do not hoard. In the face of our own fears and personal anxieties we act responsibly and turn outward in prayer and concern for others more affected than we.
Many in previous generations took for granted—in ways that are unthinkable to us— that life was not predictable, that disease, the inability to travel, death at an early age or in infancy—were a part of life. No so anymore. Ephraim Radner in his blog about COVID-19, “The Time of The Virus” (https://www.firstthings.com/webexclusives/2020/03/the-time-of-the-virus) makes the observation that previous Books of Common Prayer contained prayers for times of plague. No more. Most in the minority world would be quite uncomfortable praying, as the 1662 Book of Common Prayer put it, that God might “have pity upon us miserable sinners, who now are visited with great sickness and mortality.” This prayer turns to Scripture as the lens through which to make sense of God’s agency in their (1662) own time: Moses, Aaron, the Israelites in the desert, and David with his imprudent census and the resulting pestilence. What about us? Is COVID-19 God’s will? God’s hand? We are ill-equipped to reflect theologically on God’s agency in a time like this. The Church raised the white flag years ago, surrendering its distinctively Christian voice in the public square. We imposed our own kind of self-quarantine: limiting our sermons, prayers, and teaching to the realm of the personal. Scripture: a compass for our times COVID-19 calls us to learn again from our forbearers, who looked to Scripture’s descriptions of God’s agency in times of disaster as a compass for their own times. One obvious place to turn is to the story of the plagues visited upon Pharaoh and Egypt at the time of the Hebrews’ deliverance from slavery. Can this story help us to see how God cares for the world during our own difficult time? Ellen Davis, in Opening Israel’s Scriptures (pp. 44-48) notes a key difference between Moses and Pharaoh. Moses recognizes God in extraordinary events. Pharaoh does not. When God shows up in the burning bush Moses recognizes something bigger than himself and listens to and heeds God’s voice. Pharaoh refuses to recognize any power larger than himself. He tells Moses, “Who is the LORD that I should heed him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.” (NRSV, Exodus 5:1-2). The ten plagues which follow (Exodus 7:14-12:26) cause economic, natural and personal hardship and devastation. They are an opportunity for both the King of Egypt and for the Hebrew people to recognize God’s sovereignty over creation and their own lives. God tells Pharaoh as much just before the seventh plague. God says to Pharaoh, “For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. 16 But this is why I have let you live: to show you my power, and to make my name resound through all the earth” (Exodus 9:15-16).
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Reflecting theologically with great care It is with great care that we look at the COVID-19 pandemic in light of God’s actions. Any quick or simplistic theological reflection fails to do justice to the complexity of the Scriptural witness to God’s character. God describes the purpose of the ten plagues clearly: they are not punishment. They are an invitation to know God: “The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them” (Exodus 9:1516). A catastrophe is no time for the Church to begin straining its unused vocal cords in the public square. The Church’s response then, must be through the witness of our actions. Actions born of our recognition of our participation in God’s care of the world through our participation in Christ’s ministry. The ethicist, Philp Turner, in Christian Ethics and the Church Ecclesial Foundations for Moral Thought and Practice observes that at this time of a diminished public voice the Church’s greatest contribution to society is its people. “The exemplary power of lives well lived, is perhaps a key way the church models the truth of the life and death of Jesus Christ in the west today” (205). How then in this time of COVID-19 do we witness to the truth of the life and death of Jesus Christ in the West today? The civil mandate to go home and stay home is a kind of imposed civil Sabbath: no shopping, no running around, no going out to eat, to movies. No making plans for the future or worrying about money. It is meant to be a time of rest not only for God’s creatures but for the land. (Already air pollution is down in many parts of the world). A time for God’s distracted and selfabsorbed creatures to remember that we are first and foremost recipients—and not the creators—of all that is good in our lives: the land, rain and sun, family, friends, work, and most of all God’s grace and provision. We receive this imposed civil Sabbath as such, letting go of the illusion that we can control our lives and futures. In the middle of our anxieties we do pray, sing, and give thanks. But we know that in this imposed civil Sabbath there are many who have no homes to go to. Or have homes that are safe. Some cannot get home because of travel bans. Wycliffe College has a residence for 80 graduate students, many of whom are international students. Fifty of the 80 cannot go home. Wycliffe is caring for them. We know that this imposed civil Sabbath is devastating for those who are hourly wage earners, who run Mom and Pop stores, who run home-based day care centres, who live off of tips received in restaurants and bars. Starbucks and Loblaws will survive. What about the others? Sufficiency for all God’s provision of manna in the wilderness for the anxious Israelites included provision for food on the Sabbath (Exodus 16:1-36). God’s provision (bread for all seven days of the week) is characterized by its sufficiency—and no more—for 7
all. “Those who gathered much [manna] had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed” (Exodus 16:18). Here is the witness we can make. As we pray, sing, and rejoice, we also participate in God’s promised provision by working to provide for those who suffer: either financially from the pandemic or emotionally from the social isolation and dislocation. We witness through the most obvious of ways: we continue to contribute to our congregations even if we cannot gather together weekly. While maintaining safety, we provide meals, phone and Skype calls (not only texts), babysitting (if it is safe to do so), and money sent by cheque or electronic transfer to those in need. Buy gift cards at local small businesses. Save them to use at another time (or to give to an hourly employee) but get money in the owner’s hands now. Find real and creative ways of helping those who are suffering financially because of the pandemic. Crowd funding, foregoing rent if you are a landlord, simply giving money to those who need it. A consistent, sacrificial witness over the long haul To participate in God’s provision of the world at this time, the Church needs to prepare to provide a consistent, sacrificial witness over the long haul. This is the easy part. In an interview on the Friday, March 13, 2020 edition of PBS News Hour, New York Times columnist David Brooks reflected on the effect of the 1918 flu pandemic on the West. (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/shields-and-brookson-leadership-in-a-time-of-crisis). His reflections are a warning to us of the cost of the Christian witness we might be called to make. Brooks wondered why the 1918 flu pandemic, which killed 675,000 Americans and 30,000 to 50,000 Canadians had no lasting impact on the culture. He spent a week reading about it. What he learned is not good news. At the beginning of the 1918 pandemic people stepped up: they volunteered, and sacrificed themselves for the greater good—just as the West is doing now through social distancing and selfimposed isolation. But Brooks concluded that pandemics are not good for social trust. In 1918 as fear increased people stopped caring for others, they stopped volunteering and sacrificing for others. The massive pandemic left no trace on the national culture.” Why? “People were ashamed of how they behaved,” said Brooks, “because they looked after themselves. And that's understandable. Fear is just this terrible thing. And we haven't really been hit by the raw, gut-wrenching fear of seeing hospitals overwhelmed … but we will.”
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We pray that things will not get as dire as many foresee, that lives will be spared, and the shutdown of society will level the spread of the virus so the medical system is not overwhelmed to the point of breaking. But whatever the next few months bring we are called to take our place as witnesses to God’s provision through our provision for those most harmed by the virus. To do so is to recognize God at work in this plague. We do not let fear have the final word. With the Psalmist we say: 1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, * abides under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 He shall say to the Lord, “You are my refuge and my stronghold, * my God in whom I put my trust.” 5 You shall not be afraid of any terror by night, * nor of the arrow that flies by day; 6 Of the plague that stalks in the darkness, * nor of the sickness that lays waste at mid-day. 9 Because you have made the Lord your refuge, * and the Most High your habitation. 16 With long life will I satisfy him, * and show him my salvation. (Ps. 91:1,2,5,6,9) Refusing to let fear turn us inward, away from our suffering neighbor: this is our witness. *** Annette Brownlee is Chaplain, Professor of Pastoral Theology and Director of Field Education at Wycliffe College.
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International Christian Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) lahir dari kepatuhan terhadap visi yang diberikan selama kurun waktu enam tahun kepada seorang usahawan Swedia J. Gunnar Olson, yang diteguhkan dengan nubuatan dan terbukanya pintu kesempatan disekitarnya yang sebelumnya tertutup. ICCC merupakan panggilan yang serius dan menantang bagi pengusaha Kristen untuk mengenali jaman yang sedang kita masuki dan dengan terang dari pengenalan itu memasuki dimensi iman yang baru yang disediakan bagi mereka yang …” takut akan TUHAN … berbicara satu sama lain … dan menghormati namaNya.” (Maleakhi 3: 16) Visi ini memanggil para pengusaha dan kaum profesi di seluruh dunia yang terbeban untuk saling berhubungan, bertukar pendapat, memperdagang-kan barang dan menyediakan jasa, saling mendukung dan menguatkan secara rohani dan materi. Berdasarkan eksistensi dari visi itu sendiri memproklamirkan otoritas Kristus yang mutlak diseluruh dunia. Pada intinya ICCC adalah kehendak TUHAN untuk memperluas tali kasih-Nya, melalui gereja-Nya, didalam dunia usaha. Hal ini menuntut para pelaku bisnis mencari terlebih dahulu Kerajaan-Nya dan segala Kebenaran-Nya. Urapan tersedia bagi mereka yang dengan mata melihat dan telinga mendengar panggilan jaman. Sebagaimana halnya Raja Daud yang menerima urapan untuk menjadi raja, jauh sebelum dia menjadi Raja, yang keadaan pada saat urapan diberikan sama sekali tidak mungkin bagi Daud untuk menjadi Raja, demikianlah ICCC memanggil para pengusaha Kristen sebelum peristiwanya terjadi untuk mengalami kebebasan masuk ke dalam dimensi baru, dimana sasaran, strategi dan perencanaan bersama-sma diwujudnyatakan sesuai dengan iman di dalam Kristus. ICCC mencanangkan panggilan itu sejalan dengan rencana TUHAN bagi jaman ini sebagai kunci memperoleh berkat dan pertumbuhan dan agar dapat bangkit berkemenangan diatas gelombang ombak yang mengancam. Panggilan ICCC: “Mereka akan menjadi milik kesayanganKu sendiri, firman TUHAN semesta Alam pada hari yang Kusiapkan. Aku akan mengasihi mereka sama seperti seseorang menyayangi anaknya yang melayani dia. Maka kamu akan melihat kembali
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perbedaan antara orang benar dan orang fasik, antara orang yang beribadah kepada TUHAN dan orang yang tidak beribadah kepada-Nya.” (Maleakhi 3: 17-18) KEYAKINAN IMAN ICCC:
Satu-satunya TUHAN pencipta segala sesuatu dalam kesatuan Trinitas: Bapa, Anak, dan Roh Kudus.
Keilahian TUHAN Yesus Kristus. Kelahiran-Nya dari rahim seorang Perawan. Karya penebusan dosa manusia melalui kematian-Nya diatas kayu salib. Kebangkitan-Nya. Hak otoriatas diri-Nya atas dunia dan Kedatangan-Nya yang kedua kali dalam Kuasa dan Kemuliaan-Nya.
Alkitab, sepenuhnya sebagai Firman TUHAN yang memberikan inspirasi dan berbagai peraturan bagi kehidupan yang dilandasi iman.
Keselamatan pribadi orang berdosa dan kebutuhannya untuk mengalami proses regenerasi melalui karya Roh Kudus dalam menuju menjadikannya sebagai manusia yang dikehendaki oleh TUHAN, seutuhnya.
Transformed Working Life (TWL) adalah Pelatihan resmi dari Kantor Internasional bagi anggota ICCC dalam memperlengkapi anggota dengan pengetahuan dan pemahaman latar belakang, tujuan dan penerapan prinsipprinsip Kerajaan TUHAN bagi dunia bisnis dan profesi. TWL diperuntukkan bagi anggota dan dapat diikuti secara cuma-cuma, namun terbuka juga bagi siapa saja yang berminat untuk mengikutinya. TWL diselenggarakan dalam bahasa Indonesia dan dilengkapi dengan buku panduannya, yang telah diterjemahkan kedalam Bahasa Indonesia juga, sehingga para peserta betul-betul akan memperoleh manfa’at yang besar dan mengalami transformasi dalam kehidupan pribadi maupun bisnisnya. 11
TWL difasilitasi oleh anggota National Board yang terlatih dan dikoordinir oleh V.P. Teaching: Benjamin B. Juwono bersama dengan Teaching Team: a.l. Johanis S. Najoan dan Eliezer H. Hardjo Transformed Working Life (TWL) akan ditayangkan dalam salah satu channel di Indonesia agar dapat dimanfaatkan oleh para pebisnis & profesional Kristiani di Indonesia bagaimana menerapkan prinsip-prinsip Kerajaan Tuhan dalam kehidupan berbisnis dan bekerja mereka. TWL bagi members secara rutin diadakan pada hari Sabtu ke 2 setiap bulan dan terbuka dan dianjurkan bagi semua member untuk mengikutinya sebagai pembekalan wajib.
Tansformed Working Life
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EMERGENCY CLINIC ICCC Indonesia dalam rangka membantu perusahaan yang terkena dampak pandemic Covid-19 dan mengalami kesulitan dan kebuntuan serta membutuhkan pemikian jalan keluar membuka diri bukan hanya bagi anggota ICCC Indonesia namun juga bagi dunia bisnis dan profesional umum untuk memberikan konsultasi, networking dengan pihak dan perusahaan terkait. Pada tingkat Pusat / Eropa juga menyediakan pelayanan darurat Emergency Clinic untuk membantu dengan cara yang sama. Selaku pebisnis dan profesional Kristen, kita harus selalu berfokus kepada TUHAN dan pimpinannya termasuk dalam penanggulangan masalah Riel yang sedang dihadapi saat ini. Roh Kudus adalah guru dan pemimpin kita yang paling tahu jalan keluar dari setiap permasalahn yang dihadapi termasuk dalam dunia bisnis yang kita geluti. Anda dapat menghubungi melalui WhatsApp, salah satu Anggota National Board ICCC berikut: 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Benjamin B. Juwono - +628111152808 Tonny Soetjoadi - +6287880338045 Hendro Tjahjono - +628111869989 Simon Aditan - +62 81285847155 Eliezer H. Hardjo - +6281513203415
Silahkan baca juga uraian Corporate Mediation and Services (CMS) dibawah ini untuk lebih mendetil.
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CORPORATE MEDIATION AND SERVICES Corporate Mediation and Services (CMS) is known as the emergency clinic provided by the ICCC Indonesia to help and assist any company owned by the ICCC Indonesia members, individually and/or a partnership corporation belong to two or more members. In addition, CMS is also providing assistance to any company belong to non-members as long as they are willing to follow the rules and biblical principles offered by and through CMS. I.
SCOPE OF SERVICES: 1. To link and bring the companies together. 2. To provide consultation to the company in trouble. 3. To provide training to the staff using Transformed Working Life (TWL) training materials. 4. To act as a mediator between two or more parties that involve in conflict due to many reasons.
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PROCEDURE: 1. The ICCC Member to contact CMS Centre 2. The participating consultant to visit the company or companies which require help, to discuss about the problems and possible help and assistance to solve the problems. 3. To pray together 4. To set-up the follow-up 5. The CMS will evaluate and submit a proposal on how to handle the problem.
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DEVOTIONAL Peace in COVID-19 Introduction In a global season of loss, fear, and uncertainty with COVID-19, God is inviting us into a deeper trust in him. Use this season of social distancing and quarantines as an opportunity to draw closer to the heart of God. You are not forgotten. You are not abandoned. God is ever-present, even in the midst of all your struggles and doubts. May you experience his peace as you seek him today.
Scripture “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” JOHN 14:27
Devotional We all long to experience peace, yet finding peace can be somewhat of a mystery. Peace may be best described by what it’s not more than what it is. Peace is the absence of fear. Peace is the absence of anxiety. Peace is the absence of worry. Peace is the absence of “what-if.” Peace is the absence of “if only.” Peace is not something we produce, but instead is something we create space to receive from the Author of Peace. Hear and receive these words from Phillipians 6:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” In a world overshadowed by COVID-19, creating space for peace does not come easily. Everywhere we look we are presented with reasons to be fearful, and reasons to question whether or not things will be okay. Yet in the midst of the chaos and the noise, there is an invitation to experience the peace of God that “surpasses all understanding.” You can accept God’s invitation into peace today through “prayer, and supplication with thanksgiving.” Prayer at times may sound daunting or mysterious, but is simply a conversation with God from a place of self-awareness. He wants to talk to you. He wants to know how you feel. But in order for that conversation to happen, you need to know how you feel. You need to see and validate the reality of stress, fear, and anxiety.
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The pathway to experiencing peace begins with a conversation with a loving God that cares for you. You can talk to God today like you would with a parent or a close friend.
NATIONAL BOARD - ICCC INDONESIA National President
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Umbu Pekuwali
Vice Presidents: Admin/Secretary - Tonny Soetjoadi Finance/Treasurer - Johanis S. Najoan Membership/Mentoring/Network - Simon Aditan Teaching / Training - Benjamin B. Juwono Business Development/Micro-Enterprise - Efendi Sitorus - Hendro Tjahjono - Darius Pasaribu Young Professionals –
Maria E. Sitorus
Board of Advisors - Manimbul Luhut Sitorus & Mohan U. Vasandani Corporate Mediation & Services Coordinator Intercessors Coordinator – Eliezer H. Hardjo Kantor Nasional ICCC Indonesia: Website: www.iccc-indonesia.com Pertokoan Pulo Mas Blok B I / 8, Jalan Perintis Kemerdekaan. Jakarta 13260 Telp (021) 4890211, fax: (021) 4722274. E-mail: iccc.indonesia@yahoo.com, iccc.indonesia@gmail.com 19