Jul 31, 2024 Salutubu Center of Influence

The Salutubu Center of Influence in Indonesia has been a 40-year dream, but by God’s grace is becoming a reality!

“We are very happy and excited! Finally, we’ll have a church building for worship! We plan to have a special thanksgiving ceremony,” shared Yusuf, a long-time church member. “But this will be much more than a place of worship, it’s also a way to reach our community through service and health expos.”

Yusuf was once part of the group’s mother church in Batu Sitanduk, which helped form the Salutubu Branch Sabbath School. At one time, the group worshiped in Yusuf’s house, but as the group has grown, it’s faced challenges in its unique context.

Salutubu is a village in the remote region in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Salutubu church group was formed from a Branch Sabbath School from the Batu Sitanduk Church in 1975. The group prayed they could have their own church in Salutubu to reach their community. In 1980, the foundation was laid, but the group faced hurdles it just couldn’t overcome alone.

Currently, the group consists of more than 20 members that worship in the home of Edwin, also a member. Edwin has lived in Salutubu for 10 years, and he explains the challenges they’ve faced in trying to grow their faith community.

“We have district meetings about once a quarter,” explains Edwin, “but there’s no way we could host meetings in my house; there’s just not enough space and we only have 25 chairs.”

“We all pray,” said Edwin, “and we understand the challenges we face as a small Christian minority.”

In Salutubu and the surrounding region, Islam is the main religion. Years back, the church permit was rejected by the government due to the lack of community agreement. But finally, the proposal was accepted by the permit office for Salutubu to be a center of influence (“house church”). The building will not be allowed to have a sign that it is a church, but the members believe this is at least a path forward.

“This is a huge answer to prayer,” said Pastor Douglas. “We’ve seen this method work in similar situations. Even without a building, some pastors do visitations with a medical approach, and communities are responding positively. So just imagine, with a large center, we believe it will be even more effective.”

Pr. Douglas is the Associate Ministerial Secretary and helps handle special projects like this for the Luwu Tana Toraja Mission. He shared that once the building is complete, it will serve as a center of influence, offering medical ministry and health education.

“We’re already planning and coordinating,” continued Pr. Douglas. “The ministry will focus on promoting a healthy lifestyle, conduct seminars, offer healthy cooking classes, and provide basic health screenings.”

“We’re coordinating with several young medical missionaries who will help support this center,” said Pr. Douglas. “We will also utilize church members who work in the medical field, such as nurses and midwives, to support this ministry.”

The center also has a room designated for counseling and prayer, for truly this center has been petitioned in prayer for decades. The members pray earnestly for God to help them bless the building and bless their community. They’re hopeful since this model of community outreach has been successful in other communities around Sulawesi.

And even in its incomplete state, the Salutubu Center has already hosted a spiritual revival meeting.

Pastor Imanuel Lisupadang, president of the Luwu Tana Toraja Mission reports that recently, from March 17-23, 2024, the Salutubu Center held a series of spiritual revival meetings. Every evening, there were about 150 people attending, with church members standing outside the main room in order to give seats to guests.

“God is answering our prayers in a powerful way,” said Pr. Imanuel. “Since the meetings, we’ve formed one new care group, and two families have started Bible studies, and three individuals are having Bible studies in preparation for baptism. Praise God!”

“Please send our heartfelt thanks to all QHM donors and supporters,” said Pr. Imanuel. “And please pray for the Salutubu Center, that God would continue to use it to reach our community for Christ.”

“These I will bring to My holy mountain and give them joy in My house of prayer.…for My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:7