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International Church Spotlight: Jakarta

Basic Facts

Church Name: International English Service (IES)
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
Pastor: Dave Kenney
Launch Date: 2000
Website: www.iesjakarta.org
Pastor’s Story:
“Before serving in Indonesia, I served in Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. I’ve served in international church ministry in Indonesia for the past 22 years.”

Church Story:
“International English Service is 15 years old. We meet in 4 different locations in Jakarta with a weekend attendance of 2,200-2,300 per weekend. We have people from about 25 countries in the church. In addition to IES, there are 11 other International, English speaking churches in Jakarta.

Our internationals come from all over: Europe, Latin America, Africa, with many from the oil business. We have many more Asian expats than Western expats. The largest number of ‘internationals’ in our church are actually Indonesian citizens who have been raised and educated outside of Indonesia.

The Country:
“In Indonesia we have freedom of religion and we have rules and regulations respecting different faiths and the practice of those faiths; and we need to follow them. The Lord is good and helps us. We have 226 different unreached people groups in Indonesia with 156 million people in those groups. There is a lot to do.”

Challenges:
“In Indonesia we have to find the right people to open different international churches. I honestly believe that we could start 10 new international churches in Indonesia in the next 12-18 months if we had people who could pastor the congregations. In Asia Pacific the same issue arises, finding the right people to lead the congregations.

We need to find people with a burden for international churches and those who understand the kind of work involved in planting and leading an IC. They need to have a solid work ethic, a willingness to learn, innovate and be flexible.”

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