In 2005, FICA set a lofty goal for OMC XII. FICA wanted to craft a social vision for Indonesia based on the biblical values and principles. We invited excellent speakers and surprisingly were joined by talented artist, engineers, and lawyers among the participants. The goal of the conference was indeed too difficult to be achieved in a single conference. However, everybody left the conference understood the main challenge in transforming society.
Our speakers shared that transformation in the society started when we served the lowly and the unfortunates. One of the speakers shared her work in shining light to the thousands of innocent people killed by the government force and moderate Muslims during the communist party revolt in 1965. The incidence had occurred 40 years prior but nobody admitted the crime. The victim families still wondered where the bodies of their parents, brothers, sisters, and relatives buried. Without any hesitation and through countless dangers, she went to villages where the killings reportedly occurred and started to dig. Finally, she uncovered mass graves where bodies being dumped. She and her team worked diligently to identify the bodies, if possible, and notified the families. In the process, she touched the heart of these families and challenged their mind to think differently about humanity in Indonesian society.
In Jeremiah 17:9 God said that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. In a society filled with people with wicked heart, any real and long lasting transformation should touch the heart of the problem which is the human heart. The human heart becomes hardened as we continually sin against God. It takes nothing less than a complete selfless act to melt the heart of man. The sacrificial act of Jesus shocked and awed us deeply; it melts our heart and releases our mind to be renewed by the Holy Spirit. When we suffered for others, we turned the turned the values and norms upside down. We would then be able to touch the heart of many.
If we knew what to do, why we did not do all these things that could change our society to the better? Why we are not willing to sacrifice for others? For most of us, the answer is we are scared and unwilling to bear the consequences. In essence, we do not have faith like Abraham, Moses, and Joseph that we are assured and have conviction upon God’s promise. This is the main challenge in transforming Indonesia that God’s people are lacking of faith and are unwilling to live out their lives for Christ.
OMC 12 showed the challenge in transforming society in Indonesia is us. God touched the hearts, transformed the mind, and strengthened the faith of many participants of the conference. Over the course of 8 years, many organizations that serve these unfortunate people were founded by the participants of OMC 12. It is truly amazing to see how God uses ordinary people to transform Indonesia through OMC 12.