Background

In 1993 FICA felt that Indonesian Christian Conference (ICC), which had already been held eight (8) times by then, addressed an audience that was too large in scope.  As a result, many participants did not gain much from these events.  The need to make changes was felt but was not discussed thoroughly until the Fall of 1993. At the Leadership Meeting held in the Fall of 1993 in Minneapolis, MN, several other ICF leaders discussed this issue further. The discussion continued through e-mails and through further discussion FICA realized three levels of needs that should be addressed:

1. Evangelization
2. Leadership development
3. Christian world view development (‘mengembangkan wawasan’)

These needs could not be fully addressed in events like ICC. There should be a separate event for each need, where the audience for each level would also be different. The first level was fulfilled by Indonesian Christian Fellowship (ICF). The second was fulfilled through Leadership Meeting (LM) and ‘Kunjungan Kampus’ (KK) or Campus Visitation.

In early 1994, FICA met in Madison where the concept of TPM became clearer. Although initially there were some doubts and objections about this program, in the end everyone was comfortable with the concept and agreed that FICA should pursue it. Several critical considerations for TPM included:

1. The objective: to develop a Christian world view (‘mengembangkan wawasan’)
2. TPM is a two-way forum: a two-way communication between the speakers and the audience should be present in TPM.
3. The need to uphold and keep evangelical principles (‘warna Injili’). 

Theme Development

The first TPM could not have been possible without the struggle and active participation of people in ‘Joshua’, a low profile mailing list of Indonesian Christians from the US, Canada, and Australia. Most FICA staff members were on the ‘Joshua’ mailing, which has since dissolved. These people seriously discussed the topics for TPM I and submitted papers to be presented at that event. FICA estimated that a target attendance of 30-50 people should be sufficient for the first TPM. However, there were at least 80 people in attendance, much more than expected.

In TPM I and II, many ‘Joshua’ people were heavily involved in the programs. However, as these core people graduated and/or moved out of the country, FICA as an organization started to discuss the possibility of formally adopting TPM into its program. Not until TPM III did FICA formally adopt TPM as one of its programs.

Starting in TPM III, themes were developed mainly by FICA leaders. This team usually started to prepare for the theme as early as November. They built a framework for topics and themes based on current issues in Indonesia. After gathering information, they lobbied the key speakers, who came from Indonesia, US, and other countries.  FICA has continued to build a larger network with key people and organizations in Indonesia.

TPM has experienced two leadership transitions. Starting in 2001, the torch was passed to the newer generation. In 2007, a complete new group of FICA leaders was in charge of TPM.  These people continued to sharpen the ministry, incorporating newest findings and contextual events into the essence of the conference.

Vision and Mission

TPM has the objectives of developing a Christian world-view and network building, especially in relation to Indonesia. Ideally, participants should be able to go back and bring what they have learned from TPM with them. Then they would participate in the next TPM to follow up. It is TPM’s goal that participants would be able to carry out ideas from TPM into action.

TPM organizer constantly revisits the function of the conference in light of FICA’s vision. It is understood that there is so much we can do within the conference time of 4 days 3 nights, thus we believe that TPM’s most optimal function in light of the vision is, “pembukaan wawasan”, or Christian worldview development by bringing into US the Indonesian context and reality. It is the closest thing to Indonesia you can get.

Target Audience

TPM’s target audience is Indonesian Christians who are ‘ready’.  Over the years, there have been struggles on how to define the readiness level for new participants. Spiritual maturity is difficult to measure and is very subjective. The TPM team has adopted the approach to let the potential participants decide their level of readiness. This approach is selected because of the high level of commitment required for the participants to attend this conference.  Commitment in finance, time, and efforts should be prohibitive enough.

Evaluation Method

Over the years, evaluation of TPM has been based on surveys distributed during TPM. However, usually people fail to evaluate the program correctly due to the uncommon nature of TPM. Those who do not see actions as a result of TPM would say that TPM is unsuccessful. On the other hand, those who are amazed and overwhelmed by the information received during TPM, including ‘political gossip’, will say that TPM is successful.

Fundraising

For the first few TPMs, FICA received funding through the contributions of missions and private businesses in Indonesia. TPM’s budget usually ended with a surplus. However, ever since the monetary crisis in Indonesia in 1998, the TPM team could not rely on these sources anymore. Letters were no longer sent to donators in Indonesia to ask for contributions, but merely to let them know that this program still existed. Some of the donators are still approached on a personal level.   Currently TPM relies quite heavily on ICF alumni for contributions.

Additional Programs

Ever since the crisis in Indonesia, the TPM team has realized an urgent need to expand its program. Starting 2001, Discovery Trips (DT) was being conducted to network with potential speakers and to follow up TPM results.  DT supports the existing annual TPM events as a training medium for Indonesian Christian students in the US to increase their involvements in the areas addressed in the annual TPM events. It also serves as a means to increase the quality and quantity of Christian human resources (professionals and experts) in Indonesia. With the existing network, the TPM team also hopes to place the prepared graduates into key positions and places in Indonesia.