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2001 OMC VIII: Looking at the Past Sins to Change the Future

Indonesia had gone through tremendous social conflicts right at the end of the second millennium.  We saw conflicts in Maluku, Poso, and Sampit.  The unimaginable things happened during the conflicts.  Those gory images still freshly minted in our mind that caused us to be jittery.  Those conflicts are very traumatic that last year we still saw tears came down from the little children whose parents were violently killed.  But, those tears we saw last represent something bigger than their suffering.  Those tears represent peace.  For the last ten years, since second Malino accord, there has been no conflict in Maluku.

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2000 OMC VII: Learning Hard Concepts on Democracy and Civil Society

The 7th Overseas Mission Conference or OMC was held in Saint Charles, IL in the fall of 2000.  We were anxious that year because of the possibility for the computer to crash, which would have led to power outage and disrupted transportation and telecommunication.  However, the glitch was minimal and everything seemed smoothly transition to the new millennium.

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1999 OMC VI: Jesus’ Compassion and the Independence of East Timor

Some of us might not remember, but East Timor was part of Indonesia.  In the summer of 1999, a referendum was held for the people of East Timor to decide whether they want to be independent nation or be part of Indonesia.  East Timor chose Independence.  The news was announced by one of the speaker to us during OMC 6 in Columbus Ohio.

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1997 OMC IV: The Year Asia’s “Titanic” Sailed: Insider Insights from OMC

1997 was certainly a memorable year for the world and OMC. Princess Diana and Mother Theresa died, Hong Kong was returned to China, and the highest-grossing movies of all time, Titanic, was released that year.   The 1997 and the fourth OMC was the only one held during 4th of July holiday and had the largest and most diverse speakers from Indonesia.  We had 3 theologians, 3 business professionals, 2 provincial governors, 1 cabinet minister, and 2 political activists spoke at the conference.  This OMC had shifted FICA’s focus from serving church or Christian organizations to human rights.  The shift was due to three compelling story lines shared by the speakers.

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1996 OMC III: Transformation Starts From Ourselves

The third OMC conference was held in Columbus Ohio in 1996.  The title of the conference was “Gospel in the Era of Transformation”.  Glancing from the title, one would think that FICA did not know theology and worse was starting to adopt a social – liberation theology.  For one, the Gospel will remain the same in every era; and second, the Gospel is the transforming force behind every human era.  So, what the title really meant and what was FICA’s intention behind the title?

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1995 OMC II: Passing the Legacy to the Next Generation

This year we are marking the 20th Oversees Mission Conference or OMC.  It is a significant milestone and is a testament of its enduring value to the participants and ultimately to God redemptive plan.  Indonesia was very different in 1994 when the first OMC was held in Madison Wisconsin.  President Soeharto had just entered his 6th presidency term.  The mood of the country was positive because of the continuous economic growth and the low rate of inflation.  Everything was seemed affordable.  For example, it cost almost the same amount of money to send children to study at local private university and at state university in United States (US).  The salary of US graduates was higher back in Indonesia than in US.

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1994 OMC I: Reflections from 20 years of Overseas Mission Conference

This year we are marking the 20th Oversees Mission Conference or OMC.  It is a significant milestone and is a testament of its enduring value to the participants and ultimately to God redemptive plan.  Indonesia was very different in 1994 when the first OMC was held in Madison Wisconsin.  President Soeharto had just entered his 6th presidency term.  The mood of the country was positive because of the continuous economic growth and the low rate of inflation.  Everything was seemed affordable.  For example, it cost almost the same amount of money to send children to study at local private university and at state university in United States (US).  The salary of US graduates was higher back in Indonesia than in US.

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