Dear friends,
It is our prayer that the joy of our Lord’s birth fills your heart as we celebrate this Christmas. Over the past eight years in Indonesia, we have seen how Christmas decorations in Indonesian malls have become progressively more elaborate. The first year when we arrived, we would see a small Christmas tree in a corner of the mall, but we now often see huge trees fully decked out accompanied by Christmas songs piped out to the mall’s speaker system. Songs like Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and The First Noel along with many other favorite Christmas carols are played, albeit in English. Many stores are selling Christmas trees and decorations. When we stop and ask the sales clerks what Christmas is, they reply, “It is a holiday Christians celebrate.” We further ask, “Why do the Christians celebrate Christmas?” Their answer is often, “I don’t know.” It is the reason to share in this season. The true meaning of Christmas is not well known here, and it reminds us how much more work is needed to reach this part of the world. It also reminds us how important for us to continue sharing good news of Jesus Christ and plant churches.
We are thankful for the work that is being carried out in Jakarta by our team. The church planting movement among the Muslims have resulted in over 400 house churches and over 4,000 believers. This Christmas will be the first time many of them will be celebrating as followers of Jesus. Please continue to pray that the message of Jesus Christ will reach many more in this city and the joy will spread.
Few months ago, we have been informed that our Board is working toward reducing 600-800 field personnel globally by the first quarter of 2016. That would be 15% reduction of missionaries around the world. The years of financial challenges our Board face necessitate it. Many of our seasoned colleagues with years of field service have voluntarily retired and are leaving the field. This will certainly have deep and wide consequences on the field. But there is a special way for you to directly effect how many of us can remain on the field and how many new personnel can be sent. During this Christmas season, please prayerfully and sacrificially consider giving toward to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (LMCO). 100% of LMCO goes directly toward supporting our international work. Details of LMCO and how you can directly give toward it can be found at www.imb.org/main/lottie-moon. We need your prayer and your financial support. We are all called to the nations, but we have different roles to play. Remember pray, go, give and share with the lost world.
Merry Christmas!
Hahn family
