Our Mission
"It was May of 1998 when a riot suddenly broke out in many major cities of Indonesia. The people were protesting against their thirty-two years regime president. Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, became a lake of fire where many churches and buildings were burning to the ground. The streets were filled with looting, public rape, and persecution.
Just a few weeks prior, the Holy Spirit spoke to me clearly to start a humanitarian ministry to help the poor and needy. This was completely new to me, but looking back, I knew that God had prepared the solution before there was a problem. Obeying His voice was key and with no experience, no warehouses, and no money to start the ministry, I gathered a team who said, “Yes!” to the call.
The windows of Heaven were opened as we planted a seed financially. God provided divine connections and human resources. Out of nowhere, people started contacting us, wanting to support the ministry. We started receiving one container a week, but quickly grew to about fifteen containers a day. In just a matter of time, we were channeling shiploads of containers to Indonesia.
Psalm 89:14 says, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face.” This was our anthem as we showed mercy to those in need – feeding and clothing them. We didn’t preach; we simply showed Christ’s love. Soon enough the whole nation was impacted. The Lord then directed me to meet the Ambassador of Indonesia in Washington D.C., where he assigned his delegate to visit our church.
When the Ambassador’s delegate visited, he was shocked to find us as a small church; however, I responded to him that our God is big! Later that night, the Lord gave me five visions to focus on: (1) Food Distribution, (2) Food Security, (3) Health Projects, (4) Education, (5) Job Creation.
With that, the Lord directed me to share these five visions to the director of World Bank in New York. I explained to him that I received it from God. His eyes widened in disbelief and he asked if I knew that those were the five basic staples of the nations of the world. In my heart, I didn’t know, but I knew God did.
God has blessed us as we were chosen out of 12,000 foundations to receive three presidential awards out of five given from the sixth president of Indonesia. This is only by the grace of God and as of today, we have shipped humanitarian aids to fifteen other nations. To God be the Glory!"
Apostle Paul Tan
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From our beginnings in 1998, Indonesian Relief was always a labor of love and compassion. Below are some pictures from the beginnings of our outreach projects. Click on the images for descriptions on the backstory of each picture.