I have served as the bi-vocational pastor at Maranatha Church in Reseda, California since April 2006. This Indonesian church aspires to become a multicultural church. Our missional movement results from the reality that our children belong to two cultures: Indonesian and American, and some members are non-Indonesian through mixed marriages. 

Our community in the San Fernando Valley provides a home for immigrants from many countries. A third of our city’s 1.7 million residents are foreign-born from Mexico, El Salvador, Iran, Israel, Armenia, Vietnam, Korea, India, and China. That reality challenges our church. Are we willing to be the bridge of Jesus so people from diverse ethnicities can cross over to be part of Christ’s family? 

We exist in San Fernando Valley, not by accident. It is by God’s purpose. Therefore, our missional call is clear; we exist to bear witness for Christ beyond our Indonesian ethnicity because Jesus Christ has redeemed “every tribe and language and people and nation” (Re 5:9b). 

The question for us now is “How can we grow beyond our Indonesian ethnicity?” First, we decided that the church services occur in English and Indonesian. Our youth and young adults have their own service in English separate from the adults. Prior to having an English service, many of our teenagers left for English-speaking churches. Now, they stay in our church, and they have started to invite their non-Indonesian friends to join them. 

Second, we must be intentional in reaching our community. Our church is located within the proximity of California State University, Northridge (CSUN) campus.  Its student body presents rich diversity with students coming from 70 different countries. Our location presents a wonderful opportunity for global mission. We view CSUN as the spiritual gateway for international outreach. Therefore, we try to build bridges for international students to cross. We work with International Students, Inc. in building friendships with students coming from diverse parts of the world. In addition, some of our members open their homes to be host families from China and Taiwan.

While our journey toward a multicultural church is still long, we commit to bear witness of the Gospel faithfully to our diverse community. We carry in our hearts this promise from 1 Corinthians 15:58 (NLT), “Be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”