First of all I’d like to let all of you know that I am ok. Although there was a quite a big earthquake in Sumatra, no damage was done to our city and I was in the air when I happened so I didn’t even get to experience the tremors. Please continue to pray for the people in Padang, the situation is quite bad there.. I would like to do something for them if possible.

But I am ok.. actually more than Ok! So much more…!

Today is registration day for our second year of the bible college… how exciting! We are expecting about 20+ full time students and after just announcing our part time night classes yesterday we already received 40 registered students for that!!

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a local pastor congratulates a member for joining the school

on the road!! (I think we’d been travelling since 4 am that morning.)

Worshipping God during one of the services

we take time to have some fun at the newly done ‘Love Walk’ tourist attraction.

The people rejoicing and praising God in one of the services

The girls open up our house for the night (during our village visit)

Ribka (our youngest graduated student) shares her testimony in a high school

2 weeks ago I did a tour with some of our graduated students. 12 services in 8 different cities in 9 days. It was exhausting but also exhilarating! On our very first day we could barely start off as a storm hit and our city was flooded worse than I have ever seen! Cars stopped dead all over the place, people desperately trying to block off their houses, children swimming in the streets.. it was a mad house! And we ended getting in a small accident and got chased down by a man with road rage! Praise God we got out of it all ok.. The next night as we travelled from one city to another in the middle of the night we got a flat tire in the middle of the jungle.. And so many more adventures including sleeping in an old traditional house that had no electricity, blankets, or anything..but did have some head diving bats! It was a great experience to share with my students! Each night we rejoiced as we shared vision and power with the crowds of young people that gathered in each city! Seeing how much these young students had changed over the year is just amazing.. they are full of the Gospel and boldness! I can’t wait to train up more like them!

And tomorrow.. I will fly to Kupang to help out with Pastor Peter’s large Gospel Festival there! Sooo much going on.. it’s great!

Thanks for your prayers and support..

I keep telling the people here whenever I preach: sharing the gospel is not a burden. It is a joy and an honor!

Thank you for taking part in the joy and honor of bringing this gospel to the nation of Indonesia!!

All for Jesus!!

Susan Joy

Some of those involved said it was a life changing moment when they stood on the stage and saw the crowd of Muslim people raising their hands calling our to Jesus to come into their life!!!

Once again… we have made history!! The light of the Gospel has shone into the darkness!!!

When I first went to the city of Kisaran the leaders there told me it was impossible to do an event to preach the gospel there.. ‘it has never been done!’.. ‘this is a Muslim area!’.. ‘you can’t event get the permissions.’..

But like Jesus said.. ‘this is impossible with man.. but ALL things are POSSIBLE with God!”

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God loves the Muslim people! He loves the people of kisaran! And so HE opened all the doors and he made it POSSIBLE!!

Not only did the event happen… it was the BIGGEST event and was an amazing success!!!! For 3 nights the crowds poured unto the field and THOUSANDS heard the gospel… most of them for the first time ever in their lives!!!!!!!!!!

WOW! WOW! WOW!

It was the largest crowd I have ever preached to! Further than our lights could reach… but not further than the love of God can touch!

What an amazing joy to bring the gospel to these beautiful people!!

On Saturday night a famous band was also playing in another field in that city.. i was a little worried they might steal some of our crowd. But no!!! Their field was EMPTY but ours was PACKED FULL!!!! That’s not possibly from us… It’s ALL God!! He brought them to the field!! He did it ALL!!!

We do not stop here.. my heart is burning even stronger than ever to preach the gospel where it has never been preached before!!!

Rom 10:13 says “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” That is amazing… that includes ALL PEOPLE, FROM ALL RELIGONS!!.. But don’t stop there…?Verse 14: How shall they call on Him in whom they have e not believed????Verse 15: How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard???Verse 16: And how shall they hear without a preacher???Verse 17: And how shall they preach unless they are sent??

If we do not preach, they can not hear. ?If they can not hear, they can not believe.?If they do not believe, they can not be saved.

THANK YOU FOR SENDING THIS PREACHER!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE GIVE THEM THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE SAVED!

Verse 18… How Beautiful!!!!!!!

Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support!!!

You are truly doing some BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and it lasts for all of eternity….)

All the GLORY to GOD!?Susan Joy

Check out these pictures and video! ?(But for the full album and more clips join my facebook group “Susan’s Indonesian Adventures”!!)

Doing this event I was working together with Daniel and Jessica King.. You can also check out their video (which is much cooler than mine!!) at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9gejx-sX50

These last couple of weeks I have been very busy with pretty intense travelling. So sometimes I have felt weak. There was a one day when I was especially weak and had not been able to eat for two days. I had promised to travel up to my city that night to hand out food and visit a poor, Muslim neighborhood. I didn’t feel like it.. but I really wanted to do it. So I went. I was barely dragging my poor, tired body along. No idea how I could carry bags of rice and food to the houses. I even told one of my  teamates that they would have to do the talking. I didn’t feel like i was up to it at all.. 

But as we walked down the dirty, crowded alleyway to the first house I was talking to Jesus. I remembered this verse. “for when I am weak. I am strong.”.. and I said “Jesus. I am so weak. I have no expectations for tonight. I just wanna get through without passing out. But I know you can do more than I think of.. something beautiful. Help me.”

We sat down in the first house and before I realized it I was talking to the woman and had shared the love of Jesus with her! We went to a few different houses. Then we found most of them were all one family. So they all gathered in one final house and there I sat down and shared the gospel with all of them from this Muslim family! They all sat completely captivated and silent.. hanging unto every word I shared! And at the end most of them decided that they all wanted to receive Jesus into their lives!

It was beautiful!

And I realized how much God can do when we step out of the way and just allow Him to do it. The moments we feel we are nothing are the moments that we are the most effective.. because it is not from us. BUT all from HIM!!!  Sometimes we need to feel weak.. to be reminded how strong He is!

Please keep everything in prayer..

Including our next ‘Youth Revolution’ in the Muslim city of Kisaran in just 2 weeks!!!

Last week I was in Kisaran in many meetings and we recieved great support and even a readiness to work together from the Muslim leaders! This is a HUGE answer to prayer!!

We have only 2 more weeks to do all the publicity and preperation to make this the biggest event ever in that area and something the blasts the light of the gospel into the dark places!!!!

I am so aware that I am not able to make this happen with my own strength and wisdom… But just allow Him to do what He wants through us!

Thank you for your prayers and support.. it is despretly needed!!

Blessings,
Susan Joy

Pictures of 2 events that i did last weekend:

1) ‘Celebration Night’ – The Bible college invited all youth from all churches to come together and celebrate Jesus. It was a great night!

2) ‘Youth Leader Camp’ – we did a training camp with leaders from all the churches in our city to create unity and discuss how we can work together better to take our city for Jesus!

3) Oh.. and then a picture of me with the Muslim leaders after our  meeeting in Kisaran for the Event.

4) And .. before the rest of the team goes back to canada we have a nice dinner together..

During these past few weeks God had brought my path to cross with many people I had ministered to in the past… and it made me realize how He continues to work in people’s lives more than we ever know.

I got to meet with a girl who is now free from the prison, where I had ministered to her. Her beautiful open heart and desire to really follow Jesus was touching. I also met one of the young men who has been out of the boy’s home for the past 6 months and is still serving God and drug free!

And just yesterday when I went to a church where I often preach a woman approached me, she looked familiar but I didn’t remember why. She immediately said. “Susan.. My husband is healed. Completely healed!” I was racking my brain trying to remember her and her husband.. I came up with nothing. But out of her excitement she kept going on. “We got the lab tests back. The cancer is ALL gone!!”

Then I realized I had prayed with this couple a few months ago. Her husband had been rejected by the cancer specialists in Malaysia as a hopeless case because the cancer had spread too far. But nothing is hopeless in Christ!! And months later there he was not just alive .. but looking strong and healthy! Wow!!!!

What’s so amazing to me is that I remember how it was when I was praying for them at that time.. and honestly I didn’t feel anything! It was just a simple prayer! I just thanked Jesus that He had already provided healing.. it was nothing special.. but that’s exactly it!! It’s not about how we feel, or how great the prayer was.. it’s ALL about JESUS!

That was looking back… Now… Looking ahead!!!

In a month from now we will be doing another Youth Revolution called “Free the Generation”! This will be the biggest event we have EVER done and in the area that needs it the MOST! (I attached some little video clips to remember what the last one looked like)

On May 29-31 we desire to reach 10,000 young people in a very hard Muslim area where no gospel event has even been done before!! This is truly touching those who have never heard the gospel before.. thousands of them!!!

You can help!
And we NEED your help!!
Your prayers and support are what will make this become a reality!!

Thank you!!!!

If you’d like to watch me on Peter Youngren’s talk show “Encounter” please click on this: http://www.watchcelebrate.tv/index.php?/main/index/archive/encounter/C29331-006

All through, to, by, for, and about Jesus!
Susan Joy

If you would like to be a part of “Free the Generation” you can!
You can send checks (made out to “CJI-Susan Hoover”) to:
Celebrate Jesus International
Box 968
St. Catharines, On
L2R 6Z4
Or contact Rev.Taina to ask for other ways to give. (905-646-0970) and  tainak@peteryoungren.org

Our time in the village of Mentengah was an amazing experience. Just learning how to walk on the small, shaky planks to get from one house to the other was a real learning experience. If you want to learn how much of a wimp you truly are.. just go to a place like this! (it worked for me!! Haha)

Sarah and I decided to focus our time in the village on a few people. So every morning we would go to visit Ibu Ahoi. On our last day there we sat outside of her house and shared the wonderful, beautiful good news of Jesus with her. She looked at me so sincerely and said..”I want to believe but my husband and I are from a different religion…” And as I explained that Jesus is for all people..and it wasn’t about the name of her religion, but if she believed with her heart Jesus would come to be with her.. a smile grew on her face and she decided right there she wanted to pray to receive Jesus. It was a beautiful moment. Truly beautiful…

The morning we wanted to travel home from mentengah I knew in my spirit it would not be calm weather, but that God was with us. However, I never expected to be in a boat a little larger than a canoe, with 10 people, half of which couldn’t swim, in the middle of the ocean totally thrown around by huge waves.. to the point of being completely sideways with water coming in the boat (again and again) over crocodile infested water. Nope. Didn’t expect that.

But what I also never expected was to be completely at peace in a situation like that! I knew Jesus was with us. I knew we were safe. We would not die. I remembered him sleeping through the storm, completely at peace, and I knew I could be the same way. So instead of listening to the hysterical screams around me I started to sing at the top of my lungs.. and what should have been a terrifying experience turned into something fun.. and a real testimony to me about how peaceful and safe it is to be with Jesus.

Yes, I came home exhausted from unsuccessful sleeping on the floor, itchy from the amount of bug bites, tired from hiking, sore from an extreme sunburn, nauseous from the sea, and suffering from an unhappy stomach. But none of it compared to the joy..

the joy of being able to reach the unreached with the beautiful, good news of the gospel..
and the joy of just being alive… ah….. it’s so good to just be alive!

William Carey once said:

“I will go down, If You will hold the rope.”

I am happy to be able to trips like this.. to go into the depths of the jungle. To find the lost.
I am willing… but I can’t do it alone..
If you will hold on with me… with your prayers and support.. you lower us down into these places.. to bring hope to the hopeless!

Thank you for holding the rope.. I could not do it without your strength behind this!!

Blessings,

Susan joy

Lots of pictures… the beauty of the surroundings, the children’s event we did, visiting the families, learning how to walk on thing that shouldn’t be walked on, the things you find in the jungle, and everything else! 

(this update only included news of the first 10 day trip to mentengah. Some of these pictures are of the second trip to the province above us)