Good News from the Malang Congregation - Herry Susanto

Serving the church is an integral part of Herry Siswanto's daily life. Together with his wife, Laosma, Herry is active from morning until night, even spending the night at church. The church is their second home. Herry carries out every task diligently and seriously, even beyond his original abilities. He does not hold back in ministry. In addition, Herry and his wife have a good relationship with the leaders of the church and the pastor. At first glance, there seems to be no problem in his spiritual life.

In the sixth year of ministry, Herry realized that there was a part of his spiritual life that was unfulfilled and empty. The more ministry he did, the drier his inner life became. Herry saw that the success of his ministry was not in line with the happiness of his marriage, as well as the parenting (raising) of their daughter, Kezia. Even though Herry and his wife served the church, their relationship with God was still shallow. They did not communicate with God. Prayer and Bible reading were only Sunday routines. Their marriage was built with anger and without love, and that affected Kezia's character.

Herry and Laosma took the initiative to seek refreshment for that dry spiritual area. It was not easy to bring up their problems in a congregational gathering. However, God led Herry's family to a healthy community that supported the growth of their faith. God changed Herry's way of seeing people and God. That Christianity is a process of building a deep relationship with God, not merely ministry activity.

Herry then changed the purpose of his ministry, namely to deepen his relationship with God. Prayer and Bible reading have now become things he loves. The Word of God became his foundation in building family life. Herry's increasingly strong relationship with God made his passion for ministry never fade; in fact, he carries it out with even greater joy. Herry's transformation affected his relationship with Laosma and Kezia. Herry became a husband who is always there for his wife, and a father who knows his child.

To this day, Kezia continues learning to develop her positive character together with the teens. Herry's talents have made him trusted to handle multimedia, the sound system, and worship documentation. Now Herry always rejoices in his ministry and does not hesitate to share the gospel wherever he is. Herry hopes that one day he will be able to build a ministry in his neighborhood, which is located quite far from the city of Malang.