Good News GKDI Semarang - Justine Gunawan

Sunday, October 22, 2017, was a special day for the congregation in the city of Semarang. On that day, 2 teens made the decision to offer themselves to be baptized. One of them was Justine Clarence Gunawan (14 years old), who is currently in 9th grade.

Justine is the younger of two children of Mr. Tobing Gunawan and Mrs. Chanty Marbun, the leaders of the Semarang congregation. Living and growing up in a family of God’s servants made Justine used to seeing her parents serve people from an early age, both members of the congregation and those who are lost. The increasingly wise changes in the way her parents raised their children motivated Justine to study the Bible. Not only through the example given by her parents, but Justine also learned from the life of her older sister, Clairine, who also became an inspiration to her; the life change shown by her sister further increased Justine’s eagerness to decide to begin studying the Bible. She deeply wanted to be able to master herself in the area of anger and grow even closer to God.

For about 10 months, Justine studied the Bible with one of the teen mentors, Laras. During her Bible study, the hardest challenge Justine had to face was having a consistent quiet time and learning how to control herself from anger. To show her sincerity toward God, Justine began learning to arrange her schedule so that she could have her quiet time every day. Justine wanted to have a consistent quiet time.

Besides being inspired by the life change shown by her sister, her desire to have a life transformed by the Word of God became the turning point in her own life change. The Word of God helped her see that anger also caused her to sin. Previously, Justine was angry almost every day, but now she has changed greatly; at present she is far more able to control herself and her emotions. Even though it is very hard for her to deny herself every day in order not to get angry, Justine does not give up. Justine is determined not to keep falling into the same hole. She truly wants to change for the better. Both her parents and her sister have strongly felt that change. Some people who know Justine can also feel that she is far more patient, cheerful, and active in making prayer appointments and spending time with fellow members of the congregation.

Today, Justine is very enthusiastic about living her life as a disciple of Jesus. She is beginning to be able to control her emotions, and Justine has even started evangelizing her friends. Justine wants to do that because she feels grateful. Now, Justine has become a person who is very different from before. She deeply wants to become an even better person, the person God wants her to be, becoming more and more like Christ.