Jesus Freaks: Dominggus Kenjam of Indonesia, "It is Not Time For You Yet..."

Dominggus Kenjam - watch YouTube for testimony.

1999

“Allah-u-Ahkar!” (Allah is Almighty!) “Allah-u-Ahkar!”

Dominggus awoke with a start out of his bed as someone grabbed him and dragged him to the ground. His screams were muffled as they continued to shout and rain blows down on his body. He couldn’t see anyone of them, and he could see no means of escape. “We will allow the women to live, but the men must die!” someone shouted.

            As Dominggus struggled to escape, a sickle came down on the back of his neck, cutting deeply. He went nearly unconscious but sensed that his assailants had left the room, leaving him for dead. He felt ill as the growing pool of his own blood began soaking through his t-shirt.

            Rather than lapsing all the way into unconsciousness, though, Dominggus reported that his spirit left his body and was escorted up by two angels. As he rose, he could look back down on where his body lay huddled on the floor in the dark room. He was sure that he had died.

            Every feeling of fear and pain left him immediately as an indescribable peace flooded his being. I am going to be with Jesus, he thought.

            Then Dominggus heard the words, “It is not time for you to serve me here.” Then he felt himself floating back toward his body.

            Suddenly Dominggus could feel that someone else was in the room with him. They were discussing which morgue to take his body to, because they didn’t know if he was a Muslim or a Christian.

            “I am a Christian,” he was able to say weakly. The two emergency medical workers must have had quite a start when the “corpse” they were discussing answered their question for itself!

            Dominggus was back. His work on the earth was not through.

……………………………………………………

Today, Dominggus has fully recovered. He still bears the scar of the attack on his flesh, but not in his spirit. He has forgiven his attackers and has a deeper commitment to pray for Muslims in Indonesia than ever before. Not only that, he now knows he has a purpose to fulfil on the earth or Jesus would not have sent him back. His faith is now stronger than ever, and he is eager to follow God’s will daily as it is revealed to him.  

            And Indonesia gravely needs people with hearts like that if Dominggus. The government has promoted a belief called Pancasila – meaning that all may freely choose to follow Christianity, Islam, Buddism, or Hinduism – but in reality Muslims receive preferential treatment. The political strength of Islam has been used to limit evangelism and reduce Christian influence on public life. Islamists’ stated aim is the complete elimination of Christianity in the country. In recent years there has been an orchestrated jihad, or “holy war,” against Christians – with over six hundred churches destroyed by mobs. Some areas have been subjected to outright military attacks and killings.

            Over the last forty years, evangelicals have grown from 1.3 million to 11.5 million. The increase of Christian persecution has brought about a greater unity among the Body, the growth of a national prayer movement, and a commitment to outreach in Indonesia and beyond. The vision for the evangelization of Indonesia has grown despite the tremendous persecution.

[Taken from Jesus Freaks: Revolutionaries (2002) by dc Talk. Title mine]

“[Be] truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purified gold – and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honour on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world”
(1 Peter 1:6-7, NLT).

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.