Projects Completed
On Jan 20, 2022, Harris Tobing from Amana Relief Center in Sidoarjo was invited by Imam Ipung and the Mualaf Center Nasional Aya Sofya – Mualaf Center team to go to Surabaya and work together – once again. Both organizations teamed up during the Mount Semeru eruption in December 2021 to help with raising monies for the ONLY soup kitchen in the black zone area.
On Thursday night, three people wanted to accept Islam – two Indonesians, and one American who had just arrived from America, spending 5 days in quarantine in Jakarta.
- Mrs. Sumarni from Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 77 yrs old
- Mr. Jermias from Surabaya, Indonesia, 20 yrs old
- Mr. Brett from Washington State, USA, 28 yrs old.
Imam Ipung conducted the first shahadas with Mr. Jermias by reviewing some critical points about Isa (A.S.) in the Bible before he took his shahadah. Next Mrs. Sumarni said she wanted to become a Muslim because she saw the beautiful relationship between her daughter and Muslim husband and was inspired, which led to her daughter – Putri to tell her own persona conversion story and how she accepted Islam many years ago. Mrs. Sumarni had happy tears as she finally proclaimed her shahadah.
Finally, Harris and Mr. Brett were brought to the middle of the room, because ‘white’ people are a specialty in the eyes of Indonesian. After a quick introduction, Brent talked about his family back in USA and his religious background and the ‘unanswered’ questions that never had clarity. Brett has also been educated about Islam by his fiancé from Madiun, East Java.
