Good News from GKDI Surabaya - Ruth

In mid-May 2017, Rosma, one of the sisters in the Denpasar congregation, introduced her older sister, Ruth, to the congregation in Surabaya to study the Bible. Ruth first had the desire to study the Bible when she was in Bali. Ruth was actually from Surabaya. She came to Bali to work and at the same time to calm herself from several problems she was facing.

While in Bali, Ruth saw her younger sister involved in helping other people learn to know the Word of God. Ruth saw how her sister helped that person, who turned out to have problems similar to what she herself was experiencing at that time. Ruth had several challenges she was facing then. Struggles ranging from financial problems to problems in her marriage were weighing on her.

Seeing how the Word of God could help her face the problems she was dealing with, Ruth decided to study the Bible with the Denpasar congregation.

After some time studying with the congregation in Denpasar, Ruth decided to return to Surabaya. In Surabaya, she was introduced to the congregation there so that she could continue her Bible studies. Seeing the Word of God help so much in her life, Ruth also invited her husband, Medi, to join the Bible study. At first, Medi was not very interested because he was one of the elders in a church in Surabaya. At that church, Medi had served as an elder for 18 years. However, when he heard brother Deddy share that during Bible study, their marriage would receive guidance. Not only in their marriage, but they would also be guided in managing their finances. Brother Deddy shared that he used to have many debts and was entangled in credit card debt. The problems brother Deddy had once faced happened to be the same as what Medi was experiencing at that time, where Medi had financial problems and was even being pursued by debt collectors.

In the process of studying the Bible, Medi and Ruth began to open up about the problems they were facing, from marriage problems, finances, and the sins they were struggling with. Medi and Ruth began to realize that all this time they had lived by putting ministry first. Ministry had become something they prioritized more than living rightly as God desires. Seeing that they needed to change their priorities, they began to shift the focus of their lives. In the past they considered ministry to be something very important and primary; now they let go of all that and began to set the right priority, namely to live as God wants. When they began to prioritize God in both their personal lives and their marriage, their married life changed for the better. God even blessed them with better jobs.

The changes did not happen only in their lives. Changes also took place in each of their personal characters. Medi no longer smokes now, and he has become more attentive to his wife. Ruth herself has also become more respectful toward Medi. In the past Ruth preferred to keep what she felt to herself; now Ruth has become more open and quicker to apologize when she makes a mistake.

Finally, after 5 months of studying the Bible, Medi and Ruth decided to be baptized and become disciples of Jesus on 29 October 2017. Medi and Ruth are excited to be disciples of Jesus and eager to keep learning and sharing with the people around them so they can know the truth and study the Word of God.