Like Cornelius, the Roman centurion, his earnest prayers reached the Almighty Father’s throne. After 60 years of searching for the truth, Brig. Gen. Paulus Butar-butar of the Indonesian Army found the salvation he had been longing for. All it took was a broken satellite dish and a glitch on the TV signal that led to him to discover the ACQ-KBN Channel. The rest is history.


Serendipitous experience

“That’s it! This is what I have been looking for!” Gen. Butar-butar exclaimed as he listened to a Filipino preacher for the first time on TV. He clapped, tapped his feet on the marble floor, and raised his arms in mid air as if he’s just won in a game.

The man on TV shouted, “Unless you repent, you cannot go to heaven!” He was engrossed by the new words he was hearing.

“What is repentance?” the man continued. “Repentance is saying ‘from now on, not my will, but Your will, Father, be done in my life!’” the preacher said it louder this time. Gen. Butar-butar couldn’t agree more. He clasped his hands, looked up to heaven, and whispered to himself, “Now, I know the real way to heaven. Selamat Puji Bapa!”

From that time forth, Gen. Butar-butar always tuned in to ACQ-KBN. He had never heard anybody deliver the message the man was preaching, not even any preacher from all the denominations in Jakarta or in the whole of Indonesia. There wasn’t any trace of hypocrisy on his face and in his message. He knew he was listening to the truth. While the denominations in Jakarta preached a shallow social gospel, this man blatantly declared that real salvation is received not just by hearing the Word of God, but by genuine repentance.

He shared the serendipitous experience to his wife, Emelia and to his son, Marcus. Soon, the entire Butar-butar family was watching ACQ-KBN everyday. Gen. Butar-butar memorized everything that the man preached on TV; including the message that he was the Appointed Son of God, or the Father’s spokesperson to the modern world. He accepted this message without any doubt in his heart.


The good news

Gen. Butar-butar learned that the preacher’s name was Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy, and that he was broadcasting his programs from Davao City in the southern part of the Philippines. Upon knowing this, he recalled his first and last visit to the country in 1992, while he was still a brigadier general of the Indonesian army. He never knew that he would come back to the Philippines, after 14 years, for a greater purpose.

Six months would pass after that day of enlightenment before Gen. Butar-butar broke the good news to his family. “We’re all going to Davao City!” he announced. Everyone was surprised. His grandchildren, Natasha and Isaac, couldn’t wait to see Pastor Apollo and the cast of the children’s show on ACQ-KBN, Batang  Kaharian. “I cannot miss the opportunity to see the Appointed Son of God. Even if I can only shake his hand, I will be very thankful to the Father,” Gen. Butar-butar told his wife, Emelia. It was the Christmas Season of 2006, and the Butar-butar family got ready for a holiday that will forever change their lives.


Off to the New Jerusalem

December 21, 2006 at 10:45 AM – the plane landed in Davao City International Airport. Gen. Butar-butar did not know where the Kingdom of Jesus Christ’s Central Headquarters was. The question lingered on his mind until he asked the cab driver, “Do you know Pastor Apollo Quiboloy?” “Yes, certainly,” the cab driver replied. “Do you know where the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is?” The taxi driver nodded cheerfully and confirmed that the compound was just beside the airport.

Gen. Butar-butar lifted his head to a long stretch of walling. “The Jose Maria College! Yes I remember that there’s a school inside the central headquarters!” he told himself. He wanted to jump with joy.

After checking in at the hotel, Gen. Butar-butar headed for Kentucky Fried Chicken to buy lunch for Natasha and Isaac, with the intention of visiting the Kingdom compound.

On his way to the fast-food restaurant, he asked the cab driver if he knew Pastor Apollo and the Kingdom. “Of course, I do!” the chauffer replied. “Do you want me to bring you there?” he offered. Gen. Butar-butar couldn’t refuse. His excitement was too much to contain. The cab took a U-turn and headed back to the Kingdom compound.

Minutes later, Gen. Butar-butar was walking inside the compound. “This seems like a dream,” he uttered, as a guide led him around the compound. “At exactly 8:00 in the evening,” the guide informed him smiling, “Pastor Apollo will be having a live program tonight at the ACQ-KBN studios, and you can watch him personally.” Gen. Butar-butar was walking on cloud nine.

“At last, I can see the Son of God!” He went out of the compound at past 2:00 in the afternoon, and suddenly remembered his grandchildren’s lunch. He hurriedly hailed a cab, worrying that Natasha and Isaac might be very hungry, but at the back of his mind, thoughts of meeting Pastor Apollo in person that night brought him great joy.


Face to face with the Son
 

Gen. Butar-butar got more than what he wished for. After the program, Pastor Apollo invited him and his family to a late-night dinner, where he had a fellowship with the Appointed Son for the very first time. Gen. Butar-butar thought that everything was just a dream. But it was not. The dinner began and so did the fellowship that lasted for more than two hours.

The green light

“Your visit here is a sign from the Almighty Father that Indonesia is ready for the harvest!” Pastor Apollo told him. Gen. Butar-butar knew that this, too, was a go signal for him and for his family to start the Kingdom’s work in Indonesia. The Butar-butar family flew back to Jakarta in January 2007, the first seeds sown upon the Indonesian soil.

Within just a few months, the Father’s work in Jakarta was already flourishing. The ACQ-KBN’s strong signal in the entire archipelagic state stoked the fire of salvation that wildly scattered across the city of Jakarta and to its neighboring places. Being a retiree, Gen. Butar-butar used much of his time sharing Pastor Apollo’s message to old colleagues, friends and relatives.

He introduced ACQ-KBN to everyone he met and even to his fellow church members in the denomination, most of whom grew fond of listening to Pastor Apollo’s revolutionary message. Pastor Apollo’s preaching about the Sonship and the Kingship caused quite a stir in Gen. Butar-butar’s former religious group. Many were intrigued, but most of them believed, without a doubt.


One of those who found enlightenment with Pastor Apollo’s words was Rico Tobing, scion of Indonesia’s first President, Sukarno.

Indonesian independence

Family after family, mostly from the upper class of Jakarta’s social circle, was led to the Kingdom. Individuals were drawn to the Appointed Son’s preaching, which for them, was like drinking from the fountain of life. “I was dried up spiritually all my life. I had everything, materially and physically, but something was missing. When I heard Pastor Apollo’s preaching, I knew that I had found what I was looking for,” Ricko Tobing testified.

Finally on August 25, 2007, just a few days after the nation celebrated its independence from the Dutch, Indonesia’s day of spiritual liberation came. Pastor Apollo finally set foot on its soil. As part of His King is Coming worldwide tour, Pastor Apollo preached before thousands at the Novotel, Manga Dua Square in Jakarta in a thanksgiving and worship presentation that was beamed live all over the world.

“It is time for the great nation of Indonesia to shine!” Pastor Apollo declared, as he proclaimed the nation’s spiritual independence from the kingdom of darkness. Gen. Butar-butar was on the front row, worshipping and praising the Almighty Father for the love and favor He had given him and for making him the first seed among the millions that will be saved in Indonesia.