<< Return to About Us
FAMILY
Born in Indonesia in February 1948, Tom married Annie in 1977. They
have three children: John (born 1983), Mary (born 1984) and David (born
1985)
Tom was raised in an actively Christian family, and has a strong commitment to the Baptist ethos. He is fifth in a family of nine children: four brothers and four sisters.
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
After completing High School in North Sumatra, Tom moved to Jakarta
to study, originally intending to become a doctor. However, at the end
of the year, he decided to change to teaching, and completed a one year
basic training course for secondary teachers. He briefly taught English,
Maths, Science and Music, then returned for more teacher training to Certificate
level. Later he studied at the Academy of Foreign Languages in Jakarta
to improve his English, and completed a further year of teacher training.
Sensing a call to the ministry, Tom began theological training in the Baptist Seminary in Jakarta in 1979, completing his degree in 1982. His special interest was evangelism and church planting. In this time he was also part-time pastor of a small nearby church. For 18 months, he then worked with Annie as a missionary-evangelist on Batam Island, about 20 km from Singapore. This work was jointly sponsored by a church in Hong Kong and one in Jakarta.
Returning to Jakarta in mid 1984, Tom became associate pastor of Grogol Baptist Church in Jakarta for four years. At the end of that time, he was sent to a small town called Tangrang where he planted a church and remained as Pastor until 1992.
AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE
That year, Tom and Annie, with their three children, moved to Darwin,
where Tom took a three month course in English before moving to Brisbane
to do a two year certificate course in Christian Ministries with the Christian
Outreach Centre.
From 1995, Tom undertook a Masters Degree in Theology through Morling College (the Baptist College) in Sydney. On completion in 1997, he started an Indonesian Fellowship in Darlinghurst. In September 1998 the group moved to Marrickville, where they work towards combined membership with the English-language congregation already there.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
As well as having planted the Calvary Fellowship, Tom is also actively
developing an Indonesian work in Canberra.