Opening Worship on Pangkalpinang Bible Week 2025

At 3:00 pm, the opening service of Bible Week began. Dozens of people had gathered in the worship space of GBI Pulau Bangka. They sang, chanting praise and worship together, accompanied by the soothing strains of melodious music.

After singing, it was time to hear a reflection on God's word delivered by Rev. Gustav Rawing Siam. Taking a quote from Proverbs 14:11, the theme presented was "Bloom in times of trouble."

In his presentation, he expressed his concern for biblical spirituality in the present, which will also affect the future. He said that, if we do not cultivate interaction with the Bible from now on, we will not be able to pass it on to future generations.

"Come on, let's all get back to the word of God!", he emphasized.

In his reflection, he said that we must return to the Bible as the foundation of life, to seek answers from God.

"Everything that is a question in the world, the answer is up there!", he added.

At the end of the devotional, he stated, whatever we feel, may our contemplation and surrender to God make us better, relieve us and save us.

The word of God has been delivered, finally the opening procession of Bible Week was held. The first procession began with a speech from R.D. Marcel Gabriel. In his speech, he welcomed the team from LAI Center. He expressed his hope that many people would attend this event, as a form of gratitude to LAI for preparing the entire series of activities. He hoped that the relationship with all churches in Pangkalpinang will continue to be good and maintained.

The next welcome was from Mr. Hortensius F. Mandaru, the Bible translation coach, who was followed by Mgr. Adrianus Sunarko, O.F.M.
Followed by Bp. Gregorius Heri, S.Ag., as the representative of Catholic Bimas, as well as beating the Gong, a symbol of the inauguration of the whole series of Bible Week Pangkalpinang 2025.< brnbsp;

Pangkalpinang Bible Week continues until September 11, 2025, with various competitions and exhibitions of Museum collections and LAI publications. There will be many other interesting things in this series of activities held at GBI Pulau Bangka.