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 GENESIS
CATHOLIC
COMMUNITY
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- Genesis
as a book in our Sacred Scriptures talks about "The
Creation." The Genesis Community likewise depicts the
creation of a new meaning of life for the Filipinos in
Indonesia. It began in August of 1988, with a handful of
Filipino expatriates regularly mee
 ting together
to read and share insights on the Bible. Until after a
while, the members felt that God was calling them to be more
than just a Bible Study Group. This came as an inspiration
from the Bible when the Lord called on His disciples and
said "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of
men" (Mark 1:7). The involvement of a few of the
members in the renewal movement in the Philippines also
helped in the birth of a bigger group, for a bigger mission.
And it was then that they moved from Bible Study Group to
the Genesis Catholic Charismatic Community, a prayer group.
It was Fr. Sonny Ramirez, a Filipino priest, who suggested
the name Genesis to signify a new beginning, a new turn, a
new mission for the Lord. The members began to meet more
often and more regularly for worship, teachings and
fellowship. When still a few more started to come, the
prayer meeting moved to a bigger place in Gereja Santa
Maria, and now in Istana Kana (in Menteng.) More and more charisms of the Holy Spirit became
manifest in the prayer meetings. As duly gifted, the members
yielded and used the gifts of tongues, healing and prophecy.
Soon they began to hold
Life in the Spirit Seminars and other teachings, with the
help of Father Leonardo Polinar (also a Filipino priest,) to
explain what true spiritual renewal meant. They invited
priests and lay people who were already involved in the
renewal in Manila to give and facilitate these talks.
Incidentally as some of them moved to Surabaya, Genesis
Surabaya was born.
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all those years, the Lord steadfastly poured His blessings
upon Genesis. And then quietly, as the Lord so often moves
in people's hearts, another stirring
came up to them. Slowly the leaders and the members felt a
sense that the Lord was calling them to yet a bigger
mission, to yet greater service. The Lord impressed it up
 on
them that He desired for them to bind themselves into a
community to grow deeper roots in the Lord and to have a
greater zeal for service. And so in 1995, the Lord led them
to seek the help of Bo Sanchez from the Light of Jesus
Community and Omy and Rosanne Romero from the Ligaya ng
Panginoon (translated "Joy of the Lord"), both of
which are covenanted communities in the Philippines. And
this is how Genesis evolved from being just a simple Bible
Study Group to an eager Charismatic Prayer Group - and now
into the stages of living as a community.
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Mission: To
create an environment which will enable the members to live
their lives fully in Christ through the Community. Since
it's inception, life has never been the same for its
Genesis. To highlight our way of life, we changed the prayer
group name of Genesis Catholic Charismatic Community to
Genesis Catholic Community. Membership has more than doubled
and at present includes Indonesians, Indians and other
nationalities. The smaller groups or what we call care
groups serve as the gateway for a deeper relationship among
the members. Each Care Group has about 5 to 10 members. We
meet at the least, twice a month to share our ups and downs,
difficulties and victories in our Christian walk. And so,
the Care Group has become the place where we can practice
all the things we learned about the renewed life. It is
where mothers and fathers gather separately to candidly
talk
about the challenges of raising children, the hard balancing
act of love and discipline. It is where we can get renewed
zeal to live out our calling as husbands, as wives and as
single people. Making giant leaps is not a goal. Rather, we
keep a close ear to the Lord and incline our steps according
to His word. Scripture says, "By this shall all men
know that you are my disciples -that you bear love one to
another". We, the Genesis Catholic Community have this
inscribed in our hearts.
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- Our
doors and our hearts are open to all those who are seeking
to develop an intimate personal relationship with the Lord
and those desiring to deepen their relationship with Him. We
invite you to join us in our activities and be blessed by
the Lord;
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Holy
Mass -
every First Friday of the month, celebrated by different guest
priests at the Istana Kana hall,
Jl. Soeroso (formerly Gondangdia)
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Prayer
Worship and Teachings on
Christian Doctrine and practical Christian living - every
third Friday of the month
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- You
may bring your kids, too. We have our Children's Ministry to
attend to them. We also invite you to join the Genesis Choir
for singing at Sunday Masses.
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For any inquiries, feel free to email us at
genesis@catholic.org
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