Soon after his baptism, Zeth Louis Lekatompessy in Indonesia made a bold plan to lead his seven siblings and their families to Christ. Together with his wife, he prayed daily, visited relatives, and invited them to evangelistic meetings. Many accepted the message, and Zeth’s passion for sharing the gospel grew. Even after losing his job during the COVID-19 pandemic, he continued visiting people with his family, praying over a growing list of names and offering Bible studies—leading many more to baptism.
Zeth Louis Lekatompessy put together a plan to bring his seven siblings and their families to Christ the same year that he was baptized in Indonesia.
The plan went like this: Zeth asked his wife, whom he married shortly before his baptism, to join him in praying daily for his relatives. He and his wife also visited the relatives, and studied the Bible with them. Then he invited them to evangelistic meetings at a Seventh-day Adventist church on Ambon Island, where they lived. At the end of the meetings, 13 people were baptized, including his older sister and two other relatives. Later, five more brothers and sisters were baptized. Zeth was overjoyed! He decided that leading people to Christ was life’s most important work.
For the next two years, he worked as a literature evangelist, sailing between islands to sell books. The Covid lockdown ended his work.
As he contemplated the future, he felt impressed to volunteer as a Bible worker. His wife agreed, and he returned to the plan that he had made for the salvation of his siblings. He and his wife made a list of every person whom they knew and prayed over it daily. With their two small children, they used their motorcycle to visit people on the list.
On arriving at a new house, Zeth introduced himself and his family and said, “We are Seventh-day Adventists.”
Houseowners asked curiously, “What’s an Adventist?”
“An Adventist is someone who worships on the Sabbath,” Zeth replied
The next question inevitably was: “What is the Sabbath?” Zeth suggested that houseowners looked up the answer online
When houseowners saw that the Sabbath was Saturday, they were surprised and asked, “Is it true that Saturday is the true day of worship?”
Then Zeth opened his Bible and offered Bible studies.
The prayer list grew to 50 names over three years. Zeth and his family usually visited three families a day. Four people on the list had been baptized by the time Zeth left to study theology at Klabat University. Three more were baptized as he studied at Klabat, and others continued Bible studies in his absence.
“Fourteen percent of my list has been baptized,” he said.
Thank you for your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering, also known as the Quarterly Mission Project Offering, that is helping people like Zeth prepare for gospel ministry. Klabat University, located near Manado, Indonesia, is a previous offering recipient. This quarter’s offering will help similar schools in the East-Central Africa Division. Watch a YouTube video of Zeth at: bit.ly/Zeth-IS.
Gina Wahlen
is the editor of Adventist Mission’s Sabbath School mission quarterlies and Inside Stories















