Bengkulu became the place to open a new page of Thomas Yulianto, S.Th’s life, as he was ordained as a pastor at the South Sumatra Christian Church (GKSBS) Bengkulu on December 11, 2024. The ceremony was also attended by board-in-charge of Stube HEMAT Rev. (Em). Bambang Sumbodo, S.Th., M.Min. Thomas came at this point after a long process at GKSBS Bengkulu, started from the discussion stage, service practice by doing orientation (internship), mentoring, and finally the ordination stage.

Thomas Yulianto comes from East Lampung Regency, precisely in Catur Swako, Bumi Agung village as the second child of three siblings. Daily, he interacts closely with church services within the GKSBS Batanghari which makes him determined to dedicate himself to church service. His determination to dedicate his life as a pastor was realized by entering Theology at STAK Marturia Yogyakarta and completing his theology studies at the end of 2022.

In addition, as a student, he also equipped himself by becoming part of Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta in 2019 and becoming a work team from 2021 to 2022 by assisting programs to deliver self-development services in Yogyakarta. Here he was equipped to design training programs related to SDGs for students, accompany training participants, become a speaker in training at Stube HEMAT, write various articles, and become a video documentation editor. He even gained experience interacting across regions as far as Alor Island in East Nusa Tenggara Province in the collaboration with the Multiplication of Stube HEMAT in Alor in 2021.

Opening a new page in Bengkulu as a pastor, Thomas has a belief in 'sumeleh', a word in Javanese, meaning to put or let go, which can be understood as accepting the situation as it is but does not mean giving up, but needs to continue to struggle in God's presence. By surrendering his whole life to be used by God, Thomas hopes to be more useful and become a blessing, especially in Bengkulu, by surrendering to God's love.

Good luck Thomas on devoting life to Bengkulu congregation, Immanuel.***