The Zone Gathering

Today, we shine the spotlight on new Team Leader Lisa Suwandi. I have known Lisa since the goatee-less Pastor Mark and “Jesus is the Answer” days (read on for more on that) since I met her at the 1999 NCC YAM (young adults ministry) retreat. Although I lived in Nashville at the time, I became friends with Lisa and Lita at that retreat and we’ve been buddies ever since.

I’d love to say that I’ve had an important influence on Lisa’s life (it was I who encouraged her to watch Wizard of Oz for the first time), but I think it’s probably the other way around. Lisa’s laughter, servant-heart, and compassionate spirit are contagious. She has proven herself in both ministry and discipleship, and we have recently promoted her to Team Leader within Sarah Owen’s zone.

Today, we talk with Lisa about life, ministry, and those ferocious guard swans.

How long have you attended NCC? What brought you to NCC?
I was looking for a convenient/metro accessible non- denominational church when I moved to DC. I found NCC in the yellow pages, and decided to check it out. I visited the church in 1997, and have been coming regularly since 1998/1999. This was the time before Pastor Mark had a goatee and when we sang “Jesus is the Answer” at the end of every service.

Tell us a little about the small groups and/or ministries that you lead and how that experience has impacted you.
I have the privilege of leading a women small group with Lanre Williams. I can’t believe it has been a year! It has been a blessing to share life with such an amazing group of women. It has definitely made a difference having a group of people to encourage and pray for you. Their passion and hunger for Christ are highly contagious. It spurs me on in my walk with Christ.

I am also co-leading a Wednesday lunch group with Dennis Bourne this semester. I’m looking forward to getting to know other NCCers who work in the Capitol Hill area. If you work on the Hill, we invite you to join us every Wednesday at noon at the Union Station Food Court!

Where can you be found on Sunday mornings?
Ballston (either passing out bulletins or in the connection point/coffee area) when I serve on the hospitality team. I recently started serving on the Ebenezers hospitality team, so I imagine I will be sleeping in on some Sundays when I’m not serving at Ballston’s.

When did you start following Christ and what have been some of the spiritual turning points in your life?
I was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. I was blessed to attend a Christian school at a very young age. Having been educated in a Christian school, I became accustomed to hearing Bible stories. So, it never crossed my mind to not believe in Jesus! In junior high, several of my good friends attended the same church, so that made me want to go to a church as well. For the next several years, God used my friends to draw me closer to Him.

In college, through a church very similar to NCC, I learned more about Christianity. I learned why I believe what I believe. I learned to let go of my agenda and allow God to rule every part of my life.

A spiritual turning point for me occurred in 2002 when I experienced a family crisis. God helped me realized that I am not in control of situations. Through these circumstances, God taught me to surrender controls and trust His faithfulness and promises.

Tell us a little about your background.
I was born and raised in Indonesia and moved to the US for college. Of all places, I decided to study at Case Western Reserve University in cold snowy Cleveland, OH. After graduating, I moved to DC for graduate school. I currently live in Alexandria, with my sister, Lita and a dog, Casper, whose skills include running on a treadmill and praying before meals.

People tell me that Lita and I look so much alike that they cannot tell us apart. An NCC-er who remains anonymous admitted to me that it took him 3 years to tell us apart. That explains why for the first three years, he never called us by name.

My parents currently live in Indonesia, but frequently come to visit us. My family loves to travel, so I have the opportunities to go to fun places such as Australia, Hawaii and Alaska.

What is your favorite Scripture passage?
This is tough. I would say some of my favorite verses are:

Joshua 1:5 As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you

1 Corinthians 2: 9 No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has ever conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.

Courtesy of The Story led by Heather Zempel, I now have a category for “interesting” verses:

Judges 3: 21-23 : Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into king’s belly. Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out of his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. (the fun things you learn from Heather!)

What are your favorite books?
I enjoy reading books by John Ortberg (If You Want To Walk On Water, You’ve Got To Get Out Of The Boat; The Life You’ve Always Wanted; Love Beyond Reason), Louie Giglio (The Air I Breathe; I am Not But I Know I Am) and Brother Andrew (God’s Smuggler; And God Changed His Mind)

What are your favorite movies?
I like a lot of movies, off the top of my head: The Chronicles of Narnia, Walk the Line, Hitch, Italian Job, Father of the Bride, and many others.

What is your favorite fast food?
Chipotle. I am afraid that Lanre will fire me as co-leader or refuse to be my friend, if I say otherwise. But seriously (as serious as you can get when you talk about food), I have to agree with Lanre, I do like Chipotle. Chick Fil A and Potbelly come in close second.

What is something that most people at NCC would not know about you?
When I was young, someone broke into our house, so understandably, my mother was pretty traumatized. Since it is against the law to own a gun, she decided to get “guard animals”. Interestingly, she chose unconventional guard animals….swans. 10 swans to be exact! By the way, they are proven to be excellent guard animals, they are very loud!

The story does not end there, after a couple years, my mom decided that the whole swan thing was not her thing anymore, so she decided to give them away to my housekeeper. So, months later my housekeeper went back home to her town lugging loud swans on public transportation.

This is an image of a typical bus in Jakarta, can you imagine dragging swans in this bus? What a nightmare!

Tell us a little about your day job. What is your dream job?
My official title is Treasury Analyst. I work for a not for profit organization that manages retirement funds for government employees. I am responsible for managing short-term cash movement, including wire transfers, electronic funds transfers, checks and mutual fund trades.

I really enjoy traveling, so my dream job would be something that allows me to travel. Maybe working at Orbitz or Travelocity where my job would be inspecting nice hotel amenities. I think having my own little French pastry shop would be fun as well!

Who is your hero? (besides Jesus or any other member of the Trinity)
I don’t have a specific person in mind, I echo many leaders who said heroes are everyday people that are available and willing to be used by God to make a difference in other people’s lives.

What do you do in your free time?
Hang out with friends, relax, read, and watch movies.

In NCC:THE MOVIE who would play you? Who would play Pastor Mark?
Hmmm this is tough, maybe Monica Belucci for me

Pastor Mark would be played by either Jim Carrey or Tom Hanks.

What is your favorite Pastor Markism?
It cracks me up when I see how excited Pastor Mark becomes when he includes Spanish phrases in his sermons. (más o manos) or when he excitedly say, “You know what I’m sayin?” complete with his rap/hip hop hand movement! =)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 26th, 2006 at 9:35 am and is filed under Small Group Leaders, Spotlights, Team Leaders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.