Sam Indrawan moved to Perth from Indonesia with his family when he was in year seven. Being from an immigrant family meant Sam was trying to find his feet in a new country while also being a teenager trying to find his identity – a tricky combination.
In Sam’s family, church was a part of their social life, but Sam didn’t quite understand what it meant to have a personal relationship with Jesus. As an older teenager, Sam started to realise the extent of his own sinfulness, and his need for Jesus through the teaching at his youth group. As he came to faith and finished high school he stepped into leading at his youth group, and this brought him immense joy.
At university he studied architecture, which he loved. But he was also wrestling with the idea that God might be calling him to pastoral ministry, to teach and preach the Word. Both architecture and leading youth ministry gave him delight and were rewarding. But he felt a choice needed to be made.
After Sam handed in his final project for his architecture degree, he told his parents he had decided to pursue ministry. Even though his parents were Christians, they had never considered that Sam would go into full-time ministry work. It was a big adjustment for them to make.
And there was another thing slowing Sam’s progress. He investigated study options and was set on Trinity Theological College as the best option, but he could not start studying straight away. As he was not a citizen, he could not access government fee help, and he did not want to ask his parents to support him financially through another degree. So Sam had to wait a few years to become a citizen.
“In that moment, God really taught me patience. Even though I knew I had a calling for ministry, I also knew I had to be patient and wait on God’s timing. And finally, after working in my field, God opened up that opportunity and I was able to finally start at Trinity,” Sam says.
Sam found Trinity to be a great place where he was encouraged to investigate scripture thoroughly. He found the lecturers were well equipped to teach and were always willing to answer questions that went beyond the surface of what they were studying. “I always felt confident coming to a lecture knowing that a lecturer has thought deeply about each topic,” Sam says.
It was also encouraging to see Christians from many different backgrounds and denominations discussing points of disagreement while also maintaining gospel unity. “They were just really focused on Jesus, which was amazing to see, even though we had our differences,” Sam recalls.
Sam found that already being multilingual made learning languages like Greek a more enjoyable and rewarding experience. “I really loved learning the general ins and outs of a language and different conventions and lingos. The Greek we see in the Bible isn’t as straightforward as I thought. You can translate a word, but to translate a statement you have to actually get to know the grammar and how it works.”
Throughout his time at Trinity, Sam could feel God shaping his character, particularly in the area of humility. “The lecturers have so much experience in their field, and that really just organically formed a bit of humility in us. At the same time, the lecturers were thoroughly pastoral, not just academic. They were genuinely interested in how you are being formed as a person,” Sam says. The pastoral care groups were another space in which Sam felt cared for and known in an authentic way while at College.
During his second year at Trinity, Sam started a new role at East Fremantle Baptist Church as their youth pastor. He found this was a great chance to implement things he was learning at college, and went on to serve as their associate pastor after graduating in 2021. During this time he also served part time as a hospital chaplain, which Sam describes as a ‘boot camp’ for his ministry experience.
“I was able to just sit with the vulnerable in their suffering. We learnt the theology of suffering at College, but being with all those patients, especially those who are not Christians, really equipped me to put it all into action,” Sam shares. He encourages current Trinity students to keep their eyes open not just to what is being taught in their classes, but how it might be applied in ministry.
From the beginning of 2025, Sam moved into a new role at Woodvale Baptist where he is more focused on discipleship and pastoral duties. “I’ve been able to not just practice what I learnt at College, but really use it for who I love, which is the people of God,” Sam shares.
Sam is still in close contact with a number of his fellow students from Trinity, who have become close friends who regularly speak with and pray for each other. “When we catch up we are able to talk about ministry, but also just our personal spiritual journey, and what God is doing in our lives.”
Please pray for Sam in his role at Woodvale Baptist, that God would continue to grow him as a minister of the Word and discipler of others, and that in all things God may be glorified.
