Vania Salim
Vania Djohan Salim grew up in Medan, Indonesia, the third largest city in the nation of Indonesia, which has the distinction of being both the planet’s fourth most-populated nation and the largest Muslim country. She and her husband Harliem were baptized through the efforts of the Chicago church in the early 1990s after receiving their master’s degrees in America and gave up lucrative careers in the USA when they moved back to Indonesia in 1994. Having just celebrated her 50th birthday in 2020, she has now been serving in the full-time ministry for half of her life, as she went into the ministry in 1995. That was also the year Vania gave birth to her first child, Athalya Natasha, and the following year to Athena. The Salims took over the leadership of the Jakarta church toward the end of 1996 and soon begin to disciple all of Indonesia as well – a ministry which has grown into 35 churches with 6500 disciples in Indonesia! The Salims have raised up countless Indonesian leaders including Budi and Listiana Hartono who now officially lead the Jakarta church while Harliem and Vania have taken the helm overseeing the churches in Indonesia outside of Jakarta as well as the chairmanship of the SEA Region Regional Family of churches since the end of 2014. As of 2020, the SEA Region comprises 9000 disciples in 65 churches in 8 countries! To God be the Glory!
Vania is a bundle of energy and is known for her hospitality, her laughter, and her great faith! She wears many hats – besides the larger leadership roles mentioned above, she leads a thriving personal ministry and is very active in studying the Bible with women constantly. She has put together different teams of women to serve the community in various ways, she has served on international committees of the ICOC, and she literally helped start and build an international school in Jakarta, graduates of which have gone on to study in some of the top universities in the world. At the same time, she is an excellent wife, cooking breakfast for her husband every morning and serving his large extended family in various ways. Vania has been a solution focused practitioner for over ten years and she uses those skills in all her roles. Her daughters have their mother’s deep faith, her incredible drive and her love of education; both work full-time in the education field and also serve their local ministries in a myriad of ways.