INDONESIA

Less Trash, Returned Smiles, Cow Less Streets, Familiar Faces, Church Connections, American Food, Malls, Hotter Weather, New Language...some of the more noticeable differences between India and Indonesia...

We arrived in Indonesia Wednesday 5 November. We were greeted by a friend of a friend at the airport and it was such a blessing to not have to seek out a seemingly trustworthy taxi driver or wonder if the hotel we were heading to would feel "safe" As we drove through the capitol and the biggest city of the country, Jakarta, already Indonesia felt warmer - weather wise and people wise! It started at the airport, when we paid our $25 and got the visa with no questions and the immigration man smiled after he stamped my passport - the first time a smile had been returned for a while. Few tuk tuk's (auto rickshaws) many American restaurants, bigger cars, decent highway, many American Restaurants (everything from McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, Pizza Hut, KFC and A&W) and MALLS...

This growing city feels much like America. I find myself wondering if this is for the best. Fast food really isn't healthy and Indonesian food tastes amazing. Malls seem to focus on style, success, and every material object imaginable. We spend our first day in Indonesia perusing two really huge malls and catching the new James Bond 007 movie (English, with Indonesian stubtitles) After India this feels more luxurious than Vermont! Maybe God is here in similar fashion as the US? How will we find the differences here?

Enter Troy. Troy arrived in Indonesia on Thursday night. What a glorious time to reconnect with an amazing brother, mentor, and friend. He tried to show us 14 months of his life in Jakarta in about 10 hours - he was very successful - we met some church friends, drove to a village orphanage and were blessed to worship with 10 adolescent boys (keep your eye out for video coming soon) learned more Indoneisan Food, went to Prump Pung to see Troy love and be loved by poorer children in a less wealthy area of Jakarta and lead Baby Shark (BBC is going international!). We ended the day with Saate (tasty meat on a stick) Iced Shang Hi (really colorful sweet drink/dessert) and a time of fellowship, conversation, pondering, laughing and relaxing with my older single brother and husband, a first for me. For a brief moment, I forget about all the crazyness that makes up this world and enjoy the present. It's good to be with family. It's good to explore what God is doing here. And even better to pursue our unique purpose in this wild kingdom...


More to Come Including:

Mennonites in Indonesia
Indonesian Wedding
Indonesians in America