The REAL Indonesia!

I hope that you are excited to read this, because I am very excited to write this blog post.

First, thank-you for all your birthday wishes.  I had a wonderful and unforgettable birthday, I'll tell you more in a bit. 

Secondly, in the previous blog post is instructions on how to post a comment without creating an account.

Thirdly, if you have a question or something about my time here let me know by posting a comment or by email @ Jason_k_horlings@hotmail.com

Well, the real Indonesia has finally come into my life and it has been a hilarious, joyous and challenging 4 days here in Kudus.  Kudus is where I will live from mid-October until July…what a great place to call home.  I have been living with an Indonesian family living and attempting to live an Indonesian life the past 4 days unlike my first 5 days in Indonesia. 

The Challenging

1.

 Well, I introduced myself in front of hundreds of people at 3 different church services in Indonesian. Enough said.

2.

I met with 14 pastors of the Kudus church that I am apart of and they spoke Indonesian the entire time.  Yup, you read that right.  There are14 pastors for 2500 members spread between 2 congregations under the same church name here in Kudus.  Unbelievable.

3.

There is one thing that has me in disbelief here.  It is poverty.  What I can’t get over is not how much poverty there is or something, but how ambiguous and confusing it is. 

If there was one thing that I thought I actually knew something about before coming here was poverty issues.  As some of you know, I have studied poverty in some of my university classes and I am involved in university campus action and awareness around poverty.  I have known about its complexity and multi-dimensional character, but poverty here has me perplexed.  Why?

First, I have not talked to anyone about this yet because of the language barrier and because I rather observe and take in Indonesia before unleashing questions immediately. 

Secondly, the outer appearance of Indonesia is “run-down” by North American standards.  There are few things that are “nice and shiny”.  There is not a drastic contrast between wealth/affluence and poverty as I expected.  There are nice cars and mansions that some live in, but on the whole, from my observations, there is not a huge contrast here. 

Thirdly, therefore, poverty is not easy to spot.  What I mean by that is in, say, Vancouver, there is significant poverty beside incredible wealth.  At least it seems that we can pin poverty down to a location and people—a community.  You find this across North America.  Here, I cannot say I have seen someone whom I would refer to as “poor…”..That is because my eyes do not know what to interpret from the way of life that surrounds me.

Which is good for a number of reasons:

-- Poverty is so deep and complicated that appearances give little clue as to what is actually going on in people’s lives. 

-- I have an even greater desire to learn more about the poor after realizing how little I know about poverty.

-- It dispels stereotypes of poverty and the “developing countries” in a hurry

4. 

Speaking very little Indonesian and talking a lot less in the course of a day have taught me 2 things so far.

                        --Going from one place to another, meeting new people in each of the new places and not speaking has caused my identity to be stripped down quite a bit from what I became accustomed to in Canada.  It has become quickly evident that I will be constantly reminded that my identity is found in Christ.  It’s simple, but it is very real when you enter a cross-cultural context. 

                        -- Nothing makes St. Francis of Assisi’s famous words “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words” more real in my life than….NOW!  I am challenged to think far more about my actions than ever before and I also notice others actions far more because of my limited verbal communication.

The joyous

--My family in Kudus.  I am delighted to live with them for a year.  They love having me here, and I love being with them.  So it works out great.  I consider it one family, but in North American words, I live with 2 familes that share a house.  I will tell you more about them in another post as well as give you a video tour of my home.

-- Let’s just say that my family owns a bakery, restaurant and catering service.  I eat very very well.  I want food, I get food and when I don’t want food……I get food.

Mami and me at her bakery.  She is a chef!

-- My sister Irene.  She is my life-line here.  She is one of the most caring and patient individual that I have ever meet.  I wish you could meet her.  She makes sure I take my naps ever day since I am so exhausted.  She cooks breakfast for me.  She drives me everywhere on the motorcycle.  She teaches me new words all day.  She calls out “Jason, are you okay?” when I go to the washroom.  (By the way, I am very thankful for that.)  She laughs at me.  She prayed with me last night when I felt quite homesick.  She has set a new standard of love and care in my life and I cannot imagine a better person to have welcomed me here to Indonesia. 

Irene and me

--I have hung out with the young adults here.  There are crazy, hilarious and speak some English.  And guess what? I get to spend the whole year with them. YES!

Some young adults eating fried noodles.

Hilarious

My family and the young adults group at my church had a surprise party for me! It was great and the young adults here are easy to hang-out with and made for a great party.

As I awkwardly made my way through the birthday traditions here, one moment was particularly hilarious.  I was asked to say 3 wishes.  At home, we don’t really do this and if we do it is not taken too seriously.  I didn’t know what they expect with this part of the birthday so I said my three wishes. I said I wanted to learn Indonesian, learn footsal and then I was stumped for a last wish. 

Then someone yelled out “get a girl-friend”.  I laughed and jokingly said “okay, sure.”  Well, there is more weight placed on these wishes than I imagined.  It took 2 minutes before the pastor asked God in prayer for not only “Jason to serve God this year” but for “Jason to find an Indonesian girl friend.”  Oh my…  I have laughed ever time I think about this.

I keep thinking of things to write, but that is it for now. 

Much Love, Jason