A Weekend in Jogjakarta

Sorry that we have not updated the page in awhile. We have not had a chance to update until today. If you have not read our previous entries about San Fransisco and Taiwan please scroll down to read them.

On to our current story. We spent the weekend in Jogjakarta (Yogykarta) or Jogja for short. Jogja is in Central Java and is the former capital of Indonesia and home to 3 million people. It is a crowded province with 2500 people per square mile (compared to my home county of Pipestone, MN which averages 21 people per square mile.) We stayed in a hotel on crowded Malioboro Street known as home to possibly the world's longest restaurant. The length of the street is nonstop little sidewalk eateries and wheeled food stands. We ate great traditional Indonesian food nightly from the little stalls. For our weekend this is the run down.

Saturday - We traveled with Pastors Untung and Lukas and visited two of the radio stations that the Indonesian Back to God Hour broadcast plays at. At each station, we met with listeners who gather at the stations for Bible studies and fellowship during the week. It was interesting to listen to the stories of those who began to listen to the Christian programs and Christian music from these stations.
Next, we traveled to a Christian School in the small town of Klaten (it calls itself a small town - only 1.2 million residents). It is a growing school with over 400 students in the grade school and another 300 students in the Middle and High Schools. They are currently in the midst of renovating some of the classrooms, so the smell of fresh paint was everywhere. We were given info about the history and finances of the school (the entire school budget is under $70,000 U.S. Dollars - many of the teachers are unpaid.)
Untung and Lukas spoke to some of the teachers who were there about the Indonesian BTGH devotionals for children and teens and about the collaboration they have together with other Christian Schools in Indonesia and with Christian Schools International.

We then went to Prambanan Temple, a Hindu temple built in the 9th Century. It is the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia. What a beautiful temple! The spires were so ornate and carvings were everywhere. Inside each temple is a shrine to a Hindu god with a sculpture in the center. I suggest you Wikipedia Prambanan to see more pictures. Some of the temple complex was destroyed by the recent earthquake though they are restoring some of the spires. The temples were closed off because of the damage, but the guards were letting "special visitors" in, so we were able to walk through by ourselves.

Sunday.
We got up early to attend a 7:30AM service in the town of Bantul, a town near the epicenter of the 2006 earthquake. The church is in the GKJ (Javanese Christian Church) denomination. The church had been leveled by the earthquake last May, and the congregation met in a tent for seven months until a church structure was built. Though the building is not yet completed we spent the Pentecost Sunday service with them in their new building. One interesting feature of the congregation was the special Pentecost offering. In the picture you can see at the bottom of this page, food was brought up front as a sign of offering. Then everyone walked up front to give their Pentecost donation in a vase up front. It was quite a scene.

After eating, we then went to the Sultan's Palace in Jogja. Tourists are allowed to see a couple buildings on the immense Palace campus (kind of like only seeing the Blue and Green rooms of the White House.) The current Sultan (the tenth) is the governor of Jogja province. The rooms and the horse carriages we saw were ornate in design and often gold-plated.

Next, we went to a Christian School in Wates, a small town southwest of Jogja. There the Christian School is very small with 60 students, most of whom are Muslim. Muslims who go there tend to be moderate Muslims who like the education they can get at a Christian School.

Monday.
We visited Bethesda Christian Hospital in Jogja. There, the BTGH program is broadcast over the radio in the 400 patient rooms. Additionally, we met with the pastoral care staff there who minister and pray with all patients, whether they be Christian, Muslim or Buddhist. The staff talked about the struggles they faced in the aftermath of the Earthquake. Over 4000 people were admitted into a hospital that can serve only 400. They said in that situation everyone becomes a nurse and that many patients had to be cared for in the parking lot as they rested on newspapers on top of the pavement.

Afterwards, we went to Borobudur, the world's largest Buddhist Stupa, built in the 7th Century. The temple has 10 levels which signify the 10 steps a Buddhist needs to climb in order to go to heaven. It is still a Buddhist pilgrimage site. Well, I guess Keri and I will make it to Buddhist heaven since we made the climb to the top all while wearing my Calvin Theological Seminary t-shirt. At the top of Borobudur, you can see over the beautiful mountain valley. But it was a brutal climb especially for a pregnant Keri. We were grateful for shade and cool water at the bottom.

After the temple, we went back to the airport in order to return to Jakarta. When we arrived at Jakarta, we were taken to our hosts for the next several weeks, Joseph and Theresia Gunawan. Grateful for a cool bed, we fell asleep by 10PM.

So today (Tuesday) begins our stay at the BTGH offices in Jakarta. I hope to hear from you all through emails or comments on the blog. Remember my email is jspronk4@calvinseminary.edu.