It has been a crazy couple of days. I have been meeting up with various people who are working in the school system here in Jakarta. Some of the schools were international schools as well as college level schools. It is incredible to find people who are passionate about education and how they believe that it will be the key to transforming the nation. This is one of the major reasons why we believe in the “E” of the Transformasphere. For some reason on this trip everything is coming together.
Moses and I have also been meeting up with some key business leaders as well. It was pretty humbling to meet people who are the “movers and shakers” in the financial world here in Jakarta (we are taking about dealing with millions and billions of dollars!). First of all, it was God’s grace and through divine connections that we were even able to have appointments with them, but more than anything else God gave us a vision of what could happen to a nation if we had more business people who are Christ-followers. God is truly raising up people who are concerned about transforming a nation than just mere profits in their portfolio.
I also did a pre-marital session with Louisa and Engel who will be getting married in late August. Louisa is a former graduate from UM who came to know the Lord through our ministry. At first it was a bit surreal doing pre-marital counseling in another country with someone that went to our church, but I realized that it was such a privilege to be connected to such great people where I can still speak into their lives.
We also spent time with Dan and his wife, Kathy. Dan was a former HMCC member who stepped out in faith to partner up with some Chinese-Indonesia to do business out here. It was a great feeling to be reconnected with people who understand some of things that we are doing in Ann Arbor, Chicago, and Austin. It is even more encouraging to think of the possibilities of doing something in Jakarta in the future. There is special bond that forms with people who have experience biblical community and the mission of transforming lives to transform the world.
Tomorrow we have a meeting with some healthcare professionals and doctors who are trying to use medicine to make an impact in this city. They are believers who are strategically using the avenue of healthcare to meet the physical needs of the people. Once their physical needs are met, they are more open to the Gospel message. I will try to give more specific updates tomorrow.
One of the classrooms at an international school. They were more than willing to take a picture especially the kid in the back row.
This was another international school where they had some pretty state-of-the-art facilities. I was very tempted to join them in a pick up game.
Steve McCalfe started up a student ministry right on the UPH campus and they are reaching these students for Christ
A cafeteria in one of the best universities in Jakarta – it was definitely better than the Mug!
Steve McCalfe is the athletic director who started an Indonesia type of NCAA. Their facilities were far better than any other facilities in Jakarta
Louisa and Engel took me to an exotic Indonesian restaurant – they even had the reservation written on a banana leaf
I promise Christina that I would not gain weight on this trip but it has been hard – this is a fish stick inside a seashell