Nias
Soooooooo… We arrived!! All good things come to those who wait, and Nias would certainly be classed as one of the beautiful places in the world’s great masterpiece. Sorake is a famous surfing beach, with one wave in particular that is world class (apparently!). We are staying right on the beach, in a losmen consisting of 2 rooms with a shared balcony overlooking the reef. There is a large wave right opposite us but since the earthquake in 2005 the island has lifted up and the coral is now exposed above the water – it means this wave breaks too shallow to surf safely, although it’s still pretty cool to sit and watch! Everyone now surfs the next one down the reef, which we could also watch from our balcony.
We will be working with the Lutheran church in a town called Teluk Dalam (the BKPN) where there are a LOT of young people but sadly due to culture they are expected to conform to and respect the traditions of their elders. Obviously this is not resulting in a particularly relevant church environment for the youth to grow closer to Jesus. The problem on Nias is that everyone claims Christianity but hardly anyone knows Jesus (it sounds quite similar to England at some times). Kids grow up going to church but not having a relationship with God and currently the church doesn’t seem too interested in discipling the younger generations into a genuine and transforming walk with Christ. In this context, a guy called Herman who is clearly filled with the Holy Spirit and burning with God’s passion for the young people of Nias has started a youth group, cell groups and working as closely as he can (is allowed to) with the church elders to introduce the kids to Jesus in a meaningful way they can actually engage with and find ways they can express that in worship and fellowship. We are basically going to be supporting this work as much as we can, mainly by building relationships and investing in the kids while we are there, and by sharing what God has done in our lives.
We took the first couple of days to settle in and meet everyone. It’s quite intimidating as in Indonesian culture the girls and boys don’t hang out together in the same way we do, and girls also tend to be a lot more reserved and shy. I got really frustrated early on because it felt like we shouldn’t hang out with the boys because it wasn’t “culturally sensitive” but the girls were never around, so the girls on the team ended up just sitting around talking amongst ourselves. Later on though I could see how it was more just a case of getting to know us, and I made some really good friends with both guys and girls (although it would be fair to say I got to know the guys better because they would come and spend time at the losmen with us). By the time we left I know they had stolen a part of my heart, and I know that I genuinely would miss them. It was such a privilege to even meet them in the first place, and they welcomed us in as part of things so completely and wholeheartedly.
I didn’t think a chronological account of my time there would be so interesting, and as I’m going to be posting all this at once anyway (due to lack of internet access on Nias) I have picked out some highlights in the following blog entries.
Enjoy!!
We will be working with the Lutheran church in a town called Teluk Dalam (the BKPN) where there are a LOT of young people but sadly due to culture they are expected to conform to and respect the traditions of their elders. Obviously this is not resulting in a particularly relevant church environment for the youth to grow closer to Jesus. The problem on Nias is that everyone claims Christianity but hardly anyone knows Jesus (it sounds quite similar to England at some times). Kids grow up going to church but not having a relationship with God and currently the church doesn’t seem too interested in discipling the younger generations into a genuine and transforming walk with Christ. In this context, a guy called Herman who is clearly filled with the Holy Spirit and burning with God’s passion for the young people of Nias has started a youth group, cell groups and working as closely as he can (is allowed to) with the church elders to introduce the kids to Jesus in a meaningful way they can actually engage with and find ways they can express that in worship and fellowship. We are basically going to be supporting this work as much as we can, mainly by building relationships and investing in the kids while we are there, and by sharing what God has done in our lives.
We took the first couple of days to settle in and meet everyone. It’s quite intimidating as in Indonesian culture the girls and boys don’t hang out together in the same way we do, and girls also tend to be a lot more reserved and shy. I got really frustrated early on because it felt like we shouldn’t hang out with the boys because it wasn’t “culturally sensitive” but the girls were never around, so the girls on the team ended up just sitting around talking amongst ourselves. Later on though I could see how it was more just a case of getting to know us, and I made some really good friends with both guys and girls (although it would be fair to say I got to know the guys better because they would come and spend time at the losmen with us). By the time we left I know they had stolen a part of my heart, and I know that I genuinely would miss them. It was such a privilege to even meet them in the first place, and they welcomed us in as part of things so completely and wholeheartedly.
I didn’t think a chronological account of my time there would be so interesting, and as I’m going to be posting all this at once anyway (due to lack of internet access on Nias) I have picked out some highlights in the following blog entries.
Enjoy!!
posted by Susie at
1:09 AM
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