Some observations on ministering in Indonesia.

Me with my small group

I found it interesting that 4 of the 5 guys in my group had been abused by their mothers.  I usually assume the fathers to be the abusive ones.  Now I don’t know if this was specific to my group or if this could be applied to the general population.  Nevertheless, it was interesting.  The damage from their relationship with their fathers was usually that he was an absentee father – he had simply gone elsewhere to find work.  Regardless of the reasons, God was able to do some great healing work in the guys in my group.

One humourous observation:  Indonesians apparently have no rhythm.  (And I realize that I am an extremely white boy as I write this, and my rhythm is challenged at best.)  But I found it funny that as we sang worship songs, one third of the congregation is clapping on the “off beat,” one third is clapping on the “on beat,” and the other third is doing something else entirely, but no one seems to notice or care.  Frankly, I wish I were that free.  I get so self-conscious if my rhythm gets off that I will just stop.  I pray that someday I won’t care what people think about my clapping abilities.  But I will also say this about the Indonesians – boy can they sing!