Asia Journal ’24 - #3:

 

You would think that all I did today, of importance, was eating mangoes! But, although I did more important things, I did engage with 4 or five new and different kinds of mangoes. As I woke up this morning I ate my first Indonesian mango; at breakfast I demonstrated to my hosts how to eat it the correct way; and we could not resist the temptation at the supermarket of indulging a wee bit more. The most important engagement of the day was a visit to the Batak HKBP church. Another great interview with a senior elder and participating in a special worship service. It was clear that they will include their culture in worship services and other celebrative worship events, EXCEPT, the main Sunday morning service, which must follow the traditional Lutheran liturgy, with high solemnity. These 2 days was a most productive time on the Java island of Indonesia. Tonight, we catch the red eye flight to the Papua Island (Indonesia side) for some more good work.