Indonesia Journal; Saturday

24 Sept. Saturday; 4:15 PM

This has been a day of relaxing and learning for me. Pastor Ferry, the president of the seminary, and Pastor Dickie, the elder pastor of this group, picked me up about 8:30 this morning. We drove up to the mountain lake that Ferry took me to last Saturday. Pastor Dickie is from this area. This mountain lake is high above Manado and is surrounded by five volcanoes.

I learned that the whole area is an old volcano and the lake was formed after the volcano stopped. The five small ones that surround it only “smoke.” The hot springs resort is a nice place with little cabins, a restaurant, a large meeting room, a few air conditioned rooms, several steam/hot springs rooms, and a large hot springs swimming pool. The hot springs rooms have a white tiled bath about the size of a king size bed and about four feet deep. The bath fills the room except for a small changing area just as you go in the door. The water comes straight out of hot springs beside the resort and is pumped into the resort by a six-inch pipe. The bath is filled and it is hot. There is another spout of warm water that you can cool it with. It is mineral water. After about 45 minutes you are ready to get out. But it is relaxing. Then we went to the pool which is not as hot and is even more relaxing. I enjoy the water anyway and this was very nice. The cost was about $5 for the three of us.

We ate lunch at the resort in a nice outside table by the lake. Since it is so high it is cooler than Manado. They brought out rice, two nice-sized grilled fish (head and all), some greens that have green-bean sized stalks that are very tasty, and another bowl of “meat.” I learned the first day to ask what kind of meat if it is meat other than fish. The Indonesians like all kinds of meats; snake, bat, mouse, rat, cat, dog, and you must ask because it all looks like chicken; it does not all taste like chicken, except the cat (they said), but then got into a discussion about how cat is really sweeter than chicken but not as sweet as crocodile. They were being serious and ended the discussion by informing me, “but some think it does taste like chicken.” I tried to tell them about that saying in the US but it got lost in the translation. By the way, the bowl of meat was chicken, and it was good.

I also learned something about one of the questions from yesterday from one of the pastors. I did not think much about the question but found out today that it was a serious question that they were very interested in. Their questions all begin with a long explanation of the question, then the question. The explanation was the setting for the feeding of the 5,000 (Matt. 14, Mk. 6, Luke 9, John 6). After everyone was fed the Bible says that there were 12 baskets of left overs. The question was this, “who got the baskets of left overs?” After the pastor asked, they all looked at me while my translator went through the explanation and question.

I said that the Bible does not say but maybe the little boy who offered his lunch of five loaves and two fish that started the feast (John gives that detail). I also said that someone may have not wanted the food left in the basket but the basket itself because of how much came out of it (a very “American” answer which I tried to explain that I was only kidding; lesson to remember, jokes don’t translate too well). My answer did not seem to satisfy them. I learned today what was behind the question.

In Indonesia they have a very important hospitality custom; prepare more food for guests than is necessary. The more that is left over honors the guest more. They find support for this from Proverbs that says don’t eat everything that is brought before you. They said in Indonesia it is a great honor to the guest for there to be much left over after the meal for it is then offered to the guest for his journey. This helped me because all week as we have gone out for the evening meal they have “over ordered” the food with a lot left over, then insisted that I take the left overs back to the hotel. Each time I would say that there was no place for me to store it and that I was so full anyway and I insisted that they divide it up and take it home to their families (each evening a small group of pastors would go with us to eat). They would receive the food with many “terimah kasi” which means “thank you.”

Now, back to the question. There has been in the past among Indonesian pastors much discussion over what the Bible does not say about this event; who took the left overs home? The basis of the question rests on the fact that on the surface it would seem that the Lord Jesus would be the one to honor, but He is seen by some as the host, not the quest. Others have argued over this question that since Jesus was from heaven He was a guest on earth. Then others come back with the fact of what Colossians states, that all things were created by Him and for Him, and so He is the owner, not the guest. They were hoping I would clear this discussion up once and for all. I failed; but what an interesting question. After learning all of this today, I am sticking with my original answer; I bet Jesus gave the left overs to the little boy to honor him for his sacrifice.

Tomorrow I am preaching in Edwin’s church, the dean of the seminary. And tomorrow evening I will pack and get ready for the long trip home. Tomorrow will probably be my last “Indonesia Journal” entry with a summary of thoughts and impressions I have had. Terimah Kasi for your prayers. For me, in about 12 hours it will be Selamat Hari Winggu (“Happy Sunday!”) They love Sunday here.