By Brandon and Tyler, WWO Ambassadors in Southeast Asia
Four months ago, I did not think/imagine that I would be hanging out with a bunch of break dancers in Papua. Four months ago I did not think/imagine that I would be driving a motorcycle to church in order to preach a sermon using a translator. Four months ago I did not think/imagine that I would be staying in a traditional fishing village on Sentani Lake with an old Papuan grandma. Four months ago I did not know that Papua was a part of Indonesia.
The day we arrived in Papua marked the start of Idul Fitri, which is the festival at the end of Muslim holiday of Ramadan. Since Indonesia is predominately Muslim, Idul Fitri is a national holiday. During Idul Fitri all Muslim families prepare huge amounts of food and serve it to guests who come to their house. Due to the relationships that were formed during the Peace Camp (for more on the peace camp, see our previous post, Papua Part I), Jim and the rest of the camp kids were invited to two local Imam’s houses and then to six local families houses to partake in the festival. On the second day of Idul Fitri, Tyler and I jumped into the back of a truck with a bunch of youths and headed to an Idul Fitri meal. The Imam whose house we were visiting greeted Tyler and I like he had know us for years. While eating he used Jim as interpreter to acknowledging that in a lot of Western movies Muslims are depicted as terrorists, and informing us that, like him, most Muslims want peace.
A food offering
He then explained Ramadan and Idul Fitri. According to him, both events are focused on forgiveness of sins. During Ramadan Muslims fast to show remorse for their sin and during Idul Fitri Muslims try to achieve atonement by feeding others in their home. If a family experiences misfortune throughout the year, it is believed that God is punishing them for being bad hosts during Idul Fitri. Even though we were white Americans and had never met them, all six of the households that we went to for dinner that night welcomed us into their home with unmatched grace and hospitality. I think that I experienced more hospitality in that afternoon than many experience in a year’s time. The perfectly memorable day was topped off by joining Jim at his prison ministry where we shared our testimonies. Our time at the prison ended with 15 Papuan murderers and criminals laying hands on us to pray, which was quite a powerful experience.
During the rest of our stay in Papua we spent our time in a neighboring college city named Abepoura with members of the KGB church. Tyler stayed with a young man named Dede and his wife and son, while I stayed with Ddhiya and his wife Helani. Ddhayu and Helena are two of the main KGB church founders. One night while sitting with Ddhiya he explained the focus of the KGB church. Right now there are three main sectors of “religion.” On one side are the religious groups (Christians, Hindus, Muslims, etc) where members take part in formal worship and perform religious practices. On the other side of the spectrum are the atheists and agnostics. What is left on the spectrum is the gray area – people who believe a God but don’t feel like they fit in with any type of formal religion. Ddhiya focuses on sharing the love of Christ with this people group. In order to do so, KGB and many other Churches in Indonesia are based on a cell group structure, which are focused around a hobby, like break dancing, graffiti art, and hip hop. The college girls at KGB also formed a cell group that teaches English to large groups of Muslim kids twice a week.
Pictured with the KGB Church
Aside from visiting all of the KGB cell groups, we went on a hike, visited a rural village, and ate a lot of food they because they wanted us to try it all. During each event that we went to we were accompanied by a band of KGB college kids—we never went anywhere without a guide. The perfect week in Papua was ended by a going away feast on Sunday night, when the whole church gathered to prepare their favorite dishes, including dog for Ddhayu. Needless to say we were overwhelmed by a sense of love and community.
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