Christians in Bandung

One thing we knew before coming to live in Indonesia for 10 months was that we would definitely not be in the Bible belt anymore! Though Indonesia is a religious nation, a huge 90% of them are of the Muslim faith. Yet there are still some Christian churches here, at least two of which offer services in English.

This morning we took a Blue Bird cab to Gereja Baptis Pertama (First Baptist) church for their service in English. Missing home, family and friends, it was wonderful to be able to walk into a church on the complete opposite side of the globe and feel that same special bond that we feel with believers at home. Even with having to wait 25 minutes for a cab, we made it to the service in time and were greeted warmly upon our arrival. The service was good and we especially enjoyed the music. They use screens (vs hymnals) and sang songs (all 4 verses!) that I hadn't heard since I was a kid! When a group of girls from the local seminary got up and sang "Here I am to Worship" (accompanied by a single guitar) we and others in the congregation couldn't help but join in. Very moving.

Gereja Baptis Pertama

The service (their second of the morning) was rather small, probably 50-60 people total with only one  Caucasian family besides us. The church is currently between pastors, so the message was given by Dr. Harry Sudarma, president of Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Baptis (Bandung Baptist Theological Seminary) here in Bandung. (http://bdg.seminaribaptis.com/)

Since we have relatives who have lived in Jakarta and Bandung and were former members of this church, several persons came up to greet us, having heard that we were related to Ben and Marlene Broome.While Ronnie was chatting with Dr. Sudarma, he asked him to speak at the seminary some time and even invited him to teach and preach! ha We're thinking this just may be one of those "cultural things" and I guess we'll know how serious he was if he continues to ask (see my post on Indonesian etiquette). Ronnie is not a preacher but he is a good teacher, so perhaps it is not that far fetched, though obviously the setting would have be in English (or interpreted). Another "small world" thing was that Dr. Sudarma received his degrees from Houston Baptist University. He and his wife lived in the Houston area for 10 years and still have children and grandchildren there.

It goes without saying that we were glad we went and it did our hearts good. We're hoping to visit the International Church next Sunday which may or may not have more expats in its membership. Besides worshiping with other Christians, I am definitely interested in connecting with other expats and developing some friendships in this "home away from home."