Category: culture
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Batak Culture
I am immersed in the culture here, specifically the Toba Batak culture. For the Batak people, marriage is very important. Every weekend and sometimes even during the week, there are wedding parties in the Church that is next to the deaconess school. A family will go to great expense to have the party. All day […]
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A common calling
June was a busy month, and July promises to be another busy month. Although most of the students have left the deaconess school for their practical work, there is still plenty of work to do. Presently, I am working on a schedule and syllabus for an intensive English course for the incoming students due to […]
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At the Market
It is Friday. I’m a little bit tired and homesick. I decide against spending the afternoon alone. The students also have a free afternoon, so I soon I find myself walking through Balige’s streets with a small group of students to the traditional market. Every day there are people selling their wares, but one day […]
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Worship with Oppung
After returning from Penang, Malaysia with my visa earlier this month, I had the opportunity to visit a village with one of the students. As I mentioned previously, they go out each week to serve in the communities—they visit the sick, visit the prison, minister to sellers at the market, and more. This visit, I […]
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A Servant’s Heart
“For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you came to look after me, I was in prison and you visited me.” — […]
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Lake Toba, Samosir, and Batak culture
I am catching up on posting, so this story is from a week and a half ago, just after Easter. For now I’ll write details, and later I can write more reflection about my experiences. On Easter Sunday, after lunch, I traveled around Lake Toba with some of my sisters from the school. From Balige […]
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Easter Greetings
Selamat Paskah! Easter greetings. I have many experiences to write about. So much has happened in the 11 days that I have been in Indonesia, it is difficult to keep up with writing and sharing it all. Good Friday and Easter are special here in Sumatra, and I learned a lot about the customs and […]
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A visit with Ibu
The other day, I had the great pleasure of visiting an 85-year old Indonesian deaconess, Ibu Gultom (“Ibu” translates to “mother” in English, and in Indonesia is used as a term of respect. Perhaps it’s equivalent in English would be “m’am”). She helped start the HKBP deaconess school and also spent nearly 6 years living […]
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Arrival and Orientation
I have been in Indonesia now for 5 days. Much has happened in such a short time. After a long journey from Medan—through towns, forests, and a pot-hole covered road—I arrived in Balige. I was tired from the day’s journey, and the previous day’s journey from the US to Indonesia. As I stepped out of […]
Megs the Wanderer 