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Indonesia
take the time to think things through or meditate.
Mes' family in Semau wanted to give us an official farewell. They insisted that we go there, although Mes himself was not present. We went by perahu motor (sailing boat with motor) and because of the headwind it took us over three hours. We arrived very late and our children were extremely tired. As we were sitting in the lounge room, we could hear some chickens cackling outside. I said to Alison: "They are catching the chickens for our evening meal."
And so it was, but our children couldn't wait. They went to sleep without a meal. Next day a big pesta or party had been arranged with the traditional Rotinese gongs and sasandu, a string instrument. With the help of a battery projector we showed some slides which we had taken at our first visit two years earlier, and then there was dancing and merry making. It went on and on, and I finally said that I had to go to bed. That didn't seem to bother anybody. Ibu (Mum) had given us her bed in the front room, which was right next to the gongs. The bed was far too short for me and with that constant noise I didn't sleep much that night.
Next morning I had to lead the service and preach the sermon. I had chosen the passage about Simon Magus in Acts 8:9-25, because until then, black magic was still being practiced and was a big problem to the church in Semau, in spite of all people being nominally Christians. They still believed that people got sick because of someone using magic against them. They prayed for that same type of magic to use against others, and thought that money could buy it. Such prayer was no good, I said, for it comes from an evil heart. They should listen to their minister, as with the help of the Spirit of Jesus, who had overcome all evil, magic had lost its power.
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