On Sunday the 2nd of October I left Wellington to head off to the Global Christian Forum in Manado, Indonesia. To be honest, I really had no idea what to expect. I left with a mixture of feelings. Part of me was afraid, as it was my first time travelling overseas since I was 8, and the place I was going didn't seem like your typical tourist destination. On the one hand, this was exciting. The novelty of travelling, meeting new people and spending a week near the equator was particularly appealing compared with life at home in Wellington. On the other hand, my thoughts had rather irrationally shifted to worry about tropical diseases, how the food would affect my Crohns afflicted intestines, dealing with the heat, and worrying about making planes on time and Indonesian immigration. I would also be less able to help my fiancée Sarah with wedding planning (some would say this was a blessing!). So yes, I am often a chronic worrier!
I also left with a degree of suspicion. I had attended a few ecumenical events in New Zealand as younger person that had been rather underwhelming and was well aware of the history of movements like church union in New Zealand after spending hours reading old Presbyterian newspapers for a summer research project last year. My evangelical danger antenna was up and ready to detect the liberal the threat...As I soon learned, my suspicions were hardly justified.
By the time I boarded the plane from Singapore to Manado, I had already met a number of conference delegates, from a friendly Indian minister from the World Council of Churches reading a book on Christianity in India, to a lovely couple from Northland, a mega-church in Orlando, Florida. It was also difficult not to notice a number of Bishops, Orthodox Priests and other people in suitable garb on the plane. I can’t imagine what the other people on the plane must have thought of it all!
After arriving at Sam Ratulangi Airport in Manado and enduring the long wait in the heat to get through immigration, a whole team of volunteers from the local Manado GCF committee greeted us. Throughout the week the hospitality we received was fantastic. We even had police escorts on motorbikes to guide us on our bus trip through Manado’s chaotic traffic. All the attention felt very odd as an overly modest Kiwi!
On arriving at the nearby convention centre, I had already made new contacts and friends. While waiting to register I had the pleasure of meeting Isaac, a fellow IFES representative from Gambia and part of Catholic Charismatic Renewal. It was great to get to know Isaac, to here about his medical studies, and about the movement in Gambia and the country itself. What struck me talking with him about our work was how similar much of what our different movements were doing. Despite our different cultural contexts and challenges with discipleship, both of our movements (TSCF in New Zealand, and GAMFES in Gambia) were united in our focus on scripture, clearly communicating the gospel, and applying it to the whole of life and society. It was one of many moments to realise that culture is less of a barrier to fellowship with other believers than I had previously thought.
After registering for the conference, and enjoying a nice meal at the local Presbyterian Church, we arrived at our hotel via a crazy trip in rush our traffic 40 minutes away. However, were soon to head off to a welcoming banquet with the Governor of North Sulawesi Sinyo Harry Sarundajang. The Governor seems to be a bit of a local legend and his face adorned many billboards and posters around the city. He has been recognised nationally due to his efforts in helping to bring peace to Muslims and Christian in a region further South of Manado called Maluku.
North Sulawesi is one of the only provinces in Indonesia with a Christian majority (70%, but around 97% in Minahasa regency) and as a result, it was an event of great pride for the people. By this point in the evening, about 8:30pm Manado time, my jetlag was really getting to me. It was still great to experience local Minahasa culture and music-Bamboo music and Minahasa choral music was great. A bamboo band is sounds and looks much like a concert band with clarinets and flutes made out of bamboo, along with massive sousaphone style tubas. The band played lots of old hymns, while the excellent local Choirs played a mixture of traditional and modern music. It has to be some of the best Choral music I have heard-it reminded me a lot of some of the Polynesian choirs I had heard growing in Auckland. By 9pm, after some spicy cuisine and meeting many different people, I decided to get a lift back to the hotel. I was so tired our driver thought I was slurring due to me being drunk! The hotel bed couldn’t have come sooner and the first proper day of the conference was going to be a big day.
