Meeting Jesus

School

Mum and Dad enrolled me to a Catholic School. Not the high rank catholic school but it is closer to our home in East Jakarta. The school is near from “Kopassus”, which is the military complex, and the school has little influence with the military in terms of discipline. 

I started from Kindergarten until year 9 there (SMP). 

From my school, I understood the fundamental knowledge about christianity in the Catholic point of view. From school, I learned to pray before and after school, before having my meal, I learned about Jesus. It is an old building but I like my school. 

My kindergarten had a little playground and a swimming pool. It is located next to the church. In the morning. The students will stand in line in front of the classes, like a little briefing, then we went to our classroom. We have our own opened locker where each kids got a small basket filled with crayons and stationary. We wear the same rectangular dark blue matching backpack written with our name. Each of us had a drawing book and a book with large square-grid to learn to write letters, numbers and art.

I liked my school. I liked going to school. If I got sick and I was absent, all I thought about is going to school. Not because I wanted to see my friend, but I liked to study, to learn, to play. 

The primary school is also at the same area, just separated by the gate. I liked my school environment, my friends, my teachers. 

Church

Bataknese is my ethnicity. When I was little, mum and dad took me to HKBP, it is the Bataknese church. I did not understand the language, though I still go. I sat at the long wooden bench, and I spent my time drawing. I like when they sing even though I did not know the meaning. Bataknese people especially christian, they like to sing. To hear they all singing together at church was good. 

Then, mum and dad moved to a HKBP closer to our home, but my siblings and I went to a Sunday school closer to our house. That Sunday school is under that new HKBP. 

We did not have an official building. Our Sunday school was an old unfinished building. It made of bricks, the wall and floor was unfinished, it was grey, no cover cement to cover the grey bricks no tiles no paint. Many kids went to that Sunday school because many christian Bataknese lived in that suburb.  We had Kak Martha and Kak Merry. They were amazing Sunday school teachers. Kak Martha was pretty strict yet a kind and lovely person, somehow I found it was good for me. She liked to teach us to sing beautifully and feel the lyric with our heart. She asked us to memorise God’s word from bible. Our homework was to read bible everyday and wrote it in our notebook, every Sunday, the book will be collected to be checked. 

Family

Opung who was a Military General, has a big house. He and her wife always invited the big family to come to celebrate Christmas and new year at their house. I enjoyed the bible reading and the teaching from opung boru. I liked to listen to elderly, she likes to read books and I found that it was great to hear from someone who is smart and knowledgeable. They always taught me to be brave. As the oldest grandchild, I was always asked to come forward to “Mandokhata” (making a speech to say thank you and apologise to people especially the elders), or sang a song, or read the bible verse. I was a shy person. But it was a wonderful experience to me. 

My family from mum also God’s believer. I learned to pray from my aunts. Nanguda Rawat always told me to be kind and pray. Nanguda Salanti was more charismatic. She is a very diligent and organised. She is clean and can do it in a simple way. I liked to hear them praying, sounds like they have very close relationship to God. I found nanguda Salanti’s notebook once she moved out from our house and stayed with nanguda Rawat, they became more independent, they rent a house. Nanguda Salanti’s book filled with her notes about bible verses that she liked. I also found a song book filled with gospel lyrics other than “buku Ende” and “Kidung Jemaat” song. Those are song book from HKBP. I liked to read and rewrite them. Nanguda Salanti’s handwriting also tidy and nice to read. It inspired me.

The meeting

One day, when I was in year 3 Primary School, I had a dream, Jesus came to my house. At that time, our house was still the small house, our house before it was renovated. Jesus came, He knocked at the gate, and I was at the living room reading a bible, when I saw him, I run to Him and opened the gate. He lifted me up carrying me. I remember my score at that time for religion subject was A, I got a perfect score on my test and I can still remember it as it was written in my report book. That was the 1st time I met Him in my dream and I still remember that until now. 

The dream has been the center of my life. It was one of the most important thing in my life. That was so important, that later on, that experience has saved me and actually it changed me as a person.