A New Page

“If you want your life to be a magnificent story, then begin by realizing that you are the author and everyday you have the opportunity to write a new page” is one of Mark Houlahan’s quotes. This Senior Lecturer in the English Program in the School of Arts teaches Shakespeare and his Contemporaries, and Literary Theory at the University of Waikato, NZ. I love reading, and I know that every new page is a new side of story by itself.
A new part of a journey is always a challenge and chance at their both sides. Challenge is to cope with the new atmosphere, the new circle of people you will meet and greet, and a new culture to sink yourself in. A chance meaning more than an opportunity; it’s a time when you are given a choice to digest or to throw up, to accept or to let go.
That’s what I have in my heart when two months ago I was handed over this new part of work which I am not ever dreaming of. A work that needs my personal observation, attention and touch for the sake of believing.
It’s a work to help patient families who are in need of a special transport to take their loved ones to a destination they meant to be. It’s a facility to assist anyone who need transportation to save one’s life. And it’s a job I think is quite a demanding as today there are many people out there wanting such transport.
One rewarding moment was when my team had to transport a 7 day old baby due to a serious complication. It takes some time for the family members to make a decision whether or not they take a private jet to transport the loving baby. When it comes to a life saving action, there’s always a sense of urgency and emergency colliding into one. We all relieved when 3 days later the surgery went well. A new initiative was made as I joined in. One of them is that we are to provide special gift to any evacuates. For this baby, within 6 days after the evacuation day, when I gave our Thank You certificate to the baby’s mother, I can vividly saw thin layer of teas on her eyes, amazed at how beautiful her baby’s name is crafted in the certificate.
I don’t know you, but to me the moment was something you can’t pay with anything else but a feeling of satisfaction. I thanked my team, my pilot, and the driver who was in the crew when the baby was evacuated.
I thank God for the chance to give a hand to a family in need for an evacuation.
With this new page and new chapter of my work, I believe that there’s more surprising satisfaction to come. Every single day is, indeed, too sweet to let go.

Jakarta, end of September 2010

You've done your job...

That was the first line of what my son, Fandy, (5) asked to read to his graduate brothers at his school’s (Kindergarten) graduation celebration last week. It was to mark the last day for his school season at his class (Class A) and the last day for class B to go to elementary level. But, its not how he said it, rather the message he meant to share by reading this short poem on the stage, “You’ve done your job…” Though he is not yet fully understand what he was saying.
The small auditorium was filled with at least 45 children, 8 teachers, and about two dozens of parents. The graduation day program was filled with some singers, talent shows, and of course choruses. At his turn, Fandy walked from his front row seat confidently, grab the microphone from the MC, approach the middle front of the stage. With his both feet aligned, he bowed deeply and there went the poem.
I got this in my memory because my wife recorded this scene with her HP and showed it to me at least 3 times. How I amazed at the brave and well Fandy did. Weeks before he came home from school with a short note about the poem. He asked me to help him with the reading and pronunciation. Though the practice at home was not quite routine, but eventually he memorized almost all the 4 lines English poem well.
The message reminds me of what God would say to each of us the day when we meet Him face to face. Check out at what John the Apostle wrote, “And they shall see His face” (Revelation 22:4).
My comment on that is that the promise and comfort being with Jesus the day when we are all going home. As a believer I encourage any of you not to forget that by having Jesus in you, admit that He has freed you from all your sins, then we can see Him face to face. Have you decided to follow Jesus for the rest of your life? If not, decide today because unless you do it today, you shall never know what will happen to you when Jesus comes back and punish the world.
There are two points to correlate with the poem my son said. First is that we’ve done our part (job) in doing His will and playing our part in His plan to win the world. No matter how big or small your role is, He just wanted you to play it well. Second is that, when we are called home meaning its time to graduate; the graduation from our life on earth with all its pride and bitterness. The Third is that it’s the time when we hear the Lord saying “You did well, my son, and that is great”.
I find its much nicer if on the day when we called home and have the most privilege to meet up with Him. Then, as the rest of the poem my son reads: “… now its time to graduate. You did well, and that is great. You’ve done your job, and we’re so proud.”
We shall stand there in awe with tears rolling down our cheeks and said to ourself ‘How could the Lord, the master and creator of the universe said this to me?”

Jakarta, 16 June 2010

A Sphere of Easter

Dear friends,

Words 'sphere' comes from Greek's sphaira. Its simply meaning "globe, ball"; a perfectly round geometrical object in three-dimensional space, such as the shape of a round ball. Just like a circle in three dimensions, a perfect sphere is completely symmetrical around its center, with all points on the surface lying the same distance r from the center point. This distance r is known as the radius of the sphere. This then is the reason why I choose this vocabulary to centralize our attention to Easter.

To help you with what I mean here, below is a nice reading relate to the Easter theme written by James C. Dobson, Ph.D., Founder and Chairman of Focus on Family. It enlightens you about Christ and His death to the resurrection, and and expanding horizons to the fact that He is way too absolute to be denied.

Here is his complete article :

This month you and I are celebrating the most important holiday on the International calendar. Easter is, at its heart, the Christian commemoration of the death of Christ and, three days later, His emergence from the tomb, and all of the freedom and victory that those events entail. The Resurrection is the historical marker that lies at the center of everything we believe.
In observance of this annual occasion that is simultaneously solemn and joyful, I’d like to share a few words from two individuals with whom you may be familiar. The first comes from my great friend and colleague, Dr. Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a leading commentator in our culture. Those of you familiar with Focus may also be aware that Dr. Mohler is a distinguished member of our own board of directors, and that I consider him to be one of the most intelligent and insightful Christian leaders in the world.
The following article was written a few years ago in response to the so-called “Jesus Seminar.” This group of very liberal scholars was assembled in 1985 to “re-evaluate” the person of Jesus Christ and to deconstruct the biblical accounts surrounding Him. The Jesus Seminar members concluded that the biblical claims of Christ’s divinity were false and that the accounts of His physical resurrection were fabricated. In fact, they discounted much of the New Testament itself as fictional. Their influence can still be felt in works such as The Da Vinci Code. When you see major news magazines running cover stories such as “Did Jesus Really Exist?” — which happens, like clockwork, during the Easter season — you can be sure that someone associated with the Jesus Seminar will be quoted therein. It is their mission to discredit the truths of Scripture.
Dr. Mohler’s commentary is not merely a reasoned response to the wacky claims of the Jesus Seminar. It is a bold, celebratory examination of the true, historical Jesus — risen, reigning and coming again.
The Scandal of the Empty Tomb: The Glory of the Resurrection
R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
“I do not think that anyone, anywhere, at any time brings dead people back to life.” That blunt assessment comes from John Dominic Crossan, a leading figure in the Jesus Seminar, and one of the most influential authors on religion in post-Christian America. Thomas Sheehan, another fellow of the Seminar, put it even more directly: “Jesus, regardless of where his corpse ended up, is dead and remains dead.”
The claim that Jesus actually rose from the dead on the third day is perhaps the greatest scandal of authentic Christianity in the face of modern secularism. The bodily resurrection of Jesus is so absolutely fundamental and necessary to biblical Christianity — and to the Gospel — that its abandonment would mean the end of Christianity as revealed in the New Testament. Jesus would be just one more Palestinian rebel; one more wisdom teacher with rag-tag disciples.
Just in time for Easter, the Jesus Seminar is out with The Acts of Jesus, advertised as “The search for the authentic deeds of Jesus.” True to form, the fellows of the seminar have rejected most of the content of the New Testament as legendary. Using their customary procedure of voting by colored beads (red=authentic, pink=probably authentic, grey=probably not authentic,black=definitely not authentic) the seminar found only 16% of the events they considered to be either authentic or probably authentic.
In 1993, the Jesus Seminar released their version of the New Testament gospels. Using the same color-coded system, the seminar voted that only 18% of the sayings of Jesus recorded in the New Testament are either true or probably true. Put simply, their red letter edition of the gospels shows very little red.
Turning to the central issue of the resurrection of Jesus, the seminar released the following conclusions:
• The resurrection of Jesus did not involve the resuscitation of a corpse.
• Belief in Jesus’ resurrection did not depend on what happened to his body.
• The body of Jesus decayed as do other corpses.
• The resurrection was not an event that happened on the first Easter Sunday; it was not an event that could have been recorded by a video camera.
• It is not necessary to believe in the historical veracity of the resurrection narratives.
This denial of the resurrection as historical fact is now common in modern theology. By the nineteenth century, the biblical critics made a distinction between the mythic Christ and the historical Jesus. Later critics would name this division the Jesus of History vs. The Christ of Faith. With the rise of historical criticism, the resurrection and the miraculous world of the New Testament were simply out of date. As Rudolf Bultmann, the most influential New Testament scholar of the twentieth century, commented: “It is impossible to use electric light and to avail ourselves of modern medical and surgical discoveries and at the same time believe in the New Testament world of demons and spirits.”
We now know, claimed Bultmann, that bodies do not rise from the dead, and it is high time Christians stopped making such claims. Bultmann attempted to rescue some spiritual meaning from the disciples’ belief in the resurrection, but later critical scholars saw little worth recovering. Gerd Ludemann, formerly of Vanderbilt University, minces no words, but simply states that “the tomb of Jesus was not empty, but full, and his body did not disappear, but rotted away.”
Marcus Borg, another fellow of the Jesus Seminar, denies that the empty tomb is necessary to the Christian faith. “I think the resurrection of Jesus really happened, but I have no idea if it involves anything happening to his corpse, and, therefore, I have no idea whether it involves an empty tomb . . . so I would have no problem whatsoever with archaeologists finding the corpse of Jesus. For me that would not be a discrediting of the Christian faith or the Christian tradition.”
The empty tomb does not matter? The Apostle Paul saw the case quite differently. Speaking for the modern secular naturalistic worldview, the Jesus Seminar may dismiss the resurrection as myth, claiming that, as all right-thinking moderns know, dead persons simply do not rise from the dead. Paul, who evidently would not qualify for membership on the Jesus Seminar, leaves no room for negotiation: “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.” [I Corinthians 15:13-14]
Paul sets himself — and the true Church — against Bultmann, the Jesus Seminar, and all who deny or deride the empty tomb. Either the tomb is empty, or our faith is in vain. Paul wants nothing to do with Bultmann’s effort to find a spiritual meaning without a historical event, nor with the Jesus Seminar’s anti-supernaturalism. Against modern skeptics, Paul cared deeply about whether the tomb was empty.
Why do so many hate the very idea of the risen Christ? Because the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the vindication of God’s purpose in sending his Son for the redemption of sinners. A world full of degenerate moderns — who do not even see themselves as sinners — wants nothing to do with Jesus Christ as our sinless substitute, who shed his blood for the remission of our sins.
The work of the Jesus Seminar tells us virtually nothing about Jesus, but a great deal about the liberal scholars who sit around with colored beads, creating a Jesus in their own image. The Jesus invented by the Jesus Seminar is a Palestinian smart aleck who sounds like a cynical and sarcastic intellectual. Coincidence? No historical apologies are needed for the New Testament. The Jesus Seminar fascinates the media because its reports make for a good story.
But the Church knows the real story, and celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The tomb was really empty. The Jesus of history is the Christ of faith. Looking into the empty tomb, the women heard the angels ask, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen.”
That has been the faith of the true Church throughout the centuries. That will be the faith of the true Church when the risen Christ returns to claim his own. He is risen. He is risen indeed!

Dr. Mohler, I couldn’t have said it better myself! Before moving on to the second Easter essay, I need to tell you that doctors discovered a pre-cancerous tumor on Dr. Mohler’s colon last month, which will necessitate further testing and surgery. As a result of this health crisis, Dr. Mohler will forego his recent nomination to the position of president of the Southern Baptist Convention. In his own words, “I have decided to give my greatest attention right now to addressing this new challenge and to ministering to my wife and children. This is clearly not the right time for me to accept this nomination.” I hope you’ll join me in praying for Dr. Mohler in the days ahead, asking the Lord to guide the hands of the physicians entrusted with his care and to grant Dr. Mohler a full and speedy recovery.
The second Easter essay is titled “Resurrection Morning,” and its author needs no introduction to most of you. Max Lucado is one of the most well-known and widely admired authors and preachers in the world today. He served for nearly 20 years as senior minister at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, and has written more than 50 books with an astonishing 28 million copies in print. Reader’s Digest named him the “best preacher in America,” while Christianity Today dubbed him “America’s Pastor” in 2005. That same year, he served as the Honorary Chairperson for the National Day of Prayer (NDP), composing an eloquent “prayer for the nation.” He also appeared on the Focus radio broadcast to discuss his involvement with NDP.
The following is taken from the book Tell Me the Story. It adds a dramatic element to the hours immediately following Christ’s resurrection. It has been excerpted due to space limitations. In this wonderful work, you’ll meet a fictional character — a Roman centurion named Claudius — who comes to the upper room to tell the apostles what he saw outside the tomb. I would encourage you to pick up a copy of this beautiful book of delightful and poignant short stories.
Resurrection Morning
Max Lucado
“He is not here. He has risen from the dead as he said he would.” Matthew 28:6
“When I first saw Him being led up the hill, I noticed He was different. He didn’t demand we let Him go. He didn’t shout or resist. And when we hammered the spike into His hand —” Claudius paused, wondering if he should have mentioned this. An encouraging nod from one of the women told him to continue. “— when we placed the spike in His hand, He held His hand still. He didn’t fight.”
“Sounds like something He would do,” a man in the back stated. Several nodded in agreement.
“He never seemed angry.” Claudius’s voice grew softer as he continued. “He never blamed anyone. People were cursing and laughing at Him, but not once did I see His eyes lose their calm.”
No one moved as Claudius spoke. When he had shared these events with his superiors earlier in the day, they had scoffed. It didn’t matter to the Romans how Jesus had acted. But it mattered to these people. They wanted to know every detail. For the first time Claudius felt a camaraderie with his listeners — a camaraderie based on a fascination with one Man.
He continued, “‘Forgive them,’ I heard Him say. And when He spoke, I looked up. He was looking at me. His face was a mask of blood and spit. But He was praying for me.”
The only movement in the room was the nodding of heads.
“After the crucifixion I helped lower the body and lay it on the ground. I waited as these women ––” He motioned to several near the front. “I waited as they prepared the body, and then I saw that it was placed in the tomb.”
“I thought my day was over. It took four men to close the grave’s opening with a huge stone. When we turned to leave, word came that Pilate and the Temple leaders were nervous that someone would steal the body. We were told to seal the tomb and stand guard all night.”
“There were several of us, so we built a fire and took turns. I was the first to sleep. When they woke me for my turn, it was an hour before dawn. The night was black – as black as any night I can remember. The moon was small, and the stars were hidden by the clouds.”
“I stood on one side. Another soldier stood on the other. He laughed about how easy it was to guard a tomb. Not often does a soldier get guard duty in a cemetery. Maybe we dozed off, because at first I thought I was dreaming. The ground began to shake – violently. It shook so hard I fell to the ground. Rocks fell from the walls behind us. Sparks flew from the fire. The soldiers asleep on the ground jumped up. I know they were standing because when the light hit them, I could see their faces like it was broad daylight.”
“What light?” someone asked.
“You tell me!” Claudius demanded. “Where did that light come from? The rock rolled back and the light roared out. A burst of fire with no heat. A gust of wind blew from the tomb, put out the fire, knocked us back, and the next thing I knew, the tomb was empty. I looked at the soldiers. They were stunned. About that time these two women appeared.”
“That’s when we saw the angel!” Mary blurted. “He was sitting on the rock! He told us that Jesus was not here. He told us that . . .”
She hesitated, knowing her words would be hard to believe.
“He told us that Jesus is no longer dead!”
Her words rang in the room like the peal of a bell. No one dared speak. Finally one did. A clean-shaven younger man said softly, but firmly, “Just like He said He would.”
“You mean, He said He would do this?” Claudius asked.
“More than once. But we didn’t understand. We didn’t believe. Until today.”
“John,” one of the women asked the man speaking,“ you were there. You went to the tomb. Is that what you saw?”
“Peter and I saw the tomb. We saw it open and empty. But we didn’t see Jesus.”
Once again the room was quiet. Then Claudius broke the silence. “I have a question. I’ve told you what you wanted to know. Now you tell me what I want to know. This has been on my mind all weekend. It’s been on my heart ever since I struck the nail into Jesus’ hand. Who is this man? Who is this Jesus?”
If any head had hung before, it lifted at this moment. If any thoughts had wandered, they wandered no more.
“Is there any doubt?” Mary said. Her eyes were bright. She jumped to her feet as she spoke. “I saw Him! I saw Him risen from the dead. He is who He said He was. He is the Son of God!”
With that statement the room broke into chaos.
“Impossible!”
“No, she is right. Let her speak!”
“Why did He let them kill Him if He is the Son of God?”
“It doesn’t make sense.”
“What doesn’t make sense is why you can’t believe!”
Claudius was silent. What he was hearing, he could not handle. But what he had seen at the grave, he could not deny. He leaned over and put his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands. Thoughts rumbled in his head. He was so intent that he didn’t notice the sudden silence. Stillness reigned for several seconds before he raised his head. A light filled the room. He looked at the door and the window; they were still closed.
Faces that had been cast in shadows now beamed. All eyes stared in his direction – not at him, but behind him. But before he could turn to see what they were seeing, a hand was on his shoulder. When Claudius turned to look at the hand, he found the answer for his heart.
The hand was pierced.

If we’re honest, we’ll realize that Claudius’s story is our own. Each of us, through our own sin, played a figurative role in nailing Jesus to the cross. The glory of Easter is that the same hands that were pierced by our rebellion now reach out to us in compassion and forgiveness. Truly, we can say with the prophet Isaiah, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
To those of you who are overwhelmed by the cares of life and burdened by the weight of the world during this Easter season, I urge you, look to the risen Christ. May His grace, peace and presence surround you and your loved ones not only on Easter Sunday, but every day.

Happy Easter

Jakarta, 5 April 2010

Rufus and Alexander (1)

God shall never forget every single thing you do for Him, even as if He never say ‘thank you’ to you directly. He knows what you do for Him and how to ‘pay back’ what you did. It happens to every one who did it from all their hearts. In one occasion He did it very well to Simon, the one who ‘helped’ Him bearing the wood that then hang Him on a hill outside Jerusalem, where he is crucified to death.
It all well written in the Gospel of John (19:17). This passage implies that Jesus carried the cross all the way himself. However, a man from Cyrene named Simon was compelled to carry it for Him. Gospel Mark calls Simon a passerby; Matthew says that the soldiers came upon him as they were starting out. Both Mark and Luke say that he "was coming in from the country." Mark further identifies him as "the father of Alexander and Rufus." Cyrene was in North Africa. Simon may have come to Jerusalem as a pilgrim for the Passover (cf. Acts 2.10), or perhaps he had come to Palestine previously and was living in one of the villages near Jerusalem.
But whatever happened with the background of this man, he then carried the cross to the hill where the crucifixion procession took place. I believe that day he witnessed every detail of the horrified scenery when Jesus died, the earth quake, the darkness that covered the area for about 3 hours, and must be in deep sorry, I presumed he cried on his knees over the death of the man he admired most.
One of Simon’s child, as noted in John; Alexander is not mentioned elsewhere, but Paul sends greetings to his second son (Rom 16:13) to a man named Rufus, "eminent in the Lord," and his mother. This tells us that the ‘effect’ of Simon’s faithful work in serving Jesus that day affecting his family..
The cost of bearing His cross has resulted Simon from Cyrene lots of blessing to his children and (perhaps) grandchildren. As what happened to Alexander and Rufus, they both gained all the blessings after what their father did in Jerusalem years back.
Simon’s decision to bear the cross is supposed to be our example in life. Its tough, heavy, burdensome, and takes time. It takes all of your heart, strength and mind to be able to do so. Yet the blessing and ‘pay back’ from God will be overflowing to your children abundantly.
Alexander and Rufus are good example of how an effective father impacting his family and children. If you want to see your children are blessed, keep your faith to Him and do His work he plot for you to do.
I don’t mean that to work for the Lord is because of the blessing. Because of His being He bless you already and will keep on blessing you. With due respect, please admire today to whom you will dedicate your life. God needs you to complete His mission in this world. Will you offer your shoulder to let Him know that God, here is my shoulder to carry the cross you have for me?
If not, consult your bible and your pastor. Your church must need lots of volunteers and activists to do the never ending activities and work at your local church. Just submit yourself and God knows what to do with you. Happy Easter.

Jakarta, 31 March 2010

Ode to My Leprosy Affected Friends

The day when they are remembered and equally treated as human!

One of Mother Theresa’s famous quote was that “The biggest disease today is not
leprosy or tuberculosis, rather the feeling of being unwanted.”
Guys, welcome again to this page of my blog. I am writing here for you to
remember that leprosy is still exist here, in Indonesia as well as in the world. By knowing that, do let yourself aware of what leprosy is, is it curable, is there any medication available, and what are the early signs? You can safe many just by knowing the early signs of leprosy. Trust me, you can.

At six a.m last Sunday, 31 January 2010, the sky was not quite friendly. It was
drizzling when drove down town Jakarta to the Taman Senayan area. The traffic flow
was not at any bad condition at all. I said to myself that it’s going to be a wonderful cool morning to go. An hour later I arrived at the famous and green Taman Senayan. This Park is smack at the central part of Senayan, Jakarta. There were already dozens of people gathered in three different colours and writing types of T-Shirts. Some I knew, many that I don’t remember. For sure I know that many of them are fellows from Sitanala leprosy hospital. I meet with the chairperson of YTLI and chat a little bit with him. Friends from Health Department, the Minister of Health, representatives from WHO, PerMaTa, and other colleagues from NGOs which work for leprosy were also already there. Then the flow of people coming in eventually in order to get the celebration started.

In photo above I have a chance to pose with the project leader of The Nippon Foundation for SEA Projects (second from right), Chief of Directorate of National Leprosy Program (second from left) , The Chairperson of Yayasan Transformasi Lepra Indonesia (middle), and The Secretary of PerMaTa (far right).
What I like from the event is that after 3 speeches from Minister of Health (MOH), WHO representative, and the Health Department, the MOH went far from protocol and went closer with the audience, which were cured leprosy affected persons. She even posed with some of them. Some nice songs from disabled band group of Jakarta, a nice and strong poem by a cured leprosy affected friend from Sitanala leprosy hospital, plus one celebrity who is willing and concern about leprosy. Media people from printing do electronic are also there.
To my personal experience, this is a very special occasion for a World Leprosy Day in Indonesia. Its set in an informal setting, cured leprosy affected friends
were free to sing and express their personal skills. The situation was warm and friendly.

The above photo shows MOH among cured leprosy affected peoples.

The theme for the 57th World Leprosy Day was ‘changing society’s views about the disease’. This occasion is also celebrated across Indonesia the globe in so many countries; aiming to increase public awareness and express solidarity with those affected by the devastating disease. In East Jawa there are about 1000 cured leprosy affected people together with the Governor of East Jawa planting Mangrove trees at the northern beach of Surabaya, and many more activities involving cured leprosy affected people in Makassar and Kupang.

According to the most recent data published by the World Health Organisation,
more than 210,000 new cases were recorded in 2009. From that number, 17.000 are from
Indonesia, the 3rd after India and Brazil. There are many more in various parts of Indonesia. To name some are North Maluku, Papua, East Java, and major parts of Sulawesi.

Cured leprosy affected people are now more advance that it was 5 years ago. An
organization called PerMaTa (Perhimpunan Mandiri Kusta Indonesia - Indonesia's independence leprosy association) is now having its branches in South Sulawesi, East Java, and East Nusa Tenggara. Its central office is in Surabaya. The organization is aimed to empower and putting all the cured leprosy affected peoples into the mainstream of their community in order to uphold human dignity and their self esteem. Their main message is to make people aware that even leprosy affected persons are also human being with the equal rights just like you and me. YTLI (Yayasan Transformasi Lepra Indonesia - Indonesia's Leprosy Transformation foundation) which based in Jakarta is proud to be one of some NGOs to start the seed and facilitate, as well as help them grow into a national NGO. YTLI's dream is that PerMaTa will go global with their counterpart NGOs at the international level. One day, the work of leprosy (like finding new cases, treatment, medication, self care, and developing their diffabled friends) will be done by themselves. Is it possible?

Friends, you and me are actually just like one of them. We are equal, yet due to our misconception about leprosy we forget that the disease is just a disease, and that it is not to separate us and forget about them.

And, the celebration ends at about 09.30 before it gets too glary. I went home while whistling some of my favourite songs then pick up my family to church. If any that you have read above is then forgotten, please remember that leprosy is
curable. It is! Ask me for further information or simply get to www.transformasilepra.org or www.leprosymission.org for further details.

What are the symptoms - how does someone know they have leprosy? The First sign are usually numb patches which looks pale than normal and not itchy. Some nodules might appear as company.

Happy Leprosy Day to my fellow leprosy affected friends.


Jakarta, 2 Feb 2010
Alexander Mutak

He touches you in a way that you can't afford but respond

This is nothing about romantic nor soap opera's love movies. Its also not about an unanimous mingle that strolls along your mind when you think about 'touch'.
Its Christmas time guys. I just need to share with you a bit about the Wise Men (some call them as The Magi) from the East and how they spent their entire lives in astronomy and encountered the uniqueness of a star above the middle east sky two thousand years ago.
The story of a visit of wise men to the Christ Child is told in the bible in Mathhew 2:1 tells us: "...Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem . . ." This Bible passage doesn't state how many wise men actually came from the east nor does it mention their names or their method of travel. It is only assumed they traveled by camel and they could have easily traveled by foot. The Bible doesn't claim these men to be kings, however it is speculated they were at least learned men and perhaps even astrologers.
It is interesting to note that in Matthew 2:11 it states: ...and when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped HIM..." The statement of coming into a house instead of a stable (or cave) and seeing a "young child," not a newborn, leads one to think that the wise men didn't arrive until quite some time after Jesus' birth. It is believed that the wise men came from the east by following a bright star that led them to to Bethlehem.
What most interesting for me is that the wise men, who ever they were and no matter how many fellows joining their journey; it shows me that God knows how to talk to you personally. In the wise men's case, God talks to them through the star. When they do their routine work as the astronomers watching the stars with their less sophisticated than today's observatory equipments they saw something unusual. It must be begin by one of the three seeing a strange bright star and end up telling their friends all about it. One night they saw this bizarre and obvious as well as distinguished star stop by atop Betlehem's night sky. Then this led them into a further investigation and search through their bibliography and found it is a once in a lifetime's sign that a King of kings is born.
I imagine that in our today's culture, they must have got their own facebook group or mailing list to share this new finding and start to pop out the idea of going to where the star stops. And it all ends up when they finally go to Betlehen, and got to the 'city of David' approximately two years later. There they meet the child and worshiped Him.
Did you see what I see? God touches the wise men through their profession and their personal interest. The reflection is if this year or this time you know someone who doesn't know about God and the salvation, God might be having a plan to let someone else knows about HIM through you. Are you a professional, a non professional, a merely layman, God can accommodate you to be the person to introduce God to others.
Have you wonder? Its simply because God knows how to touch you and those who know you in such a way.
Let Him touch others in His way! And you guys, just do what you can. If you can be of an example of a Chris follower, do so.


Merry Christmas
Jakarta, end of December 2009






God touches men the way the men most appropriate to be touched.

me, my days and radiotherapy

I know that anything to do with radiotherapy is not a pleasant topic to talk about. Do I like it? Then I can merely reply in a simple argumentation; its necessary.
For these past weeks I have been dealing with at least 3 persons needed what I called as the necessary to talk about. The first person came in the shape of patient, laid weak with vividly slow eye movement. He was not that bad actually, yet looks very weak. He has to have the therapy because it’s the only last chance to ‘help’ him with the uncontrolled malignant ball he had at his prostate.
The second person is a young lady. I say young because she had just finished her golden years at the college. Then her unexpected Medical Check Up results saying that something ‘unfriendly’ is spotted at her left lung. This brought her to her ever darkest dreams and put her to be hospitalized until about 2 weeks later.
The last one is about an elderly person with so called adenocarcinoma. What sort of creature is this? In our daily colloquial we say that its an uncontrolled sprouts of cells (then forming bizarre meat) originating in glandular tissue. Boy, I really hope that what I am saying here is right.
And the tree persons were just ordinary people like you and me. They never expect to have such experience in their lives. They tried hard to never think, mention, or even wanted to know what cancer is.
The good thing is that they all needed radiotherapy for the first step to help. Did you by any chance know what is it? Google tells us that It involves the use of radiation which is targeted to the cancer site in order to destroy cancerous cells. Treatment is planned meticulously in order to minimize harm to normal cells. Treatment is usually carried out as an outpatient procedure, and lasts for several weeks (depending on the nature of the tumor). There are different forms of radiotherapy for the prostate available.
My only intention is writing this here is so that I myself made aware that any kinds of illness my occur to you, me and anyone. And such illness has its powerful strength to change the direction of you and your family’s plan. How do you cope with your life if everything you have planned is changed?
Guys, life is about choices and changes. You have all the capacity to cope with everything that comes to you. Be wise in taking them.

Jakarta, 5 November 2009