This is a shot of the batik factory that we visited.
While most of the batik was being hand-applied, this man was using a stamp to apply the wax to the fabric. This is a much faster way of producing the finished product.
This is one of the women who were working at hand painting the batik. Actually, she is painting on a wax mixture, a very time-consuming process. After this process the cloth is dipped in dye to color the parts not covered in wax.
On Friday, Feb. 11 I made a quick trip to Kudus, a city about a 2 hour drive from Salatiga. While there, I met with two SALT participants. I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to speak with them about their experience thus far in the MCC program. Not surprisingly, both have struggled some and were able to identify areas that have been difficult, and both were able to also share some of the things that they have really enjoyed about their experience. I won’t share about what they talked about, but I appreciated their honesty. I hope that I can have the opportunity to meet with others in the SALT program while I am here, in part to learn more of the experience so that I can promote a realistic view of what a year in another culture might entail as I speak with young adults in the US, and in part to offer counsel and growth to these young adults who are currently working to make sense of the experiences they are having. One of the SALTers is actually the daughter of my cousin, so I have even more interest in speaking with her.
All of the SALT participants are leaving Indonesia on Wednesday for two days as they go through the process of renewing their visas for the final portion of their stay in the country.
A bonus event during my trip to Kudus was the opportunity to have lunch with Pak Charles, a retired pastor, former president of the GKMI Synod, and former president of Mennonite World Conference. This is a man who has spent his life working in the church. He was elected as president of MWC at the age of 39. When we got to his home, he was out visiting someone. He has made a conscious decision not to have a cell phone (perhaps the only person in Indonesia to make this decision?) so my MCC driver and I waited and chatted until Pak Charles returned home. (As an aside, “Pak” is a term of respect, perhaps like “Mr” in English) We had a very nice conversation so I did not mind the wait. When Pak Charles came home, I immediately like him. He has a wonderful sense of humor, and a very sharp mind! I found out that he is hoping to lead a discussion group with local Mennonite pastors on the book “The Naked Anabaptist”. We played a bit of the “Mennonite Game” and made a few connections, but couldn’t come up with a way that we were related! My hope is that I will have further opportunity to meet with him in the future.
Finally, yesterday I got to sit in on a meeting between MCC and someone from the GKMI synod and someone from the Indonesia Mennonite Diakonal Services (the equivalent of MDS in North America). It was fascinating to hear of the work that IMDS has been doing with the many natural disasters Indonesia has experienced in the past half year - flooding, eruptions, tsunami. Especially impressive was the web of connections with other faith groups and NGO’s which greatly expanded the ability of IMDS to respond. This post is long enough, so I will say no more about this meeting.
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