Settling in

Dear friends and family,

Greetings! We pray you are well and prospering.

We have been in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, for almost four months. Thanks to the support, guidance and help from many, we rented a house in a safe and bustling neighborhood not far from Duta Wacana Christian University (where we both serve), bought a used car, and even found a gym for keeping in shape. As expected, initially we had to deal with the (hot and humid) weather, unfamiliarity with local ways and customs, and difficulties in moving around and communicating. But we are happy to report that, after the initial shock, we have settled down and are able to move freely and communicate with limited frustration (together with our efforts to acquire and exercise the local language, our body language skills have been put to remarkable use!). That being said, we are still searching for community and looking to establish a balance of outer and inner life.

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Indonesia declared its independence from the Netherlands in 1945 after enduring more than 400 years of colonial rule. The brand of Christianity of the European colonizers had met a local matrix suffused with Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism—which had swept through the islands in previous waves of migration and exchange during pre-modern times—and with local animist cults, which together to this day give form to the worldview and everyday lives of peoples in this archipelago nation of 250 million souls. As much as Indonesia is shaped by its past experiences, it is also informed by its forward-looking expectations regarding its life and place in the global community.

Two weeks ago Don had the opportunity to attend an International Conference organized by the Netherlands-Indonesia Consortium for Muslim-Christian Relations on the topic of “Costly Tolerance.” For three days scholars, educators and advocates of Muslim and Christian institutions met to share experiences of (in)tolerance and to dialogue about ways to see each other’s humanity with a view to collaborating on personal, social and political levels. While there was ample recognition of the gap that exists between Islam and Christianity, overtures also were heard suggesting the possibility of seizing the occasions and experiences of natural calamities and disasters, such as the tsunami of 2004 and the volcanic eruptions of mount Merapi of 2006 and 2010, when religious differences were put aside in the rush to assist and help survivors, to forge longer-lasting identities and communities embodying tolerance.

A poignant moment during the conference came when one female NGO worker from the town of Poso, in the island of Sulawesi, shared how Muslim and Christian women had spent six hours one night last year (from 9 pm to 3 am) telling one another stories of suffering. (Repeated deadly conflicts between Muslims and Christians occurred in Poso from 1998 through 2001, claiming thousands of lives and dislocating hundreds of thousands of people.)

Despite these and other past histories of conflict elsewhere in the nation, living in Yogyakarta, a dynamic city with many universities, feels safe and enjoyable, likely because of the large number of students who come from all over Indonesia to get their higher education. The city neighborhoods provide ample choices for room and board. Its narrow and circuitous streets and the many small shops lining them seem to welcome and embrace the zest of living emanating from so many youths on motorcycles crowding them. (At first, during our first week here, we felt overwhelmed and scared by the seemingly chaotic onrush of so many motorcycles. But soon we started to enjoy them.)

Our daily routine consists of working in the university in the morning and early afternoon, followed by language lessons at home later in the afternoon, with visits to the gym in between. Our evenings are spent cooking, reading, gardening, and sporadic (very rare at this point) social outings. We have to confess that, after 30 busy years in Silicon Valley as a power couple raising three children, this definitely feels like we are finally enjoying some peace and rest.

Christian University Duta Wacana receives visitors (center) from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, on March 15, 2015. From right to left: Don Choi, MCW; Robert Setio, Vice-president of Duta Wacana; Henry Feriadi, President of Duta Wacana; Mohammad Alami Musa, Head of Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies Program and Singapore's next Ambassador to the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria; Rozlan Giri, Principal Coordinator of Rajaratnam School; Emanuel Gerrit Singgih, Director of Doctoral Program of the Theological Faculty of Duta Wacana; and two representatives of the International Consortium for Religious Studies, a joint Moslem-Christian post-graduate program for religious studies in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

We are still waiting for our work-permit visas before we can fully assume our jobs at the university. In the meantime Sook has been participating in planning meetings and attending studio classes as a volunteer aide/observer in the School of Architecture and Product Design. Her training and experience with practicing and teaching art are expected to enrich the curriculum and education of students in the school. She was invited to give the first lecture of the semester to the incoming class last January, and spoke on the theme “Portfolio as a medium of self-expression.” She also (with students and other docents, or teachers) visited villages in the rural areas surrounding the city, where students are encouraged to learn about local needs and explore possible solutions together with the local people (not as solution-providers from the outside but as fellow journeymen walking alongside them). Recently she has been invited to work on a forthcoming research fellowship proposal with a group of docents in Product Design.

Don has been active in getting to know the staff of the office of the president of the university and in visiting and introducing himself to the docents. As the advisor to the president he is intentional in cultivating a close relationship with the president, Dr. Henry Feriadi. While Don’s position is a new one, defined by his predecessor, Dr. Feriadi appreciates the expertise and commitment we bring and is keen to direct us so that our activities are aligned with the priorities of the university. Accordingly he has asked Don to advise and assist in the university’s strategic push to augment research activities and to help the board of advisors in an upcoming campaign to raise funds for research and scholarship endowments. Don also started a dialogue with the Department of Humanities to explore the possibility and benefits of a common-core course to teach critical thinking and creative writing to first-year students.

Giving some continuity to Don’s previous life as an engineer, he also takes time to learn from docents and local entrepreneurs about the realities and challenges of industry in Indonesia. Also making use of his theological education, Don is helping in the class “Professional Ethics for Information Technology” by sharing the experience of ethical problems encountered in his previous career.

A number of students come from distant and less developed islands such as Papua and Timor. (Nusa Tenggara Timur, an Indonesian province on the eastern side of the archipelago, includes the western side of the island of Timor. The eastern side declared independence in 2002 as “Timor-Leste.”) The university has set up collaboration agreements with teaching institutions and sends teams of students and docents to communities in those areas. Uneven local development combined with a wealth of natural resources makes for a volatile political situation. Educating future leaders for that community is taken as a serious call by the university and we hope to participate in that effort at the grassroots level through advising and mentoring these students. (Coincidence or not, the official language of Timor-Leste is Portuguese, Don’s first language from his having grown up in Brazil.)

Thus we are growing in understanding the realities of Indonesia, with a hopeful outlook for its struggles against historical poverty, corruption and inequality. We cannot deny living in a reality of violence, with explosive potential. We ask what it means practically to live as a Christian in a majority Muslim country—at ever-deeper levels. We are getting acquainted with the “brand” of Indonesian Islam, watching signs of radicalization with a concern for peace and security. Our goal is to work with the young people who will be the future leaders of this part of the world, preparing them for their task and praying that this, too, is God’s work.

We humbly ask that you join us in our prayers:

1. For the timely processing of our work-permit visa
2. For the struggling people of Indonesia, especially in its not well-represented parts
3. For a successful dialogue (inter-religious, -ethnic, and -regional) for peace and justice
4. For the university, its leaders, staff and students—that we may burn our torch bright

We thank you for your continued support. God bless us all.

Peace and grace,

Sook and Don Choi

The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 239