These are more pictures from my recent trip to Cipanas, West Java:

One of the events organised by the seminary was a 2-hour seminar entitled "Catholic-Protestant Relations: Ecumenism". It was attended by the students of the seminary. In this talk, I highlighted the Catholic priority of ecumenism and also explained the various factors which until now are hindrances to the achievement of ecumenism between the Catholic Church and the Protestant communities.

These were the students in attendance at the seminar. A closer look would reveal that many of the full-time students of seminaries in Indonesia are rather young. It is something that is apparently encouraged. I was told by the Academic Dean that students who graduated young had many years of ministry ahead of them.

I was also asked to preach at the chapel service in the morning. I spoke from Ezekial 21:1-17 on how God had trained Ezekial to be a powerful and effective communicator to Israel. The challenge before us was how we could communicate the Word of God to a generation that had forgotten how to listen.

That's my horsecart. I can't quite remember where I was going at that time, but I got a picture taken just before I went onto the cart. Horses are such beautifully elegant creatures. You should see how the horses have raincoats put on them on rainy days!

Not all people in Indonesia are poor. There is actually a rather sizable segment of the population which is quite well off. They are rich enough to purchase posh weekend houses in elite areas in Cipanas, and they would come up to Cipanas from Jakarta to enjoy the air during the weekends.

More to come!