Birthday party...

This evening Mikah and I went to our very first Indonesian birthday party. The party was to start at 6:30 pm and it was for the 5th birthday of the daughter of one of the evangelists from the church we attend. We were picked up by another evangelist and his family and brought there. The family lives in South Bandung and we live in North Bandung. So it took about one hour to get there (Bandung is an enormous city of about 5 million people). Part of the way we went on a toll highway, which at night reminded us very much of home. There was even a cluster of lights on one of the mountains reminding us of Cypress mountain back home. Except these lights were on cell phone towers. This family has one child and they live in quite a large roomy house with a yard. Birthdays here are very formal affairs and there were rows of chairs set up in front of a room that was a step higher and served as a stage. On the stage was an enormous Strawberry Shortcake cake. It was real, but sure looked fake… We all sat down and the master of ceremonies prayed and got us to sing a couple songs, accompanied by a girl on the keyboard, then the mom of the birthday girl spoke, we sang again and then Evangelist Eric (the one who gave us a ride) had a speech about our ultimate calling here as parents. He also talked about Samuel and his life as a child. He also prayed with us and then we sang again. Then we sang happy birthday and a song that sounds like the dutch song “Lang zul ze leven (sp?)” Then the birthday girl in her princess dress got to cut the cake and have her photo taken while doing so. Then someone else prayed again and then we got to eat. Knowing that it would take ages before we ate, Mikah and I had had supper already at home… There was kroepoek, lumpias, cap cai (Chap Chay), mie goreng, bakso (meat balls with some kind of paste around them swimming in a broth-never tried it and don’t really plan to…) chicken strips with shredded cheese on top, and some kind of really fatty pieces of pork/bacon (not like anything I’ve ever seen before…) and a fruity yet spicy fruit cocktail and oh yeah, how could I forget, white rice. In Indonesia you have to eat white rice with every meal. After that the cake was cut and we all got a piece. There were also these other fancy little incredibly sweet pastry things and a fruity cocktail drink with actual fruit in it handed out.
The long drive home gave me the opportunity to ask some questions. I practiced my bahasa, but thankfully Ev. Eric speaks quite good English. He told me that the church we attend is an outreach church. I think it is on our hill because there is the university there. I asked him if the Christian churches here were threatened at all. He said that the people of North and South Bandung are tolerant of Christians, but that the people of East and West are more extremist. That is where many churches have been burned down. Thankfully they always ask the people to leave first. Ev. Eric told me that two weeks ago he preached in one of the secret churches in West Bandung. He said that they have to sing and preach quietly. They always have to meet in houses as their church has been burned down. Makes one thankful for the freedoms and opportunities that we do have back home.