A street vendor in Jakarta.

                                 Three hands vie for fresh fish hot off an open outdoor grill.

Members of a Muslim political party March in solidarity on the streets of Makassar, Indonesia early on a Sunday morning.

                        These two holy books in our hotel room serve as symbols of social division in Indonesia.

An embarrassingly large billboard announces that I will be among many coming to teach-preach in Makassar. If you look closely, you will see that they have expanded my title!

Pastor Handojo and his team worship together. The words on the screen are in Bahasa. Bahasa Indonesian is the official language of the nation. It is a standardized version of Malay, and has been used as a lingua Franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries. Karen and I learned a few phrases like 'Tuhan berkati', which means 'God bless you.'

On Sunday, we had the privilege of teaching all four services at Filadelfia Family Blessing Church in Makassar, Indonesia. While there is tremendous tension between Christians and Muslims (a dishearteningly familiar phrase) on this island, there is great unity of spirit here among Christians: last night after church service, Pastor Handojo, his wife, and 10 more took us out for an 'authentic Chinese seafood dinner' (there is a huge Chinese community in Indonesia--the food was delicious). Near the end of the meal, a lady approached the table, whispered something to pastor, and he got up and followed her into a private dining room. We later learned that she had asked him to come and pray for her group--they were Catholic leaders from a nearby area. They were so blessed by Pastor Handojo's prayer that they insisted on treating us all to dinner.

This kind of unity is so unique that the World Council of Churches convened a gathering in Jakarta two days ago to learn more about the special unity in the Indonesian Christian community--and 35,000 people attended.

We leave Indonesia today, but have developed good relationships here and laid the groundwork for successful student recruitment. We are confident that Regent University will increase the global scope of our student body very soon with fine, Indonesian Christian students.

Praise God for His faithfulness.