God is Good!

A letter from Don Ho and Sook Nim Choi serving in Indonesia

October 2016

Dear friends and family,

From Sook
My heart felt tight and heavy on the bus ride. Don and I had joined the San Jose Presbytery team in Surabaya last August, and that morning we were going to visit an elementary school for underprivileged children. I have to admit that seeing and meeting disadvantaged or mistreated children is not something I look forward to—I do not like the pain that accompanies such an experience. I catch myself rebelling against God and questioning God’s justice. People on the margins of society did not choose to be born there and did not choose to go through a rough childhood.

As we walked through the school’s main gate, though, and before I saw a single child, I felt a gentle breeze wafting and enveloping me. It provoked a feeling of surprise, for there was warmth in it—not the physical kind of warmth but the kind that one feels in the heart, a comforting and reassuring warmth. Amazingly, the warmth filled the entire campus. Suddenly the thought came to me: God has already been working here!

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Initially we visitors sat in chairs in front and to the side of the children. Out of an urge to get closer to them, I stood up, walked tentatively into their midst and looked for a place to sit down. One girl from the middle row pointed to a spot on the floor next to her with a smile. As soon as I sat there I felt the children’s eyes checking me out, full of curiosity and excitement. They started to giggle and nudge closer, with shy smiles. Their hands started touching my hair. I started touching theirs. More giggles and laughter broke out. As the children refocused on the music program, we felt like one. An immense happiness came over me. I asked myself, where did this happiness come from?

Later I realized that darkness was also present there. After the presentation I was introduced to a few children with histories of physical and/or sexual abuse. Some of these abused children were still in a state of shock and trauma, avoiding contact with others, including, in some cases, with their own parents. Their stories pierced my heart sharply. The little girl who had invited me to sit next to her was one such child. I wondered how it was possible for this little girl, who had such a dark past, to be able to exhibit such an intoxicating smile.

I was impressed by the 15 people from San Jose Presbytery who came all the way from California to mingle with Indonesian children and have fun sharing a good time together. Don and I could not have imagined it possible to see these busy people from the Silicon Valley of California here in Indonesia, spending a precious two weeks in steamy hot weather, visiting remote places and playing with Indonesian children. What moves these people to choose to go to such a place, instead of going someplace else on an exotic vacation? We have no answers, but as we marvel about their intent, it gives us both happiness and hope. I encourage you to join our quest for the answer. Last week we heard that one of the visitors wants to come back to our university to volunteer as a teacher. God is good!

From Don
The medical mission boat is one step closer to coming to Indonesia—God is good all the time!

Last January as Sook and I and a group of fellow mission co-workers were walking along the sidewalk along the coast in the city of Dumaguette, Philippines, we saw many boats bobbing up and down on the surface of the sea. I then heard the Rev. Choon Lim—the PC(USA) regional liaison for East Asia—mention the medical mission boat in Korea. The name of the boat was ‘Salvation.’ It had been commissioned by the Presbyterian Church of Korea in the early 1980s to transport personnel and materials to provide needed health care to people living in communities scattered throughout the small islands of Korea. Back then Korea’s economy was struggling. But the boat had been decommissioned 10 years ago as the islands became equipped with permanent medical facilities. It was now docked and had become a source of headache.

Sharing this story with the community of Duta Wacana Christian University in Indonesia, where we serve, resulted in their mobilizing to explore if and how that boat could be put to further service in order to help the communities on many islands in Eastern Indonesia. Preliminary inquiries were made to the Indonesian Navy, medical professionals and students in Indonesia and Korea, and the Presbyterian Church of Korea. In a span of a few months many key pieces of the puzzle, ‘Operating and maintaining a medical mission boat in Indonesia,’ fell into place. What seemed like a long shot has become more viable. Our global partners and everybody else aware of this possibility are energized.

As we move forward with this project we realize ‘the devil is in the details.’ We expect obstacles, difficulties and uncertainties. And some unforeseen ones may also rear their ugly heads in due time. As we contemplate with faith the end goal of bringing healing and wholeness to the people inhabiting small islands in Indonesia, we pray with hope that we shall endure through it all and see God’s love made real in this part of the world.

There is still much work to be done. We invite you to deepen your involvement in God’s mission in Indonesia with a long-term commitment to our sending and support, or to the sending and support of mission co-workers like us, serving around the world through the Presbyterian Mission Agency.

Thank you all for your prayers, correspondence, visits and financial support!

Sook and Don Choi

Please read this important message from Tony De La Rosa, Interim Executive Director, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. (Isaiah 43:1b-2, NRSV)

Dear Friend of the Presbyterian Mission Agency:

Thank you for your prayers and for your financial support of Don and Sook Choi this year, and any previous year. We hear from our mission co-workers how much your prayerful financial support has meant to them. Please know that you are a vital part of ministries throughout Indonesia.

Even as I thank you, I want to let you know that this is a critical time for our congregations and all people of faith to commit themselves to support mission co-workers like Don and Sook. Our global church partners greatly value their service, and you well know how important this ministry is in building connections between the body of Christ in the U.S. and Indonesia.

We have historically relied on endowment interest and the general offering from congregations to sustain the vital work of all of our mission workers. Those sources of funding have greatly diminished. It is only through the gifts of individuals and congregations that we are able to keep Don and Sook doing the life-giving work God called them to do. A year ago, in May 2015, we had to recall some mission workers due to a lack of funding. World Mission communicated the challenge to you, and you responded decisively and generously. Through your response, we heard the Spirit remind us, “Fear not!”

Today, I’m asking you to consider an additional gift for this year, and to increase the gift you may consider for 2017. Sending and support costs include not only salary but also health insurance and retirement contributions, orientation, language training, housing, travel to the country of service, children’s education, emergency evacuation costs, and visa/passport costs.

My heartfelt thanks for your prayers and support of our Presbyterian mission co-workers. In the coming season, we will celebrate God’s sending of the Christ child, the source of the good news we share. May you experience anew the hope, peace, joy, and love that are ours because “perfect love casts out fear” (I John 4:18).

Thank you for saying “yes” to love.

With you in Christ,
Tony De La Rosa
Interim Executive Director, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)