The Call

I knew this word three years ago, when I have a case. That time I took my students to a church to learn about how church perspective about gender. However, that action didn’t satisfied most of Acehnese people and it caused me in trouble. One American friend sent me a card and wrote about ‘the call’.

Today (29/1/2018), I met a wonderful young American guy who tells me about his call. I just met him yesterday when another American friend introduced me to him. During our dinner, I had no chance to talk a lot with him because there were many other friends. Yesterday (28/1/2018), excepted him, there were two friends from Malaysia who came to Aceh. I had never met her for 20 years. So, I spent most of my time with these Malay friends because they would go to Sabang- a tiny island of Aceh, for diving.

Today I had a chance to speak with him. Yesterday he said he want to study (or work) here in Aceh. It is weird. This is a first time for him to come to Aceh and suddenly he already said that he want to study or work here. However, I said that I will help him if he wants to study in Aceh. I said, there is a US Education center in my university, I can take him there and asked the staff whether it is possible to be a foreign student in my university. I also contact Elisa, another American friend, who said that she has a contact of American student who do an exchange student at Syiah Kuala University. 

During lunch time, Jack (the exchange student), Ruben (an American who has an English course here), Donald (an American guy who wants to study in Aceh) and I had lunch together. In this small meeting Jack tells his experience about how to get scholarship which is benefit for Donald. Our lunch time was quite quick because I had another skype meeting with my foster parents in Adelaide. However, Donald still can meet Jack in the afternoon.

My Skype meeting is about 30 minutes. Geoff and Joy asked about the process of my transfer to Jakarta or Jogja. After having this Skype meeting, I had a little dialogue with Donald. I asked him why he wants to stay, study and working in Aceh. I am a Gayonese, but I want to move from here. And Donald told me that this is his calling. He tells me about his life. He grew up in Christian tradition, however he become an atheist because of a church where he join has a person who is an atheist. When he became an atheist, he was a bad guy. He drunk, drug addict and smoke a lot. He can’t stop it until the police catch him. When the police catch him, he found peace. He said, that is wird, why when police catch him he felt peace. He said, that time he felt that police will help him to stop drugs and his bad habit. He tried to stop all that bad things but until he released it did not stop yet. Her mother sent her to a seminary. Surprisingly, even though he reject it but he put his clothes in the bag (weird, isn’t it?). Then, he spent his time in the seminary.

He told me that during in the seminary, most of people pray for 1-2 hours, but he could not do that. He did know how to pray. Until one day, he woke up at night and tried to pray. That time he found it relaxing. He could spend 2 hours to pray. It was amazing for him. He found God answering all of his anxiety. He felt like the Holy Spirit come in to his body and he felt it was not him who control his body anymore, but the Holy Spirit.

He decided to go to Nias to doing a voluntary work. In Nias, he had a dream that The Holy Spirit to go to Aceh. That time, there were some people who also want to go to Aceh with him, but he did not know why at last minutes all of these people canceled their trip to Aceh. Donald though that the doors closed to him.

When he arrived in Aceh, he found that a lot of doors open for him, and it strengthen his will. He said he met Henny, Amber, Jack, Ruben and I. He felt the doors open because all of these people help him. It makes him so excited to study and serve in Aceh. This is what he calls as “The Call”.

He also tells his story about his uncle in Rusia. His uncle became a priest in Rusia when his uncle was 29 years old. When his uncle was there, he had more than 500 followers. But suddenly it decreased become, 300, 100, 50 and the last 15 followers. His uncle did not know why it happened, until he opened the radio. In that radio said that the church where his uncle work was supported by CIA (you know how badly the relation of US and USSR, right?) and it made people did not want to come anymore. That new was spread by an Orthodox Church priest. I realize it was because the priest afraid his follower moved to Donald’s uncle church that why he made that news in the radio.

He also tell his story when he works in Nias. He said most of people who live there are Christian. However, they do not live as Christian. They do not know about Jesus because they just come to the church not to find what Jesus is, but it is just a ritual. It reminds me for what happen in Muslim community as well. Most of them are doing ritual rather than finding what God is. They are lack of happiness. 

I was so amaze with his stories. An atheist, who found his own way about God and God’s calling.