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Jesus who?

Yesus MemberkatiOn November 2, the Governor of North Sulawesi province in Indonesia dedicated a monument dubbed “Yesus Memberkati” (Eng: Jesus Bless) . The 30-meter tall statue is the tallest statue of Jesus in Asia, and 2nd tallest in the world only to that in Rio de Jenairo, Brazil which is 8 meters taller. However, standing at 150 meters above the sea level at 20 degree angle it is believed to be the tallest “floating” statue of Jesus in the world.

It took 2 years in making, and another 8 months to assemble, the statue is located in an elite residential complex Winangun of Citra Land in Manado. It was donated by a real estate tycoon Ciputra, and its cost was around Rp. 5,000,000,000 (5 billion Rupiah, or around US $ 556,000).

I commend Ciputra’s deep religious commitment and his gracious act of spending a lot of money to have this religious icon built. However, personally I can’t agree on this act on two fronts- social and theological. Continue reading “Jesus who?”

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Mourning the loss of a friend

I am mourning the loss of a co-worker.  She passed away on Friday after a 3-year battle with liver cancer.  I went to her funeral this morning, and it was a heart breaking service.  Many people mourned her loss.  She was such a good, caring, and compassionate person.

Kathy, you will always be missed!

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Thanksgiving

It’s Thanksgiving and we are staying home because Tryphena is sick. We went to the ER twice yesterday, the second one she rode in an ambulance. It’s quiet, but we are grateful for many things. First and most we’re thankful for Christ and our union with him. We are also grateful for Tryphena. She is such a blessing for us. We are thankful for the daily provision God provides for us, for my job so that we can pay Mr. Bills every month, for our health, and last but not least for family and friends.

It’s Thanksgiving and it’s quiet. We had to miss the church’s potluck. We missed the fellowship, but we didn’t miss the food because they brought the food for us, plenty of it. Yummmm…..yumm…..yummm…..

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Trip to Indonesia in April

Finally I made time to upload pictures from our trip to Indonesia in April. They can be found in the “photo albums” page.

We left home around 5:30 in the afternoon on April 19th for Fresno Yosemite International Airport. The flight from Fresno to SFO was on a small propellered airplane. It was so noisy that Tryphena cried almost all thorough the flight. Keep in mind that it was her very first time flying, too.

Continue reading “Trip to Indonesia in April”

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To Read or Not to Read….That’s the Question

The 7th and final book on Harry Potter was released around the globe on July 21. People-adults and children- stood in line for hours to be the first to read the book. A co-worker’s wife and children went to Border’s bookstore and stood in line for a few hours just so that they would be among the first to have that book.

“Will Harry die?” was the question Potter’s fans had been discussing even long before the book was released. I even wonder if gamblers would wager their money on this. (Perhaps they did!). Continue reading “To Read or Not to Read….That’s the Question”