The HKBP Witness Goes On

On 21 August, 2008, I was at Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Walking with me and my family members was a family who were obviously Muslim, and though excellent English speakers, did have a foreign accent. I asked where they were from.
The father answered. “Urbana, Illinois.”
“Do you teach at the University of Illinois?” I asked.
“No, I’m a graduate student.”
“Where is your home?” I asked.
“Indonesia.”
“And where in Indonesia?”
“Sumatra.”
I said I had just returned. They wanted to know where I’d been, and I named off all the places I could come up with on the spur of the moment, and when I said, “Medan,” he said, “that’s where we are from.”
“Why were you there?” he asked.
Well, I tried to be honest and careful, explaining that our geographic area of the Lutheran Church was related to the HKBP in central Sumatra.
“You mean the Nommensen University people?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“HKBP are good people,” he said as he extended his hand. I extended mine, and said, “Horas!” and immediately all three kids lined up to greet this American in their native Batak!
We then visited at some length, sharing stories and places we knew in common. The Al Mashul Mosque, the Great Palace, Nias, Parapat, Samosir, the Batak history sites, Balige, the Nommensen memorial, Pematangsiantar, and on and on. The witness of the HKBP is recognized, appreciated, and honored. The HKBP is known at the University of Illinois, and in the Black Hills too.

Lowell