Two days with Akademi Kristus (Academy of Christ) in Sanur, Bali

The slum
A privilege to harvest new souls

I was skeptical when we were entering this poor housing area, especially when I saw the ignorant attitude of the two young men who were sitting on the porch in front of the first block. They did not even care to greet us back when Akademi Kristus’ Geoff Collins greeted a woman who came out of the house. She, however, came out and greeted Geoff warmly while carrying her little daughter, who was sick.

The child looked ill and weak. I felt sorry when I saw the condition of the child. I realised there are many children in Indonesia who were born in a poor condition. They suffer malnutrition, illness, or are born with physical disability. Some are abandoned by their parents and have no education. However, according to the mother, the condition of her daughter had improved compared to Geoff’s last visit.

I frantically raised a little prayer within my heart. “Lord, please heal the child and help these people here.”

We continued to the next house block. At its front door, where pak Made lives – a man who has suffered stroke for almost a year – the smell of urine mixed with sweat and vomit became stronger. Geoff entered first, to say hi to pak Made and his wife, bu Nyoman, while Jos and I waited on the porch with Geoff’s wife, Erma, and their children, Chloe, Kellie and Kasy. The children were extremely patient whilst waiting but soon got bored and started to get a bit fussy. It was certainly a long hot day for their age.

Pak Made was sitting on the floor on a thin, dingy mattress. Bu Nyoman sat on the floor in front of him. Geoff initially stood, then squatted in front of the two while talking to them about the health condition of pak Made. After discussing their efforts to find a cure for pak Made’s illness from a local witchdoctor/shaman, Geoff told them about the power of God and advised him to go to the medical doctor instead and get some physiotherapy to treat parts of his body that had become rigid due to stroke.

While still standing at the doorway, watching everyone and every object in the room, I heard a strange voice coming from a room next to bu Nyoman. It was Menik, a daughter of bu Nyoman and pak Made, who had had physical and mental disabilities since birth. I saw another thin, dirty mattress on the floor in front of that room next to where bu Nyoman was sitting. I could feel my heart moved – if the non-Indonesians would come all their way to share the love of God to my fellow countrymen, then why not I.

Jos was already inside when I finally decided to enter the room. Geoff was sitting on the floor when I entered and Jos was squatting next to him. Geoff continued sharing about the love of God through Christ, sometimes saying hello to Menik, who was on the floor showing her big grin and waving her hand. Menik looked happy that day.

As we listened quietly to Geoff’s testimony about the power and love of Jesus Christ, I silently gave thanks to God over and over, grateful for people like Geoff and his family who willingly served these people in this slum area. I paid close attention to the reaction of pak Made and bu Nyoman while praying that God would open their hearts and minds and that the Holy Spirit would work in them and seal the room from evil spirits.

I could sense that God was fulfilling His promise (“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” Matthew 18:20). At that time, it was as if I had forgotten how strong the rancid smell of the room was. I was so grateful when pak Made and bu Nyoman agreed to be prayed for to receive Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Pak Made also expressed his willingness to read the Bible, when Geoff encouraged him to do so. Unfortunately, he couldn’t read due to his weak eyesight. Even so, Geoff took the initiative to find an audio Bible in Indonesia for them to hear daily.

I felt the thirst was clearly shown in pak Made. It was the longing for physical healing but he heard about spiritual healing and the redeeming love of God, which is far more important. And, thank God, he was willing to listen and to accept Christ that day. Although bu Nyoman at that time declared that she accepted Christ, I could still see strong hesitation on her face. May God continue to work in bu Nyoman’s heart to change her so that she can be truly born again and experience the dynamic and loving relationship with our God in Christ Jesus.

A few days ago, we received an update on pak Made from Geoff. Pak Made told him that he dreamed of meeting Jesus who came to him and came and gave him a drink of water that he drank and drank but couldn’t finish.

A plan to help a sick man at the slum rebuild his house

We left the simple house blocks after dropping a television at the first house. This time, the two young men I had seen at the start of my visit helped Geoff connect the television cable and set it up. After that, we were off to the deepest part of the slum area where the houses are even simpler – they are more huts than houses. Some are in a very bad condition. We visited one man who sat in front of the house. He was ill and could not fix the house on his own, which led to a plan to help him rebuild his house.

When we walked back to the car, we passed some teenagers who live there – they said hi happily when they saw Geoff and his family. Geoff invited them to come to the boxing club the next day at Akademi Kristus. He offered to pick them up at the slum and they agreed to come.

 

The visit to a prison
Five considered challenges

1. We would have to leave early in the morning at 8:00am in order to get the forepart of the prison waiting list. It was a challenge for non-‘morning people’ like us to wake up early, especially when we were still also suffering from a bit of jetlag. We hadn’t really been awake, even when we arrived at the prison.

2. It was the year-end holiday season and as usual, Bali was packed with local and foreign tourists. Leaving early was going to mean traffic congestion. The road we planned to take from Sanur towards the prison was considered an ‘always jammed’ street. Thinking we would be stuck in traffic just to visit a criminal in prison made the whole picture challenging.

3. The possibility of arriving late at the prison and getting a tail-end waiting number, which would mean a long waiting period.

4. Visiting those in prison was going to be new for us. We had visited a hospital before but not a jail. We imagined the horror of how the criminals would look and the dark atmosphere of the prison cells from where they would shout ferociously at guards and visitors. Oh well – I must have watched way too much movies!

5. I did not know the people we were about to visit. Anxious questions entered my thoughts: what if we finally got to know them, and by doing so, put ourselves in danger? They’re criminals!

Five things that actually happened

1. Although we originally planned to leave at 8:00am, we actually left at 8:15am. There was a tolerance of 15 minutes! Without a cup of coffee to start the day, we were still ‘hang’ all the way. But there was hope when Geoff said we could have coffee once we arrived at the prison and took a queue number.

2. The street turned out to be quiet without any sign of traffic jam. Geoff said this was rare, and the fact that that very street was quiet that day was a miracle. I remembered smiling myself gladly, thanking God. I agreed for it felt like a miracle!

Then Geoff said, “Wow, you guys are really walking under God’s grace!” My heart leaped with joy – that was much stronger than the wake-up effect of two cups of strong Italian espresso! We are walking under God’s grace! Amen!

3. When we arrived at the prison, it was rather quiet. There were only three officers and a few other visitors. Geoff took a queue number – it was number five! The early batch indeed! No long queues! Yay! We gave our ID cards to the officers at the front desk as required, then walked out to a shop across the street for some good cups of coffee.

4. Later Geoff told us that the prison building was damaged and burned during a riot. It was renovated recently; no wonder the building still looked new.

When we entered the waiting room, the room was fairly clean and spacious because of fewer visitors. In the waiting room, there was one young Australian, who was still half drunk. He approached Geoff and started a conversation. He turned out to be visiting his friend who was in jail there.

This young man looked agitated and uneasy. He apparently needed a friend or someone to talk to, and we believed it was not a coincidence that we were there waiting at the same time in the same room and that he ended up talking to Geoff, who is also an Aussie. He even waited for Geoff to say goodbye before he left the prison after the visit.

Even in the waiting room of a prison, when we made ourselves available for God, every opportunity that came seemed to lead to another opportunity to lead one soul to His Kingdom.

5. Finally we went into the visiting room. When I saw the prisoners who came into the visiting room behind bars that separated them from the visitors, I felt pity. Some children were running around carefree in the visiting room. When some of the inmates appeared behind bars and called their family, the children approached, delighted to see their fathers.

One of the female prisoners tried to grab the attention of a child, who turned out to be her niece. The woman looked sad when the child was unresponsive toward her. Maybe the child did not recognise her.

While we were waiting, I saw a foreign prisoner who sat restlessly on one of the benches behind bars. He seemed to be waiting for someone who had maybe promised him to visit that morning, but that person was either late or was not coming at all.

Finally, Andy, the prisoner we were visiting, appeared behind bars. Geoff stood up and walked toward him and we followed after him. The foreign prisoner who was still sitting on the bench looked so distressed and vulnerable while occasionally looking at other prisoners who were talking or laughing and receiving gifts from their visitors.

I did not know the man but strangely, I felt terribly sorry for him. I could hear my heart praying: Lord, he is helpless and maybe he’s feeling hopeless, please help him and show him Your merciful love.

In contrast to what I had previously imagined, the prisoners looked like they were in great need of mercy and love rather than looking ferocious or frightening. What I saw behind bars were bunch of lost, wandering souls who need attention, help, forgiveness and the love of Christ.

Shortly after we talked to Andy, Geoff said hi to the foreign prisoner, who was still sitting nervously on the bench. He  immediately stood up, relieved that there was finally someone to talk to. Most of the time, I stood listening and watched the two prisoners carefully. Both of them were thin in stature; Andy was taller, but both looked weary. I sensed strong bondage of spirits of darkness on both. They needed a release not just from this prison but, most importantly, from the spiritual bondage that imprisoning them.

Later, I heard from Geoff that the foreign prisoner, who was French, had told him that he had begun to pray to God to ask for help.

On our way home from the prison visit, we were still amazed by what God had allowed to come our way. I remembered the word: “Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” Hebrew 13:3.

 

Akademi Kristus

More than 30 children came that afternoon. The majority were children from the neighborhood who came to participate in a craft activity that was organised and led by Erma and assisted by Chloe, Kellie and Erma’s sister, who had been in Bali for a visit.

Meanwhile, Geoff started the gym class with a warm-up before they continued with a core of the day of boxing. I recognised some teenagers from the slum we had visited the day before. The slum was about an hour’s drive from the academy, and Geoff willingly picked the children up and drove them back to the slum after the boxing workout was over. Working out while wearing a helmet and boxing gloves in the heat of tropical Bali is not easy. It was definitely hard work.

The dedication of Geoff and his family was very inspiring. From Geoff’s testimony, we heard that through boxing at Akademi Kristus, one of the children who often used to hit and punch his friends or family was able to learn to master his emotions and discharge his anger through boxing. The boy even made a promise that he would never again hit his friends or family. Akademi Kristus was not just a place to learn how to box but also taught character-building inspired by Christ alone.

What incredible dedication from Geoff and his family. They totally dedicated their time, energy, thoughts, money and ideas to serve these children and the environment where they live.

Lastly, that day, I was impressed to see how Geoff and his family invited all the kids to swim in their mini swimming pool, wet with lots of sweat after their workout. I saw how Geoff and family were willing to share this pool with the children from the slum. What an effective way to make them feel welcomed and loved. This was evidence that Geoff was not half-hearted in serving others to reach them for Christ.

Another thing I found impressive was hearing Geoff’s testimony about his vision to make Akademi Kristus self-sustaining. His plan to later open a café there to generate income sounded brilliant to me. This is a vision given by the genius planner himself, God Almighty. I personally ceaselessly thanked God, who had provided people like Geoff and his family, who were willingly working hard to reach out to the people of Bali for God’s Kingdom. To God be the glory!!

This article was authored by Ossi Koevoets after she and and her husband, Jos, visited Bali in January 2016.