Academik

Wednesday morning started with a quick mental ride, first in a car
with a discussion of the importance of alignment in our lives, and
then on a bike with wheels of character and competency. Fortunately
both rides did not require us to venture out onto the maniacal streets
of Jakarta. The second structured day is a big one, mainly because if
clients didn’t like the first day, they don’t come back. We’re 8 for
8 though this morning : )

Today was exciting because the President of Indonesia shared the hotel
with us. We kept an eye out, hoping that we could invite him to our
afternoon session, but alas he evaded us. We carried on through
Product in the morning, led by Pak Ben who started off the discussion
with Albert Guinness’ desires for beer as a substitute for Scotch and
Gin so that his countrymen would not spend so much time passed out in
the streets. We then watched a clip from the Passion of the Christ of
Jesus making a table. What do you notice about his Jesus’ work? Good
products are sturdy, of high quality, made with focus and precision,
innovative (most tables were much lower at the time), they often
create a secondary need… Pak Ben, normally quiet and very reserved,
comes alive with an audience. It was great to see him joking around
with the audience and really mastering the material.

We asked clients about miracles they wanted to see in their businesses
and already one had been fulfilled. One client knew that two
consultants were coming to visit her, but she prayed that she would
hear from one other person, just for that little extra bit of
confirmation we sometimes feel we need. She asked God for Richard,
our intercessor, to be a part of the visit, and it just so happened
that when the consultants walked through the door, Richard was with
them to pray for the business. The client was immediately overjoyed
and felt God listening. Others among the clients simply asked that
God would be with them in their business and we asked them to dream
bigger. That God would allow a discussion of faith to take place
between a husband and a wife… That a family would finally accept
their son for who he is, and not what they’ve always wanted him to
be. As God reveals himself, I’m sure their expectations will grow,
just as their faith will.

We spent the afternoon discussing presence, and the many ways that God
markets himself… His Son, His Word, miracles, the majesty of His
creation. It is moving how much he reveals to us when we just ask
Him. I had personally been struggling with the question of how to
retain employees at a business with high turnover - through prayer God
revealed that the employees did not belong to the company and thus
could not be seen as something to “keep” - with this new mindset I
realized that really all the company could do was love them and live
out a good example for them as Jesus did for the disciples. We’re
working on a strategy for the employees to be fulfilled, loved, grown
and affirmed.

We finished the day with a discussion of giants in Indonesia and there
are some big ones… corruption, education, infrastructure, laziness,
and law enforcement to name a few. We asked the clients to think
about what their business could do to help fight these giants. What
kind of legacy would their company leave? would they leave for their
children? Would they stand up to make a difference? This was a very
moving idea for many of them, especially when thinking about their
sons and daughters.

The team quickly wrapped up and headed out to dinner at a nearby Tapas
bar. A small Spanish restaurant with Patatas, Jambon, Empanadillas,
and more we had a bite to eat and took a few photos of the interesting
club downstairs. The bathrooms had chalkboard paint so we left a few
reminders of God’s love.

As the team enters into our second unstructured day tomorrow I feel
like we’re quickly coming up to speed… with several small miracles
and acts of faith under our belt, we’re growing confident that we can
change the businesses and the people here in Indonesia to accomplish
God’s Will. We are thankful that God has already given a sense of
fulfillment in our purpose, and we continually re-surrender to His
infinite wisdom and design.