Academik

The first day and there were tears all around my table. Let me tell
you the story.

We were up before dawn this morning to iron shirts, get breakfast,
prepare presentations, and get our conference room setup. Being the
very tall networker that I am, I greeted people downstairs and
directed them to our room starting at 8:15. All of the clients and
local consultants arrived by 8:45am and I went upstairs to meet my
client and co-consultant.

My client, PT Wintermar, is a shipping services and management company
whose core business is supporting offshore rigs. The company has ~500
employees of which 120 are office staff and 350 are crew for their 45
shipping vessels. I’m meeting with Pak (Mr.) Martin, the crew
Director, and Ibu (Mrs.) Meiky, the HR director for the office. Their
boss has already been through Rep’s program and has asked them to
participate since so much of what they do revolves around having the
right people (read: honest). Both of them were intrigued when the
boss gathered all the managers and directors in a meeting over
Christmas and told them that now the business belonged to God, and
that he was no longer “the boss”, God was.

Kiki and Martin are here to grapple with what that means. The first
day gives a broad overview of the 10 deliverables which we’ll provide
them at the end of the 2 weeks, beginning with an impact assessment
(looking at what they think is important in their business, and how
they’re doing), a 10-P summary of their business, and a first look at
the purpose of their business. You’ll see 10-P a lot in here, it’s a
list of the 10 different parts of their business. The founder of Rep
likes the number 10 (10 consultants, 10 days, 10 visits to a city,
etc…)

The work today was slow-going because the clients are still not quite
sure what this is all about, and how to answer many of these questions
(especially if they’re not overseeing all of the business like my
clients), and so we made good progress, but certainly didn’t finish
anything today. Early on in the day I asked both of them how long they
had been Christians and both of them gave me a somewhat puzzled look
and said since they were babies (Martin said since he was in the
womb). Little did I know what impact this question would have later
in the day.

Tan Hong Lim, my seasoned co-consultant and I took them through
everything that we could, and at one point Tan handed me a piece of
paper reminding me that while both had been Christians since they were
born, perhaps they had never actually chosen to commit their lives to
God… so we asked them. Do you believe that God loves you, and that
you’ll go to heaven when you die. Martin thought about it for a
little bit, and then responded yes. Meiky seemed a little taken aback
by the very straightforward question. She told us that she’d struggled
with the idea, and had never really committed her life to Christ. I
asked her if she would stay afterwards so we could pray with her (and
involve Errol or Rebecca, our leaders), and she agreed. God had other
plans. Tan grabbed the opportunity and said we should pray right
now. So the four of us grabbed hands and began to pray for Meiky.
She began to weep, and weep, and weep. That prayer unlocked something
in her that had been holding her back for a long time. I don’t know
what she was thinking, but I know that she was deeply affected by the
message that she was forgiven for any past wrongs and that she was
loved by God and unique in His eyes.

We prayed with her while she wept for nearly an hour. It was a great
way to start off the venture, remembering that while we’re working to
repurpose businesses, our main goal is to transform the people within
a society. Tomorrow, it’s off to work with Martin and Meiky!

PS – Janet and Alex – tonight we had Korean BBQ for dinner, nothing
like Club Riders though : )

Sunday morning I woke up and worked out and then went for my first
experience at the breakfast buffet at the hotel next door. You know
how sometimes mom made breakfast for dinner (hooray scrambled eggs and
toast mom!), well the Indonesians do the opposite – dinner for
breakfast! There was rice, fried bean curd, chicken dishes, something
with noodles, something with fried rice, green beans and ground beef
with peppers, etc. it’s all an adventure. Fortunately for the “boo-
lays” (white skins) there are also cereals, fruits, breads,
croissants, eggs, and omelettes. They even have sausage and fried
tomatoes for Scots like me (I’m traveling on my UK passport since my
very well traveled US passport expires in July). There’s also a
killer selection of juices – Guava, Kiwi, Orange, Apple, Papaya, and
my favorite Pineapple.

So on Sunday we gathered as a full group for the first time to go over
our agenda, pray for the venture and our clients, and do a little
praise and worship. Our little laptop sang its heart out and we sang
along. We gathered in the lobby at 3 and all headed to one of the
local leader’s houses, Dr. Soparno. A former client of Rep’s who has
become very involved in supporting its missions here in Indonesia, Dr.
Soparno owns many different businesses and is well respected here in
Jakarta so his involvement with Rep has added a lot of credibility to
our venture. We arrived at his beautiful house and met the local
consultants with whom we’ll be working.

To be completely honest I had no idea what to expect of the local
consultants – old, young, experienced, heartfelt, intelligent…?
What would they be. I was overjoyed to meet them and find out that
they are all of these things. There are several younger consultants
in their late 20’s and early 30’s as well as several more seasoned
consultants in their 40’s and 50’s. All of them have so much to offer
our clients here (sometimes I wonder why we’re needed : ), and they
were overjoyed to have us there. I spoke with many of them talking
about what they do there, and what I do in the states. I now have an
appointment with Harjano, our translator, to explain how businesses
can use Facebook to build their user base : )

Several of the clients joined us for dinner as well (although we
didn’t know which clients would be ours). I didn’t get a chance to
speak with many of them, but I’m interested to see who I get paired
with because all of them seem very interesting. client run-down to
follow tomorrow

I’m hoping to put up a few pictures of the dinner and the house when I
get a chance because both were spectacular. Dr. Soparno’s wife, See
Mun, is an amazing painter and the house is filled with her work.
Tomorrow is the first day of work and I’m headed to bed early to make
sure that I’m ready. Wish me luck!

So I’m sitting in an apartment building in Jakarta right now, thinking that I should be telling you more about why the podcast isn’t happening for the moment, although I have one more that is hopefully going to go up soon, and let you hear about my trip because hey, it’s kinda cool.

All of the trip details will be posted to Academik.org and to Sevenlamps (on the blogroll).¬† I’m spending the next 2 weeks here doing some Christian consulting in Jakarta who are interested in involving God in their businesses… sounds crazy right?¬† That’s what I thought until I did some more investigation from a Christian perspective.¬† 49 out of 51 of Jesus’ miracles in the Bible were in the marketplace.¬† He chose all of his disciples from the marketplace.¬† The words for work and ministry are the same in Hebrew (or is it Aramaic?)… The ideas that we currently have of work and ministry being separate are unfounded biblically.

I’m not saying that work should be a time to thump the bible over someone’s head, but I am saying that the workplace gives us a great place to act out our values.¬† More and more we’re leaving our principles at the door when we live our lives.¬† My boss, Jeremy Toeman, and I just facilitated a discussion on social responsibility at the Web2.0 Conference and a few of the things I took away from the meeting were:

Social Responsibility has different meanings to different people; it’s some variation of all of them, including volunteering, a triple bottom line, and a commitment to the long-term.

We can’t give up on our principles just because they’re not practical.¬† Would you stop recycling if you had to drive to a drop-off? Do you leave lights on in your house because you are too rushed to turn them off?¬† Do you encourage friends to follow principles that are good for the environment?

There are so many ways we can make an impact, but often we feel like we’d be inconveniencing others or embarassing ourselves in doing so.¬† The truth is that when you stand up for what you believe in, you stand out… and no one ever liked you because you were like everyone else.

So many people are giving me good music this week. A big thanks to Julia, Ishmael, and Victor for helping me.

Tracklisting:
To Build a Home by The CineMatic Orchestra
Stay (Madonna Cover) by Malcolm Middleton
Sun! by Tujiko Noriko
Nantes by Beirut
Sad Sad City by Ghostland Observatory

Graveyard Girl by M83
Keep Your Eyes Ahead by The Helio Sequence
Run Into Flowers by M83
Going Back to Harlan by Emmylou Harris
Baby In Two by the Pernice Brothers

Cinders and Smoke by Iron And Wine
Re:Stacks by Bon Iver

So I’ve decided that rather than continue sporadically posting the tracklisting for each podcast under the music section, that I would simply post them here because it’s much easier to search and peruse (and easier to manage as I quickly approach 100 podcasts).

Tracklisting for March 31, 2008

Fantasy by Mariah Carey
I Think We’re Alone Now by Tiffany
Mony Mony by Billy Idol
Heaven Is A Place On Earth by Belinda Carlisle
This is How We Do It by Montell Jordan

Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough by Michael Jackson
I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston
Maniac by Michael Sembello
Straight Up by Paula Abdul
Borderline by Madonna

Escapade by Janet Jackson
All 4 Love by Color Me Badd
Maneater by Hall & Oats
Hangin’ Tough by New Kids On The Block (by request).

Vampire Weekend is that outgoing, well-traveled hippy friend of the opposite sex you think is a little spacey, but whom you always look forward to spending time with. If you’d let him/her, they’d infect your life with zany adventures and rituals that might make you feel uncomfortable at first, but eventually you’d come to appreciate their positive impact (And their attention to grammar).

Perfect for wind-blown trips and Sunday afternoons in the sun, Vampire Weekend are 4 young chaps who mix African, Indie, and Pop music. While I’m no expert on ethnic music, I definitely hear hints of Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel who have both been greatly influenced by the music of Africa. Already dubbed “The Year’s Best Band” by Spin Magazine, Vampire Weekend’s garnered attention for making music fun to listen to again. More specifically, their songs like “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” are upbeat, universally appealing, tongue in cheek and impressionistic enough to let anyone find some meaning (or meaninglessness) in the words.

Driven by drums, guitars, and organs the album’s tracks are speckled with extra-curricular instruments including violins, violas, cellos, chamberlins, harpsichords, synths, and shakers. One member plays 8 different instruments on the album – should Sufjan be worried? The band describes their, “ideal avatar [as] preppy African with equal parts of fresh and clean. Preppiness with West African guitar pop, a perfect fusion of happy world music with Western, New England preppiness.”

If that ’s what it takes to get great rhythms like this then I say, “Give them a trip to Africa, a LaCoste gift certificate, a Guitar, and drums. They’ll work out a second album in no time.”

Tracks:
Vampire Weekend – I Stand Corrected
Vampire Weekend – Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

I sat on the #71 bus this morning in the last row, precariously perched between two older gentlemen who warmed me with the sides of their bodies pressed up against mine. I opened my book, Business Unlimited, by J. Gunnar Olson, and began reading its first pages. Olson is the Founder and Chairman of the International Christian Chamber of Commerce, an extraordinary man for the impact he’s had on the world around him.

I noticed in front of me that there was a woman reading passages of scripture from a handout and I instantly felt a connection with her. Here I was reading a book about Christian business ministry for the work I’m to do in May, and here she is reading the Gospels for a class or exam. I said a prayer for her as I do for many people on the bus while I ride quietly reading or listening to music in the morning. I used the departure of the man next to me as an excuse to sit across from the woman. As I sat down we made eye contact and smiled. She was well into her 30’s and this was not a flirtatious smile, but more an exchange of peacefulness.

We continued reading and I felt like I wanted to reach out and tell her something. Tell her I had prayed for her, and that I wished her a wonderful day. I wanted to share some joy with her to help her coast through her morning meetings. I wanted to be her Starbuck’s and her Happy Donut – that little treat we allow ourselves that helps us get going in the morning. Montgomery passed and I descended at 1st street – a mistake that has now serendipitously led to visits from two friends on their way to work – got off the bus and turned to look at the woman from outside.

I was safe from rebuke now, with a pane of glass between us and the final moments of our safe passage together now ticking down I unzipped my sweatshirt and proudly outed my chest like pigeon in a mating dance. “I {John Cusack holding a boombox over his head} YOU”

She smiled, laughed, and pointed at the one of a kind T-shirt a friend had recently given me. What a great way to start both of our mornings : )

When I was in Australia I spent a lot of time thinking about my future. I had a dream I followed. Then I received another dream, a better one that I’m working on now. There’s a lot of preparation involved, but there are so few movements in the lifetime of this heart that I can’t turn my back on them. Oftentimes we let head rule heart making bodies work like serfs to indentured banality. We hang our hopes on the day we’ll “be able to” do what we want, but why not right now?

We are never satisfied with the present because it seemingly doesn’t hold the mystery and hope of the future nor is it as good as the knowns of the past. It simply is itself, and so too often we waste it. This present.

This season of gifting reminds me once again about this gift that we’ve all been given.

It’s funny how there are people in our lives we always miss. Even when they are with us we know eventually they’ll leave. We know there will be an end to each conversation… each meal… each phone call… each car ride…each day and each night. If you’re smart lucky, you experience each goodbye as it comes. If not, you experience them all at once, over and over again.

The word ‘goodbye’ becomes a dull ache that drools across your lips; your lungs too weak to expel enough air to punctuate the space between now and then with anything more than longing. A longing your body feels like thirst or hunger; only ever temporarily satisfied.

I watch from both sides and take note.
Image from Deviant Artist Pesare