EXCITING DAY.

    One hot tropical day, six Indonesian boys piled into the Doctor’s car for a special day of fun and pleasure.  Seldom had these boys any opportunity to travel, or see even their own countryside.

    Regularly the doctor visited Surabaya to replenish stocks for the village hospital with its 70 in-patients and some hundreds of daily out-patients.   So it was the first opportunity for the boys to enjoy a car ride out of their village 160 kms to the big, humid city of Surabaya.

    At Surabaya, the boys waited patiently while the doctor visited the various pharmacies to buy supplies.  They chatted excitedly at the volume of cars, buses, bikes, motor-bikes, trucks, pedi-cabs, and oxen carts.  At lunch break, the boys unfolded banana leaves protecting their lunch packet and ate their rice, and enjoyed the local drinks , supplied by the kind Doctor.

    Then for a treat, the doctor drove to the Surabaya port where the excited lads shouted at their first glimpse of the sea, cargo ships, and fishing vessels which plied to the various nearby Indonesian islands, especially Madura.  They ran about asking the sailors, ‘ Where will you sail’?, as they noticed the packed crates of bananas , dried fish, coconuts and peanuts , as well as hot chillies and spices.  They fired their questions until it was time to reluctantly move on.

    The boys shouted with amazement and delight when the doctor drove them to the Zoo, which they had never visited.  The excited boys ran along the zoo lanes, shouting ‘Aduh!  Aduh!

( Oh, what a surprise), as they laughed at the playful monkeys, shrank back from the crouching cougars, tigers and lions, and shrieked in astonishment at the kangaroos.

    Finally, it was time to return home, so the boys raced to the car , crushed into the seats , packed in like sardines, as the doctor drove to the main road, and settled in behind a long line of cars to the accompanying boyish chatter. 

    Along the way, Selamet remarked, ‘Tuan doctor, look at all the people lining the roadside, and waving to us.  We must be special.’  The boys waved in return.  As the adulation continued , the doctor wondered why the stream of people lining the road-side should wave to a car load of 11 and 12 year old boys.  It was most unusual.  

    One hour later the happy group reached Malang,  a central town in the mountains, where the procession of cars slowed down, as larger crowds waved and shouted. 

    Looking to a large banner across the main street , the boys read the wording,

‘ WELCOME TO THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF INDONESIA’ .

Unrestrained, the boys laughed , as they realised that unwittingly they had become part of the procession of cars of important citizens who came to honour the Vice-President.

    All the way home to their village, the boys laughed and laughed, that coming from a simple, and sometimes very poor village, they had been part of the important motor-cade for one of their country’s leaders.

    While driving home, I asked if they would thank the Lord Jesus. Each boy poured out his gratitude to the Lord for His lavish love to them and all the excitement of the day. Prayer overflowed.

    As they toppled out of the car at the front of our home , they all talked at once , telling of the exciting day.  After chorusing, ‘Tuan doctor,  banjak terima kasih untuk hari ini istimewa’

( Dear Doctor, receive our many thanks for a very special day.)

    Next morning was a precious opportunity to remind the boys that one day there will be a wonderful cavalcade to heaven.  The Lord Jesus will come for those who love and trust Him, and when the heavenly trumpet sounds, a great procession of people from every nation will be taken to heaven , not to see the Vice-President , but the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the KING OF KINGS.    

    Will you be part of that wonderful pageant of people?  If you acknowledge Jesus Christ as your Saviour, repent of your sin, and accept God’s forgiveness, you will certainly be there.