Jakarta Indonesia

Our week in Jakarta Indonesia for the 2017 "Don't Give UP" Special Convention

Bryan and I are happy to share with you our experience from Indonesia.  We took so many pictures and had such a great time, it was really hard to narrow them down!  Of course if you talk to us in person we will have so much more to share!  Our hope is to encourage all of you with these images, please enjoy! 

(C) Bryan Walton Creating Impressions Photography 360-910-7486

Here are some interesting facts about Indonesia:

• Located between Australia and Asia 
• The worlds largest archipelago.
• Has more than 17,500 islands.
• More than 100 active volcanoes.
• Has the fourth largest population in the world. 
• Home to more than 300 ethnic groups.
• 90 percent of Indonesians are Muslims.
• More than 700 languages spoken.

On our first day in Jakarta we visited the Indonesia Branch office of Jehovah's Witnesses which is located on the 31st floor of the APL Tower (the tall blue one).  Our tour included live music in the cafeteria and "Bethel Brew" tea and coffee tasting.  My favorite was a delicious ginger tea - never had anything quite like it before!

Indonesia Bethel branch tour(C) Bryan Walton Creating Impressions Photography 360-910-7486

We were in for a special treat on the following day, a SAFARI!!  At Taman Safari Indonesia in Cisarua Bogor we fed some of the animals carrots as we drove by.  We admired the tropical landscape and flowers that we don't find here in the PNW.  Then another surprise at lunchtime, a show which included singing and dancing performed by local friends.  We especially loved the children who participated and then gave us little gifts to remember them by.  We definitely will not forget them!   

You might recognize a few of the next pictures from instagram.  Taman Mini Indonesia Indah is an Indonesia-In-Miniature Theme Park that showcases traditional houses for each of Indonesia's provinces and teaches about culture and traditions.  We visited three of the provinces, had coffee tasting, saw traditional dances preformed by professional dancers, and during lunch we enjoyed listening to the Original Songs live with a refreshing jazzy twist.   A definite highlight from this day was the photo booths!  At each stop we were dressed in traditional attire from that region and had our picture taken!    

The next block of photos were taken by the photo crew at the photo booths. Thanks for your hard work Bros!

Heres just a few from the evening gathering.

There were delegates from 10 countries from around the globe invited to attend this Special Convention.  The evening gathering and convention days were an opportunity for delegates to dress in their traditional clothing.  Of course, Bryan and I went in our western outfits! (That cowboy hat is practically glued to Bryans head anyways!)

The "Get To Know Us" program was an opportunity for delegates to visit a local congregation.  We had a tour of a local congregations preaching territory.  It was really nice to be able to walk through a neighborhood and see how people live in the city of Jakarta.  After this tour the congregation invited us to lunch and had prepared a beautiful program that included interviews and experiences from locals and international delegates.  This visit was concluded by inviting us to learn an Indonesian line dance!  So much fun!

DCIM\115GOPRO  

The three days of the "Don't Give Up" 2017 Special convention followed.  They were spiritually uplifting, happy, beautiful and emotional. Over 8,000 were in attendance at the Sentul International Convention Center.  11 other locations within Indonesia were tied in which made a total attendance of over 40,000.

A very special highlight from the convention was the release of the revised edition of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in Indonesian!

We left with our hearts full, and the love that these beautiful people showed us overflowed as they wished us over and over again to bring their love and greetings back with us to share with our friends at home and our congregations.  Every time I look at these pictures I see happy people who are different in many ways but are all working so hard towards the same goal, the same principles, the same future, the same faith, the pure language.  "Don't Give Up!"

I can't finish this Blog post without mentioning our travel companions who made this trip so special!

And since the four of us invented the "selfie" back before cell phones took pictures, heres a bunch of "selfies" that we took during our adventures and good times in Indonesia!