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I was born into a very committed Christian family. Since I could remember my parents have always been involved in Christian organizations, including ‘Christian National Medical Mission’, and ‘Fellowship of Christian Businessmen’. Besides their service to the church, they have also provided a strong Christian environment and example for their children in the home. I have always attended Christian schools as well as retreats and Sunday school for my entire life.
As I have matured as an individual, my parents have given me the freedom to choose my own path in life. This decision has been one of the easiest I have had to make, as I have seen no reason to turn away from what is a successful and rewarding way of life. For the past four years, I have played an important role in my church youth commission, which has about 150 members. I have also been active as a member of many committees to organize church events, retreats, Christmas and Easter celebrations, and character improvement workshops. This involvement has taught me much about organizational skills and leadership. Because of my musical ability, I also play keyboard in a band for a monthly youth service in my church.
I was happy with all my service activities, and that made me very comfortable. But one day, something happened that shook my world and that of islanders in east Indonesia. My father had just returned home from a trip to Alor, a remote island in eastern Indonesian which had been ravage by earthquakes. He had joined with some other people from our church to help rebuild churches that had been destroyed or damaged by the quakes. As he related the story of the activities of the group, I was very surprised and dismayed to hear that many unscrupulous businessmen had been making taking advantage of the situation by acquiring valuable land at extremely low prices in the affected area. Land worth a million dollars could be purchased for as little as one hundred dollars. When I thought further...