Immanuel Church is one of the historical building in Jakarta. It was first constructed on the birthday of King Willem I on August 24, 1835 and lasted four years until August 24, 1839. The church was then named Willemskerk.
This church is situated in the center of Jakarta, right across the Gambir train station and not far from Monas. With this location, it is easy to reach this place from any parts of Jakarta.
Apart from being an ancient and a historical building, what interests me about this church is because it has Sunday Service in several languages : Indonesian: English, Dutch and Korean.
Here is their schedule :
06:00 Indonesian
08:00 Indonesian
10:00 Dutch
11:00 Korean
17:00 English
18:30 Indonesian
I started coming regularly to the Dutch Service (Hollandse Dienst) around a year ago with my mom. She had heard about the Hollandse Dienst several years ago and we had come there once or twice but we didn't become regular visitor until end of 2011.
The first time I had been there I was a bit surprised because apparently I was the youngest visitor. Most of the visitors were around my mom's age and older. Actually this is not a big surprise because most of the people who speak Dutch these days are around her age. But one thing interests me is that one of their pastors who regularly gives preach is still young and he is around my age. Apparently, he had studied his master in Theology in Holland. No wonder he speaks good Dutch.
The congregation was small, not more than 30 people. But with this small community, they know each another. And to keep the bound strong among them, after the service they have coffee or tea together along with some snack at the small building at the back of the church.
I probably won't be attending this service next year because I will be moving out of town. But one thing I want to say here is that this church has become a part of my life for the past one year and I hope it will continue to grow and by the time I return back to Jakarta, they will still be there.
