Johan Imanuel 19.9.2005-1.3.2008

Good friends of God, Ageng and Hesti lost their only child, Johan Imanuel last Saturday. As I did for hours, God might also cry facing this uneasy situation. God loves both the parents and the son, but he decided to separate them for a while. God certainly knew the consequences of his somehow ultimate 'controversial' decision: He let the brokenhearted parents cry tearfully, and subsequently, he allowed his very own heart 'tortured,' in sharing the deep sadness of his good friends.

Johan Imanuel is only two and a half year old. He was born on September the 19, 2005. I, my wife and Keiko visited Hesti in the hospital only hours before she delivered Johan prematurely. Baby Johan was born with serious abnormality. He survived for more than two years after going through some major surgeries both in Indonesia and Singapore. His parents had done the best efforts to cure Johan. Johan and his parents visited us for lunch on the first day of 2007. He looked healthy and happy. That was the only chance for me and my family to see Johan alive.

Ageng and Hesti are good friends of mine too. I and my wife cried with them. We had gone through similar experience 10 months ago when we lost our daughter, Mora. What happened to Ageng and Hesti, I realize, seems to be far more difficult, yet we felt that their feeling and crying are not unknown to us.

This posting is another proof that human suffering can visit all kind of people: to the believers or to the unbelievers; to the faithful or to the faithless; to good people or to the evil ones. It is not to us to judge the fairness of God's economy. Whether there is purposes behind human suffering or not, only God knows the mystery. One is certain, in allowing his friends to experience suffering, God is allowing himself to suffer with them - and absolutely it is not an easy and simple decision to be executed.