Article January 1, 2001 Issue

Seti-Arti Kailola

Dancer and Church Worker

with contributions from Seti-Arti Kailola—Jakarta, Indonesia

Christian Science already had a small following in Jakarta, during the Dutch colonial occupation of Indonesia, which was before the Second World War. After independence in 1945, a Dutch-Indonesian woman, Adele Blok, opened her house as a meeting place for Christian Scientists. There was just a handful of us, then. Adele was First Reader and I was Second Reader. We read to a lot of empty chairs. But Adele said, “We are not reading for empty chairs but for all God's ideas, infinite ideas.” Today, both the Indonesian and English Christian Science services in Jakarta are well attended.

My family was Muslim, but we children were sent to a Dutch school of the Protestant persuasion because of its excellent quality of education. At the age of eighteen, each of us was allowed to choose our own religion. Neither Islam nor (Dutch) Protestantism interested me, so I started looking around for something else.

One day I came across a German book in a small bookstall. I was drawn to the title, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. As I read it, I became increasingly intrigued, so when Adele Blok started her group, I immediately joined.

Send a comment to the editors