communion What first drew my attention as the plane began to land in Jayapura, was the beauty of Papua: the water, the vegetation, the colour of the earth. It was six in the morning and, for me, the end of over 64 hours' travelling. The beauty of it all was confirmed as we were driven to the city, with views of Lake Sentani and then the Pacific. It really was so beautiful. And it wasn't as hot as I had feared, and that too was a good sign!

To be met at the airport by people we had never seen, but whose faces were filled by an immense smile, was so comforting. They helped us out in every detail. This was repeated wherever we went: the kindness of the people deserves to be shared as it is certainly a mark of the place.

But there was tragedy to be seen close by. As soon as the car drives out of the airport one comes face to face with the burial ground of Theys Eluay, a leading independence activist in Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) who was murdered in November 2001.

Amnesty International reports that Eluay was abducted and killed as he and his driver were returning home from a reception hosted by the army's special forces command (Kopassus) at their military base in Jayapura. His body was found the following morning near the border with Papua New Guinea. An autopsy found that he had been suffocated.

Eluay's driver, Aristoteles Masoka, is still missing. He called Eluay's family the same evening to tell them they had been stopped by "non-Papuans", but the phone line was cut before he could relay any details.

Repeated denials by the military of involvement in the killing have been strongly contested by local human rights groups. The National commission on human rights (Komnas HAM) has called for a national inquiry.

Theys Eluay chaired the Papuan Presidium Council (PPC), a local body created to lead civilian support for Papuan independence. During our stay on the island we were to meet many other people who had been subject to human rights violations because of this issue.

The tragedy of Papua is also seen in the ecological devastation due to the presence of multinationals which are after the wood and the minerals that so generously abound.

I cannot avoid mentioning my strange feeling while in transit at Timiko airport on our flight to Makassar. We were driven to a place two or three kilometres away from the plane. The four "walls" (to give them some sort of name) were of chicken-wire, and the gate in and out had an immense padlock on it and a guard outside. It felt like an airport cum detention centre!

South Sulawesi

Makassar: what a beautiful city on the water! When we were taken to the hotel our hosts (again with large smiles) said, "The meeting is at 18.00, but as it's your first time here, we will fetch you out at 18.15, as you can't go into a meeting without seeing the sun set." And it was true: a wonderful sunset over the sea was a reminder of the beauty of creation which is so evident in so much of Indonesia.

While we were at our meeting the call to worship came from all around us and we were reminded that Makassar is in the midst of people who mainly express their faith according to the Muslim way. We went to dinner, but our hosts had to leave early, they had a long drive home. In spite of the distance, they had felt it was important to meet with us. We are grateful to them.

In many ways this is what we saw and shared: beauty, kindness, tragedy and hope.

Roberto H Jordan, Reformed Churches in Argentina