When I was 10, I faced with an event that changed my life. It's a story that I've never really talked about much for some reason. I didn't feel as deeply affected as some people might consider their traumatic experiences. However, I know for a fact now that God has used this occasion to fix those details in my life so that I can be more grateful about life. So, after 11 years of silence, here it is...
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It was a Thursday morning. I had just finished my two-hour Chinese class and we were on a snack break. At that time, I was expecting a typical school day. The bell was about to ring for students to return to class. I knelt down to open my locker and switch my textbooks. After reaching for my history books, I locked my locker. The words "It's time" rushed into my mind as I stood up. Right then, it happened...
On September 9, 2004, the city of Jakarta suffered a catastrophic event. Around 10:30, the Australian Embassy located in the business district became a target for a terrorist attack. A van parked outside the building blew up, killing eight victims and the suicide bomber. Over 150 people were injured in the aftermath. My school, which was inside an office building, was located just across the target location.
The whole building shook. My initial thought was that we got hit by an earthquake. Dust from the ceiling started filling the air throughout the floor. Fire alarms went off as I ran outside to the hallway. With my textbooks still in hand, I rushed towards the emergency staircase.
Office workers, students, teachers - we all crowded the stairs. We had 12 flights of stairs to descend. I felt a mix of confusion and panic in the air. Personally, I was never worried throughout the whole thing, just confused.
When we've descended the first floor, someone from behind me called out. I glanced and saw the church office's delivery man (our church and school was in the same building). He took my books and walked down the stairs with me. "What happened?" I asked him in Indonesian. In a calm voice, he said, "It's a bomb."
A bomb.
I was no stranger to this term. After the 9/11 attacks in New York, the whole world was exposed to vulnerability. To add to that, there was another bombing that occurred a couple years earlier in Bali, an island not too far from Jakarta. And in 2003, a bomb was detonated at a J.W. Marriott Hotel in my city.
We reached the ground floor and rushed out to the empty parking lot behind the building. I looked around and saw buildings with their windows shattered. The delivery man handed my books to me before rushing off elsewhere.
I headed towards the big group of kids in uniform. I tried searching for my parents and my siblings. I saw my mom talking to one of the form teachers. As a principal, it was a given that she was responsible for any absence of students. We were divided into our respective classes. No one was harmed. Later, we found out no one in our building was seriously injured.
I wished I could say the same for the tenants in the adjacent building. I saw people limping out, being supported by two others on each side. One of our family friends worked in the bank closeby. He had blood on his shirt from helping his injured supervisor out of the building.
Some say you never know what you have until you lose it. In my 21 years on earth, I've had my fair share of troubling experiences. However, it shouldn't take a life-threatening event to make you appreciate life better. Yes, it may serve as a reminder, but we should always be grateful with life. Life's too short for us to spend it on negativity. Start being thankful day after day.
By His grace alone,
Justin
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