RECENTLY ordained Capuchin priest, Sumatran-born Fr Nestor Sinaga, loves Brisbanites for the reliability of their directions to locations around the city.
This may not sound such a big deal, but it’s something the new chaplain to the archdiocese’s Indonesian community warns travellers not to take for granted in his home country.
“Your people here are so polite compared with my home town,” he said.
“If you ask directions in Brisbane, people will tell you the quickest way.
“For me as a newcomer this is a very good thing … often if you ask people in my hometown they will tell you the longest way.”
However, as he explains later in the interview, the reasons for this seemingly mischievous behaviour are more benign than might initially appear.
Be that as it may, modern Australian society is certainly a long distance culturally from where the affable 30-year-old grew up and studied in and around the North Sumatran city of Pematang Siantar.
Fr Nestor is one of six children born to coffee farmers Gapikkir and Clara Sinaga, former Protestants who converted to Catholicism in the 1960s.
The Capuchin order itself is a fairly recent arrival on the Indonesian scene.
The order celebrated the centenary of its establishment there only five years ago – the first Capuchin missionaries arrived on the island of Borneo (now Kalimantan) in 1905.
Fr Nestor’s almost sure a Carmelite priest Fr Anthony Scerri, “my father’s favourite priest”, was responsible for his interest in the priesthood.
“For some reason, at first I would always run away when Fr Anthony came to the house,” he said.
“I still don’t know why I did this … anyway, I finally started to hang around when he visited and came to see him as a good man.”
As an 18-year-old, he finally fell in love with the idea of becoming a priest, although in the Franciscan tradition, when he met Fr Edward Veritz, a Capuchin.
Why – given his first encounter was with the Carmelite order?
“As a lover of nature, especially animals, I enjoyed the wonderful stories of St Francis,” he said.
“I loved the idea of being a priest and brother to all creatures.”
Thus inspired, he embarked on what became a 10-year journey to his ordination in his Sumatran hometown with six other priests earlier this year.
He started with three years of discernment, “understanding what it is to be a Capuchin”.
This was followed by four years of theology and philosophy studies.
Finally in 2008, the Capuchin student brother arrived in Australia to study at Strathfield’s CIS (Catholic Institute Sydney).
These successful studies were a prelude to a memorable ordination ceremony at St Joseph’s Church in Pematang Siantar this year attended by his proud parents, other family members and more than 2000 others.
“It was a very great day, ” Fr Nestor said.
“There were three Capuchins, three Franciscan conventuals and a diocesan priest ordained.
“In our group, 26 started out and six became priests which is a very good outcome.”
Until his visa expires at the end of next year, Fr Nestor will lead a busy life in Brisbane archdiocese.
As well as his primary role of chaplain to the Indonesian community, he is assisting Fr Greg Rowles in the Capuchin-run Wynnum parish and Jubilee parish’s Fr Peter Brannelly.
What is the biggest need Fr Nestor has encountered in the Indonesian community so far?
“They have a longing for priests from their own culture,” he said.
“Also priests seem to only stay for about two years before moving on.
“So the Indonesian community say they miss the long-term relationship other Catholic communities are able to develop with their priests.”
Before he finishes our chat, Fr Nestor attempts to set the record straight about his countrymen and their unusual approach to directing lost strangers.
It seems Sumatrans, being very friendly, enjoy a long chat and will only divulge the “best directions” if someone takes the time to indulge them.
“That’s why it’s wise to take the time to ask them twice,” Fr Nestor said.
“You really need to test them … if you ask just once and believe them you’ll find yourself in trouble.
“Even the prices of groceries in the market square depend on your conversation with the traders and whether they like you or not.”
All of which may seem quite trivial. But what a great way to get a grounding in the sort of people skills a successful priest requires.
