(Bule is the name the Indonesian people call us, it means “white person”)
We’re in Indonesia! This country holds the largest muslim population in the world. While it is okay for us to be openly Christian, it is illegal to share our faith with others. This post may seem somewhat vague and I won’t be sharing many details about the organizations or people we’ve met for that reason.
This month I have the opportunity to serve alongside one of E Squad’s all female teams. These women are bold, servant hearted, encouraging and FUN. We are living in a beautiful house in a small town in southern Java. We are working in an International school, coming along side the teachers to help them in whatever capacity they need. So far our days have been filled with organizing libraries, painting sets for the upcoming school play, planning chapels, sitting in on English lessons and building relationships with our hosts and one another. The community here has come around us to bless us with multiple home cooked meals, encouragement for our journey, and times of sweet worship. The Lord has sprinkled reminders of His presence and love throughout the days we’ve spent here and it’s been so beautiful to experience Him in new and exciting ways as we seek what He has for us. If there’s anything that I’ve learned over the past few years of my life it’s that the Lord can use even the smallest act of obedience for His glory. That’s such a sweet thing to hold on to on the days that it feels like what we’re doing isn’t making an impact or when things aren’t like we expected. The Lord asks us to be obedient and the rest is up to Him. It’s our responsibility to walk in obedience and trust that the Lord has the rest.
One day a week we have the opportunity to go with one of our new friends to visit a safe home for women coming out of prostitution. Those that know me, know that this a ministry near and dear to my heart. The women staying at the house right now all suffer from different kinds of mental illness, induced by the trauma that they’ve endured over their life times. Because of this trauma there is a communication barrier that goes beyond just the fact that we speak different languages. These women barely speak in their native tongue (especially when strangers are around), so trying to communicate with them at all is hard. The cool thing about God, is that He knows our hearts and our desire to connect with these women and He provides. Over the past two weeks the way that we have been able to connect with these women is to do 2 1/2 straight hours of Zumba with them. Yes, Zumba. 6+ people at a time in a small room with no airflow, Zumba-ing our hearts out in a country where the climate is so sticky, you can’t walk out of the shower with out already feeling sweaty. And we love every. minute. hahaha
This week after visiting the safe home we were given the opportunity to go with one of our new Indonesian friend’s to a karaoke bar to serve as a distraction while she ministered to ONE of the prostitutes there. The karaoke bars are a place that men can go to rent a private room and a woman for 3 hours and how much he can do with the girl is dependent on how much he is willing to pay. When you walk into the bar the madam, or “mom” as most of them refer to her, calls the girls into a glass room where they line up so that you can choose who you want to spend your time with for the evening. This was the hardest part. Having our group of westerners there to serve as a distraction meant that we had to do our best to appear that we were there to have fun. How do you pretend to have fun or be excited when you see these women lined up like animals? And how do you choose just ONE to hear the gospel? Our ONE gets a night off from selling pieces of herself, how do we choose? We decided the best way was to ask the Holy Spirit and see who He highlighted for us and we chose.
It must have been really weird for her walking into a room with our group of whom I’m sure she assumed were all lesbians. She seemed nervous and timid, I’m sure we freaked her out. Once we got into the room, it was our job to be continuously interceding for the conversation taking place right next to us, as we did karaoke and danced around the room. It was important that we were “having fun” incase anyone decided to come in to check on us. After the first few songs, we stumbled upon 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman. In the middle of one of the darkest spiritual climates I’ve ever experienced, the Lord placed this simple reminder that there is no darkness His light can’t reach. How great is our God that he would allow us the opportunity to turn our private room at a karaoke bar into a place of worship. The presence of God became so tangible in that moment and I had no question that He was right there among us. Jesus came to meet with us in this room as His love was being shared with a woman whose worth has been amounted to what she can offer a man with her body. He came to empower and encourage us in a time where we were invading on enemy territory, to remind us that His power is so much greater than that of the darkness surrounding us. What a beautiful testament to who our God is.
The story of this beautiful woman is one that breaks your heart and leaves you questioning humanity. When asked if she would ever consider leaving this line of work, she responded by saying that, “this is what god created me to be.” If anything this only makes me more angry to hear that this has somehow been ingrained into her that she was made for this, that this way of life is all that she’s good for. Walking away, it seemed as though nothing had changed, I’d love to tell you that she was saved that night, but it’s not true. So I’ve decided to trust that a seed was planted that night and if nothing else, I pray that she walked away with a few questions stirring in her spirit about her purpose.
I don’t know what the future holds for her.
I don’t know that she’ll ever leave this life of sin and darkness.
However, I do know that God met us in that room. I physically felt His presence.
I do know that my God is more powerful than the spiritual darkness that invades that building and the hearts of the people that pass through it.
And I know that even if the battle seems to be lost, my God wins the war. Every. Time.
