News flash: I am fully funded! Yay! Praise the Lord! Thank you to everyone who has helped me live out this dream through your support, and thank you for all of your prayers. It has been an invaluable experience so far, and God is teaching me so much. I am so grateful for your help, God bless you all!
On another note, I was on an island in the middle of the jungle with no wifi for the past month, so please excuse the tardiness of this blog.
Now for the ministry I was involved with last month. I have just arrived in Manila, Philippines for debrief. We’ll spend a few days here and then go to our next ministry host here in the Philippines. I so enjoyed my time in Indonesia. It was really so awesome. The people are amazing. STTAM is a ministry run by Jeverson Duha, his wife Feni, and dear friends of theirs like Gohi and Effy and others. Jeverson and his wife are the founders, Gohi is head of the seminary and his wife Effy is currently teaching English there along with seeing after their brand new little girl, Sara (4 months old)! STTAM is a missions training center. You could call it seminary, but they also teach the students many valuable life skills, along with theology and teaching degrees. For example, all of the students know how to make amazing homemade donuts; Jeverson and Feni initially sold these donuts to support their family while pursuing their vision for this seminary in West Nias. Their entire campus was constructed by the students and faculty, mostly with simple hand tools, and in only one year! The students and teachers are so passionate about sending the love of Christ to the world around them, and I highly honor them. I have never been served so well as I was at Real Love Indonesia, and I am so humbled by the way the serve not only us, but one another. Their fire for God is so inspiring, and I think I learned just as much from them as they did from me, if not more.
As for what we actually did last month, most of the time we spent teaching English (sometimes 5 hours a day). We also did a little physical labor, including digging for a septic tank, clearing land for agriculture, and moving a bunch of mud around to build retaining walls out of logs and boards. It was a lot of fun! We got to hang out with the students a lot and learn about their island’s culture. I will never forget the taste of the lower jaw of a pig. That’s one of the parts they reserve for honored guests before their departure. How nice! It was a very interesting taste.
Here is a little video to show you around STTAM. Enjoy!
