We are now in Indonesia and wow is it a beautiful country. Not to say that there was not any shock when leaving the airport in Bali to head to our hostel. The roads were total chaos, jam packed with cars and motos. Most people own mopeds, this is not only due to cost but also you are able to get through traffic a lot quicker on them as well. We have enjoyed seeing the creative ways that people haul not only people, but other large objects on these. I think the family of four balanced on one moped was one of the more frightening things I have seen. We have learned quickly the art of crossing an intersection here. With no traffic lights or stop signs and endless traffic it is an exhilarting adventure everytime you take a walk. 🙂
We spent a week in Bali when we first arrived. This was spent meeting some locals, adventuring, and figuring out our travel to East Java (which is the place our team was assigned to spend our time in while here in Indo). We were able to meet some local christians and go to an international church; which was nice because the service was in english! We got to see some awesome places in Bali and eat a lot of local food. We are really enjoying everything being so cheap. Some examples are: a meal being $1-2, a 60 min massage was around $5, and a taxi ride is less than a $1 most time.
White water rafting in Bali
We were able to book a 10 hour bus ride to Malang, which is in East Java. As a team we prayed into what part of East Java we were to settle into for the month, which is how we decided on Malang. Lets just say this bus ride was not comfortable and frankly quite a bit scary. We traveled through the night so we were not able to see too many of the sights on the way. The roads here are very narrow, winding, and bumpy. Highways do not exist and so traveling takes a lot longer than we are used to. Our bus driver had a bad case of impatient road rage. But we made it and even alittle early.
We finally made it here to Malang. This month my team does not have a host, we are doing a month of ATL (which means ask the Lord). So praying into what our day should consist of or where we feel led for the day is what we are doing this month. This is still something we are all trying to grasp and feel comfortable in, but we are enjoying the freedom of seeing where God is leading us.
After arriving in Malang I realized how touristy Bali was. Although I didn’t feel like we saw many western people there the people were a lot more accustomed to seeing white people. This was made evident the first day we were in Malang. A teammate and I went with a few girls that we had met in our hostel to grab some food. Before the meal was even over we were being asked by the locals if they could take a picture with us. It is such a weird feeling to have people constantly wanting pictures with you. The culture here is so friendly. We have had so many people take time out of their day to show us around, so many free meals, and tons of selfies! 🙂
Taxi Driver wanted a selfie 🙂
Here in Malang we have made a few great connections with local christians. One being the owner of the guest house we are staying in. Through a translator we were able to hear her story and wow is she an awesome woman of God. The best connection we made was Kristin. We met her through a friend on the squad that knew her from Korea where she attended school. Kristin was great she did everything from finding us our housing to buying us meals, translating, driving us around, and even adventuring with us. She was so awesome and made our time in Malang unforgetable. She has the biggest heart for people and is recently back home in Malang after finishing her college in Korea. She is in that transition portion of life where it can be a little discouraging leaving all your friends and community that you have built in college the last few years. Returning home and trying to figure out how to implement that degree you just spent tons of money and time on earning can be overwhelming and not so enjoyable. I was so glad we could be there for a couple weeks to encourage her while she encouraged us.
Kristin and her Parents
We are in the last few days of our time in Indonesia and wow has it flown by. Just wanted to thank everyone for the continued prays and support. I am also still fundrasing the last little bit of my trip so if you would like to help in supporting me financially as well just click on the donate button above.
The Village of Colors in Malang
Corban Rondo Waterfall, Malang
Mount Bromo, Malang
