We are here in Indonesia and man is God working! I have so much to share!! This may be a long one, but I promise you want to read it all! 🙂
Also, this blog will be a little more vague because of the country we are currently in. Please be mindful of this when submitting comments, also. Thank you!!
(Left to right: Kimberly, Jenny, Megan, Chelsea, me, Holly)
After 30 hours of traveling here and a 13 hour time difference, you can imagine we were all quite exhausted. It took a long time for our bodies to adjust, so we stayed in Jakarta for a few days. During this time we were able to make many friends at the hostel and share our purpose here. We had many good conversations! We prayed and sought God and asked Him what He wanted for us. Some different opportunities were made available, but none of them felt like they were what God had planned for us this month.
After spending much time in prayer and discussion, we all felt that God was leading us to take a train to another city, a smaller city nearby. So, yesterday morning we woke up, got all our big packs on, and jumped on the train. We didn’t know exactly where we were going and had absolutely no plan about what to do when we got there. Our plan was to pray, and pray we did.
Basically, God revealed baby steps to us, but I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
When we got off the train, we decided it would be best to find a place to sit and pray while we sought God. We saw a KFC near the train station and headed there (yes, Kentucky Fried Chicken is all over Indonesia). We were able to eat lunch, connect to wifi, and recuperate. Then two of my teammates and I decided to go out and walk around the city to see where God would lead us. The rest of our team stayed at KFC with all of our stuff since 6 white girls walking around Indonesia with lots of stuff sticks out (heck, 3 white girls walking around sticks out enough on its own!).
As we were walking, we got small directions from the Lord (literally, baby steps). A right turn here, another right turn there, one with a coin on the ground that we saw as confirmation. Not long into our walk, we ran into a Catholic church that was in the middle of mass, so we went in. We saw a beautiful service, then after the service sought out anyone who spoke English. A sweet lady began talking with us and we explained what we were in search of. She said that since we weren’t Catholic they couldn’t help, however, she did point us to another church that was not Catholic. At first, this was disappointing. But then I realized this is just another baby step and that God has something bigger in store (and that He did!).
(Prepare yourselves… your mind is about to be blown…)
So we walk into this new church and find out that they are having a celebration. They invited us in to eat with them and talk with them. We discussed why we are here and they were so excited and in awe! There were so many people who were excited to have us there, even though we had never met them before and they had no idea we were coming. But that’s not all…
The church offered to allow us to stay in their guest house for our entire time here! It has two bedrooms and everything we need, and is locked and safe! Praise God!
Even more, they have offered to allow us to help serve with them during our time here! This will be through many different avenues, but we are so excited for the opportunities that await!
They also have completely spoiled us in our time here. We went to their service that night and they allowed our team to lead a worship song in front of the congregation. They then took us out to dinner to a gorgeous restaurant, bought us new sheets and pillows for the beds, made sure we had clean water, took us out to lunch today, and took us to visit beautiful sights around the city. We have just sat in awe of how much God has provided.
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Yesterday, we hopped on a train with no plan and nothing arranged. We had no place to stay, no people to meet, and no opportunities set up.
Today, we have a safe roof over our heads, amazing people who are pouring into us and that we get to serve in return, and countless opportunities that are awaiting fulfillment.
Through it all, we have a big, big God that is blessing us every step of the way. God honors obedience and wants to provide for His children. When we intentionally put ourselves in positions that allow God to reveal His plans to us, He will never fail us. He has an overwhelming, all-consuming, reckless love for us that will overcome any obstacle in our way.
I have only excitement for the rest of the steps He will reveal.
