Before I explain who Oliver is and the story behind him I want to give a brief update. About where I am, what I’ve been up to and what ministry looks like.
I am now in Bandung, Indonesia. We have been here for a week now. Wi-Fi is no where in sight we have to go to the mall for Wi-Fi. But it has actually been refreshing to not have that distraction since we only have 6 weeks left on the race. Not having Wi-Fi helps stay present and engaged with each and ministry.
Last month was incredible I loved Cambodia and miss the motorcycle driven tuk tuks and all the friendly faces as we walked around the block or rode bikes into town. Cambodia was special. Learned how to swim laps, grew in my friendships even more, experienced ATL with my team without any hosts guiding us in ministry. One of my favorite ministries was having a Beauty for Ashes event. And playing with the kids around the neighborhood where we lived. And talking with the tuk tuk drivers. It was their off season so it meant a lot to them that we actually acknowledge them. I started learning Good Good Father on my guitar too! That’s Cambodia in a nutshell.
I’ve been doing really well. I really like it in Indonesia it’s much different then other places I’ve been. Lots of smog and people walking around with face masks. More motos then cars. We are sleeping in a class room at a small school they have made out of little clinic. We sleep on the floor on extremely nice black cushions or our sleeping pads we brought. I’m utilizing my tent this month because of pesky huge roaches the size of my thumb. There are also rats that are quite pesky in the back room where we keep our bags. We pull our bags in at night so that the rats don’t get a chance to tear into them. Bucket shower and squatty potties are a huge part of our lives this month. But I’m really enjoying my experience here. It is so nice of our host to put us up and so accommodating to our budget. We are cooking for ourselves this month so that’s is always nice because we can get close to a touch of taste of home. We are walking distance from the mall and shopping mart. And we have AC even though the weather is beautiful here in the low 80s. We are very much blessed.
Ministry so far has looked like a children’s program for 8 different classes. We did interactive songs, games, and skits. They loved it. I loved it too!
This past weekend we had the opportunity to paint a mural with Mel in the classroom we did the children’s program in. Where they have 4 different classes a day.
And our host has some more plans throughout the month like , house churches, prayer walks and such. Possibly some of our team working with a refugee camp a few hours away from where we are.
This is how our month is going so far isn’t it incredible I’m excited. With a just 6 short weeks left I want to make all the days left count. I’m pumped to finish this race well.
Okay now on to Oliver. Oliver was a little tiny kitten probably a couple weeks old that I found in a box on the sidewalk walking home on our first day in Bandung. I thought to myself I can’t just leave this living thing here to die. So I took it home to our hosts school. Thinking this is stupid, so stupid. But to my surprise my host also felt pity on the small creature. And she said to me , you are so good. I think it encouraged her heart. So I ran to the Indo Mart to grab milk for Oliver. And tried my best to feed him. I wrapped him up with some of my things to keep him warm and let him sleep. I did this for 3 days. I was actually able to find kitten formula and a bottle. But I was soon getting stressed thinking I can’t give him the care he needs around the clock and engage in ministry. So I decided to try to rehome him I thought I should start at the pet store. I grabbed his little box and everyone said goodbye and took pictures with him. We all had quickly fallen in love. And I headed to the pet store with little Oliver.
Kasie went with me. I walked into the pet store and started asking if they new anyone willing to raise a kitten? They pointed me to the only employee that spoke English. He looked at Oliver and walked off to make a phone call and came back. He said I’ll take care of the kitten and looked pretty excited. So I told him thank you so much and handed over little Oliver. It was cool to take care of him for a few days because its something I would do at home too if I saw an abandoned thing. I will always remember little Oliver and his awesome story. If you’ve seen the cartoon Oliver in Company that was the inspiration for his name.
Until next time.
Blessing
Naomi =)
