An island called Nusa Penida.
Have you heard of it? We sure hadn’t when our team was praying where to go. We came to this island through a series of events that, per usual, the Lord orchestrated.
Before leaving Bali, our team prayed about where to go next (generally the Lord will give us pictures or actual places). We got a whole list of things including mountains, water, city sounds, a school, a temple, and an island named Samatra. One of my teammates also thought of her friend who went to her church back home that knew a bit about the islands surrounding us. We prayed and felt God lead us to talk to her. We met up with her at the port that headed out to 3 different islands (one of them being Samatra) hoping we would get some clarity while talking to her. Maybe over some coffee or lunch ya know? Instead, upon meeting her she told us to hurry and book our tickets and get on a ferry. So, we did! Sure didn’t know which one at first, but we figured it out quickly. It was one she had visited many times called Nusa Penida. We arrived there, had lunch, THEN discussed. Funny how the Lord does things right? However, this island ended up being the answer to our prayers. The place where He called us to go.
Most of Nusa Penida is untouched and is absolutely exquisite. The first day we were there, three of us went on the hunt for an atm. We ended up taking a longer walk than expected because the machines either didn’t work or wouldn’t take our cards. We then came up on one that was out of money and met a guy who offered to drive us to one about 15 minutes down the road (that would have been a long walk in that heat). We had a brief encounter with him and got his number. He apparently had only been living on the island for 18 days and came over from Samatra (the place we received when we prayed). Did I also mention that we had an amazing view of mountains where we ended up staying?(another thing we saw when praying) A few days later, we contacted the guy we met at the atm and he took a day taking us around the entire island. Although he didn’t seem too interested in talking, it was a beautiful day. We were praying over the island as we drove around and simply enjoyed just being an official team. He started off by taking us to a Hindu cave temple (another image we received when we prayed). It had quite a strong spiritual atmosphere that affected each of us differently. It brought awareness and gave us some insight into the people on the island and what to pray for. After, our friend ended up taking us to all of the beautiful sites. This island has many beaches with crystal clear water and crops for days that are healthy and green. It was a beautiful day of learning and admiring God’s creation together as well as seeing the provisions from our prayers.
Being one of many islands in Indonesia, it has only seen tourists now for 2 years. There are 14 villages consisting of 1 Muslim village (where we stayed) and 13 Hindu villages. Soon after we arrived, we found our official restaurant where the locals cooked up some delicious food (especially if you like rice). Being frequent customers, we met the owner of the restaurant and the entire family that worked there. Shortly into our stay we all became familiar faces, calling each other by name. A day would go by and it’s like we hadn’t seen each other in months. We were always welcomed with smiling faces. We got to know about each other through the little communication we were able to exchange and in the end, it felt like we were saying bye to family. We each had our own one-on-one encounters with other locals and some tourists while we were here as well, but this one was a highlight for me. It’s amazing how we can love people when we are intentionally asking for God’s heart. That love comes from Him. He created us to love and be loved. What a rad Dad!
We only spent one week on this island, but it was powerful. God will always be a better steward of time than we will be; When we allow Him to work through us we will see a greater impact in a shorter amount of time than if we stayed here for a month using only our own strength. In short, He blessed this week.
We still have a little over a week left before heading to India. Tomorrow we will begin our long travels to Jakarta and spend the rest of our time there, seeing God’s creation and trusting His provisions. We didn’t experience all of the visions/words we received when we first prayed, but that doesn’t mean they have no purpose. Maybe we will see them in this next city. Maybe that means we will see them years from now. Only He knows. And, as I said, God’s timing is always better than ours.
Thank you for following my journey and all of your prayers! They have made this experience for me be one of a lifetime on this earth.
