Where Are You From? - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

Greetings from Indonesia! We arrived in Central Java a couple of weeks ago, and it has been a huge blessing to be able to partner with a local church to do ministry this month. My teammate Anna has a college friend who lives here, and her father is the senior pastor of a local congregation.

We have been meeting so many people and blessed by many new friends. In addition to youth and children’s ministry, we have also been making house visits almost every day of the week, taking turns giving the messages and testimonies. Some of the families that we visit don’t have reliable transportation to go to church on Sundays, so we bring church to them! It has been a sweet reminder that church isn’t a building with a cross, but it’s really the people that make up the church. We are the church. We worship in English/Bahasa, give a short message, and fellowship over delicious, homemade Indonesian meals.

I also want to share a little snippet of what daily life is like here. We were all standing outside of McDonald’s waiting to get our ice cream cones one day, when a middle-aged gentleman approached us and asked one of my friends “Where are you from?” to which she replied “America.”

He welcomed us to Indonesia and shook everyone’s hands but mine. He proceeded to introduce himself, and attempted to invite us to some sort of event in Indonesian. He turned to me and repeated himself, as if he expected me to help translate. I said, “Sorry, no Bahasa.” He seemed unfazed and went on his merry way.

We looked at each other and busted out laughing, assuming that he probably thought I was a local taking my new American friends around. The funny thing is, this has been a common occurrence.

Everywhere we go in the city, we’ve been meeting taxi drivers, people in restaurants, or people at church. The brave one of the bunch would come over to ask “Picture? Selfie?” and my teammates would graciously agree. Then they ask if I’m from Japan, Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, or just start talking to me in Indonesian. I tell them that I’m from America, just like my friends, and they look puzzled.

I get a good laugh out of it every time, but it also makes me think: how much of an impact do my words and actions make? Just because I don’t look American with blond hair and blue eyes doesn’t mean I’m not representing America. Similarly, just because there isn’t a certain “look” to Christians at school or in the workplace, the fact that we are still ambassadors of Christ doesn’t change.

It says in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

We are indeed ambassadors for Christ no matter where we are or who we are with, and our words and actions speak volumes. While my team and I are here in Indonesia, we are ambassadors for Christ even if we don’t get to directly share the Gospel with someone, because God has already prepared the hearts of the people that He has been placing in our lives. We pray that Christ’s love is revealed through our everyday lives, for we are called to be the salt and light of the earth everywhere we go. No matter where you are today, if you are a follower of Christ, you are His chosen ambassador.

Please pray for our remaining week here with the local church as we want to transition well out of this beautiful country and into our next country, Sri Lanka. Please pray for the families that we have been getting to know, many of whom face financial difficulties, or still have family members who are Muslim. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, so please pray for the local church as they continue to plant more churches to reach the unreached. Thank you!

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