The last time I talked to you guys I was on a boat nervously on my way to Komodo Island. We had no idea what we were walking into, but God never disappoints, and he showed up big time.
We stepped off the boat to a small strip of a village made up of less than 2,000 people. Our host met us at the dock and we walked to where we were staying. Close your eyes and picture this: children everywhere, so excited to say hello to you over and over again as we walk down the dock to our house. Half our team stays next door, and the rest of us cross over two small wooden planks and up the steep staircase to enter our little blue homestay. We put down our bags in two rooms made of thin plywood and are greeted by the sweetest family with an adorable teenager and the sassiest two year old I’ve ever met. I expected this village to be quiet considering there are no cars, restaurants, air conditioning, running water (thanks training camp for the squatty potty and bucket shower prep), or anything of the sort. I was wrong. It runs on a generator between the hours of 5pm and 5am and there are all sorts of animals running all over the place. Between the constant goats baaaa-ing, roosters crowing, screaming children, and prayer calls that happened five times everyday starting at 4:30am, I went a little crazy to be honest with you. We lived on rice, noodles, veggies, fried peanuts, bread, and fresh fish that were caught each day.
Although it wasn’t as quiet as I expected, it was so peaceful.
Right outside the kitchen was a balcony right over the water with an amazing view of sunrise, sunset, and the islands surrounding us. So you know I spent most of my free time out there. We also had worship twice a day most days. We alternated going to the dock to sing and staying on the balcony to let the surrounding families hear us praising Jesus.
Our ministry days in such a small village looked like a LOT of prayer walking, building relationships with the villagers over broken English, and working in the school there! Before we headed to Komodo the Lord told us we would be doing something with kids ministry, but we had no idea there would be so many children on this island and we had no idea we would have the opportunity to teach English there for a few days. It was so fun. We went over the basics of English and taught them a few songs. Those kids are so smart and caught on very quickly to everything. We ended up ordering them Indonesian-English dictionaries to keep practicing, because many families want their kids to learn English.
Before we were provided that opportunity though, we were raising some suspicion over the length of our stay in Komodo. Most people only stay there a day or two at most to visit the national park, so because we were staying eleven days, we had to register with their government and organize a trip to see the dragons and snorkel one of the pink beaches nearby. They didn’t have to twist my arm at all! The water was so blue and clear, I thought I was in heaven. We even saw five dragons at the national park! Such a cool experience.
Everyday after morning worship we’d ask the Lord what he wanted us to do that day and to point out different people to us. Through this, many people were healed of sicknesses and injuries, and two women accepted Jesus!! One of our girls even had a mind blowing encounter with a child on the island. She spoke in tongues and had a full on conversation with this child! She had no idea what she was saying but the child understood everything!
Our last night in the village the two families that hosted us got together along with a few friends we made and had a Komodo BBQ for us! They prepared a giant fish that fed about 17 of us! Will be thinking about that fish for a very long time. Then we had a good ole dance party right in the middle of the village. We felt so loved and celebrated by these people and it was so hard to say goodbye to them today.
The concept of “love fiercely, hold loosely” gets harder and harder with each place we visit, but I wouldn’t trade these encounters for anything.
That’s all for now! We are spending the next few days in Jakarta before we are on to the next country! Hoping to post more updates soon. Thank you all for your support! Your prayers are making paths for us!
