Friday, January 24
Today we have officially been here for a week. It is hard to believe we have only been here for seven days. In the beginning, I honestly wondered how we were going to last in the village for three weeks. I thought we would be getting all of our meals from the Alfamart (a local 7-Eleven type of store), showering in the natural springs with our clothes on, staying in the compound for 24 hours a day hoping that kids would want to come and do culture exchange with us.
For the first few days of our stay our host would take us further and further into the village showing us where we could buy food, fruit, do our laundry, and explained that we are here to build relationships – we do not need to stay in the compound at all times — we just have to remember to go two by two or in small groups when we leave so we don’t draw too much attention to ourselves.
We have a slow and sweet rhythm that we follow each day. Wake up around 6am to the call to prayer — roll over and sleep some more or wake up and enjoy the early morning breeze. Slowly get up, spend time in prayer or in the Word individually, walk down the street to get a fresh water bottle, orange juice and chocolate filled bun for breakfast. (It reminds me of the idea of a Boston cream pie). Around 9am we gather as a group for ATL – Ask the Lord and we open up our manual — The Book of Acts. Together we look back on our challenges/what we are learning/what we are thankful for, we look up to God asking for revelation as we read through the manual, and then we look forward to what is to come.
Then comes the hottest part of the day, which is one of my most treasured times of the day. Once ATL is finished we break off and go out into the village for lunch. There is a wonderfully hospitable family that sells tuna, rice (nasi), and veggies (sayur) just two doors down. Through visiting their restaurant regularly we have been invited to eat behind the store front in their home. As we eat various family members will come sit with us. They teach us various phrases in Bahasa and we teach a little English in exchange. Google Translate is quickly becoming a favorite tool. It is really amazing to me how willing they are to teach us with such patience how to speak in their language and about their traditions. A lot of the families here live in multi-generational compounds — many adults have shared with us that they moved back to the village to take care of their parents/grandparents.
After we slowly eat our lunch we have time to come back to the compound (community center) to simply live life together until the kids come. We have the freedom to journal, to read, to write, to sing together, to do a little laundry at the spigot outside the bathroom and let it air dry in the sun. There is no rushing. Ever. Everything that needs to get done, does get accomplished, but there is no anxiety that it isn’t getting done in time — there aren’t really any deadlines. This may be one of the most freeing things for me.
The kids seem to be coming earlier and earlier each day … technically we told them Culture Exchange is from 4:00pm-6:00pm but they come as early as 1:00. Each day they have multiplied in number (just like it says in Acts 2!). We play games — Duck, Duck, Goose was a hit — sing songs (He’s got the whole world in his hands is awesome because you can use a lot of hand motions to explain the words) — do a skit using Google Translate to share in English and Bahasa — and play some more! Today some parents brought their toddlers. It was super cool to have such a range of ages hanging out together. Like clock work the call to prayer goes off at 6pm and the children begin to scatter to go home by foot or their parents show up on their scooters to pick them up.
My favorite “warung” (Indonesia Bahasa for restaurant) is right next to us. We have tofu, tempe, veggies, and rice for dinner. This is a local hot spot for dinner making it a great place to meet more of our neighbors.
Our nights typically end with team time where we can give feedback to each other, share prayer requests, play, laugh, or cry together. It really is a sweet sweet way of life.
