Looking back at month four of the race it was a wonderful time spent in Indonesia. Its been awhile since I last blogged and I’m sorry for not being able to keep you guys up with my journey that was mostly due to the fact of being in a remote part of Indonesia on an island in pretty much the middle of the jungle. Okay maybe not exactly middle of a jungle but close. It was a small town where there was not much technology or access to the outside world. Being off the grid for a few weeks was quite refreshing and enjoyable no distraction from the outside world and no way to access internet or wifi made you really dig in to the people around and just be fully present in a place that had much more to offer then at first glance. Although it did worry my parents and friends back home because they where not able to hear from me for almost a month and not knowing my whereabouts in a country that’s mostly of Muslim population but rest assured God had plan.
My team and I ended up on an island called Nias where the majority of the people where actually protestant Christians. Turns out it was a very safe place to be and danger was not imminent other than the occasional chicken theft. Our ministry for the month was to teach English and lots of it. We partnered with Real Love Indonesia at a school called STTAM or MTC. MTC is a mission training center for students who want to become missionaries to their own people and to unreached people groups in their country. It was amazing to see these students pursue God with such reckless abandon. Our host Brother Jeverson is an incredible man of God who sacrificed so much to make MTC possible. God gave him a vision a few years ago to start this program from the ground up with absolutely nothing. To hear his story of how changed his life and gave him a heart for ministry and a vision is truly inspiring. With no money no land or materials and tools God started to do his work. As time went on Brother Jeverson and his wife where able to purchase some land and found a team who believed in his vision and together they started to work. Now they have a school that’s up and running with over thirty students who left their homes in pursuit of Gods heart. The students stay there fulltime where they live together in community.
As we arrived they welcomed us with open arms and smiles in there faces and we instantly started to bond. We had a chance to also pour in into these students by and sharing our testimonies and at times leading five am devotional there where held every day. We also had the chance to visit local churches, home churches, schools, and an orphanage it was amazing. People on this island don’t normally see white people so everywhere we went we instantly become the main attraction. I think I took more pictures in that month then I ever have any given year. Indonesia was an amazing month of ministry and I’m so thankful that I had the chance to serve there it will always hold a special place in my heart.
