Well if you remembered the password and made it here, good job….that’s luar biasa, or “awesome” in Indonesian! haha 🙂
For the past week I have been visiting one of our teams staying at a Pesantren, otherwise known as an Islamic boarding school!!
We are living, eating, playing, praying, teaching English and building relationships right in the midst of 120 students, teachers and staff here and it has been incredible!
Upon arrival we were greeted with smiles and signs!
The school is a sect of Islam called Sufi, which has a focus on the spiritual side of Islam. Sufis are very mystical and have many strange beliefs……anything from believing that you are becoming worse and worse the more you sleep (many higher up teachers will never lie down but only sleep at random times sitting in a chair), to needing to purify themselves of their inner humanness which they call the “black dog”, to memorizing or chanting the Qur’an in Arabic even though they don’t understand Arabic.
The people are extremely loving, kind and generous and very open to us, even knowing that we are believers.
My favorite class of 12th grade girls! 🙂
God has been opening doors for us on so many levels – the founder/owner/director of the school, Abba Jagat, lives in the Netherlands but just so happens to be visiting for the next few weeks! (His spiritual mentor, known as the guru or grand master will also be here in the next few days so we will be able to be in his space as well.)
Lunch with Abba Jagat
We have not only been eating with and in relationship with the founder, but this past week we also met the 4th President of Indonesia’s daughter! We were invited into the house where the President grew up to spend time with her and hear more about the activist organization she now runs after her father passed away last year.
During our time there we went through one of her stress management classes with a group of other Indonesians – 30 minutes of meditation, stretching, punching, yelling, and learning a Hawaiin dance which ended up being hilarious as we all couldn’t stop laughing and laughing. 🙂
Ministry with Muslims looks different than many might expect.
The foundation is relationship building!
Because we had a team here last year, the school is even more open and kind than before!
Planting seeds and seeing a harvest grow takes time, but I have felt the weightiness and significance of Father allowing us to be here, pouring into these kind people!
Enjoying a potluck lunch made by the mothers of the 8th grade girl’s class
***** Please pray that as we continue to love on and bring life and truth into the people here, that Holy Spirit would start to stir something new, deep within their hearts.
***** Pray for the men and women of high influence that God has placed us right in the middle of – that they would have an encounter with the Living God who alone brings life!!
***** Pray for the team as they continue to look for opportunities to love and serve here for the next few weeks!
A few random facts from our week here so far:
- I have eaten rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday since being here (the Indonesians have a saying that if you haven’t eaten rice yet, you haven’t eaten!)
A typical meal for breakfast, lunch, OR dinner…fish, tofu and rice!!
- The above food has actually been quite normal in comparison to the weird things, including but not limited to squid head, cow lung and cow brain (in order of grossness!! Haha)
Cow brain and lung are on the bottom row, second from the top on the left and right respectively.
- Our team went to the largest mosque in all of Asia here in Jakarta the other day, secretly lifting up and praising the name of Jesus Christ!
A small portion of the inside of the mosque.
- We have already had chances to pray with Abba Jagat as well as the president’s daughter!!
- Abba Jagat simply wants to spend time with us. As such, he took us to the nicest theater I have ever been in before yesterday with big reclining chairs, blankets and drinks served to us!
- I have tried Kopi Luwak, the most expensive coffee in the world….the slang word for it is cat poop coffee. It’s a real thing….there is a wild cat called the Asian Palm Civet that eats coffee cherries which are digested through it’s system and then harvested and roasted to make this famous coffee. Don’t believe me?! Search it for yo’self!! 😉
Until next time, thank you for your prayers and support. Sending love and hugs from Indo!!!!
