An update from Indonesia by Eric Musil
A little over a year ago I was here in Indonesia with my squad. One day we went visit a more remote village in the mountains. In this village, there was a family who really brought us in and showed us incredible hospitality. We stayed a night in their home, they fed us, made memories(lots of pictures), dressed us up in traditional Indonesian wedding clothing, and they had no other agenda other than to get to know us.
Before we left their home (they knew we played music) they asked us to sing some songs for them. We agreed and played a couple of worship songs together in their home. We didn’t have any songs planned and just started playing and following where the Lord was going to lead us. In the last song we sang the chorus had these lyrics, “Jesus we love You, Oh how we love You, You are the One our hearts adore”
Now I did not know this at the time, but this family is Muslim. The Name of Jesus is a word we typically have to avoid because it will close doors with people in certain cultures (we can openly use Isa Al-Masih, Jesus in their native tongue is accepted by them). But it was probably good I didn’t know that because God used this moment to break through into their lives. As we sang this song, which is “against” (in their mind) what they believe, God’s Peace began to fall. After we were done singing I remember them talking about the Peace they felt in that room and that opened the door for us to have a deeper conversation with them.
They shared with us that they were trying to have children with no luck. We asked if we could pray for them. They agreed and we laid hands on them and asked God to provide. Fast forward a year later…
Yesterday I walked into their home, shared an excited “Halo!” (Hello in Indonesian), greeted those familiar faces, and then they took us upstairs. When we came up the stairs I got to see the provision from last year’s prayer, little Muhammad Shifan Al-Kahfi laying there on a blanket. I found out they got pregnant within a month after we left. It was pretty surreal to sit there and hold this child. The mom kept mentioning that little Kahfi was at peace when I held him. I could feel God’s Presence there in that room with this child, it was such a special moment.
It reminds me of a Scripture we studied on earlier this week. From 1 John 4:21
“And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should also [unselfishly] love his brother and seek the best for him.”
God’s Love is not restrained to those who are following Him. We are made to let God Love others through us, and that we can seek the best for them! God’s crazy Love was again displayed yesterday to me and my team in the form of a little boy. Even though this family has a religion, I know that His provision in this family is planting a deep seed of relationship in their hearts.
Would this have happened if we didn’t choose to let God Love them through us? I guess we will never know for sure, but I do know this, God’s Love changes everything. When we let God Love others through us, no matter our differences, this world looks different every, single, day.
