Greetings from Indonesia! I am happy to report that I am writing this blog in Starbucks with a Venti Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew in hand, with Michael Buble playing softly in the background – feels like home.
This month, my team and I are staying at a school in Bandung, Indonesia, about three hours outside of Jakarta, Indonesia’s capitol city. Ministry looks different every day, which has made every day an adventure. In just a week, the Lord has done so much in our journey, as well as my personal walk so if this past week indicates the rest of the month, I’ll give you a glimpse into what Indonesia looks like; and why it will be so hard to leave J
The Country
Indonesia is one of the main reasons I chose this route – which, for the other countries that were at the top of my list, has made for unmet expectations in months past. But this time, my expectations have been met and then some: Indonesia is beautiful, the people are so kind and the country is filled with so much love.
Where we’re staying is in the heart of the city, which makes for noise-filled night sleeps and streets that smell like garbage, it is impossible to walk by a stranger without receiving a smile. Bandung is not a city for American or European tourists so this month, I am the closest to celebrity status I have every been, being asked to take pictures on a daily basis and being flagged down by kids across the street, their faces lighting up with joy when we give them a simple wave.
Bandung is called the “ring of fire,” as it’s surrounded by volcanoes on all sides. When you drive out of the city (which we’ve done a few times), you are overwhelmed by beautiful mountains on every side. There are hidden gems dispersed throughout the countryside that our host has insisted we visit, one of which we saw last weekend, a sulfur lake with mint green water hidden in the mountains. It was breath taking to say the least.
And yes, we did make it a point to make a weekend trip to BALI!!
Ministry
I have to admit that I can’t actually pronounce the name of our ministry; so we call it the school. The school has about 300 children come through its doors every week, ranging from kindergarten to elementary school. For our first week of ministry, we walked alongside Desi, one of the kindest, most hard-working people and teachers I’ve ever met, and taught with her for the week, doing morning stretches with the kids every morning, playing four corners, acting out Jericho and singing songs. LOTS of songs.
This is Desi, an incredible woman that we are able to serve alongside and live with this month. She has quickly become the eleventh member of our team.
One of my teammates is a very talented artist so after offering her skills, we helped her paint a mural in the main classroom this past weekend! Although it wasn’t a part of our scheduled ministry, it was an incredible way to bless this school that has already given so much to us.
And this upcoming week, we’ll be taking a break from the school and kids ministry to do some village ministry with our host Sugi. This will look like prayer walking, house visits and praying for people in these villages. The last time I did village ministry was in Lesotho, one of the most incredible, impactful experiences of my life; so to say I’m excited would be an understatement.
Our team performing at a local church service.
An interesting fact about this ministry is that a large chunk of the people we are working with are Muslims. We have been learning about contextualism and cross cultural ministry through classes our host is teaching us, participating in Bible Studies with Muslims and emerging ourselves in the culture. We’ve been learning a lot about the Qur’an, views of Jesus versus Allah and how to lead a Muslim to Jesus without forcing them to give up what they believe or the traditions they practice. Although I still feel I know very little about the Muslim religion, I have already experienced a new depth to the beauty of sharing the love of Jesus simply through letting His love shine through.
The Community
This is my second month with my new team, team WHIP. Last month was a hard month for all of us where we faced a lot of loneliness (and in my case, stubbornness) but the Lord has been so faithful and with the removal of WiFi, the opportunity to love each other to the extreme and a desire for unity, He has created such a beautiful family within this team.
Along with the six of us, the Lord has blessed us with a SUPER TEAM! Instead of the normal team of six, we have TEN wonderful ladies on our team this month. Along with our two squad leaders staying with our team this month, Hannah and Lynden, two close friends of mine, we have two INCREDIBLE girls, Sammy and Liz, with us for the month. They are on a one month mission trip called Exposure, in which people interested in the Race join our team on the field for the month to get a taste of what the Race is like. These two girls bring so much joy and freshness to our team, teaching us just as much as we’re teaching them.
The Spirit
Coming out of Cambodia, I was walking through quite a low valley with the Lord, questioning if I even heard His voice; it was lonely and discouraging to say the least. But in this past week, He has revealed some incredible truths to me that have radically changed my faith walk. He has been taking me back to the basics, reteaching me the meaning of hope, faith and grace and relentlessly pursuing me until I believe my worth and identity in Him. He’s immersed me in the words of Romans, showing me His word until I believe that “I have been set free from sin and have become a slave to righteousness (Ro 6:18). This past week, He has taken all the truths I believe in my head, the truths I’ve always doubted, and has shown me how to believe them in my heart and let them become my foundation. I’m in awe of how much love He’s shown me in this short time; and through the walk I’ve been taken on, I can tell He’s got some exciting things in store
If you want to hear more about what I’ve been learning, please reach out – I love to talk about da Lord! Please pray for our team as we work with the Muslim population and battle (and defeat!!!) exhaustion and complacency that comes with month 10; it’s easy to let thoughts of the future and life back home take us away from the time we still have here. Thank you for all your support throughout this journey. I am so excited for the work the Lord is going to do in these last six weeks and am even more excited to share it with you all!
