Our time in Indonesia has been so sweet. Today we leave to head back to Jakarta, and then will be off to the Philippines. We lived in the city this month, and we actually had a lot more free time than we expected. We were told that some months would look like that, depending on our hosts. So with all of the extra time we had on our hands, we had to get creative with our time.
I used to read, all the time. For years, if you saw me, you also saw a book in front of my face. Somewhere along the way though, my cell phone became more important, and life was too busy for me to even make time to read. Which is sad, because it’s something that I really enjoy doing. So, this year, I am trying to read one book each month. This month, I read “Love Does” by Bob Goff. I have heard great things about this book, but I never imagined how much it would truly inspire me to live out such a simple truth.
Being that Indonesia is a “closed country”, and is actually the largest Muslim nation in the world, ministry was difficult and looked different than we envisioned. We mainly spent a lot of time building relationships, and simply loving and serving the people around us.
So what exactly did we do this month??? Well, let me tell you! We got to build beautiful relationships with the people in the church we worked at, at the local gym, at schools, orphanages, and more. We got to pray for a lot of our “Grab” drivers (AKA Uber). We led several bible studies and church services. We comforted a brother who was mourning the loss of his mother. We got to hang out with students at two different schools. We taught English. We went to an orphanage with 150 children and we spoke life, encouragement, and purpose into their lives. We met some incredible people who have inspired and challenged us in our own walk with God. And most importantly, we have seen that God is most certainly moving in Medan, Indonesia.
If you read our last blog, Dony’s Story, and watched the video, then you know that we met a young man named Dony at the orphanage. Well, we have an update on him! Through him opening up to us and sharing about all that God is doing in his life, he also shared that he had a huge desire to speak English better so that he could broaden his opportunities after grade school. You could hear the eagerness in his voice as he expressed this desire to us. He shared that he asked God to help him learn more English, and said that God had given him a dream, and told him that if he studied hard, that he could do it, and that God would help him. The problem was, how could he study if he wasn’t being taught?
We found out that his school offers extra curricular classes that include learning the English language. These specific classes are after school hours though, and they cost money that Dony simply doesn’t have. Remember, he’s an orphan, and doesn’t have family besides his adoptive mother and father that run the orphanage. But, they have over 100 children in their orphanage, so they can’t afford to pay for extra curricular classes for all of the kids. This is where sponsors come in. The classes cost 50,000 Rupiah (Indonesian currency) a month. It’s a little less than $4.00 in American currency. So, a year of English classes for Dony would cost us $45.00.
Fourty. Five. Dollars. That’s it?!?!
Justin and I looked at each other, and didn’t even have to say a word. We knew each others thoughts. We knew that we had to do something. We knew we had to sponsor him.
We went to the team with our idea, and they were all 100% on board as well! So, we all pitched in and our team is now sponsoring a year of English classes for Dony.
See, I don’t believe that it is an accident that we met him. It’s not by chance that he shared his story and his heart with us. Through his vulnerability, God was able to use us to show Dony that God is faithful to fulfill His promises. God told Dony that He would help him. So maybe, just maybe, God had us in mind when He told Dony that. And maybe our obedience and willingness, made a way for a part of God’s plan to prevail in Dony’s life.
We could have easily looked past the opportunity to express love to our new friend. We could have just told him that we would pray that God would provide the money. We could have just encouraged him, and told him it would all work out. But, in loving Dony, I knew that telling him we loved him, and that Jesus loves him, and that everything would work out, was simply not enough. Because love doesn’t stand by and wait for someone else to come. Love is never stationary. Love doesn’t just keep thinking about it, or keep planning for it.
“Simply put, LOVE DOES.” -Bob Goff
Jesus was the perfect example of this simple, yet life altering revelation. He didn’t just tell us He loved us. He selflessly showed His love for us in all that He did in His life, and even in His death. Through Jesus’ selfless love, we too are able to love others the way He loved us, in doing.
“We love, because He first loved us.” -1 John 4:19
Love, Tessie and Justin
