BALI! I never in a million years thought I’d be in Bali at 21 years old. Even when I signed up for The World Race I didn’t think I would end up in Indonesia. But here I am. For those who don’t know, our route got switched and we are no longer going to China and Mongolia (so sad, I know!) Instead, we were given the choice of going to either Indonesia or Sri Lanka, and we all are going to Thailand.
Since this was somewhat of a last minute change, Adventures in Missions hasn’t set up any ministry contacts for us or places to stay. We were left at the airport in Jakarta to find a place to go and work to do. We were given a tight budget (on the daily, that looks like $5 for a place to stay, $4 for food, and $1 for transportation!!!) We found a small 2 bedroom apartment on AirBnb at the top of our budget and managed to squeeze 7 people in for the first four nights. We booked flights to Bali right away even though we had no where to stay. I decided to look up some ministries in Bali to see what kind of work we could do there. I found out quickly that YWAM (Youth With a Mission) has a base in Bali. I emailed them right away asking if they had work for us and a place for us to stay but they told me that they were full for the next few weeks, but they did give me the contact info of another smaller ministry in Bali who was interested in helping us out. It just so happens that this other ministry has a place for us to stay and they are letting us name the price! Yay!!!! That was absolutely an answered prayer.
Another problem we were facing is that because this was a short domestic flight, all of our luggage weighed too much and we would have to pay a large fee to bring it with us. So just yesterday, part of my team went to a local church and met a woman who was willing to hold some of our stuff while we are in Bali and she also told us that the day we are returning to Jakarta their church is holding a missions night so she invited us to that. Another answered prayer!!
Our start in Indonesia was rocky as we tried getting from the Jakarta airport to our apartment and several Uber drivers cancelled on us. Then, the taxis took advantage of us being foreigners and “got lost,” and made us pay for the extra hour and a half that they were aimlessly wandering around. Imagine how excited we were when our ministry contact offered to pick us up from the airport in Bali! Another answered prayer.
Also, Amy and I have been seeing rainbows everywhere since we stared asking God where he wanted us to go in Indonesia. We had no clue what the rainbow meant but we literally saw a rainbow at least 5 times a day for a few days in a row. So, when I let the ministry host know that we were planning on coming, he sent me a thumbs up AND A RAINBOW!
In the Bible, God uses the rainbow to promise his people he won’t flood the earth again. I think God was showing Amy and I all these rainbows because he wanted us to be reminded of his promise that he will take care of us and won’t let us be taken away by the storm.
PRAYER REQUESTS!
We are on a flight right now from Jakarta to Bali, please pray that everything goes smoothly as we land and meet our ministry host. We are all confident that God has us here in Indonesia for a reason, so pray that we live out God’s purpose for our team this month.
As always, please pray for safety and health for all of us.
Thank you so much! I’m sure I’ll have many amazing testimonies to share with you at the end of our time here in Indonesia.
