This past month our team, the Freedom Fighters, have been staying at the Wycliffe office here in Ambon. These people are awesome and have taught our team not only about the process of bible translation, but humility, love, and service. Many of the translators at the office are Indonesian but our hosts, John and Stephanie Richards are from the United States. The have been living here in Ambon for the past seventeen years.
Life here in Ambon this month has been great. Smiling faces, strangers asking for pictures, and locals yelling ‘Mister’ at us are a daily occurrence. On our team’s off day at the beach a group of young girls ran up and asked me for a picture, so naturally I said yes. Having a celebrity status here over a long period of time could potentially be annoying, however I’m embracing it at the moment lol.
Ministry this month has been simple, learning. We’ve have learned about the difficulties of bible translation, the process, of how to choose which local language to translate, and about the power of God’s word. The Wycliffe office here in Ambon is on the brink of releasing the full New Testament in Ambonese Malaya, the local language here in Ambon, which is also used in neighboring islands. The locals here have been reading the bible in Indonesian, which to us is analogous to reading the English bible in the old King James.
The office here in Ambon works directly with the Protestant Churches of Maluku (Maluku- The North Eastern province of Indonesia) and receives a lot of their funding from these churches. This month the Protestant Churches of Maluku arranged for the Freedom Fighters to travel to Masohi and Saparua, island about 30 minutes and two hours away by ship. Our team had everything scheduled for us in advance, and were provided translators! We taught English to children, at these churches, met with local pastors, and had the honor of praying over these pastors. We even had the privilege of speaking in front two of their congregations. My teammate Jonathan and I preached on John chapter 15 to separate congregations, one on the island of Saparua and the other on Masohi. On these separate island excursions we were treated like royalty. Our accommodations, lodging, food, and reception were amazing! Our hosts on these islands taught us a lot about service, humility, and loving people through service. Our second day in Saparua we visited eleven churches! We were also served seven meals, and two tea times, safe to say our team will be cutting back on food intake in Vietnam.
Finally one of the coolest experiences this month was practicing English with local pastors in Masohi. During this time we had the pastors split into two groups, sit in a circle, share prayer requests, and pray for the person on their right… in English… out loud! It was awesome! Afterwards the pastors asked us in Indonesian, luckily our translator Jenna was with us, about our lives in America. They asked about our families, why we came on this trip, and our lives before. One of my teammates Chelsea shared about her life in Minnesota before the race and it spoke to me in a really profound way. She’s twenty-six and sometimes I forget that I am one of the younger people on my squad lol. She shared that leaving her really comfortable life was hard, but she knew that the Lord was inviting her into something more. I knew then that this is right where I am suppose to be.
My team and I will be traveling to Vietnam over the next three days, where we will have debrief with our leadership team, and entire squad. I am really excited for this time to meet up with my squad, rest, and have some guy time with the two other guys on our team, and Randy, our coach. Randy us to fly Black Hawks in the Army, so yea, he’s THE MAN. Please be praying for me during this time in Vietnam. Our squad will be switching teams, raising up new squad leaders, and our current squad leaders will be leaving the field. Finally I am in need of $1,860 to be fully funded! I posted on Facebook this past week inviting 200 of my Facebook friends to donate $10. If you would like to donate or know of anyone that is looking to give click on the donate tab!
Selamat tinggal!
‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ‘ Matthew 6:21
