Hey guys!
Let’s do a recap of what has been going on. It has been a wild ride to make it to today. I hope you enjoy some of my ranting. Lol
During our last week in Malaysia we had team changes! God said we were getting to comfortable so it was time to grow! I love my new team and I cannot wait to make new memories with them like I did with my last team. We flew to Indonesia and landed in Makassar. The moment we landed I was excited. Some people were having a difficult time and I was just super chipper about new beginnings. I was pumped.
That ended quickly when we picked up our bags and headed outside the airport to try and find a Grab (sort of like an Uber except not).
There it was, Africa. In the honking, the yelling, the stress of trying to make someone understand that you don’t speak the language and them insisting that if they repeat things over and over, louder and louder I might understand it. It was slowly sinking in that there would be no comforts again. Now, I loved Africa…but growing pains are real guys. Anyway, we packed ourselves into two Grabs and paid the tolls in attempts to make it to a bed sooner rather than later.
Well, we tried. The driver must have picked up on the fact that we love adventures, because he dropped us off at the wrong house. We almost gave a little old lady a heart attack when she peeped out her door and saw four 50lb bags, three day packs, a guitar, 2 white girls and a Mexican girl at her doorstep inside her gate. She was kind to us, she asked us many times to go inside her house. The two security guards of the neighborhood, a random guy, about 7 neighborhood children, and her neighbors all quickly came to help us figure out exactly where we needed to be. They thought it was the funniest thing. We found out we were supposed to be about a mile and a half away and we had every intent to walk ourselves that way. They laughed again and refused to let us walk. Finally, our Airbnb host’s “husband” came to the rescue. So we called a second Grab, we arrived and slept for the night.
The following days we prayed over what he were wanting to do as ministry, we contacted a few people and received responses from none. It was the weekend right before a holiday, so we waited patiently. Finally, a contact of my teammate Katie connected us to someone from the States and we attended his refugee Bible study group. The stories I heard touched my heart. These people are warriors, they are fighters, they seek refuge in Indonesia in an attempt to have a chance at life in a country that might possibly allow them to be considered human. It reminded me so much of my own parents’ stories. It was the first time I felt like someone understood my parent’s lives and I understood theirs. We asked for the video of one of their testimonies, but we know they are refugees who have converted from Muslim to Christians and the likely hood of us ever seeing the video in our inbox is slim to none.
As the days went by we booked our Airbnb day by day banking on the idea that someone would contact us after the weekend. Funny how you learn things in the waiting.
I learned that while we waited, we could rest. I learned that going to a grocery store can be an adventure or it can be a time for panick. I chose the latter…hear me out: the currency conversion is 1USD to 14,000ish Rupiah. Second, imagine grocery shopping during the holidays except you can’t understand a single word on the packages of things and one bell pepper costs 31,000 Rupiahs. I also learned that culture shock is real and I am not the exception when it comes to experiencing it. Finally, I learned that picking up the spiritual feelings around me is ok. What I choose to do with that is my decision. Indonesia 1, Marilyn 0.
Finally, yesterday we received a response from someone to go work in the mountains! We learned that the river will be our shower and that we will potentially live in either a tree house or in our tents for the next 8 days. We will be volunteering with the local people and helping someone “paint a wall”. We don’t know where our meals will come from as they use the “sharing method” and we don’t know what they will look like. We will be boiling our drinking water and we will be hiking. So this morning, we packed our big packs with he essentials, we left our other things at Katie’s contact (Cliff’s house) and we purchased 6 night bus tickets to the mountains. Currently, we are sitting at a Starbucks waiting for the hours to go by to go back to the bus station.
So here we are, and here’s the thing:
I will make it Indonesia 1 Marilyn 100 by the end of this month! I am determined to change the score because although Indonesia has been kicking my butt, Jesus is in my corner and I dare this place to compete with that. Indonesia to me feels opressed, scared, it feels anxious, it feels peace-less. Every day we walk outside it feels like everyone is lost and confused. It is no surprise because they are Muslim country. However, God has called us here to shine some light, whether that be helping in the mountains or walking through the city from day to day or connecting with refugees. I am determined to walk in the authority that Jesus has given me because he is not an Indian giver, he gives and nothing will ever take those things away. Culture shock has been real but it’s like a piece of chewing gum at the bottom of my shoe. It isn’t mine, and it isn’t the reason I have been brought here.
Keep praying for me guys, but most of all… Pray for the countries we have been going to. We are so privileged, this isn’t my life but it is the life that humans live on the other side of the world.
Don’t forget to check out my FB page for pics and updates as well. Please share this blog with those around you and remember I am still fundraising!
My next goal is to be fully funded!
