Suastiastu! (hello!)
What I have learned after living in Indonesia for 1 week:
Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t have many expectations, because I would have been wrong. We are living in a small village, filled with quite possibly the nicest humans I have ever met in my life. They are kind, generous, selfless & care deeply for people they do not know. It does not matter how you look, how you dress, or what you believe – you will be treated with respect, love & will be protected in all the ways they know how.
If you are hungry, they give you food. If you are hot, they give you a fan. If you walk by them, they say hello. I can probably count on one hand how many individuals I have met here that believe in Jesus, yet have felt the most abundant amount of love from everyone I have encountered. I wish I had the words to explain how the people of this village made 13 American girls feel like this home is now theirs, but I don’t know how to. FUN FACT: we are the first Americans to ever stay here! How sweet is that.
I am sleeping in a tent, I am sweating more than I ever thought I was capable of, I am going to the bathroom in a hole in the ground, I dry myself off from my shower but don’t actually stay dry because I am sweating already, I am one with the bugs, finding fruit was a highlight of the week, and in case you didn’t know… roosters do not only crow in the morning, but all. night. long. But no one is really complaining.
We have gotten to pray over so many broken people & families. We have shared meals with people & learned about their lives. We have made fools of ourselves by trying to do their Balinese dance; we have loved on their children & told people about our love for Jesus. Communicating the gospel here looks a lot different, but I am learning it really is just about how you love people. My prayer for this village & these people is that they would see something different in the first 13 Americans that lived in their village & realize it might just be because we love the Lord.
The hosts wife gave us a sour candy today & made us say the sweet but sour thing in our life right now before we ate it. Leaving my favorite people in the U.S. & living in not so glamorous living conditions can feel pretty sour. The first 3 days of traveling & showing up here were actually pretty hard. I was sad & I cried & I felt pretty anxious. Honestly, I was like whaatttt did I get myself into haha. But wow has it been sweet to feel so loved & welcomed by this village & these people. Jesus will always give us sweet with the sour, we just have to look for it.
& honestly, sometimes the sweet is just so much more evident than the sour.
Excited for many more weeks & many more sweet & sours!
xoxo,
Samantha
