So for our first month of ministry as a newly formed team of only men, we were placed on the island of Bali. Yes, that Bali — one of the most popular vacation destinations in all of Southeast Asia, and maybe even the world. To say that we weren’t faced with temptations everyday would be an understatement but God gave us many surprises both before and during the month, including a special ministry that is uniquely different to The World Race experience. Take a look!
MANISTRY
[Team Wild + Mentor] Our first surprise actually started back in Vietnam at debrief when we found out that our mentor would be staying to join us for a week in Indonesia! He had mentioned to us guys at the very beginning at Training Camp in January that most squads have a month of men’s ministry, or “Manistry”, and that even though there are only 4 of us, he was fighting to give us the same opportunity. So to discover that we indeed were having our Manistry month and that he’d be joining us for a portion of it was an absolute treat. We were able to learn from his experience on the Race and live life together that first week. We had team morning workouts on the beach, connected with local believers and were treated to dinner at an all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse on his final night. What else would you expect from a men’s ministry!
[Team Wild + Exposure] So you could probably tell from the earlier pictures that we had another guy on our Manistry team…and Asian too! Our second surprise was that our team was the one getting our first Fusion Exposure Participant for the year! An Exposure Participant is an international person who joins the Race for only a month or two in order to be exposed to what The World Race is about, and it’s unique to only the Fusion squads. His name is Landy and he is Indonesian, which was awesome because he could translate everything for us, haha. Landy actually quit his job as a pharmacist literally the day before we arrived at the airport in Jakarta! He then flew with us to Bali and stayed with our team for the entire month to do ministry. Landy even slept the night at the airport with us on our final day in Indonesia just so he could meet the rest of our squad! Our team was absolutely lucky and blessed to have met Landy — to learn about his culture, his life and him as a person in general — and to call him a fellow brother in Christ. If all Exposure Participants are like him, we’ll gladly take more!
LIFE IN BALI
[Kuta Beach] Our third surprise, of course, was finding out that our team was spending the month in Bali. And not just any part of Bali but in Kuta Beach, the most touristy area on the entire island. The beach is stunningly beautiful and the waters are some of the warmest I’ve ever been in. Kuta Beach is also a great spot for beginner surfers, so it wasn’t a surprise to see a class or two going on throughout the day everyday! It was definitely a privilege to be right there by the beach…and we made sure to take advantage of it as much as we could!
[Streets and Alleyways] Being such a vacationer’s hot spot, Kuta Beach is full of streets lined with souvenir stands, shops and restaurants. And what’s more, there are what seems to be endless alleyways connecting the main streets with even more souvenir stands, shops and restaurants, haha. Kuta Beach is pretty bustling during the day, but it comes to life at night like many other popular beach destinations. It was great being in a place with so much energy and activity, but without question it made doing ministry there difficult. But God was still able to use us in that place…and had some great food along the way — so much nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice)!
[Hindu Influence] If you didn’t already know, Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world, with 87% of its 258 million people being Muslim. But oddly, Bali is an exception — it is actually a Hindu island with 84% of its inhabitants being Hindu. As such, the local people and culture are deeply rooted in strong Balinese Hindu traditions and influences, which was evident in the customs and architecture we saw on a daily basis. In fact, Bali is known as the “Island of the Gods,” with an estimated 20,000 puras (temples) and shrines. And you really couldn’t get around the island without seeing a temple or shrine every 5 minutes or so!
UNSUNG HEROES
So we were one of two teams on our squad who had the opportunity to do a special ministry program within The World Race called Unsung Heroes while in Indonesia! What is Unsung Heroes? Well, I’ll just let our Unsung Heroes (UH) FAQ sheet tell you!
“Unsung Heroes are men and women who are dedicated to serving some of the most impoverished populations in the world but are most likely unrecognized and unknown. The vision of the UH Program is to connect and network with Unsung Heroes in an effort to come alongside them and provide lift to their efforts to further the Kingdom. The goal is to allow individuals on the ground to identify persons that are working to further the Kingdom and to assess how we could serve them and the potential for host status. This program is about hearing hearts, documenting visions and empowering hopes.
And yes, it does matter! Right now 25% of ALL of our contacts are found through UH. As The World Race and all of Adventures in Missions’ programs expand, our need for more amazing hosts also expands. This is your opportunity to be on the front lines of the future.”
So that’s what we were and did — being the front lines for Adventures in Missions (AIM) and seeking out potential future hosts for their programs, like The World Race, in Indonesia and specifically Bali for our team. Many of our hosts in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam were the result of the UH Program so our entire squad has already received the benefits from it! And in fact, our squad was only the second time ever that The World Race had sent an entire squad to Indonesia…and one of our teams even worked with a host that the first squad had found!
And what exactly did the Unsung Heroes ministry look like for us? First we would look for local contacts, whether in person or thru the internet. Then once a contact was found and communication was established, we would setup a meeting with them to discuss who Adventures in Missions/The World Race are and what the Unsung Heroes program is about. Sometimes the contact would invite us to see and/or participate in their ministry as well. And then at the end, our team would evaluate their ministry against a UH checklist (ie. being Kingdom focused, ministry capacity to host future squads/teams and other logistical requirements like lodging, food and water access) and submit an online UH form to the AIM home office with our recommendations.
Honestly in the beginning, it was a lot of listening prayer and just sitting in a Starbucks doing research online — on churches, organizations, orphanages, anything. But slowly as we started receiving responses back, we followed the breadcrumbs and let God lead us. He directed us to a local church that basically became our de facto host for the month and a few schools and organizations that we were able to check out. There was a handful of potential hosts that we met thru our Unsung Heroes experience so instead of detailing all of them here, I want to share on two that I personally enjoyed!
KUTA INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CHURCH (KICC)
One of the first responses we received from our Unsung Heroes search was from Kuta International Christian Church (KICC) (kutainternationalchristianchurch.worthyofpraise.org). We asked if the pastor or anyone from the church was available that coming Sunday to share what our team was doing in Bali. But instead of Sunday, they invited us to a prayer meeting that same night (Friday) to meet some people! It was definitely a divine appointment and the Holy Spirit was present there that night (a girl was exorcised!), and we were also able to make some great connections and friendships thru it!
[Home Church] KICC really did become like a home church for us while in Bali. After that initial prayer meeting visit, the church members were so eager to assist us, going above and beyond anything we could have expected. They helped to find lodging, connected us with other ministries in Bali and even gave us money for meals! And they also literally opened their homes for us, as the head pastor allowed our team to stay at his house for more than a week…for free! His hospitality was such a blessing for us, as his home provided a sense of stability and allowed us to have prayer and worship sessions together as a team there. We were also able to attend two Sunday services at KICC while in Bali and were even present for the ordination of their new church leadership. What a privilege it was to witness such a special moment for and with KICC!
[Family Meals] Food is an important element of many cultures, and it was no different in Bali and with KICC. The church members were so gracious and willing to take us out for food and cook meals for us, some of which took almost 4 hours! It truly did feel like a family as we sat there in their homes and simply talked before, during and after the meal. We were able to learn so much more about the Balinese culture thru our conversations. If the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach, then KICC definitely made their way into ours!
[Beach Worship] One of my favorite memories from our time with KICC is worshiping with them on the beach…at sunset! Apparently this was something they did pretty frequently on Sundays after service, and we were so lucky to share in this experience that one evening. We sang praise for an hour or so and once the sun went down, we then played a few Indonesian games on the beach in the dark! What a truly fun and awesome moment it was — to worship and laugh as brothers and sisters in Christ from two different cultures. Our team was beyond blessed to have met the people of KICC and be welcomed into such a loving community during our stay in Bali!
KINGDOM CHILDREN MINISTRY ASIA (KCMA)
Another Unsung Heroes response we received was from a Christian organization called Kingdom Children Ministry Asia (KCMA) (www.kingdomchildrenministryasia.com.au), whose goal is “to be a foundation that makes a real difference and improves lives and gives hope to children and families from impoverished backgrounds.” During our initial meeting with the director of KCMA, we found out that the last team they hosted back in December 2015 was the same YWAM team that we shared our hostel with back in Thailand in January! What a small world! KCMA’s primary ministries aren’t in Kuta Beach, but in a small town called Amlapura near Bali’s eastern coast. Two of my teammates and I were able to make a trip up to Amlapura for a few days and see these ministries firsthand!
[Kindergarten School] One of KCMA’s main ministries is teaching kindergarten at a Christian school in Amlapura. They teach two different classes (for ages 4 and 5) in the mornings everyday (except Sundays) and are free to the students. This is significant because in Indonesia, primary education starts and is free beginning at age 6, which is equivalent to first grade. So it is very rare to find a school that offers free education to kindergarteners in Indonesia. But KCMA highly values the importance of education for kids, especially those from impoverished areas, and uses teaching as a powerful ministry tool to enter into these communities. While most of their students come from Hindu backgrounds, the teachers incorporate Christian elements such as prayer and praise into their classes. In fact, our team was able to teach and lead a praise song for them during our visit!
[River Kids] Another one of KCMA’s ministries is what they call the “River Kids,” which refers to children in an even more impoverished part of Amlapura. The children and their families live deeper in the jungle area of the town where many people do not go into. Their homes are simple huts and are positioned along a small river, hence the name “River Kids.” KCMA has gone into this neglected community and developed relationships with the people there — they even welcomed us with traditional Balinese leis! KCMA has also created an education ministry there as well, teaching a wide age group and on a variety of subjects everyday (except Sundays) in the afternoons. I had the opportunity to teach a lesson on how to tell time during our visit and also lead a few games with them afterwards!
[Remote Village] KCMA also has a ministry focused on serving a remote village community about 40 minutes from Amlapura. The village is high in the mountains and is thus not a very accessible area to reach. However, KCMA has been able to establish trust with the villagers and now makes weekly visits to help them with many different things. On our particular visit, we went there to treat and dress a deep cut for one of the kids because they didn’t have a basic first-aid kit to do it themselves. They have also helped build a shelter with a small kitchen and bedroom that the community uses for communal gatherings, and is in the process of putting showers there as well. And while they have more projects lined up for the future, KCMA has already made a tremendous impact for this village and its people there!
