You have already heard some things about our first month at BAIS in Kota Baru, but I want to share some final thoughts about what the Lord taught me this month.
You probably know that our responsibilities included many different tasks including some opportunities that we didn’t know we would have while in Indonesia.
What I haven’t shared yet is that one of the greatest visual lessons the Lord taught me this month happened in a PreK classroom.
The primary school was preparing for the 100th Day Celebration, where each kid would be knighted or crowned for their attendance. We were asked to help prepare some of the decorations for this celebration; including shields, a big sword, paper crowns for the princesses, and cardboard crowns for the teachers.
I volunteered for this task with AJ and Rachel not knowing what I had just signed up for.
We cut out all the shields and made the sword and began working on the crowns… and then it happened. The PreK teacher pulled out a box that had glitter of all shapes, colors, and sizes.
*Here’s something you should know about me… I do NOT like glitter. AT ALL. It is messy and it is contagious and once you get it, you can’t get rid of it.
But there we were, AJ wielding a box cutter and a cardboard shield and Rachel wide eyed with excitement and knee deep in glitter.
By the end of the day I had glitter all over me and though it wasn’t the happiest day of my entire life, the Lord made my heart a little more fond of glitter and used it as a great illustration for our first month of ministry.
When I looked at all the people that I met at BAIS, they reminded me of glitter in many ways.
As I spoke to them and got to know them, their love for Christ and for the people of Kota Baru shone so brightly.
First, it got my attention. They were so sacrificial in loving their students and their communities and that carried over to my team. More often than not, we were having dinner with some of the teachers and they were taking time out of their busy schedules to pour into us and get to know us. We were humbled at their hospitality and willingness to serve us.
But more importantly, it was contagious. I quickly began to see the students and the community through their eyes and the desire to serve and shine the light of Christ grew within me.
The cool thing about this illustration is that glitter doesn’t shine when it’s in darkness. For the glitter to truly be “glittery” there must be a source of light. For the staff and faculty at BAIS, the source of light that they reflect so well is Christ.
The reason that they are like the glitter is because they are purely a reflection of Christ’s love for the people of Kota Baru, for Indonesia, and for the world.
So, to my BAIS people, you grew on me quickly, your spirit was contagious and I am so thankful that the Lord allowed me to meet each and everyone of you.
I truly hope to leave a little of this BAIS glitter everywhere that I go.
(Seriously though, we are in the Philippines now and I’m still finding glitter!)
We arrived to our hostel in Manila a few nights ago. Our squad mentor wrote each of us a note with scripture on it no left it on each of our beds for us when we got there Thursday night. I laughed at the subtle reminder from the Lord about what He had just taught me in Indonesia when on this note there was a heart sticker covered in glitter.
It’s funny how the Lord can use something you hate to teach you something that you need.
