A month and a half and I am reflecting back on my time here already, contemplating the future but still focusing on the present. 6 weeks of encouraging the Church, investing in students, and being on one the craziest adventures ever. Where to start is a great question. For most of our time here we've been going around speaking in churches. I've had the opportunity to speak a few times and I have absolutely loved it. You learn so much from doing your homework on a subject. Also, when you are speaking and see that person in the crowd that gets it, it makes it all worth it. I've loved speaking but I have truly enjoyed seeing the students step out and speak on a regular basis. They are doing an amazing job. I enjoy helping them prepare and look up scriptures, bouncing ideas back and forth and just encouraging them. It's been a blessing to see God challenge and stretch them during this time.
Having to preach so much and really dig into the Word has sparked a hunger for the Word and a desire to know the answers to hard questions in them. I absolutely love it. I've really had the opportunity to have great conversations and just discuss the Bible and who God is. My absolute favorite setting is this: being out in the jungle, at our home (which is as basic as it gets), sitting on the porch (accompanied by others) after a long day of ministry, Bible and coffee Indo style(that is with tons of coffee grounds and overloaded with sugar, no creamer) in hand
, the wind starts to pick up and before you know it its pouring rain, and then the setting is just perfect and someone speaks up and starts the beginning of hours of discussion about God, the Bible and life. Then you realize its extremely late and decide to crawl into your mosquito net and go to bed. I Love it. It's such a blessing. They have grown so much and so have I. It seems the crazy conditions are just what we needed.The conditions have been a blessing and just flat out fun. We usually get into a dump truck, boat, motorcycle, pick up truck or just walk and eventually arrive at a new village (our new home for 2 to 4 days). We meet the person in charge (usually the pastor or village leader), sit down at their home, drink tea, eat snacks and get a bunch of durian or rambutan(these are the fruits hear in Indonesia, which are amazing). After about 10 to 15 minutes we get up shake hands with them and get shown our new homes (usually an elders home), scout out the wooden planked floor and claim our sleeping area. After getting settled in we usually ask where the river is and if we can mandi (shower in Bahasa). We walk or take a motorcycle there, jump in, try to do some flips and what not, hope to see an ular (that's snake in Bahasa) and then eventually head back. Things stay eventful on they way back because every person we see is looking at you(this is an over statement but you get the picture hopefully) and trying to take a picture of the Bules (that's foreigners). After getting back you here someone say makan (eat) and know its lunch time. We sit in a circle on the ground bless the food and dig in. After this we relax until m
inistry that night (unless you are speaking, in which case you would be working on your sermon). Relaxing consist of pulling the chess board out, reading the Bible or another book, having theological discussion, making a coffee and just ponder life at times. Dinner strolls around and is very similar to lunch. When its time for ministry we get dressed up, pray for the people speaking and then head to church. On arrival we head to the front and take our seats. We eventually go up introduce ourselves, sing a song, perform a drama and then give the sermon. After this has all taken place we end with worship and when Bapa Terima Kasih (Thank You Father) is played everything comes to a close. We stand up and shake every ones hand (this is not an overstatement) and then head home. We get home, get comfortable and relax. Then someone says "Coffee?" and of course we all reply by saying yes in unis
on. By the time the coffee is ready we have schemed up how to set up our mosquito nets for "primo" sleeping conditions (its quite amazing to see it complete), and pulled the Bible, books and chess board out. Then everything is set for the glorious porch scene to take place. After, an hour or 2 we decide to call it quits and crawl into our mosquito/safety nets and rest up for tomorrow. I enjoy it so much. God is doing amazing thing in the people here and our team. I have really been blessed so far. Thank you so much for all your prayers in support. Until next time. Ray
