After three flights and a long bus ride,we left 11 hours behind us,and exited the plane to find ourselves in Jakarta, Indonesia! The humidity and mosquitoes were the first to greet us! With greasy hair and tired eyes, my teammates and I explored the airport restaurants for breakfast. I ate some garlic toast, a boiled egg, and some black tea with milk. In an effort to experiment with the cultural norms, I smiled at people and said hello. Everyone responded in the same way, and were shy but friendly. Their English is very good, with a little accent. The Muslim women wear a hijab and the men wear prayer hats—which is most of the population. I got to talk to a group of women as we were waiting in line, and friends(!)—THEY WERE SUCH SWEETHEARTS! They are so gentle and polite, but have a sense of humor too! Truly a smile, a compliment, and just asking questions scales even the highest barriers!
1st Day
When our bus arrived in the suburb town we’d be living in at a bus stop, I looked out the window to see our host, Dessy, smiling the warmest smile and waving to us! She embraced each of us, and introduced us to Pa Ian and Pa Fabi—our other hosts—who loaded our hiking packs and my guitar into their small cars. The whole while, I could just see pure joy on their faces. “Pa” means “sir” in Indonesian. They drove us to a restaurant that was half inside half outside, and treated us to a feast! Servers brought fried eggplant, fish soup, brown rice, chicken legs, tempeh (tao fu), cassava leaves, and lots of different sauces to our table! The food was incredibly good and our company was even better! Afterwards, they drove us to the English language training center we’d be serving and living in this month. Once there, we peeked into the various classes going on and got to meet the very energetic children!
The eight of us slept in the upstairs classrooms, on our inflatable mattresses. I took a bucket shower, and avoided drinking the water by brushing my teeth and rinsing with a cup of clean water from a gallon of water they had bought for us. Dessy was joking with us about there being cockroaches, rats, and little lizards, but it wasn’t long until one of my teammates was screeching about a cockroach while using the squattie pottie and a little lizard jumped off the ceiling onto a bag a couple inches near me while I was unpacking things. SOOOOOOO… I was quick to put up my mosquito net around my inflatable mattress!
2nd Day
We had to pack up everything before nine, and store it on some racks in a back room, for their morning classes. We are all still adjusting to the time change, so Dessy brought us to her house to rest while classes were going on at the training center. The journey there was my favorite memory so far! We followed Dessy through the maze of narrow streets, as local people who were washing clothes, cooking food, working on the street or on their mo-ped, or watching their children play, smiled and waved at us! It felt like our team was part of a parade, as all the local people would see us coming and come out of their houses to greet us! Ah, it was such a precious cultural moment! SO MANY BEAUTIFUL SMILES!!
Once we arrived at Dessy’s house, she led us to a room with some mattresses on the floor for us to sit on and a little outdoor balcony. THEN! She left the room only to return with a little table full of fruit, Indonesian snacks, and bottled water! Oh my goodness, my heart just burst!! No joke, my eyes are filling with tears again just remembering her generosity! We spent the day there resting, journaling, and reading. Once classes were over around 3 PM, Dessy came back and we followed her to the local mall to eat lunch and go grocery shopping. That night we cooked a stir fry meal, while trying to “not see” the cockroaches that would scurry across the counter and disappear into another crack in the wall.
~~~
Thank you so much for all of your prayers! My team feels rested up now, and we are praising God for our wonderful hosts, indoor facilities, and each other! There are both Muslim and Christian teachers working at the language center, and they have a Bible study before class at eight each morning. The Christian teachers read the Qua’ran and the Muslim teachers read the Bible. They discuss commonalities and what they learned. Muslims will not allow Christians to talk about their faith, so the Christians show extremely high respect for the Muslim faith, and minister by how they live with love and serving. In return then, the Christians are loved by all. I was amazed by that, because I often see Christians in the U.S. speaking derogatorily to people of other beliefs and just how tragic that is because it distorts the character of Jesus. The Christians here deeply love each other and their Muslim neighbors.
Contact:
Since I’ve entered Indonesia, my phone will not work for the rest of the year. The best way to contact me is my email: k[email protected]. I also use WhatsApp and Marco Polo. I will be active on my blog weekly, so ask lots of questions and I appreciate your interaction! Let me know the questions you have in the comments below, so I can create my posts based on what you’re interested in and get the pictures you want to see! Lastly, take a moment to think of someone who might be inspired or supportive of these stories. Please subscribe their email to my blog, or share the link with them. I’m hoping these stories of how God is moving in the hearts and communities of people around the world will nudge other people to take up their skills and further the Kingdom. I want to hand off the baton for someone else to “go” when I return. You are welcome to share posts I write on your social media if you wish!
Prayer Requests:
- Muslims pray 5 times a day. If you could remember to intercede for them during those times that the truth of Christ would be revealed to them.
- Going to fast and pray for the lost in this community on Wednesday, if you would like to join us.
- For opportunities to be the hands and feet of Christ to the people we meet.
- Most people speak only a few basic words of English, so the language barrier is a big challenge… even in communicating with our hosts. We need lots of patience and grace!
- Bond of unity among our team!
- (updated) Tonight I got sick multiple times and now there is no food in my body. I also have a low fever and cannot keep any liquids down. Dessi sat beside me on the floor and held my hand and prayed for me in Indonesian. My teammate Shauny is also caring for me, and Malysa will take me to the doctor in the morning. WHAT A BLESSING COMMUNITY IS!
