Indonesia in a Seven Minute Nutshell

Here is a video that sums up our Indonesia trip:

We made it!

After a long process, we all finally made it home! Our trip to the Philippines was seamless until we were ushered off of our plane upon departure due to "mechanical problems." Although we were all held up there over night, God took care of everything (as always). They set us up in a resort with an incredible all you can eat buffet and to top it off, hot showers! God must have wanted to pamper us for the night. The next morning we were off to Lax in an even nicer plane. Despite all of the layovers, delays, canceled flights, and full flights, we all made it home safely. Praise the Lord! God taught us so much on this trip and took us to so many places! Five different cities and three different orphanages to be exact! God led us to pass out rice, pray with locals, pray in Hindu temples, do a worship outreach, teach English, clean out a kindergarten, cook and clean at an orphanage, teach, share our testimonies, discover more about ourselves and our giftings, make lifelong friends, and much much more. He was so faithful to direct our steps and place us exactly where there was a need. I know the lessons we each learned will resonate in our hearts forever. Thank you all for everything you put in to making this trip happen. Every prayer and penny was much needed. You were as much a part of this team as us who were in Indonesia. May the Lord bless you!

Farewell for now...

Well, our time here in Indonesia has come to an end. The last few days we have been staying at the Global Church "surf house" resting, recuperating, and enjoying some last minute sunshine in the city of Jimbaran. Unfortunately, half of our team has gotten sick but were hanging in there! Our flight leaves tomorrow morning bright and early! We are sad to be leaving but we are all looking forward to seeing you all again! Please pray for our safe travels and that all of our sicknesses will be gone by morning! Thanks everyone, we love you.

In Him,
Team Indo

We love "Ubud!"

Well we had a tearful goodbye with our friends at the orphanage in Singaraja. They blessed us all with little photo albums they made with fabric from an island where they are praying about building their next orphanage. They also sang us a song and prayed for us. It was so incredible, we will carry them in our hearts forever. Now, we are staying in a town called "Ubud" which is a type of Mecca for new age yogis (people who do yoga). Spiritually, we have been facing some warfare but our team has remained strong with the power of Christ! Yesterday, we sat outside of  the monkey jungle holding signs that said "free prayer" and playing worship. We talked to many of the tourist and got to pray for some of the shop owners. Praise the Lord for planted seeds! Continue to pray for us as we leave tomorrow for another orphanage in East Bali. Thank you for all your support!

In Him,
Team Indo

Hello from Indonesia!

Hello dearest family and friends. It has been just over one week into our Indonesia trip and we are already getting sad about leaving. I feel that there are no words in which to describe our time here adequately. I wish you all could be here to experience it along side us, but words will have to suffice for now.

During our first few days in Bali met up with our awesome contact Richard who set us up in an incredible hotel close to the orphanage in which he works. Our second day we were able to take all of the littler children (the infants and toddlers) out to the beach for a few hours to give the house mothers a much-needed break. They were actually sent to go relax and get a massage while we got to play with the children. We piled into the back of a covered pickup truck with two benches bolted down in the bed of it and set out for the beach. When we arrived, the kids went crazy! Picking up starfish, sea urchins, and all kinds of other sea critters. The sight of nine little Indonesian children with a group of white people caused a few confused looks to be shot our way. One little boy named Komang danced all over the beach showing off his voice with the words “baby, baby, baby, Oh baby” which excited the Justin Bieber fans on our team (hm hm, Sarah).

The next day we purchased a large quantity of rice, which in Indonesian is pronounced “Nasi”, and distributed it throughout the slums with scriptures in each bag. The door for prayer was opened and we had the privilege of praying with every family that received rice! One family invited us back and gave us some delicious Indonesian food and hot peppers. And the team thought Beto’s salsa was spicy! One of the sons turned out to be a Christian sponsored by the ministry “Surfing the Nations” and he encouraged us to keep going in the Lords strength. 

For the last few days, we have been staying in the city of Singaraja at an orphanage called “The Jewel of the Nations.” Our ministry here has consisted mostly of cooking, cleaning, and playing with the children. God’s timing is so perfect because there is normally ten people here on staff but 7 of them are away at college and here we come, exactly 7 of us to fill their spots! God is so good!

The nation of Bali itself is a very dark place spiritually with Hindu idols every few feet and temples every fifty yards or so. Evangelism can be difficult here because many of the natives claim to be Christian but in reality, they’ve just added another god to their collection. Drugs and prostitution own the night and morality is thrown out the window. But praise the Lord because His light is penetrating the darkness! The orphanage and many missionaries in the area are making an impact on lives through the power of Christ.

Please continue to pray for our team that we may be as wise as serpents yet as innocent as doves in this nation. We ask that He may guide our steps, shine His light through us, and break hard ground with His love. Thank you for all our prayers and support, we will see you soon! If you'd like to look at some of our pictures, you can check them out here: Indonesia pictures.

Thanks!

"Leaving on a Jet Plane"

Well friends, we finally made it. Tomorrow is the big day and so full of "firsts." The first time our team will be together, the first time for some of us to be in California, and of course, the first time we will set foot on Indonesian soil! Praise God we are finally going! Please pray that the travels go smoothly and that we enter into our time in Indonesia without being overcome by jet lag. Continue to keep us in your prayers, it's a battle out there and you are on the front lines fighting on our behalf.

In Him,
Team Indonesia.