Indonesia.
3rd October
My friend and I arrive at the prison with a personalised birthday cake, plates, sprite and expectation. The prison visiting area is all open so we were surrounded by tonnes of other people visiting loved ones. We sat on the concrete floor, surrounded by new friends and shared together our friend from Thailand's birthday. She still had 11 years of her unjustly given sentence left to serve, yet her hopes were still high and she had big dreams for what she would do once she was released. After being able to hang out with her I realised how I can never complain about anything ever again- if she can find joy in that then I can find joy in absolutely anything. It was so special to spend time with prisoners- with those who were seeking and finding freedom in Jesus though they had a dark past. I am so glad that God is way bigger and smarter and he can cover all wrong things done.
16th October
After a 1 hour drive we pull up to the little house where we will be spending the afternoon. I walk in to the tiny brightly coloured room and sit on the dusty tiled floor, looking around at the faces of the reserved yet smiling transgenders we were going to hang out with. I've never experienced something like this before but straight away I loved being there. We introduced ourselves, performed dramas and I talked about my story with them, which involved a sneak-a-preach and a near breakdown. After the performances my friend and I assisted one of the individuals to give their life to the sweet care of Jesus. It was in that moment, when I was listening to them ask Jesus in to their heart, that I finally had a glimpse in to what unconditional love is. It's sitting with the rejected, it's sharing stories of redemption, it's inspiring hope where none was before. It's telling the truth- life is hard but God is good. The love, forgiveness and acceptance in that moment was so powerful and impossible to explain in a blog post. A week later we arrived back in that tiny house and repeated a similar programme, later to have another individual give their heart to Jesus, as well as have people physically healed.
20th October
We felt like the theme of the afternoon at the orphanage should be joy- we wanted to bring hope and happiness to the children's lives but would that be insensitive, uncomfortable and awkward? Unsure. We followed the spirit's leading anyways, and after we performed puppets and a drama we turned up the music and told the children to join us dancing! At first we got blank stares and folded arms but it only took a few minutes to have even the hardest of hearts joining in. Jesus really know's whatsup and what his kids need- which is double stuffed oreos, dance parties and loads of laughing. As we pulled away from the orphanage for the last time, I felt a physical hurt in my chest and realised how short term missions is so hard. Those precious children and their stories will forever be stored in my heart and mind.
22nd October
Last minute plans and we are able to go to a government run high school to perform dramas, share testimonies and the gospel message. While our team was preparing I felt like I should be the one to do the Jesus talk and so I volunteer to do so. We arrive at the school and try to communicate with the teenagers, making me fully aware yet again how bad my Indonesian is. We performed the dramas and I got up and shared my heart about what Jesus has done for me, the significance of the cross and how others can accept Jesus in to their hearts. All religions and backgrounds were present in that class, but little did that really matter as most of the people came forward for prayer. Straight after that, all 16 of us and a sound system piled in to our van to travel another hour to the slum area where we would participate in a church service. After performing dramas and testimonies and offering prayer no-one stayed to respond to our message. People were friendly and welcoming yet no-one stayed; I learned that half the battle is choosing to not be discouraged in the midst of no response. I learned that ministry cannot be emotionally based- my love and my attitude needs to come from the heart and from the Holy Spirit or else I'll get burned out.
Amongst those ministries, we've also taught english to children and teachers, done friendship evangelism at the university, participated in multiple church services and served the places we've been staying at. We've helped teach soccer (meaning I've been shown how bad my football skills are), visited prisons, hung out with prostitutes and street kids, and done dramas on the beach. At the start of outreach I was honestly not that excited about being here but everyday I've grown to love this country more and more.
3rd October
My friend and I arrive at the prison with a personalised birthday cake, plates, sprite and expectation. The prison visiting area is all open so we were surrounded by tonnes of other people visiting loved ones. We sat on the concrete floor, surrounded by new friends and shared together our friend from Thailand's birthday. She still had 11 years of her unjustly given sentence left to serve, yet her hopes were still high and she had big dreams for what she would do once she was released. After being able to hang out with her I realised how I can never complain about anything ever again- if she can find joy in that then I can find joy in absolutely anything. It was so special to spend time with prisoners- with those who were seeking and finding freedom in Jesus though they had a dark past. I am so glad that God is way bigger and smarter and he can cover all wrong things done.
16th October
After a 1 hour drive we pull up to the little house where we will be spending the afternoon. I walk in to the tiny brightly coloured room and sit on the dusty tiled floor, looking around at the faces of the reserved yet smiling transgenders we were going to hang out with. I've never experienced something like this before but straight away I loved being there. We introduced ourselves, performed dramas and I talked about my story with them, which involved a sneak-a-preach and a near breakdown. After the performances my friend and I assisted one of the individuals to give their life to the sweet care of Jesus. It was in that moment, when I was listening to them ask Jesus in to their heart, that I finally had a glimpse in to what unconditional love is. It's sitting with the rejected, it's sharing stories of redemption, it's inspiring hope where none was before. It's telling the truth- life is hard but God is good. The love, forgiveness and acceptance in that moment was so powerful and impossible to explain in a blog post. A week later we arrived back in that tiny house and repeated a similar programme, later to have another individual give their heart to Jesus, as well as have people physically healed.
20th October
We felt like the theme of the afternoon at the orphanage should be joy- we wanted to bring hope and happiness to the children's lives but would that be insensitive, uncomfortable and awkward? Unsure. We followed the spirit's leading anyways, and after we performed puppets and a drama we turned up the music and told the children to join us dancing! At first we got blank stares and folded arms but it only took a few minutes to have even the hardest of hearts joining in. Jesus really know's whatsup and what his kids need- which is double stuffed oreos, dance parties and loads of laughing. As we pulled away from the orphanage for the last time, I felt a physical hurt in my chest and realised how short term missions is so hard. Those precious children and their stories will forever be stored in my heart and mind.
22nd October
Last minute plans and we are able to go to a government run high school to perform dramas, share testimonies and the gospel message. While our team was preparing I felt like I should be the one to do the Jesus talk and so I volunteer to do so. We arrive at the school and try to communicate with the teenagers, making me fully aware yet again how bad my Indonesian is. We performed the dramas and I got up and shared my heart about what Jesus has done for me, the significance of the cross and how others can accept Jesus in to their hearts. All religions and backgrounds were present in that class, but little did that really matter as most of the people came forward for prayer. Straight after that, all 16 of us and a sound system piled in to our van to travel another hour to the slum area where we would participate in a church service. After performing dramas and testimonies and offering prayer no-one stayed to respond to our message. People were friendly and welcoming yet no-one stayed; I learned that half the battle is choosing to not be discouraged in the midst of no response. I learned that ministry cannot be emotionally based- my love and my attitude needs to come from the heart and from the Holy Spirit or else I'll get burned out.
Amongst those ministries, we've also taught english to children and teachers, done friendship evangelism at the university, participated in multiple church services and served the places we've been staying at. We've helped teach soccer (meaning I've been shown how bad my football skills are), visited prisons, hung out with prostitutes and street kids, and done dramas on the beach. At the start of outreach I was honestly not that excited about being here but everyday I've grown to love this country more and more.
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