It’s easy

A little recap of my month in Indonesia so far. We started out landing in Bali Indonesia with no plan or direction. Through a friend we meet a Pastor named Wita who was so cool and free. One of his catch phases was “livelive life out loud!” He led my team and I to his village called Desar Batuan. We made a deal with the village leaders that if we teach the children English they would give us food and free lodging. We said yes and had the privilege of teaching English to Hindu children. We got to sleep at the community temple where all the Hindu leaders met a few times a week. At this temple we met many new friends, one man in particular named Kris. He was our translator and host. He knew we were followers of Jesus and that our main mission was to share Jesus with everyone. We got to teach English to children then play games with them. We mainly played soccer on a field about 1/4 mile from the temple. To get to the field we would walk through a neighborhood then through some rice fields along a very narrow path to get to the soccer field. I loved walking with the kids to the field it was one of my favorite things to do.

The village leaders loved hosting Americans. One day we went to a beautiful waterfall. We had to trek through the jungle to get there and on the way we stopped by an awesome coffee shop. They farmed luwak coffee beans there. For those of you who don’t know, luwak coffee comes from the poo of a cat like animal that is fed coffee berries lol. I tried some and I’m not a big fan of coffee but it wasn’t terrible. I couldn’t taste any poo. After this adventure the host took us to the master painter of the village. This man showed us a few techniques and gave us each paper and paint. We got to paint with him and it was amazing! After that we went to see the master carpenter. This man built beautiful pieces of wood carvings all by hand. Everything from huge door frames and wall murals to small pieces the size of books. After this they took us to an art gallery. This place was huge and it was filled with beautiful art work. As we made our way back to the temple Kris tells us that we will be having a community bbq. So we help with the cooking and the prep. Chopping chili’s and onions then getting to make what they call “sate.” It’s a combination of fish ginger and a few other spices molded around a stick. After they are molded around the stick we place them on the bbq. I was on the grill and it was so cool! It may have been one of my favorite meals of Indonesia. After our dinner we had a jam session. We passed the guitar around the community playing all kinds of different songs. They would play some Balinese songs then we would play a song. We ended with a few worship songs and had these Hindu temple leaders singing along and praising Jesus! It was a powerful night and such a blessing to be a part of. On our last day the community came over early and dressed us in there traditional Balinese attire. The men were dressed as warriors and the women were elegant dancers.

During all of our time here we walked in love. At the very end of our stay I was able to have a great conversation with one of my friends about how loved he is by Jesus. My friend was the one asking questions and really wanting to know about this Jesus we serve and love. Then God was able to heal this guys friend. His friend had hurt his finger badly and it had been giving him lots of pain. We prayed for the pain to be taken and it was. The man looked at us confused and honestly a little freaked out. It was proof to my friend that our God is alive in us and that He gives freely.

My time in Desar Batuan was amazing! I love how although we never had a plan God put us in a Hindu temple to love on the community. It took us 5 days to cultivate a relationship that would allow us to share Jesus with the people of Desar Batuan. And it was so worth it. My prayer is that God will continue to send His people to that village. We were just the beginning I know God will send others to water the seed we planted. And eventually grow new followers of Jesus.

Thank you for reading and your support. If you have any questions about my time in Desar Batuan or my journey so far please reach out to me, either by commenting here emailing me or through Facebook. I would love to answer any questions you have.