God is Good! (Proof from Indonesia)

I spent the weekend in Indonesia with my friend Hannah, and group of people who love the Lord. I thought we were going to volunteer at an orphanage, but instead we were ministering to people in a mostly Muslim village. We took a ferry from the East coast of Singapore to the island of Bintan. It's about a 2 hour boat ride across the ocean.When we arrived in Indonesia, everyone else had to wait in the "you don't need a visa because you are from Southeast Asia" line (which was pretty long) while I got to stand in the "You need to give us your money before you enter our country" line because I am not. I had to pay $10 US, but I didn't have to wait in line, a fair trade I suppose. When we made it through immigration and customs, we went to our hotel for lunch. There were about 16 people in our group, many who come each month. All of them were either Singaporean or Malaysian. The church that many of the people are from has adopted a couple of villages on Bintan. They provide rice and milk and clothes for the people each month. The leader of the village is Catholic, but many (and possibly most) of the people are Muslim. They explained the basic gist of our trip over lunch at our hotel, and then we loaded into a bus for a 2 hour drive to the other side of the island. We started off on paved, two-lane roads and ended on a dirt path at the other coast.

When we arrived, there were children waiting in this building outside the church, and trucks had come ahead of us carrying the rice, which they were unloading. We unloaded the clothing, and started filling sacks with provisions. Each of these sacks contains a months worth of rice, two cans of milk and three articles of clothing. It was a little chaotic while we were filling them, but it was good. All the time we were working, women and children from the village came and sat around the outside. The people there speak a language that is very similar to Malay, so the Malaysian members of our team could communicate freely with them. One of the elders sang with the children, a combination of Christian and non-Christian songs. During the signing, there were Muslim children present, some of whom closed their lips tightly during these songs. But, they still heard about God's love for them.

After the singing, the children were given Easter eggs to color. They took this very seriously, and did a great job. I tried to talk with these girls, but they didn't speak English, and I didn't even know how to say "hello" in their language. The giggled at me a lot and I was rewarded with beautiful smiles. After the coloring and a little more singing the children scattered, and sister Regina (a Malaysian team member) told us we were going to go house visiting.

The houses are built on stilts over the water. There is a basic wooden frame, and planks nailed down. You could see the water below through the cracks in the floor, and you could feel the boards bend under the weight of people walking and sitting on them. The houses were fairly bare inside, most didn't have anywhere to sit besides the floor. We were invited into many homes, where we handed out more clothing and candy, and invited people to come to church. I really wish that I knew some of the language because I felt very much at a loss as to what was going on most of the time. I later learned that some of the homes that invited us in where Muslim homes, where the leaders of our team have built relationships over the past few years, and gained the trust of the people. After our visiting, we headed back to get ready for the church service. The service was in Malay, and there were not nearly as many people as had been there earlier in the day. This was at least partially because many of the Muslim people had come for the singing and coloring and food distribution. At the service, we started off with singing and prayer. Then, one of the Malaysian brothers gave a sermon, which again, I didn't understand because it was in Indonesian/Malay. At the end, he asked if there was anyone who wanted to give their heart to Christ, and three people raised their hands. He then went on to pray with them, and explained that they have been coming and listening and learning for many months, and now were ready to give their hearts to Christ. At that point in the service, he asked us to go around and pray for the congregation, one person at a time. It was wonderful to be able to pray for brothers and sisters in Christ that I didn't really know. I didn't know their names or their languages, but we serve the same God, and that God is mighty and powerful and hears the prayers of His people, whether they are in Malay, Indonesian, or English. It doesn't matter to Him!

When we finally got back to the hotel, I was pretty tired, so after supper and debriefing, I headed to bed. This morning we had devotions after breakfast. We sang together, and then one of the elders asked for everyone to share their testimonies. It was amazing to hear what God is doing and has done in the lives of others. When it was Evelyn's turn to share, she said that her testimony was short because she was just starting to learn about the Bible and Jesus. Her family has recently become Christian and out of respect she attends church when visiting them. Then she shared testimonies of what God is doing in their lives, and said that she is going to continue to seek the truth. Please pray for her that God will make Himself so real that she will KNOW that He is the one true God!

After devotions we had lunch and headed out to go "shopping." We only went to a store that sold things like anchovies, fish balls, prawn crackers, and nuts. That wasn't exactly what I had in mind, so while they shopped for food, I went across the street and bought myself some clothes. My outfit only cost 45,000! Such a bargain! (It really is, it's like $3.60 US) When we finally finished shopping, we headed back to the ferry and headed home. I'm hoping to get to go again sometime, because it was amazing to see what God was doing. I love being with His people and working where He is working!