The most miraculous thing about this last trip is the closeness of our connections with the people. We were able to have a team meeting midway thru the trip, and our Indonesian leader and good friend, Pak Mel told us that it was beyond his wildest dream to ever be able to stay in an Acehnese village as an Indonesian from another region. He went onto describe how it is 10 times more amazing to see Americans arm in arm with Acehnese. It wasn’t until we got home, and were laughing about funny interactions in the village, and were text messaging our friends in Aceh 2 and 3 times a day in broken bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language), and were looking through our pictures that we really realized how amazing the trip really was.
Here is an excerpt from one our team members (she is pictured above)...
“We took an all-night bus ride to Aceh, my much-missed-home of two
weeks. While in Aceh we taught English, but the real action was in the
relationships we formed the youth of the village. I wish you could all meet
these kids! I fell in love with them. When I was first deciding to go to
Bible College, I wanted to major in youth ministries, and spent about a year
and a half in the ministry before the Lord moved me on. I am totally blown
away by the Lord's incredible plans. He took my passion for His name, my
love for foreign countries and peoples, and my desire to effect the youth in
this world, and melded it into the most incredible period of service I have
ever experienced”...
“I wept when I left. My heart is broken, and I found myself secretly praying
that something would go wrong with my passport so I wouldn't have to leave.
I'm sure my parents appreciate your prayers for my safe return :) I will
spend the next several months praying about what the Lord has for me. I am
hoping that He opens the door for me to work with Evangelism Explosion over
in Malaysia and Indonesia, more than anything I would love to intern with
them for six months to a year to see if that is the direction the Lord wants
me to walk in. I have a year left in school, and I'll be praying!”
God is truly awesome! We see more and more clearly that He is not a one-dimensional God. He is at work in Indonesia, as He is at work in these teams, as He is working on and in us, at the same time as He is working in all of our supporters lives, and in our families’ lives, and in everyone who is involved in or praying for or even just hearing the stories of His work around the world. It is a real privilege to be involved in His work and to have Him working through and many times in spite of us and our shortcomings and our sometimes small-pictured vision. Thank you all for being a part of His work too!
