Cows and Goats

This post is a little on the weighty side.  I write this today with a heavy heart.

For the majority of the people living here, today is a very significant religious day. For a couple of weeks, we’ve seen empty lots and fields fill with goats and cows. We’ve laughed at how strange it is to see people walking their newly purchased animals down the main roads, a goat on the front of a motorcycle, or riding in a rickshaw. I’m not going to lie, it’s comical. That’s not something we’re likely to see in America and one of those cultural sights that makes one really aware of the fact that this is a very different country. What made my heart heavy this week though, is that this has all been leading up to today.  It’s the Day of Atonement and those lots and fields are now empty.

On our way to church this morning we passed by a ceremony in progress.  Faithful ones had brought their goats or cows to be the blood sacrifice for their sins, and there were many that had already been slaughtered and hung up. While I didn’t see the entire ceremony, this brought a new understanding of what it looked like in the Bible when offerings were brought to the temple and presented to the priest.  There were celebrations last night in anticipation for today. Throughout the country, crowds were walking the streets with torches, chanting, and lighting fireworks.

           “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the [Indonesians] is that they may be saved.  For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.  Because they disregarded the righteousness from God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves to God’s righteousness.  Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes…. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  Romans 10:1-5, 13.

This week I have been gripped with a conglomeration of emotions about this whole experience. 

One. I am the teary-eyed kind of grateful for the love of my God.  He no longer requires a blood sacrifice for my sins. Jesus accomplished that on the cross and we have been freed from condemnation through Him. Once and for all.  I can’t express my joy over this with words.  My heart is so full!

Two. I’m surrounded by those who are in desperate need of this freedom. Romans 10 has been a chapter I have gone back and read countless times while I have been here, and this morning my pastor here prayed the above verses over the people of Indonesia. He pleaded with the foreigners in the congregation to, at least just for today, claim this land as our own, and these people as our people, and cry out on their behalf.  

Three.  I wonder what it’s like to experience a “cleanse from sin” every year.  I wonder what kind of emotions they feel after the whole process is finished.  

Four.  How do I even begin reaching out? Romans 10:14-15. I know God has a plan. Wondering what my part here is….

Please pray for this country and for my interactions with those who live here.  There is a great amount of spiritual warfare.  Pray that I’m reminded daily of why I’m here and that it’s on the forefront of my mind. 

Thank you, and God bless!!

Prepositions

This morning with my class of 3-4 year olds:

Me: Touch your heads!

Students puts hands on heads.

Me: Touch your ears!

Students put hands on ears.

Me: Touch your shoulders!

Students put hands on shoulders.

Me: Touch your nose!

Students put fingers in nose. 

Me: Yuck! Take those out!

Students look at me as if that was the worst suggestion they've ever heard and continue digging further. Bleh!

Next lesson: Prepositions.

A few blurbs

one. My list of new and strange foods is quickly growing. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes not. I got tricked into drinking luwak coffee last week by my dear, sweet housemates. I can now say that I’ve had the most exclusive and expensive coffee in the world. It was not something I would have done on my own, but I guess it makes for a good story, right??

two. We started a new teaching term a couple of weeks ago. I love that I get to change classes and foci every 10 weeks. It’s refreshing for the teachers as well as the students. In the same week, I teach several classes of 3-4 year olds, 5-7 year olds, and 13-16 year olds.  As ill-equipped as I feel at times to teach the older students, I absolutely love the variety of ages.  Maybe something to consider permanently when I move home??

three. I karaoke.  

four. I like to go walking in my neighborhood at night because it’s cooler. It’s also a perfect opportunity to listen to and practice my Indonesian language podcasts.  I like it when my neighbors are outside because then I can have someone with whom I can practice my new words. It’s fun! I think of the language as a secret spy code, and if I speak the magic words correctly, I get inducted into the secret society of Indonesian speakers. But then they say secret spy words back to me. Unfortunately, I swiftly get kicked back out because they realize I’m an Indonesian language imposter.

five. Both campuses of my church are in malls. It seemed a very strange concept at first, but I have come to really like it. It’s so much fun to get a group together and go grab lunch. then grab a coffee. then watch a movie at the mall theater. then go shopping. then go hang out in the church lobby again.  We end up spending the majority of the day together. Sunday is a fun day to spend time with friends and get to know them more. Who knew malls could be so handy??

six. My heart aches for the people living in poverty. The really great thing about living here though, is that it is so easy to be a blessing to someone in need. If I give someone the equivalent of a dollar, that is more than enough needed to buy a good meal.  The streets are lined with people just trying to make ends meet, and they are so grateful when someone is willing to help.

seven. Along the same lines, my heart breaks for those who are being trafficked. As we are on the road stopped at traffic lights, we are constantly approached by men, women, and children who are selling goods, wanting to wash windows, or are simply begging. The women carry their babies out with them (yes, exposing them to exhaust all day) in hopes that passersby will want to help the children most of all.  I can’t help them all, but I do smile at each one, and as I see them walk away, I wonder how they ended up where they are, if they are out here on their own accord, where their family is, and if they are being treated fairly as an employee. There’s a lot of corruption here, and I know more of it goes on in front of me than I can even imagine.  Oh, and the worst thing I learned recently?  The babies, more often than not, have been rented for the day.

eight. Many people have already been asking about what my plans are for next year. Including my current employers. Many of you know that I still have my position at my school in Idaho, and it is being held for me for this one year. Of course, during my moments of homesickness, I am ready to head home as soon as I can, but I know that important decisions are best not made during emotional times. :)   I am confident that I will begin to feel the Lord leading me in one direction or another over the next few months. Please pray for wisdom for me in discerning His voice and His call in this area. 

Could you also please pray for my visa application to go through?? For some reason, it's taking a lot longer than it should and the agent working on it doesn't seem to be in any rush. There is no need to worry about me being forced to leave, but it would just be a lot simpler if everything could be processed sooner rather than later.  Thank you so much!!

God bless :)

Before I came to Indonesia, I remember saying, "I hope kids are silly in Indonesia!" Uh... what was I thinking? Of course kids are silly here.

At the start of class yesterday, a boy looks at me, with a finger up each nostril, and asks, "Miss Jamie, can you do this??" while staring cross-eyed at what must have been a great feat for him.  

 Oh geez....

Also, I work with really silly people. The other day, during a staff luncheon with the staff from both Efex campuses, I said it was hot, and a friend started fanning me and declared that I am, "Miss Jamie, Potato Princess, from the far away land of Idaho."

Fun in Manado = Funado...?

We had a lot of fun on the mission trip to Manado. I enjoyed being silly with new friends and experiencing things that expatriates don’t normally get to experience, especially when they have only been in country for less than a month.

1. We rode in bemos quite a bit. That is the cheap transportation in Indonesia. It’s a small van. A small van with large possibilities, that is. We crammed a lot of us in there. No personal space? No problem.

 2. We drove to several lakes one day. We were disappointed in the rainy weather because, apparently, the lakes change color during the day. The locals said that the lake can change from green to blue to purple to red. Maybe there will be a next time??

3. After kids camp, we spent Thursday afternoon at a lake (just a regular, non-color changing lake this time). The boat men were going to take us out, but they ended up taking a break instead. So we just took pictures. Lots of pictures.

4. I was asked to be in so many people’s pictures this week. I felt like a celebrity. There are not many “boo-lay” who travel to the smaller villages, so when they saw Carrie and I and the pastor’s daughters, they all wanted pictures with us. They were also sooo interested in… well… boo-lay rear ends… and not just the kids who can't help their self control yet. The moms. While taking a picture with a mom and her kids, I got goosed.

I decided that the next person to ask me to take a photo with them, I would get one of them as well. These girls were more than a little surprised. haha

5. Bunaken. I’m just telling you that my pictures won’t do justice to how beautiful the snorkeling was in Bunaken (So, basically, you should google it and look at the images there). It’s a snorkeling and diving destination in Indonesia. We spent our last day out in the ocean. It was disheartening to see a lot of pollution in the water, but everyone’s response was, “That’s Indonesia for ya.” Our boat driver ended up taking us to a more secluded place to snorkel where there wasn't floating garbage. Amazing. I could look down and see 15 different types of fish swimming through the coral. I liked to just float above and look at all that was happening. It was as if I was in another world. The water was “take-your-breath-away” clear, and it seemed as if all the fish had personalities.  

I Ran!!

....into people I know, that is (I hope you know how ridiculous it would be for me to be excited about running. Now, that's just a silly idea).  I haven't run into people I know in public places for seven weeks. SEVEN WEEKS, PEOPLE.  They were two girls I know from my small group.  I might have been a little too excited when I saw them, but I didn't even care. In a city of nearly 3 million people, I ran into friends.  Maybe I'm becoming a local?

Manado Ministry

During the week, there were two main ministry foci for the team: build three churches and run part of the kids’ camp.

Before we began our main ministry for the week, our team split into 4 sub-teams to go attend a different local church. One of the pastors was a part of each group and was invited to preach the message for the morning. I was asked to give my testimony, as well as another member of the team, Wijaya, who was nice and translated for me as well. 

Side note: I always get super awkward and nervous when speaking in front of people. Oh, the joys of being an introvert! Luckily, God doesn’t seem to mind.

The men, as well as a local missionary named Tanya, worked at the building sites from about 7:30 in the morning until about 8 at night.  Their goal was to get the beams erected and the roof constructed for three churches in three days. Only one of the sites was close enough for us to watch the progress, and it was so cool! They were lifting beams and climbing up on the roof all day long.  They were working so hard for the Lord during those days, they were exhausted at night. Dirty and exhausted. Mostly dirty.

The kid’s camp is a yearly event hosted by one of the churches in Tomohon.  Children from all the villages in the northern part of the island walk to the campground fully equipped with their clothes, bowl, spoon, and Bible. It was strange to see so many young kids come such a long distance (some walked for several hours) without their parents, but that’s just the culture there. There were some children as young as 3 years old up to 12 years old.

Kelly and I were decked out to award prizes to kids who could say the memory verse.

Our team’s role was to lead the kids in worship and teaching for three sessions during their 4-day camp. It really didn’t seem like a lot of work, but it was enjoyable to work with my new friends and get to serve together.  The language barrier was very difficult for me, but everyone was SO patient! I had a speaking part with the puppets, so I had to learn my lines well enough for several hundred kids to hear and understand.  I tried so hard! If you’ve ever seen the episode of Friends when Phoebe is teaching Joey how to speak French, just imagine me speaking like Joey.  I sounded ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. And it took me SO long to figure out how to say my words.

I also played the part of the Master in the parable of the talents. I’ve never been called “Barbie” in my entire life, but when I walked out wearing my crown and robes, I guess one of the kids whispered under her breath, “wow…. Barbie….” Haha…. I would have lost it if I’d heard that! They are so easy to entertain!

Worshiping with the kids was my favorite part of the entire mission trip. From now on, when I read about how Jesus tells us to be like little children, I will picture these kids. They were sensitive to the Holy Spirit and were able to worship God with their entire selves. They were excellent worshipers.  I was moved to tears at the genuine praises they were giving with hands held high, eyes closed, and voices singing.  What passionate little people.  

 














All in all, I enjoyed doing ministry with my new friends. There were times when I wished I could have done a lot more, but in the midst of the down times during the week, God was challenging me to grow closer to Him.  Slowly and so patiently, He shows me areas where I need work. There is a certain camaraderie that is formed when groups are together day-in and day-out, and it was a blessing to make a lot of good and close friends this week.