And so it begins…

After a month and a half we have finally split into our individual teams! As a whole we are known as E-Squad (Expedition Squad Route). Within the squad we are a cumulative total of 5 different teams to make it easier and more efficient to travel within and across these countries. Also more secure while drawing less attention to ourselves besides obviously being American lol. Definitely have an interesting story on that so bear with me. But here we are 5 teams…Black Ops, Botanical Pandas, The Kooks, Sisterhood of the Traveling Backpacks, and of course the wonderful team Im blessed to be with Rak Chazak which is hebrew for “strong and courageous”! Oh ya lets go ??!

So here we all are in different parts of Indonesia spread across in different directions trusting in full faith that God has led us where we need to be these next 2 weeks. Some of us in more remote areas than others, across different islands but we all will eventually end up at the grand capital of Jakarta where we will take a flight to India then once again depart from one another until our next debrief in which we will finally be reunited again! So definitely keep all of us in constant prayer as this is what is known as an ATL(Ask The Lord) month where we have no contacts, no set ministry, no church, no organization or anything preset for us to do. Everything we do ministry wise or just anything in general is totally Spirit led! Yes you read that right this month we all are seeking and asking God everyday what it is He wants us to do, where to go, who to talk to, so on and so forth. That’s pretty much how we all got to where we are across Indonesia. We prayed for a couple days before leaving Bali seeing where God wanted us to go and after some words, images, and sense of direction we all narrowed specific places and basically just surrendered to God like ‘alright Lord here we go’. Fully trusting that He shall provide and guide us on this journey into the unknown almost just like how Jesus sent out His disciples in Luke 10.

After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
Luke 10:1?-?9 NKJV

The team I’m on arrived in Malang, Indonesia a couple days ago and pretty much rested and had a Sabbath to rejuvenate from our long travel day and just rest well before we went out to see what Abba had in store. Which leads me to this interesting story of how great God is. So our team lead was talking about how he never really had some one invite him and his team into their home before and desired it to be so before we left out for the day. As we hit the streets to prayer walk and get a lay of the land I’m praying that God guides us to a person of peace or at least find a contact so we can get connected in some form of fashion and open up more opportunities for us. Well low and behold as we’re walking back to our place after snagging some mad deals on fruits and veggies, even a nice size chicken, we walk by multiple people. Okay pause i forgot to mention that its quite obvious that this area doesnt receive many foreigners especially white Americans so its almost like we’re celebrities since most of the people are quite curious with us but are pretty friendly and open greeting us every where with smiles and waves. Its pretty cool actually but ya the people are really nice so far. Okay continue story. So we walk by this older man and he just smiles super wide and waves at us. Then he excitingly gets up and greets us personally. Now i will mention he doesnt speak a lick of English and mostly doesn’t understand it either but his presence was truly welcoming as he, well from the best of our body language interpretations went, welcomed us into his home where we met his wife as well. Ya the whole interaction was sweet, warm and hospitable while having a big language barrier but luckily we did our best with Google translate lol. We eventually found out that they knew and believed in Jesus and went to a local church here which was super cool like yeeeessss lets go God! He just answered both my team leads and my prayer at once! Found at least a person of peace while being invited into their home. Boom. Jesus. Its a big deal because this area is predominantly Muslim so running into this older couple was so a God thing. What sparked the conversation was that fact that they had a cross on the wall along with a painting of a church as well. Definitely a mind blowing experience. So we plan on finding this church and joining them for service Sunday. Please pray that this, plus many other encounters, lead us to the people and places we need to be in contact with to make the most of our time here intentional.

So yep thats all for now. Video coming soon for sure this time since i found a trust worthy app to use and upload! Yeah! ???? Also here are some pics of our debrief time in Bali. Sunsets on the beach, waterfalls, monkeys at the monkey forest, and simple memories of fun times spent with these amazing beautiful people that I miss dearly now. (FYI: our debrief days are super low key with no intentional ministry plans. It’s focus is rest in God, unpacking and processing recent events and months on what God has been doing in and thru us. It was followed up with more days of training preparing us for the now ATL life style so we’re not just sight seeing we are doing things even if that means resting and intentionally processing what we’re going thru lol). Im also still fundraising and only about $1,200 from my March goal which is on the 31st of the month. Woot woot! Definitely wouldn’t be here with out you guys im still super appreciative with your generosity in helping me be here going all out for God and His Kingdom. So ya donate if you feel led to. Prayers are definitely a must as well especially since we’re all pretty much in the Unknown trusting God completely. Also check out stories from my fellow squad mates since we’re all in different places now so you’ll definitely be thourghly in awe of what God is doing in all these places! So  yes month 2 Indonesia oh how you’ve been eventful so far and how much God has dealt with me in personal growth so my capacity can increase and withstand more to come. Thank you Jesus! This is the real race now. And so it begins…