Sebab upah dosa ialah maut, tetapi karunia Allah ialah hidup yang kekal dalam Kristus Yesus, Tuhan kita

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord." -Romans 6:23

So we just got back from our first four days in the village. Actually we are going back out tomorrow. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The three of us stay in a small room with a mattress on the floor. I'm allergic to the room apparently because I couldn't stop sneezing and my eyes were itchy the whole time we were there. We will definitely be taking Benadryl this time! Every day we walked up the mountain to the garden so watch Bapek (dad) feed the cows. We are trying to convince him to let us go cut the food with him, but they all want to treat us like royalty. The food was...um a lot of rice. It wasn't all bad, but I definitely can't wait to get back to America for food.
The family is trying to teach us the Indonesian language and the Bali language at the same time. Ado!! It makes my head hurt because they will all be telling us stuff at the same time and once you've been learning for about an hour your head can't take much more in!!!!! haha, there is a little girl in the village that is terrified of white people, but I think we are slowly winning her over. A little boy there about 3 LOVES Brette and I, he cries when they take him away from us. He is so cute!!
So everyone here bathes like three times a day, but we have to walk to one "shower" and the other is in the kitchen without a door, so we wash our hair in the morning, then walk up and wash our bodies in the afternoon. And the bathroom is up the stairs too, and these are outdoor like up the mountain, not far at all, but it's just weird that there isn't a bathroom in the house. They haven't let us help very much, but we are trying to be bold and hoping they will let us kill chickens this week!!!!
On one of our days off we went to some waterfalls and did some jumping. Yes a 30 foot waterfall, I jumped from it!! It was crazy!

But keep lifting us up here and the people. Last night i felt the presence of darkness and to think that these people probably deal with that on a regular basis is pretty scary! So I'll try to write again when we get back! Love you all and miss you terribly!!

Saya tidak bisa bicara bahasa Indonesia

"I do not speak Indonesian"

Haha!! Yes one of the first sentences I learned!! Everything is going great so far. I am in my town now and I am sharing a duplex with a couple from America. My partner Brette shares a room with me. No AC, no flushing toilet and no shower...and to think we haven't even made it to the villages yet...haha!!! Tomorrow starts our first journey into a village, it's only for 4 days, then we will go again next week for 4 more days. I'm very excited to learn about the culture and hopefully pick up the language.

The people here lead a very different life that us in America. They have small temples and shrines every where. They make offerings to these at least once a day and we see them everywhere as we walk through the streets, on cars, even on the computer desk. These people live in fear of their "gods" and the demons that go with it. "But their idols are silver and gold, made by hands of men.They have mouths but can't speak, eyes but they cannot see, they have ears but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell, they have hands but cannot feel, feet but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make them will be like them and so will all who trust in them." - psalm 115: 4-8

They say they believe in one god and that all others are just a version of the main one. But they have over 3 million... "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder." - James 2:19

It is heart breaking to know that a people live in fear instead of hope, but don't know any different..."My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols. Be horrified at this, heavens be shocked and utterly appalled." -Jeremiah 2:11-12

Please lift us up and our spiritual safety in this environment that the enemy won't be able to break through our beliefs or turn us against one another as we enter into the villages and learn more about this culture.

Yesterday on our drive to our town we saw monkeys on the side of the road...sooo cool!! haha, yes we got excited!! The pace of life here is much slower than that in America, but apparently it starts very early, at least in the villages. I guess you have to beat the heat. Please lift us up that we will not melt away!! The food so far hasn't been too bad. But we've had Americans catering to our American needs or at least looking out for us and keeping us from anything we might not like. These next few days will probably determine how much weight I will lose here!! haha!! I miss everyone dearly and i hope to keep you updated. If you comment please be weary of the fact that I am learning the culture and not to say anything offensive to the culture or way of life here...you never know who might see this!!!

Selamat Pagi

Okay so it's day three in Manila and it's been a lot of orientation. Yesterday we had a small home church with just the few of us. Then we went into the city to a small Filipino church, they were singing normal praise songs that we all know! It was really fun, and the preacher would go between English and Tagalog. Then we learned about the whole catholic religion and how it is here in the Philippines. It was so crazy how different the religion is compared to what I thought. We visited a Catholic cathedral and it was pretty sad seeing all these people that were lost. But to get there we rode a train kinda like a subway and went through what I can only describe as a flea market. It was so packed, we had to hold arms so we wouldn't lose each other!! haha! Then we went to the Mall of Asia for dinner, one of the biggest malls in the world. The first night we saw fireworks at the mall, felt like I was back at Disney!!
Today we stayed in for the most part. We talked a lot about the Hindu religion and how they have all these different gods. We learned that there are a lot of forces over there that people actually encounter and it was so awesome to hear about. One of the guys here was talking to us and telling us that we can't be afraid because God has control over our bodies and that demons have no right over us. It was so awesome and I got so pumped up!! I'm just so ready to see this culture. Dad came today, so we got to go to dinner, I'll try to let you guys know more about what I've been learning if I have time tomorrow!! Love you all!!!

Here I am

Well I'm officially in Manila!! I just had a lunch of Lasagna made by a Filipina lady, haha, it was sooo good. We have started orientation and it is finally sinking in that I'm about to spend 4 months in a country where I am the minority. I'm currently with 7 other girls, 3 who will be with me and the four others will be staying in the philippines. Every one is so sweet and super excited to serve! So I'll keep you updated as much as I can. Not much to report about other than the 20 hour plane flight ended up only being 14 hours and then 3 hours. We stopped in Japan and got off the plane for an hour. But they served us lots of food and it was a loooong flight! Love you all tons!!

Here I Go Again!!

So in two days and less than 48 hours I will be on a plane headed to detroit, then to Manila!! That's in the Philippines in case you were wondering. I can not believe that I am about to embark on a 5 month long journey to the other side of the world with 3 people I have never even met before. But I can not wait. After Manila I'll be heading to the Pacific Rim and starting my life of living in villages. Yes, pottying in a hole in the ground, bathing from buckets, and sleeping on floors with clothes as my pillows. I feel like I should be dreading this, but the excitement is killing me!! It still hasn't sunk in that this isn't just an idea any more, it's going to happen and REALLY soon.
I'm going to try my hardest to keep this blog going while I'm over seas so ya'll will know how He is working and what all is going on. I have to admit that right now I'm not sure why I was chosen for this task. I am not saying this out of any kind of humbleness, but simply out of remorse for the sins that I have committed, not far in my past but still very recently. I know that He uses the least of us to do some of the most spectacular things and I do believe that He has chosen just that. In that sense I know great things will happen, not from my own abilities. I just don't feel that it is right for me to go over seas and people think that I am doing this great deed and am this wonderful person when the truth is that I have spent months away from my Love and have endorsed the world. I feel selfish to think that I have been chosen for this trip for my own self growth, since that is not the point of this trip, but it is meant for others. I did not feel that I could enter into a trip of service with all this on my back and confessing the sins that I have committed before I went. So though I do not find it fitting to list them here, I did feel the need to let it known. Please pray for me, not only that I will be given opportunites and open hearts, but also that long lasting change will occur. I love you all and I hope to keep you well updated on the impact whether small or large!!