Just Enough

  

Today the team got a pretty unique opportunity to go a visit a very impoverished area on the outskirts of the city.  This is an area where pretty much all of the people make bricks for a living.  It is a job that makes next to nothing, about two dollars a day.  The school children here, have for many years, dropped out of school even before finishing elementary school in order to help make money by making bricks. 

Currently there is a push by a teacher there who teaches a Christian education class as an alternative to the Islamic class offered where she stresses to them the importance of staying in school and getting a good education so that they can make a better life for themselves.  She has been doing a fabulous job and the amount of kids getting through her school has improved dramatically.  On top of that she sees the numbers in her religion class continue to rise.  This is nothing short of a miracle here in this part of the world. 

Now while at this place today we were able to see some pretty miraculous things ourselves.  What we witnessed and experienced showed us in no uncertain terms that the Holy Spirit really is stirring the hearts and minds of people in Indonesia. Let me explain:

If you go farther back in the blog you will see the story of this area where there was a church which was in the middle of being built only to have it progress halted by the government who was worried about what a Christian influence here might mean.  When we left Sumatra a year ago the building was not finished and the church had to meet in a rickety open air shack next door to the near completed church. 

Through much prayer and delicate discussion the leaders of the church were able to convince the local government to allow the church to be completed.  As the story was told to me of how this happened I thought back to Moses trying to convince Pharoh to allow the Isrealites to leave Egypt.  Finally through His power they were allowed to finish the church and can now worship there freely.  Praise the Lord.

Once there we were greeted by 200 children.  Now the religion class only has 90 students so through word of mouth the news spread about our group coming and an extra 110 kiddos showed up that we were not expecting.  Here is where there is another jaw dropper.  We made sure we were over prepared in case a few extra kids showed up.  However, we only had enough supplies for 120 kids.  We had crafts for 120, kites for 120 and food for 150.  Somehow we handed out the last of the kites and crayons and every kid there received one.  We even had extra food and each kid there got some.  It was absolutely a 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread moment!

While there the team got to play some football (soccer) against their Indonesian counterparts.  It was so amazing as the Indonesian students had made signs they posted above each makeshift wooden goal that said “Team Indonesia” and “Team America” respectively.  Team America ended up on the losing end of 2-nil game.  I’ll tell you what, those Indonesians can really play soccer!

We also taught them a little game called, “Sharks and Minnows.”  The concept of stopping when you are tagged was a little foreign to them but by the end they had it figured out and we all had a great time with it. 

We were also treated to a few songs, as well as a dance performance by the children.  They really went all out for us.  In fact they treated it like a church service with all of them wearing the best clothes they had.  As I said this is an extremely poor area and yet they all dressed up for our arrival.  It was a pretty humbling experience.

We all left with mud on our clothes (from the soccer match) and smiles on our faces and in our hearts.  These are the things that make this trip so worthwhile.  To see God’s provisions in a place that on the surface is so against Him gives so much hope for our lives. 

Tomorrow we are taking a trip to a very “off the beaten path” river village.  Apparently in this area they live a very traditional lifestyle.  Should be very interesting. Please keep praying for us and thanks for checking in!