Goodbye Indonesia!!

As I sit here in remembrance of the past two months, I’m reminded of all the things the Lord has taught me since being in Indonesia. There’s too many to count. We leave for America tomorrow, and it’s the most surreal feeling! The past 8 months overseas have blessed my life more than words could say, but I’m more than ready to not be millions of miles away from my family! So much has happened in the past 8 weeks, let me give a little recap!

Indonesia has been rather hard, but I’ve learned SO MUCH through the hard. I heard my friend say, “God is teaching me how to redefine my definition of good into God’s definition of good,” and that’s exactly what sums up my experience in Indonesia. Because my definition of good would look like everything easy and comfortable – but that’s not always true. Like I’ve said in my previous blog posts, God can use anything, and while it may be difficult in the moment, the truth is that you can’t grow inside your comfort zone. We are on an island where 95% of the population is Muslim, and the remaining 5% is divided into either Hindu, Buddhist, or Christian. The heaviness and desperation for hope in this country is so real. People going through life everyday devoting themselves to a religion they don’t even realize is fake. Muslims inspire me. Purely just because of their devotion. Devotion to their religion, faith, and discipline. We’re going to dive a little deeper into this real quick, and I pray this weights as heavy on your heart as it does mine.

So, I’ve had many opportunities to do prayer walks in the local mosque where Muslims go to pray five times or more. Praying under my breath to Jesus, as I walk past Muslim men and women and children on their way to pray to Allah. The look of heartbreaking desperation for hope in their eyes as they walk past, having no idea how much God’s heart is breaking for them. They devote themselves to prayer five times a day, they know how to defend their faith from every direction, and live this constant battle of striving, everyday, to gain Allah’s approval. While God is just sitting there. Arms open. Awaiting. Awaiting His children to come running into His kingdom and His love. As I would prayer walk around the mosque, I took a second to examine my life. Do I pray at least five times a day? Am I confident enough in my faith to be able to defend it? How many times do I actually pick up my Bible through the day? When my squad and I first arrived in Indonesia, our ministry host told us during our orientation that one of the main reasons for us being here is to help redefine the locals view of American Christians, and just Christians in general. This is what truly breaks my heart so get ready: Our ministry hosts then explained to us how locals here believe every American Christian to be lukewarm. Which is what mainly defers them from Jesus because they say, “Well why would I believe in a God whose followers aren’t even devoted?” When I heard this, it was as if someone had ripped my heart out and tore it to shreds. How can a country from halfway across the world, be affected by lukewarm Christians that I pass by everyday in my own country?? How is that possible??

I don’t mean this out of a heart on condemnation, but out of so much love. Are you devoted to Jesus in every area of your life? Or are you getting distracted running around with everyday life while God is sitting there awaiting? The most incredible thing is that we don’t have to live in a constant state of striving to gain God’s approval. He’s just sitting there. Arms open. Waiting for us to slow down and choose Him. AND ONCE WE FINALLY STOP AND SIT AT HIS FEET, WE’RE MET BY LOVE AND NOTHING BUT LOVE.

Muslims are devoting themselves to a god they have no idea if it’s real or fake. I KNOW MY GOD IS REAL! We can testify that our God is real! Why wouldn’t we want to tell people about Him??

That’s only one of the many lessons I’ve learned since being in Indonesia, and I hope it blesses you as it has blessed me! Our ministry here I can’t really share a lot about due to the protection of the ministry and all of the people involved with the ministry. Although, we taught many English classes, kids jiu jitsu classes, and were able to love on the children and families in the local community! I also learned a lot about the importance of internal ministry like intersession, prayer walks, worship, Bible studies, and encouraging each other when it’s easy and also when it’s hard. We’ve also had many opportunities to connect with the locals and meet up to have coffee or a meal with them to be able to pour into their lives. Evangelism here has looked a lot different compared to the past 8 months due to evangelism being illegal, but that doesn’t stop us from sharing our own personal testimony! We’ve never had to stop talking about Jesus, it just looks a little different!

These past eight weeks in Indonesia have blessed me so much!! Continue praying for my squad as we all start our travel back to America tomorrow! Once we get back to the base where we had training in Gainesville Georgia, we will have two rest days. Once we’re all rested up, we will go back to Asheville/Black Mountain North Carolina for a week of domestic missions to help with disaster relief. As you all probably know, my squad was involved in hurricane Helene, so be praying for us as we go back to help all the people who also were affected! I believe God is going to seal and restore, and bring so much good!! After North Carolina, we will travel back to the base in Georgia for a few days of resting and final debrief! Then on May 22nd I will come home!

Thank you guys so much for all your support during this adventure!

Ashley:)