Indonesia Blog

In February 2020 I was in Indonesia on the World Race. Here is how it went down… to the best of my memory 6 months later.

Indonesia started on the island of Bali with what we call debrief on the World Race which then led into training with our Squad Mentor. Debrief is a time for reflection/processing and will happen a few times over the course of one’s race. It was a sweet time of slowing down after an eventful first month, to sit down with the Lord and spend some time with my squad mates. We would meet a couple times a day for worship and teaching. 

It rained quite often while we were there, and I remember one evening there was a rainstorm leading up to one of our night sessions. I was resting in my shared room and I remember hearing laughter and splashing. Peeking my head out the door, I saw people were jumping in the pool with their clothes on! They had gotten soaked on their way back from dinner and decided to embrace it. Obviously, I had to join in. I think in the end we got 75% of the squad in the water, even our coaches and mentor! Our hostel owner thought it was hilarious and was taking pictures and videos of the crazy Americans. I do have to say, he and his family became like family to us. They treated us so kindly and their food was delicious.

During one of our days off, a group of us went exploring. 2 groups of us jumped in cars and headed off into the jungle. Our first stop was a waterfall. After an hour or so of driving, then walking down a bunch of stairs, there we were. It was very pretty, though the water was darker than I expected. We may or may not have swum under the waterfall and we may or may not have gotten in a little bit of trouble.
The Monkey Forest was next, and it was a little bit intense. If you ever go to a monkey forest, make sure to remove all jewelry, do not make eye contact with the monkeys, DO NOT step on them on accident, and don’t bring any food. Maybe don’t even sit next to them, someone got bitten for literally no reason, not naming any names. (You know who you are.) Avoid those and you should be fine. I forgot to remove my earrings and got robbed (see picture for evidence). Other than that, it was a cool place. There was some eeriness to it with all the statues around and it was a lot bigger than expected.

Valentine’s Day was really sweet. Us ladies had written out prophetic words for the men on our squad and served them pastries for breakfast. The guys completely surprised us that evening by also giving us individual cards, washed our feet, prayed over us, sang for us, fed us ice cream and made homemade face masks (as in for your skin, not the ones we wear these days due to COVID). We had time to sit and talk, dance, swim and just hang out. Our guys are the best.

Once debrief was over, our coaches, Matt and Kathy, left and training started. It lasted about 7 days. The theme was spiritual development and gaining a greater understanding of the Holy Spirit, taught by our mentor Stephanie. Even as someone who came from a church and faith background that taught a lot about the Holy Spirit, I learned a lot as well and grew in my relationship with Him. Time was set aside to process past hurts and experiences that were holding us back, and there was a lot of breakthrough. Several people on my squad received their prayer language and I realized that my prayer language had evolved and I had a new song to sing for the Lord in it. It was such a special time for all of us, it was amazing and sweet and crazy and the presence of God was all up in it. I am so grateful that Stephanie made this happen. 

After wrapping up our training, it was time for our squad to break up into teams to spread out across the country of Indonesia. My team, the Kooks, decided to go to the island of Java, to a city called Bandung, where we would serve at a school that our Team Leader Nora had been to 2 years prior on her World Race.

Something to understand when you are on the World Race, is that you are on a budget… which means getting somewhere is not always as simple as booking a flight or a sleeper train. It took my team 32 hours to get to Bandung from where we were in Bali. First, we stuffed 8 people into a 6-person car with our packs (packs are about the size of a child). We got off at the bus station and rode the bus for 11 hours, getting a short break in the middle to drive unto a ferry. We got to the train station at midnight and slept on the ground until 4am. At 5am we boarded a train and rode for 14 hours. Y’all, Indonesia is a lot bigger than she looks. I did make 2 sweet friends on that train ride though, 1 was a sweet girl that took 13 hours to convince I was nice but the results were well worth it.

In Bandung my team and I served at a local school. Our contact was Desy, the sweetest and most generous woman I have ever met. Desy, you forever have a spot in my heart and I miss you tons. We slept in one of the classrooms at night and it was my first experience showering above and using a squatty potty. All I’m gonna say is, it takes some getting used to and it’s real rough when you have stomach problems. 

While we were serving at the school, we would sit and chat with the mothers as they were waiting for their kids to finish class. A couple days towards the end of our stay my team got to be a part of the teaching team and got to plan the classes.

While we were in Bandung we got connected with a Christian High School. My team had the opportunity to develop lesson plans and teach at that school as well. I was sick during this time and had to stay back, but it was really fun to see how the team’s attitude changed throughout the week. They went from being a bit nervous and unsure to being really excited and confident in their ability to teach. Meanwhile I was wrestling with God and pride. I remember saying before the race that I didn’t think I would lose anything or get sick and I literally did both in Indonesia. In fact, I got sick twice. Be careful what you say and what you eat. 

One of the ministry opportunities we got to participate in was to help at a pop-up clinic. Half of the team went to the high school and the rest of us helped with the clinic. I sat next to my Indonesian mom, Momi, and helped bag medicine. There were a lot of elderly that came, and it was really hard to watch. But I also got to see the beauty and generosity of the Indonesian people. They were quick to host and to take care of us. They take care of each other. By our American standards, they have nothing and are in extreme poverty, but they are quick to give away what they do have. It was like I got to see the heart of Indonesia in this tiny, stuffed room and it was beautiful.  

There was one day in particular that will forever ingrained in my mind and heart. It deserves its own blog, so keep an eye out for it. It’ll be called something like, “Midwives, Gardens and Unexpected Christians”.

After our time in Bandung, we moved on to Jakarta. There we were going to meet up with the rest of the squad in order to prepare to fly to India together. We arrived a couple days early in order to do some ATL (Ask the Lord) where we pray into the day and ask God to lead us, and to plan for our time in India. Our team broke up into pairs and headed off into the city. My teammate, Joe, and I went on a prayer walk and had some sweet conversations, processing our time so far and praying over the city. 

Overall, Indonesia was overwhelming on the senses. There was constant noise, lots of car horns as people were letting you know they were pulling out or that they were coming up behind you. Sometimes it smelt like delicious food, and other times like a sewer. One second you were on a crowded street surrounded by people and then suddenly you turn a corner and you’re next to a rice field and a Buddhist Temple. And if you aren’t good with spicy food – whoo-whee that’s a time and a half (always say ‘no spicy’ if you’re anything like me). 

It was heartbreaking to come to a country and see how much of it is in poverty. Whether it is the tiny alleyways that you can barely fit through, where people live, or the trash that is in a lot of places. There is the spiritual poverty as Islam and Buddhism have a strong presence.  However, as I mentioned before, Indonesians are some of the sweetest, most generous people I have ever met. The people that we met at the school will forever be in my heart. Even strangers that we would visit were overflowing in generosity and treated us so well. You would get a greeting and a smile as you went down the street, kids coming up to you to walk with you and even if someone was wrong, they would try to help you when you got lost. 

Indonesia wasn’t one of the countries that I really looked forward to on my route but darn tootin’ did it sneak its way into my heart. Love you Indo.