Humility as Jesus had

Since I cannot sleep right now & I just cleaned our kitchen inside out... I've decided to blog. Today I was able to spend a lot of time with my local Church--the bride of Christ, His beautiful creation--and also had great pondering time! I learned a new song that was centered around the Church of Christ being a beautiful bride, learned about servant hood and how to biblically solve problems when they arise, meditated on the attributes of God in His perfect holiness, tried to play basketball, prayed with brothers & sisters, played some songs for Jesus, & just got to be with my Lord. What a beautiful Maker He is!

There are so many different thoughts that come to my mind, but really the only one that continues to come as clear as a bright summer day is that my God is great. He is greatly to be praised, He is gracious & merciful, slow to anger & great in lovingkindness, His greatness is unsearchable, so much so that all His godly ones should bless Him & speak of the glory of His kingdom & talk of His power! (Psalm 145) My human mind can only fathom so much of God's beauty and nature. Even today when I was on the courts I looked up and saw a rainbow; I was so mesmerized by it that when I pointed it out to my buddies I got knocked in the head from a missed shot! haha I wish I could always be captivated by the Lord...it's all in these small things that He uses to show me His love for me. It's amazing to just think that my God delights in revealing His glory to me and blessing me with His goodness! Who in the world am I to even deserve such a thing?!! Because of His Son's blood spilled on the cross that redeemed me from eternal separation from the Father, I am found blameless, without blemish before my beautiful King! Are you seeing this picture? Your darkness can be made light & white because of the red, cleansing, purifying blood of Jesus Christ that was sacrificed so that you may be reconciled to the Father, if you put your faith in Jesus alone! Wow. Col. 1:19-22

I have been burdened much more recently than normal for specific people in my life who are lost and also for brothers & sisters who are struggling or experiencing tribulations. It has been a wonderful sanctification process, though! The Lord has taught me a bit on humility, what it really looks like to cast my cares upon Him when I can do no more than pray...(1 Pet. 5:7) After discovering hard news about my dear friend whose baby went to be with Jesus, another friend who is unwilling to bend low to the earth & allow God to humble her, another who continues to reject the Good News each time I mention it, my life has been just becoming softer & softer into the clay that my Potter wants me to be! Fallen tears, discouraging talks, doubtful hearts, and continual prayers make me just desire my God to save & work in and through me even more! God's hand is NOT too short to save nor His ear too dull to hear (Isaiah 59:1)!

I realize this isn't much of an update on my life, but it is definitely what the Father has been working on in my heart for the past month-ish.. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Will you humble yourselves before Him?

Leavin' On A Jet Plane

I began this blog on the 20th of August which was very close to my return to America, but I never did end up finishing it. I used what I started with & you can probably tell where I started writing tonight...

Well, my team & I have left the 3rd village and it doesn't feel right, almost! While we stayed there for 3 weeks, we lived with a family. It consisted of 2 boys (12 & 4 years old), a mother, father, and the mother's dad. Living with them truly was the main difference from everywhere else we've been, because in the other villages people primarily just visited frequently. We watched them morning after morning as they would enter their temples and offer their sacrifices & send up empty prayers to man-made objects & non-existent things...If you could only imagine the brokenness. It was such a huge joy, at the same time, to have so many different opportunities to talk with the family members. As we would read the Word, teach English through stories of significant characters we are all familiar with, and even just eat with them, we were able to talk about the One who could give them hope, make them free, guide them to light. Father totally opened up multiple doors with many people while we were there.

On the contrary, we also met people who had never heard His name before and were so lost. I was left speechless when I heard a woman say "no" to the question if she has ever heard of the Son before. My Savior! My redemption! She was clueless. She kind of just shrugged her shoulders as to say, "Well who is this Man you make seem so important?" Our partner shared a bit with her, but unfortunately the woman showed no interest. THAT is what breaks my heart.

Major praise that we were able to see an elderly man make an eternally changing decision to have JC in his heart!! The day still sits so clear in my head. Old friends were visiting and checking up on us and a translator walked to the back of the house to converse with the grandfather. Matter of 30 minutes she comes around the corner of the house with the Wonderful News!:D PtL!

There are so many quotes, situations, praises and requests [answered or still being lifted up] that I could insert in this blog, but that would make this blog probably about 6 pages long, so I'm trying to focus on some of the most significant ones. We were able to help the family pick coffee beans (yes, they grow on trees & they are abundant!), pr-walked a lot, eat about 4 dinners in one night, attend some unique ceremonies, spit our toothpaste out from the second floor (ha--only sometimes), listen to gamelan rap music and Jason Mraz from our teenage friends constantly, meet many wonderful little girls anxious to learn English and be something in this world, and establish priceless, irreplaceable relationships with people in that village-- which is very close to my heart. Even writing this now, every one of those things is so fresh in my mind. I grabbed my journal just in case I needed a quick refresher, but none was needed. The Father has blessed me greatly in allowing me to experience this past summer on another island...



I know that many of you have already heard my stories that I've told which relate to this life-change that happened to me, and you have also been able to see it in me on account of you telling me. Thank you. But, truly all glory to the One who made me and is enabling me to be living this life.

Plenty of things have happened since I have returned, as you can imagine, but my love for Him has grown stronger--being tossed in the waves while doubting every so often, but I am relying on His love for me and nothing from myself. For anything in me which is good is from the Father above, who loved me and gave Himself for me so that I might be rescued from this present evil age (Gal 1:4).

I would love to put people's names on here to pray for individually, but I will refrain from doing so for security purposes. Please lift up this precious island, though. The whole nation, actually. And ours, while you're at it. :D

The Lord said [referring to Jesus], "I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness, I will appoint You as a covenant to the people & a light to the nations.." Isaiah 42. He is sovereign.

And onto the 3rd & final one! We're ready!

So, I've just returned from the second village & am staying in a hotel for a couple days... This is a crazy way to begin, not gonna lie, but He's certainly providing! :) The last village was quite different than the last...
Well, I can say that we have been able to experience a lot more time with the children at this previous village than the first one. Blessing in itself. At the first village we went to the children seemed to be very distant, almost scared of us, and it was the adults that we really had a connection with. At this village I just returned from, the children would arrive at our place an hour and a half earlier before we helped them learn some English and just wait for us to finish getting ready.
At the teethfiling ceremony, some of the girls that came to learn Eng with us were connected at the hip to us.

Yes, that little one is holding a live bat but what's funny is that when she first picked it up, she was excited, not disgusted!

We got to make some great relationships with them--most of them were little girls--and establish a much deeper one with a teenage girl there. A whole lot more than I could have EVER expected; gosh has He been so faithful! I pr over her in English and we [American girls] tried our hardest to explain the sacrifice the Son made for her & the reason why while our national partner was speaking with her mom. We depended on the Indonesian dictionary we had...but even more so on what He's put inside of us. Goodness, that girl! It was so amazing! She couldn't wait to hear more, and came back the next day for more of an explanation from our national partner, 'cause let's face it, she can speak that language a little better than I can. We pr for her for hours and are so anxious to see Father at work in her life for the time she truly does say "I'm Yours". We left the previous village early because we were invited to a wedding at our first one. I now get to say that I have been to a wedding in both villages, but the only difference is that the 2nd village's wedding was one of whom we did not know; neither the bride or the groom or the parents. We did get to actually see a teethfiling ceremony, though. It was intense. I discovered that it is not only for their physical appearance but also part of their maturation process; kind of saying, "I'm ready to be a real adult with a spouse now.." This is all so extremely different from what I'm used to, of course, but again, Father's been continuing to open my heart every day. At the next wedding we went to back at the first village, it was completely different. We arrived a day early and helped some with their preparation and let me tell you, there is A LOT of work that goes on behind these weddings! This was mainly different because we were able to form such a great relationship with the groom when we stayed there for 2 weeks; he called us his true friends and even mentioned I had a peaceful smile! Look at Him at work in these people! They're catching on and I'm just pr for more curiosity among them for them to start asking WHY?!

This is at the wedding of our good friend K* & his new wife W*...they were so glad we returned back to the village just for their wedding. True friends. Pr for their tender hearts.

I got to see men roast a pig on a stick over a fire of coconut shells, I got to see many women (his whole family) making different offerings with fruits, rice, uncooked rice, coconut leaves, and many more gifts, and I got to eat off of a huge plate of rice with pieces of crumbled up pork, pig's blood, chicken, and beans mixed in it....with my hands and 6 other people (from the teams). Ha. Oh man, it's been such an experience that I could not compare to anything else. Thank you again for all of these pr's being lifted up and His promises that He never ceases to break!! Less than a month left, it's really flying by it feels. One more village, 3 more weeks there. We need more openings, and I'm hoping to pr for 2 more people in His Name like I did at the last and get to see some amazing life turn-arounds. Love you all. Thanks for the thoughts. Peace & love.
The gamelan consists of many men that play xylophone instruments, flutes, and gongs. While they play, other men do special B dances that relate to stories of the H faith.


Here, my team & the guys team are eating off a large plate of rice with other food (pig, chicken, pig blood, some beans) mixed into it-with our hands. No worries, we rinsed our hands in a bowl of water before we dug in.



Check this awesome site out that was put together by one of our very own who's been traveling among the teams to document what He is doing: buleh-buleh.blogspot.com

1st Village Happenings

Waduh ("WOW" & a lot of other surprising expressions in Indonesian)! It seems like it's only been a short while since I have arrived in B, but surprisingly already 2 weeks have flown by! Orientation prepared me for many different situations and praise Him that I was able to bond so quickly with my teammates and those on the rest of the village teams. We have 4 total village teams that are going out through some of the darkest places. My team [me, a national partner, and 2 other American girls] was actually the guinea pigs of the village we went to for the past 10 days. Haha, man has it been an adventure! We have been able to see Father's sense of humor, beautiful creation all around, and the terrors people live with because of Enemy's grip on the village. We know that they are definitely fully aware of the darkness without J.C. in their life because of the way they live and what they spend day in & day out doing: attempting to please their gods & ancestors, attending numerous ceremonies, and spending lots of money for their offerings. My team leaders warned my team that they weren't too sure of what we will experience but that the village was the heart of black magic. God opened our eyes, definitely, but we are still praying for Him to open these people's eyes and show them His Light! We have had few moments of breakthroughs where some villagers have commented on the joy they noticed we have and the light and love they see among us. Unfortunately, they didn't seem completely interested in finding out more of how they could have it. Pray for them. Pray that God would reveal Himself in more than just this beautiful nature surrounding them. Now, hopefully, since we're here on this island, it can be through us. Pray that Father will loosen the Enemy's grip here and make evident what they need for their eternity. We have a 2 day break right now on the southeast part of the island and we are praying we will head back out to that same village, Lord willing, for the next 2 and a half weeks.




Okay, I'm done on the internet for now--I want to thank you again for all of these promising prayers you are sending up for me and my teammates and those that are lost here.

His,

Stephanie

Getting Ready...

Here it is... Time is finally coming to the crunch, where I'm gonna walk on the plane to take me to the other side of the world in about 10 hours. I've never been before. Never flown towards Australia before. Never been in an Asian country before. Nor have I seen many different people groups all at one time. I have to say, I am experiencing some kind of crazy emotions right now; but one thing is certain, Father is good. He is lookin' out for me and all of you, so be encouraged! Seek out, and have hope! I am surely pr that relationships will be established & the seed will be planted in so many hearts it will be hard to count them all!
I'm packed up and stomach is feelin just a tiny bit queezy, but my heart is ready for this more than ever. Father's good like that. :) He has prepared me quicker & better than I ever could have by myself. If I were to tell you I was going on this trip two years ago, I would have said yes, but I would have been so nervous & worried for the majority of the time that my heart would not have been in the right spot. But praise Him that He got me to this point & He is fulfills His promises always & forever. I'm in love with the One who loved me first and it's pretty glorious. Gotta go. Pr for the team that I meet up with when I get to ATL and our arrival to Denpasar, please. I'm pr for y'all.