Indonesia Highlights

China: 

We got to go into China on our way to Indonesia, it was such a treat and only for a couple hours.  We ate lunch.  We picked a simple place and just pointed at pictures to tell them what we wanted (most of us ended up with good food, but some were a little disappointed at their pick), then we took our food and found a place to sit and eat.

  

Beauty:

Indonesia was beautiful, such a diverse country.  The city was FULL of people, bursting with life.  We often said as a team the only time the city slept was from 2 am - 4 am.  On the other hand, the countryside was such raw simple beauty.  The rice fields were such a wonder to look at, so beautiful and all done by hand, I respect the hard work that went into it.  The ocean was, of course, gorgeous (but anyone who truly knows me, knows that is my favorite place to be is next to water).  We didn't spend tons of time at the waters edge, but the days we did were so nice.  

People:

The people we met were kind, loving and so nice.  As I wrote before, the Indonesian people, in general, are not normally outgoing in the beginning, but if you initiate conversation you will find treasures. The people are beautiful.  God does that, doesn't he, he makes beautiful people all over the world.  I think that is one of my favorite things about God and travelling, meeting beautiful people and since it is within a different culture, often you see a different side, a different beauty of God through those people. Below are just a few of the quality people (Abbi ,Ika, Sael and me) I met or else there would be many more photos.

  

Team:

Honestly, this is my favorite part of outreach - our team.  There is something to be said for unity among people.  This team chose to serve, be flexible, be teachable, love, not complain and be unified, through it all.  Because of this, I believe God did powerful things in Indonesia, things we may not even be aware of until we reach Heaven.  Even though they were scared and nervous, each students preached at least 2 sermons (30 -45 minutes long that they prepared).  They were willing to go outside their comfort zone.  This resulted in 5 men in prison accepting Jesus Christ in their hearts for the first time, college students choosing Jesus as their first priority, rather than the distractions of the world and many Christians in a Muslim country being encouraged to continue on.  My team was a gift from God.  I saw God move in and through each one.  I was privileged to love and invest and be part of this group.

How can things be similiar and so different?

Here in Indonesia it is a Muslim nation. I will admit I thought I would find a nation much like I imagine Iran to be, this is not the case. We have been staying in the city of Bandung, it is one of the bigger cities with approximately 4.5 million people in it. (It's like having almost all of Norway's population in Oslo). Here there are more malls than, I believe the States can boast about. There are shops and stands on every inch of the street, it seems. So I have noticed women in head coverings and such, but I notice materialism too. I find it a lot like the States (a primarily Christian nation), many people are just living for themselves with not much thought to what religion they are suppose to be or not be. I did not expect to see/think this. The villages are different, more Muslim, less materialism, it seems. Yet, the villages are mostly farming, therefore there isn't a lot of extra time. They farm all by hand, rice primarily.
I'm sure there are quite a lot of differences, but I think I am surprised about the similarities. As for the differences, I've noticed my heart of intercession increasing being here. I know that I do not understand the culture, especially their view on women, but I can pray. The song I find myself singing over this nation is "Freedom Reigns" by Jesus Culture - Freedom can reign in this place!

(below are pictures of a farming, it is breathtaking, especially when you realize it was created by hand.)

Update of Indonesia trip

This last week was full of great moments and we would like to share a few with you.

First, a little background. Our main activities have been to encourage the churches and Christians locally here. What this means practically is everyone has had the chance to preach a message, all the students got to do this twice. Fast forward to the prison meeting where Thomas got to preach his 2nd sermon...and preach he did. That day we saw God move and 5 men made decisions for Jesus.

Next sermon was given by Hanne at a youth meeting in a University. This night Hanne preached about it all being about God instead of being focussed on ourselves. She had an alter call, about 15 students came up for prayer, some crying as they were touched by God.

We ended our time well in Bandung and have safely arrived in our next destination: An orphanage in Bali, where we will live and work for the remaining of our outreach.

Life in Indonesia

Indonesia is a hot country filled with people. The people here are quite friendly, although as you go down the street people often have no expression until you smile, then you get a huge smile in return. Of course, there are many differences in this country from the States and Norway. First, it is Muslum nation so you hear the call to prayer four times a day. Second, they are the opposite of direct when it comes to communication. In fact, we have to ask 2-3 times if something is okay (like are these shorts to short?) before you will get an honest answer. Most of the food is fried (Fried chicken is a favorite, yes KFC is quite popular here). And of course, you have rice with every meal.

Here there is "religious freedom" in the sense that there are Buddhist temple, Hindu temples and Christian churches as well as many Mosques. Yet it is difficult to have a church building because you need to get the signatures/permission of the people in the neighborhood you want the church, but they are primarily Muslim, so often you won't get it. As a team, if we want to sing songs about Jesus we are asked to close the windows and doors as not to upset the neighbors. We have had a lot of opportunities to encourage local Christians here and in a country such as this it is encouragement is very needed.

Please pray for us as a team (Stefan, Hanne, Ingrid, Thomas, Asbjørn and Jae). We are a very good team but we have had some struggles. Your prayers are very appreciated.

Below are pictures of the city - mass traffic, motorbikes are the quickest way to travel even for a family, city life and the team.

Latvia Outreach part 2

Latvia, the continuation...

Day 4: All of us went out into the community to deliver food bags to those in need (we got lists of needy people from Social Service Office from the city).  We got to bless, encourage, pray for those we met.  It was really great and humbling to bless people in this way

Day 5: We broke into groups, some continued to hand out bags of food, some did a local children's program, some went to a local prison, some helped with give away clothing. I helped with the clothing.
Clothing giveaway.  We used a local community center and had all the clothes donated from Denmark, Sweden and Norway set up on different tables.  There were home items, clothes (for all sizes babies, kids, women and men), bedding, personal items.  We let 30-40 people in at a time for 15-20 minutes they could take all they needed and could carry out.  It was exhausting and crazy.  We ran out of bedding the fastest, people mostly wanting blankets (wool) and comforters and pillows.

Day 6: Clothing giveaway. God broke my heart for the needy.  We had so many clothes we were trying to hand it out to people to take.  I came across one man who looked dirty and disheveled.  He was picking through the kids section and I tried to encourage him in English to take as much as he wanted.  When I talked to him he got a scared look in his face and backed up and walked away.  I was surprised, but I also knew he didn't have much more time and was eager to see him get as much as he could.  I walked to where he was and tried to hand him a few things showing him it was okay to take, he did take an item or two.  After he left, I cried and prayed.  What could have happened that left a man skittish and afraid? It was a reminder of the woundedness of the world and it broke my heart.

Day 7: Celebration party.  On days 5 & 6 in the evenings we had a church service events.  Kings Kids performed skits and dances, a local pastor spoke one night, the next night Tjebbo, the outreach organizer, spoke.  Many people who had been given food or met along the way had come to know God in a personal way.  In fact, our translator from Day 4 had accepted Jesus into her heart (she was from the city, a translator through Social Services).  We invited all to celebrate what God had done throughout the week. God did so much.

Below is a local news report on the outreach (I am in the video briefly).  It is in Latvian, but if you watch it all you will get a good picture of what we gave away.  Hope you enjoy.

Thanks for all who prayed for our trip.  It was amazing! I also want to invite you to come next year, it is a great outreach to be part of - think about it.

Latvia outreach part 1

We, the DTS, are here in Latvia, working alongside a ministry from Sweden. They come every year to a different city in Latvia to bless the people and tell them of God's love.

Day 1: we got here a day early so we helped unload two semi trailers of donated food an clothing from Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. 5 hours of very hard labor (the sore muscles to come).

Day 2: All 340 of the volunteers join together to get an overview of the program and bond together to become a team. Yes, 340 people can work together in unity, an amazing feat.

Day 3: we unload food and clothing and organize it so we can give it away the next days - it's called "sweat day". Below is a picture of the food bags. We made 1400 of these to hand out.

We are here 7 days, the rest is to be continued...

A week in Skjærgårdsheimen

A week by the sea.  I had some time off of in my very busy schedule and wanted to get away.  Britt, a friend of mine, suggested I stay at Skjærgårdsheimen, the YWAM base in south Norway near Kristiansand.  The idea was brilliant - a gift from God. (Thank you Britt for the excellent suggestion.)


It all began Monday - a three hour train ride south.  I sat by a man with whom I talked with the whole trip there, he initiated most of the conversation.  I wasn't feeling so great, but didn't want to appear rude, so I continued to converse and besides it was nice to chat.  But about 10 minutes before our arrival to our destination, the "not so feeling well" feeling increased and to my dismay - I threw up! Yes, on the train in one of those little bags, so embarrassing. For the next day or so, my stomach would react every time I ate, bad and unwelcome stomach bug.  


So here I am a little ill, trying to rest and relax.  I've discovered that I have a challenging time relaxing, I always think I"m being irresponsible if I do non productive things like read, watch movies, sleep in, etc.... It's sad, so my goal this week was to learn how to rest - truly rest.  I think I did okay.  I've prayed a lot this trip about if I was being irresponsible or not.  It's been a battle to relax.  Why are we so silly?


I've been counting blessings while here, like: I had a stomach bug, but I wasn't "down and out".  The base here is beautiful and full of blessings: The view, the showers (very powerful and private), napkins (all I want and need), personal bathroom, there are no schools running here and it is very quiet, Nutella not just on the weekends, and can I mention once again - the view! (it truly is beautiful here).  In fact, here are some pictures that I took.  Some I edited, but most I did not.  

I head back tomorrow, a 7 hour train ride, I purposely kept a book for this day.  I am grateful for my time here and what I've learned about resting, about me.  I pray that the next time I get a break I will find it easier to rest.