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Testimonies from Indonesia

Just a couple weeks ago I arrived back to good ‘old Gainesville after spending a couple of weeks with my squad in Indonesia. It is truly one of my favorite things going out to visit them and see all the Lord is doing within them throughout this journey.

The first five days of my time there was spent debriefing the squad. During this time, my leadership team and I got to meet with all four teams and hear about their time together. We got to hear about what was going well, what was challenging, and what the Lord had for them in moving forward as a team with both the challenging and the good. We also got to check in with each individual on the squad. This is some of my favorite time! A time filled with hearing from each individual their personal testimonies of how God is moving within and through them on this journey, as well as getting to encourage them to keep pressing in to any area God may be challenging them in – knowing that He who began a good work is faithful to bring it into completion! We spent some of this time teaching on things for their time going forward, casting some vision for what is ahead, and finally — having some f u n !

When I am with this squad I feel like I have to exert so much energy on trying to prevent my heart from exploding. I admire this crew and the way they seek after God and His Kingdom so much.

After debrief, the squad transitioned to a month we called (Wo)Manistry. The men spent the month all together in Jakarta, Indonesia and the women all together in Bandung, Indonesia.

I got to spend an extra week with the women after debrief and it was so encouraging! I watched them seek out relationship with both locals, and each other. I also got to watch them boldly step into partnering with what God was already doing in Bandung.

 

Here are some snippets from the squad of what their month in Indonesia looked like.

At the start of our all-girls month, we set aside a time to do a listening prayer for the vision of the month.  We all wrote down what we were hearing from the Lord and at the end, we shared what we had heard.  It’s amazing the similarities in the words and visions we all got as a team, a powerful representation of discerning God’s voice in unity.  For example, many of us saw visions of “stone walls”, “a fortress”, “concrete”.  These visions became reality in the first house we stayed at and it didn’t stop there.  We saw God show up in manifesting the details of our visions all throughout the month.  Then there was Yosi.  One of our teammates had connected with her on the Couch Surfing App.  She helped facilitate the living arrangements of the first house we stayed at that God so clearly spoke to us about.  The first day we were there she showed up on her moto to meet us at the house and planned to stay with us just for the week.  She shared with us she is a Christian but through various relationships and disappointments with other Christians, she was starting to become discouraged in her faith.  Right away, we knew meeting her was not by chance.  She ended up spending the rest of the entire month with us.  God used this meeting and our time with Yosi.  She provided us with so many connections and opportunities and in return, we were able to build her up in her faith and be a strong source of encouragement for her.  We all formed friendships with Yosi as she is the sweetest person and it is such a joy and delight to be around her.

– Lindsay P, view more of here blog here: https://lindsaypodhajsky.theworldrace.org/post/god-is-in-the-details

 

 

“This month has been one of my faves on the Race so far. It has been full of relationships and the Gospel in so many ways. During debrief, we were reminded to use our God-given gifts. It’s been neat to see this happen in our team. Some are excellent at hosting, others are good at cooking, serving, inviting and initiating, making conversation, and so on. It’s been neat to see how we all use our gifts to reach many.  

Hosting – This has been one of the favorite things that our group has done. Hospitality was something we wanted this month to be about, so we decided to get an Airbnb, rather than stay in hostels. During our stay in Jakarta, we had people over multiple times for movies, hanging out, dinner, and potlucks for sometimes 15+ guests! It was so much fun! We also were able to cook dinner for the security guards at our apartment one night. It was a blast getting to host the locals, rather than the other way around. It allowed for some amazing conversations and for the Gospel to be shared in neat ways!

Evangelism – My mom connected me to a pastor in Indonesia. We joined him in sharing the Gospel at a local mall. It was amazing seeing their boldness and their joy in sharing the Gospel. It was soo neat to have conversations and share Jesus with Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians of all walks. I grew in boldness in sharing the Gospel this day, which allowed me to be more bold in my conversations when we hosted people for dinner.”

– Hunter, view more of his blog here: https://hunterbeck.theworldrace.org/post/indonesia

 

 

The squad just transitioned out of SouthEast Asia and into Southern Africa last week. It is a whole new world for them out there, but they are truly soaking in the fresh air and already getting so plugged in to all the ways God is moving about that area. Please continue to pray for divine connections, boldness, and fellowship upon them!