Just so you know... mie is pronounced like “me” and it means noodles in Bahasa Indonesia. So if you ask someone if you love mie (‘me’) you can have fun playing with the words...

    My journey next found me back in Borneo, where I got to go on my DTS outreach as a student. I almost didn’t make it on the plane out of Beijing, but the Lord knew what He was doing and made sure to get me back to Kuching safely and smoothly. This was my fourth time back to this island and I count it a blessing every time.

    I stayed overnight with Frank and Belinda, a couple who so graciously continue to bless and serve our teams that come through to the island. After one night, I got in a van and headed to the Indonesian border. I was greeted by Paulus, an Indonesian man from Timor who is just over 50 years old. He is one of our translators. we went back to his house where I met the outreach leaders. They had arrived the night before and just finished their time away from the team.  A little later that afternoon the team arrived from another town and they were excited to see their leaders again and surprised to see their school leader as well.

    During my time with the team we stayed in Balai Karangan and went to three villages in five days. The team did dramas, shared testimonies, went on house visits and taught at the churches and house churches. They are all doing so well and I am sure that I left being more encouraged than I was able to encourage them. They have pressed in through many illnesses and poor living conditions and endured many hardships for the sake of the gospel. I am so proud of them.

    I think my favourite part of my time in Borneo was getting to slip right into the team dynamic. I really felt at home and welcomed into the team and had such a great time building friendships with them. It was so nice to relax a bit, not have much responsibility and just enjoy relationships. I also got to reconnect with all my INdonesian friends and speak Indonesian again. Such a blessing! I love the people out there and pray that the Lord will allow me back there as much as possible throughout my life.

    One of the most random nights of my time out there was on a Saturday night. The team had helped to bring rocks and gravel from the river to the church in the morning, in order to help build the new church. I spent the day fasting and preparing teachings for my return to Maui and speaking in the Summer DTS as well as for the following morning at church. In the afternoon we went on a few house visits to the five families that are Christians in the village and then we had a house church service. After it was over, we planned to have a suprise graduation party for on eof the students. She graduated high school early to come to DTS and that day was her official high school graduation ceremony back at home.

   

    Unbeknownst to us, it was the same night as the village harvest festival party, so after church we went o the public hall where the entire village was gathered. We joined them and shared in their celebration of the harvest. In the midst of all this, I was called to the front and I had no idea why. Once I got up there, I was asked to share about the way we celebrate the harvest in America. So I got to share about the Thanksgiving story, which I had thankfully just read all about in the month before I came on my trip. The Lord provides! It was so unexpected but it was great t share about how the Lord blessed some of the early settlers in America.

    After that, we had a drink of their rice wine and danced to some techno, traditional dance music and then more techno. This went on for about 30 minutes before we were able to leave and head back to the house we were staying at. Once we were back and had finished laughing about what had just happened, we threw a surprise graduation ceremony and party for Lauren. I got to officiate the event, naturally. We are some snacks and then put up our mosquito nets and went to bed. The next morning I got to preach for the last time in Indonesia for a while.

    It really was such a  blessing to be back in Indonesia and enjoy so many sweet relationships. The Lord is definitely into relationships and connecting people all over the world. I think that has been the main thing for me on this whole trip... relationships. I had a crazy time getting out to Ch.na, but got to meet up with more friends than expected and even while in Ch.na I made so many new friends. Since being in Borneo I got to reconnect with old friends and make new ones and even here in Taiwan while I was waiting to come to the hotel I got to meet and chat with a few people and here a bit of there stories. I love it! I am sad to say good bye to such good friends in Indonesia, but I can’t wait to come back again with my wife in the future! As I sat in Kuala Lumpur, waiting to get on my plane back to Hawaii, I realized that I am leaving this last time in Asia very thankful and satisfied with the past few weeks. I’ve spent about 3 1/2 weeks out here and it’s been amazing. I am also even more exited to get home, move to Scotland and marry Ruth in two months! My only regret through all this has been my inability to see the Nepal team and the Fiji team.

    Please continue to pray for the nation of Indonesia. It is the largest Muslim nation in the world and persecution of Christians is still a very real threat. Thankfully, persecution isn’t as strong in Borneo, but there is still a need to take precautions when sharing the gospel and traveling about. pray that the Spirit of God would come upon the Church and stir up a deep passion to know Him and to spread the gospel powerfully throughout the islands of Indonesia. The Indonesian people are incredible and so hospitable and generous. The Lord is longing to be worshipped and glorified in every tongue and culture. Pray that He would be worshipped and glorified through INdonesia. Pray for the unity of the Christian Church as it remains very divided because of small offenses between pastors and denominations, and thus the Church is fairly ineffective in reaching people. Pray for humility in the churches and love to abound throughout the believers, along with the boldness to preach the gospel, no matter what the cost.