“Thank you God for my roommates…”

It has been a while since my roomies have heard me talk in my sleep. I am convinced it is because they are used to it. This was the muttering from my tired mouth last night as I crashed just after midnight.

We arrived in Indonesia on Wednesday afternoon after 24 hours of travel. Although Indonesia is a four-hour flight from Perth, we took the scenic route. In the midst of our stop in Bangkok we were informed that we had to actually enter Thailand and re-check our luggage for the next flight. 7 hours later, we were in line with our bags to check into our flight to Indo. Being the first in line, we seemed to be on top of things. I wasn’t worried about getting all the bags checked through since we had breezed through in Perth. As a team we were allowed 325 kgs, we had only 309! That is incredible. Everyone intentionally packed. Anyway, long story short, we were on a budget flight which only allowed 15kgs per person. As Becca later put it, “That is just too hard for our team”. She is right, although nearly everyone’s personal bags were under 15 kgs, the team bags compensate for the light weight. We have probably 70kgs of supply. All of this to say, they weren’t going to let it slide. After an hour of repacking, divvying up new carry-ons, layering our clothes the airline wasn’t budging. They informed us that we only had 30 minutes to catch our flight. Becca ended up dashing to an ATM and paying a fee and we were able to lug our way to customs. We “exited” Thailand, headed to security. In the change of carry-ons, we carried on my bag since it was only 9.8kgs. Mind you, it was packed to be a check-on. Hahaha…I didn’t have any back space, so Robyn was lugging it, along with being a mom to 4 children. I was ahead of them and as I sat down on the plane I realized, “The liquid…wait, oh, no, they are going to have to repack the whole thing…” I made my way to the check in counter and asked the gentleman to wait for my teammates, I boarded the plane, free seating. It took me back to backpacking Europe. Easy Jet/AirAsia. No food. No drink. No leg room. Absolutely exhausted from travel, running on two hours of sleeping under chairs, hauling though the airport and heaps of spiritual warfare, Melisa and I sat and waited for everyone else.

We made it. All of us made it on the flight. Praise the Lord.

Later when we recapped, we talked about any discouragement people felt, like “Where was God?” Some shared about doing spiritual warfare over themselves because they felt like we needed a miracle and God didn’t come through. As they shared the revelations they had, I think we were all encouraged. We really fought our hardest. Whether in silent or group prayers, singing, everyone took part in the battle. Becca shared that we did see miracles, like all of us making the flight, especially when they asked her to unpack my bag and she knew that she only had 5 minutes to make the flight. Or that they let one “carry-on” team bag get through with piles of medicine and syringes when they probably should’ve confiscated it all. Finally, I think the best part was we saw a new depth of unity. We were all scrambling at the ticket counter, loading carry-ons until they weighed more than our check-ins. Carry each others stuff, submitting to the leaders in whatever they needed. We did not labour in vain.

Anyway, we are now in our cozy home. The past two days have been spent in orientation, Bible reading and organization. There is a lot of settling to be done. Before we do ministry we will read the whole Bible aloud. We are in 3 hours shifts. As of yet, we are into 1 Samuel. I am up next! I think the truth is cutting through to the southern region.

I will put up some pictures soon.

Some prayer requests:
-Sarah, one of our leaders is in the U.S., she will be coming to meet us in a couple days.
-Communication, whether with our regional coordinators or Perth Coordinators, we want to be on guard of any miscommunication.
-Opportunities in mother and child healthcare would continue to open up.

Thanks Guys!