In The Squatty Potty

I was told there would be some defining moments on this trip that would help mold me and shape me in a new way. Moments that I would never forget...

Well, the 40-minute drive to this church was anything but glamorous. The taxi of course had no air conditioning and driving through village after village was becoming difficult for me--my pregnant, sensitive nose did not know if it could handle any more 'interesting' smells without losing my breakfast. After a very bumpy, very hot, and very long car ride, we finally arrived at Pastor Martha's church for their Sunday morning service, which I was speaking at.

The praise and worship started and to my immediate horror I HAD to make a trip to the ladies room. I knew what that meant: a trip to the squatty potty. As I made the journey, kicking chickens out of the way, I arrived to what I needed to be my throne of grace. There were only small bugs in this one, which I was so thankful for. As I "stood" in there, I cried out, "GOD! I CAN'T DO THIS!"

A sudden overwhelming peace hit me and I am not joking when I say I heard the Lord giggling at me and saying in a bit of an amused way, "You are definitely right about that. YOU can't do this, but I can." That erased my failed attempt at being Superwoman. God was right. I was not capable in my own strength.

It says in James 1 to consider it a sheer gift when tests and challenges come at you from all sides because under pressure your faith is forced into the open and shows its true colors. It says that if you let faith do its work, you become mature and well developed. LUCKILY it says right after that, "If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help."

Well, James 1 came alive to me in that moment. Just when I was ready to give up my faith came out into the open and all I knew to do was ask God for help... and of course HE DID. I walked out of that squatty potty with renewed strength and joy that only God could have given me in this circumstance. The service went AWESOME. After Brandon and Brooklyn introduced me, I had total peace while sharing my heart to these precious people. Everyone at the service agreed together to give God more of our time this coming year. After all, who better to give our time to then the PERFECT GIFT we just celebrated?

All glory to him for being my SUPERMAN once again!

Amazing Grace

Missy and I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! We heard you got a lot of snow, but don't feel bad because we got a lot of rain :) We celebrated with a special Christmas dinner at our hotel. It was cut short because I had to go speak at a Christmas eve service, but none the less it was special for our family. The hotel even got Brooklyn a basket of treats which we let him devour!

Because of the rain, our interpreter suggested Missy and Brooklyn not attend the Christmas eve service. As I was hopping over a fence into a flooded plot of grass, I was glad I heeded her warning. The service was hard for me in all honesty. Christmas services here last upwards of 4 hours--most of which is spent singing. Either way God showed up as He always does!

Again the rain kept Missy and Brooklyn from going to our Christmas morning service the following day. The roads were pure mud and it was only the grace of God that got us into that little village church. Actually the theme for this Christmas service was "Amazing Grace." How appropriate for a holiday that celebrates the sacrifice made for that grace, Jesus. I guess when you have no gifts to give, no place to travel, and no feast to eat, the true meaning of Christmas has an opportunity to shine through as it should. That is a lesson those Indonesians 

taught me without even knowing it and I am so grateful to God for this opportunity.

We're very excited for our upcoming ministry schedule. We have another service this Sunday morning at a new church we've never been to. Once January hits we're off and running non stop. Thank you for your continued prayers and comments. We'll be thinking of you as we all celebrate this new year--we'll be eating lunch while you're watching the ball drop!

Strawberry Fanta

Yesterday started out with a moment that I NEEDED. You could say as the only female of the bunch this journey has been a bit hard for me. I guess I should say I am a lot more spoiled then I thought and coming here has made me see that. So each morning I ask GOD for the strength to get through another day with His joy. So GOD decided to send me a moment I will never forget...

We were at the pool yesterday (our ministry schedule leaves us free time in the mornings which we take advantage of to relax/recoup) and there were some Indonesian children from a nearby village that had snuck into the pool. They were swimming in their clothes and enjoying every moment of being in a swimming pool. I wasn't going to say a word. Why steal that joy from them? The Lord prompted me to buy them each a Strawberry Fanta. I walked towards them with these little treats and they looked at me with such sad eyes; they must have thought they were all for Brooklyn. To their delight I handed each one of them what I thought was a small treat. To my amazement they LEAPED out of their chairs and ran across the pool screaming and laughing with the purest joy. By their reaction (that I wish you could've seen) I don't think they had ever had such a treat. The moment melted my heart and the Lord kindly reminded me that He had a purpose for us in Batam that went much further than eating spaghetti for dinner every night.

I lay in my chair for a while thanking God for His peace and His grace, when I heard some movement next to me. I sat up and there they were, all 4 children, sitting in the chair next to me with big beautiful smiles on their faces. At that moment I asked God to keep them, direct them, protect them, and love them for the rest of their lives. It says in Ephesians that God will do exceedingly above all that we could ask or think and I know He began to work at that moment.

The day ended with a service at Marlena's church. This is a newer, smaller church that we have recently become connected to. It was in her village and it was the cutest little church (all pink, which I liked) and there was so much love in the building that it was hard not to cry. There were about 10 adults and 6 children there.

The service began with praise and worship, which Brooklyn loved. He stood up in the front row, clapped, said Hallelujah, and did whatever everyone else did. He didn't seem to mind that the music was merely and electronic keyboard and 1 vocalist. The music was anointed and so was the preaching. Brandon shared a message on the simple love of God. These people hung on every word and JUMPED at the opportunity to get prayed for at the end of the service. Brandon asked them if he could give them each a hug at the end. He got a bit choked up as he explained to them that we considered them family and loved them all deeply. The people clung to his genuine affection. I wish I could've been up there, but was definitely content keeping an eye on Brooklyn while he played (and I believe ministered) in the back outside of the church with all the children. I loved loving them and sharing Brooklyn's toys with them.

Thank you GOD for beginning and ending this day with your deep love and compassion. Thank you for sending so many laborers to love and support us so that we could experience these moments!

Our First Service...

Sunday night was our first service and man was it incredible! Missy and Brooklyn weren't feeling well, so I (Brandon) went alone--something we normally won't do. In all honesty I've never felt so helpless as I did in that little taxi on my way into the village. We almost got hit only once and almost hit someone only like three times. I've always prayed for safety and stuff like that, but never really out of total desperation like I did that night. I've done this sort of thing before, but never alone. Soon the pavement turned to mud and I new this was for real...

After arriving at the church it was like something kicked into gear and I knew exactly what I had to do. We worshiped for 1 hour in that hot little church full of people. The sound of ceiling fans, plastic lawn chairs on cement, and scooters screaming by outside was familiar and weirdly comforting--like I was at the right place at the right time. Before my message started they turned all the lights off. Only randomly blinking Christmas lights filled the room with light. Then the most heart-warming sight I'd seen since we'd arrived--12 little girls all in white dresses holding candles slowly marched in time down the middle isle of the church as we sang what sounded like "Silent Night." I didn't feel a need to say a word after that because God's love was already so evident in that room. Not in some white, American "minister," but in those little kids.

I still spoke that night and prayed for 6 people who said they've never felt the love of God. If we'd have left after Sunday night, I would have felt like we came to do what we were called to. As I hugged those six people, some young and some old, I could feel their desperation to know something more than the life they knew now. And God, I believe, filled that void. All glory to Him. Know this: His love is ALWAYS big enough to handle ALL situations.

We just returned from Singapore--we had to reload on milk for Brooklyn and make sure his fever wasn't anything major. In some strange way it was actually nice to return to Batam even though we didn't mind Singapore's amenities. Besides a trip to the doctor, we considered our stay there sort of a Christmas celebration since we'll be doing services on Christmas day here in Batam.

Last, but not least, little Brooklyn got his first MAJOR haircut. The Batam heat was getting to him, so Missy thought it best to practice her cutting abilities on the little guy. I suppose I'm next.

What It's Like

Well, here we go--a little tired, but ready to rock and roll! We're online and ready to start sharing this crazy journey with you--our closest friends and family. We've already received a few emails and comments wondering what it's like here in Batam, so here's an update...

HOUSING: We're staying in the "Golden View Hotel." Our room is small, but larger than we expected! It has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a sitting room. We've got a fridge that tilts a little to the left, but is still a blessing. The "Golden View" name comes from our bedroom wall which is made entirely out of glass. We wake up every morning to cargo ships hauling goods into Asia. How ironic that so many boats are bringing so many things into a nation, yet half the people here are walking around without shoes.

FOOD: Tea, tea, and more tea. To me the food is fantastic! It's like eating LeeAnn Chin for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Missy, on the other hand, isn't so keen on that idea. We eat big for breakfast and then have a light lunch and dinner--mostly in our hotel's restaurant. You can get a full meal for the equivalent of under $10 dollars. It gets a little lonely eating dinner in a hotel restaurant when no one's around. Imagine going to Applebee's on a Friday night and you're the only family there. I guess it makes for good service though! Oh, and Brooklyn loves the rice!

SCHEDULE: As of right now our schedule is light. Most of the ministry won't start until late December/early January. We're wide awake around 5:45am and hit breakfast at 6:30am. Then we spend time walking around the hotel and playing with Brooklyn. After we get ready for the day around 8:00am, we get in our Word and confessions. (By the way, Brooklyn prayed for Jason, Brie, Kaylee, Michael & Brie, PS Jeff and PS Jim today--without our prompting.) Around 10:00am it's time for some more play time with Brooklyn outside and then lunch at 11am. Brooklyn naps at 12pm while I "work out." Then comes ministry...

MINISTRY: We just received our ministry schedule from James our contact. Here's what it looks like: Mondays-praise and worship workshops. Tuesdays and Wednesdays-teaching at cell groups. Thursdays-ministering at factory services. Fridays-free day. Saturdays-youth services. Sundays-church services. Our main goal here is to create some sort of youth ministry for 5 different churches, as well as develop the music ministries of 6 different churches. That's all mixed in with teaching/preaching at the cell groups and church services of 6 different churches. We're so excited--and scared--but excited!

BROOKLYN: Brooklyn had an excitingly major change in his tiny little life yesterday, but I'll save those details for our next blog.

We love you all so much and think about you daily.

The Eagle Has Landed!

We're here! I don't have much time, but wanted to let everyone know that we've arrived in Batam. We're still having some issues with internet axcess, so forgive us for not posting as frequently as we'd like...YET. Please check out our prayer needs as we continue to update them. We love you all so much and miss you more than you can ever understand.