The Miracle of His Perfect Will

WOW! The last 2 months have flown by so fast. I can't believe we will be home in 6 more weeks. It will surely be bittersweet for me--I have fallen in love with my time with God here and these precious people. The bump is getting PRETTY desperate for some american food and a soft bed, however!

This week has been incredible! Brandon has been moving along steadily with the worship workshops. I am pretty sure they are his favorite...although he says that about many things here! He has been training these worship teams to love and serve each other and to become more united as a team in times of worship. This is a very foreign concept to them but it is working. We are already seeing fruit in the services which has been so awesome! 

I was able to share my heart at a cell group last night. We do about 3-4 cell groups a week. Normally I am able to go to 2 due to the late schedule and Brooklyn's bed time. The cell groups are small and VERY intimate. They are held at a church member's house in the village. It's always humbling to walk into the small living room filled with people. Their smiles and their love for God is powerful and nearly leaves me speechless every time! (Posted a vid on my facebook)

I talked to them about the importance of a prayer Life--a time to connect with God, a time to look towards Him in every circumstance, a time to focus on His ability and what He wants you to do with your life. During my time with them, I shared my testimony of what God has done for me on this trip as I gave more time to my prayer life. It seemed fit to share with all of you...

You see coming on this trip was incredibly hard for me. In fact, I was miserable the first 3 weeks. Life here is radically different and seemingly hard. BUT a miracle happened in my life in early January that changed me forever. I was at the end of my rope and knew that I would not make it if I did not snap out of it and start to focus on God's ability in me and not my own. Out of desperation I devoted much more of my time to prayer. This prayer time looked differant each day. Sometimes I would just thank God for all He HAS given me, sometimes I would pray and speak God's Word, sometimes I would pray for friends and family, and sometimes I would pray for this island and these pastors. Either way, I committed myself to have more of 'me and God-time.' I was counting on the promise of Matthew 7:7 to WORK!!

The scripture that says  "He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him" came to life in me. Within days I noticed that I was starting to love my life here. I was finding unspeakable joy, constant peace, compassion and love was filling my heart. I can only explain it as a miracle because it was. The more focus I put on God and His strength the less focused I was on the natural hurdles here. I noticed more and more each day how amazing my life here is and that I should not take a single moment for granted. 

During my time of connecting with God He showed me that our family being here was His PERFECT WILL. He told me that He had called us here and that we were in the right place at the right time. He reminded me of all of the favor that had surrounded this trip: Every bill paid here, every bill paid at home, above and beyond finances, a great hotel room, safety, protection, favor with the hotel staff, favor on the plane, packed services, etc. As soon as I got my eyes off of myself and my eyes on Him, I could finally see clearly that the truth was that everything about this trip was PERFECT. I simply needed to embrace what God was trying to do here!!

There truly is no better place to be than in God's perfect will for your life. Its where joy, peace, and love bubble out and you can't seem to have anything but a smile on your face--no matter what things look like around you! A miracle happened for me in His perfect will. I am so glad I had friends and family who encouraged me in those times to keep my eyes on Him...because it worked, will continue to work, and can do the same for you! 

 I  am humbled and thank God everyday that Brandon braved pursuing his desire to come here. That desire was from God and it has drawn our family into His perfect will where miracles are happening. I am eager to see what more God possibly wants to do here in the 6 weeks remaining and I cant wait to tell all of you, our faithful and supportive friends and family, ALL about it!

The Bump

Here it is...

the long-awaited, much-request bump for your viewing pleasure.

Not only is Missy having our baby this May, but she was just informed that a baby from one of the churches here in Batam was named after her. The parents are believing their baby girl will be as anointed as Missy. Glory to God! What an honor!

Making Disciples

We're in the thick of our schedule now--about one service per day--and we're loving it! We had our first youth service of the year and were totally blown away by the similarities of Indonesian youth to American. It made me realize how strong these young people in Batam really are. They face the same challenges as American youth but with many many more hardships. Still they pursue God each day and worship Him for His goodness.

The two of us split the message at this past Sunday's service. Our focus was being a light by simply extending the love of God to those around in simple ways--the most important being unconditional forgiveness and love towards others. We prayed for 10 people who had requests that ranged from post-pregnancy pain to women who were believing for their husbands to receive Christ and start coming to church. One woman thought God was punishing her daughter with sickness because of her past mistakes. What an awesome opportunity that was to share God's grace and love for that woman. She simply cried, almost as if she couldn't believe it.

One thing God has really been teaching us is about discipleship. We've always focused on numbers and size regarding our level of impact at church. Numbers aren't a bad thing. We're beginning to learn now that its not just how many people you preach to that changes a place. It's also how many people you disciple... and discipleship takes time. A synonym of the word "disciple" is "pupil" defined, "someone who studies or learns to do something." It's a process. You can't learn how to perform open-heart surgery over night. There is a place for all sorts of ministry in the body of Christ. Each one is important. But at this point in our lives we're really seeing the long-term benefits of truly making disciples here in Batam.

We're so grateful for those who've gone before us on this island and opened doors of opportunity for our family to make a difference in this world. Now, more than ever, we're seeing how our experiences here can be applied to our lives back in America. We were so consumed with life as we knew it, but now we're realizing we've only taken the first step on a long and exciting journey.

The Results Are In...

43 people including myself met on Monday to talk, learn, and worship together at our first worship workshop. It was amazing to be in a room full of other people whose heart was to lead worship--something I could totally relate to. We were very different yet so much the same. This sort of workshop has never happened before with these churches--the goal being to develop music ministries that will attract a younger generation of people. It was comforting to see that musicians all the way across the world were just like those in America. It gave me a chance to speak a little more casually. I thank God for all the people in my life who planted seeds in my heart regarding worship. It was like everything I'd learned was meant to give to these people who simply loved the heart of God.

This past week we also took a short trip to Singapore. Besides the much needed break and good food, Missy got to have her ultrasound and the results are in... it's a boy! "Healthy with a beautiful spine and long American legs" said the doctor. The picture on the left is his profile and he's giving us a wave! We're so excited for this new addition to our family and a little friend for Brooklyn to play with. We appreciate your prayers for the ongoing growth of our son.

On a more serious note, as many of you know things are heating up in the Gaza strip which is fueling the fire of anti-war protestors in Indonesia. You may have seen some of this on the news. We are on a safe Island so please don't be concerned for us. Prayer, however, is necessary now more than ever. Because of the obvious dangers, we will not be posting any more pictures of the Indonesian pastors we're working with unless they are in large group pictures. We will also not be mentioning any specific names. We will, however, continue to blog and update you on our family's experiences. Please be reminded that there are over 28,000 islands that make up Indonesia so when you see something on the news regarding this country we are most likely unaffected.

We are very excited about a special meeting we're having tomorrow with our contact and local pastors. We'll be taking communion together and hearing more of the vision and goals for this island's ministry. We will make sure to let them know of all your prayer and support for them.

Adjusting To Life

It's been 1 month since we arrived in Batam, Indonesia and we finally feel like we've fully adjusted to life here. We by no means feel like we've got things "figured out" but know that God has already prepared a way where there seems to be no way. He has ordered our steps thus far and we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He'll continue to do so. I think Brooklyn has adapted the quickest. As you can see, he loves the food! He's also pretty quick to make new friends. In fact, he never has a problem belting out the song "Majesty" anytime anyplace! Missy is doing much better also. She came down with some flu-like symptoms a week ago but is now feeling 100% better. Thank you all for your continued prayer for our health as our bodies adjust to this new environment.

Our ministry schedule for January has been set in stone--at least we'd like to think so. We're learning very quickly that if service starts at 7pm that can mean 8pm. We're glad that our December schedule was light because it gave us a chance to establish a good foundation with each church. Our messages were centered around God's love, acceptance, and grace for all. Now in January we'll really be able to move into deeper realms of ministry to these incredible people at the churches.

We believe that each of you is a part of what we're doing here in Batam. The following is our weekly schedule so you'll know what you can pray for each day and join us in reaching this nation: Mondays are worship workshops in which I have the privilege of training worship leaders and bands from 6 different churches. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are cell groups in which Missy and I get to go to the people's homes and minister to them on a more personal level. One Friday a month we work with the youth leaders of these 6 churches on ways to minister to teenagers as well as developing ways for them to reach out to the larger teen community on the island. Saturdays are youth services which we're really excited about! Finally, Sunday mornings we get to speak at a different church's main service each week. What an honor!

We really need a lot of wisdom and direction from God regarding the youth leader training we'll be doing once a month. 4 of these churches don't even have youth leaders. We'll be working with the pastors to help choose leaders from their churches to take on the task. We believe the Holy Spirit will guide us in making wise decisions that will grow the youth ministry going forth from these churches. Your prayers are greatly needed in this area!

Thank you so much for your comments. They're like little presents throughout our week that get us excited and remind us that we're not alone out here. We rejoice every day in what God is doing in our family's life and what He's doing on this island. For us this trip has been all about Jesus and He truly has shown himself strong every day.