Life in Bali!! A Brief Update

Where to start?!

What a constant adventure life is here. Every day is a battle against sweat and mosquitoes (while sitting here on pillows on the floor at an internet cafe have already been bitten twice) . Though the food is amazingly decent here, one's stomach is never quite right. Thankfully I have not suffered from any serious stomach sickness like some of my team. Walking through the neighborhood where we live one passes rats scuttling across the road, one has to jump across holes in the pavement which look down into the sewage below, dodge the cars and scooters which congest the road, block one's nose passing by piles of rubbish or the incense filled hindu temples which pop up on every street corner. The cold showers here are an amazing blessing. Though we have a shower in our bathroom, most of the time I just have a bucket shower as the shower rarely functions. One team member was bitten aggressively by a monkey the other day. Thankfully just has a few ugly bruises now to show from her attack.

We have been to schools, prisons, orphanages, slums, hospitals, youth groups, churches, visited poor families and much more while we have been here. Mainly been encouraging, blessing and praying for people here. Most have been extremely appreciative and has been awesome to see hearts being touched. Also has been very cool as have seen two people been healed when we have prayed for them. A random highlight for me was singing songs to an old lady who had a tumor on her leg at a hospital we were visiting. I sat by her bed holding her hands and for a long while sang some hymns to her, watching her face relax feeling a deep peace come over her. Though was such a simple thing to do somehow to me it felt that it was of great significance.

There is nothing like being taken out of the comforts of the western world to experience God's faithfulness and love. It feels that the whole team is being brought closer to God in their own way. Though we have often felt very weak here, we have really known his presence and seen Him work in so many situations. He has been a great friend to me here as I have really had to depend on Him. Leading a team has certainly not been easy. However it has taught me a lot about wisdom and about God's wisdom. I think I am learning a lot about loving and serving and what that looks like.

Anyway if you would like to, please pray specifically that communication with the leadership at the YWAM base here would get better, that God would guide me as I decide the schedule for the team each week, and pray for strength for the team to love each other! Thank you!

Off to Bali, Indonesia

Tomorrow I will be hopping onto a plane in Auckland along with 7 other team mates, leading an outreach team to Bali for just under 2 months!!! We have an interesting mixture of Americans, Swiss, an Australian and Canadian on the team.

For those of you that don't know, this is where Bali, Indonesia is:

Most people think of Bali as a tourist location that looks something like this:

However, as we will be staying for the majority of our time in the capital, Denpasar, it may well look more like this:

In all honesty I'm not really sure that there is anyway of anticipating what my surroundings will be like in Bali, but it is amusing trying to guess.

I am very much looking forward to experiencing a new culture and for all the adventures that I'm sure that will be had, but a lot of me is unsure about what I am getting myself into, particularly as the team leader! I am ready to go though, as I am longing not just to talk and learn about things but to go and do them. It's not really worth me trying to explain and guess all that I will be involved in while I will be there. Better to wait and get a better understanding of what we will be doing once there and then will update you. Overall, I'm just pretty darn excited!!! =)

Anyway here are some short prayer requests (for those of you who are praying for me):

- Pray for team unity (an obvious prayer request, but much needed as we do have a rather random assortment of team members on our team and I have my worries about everyone getting along)

- Pray for break throughs, healings, god appointments, for God to do the unexpected, for God to do what He wants to do not what we want to do, just mostly that we can help people encounter God's love (again a not unexpected prayer request, but our team really do long to step out in boldness and not be afraid to ask to pray for people on the street etc, and I know that the prayers of you all around the world will be so important for us as we step out and pray that God will perform miracles)

- Pray for God to guide me in my leadership and give me heaps of wisdom

Good bye and Thank you!!!!

Thank you for your prayers and all your support and love. We will have a team blog that we will update and I may send around that address at some point but may get a chance to post on here every once in a while! Its been lovely hearing from a lot of you- do feel free to email or facebook me if you do get a chance for I will occasionally be able to go online. 

My address in Bali (until the 23rd November) will be:

PO Box 3407

Jln.Dukuh Sari No.10 Sesetan
Denpasar
80034
Bali
INDONESIA