Hello Indonesia!!!

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I'm in Indonesia, i'm safe and i am soooooooooooooooooo hot right now. British bodies are not made for asian weather! It is currently hot and very humid. Tanner described it as feeling like he's stuck in someone's car exhaust and that is a pretty good summary! Inside is hot, outside is hot...there is literally no escape from the heat. But hey ho...i am in ASIA :D

Quite a lot has been going on since we're got here.
Today's ministry was going into an Indonesian prision and talking to some of the people doing time. It was my first time in a prison so it was interesting just on that basis and the difference between what i imagine an english prison to be like and this prison is pretty big. Overall though i find it difficult to call the experience enjoyable or interesting because it's real lives, desperate and hurt people who are stuck with little options and often no family or friends visiting them. The lady I talked to was caught on the first time she transported drugs and has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. Her mother has not contacted her and the only family member she has had to visit her has been one of her brothers when they sentenced her. I felt pretty speechless and helpless when it came to trying to provide her with comfort and hope. All i could really do was ask a few questions and provide comfort through a held hand or a hand on the knee. She seemed to appreciate the comfort i gave her and was eager for me to come back on a more permenant basis but i don't even know how likely it will be that we will visit one more time. I shared about the comfort and security i find in God and she seemed to be interested and receptive but coming from a Muslim background and hearing about Christianity isn't easy, especially when it feels like your family have already abandoned you. I think in those times the most effective way you can serve that person is by showing them the comfort they aren't getting and just be there when it feels like no-one else is.

Another ministry which we have done is called 'Girls at Risk' which is basically going to talking to girls who sell drinks by the road but often sell 'extras'. These girls should be over the age of 16 but can sometimes be around 14years old. I sat with a lady in her 30s who was selling the drinks as a second job so that all the money from her well paying job could go to support heer 15 year old twins back in the Indonesian Island she was origianlly from. She only really got a few hours of sleep between each job and didn't appear to be offering 'extras' but had had women bringing men to her expecting her to. She was very nice and very social and so beautiful. I was shocked when she said that I was very beautiful, that she especially liked my nose and smile and that i reminded her of movie stars. Definitely wasn't expecting that and it was strange to hear it off someone who i would say is obviously beautiful.
Again with this ministry i felt a great feeling of helplessness as i couldn't speak the language so most of the talking was done by a translator and i couldn't really offer her any stories of hope from my life which i felt would be something she could apply to hers. I could barely think of questions to ask her and i was very greatful when she made the majority of the conversation.

In terms of where we are staying, even though Bali is a tourist filled place, the area we are staying is definitely not a tourist hot-spot. When we went for a walk around an old lady pointed and laughed at me and said 'white' in Indoneisan...that's how not touristy this place is. We went to a beach at the weekend and these old ladies were trying to sell us things (idea of white people is that they have money and a whole lot of it) and one of the ladies tried to sell me some bracelets...i got called beautiful again and she took my hand and just started to massage it and started speaking indonesian at me and when i said i didn't have any money she was not a happy bunny. when they finally gave up with us they left but the one which approached us said some very angry words which sounded like a curse. Customer service is clearly very different here.
As you walk around the streets here there are offerings to their gods just lying around (plants and food...not sacrificed animals) and you've got to be careful not to stand on them because that is very offensive...the places they seem to like to leave them are footpaths, roads and places people walk and there are a lot of them! There are also a lot of stray unhealthy looking dogs just wondering around and so many different little shops and eating stands/places. There is even a little icecream cart which goes around and has a little bell dinging to get the attention of kids!

The plans for the next stage of our trip are up in the air at the moment. it looks like we might stay in bali for little longer than expected due to a few things but i totally wouldnt mind that and we would get around to Flores and Lombok eventually. I quite like Bali and everything really is cheap here. The other night we got a meal for 7 people for the equivalent of $9AUD which is like 7 pounds to all the brits! Definitely a nice change from the prices we had in Australia! The food in general here is sooooo good. I'm definitely finding it difficult to avoid spicey as everything is flavoured witth some form of spice and for my mouth the mildest thing sets it on fire! Maybe i'll be a spice lover by the end of this trip...stranger things have happened!

In terms of my team, I'm getting used to them a lot quicker than I thought. I guess when you've got so much to do and so much time together it's just going to happen. I do miss quite a few people from the january quarter and if truth be told i'm avoiding facebook just so i don't have anything to compare this experience with. I'm also missing home a little and am realising how sheltered and pampered my life has been! Even just being in a humid country with barely any airconditioning is a shock to the system let alone all the sights we see on a daily basis. After just 5 minutes of driving out of the airport once we arrived i already saw kids begging on the side of the road and it seems to be relatively common. Locals tend to sell their products to westerners at a higher price than those from around here...sometimes twice or three times as much....to be honest us westerners can probably afford it though!

All in all Indonesia is definitely an experience and not really an easy one at that...but no-one said this was going to be easy. Hopefully as time goes on i'll feel less useless and be more bold in sharing my testimonies even if they are so western. Am really going to have to work on my complaining as well...seems to be an automatic response when i'm out of my comfort zone...even this blog feels full of complaints and negativity! Hope you guys feel inspired/moved not lulled into a coma of hopelesness and defeat! God is good and is bigger than this situation...that's what i'm clinging onto at this moment in time.

Anyhoo...i love you and miss you all and really appreciate all the prayers and encouragements you've been giving me! Hope you're all well!

Much blessings and love,
Rachel

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