We arrived at the orphanage in Indonesia! We left Kuching on Tuesday morning, arriving that night at the village. Our last day in Kuching was a wonderful end to our stay there; it was Chinese New Year so we went on house visits with the youth group all day long. It was amazing to fellowship with them and experience an extravagant holiday as that. The tradition is that each house is open, so we went around to eight houses, spending time together at each one and then at night, fireworks were crazy and went off everywhere. God blessed us with an amazing cultural experience that we will never forget! As for the days leading up to Chinese New year, we continued our involvement with the youth group and church by attending their meetings and services. Some of us shared our testimonies and performed songs during those times, which was such an opportunity to connect even more with the youth. It's amazing because we, being a team passionate for music and the arts, got ot use our gifts and personal stories to relate with the youth, because they too love music and share similar stories. We were sad to leave them after building such good relationships with them, but look forward to reuniting for a short while before we leave back to Australia.
After a few long bus rides, we arrived here at the village and were so very excited; ready to jump into life here. The first day, we took a tour around the village and it is amazing how after only ten years, God has created this beautiful village in the middle of the jungle with amazing vision and plans for the future. We are so thankful and in awe that we can be a part of it. Each day we've had a set schedule of prayer meeting at sunrise, work projects during the day, and either a prayer meeting at night or homework night for the kids. We have also been involved in teaching the English class each Friday, which has been an awesome opportunity. Our work duties each day have varied amongst us; cleaning various buildings, shoveling away dirt to build a wall and walkway for the new Sunday school building, and painting the newly built houses around the village. There are other longer-term volunteers working here, so we've had the opportunity to get to know them and hear their stories as well. During the working hours, we have been able to have conversations about God and been able to witness to them. Since there is a language barrier between us and the kids, it has been incredible to be able to really go into deeper conversations with the other volunteers. We know that there is such a specific purpose for God bringing us here and while we've been able to love on the kids and spend time with them, God has also opened doors for us to really share the Gospel as well. Overall, it has been a wonderful time building relationships, working hard, and serving this amazing ministry here. At the Tuesday prayer meeting, we got the chance to perform the song that we wrote in preparation for this trip. It speaks of the heart that God has for the people of Indonesia and Malaysia, encouraging them to step into the love that God has for them and afterwards, shared a testimony. That was a highlight, and we will also be involved in the next Tuesday prayer meeting, where we will build upon our theme from the previous week.
Overall, we've had an unbelievable time serving the people here, getting to know the kids and playing with them; sharing God's unfailing love with them. God has been teaching us so much individually and it has been a blessing and exciting time getting to share personal revelations; being able to build each other up and grow immensely together. We will be travelling to the third and final time of our outreach on Wednesday morning-heading to Pontianak to serve there at the villages. We aren't sure if we will have any internet access, but will keep in contact whenever possible. Thank you again for all of the support and prayer, we appreciate it greatly and are thinking of you often.
Love, Team Mindolay
(Cory, Kat, Sarah, Paige, Dan, Lesley, and Elyssa)
