Bali

Had the opportunity to travel to Bali this last week. We spent a little over a week being encouraged by many brothers & sisters in Christ. It is always funny to me when I travel all the way around the world to meet someone who grew up in my same hometown! Reminded me of being back at home. Bali is a country who's primary religion is hindu. It is such a pretty place but everywhere you turn, there a gods on display. My heart goes out for these people that the have an encounter with the one true God.

"I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God... (Isaiah 45:5)

Here are some pictures of my time in Bali.

Enjoyed this cup of Bali kopi (coffee) looking at a volcano. It felt so good up there!

Each day the as the tide went out at the beach, this red coral surfaced. You could walk almost a quarter mile out this huge reef. This is a picture of me looking back to the shoreline. My mom always asks me to bring a rock back home from my travels. She may have gotten a little piece of this coral... not really sure if it was legal to do so or not!

    

So I had heard every morning at breakfast about how amazing the sunrises are in Bali. I had been there for 7 mornings so far and just hadn't taken the time to wake up to see one. I figured that the last morning we were there would be the day that I would get out there to see it. On that particular morning, the sunrise was covered mostly by clouds... I was then reminded of one of my favorite A.W. Tozer quotes where he said, "Were all human beings to suddenly become blind, still the sun would shine by day and the stars by night, for these owe nothing to the millions who benefit from their light." Basically, I was reminded that the sun does not rise for my glory, but for God's alone. I just get to benefit from its light and warmth. 

I was reading one of my favorite Psalms out there that morning too. Psalm 19 says,

"The heavens declare the glory of God,

the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

 Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
 There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
     which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
    and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
    and its circuit to the end of them,
    and there is nothing hidden from its heat." (Psalm 19:1-6)

This was another great reminder of who this sun rises for. 

They terrace the land to grow rice. Makes good use of space. I also met a friend on this side of the world from Leeds Alabama who called this a "holler." He was surprised that I knew what that meant. Thanks to my Papa, I did!

I loved these old boats on the beach. They were right outside of the cottage where I stayed. What you don't see is the men always asking if you want to ride in these boats every time you pass by...

This is the view from the hotel where we spent the week. 

Another thing in Bali is the currency. The conversion is a little under 10,000 rupiah to one dollar. When the money was transferred, I became a millionaire in Indonesia. It is so hard to warp your arms around so many zeros. Not sure how Bill Gates does it...

This last week was a great encouragement to me and it also gave me a little time to relax. Thankful for all the people who made this last week possible and it was very nice of them to invite me. Great food, seeing friends and nice weather makes for a good week! Hearing really good preaching along with that is just icing on the cake!

Out and About

Had a great friend and brother in Christ come and visit a few days last week. Life has been moving at a really fast pace and it was fun to see someone else experience it with us. We pretty much covered the most northern end of the country and then flew down to the southern end in 3 days. During that time, we traveled by car, motorcycle, ferry & airplane. It's always so much fun just to make yourself available and see what God will do. Need to surrender to that more often!

In the north, we spent a little time "rubber tapping." They have been doing this for many years in Southeast Asia. The latex (rubber) collected from these trees is used to make anything from medical/household gloves, balloons, rubber bands to clothing. 

The field of rubber trees. Waiting on someone to come and harvest the crop.

As you can see, the trees are ripe for the harvest! That white substance is latex.

Our friend taught me how to do it, although it's not as easy as it looks!

This is some of the rubber that was collected. Ready to be sold at market.

After a morning of work... I needed a little break! Enjoying time with new friends in a village.

Had a chance to play with some of the kids in the village. That was the favorite part of my day. We were kicking a ball around playing a game like "hacky sack."

We then flew down to the southern end of the country and spent some time with some friends and teammates who live there. Very encouraged by all of them. During our visit, we stopped at a local university and found this...

A fast pitch mens softball tournament! This is not something you see everyday on this side of the world. Being able to sit and talk baseball with these softball players reminded me a little of home. I just needed a hotdog and coke to make it complete. 

All in all, we all had a great time and were able to do good work all over the country in a short amount of time. Very blessed to be surrounded by great people and I wouldn't trade it for anything. These last few days served as a reminder of the harvest field that we live in and that there are so many workers needed. I always see it best when God gives me visual reminders of the harvest field. For example, the field of rubber trees, but also the harvest field of kids and softball players that we spent time with too.