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. 

Love you Mom!

Mother's Day looked a little different this year being so far away. It's also great to have a new mom, Mallory in our family this year too! 

I was able to talk to my mom & my nana via Skype on Mother's Day weekend. So thankful for technology. It was the first time that I was able to talk and see my nana & aunt Allison. Love them so much. My brother was there and took a photo of them Skyping with me. Too funny! I will say that the internet does not take the place of being there in person though.

Looks like I'm in prison or something...

My family has been a great source of support & encouragement to me while I have been here. It has been such a blessing! It's so hard to believe that I have been away for over 5 months now. Man time flies.

Mom & I were talking about Mother's Day in the years past, and it was funny to remember that for some reason that was the weekend that worked out for me to move apartments almost every year I was down in Mobile going to the University of South Alabama. Mom was always there to help and I am so happy that she doesn't really like a whole lot of fanfare on that day, and it will be so great to celebrate Mother's Day when I get home. Who says that you have to wait until May to do that.

Just wanted to tell my mom that I love you and I miss you a lot!!

Not your typical Alabama gulf seafood!

So the other day some new friends invited me to eat seafood with them. I was excited about this because the great state of Alabama has some amazing seafood. Haven't really eaten any of it since I have been here. Hard to believe because I live on an island! So off we went and here is what I see... It was all very interesting and there were different characteristics with each of the different foods that made it unique.

Not like any other shell fish I have ever eaten! They did not want to come out even with the toothpicks.

My friend Victor is demonstrating how to get them out. Takes a little technique.

These snails are called Balitong. Basically you just suck them out of their shells... I just ate one.

Muscles. Really good sauce too. Although people here call it gravy. I continue to look for biscuits and gravy when they say that!

Speaking of bread. Steamed bread that you use to dip in the different types of gravy.

These are called mantis prawns. They were a little over a foot long! You have to peal their backs and they taste like boiled shrimp.

Crab. They were served in a really good chili sauce.

The seafood is extremely fresh. These crab were caught and eaten in the same day.

These are the men and women processing the fish that were just caught. Looks nothing like "The Original Oyster House" back at home!

Needless to say, I had plenty of food and some great friends to enjoy it with. I think more than one of them asked later on in the week if I was feeling okay after eating all that seafood. Good to go and ready to go back. Eating right on the water reminded me of spending time with friends at the lake in Alabama. Fun times on both sides of the world!

So long GPS (well at least for the most part...)

I have finally weened myself off the GPS to get around my near surroundings. Never thought in a million years that this would happen but it finally has. It is still needed when we travel to new places, so it will keep its place of prominence hidden in my glove box/compartment thing. (Its called a glove box/compartment because years ago driving with gloves was the proper thing to do. Kept hands clean. Also, most cars did not have a hard top and they  prevented the driver's hands from getting numb due to the fast moving air.) So my GPS will continue to be housed here b/c we are not using gloves any time soon!

We spent this last week in the mountains on our island, and had I been driving, the GPS would have been needed. I was surrounded by men who have been in the harvest field for a long time. Just being able to sit and listen to stories of God working through them for His glory was a blessing. As we were there, I remembered  our church meetings on Wednesday night as we prayed for them on their birthday and during Christmas with Lottie Moon. It is great to serve alongside with these brothers & sisters on this side of the world. What a joy it is to be the hands and feet! 

This was the view from the place that we stayed. Below is part of the island that we live on and the mainland in the distance.

 ^"And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness." Genesis 1:3-4

"God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day." Genesis 1:5

We watched a thunderstorm come in from the water. What a display! As we watched this, I was reminded of a passage in Job. God asks, “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you? Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’?" Job 38:34-35. I cannot do these things, but thanks be to God that He can! 

This is the 13.5km bridge that I will run across and then back during a marathon in November. Already praying and I will start training soon!

^35 36 This quote hit me at my core, and I am thankful that the Almighty has no need for a GPS to track me as I go from place to place. "With every step of our lives we enter into the middle of some story which we are certain to misunderstand." G.K. Chesterson. 

Easter in Southeast Asia

This year Easter looked a lot different for me than years past. There are not a single bunny or eggs to be seen, unless you are eating them... I'm kind of okay with that too. Such a refreshing thing to experience a time that we are so familiar with in a different way. The great thing about it is that although my surroundings may be different, my God is the same! Hebrews 13:8.

The sun was rising as we drove from the island to church. What a great picture and a great time to reflect on the true Son that is risen. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. 

We celebrated communion during the service. I love being able to do this with brothers & sisters on the other side of the world. Matthew 26:26-29. 

Some of the songs that we sang were different, but some were the same. We sang one of my favorites, "Christ Is Risen" by Matt Maher. It warmed my heart to hear it and sing along with my Southeast Asian brothers & sisters. Here are some of the lyrics...

"Christ is risen from the dead

  We are one with Him again.

  Come awake, come awake!

  Come and rise up from the grave.

  

  Oh death! Where is your sting?

  Oh Hell! Where is your victory?

  Oh Church! Come stand in the light!

  The glory of God has defeated the night!"

Besides great praise and worship, I had the privilege of going to see a friend preach this morning. Although Easter did look different, the gospel presented in my friend's sermon is the same. We were treated to two different lunches today. Completely different "Easter-type" food than what I am used to, but it was so good!

We had a global meal with the church. We had some Chinese, Indian and even some American food. The American food was chicken salad sandwiches. Haven't had it since I got here and it was really good!

While we were eating the first meal, the pastor inited us out to eat as well. This was some of the spiciest Indian food that I have ever had. It's called Banana Leaf. They place different vegetables and meat on a banana leaf. Pretty original name for a dish if you ask me... And yes, we went "hands-on" for this meal. Reminded me of my two trips to India. 

Lastly, I wanted to share Isaiah 53:5-6. "But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; 
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." Hallelujah, what a Savior! 

Singapore!

Last week we spent a few days in Singapore. What a great place! Singapore is actually not a country. It's a republic with a cabinet, prime minister & a president. Had no clue where Singapore was or they type of government they had until I arrived on this side of the world... I love traveling to new places, and one thing that makes me smile is to see my passport pages filling up. These pages and the places they represent remind me that we are Christ's ambassadors. 2 Corinthians 5:20.

On this trip we were allowed to be straight-up tourists and we took advantage. God provided us with an amazing place to stay. So thankful for a family of Christ followers that we are connected to through our church. They were out of town during our visit, but allowed us to stay in their house. Such an affirmation of this Scripture. "And he (Jesus) said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:37-39

We were there a total of 2 full days and we went to the Singapore Zoo one day and Universal Studios the next. We also ate really great food too! Here are some photos of our trip...

None of these three animals were in cages. When you walked up to them, they did not look real! Especially the bats. 

This orangutan was asking for some sugar cane. He was right above our heads. Very cool!

I was also just hanging out at the zoo.

I come all the way to Singapore and find a guy wearing an Auburn shirt! He had this puzzled look on his face because he is from Switzerland and had no clue about Auburn University. I told him that it was his destiny! It all made sense after this picture was taken. He may have been a little drunk too... War Eagle!!

In front of Universal Studios Singapore

This cracked me up. They have a Jurassic Park ride that is a lot like Thunder River at Six Flags Over Georgia. Apparently Asians do not want to get wet on these types of rides so they were selling ponchos for the equivalent of $2 dollars a piece! How funny is that? 

I'm not always a fan of inside jokes, but this is for my friends at State Farm. Miss you guys! This was in the Shrek portion of Universal Studios.

We had chili crab our last night there. It was really good. They brought us a crab seasoned with pepper to try as well. 

Singapore at night.

This was a nice place to walk at night. Several nice restaurants and coffee shops along this thoroughfare. It had these tall things that looked like mushrooms or fake palm trees to block any rain or sun. 

This is a peach danish from a restaurant called "BreadTalk." It was amazing! It reminded me of a peach muffin from O'henry's coffee shop back at home. I was saddened to find out that "BreadTalk" has not made its way to the United States. We should look into a franchise...

Yes you are reading this correctly... It is $1,000 Sing dollars (approx $800 US) fine if you are caught riding your bike on the sidewalk here. They have tee shirts everywhere that say, "Singapore, a "fine" city." ("Fine" has two different meanings there.) They have also outlawed chewing gum in Singapore. They don't sell it anywhere and you are fined if caught smuggling or chewing gum. 

As you can see, we covered a lot of Singapore in the short couple of days that we were there. Can't say enough about how great of a place it is. As I travel to new places I am finding out just how a large a world that we live in. God has created so many great things for us to enjoy! I hope that everyone gets a chance to get outside and explore new things.