Hello everyone! Just wanted to give you an update from Bali. Where is Bali you ask? Its in Indonesia. Actually, Bali is one of 10,000+ islands in Indonesia. Our team has been here for ten days and and we¡¦ve had an amazing time. Here¡¦s the scoop on Bali: Bali is known for being a huge vacation spot for Westerners, especially the Aussies. But there have been two bombs from Al Quada over the last two years (the last one was at a Starbucks last November in Kuta) so the tournism industry is really down right now. Many people are hurting financially because there are very few visitors. Bali is a very beautiful and tropical island and we¡¦re in a city called Denpasar which is in the southern portion.
Traffic here is insane! There are literally thousands of scooters drive around on the streets with very few traffic laws. Scooters and cars alike just weeve and out of the lanes without hesitation, and with no speed limits! Ya, the dashed lines in the center of road, there just a recommendation or suggestion, no body pays attention to them. And you¡¦re worried about 16 year old drivers, try 13 year old drivers here. Sometime we¡¦re driving down the road (either in a van or on the back of a scooter) and traffic coming at you on both sides. I¡¦m not sure how people don¡¦t get in a like 400 accidents a year but I guess they¡¦re used to it. I wanted to drive but technically you need an internation drivers license. But its like if I actually showed up with cash they wouldn¡¦t hesitate to rent me a motorcycle. Its probably better I didn¡¦t for my safety and so my mom can sleep at night.
Our main ministry here has been working with high schools (teaching English) and working with the youth at the church. Also, we¡¦ve had a great ministry at the hotel, ministering to the workers. They are so cool. I¡¦ve had a chance to share Jesus with several of them. Everday they teach us Indonesian words and phrases like ¡§slamat bagi¡¨ which is ¡§good morning¡¨ or ¡§pisang goreng¡¨ which is ¡§fried banana¡¨. For some reason I remember the food phrases better ƒº I often order ¡§koloke¡¨ which is sweet and sour chicken. I know, I know, for those of you who know me, that¡¦s no surprise because I love Chinese food. Other food items I commonly eat are ¡§nasi goreng¡¨ and ¡§ayam goreng¡¨, fried rice and fried noodles with chicken. Food is very cheap here, the average meal is around 10.000 Rupia so about $1.00 USD. You have to be careful where you eat though, you can eat for around 70 cents often times but you might be paying the price later. I¡¦ve had more the one spat of ¡§Bali belly¡¨ as they call it even from the nice restaurants. If fact I¡¦ve kind of gotten used to it.
We stay in a hotel in Denpasar (we have the ¡§budget rooms¡¨ though) and its right across the street from a huge Christian school. Its only Christian by name because most of the students are Hindu. Bali is mainly a Hindu island with several of Muslims as well. In Indonesia you actually have to have a religion¡Xthey it on your ID card. You can be a Christian, Catholic, Buddhist, Muslim, or a Hindu, nothing else and no room for atheists here. The real Christian churches call nominal Christians ¡§KTP¡¨ which means they are also Christian by ID card. Our room is nice but of course no A/C, no showers (we use buckets) and plenty of blood-sucking mosquitoes for everyone.
The weather is really hot and humid but bearable, around 85 degrees with sometiems 75+ percent humidity. Its in the rainy season too so people have gotten drenches, at least a couple times. We ate dinner at a restaurant on Sunday night and it was pooring rain outside. The place was just under a tent and it was leaking which made it interstesting to say the least. My fried fish head was good though, catfish I think. I constantly sweat and take ¡§showers¡¨ to cool off. As you as you get out of the shower you start to sweat again. I bought a fan for $79,000 ($7.90 USD) Rupia and it has helped a lot. It runs on 220V so I won¡¦t be able to use it and it will probably break on my way to Vietnam but it was worth it for sure.
Other than that, we spent a lot of time teaching English in the high schools. My teaching experience has really come in handy. Basically our group of nine (plus sometimes 5-8 of the church young church members) go the classrooms and play English games with them, sing songs, and break up into groups for more personal interaction time. Often times we make them ask questions to us to practice their English and several times they ask us what we think of Bali and if we are scared because of the recent bombings. They are really worried that people don¡¦t want to visit here. Then we get a chance to tell them about the youth group at the church called ¡§Unlimited¡¨ and Friday was the big night. Last Friday there was a large gathering of Christian youth and other potential Christians. The worship team played, which is awesome, then we had games, and a message from the pastor. I even led a song with the worship team which was quite a challenge! I don¡¦t often play electric guitar and sing but hey, why not, I have nothing to lose. I sang ¡§One Way¡¨ and ¡§Trust In You¡¨. They went pretty well but definitely room for improvement. Alison, Eleya and Jeremy helped on vocals and djembe.
We were excited that a few of the youth came that night for the first time to CCC (Christian Community Church). There were all excited to see us (as teachers) there with them and playing music. Hopefully they will return after we leave. But that¡¦s how its been for the most part, we meet people and invite them to church. I think our team has been a real ¡§boost¡¨ for the staff there. Ya, I know short term missions often take a verbal beating from long termers but our place is to serve and encourage the local churches we visit and minister with. I can¡¦t believe how many awesome people I¡¦ve gotten to know in ten days: Fondro, Gede, Adji, Herman, Joshua, Nengah, Pauly, Henny, and several others. These are really great Christians who have a heart for the SAME God we serve. They look to build the Kingdom of God just as we do. They have a break dancing ministry, a soccer, ministry, and all sorts of other fun and relevant ministries to meet the needs of the local youth and providing practical alternatives to clubs, bars, and other areas that don¡¦t lead anywhere.
We also visited some slums areas and got to play with the kids. The slum areas are really bad, houses build with scraps pretty much. It was humbling though because when we came they were also bathed and in their nicest clothes. We sang songs with them and played ¡§hot potato¡¨. I need to learn some kids songs on the guitar by the way. The chruch leaders said that these children only have visitors like this ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR! Ya, imagine these kids only having maybe one or two really fun play times every twelve months! These are KIDS for pete¡¦s sake! They SOOO cute though. I¡¦ll have to post some picture of them but I¡¦m not sure if I¡¦ll do that today or not. If any of you feel led to give these kids vitamins and stuff like that (the church staff actually recommended vitamins) then just let me now and I¡¦ll put you in touch with powers that be.
Ok, this is getting long and I have to go to sleep. Please pray for safety for our team as we travel to our only communist country tomorrow, Vietnam. We will be in Ho Chi Minh (formally known as Saigon) by 4:00pm local time. We shouldn¡¦t have any trouble but you never know. Its illegal for locals to be Christians and its illegal for us to evangelize.
Thanks for your prayers, we really need them. Also, my house deal is going awry so most likely there is no buyer. Please pray for a new buyer at a good price. Lastly, let me know how you are and how I can pray for you!!! Blessings and I love you all!
In His service,
~Eric
P.S. I won¡¦t be checking e-mail in Vietnam for security reasons so I¡¦ll touch base with you in Cambodia. Please still send e-mails though so I have plenty to read when I get there!
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