Watch out world...the people of Java can prophesy!!

The island of Java for long periods of time enchanted the minds of those in search for the largest commodity of earlier ages...spices.  Later on they came here for the good quality tobacco and world renowned coffee.  These days, People come here for spiritual enlightenment.  It's true...Indonesia has become the new India!  Distant islands came here for one reason... to reach the lost and to encourage our fellow family members in Christ!  Our journey brought us to the city of Yogyakarta.

Yogyakarta is not a name that will sound familiar to a lot of South Africans and most of our team members have never even heard of it.  Well, Yogyakarta (Yogya for short) is the third largest city on the island of Java in Indonesia and is the powerhouse of Javanese and Indonesian heritage, art and culture.  And, as it goes this year, we ended up there by the divine guidance of the Lord...

Once we arrived in the city we found a sprawling metropolis filled with people from every corner of Indonesia and tourists from every corner of the world and as it happens, this was the same week as the Yogyakarta arts festival.  The streets were constantly filled with parades, street vendors, art exhibitions, cultural performances and millions of people!!

Once we entered Yogya, we entered into a waiting period.  A time of waiting on the Lord for specific guidance in what we should do and where we should go next.  This will be a good time to mention that Ashleigh’s mom, Paul and Clara (Global Challenge staff members from South Africa) were visiting us at the time.

To make up time we split the team into 2 groups and had a challenge which took in most of the sights in the city as a way to get most of the sightseeing distractions out of the way.  Another method we used to utilize our time was by having a spiritual treasure hunt around the city.

We split up into groups of 2 and went into the streets, praying to the Lord for specific guidance to people whom He wants us to meet.  During this treasure hunt, Clara and I stumbled upon a church with a big sign that read “Haleluya”.  This is quite something, because for those of you that didn’t know, Indonesia is the largest Islamic country on Earth, so the churches are few and far between...

After speaking with the people at the church, they linked us up with a young pastor in the city who has a church filled with university students (o yeah, Yogya is the Potchefstroom of Asia!).

Boy, did we end up having a good time with these Indonesian student believers!!  We had such a good time, in fact, that we ended up spending 17 days in Yogya!

During our time with the Destiny Generation, as they are called, we had the opportunity of sharing numerous testimonies, preaching in their Sunday service twice, encouraging them on a one-on-one basis and we were fortunate enough to witness the baptism of two of their girls.& nbsp; A CHRISTIAN BAPTISM IN THE LARGEST ISLAMIC COUNTRY ON EARTH!!  What a privilege!!

Over the course of 2 Sundays I had the opportunity of sharing in Sunday class with them about the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit as well as the gifts of the Spirit.  So, I had to pull out all of Uncle Joe’s teachings for these people!  To make a long and marvelous story very short, we left about 30 prophesying-and-speaking-in-tongues-Indonesians behind in Yogyakarta by the power of His Spirit and grace.  Isn’t God amazing?

Being used by God in such a way, made me realize that we don’t have any excuse to NOT walk in His Spirit!  We don’t have any excuse to NOT daily use the gifts He gave us FREE OF CHARGE!  And I learned that we all need some encouragement, no matter how sorted out we think we are.  So, I want to encourage each and every one of you:  Be obedient in encouraging those around you, because you never know the magnitude of the impact you can have on the lives of others.  Practice your gifts and if you don’t really have them yet, eagerly desire them.  Allow God to use you TODAY!  -  Be blessed!