Many of us, when we hear Bali, we think of the movie "Eat, pray, love". An Indonesian island, predominantly Hindu, with cheap furniture. A multitude of Westerners come here for the parties, surfing or a cheap vacation. A few years ago I probably would've as well. But there's so much more to Bali...
Our first few days in Bali, I felt very heavy hearted. Idol worship, temples around every corner, people "kuiering", drugs openly available. My mind felt so polluted. I didn't know what we were doing here?
But something changed in my heart. You see, so many times, we are in a difficult situation and we get caught up with the problems we face. We focus on everything that is wrong. It drags us down and makes us feel hopeless.
But then we met so many believers and it changed my perception completely! I was so encouraged by them. Every time I heard testimonies, I had goose bumps all over. I realized that when we shift our focus from our problems to God, your hope is renewed. It's all about our perspective and focus.
Let me tell you about some of the believers and ministries we encountered, because sharing testimonies about them really picks me up, and I don't even feel weighed down any more.
Believers in Bali really knows how to pray! We were involved in quite a few prayer meetings and really felt the Spirit move, in and through us!
Various bible studies and having fellowship with believers from all over the world!
We spent one day doing hospital ministry. This means going into various rooms and praying for people – for healing and encouragement. It was really cool!
Doing various kids ministry at local Balinese schools.
Another first for me was prison ministry. There are a few South Africans in jail in Bali and we had the opportunity to visit them, hear their stories and see how God has touched their hearts in the prison. They might be physically locked up, but their spirits are free and praising God!
Sharing testimonies in churches.
A big highlight was spending a few days in an orphanage in the West of Bali! The kids are great. During the day we help them to farm and build and at night spent time with the kids, helping them with homework and just loving them.
We had the privilege of Pioneering the island of Lombok as well. This was such a cool time! The island is beautiful, more simple and much less touched by Western influences. We were invited to the graduation of a Theology school. The first graduation allowed by the government, in 20 year!
Worshiping with an amazing family. I would love to do this back home as well! After dinner getting guitars out and just singing to the Lord!
Bali turned out to be an amazing time of spiritual growth for me. The biggest lesson that I learnt is to continually surrender everything to Christ. When we surrender, we "give up" and allow the other side to win. This was always difficult for me to do, because when I fight, I don't give up. I fight for justice, for what I believe is true. So now if I surrender, does that mean that I let injustice win? No. The thing is, I'm not surrendering to injustice, I'm surrendering to Christ! And Christ wins! And in my surrendering, I can walk over and fight on God's side. The victorious side. Thank you Jesus!
God is busy with great things in Bali and He's sending a lot of harvesters into the field, which must mean that the harvest time must be close...
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