Birthdays, buleks, and becuks

Hello all!
Here are some things you should know (or perhaps that would interest you) about our trip:
1. We have 5 amazing translators with us every day; 3 live at our hotel with us and we are so blessed by them!!! We have all gotten so close to them since they are fairly close to our age. We have all become such good friends, I can't even imagine how sad it will be to leave them.
2. Over 30 people have come to know the L.ord since we've been here!
3. Over 250 seeds have been planted!
4. Kyle Allen and jose got invited to speak at a university...no big... And of course told everyone there about J! They even got a few free meals out of it! #favor
5. Allens birthday was yesterday! He turned 23 and we celebrated by enjoying a fantastic meal out and then performing an impromptu play got him and eating cake. He also got sung to somewhere close to 7 times and got to dance with a random local woman. Expect a video soon.
6. Stacie loves the stray Indonesian street cats and it's possible that she's going to come back with a few :)
7. Indonesians love "bebek bebek ayam!" AKA duck duck chicken (we didn't know the name for goose)
8. We are slowly getting used to the spicy food. "no spice, no taste!"
9. Allen is eating fried bananas with cheese and sprinkles. No joke.
10. I ate buffalo heart
11. People are STILL FASCINATED that we are white. We will walk into a restaurant and the entire place will turn around and stare. Also we frequently get honked at, yelled at, etc. Hilarious and awkward sometimes but mostly we just feel famous.
12. We leave a week from today. Pray against exhaustion and for us to press on in this last week!

We love you guys!

Just Rollin Bulek Style

Oh we are so foreign here. And so much larger than everything around us. Literally everything around us is different. But you know what's the same? J.esus. He's the same here and in America and that is SO refreshing.

He is moving in powerful ways here. We have already seen over 10 people come to know the L.ord. That's insane! We have also seen multiple healings. I am continually in awe of the things He is doing here.

Meanwhile, we often feel like celebrities which gives us a great opportunity to talk to people. Indonesians love buleks (foreigners) and we are often asked to take pictures with random people. We have learned a few words and are trying to improve our Indonesian. The language barrier is crazy here. But one word we do know is bulek. Pronounced boolay. And often yelled by Kyle van Hecke when entering a restaurant, high-fiving a strangers or eating heart, brain or other bizarre food.

P.ray for us! We love you all!

We're HERE!

WOW!
So this is the first time I have had a chance to update the blog since we've been here. And these past 3 days have been so adventurous!

Our flight was awesome - we were blessed with an amazing airplane, nice seats, movies, etc. We felt very spoiled. It was extremely odd being on an airplane for 23 hours, having 2 times where it was nighttime outside and being served 5 meals plus snacks. haha our bodies were VERY confused.
Everything regarding customs and getting our visas went very smoothly and we had no problems. ALSO all of our baggage made it through! YAY!

We found a great hotel thanks to Robbie Hetland, the man from ACC who is in charge of the long term team. He is staying with us as well as 3 of our 8 Indonesian translators. That's right. We have 8 translators!!!! What a blessing because the language barrier here is insane. Most people here speak no English and we are trying our best to learn the basics of Indonesian. (Nama Saya Courtney! - my name is Courtney. Jalan Jalan - just walking around) :) We have gotten to bond with them so much in the time we have been here. It's amazing that the same G.od we worship is the same G.od they worship. He is SO much bigger than we can even begin to imagine! WE have spent many times together worshiping and praying for our time here. Hearing them cry out for their country in their language is truly incredible.

The food here is great! Yes, some of us are having to adapt, especially to the level of spiciness which none of us seem to be used to yet! (Expect a great video of many members eating one of the hottest peppers we've ever tasted. Holy smokes.)

We are gradually figuring out a constant schedule for things. Every day has looked a little different but we are already seeing the kingdom of G.od come to Indonesia in just the few days we have been here. One of our "cousins" decided to follow J.esus yesterday! (Ask me later what cousin means but you can probably figure it out).

Anyways, hopefully I will get to update the blog at least once a week. We have found one restaurant that has computers with internet and are using them now!

Please continue to pray for soft hearts, flexibility, against the language barrier, and for our team to walk in the spirit!

We love all of you!!!

Today's The Day

Currently I am blogging this from the back of the lovely mrs Brooke breed's car. We are on our way to the airport- safe, envisioned, excited, and ready.

Our flight leaves at 5:30 and we will be on that plane for 23 hours. WOO!

Here are some things you can pray for:
1. Safety on the plane :)
2. Against any sicknesses
3. Against any schemes of the enemy - he's been trying to pull out all the stops because he knows something big is about to happen; a flat tire, migraines, $50 being taken away, etc. His attempts are weak and worthless because God is on our team! And clearly we must be on the right track if he's having to pull out these sorry attempts. Lame. Our God defeated death! Who does the enemy think he is??
4. Dreams and visions for Indonesian people - God has already promised much about the supernatural.

Next time I blog, we'll be on the other side of the world!

5 days

I am overwhelmed by the goodness of our community.

Every time I think about the people who have so selflessly given to this trip and who continue to pray for us every single day, I am overcome by gratefulness and humbled that our God would think to bless us with them. Wow.

If I could bake you all one million cookies for the rest of your lives, I would.

Thursday morning, our team will be off to take a retreat for 3 days to Mt. Pleasant, TX, the home of Mr. Allen Lawrence. If any of the Allen's family is reading this, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! We are so grateful for your hospitality!

Then Sunday, our flight leaves the Houston airport at 5:30 pm (the 17th). Then with a stop in Moscow and a flight switch in Singapore, we'll arrive in Indonesia on the 19th at 7:55 am.

We are still believing God will provide the remainder of our $2,700 by the time we leave. Right now, we have all of the plane tickets purchased, enough money to pay our hotel bill when we arrive, and are just raising money to eat, travel in the country, and use for any other things that might come up along the way.

Thank you for believing this with us! I know I sound like a broken record but truly, every single one of you has an inheritance in Indonesia.

More updates to come! :)

WOW

With some updated calculations and with money that has been promised to come in this week, we have a new total.

Our team needs $4,216 by Thursday.

Yes, this still is a lot. But this is also INCREDIBLE. It's $6,000 less than what we were aiming for 3 days ago.

PRAISE THE LORD!

He is good!

Please continue your prayers. We are so appreciative of you!

If there was ever a time for a miracle...

Now would be it.

It's a good thing our God is more faithful than the sun. Just like there's no doubt in my mind that the sun will rise in the morning, there's no doubt in my mind that a miracle will occur this week.

As of today, our team needs somewhere close to $10,000 to live on while we're in Indonesia - $1,000 for each member.

By Thursday, July 7th.

And believe it or not, there's not an inch of me that it worried about this. I'm 150% excited to get to witness a miracle this weak! How many people get to pinpoint the actual week a miracle going to happen!? Not many, that's for sure.

I don't think I've ever prayed for anything so much in my life. I'm not sure if our team members have ever prayed for something so much in their lives. And if there's one thing we've been assured of this past week is God's unfailing love for us.

In Luke it says, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's great pleasure to give you the kingdom."

Our daddy wants to give us a KINGDOM! And He has promised we have a kingdom inheritance in Indonesia this summer. He doesn't call us to go somewhere and not provide a way for us to get there.

Thanks for taking care of us, Jesus :)

We're asking you guys to have faith with us. To believe for $10,000 this week.

Because the same God that...

parted the Red Sea

fed 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish....are you serious. FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE!

cleansed people of leprosy

and not to mention, defeated DEATH and SATAN

yea...that God is going to provide us with $10,000 this week. :)