Well as I look back I realize that I haven’t done a blog for any of our travel days yet so I figured why not write one now. Honestly every other travel day we’ve had has been pretty long and repetitive but this one was just a bit different and filled with some sweet encounters I want to share.
Last Tuesday we began our travel day, loaded up our bags around 9 and started our drive. We crossed the boarder into South Africa and made a few stops along the way and pulled into the Johannesburg airport around 4. We had some time to kill before we could check bags and things so we all picked a nice little corner in the airport and hung out for a bit. I think this was by far my favorite part of travel day. During this time a couple of my friends and I decided to go check out one of the stores. I went to buy a notebook I found and started talking with the cashier. She asked me where I was from and where I was going and I got the chance to share with her what I was doing and why I was here. She got super excited and began telling me and my friend how they had just been having a conversation about the Bible and how they were both Christian’s. We got the sweet gift of praying over both of them while another friend of ours talked to and prayed for one of the other cashiers. They stopped us before we left and called one of their other friends working at a store on the other side of security and asked us to go find her before we left.
We got everything checked and made it through security and then had three hours to kill before our flight out of there. Once we found an area to leave the rest of our things my same friends and I began wandering around the airport. One of my friends stopped to talk to someone she saw and we got to talk to and pray for her as well. We wandered into some more stores and I got something at another one. Like before this cashier asked why I was there and where I was going and I got to tell her what I was doing. She told me that her dad was sick with something but they weren’t sure what it was so I got to pray over and encourage her which was super sweet.
We found the store that the first two ladies and told us to go to and found their friend. The second we asked her name she knew exactly who we were and got so excited to see us. She said that she had been waiting for us to come and we got to talk to her for a bit. She told us how encouraging it was to see so many young people traveling across the world to share the gospel and to see such devotion to the Lord. We prayed for her and one of her colleagues before we left. Honestly these few hours were some of the sweetest and most encouraging. Within just a few hours we talked to and prayed over 6 different people. Each of them we got to encourage but they also encouraged us. I couldn’t imagine a better way to leave Africa, to leave a place where you can freely and openly pray and evangelize than praying over people.
We boarded our plane around 10 and flew 7 hours to Dubai where we had an hour to get to our next flight. Our second flight was 7 hours to Singapore where we spent the night in the airport. We wandered around for a bit there but honestly everyone was tired. This was our last night all together as a squad before splitting so we stayed up hanging out. Around 4 the other two teams headed out for Malaysia and we left the airport around 5 for Indonesia. It was super sad saying goodbye to everyone and watching them leave but it makes seeing them again all the sweeter! We ended our travel day with a two hour boat ride to the island we’re now staying on. In total we traveled 43 hours but the Lords hand of protection was on us the whole way.
Our travel day was smooth and even though we’ve only been in Indonesia for a couple of days I already love it so much! I’m so excited to start ministry! Our hosts are so sweet and care for us so well! I realize that most of this blog is probably a bit boring but I wanted to give a little insight into what traveling on the race looks like and to share some cool testimonies from the airport. I also wanna say that all four of those interactions we had where we got to pray for people were just normal everyday interactions. The Lord actually gives us so many opportunities everyday to talk to and pray for people but so much of the time we miss it by simply not asking. You’d be surprised how many people will say yes when you ask to pray for them. You’d also be surprised how much of an impact a small and simple conversation can have on someone. Now I’m in a country where it is illegal to evangelize and we’re not able to just ask people for prayer or share the gospel as openly. Not having that freedom or openers as much has shown me just how much of a blessing it is. Don’t waste it, I encourage you to start a conversation with your next cashier or just someone you pass on the street. It’s so so simple and there’s actually nothing bad that can come from simply talking and loving someone. The Lord gives so many opportunities everyday and all He asks us to do is take a step of boldness and faith and trust Him for the rest!
I wanted to end with some prayer requests:
- For the people here to be such fresh and fertile soil with open hearts and hands
- Our ministry here is opening up a new center this week for the community, prayers that we’d have an over abundance of people come to that
- For my team and I as we begin a new ministry and learn more about this culture and how to minister well here.
Thank you for reading and for all of your support! If you have any questions or if there’s anything in specific you want me to write or share leave a comment or message me!
Love.
Emilee
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