More than a year ago I received an e-mail from a group of missionaries in Indonesia who had been listening to our services on Sunday nights as a group. They are each a part of an Indonesian congregation but also hunger for a church service in their language and culture and found it with our broadcast. When they e-mailed me they referred to themselves as HCC Cafe Indonesia. Very cool. I leave today with 3 other staff members to head over to Indonesia to minister to this group. I will be teaching the adults along with John Coleman, Jim Bossler will lead worship, and Brian Marshall will conduct a Vacation Bible School for their children. I found out that one leg of our trip is the longest commercial flight in the world. Newark to Singapore is 18 hours and 40 minutes of flight time. I have been telling people ever since I found out just to get sympathy. Two days ago I read that 150 years ago when missionaries were heading from England to Africa fully 30% would die within the first year of ministry. At one point mission agencies recommended missionaries take their own coffins with them when they left. What is fascinating is the mission agencies had no shortage of volunteers. The spiritual awakening in England had done its job well. So, two days ago I quit whining about how long my trip was and began to focus on the opportunity to minister to HCC Cafe Indonesia. The really great news is that I am traveling with about 30 lbs of dark chocolate for the ladies over there instead of carrying my own coffin. I hope to be able to blog while over there but if not I will catch up with you all when I return. Pray for us as God brings us to mind. It is a wonderful thing to serve such a great Savior. I wouldn't want to do anything else.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
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3 comments:
Joe,
We will pray for you and the team that God watches over you, guides you, and uses you and the team in a way that helps bring the people of Indonesia closer to God and to our savior Jesus. We will also pray that your 18 hours passes quickly :)
Mike and Deb
Joe, John, Jim, Brian,
I pray for wisdom and strength during your trip. God is blessed in your passion to love and serve others.
RT
Joe, thanx loads for coming! We enjoyed it very much. Lots of food for thought, and we the - "Fellowship of the Wing" - have already planned some time to bounce your teachings back and forth and share what it has meant for each of us. Thanx!
Tim Maynard
Oh, and its ok to whine about the flight over here. We do! :) We might be in aviation, but that doesn't mean we like that horrible trip back and forth! And anyway, we need the sympathy, too.
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