Hi! If you were surprised to hear that I’m going on a mission trip to Indonesia this year, it’s okay; to be honest, I am kind of surprised, too. While Simon and I have long committed to supporting missions work, and our church here in Orlando sends a short-term missions team somewhere in the world every year, I never intended to go myself until the kids were out of the house. But God’s been doing amazing things, and I need to work on His timeline–and not mine.
Just six months ago, I had the privilege of leading a friend to faith in Jesus. That followed about a year of studying the Bible with her, six years of praying for her, and decades of her own resistance against God. Praise God for His relentless love! She was baptized in March, and she now regularly attends house church and church, continues her Bible study with me, and reads the Bible daily. God moved her to go on this mission trip to Indonesia, and that inspired me to go as well.
Did you know that Indonesia has 17,000 islands–about one-third of which are inhabited? Also, Indonesia is the second-most linguistically diverse country in the world (any guesses as to the first?), as it is home to 700+ language groups. But hundreds of those people groups don’t have the Bible translated into their own language, and/or remain unreached to this day. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few!
Our church, Harvest Church, partners with Indonesia through prayer, financial giving, encouragement of missions partners, and by sending short-term missionaries. This summer, from August 9 through 20, I’ll be going as part of a team of 12 to Indonesia. There, we will partner with local Wycliffe Bible translators, minister to the elderly, distribute Bibles, reach out to local children and youth, and assist the local church with evangelism training.
Will you consider partnering with me in prayer for this trip? We need a faithful group of senders to support the goers, that together as a team, both senders and goers alike may experience the joy of serving God as we seek to bring the Good News of Jesus to the nations. I would be grateful for your ongoing prayers for our team–starting now, all the way through our return from the trip at the end of August. Please let me know, as I would love to share our group’s most pressing requests!
Second, would you consider partnering with me for financial support? Each of us is responsible for raising about $2400 to cover vaccinations, airfare, and in-country expenses. All contributions are tax-deductible and can be given on this page. (If you’d rather give through some other means, please let me know and I can walk you through the options.) Regardless of whether you give financially or not, I would be deeply grateful for your prayers for me, our team, our leaders, and our partners in Indonesia.
I am excited for this opportunity to serve and to be part of the work God is doing because of His love for people around the world. I hope you’ll join, too, and that together, we can both celebrate and demonstrate the goodness of God.
Thank you!
Emily