Bus Odyssey Continues

Another week begins.  Sunday church we had more visitors, including a Pastor and his wife from Melbourne who had gone through Bible school with Gayle and who was preaching that morning. On arrival I was warmly greeted by those who knew me from the House of Hope and Oma who is one of the greeters at the door. It was a good service and message from God’s Word followed by more fellowship.  Joshua our driver, Gayle and I had lunch at a favourite restaurant of Gayle’s. For someone who loves her greens, I find Asian food lacking this as part of an order.  If it is available it must be ordered separately. My roasted chicken and chilli dish come with a side of four slices of cucumber and a couple of sprigs of local basil, all of which I demolished.

We relaxed the rest of the day till one of the four youth group teams arrived.  Because the new building is not yet ready, the teams are meeting in homes and other locations.  They studied the Bible, sang and ate together while watching a sci-fi on Noah.  The movie was way off the truths from the Biblical story with unexpected twists and turns.  Earlier in the evening I left them to it but came down for a chat. I’d seen the movie before and wasn’t that impressed as it strayed too far from the true story but I must admit it was very bizarre and intriguing.

Monday I was expecting the arrival of my friend Shinta, who stayed with me at Cheryl’s place.  She was returning from visiting family in Java. She was returning by bus which boards the ferry to Bali on Sunday evening but was stranded at the port in a traffic jam!  This was going to delay her arrival more than four hours, bringing it to lunchtime.  We decided that as I had a lunch appointment, we would make it another day.  How disappointing as we were so looking forward to catching up.  Still all is in the Lord’s timing.

My lunchtime booking was with Gayle, taking Joshua out to celebrate his completion of Bible School studies. We had wanted to try out a Korean BBQ restaurant which gave seniors discount for a buffet all-you-can-eat meal.  There was so much to choose from and lots of greens!  I was delighted.  Joshua was our chief cook while we all brought to the table what we wanted to eat.  I must confess we all fell into the sin of gluttony!  Finishing off with desserts such as chocolate mousse, an Asian pudding and three types of ice cream.  Wow!  What a treat and it only cost a total of $30 between the three of us. Gayle and I split the bill as this was a special treat for Joshua.  We all had such a lovely time.

From here we dropped Joshua at the House of Hope, where he is learning some of the office work and preparing to mentor some of the students.  Joshua is a vital part of the church and its ministry, not only on a Sunday but throughout the week.  He is also looking for part time work to help support himself.  Gayle and I popped into the new church building to check out the progress.  Most of the painting had been completed, however, the electricals, including air conditioning, sound and power points still needed to be done.  There were holes in the ceiling where the work had started but there still was a lot to do before the first service was to take place.  Instead of the three classrooms for the international Christian school they had previously, there were now only two, the third classroom would need to be the auditorium.

Back home, after planting three papaya saplings which Oma had given me from House of Hope, we had a relaxing afternoon and evening, I was still full from our feasting at midday!

Tuesday morning I slept in after sleeping so well overnight.  During the cool of the morning I pulled out all the Snake Plant (Mother In-law tongues) from two small garden beds near the front door.  Once the grass and weeds had been removed, I replanted some of the seedlings which had sprung up from daisy seeds collected from across the road in a spare block. I replanted a Moses Basket which had self-seeded into a crevice in the wall and the variegated leafed plant I had taken a cutting from when last at the House of Hope.  The pumpkin seeds I’d planted a few days earlier were up, as was one of the garlic knobs I’d planted.  My Aussie Basil was growing and will soon need replanting, as will the local basil.  Ibu Rosa said the garden will soon be overrun with plants!

I made a batch of pumpkin soup for Joshua and Gayle and a heap of stir fry greens for myself, then I took the afternoon off and watched a bit more Netflix.

Wednesday was a day around the house, although I did go out to Gosha for their June special and then caught the bus to the supermarket for a few things as Tamara was coming for lunch and we had run out of coriander, which I needed for the Vietnamese rice-paper rolls.  It was lovely to catch up with her again.  She talked about her family back in Melbourne and the progress that has been made with the foundation she is starting here. Before she left, the pastor and wife who were with us on Sunday arrived to pick up their package, which had come through Gayle who now had her tax number.  I cooked up a quick batch of pikelets for afternoon tea.  Then the house was empty, except for me.   Shinta, who was planning to catch up with me on Thursday, messaged to see if it was still on.  We had changed our rendezvous several times and this occasion was no different.  I went back to our original plan to meet at Gosha, as Gayle also wanted to meet her.

Gayle returned late that evening and together we booked my fast ferry to Lombok.  She organised for the church member, Stevenas, who works for Grab, to pick me up on Monday for cash in hand.  I contacted new friends on Lombok who were delighted that I would be visiting.  Then took a sleeping tablet to help me sleep, as the previous night I didn’t fall asleep till after midnight and woke again at 5am!  Fortunately I was able to go back to sleep later in the morning for a catch up.

Thursday, I felt groggy after the sleeping tablet, but woke at a reasonable time to get ready to meet Shinta. She and I first met at Cheryl’s place and she has been accepted into a university in the US. I walked to Gosha, where the staff have come to know me, and they asked if I wanted my usual coffee.  I said I was waiting for a friend. Not long afterwards, the manager whom I had talked to as I entered about the coffee grinds, came over with a slice of cake.  I was pleasantly surprised as he was offering it for free.  What a blessing.  Shinta has said she was on her way, but the next message said she had gone to the wrong Gosha so would be there in about 20mins.  I was glad I could enjoy my cake while I waited.  Not long after she arrived, so did Gayle and Joshua.  We spent about two hours chatting and sharing our God-given ministry and vision for the future.  Not only did we have coffee and cake, but ended up having a lovely chicken salad for lunch.

Shinta and I then took a local bus to Living World for a look around.  It’s a new shopping complex four stories high. We went up to the top floor first, to the electricals, then worked our way down to the food court in the lower floor basement, which was also for parking.  Shinta stopped for a hot milo while I wandered to the next counter to chat with staff there, one of whom had a cross on a necklace.  They were all Christians and I presume from the same church, running a food stall.  A young girl, possibly around ten years old came over to ask if I wanted anything.  I commended her on her command of English.  She was helping out while on school holidays, which are set to those in the US school timetable.

From here we took another local bus, which we nearly missed as we were standing in the wrong place, but Shinta chased after it, knocking on the door when it stopped to exit the parking area at Living World. Praise the Lord, the driver opened the door for us.  I was the first to disembark, to try out a banana roti. Shinta went on to her bus terminal to change buses to go to Cheryl’s place.  We had had a lovely day together.  The roti wasn’t as good at the one I had had previously, but still nice.  The funny thing about public bus stops is that they are not at regular intervals and I had to walk for over 20mins to the next one, stopping along the way to check with Google maps and ask the locals.  Finally I found a stop and waited.  Four 1B buses passed, with me flagging them down and asking did they go to Gatzu. All said no, but the last one I asked said he would drop me where I could catch the 3B.  It was lovely sitting in the air conditioning as we weaved through all the back streets.  Finally I was dropped where Shinta had suggested we first meet.  I knew then that I was on track.  What I didn’t know was that this was part of the one way route which took me in the opposite direction, to the beach!  Oh no!  I remained on the bus, which finally brought me back to the bus stop outside of Mitre 10 and a short walk home, arriving at 5pm.  I was exhausted!  And yes I slept well that night.

Friday I joined Gayle, Josh and visiting friends for lunch, then walked to the local market to stock up on bananas.  As previously mentioned, bus stops are far and few between.  I knew there was one before the major intersection, just before the road I needed to turn right on, but it was halfway to where I wanted to go and the bus would take me left to the depot where I’d need to change buses.  The second bus would then take me back to the same intersection, stopping halfway down the road, quite some way from the market.  I decided that I would just walk.  Twenty minutes later I was there and no bus had passed me!  After purchasing my wares, I walked all the way back towards the major intersection, opposite the other bus stop.  Just before I arrived I saw a bus coming and started running.  I was just about there when it pulled up and then took off!!!  What!  Didn’t he see me running!  I was furious!  Hot and bothered I waited another 10 minutes for the next one.  By this time I decided to go to the end of the bus-line, to the Gatzu shops and buy myself an iced soursop juice.  I needed it after waiting in the heat.

Back at the house I had a relaxing evening chatting with Gayle.

Saturday was a busy day. Leaving the house by 10:30am, Gayle and I headed for the House of Hope, where we met a young team from Melbourne who had come over for the school holidays.  Some were teachers, and the leader was a lawyer.  When we arrived, we found they had already been there some hours before us. There was a large lunch spread before us, and for Many’s birthday.  He was not with us as he was busy renovation the new church building.  Oma had done an amazing job with some of the girls to prepare such a feast. We talked, then later prayed for the work, before going to the church where the team offered to help with the painting and construction of the stage.  Gayle, and her late husband’s very good friends and pastors, also visited and prayed for the new church.

Photos:  1. Hong Kong orchidtree  (Bauhinia blakeana)     2. Josh and Gayle after our Korean BBQ    3. My free cake   4. Shinta and I in the ladies toilets Living World    5. A ginormous garden snail    6. Melbourne team House of Hope.

Prayer & Praise Points:

Praise the Lord for His continual provision, protection, guidance, divine health and love showered out upon me during my stay in Indonesia.

Praise Him for the work being done on the new building renovations and God-willing, our first service next week.

I thank God for all my new friends and old, here in Bali and Lombok.

Please continue to pray for Joshua as he applies for his Indonesian citizenship. Pray that he will have all the papers and information to complete the requirements and that there will be no problems or delays.  Pray also that he will find appropriate part-time work to help support himself.

Please continue to pray that I have opportunities to share His love with others.

Please pray with me as I launch off on my new adventure to Lombok this week.  I have been offered accommodation there and plan to stay 6 days.

Please continue to pray for Jen as she heads off to Work Away in Spain. Pray she will remain safe and well during her adventures and travels in Europe and the UK.

Continue to pray for world peace and for the refugees who are caught up in the suffering this war has caused, both in Ukraine and Russia.

Please continue to keep my sisters, Tricia, Jen and Kat, in your prayers.  Pray that they will come to know the love of Jesus.