It was GREAT!
When Steve and I asked our pastor friend if he could begin organizing one for us, we were expecting another Jambur festival like we usually do. Imagine our surprise when we got there and he took us to see the venue and it was a HUGE soccer field!! We were thinking “Umm… this seems a little big for the crowds we usually have.” But everything was falling so quickly and easily into place with permissions and permits and whatnot that we thought “Why not? Let’s go for it!!” So we handed out tons of flyers, and even had two banners made (which I never got a chance to take a picture of, but they were large banners that went over the road- it was cool). We rented a stage and a sound system, and we had a festival. And what a festival! Over two nights Steve and I (collectively) preached to over 1,400 people! The largest crowd I have ever shared the Gospel with by far!! And a large percentage of the people who came were Muslims—our “Everyone Welcome” slogans worked! It was such a great experience- so many people (Christian and Muslim—which is really good for the Christians in the area to see, because it helps show them God doesn’t play favorites) came up to the stage to report healings! Sore backs were made strong, arms that had lost mobility regained it, and one woman was deaf in one ear and she could hear in it again!
At the end of the first night, the political head of the district of villages (he is a muslim) in that area (the district population is about 11,000 people) came on stage to say a few words about our event. He said that he was so happy we were there, and he wished we could do events in each of his villages! He encouraged everyone to come back for night #2 and tell all their family and friends, and that he and the other leaders of the district fully supported what we were doing there! It was great!
Here are some pictures!
Kitchen of house we stayed at in Tukka
Rest of Kitchen
Dining Room
Room we slept in, complete with Backstreet Boys poster!!! I felt like I was 15 again (alright alright, 21)! *swoon*
Our ceiling. Man did it get HOT in there!
Our Festival Venue!!
We had to pay for security since it was on a big field... admittedly, they didn't do much (Indonesia is a country of money-grabs).
Oh look! Our stage has arrived!
Here's a picture of hard at work men.... and a government representative. haha.
Oh did I say our security didn't do anything? My mista- oh no, wait. He's still not. Here they are putting our stage base together. I watched carefully, taking note of areas Steve should avoid stepping on (front right corner).
Almost done the bottom!
Now for the tent!
Look how he is standing up there! Crazy!
You know what, this is pretty self-explanatory. I'm going to hold off on the comments for a bit.
Finished Stage!
VIP tent (Yes, they made us have one... *sigh*). We opened it up to the elderly.
So I went to the doctor and said I wasn't feeling well and he said "Well no wonder! Look!! Too tense!!" ba doo shing! Get it? too tense.... two tents.... oh nevermind.
This is the head of the district.
Our pastor friend, pa Mayon, and singers for the festival.
Me preaching
Steve Preaching
Crowd Shots
These kids wouldn't get off the stage. We wouldn't have minded, except they wouldn't pay attention to where they put their hands and Steve crushed one with his mammoth foot. Twice. You've never heard such whining.
That boy in pink was sooooo cute! And that other boy is the one who Steve crushed with his foot. He got over his grudge pretty quickly.
This man is saying "Jesus healed me!" (actually.) He couldn't raise his arm before without it being in pain. I know he LOOKs in pain now, but it's just because he's about to say "Jesus" with emphasis.
This man's back pains disappeared! Here we are making him prove it :) (sometimes people come up to testify, but actually they are testifying "in faith" (which I think can sometimes be considered, what's the word? Oh yeah. Lying), so we always test whatever they claim before we let them on stage (otherwise it gets AWKward pretty quickly) and also when they are up on stage- to help build other's faith.
Hee hee. This cute muslim woman was doing a dance because her back pain was gone too!
So angry at that microphone ruining my picture. But you can still see how happy she is as she proclaims, "Jesus healed me!" (in Indonesian)
Here she is, dancing again, later on.
A partial healing. He couldn't see at ALL before, but when we spoke to him he was getting his vision back slowly (he could differentiate people, but not say, how many fingers someone was holding up). He said that he was confident his current state of vision would not be the final result, and he would continue to thank Jesus for providing for his full healing!
This woman was deaf in one ear! And now she hears perfectly through both! Also her back problems were healed! It was funny actually, because she came up to testify about her back being healed (she couldn't even get up from a sitting position by herself before, but we watched as she did it with ease right up on the stage, quick as anything!) and then, almost as an afterthought, she says "Oh!! And I can hear in my deaf ear again!!" She was so amazed about her back she hadn't even remembered her ear right away! It was hilarious.
More back problems...
GONE!!! ...I'm sorry no one looks very happy. It's just a culture thing not to be all showy and emotional in situations like this.
