Jakarta and Ethiopia

Last week we were introduced to the five teams that we had the possibility of joining for our Outreach Phase. After December, our class of more than 50 people along with ten staff members will all leave for Jakarta Indonesia. After a month, each team will be flying to a different location for another month before returning to Jakarta. The options were:
Team #1: Stay in Jakarta for all 3 months
Team #2: Stay in Jakarta for a month leave for East Africa return to Jakarta
Team #3: Stay in Jakarta for a month leave for Ethiopia/Djbuti return to Jakarta
Team #4: Stay in Jakarta for a month leave for Central Republic of Africa return to Jakarta
Team #5: Stay in Jakarta for a month leave for North Africa return to Jakarta.

We were allowed to choose one out of the five teams but only 11 people were allowed on each team. The base leaders stressed how important it was to pray and listen to God about where we were going. They believe that each person has something unique to contribute and, therefore, they it was important that we were led by God in our decision. After praying and fasting over my decision I made the choice to go to Team #3 headed for both Jakarta and Ethiopia. I had an agenda to go with Team #1 which would be staying in Jakarta all 3 months. But after praying and listening God corrected me and led me to go on the Jakarta/Ethiopia trip. We will be also spending a week or so in a country close to Ethiopia, Djbuti (Ja-Booty).

The announcement of who was on which teams was made this morning. It was official, after spending a month in Jakarta I will be going to Ethiopia for 2 1/2 weeks and another week in Djbuti. I'm happy about the members of my team. Some of them are friends I regularly hang out with. One of them is in my small group. The two leaders of the trip, Eric and Alicia, are both Americans and Eric happens to be my small group leader. The cost of the trip will be about $5500, so I'm continuing to pray for support.

In other news, after having spent a wonderful cool month in Perth, it has began to become warm. The temperature today was 39 degrees Celcius which equals to about 102 degrees Farenheit. Most of us are staying indoors as much as possible and some of us are taking off to the beaches. One thing about Western Australia is that the flies, especially during these hot days, are ferocious. They literally cover you and try to get into your mouth, ears, and nose looking for moisture. It's pretty gross, another reason to stay inside. Also, the 200 staff members who normally run the base have left on a one week retreat. They have left the base in the care of the students who now take over all the duties. Two girls, Amarra and Grace as well as myself run our DTS school with the speaker this week, Andrew. So far everything seems to be running smoothly but continue to be in prayer about the base and that we will be safe and protected during this time.

Thank you for those who have been praying about my decision for outreach. I really appreciate your prayer support.

Take care,

Jeremy