Field Fellowship

I just recently returned from our annual team meetings and time of fellowship. This year we were hosted by our teammates who serve in Southeast Sulawesi here in Indonesia. It was my first time to that area of Indonesia. It is always fascinating to visit another island. 

We kicked things off with a night of worship and prayer but thanks to some late planes and my need for a quick stop in Jakarta for an ultrasound of my leg the Kalimantan team missed the first evening activities. We were incredibly blessed by a special speaker and a team from his church who came out to help care for the kids of our team. Much of the time our team members are the ones leading, preaching, and teaching so it was a blessing to be on the receiving end instead. We were also blessed by the presence of one of the founding team members of WorldVenture Indonesia. He was able to share wisdom from his years of serving here. Each family/unit also had a chance to share an update of what is happening personally in their life and ministry and be prayed for by the rest of the team. There was also of course time for business updates and discussion of legal issues. Finally we ended with some play time. We took a couple of boats out to an uninhabited island with some great views, swimming and snorkeling. It was so relaxing and beautiful to enjoy the warm water with friends. 

Here are a few pics from our time together...

Listening to our special speaker - Dave. 

Listening to updates from each family. 

Hearing video updates from those who have been appointed to join us here in Indonesia and are in the partnership development process. 

Spending time with those who have walked this journey before and listening to their wisdom.

And then there was the fun times! A night of parlor games and a fun night. Apparently I have a real skill for pulling kleenexes out of a box one at time as fast as I can as that is the only game I won :) 

Our final day together we went snorkeling and swimming at a beautiful island. 

Nope that is not pool - just a beautiful white sand beach!

Some of my teammates getting a lesson on snorkeling before they head out. Note to self bring contact lenses next time so I can see while snorkeling. 

The best part though was spending time with friends...  

Plus I got to catch up with the little ones of our team who I helped welcome to the world last year. Little Josiah is growing so fast! 

And Miss Charlotte has hit her stranger anxiety age but we still managed to have some fun together. At 11 months old she is an expert satay eater :) 

All in all I came home tired and a little sunburned around the edges (missed a couple of spots with the sun screen!) but with some sore laughter muscles and a lighter heart.