Remember at the end of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", when He has to take a leap from the lion's mouth to get to the holy grail. It's a leap of faith, because He can't see the bridge that will catch his foot. I feel a bit like Dr. Jones right now. I feel like I'm jumping off a cliff without a parachute. There is nothing I can do to save myself, but I get to trust that God will catch me and carry me accross to safety. There is not a doubt in my mind right now that I'm going to land on my feet on the other side of this chasm.
Tomorrow's the day. I'm going to Sumatra in the morning. I am excited. I'm praying for a deeper understanding/knowledge of God's love for me and for other people, protection, questions to be answered, paths to be made clear, friendships to be built, blanks to be filled in, and barrels..... lot's and lot's of barrels. At this point I still don't know a thing about boats, I have no idea where I'm going to stay, I don't know a single person in the country, and I am as sure as ever that I am exactly where God wants me to be. I am comfortable with not knowing. That's not to say that I'm not dying to know who the heck is going to be building these boats, because it's obviously not me. I am incredibly excited to see what God is going to do. I have a blank page in front of me, and I have the living God ,with a stack of number 2's and a box of crayolas, ready to write a novel and paint a masterpiece.(He can paint a masterpiece with crayolas because He's God alright) All kidding aside, I expect to see miracles on this trip. I expect to meet people that have been praying for someone to come and build boats. I expect to find out why I woke up in the middle of the night with my mind racing about boats. I expect to meet the people that God loves so much, that He's sending a 23 year old waiter from Los Angeles to help them. To say that I am excited is an understatement.
I want to thank all of you. You have all been so encouraging. It has not been easy for me to do this, at least not internally. I have had some battles to fight. God has brought me through, and He has given me the faith to continue even when I don't see anything happening. But I don't think I would have been able to continue if all of you hadn't believed in me. I can't even express how much it means to me that you believe that I can do this. I hope you all know how much your encouragement has meant to me. From saying that you want to buy a t-shirt, to helping me build my website, to saying that you're proud of me, to praying for me, to flat out saying that you believe in me. Because you have believed in me, I believe in myself that much more. Glory be to God. He has used just about everyone I come in contact with to encourage me. But He has used my family and my friends most of all.
I look forward to sharing my stories with all of you when I return from Sumatra. There is still a lot that I have to go through. I still haven't even been to the country I want to work in yet. I have to adjust to the living conditions, and the food, and everything. I need a lot of prayer. God has brought me this far, and I know that He is not letting go. Nevertheless, I need prayer. There are plenty of things out there that don't want me in Sumatra at all. God is bigger than anything that would want to stop His vision, but we still need to pray. He allows us to partner with Him in seeing His purposes accomplished. I am just the hands and feet, I need the whole body involved on this one.
Anyway, thanks again for your support and encouragement. Keep it coming. I'll send updates whenever I can. I like hearing about what's going on at home too, so don't hesitate to let me in on stuff. God bless you all.
All content copyright © 2005 Timothy Jones (a.k.a. nobody)