STN INDO TRIP 2008

Happy Holidays from Cody!

2009-01-01T00:05:00.000-08:00

[ TAKEN OUT OF MY NOTEBOOK ]

2008-07-31T21:59:00.000-07:00

So I am just about to land on Oahu and my trip is coming to a close. All of my final thoughts and reflections will be in this last entry...

Sitting here waiting to get on my interisland flight back to Kauai, I now realize that this past month has been a huge part of my life. Who would of thought that a missions trip, where I expected to save souls - and didn't know what to expect - to a missions trip that has influenced and changed my life deeply, but also made friendships with Balinese and Indonesian people that they will never forget. Not all savings are with a snap of the fingers, and certainly not with the style of Surfing the Nations with their "lifestyle envangelism." This technique is now available for me to take home and use HEAVILY - especially with my parents.

The two Indonesians that I won't forget are Erick and Ardi.

Erick lives in Denpesar and sells Ice Cream at Bingin everyday, for 10 years. He likes to play chess and knows cigarettes are bad for him, but he still smokes anyway. He is originally from Lombok and doesn't surf. Erick, I will miss him.

Lord, I pray for Mr. Erick, Lord, that you would keep him safe and protected and that through the work that Sara did last year and the work I did this year, you would convict him and he would realize that Jesus Christ is the Truth and the Way. Lord thank you so much for the opportunity to meet him and I just give up all the work I did in Him in your name. Lord, have mercy on Erick. Amen.

The other person that I love deeply from Indonesia is a ten year old boy named Ardi from the island of Gili Air. Here on Gili Air we handed out tracks, bibles, donations, and the like and it was so awesome to see this small boy look past the gifts and see that there is a friend he could make in me. I gave him my shirt, a surfers bible, a manga, some candy bars, and a bracelet (that he actually took off for some reason). I believe he is a Muslim and I know he has at least one brother. We talked for a while, danced during worship, and he sat in my lap during the bonfire. I love this little boy annd I now want to return and see Ardi next year, except I don't know if I will be able to.

Lord, o Great and Mighty God, I pray for your hand over the tiny island of Gili Air and for the protection of Ardi, Lord. I pray that if it is your will for me to return you would open the door for me and the finances would be provided. Thank you so much for everything you have provided this year and I pray you provided this year and I praise and glorify you.

As far as the people I met - Katherine Rosenstock, Noelle friend from YWAM, is awesome. She really befriended Jonathan and I and drove us around on the back of the scooter and we saw the WCT at Padang Padang and the YWAM base. She is really awesome and on fire for God. Do not forget July 30th is her birthday.

And with Surfing the Nations, friends are lifelong for a few. Paul from San Diego I will see alot, as well as Collin. Mr. and Mrs. Sweeney I will see again. I will really miss Annie from Sweden and Brett (but I will see Brett again) and also Zack from Florida and Zach, my leader. Davin will always be a friend as well as heaps more people. I will love and miss everybody. Thank you God, for everything.

THE BOAT TRIP

2008-07-26T22:15:00.000-07:00

We still have a huge Walking on Water Surf Movie Bali Premiere to help out with and also a banquet where we invite an Indonesian to join us for festivities. The cool thing about the banquet is that each person is paying for the Indonesian to join them in the banquet - and that we are individually invited someone personally. For me, i think I'm going to invite this guy named Erick that I met at Bingin selling ice cream. Other than that, the rest of the trip is what they call "lifestyle evangelism." Preach whenever and wherever you go. My surfboard is still getting fixed though; i should talk about that boat trip!

Overall the boat trip was really exciting and something I've never really experienced before. There was a crew of six Hindu men, the group of 12 from Bingin, two french filmmakers named Diego and Sabrina making a documentary for Surfing the Nations, and the leader of StN who is Tom Bauer. Our boat was the biggest out of the six boats, which all together, there was about 90 people traveling. We got a lot of good waves, and not a whole lot of junk waves. We surfed a right on Nusa Lembagnon called Shipwrecks (which was so fun and about 4 ft Hawaiian), a left called Desert Point on Lombok, and two amazing lefts off of Sumbawa called Scar Reef and Supersucks.

First, desert point is the sickest left anyone as ever seen. It is a solid barrel and holds pretty big size. We surfed it a total of 4 times: the first time the tide was too high and it was really small and junky and fun for everyone. The second time it was absolutely awesome and people were getting really fun barrels and solid long rides. The third time (the next morning) was massive and scary. One set that got everyone inside was about 10 ft Hawaiian and sucking up off the reef so hard i was on dry reef. Then a huge wall of whitewater hit me. This happened multiple times. A lot of pros were out at Deserts that day and I was getting really frustrated because i was constantly getting licked and hitting the reef. But i made it out of some solid barrels. Such a good wave.
[CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW FOR MORE SURFING PICTURES]

After Deserts, we surfed a wave called Scar Reef which is a solid left reef break that gets pretty shallow on a low tide. It's pretty shifty and can also barrel pretty good. it was about 5 ft Hawaiian on the sets and pretty fun. I hit the reef really bad here and at scar reef the reef is really alive and sharp and i nearly killed myself. Haha.

Ok and my best session was at Supersucks. Such a sick wave and such an open barrel. I got about 4 massive stand up backside barrels. Plenty people broke the boards here and it was a heavy wave - and really, really shallow.

On the way back at desert point, our last session, it was overhead and super good. Jamie O'Brien was out surfing. I got a really, really deep and long grab rail barrel and another wave and then I was paddling back out and the lip of the wave landed on me and center and side fin plugs came out of the board that I bought here in Bali. My other board that i brought with me I cracked on of the fin plugs at Deserts the big day. So, now I'm getting my boards fixed for really cheap. STOKED!

Ok, besides the waves, we entered two villages. One village called Bongka Bongka and they went crazy. We gave out heaps of donations and bibles and when a suit case got opened the people went NUTS! One group basically had a riot and people with bloody noses and bruises and everything; let me remind you this is a small remote Muslim fishing village. They really wanted all the clothes and toys and stuff. We had a translator tell them about the Gospel and that was pretty awesome.

The other place was a really small island off of Lombok called Gili Air. We went on to the beach there and went to the families and handed out donations and bibles to them as well. that went much smoother. I met a little boy about ten years old named Ardi and i miss him very much. He took the time to get to know me and we bonded very well. That night we all had a huge bonfire and worship session on the beach and I danced around and talked with Ardi and a lot other children into the night.

Other than that, we ministered to our crew and any surfers we ran into. Wow that is long! Please pray for the movie premiere and the banquet and that some souls would be saved!

I'm doing pretty good - I need some nutritious food, though. Everyone is starting to get a bad cold. Since I don't get sick, I don't really worry. Haha.

I Love you all!

MY TRIP SO FAR

2008-07-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

Aloha to all who receive this message! I am currently in Bali on a missions trip with Surfing the Nations, a organization that goes all around the world preaching Jesus Christ to wherever there are waves. The group goes places
like China and Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Overall very organized and good group. This is their 11th trip to Bali.

I have been here since the beginning of July and I just finished my first session of the trip. My group of 12 stayed at a coastal area called Bingin, a cliff side community serving the international tourists and surfers that surf waves like Padang Padang, Impossibles, Bingin, and Dreamland. The waves were pretty good - Bingin was absolutely sick barrels - reminded me of Big Rock or Cannons. Impossibles is a super fast left that is really hard to make. On the beach though, we ministered to the Balinese and Indonesian people and families working around. We gave out donations, bibles (Indonesian manga Gospels, actually), prayed for the community ALOT, and preached to them as well. Overall we made some good friends with Indonesians and international surfers around and the first part of our outreach was a success! This is definitely not a surf trip.

Oh yeah, we visited a monkey temple the other day and it was intense! Monkeys are absolutely ridiculous and like to steal stuff. Haha. They also get very angry. Pictures will come soon.

Personally, I am much more devoted to God than ever before. Surfing the Nations puts a tremendous amount of time building us up and preparing us throughout the entire trip. Honestly, it's unbelievable. Jonathan and I are doing fantastic. Glad I've got to spend my summer with him!

Now we head off on a boat for a week to Lombok (Desert Point!) and Sumbawa, and a few other islands. We are outreaching to the people on the islands and the small unreached villages. We have heaps of donations and heaps of bibles to give out to the Indonesians. Please keep Jonathan and I in your prayers - and the rest of our group. There are 82 people all together, and 12 in our group, whom I am getting really close to.

Overall great outreach so far. Reply and you might get a gift!!!

BINGIN + MORE

2008-07-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Please write back!

So I leave Bingin in a few days. Today and yesterday it was absolutely flat. But the next few days should be pumping, so I'm stoked. And we go on a boat trip soon too!

The language barrier is interesting. They really sincerely want to help us and the Balinese work really hard. They are Hindu and they have statues and have offerings every day. They have never heard of Jesus so it's our job to tell them about Him. We give them clothes, food, and break the stereotype of rude surfers that travel through the area. They take our tracks and are really interested, and listen too. Our bibles are these mixture gospel Japanese cartoon comic books; I'm not too sure how well they reach the older crowd.

The food here is so-so. I'm eating a lot of things with eggs, like omelet's, pancakes, and there is a salad place down the beach - and sandwich place. Not bad. Every morning there is quiet time, meaning getting into the Bible and praying, for one hour, from 9 o'clock to 10 o'clock and then there is group time for a couple hours. We discuss what we read and our plan for the day and then we do it! I'm in a group of 12 btw. I go to bed around 9 or 10 o'clock and wake up at 6 30 or 7 every morning. I sleep outside and i sleep really well. Overall I'm really maturing a lot in Christ because the amount of time throughout the day devoted to God.

Right now I'm ministering to this Balinese ice cream guy, he is 25 and his name is Erick. Also, a couple Ozzies came through and left already that I was talking to... and a pro surfer from NZ named Daisy is around and I'm ministering to her as well. And the people we are staying with!

Overall so far really awesome!

GOING TO BINGIN

2008-07-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

Friends and family -

I've been in Bali for a couple days now - waves have been so-so. Swell is coming today. I bought an extra board too; 6' 1''; Australian board for 6 million 200 hundred thousand rupiahs (that's 220 dollars).

I've met a lot of awesome people and I'm staying for 10 days starting on July 8th in front of Bingin; right next to impossibles and Padang Padang and Ulu's.

The people I am with are awesome; so awesome. So on fire for God and I think
of lot of good things are gonna happen. This is definitely a missions trip.

Ok well I don't have much more to say or much time. Oh everything is really
cheap, especially the food. $2 a day!

Ok love you all!! I'm doing great!

WELCOME

2001-11-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

Surfing the Nations