Gayle’s Return to Bali

Sunday, the first day of the week and my first day back at church since arriving back in Bali.  It was lovely having Gayle back to join us and lovely being greeted by those who know me. After church Dwi and I headed for Tiara for a drink before Gayle and some friends joined us. From here we drove over to the new church building which was nearly finished being refurbished.  It had been painted and all the rooms were revamped, the bathrooms, which had been in each room, had been removed to enlarge the rooms for offices or made into classrooms.  There are still air conditioners and other electrical connections needed as well as furniture.  But the move had started with hopes of having their first church service early August.  As we left we drove around the block to see what was in the area.  There was a local market which opened in the evening as well as a few eateries and coffee shops. The closest bigger restaurants were a bit further by car in Renon.

Nothing much happened for the next week.  Both Joshua and Gayle were out although neither of them was very well, there were things needed to be done including moving things from the old premises into the new building.  Most of the time I didn’t go with them as I was avoiding their germs.  Dwi, who had also been suffering from a cold, came over later in the week to learn how to make kombucha as she wanted to make her own.  She had everything needed at home except the scooby or fungus which was given to her by Gayle.  On Friday Gayle and Josh took me out for a belated birthday lunch at a Koran BBQ restaurant similar to the one Jen, Gayle and I had been to the previous year. It was delicious, I felt very spoilt.  Gayle had said she wasn’t feeling well at the restaurant and the following two days rested, not eating much to try and recover.

Something I did omit to mention last time was Dwi belated birthday gift that she painted on my keep cup drink container.  I had admired the work she had done on her own, with Bible verses and asked her to do something similar on mine.  She is such a talented young girl.

That Sunday, Gayle still wasn’t feeling 100% and stayed home to recover.  Josh took me on the bike, he was preaching that morning.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to stay as, when I walked through the doors of the church I was nearly blasted away by the level of the sound.  Having tinnitus I am really affected by loud noises.  I had mentioned it several times before but you know the younger generation they like things loud!  I decided I wasn’t going to put up with it this time as I had done previously with my ears stuffed with tissue paper as make-shift earplugs.  I waited down stairs for Dwi to arrive to let her know I was going home after picking up a few things at Tiara; she promised to visit later in the day.

At Tiara I sat for awhile sipping on my ice coffee and trying to do a few Duolingo lessons but here too the music was too loud for me to properly listen to my lesson and I had forgotten to bring my earphones.  I picked up a few things from the supermarket then called for a Grab to take me home.  Gayle was surprised to see me so early; she still wasn’t feeling the best.  That afternoon Joshua and Dwi arrived and together we watched a movie before it was time for Josh to leave.  He and Dwi were going to a private baptism taking place at the beach.  The young man getting baptised was not wanting to offend his family so only friends from church had been invited.

I worked on the community garden newsletter that week as it’s due out on the first of August and I like to get it done in advance.

Josh and Gayle were often out during that week; some of the time was helping to move and arrange things at the new church/school building.  On occasions I also went to help out.  There wasn’t really very much I could do but I did take the cushion covers off and washed them at home before returning them.  I also supported Gayle and Josh by keeping them well fed when they arrived home.  Unfortunately this trip I haven’t been out in the garden, even though I have longed to get my hands in the soil.  Every time I ventured out I was bitten by some insect that caused welts and itching so I avoided going into the garden as much as possible.

During my last week I helped Gayle and Joshua look for a large four-door refrigerator as their two very old ones were often leaking and defrosting because the doors often weren’t closed automatically.  When closing the doors, you needed to check that they were closed properly.  Their old green fridge they called Lazarus as it had been resurrected many times.  I also suspected they used quite a bit of electricity.  It was a lot of fun looking for the right one.  As it needed to fit through their front door, it couldn’t be too big either.  One was finally settled on but there was a bit of a kerfuffle as we needed to use two bank cards to pay for it.  Firstly the pin for one of the cards we were wanting to use was incorrectly entered three times so was locked until taken to the bank to be unlocked.  Fortunately the second card worked but didn’t have enough funds so Joshua had to return in the afternoon to pay the remaining amount.  Once this was done we were told it would be delivered the following day, Friday.

Friday morning I wiggled both old fridges out of the spot where the new fridge would go, so that I could clean the stains off the floor from where the old fridges had been leaking.  This job was finished just as the truck with the fridge pulled up.  The two young guys didn’t look like they would be strong enough to move it, but they were.  Firstly they needed to take the fridge out of its packing before, only just, being able to slide it through the door.  Once in, it was pushed over the tiles on its wheels then lowered over the step, in the floor, separating the dining room from the kitchen floor.  The two old fridges were then lifted (still with their contents) up over the step and put into place behind the new fridge in the dining room.  Actually I had already emptied out the freezer of the larger of the two old fridges as I knew it would be far too heavy with all its contents.  While they were moving it into place, the stand, which had wheels on it, came away from beneath the fridge and needed to be put back.  This was a bit tricky for the guys who were lifting it, so I held the wheels in place and instructed them as they lifted the fridge.  The new fridge was then left for 4 hours to settle before being turned on.  We then left it overnight to get cold, then before breakfast I decanted all the contents of both fridges into the new one, then turned off both the old fridges.  Job done!  It was so nice having a fridge that worked well.

Sunday I took the day off and stayed at the house while Joshua and Gayle went to church.  I wanted to join them as I love church but I really didn’t want my ears to be blasted. Instead I stayed at the house and listened to an online podcast on John 15 ‘Remain in the Vine’.

As my time in Bali was drawing to a close, I joined Gayle to see how the new building was coming along.  The church members were just transferring the air conditioners from the old church to install in the new building, where some of the rooms had been set up as classrooms, offices and facility rooms. The kitchen was a buzz of activity and members were busy fulfilling tasks needed to start services the following week.  From here Gayle took me to our favourite ice cream parlour which was not far away.  This place has such a wonderful selection of flavours including Asian fruits which are my favourite.  I chose jackfruit and ginger which is very pungent.

The following day I wanted to have one of my favourite lunches at the nearby Tiara, and Gayle wanted to get something for her upset tummy. I also bought some goodies for my flight on Thursday.  That evening we made up some more tea for her Kampuchea and made up a new batch the following morning before she and Josh rushed out for a busy day.  I was very grateful to be able to stay at home to organise my packing and things I needed for snacks on the plane. It was good to be able to have time to myself to do this, I like to have a no-stress day before my flight.

I was thinking of walking down to Gosha that afternoon for another slice of baked cheesecake but thought I’d do so once Gayle arrived home, then she messaged me to say they were on their way. I should have asked her to pick a slice as they passed but forgot so you can imagine how surprised I was when she bought a slice each for us all.  The Lord knows our thoughts and blesses us abundantly. It was lovely to have time to relax and watch a movie together having done all I could for the trip including packing.  Mind you I repacked again in the morning and after locking my suitcase I had to unlock it three times as I’d forgotten to put something else in.

I was up before everyone in the morning of my departure.  I’d taken a sleeping tablet to insure I slept right through the night as I’d been waking up around 11pm and not being able to sleep for three to four hours and then sleeping in to 7 or 8am and I didn’t want that to happen the day of my flight, as I needed to get everything done before leaving around 10am.  I woke Gayle and Josh at 9am so that we could be out the door just after 10am.  I had packed some chicken and salad for lunch on the plane, bottled up my kefir for the flight and organised a small frozen water to fit inside my keep-cup so I could smuggle it through the checkpoints as I wanted to have water on my flight home.  Some airlines make you throw out your water just as you board the plane and I didn’t want that to happen this time.  Josh and Gayle drove me to the airport where they also caught up with a friend whose wife was arriving just after I was dropped off.  We bid our goodbyes with hugs all round and prayers for safe travels and I was off to check in.  I then had a bit of time before my flight so drank my juice before having to go through the baggage checkpoint to enter the International airport departure area where no liquids were permitted in our luggage.

In the line-up before the baggage checkpoint I saw a Westpac bank card on the ground.  Someone had obviously dropped it.  I decided I would hand it in to an airport official and popped it in my purse for safe keeping.  There was a long wait at the baggage check, but eventually my bags were checked and I was waved through without an inspection. My little ice bottle had gone unnoticed. Our departure gate was the last on the runway about a kilometre at the far end of the airport.  I waited there practicing my Duolingo until I heard an attendant announcing that we were leaving from a different gate.  You guessed it.  It was at the opposite end of the airport and then down the stairs.  Here we had another check of our bags. I told the young guy I was listening to my Indonesian lesson and no I didn’t have any water in my bag (which wasn’t a lie as I had ice) He smiled, replying in Indonesian and waved me through.

It wasn’t until sometime during the flight when I went to get something from my purse I saw the bank card that someone had lost at the baggage check in.  I walked to the back of the plane and asked the flight attendant if they had a list of passengers, which they did and kindly looked up the name on the card.  I was delighted to know he was on our flight.  How gracious is our Lord.  He looked pleased to have gotten it back.

After our arrival, at Perth International Airport, I picked up my suitcase and headed to customs to declare my kefir.  The officer didn’t seem to know what it was, asking if it was Kaffir lime.  I explained it was like a yogurt culture which I had brought from Perth and was bringing it back again.  He seemed to think that was ok and waved me through.  It didn’t take too long to get a Shareride home.  My driver this trip was from Bhutan, working part-time to support his wife who was doing business studies. It was so good to be home after such a long time away but it was SO cold, 7 degrees Celsius.

There were a few things I wanted to get done before going to bed.  Praise the Lord it was only just after 8 pm when I arrived home. I hurriedly unpacked my things, putting the kefir in the fridge and sorting out a few things.  Kathy had brought over a few oats for my breakfast, taken stuff out of my freezer and bought me some bananas, so my breakfast was set.  She had turned on my hot water heater which I had turned off, as well as all the other unnecessary electrical switches in the powerbox, before leaving home in May.  I thought she had forgotten to turn it on as all the other switches were down but I had misunderstood that down was off and up on!  Before I realised my mistake, I had messaged her to ask if I could please have a shower at her place.  She said she had turned it on, so I rechecked and saw it was actually on and the others were still off, so I turned them all on as well as the bidet so I could have the comfort of a heated seat.  This is one of the things that helps me survive our winters, as well as the electric blanket which I also turned on before having a very warm shower, jumping into bed and pulling my beanie over my ears.

Photos:  1. Bengal clockvine, Thunbergia grandiflora    2. Korean BBQ    3. New refrigerator    4. The two old fridges    5. Dwi’s art    6. Bali, new church building first service 3 Aug 2025

Prayer & Praise Points:

Praise the Lord for my last weeks in Bali and for the warm weather without too much rain.

Please continue to keep Gayle in your prayers for renewed strength, wisdom for the church and for good health.

Please pray that I will settle back into a routine quickly now that I’m home.

Please continue to pray for all those who have received tracts that they will hear the voice of the Lord.

Thank you for your continued prayers for Jen and Ralf as they travel through the UK may they be kept safe and enjoy their adventures too.

Continue to pray for world peace and countries dealing with major disasters, wars and the unbelievable hardships they cause.  Pray for all those caught up in the suffering these events have caused.  Pray that God’s peace may be known by all people especially for those who live with despair, that they will find hope in Christ Jesus.

Please keep my sisters, Tricia, Jen and Kat, in your prayers.  Pray that they will come to know the love of Jesus.