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Dear friends.

Greetings from Asia, where we need your prayers. A month ago, three days before setting off to spend a few weeks with the team in Manila, rumors started flying around the neighborhood: eviction and demolition. Although a timeline is still unclear, it seems like the rumors are turning into reality. This land “officially belongs” to a company, although some of our neighbors have lived here for over 20 years! Yesterday (October 26) everyone received a letter from the company - informing us that we need to vacate the premises. Those who agree to leave peacefully will receive fifty dollars compensation.

This month some of you observed The Ingathering/The Festival of Booths, and I have been thinking about that a lot recently. Here in the slum, people live in booths/small houses all year round. Israelites were instructed to do so once a year, to remember their vulnerability in the desert and their need for God....And perhaps by choosing to live here I am observing a year-round ‘Festival of Booths.’ And learning so much...Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor.” Why? What’s so blessed about living with such vulnerability? With no safety nets and the reality that everything can be stripped away quickly?

I think it’s this: We have no illusions here of self-sufficiency. We know we need God.

We hosted a special time of gathering for prayer with the mothers and children in our alleyway. An interesting mixture of reading Psalm 121, Lina praying in Indonesian, and then our neighbors chanting in Arabic.

Lord. Have mercy.

Prayer Points

• For God’s peace upon our community: that anger would not lead to violence.

• Protection against fires

• For the LORD to send out more workers to join our team by summer 2012

• For wisdom about where to move if we need to move (and when)

[Written by a member of the Servants Jakarta team. Names have been changed for security reasons. For more information about Servants' dreams for Jakarta, Indonesia and how you can be involved click here]