This was definitely the most intense ministry trip I have taken since I began traveling. Besides the stress of flying to the other side of the world (almost 24 hours of flight time to get there) I preached 14 times—in two women’s conferences, a special men’s event and at two churches in Jakarta. Yet despite the demanding schedule I could feel the supernatural strength that comes from having intercessors backing me up.

We had more than 1,000 people registered for the first two days of the Apostolic Women Arising conference. That portion was billed as a mentoring session, with time for questions and interaction. Then we had more than 1,400 the next two days for the nextportion, which was held in a civic arena. It was great to see how many men came to learn how to release women and to address issues of abuse.

Indonesian people, especially women, tend to be timid and don’t like to volunteer to come to the stage or to give testimonies. But the Lord kept having me pull people from the audience to illustrate my sermons or to share what they had learned. So many of them later thanked me for doing this. I believe it helped release a new boldness into the churches. Also on the last day of AWA in Jakarta we did a prayer tunnel in which the women marched through rows of men who were praying for them. We prayed especially for a release of supernatural boldness on the women. I know something significant happened in the nation as a result of these women being empowered.

On Saturday I address a large breakfast meeting of the Christian Men’s Network. This was probably the most spiritually intense meeting of the trip because I had to speak bluntly about the problem of abuse and chauvinism. It got really quiet in the huge ballroom at one point, and I wasn’t sure if anyone would come to the altar after I challenged them to repent. But after a few moments hearts were softened and men began to come down for prayer. Later, we asked all married couples to come to the altar for prayer and they streamed to the front. Many of the men were weeping as we prayed for their marriages to be healed and strengthened.

I preached in two churches in Jakarta on Sunday. Then on Monday we drove to the city of Bandung, two hours from Jakarta, where I spoke at the Rise and Shine Women’s Conference. This event was held on the top floor of the city’s largest shopping mall. The organizers were thrilled to find that more than 1,200 women came to the event. On the last night I preached about how Jesus healed the bleeding woman, and then we had a powerful time of prayer for physical healing. I left Bandung feeling like the Holy Spirit had made a powerful impact on that city—which is the most Muslim city in all of Indonesia. Some of you may not know that my book 10 Lies the Church Tells Women was translated into Indonesian two years ago. The publisher brought books to both conferences and sold them at a table. It was great to know that the message will continue to spread long after I am gone.