***Spoiler Alert***

Ok this post is a spoiler of our upcoming newsletter that is in route to the printshop. Enjoy!

What a great journey we are apart of here. Not only are we on our own, but we're involved in other's adventures, too. One special thing that's going on right now in our neck of the woods is the completion of the first New Testament since our arrival in April 2009. This family has been working on their project for 22 years! They came to Indonesia just a few months after they were married and have been here since. Recently, they got their copy of the Ambai translation back from typesetting. (Here's where we partner in their adventure) They asked the community to come and check for mistakes. My first thought was," Yeah right! Me? Check for grammar mistakes in a language I can't read?!" BUT that's not what they wanted :) whew. So we checked that the footnotes matched the verses they were meant to match. We checked that references were written correctly. Most importantly, we came along side of this translation team to support, encourage, and rejoice with them and the Lord that more people are going to read His words in a language they completely understand!

Check out the photos:







Very cool opportunity.

happenings of late

The past two weeks have definately been the craziest since we've moved to Indonesia.

It began a couple weeks ago with an event at school called "Fun Day". This event is hosted by the elementary/middle school, and is just like a fall festival but geared towards the familys of the Indonesians that work at the international school. My 6th graders were running two booths "The Dunkin' Booth" and "Bucket of Worms". We had a rotation, so everyone had their chance in the dunking booth. Bucket of worms was an idea I borrowed and revamped from Crossroads Baptist Church's youth group. It's a bucket of green spaghetti noodles with mushrooms, sardines, and squashed tomato. Inside the bucket are pingpong balls with numbers on them. You reach your hand in, pull out a pingpong ball, and the number on the ball equals the amount of candy you get. I think I realized that any booth next to the dunking booth will most likely go unnoticed. **Pictures coming soon.

After that, we had an indoor soccer game. I have been coaching the highschool girls "B" team. We focus on our skills and train to prepare for playing on the "A" team. We have played three games, and our record is 1-1-1. Not too shabby. The girls work so hard, are teachable, and take what we learn in practice and apply it to the games. It's great to see them being rewarded for working so hard in practice. **Photos coming soon.

Right after our first futsol game, I went to a ladies retreat that was opened to all the ladies in the community. It was great for me, who is still fairly new, to meet a variety of ladies serving in a variety of ways throughout this community. The theme was "Princess Warriors". We have to play both roles and fight for those that are important to us.

We headed straight into a normal week of school following the retreat. Friday we had another game, and Saturday was moving day. We had been living in a temporary housing situationn, because right now, permanent/long term housing is difficult to find. Some of our friends had to return home because of an unknown illness that our friend had been fighting for a few months. So we moved last weekend to the other side of town. It only took one day with the help of my amazing pilot husband who is skilled at loading cargo, some friends that brought an extra vehicle, the highschool junior that lived next door to us who helped with the heavy stuff, and our previous househelper who came and cleaned the empty house. This house really had me worried. Our friends had a running count of how many rats they had caught in their house since they had moved in (which was less than a year I believe). They were past the 40 mark. So I have been waiting, worrying, fretting, and feeling many other emotions towards these rats, but so far we've had no rats. I hope it stays this way.

That same Saturday, Josh and I were asked to "chaperone" Sadie Hawkins. This is where the girls ask the guys, always a surpise... you know the song :) It's a costume party with food, games, and fun. The directors asked me to dress up the day before. So we threw something together Saturday, while we were moving. We decided to go as surfers. When we arrive, I notice that no other sponsors had dressed up! I served as a judge along with two others. Josh helped back in the kitchen washing dishes with fellow parents and chaperones. The theme was "Runway" and not where airplanes land. The students had designed a catwalk that each couple would walk down to display their costumes. The judges got to "walk the catwalk" in a very special way... we danced down the catwalk. It was probably one of the most ridiculous things I've done in a while, but everyone was having a blast. Pictures did make it to facebook. :)





Josh has been in the plane a few times a week with the training pilot. We had plane that was owned by the police crash in the mountains here. Our pilots were asked to help with the search and rescue. Unfortunately, it was just a search and no rescue. All four passengers were dead. This past Friday, Josh had his check flight with an Indonesian examiner. It was about a 30 minute flight. The results should allow him to apply for his Indoesian pilot's license. He is continuing to help in the accounting department by managing the daily flight records.

This weekend we are relaxing. I can't believe I just said that. We haven't had days to sleep in and lay around in a couple weeks. We love and miss you and our families. We are soooooo thankful for internet that allows us to keep up with our family and friends.

These are the days...

I remember the days where my schedule was totally open everyday. I remember those days of really wondering what my place was here, wondering if I "fit in". Everything has changed now. Those days of having nothing to do have quickly changed into having something to do everyday with a barely a chance to breathe in between.

Josh is well into his flight training. He finished ground school a couple weeks ago. Now he is taking off and landing in Papua! I think it's so exciting. I won't tell much, because I'm hoping that he'll fill you in on the details of what he's been doing and where he's been going. I will tell you this: it's VERY exciting :)

Today I'm enjoying a day off of school. Even though I don't have school today, my body still woke me up as if I did. The good thing is I have the rest of the day to get stuff done. I try to have a "flexible agenda"... this means I have things I would like to see get done, but if someone calls with better (or more exciting) ideas then I will be flexible and put off those things I would like to see get done. This past week I turned in my grades for report cards for the first time ever. I think that my new favorite days of the school year aren't Fridays, but the day after grades are due. Everything is new. It's just a relief to start over.

All in all, things are moving right along for us. We'll be moving to the other side of town within the next few weeks. The perks are: closer to school, closer to the majority of our friends (all are within walking distance), and it's a really nice place. The downside: this family has counted 40+ rats in their home since they moved in a year ago. (I'm totally freakin' out about this! Eeeek!) Our plan: Bring a cat. Hopefully this plan will work. We'll see how it goes, and we'll keep you updated about our adventure in the house dubbed "The Rat House"... maybe we can come up with a cooler nickname,too.

Quake Update

Hey everyone,

We just wanted to let you know that we are fine. We weren't affected by the earthquake that happened in Indonesia this past week. That happened in Sumatra, which is located in Western Indonesia. We live in Papua, which is the most eastern province. Although Josh says that he felt a small tremor, that's not uncommon and I totally slept through it!

Lots of lives were lost, and they are still searching for many. The last time I checked the deathtoll was well over 1,000. I read that this earthquake was caused by the same faultline that caused the tsunami which devasted this part of the world a few years ago. Please pray for Indonesia and the rescue efforts. As far as 44 hours after the quake, the rescuers were hearing cries for help. People are still alive. God has an incredible plan for those that survive, pray with us that they will see what that purpose is.

Thanks for being with us in this journey. Although scary at times because of things we can't control, we can trust in the One who is in control of ALL things.

-Amber

Catch Up, Catsup, Ketchup

Wow. This thing called life is so crazy. At times, it's super slow and at other times it's waaaaaay too fast! We are in the midst of the waaaay to fast moments.

A few weeks before we went to Singapore, I was really getting down in the dumps. I couldn't understand why God wasn't allowing one more person to "work" for Him. Since I couldn't legally work as a teacher without a visa, I felt like I was just spinning my wheels without a clear direction. We still didn't know where we were going to live after we move out of this house. It was really very stressful. Then all of the sudden, things started to change.

In the course of a week and a half, I had been granted a work visa and we had some friends who we were talking with about staying in their house.

We left for Singapore on a Sunday morning. Singapore is totally different from our world. There are sidewalks, coke machines, crosswalks, lines, Chili's, steaks, grocery stores that sell Dr. Pepper, movie theatres, and Christian bookstores that sell books in English. BUT with all the glitz, that place is soooooo expensive! So we were thankful for our get away, but glad to get back. I didn't think we would miss Papua, but some how over the time we've been here this place is starting to feel more like "home".

We celebrated my birthday in Singapore. Josh's mom pointed out a really neat thing. This past year, Josh and I both celebrated our birthdays in two different countries. Josh's birthday was in March when we were in Malaysia, and mine is in September when we were in Singapore. We went to a Christian bookstore, walked around the botanical gardens and the orchid garden, and went to Chili's for dinner where we watched soccer on their televisions.











Saturday came and it was time to come back to our world. We were met with some "welcome back" gifts that only Papua has to offer. While we were gone there was a lightning storm that hit our phone line. Our phone line was down for a couple days but was repaired before our return. The modem was also connected to that same phone line and was down too. That night the power went out. This is not unusual, so we went to bed because we were soooo tired. We woke up the next day to still no power- now this is weird. The electricity didn't come back on until 5 PM Sunday afternoon. A transformer had gone out in our neighborhood, so no one had power.

Monday morning I was in the classroom. Let's just say 45 minutes is NOT alot of time to fit in a whole math lesson :) I've learned that I have to write out the information I want them to know BEFORE class. The second week was much better. This upcoming week we're adding on Language Arts, so I'm anticipating this week to be another "learning experience".

Josh also had a busy week when we returned. He was welcomed with a safety team from the States that were here to give us imput on areas of improvement. Josh was able to get his initial flight physical completed without having to take the 7 hour flight to Jakarta. He was also able to build some relationships with some of the saftey team members that really encouraged him to chase dreams and desires that he has.

This catches us up to now. The Muslim Community is celebrating Idul Fitri. This is the holiday that breaks the fasting month of Rhammadan. This is an important time for them, because it's a time of forgiveness and renewal. Our forgiveness and renewal came from the Cross, so we used this extended weekend as a time of rest. Josh went back to work today for some inventory, and I will go back to the classroom tomorrow for the start of a new week.

Jeremiah 29:11

Since we've moved to Indonesia, I have been waiting. Waiting for language school to be finished, to move to Papua, to start teaching, to get a work visa, to find a house, to make friends, and the list goes on. I find myself still waiting. This waiting period has caused me stress.

My outlet for stress was running...until a stranger asked me for my phone number and probably yelled in my window that afternoon (we aren't sure, but it's likely). So now, I just try to tell myself that I'm not totally stressed out. Well, my body is saying otherwise. I've heard that some people express their stress through headaches, ulcers, not eating, or other things like that. I'm not having those symptoms, but my skin will break out into itchy rashes. I was praying yesterday and thanked God for my "warning singal" that let's me know that my stress level was too high. I'm not sure how to de-stress. There aren't many forms of entertainment things to do, and I'm finding that I don't have hobbies. So I'm up for ideas on ways to de-stress. I tried to treat myself to a trip to a nice salon. It was wonderful, until I backed into someone's car that wasn't parked all the way in their spot. That is taken care of (Praise the Lord!). Please pray that I would find a way to de-stress, be less anxious, not worry... all those things. God and I are on a journey together trying to figure out this thing called life.

In other news, last week was a crazy week for Josh too. Monday was a holiday, so we went to a friend's house to play games and have dinner. When we got home he started running a fever that eventually lasted almost all week. Tuesday I took his blood slides to a couple different pharmacies to check for malaria. One came back positive for the type that enters your bloodstream and will eventually kill you if not treated, and the other came back negative for malaria. I called the nurses, and they said,"Treat it as a cold because many cases from that certain pharmacy are coming with the same result, and that's just not that likely!" So, the next day I took another slide to one final pharmacy. That result came back negative for malaria. On Friday, we went to the clinic. They looked at him, listened to his symptoms, and said,"You probably have the type of malaria that goes into your liver." So, his started taking medicine this past Friday. His symptoms are now gone, and Monday he worked a half day. Today he decided to go back into the hangar. He still is low on energy, but God has restored His health. We know that it was God who healed Josh, and it's Him who will (and is already) restore His strength.

One less thing to wait on is the work visa! As of yesterday , the visa that will allow me to teach is waiting for pick up in Singapore. We have half our plane tickets, we have information on a place to stay, and we're excited for a "mini-vacation". It will be nice to eat a nice meal at a nice restaurant. In Papua, the place you go for a nice date is the same place you go after church on Sunday. I'm looking forward to going to a movie theatre and book stores that stock English books. We hope to celebrate our anniversary (June 23) and my birthday (Sept. 3). We had a nice dinner at home and split a dr.pepper (thanks marilu!) for our anniversary. Still, we're looking forward to it.

We think we have places to stay through August. We're hoping to have a more permanent place, so we don't have to continue in our (unwanted) nomadic ways. We're praying that we can settle down, begin a routine, and feel more at home here.

Josh is hoping to start his ground school training at the end of September. He's hoping to start his flight training sometime soon after that. We're praying that he can get in the air soon. He's been on the ground too long!

I hope this gives you some ideas of more specific ways to pray for us. God is, has been, and will continue to be so good to us. We're thankful for the ways He has provided. It's hard to sit back and wait. Pray that we can focus on now and leave tomorrow's worries to itself. If any of us try to carry the regrets of yesterday, the agenda for today, and the worries for tomorrow surely we'll all collapse. We love you, miss you, and wish we could see your faces.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,"Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to bring you hope and future."

this whirlwind called life

So busy with so many things happening all at once!

- I (Amber) went on a "ride-along" to two villages that yajasi services. It was great! I saw a handy-cam in the middle of no where... very interesting :)

- We went to a "water hole" called Kali Biru. It was sooooo much fun. We got to jump off this bridge, which was really just two logs laid across the water, into freezing cold mountain water.

- Amber was involved in a teacher in-service training. This was fantastic training that really reenforced what I have already learned.

- Josh changed a tire in less that 15 minutes after church.

- I still don't have a visa for teaching. They are waiting on one letter that represents the churches. Until they have that letter, all visas (including mine) are frozen and will not be processed.

- This past weekened we hit the lake with another yajasi family. We had a blast wakeboarding (Josh got up on the first try, and I got up on the 8th try!), kneeboarding, skiing, and tubing!! It was a great stress reliever. We are STILL sore :) :)

- School starts tomorrow!! Summer is officially (but unoffically until I get the visa) over.

Lots going on here. Sorry for the long over due post!