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Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving

I’m thankful that Josh and I are here in Indonesia together. It would be really challenging to live here alone. I’m thankful that God has put us together to experience the adventures of this live with one another. Fifty years from now, we’ll be talking about that time we were in language school.

I’m thankful for my parents. It would be really hard to accept the fact that your only child has decided to pack up and move to another country that is FAR away from home. I’m so thankful that God has continually protected them from worry and that has given them ability to accept that we live here. They were really supportive of all the travelling and random summer jobs that had a point for advancing Kingdom work.

I’m thankful for Josh’s family. They are such an encouragement to us. Again I’m thankful for God and the peace that He gives to our families while we are far from home. I’m especially thankful for the cookies that you send us! They are literally a taste from home.

I’m thankful for both old and new friends. You have been there for me through some crazy times. I think God gives us friends, because He knows we need other people. As much as we can try to be independent, we are very dependent on one another. We need each other. Indonesians understand this. Our neighbors know that they need each other. We face difficult times together, we rejoice with one another. We carry each other’s burdens. Friends are a blessing from the Lord.

I have never been so thankful for health as I am this year. Moving to a new country that has tropical diseases that are passed through mosquitoes and where every tummy ache with fever can be something serious is something that can really wear you out. Praise the Lord that we have had mostly good health. We have had a few days where we had to stay in bed because of upset tummies; nothing serious though.

Even as I write this, I’m reminded of God and His faithfulness. Being so far from family during the holidays for the first time is a sad thing for me. He is my Heavenly Father and will never leave me or forsake me. He reunited us through His Son’s death on a Cross. He is good and never changes. I’m so thankful that He NEVER changes. He is my firm foundation. One day every nation will bow willingly at His feet to worship Him for who He is. He is altogether beautiful and lovely. For that I am truly thankful.


Happy Thanksgiving! We miss you!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Lately, it seems like we have been spending a lot of time learning the language. The more we learn, the more we realize how far we have to go. Now that our vocabulary is starting to expand, we have been accidentally switching words. This means that sometimes there are a few embarrassing moments like when I called Amber a cell phone the other day. After a confused look, I was able to straighten it out.

Every Monday morning at school, we have a one hour devotion called a kebaktian. The hour is filled with students and instructors giving testimonies in Indonesian and singing Indonesian worship songs. Next week I will give my testimony in Indonesian and Amber will read from the Alkitab (the Indonesian Bible). In the picture below, one of the instructors is praying for the kebaktian.



We have eight people in our class right now. Three people are native Korean speakers, two are native Japanese speakers, and three are native English speakers. This has forced us to communicate to one another in Indonesian. Since the school is based on the concept of full immersion, the language diversity isn’t a problem. This is a picture of our class (minus one other American) and one of our instructors is to the far right.





A couple weeks ago, Amber and I went on a motorcycle ride to another town that isn’t too far from where we live. We spent the night at hotel and visited a volcano nearby the next day. It was a fun getaway that gave us a chance to relax and take a break from all our studying. The volcano’s name is Tangkuban Perahu which literally means overturned boat. The name came from a legend about a love relationship that turns upside down. Wikepedia does a pretty good job of explaining the legend. The rim on one side also looks like a giant overturned boat. The crater itself was huge and was equally rank with the stench of sulfur.



Some of our friends back in the States have sent us care packages. (Thank you!!!) We couldn’t have been happier about the hadiah-hadiah (gifts) inside. The food here is a little different, so you would have thought it was Christmas when we received pancake mixes and deodorant! We picked up a stray kitten off the side of the road a couple months back so one of the packages came with toys for kittens. If you look closely in the picture, the cat is attacking the toy while Amber is holding it in her left hand. He is pretty much your typical kitten and plays until he passes out. We couldn’t find cat toys anywhere here, so it was nice to get something that keeps him occupied.



 
Images by Freepik