***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!

We are Safe!

Many of you will be waking up to news of bombings at 2 hotels in Jakarta. I just want to relieve some of your worries, concerns, or anxieties about where we are. We are about a 7 hour flight east of Jakarta in Papua. We had plans of going through Jakarta in couple weeks on our way to Singapore for visa reasons, but it looks like this may be postponed too. Don't worry! God is in control of all things. Continue to pray for this country that hearts may be turned to the Truth.

Jakarta is in bold letters with the star. We are located on the most eastern side boardering Papua New Guinea.

Visa... and not the credit card :)

This summer we found out that I would be allowed to teach at the international school in August. We made plans to fly to Singapore for a week for visa purposes, spend a couple days in Jakarta, and then return to Papua. We just found out this past week that all visas for the school have been frozen. This is due to a tax being put on the school which will make them pay $100 USD every month for every teacher (that's some big bucks!) Until they get this situation resolved, they are not processing visas. They are hoping to get the visa ball rolling again soon, but as of right now we're not sure when that will be. This has not only effected my visa but also one of the administrators. We can't work legally until we have a work visa. Please pray for the school, teachers, students, faculty, and that in the midst of chaos that God would still be glorified.

Kami masi hidup! (We're still alive!) **Now with Photos!

I'm so sorry for not updating this blog lately!

We are still alive! Our weeks are filling up with things to do. It's very different than when we first arrived. We're thankful for friends that have been here for a LONG time and friends that have just arrived.

We had a good time experiencing the Sentani Lake Festival. This is a time for the villages, who live around the very large Lake Sentani, to dance tradional dances in their native dress. I have never seen the colors orange and red stand out so much like they did against their dark skin! Beautiful! (Photos to come!)











We celebrated two years! So many changes have happened in those two year. It was great to look back and see how we've changed to compliment each other more and more. All the glory goes to God!

This past weekend a friend took some "couple photos" of us to help build up his portfolio. I also just wanted some recent photos of us. That was alot of fun, but by the end of the day we were both really tired! Thanks Max! (Photos to come!)



















No changes on this photo. This is how the shot came out :)








Tomorrow we will celebrate our first year in Indonesia! It has gone by SUUUUPER fast. We've lived in three places- Jakarta (about 3 weeks), Bandung (about 9 months), and now Sentani (almost 3 months).

We have started to house hunt again. During this time, Psalm 77:19,20 has really been a challenge and a great reminder to me.

"Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters-- a pathway no one knew was there! You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep, with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds." Psalm 77:19,20

The Reminder: God knows the way! He knows what He's doing. He knows where He's going. While finding a house, I trust that He's leading us down a pathway that no one knew was there!

The Challenge: All of us have different shepherds- God, teachers, preachers, parents, husbands. God has placed Josh as my shepherd. I am constantly learning (this pursuit of knowledge started 2 years ago) to trust him to lead and to guide me. This is hard, because sometimes (most of the time) I think I know better! So, I'm learning to trust.

Here are a few things to pray about:

- that we would trust God as the shepherd as He leads us down pathways that only He knows about

- that God would continue to show me how to follow Josh

- that we would continue to develop friendships in this still new place

I'll update this entry with photos when I get the photos ready to be posted! Thanks, you all mean more to us than you'll ever know.

-A&J

Whew, What a Weekend!

It all started in March, when we moved to Papua. We took a trip to the "pasar" (pah-sar) or the farmer's market. Here you can buy fresh veggies, fruit, meats, and whatever else you need. In a way, it's like the Wal-Mart of Sentani, if you use your imagination. They have a section of meats- chicken, fish, shrimp, even some pork or deer meat. Josh is always making comments of how he wants to buy a fresh piece of fish to grill. So, I took a trip on Thursday with a friend and bought a piece of fresh yellow-finned tuna ALL for him. I don't really like fish, but I love my husband so I bought the fish. I brought it home, cut it up, made a batter to fry it in, and cooked corn on the cob and made a salad. So we ate dinner, and Josh made me feel so great! He kept saying," This is so good. This is really good. Wow, so good." As he put another fish bite into his mouth.

After dinner, we were watching the Bourne Ultimatum- great movie!- and he said that his hands and feet were itching. I just said while still focusing on the movie that maybe it was the fish. He then got a big headache, which he thought was because he didn't drink enough water, so he took two tylenol. After the movie was over, he went to lay down in the bed. I followed, and I looked at his eyes. I said something like," Wow, your eyes are really red! I mean like REALLY red. You should go look at them." So he got up to look in the mirror, when he turned around I noticed that his face was REALLY red and swollen. The redness went onto his neck too. I asked him to lift his shirt up- red EVERYWHERE. It looked like some design of red and white. My first reaction was to laugh and get the camera (we were both laughing about this!), but after the photos we immediately realized that this was not a good situation. So I called some friends that knew we were having fish. After our friend got his laughs out, called a nurse, and came to our house with his wife, Josh took two benadryl. He lasted about 1 1/2 hours on TWO benadryl- he's a beast. Most people would have been out after about 20 minutes. So I woke him up again at 2:30 AM for two more pills. When I woke him up at 7 AM, he was back to normal but had a big headache. He did look tired, but after 4 benadryls in 9 hours anyone would, right? He's back to normal now, but we're staying away from tuna.

Saturday we took a trip to the beach with some families that Josh works with. It was a cloudy, overcast, rainy day. Not unusal for some mornings here, but we thought it would clear up. So we went anyway. Someone had built a new swing. You climb up a tree onto a platform of bamboo and swing into the water. Along the shore of the water was alot of dead coral, due to fishermen that use dynamite to bring in the catches. That not only kills the fish but also the coral. So, I climb up the tree, grab the swing, and go. I had sand on my hands that caused me to lose my grip! So I land on my right knee in the row of dead coral. I stood up, tried to laugh it off, but my knee looked a little rough with blood running down my leg. I iced and elevated it. I was out for about an hour, mainly because I was afraid of the salt water burning it like crazy. Josh and I did go out again for snorkling. It is really different when there's no sunshine, but still quite the sight. I woke up Sunday morning with really intense neck pain. When I slipped, we think I had a little bit of whiplash too. It's funny, because you never realize what neck muscles are used for what until they are sore- like holding your head up, you use them when you yawn, or when you look down or around. As of Monday morning, it's still a little tender, but looking down is a little bit less painful.

You really NEVER know what will happen in life :) Praise God that He knows everything that is going to happen to us and wrote it out before time. Incredible!

I've been withholding information

It's true, I have been withholding information from the blogging world. It's okay, I think that's normal. This particular event I haven't shared, because it was SUPER embarrassing for me.

Here's the story:

I decided that I wanted to go on a bikeride. Can anyone even remember the last time I rode a bike? Didn't think so, me either.



The bike looked something like this. It was a mountain bike decked out with a basket on the front of it and a bell. So I put my ETBU hat on, grab my ipod shuffle, and I'm off. My route was just around the neighborhood near by our house.

These are some renditions (taken from google images) of what the side of the road may have looked like. The road was higher than the ground, so it was not level but raised way above the ground. To go to someone's house, you would turn DOWN into their driveway.

The grass was about this high. At one point, the road actually turned into a path and by that point I turned around.



From the street, the grass looked like this (please replace the black bear with a couple of chickens).



The grass, if standing in it, could have been this high maybe a little shorter.



As I am riding along a rocky, unpaved road a group of women are outside of their home (which is set DOWN off the road) working and hanging out. They look up, smile, and wave at me. So I smile and proceed to wave back. As soon as I wave back, I hit a rock big enough to move the tire or I lost control of the bike, or BOTH! Off I go, way down deep into that high, high, very high grass.



I look up, and the ladies are already at the edge of the road looking down at me! I am eye-level with the road and totally embarrassed. I was laughing in my head because of the picture from their point of view- one second I was there, and the next I was completely gone!

The bike landed on my left leg. So, my ankle was covered in dirt with a couple of scratches. Nothing serious at all. My ankle was a little swollen, even now if I jump, run, or step on my left foot the wrong way, I remember what happened that day!

So fast foward to yesterday.



This is the third week of the couch to 5k running program. I enjoy running the same route, because it makes me feel safer I guess. It's easier to calculate where I am time-wise, so I don't get stuck walking back the rest of the way. As I am running, this girl is walking the oposite direction. She stops and says," Are you the lady the fell?" and points to the very, very high grass where I had previously fallen. I said that that was me. This opened the door for a small conversation. She asked where I lived and if she could come visit me. I said sure.

I share this story with you (3 weeks late), because we never know how God is going to use those moments we wish to forget (although, this moment I consider quite funny, but a little painful too). He could open the door for a new friendship or something else unexpected. I also share this story to remind you that laughing at yourself and those moments that you wish to forget is okay! We need to loosen up and enjoy this gift of life that we've been given. We don't know when our last breath with be, so make the most of every opportunity-

laugh,



dance (even if you don't know how),



sing (even if you can't carry a tune),



but most of all...

live.

running and planning

It seems like now is the time that schools are out for summer, students are bored, and teachers are ready for a break. This makes me laugh, because I have been experiencing "summer break" since we moved to Papua. With no job and lots of free time, my day is totally open- just like summertime. So, I try to find things to occupy all this free-time.

My friend started a running program called "Couch to 5k". I thought to myself," That would be so good for me to do here." It's basically for really lazy or out-of-shape people (like me) who want to start running. It starts off slow and gradually work its way up to the distance of a 5k. The program is 3 times a week, so it's not really that demanding. After I do the work-out, I head to the pool for water aerobics. This helps work out any of the soreness in my legs, and gives me a chance to cool off, because let's face it, it's hot here.

I don't love running, but what I do love is seeing the same faces on the route that I jog. I haven't stopped to meet anyone, but I see their smiling face each time I pass. There's a woman who is always working in her garden- rain or shine! There are the same group of kids that play outside of their home underneath the shade of a tree. There are the two scary dogs that sometimes chase me, and I promise that the other day the white dog had a black mask painted on its face!

Other than that, I have been spending my time developing a math test the math skills of Josh's Indonesian co-workers. Many of them are training in the hangar and hope to get their certifications later, but to do this they have to be proficient in math skills. So this test, hopefully, will show what they know and give our trainers an idea of where they can begin to tutor these guys so they can pass their tests!

I never thought I would say this, but math is becoming my life. I'm teaching 6th grade math this upcoming year. Yesterday, while our power was out, I spent the day looking over the first chapter. Get this- I have basically the first week roughly planned out. Look at that, planning ahead... I never do that, Josh can testify, probably lots of you can testify!

Thanks for reading this. Sometimes the posts are waaaaay exciting and others are not that exciting. Such is life- some days are waaaaay exciting and others are not that exciting, but each and everyday is a gift from the Lord. I'm thankful for every single day that we are here in Indonesia. We're going to LOVE looking back on these days 50 years from now! Will you enjoy looking back at these days 20 or 30 years from now? If not, I challenge you to do something that will be unforgetable, so when you look back you're not disappointed!

-a

Is the red light on??

Something that is waaaaaay different here is electricity. Normally in our town we are on an electricity cycle. Our normal power outage day is Tuesday but has switched to Thursday. This usually means that all day we're without power. All day means 9AM-5PM or earlier/later.

Homes are equipped with different electricity items too. We have a "stablizer". This regulates the power throughout the whole house, and hums when too much stuff is being used. When the red light is out, it means no power. When it's on, you should have power. It's become routine for us to pull into the driveway and automatically look to see if the red light is on. It's kinda like "Krispy-Kream" donut, but when our red light is on it means something totally different and unfortunately there are no fresh donuts. So we use this:



Know what this is? I didn't until I got here. It's an answer to prayer when your power has gone out. It's a generator. It generates electricity and allows us to pretend that our power is really on, even though it's not. It powers the AC, you can have internet, watch tv, run some fans. Wow, it's like the power isn't even off. The only downside of this "gift" is the loud noise that it makes while it's running and the horrible smell of deisel fumes that come out from it.

In other news: I have really been loving this song by Jeremy Camp called "Trust in You". One line says "I will trust in you, and I will not be afraid". Living here we have to trust for soooo much. We have to trust for health, for friends, for safety, for flexibility, for safe food to eat, for safe water, for a house.... blah blah blah. So the other night while I was thinking (aka worrying) about all of these issues, I decided to make a "Do Not Worry" list. I put things on here that I am choosing NOT to worry about. Our major one right now is 1. we need friends. 2. we need a house.

1. We have people that we're getting to know, but everyone is in a totally different place than we are. They have their schedules, friends, circles, and we just don't fit into those because we're new. We are the only married couple (probably in all of Indonesia) that don't have kids yet! That was only a very tiny exaggeration. Honestly though in all of Sentani, we probably really ARE the only married couple with no kids. We have a kitten and are "dog-sitting".

2. We need a house. Right now we're living in a temporary house that is totally amazing. This house has hot water for showers, an AC-ed bedroom, cable tv, fast and reliable internet. We were totally spoiled moving here for our first home in Sentani. The home is a home to a family that is visiting the States and come back in October. So we'll stay until the end of September, but will need to move obviously before they get back. They might not want us to be roommates :) So we've started looking for other options. Here's the thing- there's not really anything permanent opening up. The first time I heard that I thought "Yeah right, in ALL of Sentani, NOTHING is opened." Here's what this means: no homes that were previously lived in by Westerners are available. Lots of Indonesian homes are open. This means that they need lots of renovations done to them. The cost of building material is very high right now, so building or renovating is kinda out of the question. So our other option is to house hop. We move from temporary home to temporary home until something long-term opens up. See how this could be a stressor??? BUT I have chosen NOT to worry about this issue. I have to believe that if God has called us here, provided everything (and more) thus far, He must have a place that we can afford and are happy in. So we wait.

I will trust and not be afraid, worried, anxious, freakin' out, or strrreesssssed! No. I will love God and be thankful for EVERYTHING He has freely given to us! This is small stuff in comparison to what our Indonesian friends deal with daily. They love God, trust Him for everything, thank Him for everything, and truly set the example of what it means to trust God. They are teaching me so much more than I am teaching them. Just sit back, watch, and learn. We can learn so much when we stop thinking we know everything and just listen. That could go for not only learning from others, but also learning from God.

So, maaf (i'm sorry), but

close your mouth,

listen.

Help Me Understand

I am fairly new to this world of blogging. I added "followers" to the blog thinking that was a cool addition the page. My "goal" was ten, but now we have 11. (Thanks for thinking this is cool enough to follow) :)

The thing is I have NO idea how to use it! I have so many blogs that I want to follow, but I don't know how. So, I just add them to the "other's stories" section. Please help me understand how to use this. I just don't get it.

So I thought I would google photo "how to use follower". I got some interesting feedback. Here's some results:

"I use my del.icio.us account as a ..." (what does this even mean??)


"follow the herd"


"are you a qwitter or a follower"


So my google image search was NO help at all but highly entertaining :) Maybe you could be of more help? Thanks!

-A

Sneezes and Updates

Achoo! Achoo! AAAAAAAchooooo! This is becoming a common sound in the Harrington (temporary) house! The house we are living in is right across the street from a saw mill. The saw mill is "noisy", but the constant sound of the saws running almost becomes theraputic. The mill dumps the saw dust on the street in front of us and burns it. It never really burns completely though. Just a constant fire for those saw dust particles that wish to burn up. Unfortunately, there's also a growing trash dump across the street too. It was small when we first moved, but word has spread and more trash is being tossed there. In many foreign countries trash is a big non-issue that most Americans don't (or can't) understand. We just try to set an example by throwing away things in a trashcan. The only way to get rid of your trash is to burn it. So once a week, Josh will burn our trash. It's just one of the things you have to adjust to, because if you don't you'll have lots of trash piling up around your house. Then people might think your place is the place to dump the trash! :)

This past Wednesday we had a meeting with the elementary and highschool principals at the international school. Josh and I were just wanting to hear what options were open. God was really great and provided a position that everyone thought would fit me best. I have no offical teaching experience. I have a certificate, graduated, and worked with kids at the church for a year. So, I have some experience, but not a full-time job experience. The position offered to me was.... drumroll.... 6th grade! As of right now, there are eight 6th graders. This position will be... drumroll... part-time! Why am I excited about part-time? Honestly, I would answer this by saying-because it's scary thinking about teaching. I'm only scared because this is my first time. I guess it's the "first year teaching jitters". Does that exist? Well, it does now. God opened these doors, and I have to trust that He will walk me through everyday. I only want to glorify God, and give these students what they need. The principals were SUPER encouraging. They said things like "we want you to succeed", "we want to help you", "you will not get fired if you struggle". You might never hear these things in a public school in the States!

So, I'm excited. I'm excited because we've been waiting on the Lord for Him to open up doors for where my place/role would be. He has a role for us all, but it's so hard sometimes to wait for Him to answer! Oh boy, but when He DOES answer- you better look out because it will be incredible. Think about it, the God who positioned the universe so perfectly also positions/plans the events in my life that shape and mold me into who He wants me to be. Wow. So, we're walking with God through this time.

Thanks for staying tuned with what's happening with the Harringtons. :)

we love you and miss you.

Groggy Sundays

After a long Sunday afternoon nap which resulted in a state of "groggy-ness or grogginess", I am going to attempt to recap some of this weekend.

Before this, let me tell you a story of our life. While we were in language school, we received news that my lil' grandma found out that she had cancer. There are very few moments when you realize how far away from home you REALLY are, but this was one for me (the other was Thanksgiving). We spread the news around and loads of friends and churches were praying for her. She started the radiation treatment, hoping it would shrink the cancer on her lung, making it easier for her to breathe. She had an appointment with a chemo doctor this past week. They ran some tests, and the results were totally a God-thing! No cancer on the lung! The cancer that was in her throat- so small, not even felt by the hand! This means no need for chemo!! Are we happy? Yes, we are. Am I praising the Lord? Yes, I am. Do I know we should be here? Yes, I do!

That very day I got word that one of my bff's from college was waaaaaaay sick. This might not be a big deal, but she lives in a different third world country. Let me tell you, we often pray for health living here. If something goes wrong, we pray that God can heal it, because it is scary going to a hospital here or any other third world country. She went, because she had to have surgery. She had accute apendicitice (hard word to spell, not sure if it's right, still groggy). We're keeping updated with her status through facebook (Thanks facebook!) So, we continue to pray for God's goodness to shine through into her life. She's had loads stories, sure there's more to come in her short time left there. Love you... you know who you are. :)

Friday I spent in Abe- no not Abe like Abe Lincoln, but like this "Ahh-bay", shopping with three other gals. Sometimes the better deals are this city, but now thanks to "the mall" there are more options here in Sentani. It was a good trip of getting to know these ladies, and buying dishes. Yes, I bought dishes. Woah. That's a grown-up moment in my life. They match too. Cute dishes, red mugs, bright colored mixing bowls, a serving dish, and a casserole dish- all around $30-$40 USD.

Saturday we hit our favorite spot- the beach. We went with three other families on a taxi boat. One of the most amazing things that we have done since we moved here, we did yesterday. We snorkled. Now you might be thinking," Snorkling? Hmmm, you can do that here too. It might be just as amazing." Well.... I don't know about that. There were no prime snorkling spots in the DFW area. Our friends let us borrow some of their gear. We saw A M A Z I N G things that most people in the world will never know exists. We met the cast and family members of the film "Finding Nemo", and they were in their natural habitat.

The whole time when my face was underwater, when I wasn't focusing on breathing through the tube, I was admiring how creative God is. Everything under the water was doing EXACTLY what God created it to do! The fish were swimming in their schools, the coral was hiding the sea urchents, the starfish were displaying their bright colors of blue to the best of their ability- not for me to see, but to give glory to the One who created him! The seaweed was swaying with the pull of the undertow and current like it was praising the Lord with a song of praise! We were there. We saw creation praising their Creator! Everyday He receives praise from dogs chasing their tails, from trees losing their leaves just to get even more beautiful ones back the next spring, from birds soaring on the jetstreams that we don't even know exist, and from the many clumps of stars, universes, and black holes- He gets the glory! All of it- it's all His! Neat. It was like when my face was underwater, I heard a loud music and voices praising God. When I pulled my head out- nothing. Head in- Music, Head out- nothing! Head in was much better.

God receives the most glory, when His creation does what they were created to do. What are you created to do? How are you bringing God the MAXIMUM amount of glory in your life? We pray the with clarity you can see what it is that God created you to do, and that you would do it! It's one thing to know and do it. It's another thing to know and life's circumstances or comfort to hold you back from really EXPERIENCING life. Not just drudging through life with a routine lacking joy. I'm on the search for the kind of life that glorifies God in EVERY action, thought, word, deed- everything.

So after this long, exciting weekend we are resting. Groggy Sundays are ok with us.

Hello, Life is calling.

As I settle into this new role of housewife, I am beginning to live a life of availability for God. If someone calls,"Hey want to go run errands with me?" Yessssss, I do. "Hey do you want to go with me to this village on the lake- in 5 minutes?" Yessssss, I do. It's amazing what God will do with you when you have an open schedule. Here's one of the adventures!

Meet my friends, Christy and Ibu Ona. We sat on this trip together this last Wednesday.



We headed by boat-taxi to a village call Yoboi (pronounced "Yo-Boy")to visit a woman from the church who had given birth to a baby boy the week before. She was having issues feeding the baby, because her milk had dried up. Christy bought some presents and some formula for the mom. Our purpose was to encourage this new mom with the Word, prayer, songs, and testimony. Her husband is not a believer, but she and her family are. Here's some of the sights from the boat:



While waiting to leave on the taxi, we heard this cry that sound like either a cry of death, a cry for help, or something else. It wasn't pleasant. We didn't know what it was, that was until we saw the goat. This goat's legs were tied up and had just arrived from a lake village. The goat would ride by ojek or a motorcycle taxi to its next stop. The ojek driver just tied the goat around his waist to keep him on the back of the motorbike. Let's hope they made it to their destination with no problems!



We also saw this fisherman in his dugout canoe. This is the trunk of a tree that is "dug out" into a canoe. They can be many different shapes and sizes.



We saw the village. This village is unique because the entire thing is built on a huge boat dock. The houses are built on stilts. To go to your friends house you can walk over the bridges, swim, or take your dugout canoe.





Our friend lived at the very end of the bridge. We think they ran out of strong wood pieces and had to revert to the use of tree bark. The bridge to a beginner (or anyone who doesn't live in Yoboi) is weak. But to the experienced, you just have to know where to step. So, Momma, came out to help us cross the bridge. Christy went first, Ibu Ona followed, and I brought up the rear... with the help of Momma.









After crossing the scary bridge of death... a little exaggeration but you get the picture... we made it to our friend's house. We walked into seeing a dark skinned Indonesian three year old bathing next to her mom who was holding her brand new baby brother. We oooed and ahhhed over the baby. He's a cutie!









Momma has her own dugout canoe. "Do you want to ride?" Yesssssss, I do! So the new mom disappears for a little while. She comes back to the backdoor with their canoe. So we all climb in with this beautiful three year old and Momma. Every movement was felt in this canoe. You turn your head, and you feel like you're going to tip. There was never a "aaahhh this is no nice" moment. It was always a "hang on to the edge, enjoy the scenery, but focus!" moment.









Here is a close up of Titin, the three year old sister, and Momma.





Here's the view of the hills from the dugout canoe ride with Momma.



They gave us a ride back to meet the boat taxi in their dugout canoe. They went to "park", and Titin had to duck. She was obedient and ducked until they had cleared the low bridge.



That was our adventure to Yoboi. It was a neat trip. God allowed me to enter into homes, hearts, and establish relationship with a lot of people. How amazing is that?

Here's some random photos of our (temporary) home and our kitty #3. This house has loads of fruit trees in front of it- pineapples, guava, papaya, lemon, and bananas.



Meet kitty #3. Her name is Molto. What is "molto"? Molto is nothing special, but it's a fabric softner used to make your clothes smell nice used by many Indonesians. I had no idea what this was until my (temporary) househelper brought it to use it on our clothes. She mixed Molto (the fabric softer, not the cat) with water in a spray bottle to use while she was ironing. When we got the cat, we were told a spray bottle will help quicken the training process. So, she would try to climb our legs and we would spray her. The very first time she was sprayed she smelled like flowers! We couldn't figure out why, until we realized we sprayed her with Molto. Lucu (pronounced Loo-chu, this means funny/cute) story!






So that's all for now. I'm glad we have this blogspot to share with you about our daily life here. It's a little different from the States, but Indonesians take joy in many of the same things you do. You have a lot more in common than you may think!

-A