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Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Hi, we're the Harringtons

After a long hiatus, we're back! August was my last post... such a long time ago. Many things have happened over the course of these past few months. Before I "de-brief" about those things I feel like I should re-introduce myself to you, because I feel like we're those people who haven't seen each other in a while and maybe we've forgotten each other's names. So to slay the awkwardness before diving into life together again, let's get reacquainted before taking our future steps in our shared journeys.

First, and most importantly, we are followers of Jesus. My name is Amber. My husband, Josh, daughter, Kate, and I live in Papua, Indonesia. Indonesia is a group of islands that stretch across a space that's about 3 times the size of Texas. (Oh, I'm also from Texas and measure all things accordingly.) Papua is the farthest province to the east. We share an island with Papua New Guinea (after all these years I still can't spell PNG properly!!). The island is split down the middle- east side is PNG and the west side is Papua, Indonesia. We've been in Indonesia since 2008, where we began our journey after 1 year and 6 days of marriage in the big city of Jakarta. We started language school in Bandung for 9 months, and relocated to Papua in 2009. We aren't sure where "home" is. When we're here home may be America; when we're in America home may be in Papua; when we're on an airplane home may be wherever our destination is. Josh is from Washington state, and I'm from Texas. Kate was made in Indonesia, born in Texas, and was back in Papua at 4 months old. This is the only place (outside of visa trips and vacations) that she has [remembered] calling home. 

Josh serves as a mechanic and helps maintain regulations at a small non-profit organization (Yajasi) that has ties to Wycliffe in America. The primary focus is to provide safe air transportation for Christian workers to and from difficult/impossible to reach interior villages. These Christian workers are involved in a variety of projects at various stages. Some are just getting boots on the ground for the first time and learning the tribal language; some have started translating the Bible; some have learned the language but are involved in developing oral Bible stories that can be communicated and shared with others to ensure that God's Word is being talked about in gardens, on front porches- every where; church planting, discipleship, community development, literacy, education...some have completed the New Testament and are involved in translation of portions of the Old Testaments; and some are wrapping up their time here and are returning to their passport countries. Safely maintaining the airplanes takes many hands and involves much more than "just turning a wrench". 

I am a stay-at-home momma. My days are filled with coloring with broken crayons, having stickers stuck all over me and furniture, filling juice cups, sharing snacks, laundry, cooking from scratch, and serving my family. God is tuning my heart to show me how wonderful it really is that I can spend every day with Kate and how I can strive to make my home a place of peace that anyone can "feel" when they step in. **The height of this peace is at nap time, which if you come over during that time proceed with caution...** 

We enjoy life here. It's always summer here. The beach is an hour away in either direction. Tropical fruit is delicious. Rain on a metal rooftop makes the best sound for great sleeps. Now, there are very difficult and challenging things about life here- separated from family and friends, so we "miss out" on major life events; food is totally different- grocery stores, places to eat, things to eat, cooking; no parks; trash; mosquitoes that carry diseases; diarrhea; friends leaving, friends coming and then leaving again... I have to stop, because if I stop and consider ALL these things at one time, I find myself wondering what in the world am I doing here! Usually a few of these things is always happening- I just thought of two more- airplanes flying over our house ALL day, and unreliable power, which is a very polite way of explaining how I REALLY feel about that. Wow, sorry for the negative turn. 

I'm rambling now. Now that we've been reacquainted, we can pick up where we left off in our journey. I hope to write more often now that life has "slowed down" a bit. 

The Harringtons-that's who we are. 


 
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