We have just come back from a long weekend at the beach and it was a much needed time of relaxation. Getting away from the 'normal' is always a good way to reflect on where you are at and where you are wanting to head. I really enjoyed just sitting by the ocean and watching the waves roll in. Absolutely amazing to be mezmorized by the waves.
Paul Juneau and I went a day earily to set up the camp for our families and then spent two nights with the families. Had an excellent time watching the kids enjoy the water and sun. God blessed us with only a little rain during the nights. The tarps had been set up in such a way that no rain got into our tents, PTL. Paul and I had a great time figuring out how to set up the camp. I have now done it a number of times and feel that I am now confident enough to set up camp and that no rain will hit our sleeping spots.
Now is the push til the end of this semester. We have 8 more class days until the final exams. This semester has been amazingly fast. Our family is really looking forward to the break. We hope to not travel anywhere except around Sentani area. Flights are getting more and more expensive within Indonesia and so it is hard to go anywhere as a family.
Well must go to Physics class. Have a great day everyone!
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Another year...
Wow life is just flying by... another year of my life has come and gone and now I must celebrate another birthday. I feel that God has taught me so much in this past year I am not sure where to start. This past weekend I spoke at our spiritual emphasis weekend for the high school and I focused on Romans 1 and 2. The books that I have recently been reading, my experiences as of late and sermons... All seem to be pointing to the same type of theme. That is to die to self, stop judging, you are no better than anyone else, you can not do anything on your own.
Romans starts by telling us about the Good News of Christ. Why is the good News so good? Well because of the bad news. The bad news is then explained in the rest of chapter 1 and chapter 2. Chapter 2 questions the Jews on their thinking. You think you are better?? You think you do not do these things?? You think because you have the law you are superior?? Think again. How often do we/I think these same things. The bad news is that bad people are not out there... they are here they are me. I can not be good without Christ, but wait I know the Bible, I have Christian parents, and I am a missionary for petes sake. Doesn't that count for anything?? NO it does not. If we think any of these things save us they do not. CS Lewis says that until we understand that there is a Moral law and a Power behind the law and that we fail at keeping the law, then Christianity will speak. It does not speak to the people who think they are just fine, who know the right Christian speak, who go to church on Sundays, who are missionaries. We must realize that we are sinners at the totality of our being (Bonhoeffer).
Romans points out that there is no room for judgement in the Christian life. Judging means we know better, well yes we know better but do we act better. Not only do we do things that are wrong we encourage others to do the same actions. WOw Romans can hit in the gut. Some other gut hitters are verses like:
Romans starts by telling us about the Good News of Christ. Why is the good News so good? Well because of the bad news. The bad news is then explained in the rest of chapter 1 and chapter 2. Chapter 2 questions the Jews on their thinking. You think you are better?? You think you do not do these things?? You think because you have the law you are superior?? Think again. How often do we/I think these same things. The bad news is that bad people are not out there... they are here they are me. I can not be good without Christ, but wait I know the Bible, I have Christian parents, and I am a missionary for petes sake. Doesn't that count for anything?? NO it does not. If we think any of these things save us they do not. CS Lewis says that until we understand that there is a Moral law and a Power behind the law and that we fail at keeping the law, then Christianity will speak. It does not speak to the people who think they are just fine, who know the right Christian speak, who go to church on Sundays, who are missionaries. We must realize that we are sinners at the totality of our being (Bonhoeffer).
Romans points out that there is no room for judgement in the Christian life. Judging means we know better, well yes we know better but do we act better. Not only do we do things that are wrong we encourage others to do the same actions. WOw Romans can hit in the gut. Some other gut hitters are verses like:
- only those who persist in doing good - persist, seeking, these words mean that we are constantly trying to do good. So often I think well if I can be at 51% good and 49% bad when I die then I will be okay. PERSIST
- God will judge your secret life - ahh God is just and will judge our secret life. So the outward appearance that we so nicely put on means nothing?!?
- You teach others, do you teach yourself? So easy to say things but do we/I follow what I teach.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Long weekend coming up
Our director decided it would be a good idea to have a long weekend this month and so he has given us this Friday off. At HIS there can be months at a time in which there are no days off and so he did not think that we should work for 3 months without a day off and so here we go, long weekend time!
Janna is back and all of her belongings have now reached us. In Indonesia, like everywhere else now, bringing extra bags when you travel has gotten outrageously expensive. So once Janna landed in Jakarta she sent her larger bag air cargo. In Indonesia this is at times risky due to the fact that you basically have no clue when your stuff will arrive. So all that to say I am happy that it came two nights ago. Not that "stuff" matters but it is nice to get.
God has been continuing to teach me how to die to self and how to shephard the flock. He has been teaching me to do, instead of wanting to do. He has been teaching me how to love people. May God continue to teach all of us as we walk together on this earth.
Janna is back and all of her belongings have now reached us. In Indonesia, like everywhere else now, bringing extra bags when you travel has gotten outrageously expensive. So once Janna landed in Jakarta she sent her larger bag air cargo. In Indonesia this is at times risky due to the fact that you basically have no clue when your stuff will arrive. So all that to say I am happy that it came two nights ago. Not that "stuff" matters but it is nice to get.
God has been continuing to teach me how to die to self and how to shephard the flock. He has been teaching me to do, instead of wanting to do. He has been teaching me how to love people. May God continue to teach all of us as we walk together on this earth.
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Monday again....
Another Monday with no mom which means for some reason crazy morning. Running around looking for things that the kids need for school, then Jalen will say oh yah dad I need ______. So right when I think we are all ready to go to school more and more things pop up. But once again amazingly we get to school and are not even late. This was the last Monday that we have to do this crazy routine without mom. We are so thankful.
Continuing to learn what it means to die to self. Seems to be the current theme in my life. Die to self, give up your own ideas, God is who we follow. I teach about infinity every single day in AP Calculus, yet I focus on this life here on earth so much. If we truely believe that we are living for infinity then this life will be but the smallest blip. Living for infinity means to follow after what is important which is God. What does God want out of this life that I have here on earth? Nothing else matters but that I do His will. Seek Him. Easy to type harder to do.
Continuing to learn what it means to die to self. Seems to be the current theme in my life. Die to self, give up your own ideas, God is who we follow. I teach about infinity every single day in AP Calculus, yet I focus on this life here on earth so much. If we truely believe that we are living for infinity then this life will be but the smallest blip. Living for infinity means to follow after what is important which is God. What does God want out of this life that I have here on earth? Nothing else matters but that I do His will. Seek Him. Easy to type harder to do.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Kaya sick
Well last night Kaya was diagnosed with Malaria. Now to get diagnosed with malaria you need to take a blood slide which of course means a prick on the finger. Well I did it once which was fairly tramatic and did not get out enough blood so had a friend help in doing it a second time. I continue to be amazed at how tough our little girl is. She has also pulled out two of her own teeth in the last couple of weeks which is amazing. Please continue to pray for us as we live in a tropical climate. Not all sunshine when you do not have those winters to kill off the bugs. Dengue fever and malaria vs winter?? Which would you rather have? I am not sure of the answer to that. One time with dengue and that answer is easy. One time being stranded in minus fourty on your snowmobil and the answer is easy also.
My story really was that Kaya went to school today for about an hour, after which time her teacher sms me and said that she was sick. She is at a friends house right now as I am teaching at school. Get better soon Kaya!
My story really was that Kaya went to school today for about an hour, after which time her teacher sms me and said that she was sick. She is at a friends house right now as I am teaching at school. Get better soon Kaya!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Bonhoeffer Quote
WHO AM I?
Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly
Like a Squire from his country house.
Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As though if were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equably, smilingly, proudly,
Like one accustomed to win.
Am I then really that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat,
Yearning for colours, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighbourliness,
Tossing in expectation of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
faint, and ready to say farewell to it all.
Who am I? This or the Other?
Am I one person to-day and to-morrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptible woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am thine!
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly
Like a Squire from his country house.
Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As though if were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equably, smilingly, proudly,
Like one accustomed to win.
Am I then really that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat,
Yearning for colours, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighbourliness,
Tossing in expectation of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
faint, and ready to say farewell to it all.
Who am I? This or the Other?
Am I one person to-day and to-morrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptible woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am thine!
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Long Weekend is coming...
Well tomorrow is Friday and this weekend is a four day weekend for us here in Indonesia due to the ending of the muslim fast. We get to have two days for Idul Fitri. Nice! Great timing as I am still feeling overwelmed with Janna gone. This week we began to get into a routine of homework, emails, work, and school.
Still continuing to be blown away by "The Cost of Discipleship". We are nothing, nothing, with HIM, the timing of this book is hitting me while I still can not run with this knee surgery, and just realizing how dependent I am on people and need to be on the Lord. I feel as though God continues to break me down to realize my reliance on Him. Maybe as we have kids and get older we just realize that we are frail, also seeing people sick all around us lately. Without Christ how can we be happy in this life? I am still sticking to my moto of life Positive! To be positive means to be in Christ, because the second I step outside I look to every negative thing that is around me. I see no positive things. When I am in Christ we see everything in a positive light. He died for us, we are made to live forever, that means that the majority of our time will be spent on the other side of this life. Why do we then put so much stock in life!?! Why do I put so much stock in this life?!? Be transformed by renewing your mind. I am feeling lately that everything for me comes down to letting go of self. Letting go of self. Lets be used by God today.
Lord use me, use me, use me, ..... This is my true hearts desire.
Still continuing to be blown away by "The Cost of Discipleship". We are nothing, nothing, with HIM, the timing of this book is hitting me while I still can not run with this knee surgery, and just realizing how dependent I am on people and need to be on the Lord. I feel as though God continues to break me down to realize my reliance on Him. Maybe as we have kids and get older we just realize that we are frail, also seeing people sick all around us lately. Without Christ how can we be happy in this life? I am still sticking to my moto of life Positive! To be positive means to be in Christ, because the second I step outside I look to every negative thing that is around me. I see no positive things. When I am in Christ we see everything in a positive light. He died for us, we are made to live forever, that means that the majority of our time will be spent on the other side of this life. Why do we then put so much stock in life!?! Why do I put so much stock in this life?!? Be transformed by renewing your mind. I am feeling lately that everything for me comes down to letting go of self. Letting go of self. Lets be used by God today.
Lord use me, use me, use me, ..... This is my true hearts desire.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Basketball
Our tournament run this year ended in the quarter finals. We ran into the defending champs of last year and we lost. This means that the kids and I now need to get into some type of routine. All of the late nights and long days have left me with a sinus cold and headache.
"The same God who sees no sparrow fall to the ground without his knowledge and will, allows nothing to happen, except it be good and profitable for his children and the cause for which they stand. We are in God's hands. Therefore, "Fear Not"."
Bonhoeffer
God loves us!
"The same God who sees no sparrow fall to the ground without his knowledge and will, allows nothing to happen, except it be good and profitable for his children and the cause for which they stand. We are in God's hands. Therefore, "Fear Not"."
Bonhoeffer
God loves us!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
GOR Tournament
Another basketball game, another late late late night!! We need to win this game tonight to continue on in the tournament. Hoping we can do it. Kids once again going to friends house. We are so thankful for our friends who are able to help us out. Thanks guys (if you are reading this).
I am exhausted and we leave in an hour. All for basketball and the students well worth it. Talk to all later.
I am exhausted and we leave in an hour. All for basketball and the students well worth it. Talk to all later.
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Janna heading to Canada...
Janna heading to Canada. The kids and I saw her off at the airport this morning and then came straight to school. We feel in our hearts that this is the best decision to make. She is going back and will be seeing lots of people. For the first couple of days she will be staying in Aldergrove at my parents house, where she will see my side of the family. Then she will fly to Saskatoon where her brother will pick her up and drive her to Herbert.
Mean while things will continue to roll on here. The HIS basketball is in a tournament in Jayapura at the moment. Yesterday we just won our first game and played extremely well despite only having 2 practices. Right now it is Volleyball season here at school but we can not pass up on this tournament. We will play tues and thursday this week which will finish our round robin play. Lets hope we can make the semis again this year. Now the problem with this tourney is that the gym is not a good place for the kids to hang around, so one of our friends here has graciously offered to help me out. This means the kids will fall asleep at someone elses house as you never know when you will get home from these tournaments. Please pray for the kids it should only be a couple of nights but this is still disruptive to their routines.
Reading Bonhoeffer and being challenged in so many areas. I am nothing, everything I do is through HIM! Lets let our lights shine, BUT NOT FOR OUR OWN GLORY FOR HIS GLORY! Impossible to do with these earthly bodies. Entirely possible with Him.
Mean while things will continue to roll on here. The HIS basketball is in a tournament in Jayapura at the moment. Yesterday we just won our first game and played extremely well despite only having 2 practices. Right now it is Volleyball season here at school but we can not pass up on this tournament. We will play tues and thursday this week which will finish our round robin play. Lets hope we can make the semis again this year. Now the problem with this tourney is that the gym is not a good place for the kids to hang around, so one of our friends here has graciously offered to help me out. This means the kids will fall asleep at someone elses house as you never know when you will get home from these tournaments. Please pray for the kids it should only be a couple of nights but this is still disruptive to their routines.
Reading Bonhoeffer and being challenged in so many areas. I am nothing, everything I do is through HIM! Lets let our lights shine, BUT NOT FOR OUR OWN GLORY FOR HIS GLORY! Impossible to do with these earthly bodies. Entirely possible with Him.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Basketball??
Well I have entered the HIS team into a tournament which happens in Jayapura every year. Now we are like north american schools in that usually basketball starts later in the year but this tournament is one of the biggest ones around and so we enter it at the start of the school year. This years tournament is not occuring at a great time, as Janna is leaving and the tourney involves late nights. I am so thankful that we have such great friends out here who have already said that they are willing to help in any way possible. Without the friends it would be way more difficult to try and survive without Janna here.
In order to get into the tournament you need to have all kinds of paperwork and of course pay to get in, so yesterday I drove my motorbike to try and find office where I was supposed to submit the paperwork. Like everything in Indonesia things just take longer than you would think. I ended up driving around for an hour and a half and asking multiple people where the place was. Finally I found it and so I started talking to them and showing them all the paperwork I had. They then told me that this was not the right paperwork and that I needed all these other things. These are the little things that we call cultural stresses!!
Lately I have been reading "The Cost of Discipleship" by Bonhoffer and I am currently in a section on the sermon on the mount. Dying to self. Dying to self. Dying to self. What an easy thing to say but an extremely difficult thing to do. What are my motives for the things that I do? Are they to receive some type of praise? Is it so that people will like me? Tough questions that take some true heart searching to come up with the answers. One thing that I am realizing more and more is that I am nothing, God is everything, I can do nothing without Him. I pray that this can be true in my life, that my motives are to honor and glorify God in every little action that I do.
In order to get into the tournament you need to have all kinds of paperwork and of course pay to get in, so yesterday I drove my motorbike to try and find office where I was supposed to submit the paperwork. Like everything in Indonesia things just take longer than you would think. I ended up driving around for an hour and a half and asking multiple people where the place was. Finally I found it and so I started talking to them and showing them all the paperwork I had. They then told me that this was not the right paperwork and that I needed all these other things. These are the little things that we call cultural stresses!!
Lately I have been reading "The Cost of Discipleship" by Bonhoffer and I am currently in a section on the sermon on the mount. Dying to self. Dying to self. Dying to self. What an easy thing to say but an extremely difficult thing to do. What are my motives for the things that I do? Are they to receive some type of praise? Is it so that people will like me? Tough questions that take some true heart searching to come up with the answers. One thing that I am realizing more and more is that I am nothing, God is everything, I can do nothing without Him. I pray that this can be true in my life, that my motives are to honor and glorify God in every little action that I do.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Update
Update:
Knee - seems to be doing fine. Not as painful and not really walking with a limp anymore. Praise the Lord.
Kids - started grades 3 and 1. Still figuring out the best routine for homework and everything that they need to be doing. Both in school the whole day.
Janna - Janna will be traveling back to Canada to see her family. She will be leaving here on Sept 7th and returning Oct 7th. Please pray for me and the kids as we go through this month. We know that this is going to be extremely difficult. But we feel at peace with Janna returning for this time.
So many things going on in our lives right now. Please pray that we will remain focused on HIM! The beginning of the new school year has been a little hard on me as we have had so many things going on in our families back home. There are times when you just wish you could be close to family and now is one of those times, with the death of my grandmother and Janna's dad being diagnosed with cancer. Times like this are when we rely on the assurance we have that we are where God wants us to be. May God bless you all!
Knee - seems to be doing fine. Not as painful and not really walking with a limp anymore. Praise the Lord.
Kids - started grades 3 and 1. Still figuring out the best routine for homework and everything that they need to be doing. Both in school the whole day.
Janna - Janna will be traveling back to Canada to see her family. She will be leaving here on Sept 7th and returning Oct 7th. Please pray for me and the kids as we go through this month. We know that this is going to be extremely difficult. But we feel at peace with Janna returning for this time.
So many things going on in our lives right now. Please pray that we will remain focused on HIM! The beginning of the new school year has been a little hard on me as we have had so many things going on in our families back home. There are times when you just wish you could be close to family and now is one of those times, with the death of my grandmother and Janna's dad being diagnosed with cancer. Times like this are when we rely on the assurance we have that we are where God wants us to be. May God bless you all!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Tribute to my Grandma
Always there to love never to judge
Making perogies and sausage, ham and potatos
Watching our games even when she did not know the rules
Always welcome never shunned
Gave what they could living on little
Tree forts in the yard cousins standing guard
Christmas time a blast when Schroeders were the cast
Supporting in all we did
Praying Praying Praying
Our lives will never be the same
She is gone she does not want to come back
She sits at Jesus feet
Lord we rejoice in the life of my grandmother
thankyou for all the years I got to know her
May we live our lives to glorify and honor God!
Grandma I love you
Making perogies and sausage, ham and potatos
Watching our games even when she did not know the rules
Always welcome never shunned
Gave what they could living on little
Tree forts in the yard cousins standing guard
Christmas time a blast when Schroeders were the cast
Supporting in all we did
Praying Praying Praying
Our lives will never be the same
She is gone she does not want to come back
She sits at Jesus feet
Lord we rejoice in the life of my grandmother
thankyou for all the years I got to know her
May we live our lives to glorify and honor God!
Grandma I love you
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Update...
Two weeks from today begins the teacher orientation for a new school year. This year we are short on teachers, administrators, IT people, and just about everything that one can be short on. So if you fit one of the above and want to serve overseas please get in touch with me or the school. Would love to see you here working along side us.
Now in an other situation our school would be in a panic. It is amazing how we just need to give it over to God and realize that we are all His and under His plan anyway. If we can realize this it is amazing how at peace one can feel in the midst of crazy circumstances.
God is good, all the time. Do we believe this deep down or not?? My heart wants to believe it! Lets believe!
Now in an other situation our school would be in a panic. It is amazing how we just need to give it over to God and realize that we are all His and under His plan anyway. If we can realize this it is amazing how at peace one can feel in the midst of crazy circumstances.
God is good, all the time. Do we believe this deep down or not?? My heart wants to believe it! Lets believe!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Singapore... Pyramid...
Singapore this summer went well. Kids got their checkups and I had a MRI done on my knee. The doctor found out that I did not have an ACL and so repaired it. Had surgery 3 days after the initial appointment and now am back home recovering. The part that I do not like at this moment is the wait, 6 months until I can even think of touching a basketball again. Not cool!
We just returned from a week of being in the interior. Every year MAF has a great time as all Papua MAFers get together for a week of spiritual and emotional renewal. A church named New Heights from the US sends out a team to lead the services and look after the children. The amount that this church does for us is unbelievable. We can not thank them enough. The pastor went through Luke 7-10. Amazing stuff. Called to Care is what the team came to do and to challenge us to do in Indonesia. Janna and I came home refreshed spiritually, of course not physically as you do not really sleep because it is too much fun to play games with friends til all hours of the morning. Our kids had a blast. The team from New Heights sends out college age kids to hang out and lead VBS for the kids so that the adults can spend their time listening to the Word of God. Basically we would see our kids at meals only. All in all a great time!!
Well we are back at home now trying to get everything back to normal as we now have two and a half weeks before school starts. Time to get back to work. Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement.
We just returned from a week of being in the interior. Every year MAF has a great time as all Papua MAFers get together for a week of spiritual and emotional renewal. A church named New Heights from the US sends out a team to lead the services and look after the children. The amount that this church does for us is unbelievable. We can not thank them enough. The pastor went through Luke 7-10. Amazing stuff. Called to Care is what the team came to do and to challenge us to do in Indonesia. Janna and I came home refreshed spiritually, of course not physically as you do not really sleep because it is too much fun to play games with friends til all hours of the morning. Our kids had a blast. The team from New Heights sends out college age kids to hang out and lead VBS for the kids so that the adults can spend their time listening to the Word of God. Basically we would see our kids at meals only. All in all a great time!!
Well we are back at home now trying to get everything back to normal as we now have two and a half weeks before school starts. Time to get back to work. Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Surgery...
We came to singapore for the kids eyes and to have my knee MRI ed. The specialist told me with one touch of my left knee that my ACL was gone. Then the MRI confirmed that I did not even have an ACL. So yesterday I had reconstructive surgery on my left knee. After the surgery the doctor came and showed me pics of my knee. He found out that indeed my ACL was no where to be seen and that my MCL was 30% torn. Crazy. This could be the cause of my discomfort:-) I stayed in the hospital for one night and am now back home wishing for more pain killers.
Please pray that we can now get my flight changed because I need to stay here to have some phsyiotherapy.
Kids appointments went well and we are having fun in Singapore. Well thank you all for your continuing support.
Please pray that we can now get my flight changed because I need to stay here to have some phsyiotherapy.
Kids appointments went well and we are having fun in Singapore. Well thank you all for your continuing support.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
I have finally done it. I have started a facebook page, so please if you want to see pictures and some other things please sign into facebook and look up Janna and I.
Summer holidays have been flying by and so far I have made two trips to the beach. One with the kids and I and one with my friend Paul to see if it was feasible for the high school to hike to a beach during the first week of school.
The kids and I had an absolute blast. We went out during the day and had a great time snorkeling and playing in the water. Then when it was time to set up camp we all got under our mosquito nets and tried to sleep. Sleep came easy for the kids as I just sat awake marveling at God's amazing creation. Then at 12:30 we were woken up by water on our faces and sleeping bags. The wind and ran were blowing so hard that our mosquito nets were completely horizontal and the rain was falling horizontally. It was amazing. The kids were completely soaked and we were laughing and trying to keep warm. Of course a dad who is always out for adventure does not enjoy the negative and so we were making everything fun. Now the wind and rain made us frozen. So i covered Jalen in a couple of towels and put him on a chair. Kaya I wrapped up in my rain ponco and then covered our sleeping bags as best as I could with the rest of the ponco. Then we talked about God and His power and just the adventure that He had led us to. I had an amazing time!! Kids are awesome. Then we slept a little the rest of the night and woke up and played the whole next day with friends and of course mom who had come the following morning.
God is good, All the time. All the time God is good. Don't forget it!!I
Summer holidays have been flying by and so far I have made two trips to the beach. One with the kids and I and one with my friend Paul to see if it was feasible for the high school to hike to a beach during the first week of school.
The kids and I had an absolute blast. We went out during the day and had a great time snorkeling and playing in the water. Then when it was time to set up camp we all got under our mosquito nets and tried to sleep. Sleep came easy for the kids as I just sat awake marveling at God's amazing creation. Then at 12:30 we were woken up by water on our faces and sleeping bags. The wind and ran were blowing so hard that our mosquito nets were completely horizontal and the rain was falling horizontally. It was amazing. The kids were completely soaked and we were laughing and trying to keep warm. Of course a dad who is always out for adventure does not enjoy the negative and so we were making everything fun. Now the wind and rain made us frozen. So i covered Jalen in a couple of towels and put him on a chair. Kaya I wrapped up in my rain ponco and then covered our sleeping bags as best as I could with the rest of the ponco. Then we talked about God and His power and just the adventure that He had led us to. I had an amazing time!! Kids are awesome. Then we slept a little the rest of the night and woke up and played the whole next day with friends and of course mom who had come the following morning.
God is good, All the time. All the time God is good. Don't forget it!!I
Friday, May 29, 2009
School is done
School is done and Jalen is sick. Of course once all the action is done everyone gets sick. We had a great last week of school and we are sad to see friends leaving. Friends that are grads and also friends that have decided to leave the field. This morning I brought our good friends to the airport and then went to our other friends house to help them pack their house never to return. Sad times. Last night was grad and that also was emotional as this years seniors were a very special group.
God is directing people both to the field and away from it. It is exciting to watch people following after God's direction for their lives. Here on earth we do wish that good friends could stay in our lives forever, but we have to say goodbye.
Kaya and Jalen finished their classes well. Jalen will be entering grade 3 and Kaya will enter grade 1 next year. Kaya is a little artist and really enjoys drawing with chalk, pastels, pencil crayons, or whatever she can get her hands on. Jalen is active and is really enjoying rollerblading. We bought rollerblades from our friends that are leaving and Jalen is learning at an incredible rate. I also bought some and have been trying to teach Jalen some good Canadian things on skates: crossovers, how to stop, how to accelerate quickly, how to jump...
I am so proud of our children. Paul and Karen Juneau have just arrived here and are now hoping that their crate from Salitiga will get here soon so that they can move out of the guesthouse and into their home on the MAF base. What a treat to be reunited with our friends.
May God continue to bless you all as your school years draw to a close.
God is directing people both to the field and away from it. It is exciting to watch people following after God's direction for their lives. Here on earth we do wish that good friends could stay in our lives forever, but we have to say goodbye.
Kaya and Jalen finished their classes well. Jalen will be entering grade 3 and Kaya will enter grade 1 next year. Kaya is a little artist and really enjoys drawing with chalk, pastels, pencil crayons, or whatever she can get her hands on. Jalen is active and is really enjoying rollerblading. We bought rollerblades from our friends that are leaving and Jalen is learning at an incredible rate. I also bought some and have been trying to teach Jalen some good Canadian things on skates: crossovers, how to stop, how to accelerate quickly, how to jump...
I am so proud of our children. Paul and Karen Juneau have just arrived here and are now hoping that their crate from Salitiga will get here soon so that they can move out of the guesthouse and into their home on the MAF base. What a treat to be reunited with our friends.
May God continue to bless you all as your school years draw to a close.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
May has arrived..
May has arrived and basketball is over (final party tonight). Janna is painting our house with the help of Kaya (after she gets home from School at noon). Jalen is doing well in school and is currently working hard on a book report for his class.
Not sure if you have heard but there were some problems in Sentani this past week in which some military personel were fighting against themselves. Just please continue to pray for this island of Papua. There are so many things that are going on here that only God will be able to heal and deal with. Thanks for your prayers.
Not sure if you have heard but there were some problems in Sentani this past week in which some military personel were fighting against themselves. Just please continue to pray for this island of Papua. There are so many things that are going on here that only God will be able to heal and deal with. Thanks for your prayers.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Kids continuing to grow up
Janna and I continue to be amazed at how quickly our children are growing up. The other morning Kaya got dressed and brushed her teeth by the time we had got up. Amazing! The other day Janna and I were arguing a little about something and Jalen came up to me and said "Dad I think you need to apologize to mom." I said why do you say that? "Because what you said was not nice to mom and God wants us to be a close family." Wow talk about a hit in the teeth. So I had to apologize to Janna, Jalen and Kaya and of course then ask God for forgiveness as well.
Then last night we watched an excellent movie called Fireproof. Now if you have not seen this movie you really need to. It is written by the same people who made Facing the Giants. A Christian based film company that is making movies that touch on issues in our society. Fireproof touches on the fact that marriage is a covenant and that it needs to be taken seriously. Powerful movie. Switching from a selfish culture to a selfless marriage can only be done once we understand Love. The only way to understand love is to realize how Jesus loves us. Without this realization of what Love actually is it is difficult for our marriages to survive. Over Easter we realize that Jesus gave his life for us. Doing nothing wrong he paid the ultimate price for our sins.
Love others as you love yourself. May we learn to do this by studying the love Jesus has.
Then last night we watched an excellent movie called Fireproof. Now if you have not seen this movie you really need to. It is written by the same people who made Facing the Giants. A Christian based film company that is making movies that touch on issues in our society. Fireproof touches on the fact that marriage is a covenant and that it needs to be taken seriously. Powerful movie. Switching from a selfish culture to a selfless marriage can only be done once we understand Love. The only way to understand love is to realize how Jesus loves us. Without this realization of what Love actually is it is difficult for our marriages to survive. Over Easter we realize that Jesus gave his life for us. Doing nothing wrong he paid the ultimate price for our sins.
Love others as you love yourself. May we learn to do this by studying the love Jesus has.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
To live is....
To live is _________. A speaker this morning challenged us with this question. To live is Basketball?? To live is wealth? To live is paying off my mortgage? To live is safety? To live is justice? What would you fill into the blank? TO live is _________.
We know the Bible says to live is Christ and to die is gain. Now we can not say the second part without the first. If to live is athletics then dying is not gain because we are taken from that which we live for. If to live is Christ then to die is gain. What a thought! Who/What am I living for?
Another interesting thing he said was that he distinguished between "Call" and "the Lord's leading". God calls us to present ourselves as living sacrifices Holy and acceptable to Him for this is our spiritual act of worship. That is the call that He gives us. After we have wholly given ourselves to him then we are led by Him to where He can use us. But the call on our lives is to sacrific our own desires and give in to what He wants.
To live is Christ and to die is gain. Serve Christ by serving others. Love the Lord and your neighbour. Powerful statements that we can choose this day to do.
We know the Bible says to live is Christ and to die is gain. Now we can not say the second part without the first. If to live is athletics then dying is not gain because we are taken from that which we live for. If to live is Christ then to die is gain. What a thought! Who/What am I living for?
Another interesting thing he said was that he distinguished between "Call" and "the Lord's leading". God calls us to present ourselves as living sacrifices Holy and acceptable to Him for this is our spiritual act of worship. That is the call that He gives us. After we have wholly given ourselves to him then we are led by Him to where He can use us. But the call on our lives is to sacrific our own desires and give in to what He wants.
To live is Christ and to die is gain. Serve Christ by serving others. Love the Lord and your neighbour. Powerful statements that we can choose this day to do.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Hillcrest Basketball
Hillcrest Basketball is now mid-season and we are out of the King Town Tournament. The girls were 3-2 and the boys were 2-2. In our pool the teams were very evenly matched and we had 3 of our games within 4 points. One team we beat by 3, then lost one by 4, and lost one by 3. Heart breakers but great games and it was fun to see the team respond in the crunch. Unfortunately we did not get the wins but we played extremely hard and in the end it came down to inexperience and making bad mistakes. Turn overs, turn overs, turn overs.
Janna and I are also playing in this same tournament with Indonesian teams and both of our Indonesian teams are moving into the playoffs. The girls into the semi-finals and the boys into the quarter finals. Should be interesting. It is fun to once again play on teams with refs and the crowd and the whole bit. It has been awhile.
In all of this basketball it has been hard to find time for family and so we need prayer during this time. Satan just seems to use any thing that he can to get in between couples. As Janna and I prayed last night together we just prayed that all the marriages (in our families especially) would just remain focused on God and his love. May God fill us this Sunday and may He richly bless all of you as you serve Him.
Janna and I are also playing in this same tournament with Indonesian teams and both of our Indonesian teams are moving into the playoffs. The girls into the semi-finals and the boys into the quarter finals. Should be interesting. It is fun to once again play on teams with refs and the crowd and the whole bit. It has been awhile.
In all of this basketball it has been hard to find time for family and so we need prayer during this time. Satan just seems to use any thing that he can to get in between couples. As Janna and I prayed last night together we just prayed that all the marriages (in our families especially) would just remain focused on God and his love. May God fill us this Sunday and may He richly bless all of you as you serve Him.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tournament
We are in full swing of Basketball season now as we are entered into a tournament. Our HIS team has played one game so far and won 46-43 a great game. Today we play again. Now I am also playing on an Indonesian team and we have also played one game and lost. The team that I play for has quite the individual mindset of if I get the ball I must shoot. I will try to talk to them about it before our next game. Janna is also playing on an Indonesian team and their team won.
We are having lots of fun with Mom and Dad Epp although really we have not done anything out of the ordinary with them. Seems like life is just too busy with Basketball and everything else that we are trying to do here.
God continues to be good to us as we seek Him in our lives. We feel so blessed to be in the families that we are in and are excited about the direction that each one of them are heading. Thank you all once again for being part of our lives and continuing to bless us so that we in turn can be a blessing to others. May God be with you all and speak clearly to you today. Seek Him.
We are having lots of fun with Mom and Dad Epp although really we have not done anything out of the ordinary with them. Seems like life is just too busy with Basketball and everything else that we are trying to do here.
God continues to be good to us as we seek Him in our lives. We feel so blessed to be in the families that we are in and are excited about the direction that each one of them are heading. Thank you all once again for being part of our lives and continuing to bless us so that we in turn can be a blessing to others. May God be with you all and speak clearly to you today. Seek Him.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Basketball is in full swing...
Basketball is currently in full swing which means that I am busy, busy, busy. This year I have a team at HIS which is eager to learn and improving by leaps and bounds each practice. I am thoroughly enjoying this season thus far and am looking forward to how we can continue to improve throughout this season. I am also continuing to be involved in basketball at our church. Now I have not been practicing with them lately due to my ankle. My ankle has been bothering me for the past 2 months and I am still not quite sure exactly what has happened. My Dad and I went for a motorbike ride while he was here and I had a little accident in which the bike hit my right leg. Now I did not really think that anything that serious happened. But now I am wondering if I twisted my ankle. Then also the doctor here thought that I had gout and so I started on the medication and the major pain went away. Now it just feels as though my ankle is twisted. Well that is my story and I am sticking to it. Combination of things.
Today in church our pastor spoke on something that I have been thinking about for a while now. For a while I was getting confused in all the little details of the Christian life. I tried to ask myself what is the basis of what I am trying to accomplish in this life. I shared with my parents while they were here that I am trying to break it down to Love the Lord, and Love your neighbor. Today our pastor spoke on this exact topic. He read the passage out of Matt 22 where Jesus broke all the commandments down to those two things. This is not that easy to love your neighbor, often my mind goes to love those who are easy to love. But this is not true. Love everyone! When Jesus shared this with his disciples he meant everyone. The next question is how do I love them. Here in Papua I am realizing that I need to care for people and their needs. One of our OE speakers spoke on the fact that if you are helping the least of these you are helping HIM. I am also realizing that relationship is key to Love. To love someone means to spend time, energy, and effort in order to show them that you care for them. This does not mean ohhhh wait but NBA is on TV, I can not spend time with you now. Die to self, stretch yourself, and love others. Amazing a short statement for Jesus to make and so hard for me to follow. Love the Lord, Love others.
The second passage that he spoke on today was out of Matt 28. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them. Our pastor is big on the fact that God speaks to us each time we are in church and if you do not do something about it within 48 hours then you will forget. The Lord is calling us to DO something about what he is saying. Love is an action word, then in Matt 28 he says GO find a student, share with them, help them out. GO, DO something about it. This does not mean that you necessarily travel and make disciples this means where you are, GO. The pastor challenged us to find someone to befriend and share what God is teaching you. That sounds possible to me. Here we go this week is it, within 48 hours if we have not done anything about it we will forget. GO DO. Lets turn this world upsidedown for Christ. What an awesome idea!
This week a bball tournament starts in a town about half an hour from here. I am playing on one team and coaching another team. Pray that through this opportunity that I have I can practice this idea of meeting someone new to share with. Darren wanting to follow Christ with all my heart from Papua OUT!
Today in church our pastor spoke on something that I have been thinking about for a while now. For a while I was getting confused in all the little details of the Christian life. I tried to ask myself what is the basis of what I am trying to accomplish in this life. I shared with my parents while they were here that I am trying to break it down to Love the Lord, and Love your neighbor. Today our pastor spoke on this exact topic. He read the passage out of Matt 22 where Jesus broke all the commandments down to those two things. This is not that easy to love your neighbor, often my mind goes to love those who are easy to love. But this is not true. Love everyone! When Jesus shared this with his disciples he meant everyone. The next question is how do I love them. Here in Papua I am realizing that I need to care for people and their needs. One of our OE speakers spoke on the fact that if you are helping the least of these you are helping HIM. I am also realizing that relationship is key to Love. To love someone means to spend time, energy, and effort in order to show them that you care for them. This does not mean ohhhh wait but NBA is on TV, I can not spend time with you now. Die to self, stretch yourself, and love others. Amazing a short statement for Jesus to make and so hard for me to follow. Love the Lord, Love others.
The second passage that he spoke on today was out of Matt 28. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them. Our pastor is big on the fact that God speaks to us each time we are in church and if you do not do something about it within 48 hours then you will forget. The Lord is calling us to DO something about what he is saying. Love is an action word, then in Matt 28 he says GO find a student, share with them, help them out. GO, DO something about it. This does not mean that you necessarily travel and make disciples this means where you are, GO. The pastor challenged us to find someone to befriend and share what God is teaching you. That sounds possible to me. Here we go this week is it, within 48 hours if we have not done anything about it we will forget. GO DO. Lets turn this world upsidedown for Christ. What an awesome idea!
This week a bball tournament starts in a town about half an hour from here. I am playing on one team and coaching another team. Pray that through this opportunity that I have I can practice this idea of meeting someone new to share with. Darren wanting to follow Christ with all my heart from Papua OUT!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Outdoor Education
I realize that it has been a long time since I have made an entry into here and I am sorry about that. I have been in the interior of Papua with the high school on what we call OE. Outdoor Education is one of the highlights of the year for all high school students. Our high school goes interior for two weeks and works along side a missionary in a village. This year we helped the missionary couple with their hydro plant, airstrip, painting some buildings. Then we were also involved helping a doctor and dentist do medical clinics in the area. This was a powerful time as our students got to check patients, pull teeth, and learn about what the different medical problems are in the region.
The village we went into this year is named Ibele. We had the privilege of listening to a missionary who had lived in Ibele in the 1970's. He was the main speaker and he spoke on the ABC's of Christian Character. Great listening to him and being inspired as well. Amazing work that is going on in Ibele. We were so blessed to be a part of it for two weeks.
During the two weeks the high school is put into 8 different groups each with a leader. The 8 groups then hike or get helicoptered in to different small villages that surround the "mission station". This year my group got to go into Hiberak which was about a 2.5 hour hike up the mountain from the main village. Here we spend 3 nights in the Honai's (traditional huts) spending time with the people, showing the Jesus film, building a toilet, kids clubs, medical, and anything else that we can find time to do with the people. This OE I had a unique experience. On Sunday we were asked to sing in front of the church which is not that out of the ordinary and then 10 minutes before they asked me to share with them. Many of the villagers did not speak Indonesian but some of them understood it so I spoke for about 25 minutes in Indonesian and then the pastor came and explained to the people what I had said for those who did not understand. Amazing experience of God stretching me. The church had memorized the passage in Matthew about where your treasure is there your heart will be also and so I began my message sharing about that for a while. Then the day before in Kids Clubs we had shown them the story of the son who leaves his father and then eats with pigs and then decides to come home. I talked about the grace that God has for us if we confess our sins. Anyway it was a stretching time for me.
This past week has been me trying to recover from the two weeks sleeping on boards with a mosquito net and trying to be a leader on this years OE. The person who runs OE asked me last year if I would be willing to take on a larger role in the leadership of this program and I said that I would. So last year she was working with me so that one day I will take it over from her. So last year I helped out and this year we really did work side by side in the planning. This is an incredible amount of work and I can not believe that she has done it all this time by herself. I really enjoy working along side someone else and so hopefully it will stay this way for years to come.
Today I write this not yet fully recovered. Today also Janna's parents are coming which we are really looking forward to. Must run class is starting.
The village we went into this year is named Ibele. We had the privilege of listening to a missionary who had lived in Ibele in the 1970's. He was the main speaker and he spoke on the ABC's of Christian Character. Great listening to him and being inspired as well. Amazing work that is going on in Ibele. We were so blessed to be a part of it for two weeks.
During the two weeks the high school is put into 8 different groups each with a leader. The 8 groups then hike or get helicoptered in to different small villages that surround the "mission station". This year my group got to go into Hiberak which was about a 2.5 hour hike up the mountain from the main village. Here we spend 3 nights in the Honai's (traditional huts) spending time with the people, showing the Jesus film, building a toilet, kids clubs, medical, and anything else that we can find time to do with the people. This OE I had a unique experience. On Sunday we were asked to sing in front of the church which is not that out of the ordinary and then 10 minutes before they asked me to share with them. Many of the villagers did not speak Indonesian but some of them understood it so I spoke for about 25 minutes in Indonesian and then the pastor came and explained to the people what I had said for those who did not understand. Amazing experience of God stretching me. The church had memorized the passage in Matthew about where your treasure is there your heart will be also and so I began my message sharing about that for a while. Then the day before in Kids Clubs we had shown them the story of the son who leaves his father and then eats with pigs and then decides to come home. I talked about the grace that God has for us if we confess our sins. Anyway it was a stretching time for me.
This past week has been me trying to recover from the two weeks sleeping on boards with a mosquito net and trying to be a leader on this years OE. The person who runs OE asked me last year if I would be willing to take on a larger role in the leadership of this program and I said that I would. So last year she was working with me so that one day I will take it over from her. So last year I helped out and this year we really did work side by side in the planning. This is an incredible amount of work and I can not believe that she has done it all this time by herself. I really enjoy working along side someone else and so hopefully it will stay this way for years to come.
Today I write this not yet fully recovered. Today also Janna's parents are coming which we are really looking forward to. Must run class is starting.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Doug and Lil come and gone...
Doug and Lil have come and gone and our hearts are so happy for the visit. We had a great time showing my parents where we live and work here in Indonesia. It is always such a blessing to show people where our hearts are at, and now we can talk with them on a much deeper level of what our lives are like here. My parents arrived safely in Bali on Sunday and will now have a week relaxing before they head home.
Connecting as a family over Christmas and New Years was an awesome time for our family as Christmas is usually the most lonely time of the year.
Also many of you have heard of the earthquake in the bird's head of Papua. Some of our mission friends have been affected by this large quake but for the most part no mission personel have been injured. We felt some tremors here but had no idea that the earthquake was as big as it was until we had some updates from our mission leaders. MAF will be responding as usual to disasters and trying to help the interior in any way that we can. It sounds as though there were 4 earthquakes in the same area measuring 7.6, 5.6, 7.5, 6.0. I am reminded of a song that says if God is on our side whom then shall I fear. We want to be in the middle of the Will of God, that is the safest place to be.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. May we walk closer to God during this new year.
Connecting as a family over Christmas and New Years was an awesome time for our family as Christmas is usually the most lonely time of the year.
Also many of you have heard of the earthquake in the bird's head of Papua. Some of our mission friends have been affected by this large quake but for the most part no mission personel have been injured. We felt some tremors here but had no idea that the earthquake was as big as it was until we had some updates from our mission leaders. MAF will be responding as usual to disasters and trying to help the interior in any way that we can. It sounds as though there were 4 earthquakes in the same area measuring 7.6, 5.6, 7.5, 6.0. I am reminded of a song that says if God is on our side whom then shall I fear. We want to be in the middle of the Will of God, that is the safest place to be.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. May we walk closer to God during this new year.
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