I have now been 30 for 10 days and my body is already breaking down. My knee is almost better and the foot that I scraped driving my motorbike is also healing nicely. Janna and I are now in units 5 and 4 of 9 that we are required to complete. We feel that things are progressing nicely with the language.
Bandung is in rainy season right now which means that it rains everyday, which is great for the people here. The only real problem with it is that motorbikes are our main mode of transportation and it can get a bit cold when you are all wet. Yesterday our whole family was on the motorbike and we got caught at one of the malls here and it just started pouring. So we were stuck. Good adventures!! The kids have been so good.
Right now we are wondering what to do with Kaya in school. The school that Kaya attends is an Indonesian school that trys to be academic, but she is 3. So I am just wondering if this is good at this age or if Kaya could benefit more from an actual play school. We will see what happens.
Another decision that we are trying to make is one of moving. The electricity in our house breaks the breaker constantly and so it is getting so annoying. Janna really wants it fixed but that would cost some money that we do not have and so our neighbours are heading to Papua in December and our landlord said that we could just move to their house. So we are considering this option. It is a bigger house with less electrical problems and will be better when we have company.
Please continue to pray for us as we consider all the options and try to make good family decisions.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Life goes on...
Sunday afternoons there are guys who play basketball at the school that Jalen attends. This past Sunday I was playing and an old bball injury came back to haunt me. I went to transfer my weight to change directions and sure enough my knee popped out of place. Now for those of you who know me you know that this is not uncommon. It just reminded me that we are in the Lord's hands with our safety.
I must admit that driving a motorbike is a bit more difficult when you can not bend your knee but it does still work.
School continues to fly. We continue to feel that we are learning lots and are glad that we are here learning the language. Janna is a unit where she has to give presentations in Indonesian and next week I am sharing about how God led us to Indonesia in front of everyone. So we feel that things are going well.
Thank you for your continued support.
I must admit that driving a motorbike is a bit more difficult when you can not bend your knee but it does still work.
School continues to fly. We continue to feel that we are learning lots and are glad that we are here learning the language. Janna is a unit where she has to give presentations in Indonesian and next week I am sharing about how God led us to Indonesia in front of everyone. So we feel that things are going well.
Thank you for your continued support.
Friday, October 27, 2006
It has been awhile.....
It has been a while since we have written on this blog site. We appologize for this. We do want to update everyone at least once a week. We also hope that everyone has recieved our newest prayerletter and that the attachment openned for everyone. If you could not open your email attachment or want snail mail please just send us an email.
Well the month of fasting is over for the muslim people here in Indonesia. It is quite a month of sounds from the misjid and people fasting. People here fast for the month based on the Muslim calender. They must not eat or drink anything for the time that the sun is up. So what this means is that you wake up before sunrise and have a meal with everyone, then you fast until about 6 pm at which time you can eat again. So people are fasting from about 4 am until 6 pm. The last day of this special month occured about 3 days ago in which all the mosques broadcast arabic words for 24 hours. It has been an interesting experience to observe the devotion of the muslim people around us. It is no wonder that their opinion of Christians is that we are not that devout. There have been lots of holidays this month because of the fasting.
So Janna and I continue to go to school. There is something stressful in schooling and trying to learn a language and a different culture. At times we get quite stressed and down. We thankyou so much for your continued support. Yesterday I was encouraged because I had my first real conversation with my neighbour and I understood everything that he said, and I could respond. When things like this happen it just encourages you. Our neighbour is also our landlord and so building a good relationship with him is a must.
One of the holidays we went to a safari here on the island of Java. It is about a four hour drive from Bandung. We rented a car and went to see the animals. It was quite a sight to see all the large animals right beside the car. Jalen and Kaya's favorite part was the fact that we could feed zebras right out of our window. We could also feed elephants, monkeys, and all types of other big game. Then you drive through the tiger cage and that was great. A huge white tiger sat right in the middle of the road so that we had to stop and wait for him to move.
My goal right now is to "menjalin hubungan" which basically means to strengthen relationships. I am looking to get to know a couple of indonesian people really well.
Jalen is back in school and Kaya has a long break because of the month off.
Thank you all for the prayers and I will try to be more diligent with this blog site. Talk to you all soon.
Well the month of fasting is over for the muslim people here in Indonesia. It is quite a month of sounds from the misjid and people fasting. People here fast for the month based on the Muslim calender. They must not eat or drink anything for the time that the sun is up. So what this means is that you wake up before sunrise and have a meal with everyone, then you fast until about 6 pm at which time you can eat again. So people are fasting from about 4 am until 6 pm. The last day of this special month occured about 3 days ago in which all the mosques broadcast arabic words for 24 hours. It has been an interesting experience to observe the devotion of the muslim people around us. It is no wonder that their opinion of Christians is that we are not that devout. There have been lots of holidays this month because of the fasting.
So Janna and I continue to go to school. There is something stressful in schooling and trying to learn a language and a different culture. At times we get quite stressed and down. We thankyou so much for your continued support. Yesterday I was encouraged because I had my first real conversation with my neighbour and I understood everything that he said, and I could respond. When things like this happen it just encourages you. Our neighbour is also our landlord and so building a good relationship with him is a must.
One of the holidays we went to a safari here on the island of Java. It is about a four hour drive from Bandung. We rented a car and went to see the animals. It was quite a sight to see all the large animals right beside the car. Jalen and Kaya's favorite part was the fact that we could feed zebras right out of our window. We could also feed elephants, monkeys, and all types of other big game. Then you drive through the tiger cage and that was great. A huge white tiger sat right in the middle of the road so that we had to stop and wait for him to move.
My goal right now is to "menjalin hubungan" which basically means to strengthen relationships. I am looking to get to know a couple of indonesian people really well.
Jalen is back in school and Kaya has a long break because of the month off.
Thank you all for the prayers and I will try to be more diligent with this blog site. Talk to you all soon.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Jalen Soon 5...
Jalen is soon 5 and it is incredibly hard to believe. We are going to have parties for him on Friday and on Monday. It should be a great time getting together with all of his friends.
Kaya and Jalen have taken a longer time than expected to adjust to the different culture of Indonesia. We continue to work on the culture shock as a family and sometimes it can be quite difficult. We ask for your continued prayers.
Other news is that Kaya has just begun an Indonesian preschool. She is enjoying it and it seems to be helping her in her adjustment. She has a different uniform to wear every day that she goes. She is so cute going to school on the back of the motorbike. She wants to be such a big girl.
Janna and I are more than half way done the second unit. Time seems to be flying along. WE are doing great and hope that you all are doing the same.
Kaya and Jalen have taken a longer time than expected to adjust to the different culture of Indonesia. We continue to work on the culture shock as a family and sometimes it can be quite difficult. We ask for your continued prayers.
Other news is that Kaya has just begun an Indonesian preschool. She is enjoying it and it seems to be helping her in her adjustment. She has a different uniform to wear every day that she goes. She is so cute going to school on the back of the motorbike. She wants to be such a big girl.
Janna and I are more than half way done the second unit. Time seems to be flying along. WE are doing great and hope that you all are doing the same.
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