Back to Jakarta

This past weekend we were back in Jakarta for MAF management meetings. No we are not management but since Jakarta is so close to Bandung, all the language students were invited to go to the meetings for 3 days. What a great time of meeting old friends from Papua. Janna and I are so absolutely excited to get out there. But we have about 3 more months to go before that is a realization.

One great thing that we heard during this meeting was where we will be living. That is exciting for us to hear and now we both can not stop thinking about the house and what we need before we move there. As MAF career staff we must outfit the entire house ourselves. So this is going to be expensive and difficult as you can not buy many things in Papua, so now we must decide whether to buy here and ship or wait and just see what we get.

Janna and I continue to learn language and interact with the people here. God continues to lead and we continue to seek Him in our lives. During the meetings this past weekend a pastor from the states came and spoke to us about John 1 - 2. John knew who he was and who he was not, and he did the work that God wanted no matter what. He also was so close to the work of God that he could recognize where Jesus was. Amazing. If only we could be like that.

Yoyjakarta

A city located in Central Java Yoyjakarta is a city that is close to one of the seven wonders of the world in the Buddist temple Borobudur. Jason Pratt, a friend of mine, and I traveled some 8 hours by motorbike to get the city so that we could go to the temple. What an amazing sight!! Built in 750 AD the temple is absolutly huge. The temple has 10 levels: 1 - 7 are about the worldly life and what you should not do. What happens is that people come and walk clockwise around the temple looking at the carvings in the rock. The first 7 levels are about worldly life and how to overcome the worldly. The next three levels are about how to reach nirvana. Very interesting. We also learned about the beginning of Buddism and Karma.

Close to the city is also the tallest Temple in Indonesia. Borobudur is the largest and Prambanan is the tallest. This temple however was built about 100 years after Borobudur and has recently been damaged from the earthquake 27 May 2006. So we were not allowed to enter the temple due to reconstruction.

We then traveled the 8 hours home and the last 2 hours were in the rain. Great fun on the motorbike! Hopefully soon you can see pictures on our website of the temples.

Jakarta...

Jakarta has had a flood recently and so when we went to Jakarta this weekend we talked to lots of people that had been affected by the flood. We had a great time in Jakarta with Janna's parents. We went to the local amuzement park and the kids had a great time. We also had a great time watching the kids, even though the temperature was hot, hot, hot. Jakarta is close to the ocean and so is at sea level elevation, this means that it is hotter than Bandung that is up in the mountains.

The kids said goodbye to grandpa and grandma which is never easy and we prayed for a great trip for mom and dad. We had a great time together with family and really appreciated the fact that mom and dad made the effort to come. Thanks.

During their time here we were able to experience and do so many things. We tried to show them some of the tourist attractions around Bandung, many of which we had not been to. All the while trying to keep up with language school. Language school continues to go well and we continue to be amazed with how quick our time here is going. Next thing you know we will be in Papua. We continue to dream about Papua and the fact that we are ready to go. Even though we are ready right now to go (in our hearts) we realize the importance of language. The last weekend in Jakarta I realized how much more comfortable I am in this country now that I can speak the language a little bit.

Hope everyone is doing well. We are doing well and continue to be so thankful that you all have supported us in coming here. Without you we would not be at the spot we are and we thank you.

Back from Pangandaran...

We took a trip to the south of the island of Java to see a beach where one of the tsunami's hit. Our family and Janna's parents went to the beach to hang out and see some of the effects of what happened. We had a great time talking to people and hearing some very interesting stories about what happened. I guess the water receeded a great distance off the beach and some of the kids were playing soccer on the beach. Some of the people playing soccer had heard about the tsunami in Aceh and that the water had receeded there too, so some of the children ran and told their parents. The rest of the children kept playing soccer and most of them were swept away by the wave. One of the ladies told us that her older son ran from the beach but could not convince his younger brother and the younger child died. So much devestation and loss of life. The government has told the town not to begin rebuilding because they think another tsunami is coming. The last one hit in July 2006. People there are beginning to get their lives back on track and it was interesting to see all the devestation to the buildings.

We are now back in school and coaching bball. The next little while sees us quite busy studying language, travelling for a bball tournament, travelling to return Janna's parents to the airport in Jakarta, travelling to MAF meetings, and studying studying studying. Is going to make for a quick month.

Please continue to pray for our health, desire to learn the language, and schooling for the children. Thank you so much for all your prayers. Talk to you all again soon.