Where has October gone??

October has been one incredibly fast month for our family as we continue to figure out what we should all be involved in. Currently we continue to try to reach out to the people who are around us. On saturday morning one of my friends, Roy, phoned and said that he had caught some rats for my snakes. So I said come on over, he and one of his friends came over and we had breakfast together. It is neat to be able to talk about cultures and to see the differences as they tried to eat toast with jam. We talked about what they liked to eat in the morning and how our cultures were so different. Really neat stuff to hang out.

Then last night Kaya invited one of her friends over for supper. Her name is Sarah and she and Kaya have really started playing well together. She is in SD 5 which means grade 4 or 5 at school and she loves coming over to play with our kids. Kaya really wants her to stay for night and so we think this Saturday she will come over for night. So last night around the supper table we spoke Indonesian and tried to teach Kaya and Jalen some more words. Sarah thought it was funny when Jalen told me to sit down and eat. This is something that Janna and I tell Jalen and Kaya all the time, "Makan dan duduk", so Jalen knew what it meant.

We continue to struggle to know what all to get involved in and when to say no so please continue to pray for us. Darren from Papua OUT!

Volleyball over, Soccer Starting...

Well as most of you know I have taken on the role of athletic director here at the school while the person who was doing the job is in the US for medical reasons. This involves finding indonesian teams to play against and basically to answer any questions that people have regarding athletics here at the school. This past week the volleyball season concluded and now it is indoor soccer season here at HIS. Should be interesting. That also means that Janna no longer has to coach the volleyball and has more time now to pursue other things.

I have begun coaching an Indonesian basketball team on thursdays after school. The first week there were maybe 15 people and then the word got out, the next week there were around 40 kids. We will see what happens today. I have also been asked to start teaching some ESL classes to some of the local guys. I would love to do this. Janna has already begun with about 30 kids that come to our house all the time to jump on the trampoline. I would be teaching some older guys. We are thinking about converting our garage into a classroom area. Please pray for us as we reach out to the local community in these ways. We always need extra strength as we speak in a different language.

Jalen just got his first report card and he is doing great. He still needs work on reading and writing but we think he is progressing and learning the things that he needs to learn. We are currently trying to get some tools for him to help him in the classroom setting. There are now things that can magnify up to a screen. We feel that this would drastically reduce the amount of energy that he uses to focus on the small words.

Kaya is getting over her tropical diseases and we thank God for healing her body.

Please continue to pray. God Bless! Tuhan Berkati!

Kaya is sick..

Kaya is sick with malaria and dengue fever. Please pray for her. Her case of malaria is not too bad but she has to take some nasty medicine to try to get rid of it, so please pray. Thanks.

Jalen is 6...

Jalen is now 6 and we had quite the party yesterday. Yesterday Jalen's entire class as well as some of his older and younger friends came to our house for Jalen's Bday party. It was two hours of insanity!!! Around 20 kids running around our yard yelling and out of control. Jalen had a great time and I think that all of his friends enjoyed it as well.

Other than that volleyball season is drawing to a close for Janna. Next week Friday will be her last games and then it is over. She will be glad when the season is over. She has had a great time and the girls have improved a lot but there just comes a time when it feels like it should be over.

This weekend ends the month of Ramadan here for the Muslim people. So please continue to pray as we try to reach out to the people here. As some of you know Ramadan is the month of fasting that ends with Idul Fitri. Idul Fitri will occur this weekend, basically it involves lots of prayer time and the Mosques have chants and prayers 24 hours.

That is all for now. Thank you for your continued prayer and support.