Less than 2 weeks to go!!!

These are my last days serving in Southeast Asia. I have 1 and half weeks to go. The past month has been eventful. April started out with my friend Fitri's wedding on Easter day. I was invited to attend the wedding ceremony which usually is only open to family and close friends so it was an honor. I spent a few days with teammates in the west part of our providence...an 8 hour drive on more holes than road:0 We had a great, refreshing time together. It was good for me to visually see how large a providence this is (though I only saw a small portion of it in our 8 hrs of driving) and the vast number of our target people who need to hear the good news and who I need to be fervently praying over. Last week I finished english classes in the public school and had my first of 2 farewell parties last Saturday. So goodbyes are being said, packing has begun, and I have one more farewell gathering next week with the students from the English center. Pray for me...as I say goodbyes that my friends would have ears to hear and eyes to see the One who is the only hope of life, the One who was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, Jesus who has brought us peace with God through his precious blood (Isaiah 53:5).

Fitri's Wedding Ceremony
Trip to the West...beautiful!!!

Farewell Party

Friends!

Here are some pictures from my trip 2 weeks ago, visiting with friends from my fellowship in the states. I traveled with some of them to another providence on the island. It was a great time getting to know them and I returned home deeply encouraged by them and refreshed in the Word.

IBC friends:)
Visiting a Japanese Fort
We had a few little followers who enjoyed shutting all the doors behind us
I was giving thanks to God for not having any scorpions this large in my house (yet:)...that's my shoe next to it so you can see this is no ordinary scorpion!
Taking a tour of the farm...hangin with the goats!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

Perhaps it's not beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the Tropics and in a country where few celebrate Christmas, but in our home the excitement of Christmas is growing! My roommate and I have decorated our little home, songs of the promised Lamb of God echo through the rooms, and we are brainstorming ways to share the story of the promised Messiah with our friends and neighbors. It's a great excuse to bake something yummy to take to our neighbors and visit with each of them. We are preparing for an Open House Winter event with our students from the English Center in a little over a week and beginning to share the story of the true meaning of Christmas in classes. May many hear of the hope that has come to us and find rest for their souls in the Messiah this Christmas season. Merry Christmas!

Our little Christmas tree...we made all the decorations except the cute little red ornaments.
Our scrapbook paper doves...adorable!
My bamboo nativity a worker/tentmaker on another island made
Our over sized stockings

Life goes on...with or without electricity

What a month it's been thus far! I had been planning for a while to take a few vacation days earlier this month for a little refreshing time with a few friends...and that I did! It was great to see a few friends from the North part of the island, even if it was only for a few short days. I went home with more liveliness to face the long days and weeks ahead. I say they were long because I came home to continual power outages almost every day since then. God is truly gracious to have given me a few refreshing days of rest before heading into a month of long hot evenings and nights which were often not so restful. So my roommate and I have found ourselves cooking, eating, talking, and playing card games many evenings this month gathered around our portable emergency light (what a blessing its been to us) and candles scattered around the house. Feeling as though some length of time has passed we look at the clock...only to find its not even 8pm! I went out of town this week for 3 days and I wasn't home for more than 3 minutes when the power went out again, to which my roommate says, "you know, the power hasn't gone out one time since you left." To this I am certain...God is working all things, even power outages, for my good...for my sanctification! While electricity and life here is ever changing, its a delight to put my hope in Him who is unchanging.

What's new?

What's happening this month? We are opening an English center for university students and teachers in 2 weeks. It has been our hope to begin this new project and as a joint team effort we have been working since Feb/March to begin courses by August. In May we had a soft opening to see what kind of response we would get and the turn out was great. Many university students and teachers showed interest in joining our English courses. We are so excited to see what great things the Father will do through this new project.
Ramadan, fasting month, also begins this month and ends mid-September. This is a time when the majority religion here will begin fasting from the first call to prayer at 4am to the last call to prayer at 6pm for 1 month. Last year during this time I was talking with a teacher asking her many questions about why she fast. That particular day she told me she was fasting, but it was after the fasting month had ended. She said, "I'm fasting b/c my daughter wants to begin university studies soon and so I want her to get into a good school." She fast with the expectation of reward...if I'm good enough, God will give me what I want. The answer often given as to why people here fast for 1 month is, "to pay off the bad things I've done from the past year." It's works based....if I'm good enough, God will except me. But even that is not true for many. They often say, "I hope I'll be forgiven." I've never met anyone here who has said, "I am forgiven", only "I hope." While this month is a very sad sight to watch and hear many people outwardly trying to show everyone else evidence of their fasting, it is a wonderful opportunity to share the truth. May many find the narrow road that leads to life everlasting.

Like many things I am behind in keeping you updated...please forgive me. I spent a few weeks out of town after the school semester ended in early June. It was a much needed time away for me, but I am now ready to start the new school semester and to see how the Father works in the months to come. I am still very uncertain what the next months will look like as I am still searching for new schools to work with this semester. I have 10 months ahead of me to live among these people and I give praise that the days ahead rest in the hands of the One who is able to do abundantly more than I can ask or imagine.

These pictures are from a village trip with a group that came to work with us last week. Thanks to Rebecca A. for the photos.

The Big Celebration

Last Sunday afternoon I had my national friends over to the house for a cultural birthday celebration. The bday tradition here is that the bday person treats his/her friends. When I first heard that tradition last year after moving here I thought, "well that's no fun!" It makes a lot more sense to me now. It's your opportunity once a year to treat your friends. In this culture its not custom to pay for a friends meal unless you are the one who gives the invitation. So for your bday, its your cultural opportunity to treat and/or serve your friends. I spent a few days inviting via text message and personal visits to the schools to make sure all the women from my english classes were invited to my home for the party. Its so difficult here to know how many will truly come, as out of cultural politeness they tell you they will come. So I planned to expect as many as I had invited to be on the safe side. Its a good thing I did. The first guest arrived EARLY...that was unexpected! Within a few short minutes the house was quickly filling with guest. Our helper thankfully agreed to help me for the party and stayed busy in the kitchen cooking away...I am so grateful for her! I felt like a chicken with his head cut off rushing back and forth to the door to welcome each guest and trying to chat with groups of people in between running to the door for more guest. At least 20 or more people came and filled up our little house. Each guest greeted me with a gift which I opened after the party was over (its a cultural thing to open gifts after the guest have gone home) and recieved some nice and interesting gifts:) In the end it was an enjoyable time with friends and the fact that they hung around to chat for a while after eating was a good sign that they enjoyed it as well.