NTM

On Saturday night some friends and I (Dylan) hiked up the mountain behind us.  We left at 9:30pm and traveled by motorbike to the highest village on the mountain.  When we arrived there we left our bikes at a friend’s house and began hiking.  It took us around 6 hours to reach the second highest peak.  We had hiked all through the night in order to catch the sunrise the next morning.  It was extremely cold once we reached the top.  I was wearing two jackets and still I was freezing.  That is by far the coldest I have been in Indonesia.  I am thankful because it reminded me of how much I like the heat.  We stayed at the top for about an hour and a half before beginning the descent back to the 33C temperature on the ground.

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Things are still going well here in Indonesia.  Angie and I are required to have 40 hours per week which are filled with; Class time, Homework, Review, Devotions, and Language Time.  Sometimes it can be hard to stay on task with all these things but the Lord has been teaching us much.  Over and over He continues to stress the importance of walking with Him moment by moment.  We know that He wants us to enjoy our relationship with Him.  We have seen the difference in life from when we live by ourselves not remembering Him or talking to Him, to when we continue to talk to Him and walk with Him.  When we forget Him we slowly start to sink deeper into life’s problems.  We seem to have no energy to do the things that are required of us, and our attitudes become selfish.

But, when we are walking with Him, talking to Him, He does the things we are required to do.  We have everything we need.  He makes our paths straight; He brings us opportunities to glorify Him that we can’t arrange ourselves.  He teaches Raquel the things He wants her to know through us consistently.  He makes us soar on wings like eagles, we run and do not grow weary, and we walk and are not faint.  These things are only scratching the surface.  If only we would continue to trust in Him moment by moment then we would experience the fruit of the New Life always.

Please pray for us that we would be trusting in Him always no matter what the situation.

We are 4 months into language and culture study. It still feels as if we hardly know anything but looking back to the first day we arrived, we see progress. Thank the Lord. Raquel continues to improve in her adjustment here. When we first arrived in Indonesia she had a hard time adjusting. She did not like it when we spoke in Indonesian and she did not want to play with any of the other kids her age, but now by God’s grace she is doing much better. Often she will try to say words in Indonesian. Every day she greets our house helpers by saying, “Selamat Pagi” which is, “good morning”; and when they leave she says, “Sampai besok” which means, “until tomorrow”. She is also slowly starting to see the importance of having friends. (Western or Indonesian). Just about once a week we go to an indoor play place for kids where Raquel gets to hang out and play with Indonesian kids. She really enjoys it and is really excited to go again. Also, she goes to school from 10am to 12pm, Monday to Friday. At first she did not like it and would cry really hard sometimes when she had to go. But again by God’s grace He gave us the strength to persevere. Now she talks about school much of the time and tells us about her friends who are in her class.