Dear friends,
We trust you all have had a wonderful Thanksgiving taking time out to be with family thanking God for all He has done and continues to do for us!
Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support of our ministry; we are all in this work together! Your prayers were answered in several regards. Anna and the kids all did well in my absence, keeping up with homework and life. Anna did lots of walking with friends, running the kids to and fro, and keeping the house. Katie did well her first month of driving to work and school alone. Please continue to pray for her to get more work hours and for future direction for her life.
Visa Trip to Indonesia
Praise the Lord I was able to get my 5-year visa for Indonesia. I arrived in Central Java on a Saturday, met up with several friends including my bicycling buddy to check on the status of his bicycle. Then on Sunday morning around 3 a.m. I took a taxi to the airport and flew to a different province of Indonesia for reporting in. I spent several days there in offices and visiting friends, got my visa, and then headed back to central Java. I spent the next couple of days visiting Indonesian friends and working on bicycle trip preparations with my Javanese friend. Rather than make this long flight only to get my visa and then return home, I had decided ahead of time to plan a bicycle trip from central Java to Bali. I had originally wanted to bicycle all the way across Java, but time was too short!
The Long Bicycle Trek
My friend and I traveled 630 km in just 3 days starting long before sunrise each day, resting in the middle of the days because of intense heat, and then bicycling into the evenings when it was cooler. My Javanese friend is of the other religion and we had some great conversations and bonded closer. We slept at gas stations along the way and one night just off the road in a teak wood forest at a ranger’s cabin. We enjoyed the ferry crossing to Bali and one day in Bali to rest up, swim, and arrange transport back to central Java. We ended up bartering for bus tickets for the bikes and us. The bus ride back was almost more fatiguing than the bike ride itself! The day after I got back to central Java, I headed home stopping one day in Singapore.
Thanks for Your Sacrifices in Giving
Again, we appreciate each one of you who are praying and giving financially even in these difficult economic times. We have already lost 3 churches and 5 individual supporters in the past 8 months because of economic difficulties. Coupled with this, we are also encountering more expenses now living in the U.S. Please pray with us as we seek the Lord to increase our monthly support and learn what the Lord wants us to do in this regard. These days make us appreciate all of you even more and the sacrifices you make in order to give to the ministry!
Praises of Thanksgiving:
- For each one of you, our supporters who make sacrifices daily to give towards ministry.
- God watching over Anna and the kids in the States in my absence.
- A safe trip and bicycle ride for John.
- John obtaining his five-year visa.
- Katie driving now for over a month and doing well with that big responsibility. Grace too is learning to drive and she’s getting lots of opportunities to practice with Katie.
- The kids making friends in the area, especially Paula and Kurt, but slowly Grace and Katie too.
- For the house God provided for us.
Prayer Requests:
- For us to use our time wisely during our home assignment, for reconnecting with supporters, opportunities to expand our partnership with others, and for future direction these next couple of years.
- For our monthly support to increase even in this depressed economy and that we would be able to meet monthly expenses and pay off debt.
- For my relationship with Anna and our relationship with our children, but especially our relationship with the Lord.
- For our coworkers in Indonesia who labor there, especially our orientation team on Java.
- For all the kids to continue to adjust and make good friends and to walk with the Lord.
- For more work hours for Kaitlyn, for good friends for her, and for direction for her future.
- Please pray for John and Grace as they too look for part-time employment.
Thanks again for all you do,
In this together,
John, Anna Marie, Kaitlyn, Grace, Paula and Kurt
John and Anna Weeks YOUR link to tribal missions 





