NTM

For any of you that have ever made plans for your future, planning is a good thing. Many years ago Jodie and I made a decision to serve the Lord as missionaries.  We knew there would be much training and preparation. This we planned for. What we didn’t know is how much we would have to stretch spiritually, especially during 2008.

Even before our departure in January ‘08 we had our doubts this would all work out. God had not ever let us down before, yet humanly speaking this move seemed too big for the Lord. (Perhaps reviewing James 1:6 would have been in order.) Yet in His perfect time He provided Visa’s and Tickets to get here. So here we are, in a new country, but not alone.

For me, adjusting to culture and new surroundings has not been to difficult. I am sure the Lord has used this to help steady our little family on this adventure. For Jodie, preparing food & shopping and along with being so far from friends and family really hit hard. Of course when sickness kicks in, the difficulty factor goes off-the-scale.

As a husband, I have been stretched by learning how encourage my wife and family. How do I respond to "I wanna go home" when we just spent the last 10 years getting here! I am not sure we as men will ever understand "irrational" thinking like that, but we don’t have to.  By the way, it is only irrational from my point of view.  My job is to come alongside and let them know that it will be alright.  Also, God has used me to reinforce His truth. How you ask? Well, through God’s word and the Spirit’s guidance – a decision was made to prepare for this task years ago. The only reason we have gotten this far is that the Lord has carried us over the hurdles along the way. There is no way we are turning back now. Then, through prayer and the Holy Spirit’s working, a little light and encouragement creeps through. Darkness turns to light little by little. Light (truth) starts to dawn and before you know it all is better now.

As a father, I now almost have two teens. Besides being away from our home country, there are plenty of other issues to discuss. Friends and cultural differences on a worldwide scale because of the international school they attend. Issues like dating, careful use of the internet, and general caution when going to and from town or traveling with friends. For the kids, adjustment has gone quite smooth.

Overall we have been very healthy for living in a new tropical climate, eating new foods, and getting used to new germs. Although Indonesian food is quite tasty, it is quite greasy. Jodie does quite well turning what is available here into familiar American food for us!

A big surprise was that we found a good orthodontist only an hour away from our home.  Sarah is still in the process of getting her teeth fixed, but is only 2/3 of the way done.  We can really see the progress.  She doesn’t look anything like this picture now!  Of course moving teeth causes some discomfort, but it seems to be bearable.

Another hurdle for us was our finances. Our account was negative from the date we arrived through November. Although our support was only around 30% when we came, in fellowship with church and mission leadership we decided to trust the Lord. Turns out, trusting the Lord is a very good thing to do. Our current support level is around 50% now, and although we still need to be very careful, it is nice to be on top of the water again instead of drowning. Thank you prayer partners and all those who have been so generous. Every last dollar has helped.

For our first four months or so, travel locally here was quite limited. We were limited to public transportation which only ran during daylight hours. This was not only a hinderance, but painfully slow. Also, it made it difficult to attend events after sundown and for Sarah and Seth to visit friends/school events. Thanks to VBC, we were able to purchase a motorcycle. Although we can’t really put all four of us on it,  Sometimes take 3 on short trips up the street. This little [moped] really takes a beating at times. The bike has been very sufficient for us here on Java.

We have all made this country our home for the time the Lord has us here. Also, we must remember we are guests here. This isn’t always easy to remember. The rights we enjoyed in the US are not all available here.

Lastly, not sure if this is a positive or a negative, but as we prepare to move here in the next month or so, we want to use what we have learned. It is so easy to forget. Next week new families will be arriving here and possibly encountering some of these same things. We look forward to encouraging them and helping them get started in their ministry.

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April 2009 Pictures

Although this is technically the “Prayer” section, we would like to share many praises with you before a few prayer items. The Lord has been so good to us I don’t even know where to begin.
These are praises!

• Travels to Kalimantan, Jakarta, and home were completed safely.
• Visa’s were able to be renewed in just a few hours 
• We have a house to stay in Kalimantan when we move. One of our pilot families is going on home assignment until at least the end of the year. We will be able to stay in their house while they are away. 
• Jodie has reached her language level and only has one week of school left. I am continuing well and only have 5 weeks left.
• Seth has really brought his grades up over last semester or so. This is a great encouragement to him. 
• Jodie’s stomach problem has been figured out. It was the allergy pills she had been taking over the past few months. 
• Financially, we have been able to stay out of the red for the last couple of months. Not seeing a “negative” balance has been a real encouragement to us and re-assurance that the Lord continues to want us here. We are at about 52% of our support level. Praise the Lord for those faithful to pray for us and those generous individuals who support us. We have received many one-time gifts to help offset travel, visa’s, and other items. 

  Some prayer requests:

• Lawrence, that he will attain the language proficiency level needed quickly.
• Provisions for this move to Kalimantan in a couple of months
• Wisdom for us as we prepare to homeschool
• Sarah and Seth (curriculum choice for Sarah)
• For us as a family that we will all walk close with the Lord amongst these very busy times
  

Yep, Jodie only has one more week of language school. We praise the Lord for her progress. Already, she has met the missions language requirements for married ladies. Also for Jodie, she figured out what was bothering her stomach. She has been taking some allergy pills here consitently. Although they work, they were the culprit. So, no serious stomach problems now!

I, Lawrence, have one more week of Unit 8, then Unit 9 (4 weeks) to finish. Language is going well, and I seem to be on-track to finish languge here by the time we depart.

Sarah and Seth are both doing well in school. Seth has brought his grades up significantly over the last semester. He is seeing his hard work pay off.  It has been tough for Seth (age 12 / 7th grade) who loves friends, the outside, and sports to work diligently in school. Also, having to move away from new friends in a couple of months is discouraging for both of them.

Our travel to Kalimantan was uneventful and we were able to renew our visa’s in just a few hours after arriving. The night we arrived, our aviation crew got together for supper. We are so excited to join the team there.  The next day I was able to spend the morning at the hangar… you know, “shop talk.”  Yes, I am looking forward to helping out in aviation again. This all took place Thurday and Friday. We decided to spend the rest of the weekend in Jakarta doing a little shopping, visiting malls, and relaxing. That Friday evening we arrived at the guest house and enjoyed going out to eat and visiting a large mall. The next day, I got sick with a high fever and was sick until a few days after we got home. Yes, I have completely recovered now.

Our return tickets from Jakarta were by train. It was to be a simple 5 or 6 hour ride, but God had other plans. Traveling while sick was not pleasant.  I walked down the aisle of the train every hour to visit the “small room” as it is called in Indonesian. Because of flooding in our arrival town, our train was delayed, stopping many times on the track sometimes for hours at a time. Our total train time exceeded the 14 1/2 hour flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. Yes, 15 hours on this train, whew! Planning to arrive home well before supper, we actually arrived home about 3am. We just thank the Lord all went relatively well.

During one of our stops on the track just before nightfall, believe it or not many of the passengers climbed down off the train, even though we were in the middle of nowhere. Actually we were right on the shore of northern Java, only 30 yards or so from the water. Usually the ocean is calm there, but not that day. We met a group of guys who were so excited to get to chat with us.  

We ask your prayers for one of our instructors at language school, Adi. He is recovering from a collapsed lung and would appreciate your prayers. We miss him teaching. We really do have a great group of people there helping us learn language.

(Click here for trip Photos)

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Yes, we have been here just over a year now.  Wow, time has zipped by.  Language study is progressing well.  Jodie is finishing Unit 8 and I (Lawrence) Unit 7.  Although we will be done in the next month or two, Sarah and Seth don’t finish 8th & 7th grade until the end of May.  Jodie has actually reached the minimum level of proficiency suggested for her, but I have just more more level to climb.   Pray for me that I will be able to recall the many words read and studied, and be able to use them properly and fluidly. 

Over the next week or two, we will be traveling back to Kalimantan to renew our visa’s, discuss housing options there, and consider how we will work-out homeschooling Sarah and Seth since there is no formal school over there.  Please pray for safety, connections, and a smooth paperwork trail. 

Lastly, we ask you would pray for Jodie,  over the last few weeks, she has had pain in her stomach and felt nauseated semi-randomly throughout the day.  Please pray we can find a good doctor here and for wisdom for him/her.  Jodie is usually a ball of fire that you can’t keep down (without getting hurt that is… hehe).  The upcoming travel is absolutely required, and will be difficult if she doesn’t start getting better.