Busyness begins...

Well, it has begun! The children are both at school, Matt is working, and I am at home for 3 hours a day by myself! So... needless to say I will have a little more time to keep everyone up to date than Matt:) He loves to blog so I am sure he will still chime in every once in a while , but for now I am going to attempt to let everyone know how we are doing and how you can be praying for us!

Where to start - Kids have been in school now for a week. Both Kadin and Jace really enjoy both their class and their teachers! Today as I dropped Kadin off a group of about six girls flocked his way to greet him(they of course were his classmates). He jumped right into conversation. There's just something about watching your little boy as he interacts with girls that makes a mother think "oh it's too early for this... " Jace on the other hand holds my hand tightly until we reach his classroom door:) Both boys are so blessed to have wonderful Christian ladies as their teachers this year. We feel like both boys will do just fine this year. We are just praying that they will be able to show the love of Christ to their classmates and friends this year.

Matt, as you may already know, has his plate pretty full this year :) Even though he is extremely busy trying to learn all the new routines, etc. he comes home almost every day and says how he still can't believe he is able to pray before class starts and how he can speak about God so openly! He absolutely loves it!!! The staff he works with are truly amazing and the students are polite and very motivated. It is such a mission field where he is at! Please continue to pray that he is able to find ways to clearly present the Gospel every day in his classroom.

Well, with a very quiet house in the mornings I am trying to be open to what God would have me be doing with my "free" time. There are so many opportunities for me here that I am praying God would clearly shows me what direction He wants me to go in. For now though, I am simply trying to help my family get settled in to our new home. I have been doing things like ordering curtains (since the ones we have now are on loan and they don't fit the full window-and being on the park we need some privacy), learning how to grocery shop,etc. I will be meeting a lady tomorrow who could possibly be my language tutor:) Both Matt and I do agree that this year should be the year I learn the language as best I can. This will then open so many more ministry opportunities for me in the years to come. I have a helper who speaks little English, so it can be kind of awkward and difficult to communicate through out the day for us-she has already said she would practice with me once I start my lessons. I am so thankful for Google translate :) So... be praying that this "not so young" mind can pick up the language quickly and easily :) I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve here in this location. God is so good!

Praises and prayer requests :Praise that immigration went smoothly yesterday and we are officially able to be in this country! Praise that we are finally feeling settled and making new friends. Praise that we have not been terribly sick (some head colds and some stomach problems, but nothing major). Praise that we have this opportunity to serve Him even in a place that is so dark. Prayer for continued protection to and from anywhere and everywhere (traffic is truly something one must experience before truly understanding) Prayer for us to be examples to those we come in contact with. Prayer for my language classes to work out.

That's it for now:) So much more I could write about, but will save for another time. Thank you for your support, both financially and more importantly through your prayers. Drop us line anytime!

Wow!

Okay.  It's been an amazing time!  It's such a surreal experience to go into a school where we open the day with prayer, pray at lunch, pray for each other, and pray for the school.  It's so cool to think that this is a possibility now- to be able to express my faith AND teach at the same place.  Now I know that  I could have done this at a "Christian" school in America, but we're in a country that is basically closed to missionaries.  It's amazing to think how BAIS has been given government permission to run a Christian school here in Indonesia!  God is so good, and I am humbled to be a part of this work.

About thirty minutes ago, we got back from a dessert and prayer meeting for our school.  We prayed for each class individually.  It was cool!  And we need it.  Thank you all so much for your prayers.  It is becoming more apparent how important it is to pray.  I mean we have known that coming here, but now we REALLY know it.  There is so much that can go wrong here in the physical world, let alone the spiritual realm that we so often don't even think about. (often because we don't want to think about it...)  So Erin and I are trying to pray more diligently for our boys, our actual house, our family, etc.  We have been praying that God would open our eyes to our need and that the Spirit would make us more aware of the spiritual battles around us.

As I was walking to work today and praying, I thought about all the people around me and the fact that many have probably never heard the Gospel.  There is such a need for the Truth here, and at times Erin and I have been frustrated, because we cannot communicate that Truth because of the language barrier.  It's neat, however, to think of the opportunities we will have to speak the Truth at school!

I need to wrap this up, since I have work to do.  But please know how much we appreciate your prayers.  Thanks too for the financial support!  We really need a team of supporters behind us, and although we cannot see you personally now, please know you are part of an important outreach!  God bless you and good night- or morning- as the case may be!  -mekj

Oh yeah, one more thing- the Pictures and Comments from Indonesia page-
I want to figure out a way to share pictures with you all, without using the main blog page.  So we did the picture page, but it always puts the most recent pictures at the bottom of the page.  We are up to 40 pictures now, so I realize there's a lot of scrolling to see the new ones.  I will try to figure out if there's a more convenient way to share the picts, but in the meantime I wanted to point out that you can actually click on the pictures to see them in a larger format.  Then ALL the pictures are shown below as thumbnails (small pictures).  You can scroll horizontally to see them and this may be easier to find the newest ones.  The pictures won't have comments on them, as they do on the actual page, but you can always go back to see the comments.  Just a thought.... night!

Meeting Friends

This has already been an amazing week!  It is neat to see relationships and doors open up.  Since we live right next to the park, it has been great for the kids!  The boys love playing with all the other kids in the park.  They have started to develop friendships with some of the kids they see regularly.  One of the kids our boys play with lives right next door- it's fun to see them interact.  The other day, I brought out the boy's Transformers, and they all played right next to the park.  I was able to talk with our neighbor, and he gave us a neat gift of food.  In addition, Erin has met other neighbors because of the park as well.  One friendship has led to another and we are starting to get to know our neighbors.  Erin met one neighbor the other day and told me I had to meet them.  So I went over after work, and met the husband.  He in turn took me to our next-door neighbor and I met him.  They invited me to play soccer with them last night.  It was a blast.  We played in a indoor-type arena. It was great fun kicking the ball around and just hanging out.  After the game, we just sat at a table and talked.  My two neighbors speak fluent English, so we were able to converse easily.  I hope to be able to hang out with them some more!  The next soccer night is in a couple of weeks, so hopefully I can go and be a part of that again!

The only bad thing about soccer was my back.  As many of you know, I hurt my back some years back (no pun intended).  I had some concerns going to play soccer, but I just couldn't miss this opportunity!  So I played, even though my spine started to scream at me five minutes into the game.  Then the pain seems to subside, so I figured everything was okay. Well, long story short, I am typing this with a heating pad behind me, and my back is messed up again.  We are praying for a quick healing, and I guess I will have to go next time as just a spectator!

School-wise, I am starting to put together some year-long plans, but I have a ton of work yet to do.  It will all work out, but these next few weeks will involve a ton of new work.  That's okay though.  I met my mentor teacher the other day, and he's also the history department head, so we got to talk about the Asian History class.  I now have a better idea of what to do, and soon I will figure out how to do it as well!  God's been good, as usual- so it will all work out in the end!  It's such an exciting and crazy time right now!

Thanks so much for your encouraging emails and prayers.  Please continue to lift up Kadin and Jace.  It's been hard for them at times, and we are praying for a smooth transition.  Overall, they have handled things like a champ, and we are proud of them!  But they do mention their grandparents (and friends), and they miss them a lot.  Pray too for my back and for me as I prepare for my classes.  I want to be a good steward of my time, and that takes discipline.  I will try to post some more pictures in a bit.  Kadin and I caught a huge lizard on our walk home from school the other day!  It was cool!  Take care and God bless! -mekj

Hello from Indonesia!

Greetings everyone!  We are sorry for the long delay in getting the blog going again!  We have been busy beyond imagination!  We've been here about a week, and our house is starting to feel like a home. The new beds and other furniture come on Monday.  We have pretty much been shopping almost everyday for something.  It's been quite the experience.  Thanks for your prayers.  Erin is feeling a little sick right now, but the rest of us are okay.  The boys are exhausted from their long days as are we.  I am not sure if we are over jet lag or not- we tend to still wake up around 4:30am.  We often hear the "call to prayer".  You sure can get a lot done before work when you wake up that early, but I sure have to start getting used to going to bed before 9pm!  I know everyone wants pictures, so I will try to work on that tomorrow.  I just wanted to put up something quick for now to let everyone know we are doing fine- just extremely busy.  Please pray for travel safety for us.  The roads are very hectic, and even riding a bicycle can be dangerous.  Pray too for our health.  We would like to avoid the typical traveler's diarrhea and other illnesses!  It would be great to stay healthy.  Erin feels a little sick as I type this.  Thanks again, and I will try to add pictures in a day or two.  God bless! -mekj

Just a few days left!

Wow.  It's hard to believe August 4th is almost here.  I said goodbye to my brother and his family today.  It was sad.  In a way, we have it easy- our family faces the excitement of a new adventure ahead, while our close family and friends just face the same-ol'-same-ol'. We know we will have challenges ahead, but in a way, we are ready to get settled into a new place.

We have finished our packing, and are pretty much ready to go.  We have 7 plastic tubs, and two huge suitcases (hello overweight charges!).  We also have two smaller bags to check in.  The boys each got a Spiderman backpack, and they are excited to take it onto the plane!  (They go around grandma's house wearing it often...)  Pray for us as we travel- we have a layover in Seattle and Taipei, and we wonder what the boys will be like by the last leg of the journey.  It's about 10,000 miles total- about 21 hours of flying.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support!  We truly need the protection of our Savior, and we covet your prayers.  Pray too for my parents, my brother, and Erin's parents as the reality of our departure sets in.  Pray for us too- we will need time to cry and adjust, but I imagine the plane ride won't be the best moment to do that!  The big transition is on our minds now- we know we will have the honeymoon stage first, but then the reality of the culture shock will hit us.  Pray for us to treat each other with grace and understanding as we make the adjustment.  Pray too for me as I have to jump into getting ready for my classes as well!  That's the short list for now!  We will post more specifics as they come up.  Several of our PFO friends have already flown out, and it is good to hear how they are adjusting as well.

God has been so wonderfully gracious and good to us.  We are honored and blessed to be able to serve in this way.  Thanks for your interest and support.  I better close for now, but there will be more interesting posts to follow!  We miss you all already! God bless you all!  Don't forget to email us too!  -mekj