Maaf

Maaf is "sorry" in Indonesian. We didn't realize it had been so long since we last posted. Time sure does fly by! We have continued to speed along on this fast paced life style! I will try my best to catch everyone up on what has been going on this last month.

We will start with "the boys"...Jace is continuing to enjoy school. He especially likes his Mandarin class. His teacher says he is a great to have in class and that he enjoys telling everyone about Jesus! He enjoys playing in the puddles during and/or after a rain. Jace lost his two bottom teeth this past month too. The tooth fairy even comes to Indonesia:) A whopping 10,000 rupiah for each tooth (that's $1 USD)! A 10,000 rupiah bill just seems to be so much more than a $1 bill to a 4 year old.  Jace is enjoying his time here, but says he misses America and Great Wolf Lodge.

Kadin continues to go to school:) Unlike Jace, he does not have quite the enthusiasm his little brother does. This could be because he has much more to do in second grade:) He is continuing to excel in math and enjoys reading Star Wars books. Kadin looks forward to swimming and soccer lessons every week. He was sick most of the month of October with what turned out to be bronchitis. He was almost the first in our family to have an appointment at the rumah sakit (hospital-I actually was the first...) The hospital was actually very good. The staff was very helpful and friendly. We were fortunate that the doctor working in the ER the day Kadin went in spoke very good English.  He is so much better now. Please continue to pray for his adjustment to school, his classmates. and his behavior at home. "Boys will always be boys" as he keeps telling me!

Matt is kept very busy with school and other "outside" activities. He enjoys teaching his students and tries to challenge them daily with the Word of God. It is so neat that he can speak freely and openly about God's love. Matt continues to go with the guys from our block to play soccer every other week. He uses this time to build relationships and hang out with them. Most speak some English and none are believers. One of the gentlemen asked Matt the other day about Christmas and if it was really when Christ was born. This was really neat to be able to converse about this and about some of the other things that came up in the conversation. Matt has started meeting once a week on Wed with some men of the school at 6am for a time of study and prayer.

I am continuing to stay busy. I don't know where the time goes. I continue to take Bahasa Indonesian lessons twice a week. I am getting to where I can understand what is being said in conversation. I have been practicing with my helper and also with the ladies who live on our street. I keep telling myself that one of these days it will just flow from my mouth:) That is what I am praying at least! I have enjoyed meeting weekly with a group of ladies from school for a time of prayer and encouragement. I have also started to help out and volunteer with some functions at the school. God has placed many people in my path during these last couple of months-I am excited to see what He has in store for me!

We are continuing to go to BIC (Bandung International Church) in Bandung on Sunday mornings. They now have a full time pastor that is from Canada. They have been without a pastor for awhile. So this is a huge answer to prayer. The church has a good children's program. They will be having their Christmas program this Sunday. We have enjoyed worshiping there for now. We will see where the Lord leads as to where we end up.

There is so much that has happened and /or that we have done this month-so I will not go into detail, but will just "jot" them down for ya. If you have any questions or comments feel free to email any time. We love hearing from ya! Happy "past" Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for each and every day!!!

This past month- Matt drove a friend's car in the city and we are still alive to talk about it
-we celebrated Thanksgiving with friends
-we decorated our Christmas tree in shorts!
-I started my tb medication
-Matt and I had our first "date" in town while leaving the boys with a teacher friend.
-we started drinking hot tea in the evenings because the temps are actually chilly:)
-the rainy season is here and it rains every day (mostly at night)
-we spent many evenings outside our home building relationships with the neighborhood children and their families or helpers
-the boys had their first report cards and did great!

We miss all of you! May the Lord be glorified in all that we say and do! Love, mekj ( oh-we have been updating the picture page of the blog!)