and they're off!

Early this morning all of the high school kids left for Outdoor Education. They will be gone for 12 days. They do this once a year and get credit for their Anthropology class. Every time they go to a different spot. This year they went to a village called Ebele to work. They also will set up a clinic to assist with medical needs, they will do a lot of building, and fix-it projects that need to be done, they will have some AIDS conferences to educate them on what AIDS is and how it is spread, they will be showing the Jesus film in the village’s language 4 times, along with running a bunch of kids camps for the youngsters. So they will be busy. They were so excited about this though. Two years ago most of Sentani was flooded so the kids stayed here and helped to rebuild stores and houses. They brought food and clean water to families, played with the kids and assisted any way they could. Ebele is colder than Sentani and the kids were told to bring sweatshirts and knit hats. Imagine?!? There are places though that are quite cold, especially up in the highlands, even places in Indo that actually get snow.
It will be quieter here for us as we only have 2 eighth graders left in the hostel. We went out tonight to watch the eclipse but we were not able to see it. It was too cloudy. Did you see it?
Cale is all excited because his fingernail fell off today. Wyatt accidentally closed the door on it and now the old nail is gone. He thinks it is really cool and shows it off to everyone even though it is his middle finger…We are taking Sophie in to (hopefully) get her eye checked tomorrow. There is some sort of infection in it that has lasted a week and not gotten any better. The hospital that Garth had his appendix out at has an eye clinic but you can’t make appointments and they do not answer their phone. So we are going to just go and hopefully we will get in. I am sure it will be nothing like the awesome eye clinic my sister works at.
Well, I am going to bed early tonight. There were loud celebrations all through the night in honor of the Chinese New Year and the drums and chanting would not stop. So, “The sun has gone to bed and so must I … So long, farewell, I need to say good-bye…Good-bye…”
(Sound of Music)
Love you all
Rachel

Oh Man!

A strange thing happened today. We drove to the store with Sophie on the motorcycle and as we were walking into the store I looked at Sophie’s helmet on the bike and said to Garth, “You know, someone could steal Sophie’s helmet.” We all had our helmets on the bike just like we always do, but I was thinking about Sophie’s because it was a nice American helmet. Well, we came out and the helmet was still there and I didn’t think much of it. Well, later, Sophie was getting cabin fever (she has been home from school this week because she has pink eye), so she asked Garth if they could go on a motorcycle ride. So off they went. They drove out to the cross, (you have seen many pictures of the cross-it is beautiful and way out in the middle of nowhere). They got out there and walked around. Later when they went back to the bike, Sophie’s helmet was gone. Garth’s was still there but Sophie’s was not. So now I am on the lookout. It is quite a distinctive helmet from the Indonesian ones you see around here. It is pink and white with cats on it. If I see it, I am going flag them down and get it back. That ought to be a funny sight!
The last two days I have been keeping myself busy painting a mural on Cale’s bedroom wall. He really needed something to help make his room better. The place he is sleeping is really a closet that we have turned into a room. We were using it for storage and for him and I felt bad that his place was not really his. I asked him what he wanted and he said animals so I just did a Noah’s Ark theme. He loves it. I “hid” 6 ladybugs in my painting that he had to find and he thought that was pretty cool too. I am glad it is done and that it turned out ok. The paint choices here are not that varied so I kind of had to use whatever I could get. Now the girls want me to do one in their room. We will see.
Garth downloaded the podcast of the Inauguration so I am off to watch that. I am sure you have all already seen it. I heard about the blunders in the swearing in. Garth was telling our kids about how the president-to-be will put his hand on the Bible for the swearing in, and Sophie asked if they really use swear words or not. Ha ha. I am always a day late on the news here since we don’t have TV. Oh well. Better late than never, right?
Love you all-
Rachel

My Lesson

I want to tell you what we did on Wednesday. It sounded like a great idea and would have been a great idea if the weather had cooperated. We heard about this water pipe that was in Waena (near Abeh) that you can hike up and then swim in the pool by the waterfall. So we got some people together and started the hike. We drove as far as we could and then walked the path to the riverbed, and up the riverbed to the pipe. The pipe was about shoulder width across and not TOO difficult to walk on in most spots. However, two factors made it difficult on the way up. The moss on the sides were slippery and there were places where the pipe was 10-15 feet off the ground. So you definitely don’t want to fall. The kids climbed it barefoot-Garth and I had on shoes. Garth had our heavy backpack and I was holding Cale. It took us about 40 minutes to climb up-there was a place where we had to cross over the river bed, but the water was low and we could cross on the rocks. When we got to the top, we swam and the kids jumped off rocks into the water, and after awhile we were all getting hungry and decided to eat. While we were eating we began to hear thunder. NOT A GOOD SIGN! The kids all started praying for the storm to pass, but very quickly it began to rain on us. Immediately we packed everything up and began the trek down. You can imagine it was much more difficult going down on a wet pipe. Now we added another factor to the difficulties-water. We all moved with very cautious steps, yet even though we were being very careful, almost all of us fell off at least once. Jodi, who grew up in Indonesia, was used to stuff like this and did not fall, and neither did her husband. I fell off three times. Garth and the kids all fell-Wyatt was the worst. He smacked his ankle really bad and fell off and hit his eye on a rock. He is quite bruised up and will definitely have a black eye. The river bed was no longer just nice rocks to walk on. Now there were places we had to walk through water. The rain did not stop-and the drops were hitting us hard. But, the kids did fantastic! They were not complaining. They just kept trekking. We could not have been any wetter. I wish I hadn’t put all of our dry clothes in the backpack because they got soaked. Everything was soaked. We couldn’t wait to get home, get warm and cleaned up. We had mud splattered all up our legs. What a sight we all were!
More important than all that yammering about our walk was the precious “God” moment I had during this whole ordeal. I had my sorong tied around me and Cale was in that for the walk down. He was soaked completely-I could have turned his shoes upside down and poured out water. His clothes, socks, hair…everything completely drenched. He was cold and hungry, and tired-and of course, wet. He had his hands over his ears because he doesn’t like thunder, and I had taken a large leaf to cover his head from the rain. Can you picture this? He was nestled in his “little cocoon” right up on my chest. Now, he could have been scared. His life was in my hands, (or feet, if you want to be technical.) He could have been freaking out-especially since I kept falling. He could have been complaining. Yet, you know what he did--------he fell asleep. And I thought, how amazing! He is so trusting of me, he feels so safe in my arms, that he isn’t going to stress out about the storm going on around him, he is just going to rest in the arms of his Mother. That is how God wants us to be with Him. He knows what is going on all around us, He already has a plan and a solution worked out, so we don’t need to freak. We just need to rest-He is in control.
So, all that to remind me of a simple truth that is so easy to forget.
Don’t stress-rest.
Love you
Rachel

Our Pipe Walk

Starting the hike
The beginning

It wasn't too hard when the pipe was so close to the

ground

The whole gang

Jumping off

Emma and Lexie

Hiking up to explore

Cale trying to stay warm while he ate

Doesn't this look pretty?

Soaked

What have we been up to?

Hello. I wanted to write to you before any more time passed and let you know what we have been up to. We had a great opportunity on Friday to go to a place called Kali Biru. I sent you pictures and put some on the blog as well. Kali Biru means Blue River and I tell you, it was beautiful. There was a waterfall along with an awesome bridge to jump off of into the “raging” waters below. There were places that the kids could not swim on their own because of the current so we did have to be quite careful. Jumping off the bridge was about a 12-15 foot jump, and then there were some boards up even higher that Garth and Wyatt jumped off of that were about 20 feet up. I had fun doing the bridge jump but not the boards. It was a little too high for me. The kids had a great time and tried some daring, new feats. I was very proud of how brave they were. We took a bunch of other kids and made a wonderful day of the adventure.

On Sunday we went up to MacArthur hill. We have been there a bunch of times before but this time there was a man there that gave us information. He said that in 1944 the Japanese were taking over Indonesia from Aceh to Papua and they were killing everyone but women. He said that one morning at Tanahmerah Bay-which is the beach we swim at, Depapre-That one morning the people woke up and there were about 10,000 ships all along the Pacific Coast. He said that they couldn’t see the water. It was General MacArthur and the troops coming to attack the Japanese and save the Indonesians. He said that if it wasn’t for the Americans and General MacArthur there would be no Papuans. Now, Indonesians are not very good with their numbers so I am not sure if all of that info is correct, but they did have some amazing pictures up of the whole event that were neat to see.

We have a few more days left until the dorm kids all come back. School starts on January 19^th and the kids come back the 18^th. We have no snow, no wind chill factor, no cold…doesn’t feel like January. Pack extra mittens and hats in your car in case you get stuck somewhere, o.k.? And drive careful. I don’t want to hear about any of you getting hurt.

Love you all-

Rachel

Kali Biru

Isn't this unbelievable?
Cheese!

Emma singing before she jumped

Does it look high? Because it was!

This was even higher

Garth, Wyatt and I taking the plunge

The family at Kali Biru

The party

Beach Day!!!

The Erickson's and the Brazeau's-This is the

family that gave us these pictures

Wouldn't it be nice to sleep here?

Do you see us walking on the beach?

Jumping and sliding with the waves

There is a big one coming over there!

Almost up her nose

Right up Wyatt's nose!

Crash!

Calm again

Don't let the waves knock you over

Hanging around

Garth found a can on the beach

Beach Day!!!!!!!

Today was one of those days when you have to decide if the glass is half-empty or half-full. I am going to tell you about it from the stand point that the glass is half-full. Ok?
We decided to go to the beach with some friends of ours here. It was a bit overcast but turned out to be a wonderful day weather- wise. When we got to the beach we were the only ones there and had a terrific time swimming in the ocean, snorkeling, wave surfing, and swimming in the fresh water lagoon. I brought some hamburgers and Garth made a fire on the beach so we could warm them up. Can’t you just picture it? So serene and beautiful…The children playing in the sand, the waves rolling in, birds flying overhead, palm trees all around. I am glad you can picture it because you may not see any pictures of it for awhile. I will tell you why later.
Around lunch time more people showed up on the beach-Americans and Indonesians. Actually quite a few Indonesians, which is a bit unusual. So everyone in our group except for Cale and I, went for a walk down the beach. Garth had set up a hammock for Cale a few pondoks (huts) down from ours so I was sitting over by Cale waiting for him to fall asleep. After awhile I thought it would be great to take a picture of Cale sleeping in the hammock with his little feet sticking out. I know how much Garth’s sister Brenda likes his little feet and toes. So I went back by our stuff to look for the camera and couldn’t find it. I figured that Garth had taken it on the walk. So when they came back and said they didn’t have it, we began a frantic search-which included digging in the sand, and snorkeling out in the water to check all of the possible places it could be. No camera. Well, later the American husband that came at lunch said he looked over at our pondok while we were all walking and noticed some Indonesians in by our stuff. He said they were cleaning the beach and raking the sand, so he didn’t think much of it. Later when his daughter was out swimming she overheard some Indonesian kids talking about a camera and she swam to them and asked them if they knew anything about where the camera might be and they said “No.” So, as of right now, the camera is gone. We searched all over even in the woods in case they hid it to get later. That family that I was talking about is spending the night at the beach and said they would keep looking. Also, it is in our favor that we have friends going there tomorrow and Friday. And we will ask them all to look. So maybe it will turn up. Glass half-full.
It was a really good day otherwise. The kids all had great attitudes and we laughed and played silly games like “That cow is my cow!” Ha ha. Ever played that one? We came home, got cleaned up, made egg Mcmuffins, and watched Shrek the Halls (since it was only 30 minutes long) and now everyone is sleeping. And now there is a mountain of wet clothes over there looking at me. Tell it to stop! Isn’t it amazing how sand can get into every nook and cranny? Wyatt brought home a bunch of hermit crabs that he caught and set up a nice little “aquarium” with them. Last time he did that, our pembantu decided to change the water for him and used water right out of the faucet and killed them all. So hopefully these will live longer.
Alright-time to scrape the sand out of my ears-
Love to all
Rachel

Scavenger Hunt and Snowball Fight

Treasures from family back home

Such good buddies

Looking for more clues

Taking a water break

Getting another clue

Emma

90 some degrees wrapped up as a mummy=lots of sweat

What great fun

The cutest Indonesian Snowman!

Snowball Fights

Happy New year TO YOU ALL!!!!!! Hope it is going well so far for you. Our family is having a blast here hanging out together. We invited friends over for lunch on Sunday and then had a snowball fight. You heard me, a snowball fight. How? Well, let me tell you. The kids made snowflakes out of paper that we hung all over and we had two baskets of rolls of toilet paper. We were divided into two teams and each team could build their fort. Then we bombarded each other with toilet paper-it was great because it didn’t hurt. There were cups set up in the middle and if you could run out and grab a cup and get it back without getting hit you would get 1 million points. (Can you tell Garth was in charge if the score keeping?) We had popcorn balls and snowball cookies for a treat. The whole day was full of snow and not at all cold. I am sure you would enjoy a break from the cold right about now, wouldn’t you?
Today Garth and I set up a scavenger hunt for the kids-it was my Dad’s wonderful idea. That was hilarious running all over the school grounds looking for clues. We all ended up back at the hostel and opened an envelope from my family with High School musical notebooks for the girls, a Kung Fu Panda notebook for Wyatt, a blow-up swim ring for Cale and REAL American candy canes for everyone. Then later when Garth was playing racquetball the kids and I walked down to the “mall”. There is a store there that sometimes makes donuts so we went to see if they had any – they did! It was quite a walk for all of them and Cale did really well holding on to Wyatt and letting him carry him across the street. We put the kids to bed a little early tonight since we are planning on going to the beach with some friends in the morning. Speaking of that, I need to go and pack our stuff up.
Love you all-
Rachel

A few mishaps

The girls and I had a date today. I took them to a restaurant that serves chocolate “milkshakes”. Not like you are picturing in your head, but they were yummy just the same. It was nice to spend time with just the girls. I asked them a lot of questions. Here is a little taste of how the conversation went: Mom-“How old do you think you should be before you date a boy?” Emma-“16” Sophie-“13 or somewhere in my teens.” Mom-“How old do you think you should be before you kiss a girl?” Emma-“I don’t want to kiss a boy until my wedding or until I know I am going to marry him.” Sophie-“What????? Are you kidding me?” Mom-“Are you glad that you are a girl and not a boy?” Sophie- “Yeah, totally. I would HATE to be a boy. YUCK!” Emma-“Know why I like to be a girl? Cuz of the shoes!!!!!!” Mom-“Do you think you will want to have babies when you get married?” Emma-“Yes, and I want to name them MacKenzie and Marathin.” Sophie-“Yes, and I will name mine Tiku, or Castine, Bahannah, McCanna, Caffeine, Gabi or Hannah.”
The other day I was reading a picture book to Cale about Noah and the Ark. We were looking at the rainbow in the book when Wyatt said that there was a rainbow outside. So Cale and I went out to look at it. It was a really pretty half-rainbow. I said, “Cale, where is the other side of the rainbow?” He stood there thinking and then replied, “God is still working on it.”
How is the New Year going for you? Hopefully those stories put a little smile on your face. We had a really nice New Years Day. Some friends of ours took us out to a restaurant called Papa Ron’s or as Cale calls it Papa Don’s. (That is what the kids call Garth’s Dad). We all ordered pizza and it was REALLY good. We even tried an Indonesian pizza that was Java Chicken Satay. It was yummy! Then we all went over to Jason and Jodi’s house to shoot off some fireworks. It was a great time of laughing at the boys trying to set them off and watching the kids run around with each other playing tag and doing sparklers etc. It was a very fulfilling day.
We have started the new year with a few mishaps. I was filling up the washing machine with the hose (that is the only way it works) and forgot about it and started flooding the kittens in the gudang (outside laundry area), and Cale knocked over his whole cup of a special smoothie I had just made for him, (ooooooouw, all over the floor), at 5 am this morning Cale got up to let me know that he had peed in his bed, (Something he hasn’t done in ages), thankfully he went back to sleep until 8, Garth hit himself with his racquet while we were playing racquetball…welt on the calf, I started a potholder on fire, and Cale pooped in a neighbor’s yard. Yeah, that was really embarrassing. He has never done that before, but of course, we finally got invited over to someone’s house and five minutes into our visit he decides to “freshen up” the yard. What was he? Born in a barn?
Anyways-I have to stay on my toes, right?
Hey, now you have something to chuckle about all day long. And when your kids do something that is not-so-smart, just think-“Well, at least they aren’t pooping in our neighbor’s yard!!!”
Love you-
Rachel

Our decision

Some decisions are easy aren’t they? Like chocolate or vanilla? Always chocolate for me-no problem there. Or funny movie or sad? Funny. But other decisions are really hard. Like where to go to college? Or if you should move? Or if you should stay? For us this decision is agonizing! For those of you that don’t know, we had to make the decision this week if we were going to stay for another year or come home. We wanted to make the decision as a family so we included the kids and their thoughts and feelings. We spent a lot of time looking at the big picture of what it means to be here and not just going by our feelings. It makes it harder that it is the holidays and we are all really missing family and friends. It would be fantastic to jump on an airplane and go see you all right now! I wish we weren’t three days apart from each other. I want to thank you for being a part of this great adventure. Your letters and prayers and financial support are priceless, just like you are to us. We treasure you and think you are very special.
Therefore, after a month of talking to the kids and talking to people at home and people here and praying, we have decided to stay another year. Now I know that some of you are excited for us and some of you are saddened by this decision. I am sorry. But you have to trust us and know that this is the best choice for our family right now. God is really using us here . Yes, I know that we could be making a difference back home as well, but right now our place is here. We have seen real growth in our kids as well as in ourselves when we reach out to help others. These dorm kids need a family that will really care for them and help them. We are touching lives at the orphanage and the kids are being a witness to the Indonesians in their school. Sophie told Gracella, a girl in her class, about Jesus last year and the girl has radically changed her life now because of it. We had a teacher stop us and exclaim what a changed girl Gracella is now that she has let God be a part of her life. The teacher marveled at how even a little girl like Sophie is making a difference. Emma has two girls in her class that she has been talking to about Jesus. Wyatt had been a great help at the orphanage playing and teaching the young kids. Even Cale is doing his part by just being here. People flock to us to see him and that gives us a chance to get to know them. And I could go on and on with examples of opportunities God has given us this year.
God can use all of us wherever we are. He has big things planned for our lives. The problem is we get so busy doing our things that we don’t take time to see if He might have another plan for us. Well, as a family we have decided that we don’t just want to be busy doing things…we want to be busy doing what God wants us to be doing. Just because we are obeying His plan for us doesn’t mean it will be easy. He did not promise that. But He did promise that He will never leave us and will be with us the whole way.
So, this is a new year. A new start. What will you do different this year? What changes will you make? I am hoping that we grow in radical ways this next year, and find ways to experience happiness and joy in the midst of a struggling economy. I hope our loves grow stronger and our heart more tender and our faith more real.
Love to you all-
Rachel