Balance

One thing that causes problems here is the lack of balance.  We need rain or we have too much rain.  Food is low in the stores or there will be so much of something it goes bad.  The government will visit villages and pass out money to the people andthen they will have years with nothing.  We are constantly going back and forth.  Well, right now we are in the state of too much rain.  A girlfriend of mine called me today unable to get out to her car. The water was up to her knees.  We all have enjoyed a break from the heat, but the ground needs a break from the water.  Same with our lives, huh? We need balance in how we spend our time, money... and how we use our words. I have been convicted of this lately. I need to be careful that I am not just getting on my kids when they do something wrong, but that I balance my words to them with compliments of all the things they are doing right. I need to make sure that I am not overbalanced with whining, or complaining- but that I am also speaking hope and joy.  What about my prayer life? Am I just asking God for things instead of listening to His voice, and praising Him for who He is?  What about time with my husband?  Do I make time for everything else in my day, but him?  Maintaining a good balance. That is one of my 2015 goals.

There is a bit of sickness going around the dorm. Lots of colds, fevers, and stomach issues.  I am hoping everyone is well by OE.

An update on some of the people I wrote you about the other day.  The little girl that fell is in Jakarta to have surgery on the broken bone in her eye socket. Her 10th birthday is on Thursday.  The man that had a stroke is worse. While he was being treated he had another stroke.  There is lots of trouble right now with visas.  So many people are waiting for their visa paperwork to go through.  Also, a HUGE request is for teachers for next school year. We need 1 lower elementary, 1 upper elementary, 1 Middle school Science and Social studies, 1 secondary math, HS Language Arts, HS Social Studies, Art (all grades)... This is such an awesome place to serve.  If you are at all interested PLEASE email me.

Here are some pictures of our "cold" and dreary day.

What's Happening

Hello, you guys. How are ya?  Today is Friday and it is the busiest day of the week here with 5 basketball games and a class meal to feed the community.  But, I love it.   I love the hub bub of activity and hanging out with all the people that come up to our hill for the meal.  Sophie is on one of the basketball teams, so it will be great fun watching her. 

Speaking of community here are some of the things going on around here. Large groups of people in the surrounding villages have been dying from some strange sickness.  It has symptoms similar to malaria.  One of the missionaries got a group of 6 doctors from the States to fly here with various machines and equipment to try and figure out what is going on.  They landed in Jakarta on Sunday and when they were going through customs they had two of their trunks of medicines and stuff taken by officials.  Well, the doctors continued on to Sentani without it, and we all started praying.  Praise the Lord!  Two days later, it showed up here!!!!!!  Now, pray that they can figure this awful sickness out.

Pray for a veteran missionary that has been here 47 years. He just had a stroke. His name is Paul.

Praise for a new website that has been developed by our friend Barry. It is a video series in the Indonesian language working through Oswald Chambers My Utmost For His Highest. 1 year 5 minute segments.  This is such a great tool.  There are many curious Muslims that wonder about this "Christianity" thing. What is it? They certainly wouldn't be allowed to go to our church but they could watch these videos, and see bits and pieces of what our God is like.  So far it has received loads of hits.

There is a group of 15 Christian Papuans that finished the English training classes offered here by some of our missionaries and are now in America in Portland at Corbin University to study.  Talk about transition!!!!!  Pray that they continue to follow after God and make good choices, make good friends, and transition well.

Two school kids fell this week on the playground and both will need surgery. One on her eye socket, and the other on his arm. They will have to fly to Singapore or Jakarta to have that done.

One of our dorm boys had a bad allergic reaction last night. He was stung on his foot and was given a pill by a nurse that was on the hill. I wasn't here so I didn't know what he was given.  But when I saw him an hour later it was obvious something was really wrong. I didn't know if it was from the sting or from the medicine, and I couldn't get ahold of the lady that had given him the pill.  God just showed us what to do. Thankfully, there was another nurse that helped me figure out how to treat him and within another hour or so, he started feeling some relief.  This morning he is doing much better.

Here are some pictures:

Painting you a picture

Hello! Happy Tuesday to you. Let me paint you a picture of what I see right now- The mountain, Cyclops, is behind me with its waterfalls cascading down, the city of Sentani is before me but I am up high so I look down on it in the valley. Lake Sentani is glistening as the sun reflects off of it.  I can see the tops of hundreds of gorgeous green palm trees blowing around in the wind. The sky is huge today with a scattering of white wispy clouds drifting by. I have before me a large hand of bananas that one of our Papuan workers just brought over for the dorm-straight from the tree, some fresh mangoes that I just bought in town, and some pineapples that I picked from our garden. Doesn't that just sound lovely?  No snow, no bitter cold...just sunshine and happiness.

Well, hope you are all well.  Things have shifted into high gear here as we start to prepare for OE (Outdoor Education).  It is from Feb. 9th-20th, and I GET TO BE ONE OF THE LEADERS this year!!!! (Can you tell I am excited?) So, the whole high school (58 students) and 8 leaders, 1 doctor, 1 nurse, 1 lady to plan meals, one maintenance man to help with the projects, 1 to do our devotional times, and one to oversee it all, will be flying into a village called Kosarek. You may recognize that name. It is the same village that Wyatt has gone into several times.  There is so much that goes in to making an event like this possible. IT"S CRAZY!!!!! Garth will be at the Hostel with Cale, Sophie, Hannah and Seun.  Pray for good health, and for safety for all of us.

Ok, time to go back outside and enjoy the remains of the day before it is gone. Love you all-

Rachel

Shoes

Happy Saturday to you!  We have a fantastic breeze blowing through the trees this morning.  I love living up here on the top of the hill. The Indonesians do not like to feel any breeze of any kind. They think it brings sickness.  They will bundle up with jackets and turn off fans, and if they feel sick at all they will blame it on the wind.  They think we are crazy when we go outside during a windstorm.  

Well, we are trying to get the dorm ready for when the kids come back on Monday. Garth's main job that day is making trips to the airport to pick everyone up. Hopefully we will all be ready for the start of school at 7:30 Tuesday morning.

I wanted to give you an update on Wyatt.  In November we had some blood work sent to Jakarta to hopefully figure out why he was so dizzy and his blood pressure was so high.  Well, I have tried, and TRIED to find out the results of those tests, but it seems that they are lost out in Neverland somewhere. So frustrating.  I don't know what else to do. He has been feeling good lately, so for that I am thankful. But I wish I had some definite answers.

Over the last few months I have talked to you about the dorm girls and I doing fundraisers to raise money for all of the girls on Sophie's Indonesian soccer team to have shoes. Many of them would share shoes, even if they were the wrong size, or one girls would wear one shoe and the other would wear the other shoe.  Well, we were able to raise quite a bit of money and their coach, Tammy was able to take them to a shoe store and buy shoes.  She also had to buy them socks because most of them didn't own even one pair of socks. Many of the girls had never been in a shoe store before and were so excited!!!!!!  Well, one of those girls, Legomina, 13 years old, died this week.  Not sure why. The parents just said that she never ate well, and never slept well, then died.  Well, they buried her with her new shoes and socks on.  She was so proud to be a part of the team and so excited about her shoes.  So sad. What a loss! But, I am happy to say that she heard the Gospel many times while she was a part of the team. It is a great ministry.  There are several expats that are pouring their lives into these kids, teaching them about soccer and God's love.  The program is called Papua United and was started by some good friends of ours. It gives these kids an alternative to wasting time hanging out in the streets, doing drugs or causing trouble.  They have a website if you want to know more.  You will definitely be able to pick my kids out from the pictures and videos-all that white skin. Haha.

 

http://camaservices.org/project/papua-united-football-club/ 

Thanks for all of your prayers. You know I love ya!

Rachel

New Year

Selamat Tahun Baru!!  Happy New Year, ya'll!  How is it going for you so far? A little bit cold? Hahha. It is gorgeous and sunny and very, very green with a big, bright blue sky...I am loving it.  This is going to be a pretty fantastic year. Can you feel it?  I am so excited to see what this year brings.  I am sure there will be lots of growing and stretching, but hey, I am not going to change into anything awesome without quite a bit of stretching.  God has great things planned for you too.  Just talk to Him about it so you go down the right path. And listen to His voice.  He knows what He is doing.

We had a nice family Christmas.  Lots of laughter.  I have the best family ever. We have so much fun together.  Right now we are approaching the end of our three week break. Wow, it went fast.  But it was so good. All of the kids went home to see family.  Most will be coming back Monday, a few on Tuesday.  School starts Tuesday morning.

One thing we always do as a family is write out goals for the year.  We look back over the ones from last year to see how much we changed.  This has been a big year for me.  Yes, lots of "events" took place, such as turning 40, but the biggest has been within me.  My perspective, my approach to each new day is completely different.  I wake up every day with a choice.  I can walk around holding out my "troubles" waiting to dump them on the people I encounter so they can feel a bit of what I am going through, or I can be aware of those around me and the load they are carrying and help  them. I can serve instead of waiting to be served. I can be joyful in the midst of crap instead of waiting for the circumstances to change first. I can say "Yes" more.  I can know when to say "No." I can laugh more. I can compliment more. I can enjoy these fleeting moments instead of missing them. I can have a living relationship with the God of the universe, every minute of every day. These are my choices. They are mine to make.  Those around me are not dictators of my mood or my reactions.  No one is to blame for my attitude except for me.

So, I feel like all of that is the first step on a long staircase.  I am on a journey to keep walking up.  But I have a long way to go.  It is not drudgery. It is not a chore. It is exciting. I am in a good place now of working through these things but I don't want to stay here. I want to continue on, keep listening to God's voice , keep moving up.  So, here we are. It is January 9th.  These are some of the goals I have for the year.  How about you?  You have a brand new, fresh year laid out before you.  What are you going to do with it?  It is a great gift.  Don't let it slip by the same as last year.  Do something remarkable, something that will matter in the life of someone else.  Something that will change you in such a dramatic way that you will never be the same.  This is the year.

Love