Good-byes Update #3

So, we are at the start of another week. Our days have been filled with good-byes and helping friends pack up and move out. One of those good-byes was to Emma. (I hate being so far away from my kiddos.) Praise the Lord she made it safely to Wisconsin!  Thanks for praying. She had a 17 hour layover in Hong Kong and then 7 flight delays and 5 gate changes in Dallas before finally arriving in Milwaukee about 53 hours after she left us. I am so thankful God watched over and protected her along the way. We also said good-bye to two of our dorm girls that we have had as a part of our family for 6 years. That was hard. And this morning I had to say good-bye to my best friend, Janna. They are moving back to Canada. Ugh! I know God has something super fantastic planned for them but my heart is sad. Our home has been an open door for parties and gatherings to try and squeeze in as much time with everyone as we can before they all leave.
 
 

 

Good-bye parties

 

 

 

In the midst of all this, Ramadan, a time of fasting and prayer for Muslims, is going on. It is considered the holiest month of the year for Muslims.  They fast from food and drink during the sunlit hours as a means of learning self-control, gratitude, compassion for those less fortunate, and for forgiveness of their sins.Tonight starts Idul Fitri. Idul Fitri is two or three days of gathering, feasting and celebrating the end of Ramadan. It is one of the largest Indonesian public holidays. Many travel a large distance to their home towns to celebrate with family. Shops are closed, and mosques can be heard proclaiming the call to prayer all day long.  Please pray for the love of God to shine through during this time. We will be feasting with an Indonesian friend of ours. Pray that God uses us.

Love you,

Rachel

The Wedding and Graduation Update #2

You guys, the wedding was beautiful! I know a lot of you prayed and gave so we could be back in time for this and I am so grateful we were. Emma was the maid of honor in a wedding of two of our former dorm kids. The wedding was outdoors and even the rain couldn't spoil it.
 
   

We have jumped right back into our life here, trying to help out and be a part of as much as we can before all the students leave for the summer. The community is such a blessing and we have missed it dearly.

May 21st we moved back in to the Hostel and were able to get our dog back- Chester!! He is a big part of our family and we missed him. This was our first meal back in the Hostel.  

Years ago we adopted an Indonesian family that we have just fallen in love with.  They bring us such joy. It was a sweet reunion seeing them again.

    

 Time has been tick- tocking by and last night we had graduation. It was an evening of great celebration as two of the dorm kids that we have had since their 7th grade year graduated. Wow. How is that even possible?

     

 It has been so wonderful having Emma here, and I cried a bunch of tears this morning when we took her to the airport to say good-bye. PLEASE pray for her. This is the first time she will be flying all the way back to America on her own. I know God's got this. I keep reminding myself of that. She is so very special to us, and we will miss her greatly. 

   

Well, here is an update of our life so far. Thanks for praying for us and for caring. You are an important part of our ministry.

Love you,

Rachel

 

 

We Made It! Update #1

Hello to everyone from hot and sunny Indonesia. After 61 hours we arrived in Papua. It was long but so worth it! We are thrilled to be here. We got here on Monday and all our baggage arrived on Friday so we are thrilled about that. Thank you to everyone for praying! 

Here are some pictures of our goodbyes at the Milwaukee airport. We had to say goodbye to Wyatt as he flew back to Oregon. That was hard. And we had to say goodbye to my family (again). Wow. It just doesn't get easier. I wonder how many times we have done this? It's always hard.

        

 

It was such a joyful reunion in Papua. Oh, how we missed these people! Emma flew separately and arrived an hour after us. 

This is Sophie with her best friend Maya.

   

This is one of our dorm girls that we have had since grade 7, Hannah. She will be graduating next week.

We missed our mountain!

   

This is our adopted Indonesian family. This is me with Mama Chia.

    

 

I want you to feel like you are a part of this journey we are on. Many of you are a big part of getting us back here and we are so very thankful!

Just look at that sunset! Amazing.

Love you all- Rachel

May Update - We are headed back!

So, I want to give you all an update of where we are at. We have all of the money we need to head back to Indonesia!  WOOOOOOHOOOOOO! That is such a huge blessing. Thank you to everyone that helped make that miracle happen. We are really excited to be this close. It has been almost a year that we have been here in America. A year that was nothing like we planned or could have anticipated. At times it felt like around every turn there was another obstacle, but God continued to walk with us every step, often using you guys to bless us and help us out. Thank you. From the bottom of our hearts, we say thank you.

We just got our tickets today to leave on Friday. Crazy. Unbelievable and exciting! It is hard to believe that this is the last time to do these heart-wrenching good-byes. This time we will be leaving two kids in America and taking two kids with us. I am not really sure if anything prepares you for that. Talk about trust. A long time ago I gave my kiddos to God and surrendered them to His care. So I can be assured that whether they are with me under my wings, or out there on their own, He is watching over them. They are never out of His sight. Still, my heart is sad. I love it when we are all together. I hate saying good-bye. It stinks. Good-byes are one of my least favorite things. We have been blessed to have extended time with my family and with all of our friends here in the Wisconsin area. That has been a blessing and we are thankful.

Cale is happy that we are still here. He has an art fair and a solo in the Spring Concert at school tonight. It is hard for him knowing when he will have to say goodbye to all his friends. His emotions are up and down. Pray for him. He has made some great friendships and is not looking forward to leaving them.

God is good. Pray for us as we wrap everything up here.

Thanks again for everything.

Rachel

 

March 2019 Update

Hey guys. Happy March to you!! I wanted to give you an update on our lives: where we are at, and what we are up to. Thanks to the Sandstrom family we have a house to live in here in Wisconsin and the church has graciously given us a van to drive.( How amazing is that?).

A Christian school in the area has been kind to allow Cale to attend for a much reduced price. He is really enjoying being back in a Christian environment and attending the same school as his cousins. Sophie is doing a homeschool program called Options. She is a task-oriented, motivated, hard working student and is doing well with this program. She desperately misses her friends in Papua and can't wait to go back. Today she will be going in to a local school to speak in two World Cultures classes about Indonesia. I have started working at a Nursing Care Home and love getting to  know the residents, and establish relationships with them. Sophie works there as well a few evenings a week. This has helped us out financially as well as being a great ministry opportunity for both of us. 

Garth is working on raising our support. Currently we are at 75% (WOOHOO!). Our goal is to get back to Indo by May.  Several of our dorm kids that we have had since 7th grade will be graduating and leaving, along with some of our best friends that will be moving back to Canada, and two of the dorm kids we had years ago will be getting married in Papua and Emma is in the wedding. These are special events and we would really love to be there for them.  Once we reach 100% support we will be able to go back. Please continue to pray for God to raise up people to partner with us for our last year.

Over spring break we will be travelling to Virginia to connect with churches and friends about our ministry. Please pray for God to use that time to get our support to 100%. 

Wyatt is in LaGrande, Oregon working at a Christian camp and hoping to begin training as a wildland firefighter in April or May. He is doing real well. There is a wonderful family that has "adopted" him and we are so thankful for them. Emma is finishing up her freshman year at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, AR. We took a trip to see her last month and it did my heart good to see her school, meet her friends, and see her life there. She has been doing a lot of high ropes/zipline etc. training to get certified to work this summer. We miss our kiddos and love on them as much as we can from afar. It has been a blessing to be in almost the same time zone as them instead of 16 hours ahead when we are in Indo. What a blessing to be in a land with internet so we can call and video chat with them.

Well, I guess that about sums it all up. If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask. If you want more info about our ministry you can go to:

www.maf.org/erickson or email us, we can send you stuff.

We love you guys. Thanks for always caring about us!

Hope your day is happy!

Rachel

  

 

   

January

Hey you! Happy January to you, (almost February!). I wanted to take a minute and give you an update on the Erickson Fam. Garth had his last cancer treatment on Dec. 11 and we left Portland by train on Dec. 12th to head to Milwaukee. That was a fun experience. What a beautiful way to see the world!

We were able to spend the holidays with my family. It's been 6 years since we have been able to do that so what a treat! Our plan was to go back to Indonesia the beginning of January but MAF has asked that we get our support up to 100% before we go back. So, that is what we are doing now. Since we don't know how long that will take we enrolled Cale in a school here and we are homeschooling Sophie. A kind family has agreed to let us stay in their home while they are in Florida and the church has given us a van to drive. God is taking care of us!

We are looking for opportunities to speak about our ministry and give people a chance to partner with us. If you have an event or gathering where you would like us to share please let us know. We have a great big God and know that He can do this! We need about $3200 more a month. Maybe God wants you to give. Pray and see. Whether it is a one time or monthly gift, we could use your help. It is easy to give. Just go to our page at - www.maf.org/erickson. We are committed to serving in Papua until the summer of 2020. That is when Sophie will graduate from high school and then we plan on coming back to the States.

Wyatt will be moving back to Oregon on Saturday. He is hoping to pursue his dream of becoming a wildland firefighter. Please pray for his safety. Emma is at John Brown University in Arkansas. We are hoping to visit her sometime next month. She is having a bit of a hard time knowing clearly what God's plans are for her future, and feeling homesick. Pray for her as well.  Sophie is aching for Papua and can't wait to get "home." Cale is doing fantastic. He is loving being here and is thriving. He would rather stay here than go back. So please pray for the kids as they process through all of these emotions. Garth and I are doing well, trying to figure out how to stay warm in the freezing cold weather. Hahah. It's about 90 degrees colder than Indo!

Well, that's about it. Thanks, you guys for always caring for us. We appreciate you greatly.

We have a newsletter coming out in the next few weeks. If you don't currently receive our letters let me know, and I will stick you on the list.