New Life

It's the third day into 2014 and so begins a new season!
I'm back in my room at Columbia, looking out onto the campus from my fourth floor window. The fact that the grounds are green and free of snow makes it feel like nothing has changed since Dec. 12 when I left for the holiday. But like I said, it's a new season.
New life. 
The Fall semester was really good and I learned a lot. I came back from 11 months in Indonesia to the final year of my BA, as a returning Intercultual studies intern and student leader. There was a lot to mentally deal with, namely (reverse) culture shock, picking up relationships that were put on long-distance mode for a while, and getting back into an academic mindset. It was a blessing to connect with my family and friends and physically take part in their lives again. My classes at CBC were all beneficial. The biggest things I learned were the covenant faithfulness of God, the nature of the kingdom of God, how my theology requires a response of faith, how I can use my experience overseas after my return, and the role of spiritual discernment and giftedness as I look ahead to the future. I was able to further develop friendships and I met a lot of great people. CBC is such a good place to find community and to mutually be challenged in a life of discipleship. Under one God and with one Spirit.
New life.

Senior Housing!

Beautiful Fall weather

International and Multicultural Students Club

This Christmas holiday was interesting and busy. For the first time, my sisters and I were travelling around to see our parents in different cities. I'm glad to have had some time in Kamloops to see friends and spend time at church. I did enjoy all the family visits, taking opportunities to explore outside, play in the snow, play games and to rest. I love being by the ocean around Courtenay and loved being on the ski hill after skipping a snowy winter last year! Christmas was different too, with family being all spread out and things like presents being opened on Christmas Day instead of Christmas Eve. Changes are good and I am constantly refining my skill of adaptability. PLUS, we received the best news of a baby coming in June!! Alex and Tim are finally expecting a baby and I am finally going to be an auntie :) :) It's still strange to think of Alex as a mother and my parents being an Oma and Opa! Our family has been going through constant changes for the past few years and they never stop coming. But I praise God for his continued healing hands in the process and his promises of restoration.
New life.

Kin Beach, the Island

Christmas in Courtenay

Christmas in Kelowna. THERE'S A BABY!!

Skiing at Big White

Beautiful sunset

This past week I've been reflecting on the past year and thinking ahead to the next. 2013 was full of goodness, excitement, blessings and challenges. A year ago, I was weakly celebrating the New Year alone in Jogja (getting over the flu...) and a year to the date, I was travelling on my first family road trip to East Java. Since then, I fully immersed myself in Indonesian culture - to the best of my ability and energy levels. I became part of many new families, learned a few languages, decreased my ability to speak others, hiked 2 major volcanoes, went scuba diving, bartered like a local, was mistaken as a local's wife, ate the most intriguing foods, traveled around Jogja by bicycle and bus with no trouble, had the worst domestic flight experience here, said goodbye to some family friends as they went to be with God, took challenging theology courses, advanced my GPA and the list goes on! It was a good year. Indonesia almost feels like a dream, as I think about all the things I was blessed to do and see. I constantly think about my time there and often wish I could return. I miss family terribly over there... One day, God willing, I will see them again!

The beauty of where I was a year ago... <3

2013 ended with a lot of brokenness around the world, evident as I've been looking at the news and praying through it. We continue to fall into deeper and more desperate need of a Savior. We also continue to gain more skill and resources to help those around us and shine as bearers of the image of Yahweh. So I am challenged in my own life, family and circumstance to bear that glorious image - even in my falling short of the true glory of God. I am working on being open to the opportunities that come before me. I am graduating in April and the world lies before me as a field, ready to be planted and also ripe for the harvest. I am nervous when I think ahead and also so excited!
New life.
I wish everyone a blessed year 2014. May we continue surrendering to God, seeking his will first. There is so much that is meaningless in this life that contends for our devotion and time. May we, with discernment, work for his service and continue to build shalom and unity in this world. There is so much we can do and it all starts within us, letting God's kingdom become meaningful and overpoweringly strong in our lives.
New Life
This is what we are promised in relationship with God. That is a promise I owe everything to! Amen :)  

The beauty of where I am today...

Lisi

My summer

Hello friends,
Time to start a new short chapter in my journey! I have been in Canada for almost a month now and have been getting back into communities, routines and cultures that I have always been a part of. A part of my spirit is going to remain in Indonesia forever, inevitably, and sometimes it's strange to think that I won't be back for a while. However, the time is not now and I trust that God will bring me back if he so desires. It is a home I'd love to see again!
For now, time to really involve myself here in Canadian life. I had a great 3-week summer in BC, resting lots and getting around to see family and friends. Thankful for my sisters and sharing an apartment with them! I had some time to process and start thinking ahead to the next year and what it will hold. I trust that God is guiding every step and that incredible things are up ahead, both big and small.
Now I'm back at CBC for my final year of my BA in ICS!

Ini daerah sekitar Kamloops

Kamloops

Road-trip #1

Bapak dan ibu tiri 

Lake Okanagan, Kelowna

Tempatnya membuat anggur! Aku menjadi "vintner" 

Road-trip #2!

Saratoga Beach, Vancouver Island 

Kin Beach

Ada pameran motor! Kalo di Kanada bilang motorcycle, maksudnya Harley Davidson haha 

Campfire di pantai :)

Matahari terbenam

Pelabuhan 

Kalo ada hujan? Masuk gua!

Keren...

Mount Washington 

Wild blueberry! Enak banget :)

Victoria, ibukota provinsi British Columbia

Parlemen

Temannya yang ikut SALT di Laos

Ditemukan manggis!!! 

Chinatown yang tertua di Amerika Utara

Pulang...

Bertemu dengan teman lama! Makan sushi

Setelah satu tahun lebih! Teman terdekat :)

Party time!

Makan french fries khas Kamloops

Sisters :)

God bless, Tuhan memberkati kita semuanya :) Enjoy the rest of your summers! 

Shallom, 

Lisi

Thank you





So this is it! SALT is over and I'm back in Canada for the time being. I mentioned "liminal space" in the other post. This transitioning back to life here takes a while. A little longer than I expected, actually! There's culture shock of course, getting used to culture that I haven't been part of for 11 months. There's dealing with changes that have happened here because time didn't stop while I was gone. There are also the things that have stayed the same, which tend to frustrate me and test my patience. Of course, my experience changed me and I need to deal with that. And of course, I miss Indonesia. The "situasi" over became home to me and I left a lot of wonderful people behind.
With all that and preparing for my last year at CBC, my head is quite full! I'm blessed to have a place to stay for a few weeks and just rest.

Finally, I want to thank all of my supporters who followed me. God has been faithful this year and the evidence is clear: from around this time last summer, when I was first starting SALT and you committed to support, until the present time when I have returned "home" safe and feel more abundantly blessed. I was really able to serve and learn with communities that played an incredible role in my life - from Indonesia, Canada or wherever you come from. My family has grown significantly and home ceases to be one spot on the map where a house stands. It's wherever you all are and wherever the Spirit leads me. SALT has been a great part of my pilgrimage in this world to the ultimate home - the kingdom of God - and I cannot thank you enough for your place in my journey. God is so good. What a privilege we have to serve him! Please be encouraged by my stories and be inspired to serve wherever you are. Missions isn't just a job for select few; we are ALL called to live missionally WHEREVER we are. The kingdom of God is here. Fix your eyes on it and work towards making it known to everyone. I trust that God is doing great things through you all and is revealing himself to you. Trust him and he WILL make your path clear! Thank you once again and be blessed! May you experience God's shalom :)
Kepada saudara di Indonesia: Terima kasih atas segala berkat selama saya melayani di Indonesia. Ini sudah kangen semuanya, Indonesia memang menjadi "home" buat saya! Situasi disitu sangat nyaman, hangat, jadi saya selalu merasakan syukur. Saya berharap bisa kembali ke Indonesia. Tuhan memberkati anda sekalian, biar dapat kekuatan dan sukacita untuk melayani dia. Be inspired! Kemudian, kalau ada kesempatan ke Kanada, monggo :) Ditunggu saya! Matur nuwun, Gusti berkati. Syallom!

In him,
Lisi

Selamat tinggal, Indonesia... Until we meet again!



The Last Month in Indonesia

Hello friends,

It's definitely been a while since I blogged last. It's hard to believe because so much has happened since then and, furthermore, it feels like just yesterday! I'm no longer writing from my upstairs bedroom at my Minomartani home, or from my little office at the language training centre at UKDW. I'm sitting in "liminal space", in a little downtown Kamloops apartment. This transition period (liminal space) is where I'm at - both physically and mentally - and it takes a while to get through! But firs, the last month in Indonesia...　

Ramayana Ballet - FINALLY! I almost missed this fantastic cultural experience. The outdoor stage is set in front of the lit-up Prambanan Temple near Jogja and the ballet depicts one of the many Javanese myths. This one is about Rama and Shinta, a "Romeo and Juliet" story that has romance, comic relief, action, beautiful dancing, costumes, music and lots of fire! It was AMAZING!  

 

Bali - I had the great opportunity to go here with my host family. For 5 days, we went around the southern tip of the island and saw lots! Denpasar, Tanah Lot, Ubud, Sanur, Sangeh, Kuta, Legian - to name a few places. Balinese culture is fascinating. From my experience, it's laid-back, very social, dedicated and incredibly colourful. Learned a lot and loved it! Beautiful scenery too, which started the pangs of sadness for leaving this country. On the last day, I met up with a friend from East Java and we went scuba diving at Tulamben!! It was an amazing little adventure, being in the "deep blue" for the first time, swimming around tons of fish and touching a sunken WWII ship. 

 

UKDW Graduation – A few of my friends at the university graduated and I was so lucky to be there for the ceremony and celebration afterwards. Wishing all of them well as they have already found and started new jobs – puji Tuhan!

 



Choir competition – The ladies’ committees of the GKMI churches held a choir competition on June 30, so our group had been preparing for weeks. This was a great little road trip with around fifteen women, from young adults to seniors. I felt so blessed to be a part of the group. I had lots of fun and better yet, we won second place!!

 

Interreligious Dialogue and Peacebuilding Workshop – The peacebuilding department on campus held this 5-day event for professionals from all over Indonesia. There were also 3 guest speakers: a Muslim woman from Bunda Aceh (Sumatera), a woman from India and a Buddhist man from Thailand. As the native English speaker, I was helping out, but I was allowed to join sessions as well. It was awesome! There were so many brilliant ideas going around and some of the speakers blew me away.

 

Youth Summit – The GKMI church put on a conference, the "Pace of Peace". This was one of the last activities I had with my church community and I enjoyed spending the weekend with the youth/young adults. There were motivational sessions on EQ (emotional quotient) and more on being peacebuilding believers. It was typical: little sleep, lots of activities, food and spending time laughing together. It was great! I met so many new people through mutual friends and the world just became so much smaller :)

 

Wayang Kulit and Ganjuran – A few nights before leaving Jogja, my Javanese culture study ended with a grand finale. With a friend, I saw the traditional shadow puppet show near the sultan’s palace (a 2-hour tourist version; the real one starts around 10 pm and goes all night!). It was awesome and very neat to watch. Next, went to Ganjuran, a Catholic pilgrimage site. It’s very unique, though, because it’s in traditional Javanese style and even has a Hindu influence. This is what missiologists call "contextualization" and as an ICS student, I was fascinated!

Good-byes – Now these were really difficult for me because of how much I love my communities. The staff at my office, PPBA, held a lovely party and lunch. I spent a lot of time with some English Club members too, which meant so much to me. At church, I had a few farewells (the official one being back on June 16).
On the night before I left, we had a birthday party/ladies’ bible study/choir practice/my farewell at our house. It was amazing and the tears of joy, blessing, and sorrow just kept coming… My two good friends stayed the night and two more helped me prepare to leave in the morning. What a day... It was one of the hardest days of the 11 months in Indonesia, as I had to leave my family and Jogja. My parents both cried as they embraced me and sent me off with blessings.

 

Salatiga – The YALTers spent four days here, wrapping up stuff at the MCC office. We enjoyed final creambaths, ate delicious nasi goreng and ronde, went to karaoke with our Indonesian teachers and good friends from the language school, went rollerblading and had great fellowship with the MCC Indonesia team. I also spent a lot of time with my first host family, playing with my little brothers, chatting and laughing in the first house that made Indonesia feel like home. On our last night, we stood in the Pancasila (park) and shot off fireworks to celebrate. The last time the 2012-2013 YALTers would make a ruckus in the small town of Salatiga :) Wednesday the 17 of July was also one of the hardest days, saying goodbye to my MCC family and finally, to Indonesia.



 

Akron PN - Not Indonesia anymore, but this is where we wrapped up our SALT term. We joined the other SALTers at the MCC headquarters and spent 3-4 days sharing stories and reflecting together. These first days in North America were very interesting. Talk about culture shock!

 Lisi :)