The past week and a half have been
bagus sekali (“very good” – it sounds better in Indonesian)!
The first of September was my little
brother’s 4th birthday so we drove to Semarang to visit
with family for the weekend. We celebrated with an excellent fish
dinner, a short boat ride on the ocean – welcome to the Java Sea! –
and cruising around the city and a massive shopping mall. This is a
wonderful family I get to live with, I will be sad to leave them in a
month.
After a short week of language
classes, two days to be exact, the MCC team gathered at a hotel on
the edge of the mountains right outside Salatiga. It was a beautiful
location and our stay was excellent! The three and a half days of
Team Meeting were filled with many things. Most important for me was
getting to know everyone on the MCC team. The team is approx. 25-30
people and I enjoyed the company of all of them. We had “lectures”
and discussions, watched documentaries, rested by the pool, ate
together and worshipped together. On Friday afternoon, a small group
of bold foreigners took on Andong Mountain (Gunung Andong), close to
the hotel. It was so great!! It was a short but steep hike, the first
trio making it up in 35 minutes. I am thankful to have made it up in
this group so I could spend the most time at the top! The view was
awesome, overlooking villages, rice fields, tobacco fields and other
mountains. Across the valley was Gunung Merbabu, the big guy in the
area. I can’t wait to climb that one in the upcoming weeks before
we leave Salatiga! Stay tuned for pictures even more fantastic than
these! :) The Team Meeting ended and we all returned to our
respective positions in Java and one other island. It was a restful
and encouraging time that we had; furthermore, it was followed by a
wonderful dinner hosted by a fellow SALTer’s host mother. It was
her birthday and she invited all nine of us YALTers for dinner. It’s
times like this that I wish I could express my thanks with more than
Terima kasih, sekali, sekali! I am surrounded by servant hearts and
could not be more blessed.
1. Our third week of language study
has started and I’m ready to take on the lessons! I just hope I can
retain everything and use it to communicate effectively soon. Please
pray that I take the opportunity to practice with native speakers on
a daily basis. This may take me out of my comfort zone but it needs
to be done :)
2. Please keep in your thoughts the
rest of the Columbia Bible College interns that have departed/are
departing for their internships. I’m so glad to be part of this
group as well! Right now, I can say that there are students in
Canada, New Zealand, Germany/Austria, Thailand, Honduras and two in
Indonesia! These are awesome people that share a common passion for
people and making God’s love known to all.
3. Please pray
for my family in Canada as our home is going through a time of
transition. Our house is in the process of being sold and everything
must be sorted and packed. Christi is leaving for Austria in the next
few weeks for a semester abroad, back in March 2013, and in December
Sophi will be going to Austria as well. Our stuff will be in
Kamloops, either in our mom’s apartment or a giant storage
container. It’s strange to think that this is going on while I’m
here and that next year I’ll go home to…a home all over the
place! One without my Huckle, at that. My little poodle-terrier was
with me for 16 years and passed away two days before I came to SALT.
I’m still grieving his death…I miss my old man! I do admit that
when they talk about eating anjin (dog) there is a pang of sadness...
Speaking about strange food, two days ago I ate a fish head including
an eyeball!
Anyway, I trust that God is always
in control and he is keeping me present in my time here in Indonesia,
praise him for that!
Sampai minggu depan (until next
week),
Lisi
On prayer point #2: God's love is expressed and shared everywhere, regardless if we're there. I should've said that this group is passionate about sharing the love of God with the local church and doing our part in joining the global church in a context outside our own! :)
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