...our last full day in Timor

Well, hello everyone again. Karen let me have a go at updating this thing again, so lets see what happened that is worth mentioning on our blog.
On Wednesday we drove to a town about 4 hours away. I can't remember what the town is called, - Karen just informed me it is Kaffa (sp?), but we went to visit Ed's brother and his family. On the way we stopped and looked at a few crocodiles and a few caves. We visited with his family for the night and the next morning. They have 6 girls, very nice family. Anyway, that morning we toured around the town and of course, went and visited the local market - a must on any visit. And then we spent the rest of the day driving home.
We also realized that Amy VZ is pretty famous here in Indonesia. Everywhere we go we see pictures of her, and everyone asks if we know Amy. And of course I become famous because i get to say that i went to the same school as her growing up, and lived in the same community (although that would be the only time i would admit that Elora and Fergus are the same community, because we all know that Elora is much superior). Anyway, Amy - you have quite the following here.
I was supposed to do a talk at a church in Kupong last night, when we got back, but it was raining in the city, and when it rains, things shut down. So it was cancelled, which was too bad. Anyway, instead last night we played ping-pong and Risk.
And today is thursday. Our last full day here. Ed had to go into the city to do some work so we tagged along to visit the bank and to get on the internet. When we get back home we have to finish the playground, which will probably take the rest of the day. And tonight we have a big soccer game planned with members of the church versus a bunch of youth from the community. It should be fun.
And tomorrow we fly out for Bali, and then we are off to Hong-Kong on Saturday. And then we should be home on Tuesday night, D.V.
Well, all the best to everyone. May the joy of the LORD be your strength for this day!
Randy (and Karen)

Indonesian Birthday

Since we last updated I've aged!! Another wrinkle and one more gray hair AAAHHH!!! But thankfully I'm still 7 years younger than my husband so I'm just a young'n, always will be? compared to him!

It was neat to celebrate my birthday in Indonesia, it actually was the L O N G E S T birthday ever because apparently you have to celebrate along with the country that you were born in as well as the country that you are now in and since Canada is 13 hours behind us I was celebrating for a LONG time! The day was pretty quite ? spoiled by Randy ? but not much besides that. At night they had a continuation of the challenges that they were having on Friday night against Jonson?s church. The challenges included ping-pong, potato sack races, chess, soccer, baton racing, tug-of-war, and a few other games. After all of the competitions were over we sang for a little bit and then Randy did a devotion for them on Josiah, how he was only 8 years old and yet he served the Lord and continued to do that throughout his reign, it doesn?t matter how young or old you are you can always serve the Lord. After the devotion we taught them how to play hUckle BuckLe-they Loved it! And then one of the boys Pidgen called me up, he wanted to ask me a few questions? he was asking the questions in Indonesian so I had now idea what he was saying and I was trying to answer them?. Without any luck! The people were in stitches laughing over what he was saying, I still don?t know what he all said, anyway I got a bit out of it, he was telling them it was my birthday, I had to show them my expression if I got a surprise and I had to run around with my arms out yelling, then he told me he could do magic and he pulled out a bucket of water and asked me what color it was and told me that he was going to make it black. But in order to that the audience had to cover one eye and I had to cover two, well I?m sure that you can imagine what happened after that?yup he poured that whole bucket of water over my head. Then he gave me a little gift and that?s where I had to put my yelling with my arms spread out into practice. But no worries I got him back. At the very end of the evening they called him up to thank him for all of his work and I stood right behind him and dumped a bucket of water over his head. A little big of revenge is good right?
After the evening at the church we went back to Ed and Femmy?s for a good old birthday supper of rice! But before the rice Manone, Ed?s sister, had baked a beautiful birthday cake for me so they sang Happy Birthday, they have the longest birthday song ever, it has about four or five verses or so and every verse you have to do something different. One verse I had to blow out the candles, another verse I had to cut the cake, and another verse Randy and I had to both bite the cake off of the fork. Then I got a nicely handcrafted crown from Moses and a beautiful scarf from Ed and Femmy.
Sunday? the continuation of my birthday J Church again at 7:30. One of Ed?s students preached, he did a really good job. He preached on John 3:1-5 about how we need to be born again, That it?s a lot of hard work living for the Lord and it?s a constant struggle. After church I got a very pleasant unexpected surprise? a phone call from my parents. I heard all about the cold snowy weather in Ontario and that Toronto was beating Montreal 4-1 in hockey. For the most part the rest of the day was spent relaxing, reading and napping. In the evening we had bible study at the church, they had some really good questions about the sermon and Randy introduced a new word to them that they don?t have in Indonesian ? sanctification, nice guy eh?
Then after Bible study back home for some rice, oh I forgot to mention the nice treat we got at lunch, pizza buns ? it was SOO good! After dinner we played a game of Risk. Missions Risk. I got destroyed but that?s ok, I?ll take one for the team.
Today we began to work on the playground this morning but then it rained, and rained and rained so we came into town to email and buy some toilet paper, all of the essentials eh?
Well thank you for all of the birthday wishes, it?s so good to hear from all of yous at home. And just in case you?re curious we are coming home next Tuesday Feb 6th so hopefully we will see you all in the very near future!
That?s it for the update today tomorrow we head off for a little escapade, can?t remember what the place is called where we are going but it should be fun!

Life in Kupang

It's been over a week here in Kupang and we are still surviving at the Dethan household. And no the earthquake did not hit us. We didn't even here about the quake until we went on the internet and chatted with some of you and the first question was ....Did the quake hit you?? and our response was .... what quake? We are in our own little world here in Kupang.
After checking the blog lst time Ed gave us the inside scoop on where to get a hamburger mmmm :) so off we went, unfortunately they didn't have any burgers left but they did have fried chicken (almost as good as KFC!) and Frech fries so it was a really nice treat for us. We do have to admit though that rice really starts to grow on you, I think when we get back to Canada we are going to be craving rice!
At night we went to Jonson and Mary-Lynn's for Mary-Lynn's 30th birthday, most of the Ed's siblings were there so it was nice to meet them and share in the birthday festivities.
Wednesday I went to Sprouts with Moses and Grace in the morning, it's kind of like pre-school. They have about 25 children and they tell them a bible story and then do an activity with them. They have it three times a week. It's a pretty cool ministry because not all of these kids go to church or are from Christian families so here they get to hear about the Bible. And the teachers are new at teaching but are doing really well, they have already improved in the short time that we have been here. It's been really neat because we had done a session on Wednesday night and had given all different examples of ways that you can tell a story and this morning when I went to Sprouts they were using them, that was really exciting to see. And I could even tell what the story was about even though I couldn't understand a word of Indonesian! But back to the day, Randy worked on the playground for most of it, it's slow going because the wood is so hard and it's so HOT here but slowly but surely it's starting to come together. Then as I mentioned we did another session on teaching children. We had a really good turnout, about 40 youth so that was a lot of fun. Then Thursday we took a little road trip to Soe, which is pronounced Saw-ay. It's a city about three hours drive from where we are and it is MUCH cooler there so it was SO nice to go there for a day. We went with a whole car full of people. Ed's sister Adel and her husband and their 14 year old son Victor as well as Peiga and Mia, two of the girls that work in the office for New Hope as well as our drive Oom Ren and Randy and myself. So the black family wagon was quite full. But we had a great time together. We saw some really gorgeous views on the way and once we got to Soe we picked up some rice for lunch and went to a park to eat it. Once we were done eating we went down to see the waterfall, it was absolutely GORGEOUS!! God's creativity in creation never ceases to amaze us. It was in the middle of a forest and there was lots of little waterfalls and it just kept going and going and going, I wish we had a waterproof camera so we could capture a bit of the beauty of it, but we don't so... We spent most of the afternoon swimming there and then headed off to see some family of Ed's sister's husband. And then we were on our way home again, I actually had goosebumps on the way home, it was such a nice feeling, I can't remember the last time I had them. On the way home we say a beautiful sunset but the rest of the ride was pretty uneventful if you don't include the driving that is. Driving here especially at night is CRAZY. There are so many big trucks and motorbikes on the road and the road is so narrow but thankfully we made it back safe and sound. And we finished off the night with some Uno and some pretty competitive doubles ping-pong games.
So that's a little update on our life here. We are really enjoying ourselves here, the people are wonderful, the hospitality is amazing and the word of God is going out powerfully-it's so amazing to be able to witness that. It's been really neat being a part of the Bible studies here as well. They are always very good at keeping us a part of it and doing their best to translate what's being said.
It's hard to believe it's only been just over a week that we've been here already. It feels just like home!
I guess I should give you a little update on our health... or should I say Randy's health :) his throat seems to be healing, his lips are doing MUCH better, the swelling has gone down and the blisters are much smaller, his foot however we are a little concerned about, it doesn't seem to be healing very well, it almost looks like it's getting infected again... not good. But other than that we are just peachy.
In light of the amazing creation that we have seen:

"May the glory of the LORD endure forever;

May the LORD rejoice in his works-"

Psalm 104:31

Well I was hoping to put up a bunch of pictures but unfortunatly the internet connection is going REALLY slow right now :(

Dethan Family, Ed, Femmy, Moses, Grace, and Micah

Karen and I arrived safely in Kupang, Timor, and Femmy, Moses, Grace, and Micah were there at the airport to welcome us and pick us up. We were happy to finally get here, as you can only handle so much down time. So, Ed and Femmy graciously took us in at their home, which is also the home of New Hope Ministries, the orphanage, in which they have taken in about 10 beautiful children/teens.
After we got settled in and met some of the children we headed up to the church for Kidz Klub. We had fun with the children, as we learned some Indonesian songs and taught some English ones, played musical chairs, and listened to a message. It was a nice way to begin our time here.

Thursday ? after spending time just hanging out with the Dethans, Ed asked us to help train the youth to work with children and teach them about telling Bible stories, because they were planning to have a children?s camp again this summer and they want the youth to lead it. So, we are planning a kind of pre-camp for them, and have a few sessions with the youth in order to try to equip them to be leaders, and show them how they can use their talents in service to the LORD. So we spent the rest of the day preparing for our first session, which was at night. Our first session was a blast, to us anyway, they are probably just scared. It?s interesting, cuz everything takes twice as long, because everything has to be translated. Sometimes I wish I could pick up languages real quick.

Friday- On Friday morning we went to the hospital to drop off some samples from the children so the doctors could do some tests. While we were there we got a tour of the hospital, the different labs, and then visited the different wards and visited with the patients. It was fun, and the language barrier is always cause for more fun - trying to communicate but having a very tough time doing it. But it makes for a lot of laughs. When we got back to the house we started
building a playground for the children. We had some of the guys help us, as we dug the holes and cut the posts for it. By the time that was done, we had to leave for the Christmas program. In Canada we celebrate Christmas for about a month before Christmas day, but after the 25th Christmas celebrations are over. Here in Indonesia, Christmas celebrations last for the month of January as well. So we had a children?s Christmas program on Jan.19. The children were very cute, and it was nice to sing Christmas carols in the Indonesian language, and to celebrate again the Lord coming down and becoming a man to save us all. It?s great to celebrate that! After the program we went out for traditional BBQ?d corn and soup. It was pretty good, I must admit.

Saturday ? Karen and I visited Jonson and Mary-Lynn Dethan, who live just down the road. We spent most of the day with them, as we caught up, played with their children, toured the Reformed school, and saw the church. We also went swimming behind the school in a little creek which was quite refreshing. And they also took us out for lunch. It was a nice day, it was great to see them again, and learn about the ministries they are involved in, and their plans for the future. On Saturday night we attended Youth Group. We discussed the Great Commission, and how the disciples were empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the work. It?s great getting to know the youth and seeing how the Lord is working here. After Youth group we went home, had dinner and played ping-ping with the youth.

Sunday ? For those of us that thought 9:30 was early for church, how about 7:30? Yep, bright and early we rose. Although we didn't understand most of the service, there were a few tunes we recongnized, and it was beautiful to worship the LORD nonetheless. Once again, it was so beautiful to participate in a worship service in another language, in another culture. It just shows to me again how Awesome and big our God is, and how He calls people from all over the world to be His children. The rest of the day was nice. We enjoyed the communion of saints, just hanging out at the Dethan house and chatting with Ed and Femmy. After a nice afternoon snooze we headed back to church for Bible Study, where we discussed the mornings sermon and text and dove further into it. After church, after supper we played with the children UNO. The children were giggling the whole time, it was a lot of fun.

Monday - In the morning we went to the market in the city to do some groceries, and we visited the hospital again. The market is always an interesting place, every country you visit you should go to the market. And in the afternoon we prepared for youth group, our next session with them, which was at night. About half the youth didn't show however, because they thought it was going to be a different night, so it was post-poned until Wednesday. While we were at the church we got to do some singing and we played some games. We played musical chairs, but only 3 rounds, because we had broken 2 chairs already by then. When we got home we played UNO with the children again, who never stopped giggling again.

Tuesday - well today we just booked our ticket back to Bali, for the end of next week, and now we are here in the city doing email and internet. We hope to work on the playground this afternoon and Karen is going to prepare for helping with the Sprouts program as well.

Anyway, we are enjoying our time here in Kupang, and we are learning lots from the Dethans. It is great to see the work that is being done here, it is very exciting. Let me summarize a little of it for you. Ed and Femmy, besides the work with their home congregation, also have the New Hope Orphanage. There is an office at their house which they employ 2 ladies to do the administration for the orphanage and all the details that go along with it, including education and health. They are also hoping to start another orphanage home right in the city, where a lady from the church will live there and take care of the children. Ed is also involved with training evangelists and other preachers, as they now have 4 mission posts. They are also involved in Setting up a training center/theological school in the city, along with Jonson's church. they are also working with the various programs in the church - Youth, childrens, sprouts, and the Bible studies, and setting up a camp, kind of like campfire. Jonson and Mary-Lynn, in addition to the regular church work, have also the Children of Light program, which has to do with the education of children. The Reformed school is across the road from their house and has, i think, about 500 students, and growing. There is the elementary school, junior high, and high school, as well as a trade school, that teaches welding, carpentry, auto mechanics, computers, building, etc. They have dorms on site as well for some of the children. They also are doing a mission post right now in Kupang city.
Anyway, this is just a bit of the work that is happening. Its nice to see some of it, and next week we will get to visit a few mission posts D.V.
Anyway, this blog entry is long enough.
We hope everyone at home is doing well. People have passed on various prayer requests and we will be sure to remember those things in prayer. We have a few prayer requests as well. Could you pray for sustained health for us. I am continuing to battle infection, sore throats, and i burn't my lips pretty bad, and they are all blistered right now. And Karen, well, she is tough, she is doing well. We also pray that we can be a blessing to Ed and Femmy and the children here, and that the opportunities that we have, that we can make the most of them, and really share the love of Christ. And the language barrier can be tough, especially when we are trying to share with them. Anyway, thank-you. It is also Karen's B-day on Saturday -the 27th - just a little heads up for everyone, including myself.
We will include more picture next time, hopefully...
Strength and Peace,
Randy and Karen

Unexpected delay in Bali

While we were on our way to Ed and Femmy's but unfortunately we have been delayed. We flew into Indonesia late on Friday night expecting to fly out the next Saturday morning, so we found a little booking desk at the airport and booked ourselves a night at a hotel for one night but the next morning when we connected with Ed he said the weather was to bad in Kupang to fly in so to stay where we were and he would try to get us on a flight on Monday... it's Monday now and we didn't get on the flight but we got one booked for Wednesday so hopefully then we will be flying over to Kupang and to the Dethan household. But while we have been held up in Bali we are making the most of our time. Indonesia is absolutely Beautiful!!! We went whitewater rafting down a river the other day it was AWESOME, we were in the jungle surrounded by rapids and just able to enjoy the beauty of it all, we also got to experience a traditional Indonesian meal at the end of it, the only killer was the hike to the river and the hike back to the shuttle, we were climbing a pretty big mountain on stairs, but the stairs were very uneven and it was STEEP, but seeing as we are both the picture of health... ha, ha. Today was a pretty exciting day as well. We went parasailing, snorkeling, jetskiing and for a little dive (Yes Ian W. we did a little bit of diving!). It was all pretty fascinating and a little scary. The diving was absolutely incredible, we saw so many beautiful fish. Parasailing was a bit scary but really neat. Jet-skiing, while I'm a chicken, but it was still fun, Randy had a blast at it and snorkeling was once again fantabulous. And the little hotel we are staying at suits our needs just great, it's close to the ocean and we have only had to kill one cockroach so far so life is good! We thankful we are held up in Bali or we sure wouldn't be experiencing what we are, the tourism industry here is not doing well right now so things are CHEAP, just the way we like it :)
So two more days in Bali and we are off to Kupang. Randy's foot is healing quite well so we are truly thankful for that. Thanks so much for all of your emails, it's always so good to hear from home and for your prayers, we truly feel the Lord uplifting us day after day and we are so thankful for the love and support that we receive from you guys!

Finally....updated!

Well, its been a long while since we updated and spoke to y?all, so sorry about that. Its harder to get on line for a period of time away from home. Anyway, we hope you are all doing well, and that you are enjoying God?s blessings and love in 2007. I?ll try to bring you up to speed on how He has been blessing us during our time in PNG and as we rest and prepare for our time in Indonesia.


This is our carolling team, or should i say choir!

Sunday, Dec 24 ? We went to Kamkumang for a worship service, where Pastor Bob gave his last sermon, as he is retiring from his call here, and will begin preaching in another area before retiring. Worshipping the LORD in another language and culture is a beautiful thing. It?s amazing how amazing the Gospel is for all cultures, peoples, and languages! On Sunday afternoon we picked up our fellow carolers at both congregations and headed for the hospital. We went to a bunch of different wards and sang Christmas carols, greeted the people, and Ian shared the Christmas message with them all. It was nice to meet all those people and share in the joy of a Savior!
Monday, Dec 25 - Christmas Day! We had a combined service at Kamkumong church, with Tent City and a lot of other guests and friends. Ian shared from Luke 2, about Good News for people, and the response from the shepherds. Different people shared different songs for the congregation. Us, white people, sang Zeph 3:17. We shared a meal together and sang more worship and Christmas songs. They taught us some songs in Pigon, and we taught them some in English. It was a beautiful time of worship. After bringing them all home we went to one of Ian and Nadia?s friend?s house for supper. We enjoyed the evening there, and then headed home.
Tuesday, Dec 26 ? We went with the Wildeboers and VanderHeides and Pastor Bob?s family to his wife?s family?s village. They had a worship service in the village and had invited Ian to preach. It was an outdoor service, kind of under a tree, including singing, prayer, dancing, and of course, the Word being proclaimed. Afterwards, our 3 families were invited up to tell them a little about ourselves. We got to share about the work we are looking forward to in Haiti. I did not realize it at the time, but the people had a lot of questions for us, so after lunch I spoke to them more about our work being done in Haiti, and life there. They asked a lot of questions and then at the end of it, they prayed for us. That was very nice, a beautiful gift. Back to the worship service?.after we shared with them who we were, at the end of the service they broke into dancing. It was quite the experience to dance along with our brothers and sisters in the jungle/plantation. It took us awhile to dare to dance along with them as our dutch roots held our feet strongly planted to the ground, but soon we warmed up to it all and joined in on the celebration!
Wednesday, Dec 27 ? I sat down and with Ian and Andrew as they planned and prayed for the work in Bumbu settlement. For me it was exciting because I was able to learn about different approaches to the work, and the different stages of development when doing a church plant. I also got to listen in on their plans for the year and what they were going to focus in on for all their work and ministry. I am very excited for them and pray that the LORD will bless their plans, refine them, and continue to open doors for them.
Thursday, Dec 28 ? Well, later in the morning Andrew and I went to the war memorial and I learned a lot about WW2 and the battles that were fought in and around PNG. We also toured the Royal Botanical Gardens which is right next door. It was very beautiful ? parts of it a beautiful jungle. Thursday night was the first fellowship meeting in Bumbu settlement. Pastor Elijah (a pastor Ian is meeting with and working thru Reformed theology) and Joakim, a guard of their compound, who is helping Andrew learn Pigon, they both live in the settlement and so they got the area ready outside of Pastor Elijah?s house ready for a crowd, with lights, and a generator and decorations. There was about 150 people who turned out to hear about the work that Reformed ministries was planning to do in the settlement. Ian shared from 2 Tim 3, about how the Word of God is God?s Word, inspired and filled with amazing riches. He talked about how we need to go back to the Bible, and learn what?s in it, and let it direct us. He then talked about Reformed theology ? Sola Scriptura (use scripture alone as authoritative), Sola Gratia (we are saved by grace alone), Sola Fieda (by faith alone, not by earning salvation), and Sola Christos (all of it by Christ alone, and His work)! It was a beautiful evening, we spent time in worship as well, and Ian and Andrew explained the work they hoped to do in the next coming year in their settlement. And of course, we are starting to get used to it, Karen and I also got to share who we were and of our plans. After the service was over, almost all the people walked us home. They escorted us up to the gate and thanked us for coming. We spent time rejoicing and giving thanks to the LORD for the door He was opening up to us.


Friday, Dec 29 ? What better way to finish off 2006 than to Paint! On Friday we painted the Wildeboer?s house. We started with one wall, decided on a second, then a third, fourth. And then we thought we should continue on and finish the whole main floor, so that?s what we did. So their gloomy, pale blue main floor was transformed into a bright, wear-your-sun-glasses yellow that would cause no one to have a bad day colour.
Saturday, Dec 30 ? So we finished painting in the morning, as we decided to change a few things.
Sunday, Dec 31 ? The last day of the year. We had a combined worship service at Tent City, and a lot of people from Bumbu settlement decided to join us so they waited at our front gate. It was a beautiful worship service and we were challenged and encouraged to let God?s Word and the Holy Spirit lead and guide us in 2007! We had a nice afternoon, able to spend time in devotions, and then got together with the VanderHeides for a Gormetten (sp?) dinner. We closed off the year with some swimming, and then what else, but a Settlers game.
Monday, Jan 1 ? We began our holidays with the Wildeboers. We spent the day driving to Madang, a coastal town (city) about 5 hours away. It was quite the drive, that?s all I got to say. While in Madang we got to do a bunch of different stuff, including reading, site seeing, studying, snorkeling, and visiting different spots.
Wednesday, Jan 2 ? we went to the village where Ian and Nadia lived for 6 weeks when they did their training. They visited their Was-Mamma (I have no idea how to spell that), the lady who took care of them, whose house they stayed at. It was nice to see the area they lived in and to meet all their friends.
Thursday, Jan 3 ? we went to a place just down the coast called Jais Aben. There we did more snorkeling. We actually got dropped off at an island and snorkeled around the reef there. It was incredibly beautiful! It makes me marvel at the hand of the Almighty who fashioned and takes care of all His creation. It was so beautiful. We also got to visit POC (I think it stands for Pacific Orientation Course) or something like that, but it was the place Ian and Nadia did their training, and where Andrew and Natalie are going to do theirs.
Friday, Jan 4 ? After searching for Ian?s orchid farm for awhile we gave up and started the trek home. Again, a very interesting, bumpy drive!
Saturday, Jan 5 ? Karen and I packed up, and we said our good-byes to the Wildeboers and the VanderHeides. Ian and Nadia drove us to the airport, and we took off for Port Moresby. At Port Moresby, the other vanderHeides, Wayne and Cheronne, picked us up and we stayed at their home. It was nice to finally meet them, and get to know them a little as we missed them last time they were in Canada, and as we heard so much about them.
Sunday, Jan 6 ? We got to attend the Reformed church in a settlement right near Port Moresby. Once again, it was a beautiful service, and pastor knew English so he we would repeat a lot of things in English, and our Pigon is getting better so we could understand a lot. It was nice to fellowship with that congregation and to meet them all. What a joy! After lunch Wayne showed me around Port Moresby, and later we all drove and visited Stephen and Dorinda t?Hart and family. We were able to see the theological school that was being built as well. That was a joy to see. What a neat project! There is a main classroom, with a side room for offices. And they are also building student housing and washroom fascilities. In addition the t?Harts home is built on the property and they are waiting to build the vanderHeide?s home. It was a real blessing to see that all, and we pray that God will bless their work and make a blessing for the people and use it for His Kingdom work.
Monday, Jan 7 ? We say good-bye to the vanderHeide family and spend the day flying to Australia- to Brisbane.
The rest of this week we have been resting and recuperating. I went to the hospital on Tuesday as I got an infection in my foot, and my whole foot swelled up. We still aren?t sure what caused it. And the next day I went in again to get it checked out to see if there was any improvement. Anyway, it is going to take a few days for it to heal, so I just thank the LORD for the time we have here in Brisbane before we move off to Indonesia at the end of the week. So we both spent the last few days sleeping and resting, and just thinking about all that we have learned and experienced. I pray that my foot gets better before tomorrow, and for patience till it does get better.

Well, right now it is Thursday night. We pack up again tomorrow morning and head for Timor. We get to Bali tomorrow night, and then the next day, the Lord willing, we will fly to Kupang and meet up with the Dethans. And then the next 3 weeks we will be working with them. We are pretty excited about that.

Anyway, we hope you are all doing well. There are some things that we are missing out on back home, and people are in our prayers and thoughts. We think of Tim and Cara?s wedding ? we wish them the Lord?s blessing and wish we could have been there. We are excited for Streetlight Ministries, that they could have their first church service and that Doug and Slatko could do their profession of faith. We think of Campfire and for all those that have applied for staff positions. May the Lord grant wisdom and insight to the exec as they have to decide on the next staff. We are excited about that a lot! We also think of the teams gone to the DR and Hondouras ? may they be kept safe and may they have a productive and blessed trip. May the LORD use their work their and may they let their light shine and share the love of Christ! We also think of the Kentucky team as it is selected and as they prepare to go down and serve. You will be in our thoughts! We also think of everyone who is continuing on in school, whether they are starting a new semester or not. God?s blessings in your studies. And to our friends in Haiti ? it is good to be updated about what?s happening, and we continue to pray for you. And to all our family and friends ? we miss you all! May this year be dedicated to the LORD, and for His glory, and may His love live in your hearts and mind, and may the knowledge of Jesus Christ and his work, give you peace!

Some pics from PNG

Sorry about taking so long to update, we've been busy lately.... not on strike as some thought! here are a few pictures, Randy is working on a written update of what we have been up to. Presently we are in Brisbane, Australia and tomorrow we fly out for Indonesia.

Enjoy!

Group photo just before we flew off The Christmas Vacation Bible School in Tent City, the children are proudly holding up the activities that they made
Randy dancing in Ruth's village on Boxing day. Thankfully their dancing is just like running around in a circle so we could participate and look like we knew what we were doing!
Randy and Ian getting ready to snorkel off an island in Madang. The snorkeling was AMAZING!!! God's world in the ocean is absolutely incredible