We Finally arrived!

Where do we start?! At the beginning of course!  God went before us the whole way.  First we didn’t get much sleep Friday the 30th as we were packing.  Around 3:45 I was done and thinking, “I’ll wake Miles up in 15 minutes”.  That was the last I knew until 4:30 when our taxi arrived early and called.  We had ordered a 5AM pick up.  We “rapidly” dressed and arrived on time at the airport.  (A God Thing - AGT) Our flight to Honolulu was uneventful and only about 30 minutes but after arrival we found out that, Philippine airlines baggage handlers were on strike.			Good By Paradise
We were supposed to travel with several of the men we met from Haggai Institute but many of them were re-routed as connecting flights were cancelled.  Ours however was only delayed by 3 ours and we had plenty of time to make our connecting flight. (AGT).  Our 10 ½ hour flight into Manila was a bit bumpy due to the extreme weather they had been having.  It was pouring buckets and chilly but the air conditioning at the terminal was still on. I was freezing.  I told Miles to remind me of this when I was roasting (boiling) in a few more hours.  We paid $5 American for a cup of hot tea and a miniature (by American standards) cup of cappuccino.  One friend from Haggai Institute was with us and he knew how to get us out of the customs area quickly.  A “TSA” agent walked us right past everything.  We would have stayed in the long line if not for him. (AGT) We flew to Jakarta in around 3 hours arriving at 2AM Monday Oct. 3rd.  The Ticket office was closed until 3AM.  Our Jakarta friend from Haggai came to  the rescue again.  He hooked us up with a porter, talked to the “TSA” agents for us and made sure that we were feeling safe before he left.			Haggai Institute guys.
Our porter stayed with us until the ticket  office opened, lugged our 6 bags first into the “TSA” X-ray, then back onto our cart, then to a machine that was required to “band” each piece of luggage, then lugged them to the ticket agent where they were weighed. We then had to check our carryon as we were only allowed a  “personal” item on Garuda Airlines.  We had to  take the carry-ons  back to the banding machine then to the  ticket agent were we were told to go and pay for our “Over Weight” charge at a different window.  Our porter was confident that we were ok after that so he headed back to the gates to get another customer and we were totally alone.  We went back to the ticket window where we had to pay the airport fee.				Makena beach, great snorkeling
Why the ticket agent couldn’t take the overweight fee but could take the airport  fee we don’t know and as Foreigners we didn’t want to rock the boat.  We finally got our boarding passes after all of that. (AGT) At this point we have been up for over 30 hours and I had awakened very early Friday AM.  When we took off Miles had fallen asleep during the safety presentation and doesn’t remember taking off.  We flew for another 3 hours and landed in Masuk.  We had to de-board the plane for 45 minutes and almost missed the call to board again. (AGT) Another 3 Hours, @ 1:30 PM later we finally arrived in Sentani.  We were met  by the Program manager Doug Allrich and his wife Karin.   They helped us get our bags to our house and left us to freshen up.  A  welcome gathering was planned for the afternoon where we met most of the Sentani MAF team.				Welcome to our home
This team is great as they put us on what they call “Meal Sked” which basically means our first few days’ meals are taken care of so we have time to figure out the stores, currency, and buy groceries before we have to cook for ourselves.  We ate dinner with the Juneau family and enjoyed homemade tacos with homemade tortillas.  YUM! :) (AGT) Wednesday we had tours of the school and hangar then got the “Welcome” speech with all the expectations, “Shredded Wheat”, not very tasty but good for you.  (I actually like the taste of shredded wheat!) J  Dinner was with Joyce at her house and she invited several teachers and the elementary principal with his wife and daughter.  We had a great evening.	2 phase washer, 1 side washes, and the other side spins. I have to manually move them from one side to the other
Thursday I went to the school and got curriculum, keys, and an orientation.  Miles had alone time here.   It rained pretty good most of the day.  The rainy season is just starting here.  At least the rain is warm and it sort of cools things off.  We had dinner with the Raneys, Steve and Cindy; he is the Grounds and Opps. manager.  OUR HOME: We have a pineapple grove along our back fence.  It is at least 30 feet of Pineapples that will grow year round.  Right now there are 20 or more set that are in different stages of growth and ripeness.  Our yard is quite nice and we will need to hire a yard man to help us keep it up.	Dryer AKA clothes line
The windows have no glass, just rat wire (Yes, I said rat!) covered with mesh to keep out the mosquitoes.  There are also security bars to prevent unwanted visitors of the homosapien variety.  Since there is no glass the temperature outside is the temperature inside and air conditioning is difficult.  Our bedroom windows have plastic over them to help keep the cool air in from the one air conditioner in the house.  Right now we call it the cave since we seem to spend most of our time in there.  We are so grateful for this extra luxury.   All of our electronics are in there, safe from the humidity that surrounds us everywhere else. The Geckos or Chichaks as they are called here are everywhere.  I watched one disappear into the hand towel in the bathroom.  I don’t mind them in the house so much, but I will mind if I squish one while drying my hands or face. L All the lights are old fluorescent tube type.  They make a humming sound when turned on.  We are 2 blocks from the generators that power the entire city of Sentani.  This is actually a white noise that at first I didn’t distinguish from the ocean sound that we had been hearing for the last few weeks.		Miles at end of pineapple row
All this said is not to sound ungrateful for this home but to try to give you a mental picture of our new surroundings. We are so excited and happy to be here.  We begin our work on Monday.  I will start out teaching 6th grade Bible, 1-5th grade art, and help out in the resource room with ESL needs and whatever else comes my way!  Friday nights are big here.  We will experience it tomorrow.  There is a game, currently Volley Ball, and the entire mission community turns out to watch, support the youth, meet up, and socialize.  Each week one grade level at the high school gets to prepare a dinner plate that is sold for a small profit that goes into their class fund to be spent usually on the class senior trip.

Farewell Paradise

Well, we are finally on our way.  We were told not to look for our visas until Wednesday the 28^th.  Last Friday I volunteered at the church after a morning of snorkeling.  Miles chose to stay with his brother and lo and behold here came the Fed EX truck.  God knew that Miles was beginning to worry about catching him since we weren’t at the condo any more.  Again down to the minutia we are taken care of.  We leave Sat Oct. 1^st @ 7:30A and arrive in Sentani @ 2:30P Monday October 3.  In Sentani we are 12 + 2 hours ahead of you so it will be around noon thirty on Sunday Pacific Time.  We are routed through Manila with a 6 hour layover there before we head to Jakarta.  Four hours in Jakarta then on to Sentani.  Our biggest concern is that our luggage get checked all the way to Sentani, otherwise we have to store our baggage in Jakarta and the “Team” will pick it up and send it as cargo at a later date.  We are fine no matter which way God has planned as He has proved Himself over and over that He is indeed in control and though it might seem to the world that He should have sent them all along with us, He will have a greater plan and we are fine with whatever He has in store.  Who knows who we might meet a few weeks later when our bags come?

We have had a great time with Miles brother Darr and his wife Kim.  This extended time to spend together was both refreshing and healing as we shared together about their sister who is home with the Lord.  Kim and I enjoyed shopping for our grandchildren together.  I was in need of some girl time it was great to talk “girl talk” with her for a couple of days.  We spent several sunsets together over meals.  Sunset here is around 6:30.  We found out from a local that he had done extensive research into the fact that once the sun touches the horizon it is only 2.9 minutes ‘til it is all the way down.  It seems to be true over here at least. J Check it out at your longitude and let me know. Once sunset is over everyone seems to go to dinner.  It is very different for us to eat dinner around 7PM.  We have been adapting to changes and will adapt to whatever the customs in Sentani. 

A fun note is that the men we have been spending our Sundays with from Haggai Institute will be traveling with us to Manila.  The ones from India will go on from there, and we met one who lives in Jakarta.  He will continue on with us.  We are so blessed to have met these mighty men of God who are going to their home countries as leaders to begin or support what God has in store for them in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

More when we arrive!  Wahoo!  We're on our way!  I want / need to run in every direction at the same time I am so excited!

Visas and personalized care

Rejoice with us brothers and sisters in Christ!

Our Visas have left the Indonesian government, arrived at headquarters, and were sent to the American Consulate in LA. Headquarters told us that they were planning an October 1st or 2nd arrival in Jakarta.  We realized there was going to be a problem as Mile's brother, his wife, and another couple were coming over for a stay from the 20th - 29th.  Nobody thought that we would still be here by then.  This condo is too small for 6 people so we prayed then looked into the cost of renting another condo or a hotel to stay here.  We also looked at going back to the mainland and told MAF via E-Mail that we might have to leave for Indonesia from another location and we would get back to them once we knew.  We were thinking maybe we'd go to San Diego and visit Josh & Allyl and be there for their daughter Ainsley's dedication service on the 25th, visit our daughter Jennifer, her husband John, and our 4 other grandchildren: Jerrod, Dakota, Johnny, and Gabrielle, then back up to Portland to see our youngest son Trent and his wife Kristie and their new house.  Of course we would visit friends all along the way.  We would be tired but happy at God's provision of a last visit before we leave.

We shared our dilemma with our new brothers and sisters in Christ over here knowing that no answer was "right or wrong", we just wanted God's direction.  One couple just off the bat offered, "Why don't you house sit for us?  We are going to the mainland on Monday."  We gasped at the wonderful offer and promised that we would pray about it and get back to them in the morning.  We prayed that God would show us "Why" we should do one or the other.  It seemed to us that God had made a provision for us before we even knew we had a need.  After much prayer and discussion we decided to take them up on the offer and contacted MAF and told them that we were indeed staying and we would let them know the address where we were staying for sending our visas and passports.  MAF responded with a, "That's good that you are staying since your visas are coming to you at the condo and it is too late to change the address.  Hope that doesn't cause any problems for you." 

Wow!  God even knew that piece.  It was the answer to our prayer as to why.
We love and serve an awesome God!

Two weeks ago we met 6 professional men from India that are here attending the "Haggai Institute".  Haggai trains nationals to go back to their home country and evangelize.  These Christian men are doctors, a magazine publisher, and other profesions that are highly respected.  They came to Hope Chapel, the church where we have been worshiping and helping out.  They didn't have a car and since we "drive on the wrong side of the road over here" they had no desire to rent one.  We have been using Mile's dads car that holds 5 comfortably.  We piled them in and took them sight seeing that first Sunday, then took them to the beach on labor day (they had that day off from studies) where Hope Chapel had a baptismal service.  They rented snorkeling equipment and we taught them to snorkel.  We had a grand day!  They were so excited to see the bottom of the ocean!  One cannot see the beautiful colors of tropical fish, corral, and sea anemones without worshiping the creator of the universe!

Tomorrow we are taking them to the top of Haleakalah for a beautiful sunset dinner. 
We are sad to be leaving Paraise behind by the 1st of October but we are glad to get going to our new life in Indonesia.

Meandering in Maui

		Well, We’ve been here for over 3 weeks now.   Miles Visa has cleared and Dion’s’ should clear next week.  If not for the Indonesian Govt. closing down the entire past week for Ramadan her visa might have cleared this week.  It will take  up to 2 weeks for MAF to process us once they  have both our Visas.  It seems we have 3 weeks  to go.    In the picture to the left we are half way down from Mt. Haleakala at Sunset.  We have seen so many truly awesome sunsets while we have been here.  The north western MT on Maui and part of  the Isthmus between North and South Maui are behind us.  Both of these mountains are usually shrouded in clouds.
My Cousin Rhonda and her husband, Lance, in front of their home is the next picture to the right.  I hadn’t seen Rhonda since I was 8 years old.  It has been great to get to know them.  They have been a great resource for telling us of things to do for free and inexpensively.  They have lived here for over 40years.  What a great gift of family they are since we are so far from family and friends.              This is a new experience for us.  God is stretching us to understand that we have family and friends everywhere.    We have been attending Hope Chapel Maui since we got here.  Dion is volunteering at the church office two – three days a week.  We started attending an Ohana group (Home Bible Study).  The family of God has opened their arms to us.  You too can be welcomed into the family of God if you open your hearts to God, and get involved in a local family / church.
			This was taken during a sunset cruise  by our waiter.  We have been snorkeling,  walking on the beach, spending time in God’s word, and prayer both alone and  together.  It is so refreshing to have all the time in the world to spend together with each other as well as the one who loves us  most and best, Jesus Christ!         We are learning more and more about each other and learning new communication tools.  We have never spent this much ti me together in all of our 35 married years.    What a joy to rediscover each other and find that we truly do like each other.
We couldn’t resist this shot of Miles in front of the Bubba Gump restraint in Lahaina.   It is a photo op which includes Forrest Gump’s suitcase, shoes, socks and the ever popular “Box of Chocolates” which is what our life is like right now.  You never know what you’re going to get.       It has been hot and muggy here but the breeze that picks up in the afternoon is delicious.  Staying in the pool or the ocean helps to keep us cool.  Seeing sea turtles, having picnics are the things that make it interesting.  When we were on Haleakala at Poli Polli state park for a picnic it was so cold we almost needed a jacket, which of course we didn’t bring since it was over 90 degrees when we left the house.  We are hoping that this will be a good half way point to get acclimated to the heat and humidity of Indonesia.
	The pictures to the left were taken from the Iao Valley.  The airport is in the background which shows that it is not far from civilization.  The jutting rock to the right is called the needle.  It is where Maui warriors stood as look out during an especially fierce battle between the Mauians and King Kamehameha and his warriors before the islands were united.

Visas

Rejoice with us brothers and sisters!  Our visas are finally in motion! J  Miles’ visa should have cleared yesterday the 19^th of August, and Dions’ should be 2 weeks behind.  We are grateful for the gift of time that is including this rest before we plunge into our new Indonesian life.   God is so good and knows just what we need!

What, you might ask, have we been doing with all of our time over here? NOTHING! J

Well, not exactly nothing.  We swim in the pool several times a day, read and nap by the pool, spend time on the beach and in the water.  The water is so lovely.  The part of the beach we don't  like is the wind.  It is pretty windy in the afternoons here.  It clouds up every day but doesn’t rain and it is still very warm.  The more clouds the muggier it is.  The sunrises and sunsets are gorgeous with all the lovely clouds! 

We are having quiet time together each morning.  This feels absolutely luxurious as we

 have always gotten up @5AM and Miles has rushed off by 5:30.  Our relationship with

each other is deepening and our time with the Lord has taken on a new feel as we share

His insights with each other first thing in the AMJ. 

We visited the church where Miles’ folks attend last Sunday and then their “Ohana group

 (Family, home Bible study) on Wednesday evening.  We volunteered 2 mornings at the church, and are feeling like this is our home away from home.  Gods’ family is AWESOME! J

Speaking of family, Dion has a long lost cousin who has lived here for 40 years.  She hasn’t seen her since she was 8 years old but we met up with her and her husband for dinner last night.  We had a wonderful time catching up on family news and they are going to take us to their favorite picnic spot later in the week. 

Well, check back next week to see if I am following through to post each week.  Remember that we are 3 hours behind the West coast so by the time we have breakfast and quiet time it is already noon there.  Blessings to you all!

Miles and Dion J

Doctors and Lawyers and Moles, OH MY!

We had a fruitful time at the home office in Nampa Idaho. We were stretched beyond what we could do humanly. God is stretching us and giving us the grace, though painful for us, to grow through it. While there, we found that we still had some Ts to cross and Is to dot. We spent just over a week seeing our lawyer to organize our family trust, saw doctors, had our last shots, and we both had a mole removed. Miles says he is not sure he will recognize me with out the mole under my nose. It had swelled and become painful while in Nampa so it had to go. His mole was on his chest in the farmers tan area. We are still healing.

The hardest thing for me to do was sort out the last of my "Things".  Mostly it was toiletries. Fluids weigh a lot so we couldn't take it all. I gave some away and left whole bottles at home. It is hard to believe that we are down to 6 suitcases. We have our furniture and some tubs in our shed behind our house but the rest was given away or sold. It has been a difficult but freeing process. God was gracious in having our home leased for the year that we are gone. We feel untied to this world except for our families and friends. Who knows what God will do with us over the next few years? We are excited!

We still have no word on our Visas. Due to a gift from a neighbor who works for Alaska Airlines (Thanks Nelson), and some mileage that we had built up, we were able to come to Maui HI. For under $200. Miles parents have a condo here. After the last few months living at a break neck pace, we could use a break.  We aren't planning on doing many of the touristy things. We are mostly planning on resting and reconnecting. We are living on the cheap and off of our savings until we leave and MAF funding kicks in. We would live this way on the mainland as well, so what better place to get reconnected with each other as well as strengthen our relationship with God than in paradise? We have extra time in His word and more time for prayer. We are sad to say that this time gets shortened when under stress. This is the opposite of what we need to do. God is still working on us. Our only regret in being here is not seeing your faces for a longer period of time. Pray with us that our Visas will go through quickly.

On the other hand, I am sitting here on the Lanai (deck, patio) in the early morning and the cacophony of bird sounds is fantastic. The Bougainvillea, Mimosa,and Hibiscus, just to name a few that I know the names of, are in full bloom making for a wondrous tapestry to view everywhere we go. We have been walking on the beach, walking to town, swimming in the pools, and watching some pretty amazing sunrises and sunsets. We feel pretty good physically and God is drawing us closer and closer to Him. Why leave? We are waiting on Him. When we are ready we are confident that God will release our Visas and we will be on our way.

I will have more time to post as I had always intended , once a week, while here. Hopefully it will become a habit that I will continue during our stay in Sentani. Watch for it.

Until next time! :)

Visas and Orientation

Miles and I want to thank you all for all of your support.  Your Physical, financial, and spiritual support means so much to us.  We would not be fully funded without each of you.  We are humbled that God has chosen to send us and use you to help in  the accomplishment of the Great Commission.
Prior to leaving for orientation we were told that MAF worldwide is being challenged by the evil one to change the way they do business.  This issue has our visas in limbo. We were privileged to be able to meet our regional director and take him to lunch last week.  He is going back to Sentani on Tuesday and will personally attend to the consulate not just on our behalf but on behalf of MAF et all in Indonesia.  We know that we will not arrive in Sentani one day later than what God has planned for us.  We are ready and are waiting on the Lord. 

Our breakneck pace has slowed and we are spending much needed time with each other.  Since it seems that mid Aug is now the earliest we will leave we are planning a vacation where we will be able to re-bond with each other and move forward as a team.  After 7 weeks apart and 2 weeks of being in a pressure cooker while we got moved out of our house, cleaning, painting, packing, and sorting, we are looking forward to spending some quality time together with the pressure off.  We will be back under pressure once we arrive in Sentani as we begin to settle in and prepare to find our niches where we will be.

Our orientation group includes four "candidate" couples who are just in the beginning of the process as we were in November.  It is exciting to meet these young families who are committing to serve Christ with MAF once they are accepted.  Each region has presented themselves to the group.  Each region would love to have the entire group come to their programs. The group has gelled nicely and they would love nothing better than to serve together.  We of course are the oldest couple in our group and have no children coming to the field with us. 

We are spending time in classes designed to prepare us for ministry overseas.  We have very full days learning about cultures, conflict resolution, spiritual warfare, different regions, the Indonesian language,  as well as chapel every Wednesday morning.    Our group is in charge of Chapel this week as we introduce ourselves to the home office staff.  Our classes coming up this week include cooking from scratch, travel, safety, more language and Hr stuff like benefits including medical. 

We have been invited home for dinner this week by a family from the church we visited today.  It is so good to be part of the family of God.  We are all parts in His body.  Praise Him!

We are still available by phone, email, and face book.  We will try to keep in touch with each of you but please keep in touch with us.

Blessings,