Travel, Rest & More Travel

Today was a travel day after 3 days on another island. We are back in Manado and have an off day before we travel back to the States. I leave here at 11:00pm Thursday (EST) and arrive in Charleston at 11:45pm Saturday night (EST). The last several days have been full with some sightseeing added in. Yesterday we went snorkling on a coral reef which was incredible. Brian and I are hoping to video in during the Wednesday evening gathering at Randolph Street. If you can make the gathering we should be calling in around 7pm. The trip nears the end and I am anxious to worship with our church family this coming Sunday. Mark and Kathy Fehrman will be with us and I am excited for you to hear of their ministry to the least-reached peoples. I will post some pics in the morning.

Planes, boats and wild car rides

The last two days have been tiresome. After spending much of Saturday in the airport, our flight to another island was canceled. We woke this morning (Sunday) at 4am and headed to the airport again. After a few delays we made it out and arrived on a nearby island just before noon. After taking a taxi to the waterfront, we jumped on a boat for a trip through some of the spice islands to another island. An hour later we at our destination island. We hired a driver and took a 3+ hour trip up the island. This was no ordinary drive. We only killed 1 rooster, but a number of cattle, bicycles, carts and mopeds just about joined the carnage. The driver consistently hit 70mph on a road that made route 60 look straight. We arrived at our destination rather car sick. Due to the lack of high speed internet I will not be able to post pics until next Wednesday. Please pray for a fruitful time. 

A Hospital and a Faithful Pastor

Today I had the privilege of visiting a sick pastor in a local hospital. He is a dear brother who has been pastoring over 40 years. It sounds as if he has worked himself to exhaustion, taking the gospel to surrounding, remote villages. We visited and prayed with this pastor, asking God to give him more years for the cause of the gospel. After the visit, a man and lady from his church took us to a seaside restaurant to show us appreciation. I enjoyed hearing thier conversion to Christ and seeing their obvious passion for Jesus and His glory among their fellow Indonesians. It was a humbling day.

Pics from Indo

Last night we went for a walk to try out some local cuisine. We walked about a mile to eat a soup called soto ayam. This soup contains chicken, chili peppers, lemon grass, rice noodles, sambal & a variety of spices and herbs. After several bits, I had to ask Brian if my bottom lip was still on my face.

It is fascinating to walk the streets of this particular city. The people here love to call us bule (bu-lay), which means "whitey". They love to take pics with us and talk. Walking a mile takes quite some time as many want to chat. The other night, at the wedding feast, we had more pics taken of us than the bride and groom had of them. 

Volcanoes, papaya & roosters :)

Greetings from Indonesia! While there is so much I would like to share with you, it is probably wise that I communicate most of that verbally with you when I return home. Let me simply say two things I will probably repeat several times throughout the week. First, I love God's family. It is diverse and beautiful. There is a song we often sing at RS that says this, "But the Bride will run, to her Lover's arms, Giving glory to Immanuel." Oh, how I long for that day. Second, we have much work to do at RS. The 321 project aims for our region and the nations. As the waters cover the seas . . . 

On the blog I am going to share some of that things I am experiencing in this beautiful country. For those of you who went on our Honduras trip you would be fascinated by the similarities. Roads, structures, smells (mainly exhaust fumes) and even the people remind me much of Tegucigalpa. The weather is hot and the sun is always shining (I am not rubbing in the fact that I am sweating and you are shoveling snow:) The food is very good and always accompanied by fresh fruit such as pineapple and papaya. 

Much of our time is spent on a mountain with a beautiful view of the countryside and city. The scenery is breath taking with mountains rising out of the ocean and a volcano looming in the distance. I hope to take a picture of the volcano at sunrise one morning and post it on our blog. Before we return to the States I am told I will have the opportunity to go scuba diving near here.  That should be interesting and will probably take a toll on my white, bald scalp. 

Below you will see a pic of our lodging for this week. Outside my window several roosters think the sun is rising at the top of each hour throughout the night. They may meet the same fate as the dogs of Indonesia before the week is out. Speaking of dogs, tonight we go to a wedding celebration and feast (if you are confused with this statement please read the previous post). It is in a home that overlooks the city and we will hear the evening call to prayer from the nearby mosque. 

Please pray for us as we will be doing much traveling (plane & boat) in the coming days. The ancient serpent has had much success. Pray that the King will rise up and conquer through His Word for His glory!