Whew!

Home sweet home, at last.  We made it to Papua on Sunday afternoon, after 3 layovers in between Sulawesi and Papua.  The flights were fine, and actually we saw some amazing views on landing, takeoff and just about the whole time in between.  If we ever begin to doubt how amazing our God is, we just need to get up in the air again to see how beautiful his creation is, especially on this side of the world. 

Just a bit about what we saw before I go on.  As we landed at our first stop along the way home, we were coming in over the water.  Water on both sides was all we could see for a few minutes but yet we were getting closer and closer, farther and farther down, then all of a sudden out of the right side of the plane we see this gigantic Volcano and it even had smoke coming out the top!  Not errupting, but definitely active!  Wow, was that beautiful!  So here we are, so close you think you should be able to touch it but so glad you can’t and then WAMO, runway!  Bump bump bump bounce bump bump and feet to the floor in some attempt to slow the plane down.  That had to have been the shortest runway, I’ve ever landed on!  They had us get off the plane momentarily and as we stood on the ground next to the plane, we looked up to see mountains all around and the ocean just behind us!  Wow!! That’s all I can say!

Ok, so we repeated that senario in similar ways two more times before arriving in our “Home Town”.  That was Sunday.  We were greeted by a friend at the airport and he brought us home (with all our stuff – yes, every thing made it!) to our new house.  We certainly will not lack for space here and as a matter of fact, we’re not sure yet how we will fill all the space.  We have spent the last two days unpacking box after box and last night we got to set up our living room.  What a relief to have one room seem normal.  We have the ability to run 1 air conditioner at a time at this point, so this room is our “cool room” and we will visit it often.  It’s hot here for sure and I’m not sure in the last two days if we stopped sweating all day long.  The evenings aren’t too bad and we’ve slept comfortably each night, for which we are very thankful.

We were welcomed to the guesthouse and our house (which are next to one another on the same property) by cards from friends here, there and everywhere, three packages that somehow got lost in the mail while we were in Java, and the greetings of some old friends and some new –all our new co-workers.  I, Bethany got to a store yesterday to get some staples and I must say, when it comes to shopping in Indonesia, I much prefer Papua to Java.  I could hear myself think in the store and there was actually enough room to move along the isles comfortably.

Before I go, I just want to share some neat things God has done for us these past weeks.  This is not an attempt at bragging on ourselves but is absolutely our desire to brag on our BIG, BIG God!

Several weeks before we left we were blessed by a several thousand dollar donation by an anonymous person at our church to help cover the cost of shipping.  Then when we got to Sulawesi, we began to write out all the things we would need still to set up a new home; places for the boys clothes, a kitchen table, a bed for us, a refrigerator, stove, vehicle, etc. and we began to feel overwhelmed,wondering where it would all come from.  The only and best thing we could do was pray.  And pray we did, asking God to provide for our needs, trusting He would, in His time.  Each day, no word on how we would pay for these things, then the morning that we left to come here to Papua, I checked email one more time (at 3am) just 15 minutes before we would leave and low and behold a gift had been given back home which would cover some of the expenses of the things we would need.  THEN!!!  Within 10 minutes of our being here, our new partners informed us that someone here on our regional team, donated enough money for us to pick out a refirigerator!  Now you must understand, we are literaly at the end of the road here, well, I guess if you went out to the tribal locations that would technically be the end, but we are pretty close!  Getting a refrigerator here is no cheap buy and this family gave enough for us to get one that would more than suit our needs!  Oh, and our field also gave another gift out of a fund that is set up for folks like us with a special need! 

Are you as blessed as I am by this?  I mean, wow God!  Humbled and so aware of the blessing of being in the Body of Christ.  God provided, maybe at the last minute but He provided!  We CAN trust Him, He IS Faithful, and we ARE blessed to be His children.  A song keeps running through my head these days and I can just hear my friend Teri singing it. It goes,

“God will make a way,

where there seems to be no way.

He works in ways we cannot see.

He will make a way for me.

He will be my guide, hold me closely to His side.

With love and strength for each new day,

He will make a way. God will make a way!”

 

Let us encourage you with something. If you are waiting on God with something, wondering, waiting, worrying, eliminate the wonder and the worry, just trust Him. He will make a way!

 

Bethany