A Week Till Christmas

What's it look like outside where you are, a week till Christmas.

 

We longingly hear tales about snow from several of you lately…

 

Outside here in Jakarta, it's often times rainy, but we've got our share of holiday ambiance. A tree decorated with ornaments that we've collected for the last four Christmas', yummy smelling candles, plenty of Frank Sinatra Christmas songs and some fun packages under our tree. Surprisingly so, for the worlds largest Muslim nation, there are still plenty of signs of Christmas' impending arrival. We've had the chacne to visit the local malls, (read monstrosities, gigantic modern malls) and they're totally decked out. We can even walk into one of the few Gap stores in the country and totally forget that we're on the other side of the workd from where the Gap was started. The stores even only sell the same winter weather clothes that you can find in your mall. Surprisingly enough. But the real kicker and 'helper' is the Peppermint Mocha's from our Starbucks!!!

 

So, besides all that how are we?

 

I had a productive trip to Papua and back and was able to close up our house there and sort through and then pack things to both ship to Java and also to store there in Papua till we really know what we're doing next. It was a lonely couple of days given our current circumstances, but I was able to get things done som much quicker than if our whole family had returned.

 

While I was gone, Bethany went to the Dr. twice concerning the boys. The good news is that Owen isn't showing any more signs of malaria or it's residual effects. He's till having some stomach issues. Jack's stomach really seems to have calmed down. His persistant several times a day problem with diarrhea seems to really have lessoned. But we're still going to have the boys see a Pediatric GI (Gastroenterologist) next Saturday to get their opinion of what might be causing the symptoms.

 

I think that Bethany and I have both been able to get some much needed rest as well and that helps things as well.

 

So, what's next for us. Our team in Salatiga, the town where we intitally studied langauge has already found a house that will be ready for us to move into with minimal preparation. So on the 29^th of December we'll tentatively plan on flying to Salatiga. We'll have several days to move in and then I'll start language study on the 7^th. At the stage of language study that we'll be at, I'll be in class for 2 hours a day followed by several hours of homework and talking with neighbors and friends in Indonesian. That will allow some flexibility during our initial time of settling in again. Bethany is planning on waiting a month to start.

 

We anticipate 6-8 more months of study to really get to the recommended proficiency but we hope to be in a place at the end of that time, where we can really evaluate where the Lord would lead us to serve. There are quite a few options that will most likely need filling and having some 'un-pressured' time to explore, ask questions, perhaps visit areas in person, and dialogue with our leadership will be really healthy for us. in hindsight, we really feel like we should of have done much more of those fore-mentioned activities prior to arriving in Papua.

 

That's us right now, and we're so grateful for your prayers and support right now. Honestly, if it weren't for your petitioning before our God on our behalf, there's a really high chance that we might have given up by now.

 

Please keep us in prayer as we make another transition to another area in Indonesia, for the boys and Bethany especially as they've had the most stress lately.

 

We also need prayer for the ability to stepback into the language student role. We're getting to the age where we're ready to kiss the classroom goodbye, but we'll be needng diligence!

 

We're also anticipating the need for increased financial support as we transition and hopefully begin to look towards the future. Please ask the Lord to provide what we need.

 

That's it for now, enjoy this week before Christmas to the fullest possible!!!

 

Joel for the Potters