Another jammed packed week in Indonesia! Our main job this week was of course ‘studying the language of Indonesian’ as that will be our ‘main’ job for quite some time, but we also found ourselves fixing an overflowing water tank behind the house, driving our whole family on a scooter, while getting caught in massive rain storms, having to take apart the washing machine to find a lost ring, and getting our internet working again after it died for 4 days!
Besides the ‘normal’ routine in living here in Indonesia we have 2 prayer requests.
The first one is; we were in a meeting this week to talk about what this next year might have in store for us! The main idea of how to learn a foreign language well, is to learn it from the people who speak it. That may sound obvious at first, but the alternative is to learn language in a school/class room. The school setting is nice in that you show up and practice the curriculum and do your home work and progress in the language. Right? Although this is true and helpful, it’s very hard to gain a high fluency level in a class room. The other problem we are having is (and this might sound weird at first) there are too many American’s (english speakers) living around us! We find it’s too easy to visit with your American friends outside of our job of language learning. So... What are we getting at?! With that said and with our meeting with leadership this week we think it’s best to limit our stay here in Central Java and move to a city on the island of Sulawesi. This new city would be a good choice for many reasons. It’s a city where the Indonesian dialect (one of many!) is a lot closer match to the Indonesian dialect that a few Taliabo tribal people speak. This city would be a possible hub for us in the future with relationships and supplies, and for the time being a big benefit would be there are no other NTM missionary living in that area. So although it would be hard for us living on our own for a bit, it would be a HUGE benefit for us to HAVE TO rely on Indonesians and the Lord for EVERYTHING! So please be praying with us about these many details. We are still planning on being where we are for a while studying language here before moving on....
The second prayer request and concern of ours right now is Gwen (our 4 year old). We have known for a long time that Gwen is a VERY sensitive little girl. After our family “Crash” we too has been having a bit of a rough go with all the changes we’ve been having. Ruth and I counted and we have moved about 8 times this last year from house to house and back to Indonesia. That IS a lot of moving! Gwen is a girl who does well in a structured environment (as do most kids!). But this last week has been hard for Gwen in that she started not liking her school (use to be her favorite thing!) and now has started to pee her bed again... All this is say our prayer and goal is to give Gwen as much stability, structure, and love to begin working through this time and to build her back up again!
Thanks you for all your support and for being apart of our lives! We couldn't be functioning here without you and our Lord giving us what we need!
Ben, Ruth, Chloe, Gwen & Addie
P.S. We did get to have a ‘day off’ this weekend and LOVED it! : - )
2 comments:
Lots of Prayers for Gwen and your decisions.
I let the whole church know about the prayer requests, so we are all praying for you guys.
I understand what you guys are dealing with in regards to the language stuff. I can get great grades on my Spanish tests, but I stutter and take so long in replying to actual conversations. Its also hard because I don't get to talk it in the streets at all. That will change once I join the police department, but for now, its hard to remember everything when I'm not in the classroom.
Hope Gwen adjusts quickly. Say hi to both of them for me.
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