Dear Friends and Family;
Well August has arrived! Everyone here is painting their fences and putting up flags for their August 17th Independence Day. Our lives are getting back to normal. Greg and Herman have safely returned from their visit to our tribe, and Greg is now handling all major water problems! He is so much better at it than I am!
They had a great trip. They had good times of fellowship and worship with the new believers in our tribe, as well as valuable team fellowship time. It was extra meaningful for Greg. Last time he was there they were still preparing to share the gospel, this time there are BELIEVERS! One interesting thing that you can be praying for, the church is mostly made up of young families and children. Many of the older people encourage their children to attend church but won’t attend themselves. Pray with us that the older people will be willing to listen to the teaching, and that they will see the changes in the new believer’s lives and desire that in their own lives. Another thing that became painfully apparent to Greg, WE NEED AN AIRPLANE! The hike interior was not an easy one, the ‘trail’ is very steep and difficult, and there is no way we could do it with our kids. Greg was often forced to stop and rest because his legs were cramping up. Herman gleefully told me that he walked up behind Greg on the trail and heard him talking to himself; Greg was muttering something along the lines of, “What was I thinking? Why am I doing this? This is crazy!” Please PRAY with us for an airplane! It would be a blessing to so many ministries in central Indonesia, and literally mean the difference between death and LIFE EVERLASTING for countless people living in the interior regions of Indonesia.
The last two days have been quite an educational experience for me. Herman’s wife, Marien, gave birth to their first child. We were blessed to be able to take them to the hospital and spend a lot of time there with them over the past two days waiting for their little blessing to arrive. He DID finally arrive, healthy and beautiful, but took his time doing so. I can’t get over the differences between giving birth here and what we experience in the states! I feel a little bit guilty over how GOOD we Americans have it. Just one example among many; The patient has to provide everything, garbage bags, medicine, food, sheets for their bed, EVERYTHING. If the patient needs medicine, such as pitocin, the husband has to leave and go to the pharmacy to buy it and bring it back, they had to bring soap and a towel for the baby’s first bath, and pail to dispose of the placenta themselves! This does make it cheaper for them of course, and the average Indonesian would never be able to afford what we pay in the states for healthcare; but it was such still quite a shock to me. PRAY for Herman and Marien as they experience parenthood for the first time, and PRAISE HIM with us for the healthy new baby boy, and the positive outcome of Marien’s long, difficult labor.
We are so thankful for each of you! You are such a vital part of our ministry. Thank you, especially, for the extra dose of encouragement so many of you took the time to send my way while Greg was away! I felt each prayer and thoroughly enjoyed each email. Although things continued to breakdown and fall apart while he was gone, I didn’t fall apart (or breakdown) ONCE! God gave me an extra dose of patience with the kids, the water pumps, the car, etc. I have no doubt that it was your prayers that held me up! As always, we would love to hear about what is happening in your lives and how we can pray for you!
Working together to EXPAND THE REACH OF THE GOSPEL IN INDONESIA;
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