Miscellany

I'm somewhat behind my self-imposed schedule of posting every Sunday.  That's the beauty of self-imposed schedules - they can be disregarded on a whim. 

I'll start with the main event of February.  The Moores and I had to make a trip to Singapore to renew our visas.  (Chad Moore is one of the three teachers here this year.  He is here with his wife and two kids. Great family by the way.)

Singapore is wonderful.  It is clean, very cosmopolitan, has a great public transportation system and tons of things to do and see.  The highlights for me were eating at Subway and Chilis and shopping at IKEA!!  Here are a few pictures.

 

One of the many interesting places to visit is Gardens by the Bay.  Two huge greenhouses and many of these "trees".  The ferris wheel in the background is currently the largest in the world - 541 ft high according to Wikipedia.  I understand a larger one is being built in Dubai, to be finished in 2015. 

 

Moving right along, we head to Chinatown.  Not sure what a medical hall is.  I just thought it was interesting and amusing.

 Maybe that medical hall sold 100% crocodile oil. 

 

All good things must come to an end.  So we must return to Tarakan.  But you know, the saying "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home," is very true.  I was glad to get back to my "home" in Tarakan.

 

While we were gone, we gave the students a reading challenge.  If the entire school (3 teachers and 11 kids) read a combined total of 5555 minutes, we would have a party.  Of course, we met the goal and had our party - pizza for lunch (courtesy of the moms), a movie and water games.  Here are a few pictures:

 

No, she isn't about to smack the kids on the ground.  This is a Pinwata - a black trash bag filled with water.  The children on the ground volunteered for the dowsing they got when the bag started breaking open.  Great fun!  :o)



 

All the kids lined up, ready to start the water balloon fight. 

Aunt Mary right in the thick of it.  She's a lot of fun!

 

 

 

 

 

Here's an idea for Pinterest.  :o)  Cut the end off a water bottle, wrap a piece of terry cloth over the hole and secure with a rubber band.  Dip the terry cloth in soapy water; blow through the mouth of the bottle and make bubble snakes. 

The kids had a fun day.  Of course, what kid doesn't enjoy getting a half day off of school, right? 

More about our school next week.



What is that?!?

This is rambutan.  Rambut is the word for hair in Indonesian.  I think you can see the connection.  Actually, it tastes pretty good.  The picture below is what it looks like when opened.  Inside the white "meat' is a seed about the size of a grape.  Looks bad; tastes good.  

 

 

 

Lovely bits of debris found inside the bag of sugar I recently bought.  I thought about throwing the whole bag away but couldn't bring myself to be that wasteful.  So instead I spent twenty minutes going through the sugar picking out whatever the stuff was.  Some of it looked like rocks.    But don't feel sorry for me, :o) since fortunately a bag of sugar only holds about 4 cups. 

 

 

 

 

I still don't know what these things were.  The only thing I recognized in the mess were wings.  Ugh!  Below is  a closer look.  Thought you might enjoy that. 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheechuck (gecko) poop on my scooter!!  Those cheechucks are everywhere!  Below is a close-up for your viewing pleasure.  :o) Notice also the raindrops on my scooter - had to ride home from church in the rain. 



It's the little things that make life interesting.  :o)



 

 

 

Trees

Catchy title, huh?  :o)  I knew everyone would be dying to read this one.  Blame it on Corrie (my daughter).  I was bemoaning the fact that I didn't have anything interesting to write about.  She suggested I just go out my door and take pictures of whatever is in my yard.  And... that's what I did.  I took pictures of the different kinds of trees in my yard. 

Mango (mangga) tree

 

We'll start this walk around the yard here at the mango tree.  It actually had a lot of mangos on it.  One of the boys picked up several and ate them with the  juice dripping down his arms - really the only way to eat a mango.  Kathy (the missionary who lives in the house in the background) said unfortunately most of the mangos have worms inside them.  :o(

 

 



 

 Papaya tree

This papaya tree unfortunately was planted too close to my house.  Its top grew up into the eaves of the house.  Someone came a long and snapped it off in the middle but, as you can see, it has grown back.  All of that growth has happened in less than seven months.  Things do grow fast in the tropics. 

 

 Coconut tree

This is the spiritual tree in my yard. It reminds me of Psalm 92:12.  "The uncompromisingly righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; be long-lived, stately, upright, useful and fruitful. "

 

  Coconuts

 

Bayan tree

This tree is a favorite of our school kids.  They swing from it, climb all over it, hide in it and find lizards in it.  We teachers, stand in its shade during recess duty.  An interesting feature of this tree is its "aerial" roots.  Roots run from the branches to the ground. 

 



 There are more trees in the yard but after about three hours of trying to get these pictures downloaded, I think I'll just post these. 

Until next time.

 

 

 

 

 

MAF's work in Kalimantan

MAF-Tarakan's newest Kodiak, built by Quest Aircraft, taxis up to the hangar at the end of its ferry flight from Papua, Indonesia.  This Kodiak was donated by an anonymous benefactor. The Tarakan fleet now consists of two Kodiaks and three Cessna 206's.  I have been fortunate to be in Tarakan for the arrival of both Kodiaks. All of the MAF staff - the missionaries and their children and the national staff - encircled the airplane and had a time of prayer dedicating the airplane for Kingdom-building. It's a big deal here to have a brand new airplane arrive, because airplanes are the tools MAF uses to minister to people. Here is the MAF mission statement: Sharing the love of Jesus Christ through aviation and technology so that isolated people may be physically and spiritually transformed. 

I'm including just one pilot's account of his typical day: *(F.Y.I. Pak roughly translates Mr.)

Today I flew almost 6 flight hours,with 12 landings in the Krayan region. This involves many short 10 to 15 minute flights that greatly serve the people living in these villages. Here are some highlights of my day:

- I flew an evangelist, Pak* Jeffry from the city of Tarakan to Long Bawan for his ministry

- I flew another Indonesian pastor to the village of Paupan.

- While in Paupan I got reconnected with another local pastor who is based in that village.

- I flew people home from a cultural festival from Binuang. There were more than 75 people wanting to leave Binuang. After two flights I was able to help 9 of them.

- I flew almost 900 pounds of crop treatment to the village of Long Layu so that their harvest will be healthy.

- I flew some government workers to Malianau so they could further do their jobs.

- I picked up and flew five young seminary students to the village where the CMA seminary is located.

- I flew a young girl back out to medical care who was very sick and may have died without the flight.

All in all I flew 40 passengers and 2860 lbs of cargo. This is a typical day for our pilots. All in a days work. Praise God He allows us to serve him in this capacity.

Nativity

I miss my collection of Nativity sets.  We actually have a Christian book store here and they sell Nativity sets.  But they look very "American" and cost $36.  I might pay that much for a set that looked Indonesian but I won't pay that much for a set that looks like I bought it at Walmart.  So I decided to make my own.  Those of you that know me, understand how that could be quite a joke.  But..... I found instructions for a paper set in my favorite magazine Life:Beautiful.  I will put in a plug for the magazine right here.  It is a beautiful Christian magazine.  I found it a couple of years ago at Walmart, of all places.  I love it. 

 



















The instructions for the Nativity were pretty easy if I can do them.  I just had to photocopy the patterns, trace them onto cardstock and cut them out.  I haven't made the "stable" yet.  It's a little more complicated.  I'll have to work up some umph before I tackle it. 

I was relieved not to have shepherds, wise men and angels to make also.  That might have been too daunting a task for me. But I managed the main characters. 

 

Well, that's all from me for this time. Hope you are enjoying decorating for the holidays.  Enjoy the cold weather for me, ok?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Street vendors

Two Sundays without a post.  Did you notice?  :o) Excuse #1:  Last week the power was out when I got home from church and stayed off til five.  Excuse #2: The week before that.... hmm, don't remember.  Laziness perhaps.

Last Saturday, I spent some time at the Underhill's home.  I hadn't been there long when I heard some kind of whistling noise outside.  I asked about it and was informed it was the man who sold some rice concoction.  I don't remember the name for it right now. 

Since the Underhills were going to buy some of these rice things, I got a chance to have a cultural experience. 

Let me try to briefly explain what happens.  A gentleman brings his "store" with him on the back of his motorcycle to a neighborhood.  The whistling sound, which attracts customers, was the steam coming from his "stove."  (A lot of  " " in this post.)  The procedure:  he scoops a bit of green rice from his drawer and stuffs into hollow bamboo tubes.  A layer of "brown sugar" goes in next topped with another layer of green rice.  He sets these bamboo containers onto  a little hole on his "stove" so they will steam.  Once he thinks they are done, he takes them off and pushes the rice cylinders out with his handy stick.  He tops it off with a generous sprinkling of coconut and voila - green rice things.  I made myself eat one - I reasoned that the steaming surely would kill any germs, right?? It actually wasn't bad and I didn't end up with dysentery .

 

 That's all for this Sunday.  Grading and lesson plans are calling my name. 

My pembantu

I have a helper.  Don't judge me.  :o)  I had helpers in the States too.  I just didn't realize it.  I had a dishwasher, a clothes dryer, one stop shopping at Walmart; I didn't have to soak every single fruit and vegetable in bleach water, I didn't constantly fight ants, or mildew.  I'm not complaining; just stating facts that lead to the conclusion that I am okay with having a helper.  She comes twice a week for two hours.  So I still have to wash my dishes, make my bed, pick up after myself and cook if I want to eat.  :o) 

My pembantu's name is Elin.  (pembantu=helper)  I've accepted two invitations to her house on the occasions of Eid el Fitr and Eid al Adha.  I met Elin's mother at Eid el Fitr.  Her mother is a dukun.  A dukun has powers for healing given to them by a spirit.  (Read between the lines.)  Her mother has also been on the Hajj; the pilgrimage to Mecca which is one of the five pillars of Islam. 

Elin always brings one of her twin sisters to help.  She told me that she gives them part of her salary to help them pay for school. 

Elin is married and has two young children.  She doesn't see her husband very much.  He is off for months at a time working.  This seems to be a very prevalent way of life here in Tarakan.  Husbands go off to earn a living and only come home every three months or so for a few days and then they are off again.  A hard life - if you like your husband. 



Elin is on the far right.  The little girl is her oldest; the young boy is her brother.  The twins are her sisters.  The lady in the background is her mother. 

Pray for me:  that in all my dealings with Elin and her family that I will live a life that gives an accurate picture of what God is like.