Snorkeling Trip to Derawan

Derawan Dive Resort

Walkway toward the crater lake where jelly fish live

Here are the photos I promised last week. The photo on the left is of the more lavish modern wedding. The one on the right is of traditional Bugis wedding attire.

Wow, my last post was Mach 7th and here it is the 22nd! How time flies.

A segue to my last post is that I did not become superfluous. David Holsten was granted a month's extension to continue working on getting his visa. That created some breathing room. The deadline now is April 12th. He is confident that he will have his visa in hand by that date.

Since I wrote last, I have been to two wedding "receptions": a Chinese family and a Muslim family of the Bugis people group. The weddings were as different as night and day. The Chinese wedding was large and elaborate (about 900 guests) and the Muslim wedding was simple and small. The only common feature was the gift-giving. It is traditional here in Indonesia to give the couple money. As you greet the couple with your congratulations, you drop your gift of money into the designated receptacle. I didn't know either couple but that didn't matter; I was invited anyway. :o)

Since writing, I also had a little R&R time at the island of Derawan. A bunch of us MAF'ers chartered a boat for the three hour ride out to the island. The main attraction is the snorkeling. It was amazing. I saw huge sea turtles, had a manta ray swim right at me, swam in a crater-formed lake with non-stinging jelly fish, and saw so many tropical fish that I can't keep track of them all. I don't know the proper names of all these fish so all I could say was, "Oh look, one of the kind of fish from Finding Nemo. :o) Pretty sad!

Hopefully, I will post some pictures tomorrow of some of these events.

I finally remembered to take a picture of the two girls that help me learn Indonesian. The one on the left is Elda and on the right is Octa (Octavia). Elda is a Christian and Octa a Muslim. They are 20 and 21. So young! Both are fourth semester students, majoring in English, at the University of Borneo which is located just outside Tarakan. Their English is quite good especially when you compare it to my Indonesian. I really like these young women. They are fun to work with and are very helpful.

Here is something to pray about as you think of it this week. David Holsten is the program manager of the East Kalimantan MAF work. Two of his children, Grace and Carter, are students of mine. David’s work visa expires March 12th. Frantic work is underway to complete all the necessary red tape before the expiration date. If unsuccessful, the entire family will have to go to Singapore until the paperwork comes through. I would then become somewhat superfluous. I would have one student – Faith Hollander. God is the Blessed Controller of All Things!