Tuesday, March 26, 2013

MISSION RELEASE and HOMECOMING

We were released from our mission 3 January 2013. We absolutely loved our mission, loved the people we met and the new friends we made. However...time to go home. Our Homecoming was great. Family and friends greeted us. We were tired and bleary-eyed, but loved seeing everyone.
We flew from Jakarta to Taipei, Taiwan, then to Los Angeles, then to Charlotte, and on to Huntington, WV. 22 hours flight time, 9 hours layovers.


Our first face to face meeting with Alexa whose first birthday was yesterday January 3, 2013.
 
 
Adam (Grandpa's boy), Gale holding Alexa (she would not go to Grandma), Gail, Abby (grandma's girl) standing in front of her mom Annie, Kim, Toni, and Pat.
 
Sue and Jim Palmer--great friends
 
Adrian, Gale with Alexa, Kim, Adam in front
 
Glad to be home!
 
 

Construction

Construction methods are interesting---safety measures are not up to US standards--many times the workers don't even wear shoes!  Everywhere you go there is ongoing construction.  On a good day the workers get paid the equivalent of $4 to $5 US for the day!
 

The first three pictures---Bamboo Scaffolding!
 
 
The next three pictures are of a major elevated road being built over the road we travel each day to the office.

 

 
 

No shoes!
I have never seen a wheel barrow in Jakarta--they use these small pans to move dirt, etc
 
 

 

SWIMMERS--So modest!

Here are some of the swimwear options available in Indonesia:

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

A Highlight of Our Mission--having the missionaries, members, individuals being taught and others to our apartment for dinner, teaching and fellowship

 
One of the highlights of our mission has been having the missionaries, recent converts, investigators and members of the church to our apartment for dinner, viewing church videos, sharing spiritual thoughts and having discussions.  Unfortunately, we didn't always take pictures.

Sister and Elder Beaman, Sister Hunt, Sister Canty, Livy from Manado, and Rea from Medan
Brendan Brosnan and his daughter Kira
Sister Beaman, Elder Beaman, Sister Tandiman, Sister Collins, Sister Treyes, and Sister Canty
 
Dan and Lena Paul, Sister and Elder Meredith
Sister Treyes, Sister Collins, Sinta, Ruth Bu
Sister Treyes, Sinta
Elder Mulyono, Elder Kester, Sister Pontoan, Ese and her daughter, Tessa behind daughter, Ruth Bu,
Sister Canty
Sister and Elder Beaman, Elders Mocodompis and Kester, Hardianto, Elder Paryoto
Jessie Morgan, Sema's aunt and sister, Elder and Sister Beaman, Sema
Ari Winarto, wife Herma; newly weds Kharisma and Poliman
Sister and Elder Beaman, Tony, Elders K. Johnson and Suharjono
Sister Collins, the Merediths, in back Elders Watson, Wagstaff, Mulyono, Mongon, Ward, Sister Beaman, in front Sinta, Sister Treyes, Elder Dien Narwanto, Sasa's boyfriend, Sasa
 
Our new young service missionary Sister Whitaker, Rea, Ruth, Tessa, Sister Hunt, and Livi in front.
Sisters Hunt, Hickman, and Tandiman
 
Everyone has a story: Ruth Bu has two children, one in Semarang living with Ruth's mother, and one here in Jakarta living with an aunt. She sees them when she can. Ese left a cruel husband and is raising two daughters. Tessa joined the church and now her parents won't let her come to church. She is going to a university studying music. She has a beautiful voice.
 
Sinta is a bright and energetic new member, who is active and creative. We love all these young people, they are future leaders.
 
Livi, whose given name is Believe, has been a member for a year, she is from another island, from the city of Manado. Her parents would not let her join the church at first. They really opposed the church, but finally relented because of her faithfulness, and her mother and siblings are now being taught the gospel. Livi is 20 years old now and has moved to Jakarta, AND wants to go on a mission. Her parents were very concerned. We had told the Rasbands that we had Livi to dinner. The Rasbands are a senior couple in Manado, and Livi spoke highly of them. Yesterday we had Livi with others to dinner again. She told us about her parent's concerns then shared a letter from the Rasbands. Her mother told Sister Rasband when she visited that when Livi was a child she became very ill and had severe headaches. Apparently it was a prolonged illness, and she was finally hospitalized with IV therapy and at one point they had to use a defibulator. They were afraid she was going to die. Livi's mother prayed for her life, and promised the Lord that if she was allowed to live, they would encourage her and dedicate her to serve the Lord. The Rasbands explained about missions for the church. That was when Livi's mother realized that this was Livi's opportunity to fulfill the promise to serve the Lord.
 
Sister Hickman's parents went to Viet Nam when she was 4 years old and adopted her and her brother and sister from an orphanage. Sister Tandiman was the first new missionary after we arrived. She is wonderful and enthusiastic. We have so many wonderful missionaries in Jakarta and all of Indonesia...the best. Sister Hunt is from American Samoa, one of the youngest in her family. Sister Whitaker is amazing, she loves the work, and has a beautiful testimony.The sisters we have worked with, and it is the same for the ones we do not know as well I am sure, are strong and dedicated. We have grown to love them dearly.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sunday, December 30, 2012

For The Lego Enthusiast

 
While at the mall recently I saw this large Lego display--more impressive than anything I have built!  Everything is made with legos---cars, buildings, roads, grass, etc.

They had an area where children were busy making wherever..........


 
 
....and of course there was plenty of Lego items for sale!
 


Thursday, December 27, 2012

Visiting the Old City/ taking a Cruise on the Harbor on Christmas Eve

The Dutch settled Indonesia in the early 1500s.  The first city was Batavia, now Jakarta, located on a harbor on the island of Java.  This section of the city is now referred to as the Old City.  We went with the Healys to see the area.  As you will see from the pictures, it is still a important harbor for import/export of goods and is home to the largest fish market in Indonesia.  While there we took a cruise around the harbor.  This was one of our more interesting day trips around the Jakarta area.

The first train station based on Dutch style of building


The entry to the harbor.  Note the date, 1527
Heading out on the pier
A lot of manual labor is still used to load/unload the ships.
Note the lack of shoes!
The must have been at least 75 boats like these lining the pier.  Most are made of wood.
This is a working boat--similar to the shape of most the boats. 
Trash is a real issue!
 
Nicely dressed family!
 
The ladies do like style and color.
Heavy equipment is also used to load the boats
 
Gail has been wanting to take a cruise--this was our boat, the one next to the red and blue boat!  Gail with the boat owner--he was also the power!  When we walked up, he was bailing water out of the bottom of the boat............
 


 
The view from our cruise boat.......
A family out for a ride--notice the mother with the pink jilbob, and the young girl with a white one.
An operating boat.......
A small hut.....

From the boat...beautiful hi-rise with a very nice mosque to the left.  
The boat captain guiding us backwards between ships back to our starting place!
Besides giving tours, the boats are used to take the locals back and forth through the harbor.
A food vendor on the pier--she is talking on her cell phone! 
This lady is selling food while standing in six inches of water! 
 
In the taxi driving to the fish market...about 3-4 inches of water.  The smell was terrible and everything was so dirty that we didn't get out of the taxi until we got to the end of the pier!
Following are some pictures of fish for sale--I have never seen so much fish!

 

An ice vendor--some of the fish was on ice. 
One of many food vendors in the fish market.  Gail likes fish, but declined stopping here for lunch!
 
A view from the end of the pier.