Since we left the US in February, we've bounced around Asia...doing training in Bangladesh, then Indonesia, and next month we head to the Philippines to conduct training there. In November, we expect to be back in Dhaka to coach our team there as they teach a Learning that LASTS workshop on their own. And then back to Tucson by Thanksgiving to spend time with our parents, Emily and her family. In all this travel, I have seen myself like a coconut borne by ocean currents. And I talked with our heavenly Father about my desire to have a house somewhere in the world. But I sense Him telling me that, much better than my having a house, is Him becoming more and more at home in my heart, and me sinking my roots down deeper into His love. So, I continue to center my heart in Him, and I have enjoyed all that we've experienced along the way!
In February, we thought we'd be just a few weeks training folks in Dhaka, Bangladesh while we waited for our 1-year visa to be ready in Indonesia. The 1-year visa never happened. The few weeks in Dhaka turned into 5 months of close fellowship with friends in our organization, both foreigners like ourselves, and our Bangladeshi colleagues. We loved training them! I learned right along with them as we taught the "Learning that LASTS Workshop" twice. I really liked Dhaka...the food is fabulously spicey, the colorful (shalwar kemis) clothes are fun to wear, and the daily mode of transportation in a rickshaw is a hoot...even moreso in the rain, with the rickshaw driver's plastic "lap robe" tucked around my legs! But...I was daily confronted with beggars who ply the streets. 40% of Bangladesh's 150,000,000 people are unemployed. Again and again, I'd sense our heavenly Father saying, "Look at them...meet their gaze...feel their pain...they are my children, too." And I'd have to make up my mind how much to give and to whom. What a stretch!
And in Bangladesh, I had a conflict with a colleague that I just couldn't seem to work through, try as I might. And I had to work through it to show that we can indeed come together through conflict, like the name of the Workshop we were about to teach says! She was a participant in our workshop, but every time I looked at her, the things she'd done and said replayed in my mind. Halfway through the week of teaching, I sensed our heavenly Father telling me that I had taken offense where I didn't need to, and that I needed to ask Him to help me overlook what had happened. When I confessed my sin, and asked for His help, He gave it! I could then make the 4 Promises of Forgiveness that we were teaching:
1) I will not dwell on this incident.
2) I will not bring it up to use it against you.
3) I will not talk to others about it.
4) I will not let this incident come between us or hinder our relationship.
(We learned the 4 Promises from Ken Sande, The Peacemaker.)
And slowly this woman's offense no longer bothered me, and my feelings toward her began to change. By the time I left Dhaka, we were becoming friends!
Roland and I spent last month in Indonesia on a 30-day visa. We had the awesome experience of teaching the staff and students at the English school where our son-in-law teaches in the Papuan mountains, Netaiken Academy. We taught these Indonesians about Learning Styles, and part of the "Come TOGETHER through Conflict" course. We feel ourselves being drawn back there in the future, to help with staff development and member care. It's a noble thing the staff are trying to do...take these Papuan high school graduates, whose prior education has only brought them to a 3rd or 4th-grade level, and help them develop into followers of Jesus who teach the next generation of children in little Papuan mountain villages, or run businesses to support themselves as the face of Papua changes. There are now more Indonesians from better-educated western Indonesia in Papua than there are Papuans! These outsiders are getting the good jobs while Papuans languish. Netaiken Academy leaders have chosen property to build their campus where they hope to teach kindergarten through college. Netaiken needs to have a campus with buildings on it by next year in order to keep their government accreditation. They need $50,000 to buy the land and get started. We wonder what our part will be in this school in the future.
Next month in Manila, we'll talk with our supervisor about that, and several other visa options for next year. She wants us to live in Papua. Pray for us as we wait for God to guide us in this decision.
Pray also about the house we have leased and furnished in Sentani, Papua. Thank God that we have renters. But we hear from a neighbor that our landlord wants the house back next year "when the lease expires". Next year? Our contract states that we have 8 more years left. Ask God for His will to be done as our neighbor serves as intermediary in talking with our landlord.
So, my friends, this is a rather long summary of what we've done since February. O yes, and we enjoyed our grandchildren in Papua, Walker and Arwen!
Thank you for loving us, and supporting us with your prayers and finances. The attached photo was taken in Heidi and Scotty's diningroom in Papua. Notice our first prayer card photo framed in the background. You have been on our team a looong time! We are so glad and grateful!
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