schoolgirls

Giggles. Excited chatter. "Excuse me!" More giggles.

Oh dear. From my room, I can hear what sounds like a dozen schoolgirls at our door. Groaaan. Not now.

Don't get me wrong. I love kids. Just not when I'm surrounded by papers and have finally, after what seemed like hours, gotten into an actual productive work mode.

I peek around the corner. Sure enough, the doorway is full of eager little faces peering at me. They instantly burst into more giggles and chatter at the sight of me. My introversion flares up inside of me, and I fight the urge to run and hide in my room. Deep breath. You can do this, Rachel. Cautiously, I greet them. "Hi..." More giggles, a dozen "Hi!"s, and the simultaneous, fast chatter in bahasa: "Wheredoyoucomefrom?" "Whatisyourname?" "Canwecomein?" "DoyouteachEnglish?"

At that point, my introversion and American inflexibility win out. I answer their questions, then say, "Actually, right now is not a good time. How about you come back tomorrow?" I'm a horrible person, I know. They don't even seem to notice. "Okay! Okay, miss! Thank you!"

Sure enough, the next day, I hear a knock on my door. As soon as I open it, two very excited little girls run in and greet me. "Hello, sister! Oh, thank you so much!" The one, Elna, is so excited, she actually does the whole fan-yourself thing multiple times that I've only seen beauty pageant winners do. "Wa! I can't believe I'm actually in an American's house! Wow, sister, you are so nice! Ah! Oh my gosh! Eee! I can't believe this!" I don't think I've ever met someone so excited to talk to me. Her friend actually attempts to calm her down, she was that excited. I was just slightly uncomfortable.

They excitedly ask me questions and giggle for about an hour (good language practice - they couldn't care less if I mess up), and then they ask if I have a coloring book. They want to draw me a picture. I now have two lovely additions to my fridge. When they leave, they say they want to come back tomorrow. "Actually, I can't do tomorrow. How about Sunday?" "Okay, sis! Sunday! See you Sunday!"

 

We had little excited knocks on our door to say hello every day until Sunday. Each time, my heart warmed up to them a little more. I realized that if I had walked with the Son way back when, I totally would have been with the disciples in sending away the little kids. But that's not what He wanted. He told them to let them come to him. Granted, I'm not the Son, but I can share His light with them and love them like He does.

 

Peeking in through the gate during our student discussion group

Today I get home, and there they are, waiting outside our gate. One runs up and hands me something in a bag. "I'm sorry it's ugly..." "Oh! Thank you so much!" Once inside, I open up the bag. This is what it contained.

 

In English, the label reads, "To: Messy. From: Sister Rachel and the other sisters (my roommates)" I think she got the "To" and "From" a bit mixed up. :)

The top box was full of precious little notes:

"I love you, sister!"

"Thank you for letting us come to your house!"

"Please stay here forever. Don't ever move because we are going to miss you!"

Heart. Melts.

The larger box contained this:

  

Haha. Of course.

We were going to teach them "Down by the banks" but turns out they already know a version of it! We play where if it lands on you, you have to sing a song. We ended up teaching them some American children's songs. Here's a video of us playing. It starts with me having to sing a little something.

These girls love to sing! After the game, they wanted to have a singing show, so we pretended the front room was the stage, and each got up to "perform." So cute!

 

 

 

Precious little girls.

"And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, 'Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.' And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them." - Mark 10:13-16

cooking lessons

A few days ago a friend and I made dinner for our national colleagues at the English center, and what I really mean by that is she cooked and I watched. And peeled potatoes. We made a sort of local chicken curry. It was quite an interesting process, actually, and all started with a trip to the market. I walked out of the house without my camera (of course I forget it when I go someplace interesting...) but it's so unique of an experience that I snapped some with my phone. Apologies for the poor quality.

 

 

 

This is where we bought the spices for the curry. Those bowls are full of different... pureed maybe? ingredients. For instance, one has onions, one garlic, another hot peppers... You walk up, tell them what you want to make and how much, and they scoop different amounts of the spices into a bag.

 

What ours looked like. 

 

Yummm.

 

See? My potatoes. :)

 

So then after sauteing the spices a little, we added the chicken. And later some water and the potatoes.

 

And lastly some coconut milk.

 

Viola! Chicken curry! Actually, it's called gulai ayam. Maybe not quite a curry, I don't know. 

 

To go with the chicken, we made a special snack called krupuk. These are little chips made from cassava (so I've heard anyways). They start off small, and then as you fry them, they expand.

 

The process was so fascinating, I recorded it, ha.

 

Yumm... The dinner was a hit. I'm super grateful for them and all that they do. They're incredible.

the big picture

Well, I'm nearly at the six-month mark of being in country, and I'm feeling it. Don't get me wrong - I'm not homesick. I just had a moment today when I realized (again) the things that I decided to miss when I signed up for this. Life is going to be much, much different when I return; there's no avoiding it.

Please don't think I'm complaining. I know this is where I'm supposed to be - I am 100% confident in that. Sometimes, though, that confidence is shadowed briefly by what I'm missing back home... and I lose sight of the big picture.

What is the big picture? It's the simple truth that this world is not our home. We're like pilgrims, awaiting a greater home, being refined like gold in fire. This truth got me through a really hard time in my life, and it's one I still have to keep my eyes on. With it in mind, life looks a lot different. It's suddenly okay if things never turn out like we think they will. It's okay if I'm not there to see my best friends say "I do" or for big changes in my family. It wouldn't be if this life is all there was. But it's not.

This life is not about us. It's not about being successful, comfortable, or even happy. We have a purpose that is much greater than ourselves. It's called his glory. And it's better than anything we could have imagined on our own.

This world is not our home. Life is not about us. His glory is worth it.

"I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing JC my L0rd. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain JC and be found in him, not having a righte0usness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in JC, the righteousness from G0d that depends on faith... 

Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the L0rd JC, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." Phil 3:8-9, 20-21

To end it, here's a video of something I'd be missing out on if I were still in the States:

 

karaoke time

The stereotype is true: Asians love some karaoke.

This week, in honor of our last week of break, we had a girls' night with some pretty great ladies. The night started with dinner at Black Canyon Coffee, which is actually famous for their coffee and cappucino art, but they have some good food as well. And then it was karaoke time.

Karaoke here is a lot different than (what I imagine it to be) in the States. You reserve a room for just you and your friends, and there's a system in each room with a little computer set in the table for you to pick your favorite song to belt out in front of your friends. The words come up on the TV in the front (sometimes with correct lyrics, sometimes not). We went to a place called Happy Puppy (yep, that's right), and each room had a theme. We were in the underwater/submarine room. With the lights dimmed, black lights on, and the music loud, it was the perfect set up to let the inner rockstar come out.

 

 

 

  

  

 

 

Also, I'd just like to share - Dr. Pepper has been spotted in southeast Asia. We've heard it only happens once in a blue moon, so today, when we got a text from one of the awesome women here saying the local grocery store had it (THANK YOU), we made a stop on our way home and stocked up. Thank you, Father! What a great gift!

feliz navidad

Selamat Hari Natal - Merry Christmas!

Sunday actually made the second Christmas away from home for me. Last Christmas was also spent on this side of the world, but my family waited to celebrate until after I got home, a week or so afterwards. That wasn't be the case this year. This time, I'm here for good. Bring on the celebrations.

We went to several Christmas services, complete with multiple speakers, Feliz Navidad (including one version with three languages - see video below), and candle lighting while singing "Silent Night." We ourselves threw two parties, one for our neighbors and one for the students. Christmas Eve we surprised our other buleh friends with some caroling, and on Christmas morning, we enjoyed homemade cinnamon rolls while watching Miracle on 34th Street. And our internet decided to be wonderful and give us the clearest Skype dates with our families we've ever had, so I got to watch my sister open her presents in her Disney footie pajamas. Some things never change.

I don't know about you, but this year, Christmas took on whole new meaning. The Promised One finally arrived, and with him came freedom - true, lasting freedom. Because the good news of his coming is not just important for one moment in your life; it's good news for every moment of every day. For the moments when we don't meet standards, for the moments when we fall on our faces, unable to keep it all together, for the moments when we realize we just can't do it. 

For those moments, and for all the moments in between, we have great news. 

He knows we're weak and needy. He knows we can't do it. So he came so that he could do it for us.

I am hidden in him. I don't have to pretend I have it all together. I don't have to be perfect. Cause he has accomplished all that I could not. He has secured my acceptance, my approval, my worth. He has done it all.

Freedom is here.

Come, thou long-expected J-sus, 

Born to set thy people free;

From our fears and sins release us,

Let us find our rest in thee.

Israel's strength and consolation,

Hope of all the earth thou art;

Dear desire of every nation,

Joy of every longing heart. 

 

And last, but not least:

'Tis the season...

Can you believe we're in December? I mean, really. It's especially difficult to realize how much time as passed when the weather stays 90 degrees year-round. There's no gradual (or sometimes drastic) dropping of the temperature to indicate we're approaching the end of the year.

With December comes holiday celebrations! It is hard to imagine it's the holiday season when you could fry an egg on the sidewalk, but nonetheless, we fully embrace the festivities. Last weekend, we celebrated Christmas with the students at the English center. Because this city is pretty large and diverse, there are a lot of people who celebrate Christmas here. 

We colored ornaments, exchanged gifts, sang carols, ate some chicken... we had a ball. It was quite amusing to hear Asians sing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" when they have never experienced snow and will never see anything of the like unless a miracle happens (see video below). There was a sweet time of sharing family holiday traditions and memories that brought laughter and tears.

 

One thing's for sure: not having all the commercialism and images of Santa around really allows one to think about why we're doing all of this. Thank You for Your gift. You sacrificed more than we can ever fathom. Praise be to the one who is always faithful and infinitely great.

wedding karaoke

For your enjoyment. Example of karaoke being for fun, not show of talent.

Traditional dance at the wedding