To be honest, it was even more difficult than I feared, simply because there are so few Caucasians here and very few Indonesians that speak English. Still, I have been able to establish some friendships here for which I'm very grateful. They have made my time here so much more enjoyable. They have enriched my life and I will miss seeing them when we return home in a couple of weeks.
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| Bible study at Ingrid's home |
We were so fortunate to find Bandung International Church and through them I learned about this English speaking Bible study. Marcia Nagel (Christian Missionary Alliance) has been leading a study called "Lord, Calm My Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow. She has gone painstakingly slow, making sure the ladies understand all the words in the book and allowing the ladies to read aloud, since English is not the first language of anyone in the group. Marcia (left) and myself are the only Caucasians. The rest are Indonesian, Korean, Chinese, Ugandan and Taiwanese. Ages ranged from 20's-70's. It has been an awesome study with a friendly and interesting group of women!
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| Bridget and Hela |
I expect to keep in touch with Bridget and Hela. Bridget is a college student here on scholarship. She has an interesting (though sad) life story. She was very unloved and unwanted as a child and remembers wanting to end her life at age 6! That's when she had her first encounter with God. She later came to know Christ when she heard missionaries teaching songs to a neighboring village. Her plan is to establish an orphanage in her home country of Uganda. She is an amazing young woman.
Hela (former Muslim) is a very sweet and giving person. She is also very smart. She speaks 5 languages and has started teaching English to neighborhood children. Her story is too sad for words, but God has brought her so far!!
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| Marcia and Helen |
Marcia and her husband have been in Indonesia since 1989 and have raised their family here. They will leave to go back to the states next month when their youngest graduates from high school. They will be on furlough in Minnesota and are not sure at this point whether they will return to Indonesia. She has been a wonderful friend and encourager and helped us in so many ways.
Helen and her husband Dan have been our best buds here. From Eerie, PA, they are here with Dan's job (he works for GE). I have loved having someone to have lunch and enjoy photo outings with. Ronnie and I both will definitely miss their friendship!
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| Monday share group |
A few months ago, I was invited to join a smaller share group on Monday mornings with a lady from Tawian, another from Korea, an Indonesian and Singaporean. We used a book based on the lives of women in the Bible. This past Monday was my last day, so Willie brought nasi kuning (a traditional rice dish surrounded by other Indonesian dishes). It is often served for birthdays and other special occasions.
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| Willie, Jenny, Jan, Kim |
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| nasi kuning |
Nasi kuning is an Indonesian rice dish cooked with coconut milk and turmeric. Pictured from left to right - cucumber, potato fried with palm surgar, fried tempe, fried potato something, chicken, some kind of squash dish and salty fish (really, really awful). Another lady brought salty fish to Bible study today for me to take home. She caught me off guard as I was leaving and said "you don't like salty fish?" I replied "no, not really." Afterwards Marcia informed me that she was bringing it to me. Hope I didn't hurt her feelings!
Know you will miss your new friends, especially Helen. You were so brave to keep reaching out to find that special group of women. You went through a ton of drivers and as you've shown in all your pictures how difficult it is to get from one place to another. We are all anxious to have you back. Hope the packing and transportation goes smoothly.
ReplyDeleteFriends become family when living abroad.
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