Yesterday, Christina and I had a great lunch with a couple who have been coming out to our informal gatherings. They are Chinese-Americans who are working for the U.S. Embassy (expatriates). It was great just hanging out and getting to know each other a little bit better. One topic of conversation that came up […]
“We Are the Foreigners”
Photo from Empire and Sleep I have found myself constantly repeating the phrase, “we are the foreigners, not the Indonesians.” When it comes to doing cross-cultural missions, it is easy to see everything from a self-centered perspective. Christina and I have been feeling some of the frustrations of not being able […]
Missing the Simple Things
Photo by Telegraph News The phrase, “you don’t know what you have, unless it is gone” constantly rings out to me as I try to go through daily life in Indonesia. There are a lot of things that we are still trying to get set up for the house that we […]
Start of LIFE Groups in JKT
The small group ministry has always been our church’s “bread and butter” (colloquialism for describing our basic function for our church’s livelihood). Throughout the history of our church, people have said that various aspects of the church helped them grow spiritually, but hands down, the small group ministry is always in first place. We […]
First Day of School in Indonesia
Do you remember the first day of school? Whether it was at a new school that you were going to or you were returning to the same school, there is something exciting about starting school. But in the midst of the excitement there is some level of anxiety. I think our kids were experiencing […]
Another Sunday
Sundays are turning out to be our longest days so far. We started off early this morning at 8:40AM because we had to drive out to Jakarta. Our team was visiting another church to get a better feel of the spiritual climate in Indonesia. This church was highly recommended by many people as one […]
Basics of Relationship Building
In many ways starting a church from scratch is completely different than being in a church that is already established. But there are also a lot of similarities as well. In the last few days, I have been pondering on what are the basics of doing church and what are some of the peripheral […]
Kids’ School Orientation
The whole family and I went to the kids’ school because of the new students and parents orientation. It was a great opportunity for our kids to meet other fellow students who were also new to the school. It was also good for Christina and me to meet other parents. It was great to […]
Week Two in Indonesia
It is hard to believe that we have been in Indonesia for about a week and a half. On one hand, it seems like we have been here for months and then on the other hand, it seems as if we just got here. With all the busyness in getting the house ready and […]
Every Opportunity
The Apostle Paul said to the people of Colosse, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Col 4:5-6). Apostle Paul is speaking to believers and reminding […]
Jakarta Bombing Reflections
Within the first hour (as soon as the bombing hit), we received texts and phone calls from people letting us know of the situation and checking up on us. We are grateful for people who are looking out after us here in Indonesia. We have also received a lot of e-mails from people in […]
Flexibility is the Key
We are planning on getting our cell phones and SIM cards this Saturday (FINALLY). It is hard to believe that it has been about a week without a cell phone. I have been temporarily using someone else’s cell phone and another alumnus has given us another phone for our team to use. After dropping […]
Ministry is about Relationships
Yesterday I played basketball with our guys and some college students who are back for summer vacation. The guys we played against played for the Sekolah Pelita Harapan (SPH) high school team (SPH is the international school that our kids will be going to at the end of July), therefore they were pretty good. […]
Driving in Indonesia
Getting things done in Indonesia require “connections” – some are divine connections (sovereignly meeting people) and some are connections through people that we got introduced to through our alumni. I am thankful for our alumni because they know a lot of key people. They have been helpful in getting us connected […]