The 'Comfort Zone'

It is a little past 8pm Wednesday night here in Bayono. I am under my mosquito net, and the temperature is hovering around 88 degrees (not including relative humidity that never drops below 80%). I am sweating, non-stop, as I have been for the last 3 weeks; and as I will continue to do for at least the next week. I will get up tomorrow around 5am, to try and get as early a start as I can. After 12pm the temperature usually gets around 100 degrees ( again, not including relative humidity). It becomes even harder to work. We will stop for lunch and have rice & noodles, and have the same for dinner. That's what I have eaten the last three weeks and I will probably eat for the next week. With the occasional fish or pig meat. None of which is cooked to a style I am used to. Most meat is cooked on the bone here; completely in tact for the most part, that makes eating it a time consuming task, and not as enjoyable.
Do you feel comfortable after reading this?
That's kind of a rhetorical question. More designed to get you thinking; then ask yourself this next question...
When do I learn the most about myself, and MY relationship with God?
I am no pastor, self proclaimed profit, psychic, or psychiatrist; But I can tell you when you don't learn much about yourself and your relationship with God.
When you live in your comfort zone...
This trip has been very far from my comfort zone, approximately 7,000 miles and +25 degrees if you want to know, plus a whole list of other things that I am not used to and could live without.
Am I happy?
Yes, Yes I am! I'll tell you why. Because I have learned more about my self and where I stand with God in the last few weeks than I have learned in years! All though I am suffering the heat and exhaustion; Never have I felt more rewarded by my Father in heaven than I do right now. The experiences, feelings, and emotions I have been experiencing recently, do not come from doing things that are familiar to me. They come from taking that leap of faith, and stepping outside of my comfort zone.
My lovley wife will testify to this also. Recently going on a trip into DC to help homeless people. More as an example to our children than for her own personal needs. But because she took time to step out of her comfort zone, she was blessed with an awesome uplifting & humbling experience. You should read the last post she put on my blog for the details.
I am not encouraging you to trek into the middle of the jungle for months on end, or travel great distances to any degree (unless thats what God calls you to do.).
All I am saying is the next time a selfless thought pops into your head, and it makes you uncomfortable, act on it. I guarantee you will reap the benefits long after the experience is over.

Peace
John...

Meeting the Homeless of our nation's capital

At home, Our two children are generally grateful and content children. Recently, our 6 yr old daughter has been feeling less than content and has been focussing on things that others may have or what others may be allowed to do. We want her to feel blessed, because she is! I also want her to know that the rules that we have are to keep her safe and healthy. I know that is a lofty goal, I vividly recall thinking that some choices made by my parents were arbitrary and even mean. Now i see that those boundaries were for my well being.

I talked to John about this recent increase in "that's not fair" and "how come SHE gets to?" and "when can I have that?". It was really wearing on me, not that I was going to compromise on the rules but I hoped that we could work on her perspective. John suggested that we try to get her involved in some volunteer work so that she could see how blessed she is.

My new friend, Liz, recently shared that she is very affected by seeing the homeless. I share her feelings of helplessness and have often felt that the problem is so big that I couldn't ever make a dent. Over lunch, we talked about ways that we could help, some big and some small.

I have been reading through the bible, cover to cover, in 90 days. It is the most dedicated that I have been to a bible reading plan. I have avoided watching tv or reading magazines, etc until I have completed by bible reading for the day. I have an application on my blackberry (also available on iphone) that has been a big help. (Check out youversion.com if you want to see the reading plans) I always have my phone so I use little bits of time during the day to read, at the bus stop, waiting for an appointment. Through out the Old Testament (days 1-70 of the plan), God reminds us to help the poor. Failing in this regard is often listed as a reason for God's wrath. This theme is repeated again and again and continues in the New Testament as well. As Christians, we are to provide for those who need help. We read in Matthew that Jesus challenges us when we fail to see the needs of others and provide for them. Matthew 25:40 ..."I tell you the truth , whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." That passage really hit me...hit me in the stomach. When I feel helpless and then fail to care for someone, it is as if I walked past Jesus, my savior and did not help. I shared that passage with the children. When we help someone, it is like we are helping Jesus. He wants us to care for each other.

I talked to my daughter in the morning about helping people who don't have homes and we began to think of things that they would need. She was full of ideas, that need pillows, sleeping bags, coats, food, water...she was shouting out the things that they would need. I wondered if she would understand that we would not be able to provide all those things. Then she decided that we needed to make a list to get organized. (That's my girl!) She was rushing off for paper while I got ready for the day. She sat down with her note pad and announced that she has thought of the most important thing that we could give. She showed me her paper, a single item was listed. Bible. I could hardly reply to her, i was so proud of her and it humbled me. I was thinking of toothbrushes, tissues, a poncho, food. I am not sure that the bible would have made my list. Indeed, I need faith like a little child, like my little child.

We decided that we would go on tuesday to DC and look for homeless people and give them each a bag of items that we collected. We gathered bibles, snacks, toothbrushes, tissues, hand wipes, rain ponchos and collected tote bags of every description to carry the goodies in to the city. Driving in the van, Melanie and I were dicussing what we had purchased and what else we could get. We picked up one small tent at Walmart and several small items of food and personal hygiene items. Melanie was very excited about helping and announced, "You know Mommy, we are really saving their lives. I mean, we are giving them the Bible." (WOW!)

Today was the big day. We rode up to the metro station with a close girlfriend of mine and met up with Liz and her kids. She had several other items to add to the bags so we sorted the items and started for the station. We were a group of 3 adults, 4 kids and 2 wagons FULL of bags.

I feel like I always see homeless people in and around the city. Now that I felt equiped to help, we couldn't see any homeless people. We arrived at the Natural History Museum and got tickets for the butterfly exhibit. (free tickets on tuesdays) Then we headed out in search of those that might need our goodies.

We walked and walked and looked and really struggled to see anyone on the streets. I doubt that there are so few homeless people around, but I just didn't know where to look. Eventually, we spotted a man at a corner. He was sitting and writing and he had some bags around him. He didn't have a sign or a cup for change but it seemed apparent that he was living on the street. He was writing on a file folder and seemed hesitant to look up at us. I was very anxious about what his reaction to us might be. I had told Melanie that not everyone would want our help. (I had consulted a friend with a lot of homeless ministry experience about what to expect) Melanie was not concerned, maybe because she is not aware of the risk or because she was SO excited to help someone. She and I approached the man and offered him a bag and a sandwich. He asked our names and thanked us both. He confirmed the spelling of both names and thanked us again. I shook his hand and he seemed surprised and grateful. Melanie picked up the tent and offered it to him. He wished us a good day and said, "God bless you." It is hard to express how I felt at that. This man has so little and he is asking God to bless me. I know that people say that often but I felt that he truly meant it. We continued down the street, tearful, humbled and relieved.

Throughout the course of our day, we met about 14 homeless people. Some politely declined our offers, but most responded like the first man. They were thankful and asked God to bless us. Many were thanking us before they opened the bags to see what we were giving them. Several were surprised that we wanted them to keep the bags. Some were funny and joked with us. One man saw us coming up the street, Owen scrambled to get a bag to give to him. He laughed, "That's right. Get Mommy's purse and bring me the money." All in fun and very light hearted. He was happy to learn that we really did have something for him. Again, God Bless you.

We passed Franklin Park and noticed a group of people gathered together. As we passed, I saw a sign on an old shopping cart "Street Church Tues 1pm." There were about 20 homeless people gathered to hear the message. They had food and cases of water stacked near the service. Once we were a respectful distance, I stopped to explain to Melanie about what they were doing.

(I found a website that describes the ministry and how to support them, visit www.epiphanydc.org/downloads/St_church.pdf to learn more)

We were returning to the Smithsonian just in time for our timed tickets to the butterfly exhibit and saw another man asked tourists for change so that he could purchase a meal. He seemed frustrated that people were ignoring him. We stopped and got a bag for him. He took it and looked up to the sky and said, "God is good!" He didn't know what he was being given but accepted it and was truly thankful.

After we viewed the amazing butterflies in the Smithsonian, we headed home on the metro. We arrived at the van and said goodbye to Liz and her children. I started the van and was shocked to see the time. I was supposed to be at Chick fil a in Laplata to prepare for our spirit night fundraiser. As we headed home, I called everyone I could think of to see who could get over to Chick fil a to get things started and hold the fort until we could arrive. Again, so blessed with a community group who could help me out. When we made it to chick fil a, we saw a number of "carpenter for christ" shirts and many other familiar faces in attendance. We had 43 customers who requested for John's missions trip to be credited with the proceeds.

-Thanks Elizabeth Prinkey for designing our tee shirts!!

After 7pm, the event was officially over and I sat with a few friends talking about our amazing trip into DC. A man who was ordering at the counter noticed my shirt, with the details of the chick fila night and asked me, "Where is John Hall going on his mission trip?" I answered, "John is my husband and he is in Indonesia now helping to build a house for missionaries." The man indicated that he knew that I was John's wife (it says so on my shirt) and handed me a cash donation. I don't know who he was or if he knew John or just saw the shirt.

Today was a powerful day for me. I went to DC with the intention of teaching my children about gratitude and to be a blessing to those living on the street. However, I was the one who was blessed. I am overwhelmed and it more than I could have expected or deserve. I am thankful to serve a God who has blessed me with a savior that I desperately need and could never earn or deserve.

Indescribable....

"THE HEAVENS DECLARE THE GLORY OF GOD;
THE SKIES PROCLAIM THE WORK OF HIS HANDS."

These are the words that come to mind being here in the Jungles of Papua. This is truly a place where God used his indescribable imagination to the max! Every night I look out at the sunset sky to see a different canvas of cloud formations & light reflections from the setting sun; and the same is true for the sunrise. I have never seen such changing beauty in the sky on such a regular basis.
Most mornings I wake up around 5:30 - 6am and lay on my mattress listening to the Jungle come to life. At first you hear the occasional distant squawk of some tropical bird, then the crickets, then more bird calls, then the villagers waking up and doing their thing.With every minute that passes you can hear the Jungle coming to life.
Then, as if by clock work, as the sun goes down the music changes. The bird calls fade, the crickets seem to get louder. Then you can hear the deep croak of a nearby frog trying to find a mate. Just as dusk comes, some kind of swallows fly out in their hundreds feasting on all the insects & mosquitoes that were hiding from the harsh sun, but have now come out to eat also.
If you are really lucky (as we were), a few hundred feet above that you can see massive bats, about the size of a hawk. Also in their hundreds, silhouetted in the evening sky with their unmistakable bat shapes. They must easily have a wing span of 2-3 feet! One evening Matt was on the computer in our little shed, with screen in lew of a door ( that we had yet to make). The florescent light was on, probably the only one for 50+ miles. Tom & I must have counted at least fifteen different varieties of moths, all uniquely shaped and colored. That did not count the vast array of other insects all wanting to get at the new moon.
It is truly 'indescribable' to be here amongst one of Gods greatest creations, and I know I will say that a lot when I get home...

On The Homefront this week

I am feeling much better this week, the 2nd round of antibiotics seems to have cleared up the sinus infection that was really bothering me around the time that John headed out. The kids and I are doing well and who doesn't feel fabulous when the weather is warm and sunny? I guess it depends on how warm, we are comfortable with the windows open, John is in the steamy jungle all day.

I am thankful for our daily chats on skype. Parenting is hard work and I appreciate being about to talk to him about decisions regarding our children. I thought it was tough when they were small and it was. However, then we had total control over what they ate, wore, did and nearly everything that they were exposed to. As they get older and have their own social lives, it gets tricky to strike a balance. We want the kids to learn to make good choices and to have some say in what happens and we want to keep them safe and protected from influences that are negative and harmful. For example, I don't really mind what they choose to wear on a given day as long as it is reasonable for the weather. (also they don't have clothes that are inappropriate in my opinion) I am happy for them to make those choices on there own because they are selecting from a number of acceptable options. Often, it is not so simple. TV choices, food, activities, friends, bed times are all choices that kids need help with. It is hard when your children are spending time with other families and see things that are different. I want the kids to know that I am trying to do what is best for them and I don't want to be judging the choices of others. I guess they will learn that when they are parents. It took me that long to understand my mom's decisions for me.

Gotta run...someone is crying upstairs.

It's All About The Routine...

The key to long term survival in extreme & remote areas is ROUTINE. It is very easy to loose your ability for rational thought when exposed to foreign situations for extended periods of time (basically you can go insane).
This applies to being in the middle of the jungle. So here is my routine for staying sane...
6-6:30am - Wakeup, get dressed,sun screen, get myself a drink of water, visit the
little boys room, read my daily bible reading.

6:30-7am - Skype(chat on-line) with Laura & the kids. PRAISE GOD for making this
possible!

7am-10am - Work on house building.

10-10:15am - Take a water break & rest out of the sun, maybe take some pictures,
generally cool down.

10:15-12pm - Work on house building.

12pm-1pm - Lunch & Rest.

1pm-3pm - Work on house building.

3-3:15pm - Take a water break & rest out of the sun, maybe take some pictures,
generally cool down. Sometimes I will take a dip in the river. This is
generally the hottest part of the day.

3:15-5pm - Work on house building.

5pm-6pm - The best part of the day! Bath time. We all run down to the river with our
buckets, laundry, and soaps. Wash our clothes and take a bath in the
river. Words can not describe the scence of relief at this point of the
day. Sufice to say, never has a slow flowing river looked soooo good,
after spending a day in the really hot sun wearing sweaty dirty clothes.

6pm-9pm - Dinner, then free time, to read or update my blog.

9pm - Sleep.

Then get up next morning and do it all again...

When it rains it pores...

Today we will start work on framing the walls.
In order to keep things as straight as possible we are having to trim each 2x4 to a more uniform size. Thankfully due to the type of wood & the size of the 2x4's (more like 3"x5") we do not have to space them every 16" on center. Rather every 3' on center. This greatly reduces the amount of 2x4's we have to trim. I think we are all exited to be starting this phase of construction, because we will finally be able to see some drastic results at the end of the day.
Our Kemtuk workers are awesome! Marten, Yunus, Agus, and Melek. They are had working and keen to help in any way they can. If only I could take them home and bring them to work with me! Please pray for them to be safe & healthy while they work with us, and for their families while they are away from them.
Praise our Father in Heaven; My fundraising goals have been met! THANKYOU to all of you who gave financially, and to all of you who prayed/ are praying for me & my family while I'm away. Good things are happening in the Bayono tribe right now, and its thanks to YOU.
I will write more in a day or two.
Peace
Yohanes (My name in Indonesian)

Life in the Jungle...

Day six of our house building project.
We spent a lot of the day getting the table saw up and running. Unfortunately the new blades we have for the table saw have the wrong size center hole. So Tom used his ingenuity and created a spacer out of a washer using a dremmel tool. We also had to create a rip fence (guide) for the table saw. This was easier said than done. It is very hard to get a straight edge on something if you don't all ready have a straight edge. We finally managed to get the table saw running and were laying floor joists by the afternoon.
I have come to love rice and noodles. Thats pretty much what we have every day for lunch & dinner; along with some kind of 'greens' as Matt likes to call them. We are not sure what they are. Tom & Matt don't seem to mind eating them, but I am not a big fan. We also have canned sardines every couple of days, or fish if one of the tribes people bring one by. We have also been eating some dried processed meet to fill in the gaps, in between sardines & fish. We had pig the other day, freshly slaughtered; it wasn't too bad.
Here, we are the oddity. The tribes people watch everything we do. From our daily work, to hanging our laundry to taking a bath. It takes some getting used to, but it is interesting to watch their faces as they watch us working. I am often wondering what they are thinking. When we got the internet & skype up and running that was a lot of excitement. The locals thought it was amazing to see us talking to another person on a Little screen. One of the locals asked Matt if we were talking to Heaven! That should give you some perspective of their way of thinking & how far it is from the civilized world.
I am still working on the pictures. There are so many new experiences and things going on I will probably not be able to write everything on my blog, and get some work done. I have e-mail (tiger79guy@gmail.com) Please feel free to ask any questions, especially once I have the pictures up.
PRAYER REQUESTS...
Please pray for our work pace to keep up, so far the Lord has blessed us with good productivity.
Please pray for the Bayono people, that God light may shine on this tribe and many people will come to know Christ.
Please pray that I continue to enjoy the rice & noodles!
Peace...

Hello from the Jungle!

I am writing this post while sitting in a small 4'x8' timber shed, in the middle of the Papuan Jungle!
We arrived in the village last Wednesday. The first two days we were here we were able to erect a solar panel platform, install the solar panels, build a temporary electrical/communications shed, complete the satellite dish installation, and hook up all the electrical components. All to get us up and on-line. Praise God! it all worked first time.
So here I am 8pm Sunday (our time) 6am(your time) writing this post. It is hard to describe what I am feeling & experiencing at the moment, because I am still trying to get it into my head that I am actually here. Not Just in another country, half way round the world; but also in the middle of no where. When I say in the middle of no where I don't mean off the beaten track. I mean there is no beaten track, there is no track. Just miles of Jungle as far as the eye can see; which is about 50 feet cause there is a thick wall of Jungle all around us!
Did I mention I'm in the Jungle...
I am uploading some photos for your viewing pleasure, and I will update my blog tomorrow with alot more details. All I will say for now is that I have never felt closer to my Father in Heaven than I have been feeling these past few days. HE has truly opened my eyes to his grace & majesty; and the need for people like Matthew Edelen and his family, doing what they are called to do here on Earth.
God bless...

Online in the Jungle!!

Praise Jesus! John, Matt, Tom and the rest of the crew have managed to set up the VSAT internet connection in the Bayano tribe. It is powered by solar panels and they managed to get it up and working faster than expected!! I was concerned that they might not be able to get a good connection. At the summer camp where I work, we got a satellite internet connection since we are off the beaten path and the signal was weak and the connection was often lost for no apparent reason. What a gift that they have a reliable connection that can support skype with video feed as well.

It is funny that the only difficulty that I had with the connection last night, my webcam mic was not working. I was expecting an issue on their end! I got a new webcam and I am hoping for another call this evening when John will actually be able to hear me.

Things are good on the home front, the kids are doing well. I have had a bad sinus infection and I am now on my second round of antibiotics. I am hoping that this will clear up in the next few days. We had a quiet Saturday in on this rainy weekend. Melanie has a friend over to spend the night and Owen is filling the role as little brother and is pestering both girls whenever possible. :) My community group from South Potomac has been a big help to me this week. My sitter had ill children at her house and a couple of families helped out by caring for Owen while I got some work done. Thanks, Becki and Richard!

More later!

That is all from me. I know that John is working on uploading some videos and photos to the blog asap.

Taking a trip into the Jungle...

It is very hard to understand and appreciate what is involved in taking a trip into the interior of the island. Well over the last few days Tom & I have developed a new appreciation for the work that the Edelens, and other missionary families do, to prepare for a trip interior. The other day we had to go to the local police station to pick up our 'Surat Keterangan' or travel documents, in English. The first two pictures are Matt & I in the waiting room, and Tom & I in front of the police station. I have a truly awesome story about the good Lords amazing provenance on this day. I will share it when I get back. I have to leave something for you guys when I get back.
Today we were busy running around picking up last minute supplies for the trip, and packing everything to take down to the hangar for weigh-in, this afternoon. Let me tell you. That was an exercise in math, logic, and tough decision making, that stretched all of us to our limits. The next two pictures are Tom & Matt on the scales at the hangar.
The next picture is Tom & Matt doing some last minute adjustments to the breaker box before it is packed up to send interior. After we had spent the day running round making last minute preparations, we were invited next door for dinner with the
Johnson Family, Papuan style. Basicaly we all sat on a rug on the floor. The last picture is of us sitting down. (bottom left, clockwise - Matt, Caroline, Teresa Johnson, Tom, Ylianus, Trevor Johnson.)
The Johnsons will be going interior in a few weeks, back to visit their trib they are ministering to.
This will be the last update before I go interior. Please pray that we are able to get the VSAT set up so I can continue updating everyone.
If thats not in Gods plan then I will update you in a month. Laura will be able to update the blog to some degree if I am not able to.

PLEASE take a minute to thank God for what you have! Not just financially but also spiritually. We are truly blessed in the US to be able to read & understand Gods word in our own language. It is something that is so frequently taken for granted (myself included). It is not till you visit a country like this with so much language diversity that you can truly understand the implications of not having the written word of God in your own language.
GOD BLESS...
John...

Culture Shock etc..

Wow what an amazing place! Sentani is truly a different world than what I have seen before. Tom, Caroline, & I went to the Mall last night to get some supplies & dinner. We spent 2.4 million Rupiah! Thats about $240 US. I have included two pictures. One is a stack of full propane tanks in the middle of the grocery store, and the other is how they sell flower. Alot of food is re packaged over here, more becuse it is cheaper to buy bulk & re-packge than anything else.

Touch Down...

We finally made it to Sentani. Matt Caroline & the boys are doing well. No sooner had we got off the plane than we went to their local Church / mission community fellowship. We listened to a group that had come back from a trip to Merauke (south of the island) and listened to the good things HE is doing there. We will spend the next few days getting ready for our trip into the jungle.... Stay Tuned!

Still Going...

Tom and I Landed in Indonesia about an hour ago. We are sitting in a Starbucks waiting to catch the next flight on our schedule.

PLEASE PRAY FOR...

God to clear the way for our trip into the Jungle in a few days.

Matt's visa to come through in the next two days, so we can go into the Jungle.

So far HE has been listening to your prayers and answering them! SO KEEP PRAYING!

Almost there....

Hello from Singapore. Tom & I touched down about an hour ago and are waiting for our next flight to Bali (Indonesia). WOW what allot of traveling. By my calculations we are about two thirds of the way there averaging time & distance.

Praise God for relieving me of my fear of flying! Believe me when I say that kind of Peace of mind ONLY comes from HIM.

Will update at the next available opportunity...

Peace
John

Last update before departure.....

Well, its only hours to go before I leave for the airport. This will be my last update here in the USA. In keeping with tradition in planning for this trip, I got an e-mail from Matt letting us know that the helicopter is in for repairs, and might not be ready in time for our flight. If the helicopter is delayed, then we have four options...

1. - Wait for the heli to be repaired (could cut into our time in the jungle)

2. - Take a river plane to a destination closer to the tribe & take a boat the rest of the way (2 day trip)

2. - Take a boat all the way from Dekai, this is a longer trip (3-4 day trip)

4. - Walk into the tribe (This will be a last resort)

Please pray that God will make a path for us to complete our mission...

Thank you all for your support & prayers. Without you I would not be able to undertake this awesome task for our Father in Heaven...

Visas are in hand!

Praise the Lord! John and Tom were able to pick up their visas today with no trouble. As they are flying tomorrow, this is a big relief to all of us. Not much else to report except frantic packing and working to get John's things together along with some items that John will be taking over to the Edelen family in Papua. John also has some items left on his "to do before the trip" list here at home. That may be the final hurdle for his departure, as I have indicated that there will be no ride to the airport until a few things get taken care of. :)

Itinerary...How many planes can we get on in 4 days!

For those of you who want to know how you get to Sentani Indonesia...

All times are local times...

Depart - Washington DC - Thu March 4th 6:55pm

Arrive - London - Fri March 5th 7:05am

Depart - London - Fri March 5th 6:15pm

Arrive - Singapore - Sat March 6th 2:55pm

Depart - Singapore - Sat March 6th 6:50pm

Arrive - Bali (Indonesia) - Sat March 6th 9:30pm

Depart - Bali - (I'll update when I know)

Arrive - Sentani - (I'll update when I know)
2/3 days to catch up and get equipment straight

Depart - Sentani - Wed March 10th 7:00am(approx)

Arrive - Bayono Tribe - Wed March 10th 1:00pm(approx)

Depart - Bayono Tribe - April 7th...