Packages, provisions and a promise

Sunday, August 16, 2020
Sundays are our busy-but-quiet days. It's a true Sabbath by the time the afternoon rolls around. If you're not attending a faith community, click here for daily encouragement and regular gatherings online.

Something about this season of normal (our current routines) is stressful. How about you? Are you feeling the internal rumble of restrictions? W and I are mostly home but online a lot. We're not rambunctious so the house is silent outside of shared meals and the vacuum cleaner.

I'm thankful that we can take measures to minimize the risk from ourselves to others. (Masking, social isolation, etc.) It's still not easy, even though you and we offer such things as actions of love to people around us.

The picture below shows you a few things that are typical about Indonesia: I take these shots for our New Normal (a weekly pic and quick paragraph). If you're interested, it's great for homeschoolers and those who are housebound or craving travel. Send your email and "New Normal" to rosemarie.communitybic at gmail and we'll include you each week. I shot this open-air ceiling in my neighborhood.

1. The local woven roofs are stunning. The custom panels are made of ijuk black aren fibers, hateup leaves, or palm leaves, supported by wooden or bamboo frames and beams = Indonesians are skilled at many crafts and they love beauty.
2. Fences are high with spikes or barbed wire strung on top to guard properties = theft is rampant and thieves are creative but most try to find easier pickings without barbed wire.
3. The materials used are natural and environmentally friendly. The local solutions can last a long time. This woven roof will be repaired or replaced if it rots or a heavy branch falls through it. However, it can withstand the tropical sun and hard rains for years.

Monday
It's the Indonesian National Day (the 75th Independence celebration) and people are smiling to each other with, "Hari Merdeka" (day of freedom). Nearly every home or apartment flies an Indonesian flag.

Meanwhile, in the office paludarium, the guppies are reproducing and the neons tetras are still swimming. I go in to feed them most days, whether I'm working at the office or from home.

The dogs need their walks, too. They are delighted to "come" and "sit" to be clipped to a coupler on a single leash for a march around the neighborhood.

"Bonika!" (doll) or "Domba!" (sheep) say the little kids, pointing to Cocoa, the standard poodle who indeed looks like a sheep after she's groomed. This athlete (the dog, not me) loves her daily runs and walks. She's also an amazing "search" dog, finding goodies hidden around the yard with her developing nose. She races into the yard at the mention of "search." Gypsy sniffs first, pondering if it's worth the effort of leaving his flop-down on the porch tiles.

The streets and curbs are littered with constantly-falling leaves. Below is a night's worth, taken in the early morning. There will be a new heap by afternoon.

From morning to afternoon, you can hear the ssss-ssss-ssss of the straw brooms on lawns, paving, and gravel as helpers sweep away the leaves. Often, leaves and litter are piled and burned along with garbage, plastic and natural. The city is sometimes completely smoky from the open burns. It's "autumn leaf season" all year long though temperatures are nice here: usually it's in the 80s days and upper 60s at night.

Need a good read? A few of the dozens of books I've enjoyed are below. Some are new to me; some are repeats. Have you read any of these already? What did you think of them?

The last one, "The Gift of Fear," is especially gripping. I recommend it as a basic security eye-opener for everyone. Women will learn a lot about keeping themselves safe, too. "How can you trust your intuition to protect you from harm?" It's an easy read - lots of stories to get lost in.

Tuesday
We decide to take a team break: no Zoom meeting.  This is a 2-holidays week. Thursday is another national holiday of some sort, so the world won't end if we enjoy our own time off. Many people are in Bandung from Jakarta (license plate B). For some, COVID won't exist until someone close to them is ill or dying.

The Hazmat project has wrapped up. Look at this astonishing and wonderful work, led by Jon and Joy Watada:

 THANK YOU to each one of you who donated time, energy, skills, and finances to make this possible.

A second project is underway: food relief parcels. These young people wrapped about 50 packages of sembako  last weekend. We're very careful that the truly needy get them: widows, poor families, and those who have been without work for a long time. Many are desperate for the basics.

Something is happening right now that will make you feel good and HELP others. We've joined a trustworthy group to support people who have lost their jobs. How? From funds collect, they get a pittance each month: about $15/household. You read that right. It's Rp250.000/mo.

Isn't that shocking? That little amount can make the difference between a family's survival and starvation. They will probably purchase rice, the basic meal here. All funds are disbursed through a trustworthy local organization with good stewardship. They've identified 2000 such families.

We've promised a generous donation to be divided among the needy. If you want to donate and be a part of helping someone in need, send any amount you can by clicking here. (Please add the comment: "200.000." We'll transfer your gift from the collection point to the local GSJA. Tax deductible in USA.) THANK YOU for partnering in this with us.

Read more:

*May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him. Psalm 67:5-7 NIV

*In the great congregation I will bless the Lord. Psalm 26:12

What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. 1 Corinthians 14:26 NIV

Moravian Prayer: Thank you, O great Giver, for the gifts you impart to the whole congregation. May we all find ways to bless your name and build up your church no matter the amount of resources we may have. Amen.