Movies and books

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

It's movie night. Yesterday, the new LR/DR arrangement disappeared when W and PakG moved out the rugs and dining table. They brought bean bags and pillows from storage. W sets up projectors in and outside and tests the sound.

He takes the dogs around the loop. Instead of a walk outdoors, I start at 5:30 a.m. and pace +3000 steps in the kitchen, cooking for 60. Knowing how many will show up is a tricky thing; 70 young adults have signed up this exam week.

We pray for good weather ... when it rains, many students won't come. Then we're left with a lot of food. The helpers don't mind: they take it home for their families. It pours in the afternoon and then stops.

The kitchen list get crossed off, one entree after another. When IbuA and IbuS arrive at 3:00 p.m., they work through their own list (written under mine).

They are a great blessing: they stay and clean up until 10:00 p.m.) The students look forward to saying hi to them as much as to us.

Yesterday we experimented with a dough conditioner in the bread maker. One of three breads was a "fail!" We make peanut-butter and honey slices from the rest - it's served as dessert and disappears completely.

As I work, Mom calls. If your mother is still alive and blowing kisses, thank God. W and I are privileged in our late 60s. Both moms pray for us and talk with us daily.

The first part of every movie night is cooking 2.5 kg spaghetti. The spaghetti water is used to boil 200 bakso (meat-ish balls with flour and meat, used locally for soup.) The bakso balls marinate in black pepper sauce while I air-fry 200 small sausages. The food-coated wooden spoons, spatulas, and silicone pads are rinsed into the broth before washing. That makes a rich and tasty soup base. When we're low on broth, I freeze some. Otherwise, the helpers take it home.

The curry and spaghetti sauces simmer while the bakso bakes in the oven, tray by tray, I prefer to be a "clean" cook, washing up as I go. I have to reuse the oversize pots. There's still plenty to wash when I'm done. 

Today the ibu-ibu also wash the utensils stored on the bottom shelf of the island: some of them are pretty dusty. Last to bake are the spicy chicken wings.

Rinse, rinse, and wash what would stick if left for later. By 10:30 a.m., the food is staying warm in heavy commercial pots, side to side under thick blankets. I have no capacity to cook lunch. I make something for the men working outside but W and I head out to Ethnic, a few blocks away. See the little boy is stepping on the narrow wall next to a drop-off of 3-4' (+100cm)? I want to say, "Be careful not to fall!" but he's obviously done this before.

Lunch is oncom, seasoned rice with nuts and a side of hard-roasted beef. We walk home for a quiet afternoon.

After 5:00, I reheat the food for dinner at 6:30. The cutlery, condiments, serving bowls and spoons are ready. Now for people! Food is first, a long line that stretches out the door.

We're pretty casual at movie night. Bella, Sigit and their "little" come to say hi, too. It's wonderful to see our young friends mature into parenthood, marriage, and work after university.

Guests sit on the Porch and in the house, enjoying Paddington and our theme of belonging. They make themselves comfortable on the sofas or floor pillows.

We are saying goodbye to about 10 scholarship students. They're writing finals and theses and this is the last time they're in-country for movie night. They're going home to Kazakstan, Burundi, Tanzania, Morocco, Madagascar, and elsewhere. What a pleasure to get to know them while they're in Bandung. W prays God's favor, peace, and blessings over them as they return home.

Thursday

I'm never up for a hike after movie night. Way too tired but I go anyway. Nature clears my brain and unclogs my body. Sometimes people wonder why we rest so deeply and take time to hike every week. It's because of the surges of attention required for events and pastoring.

Our 2 fearless leaders are away: Angie repatriated to Germany last week (boo hoo) and Veronica is visiting Australian family. Andy leads on "Mariska's walk" today. It's down down to the river and back up to the other side. 

The army has fenced off a "live firing" area so we skirt the edge of the forest and walk through the tea fields. The path offers us God's discards: a beautiful fruit (size of a plum),

an exquisite blossom, and

a bright 1' (30cm) lizard who ignores our dogs running past it. It stays on the path until young Sam touches its head and then darts into the green underbrush.

We've come out on another hill instead of looping back. The descent is steep to where the car picks us up.

On the return trip, we pass a huge display of stuffed lions and camels. "It's a party for a boy being circumcised," explains PakG. He tells us this old tradition is dying out and very expensive. The boy will have a party and be paraded through his village and then he is inducted into Islam with the ceremony. This can happen before school age or through his teens, whenever he and his family are ready. 

"This celebration is very big - and the family must be wealthy. Most of us cannot afford this." Usually there is only one lion for the boy himself but this is a big event.

W and I stop at a Sundanese café for lunch. I order a drink; it's served in a bowl with floating bread in a warm ginger tea, laced with shaved young coconut, tapioca pearls, and peanuts. Tastes ok.

I try another version of oncom rice with a skinny chicken breast and wing. We order sate on the side and can't finish; there's enough for PakG as well.

When we get home, the helpers have washed and put away late-night dishes, mopped the floors and Porch, and reset the living room. I place the accessories back before a meeting at 3:00 about baptism certification. W fields that meeting while I shower off the grime of the hike.

We're tired from yesterday and glad when another day in paradise is done and the sun goes down at 6:00.

Friday

When I wake at 3:00 a.m., I write Sunday's talk about divine healing. I discard what I wrote earlier in the week. That's not the direction we're going.

When the week is full or the talk is percolating, the sermon may not come together until the end of the week. We never want to neglect the privilege of preaching. We don't take it for granted. But sometimes our study, prayer, and reflection on scripture wait for coherence and cohesion. 

W and I read the talk before walking the dogs. Then it's moving day. We're doing another book pickup! The books are packed into bags (some of them below), which are heavy but easier to transport.

We are also getting bookshelves! hurrah. Some will go to Tanikota for their new library. Others will be picked up tomorrow by a group of teachers from another city. Thank God for his provision! 

One more day of picking up library discards is coming up next week. Then, "Dear God of abundance, I think that's enough for a while." W says the same.

Read more:

*Do not fear, for I am with you. Isaiah 43:5

*One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you.” Acts 18:9-10

*And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that  we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.1 John 4:16-19

O God, our help and stay, whatever challenges or problems may come our way, reassure us of your presence to comfort, strengthen and embolden us. Grant us the grace to feel your strong hands upholding and protecting us as your Spirit leads us forth. Amen.