Flights and happy landings

Sunday, February 16, 2025

We love Sundays. I watch Feibe online, preaching her first English sermon. Way to go! It's a blessing and pure joy to watch young leaders hone their skills.

W and I attend the morning service at BNC (Bellevue Neighborhood Church). We feel right at home: people from many nations are present. Is that the best of all worlds? being international while having a Trader Joes nearby? ha ha

Alan Ehler preaches on God's healing power. It's a beautiful affirmation of God's care. We attended BNC as students, married and went back to Canada, and then came back with our young family. Today we visit with friends we haven't seen in years. Those include two admirable young women for whom we pray regularly.

For lunch at Fang's Noodles, we order 2 dishes plus a bowl of rice. The bill gives us a bit of sticker shock. The rice we added at the last minute is $3 for half an Indonesian portion! We can feed the team in Bandung at a decent restaurant for the total.

Melissa treats us to a Chinese massage in a nearby strip mall. These guys do a good job. We feel the easing of muscles as they grind  elbows and fingers into our backs and feet.

While I write and catch up on messages in our flat, M makes supper: salmon, pineapple chicken, a crisp salad ... whew. The family eats together before we head downstairs for a hangout. The grandkids make us laugh - they're endlessly creative and funny (and fun!)

They played the bird whistles we brought from Turkey earlier. We sent them outside to run up and down the driveway as they warbled. Today they race penguin figures accompanied by a digital tune on a track from Bandung. It's equally noisy and cheerful.

T has found our favorite Malaysian tea (his and mine) on Amazon. We can't even buy this in Indonesia. (Our friend DrW brings a package each time she visits her kids there in Malaysia.)

The guys do what they usually do - hang out with devices in hand, checking info, sharing memes, and catching up.

We give Jonathan a big hug before he heads out. They'll do a "guys night" tomorrow but I'll take all the hugs I can get before he moves to Germany in a month or two. He was a special child, full of laughter and love for his siblings. Isn't it a blessing when kids grow up to be responsible and beloved adults?

Monday

M sends down a scone for breakfast. Yummy, with tea. We start to pack for home. What global workers put in their suitcases might surprise you. We focus on what we can't get abroad rather than vacation-style preparations.

We pack local gifts for others and kitchen wares (including SOS pads from the dollar store, silicone pot lids, and a wide-mouthed funnel from my old kitchen). I wrap a jar of clover honey in a recycled Amazon bag (bubble wrap) and surround it with a big bag of crackers. I got new cookie sheets for movie-night cooking marathons and some book studies.

Of course, we include monstrous TJ chocolate for baking and a few peanut-butter cups for stress relief. Chocolate may be heavy but it's as valuable as gold! With an extra suitcase, thanks to W's flyer status, we'l be stocked up for months.

I found 2 new sport tops to replace worn-out ones; they're tucked between things we don't want smashed. Tomorrow we'll add Keelee's cookies, some cheese from the freezer, and lesser items until we max out our luggage weight. We pack and repack.

Someone asks about my morning travel makeup. It's 2 minutes to done, unlike in Bandung where I add sunblock and insect repellent after washing my face. These 4 items, tucked into the front pocket of a purse, suffice for days or weeks away: a foldable hairbrush, eye liner pencil, eyebrow pencil, and lip color. (If I forget one, it's easily replaced at any makeup counter.)

When feeling ambitious, I use an eyebrow brush and Chapstick. (Hardly ever, she says. 2 minutes are long enough.)

One of our meal favorites, easily available here but not at home, is pre-made ravioli. We eat some for lunch with a tomato sauce I find in the pantry. A cup of buttermilk! (my grandpa's favorite) gentles the acidic sauce. I've never found buttermilk in Bandung, though we make a baking substitute with a tablespoon of vinegar in 1-2 c of regular milk.

We're usually tired when we get home, jumping ahead 15 hours on the clock after a few long flights. So today's the right day to catch up and write a monthly newsletter.

For supper, Melissa and the grandkids share their leftovers and ours while the guys go out together. Yummy. 

Jonathan drops by afterward to chat about his future and his calling to showing kindness in the world. We pray together and send him off with a hug. It may be a long time before we see him again.

Tuesday

It's the last day in Seattle. I call Mom and a few others to say goodbye and thanks. Breakfast and lunch are leftovers - why leave stuff in the fridge or toss it? We close up the suitcases after a shower and doing laundry. 

As we tidy up, we find boxes of forgotten items. At some point when he wholesaled tea, W ordered 20 Ingenuity pots. We have many left, even after giveaways. I put one in the suitcase and send another to a friend.

My delight today is finding Auntie Molly's cookbook. She died almost 20 years ago and her cookbook went missing. I'd agree to digitize it and looked several times through my boxes for it. Then yesterday, it was lying in front of the bookshelf ... in plain sight. Thank you, God. A bonus gift of memories. I can almost taste her food as I browse the recipes.

The old-style German cursive is familiar: she wrote me regularly from when I was a teen to young-married. Then Uncle E took over correspondence. They sent letters and postcards from their travels around the world - Singapore, South Africa, India, China ... they were world travelers each year. A few years ago, I gave him back those letters.

I scan the pages and clippings before sending the files to the extended family. Inside one pocket of the cookbook is a little green slip of paper titled Roly Poly Strudel. What?! I can't believe it. Here is the recipe I asked my mom for 2 weeks ago. Mom had forgotten baking this roll, which is filled with nuts and Turkish delight. Long ago, I guess she wrote the recipe out for her older sister. What an unexpected find. There's a BIG smile on my face.

AuntieM had a quirk of squirreling money away in hidden places. One of UncleE's requests after her funeral was that we'd let him know when money turned up. It did - in coat pockets, in corners of the house, and in other places.

Today I find $35 Canadian in $5 bills in the cookbook's pockets. It makes me laugh and warms my heart to think of the "best auntie" who loved me since I was a child. I send Uncle E a note letting him know that he has more money than he thought. Let's see how to get it back to him. [He says, "keep it!"]

In the evening, T drives us to SeaTac airport. We stay in the lounge until boarding time. I'm so relieved when W gets a whole row for the +11 hour flight ... but he insists I take it. So I sleep - 5 hours! and lots of resting time. It's incredible what a difference it makes to the body to lie down. He sleeps about the same amount of time in my seat across the aisle. Who else has such a thoughtful husband? (Not many wives, I'll wager.)

Wednesday

We "lose the day" between time zone changes to 15 hrs ahead and the Pacific dateline. Our flight leaves early in Seattle and arrives in Taiwan another hour early so it's a long 6-hr layover. We start in our regular lounge before W checks out the ChinaAir lounge. The airline gave him a pass to their lounge as a frequent flyer in their group. I tag along.

There's a beautiful greyhound bronze in the entry.

It's a quieter space, more comfy, and has good food. I avoid airplane meals this time around. The food has been ... well, mostly indifferent. Since I"m not hungry, there's no sense in shoveling down a meal because it's there.

The Asian flight attendants are a marvel. They're quick, courteous, and watching for service opportunities. It's a contrast to the rude service in the West, where there are 101 rules for what employees can and cannot do. Workers must ensure they get their breaks and tend to their own comfort with limits for serving passengers in the economy zones. American flights feel like people are "just doing my job."

Before leaving Bandung, I wrote on a half-sheet of paper: "Please let me sleep. Thanks" - with a smiley face on the side. On each flight, I stick it on the knob of the fold-down table. Except for the Delta flight from Austin, flight attendants honor that and let me rest. The China Air crew even tags my seat with a red sticker, "Call us anytime you need something." When I wake, they rush over and ask if I need a meal (late) or anything else. WOW.

Between conversations with fellow passengers, I pull a hoodie on backwards with the hood over my face. I can't sleep if there are flashing lights = people adjusting their screens, flipping on their overhead lights, and cabin lights means no rest for me. The reverse jacket is the perfect blackout solution. Plus it is furry and keeps me warm in the cold cabins. Maybe some people rest better when it's cold? I wake as soon as my fingers and toes are chilled.

Thursday

The flight touches down at 1:30 PM, on time in Jakarta. I like the green wall by the luggage retrieval.

By the time our luggage is retrieved, the first shuttle bus is booked for the harried ride to Bandung, and we get picked up by PakG, it's 7:30 PM.

Home sweet home amid the motorcycles and little kids hanging on in front of their moms ... We shrug off our winter clothes. "Hot and muggy, with rain at least once a day," reports PakG. 

As we come in the yard, two of our dogs come running. The other is nowhere to be found. I whistle and call in case Gypsy is in a corner of the garden. Then I go into the neighborhood - but no luck. He's gone. I'm too weary to worry, but I can pray. God knows every creature's path.

PakG takes his motorcycle around the hill. He finds Gypsy a half-mile (2/3 km) down the hill, leashes him, and brings him back. Whew. We're all happy he's home - he scooted out of the gate when the neighbors left it open for a while (closing their own gate inside). They chased him so he ran away, instead of letting him come back on his own. Of course, they didn't tell us what happened. Later, we find out third-hand.

"Can we leave the unpacking until tomorrow?" W asks. Sure he can. But I put things away for an hour and am done. After a shower, it feels amazing to crawl into our own clean beds - and we crash out for 8 hours.

Friday

No breakfast. I'm not hungry. Ibu Ade comes for 2 hours of pounding the stiffness out. I listen to textbooks during a massage so the time is well-spent. Today it's a new one: "Die to Live" by  . What a challenge to spiritual formation and awakening. I'm convicted and refreshed, body and soul.

W is picking up a second-hand electric converter so I go along to get out of the house. The rice fields are being harvested along the roads.

We are not sleepy but not really energetic, either. The Korean chicken place is cheap and tasty.

We walk around IKEA for steps. In our go-section "As-Is", we find blackout curtains for half-price ($75 for 6) and hang them when we get home. The room is darkened but not blacked out.

After, just as awful but less light.

I'm not hungry for supper either. And I'm not hungry at night or at breakfast. IbuS left us a home-baked bread. I'm up for 4 hours at night but the emotions and experiences pour out into my journal. Pages and pages of processing what we've seen, heard, and will pray for.

I look at the week ahead on the calendar and write it down in the "little book" in my purse. Sleep feels sweet and restful.

Saturday

W's already walked when I get up at 6:30. He has a study at 7:30 and then I write the talk for tomorr.w W and I read and edit it together before we're out the door to 2 events. One is a dental clinic hosted by volunteers where they usually teach English. Sayaka the leader trained in dental hygiene in Japan. She's a wonderful organizer of this free bonus for those who learn English at Tanikota farm.

Read more:

*I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation. Psalm 40:10

*There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4

*Paul wrote: We had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition. 1 Thessalonians 2:2

Moravian Prayer: God of the Ages, since the time of psalmist and apostles, your steadfast love and faithful presence inspired generations to live out your gospel story. Now we are the generations who hear your call to receive and share your love. Inspire and embolden us, we pray! Amen.

There's no place like "home sweet home"

Tuesday - Wednesday (and Thursday-ish), October 29-31, 2024

Today is travel day. We've taken our funny family photo and prayed for each other. Timo and his sons are awake when we say goodbye.

Kim picks us up after 6:00 a.m. and drives us and our 4 suitcases to the airport. It gives us one more chance to see each other face to face, which we treasure. The luggage holds a year of Canadian and American goodies that will be strictly rationed for when we miss our families.

Yesterday, I rammed a full-sized down pillow into my carryon bag. Once we're on the plane, I pull it out to pad the seat on the 16.5 hour non-stop flight to Singapore. It pushes me forward so my knees touch the seat ahead. BUT wow, what comfort. We have a down underlay on our sleeper sofas in Seattle (who needs artificial memory foam!) and this works the same way. My back does just fine on the long ride.

Wednesday-ish ... We have a 5-hour layover in Singapore Airport, which is an interesting, clean, and efficient space. There are marvels everywhere: orchid and waterlily gardens, aquariums (like the one below), waterfalls, and lots of shopping. We cruise by it all on our way to the lounge.

Then we climb aboard a 1.5 hour flight to Jakarta.

The airport shuttle takes 3 hours to reach Bandung, thanks to the skillful driver. When we disembark at the shuttle terminal, W spots a taxi SUV across the street. It's big enough to stuff in everything we're carrying. W wanders over to find the taxi driver, who cheerfully takes us up the hill to home.

Thursday-ish

The clock bumps forward 14 time zones so we lose half a day. We are at our place before 4:00 a.m. Thursday (2 p.m. Wednesday, Vancouver time). It's one of our fastest itineraries: 32 hours, door to door. The dogs give us a tail-wagging welcome.

I unpack a frozen coffee cake and cookies (thanks Keelee!) plus sausage (thanks Norm and Shane) and stash them in our freezer. While I'm at it, why not? I unpack everything. I dread facing luggage and laundry that first morning after we get home. It only takes a half-hour to empty household items, books, and my personal things.

Oh yippee. Look who's waiting for us in bedroom and bathroom ... roaches. At least they're dead. W plucks them off the floor and flushes them away.

I write a note to the helpers: "Please don't talk too loudly when you come; W and I are sleeping in." When we wake, they've started laundry and washed the dishes. They show me an outbreak of black beetles in the kitchen.

"Toss every package with bugs in it!" I say. There are swarms in the dry noodles. Meanwhile, PakG washes and fluffs up Bailey the small poodle. So cute.

I weigh in - yikes! the last time I was this heavy, I was pregnant. "Time for restraint," she reminds herself as she refrigerates the Aldi chocolate bars.

The American lifestyle of driving everywhere and eating rich food is hard on a body. We can't wait to restore our health with walks and better eating. I decide on a vegan-ish food plan to reset my taste buds and gut.

The trees are blooming as we stroll through the neighborhood.

These 1' (30 cm) clumps of blossoms dangle overhead.

W unpacks his gear and clothing and then asks, "Want to walk to #NaraPark for breakfast?" We're both feeling the exhaustion of not sleeping and of sitting too long. A walk sounds good though the day is heating up. W brought along a replacement battery for the "dead" robot vacuum; it hums around the bedroom while we're gone.

I'm not hungry, but why not go? There's a halloween party for little kids at Nara.

Every preschooler is accompanied by a nanny. In 2-child families, there are 2 nannies. This is a well-to-do group.

The little kids run around, blow bubbles, look at each other's costumes, and admire the tortoises, hedgehogs, and owls.

The restaurant brings a soup we haven't ordered. We taste it and get charged on our bill. Ah, lesson learned: we'll turn it away next time. It's beef and peanuts in broth. I order my regular noodles but can't even finish those. We take leftovers home.

On the way, we spot a dozen guys moving a huge display case out of a restaurant. Things are still done by hand. When something doesn't succeed, it's shifted away and a new idea replaces it.

Baby Dutch was great at first, tasty and reasonably priced. After the soft launch ended, prices kept going up while the food quality went down. The pancakes were overcooked to hard. The toppings became less appetizing, too. Now they're out of business.

We hit two grocer to check off the helper's list. We're restocking the basics: vegetables, rice, eggs, milk, etc. I have no appetite at lunch but W tries to eat. We finish cleanup and rest in early afternoon.

The collection of interesting dried leaves and moss is growing. I stack it on a slab of tree trunk we rescued from the neighborhood junk pile.

Four stumps have been filled and sealed with polyurethane. They sit on the Porch under cover until we need them for bigger events.

Our monthly email updates are due tomorrow. Oh oh! I usually have more margin to write them. Off to work! The benefit of our annual "quick trip" back to the USA/Canada is that we're back to work on the day we return. Both e-new updates are soon written and scheduled to drop tomorrow morning,

Friday

We walk at 6:00 a.m. in the cool morning air. The trees bloom over our heads.

I love the way these 4"(9cm) flowers hang from bare vines.

It storms much of the day. I call Mom to catch up on the guests who have gone home. She's resting after the exertion of company. It would even be a lot for a healthy person. She's our socialite and the heart center of the family.

My main chore is to clean the aquariums on the Porch. The tanks are green from overfeeding = algae. The number of fish has declined but they're prolific breeders. The population goes up with balanced food and clean water.

I empty the fish bowls one at a time and then IbuS scrubs the Bali glass. Bali glassblowers form glass vases, bowls, and other containers on wooden roots. The wood smokes but doesn't catch on fire as they work. The glass drapes tightly on the wood.  Each piece is as unique as the wood under it. This one is over 2' (70cm) tall.

I've always done the fish cleanup after we've been away but I've come to my senses. Will the helpers feed less after dealing with the green? Maybe. By the time the fish and plants return to their habitat, the glass glows blue again.

I take a tour of the yard. Oh my, the garden is a mess: weeds are popping up everywhere. A rash of beetles drift across the Porch into the house from the garden. Must be their season. I nudge them outside with my flip-flops.

Tiny avocados hang from the tree in the backyard. We'll have fruit in a few months.

Amaryllis and red fruit on a P. macrocarpa shrub create a pop of color in one corner.

The lemon tree is heavy with dozens of lemons. The rose branches have gone wild. A few are blooming but they need pruning.

We join an online meeting with leaders of Asian international churches. Most need more staff. Some have just moved to new countries, which is a cultural challenge. We pray together before hanging up. W and I are dozing in place: it's 11:00pm, Seattle time ... so we're sleepy.

The red rice is delicious at lunchtime. Oops. "There are bugs everywhere in the rice," notes IbuS. I tossed the bag into an airtight container yesterday, just in case. I'd spotted a dusty layer on the bottom of all the natural rice and wondered. See the black flecks? Yup - extra protein. That expensive package is going back to the store ASAP. When W gets there, there's no rice on the receipt. They gave it to us for free?

They've spread through the entire kitchen. It takes me until evening to take out the bins, sort, toss, and wash. Not the way one would choose to spend Friday but hey, we're home!

Read more:

*Some take pride in chariots and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God. Psalm 20:7

*Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.” Isaiah 55:6-13

*There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12

Moravian Prayer: God our cornerstone, your power brings salvation to the world. It is your will by which we live, and your name that we praise. Amen.

Life as collage

One of our assignments last weekend was to create a visual representing our personalities and call to missions. With a few magazines and a sheet of paper, the speaker told us to "go to town." W took quick pictures with his IPhone when we were done. Sorry about the poor quality (glare from overhead lights). You'll have an idea, regardless.

W neatly cut out pictures and taped them within the borders of the sheet. He left some white edges. Here's his collage (explanation below).

 

W views his ministry as a shared meal (center), eating together in God's Word. Many people in Bandung wait to learn about Good News (lower left). He's a teacher (lower right). The top picture shows prayers of gratitude. His caption is our invitation to you: "Join Our Story."

My collage was more spontaneous. I tore pages out of the magazines and ripped them to size as the project developed. My images spilled over the sides of the page and overlapped each other. (Explanation below.)

I'm a connector, shown by the plugs. We're going to interact with learners (student bus in the middle) and need high energy as we gear up to go (the red truck; the horse rider). We expect to be covered by the Word and prayer (umbrella, lower). We'll be planting an International Service with others on the team (lower left) in a place that is barren of the Gospel (dead trees, with new grass springing up). We expect to reach out with hospitality and personal relationships (teacup and plate of food).

We were given limited resources (choice of magazines, scissors, and a glue stick) and 9 minutes to complete our task. These were hardly pieces of art. It's fascinating how each person in the room completed the assignment with personalization and their own organization. Some were very systematic; others were random. Two of us overflowed the edges and filled the page. Others had tiny images and captions with lots of unused space. One graphic designer constructed a 3-D panorama. Cool!

Hope you enjoyed the collages. It would be fun to see what you'd come up with in 9 minutes!

Read more:

*Praise the Lord! How good to sing praises to our God!    How delightful and how fitting! The Lord is rebuilding Jerusalem and bringing the exiles back to Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds. He counts the stars and calls them all by name.mHow great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension! Psalm 147:1-5 NLT

*Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint. Isaiah 7:4 ESV

*Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for
building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29 NIV

*Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Ephesians 6:10 ESV

Moravian Prayer: God our King, as we serve you, give us your power so we may do your will in all things. Strengthen us so we do not yield to the temptation of taking the easy way out. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

What next?

In progress!

"It's a bit of a whirlwind, isn't it?" T surveys the basement with a smile. His team has framed and roughed in plumbing. He's pulled wires to power up the new space.

"Sure is." W looks around and shakes his head. "This would have taken me ages." Perhaps months.

We've found that Craigslist is an excellent resource for buyers and sellers. Someone's here now, picking up our DR rug, a pale green 10X12 wool expanse. We tossed in a few tables, a slipper chair, and the sturdy loveseat W built for our first apartment (along with the cushions and covers I made.) Hurrah!

Our little slipper rocking chair. Gone!

It's been good fun seeing the happiness of people who like our stuff :-) God has blessed us with mutual satisfaction, for which we are grateful. There will be plenty to toss before we go.

The kitchen cabinets, closet fixtures, and furniture wait for installation. We'll need a wall-mount sink, a toilet, and a stacking washer/dryer. We're shedding dishes, tables, dressers, a queen 4-poster, chairs, and other "stuff" accumulated over 36 years of marriage and raising 4 kids.

We head to Montana for a family reunion in the morning. What's next? W has finishing touches to do at the cabin (flooring and lighting). We'll put mattresses on the bunks about the time the tribe arrives.

We got two notes from Indonesia coworkers this morning. One wrote: "Please come as soon as you can! We need you already." And from another team member, "We've been praying for this for 15 years!"

We're grateful for the friends staying in the house while we're away. Their schedule and ours synched so that when they're away, we're back. When we leave, they're home here.

After MT, W's teaching year and ITINERATION fills our calendar ... until we leave for Indonesia.

If you've considered supporting us, please pledge or donate here. (The site is under my name for administrative reasons; AG only permits one spouse to be listed.) Here's the link for faith pledges.

It's easy to give by clicking here.

Our cash budget of $30,000 and monthly support of $4000 will go toward transportation to various universities and colleges in SE Asia and the branch we're planting in Bandung. (It's almost half of a regular budget, because we expect partnerships there. Our initial term is 2 years, but we plan to renew.)

We're excited! You with us? We can't go without you. If you'd like to contact us about coming to your church or small group, please let us know! (All comments are vetted: I won't share your info.)

Read more:
*I wait for your salvation, O Lord. Genesis 49:18 NLT

*Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Hebrews 9:28 NLT

Moravian Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for our salvation and happiness. Your arising has brought us hope and peace. We thank you in Jesus’ name. Amen.