Prayers Please

So a short update. Prayers would be greatly appreciated.  We found out this afternoon that a government official is coming to the school for some type of evaluation.  It may be related to the school's visas, then again I could be totally wrong.  I'm not really 100% sure.  What I do know is that all the volunteer teachers (including us SM's, and many other teachers) will not be at school tomorrow.  The administration is afraid that the government official will ask us certain questions that we will not be able to answer appropriately; therefore, the official would say, "See? They don't know what they're talking about. Your school is not up to par."  Especially, if we do not understand or answer in Indonesian.  It's not fair in the least, but then again most countries (including Papua) function off bribes and it's not going to be fair.  So all I ask is for some prayers to be sent up for Hillcrest.  I currently have no reason to believe that my visa is in jeopardy.  So tomorrow, I will be staying home and us girls will have a day to finally get settled into our new house (pictures to come!). Thank you in advance for all your support!

"Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Today has enough trouble of its own." -Matt 6:34 

"...I will never leave you and I will never abandon you..." -Heb 13:5

Beach Trip!

Thursday, August 25, 2016:

Thursday morning we all met in front of the school excited and ready to go to the beach!  It took quite a while for all the luggage and equipment to be loaded onto a small dump truck, and for everybody to find a seat in the taxis.   Even though the taxi have seats for 9 people, it’s really just a suggestion here in Papua.  So we cram into the taxis and zip into the traffic. 

Before I continue, let me paint a picture of what the inside of the taxis look like.  The seats are covered in plastic (so when it’s 95 degrees you can’t help but stick to the seats). All the windows are tinted so dark it is hard to see out.  And yes, that includes the windshield.  How the drivers here see the road is beyond me. Then on the dash they have some decorations.  Not just the fluffy dice that hang from the rear view window, but big stuffed animals, tissue boxes, and mirrors that serve no purpose but for looks.   Once I was in the taxi there wasn’t much I could do except laugh.  Which is what Paige and I did a lot of the way, because everything about the taxi ride was so out of our control we could either cry the entire way, or laugh at how crazy the situation became.

Anyways, as we weaved through the traffic in Sentani, the driver played with the radio.  I thought, “Oh good some music, that will be nice”… Wrong. I’m sure the music would have been nice to listen to but the bass in all of the taxis is turned up as loud as it will go. All you can hear (or feel rather) is the deep thud of the bass.  After a while I’m pretty sure my heart was beating to the irregular rhythm of the bass drum.  Another taxi began to race mine over the mountainous gravel, dirt, and sometimes concrete road. Let’s just say that ride put some of Six-Flags’ rides to shame.  Not to brag but my taxi eventually won (it may have something to do with the fact that we had the lady who knew where we were going, but still).

The taxis quite literally dropped us off at an almost empty harbor.  As soon as we were out of the taxis, they were gone again.  It was not in their job description to make sure the boats arrived, or help unload the truck.  The only 2 boats in the harbor was a fairly large barge, and a small wooden canoe with stabilizers on either side and a motor in the back.  In years past, Hillcrest has used such sea worthy vesicles, but I wasn’t so sure it would hold up in the choppy water.  I couldn’t tell if I was starting to sweat from being slightly nervous, or because there was no shade in the bay.  We all stood there looking around and lathering on the sunscreen. Finally, slightly bigger boats arrived.  Instead of traveling in a 4-person canoe, we were going to take an 8-person dinghy.  But again, the 8 person limit was really just a suggestion and so we crammed 11 people and as much luggage on the boats as possible.   The students were required to wear life jackets, but us teachers were not (partially because they ran out).  So I clung onto my camera for dear life as we pushed off the rickety dock and headed out of the mouth of the bay. 

Not 5 minutes away from the dock we ran into a large pod of dolphins.  They were fishing in a circular pattern and jumping beautifully out of the water.  One got so close to our boat I was worried that we would hit it.

As soon as we were out of the bay the water dramatically changed. We began hitting large swells.  Some so big we were airborne for a second and then would crash back onto the next wave. After about 30 minutes of bouncing and skimming over the waves we came around a point and entered a small cove.  The water only became clearer as we got closer to the shore.  The reef was so close to the surface that the boats could only enter the beach using a deeper channel.  As soon as we hit the sand it was mass chaos.  We had to quickly unload the boats of people and equipment to allow the other boats to enter.  And just like the taxis the boats were gone faster then you could blink.

The senior class had left Wednesday afternoon to set up camp, so when we arrived the kitchen, meeting areas, and bathrooms were already set up.  Ashley, Paige, and I found a tree that hung out near the water.  We quickly hung our hammocks, mosquito nets, and tarps so we could relax.  Out of my hammock I could watch the crystal clear waves, and the many crabs scurry by. 

We didn’t rest long though; we grabbed our snorkels and jumped into the water.  This was my first time snorkeling, and I’m hooked now.  It was breathtaking!  We would swim along with the coral just a few feet under us and then, almost with out warning, you would swim out over a drop off and be floating in limbo looking 50 feet down to the ocean floor.   I wish I could name all the fish we saw. We mostly saw small reef fish, some about the size of my fingernail. Others were maybe a foot or so long.  There was tangerine colored starfish, iridescent blue reef fish, lime green coral, dozens of sea cucumbers, angelfish, some small parrotfish, and trumpet fish.  But my absolute favorite find was when I was swimming around the edge of the reef and saw, probably 15 feet down, a pink anemone with 4 or 5 clown fish swimming in and out.  We were told that if you held your hand close to the anemone the clown fish would sometimes come up to your hand.  But none of us could stay still enough under the water or stay down long enough to see if this was true.

Needless to say, by Thursday evening we were all so exhausted it was hard to stay awake for their evening worship talk.   Maybe it was wrong of me, but when I heard that the school goes on a beach trip I assumed it would not be a very spiritual camp out.  I was so very wrong.  The talks that Uncle Dan had (the Bible teacher at Hillcrest) reminded me a lot of my Senior Survival week.  Every morning we had a quite devotional time, worship time, and a small group time.  Then every evening we had another worship talk.  I was immensely blessed by the sermonettes, and by the atmosphere.

We were also blessed to have bathrooms, and a fresh water shower out on the beach but it was not in the ways I was expecting.  The girl’s bathroom consisted of a 3-foot hole in the ground, with flat pieces of wood on either side. They were kind enough to put a tarp around it for privacy.  Even if the tarp made it a little steamy inside, and when the wind blew the tarp would blow up so you would get a nice view of the ocean (and everyone on the beach).  BUT it was a privacy tarp nonetheless. Our shower was just as beautifully rustic.  The beach naturally has a fresh water stream that feeds into the ocean.  So after walking back into the jungle a ways you would come to this small stream of water.  Someone had also created a showerhead by putting a long pipe from a higher up pool to create a nice flow of water. 

Our lovely bathroom

Saturday, August 27, 2016:

Shower!

            We had the same morning schedule with the worships, but we soon had to tear down everything.   With 70-ish people it was surprisingly calm.  Our boats arrived earlier than expected and again we piled as much as we could in each boat.  Basically, reversed the process of getting out to the beach.  The taxi ride back was nowhere near as eventful as going to the beach, but the music was still as loud as ever.

Once we got back to the school, I was so thankful to get in the car with Pastor Darron and get home for a less rustic shower (and to get the never-ending sand out of my hair). 

Beach vidoes

I'm not a professional videographer so please excuse any audio issues (and the messy hair it was hot!!).  It's showing up clear in my photo library but kinda fuzzy on here so hope yall can see it ok.  

Taxi ride to the beach! I'm not sure how he sees out the windshield...

Add caption

Fishing hut just floating on the water

Landing on the beach

Update

I have survived my first 3 days of classes!  It amazes me how God prepared me for this class and style of teaching.  Because I only have 5 students it is so relaxed and it reminds me of tutoring rather than lecturing!  With that being said though, I really need to thank (and give a shout out to) all of my high school teachers.  I’m exhausted just preparing and teaching 1 class, I can’t imagine what it’s like to teach 4-5 classes with 20+ crazy high school students.  Then on top of that, to make it exciting and to still have energy at the end of the day to keep us engaged is such a raw talent!

More good news, God has been working on our housing situation in mighty ways.  Currently (if you didn’t know), we are living in an Adventist family’s home while they are still on furlough in the States. They will be coming back to Papua soon and so we are need of another place.  There are many reasons as to why we cannot stay on the compound of Adventist Aviation.  One being there’s no room, and if did cram with another family then we would have no personal space (when culture shock kicks in we will desperately need space). Another issue is that we are trying to build the bridge for future student missionaries and would like to have a permanent place for them to call home.  I’m excited to be immersed in the local culture and language, but I’m also rather nervous.  Living in the nearby neighborhoods means I’ll be even further pushed out of my comfort zone. But this is just part of being an SM, right? Pastor Darron believes the house is safe, and there are other church members nearby to keep an eye on us.  The plan is to move in on Sunday. I’ll definitely post pictures of our humble abode when we are all moved in.

Tomorrow morning, we leave for Beach Trip!! Basically, Hillcrest takes all of its high school students out to one of the remote beaches. We will camp there Thursday-Saturday. I’ve only heard good things about it from the students so I’m super excited about being able to tag along.  That also means I won’t have connection to the outside world for a little bit.  But it shouldn’t be long, unlike when we go interior (which I am also super excited about!!)  

One last thing I would like to mention though, is really requesting prayers.  The other day we went to visit a lady who’s daughter has been very sick.  Her hair is falling out, she has no energy, and quite a lot of other strange symptoms.  Ruth was originally thinking it was an endocrine dysfunction but there are other symptoms that don’t match any thyroid disorders.  The Papuan doctors are stumped as well and gave her the diagnosis of “stop thinking so much, and you’re hair will grow back.” Prayers for her and her family, as well as granting us the wisdom to know what’s going on would be greatly appreciated.

Photos

Lazy day at the beach. Sentosa Island.

The peaks in the background is Cyclops Mountain.  The clouds cover about the last 1,000 ft.

A Lot of Firsts

Yesterday was my first Sabbath here, so Selamat Sabat (Happy Sabbath).  We went to church at the nearby SDA School. I wish I could say that the sermon was riveting, but not knowing the language makes it hard to focus on the sermon. Perhaps, in next few months I’ll be able to pick up more and more!  

SDA church and school

            After church we went on a Sabbath afternoon hike to this amazing lake! It was so beautiful!!  It was hot though.  Scratch that. It was like walking through a steam room that was put on hell-fire mode.  But I just keep telling myself, “Welcome to Papua and the tropics KD. This is where you chose to come. You’ll have great pores when you get home.” 

I cannot get over the dramatic landscape here! Everywhere I look there are hills that seem to have been molded and dropped in impractical places.  Then there’s Cyclopes Mountain. It’s just as eerie and majestic as it sounds.  As I sit here in my new classroom (and write this blog) I look out my window and stare in owe. It appears to have forcefully erupted out of the ground creating vast saddles and jagged peaks.  But instead of being covered by rock, the jungle has taken over. The clouds usually hang low and cover the top 1,000 feet, but every once in a while it will allow you to see patches of the mysterious peaks. Every time I look up at the mountain I can’t help but think, perhaps Mordor is just on the other side.  Then, of course, I promptly get “I See Fire” stuck in my head.  If this view wasn’t terribly beautiful enough, there’s a massive waterfall tumbling off one of the many steep bluffs, which I can see (and dream of going) to from my classroom.  It may be harder to teach than I thought.   Not because of the students, but because of this distracting view.

Speaking of school, I start tomorrow! *Eeek!* I’m nervous and excited.  I only have 5 students in my class, so it will probably be more like tutoring a group than lecturing in an auditorium. My classroom can sit about 25 kids, and they have a nice lab area behind the desks.  AND my classroom as AC. (Praise!!) I do have wifi at the school so posting pictures and blogging should be easier than it has been recently.  

Merlion!

(Right - Left) The Singapore Art Museum, Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Merlion.

The view from Marina Bay Sands Hotel!

Selfie with Singapore skyline

The courtyard in Raffles Hotel.  The actual hotel was a little big to take a picture of :)

Gardens by the Bay

The wall behind Ashley and me is covered with millions of blooms!

How can there not be a loving God?

Singapore

Sunday (Aug. 14) there was no need for an alarm. I had been up most of the night, running around for last minute packing. Plus the anxiety and excitement did not allow for too restful of sleep.   After a tearful goodbyes Paige, Ashley, and I boarded the plane for the great unknown.  Our 14-hour flight was thankfully uneventful.   Then after 2 hours in Tokyo we hopped on a 7-hour ride to Singapore.   We landed around 11:30pm, and soon found ourselves wandering around with all of our luggage on carts looking for the Pastor who was supposed to pick us up.   We called, no answer.  We called again, no answer. We began to get a little nervous.  We called again, no answer.  By now we were starting to brainstorm other options of getting to our place of stay.  Finally, we got in touch with him through Facebook and his lovely wife came in and greeted us with a smile.

            Originally, we were told that we would sleep on mattresses on the church’s floor.  But last Sabbath, Cynthia (a local church member) came up and offered her extra room.   So we have been blessed to stay in her home, and visit with her and her family. 

Tuesday, Aug 16, 2016:  

The entire purpose of staying in Singapore for several days was because we had to acquire a visa for Indonesia.  So we got up early that morning to go to the Expeditor.  Auntie Cynthia gave us a map, and showed us the way to the near by MRT/subway station.  Off we went to conquer this new way of transportation (new for me).  We had to make a transfer to another train and we pulled out our map double checking where we needed to go.  A man turned around and asked where we were going, and simply said, “follow me,” as the crowd poured out of the train.  So we eagerly rushed after him.  He asked us a few simple questions, pointed at the correct train.  We thanked him and jumped aboard. Eventually, we found the Expeditor’s office and nervously handed over all of our documents.   Again, we found ourselves on the street corner twisting and turning our map.    Another gentleman walked up and asked if we needed help.  He graciously showed us the easiest way and gave us advice on what to see before we left.

            After several more trains we came to the famous Gardens by the Bay.  They have 2 massive domes.  The Flower Dome was filled with beautiful flowers and plants from all around the world.  They had everything from small succulents and flowers the size of my pinky nail to massive olive trees, cacti, and date palms.  It’s hard to put into words the immense beauty and the vivid colors that surrounded you.  It was almost overloading to the senses all the bright colors, and lovely smells.  Perhaps that is what the Garden of Eden was like.  

            By about 2pm, we left the refreshing dome and went to another part of town for some local food.  There were about 48 different tiny food stalls all smashed together on what looked like an abandon parking garage.  (I promise it was not as sketchy as it may sound and none of us got sick!)  We found an Indian stall and ordered some amazing food!!

            After eating, we walked through Chinatown and caught a train to the Expeditor’s office to see if the Visa process was complete. Praise God it was!  We were met on the street by his courier who handed us our passports with the appropriate visa’s inside. 

We left his office and scurried over to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.  At the top of this particular hotel, there’s what looks like a massive cruise ship, which has an observation deck.  This Hotel is also famous for having one of the largest infinity pools that overlooks the Singapore skyline.  The view from up there was phenomenal!!  We could see almost all of Downtown Singapore, from the massive cargo ships anchored out at sea and the tiny sailboats cruising the bay, to the Merlion and the capitol building.  We sat up there for quite a while watching the sun sink lower and lower.   Eventually, we all began to feel extremely tired and I even started nodding off.   But our day was not done yet, so we exited the hotel and made our way back to the Gardens.  We visited the Cloud Forest dome, which had a 50 or 60-foot waterfall on a mountain of plants and flowers.  By the time we left the Gardens by the Bay it was completely dark out. However, as we walked to the train station we never felt nervous or as if we had put ourselves in a dangerous situation. 

            We finally made it home all exhausted, but come to find out Auntie Cynthia had texted us an hour before saying she was not home to let us in.  And of course as soon as we read the message the phone died. We now had no way of contacting our host family.   We tried the door to see if by chance anyone was home to buzz us in but didn’t get a response. So we sat down on some benches near the front door.  As I sat there I would suddenly feel my head drop and would jerk myself awake.  Over and over this happened, until I finally laid my head in my hands and slept with odd dreams of what we had done that day.  I wish I could say this was the strangest place I’ve slept but I’ve fallen asleep in some weird places.  Just when I was about to give in completely to my exhaustion and totally lay on the sidewalk, Ashley tried the door one more time and it worked!!  We then promptly learned that we had originally mistyped the code, and unnecessarily spent a good amount of time sleeping on benches.  But it’s a memory that will make us laugh!

Wednesday, August 17, 2016:

            After such a long and exhausting day on Tuesday, we slept in a little that morning.  We decided that we wanted to see the National History Museum, and we were not disappointed!  We had lunch as a food court, and then walked over to the Raffles Hotel.  Such a gorgeous building!  It was interesting to try and imagine what this grand hotel looked like in it’s hay-day.

            We then made our way over to the iconic Merlion.  It was refreshing to sit in the mist of the fountain and look out over the harbor.  We sat and talked until we decided we wanted to run over to the Fountain of Wealth.  It was only fitting that we saw 2 Lamborghini’s, several Porsche’s (a multitude of other nice cars), and everyone dressed to the nines.  Personally, I think the Merlion is a prettier fountain but I’m glad we made time to see the other.

            We bustled back home and our host family graciously took us to diner at an authentic Thai restaurant.   The food was so good, and us girls tried durian sauce for the first time.  I don’t think I will need to try it again.

Thursday, August 18, 2016:

            It is now Thursday morning; today we are scheduled to leave lovely Singapore around 5:30pm (Singapore time) and meet up with the Boyd family.  They are the Pastor’s family that will basically be our host family while in West Papua. But before we leave we are going to cram as much in this morning as we can.  The plan is to get over to Sentosa Island for a few hours and just enjoy the beaches, or whatever there is to see on the island.  

I’ll try to be more faithful about posting pictures and blogging, but I hope you enjoyed reading this as much I have living it!! 

It's official!

Finally, we’ve been cleared!!  We were recently met some issues with the insurance people but through many man-hours, and a lot of prayers, God has worked everything out.  The last piece to the puzzle is tickets.   No big deal right? *nervous laugh*   The plan is to leave home August 14.   

So little time, so much packing!