Working the field

This week I see why Jesus makes the comparison with telling people about Him and working a field. He uses this comparison at least three times. Once with the parable of the sower. Second the parable of the tares among wheat. Finally the harvest field. There is a progression if you think about it. The sower is laying ground work and planting seeds. I don't know about this sower but as far as my work is concerned sometimes (this sower) plants seeds with great care and sometimes there is a time for abundant sowing. This is when you meet someone and the Spirit leads you to share so you share though you don't know them. The seeds sown with great care are those that there is a deep relationship being built. Sometime the seeds land on every type of ground. However, the most abundant ground is that of rocks or even worse the thorns. This is worse because it is through the lies of their religion and cultural acceptances that they are being choked.
The second is the tares among the wheat. The parable talks about a farmer who plants good seed but an enemy comes and plants tares. Instead of taking them out and ruining his farm he allows the tares to grow with the wheat. This is where I believe most of the women I meat with are. They have a good seed planted but until the harvest is ready the seeds of the enemy are there. However, when the harvest time comes they are ready.
Only God determines the harvest time for each person; only He is able to take away the thorns and seeds of lies and deception. He is the one to open their eyes and when He does there will be a great harvest here. I was called to be a worker in this harvest. Did I think it would be easier work? Yes. I thought I would be part of the reaping. Does this make me question my calling here? NO! I have learned more of what it means to be these other farmers. Farmers are hard workers who put a lot of effort into their jobs. It is not easy work; it is very hard work! There is a long waiting period for them to reap what they have sown. It is not my harvest but God's. That is the big difference! I am nothing but His laborer.

To the Crater and Back!

This month, although only half way through, has been full of many adventures. We have gone hiking, riding on ATV's, and have gone to the White Crater (Kawah Putih). These have been great adventures that have brought me closer together with my new roommate and our national partners. I have been able to meet many new friends at The Center where I work because of the many new members. Most of them are cousins. I get the chance every other day to have lunch or dinner with them. Please lift up these girls and the time that I get with them.

On some painful news I am in the process for getting a root canal done. This is a 5 week process here but it gives me the chance to spend some time with the family I am close to here. 

Please lift up a concern that our team has for volunteers during the months of May and June. (Mostly June) 

Here is a picture from our trip to the Crater hope you enjoy it!

February Updates

Hi everyone, it has definitely been a while! With J coming home for Christmas and New Years, and then heading back to her city again, things have been a little different and a little hectic for her. However, now that she is back, there were a few things she wanted to update everyone on.

First of all, her team at the English center has been a little scattered with the holidays and sickness going around.  J said there has been a few days at the center where only she and a couple other team members were actually healthy and able to work with the people. However, she did say that her team has been getting closer as a group and just really working well together lately--more so than at any point during the time she has been a part of it. In the past, the team has had issues with unity as well as other things, but J said those issues are less frequent and she's excited about how well they are able to handle the issues that do come up now. That is HUGE! Because of this, they are able to work better to help the people who come to the center. Please continue to keep them in your prayers--pray that they will continue to become a tight unit so they can do their job as best they can.

J also has a new roommate--this is her last roommate and will be the girl who takes her spot once J returns home for good this year. She said her roommate is very quiet, but they are getting along well and the new girl seems to be getting used to environment and the city without any major problems.

Aside from being very busy at the center as usual, J started a bible study in her house with some other people around the city.  For now, it is just girls meeting together, but she is thinking that it will expand and eventually be men and women attending. J is also going to start teaching at two local orphanages in the near future. For those of you that know J, you know she's excited about getting to meet the children and just spend time loving on them. She will be teaching Math and English to the older children at both orphanages, and will just spend time playing with the younger children while she is there. She is really excited about the oppurtunity to do this!

With summer coming up within the next few months, J said that the center will be very busy, so please keep her and her team in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you guys for supporting her the ways you do!

Vacation Notes

Hi everyone! Just a quick update on what J has been up to—as some of you already know, she just returned from a vacation and had a pretty exciting time! Since the Center J works at was closed for the month because of Ramadan, she and some friends took a trip to enjoy some sightseeing, snorkeling, and a lot of other fun things as well.

The place J and her group went for the vacation was quite an adjustment for her! The entire city only has electricity for twelve hours of the day, so the people there spend their day hours without electricity and then it is turned on at nighttime. J said it was very different getting dressed and going about her routine to go out for the day without being able to see what she was doing. She also said that the people there do not have showers, so bathing means basically pouring buckets of water over yourself. Even with the changes, J said she loved the city and really felt at home while she was there. She really felt drawn to the city, and so she is looking forward to possibly going back there at some point in the future.

While on vacation, J was able to do some pretty crazy things! She said her group rode almost every form of transportation during this trip, including a bus where everyone had to stand up the entire ride, a bicycle where you lay down as someone pedals and rides you around, and a boat.  During the boat ride, J ended up talking to the older man who was steering the boat.  She said that, unlike a lot of the people where she is right now, this man had a sense of humor similar to hers and people back in the states. He was very kind and smiled a lot, which led J to tell him that she really liked him and enjoyed meeting him.  With a completely straight face, the man joked that he was very sorry but that he was too young for her—which of course, made J like him even more. She said that she and her group even were able to go with him to his house and meeting his family after the boat ride.

J also got to go snorkeling during her vacation—she said there was a ton of coral, so much that they had to float on the top of the water just to avoid touching it, instead of having to swim down some to see it.  She has been snorkeling a couple of times while she has been living over there, but J said this was the best snorkeling she’s done so far.

Probably the most exciting thing J did while on her vacation was swimming with sharks.  They weren’t the big, man-eating, scary Great White sharks, but sharks just the same! She had so much fun getting to do it and said that one of the sharks got so close as to brush his fin up against her. She took a lot of pictures of the trip so she could show everyone what she did.

J said she came back from the vacation really encouraged.  Because of where she was, she had to speak a lot of the language while she on her trip, so she’s at the point now where she can carry on a pretty long conversation in her new language.  This is a really great thing now that she is back in her city.

Now that she is home from vacation, J is getting back in to the routine at the Center, which she said has just been completely renovated.  The church of a family that lives in the city paid for the entire renovation of the building and everything in it, which was so great for J and her team.  Now that Ramadan is over, classes are starting back up, so the renovation timing was perfect. 

J is also again adjusting to a new roommate.  Her old roommate just moved away to another city permanently, so she now just has the new roommate, until another girl moves in in January. J also just got another pet bunny that she named Oreo because he is black with little white patches—now she has two pet rabbits, Pancake and Oreo.  She even was able to find people who are going to adopt them once her time there is up and she comes back to the states next year!

Please keep encouraging J when you think about her—I know she really appreciates it.  She has really enjoyed receiving the things you all have been sending, and is so thankful for your support and encouragement, so please keep it up!

Summer Update

Happy weekend encouragers! I had the chance to spend some time talking with J this morning and catching up on the things going on in her life lately.  As you all have read in her past couple updates, she’s been up to a lot with her team.  The walk through the city went really well, and J and her team were able to meet and talk to several different people.  She was pretty excited about how the time went and is thankful for you all lifting her and her team up at the time she asked you to.  Our Father heard you and worked through the team as they walked through the city.

J talked a little about the volunteers that have been helping her and the team she is with throughout the summer.  She said they were, for the most part, very helpful in coming alongside J’s group and working in the areas they were needed.  Now that the summer is ending, it sounds like J will be getting back into her normal routine with the Center, that is, after Ramadan has ended.  Because of Ramadan this month, J won’t be teaching classes at the Center.  However, this is not a necessarily a negative thing!  As you read in her last blog post, this time of Ramadan in the city means there are many, many opportunities for J to get to talk with people in the city that she has gotten to know, as well as people she comes into contact with during the month.  She is really looking forward to what the month has to bring as far as opportunities to share with the people she meets.  And, now that she has her own car to drive (and not just a moped!), J will have more mobility which means more opportunities to get to know people and build relationships, and ultimately have chances to share with them.

As hard as it is to believe, J is coming up on her first year of being in her city very soon!  She finds it hard to believe she has only been there for a year because so many things that happened and she’s settled in, but at the same time she says she can’t believe it has been a whole year.  There are still so many things she is learning and she says she is still finding her place there.  Please be lifting her up in that area—that J will find where she needs to be in her city and feel confident and sure she is where she should be and doing what she is supposed to be doing.  Also, even though she has been in her city for a year, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t need as much encouragement now as she needed in the beginning when this was a new adventure for her.  Please be continuing to encourage her; in fact, try to encourage her now more than before, whether that be in the form of letters or messages or just lifting her up. She covets your encouragement!

PLEASE READ

This Friday at 9 our team, with some nationals, and our volunteers are gathering together to P-walk around our city. This is mainly in preparation for Ramadan. This is a time of fasting for those of Islamic faith. They spend about a month fasting from sunrise to sunset. During this time usually there is a great move of our Father due mainly to the fact that we humans are so week and we can find our strength through Him. So we are going to key points of the city, we will be praying verses and just pouring out our hearts for this city. We are also praying for a time to be able to share with those around us. Some of the team will be fasting preparing our hearts for the battle that is ahead. (The devil doesn’t like us messing with him).  This is where you come in we are urging our fellow believers around the world to unite in this and pray if you feel led on Thursday night (eastern time) at 10 pm if you could just start praying for two hours I know this is late but God is not placed in a time box. Please lift up this city, the people in it, pray for bonds to be broken, hearts to awaken, eyes to see, and ears to hear. Pray for dreams, visions and awakening. Finally pray that the veil will be lifted! Don’t forget 10 pm Thursday. Thank you!

Long time no see

Hey everyone sorry it has been so long since my last blog but between business of life and sickness there hasn’t been too much time.

Life here has been a great adventure for the past two months to just highlight a few things we have had a lot of volunteers, I went to my FAMS meeting, and our whole team has been sick bleh.

The volunteers have been great they have done a great job building relationships and taking care of things when we had our meeting. Sadly the summer is the only time we really have volunteers ( I hope we don’t get too spoiled).  We have had 22 two weeks volunteers through the time and 7 two months volunteers. This has been great! Lift them up as they are starting to travel back this week. Also pray that they will have perseverance for those who will be staying until the end of the month to continue the work.

FAMS (Families Abroad Made Stronger) was amazing this was a time of renewal and encouragement. I came back with a renewed vision for the city and the lost given to me by God. I also got some encouragement that was sort of lacking in my life. This came at the right time and I am thankful that there are people who are so willing to help make this happen but mostly to God who provides it for us each year.

FINALLY J our team has dealt with a lot of illness. This includes the volunteers. We have all had this cold but worst of all is the stomach bug. The violent little thing spread its way through the families, even the poor little babies, and us. Thankfully all that is left is the cold. Pray for healing and rejuvenation!

I will also put a post up about a great opportunity that we have this week to unite together around the world!

Updates from the Rainy City

Hi everyone! A quick update on J from her very rainy city! As they are heading into the “dry” season, J says that it is raining almost every day.  J has been pretty busy with teaching her class at the English Center, but she has a good update to give everyone!  Her first class has now ended, and she is beginning to teach Public Speaking to the students who come.  She seems pretty excited about the opportunity to teach the class.  As a bonus, this past month was the first full month that she hasn’t been sick at all and had to miss days at work, so that is very encouraging.  She thinks she is pretty much past the getting sick stage and has acclimated to the area and living in her city finally.  All in all, J says she thinks she has found her place there; she is at the point where she’s really comfortable and familiar with the city and her job there.  Because of that, she has been able to continue to have really great opportunities to talk with the people she has become friends with in the city and has had some very exciting conversations with some of them. She is really enjoying the friendships she is building with the people there.

J says that the team working at the English Center is all finally together now, and she has really been encouraged by how well they are working together and getting along at the center.  She’s really happy with the group of people she works with and how smoothly they have been able to work together now that they are all there and back from various vacations and trips away from the city.

Aside from working at the English Center these past few weeks, J was able to go to her friend’s college graduation, which she really enjoyed.  Her language classes are going very well, and J says her teacher told her J is doing very well and improving a lot. Her teacher is really proud of the progress J has made in learning the language.  J also said she had a great Easter, but also an eventful one! On her way to a Good Friday service nearby in the city, she was almost hit by a car! Thankfully, she is completely fine, but she said it was a near miss!

J also said this summer, different groups will be coming to the English Center to volunteer, starting in May.  While she said it will be very chaotic getting the volunteers acclimated and shown what needs to be done, she and the people she’s working with are really looking forward to the groups coming because there will be more people to teach English to the students who come.  It will hopefully give J’s team a chance to breathe and make their job a lot less tiring for the time the volunteers are there.  More to come on that from J soon, though, so keep her and her co-workers in your thoughts!

Quick Updates...

Hello everyone! Just a quick update from J for this week. She has been really busy with teaching at the Center the past couple of weeks, and just spending time with the people she works with and the people who come to the Center. She also was sick a couple weeks ago but is thankfully over that now and back into the swing of things. The special class she was planning to start teaching on relationships for women is supposed to start this week. However, J has not had anyone sign up for the class yet, so there is a possibility that she will not teach it right now. She said she might try again in the future to see if there is any more interest in it.




Aside from teaching at the English Center, J’s roommate is back for good and her second roommate has gone back home for good, so things are settling back down to normal. Also, J is really enjoying her new pet bunny, Pancake, who she has nicknamed Flapjack. He is very cute and she likes having him, but she says he is prone to doing flips in his cage sometimes. She thinks he might have broken his ear as a result of the flipping because one of his ears is lopsided and will not stand up like the other one; however, he doesn’t seem to be in pain so she isn’t sure if it’s just a genetic thing!




Remember to keep J in your thoughts as she gets close to halfway through her first year in her city. She also really enjoys being able to Skype with you all, so keep up the encouragement and communication! Lastly, be looking for a newsletter update from J in the next few weeks as she plans to send it out through her support team soon.

Vacation, New Pets, and New Classes

Here’s another update on J and what she is up to in her city-it has been a while! J has been super busy with teaching and taking trips with her roommates, but she wanted to catch all of you up on the things that have been going on in her life lately, both hilarious and serious. She has had a couple of pretty crazy things happen in the last few weeks!



First off, J and one of her roommates were able to go on a short trip to some islands in South East Asia a couple of weeks ago just to get away from work and so her roommate could do some sight-seeing before she goes back home for good. While they were on the islands, the two stayed with a family there and do things such as snorkeling, surfing, and visiting a nearby village. J said she really enjoyed surfing—and she was able to get up on the board and stay up to actually ride
some waves. Since there are coral reefs around the islands they were visiting, the girls were able to do some snorkeling. J said seeing the coral reef was fantastic and they were able to see some really beautiful things while they were snorkeling. Aside from surfing and snorkeling, J said they went to visit a nearby village. It was her first time visiting a village since she has been in her city, and J said it was a neat experience. She is also getting much better at bargaining in the markets as well, as she found out during their visit. When she first arrived in her new city, J said the markets and bargaining was completely overwhelming for her and she had a couple of bad experiences. However, this time, she had a great time and thinks she has figured out how to bargain and be able to buy the things she wants without getting taken advantage of—she bargained and was able to buy something for the equivalent of $3.00 when the original price was
the equivalent of $48.00. Needless to say, she was pretty proud of herself—and she should be-that is an accomplishment no matter where you are!



While on her trip to the islands, J and the people with her rode in a bemo for the first time, which is some type of vehicle but really bumpy. She asked to ride up front since she gets carsick easily, and as a result was able to have a really great conversation with their driver during the hour ride. While she said the conversation was great and very serious, and she was able to share a lot with the driver, J said the ride ended with the driver proposing marriage to her! No holding your breath necessary—she said no!



While the snorkeling and surfing and visiting the village were great experiences for J, she said the part of the trip that was most memorable took place at the house they were staying in. The family J and her roommate were staying with owned a pet rabbit, which went missing a couple of days after the girls arrived. One day, the room they were staying in started to smell very bad, but the girls brushed it off because they were not sure what the smell was. Of course the smell only got worse as the days went on. After a few days, the smell became so bad that the husband came to them and asked them to search their room. J said he told them the room “smells reallybad and the rabbit has been missing for three days.” At the point, neither of the girls wanted to go in their room and look for a dead rabbit. After some searching through their suitcases, J’s roommate went to look under the mattress they had been sleeping on. J didn’t think they needed to look under the mattress because themattress was sitting on the floor and there would have been no room for anything to crawl under it. However, her roommate picked up the mattress anyway and sure enough, underneath was the couple’s pet rabbit—very flat pet rabbit. Of course, a lot of screaming ensued! They think it must have crawled under the mattress a few days before when one of the couple’s daughters had lifted it up to change the sheets and blankets on the
mattress.



J said it was terrible to find the couple’s dead rabbit at the time, but the story is really funny now. In fact, she and her roommate decided to buy a new pet—a rabbit—once they got back from their trip in honor of what happened while they were staying with the family on the islands. In honor of the poor rabbit under their mattress, they named their new pet rabbit Sarabi, which in English means “pancake!”



On a more serious note, J started teaching a new English class last week and she says it is going well; she is getting a lot more comfortable in her teaching role. Also, in April J will start teaching a class just for women and girls that will be similar to a True Love Waits class. She is going to open up the class for any women in the city who want to come, whether they come to the English center, work at the English center, or do not come at all. She is really excited about the class and getting to talk and lead discussions with the women who come to the class. If the class goes well, she plans on leading a class similar to this every other month or so, so be keeping her and the women who come to the class in your thoughts.



Be sure to look at J’s pictures from her trip when she puts them up and send her an encouraging note if you think about it. Have a good week!

Updates...

To all of you who are keeping J in your thoughts—continue to encourage her! She is really excited as the past few weeks she has been able to have several good, deep conversations with people she is meeting in the city and at the English Center. Now that she has been in her city for a few months, she has had the chance to grow relationships with these people and they are opening up and listening to what she has to say in a big way! J has continued to have several opportunities to share, and as she gets closer to people, she continues to have more opportunities.



On a less serious, less important note, J wanted to let you all know that she finally got her motorcycle license! She has had a bike for a while, but has not been able to ride it without a license. Now that she has the license, however, she hasn’t gone out riding on her motorcycle on the roads—she’s still a little nervous to venture out. I am sure that will change soon and she will
be whizzing around the city on her motorcycle!



J went to her first wedding in her new city, and she also went to her first traditional dancing show where locals perform traditional dances—J said it was really different and neat because they wear masks while dancing. She said she really enjoyed it and is planning to go again the next time. She also said she took a lot of pictures, so be sure to look at those when she posts them online!



J is going travelling around the country in a few weeks as well for vacation with the family next door and her new roommate while she is still there. They are planning on going snorkeling, scuba diving possibly, hiking, taking pictures, and sightseeing.



J’s pet Gus Gus died this past week; she thinks it was because there was a drastic weather change where it went from hot to cold quickly within the span of two days. She also suspects that he was might have been getting old—he was about a year old, which is old for those types of animals in domestic situations.




The Center has a lot of new people coming in, so J has been meeting a lot of new girls that she’s been able to get to know and start relationships with. They spend a lot of time with the people who come to the Center outside of class time, so there are plenty of opportunities for J to share with these new girls she is meeting!



That’s all for now—look for another update on what J has
been doing soon!

Late Christmas and the Broncos

I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far! I had a chance to talk with J this week and catch up on what her past week has included. Since she just started back teaching at the English Center this week, she hasn’t been very busy, but she did want to share with you all what she has
been doing. First of all, she finally (finally!) received her Christmas packages and wanted to say thank you to the NBC girls and her family for the sweet things they sent! She especially enjoyed the Crystal Light packs and reading the Christmas cards that were sent.



J said so far this week of working at the Center has been a bit of a roller coaster; some good things have happened, and she’s also had a couple of not so good days. She really appreciates everyone keeping her in their thoughts! J’s roommate is still back home visiting family and friends, but J has a new roommate that will be there for a couple months. The new roommate
just arrived this week, but J really likes her so far and says it is nice to have someone else with her again. Her new roommate will also be teaching at the English Center.



J wanted me to make sure that I told you all she was able to watch the Broncos game with her family last week through Skype and was extremely thrilled that the Broncos (read: Tim Tebow) won. Extremely thrilled! She said it was really neat to be able to be watching the game with her family and to be able to talk to them at the same time like she would if she were back home. The wonders of Skype!



Again, be keeping her in your thoughts this next week, especially that she will continue to have opportunities to share with the people she meets at the Center and in her city. Also, she will be starting her language lessons up again with a new tutor, so she will be having more opportunities to learn the language.

New Year's Motivation

Hello all! This post will be pretty short, as J is still on a break before she starts teaching again at the English Center. J spent her New Year’s Eve with a group of people she’s been getting to know from her city. Since she doesn’t speak the language yet, she said that the night was pretty lonely.
Most of the people at the party were not speaking English and so it was hard for her to be able to talk to anyone. However, she was pretty positive about the night because it gave her a lot of motivation going into the new year to learn the new language faster so she can communicate with the people in their language. She also said that the night ended well in that she and another girl spent some time talking and getting to know one another—J even was able to share a little bit with the other girl. And, as a bonus, J said they talked on the porch and she got to see some fireworks that night!



J still hasn’t received her packages from home yet, so she has decided to leave her Christmas tree up until they come so that she can celebrate with her gifts once they arrive. She was also able to spend some time in the city with a couple of girls and a friend from the English Center, and during their day in the city shopping and spending time together, J and her friend were able to share with the girls. The girls were really open to talking, and J and her friend were able to have a really good conversation with them. Keep J in your thoughts as she goes into the New Year and
starts back up with her language lessons and teaching at the English Center. Also, be keeping the people she comes into contact with in your thoughts as well—J is really excited about how
open a lot of the people have been so far!

Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas! It’s been a while, but J wanted to let everyone know how her Christmas went. Obviously, since this was her first Christmas away from home, this Christmas was a little different than any before. J invited a group of people come over to her house and eat dinner together to celebrate, and she said it was so much fun! She cooked chicken and rice with cream of chicken soup for everyone, and her new neighbors brought side dishes to go along with her food. She said everyone had a great time eating together, reading the Christmas story, and opening presents from each other. And, since J’s packages from home haven’t arrived yet, her neighbors brought some Christmas presents for her to open as well. Since they’ve been here, she has become really close to them and they knew just what she would want! She said her neighbors know how much she loves Disney and Disney princesses, so they got her some really cute little Disney-themed gifts. She was really excited about that and their thoughtfulness!




Even though it was her first Christmas away from her parents and family, J said that she was able to have a really good time making new traditions and getting to better know some of the people she’s met so far. She was also able to Skype with her parents and family on Christmas Eve for a while, so that helped as well.




Aside from celebrating Christmas and making new traditions, J had the chance to visit a nearby zoo recently. She said it was extremely different from zoos back home! For instance, instead of the animals being in cages and separated from people visiting the zoo, J said that the animals are able to walk right up to visitors’ cars—even the lions and tigers. Obviously, people keep their windows closed and are not allowed to feed the lions, but because there aren’t as many safety standards, there aren’t fences separating the animals. J got the chance to take a picture with an orangutan and hug a lion! She said that it was one of the best experiences she’s had, but she said the best part of the trip to the zoo was when she got the chance to take a ride on an elephant. She said it was an awesome experience and completely different from any zoo experience back at home!




That’s all for this blog entry, but please continue to keep J and the people she comes in contact with at the English Center in your thoughts as she continues to get more acclimated to her city. She said she is becoming really comfortable and at home there and can hardly believe that she’s been there for as long as she has. She hopes everyone had a good Christmas and has a happy New Year!

Thanksgiving and Birthdays

Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving! I talked to J this week and she told me all about her Thanksgiving and her birthday. She was able to spend Thanksgiving with her supervisor and her supervisor’s family this year, and she said she had a really, really great time. She thought it was
going to be a tough holiday away from family, but J said she was surprised because she had a really good Thanksgiving this year. She’s really looking forward to Christmas a lot more now!

J said her birthday didn’t go as nicely as Thanksgiving did because she was sick again. Be keeping her in your thoughts the next few weeks as she continues to adjust to her new city since this was the fourth time she has been sick in the short time she has lived there. However, J did say that
once she was able to celebrate her birthday, she had fun going out to dinner and letting the rest of her team make her into a cake! She said that it’s a tradition to dump traditional cake ingredients (as in raw eggs and flower!) onto the person having the birthday. J said there will be pictures posted soon!

J’s English class end this week; the classes only run for about three weeks and this one is finishing up already! She’s really enjoyed teaching and getting to know some of the people who come to the English Center. She starts up a new class pretty soon. Also, her language classes are going well—she is a lot more encouraged about them than she was when they first started, and she said that she’s starting to learn how to converse in the new language she is learning. She said that it is much easier to learn when she gets to converse in it rather than simply learning vocabulary words.

Other than Thanksgiving and getting to go to a nearby movie theater and see the new Twilight
movie, J said that she had a pretty routine week. However, she did want to tell you all that she really, really enjoyed watching the Carolina/Clemson football game over Thanksgiving weekend and “Go Gamecocks!”

New Pets, New Languages, and New Neighbors

Hello everyone! J has now been in her new city for about a month now and she really seems to be getting settled in her house and work. In fact, this week she felt like it was time to buy her first pet. It’s called a “kus kus” and J named it Gus Gus—as in the chubby little mouse in the Disney Cinderella movie. He is nocturnal, so he sleeps a lot during the day, but she seemed to be pretty excited about her new pet.

Aside from getting a new pet, J also said that a couple weekends ago, group of people from her team went out to dinner in the mountains. She said the weather was pretty bad and the team almost got to see a tornado start in the clouds. J said that before the tornado could completely form, the wind blew some of the clouds away, but J did say that they could see debris flying around before the wind picked up.

Other than getting a new pet and almost seeing a tornado, J said that she had a pretty normal week. She finished her second week of teaching her class. On top of teaching her class this past week, she also was teaching her roommate’s class because her roommate has been out of town. This week, she will be back to teaching just one class. J said that her class consists of about twelve students, and they meet for class two times a week. During the class, the students learn vocabulary words and then try to each come up with sentences in English using those vocabulary words and other words they’ve learned. Then, they usually will play a game that requires using the new words that they have learned. J said that she usually ends the class with discussion, where the students can talk to each other about different things in English to practice what they’ve learned.

During the days she isn’t teaching her class, J is taking her own language lessons with a tutor.
She meets once a week with the tutor for about two to three hours, and she says that it’s been really challenging so far. This past weekend, she also went to a performance at a nearby art school that was put on by the kids in the school. The performance consisted of different things such as puppet skits and traditional music and dancing, all performed by the kids. J said the performances happen on a regular basis, so she plans to try to go and watch each time they perform—especially because she forgot to bring her camera with her to the first one! J said that she and her roommate have new neighbors that moved in recently next door, and they have a couple of young kids that she has been asked to babysit a couple of times. She was pretty excited about this because they like watching Disney movies, and she’s found someone to watch them with her!

One more thing: This week is J’s birthday, so everyone should make sure to tell her happy birthday! She said that her team went out to dinner to celebrate and also made her into a cake. Yes, made HER into a cake. Apparently, it’s a tradition—but there will be pictures soon!

Firsts

Hello everyone! This week included several firsts for J and she really wanted to share them with you. This past weekend, like I mentioned in the last post, J went with a friend to a ceremony called “Idu Adha.” Basically, Idu Adha is a ceremony remembering Abraham, but with an emphasis on Ishmael instead of Isaac. One family brings a goat or a cow that will be the sacrifice, and the ritual includes bleeding out the animal as much as possible. They do this because they believe that the more blood that is spilled, the more sins that are forgiven. J said that it was not fun to watch because they let the goat or cow stay alive (so that it was kicking around) as long as possible so that more blood will spill out. After, the people hang up the animal and skin it. The family that brought the goat or cow gets some of the meat from the animal, and the rest of the meat is given to the poor after the family gets their share.

J said that the ceremony was really interesting and she was able to have some good conversations both with her friend and with some other people at the ceremony. The biggest thing that came out of her going to the ceremony was that she was able to share a little bit with another person that was also at the ceremony. J asked that everyone keep the friend that invited her to the ceremony in their thoughts.

Aside from getting to attend the Idu Adha this past weekend, another first for J was that she started teaching her first English class on Tuesday. Up to this point, she has been just getting to know the people who visit the center on a regular basis while she gets acclimated and so that the people will be comfortable with her. She was really looking forward to starting to teach her own group of students.

Aside from teaching at the center, J is getting used to being in her house by herself for the first time since she’s been in her city. Her roommate is gone for a little while, so J is on her own until her roommate comes home. She didn’t seem too upset about it, but she does currently have the company of some workers who are currently fixing the roof of the house close by hers. So, everything isn’t as quiet as she thought it would be while her roommate is gone!

Thank you all again for taking the time to see what J is up to in her city; she seems to be settling in really well and is glad she can share what she’s doing with her friends. Keep her in your thoughts this coming week!

Getting Settled

Thank you all for keeping J in your thoughts! She really appreciates it, especially this past week, as she had some pretty interesting things happen. First of all, she caught a virus and has been sick again the past week, but she’s feeling better now and is able to still go to the English Center to meet with the people who come. She said it’s been very rainy this past week, so business is slow at the center. However, she said that is a blessing because it allows the group she works with to have more intimate and longer conversations with people who have come to the center this week. This has been an especially good thing because this week, J was able to share for the first time with someone who came to the center! She said that it was a really good conversation and she is really excited that she was able to have the opportunity to share with someone so soon.

Besides her time at the center, J has been able to spend time with other people who work at the center. The group had a Halloween party a few days ago and—of course—J went as Minnie Mouse. She said there will be pictures for everyone to see very soon! She also was invited to the wedding of some people that she has met in her city. The wedding will be over Christmas, and because her team does not do anything special for Christmas, she is looking forward to spending some time with this family and helping them celebrate their wedding. They are pretty lucky, inviting her to the wedding and getting a photographer at the same time!

One of the best experiences J said she has had this week was when her group went out to dinner in the valley a few days ago. The man who drove them all to the restaurant is from the city and through conversation, J found out that he is a brother and is very bold. Even though his family disagrees with his views, he told J and her group he was able to share with his mother recently and she accepted as well. It was a huge encouragement for J, not only to meet him, but also to hear about his boldness.

Lastly, J wanted to let you all know that she and her roommate have a friend that is very closed to talking about different ideas, but they have been getting closer to her and J thinks they will have more opportunities to talk with the friend and she will be more receptive in the future. This weekend, J is going with this friend to a sacrifice ceremony remembering Abraham called ‘Idu Adha.’ The friend invited J to go with her to this ceremony, so J is excited about the opportunity to spend time with her and have another opportunity to talk with her about things that the friend has been previously been closed to.

Thank you all for keeping J in your thoughts and taking the time to see how she is doing on here. Next week, J is going to let everyone know how the sacrificial ceremony went (and maybe share some pictures!) and tell everyone about something neat she is going to get to do for the first time in a few days.

Hello friends! Welcome to The Harvest Field blog! There will be (hopefully!) regular posts from now on about what J is doing in her new job so that you all can keep up with her and know
what is going on in her life! First things first, J arrived safely to her new city; she had absolutely NO issues or delays on any of her flights. This is a huge praise because she said that this trip was the very first time that she hasn’t had an issue flying with luggage, etc. She and her roommate are getting along great—they keep getting mistaken for sisters wherever they are! Her first night in her new city she got to sing karaoke with the team and just get to know everyone that she will be working with. However, she said that she doesn’t remember a lot of that night because she was so tired! Totally understandable…

Since arriving, she’s had some pretty interesting adventures. On the ‘good adventure’ side, she had her first motorcycle ride. She said it was a blast! On the ‘not so great adventure’ side,
she got sick for the first time since arriving…with food poisoning. Thankfully, she was only sick for a couple of days and is feeling much, much better. She also experienced her first bit of culture
shock her first week. In short, she and some of her team went to a market to buy some things and the market was very large, full of people, and there were many decisions that she was going to have to make to figure out what she needed to buy. She said that it was completely different than home as far as the amount of little decisions to make in such a huge place. While it was a hard
experience for her, J said that she was thankful to have gotten through it so that it won’t bother her as much in the future. On a lighter note, she also said that she was able to teach four people she’s met so far how to use “y’all”, and all four of these people are now using the saying regularly.

Aside from the adventures that she’s been having in her new city, J has also been getting used to her new job as a teacher at the English Center. Her first week, she has been getting to
know the people who come to the center to learn. She’s been able to have lots of conversations
with the people and tell them a little bit about herself before she starts actually teaching classes. She said that the experience has been good so far and that she is really surprised and happy that the people are really open and receptive to having conversations about lots of different things with her. One of the highlights of her week was that she got to have a great conversation
with some people at the center about evolution versus creation, and they were all really open and receptive to different ideas. She was really excited about that and also really excited that she got to use her major and talk science with the people at the center!

As J begins teaching more at the center, she will be keeping everyone up to date on here, so please keep checking this blog regularly to see what she is up to during her time in this city! She is really thankful that she gets to let everyone know how she is doing on here and that you all are thinking about her and taking the time to keep up with what she is doing.

What the Harvest means to me

I wrote this a few weeks ago and I thought what better way to start this blog off then what the title actually means and what the Harvest really means to me!

I was reevaluating the Harvest and realized that this has been my prayer for this nation and these people. I originally would have assumed that being so close to an active volcano that there would be not much of a harvest field for the people; however, it turns out that because they are on a volcano they have an even greater harvest. This is my prayer that these people being among, what is said to be, the hardest Harvesting lands for His work. I know that it will be tough but as I pray this over these people will you join me in lifting them up!! (Hope you enjoy the post!)

    As I think about the harvest it says, in the Word "Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few'" -Matt 9:37 if the harvest is plentiful why do we say at times that there is no harvest? It is either one of two options 1. the harvest is not yet ripe and so we should be laborers and water the field then knock the dust off our feet and move to the next field (per God's calling) or 2. The harvest is very plentiful but our eyes are not the eyes of the Holy one and are hearts are not in one accord with the Harvester and right in front of us is a harvest ready for laborers to go and do the job that they were called to do!

So that leaves me and where I lie; no matter what we are called to go and tell. Why do I sometimes think that the harvest isn't plentiful? Why do I sometimes think that He isn't already working the fields? Why am I so prideful in thinking that I know better than what Jesus has already said? As Christian we are not called to be idle and wait for the coming! We are to "Go and make disciples of all the nations" -Matt 28:19. 

It still gets me that He said that the harvest was so plentiful and I still hear and think sometimes that there are just some people or that certain places are too dark, too hard of ground(hearts), etc... But our Lord Jesus Christ said we are to make disciples of all nations and in Revelation 5:9 it says that Jesus "ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation." So, I think that it is safe to assume that there is harvest everywhere and we are to sow and water wherever we can and if the harvest is ripe baptize and see the Gospel spread!