Today was just a good day! We visited our friend Denny's church. He is a local guy who helps with a lot of things for MAF families, like doing home repairs and building futniture. We call him "Pak Denny." Denny happens to be the guitar player at his church.....and has been the guy doing that for over 20 years! That means he started in his young teens. Here is the church building....
The pastor rides a bus in from Semarang...a big city about an hour away. The "band" consists of Denny playing by himself on the electric guitar plugged into a big amp.....and somebody showed up with a tambourine a little ways into the service. Denny is great at playing those songs....and I bet he has hundreds memorized as he doesn't use any sort of music.
For church we normally go to a "fellowship" in English. Sometimes we like to visit services in Bahasa Indonesia or "Indonesian." I am encouraged to feel like I am understanding more and more....today was the first time I felt like I really got the sermon! And it was very encouraging.....it was over a passage many of you are probably familiar with...1 Corinthians 13.....the old "love" chapter read at many weddings! You know....love is patient, love is kind....etc., etc. It is one of my favorite passages so I was excited to listen today.
So because Indonesians like to have church a little earlier than we are used to....we got done with church much earlier than normal, and had some time on our hands. We did something I have been wanting to do for a long time with Heather and the kids....we just went on a drive! There's a really pretty road with great views of rice fields and neat little towns I have wanted to take them down....so that's where we went!! Heather took a bunch of pictures as we drove....so here are some of the sights (and sounds) of rural Java Indonesia from our trip today!
First here's a video she took.....
The pastor rides a bus in from Semarang...a big city about an hour away. The "band" consists of Denny playing by himself on the electric guitar plugged into a big amp.....and somebody showed up with a tambourine a little ways into the service. Denny is great at playing those songs....and I bet he has hundreds memorized as he doesn't use any sort of music.
For church we normally go to a "fellowship" in English. Sometimes we like to visit services in Bahasa Indonesia or "Indonesian." I am encouraged to feel like I am understanding more and more....today was the first time I felt like I really got the sermon! And it was very encouraging.....it was over a passage many of you are probably familiar with...1 Corinthians 13.....the old "love" chapter read at many weddings! You know....love is patient, love is kind....etc., etc. It is one of my favorite passages so I was excited to listen today.
So because Indonesians like to have church a little earlier than we are used to....we got done with church much earlier than normal, and had some time on our hands. We did something I have been wanting to do for a long time with Heather and the kids....we just went on a drive! There's a really pretty road with great views of rice fields and neat little towns I have wanted to take them down....so that's where we went!! Heather took a bunch of pictures as we drove....so here are some of the sights (and sounds) of rural Java Indonesia from our trip today!
First here's a video she took.....
Elise in the back seat enjoying her snack.
Oops...I guess it didnt auto un-rotate!
Heather spied a "petani" or rice farmer bringing his oxen down the street.
Or maybe they are called bison...or water buffalo....I forget. They are used to work the rice fields.
Worker in the muddy "sawah"...rice field
A little food stand
Elise by our car. We got it after being here about two months when we realized we weren't comfortable taking all four of us on a scooter. It has been such a blessing, not only to be able to go places together but also to help friends. We've gotten to help some of our new MAF friends when they arrive here. Most importantly I've been able to take our neighbor and one of our MAF friends to the doctor with urgent medical situations. I guess I will be doing that more often next year....using an airplane! Our plan is to sell the car before we move in August.
When we got back from our drive, we wanted to explore a resort here in Salatiga. We've driven by it many times, and curiosity finally got the best of us. We were amazed at how nice it was. They had a restaurant, and they had really good food! So for the same price as lunch at Applebees back home, we got an awesome Chinese/Japanese meal today. What a treat.
You can barely see our table there....and you can see the pool out in the distance. Too bad we didn't bring our trunks/suits! So if you come visit us, you can stay at this pretty amazing resort for 54 dollars per night!
Elise got to try chopsticks for the first time...she did a good job!
Ian LOVED his chopsticks. We brought them home for him to play with.
They made an amazing ice-cream creation for us.
As we explored the place, Elise enjoyed the amenities!
We found this sign by the check-in desk. If you've ever visited Indonesia, it makes perfect sense! They don't want people to eat the infamous fruit "Durian" (some people call it stinky fruit) in their hotel rooms....because the smell is so strong that it sticks around.
So we got home from our lunch/adventure mid-afternoon...both kids napped at the same time (rare)....and so did we....while enjoying the sounds of a tropical rainstorm. What a glorious day!
