Praises:
1. The Lord’s provision of our house, monthly support and ministry at the MTC.
2. Health: My eye disease has been “quiet” and Anna and the kids have all been healthy.
3. Provision of part-time jobs. Was not Paul even a “tent-maker?”
4. Kaitlyn has begun coursework at the local community college.
5. Paula continuing to be active in various youth groups and her desire to attend Bible School and be an animal vet some day.

Prayer Requests:
1. For our children to desire a walk with the Lord. Especially for Kaitlyn and Grace at this time as many other things are distracting them from this. For direction for Kaitlyn and Grace now in studies and future.
2. For mine and Anna’s relationship.
3. For our monthly support to increase as next semester I will not be able to work a part-time job with all the responsibilities at the MTC (Missionary Training Center). I may still work some on weekends giving swim lessons or cleaning floors, pool…ect.
4. For timing for a return trip to Indonesia. While we would like to return to full-time ministry in Indonesia, we realize this may be some time off in the future now. But in the meantime, I need to return to keep his visa active. We’ve prayed about the possibility of us leading a short-term-missions-team from Singapore or Malaysia to Indonesia with perhaps a friend our two from our supporting churches.
5. Timing on a trip out west to visit friends and supporters along with supporting churches. We’d love to get away this summer to visit our supporters and churches in California, but just aren’t sure about timing and funds, especially with rising gas prices.

Paula standing in 20 inches of snow at our house!

Our whole life here also seems like a drastic change compared to our lives in Indonesia, which seemed to be more predictable. Every morning I continue to go out to the MTC (Missionary Training Institute) where I’m involved in teaching Culture and Language Methodology, Phonetics, and the Culture and Language Practicum to missionaries in training. This is cool because one of these is with the CP1 (Church-Planting Semester One) students, one with CP2 and the other with CP3. Right now I’m involved with the CP3 students in the CLA Practicum where I dress up as a Dobu tribal man speaking Indonesian and the students use all they’ve learned in CLA methodology and Phonetics to learn my culture and language eventually setting up teaching lesson plans at the end of this semester and teaching my people about Jesus Christ.

John dressed as Dobu tribal man in CLA practicum class.

This semester I also continue to work 2 part-time jobs in addition to serving at our Missionary Training Center. We plan on returning to Indonesia in the Lord’s timing, but since we’ve begun serving Stateside our support has dropped 25%! Do the math with your personal salaries to see what that may look like! That’s the reason I’m working part-time afternoons at a Chevy dealership in town as well as at an indoor pool 30 miles away giving swim lessons and life-guarding on Saturdays and Sunday afternoons. I won’t be able to continue this in the fall as I will work full-time out at the MTC to maintain our full-time NTM status. So to help with finances until our support picks up, Anna has begun driving school busses for the local school district, substituting routes right now. Kaitlyn is enrolled at the local community college taking general education while Grace continues to try to finish high school early hoping to graduate this spring. Paula is still involved with three youth groups, hockey, and the FFA agriculture club at the high school plus she just got her drivers permit. Kurt skateboards and does well at school.

Praises:
1. The Lord’s provision of our house, monthly support and ministry at the MTC.
2. Health: My eye disease has been “quiet” and Anna and the kids have all been healthy.
3. Provision of part-time jobs. Was not Paul even a “tent-maker?”
4. Kaitlyn has begun coursework at the local community college.
5. Paula continuing to be active in various youth groups and her desire to attend Bible School and be an animal vet some day.

Prayer Requests:
1. For our children to desire a walk with the Lord. Especially for Kaitlyn and Grace at this time as many other things are distracting them from this. For direction for Kaitlyn and Grace now in studies and future.
2. For mine and Anna’s relationship.
3. For our monthly support to increase as next semester I will not be able to work a part-time job with all the responsibilities at the MTC (Missionary Training Center). I may still work some on weekends giving swim lessons or cleaning floors, pool…ect.
4. For timing for a return trip to Indonesia. While we would like to return to full-time ministry in Indonesia, we realize this may be some time off in the future now. But in the meantime, I need to return to keep his visa active. We’ve prayed about the possibility of us leading a short-term-missions-team from Singapore or Malaysia to Indonesia with perhaps a friend our two from our supporting churches.
5. Timing on a trip out west to visit friends and supporters along with supporting churches. We’d love to get away this summer to visit our supporters and churches in California, but just aren’t sure about timing and funds, especially with rising gas prices.

Thanks so much for your faithful and generous support of our ministry with New Tribes Mission in Indonesia and now at the Missionary Training Institute,

Love,
John, Anna, Kaitlyn, Grace, Paula and

John and Kurt on Mt. Merapi 2008

However Mount Merapi, whose eruption has caused 100 casualties to date, lies just a short distance from our home in Indonesia. We can see the volcano from our home-town there, sitting behind a large “dormant” volcano. Kurt, Paula and I have hiked to the top of Mount Merapi, and I’ve bicycled up through the Selo Pass between the two volcanoes a couple of times. At this point in time our home-town is only affected by heavy ash accumulation on the ground, besides the fact that most people know people or have relatives that live in the mountain villages surrounding both volcanoes.

Kurt and I with one of our mountain guides "Superman," really, his nickname!

Even though we are not in Indonesia right now, our hearts go out to those affected by the eruptions, yes there have been many more eruptions each increasing in intensity. Even other volcanoes in Indonesia have come alive with higher activity and more eruptions including Anak Krakatoa. Over 320,000 villagers have been forced to leave their homes and taken to the nearest towns to  shelters, but now people are even leaving some of these refugee towns! Most of these villagers are subsistence farmers growing tobacco, cabbage and other vegetables as rice cannot grow at this elevation. They also gather grass to feed to their livestock. It is common for a family to have a cow for milking. Most of the villagers are also animistic in religion believing in multiple gods often found in nature. They are also of the predominant religion in Indonesia on paper as there are benefits to doing so.

The volcanoes on Java are both a blessing and a curse. The benefits are that the soil is so fertile on Java that most all land can be used for multiple crops. The ash from these volcanoes are responsible for that. However, people nearest the volcanoes never know when and how intensely they will erupt again.

John at highest point of volcano, 2004.

Please pray for relief and aide to reach those who are indeed in need and not get into the right hands as corruption is quite high in Indonesia. The local church in Indonesia is a good channel to work through to get funds to those in need. Please pray too that many hearts will turn towards God in these days. Villages will need to be rebuilt as so many homes were destroyed and new crops must be planted as existing ones have been destroyed.

A Javanese Mountain Village Family

On the home front here in Missouri, please pray for our second child Grace as she recovers from gall bladder surgery. She had been having stomach pains and anxiety issues the past several months and finally she had an ultrasound which showed many gall stones quite large, unusual for somebody only 17 years old! Even 5 days after the surgery, she still has pain. Please pray as she regains strength and that she would catch up on school studies. She had already missed many school days from being sick. Katie works at The Gap now and is looking for another part-time job as well. She is still interested in getting some further training too. Paula continues to do well in school, balances three youth groups, and is trying out for basketball now. Kurt too does well in school and skate boards almost daily.

We have also enjoyed hosting many of our coworkers from Indonesia as they pass through the MTC (Missionary Training Center) here. In one week we had 4 different coworkers over for a meal and visiting. I continue to sit in on some classes to glean some of the new things being taught as well as helping out where needed. Next month I get to give a lecture on our overseas national language programs as that is the area where we have most recently ministered in. I have also been able to help with small group studies with Culture and Language Acquisition. Right now I’m in an interesting class called Folk Islam which is the predominant religion in Indonesia. Ron and Duanne Risse area also sitting in on this class!

Please pray with us to seek the Lord’s timing in when to return to Indonesia. We miss working with new families and especially miss the Indonesian people. I would love to put together a trip to go to Java and help out with the Volcano victims working through a local church there. Please pray with me about how that can come to fruition. Please also pray for my nephew Josh and his wife Bethany and daughter as they look to finish the training next semester and also head to Indonesia.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support! We know this is such a huge sacrifice on your part. You are each vital to any ministry we are able to accomplish!

In this together,

John, Anna, Kaitlyn, Grace, Paula and Kurt Weeks

…Settling In…
We trust this finds each of you enjoying God’s goodness this fall season. We have been enjoying the house God has provided for us and watching the leaves change colors all around us. Anna and I have begun to feel settled in here as we piddle about doing home projects, but we could still use prayer for our children’s various adjustments. As expected, Kurt, our youngest has had the easiest adjustment as he enjoys his 5th grade class, football for the first time (pretty steep learning curve for him☺), and riding the bus. Paula, 9th grade, has made lots of friends as she participates in three youth groups, continues to enjoy art, and she hates riding the bus. Grace, 10th grade, has had a harder time making friends, and she abhors (is there a harsher word?) riding the bus to school. Grace is excited, though, as she and Katie just purchased their first vehicle! Actually, Katie and Grace had saved their money from their pie business in Indonesia as well as the money from selling their motorbike and we only supplemented what they saved in order to purchase the vehicle. Katie has her drivers permit now and will take the driving test soon and Grace will take her permit test soon…yikes! Katie is just taking two classes to finish up her senior year and she’s working part time at a restaurant. Both Katie and Grace really miss Indonesia and their friends and life there. Please pray that they would adjust better to the States and make more good friends. Please pray also for motivation and direction for Katie as she decides what direction to take upon graduation.

…Upcoming Medical…
Please pray also for wisdom as we attempt to deal with various medical issues that need addressed, now that we are back where we trust medical care! We all have various needs in this area ranging from general check-ups (Anna hasn’t had one in about 9yrs), back pain assessment, knee problems, bladder problems, to stomach issues, depression treatment, dental concerns, etc…. Praise the Lord that my eyes seem to have stabilized. It all becomes quite overwhelming deciding which and whose to deal with first, how to proceed with various procedures, etc… We most definitely need guidance from the Great Physician!!!

…a Brief, Long Journey…
Please pray for our visa situation. Rather than all returning to renew our visas this month, we’ve decided that I would return alone, get my coveted five-year visa and the rest of the family will lose their visas, rather than pay for one year of visas for the year we’re gone, as well as the added expense of travel for all of us. With my five-year visa, it will be easy for them to get their one-year visas again under my visa. Please pray as I travel for Indonesia leaving here October 22nd, my birthday☹ Pray especially for Anna as she will be doing all the driving/taxiing back on the home front as well as my responsibilities as well. Pray for Paula and Grace as I’ve been helping them daily with science and math; please pray that they would be able to keep up with those subjects. I would appreciate prayer for safe travels and also the added expense of this trip along with the 5-year visa which is five times as expensive as a one-year visa. I actually didn’t have a choice in the matter as you can only hold one-year visas five years in a row, then you are forced to get the 5-year, which in the long run is more advantageous.

…We’d Love to Visit Many of You This Next Spring or Summer…
We apologize as we didn’t get a chance to visit most of you this past summer. We came home mid-way through the summer and took this time to find a house and get settled before school started mid-August. The Lord went before in everything and even while we doubted that we could get everything accomplished, He proved Himself faithful. We would like to visit many of you this next May, June or July to catch you up on what the Lord is doing in Indonesia.

Praises:
➢ For our cozy home the Lord provided.
➢ For all of you who faithfully and generously support us in our ministry, even in the midst of these difficult economic times-THANKS! We can’t do this without YOU!
➢ For the church where we’ve been meeting just 2 miles away!
➢ Being able to be close to Anna’s family. Her folks are just 3 ½ hours away in St. Louis and her brother Tony is just 1 ½ hours away in Columbia! We’ve also enjoyed visiting with my nephew Josh, his wife Bethany and new baby Nicole.
➢ For the vehicle the girls were able to purchase, a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac (got a good deal ‘cause it was crunched on the front quarter panel.) This will hopefully alleviate some of our taxiing kids around! Pray for safety as the girls continue to learn to drive with permits; Katie will do her driving test this next week.
➢ For being close to the MTC, Missionary Training Center, to keep in touch with fellow missionaries, current methods being taught, and fellowship. If you remember, that’s where I taught for 8 years before heading to Indonesia. I may plug in there again as we assess our family needs this next year.

Prayer Requests:
➢ For Katie and Grace to make more friends and for their overall adjustment. For them not to be bitter about having to leave their life in Indonesia.
➢ For all the kids to continue to do well in school, even while I’m away in Indonesia for two weeks.
➢ For the added expenses of my five-year visa and the trip to obtain it. For continued consistent financial support as our support level has dropped off upon arriving home for home assignment along with the economic crisis.
➢ That I would be able to find part-time employment after I get back from Indonesia. We are finding this necessary as we have the added expenses of a home, all the set-up costs, and higher living expenses here.
➢ For a profitable home assignment and quality time with our children to help in their adjustments.
➢ For the new families studying language in Indonesia and for the town team that is assisting them in this endeavor.

Thank you again for all of you who stand and kneel behind us in prayer and giving!

In this together,

John, Anna Marie, Katie, Grace, Paula and Kurt Weeks

188 Ginny Dr.
Linn Creek, MO 65052
Home telephone: (573) 873-2150

Dear praying friends,

So sorry for not giving you an update after our Thailand trip two whole months ago! Fact is, we were going back-and-forth on some important decisions and didn’t want to send an update and then another update that we had changed our minds!

Our time in Thailand was very profitable both as a family together for R & R and also meeting with advisors and counselors. I was able to receive help and encouragement with seasonal depression as well as counseling with Anna Marie. Katie was able to receive guidance counseling for her time after high school as well as taking some aptitude and personality tests. I was also able to see and eye doctor and get a thorough check as well as reparative surgery on one of my eyes. All in all, I was in some type of appointment or surgery all but one of our 12 days there! Somehow I found time on my one day off on Sunday to go on a mountain bicycling tour up in the mountains! We also enjoyed walking around the Chiang Mai night bazaars as well as the Thai food, Indian food, sunny weather and we were able to take Kurt across town three times to hang out and skateboard with Thai teens. No, Kurt’s still 10 years old, but all the other guys that tend to skateboard in Asia seem to be teens and older!

After our time in Thailand we thought we would be able to continue on here in Indonesia until the summer of 2010 at which point we would take our year-long furlough. But in this past month we’ve realized that we really need to bump that up to this summer mostly for the sake of our two older girls, Katie and Grace, 18 and 16 years old. Rather than waiting until the summer of 2010 to take time out from ministry to deal with family issues, we really feel the Lord leading us to deal with these things beginning this summer in order to make it possible for returning to Indonesia to continue ministry for the long haul. Because we’ve only taken six months of furlough time in six years of ministry in Indonesia, we are still due just shy of a year for furlough right now.

So where will we be relocating for the next year? It appears that the Lord is leading us back to Missouri where we served with the New Tribes Language Center (now MTC or Missions Training Center) for almost 8 years. This area is the closest place to “home” that our children have. I will not be teaching at the MTC for this year-long furlough, but will be close enough to visit friends there and see how the program has changed and visit with families heading to Indonesia as missionaries. As an orientation coordinator in Indonesia where we are getting around 15 new families per year, it will be good to see what their Stateside training is like now. If the Lord wills, I can plug back in there to teach some if needed too.

To see more photos of our trip, please go to Photos/Thailand Trip

Please be praying for:

1. Our transition from here saying “goodbye for now” to friends and coworkers as well as wrapping up final responsibilities and passing the torch to others.
2. For our children in this transition, especially Katie and Grace who have made many close Indonesian friends.
3. For finances for the transition including plane tickets, finding housing, travel out to California to see my mom and home church family. We will also clear our stuff out of my mom’s storage as she plans to sell her house and downsize moving to a more manageable home.
4. For us finding the right house in the right area of Missouri with the right church for our family, right school system, and neighbors. We’re sure God is going ahead in all of this!
5. For the Orientation team we leave behind as they get ready for a large group of new families in July and November.
6. For continued open doors for new missionaries to Indonesia and for our plans to return in the future.

Praise:
1. For God giving us clear direction in this time.
2. For the past six years of ministry in Indonesia.
3. For prayer partners and givers to the ministry back in our home country.
4. For our families health.
5. For our field leadership that gives guidance and direction to all of us here.
6. For our coworkers, both Indonesian and other nationalities, and the unity that God has given us as a team.

Please contact us if you would like us to visit your church and share about what God is doing in Indonesia! You can most easily contact me through email, john_weeks@ntm.org as we don’t have a phone number yet.

On this journey together,

Thanking God for each one of you,

John, Anna Marie, Katie, Grace, Paula and Kurt

We’re leaving town again, but this time as a whole family, minus Paula. This was a bit sudden, but works best in our schedule right now before Anna’s brother comes to visit and before the next group of new families in April. We’ll be heading to Thailand for more medical as well as some counseling. That’s a bit vague, but we really need direction as we’d like to wait until the summer of 2010 for our year-furlough, but may need to head home this summer depending on several factors. Since coming off 2 ½ years of hard medication for my eye disease I’ve really had lots of depression and other symptoms I need looking into if we’re going to keep on here. I was told beforehand of the side-effects of the eye disease medication, but it was the only medication available if I wanted to keep my eyesight! My father too was treated much of his adult life for depression but was faithful to stay on his medication. I was told 21 years ago that I had it too and had to be on medication for life, but decided to go off it after only a couple months.

Also, our eldest daughter graduates high school this May, but we’d really like to find something profitable for her to do for the year until we head home on furlough. This may include the local university in town or the language school as well as keeping up the pie business with her sister. Katie is also experiencing medical issues possibly related to chemical imbalance which she experienced some as a small child; my older sister has it pretty severely but won’t take her meds. Please pray for Katie and I as we see doctors and as all of us seek counseling on what to do and which course we should take, either continuing on here in Indonesia until our furlough in May of 2010 or heading home earlier for treatment and helping Katie get settled into life in the U.S., whether with a job or college.

Thanks for your prayers,

In this together,

John, Anna Marie, Katie, Grace, Paula and Kurt

“Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.” – Paul Theroux

Travels here and travels there…Thanks so much for your prayers the past couple of weeks during all of our travels. Anna, Katie and Grace made it safely to Jakarta for some medical appointments, but not without event! They first headed to the airport an hour away from our home (they had found plane tickets cheaper than train tickets so thought that would make the trip quicker and easier)around 10:00 a.m. with the plane scheduled to leave at 11:40 a.m.. But, due to local flooding, they were delayed 8 1/2 hours along with all other passengers from other delayed flights. Even the train station was closed as the tracks were under water! The doctor there in Jakarta, an Indonesian trained in the U.S., was very thorough and ran a complete battery of tests on Katie who had been suffering from a lot of random, but disconcerting symptoms this whole past year. Most everything checked out fine, but he was a little concerned at the results of an ultrasound that showed very slow moving digestion which could be due to several things. We’ve decided to treat this with diet and exercise for now, but are also looking into pursuing some more tests that have to do with other possible causes. How’s that for keeping things vague? Let’s just say we’d appreciate your prayers as we look into things!!!

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” – Martin Buber

While Anna, Katie, and Grace were still in Jakarta, Paula left for Kalimantan where she helped with the youth program for their regional conference. Her flight left out of the same airport on time! PTL! She traveled with three other couples heading there for the conference. Paula had a great time “being on her own” as well as working with the children. Paula made all the colorful posters for the teaching on the 7 C’s of History, Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, the Cross, and Consummation. She also got to teach the lesson on Catastrophe, about the Flood and Noah building the ark.

Finally, I traveled to Kalimantan to lead two tribal team “kick-offs” for the Da’an and Sekadau teams. My trip overlapped with Paula and we were in the same location so we got to room together! Everybody had good things to say about Paula and her connecting with the little kids! I was able to team teach with Mike Henderson who did the church-planting part of the team kick-offs and Shane Whatley who is a consultant-in-training. The team kick-offs are to help with relationships between the consultant and the tribal teams, to help keep church-planting in focus, to review and instruct with language-learning techniques, and to motivate them before they move into their tribal locations. We were also able to meet with native speakers of each of the two language-groups who had moved out to town. Normally, the kick-offs are done on-site in the tribal locations, but because of logistics this time we met in town. To see more pictures of this kick-off and others as well as some pictures of Paula working with the youth, go to our website under Photos, Tribal Team Kick-Offs.

Thanks again for your prayers these days,

In this together,

John, Anna Marie, Katie, Grace, Paula and Kurt

One of my responsibilities of being here is working each day with our newest language-learners. For a period of 10 weeks, we go out everyday on what we call “culture and language excursions.” We take all the different transportation around town, go to the market, to the rice fields, to the Post Office, various factories, tailors, universities and basically all over this region! The students take photographs of each excursion and use these as a platform to learn the language and culture associated with that excursion! They do all of this with Indonesian language helpers and my guidance.

Please check out our Photos tab under the album Language Consulting to see more photos of excursions. Check out our other albums if you have time!

One of our final excursions was to a local coffee plantation, one of my favorite trips! It was interesting to study that coffee is not native to Java! What, but we call coffee “Java!” The plants were smuggled out of Ethiopia-Yemen in the 17th century by a Dutch botanist who took the live plants (punishable by death) to the Netherlands to be studied. The Dutch realized the plants would flourish in the Dutch East Indies, or Indonesia, specifically in the mountains of Java. Since the Dutch occupied Indonesia (controlled it for 350 years until 1941 when Japan occupied it during WWII) they forced the people to grow coffee rather than rice. There was a subsequent famine because now they were growing coffee instead of enough rice! The initial plants were Arabica, but there was a “rust plague” that killed many of those plants. These were replaced with Robusta, a more hardy plant. The Arabica is still grown at the highest of altitudes and contains less caffeine.

Every Friday we all get together with our Indonesian language helpers for group session. We each share new cultural and linguistic discoveries as well as play language games. This past week we played a language game in order to study conjunctions and “transition phrases” and how to logically and meaningfully flow from one sentence or thought to the next. We first brainstormed the conjunctions and “transition phrases” that we use in English such as but, and, however, after that, unlike, actually, fortunately, therefore, meanwhile …etc. Then we brainstormed which “transition phrases” or conjunctions we’ve heard in Indonesian so far. Then one of our language helpers began a story and each of us would add a couple sentences to the story using these “connector” and “transition” phrases. We realized that each of us in our own language only uses a certain set or “arsenal” of phrases and words to connect our thoughts together and certain connector phrases are only used when writing, preaching, or publicly speaking.

Then we shared blunders or cultural mistakes that we each make. I shared how just a couple weeks ago I was sharing with an Indonesian about our friend who had died. I remembered a colloquial phrase and said “dia berkarat,” but used the wrong prefix. What I had said is “she is rusty” where the phrase I wanted “dia sekarat” means “she was dying!” In speaking about the realm of dying, there are many potential blunders just waiting for us to stumble upon! When a person dies you must use “meninggal” whereas when an animal dies you use “mati.” However when you are in church you will hear about Christ’s death as “Yesus mati” not “Yesus meninggal” where in spiritual terminology you use the word for “death” that refers to animals dying as opposed to people dying when talking about “Christ’s death!” When you go to a funeral (you go to all neighborhood funerals) you tell the family “Kami turut berdukacita” which means “we join in your sorrow,” but be careful not to use the word “bersukacita” instead of “berdukacita” because that means you “rejoice” with them! And the cultural and linguistic mine field goes on and on and …

Please be praying for Paula and I as we each take trips to another island for ministry. Paula leaves in just four more days to help with the youth program during a regional conference. I travel in one more week and will help with “team kick-offs” for two of our tribal teams. Please pray for me as I still have lots to prepare! Please pray also for Anna Marie as she travels leaving in one more day for Jakarta with Katie and Grace for a medical trip. Katie has been having some medical problems that need to be addressed by a good doctor. Please pray for the three of them to have a profitable trip, for answers to Katie’s medical problems, and for safety and a fun time sharing and traveling together.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support,

John for the Weeks family

Well, this has been a busy two weeks since our last update. It’s good to all be healthy once again and back in a routine. Anna got the kids back into the swing of home schooling 2 weeks ago. Paula has started JV basketball and is really enjoying that. She also has had more missions’ trip opportunities come up and rather than go on the same one she’s gone on the past couple of years, she will be opting for a different trip. She’s been invited to help with childcare at a regional conference on a different island here in Indonesia. She will be helping lead games, teaching and perhaps doing some babysitting in this other region. Then I will be coming to the same region to do a “tribal team kick-off” in helping two tribal teams get off to a good start. Please pray as I prepare lessons, schedules and Power Points for this.

This past week was a long, hard week. Over the past three years we’ve built a relationship with an Indonesian family in our favorite beach area. Grace, our second daughter had originally befriended their son who’s a local surfer and the same age as Grace. Then through him, we befriended his family who runs a little beachside “young coconut drink” stand in front of their simple home as well as managing a local fishing boat. Over the years we’ve enjoyed bar-b-cued fish together, boat rides out on the Indian Ocean and lots of visiting. A couple of weeks ago, the mother, came down with Dengue Fever and was admitted to a local hospital, then eventually transferred to a hospital two hours away in a bigger city. Pak Hasyim the husband called us and we went to visit her in the hospital two hours away from us in the big city. She was not conscious and not doing well. While we were there, they transferred her to an even bigger hospital in a bigger city. We joined them at the next hospital where we were again able to pray for her as well as help with  hospital bills. Well, just one day after getting back home, we got a call from Hasyim that his wife had passed away at only 37 years of age, leaving him and their three children, 15, 13, and 10 years old. Please pray for them as they all adjust to life without Ibu (mother) and that God would reveal himself to them and help them through this time. The day after she passed away, we drove the four hours to their little beach town to sit with them and visit and encourage them along with other friends and relatives. Please pray as we share Christ’s love for them as they do not yet know Him personally as their Savior. They plan to come visit us and stay with us for a couple days later this month. Go to our Photo tab under "In Memorandum; Ibu’s Family" to see more picture of their family.

Please continue to pray with us about future plans for our family as we weigh all the options with Katie’s graduation coming up. Katie also has some medical needs we’d like you to pray about as we search for the appropriate doctor which most likely means a trip to Jakarta or even Singapore. I also have some medical issues so will possibly combine a trip with Katie.

In summary, please pray for the following needs:
1. Finances for Paula’s upcoming missions trip as well as possible medical trips for Katie and me.
2. For our medical issues to be resolved.
3. For Pak Hasyim and his three children as they grieve the passing of Ibu Hasyim. For us to be able to share God’s love to them.
4. For wisdom in helping Katie pursue options/opportunities here or back at home for after she graduates from high school this year!
5. For enthusiasm in our ministry as co-workers come and go (either on furlough or onto other ministries) and the constant transition gets rather wearisome!

Well, we made it through the “Sick Season” which happened to coincide with Christmas and New Years! Thanks for praying for us as we jumped from Grace’s motorcycle accident and subsequent concussion, to Anna’s Dengue Fever, to John’s Strep Throat all during the busy holiday season!

We still managed to enjoy “stretches” of the Holidays including a “get-away” to Jakarta for 2 days by train (actually relaxing), a Christmas morning breakfast of eggs and strawberry waffles, enjoying a couple Christmas packages from home and the presents and pictures inside, and a trip to the beach with friends and playing board games in the evenings.

Please go to our Photo’s page on this website under "Christmas 08" to see more Christmas pics of the family.

To see pictures of our trip to the beach on New Year’s Day, please go to our Photo’s page "For New Year’s 09 to the Beach!"  Anna along with three of our kids left with our friends on New Year’s Eve afternoon and I waited to leave until New Year’s Day because Paula wanted to go to a friend’s New Year’s Eve party, but then Paula decided to stay back home with her pets and friends. Yes, it was a lonely motorbike ride there, but therapeutic as I always say.

During the Holidays, we continued to welcome and orientate our 6 new missionaries to the field. John also continued to take them on language and culture excursions such as trips to the Post Office, bus station, hospital, auto and motorbike mechanics shops, the market, a seamstress/tailor shop, how to entertain guests and be received as a guest, how to wash clothes, cooking fried rice and a trip to the rice fields. To see more pictures of our excursion to the rice fields, go to our Photo’s page to the folder "Excursion to the Rice Fields."

I am still looking forward to some of my favorite excursions to the coffee plantations and rubber tree plantations! Those are in the next couple of weeks!

Please continue to pray with us concerning our family, especially our two oldest daughters as we look at the best options for their futures. They are having a difficult time over here now and really could use your prayers. We too could use your prayers as we seek the Lord for His wisdom in this and that Anna and I would draw close and be “on the same page,” that is, in God’s will in this. We’ve made some mistakes as earthly parents and over-prioritized ministry over the well-being of our children and really need to draw back and look to the Lord for guidance.

Thanks again for your faithful support of our ministry and for your faithful prayers and interest in what’s happening over here in Indonesia. Please pray too for our safety and well-being as most of the world does not look to kindly on Americans these days, especially with the current conflict in the Middle East.

Looking for our Lord’s soon return,

In this together,

John for Anna Marie, Katie, Grace, Paula and Kurt