Photo by Sweetliferving I have been amazed at the number of frozen yogurt places that are here in Indonesia. Let’s see… we have: Sour Sally, Sour Mary, Icy Blue, J. Co, Twistberry, Tutti Fruiti, Iceblazz, and the list goes on and on. On one hand, I ask myself, “Why are there […]
The Start of Ramadan 2009
Photo by MLive I was always aware of the importance of Ramadan for Muslims while I was in Ann Arbor, but for some reason it has more significance now that we are out here in Indonesia. Just knowing that Indonesia has the largest Muslim population is a strong reminder that many […]
Meeting Various Pastors
One of the great joys I often get to experience is meeting different pastors and hearing their stories. Today, I was out in Jakarta meeting up with a pastor who was introduced to me through one of the HMCC of Ann Arbor member’s father. This pastor was the shepherd for the member’s family while […]
Kingdom-Minded People
Photo by CHEC Pro This week I had the opportunity to meet up with various people. It is always good to connect with people on a regular basis. One in meeting in particular was notably a blessing to me. I met up with a pastor of an international church here in […]
Creativity in Kids
It has been good seeing some families coming out to our gatherings. There is one family with a child that is into painting. In fact, she is only 5 years old. One day when our team walked into their home, we saw a display of all her paintings. It was pretty awesome to see. […]
Michael Vick and the Gospel
Photo by AP It was interesting to hear the responses by various people and sports commentators about Michael Vick signing a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. After serving 18 months in prison for running a dogfighting ring, Vick was reinstated with conditions by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Now, this is going […]
Trusting the Locals
I knew I should have taken out my wisdom tooth while I was in the States. But due to all the busyness and procrastination, I never got to it. Then last week, I felt a sharp pain in my mouth when I woke up one morning. When I went to the bathroom, I noticed […]
Happenings in the City of Jakarta
For the last couple of days, I have been spending more time in Jakarta. On Saturday, we spent some time with one of the families in our church. I was so blessed by their generosity. They invited the whole team for some of time of relationship building. It was a blessing for our team […]
Dreams Build Our Faith
I was reading the other day an article that Rick Warren wrote about faith. He said, “Faith is like a muscle: it can be strengthened. It can be weak or it can be strong, depending on how much you use it. How does God build your faith? The first thing God […]
Saving Face Doesn’t Save Time
Photo by Tokyo Times It is amazing how long it takes to “settle in” to a new place. I think the process time increases when you are in another country. It is not only the issue of language, but various cultural expectations and values do not help in the speed of […]
Spiritual Observation
After we dropped the kids off at school, Christina and I had some time in the morning to run various errands. It has been good to spend time together as we get adjusted in a new country and culture. We live in an area that is very expat friendly; therefore it is easy to […]
Getting Lost
Photo by Corey Amaro Driving in Indonesia is incredibly fun. I still can’t believe the freedom that drivers have on the roads. You can throw away the “rules of the road” manual in Indonesia. Rules are usually suggestions and driving etiquettes are luxuries. Also, it is not the cars that you […]
Passion and Talent
The YouTube below just reminded me about the importance of passion and talent. When those two things come together it makes a powerful combination. Passion is often times the fuel that enables a person to do something, while the talent is the tools or the instrument in which we can accomplish things. There are […]
Responding with Grace
Photo by images.com Every day as the kids finish their day of school, we ask them how things went for them. It has been our ritual so far. Christina and I just want to make sure that the kids are adjusting well. One day, Karissa responded by telling us of something […]