Trusting and Listening to Him
Afternoon walks are some of my favorite moments with Ezra. Almost every day he requests we go down to the horse racing track near our house to see the “gate” the horses use during races.
Last week while on our regular walk instead of turning left towards the horse track, I turned right, planning to make a longer loop back to the tracks. Ezra immediately protested. He was crying, arguing and pleading with me to turn back towards the horse track. I explained to him again and again that if he was patient, we would go to the track. He was not convinced. For 20 minutes as we walked he cried and screamed in his stroller, asking to turn around. At the end of the loop the road suddenly popped out right near the race track. His crying immediately stopped. “We’re here!” Ezra said, “We looped around!” Moments before he was miserable and exhausted, but now a huge smile lit up his face. “Yes Ezra,” I said, “just listen and trust me.”
I laughed hilariously at Ezra, his mayhem and sudden change in response when he realized I had a plan all along. But as I reflected, I realized I do this all the time with God. I make plans, have hopes, have deep desires. But then, when God takes me along a different road, I protest, I’m disappointed, and I resist, only to eventually find out he was leading me all along, just on a different path, to fulfill my desires or fulfill his plan which was better than I could have imagined.
“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)
Exciting News
Thanks to each of you who have been a part of our journey here in Indonesia. We have some exciting news and major life events coming!
Erdy and I are expecting baby #2 in early January. This is a huge answer to prayer and we are so excited. After a lot of consideration and prayer, we have decided to give birth in America. We will be heading to America next week to close out the third trimester and await the coming of our new baby.
This trip will be very important for us, because we are also currently under supported and will be spending quite a bit of time fund raising and looking for new supporters. If you would like to learn more about how you can support us, click here. If you are the leader of a small group that might be interested in hearing about our ministry here, please contact us so we can find a time to share. We would love to do this!
Aside from regular supporters, we are also coming back to raise funds for our house we are finally building. This is also exciting news! For the past three years Erdy, myself and Ezra have been living in a 250 sq. ft apartment attached to Erdy’s parents’ house, but with the arrival of our new baby we have grown out of the space. We are thankful for many who have helped us start the process of building a house which will be our permanent residence for the future. We are grateful to have already been able to build the foundation and walls, and hope to finish the roof before we depart for America. Once we have attached the roof we will take a break in building as we search for funds to complete the house.
Ministry Update
We are very excited about several new developments and growth in our development of Christian schools on this remote island. In July we opened a new school in the western region of our island, working together with another NGO. This is a great opportunity as many kids in that region have no opportunity to go to school otherwise. We are working with and training the teachers of that school regularly.
One of our existing village schools was recently able to build 2 new classrooms, allowing the school to continue through 5th grade. This is an answer to prayer, and we are so thrilled to see our kids continue to be discipled through elementary school.
Our main school in the town Erdy and I live has also experienced extreme growth this year. We had waiting lists for both elementary and kindergarten as we filled to capacity. We are praying through building a new building this year so our school can continue educating our students through Middle School. We covet your prayers.
In addition, this year I (Faith) worked to implement an emergency response system in our school. This includes a fire alarm and also training students throughout the school about appropriate response in the case of an earthquake or tsunami. This seems like a given, especially since we live in the “ring of fire” known for earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes. But, to our knowledge, no other school in the area even has the alarm! We are glad to teach our students about emergency preparedness and our hope is that they also share this with their families. Watch a short video of our emergency drill.
Ezra’s Corner
Hi! I had my second birthday recently. I loved it because I got to blow out candles over and over again. Since I’m 2 now I love talking all the time. I especially love excavators, dump trucks, airplanes, boats, soccer, books and horse races. Every day I ask my Papa and Mama to pretend I’m the horse jockey running around the track. I have a horse too! Her name is Pony. Sometimes Mama invites me to the villages with her to see all my big brothers and sisters in school. I love it because I get to run around with the chickens and cows in the villages!
I can’t wait to meet the new baby. I call the baby “moon” because when I saw the ultrasound from Mama I thought it looked like the moon! I hope I can be a good big brother.