Russell and Eileen's Church Missions: WATER, WEDDING, WHEELCHAIRS

Last Monday Russell went to our water project in Magelang with Elder Lisk and Elder and Sister Weichers. After checking up on the progress of the project and visiting with some of the families in the area that are already receiving the water, all were in the van ready to return to Jogjakarta. Here is where the story gets interesting. I will let you decide which side of the story you think is the more accurate perception of reality. That night at the dinner table the conversation went something like this:

From the Weichers and Elder Lisk - Wow, that wedding was unbelievable! Wasn’t it amazing how friendly the locals were. They just insisted that we come right up to the front and have our picture taken with the bride and groom.

Russell - Did you notice that the man that was walking you up front was doing so right during the middle of a prayer?

Elder Lisk - Yes, but everyone was looking at us. How were we to know that a prayer was going on?

Russell - If you were in our church and some Buddhist Monks walked in during the prayer you would look too.

Elder Lisk - They really were so gracious. They really insisted on having their picture taken with us.

Russell - That is the culture here. The man that took you in to meet the bride and groom has a low level position in the community. We are developing a new water distribution for the community. From his perspective it would have been rude to have not invited us in. That didn’t mean they wanted us there. We didn’t exactly fit in. They were all dressed up for the wedding, while we were all sweaty and in our boots having been in the fields/jungle all morning.

Sister Weicher - Yes, but then they wanted us to eat with them! Why did you say we had an appointment and that we had to get to back to Jogja?

Russell – From their perspective it would be rude not to invite you to eat. However, it was their wedding, they had not planned on us and we have a long day’s journey tomorrow. Are you used to eating real Indonesian food?

In the end we all laughed at the different perspectives that came from the same day’s events. I was glad that I had stayed back in Jogja to do some work on the computer. That way I could hear the story from both sides rather than be a part of the story.

Tuesday we left at 5:30 AM to drive to Banjarnegara for a wheelchair ceremony with our NGO partner United Cerebral Palsy (UCP). Our church has funded 1500 wheelchairs to UCP in the past year. UCP makes sure they properly fit each client. Our drive to the ceremony was a beautiful. drive. By the time we arrived at 10:15 a.m. we were all tired of sitting. This time we had the Barnards with us also so there were 8 senior missionaries plus our driver in a van that wasn't very comfortable. We were the only senior couple that were not in our 70's.

After we saw the wheelchairs fitted and given out (54 in total) we were encouraged by the people at UCP to go to the Dieng Plateau. This area is a beautiful and unique area of Indonesia where there are some small Hindu temples that date back to around 800 A.D. As we arrived at the beginning of the road to the Dieng Plateau we saw a sign saying that the road was closed. Fortunately it wasn’t closed until June 1st We had just barely made it before the road closed as it was the end of May! We looked around at the beautiful scenery and the people there. They were even selling heavy woolen hats, gloves and scarves due to the cooler weather. We were anxious to see the sulphur springs that are supposed to be similar to Yellow Stone. Unfortunately they have turned them into Geothermal Energy and they are now smokestacks.

On the way home our driver decided to take a shortcut home. Russell was sitting up front and could see that the 11 passenger van was riding on fumes. Twice we stopped for gas. Only there were no “real” gas stations so we filled up at a place where they have gas in 2 liter bottles, usually for motorcycles. At the second place the owner of the store said, “Wow, I don’t think I have ever seen "Bules" (white people) at my store before. Wait a minute, I think I did, but that was before my son was born.” Her son was there and he was 14 years old. I think we took the road less traveled.

At 7:45 PM we arrived back in Jogja, stopped by UCP to pick up Barnards van only to find the gate locked. Since their car was behind the gate our driver took them home. Once they got home they realized that the key to their gate of their home was locked in their car. It is fortunate that they have the easy going Australian temperment as they ended up spending the night in a hotel.

Next day – We were so looking forward to getting home to Jakarta. Unfortunately our plane had a flat tire. We left our hotel at 7:30 a.m. only to be told by the airlines that they thought our flight might leave by 5p.m. We couldn't leave our seat at the airport, Someone might take it. We finally got a new plane at 11:45, and we actually got 2 seats in an exit row. By this time we are extra grateful for this miracle. When we got to Jakarta there was an awful traffic jam. The wair for a taxi was 1 hour. Fortunately we were able to find a guy that was willing to take us and the Lisks to our apartment going a back way missing most of the traffic and we got home in only 2 hours. The marathon trip was over.

The Lord watched over us and we were home safe. We will laugh about this trip for years to come (even if at the time we didn’t feel like laughing).

FARMER IN RICE FIELD AT MAGELANG

THIS BIRD HAD FALLEN OUT OF THE TREE, ONE OF THE LOCALS TOOK IT HOME TO TAKE CARE OF IT

WEDDING PICTURE, DO OUR MISSIONARIES LOOK LIKE THEY FIT IN?

THIS LITTLE BOY IS BEING RAISED BY GRANDMA ON LEFT, MOM WORKS IN HONG KONG EARNING MONEY FOR FAMILY

THIS 22 YEAR OLD GIRL FELL AND BROKE HER BACK 6 MONTHS AGO. SHE IS UNABLE TO BE MOBILE AT ALL. SHE STAYS IN BED EXCEPT TO EAT. SHE IS EXCITED FOR HER NEW WHEELCHAIR

THIS LITTLE BOY WAITING FOR WHEELCHAIR, MOM CAME IN CARRYING CHILD

THIS 80 YEAR OLD WOMAN LIVES BY HERSELF AND HAS 30 GRANDCHILDREN AND 5 GREAT GRANCHILDREN, GRANDDAUGHTER ON LEFT, AND GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER ON RIGHT, WAITING FOR WHEELCHAIR