2:00am, the call comes to wake up and begin cooking breakfast. They go through the streets yelling "wake up, wake up!" and bang things together so that no one misses it. 4:00am, there are three or four mosques within ear shot of our house that, for the next 30 minutes, remind the residents of their peaceful little neighborhoods that it is time to pray. 5:30am, the fireworks (more-or-less just loud confetti bombs) begin in the neighboring soccer field and in the streets, after all the sun is coming up and a long day of fasting has just begun. For the duration of Ramadan, our town's sleep schedule is a little off kilter. But Alex, Jack and I can usually sneak a nap in most afternoons too, so it's alright. This 30 day ritual ends with the Eid al-Fitri celebration which, much like Christmas in America (and also much different), is a time for family to gather from far away and neighbors to visit each other. I can't say I don't see the beauty in it. But I can say that I am so grateful Jesus answers our prayers whenever we call to him, not once a year. I am grateful that in Christ there is no earning affection, His love is a matter of fact. In Christ there is no "if I do enough...", there is only my name written in the Lambs Book of life promised with the seal of the Spirit. ------------------------------ The end of Ramadan brought with it a number of exciting things for us this year. Our close friends came to visit that week. As we got to show them our city and the surrounding area we were able to explore much more of it for ourselves too. They bought with them plenty of encouragement along with plenty of gifts from our parents for Jack's second birthday! While they were here we did woefully little studding. That lead to a week of working extra so we were prepared to pass our unit 4 exam on Tuesday this week. We are now officially past the half way mark of language school and only two months away from baby boy #2's due date!
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Now that it has been over two months at our new home in Salatiga, we would like to show some pictures and videos of what life like looks like for us here. Now we can debunk the myth that we live in a hut! Hurray, a new baby Ludvicek is on the way!
Yikes, crazy pregnancy hormones combined with unending environmental stressors and an intense language school curriculum! I'm not sure I need to say more, but a few of you will probably have questions. Lets see... -I'm due August 25th-ish I think. I have seen a doctor here. The hospital here is NOT UIHC, and both it and the doctor are over an hour away. On the bright side his english is good, he loves Jesus, and he is very kind. -I am just finishing up my first trimester, so I am not feeling too sick anymore. However, pregnancy brain, stress fatigue, and the fact that I might be working through some sort of virus are major hurdles at the moment. -We knew before we left so we packed accordingly. Sacrificed quite a few things to take the rock-and-play but it will be 100% worth it. Now were just hoping for another boy because he/she will be wearing Jacks old cloths regardless. -You can pray for the whole family for continued health, successful language learning, and grace for all of the colossal changes we are working through as we get used to daily life here. -Several of you have already contacted me, and it has been incredibly encouraging. For those who had my info before, you can find me on WhatsApp with the number I had in the States or on Facebook messenger. I think that about does it for now. We made it! I could explain to you the chaos of traveling, jet lag, orienting to our new town and home, all the new sights and smells, and everything that we packed into our first week here, but I think there is just too much to tell and not enough space. Suffice it to say that it was indeed chaos but we have surfaced on the other side more-or-less in tact. Now that we are settled onto our house we are grateful for a little rest before school begins next week. As we venture out into the town a little more each day we find ourselves in a constant state of "not yet." Belum. We do not yet know the language. Which means we do not yet know how to communicate with our neighbors or even our helpers who will watch Jack while we are in school. We do not yet understand the culture, know where to buy things, how to get around, or how to drive on the left side of the road. We have a lot of learning ahead and we are antsy to get started so that we can feel more at home here. However, I am constantly reminding myself that it is ok to pace ourselves as well. There is far too much to learn in a day, a week, or even a few months. We could certainly use prayer for stamina and for sharp minds to take it all in. In everything though, we are grateful to find ourselves among such a kind people group and in such a beautiful place as we start this journey. I look forward to sharing with you in the coming months all of the little things that make life here both hard and beautiful, but for now I will just leave you with a few pictures. I guess were down to the wire now. Our bags are packed... more or less. Many of our goodbyes have already been said, but we have plenty of hard ones left as well. I have been getting the "How are you feeling" question a lot lately. It's a good one, but not the easiest to answer. Let me give it a shot one more time. I suppose I am feeling stressed and overwhelmed, scared and sad, excited and expectant. Some times I want to dig my feet in and never leave this place; more often I am ready to just get this show on the road already. Overwhelmingly though, I don't feel much at all. It is hard to process so many things at once and, after all, "each day has enough trouble of it's own." So most days I just look at the schedule and the to-do list, decide what can get packed in that day, and keep moving forward one step at a time. In 10 days we will leave from the Cedar Rapids airport headed for Jakarta. If all goes well we will make it there in 26 hours of travel to a time zone 13 hours ahead. We will have 6 checked bags, with only 1.5 hour layovers in both Dallas and Hong Kong, and a 16 hour flight between the two, 1 high energy 18 month old, and 1 coworker who will be traveling with us starting in Dallas. Once we arrive we will have 2 days in Jakarta for orientation and jet lag. Then we will take another quick flight over to Salatiga where we will have 10 days or so to get things like unpacking, figuring out how to pay bills and where to grocery shop squared away before we start language school. Initially school will be 4 hours of classroom time per day followed by about 4 hours of homework, including plenty of talking to people in the community beginning day one. So we could use some prayer! If you think of us over the next month please pray for our families and the grief of saying goodby, for our travels (specifically that we would make our connections and that Jackson would do well), that Jackson would quickly adjust to all the change, and that our minds will be sharp as we begin learning the Indonesian language. Thanks so much friends! Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? Matthew 6: 26-27 There is this thing about moving to the other side of the world. I suppose it would apply to just about any sort of move in some sense. It is about the goodbyes and the hellos. You see, you have to say goodby first. That means that while you have no conceivable idea what the hellos ahead will look like, you are slowly letting go of so many pieces of the life that you know. It is awfully hard to get excited about the utterly unknown when you find yourself in the middle of a great deal of loss.
Now, I know that we have a lot to be excited for. Adventure awaits, along with new language skills, beautiful places and dear friends. But having never been to Indonesia before it is just as easy to imagine the culture shock, homesickness and struggle. It is true that there will be both, and that they will come in waves with the later becoming fewer and farther between until we can't imagine our life any other way. But we are not then; we are now. So in answer to the question, "Are you excited?" I must admit that is not my dominant feeling at the moment. I feel a sense of loss. Fortunately there is also floating around somewhere in my emotional tank a quiet persistent hope. After all, God has put us on this path in no uncertain terms, and we know that His plans for us are good. Not easy, but deeply and eternally good. Just a quick update of the past month or so: -We traveled to Idaho Sunday July 23 for a little training. -Two days later we headed to Portland to see some old friends. -That same Friday we drove to Seattle, had dinner with some new friends, then drove to Spokane. -We got in at 1:30 am on Saturday...and took the rest of the day off! -The next two weeks in Spokane were full of time with friends we hadn't seen in far too long, and some training for Alex. -Then back in the car. We got back to Nampa Saturday August 12th, ready for more training; and definitely ready to have our own space again for a couple of weeks. Lowlights: The great adventure of teething. The last time a massive hole was gouged out of the back of MY mouth (wisdom teeth) I was sedated for it! I don't envy him. Highlights: The car did not go on strike. Our 6th anniversary celebrated with the Moody flight class. Visa paperwork submitted! Anyway, Just thought we'd keep you in the know. You haven't missed out on anything too crazy. Only hours into a 26 hour drive, my mind drifts as the the car cruses with a hypnotizing drone that I know all too well. I get déjà vu from the familiar route and sights. The feelings I carry, along with a car load of baby stuff are also very familiar. Fresh good-byes. It seems like everyone has a different technique that they use, but we all share the difficult reality it produces. It’s almost like a band-aid for me. It hurts real bad when you yank it off, but the sting fades as you look ahead. But that just leads to the familiar feelings of unrest of the unknown. What will this training look like? Will I still know how to fly? Will I get along with my new co-workers and management? The flood of emotion quickly fades when I realize how much my back hurts already. It’s gonna be a long 26 hours.
The reality is that there are so many unknowns for us right now, but there is a history that puts my soul at ease. The history of how we got to where we are: the provision for school, passing the flight and ground tests, surviving bachelorhood AND 6 years of marriage, living comfortably on little, getting jobs, paying off school debt, acceptance into MAF, provision of ministry partners. The list goes much longer. Having this history of God continually providing friends, finances, peace and even occasionally divine intervention means I can trust Him with what’s next. The trial period of living apart from friends and family, the difficulties of training and working with new people, having the car make it without exploding, these can be put to rest. I need reminded of this, because I sometimes don't believe it. In just about a week Alex and I will be loading up our car and heading west again. We have training at MAF headquarters in Idaho until the beginning of November. We will be home for the holidays and then will be boarding a plane for Jakarta in early January. With things rapidly changing for us even now, and with our departure for language school just around the corner we are looking for all the prayer support we can get! Here are a few things that you can pray for when you think of us for the remainder of the year and beyond. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. - James 5:16 For the next few months:
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AuthorsWe are just a couple of kids from Iowa learning to trust Christ daily and aiming to serve Him though mission aviation. Archives
August 2023
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