Check out the Samaritan's Purse website and click on the earthquake response to see what I have been up to. I took those pictures!

Change of Plans

Due to the recent earthquake in Jokjakarta, I've been asked to be on the immediate response team to the area. I'm on my way there right now and will be there for the next three weeks. This means that I will be postponing my trip to the US by two weeks.

Also, this is my personal blog and I've tried to be very careful to not post anything sensitive to my work and I will continue to do so. I'll continue posting information on how I am and maybe a little on what I'm doing but I need to be very careful about work related stuff since I am not authorized to speak for SP.

Please be praying for the victims of the tragedy and those who are helping them.

Gone to Retreat

The SP retreat for the SP Indonesia is Thursday till Sunday so I'll be gone till Monday and you'll probably not be hearing a lot from me till then.

News Spin

Looking at Google News articles about Bush meeting with Olmert revealed a good amount of spin. Look at these headlines from the first page. Keep in mind that these are all from major news sources.

President Bush Holds a Joint Press Conference with Prime Minister ...
Bush praises Israeli PM's plan about West Bank
Bush welcomes West Bank plan
US urges Olmert to talk to Palestinians
Bush gives cautious welcome to Olmert's plan
Bush fails to back Israeli plan for borders

What the heck is going on? These headlines seem to run the whole gammut of possibilities. It seems that Bush and Olmert are either best friends, bitter enemies or somewhere in between.

My trust in the media is cut in half after reading this which puts it hovering right about 0%

Interesting Day

So today I spent inspecting houses and trying to find a new location to build houses. Besides getting upset with the village leader for not showing three times and finally telling him he had to come to my office tomorrow or I wouldn't consider building houses in his village, there are two notable things that happened.

First, in the two main villages that we are building in right now, there is a crazy guy who wanders back and forth between the two yelling at the moon, stars and whatever else gets in his way. Today while we were eating lunch he stopped by for a yell. We heard him coming for about 15 minutes and I was pleasantly amused when he came up to us. I greeted him and shook his hand which threw him off for a few minutes but soon enough he was back at full volume yelling in my face. I just smiled till he got bored and found some chickens to yell at.

Secondly, today was a payday where we pay the carpenters for houses that are completed and the homeowners for helping. I must admit that I was close to tears as we handed over the keys to a brand new house to an 8 year old boy who is the only surviving member of his family.

I love my job!

Updated Itinerary

Here is my complete Itinerary for going home in June:

GARUDA AIRLINES 189 Banda Aceh 06/03/2006 11:25 AM
MALAYSIA AIRLINES 865 Medan 06/03/2006 15:30 PM
JAPAN AIRLINES 5839 Kuala Lumpur 06/03/2006 10:50 PM
AMERICAN AIRLINES 176 Tokyo 06/04/2006 12:25 PM
Arriving at DFW 06/04/2006 09:45 AM

AMERICAN AIR 2465 Dallas/FW 06/16/2006 06:25 PM
CATHAY PACIFIC 6121 Los Angeles 06/16/2006 11:55 PM
CATHAY PACIFIC 6099 Hong Kong 06/18/2006 08:50 AM
MALAYSIA AIRLINES 864 Kuala Lumpur 06/18/2006 14:45 PM
GARUDA AIRLINES 182 Medan 06/19/2006 09:45 AM
Arriving at Banda Aceh 06/19/2006 10:40 AM

Can't wait to get there!

West Wind Season

I mentioned before (I think) that it is west wind season here right now which means there are really strong winds and extreme rainstorms. The last two days have been just nuts. All night long I got woken up by the wind and the rain agains the roof two stories above me and outside my window. Driving out to the project site, all the houses we built were wet all the way up to the base of the roof. The people said the rain was coming in sideways all night long. Around 2:00PM another storm rolled in and we drove home in it. It knocked down many trees, signs and other odds and ends including some side of the road food stands. As my finance assistant said, "It sure is a mighty wind."

Six Spiritual Health Woes That Ruin A Date

Fox news is running a story on Six Health Woes That Ruin A Date. It goes into detail on how these six things can ruin a date and what to do about them.

1. Bad Breath
2. Sweat
3. Gastrointestinal Woes
4. Allergies
5. Acne
6. Warts

What struck me about this list is how superficial it all is. I mean, when trying to find someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, how important are these things really? Just about everyone has dealt with all of them at some point in their lives. Some will become even bigger problems as we get older (see number three). Hopefully we will be looking for something more than whether a person has allergies or not.

This made me think of Six Spiritual Health Woes That Will Ruin A Date. I mean, when I meet a girl and get to know her, I am looking for much more important things than if she has bad breath (I think we all do in the morning). This list is very convicting to me because I don't do nearly as well on it as I do the list above. I think it would be better if we worked on getting this list right instead of the other one.

1. No Relationship with Jesus

In marriage it is important to not be unequally yolked. What this means is that the two people need to be on the same page with the same mission and vision in life. If not, there are going to be a lot of headaches. Part of having a relationship with Jesus is realizing that we are citizens of heaven and not earth. Our hopes, goals and treasures are there and not on earth. If someone does not have a relationship with Jesus, they are going to have a very different view on how to live life.

There's good news though! Anyone can have a relationship with Jesus and it is really easy.

"Salvation that comes from trusting Christ--which is the message we preach--is already within easy reach. In fact, the Scriptures say, 'The message is close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.' For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:8-9

2. Selfishness

Being overly concerned with oneself is a major turn off. Being in a relationship is about caring about the other person and helping each other. Nothing can be more poisonous to this than a selfish person.

"Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Matthew 22:37-39

If everyone, especially those in a relationship, loved their neighbor as themselves, the world would be a much better place and a lot more relationships would be better off.

3. Conceited

For those of you who aren't sure what conceited is (I had to look it up to make sure), it is "holding an unduly high opinion of yourself, vain." Basically it is the type of person who is so concerned with how they look that it is more important than anything else. Having to spend an hour and a half in the bathroom getting ready every morning.

While there is nothing wrong with looking good (it certainly can be a very good thing!), there is a time and a place for everything. There is nothing wrong with showing the real you every once in a while and not worrying if everything isn't perfect.

4. Disregard For The Sanctity Of Marriage

This are only special if they are made special. Special means something that is above common or usual. If we make something common then it is no longer special. This is especially true in things related to marriage. I'm not going to say any more on this subject except to say that things made special are a bit more... um... special.

5. Laziness

Again, a relationship is about working together. No one wants to work with someone who is lazy. That means that they have to do all the work. It is much better to find someone who wants to share the load.

"If a man is lazy, the rafters sag;
if his hands are idle, the house leaks" Ecclesiastes 10:18

Much better to be responsible for cleaning up after yourself and being involved in volunteering someplace.

6. Easily Angered Or Annoyed

Being comfortable with someone is very important and if you are always worried about angering or annoying someone by something you say or do, a relationship isn't much fun. Much better to be comfortable with someone and able to be honest with them without worrying about the reaction.

Now there is a time and a place for anger when something goes wrong but it is best to not happen very often and only when appropriate and it needs to be dealt with with grace and peace. It is much better to be quick to forgive even if the other person is in the wrong.

"A patient man has great understanding,
but a quick-tempered man displays folly." Proverbs 14:29

"A man's wisdom gives him patience;
it is to his glory to overlook an offense." Proverbs 19:11

(Please note that this list was written with no one in mind except myself)

Don't defenestrate That!

Did you know that defenestrate means to throw something or someone out a window? Me either until it showed up as the word of the day.

Can you imagine yelling at someone, "Don't defenestrate that!" I think you would just get some confused looks.

Apparently usually it refers to people being thrown out a window. For example, in 2 Kings 9:30-33 Queen Jezebel is defenestrated.

If ever a word deserved to be the word of the century, I think this should be it, merely on account of coolness and near complete uselessness.

Good News, Bad News (which is actually good news too!)

Skype has decided to give away calling to the US and Canada for the rest of the year. This is awesome news for me since I use SkypeOut quite regularly and will continue to do so till the end of the year. The bad news is that it is only free if you are calling from within the US and I am in Indonesia. So why is this still good news? A few months ago I switched to a satellite internet system that has an IP Address in the US instead of Indonesia so as far as Skype knows, I'm in the US and can get free calling to the US!

Yellow Moon

Tonight was a near full moom and around 8PM there was a brilliant yellow moon on the eastern sky. We were trying to figure out why this is and figured it is either polution or Mount Merapi erupting. Mount Merapi is a couple hundred miles to the East of Bandung and the ash is supposed to be coloring the sky quite beautifully in Yogyakarta. There is a very high chance that the volcano will be erupting full scale very quickly. Oh, also there was a 6.1 earthquake in Banda Aceh again yesterday. Gotta love Indonesia. It keeps you on your tows. Interestingly, for every major earthquake in Aceh and Nias, I've been out of the province when it happened.

The Show Must Go On

The last two nights I went to BAIS's production of "Lost in Yonkers" by Neil Simon. They did a really great job with it. I had read it before but didn't think it was very funny until I actually watched it. Of course it is very serious as well. The second night had some suprises like one of the main actresses fell off a motorcycle on her way to the performance and apparently broke her arm. They put it in a sling and she performed without missing a beat. One of the characters also partially undresses for bed on stage. Since this is the last night he decided to take his pants off as well. He had basketball shorts on underneath but the director just about had a heart attack. Very well done and I enjoyed both nights.

Bandung RnR

Just FYI, tomorrow morning I'll be going to Bandung for probably my last time for a very long time. I'm headed out for some Rest and Relaxation that is sorely needed. Looking forward to seeing all my old friends again... Um, not that they are exactly old but that I haven't seem them in a while... well, I think you get the point. Its getting late. I should stop writing.

Maulud Nabi 1427

Today was Maulud Nabi day which I believe is "The Prophet's" birthday. Basically this year I was invited to a bunch of lunches all served at the same time. It is kind of like a Christmas potluck but with foods you probably would never recognize.

One of the foods they cooked was beef kari Acehnese style like we had at the innauguration. It was as awesome as ever and I got the recipe from them.

Beef (chunked into 1 inch cubes) 8-10 kg
Bananas (2 stalks) or Young Jackfruit 3 also chunked
Lemon grass 6 stalks
White Shallots 3.5 Kg sliced
Red Shallots 1 kg sliced
Ginger 200g sliced
Cilantro 200g
Dried Cilantro 50g
Dried Red Pepper 500g
Small Red Pepper 700g
Pepper 500g
Salt 500g
Dried Coconut filings 1 kg
Coconut milk 5 coconuts
Curry powder 500g
A couple of other things I don't know what they are but aren't terribly important

Get a cooking wok 1/2 meter in diameter and build a fire underneath. Add the seasonings and water and heat up. Add meat for 20 minutes and then add vegetables. Serve with rice. Feeds 50-70. I'll have to try it sometime when I'm back in the US.

Electricity

Its the small things in life that give you pleasure. Today we moved our electricity connection from the end of one line to the end of the other line. We were having lots of trouble with our electicity getting too low of voltage to run things. Indonesia is standardized on 220V and our house was getting between 160V and 180V. The big AC in the office wouldn't work below about 175V and the smaller ACs would stop working at about 170V. Now with the new connection we have about 200V at the house right now during one of the daily lows. The ACs are working great and hopefully things will run less hot.

Now we need to drill a well so our water isn't swamp water anymore. Wouldn't that be nice. Still dreaming of hot water though.

Hard Work

This is the second time in my life that I've had to fire someone. I had to fire two people today and I really don't like doing it. The first time I had to fire someone my supervisor was there and helped me do it. He gave me some very good advice. That is, if you are going to fire someone, make the decision ahead of time and don't allow yourself to change your mind. It is very true that I always want to change my mind when I am doing it.

These guys were guys I really did like and I didn't want to fire but I had to. Not a fun situation.

Get A Mac

Apple finally released some good advertizing for the Mac today. If you want a good chuckle and to be convinced that you should be using a Mac, check out GetAMac