Six Months Already?
Writing this update, we are shocked that over six months have already flown by. So much is happening and we are both awed and thankful that we get to play a small part and watch Him "do the heavy lifting".
Here are some highlights from the last month:
Though this was not originally in our 2-year plan, Jake has decided to pursue his Master's in Soil and Water Management at Brawijaya University, ranked the top university in East Java (More details below as to how this will impact our work here)
Our neighbors invited us to join them for a day trip to the beach as a send-off for a family in our kampung who is moving back to Madura this month.
Amber's relationship with the Yemenis girls continues to flourish--they are such a joy, and hungry to know God!
Jake recently made a couple friends his age on an outing to a waterfall.
We passed another language test and are entering the final level.
Beach Send-off
This month a family from our kampung (neighborhood) is moving back to Madura. As a send-off, we along with two other families piled into a van and spent the day exploring the beaches south of Malang! Believe it or not, even though we live on an island it still took us over five months to see the coast. It was worth the wait. The views were spectacular, and enjoying the experience with our friends and neighbors was special.
We are so thankful for our neighbors' friendship. When we first moved in, people told us they were "good people", but after getting to know them we have seen how true that really is. On our beach excursion we had a picnic together, and they went out of their way to prepare meals for the homeless people living on the beach. Charity is one of the pillars of their faith, but they do it out of sincerity of heart. Please continue to lift them up.
Brawijaya University
Recently an opportunity opened up for Jake to pursue his Master's through Universitas Brawijaya's (UB) college of Agriculture, starting next month. There are a few primary motivations that led to this exciting decision:
First, he will gain colloquial language skills through relationships with his classmates, and academic language in his specific field through coursework. Also, he will have an opportunity to see that field through the Indonesia cultural lens. Engaging in this process will naturally open relational doors for him, Resource Exchange International, and SunREI with professors and academics at UB, as well as with the federal departments of agriculture and forestry.
On the personal side, we both will have the opportunity to form friendships with students who have similar interests, who are in a similar life stage, and who are seeking for Truth. Additionally, the technical knowledge and research opportunities gained through this program will help him both with projects he hopes to complete in his current role, and in any future agricultural development work. He hopes to complete a thesis related to sustainable intensification of the underutilized banana variety Pisang Loka-pere, directly benefiting current efforts of our team to increase the livelihood of farmers in Sulawesi. He will be equipped to train others, assist or lead land use projects, increase production of underutilized crops, and engage in future research opportunities.
The 3rd and Final Level
We are thrilled to announce that we have officially completed another level of language learning, and therefore only have one level left! Before we left America we were told multiple times that Bahasa is an easy language to learn. Though Bahasa uses the same alphabet as English and is much easier to learn than a tonal language, we don't want to undermine the effort it has taken to get to this point. As an ESL teacher, Amber is very thankful for this language learning process. Getting a glimpse into the lives of her students has been extremely valuable, and has grown her as a teacher.
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