Settling In (May 2022)

Settling in as a family of three

Hi everyone! We're back! Gideon was a champ through the 24+ hours in four different planes, 10+ hours of layovers, and a few final hours in a car. We had a lot of people praying for grace and we felt it. After arriving to Malang we've had a steady stream of visitors. Who doesn't love meeting a new baby? One neighbor in particular has always been extremely shy around us but as she saw us walking down the street she literally ran outside to meet him. It's felt a little overwhelming at times but it's also been such a joy. We're feeling really loved and supported by our Indonesian, Yemeni, and expat communities during this season of transition.

Here's a few updates from the last month:

• A new group of 4 summer interns received visas and will arrive in a couple weeks. We are all getting excited to see their impact as they invest eight weeks of their summer here!

• We arrived during the last week of Ramadan, so we were here in time to celebrate Eid which marks the end of the month of fasting.

• Our office was moved out to the new production facility. It feels strange to no longer be at the same office where years of hard work have taken place, but our team is already seeing how the new location will greatly benefit the work.

One is lost, another grows

Gideon is mostly going by "Dion" here (Indonesians love shortening names and words), which has special significance to one dear friend in particular. Last year some of you may remember Amber's friend Bu Titik lost her husband suddenly to illness, leaving behind his wife and two little girls. Her husband's name was Dion. When she heard Gideon would go by Dion she said, full of emotion, "Hilang Dion, tumbuh Dion... Allah sangat baik" (a Dion is lost, another Dion grows... God is so good). It is so encouraging to see how God is bringing healing and redemption to her family in so many ways, and we are deeply moved to be even a small part of it.