Still Alive!

Hey everyone!

SEE NEW PICTURES: HERE

We are sorry that it has taken us SO very, very long to update. As you may imagine, the wheels hit the road when school started and we actually had to work! (go figure). That said, things are as good as we hoped they would be!

Where to begin?

At school, Eric has been kept busy teaching seven different classes (yikes!) but he loves his students and the work comes easy. He is teaching grades 10-12 English and 7-10 drama. To make it bearable, though, the school utilizes block scheduling, which means that he only sees his classes 1-3 times per week. On some days he is working all day, and others (like tuesday) he only works 2 hours (out of 10!). So, it balances out. The kids are so bright and hard working, it takes very little to get them going. In addition, they actually THANK him daily after each lesson. Its pretty amazing.

Christine, meanwhile, has been teaching grade one while waiting for the new expat, Jen, to arrive (she was recently hired and landed on Thursday). She has been LOVING it! The kids are SOOOOO cute (see pictures). Last Thursday, the whole primary school celebrated the Indonesian Independence Day, and dressed in traditional costumes, as well as having performances by the kids and traditional foods to try. This week she will begin counseling and maybe start teaching piano. In addition, she has been tutoring some of the boarding house kids in the evenings.

We have been very blessed with some really awesome friendships, so far. So many people have been helpful in getting us settled in, etc. Last weekend, we went out with our new friends for pizza and a movie and Eric was able to go on a hike to a waterfall in Bogor with some of them (sorry, forgot the camera...).

We are also thankful for our maid, who is such a hard worker! She is the envy of all the other expats because of her amazing cooking skills. We come home from school every day to the smell of some culinary masterpiece. Her food is often westernized for us, which is very nice. She also has an 8mo baby, Alia, who she adopted after the child was abandoned on her doorstep. This gesture seems to speak volumes about her character (and we LOVE having Alia around! -- See pics!)

All in all, we love living in such a beautiful area! Sentul is away from Jakarta, and so we have cooler weather and also a breathtaking view of the mountains. The area around our neighborhood and the school is lush and tropical, and we are making friends with many new little creatures that live in our house and garden ;o) The locals call Sentul "The Green Sanctuary" because people often seek refuge from the city here.

The Lord has been so faithful to us in our journey here and the way He is using us to minister to our kids and our coworkers. We know He will continue to work in us as we try to serve Him in every way possible and fulfill the mission that He has prepared us for. We are so blessed to be here, and though we miss our friends and families back at home, we are encouraged knowing that we are walking in God's will for our lives.

We would greatly appreciate hearing what's going on in your lives, so please feel free to post on our site or email us if you can. We appreciate your continued support in prayer!

Love and hugs,

Eric and Christine