Merry Christmas Everyone

'So this is Christmas and what have you done', that's how the song starts isn't it. Well this year we've been asking ourselves that very question; Christmas here is like no other before. It feels like summer time in England, there's patchy sunshine, a bit of a breeze and a good chance of rain in the late afternoon. We have the Christmas tree up, the lights and decorations but it all feels out of place. Where's the cold weather, the count down of shopping days, the endless organising of who's where for Christmas and how are we going to see everyone. There are no decorations in the streets, no Carol singers knocking on our door, no build up of excitement; it's like we're pretending Christmas is here, pretending because it doesn't feel right.

We're adapting the best we can and finding as many things as possible to get us into the Christmas spirit. We've downloaded Christmas music from i-tunes, stocked up on all the imported cheese and chocolate we can find organised a Christmas meal with some of the other staff here. When we switch the main lights off and just have the Christmas lights on, then play some Christmas songs, it actually feels like Christmas, we're getting used to pretending.

Christmas day. The boys wake just before 6am which is fine for them, I spend half an hour sleep walking before I'm ready to start the day. We all have stockings to open, unfortunately we've been shopping together and have removed the element of surprise; more Christmas pretending needed. The boys are full of Christmas enthusiasm, I think they are enjoying it for what it is instead of feeling a home sick and missing the way Christmas is traditionally.

After stockings comes Christmas breakfast, English pancakes with lemon and sugar (yum yum). Then it's time to relax, play with new toys and watch a Christmas movie (Ratatouille). Emily and I leave the boys playing and head into the kitchen to prepare the Christmas meal; Id say lunch but we ate at 4pm so it's neither lunch now tea.

The food turned out great. We had all the trimmings we could find this side of the world. It was lacking in comparison to Nigella's Christmas, (a program we can get here on the tv) but we did what we could and really enjoyed tucking in. The best part was the sticky toffee pudding, oh yes! We were able to get all the ingredients and made a classic English pudding which the Americans loved. There was plenty left over so we've been enjoying it over the last few days.

So that was Christmas, I'd like to comment on boxing day and festivities, but trying to pretend all that is too much. We had a good Christmas, but as soon as it arrived it left again and we returned to our English summer days here in Indonesia

It is well worth saying a really big thank you to all of you who sent gifts and cards, they've meant a lot and really helped us get into the festive mood.

We're sorry we've not been able to contact all of you and send out cards etc but Christmas has been an adjustment this year and we've felt out of place. Hopefully next year we'll be more organised.

So Merry Christmas to you all and enjoy a Happy New Year.

Paul, Em and the Boys

Our DHL Parcel

It has arrived, the long awaited parcel from the UK. We're so thankful to our family and friends who organised and paid for it to come, it's absolutely fantastic. We had been tracking the parcel online waiting expectantly each day for it to be dispatched and on its way to us. The parcel came into Jakarta and from there was sent to the next sorting depot, which DHL call 'the rest of Indonesia'. In case you didn't realise that means anywhere in a space the same size as America; with all the islands Indonesia is a big place. The only hold up in the end was a charge we had to pay to receive the parcel. Apparently you don't have to pay the charge, but if you don't you can expect to be waiting for you parcel for the next 6 months; needless to say we thought the charge was worth paying.

The parcel came and Emily behaved in a most delighted way, "it's here, it's really here" she kept saying. I don't think either of us have been so excited about a parcel before.

The opening of the parcel had to wait, the children were circling like a couple of eagles and it was our job to protect the parcel till dark when the eagles would be sleeping.

Emily carefully unpacked the gifts and we separated them into piles and wrapped a few things for the boys. I had to speak firmly to Emily about keeping the Salt & Vinegar walkers crisps till x-mas, she reluctantly stepped away from green packets. We had fun looking over everything, you guys did a great job choosing gifts and packing them.

Now all that's left is to wrap the goodies and arrange them under the tree.

Thanks again, Paul, Emily, Luke & Isaac

bathroom smells

Sometimes being away from home and all things familier, something suddenly reminds me of days gone by and places I've been in the past.

Yesterday I was transported to my Grannies bathroom!

Washing my hands with Imperial leather (available here) the smell cought my nose and reminded me of when I went to stay at my Grannies house. I think when mums become grannies they start buying imperial leather; I know my mum buys it!

The soap is one of many little moments when i think of home. It's really strange being here for x-mas. I want it to be freezing cold, I want to see frost on the leafless trees, I want to breath the crisp icy air in the morning. Here life is a complete contrast. It feels like a summer day in England, hot and sunny with a shower of rain in the afternoon. The trees are all green and it's not cold, it doesn't make sense.

So there are some adjustments that need to be made, things to get used to, x-mas to do in a new way; it's fun in a bitter sweet way.

OH, i've just rememnered, there's no snow here either, what sort of place is this!

Satelite TV

Yesterday Wednesday 21st November astro arrived at the dorm (astro being Asia’s Sky TV). It’s an early Christmas present for the girls, who received the news with screams of joy. It means that we have a little more connection with England through BBC World Service and the girls have the enjoyment and education of western TV; CSI is a dorm favourite already!

The Installation Process

In the UK you contact sky who give you a day they’ll come to install your dish and receiver. They arrive in a van with the Simpsons smeared across one side and David Beckham scoring a goal on the other. They have ladders strapped to the roof, a health and safety book on the dash board that tells them they can’t climb up the tall ladders on the roof, (they’re there to look good, but have no real function) then proceed to install the dish expecting to be offered a cup of tea within the first 5 minutes of work. They only drink half the cup because they have two dozen dishes to install that day and therefore time only to do the bare essentials; leaving you to figure out what they’ve done to your TV once they’ve gone and spent 30 minutes pushing buttons to take you from one sky operator to the other on the phone.

In Indonesia things are a little different

Two men arrived to install the dish, on time as arranged at 10 o clock. They didn’t have a van with pictures either side because they didn’t have a van, they arrived on motor cycles! Yes carrying a big dish, (not the neat little black ones you find in the UK, one of the big white ones everyone had 10 years ago) the other had a rucksack full of the tools needed for the job. The Indonesians obviously understand that in the UK the sky installer doesn’t use his ladders (they’re for show on the roof remember) so they didn’t bring any with them; I guess there’s no room for roof bars on a motor cycle.

Positioning the dish

Satellite dishes have to point towards their relevant satellite in space, back in my home town all the dishes pointed southward up into the sky. All you need to get this right is a compass; they didn’t have a compass so a lot of guess work got under way. They used our short ladder to climb onto the roof bare foot to start with, but the roof tiles were rather hot in the tropical sun so the sandals were thrown up from above. They connected the dish to the TV and pointed the dish around till the signal was found, it took a while. Once found they spent a good hour drilling three holes and fix the dish to the house

Finally we had Astro TV
Once the man from Astro cleaned his sim card a couple of times he was able to contact the Astro centre and the receiver picked up all the channels. He then proceeded to give me instructions on using the receiver in Indonesian, (my Indonesian is not that good yet) thankfully my language teacher came over to help for that part.
So all installed and demonstrated (it took 4 hours) I paid the money, thanked them and watched them ride away on their motor cycles, still pondering on how they managed to ride with a satellite dish between their legs.
So until next time; stay tuned for the next episode of The Nobles in Indonesia, coming up after these commercials.

Paul.

Culture Shock

The Culture is always here, the shock comes and goes, without warning and without remorse. Usually it's related to missing friends and family or just the cold autumn weather in England.

Yesterday was different, I had a black cloud day.

One of those days when things aren't really right. it's not that anything has gone wrong or something terrible has happened things just aren't right. The day started as everyday does, in bed, feeling tired (Presently Em and I achieve 6.5 hours of sleep each night so every morning there is a struggle to rise from the comfort of the bed). Yesterday I got up and my knee hurt / ached, don't understand why, it's not even the one I injured a couple of years ago; so I started out feeling a bit glum.

It was dorm sorting day (we're trying to make more of a home / family atmosphere) so things were being moved around and new things being purchased down town to create the desired changing rooms look. The problem was that my black cloud didn't like the way everything was being changed and everyone else was busy changing things and I felt like a spare part; like the camera man on changing rooms who wants to shout out "no not there, put it over here" but can't because it's not his place to say. I should add here that apart from the boys I was the only Male involved in the changes (I say involved I actually mean present) so I was out numbered and my black cloud left me huddled in the corner trying to protect my masculine side from being consumed by female creativity. (If you check my Birkman Persnoality Profile it states that I don't cope well / reject changes that are made without my input. I now understand what that means).

The knee situation got worse in the afternoon as well. I was out on my bike with the boys messing about and my foot slipped off the peddle, sending my knee (the other one, not the one that was aching in the morning) crashing into the handle bars. Being a tough boy I managed not to cry but I now had two knees that hurt.

So I had a black cloud to start with and the days events had not blown it away. The black cloud was finally consumed as a side dish to supper at 6pm, it's amazing how beneficial food can be sometimes. For Em and the Boys it was the healthiest meal I'd eaten all day as it transformed the way that I interacted with them and meant that I was actually quite nice (sorry for being horrible).

Today is a better day I hope i don't have the same problem next month; Em's been teasing me about PMT!

Paul.

away on break

Well wow it's been a while. I could try and make lots of excuses, but it would take too long, so I'll simply say sorry and get on and tell you where we're up to.

In October we had a week long break and took the opportunity to visit some friends from the UK and America who are living and working in a big town about 150 miles east as the crow flies. The journey on long Indonesian roads and through Indonesian traffic took an impressive 9 hours (in a car, 9 people, it was a squeeze, we travelled with a family from school). We finally arrived and were really glad to be able to meet our friends and make new ones, it was refreshing to hear Alan's northern accent (he's form Preston).

We enjoyed a week of shopping for clothes that fit us. In our town there aren't many western size shops, everything is made for Indonesians so often, depressingly, the XL sizes don't fit.

We had hoped to go swimming while there, there is a great swimming park, but Luke injured his shin (deep cut, needed super gluing / stitching maybe, but swelled up to fast to do anything with it) so we'll have to wait till next time to enjoy the big slides and rubber rings.

We did manage to go ten pin bowling, a first for the boys. It's amazing I think all bowling places look the same, it felt a bit like home, except at home you can ask for the 'bumpers' down the side of the lane so no matter how useless or young you are you hit some pins. They didn't have said bumpers, but that didn't put us off. The boys had a lot of help from Paul and hit a few pins; the scores were Luke 26 and Isaac 21. They really enjoyed themselves, we all did.

The highlight of our week was a trip to Tamen Safari where we got to see a lot of animals from around the world, we even got up close with a few. Emily and the boys had a reef of flowers placed over their heads by an elephant who marched forward with flowers in trunk. We all had a stroke and photo taken with a baby tiger (about the size of a dog, except with sharp teeth and claws) it was fun and scary at the same time. Paul tried purring at the tiger, the tiger growled back, oops.

Then Emily the bravest person that day plucked up the courage to get up close and personal with a 1 year old lion. Now this lion was more the size of a Great Dane dog, except it had more body / muscle. She stroked it a bit, was feeling ok then it growled, teeth showing, jarring it's head. The handler said it was ok, but Emily had already proved herself and made a steady but swift exit from the lion.

The week was refreshing and when we got back to the dorm we had that settled feeling, the one when you say 'it's nice to be home' because it is home; we're settling in and feeling like we are doing more that keeping our heads above water. Emily is gettng busier as her role increases - she is running a series of classes on bullying for the elementary and high school and rewriting the school's policy. She's also helping out with planning classroom management for students with SEN. It's an interesting mix - please pray for her to have wisdom as we work to serve the kids and families better.

Here's some photos of the Safari, enjoy. Love Paul & Emily

bird flu

I wonder if the BBC know about the most recent outbreak of bird flu... There have been 3 confirmed cases in the neighbourhood next to our school (very close!). Once again, I am reminded who we are dependant on here - for everything, but especially I'm thinking about our health at this time. Please pray for the people in the kampung (neighbourhood) : Indonesians, our students, staff and us too - all of us who are a little too close for comfort to this particular outbreak.

one month in

Firstly, in the last blog i told you about a member of school staff who was very sick - one week ago Mbak Ester died. It has been a tough couple of weeks for her family and those who worked closely with her. Paul took some of our girls to the funeral which was traditional Indonesian and very different to the UK.
Sumatra (to the west) was hit by a quake a couple of days ago. Although it was felt by some on Java, we did not feel it here. We do have some families on Sumatra, so please pray for them. In these things, no news is usually good news.
The girls have been away on retreat and are due back today - we have had a couple of family days which have been wonderful (although the house feels empty!). I think we are all recharged and ready for action when they get back at lunch time.
Please pray for ...
Mbak Ester's family and friends
Wisdom in managing the dorm and decision making
Paul in his teaching role
Luke and Isaac in their culture shock
Us in our culture shock
Our relationships with the girls as we all get used to each other
Planning the dorm retreat in October
Guidance in preschool planning (i am thinking of offering a morning a week to 3s and 4s, but need to really plan, and not bite off more than i can chew!)
well, that's all for now, Love emily

body scrub, mosquitos and cotton candy

SO this week has been full of interesting experiences. On Saturday, I (Emily) went to Solo, a big city, to do a spot of birthday shopping for the boys. The road there is pretty goods and there are petrol stations along the way. We needed to stop for gas so we pulled into the station behind a people carrier. Fortunately we were about a car's length behind the vehicle because it's back wheel fell off (yes, the whole wheel) and went bouncing down the road. The driver and passengers got out and were like "oh...it's the wheel...where did it go...these things happen". Of course, us newcomers were quielty freaking out that not only did the wheel come off and nearly cause an accident, but that the attitude was "oh, drat"...interesting cultural experience. So we go to the loo (Squatty potty...use your imagination...) and were on our way. We got the the mall and the parking attendant said we were only allowed to park for half an hour and seemed to speak in a mixture of Indonesian and Javanese, so that we were not all that sure why...now, being white and paranoid, we thought he was trying to make more money by making us move on so we ignored his instruction to be back in 30 mins. When we had done our shopping we tried to return to the car and found the whole street FULL of parade...horses, musicians, floats, people, motorbikes etc etc. We could see the top of the car through the crowd and hoped that it was not being ransacked or 'decorated'. We had no hope of getting to the car and we were informed in no uncertain terms that the stupid expats would have to wait to move the vehicle. Well, it could have been worse, and as it happened, we were stranded in the mall so we drank coffee and waited. After an hour and a half or so, we were able to return to the car and get on our way. It took ages and ages to get home, but we did get home at about 7pm. Paul had been stranded at the dorm all day, so another member of staff had come over to help. I, in my guilt for being out for so long, offered to make him an iced coffee with crushed ice using the blender I had bought in the city. I was really pleased with my new purchase. I had dithered for ages over which to get because I wanted an ice crusher. The man in the store assured me that it would be good for ice and eventually I bought it. So, i'm in the kitchen making iced coffee, all proud of my skill, and i put the ice and ingredients in the blender, and for a moment, I can taste frapacinno, and then...I realise that the motor is on, but the blades are not turning. In fact the whole mechanism has completely shattered. So, Paul had icy coffee with ice instead. The peverse thing is that I open a cupboard the next morning, which i was sure was empty, and I find a spanking new ice crushing blender. It works a dream. I am the frappacino queen.
So, I'm realising that i have made no reference to the title - in the midst of my culture shock at the end of last week, I recieve a gift...a pot of delicious body scrub from the mum of one of my girls. It is lovely and does the trick on all that dust on my feet from flip flops and bare feet. Thank you Tena!! And the mosquitos think i am delicious and don't care for anybody else. I am getting bitten in the night through my PJ's and my sheet! Nasty beasts. I had 4 new bites this morning and 5 yesterday. Malaria is not a problem here, but dengue fever (breakbone fever) is. Well, deet at night i guess...
And the candy floss...luke and isaac were kindly bought some candy floss the other day from a street vendor at the fair. One (floss, not street vendor!) was rather blue and turned Isaac's mouth, tongue etc electric blue for quite a while. One of the girls told me this morning to avoid cotton candy because it usually contains fabric dye instead of food dye. NICE. All great cultural lessons!...
BIG NEWS...Luke, my little baby, decided that he wants to folow Jesus and we talked about what that means and he decided that he believed it. Luke became a christian on Sunday. How exciting is that. Please pray for him.
Also, on a serious note, please also pray for our elementary secretary, Esther, who is extremely ill with aplastik anaemia. She is very very sick and is being kept alive with transfusions. Please pray for her, her family and for the medical personal who have very tough decisions ahead.
Also, dorm life ir going well, please pray for all our girls, for our relationships with them and for their families who are working all over the Islands.
...for now, Emily for the family

10 days in...

Indonesia has been our home for about 10 days and we are just starting to get the hang of dorm life. Luke started his new school last Tuesday and is really enjoying it. There are 6 boys and 1 girl in his class (1stgrade) and his teacher is called Miss Ashley. She is new here too and is really lovely. There is a parent and teacher meeting tonight so I am looking forward to finding out more about Luke's day. After his first day, Luke said "I like this school, it's a playing school"! I'm not totally sure what that means (except they have a fantastic playground for recess) but at least he is enjoying it. Luke said in the bath last night that he couldn't wait to go back to school - I think he finds the predictable schedule and routine comforting in the midst of otherwise chaos. The boys are really enjoying the big girls, who are very patient with them and will play lego and take them to play soccer. I think the boys are not quite sure what the girls role is, so there have been some choice performances from both Luke and Isaac as they figure out what will happen and who will sort it out! They are both coping well with all the changes, given that they are in transition. Luke has hit this is all horrible stage saying he is bored of the country and especially of rice! Having said that, he chose rice for breakfast this morning when he could have chosen toast or cereal, so I think rice is just something he can project is confused feelings on to ( I hate it and I love it at the same time). Anyway, we have started to make the apartment feel a bit like home by putting up pictures of all you lot. If any of you have good pics of what's going on there, we would LOVE to have them - it'll help us feel connected. Luke and Isaac have pictures in a long line all around their room and they spend quite a bit of time just looking at them and thinking about what those people are doing.
Paul is getting into the swing of teaching. He has 3 students in his bible class and he is teaching about the prophets at the moment. Unfortunately he teaches firt period every day except Friday which is 7:40 am! We are all feeling the early mornings, but at least it is light and warm when we have to get up!
Well, that's all for now, please continue to pray for all our transitions and for our language learning. Also, for wisdom in being dorm parents and parents of the boys - there are some big cultural differences in parenting that we need to negotiate.
In Him, Emily, for the family

indonesian blog

ok, so we've just got hooked up to the internet and I sign on to blog and my computer knows before I do where I am and loads blogger in Indonesian. It took a bit of figuring out - posting baru = new posting. If this makes in online, consider it my first test passed! (i need to keep my goals attainable for now!)
We arrived yesterday and did a little exploring arond the campus. It was fun to catch up with people we met in February and move in to our house. With only 4 suitcases, it didn'ttake long to unpack and the apartment looks rather bare, but, we'll go shopping soon and get rugs and picture frames and make it a bit more ours.
Luke and Isaac are doing really well... although Luke did say "I'm bored of this country now" before having a great time looking at the papaya tree in the garden and watching chichas (like geckos) running around. I think Luke is looking forward to starting school on Tuesday.
I was looking at all the prayer requests we put out last time -well done you faithful lot, every one was answered. despite being well overweight, we weren't charged a penny. The boys travelled well and we had no visa problems or anything else. We were even away from Jakarta a few hours before an earthquake. PHEW.
We have the girls arriving on Saturday for their orientation weekend. We have loads of help with that which is a great thing (I have to get used to accepting and asking for help!).
Well, that's all for know. we'll update often now we have the internet up. I can recieve and send text messages on my regular mobile (i think it's about 25p for an international text but do check first!) and don't ring the mobile, because it will swallow our support account in one big gulp!
Love to all, EMily for the family xxxx

tomorrow tomorrow...

Well here we are with less that 24 hours to go before our departure. We are packed (mostly) and I think we are ready - apart from having every possible paper and emergency accounted for in triplicate. Ah yes, the only thing we don't have yet is a flight from Jakarta to where we need to be. We are expecting to stay the night in Jakarta airport before flying in the morning. So the journey from start to finish is looking at being about 4 days - give or take a few hours difference. Oh my goodness. It does give a real sense of the distance that we are travelling.
Please pray for Luke and Isaac as we travel - that they will be happy and sleepy at the right moments and entertained. Also that they would have patience with grotty parents and that they do not lose their favourite teddies... can you imaging the distress?!
So Sunday - train to heathrow and hotel over night
Monday - fly to Hong Kong
Tuesday - take in the delights of Hong Kong Airport
Tuesday night - fly to Jakarta, hopefully stay in a hotel
Wednesday - fly to town.
WOW. I can't believe we are actually doing this for real.
It is hard to imagine that we have our lives in 4 suitcases and that our address is now on the other side of the world.
Please also pray for safety, easy flights, easy entry to Indonesia and quick settling in.
With much love and thanks for supporting us all through this transition so far,
Em for the family xxxx

never use ebookers...

today Paul rang ebookers to confirm the flights we had provisionally booked for Sunday and had taken card details for a deposit. After much horseplay and promised confirmation of payment and flight details etc, ebookers finally admitted that they had sold our flights to someone else. Rubbish or what. What's more they had had no intention of telling us - we have spoken to them every day this week and the whole time they let us believe that our names were on the list.
ANYWAY, Paul was a hero and managed to find flights from Heathrow on Monday so we will train it down on Sunday and stay the night in a hotel before our final departure.
Praise the Lord for the availability of flights, and although it seemed awful at the time, enforced relaxation before we travel is actually a good idea since we will hit the ground running on Tuesday (so God does know what he is doing after all!)
Well, the packing is almost done so I'm off to bed.
Love Em x

visas - the final episode (hopefully)

Well, paul collected the visas from the embassy this afternoon and jumped on a train home. WHOOOPPPEEEEE!!!!!!!!

It seems we are finally on our way!
Thank you all, again, for your emotional, practical , prayer and financial support - what a great team.
We are expecting to confirm flights for Sunday.
Watch this space...
Em

late night

i really should be in bed.
I'm not.
I'm at the computer checking emails and generally procrastinating.
Paul is still in London and is going back to the embassy tomorrow. We are expecting the visas to be ready on Thursday, but you never know, with a little encouragement tomorrow is possible.
I've been packing. 20kg is practically nothing when you are taking your whole life with you. Please pray that either the airline is generous or the scales are faulty when we get there!
please also pray for stamina to get through the next week or so - even once we land, we will be hitting the ground sprinting!
Thanks y'all - your support is helping us keep it together
Em x

countdown....

Paul travels to London to visit the embassy today. He will camp out until the visas are in his hand. If this is before Thursday (pray people, pray!) we will confirm flights for Sunday 5th Aug, if it is not, we have another flight lined up for next week.

We are eager to get there, and it seems the finish line
(or start line, depending on how you look at it) is finally in view.

Please pray for:
The visa process to be smooth, quick and hiccup free
The boys - they are doing ok, but they are stressed and very clingy
My (Emily) parents - who are looking after us as we are staying with them
Our families and friends - as we say difficult goodbyes
Our sanity, endurance, a sense of the big picture, patience and wisdom in packing
That the airline will allow us some free excess baggage

There will be an update as soon as there is news.
Em

visas visas everywhere!

Well, our papers arrived by email this morning which is very exciting. The next thing is to get the relevant stamps in the passport from the embassey in London which will hopefully happen early next week.
Watch this space...we're nearly off...
Em

What a Wedding

Saturday just gone our friends Luke and Laura were married. It was a fantastic day and we were so glad to be there, if our visas had arrived at the beginning of the month we'd have missed it (there are some blessings to being delayed). They romantically memorized and recited their vows, something they'd been waiting to do for a while and were married by Luke's father (a proud moment for him).
We had a great time, I'm sure they enjoyed it more and we look forward to being able to catch up with them in a few years time; who knows there might be little feet running about by then!

Luke and Laura if you're reading this then know that we love you guys and will pray for you as you begin living as one.

Paul.

If only it was this simple

If only it was as simple as having one of these in your back pocket, that would be nice, we'd be of in a jiffy, until then we'll keep waiting. Paul.

visas part 2...

well... we had an email today which said that our paperwork in unlikley to arrive before wednesday as the man who needs to sign them is not in the office until Monday. Interesting. We need to confirm our flights by Tuesday or we will lose them. Please pray that we will know clearly whether to confirm these flights or not. With these flights we will miss a couple of days of orientation - we don't want to lose even more by delaying further. There should be enought time, but these things are impossible to predict - it will be an expensive leap of faith!
on your knees...
Emily

visas

hi people, still no news on the visa front...still waiting, still praying.
We have new provisional flights, but we still need to move quickly.
don't get off your knees just yet!
I had a fab birthday yesterday (despite the gift of anti wrinkle cream...you know who you are!) and it was truely great to still be at home. We'll also make it to an important wedding on Saturday which was not expected either.
em x

visas

Ok people, on your knees. Let's see some prayer and fasting action.
We had an email this morning from the school saying that our visas are likely to take another week or two. We will lose our provisional flight booking if this is the case.
On your marks, get set, go...

the final countdown

Today Luke, Isaac and I had our second lot of japanese encephalitus (sic). They boys weren't quite as brave as last week, but they both did well and we celebrated everyone's bravery with a special tea chosen by Luke (the bravest!) of chicken fajitas (yummy)and smarite cookies.
We recieved an email saying that our visa at the Indonesian end has cleared it's final hurdle so we are awaiting the paperwork imminently. This means that we are trying to make provisional bookings for flights etc. It seems to be going ok and we have a possible flight. I'm not going to tell you what the date is though, because it's not confirmed yet!...it is towards the end of this month though!
It feels a bit limbo ish at the moment - I'm trying to keep structure for the boys by keeping up with "school work" (in the library) and normal stuff. This is getting tricky the more things i think about that need doing!
We had a fantastic party weekend - thank you to all of you who came and made it great and sorry to miss those of you who didn't (you were missed). It was 30 family at my parents on Saturday followed by our goodbye service at church on Sunday and lunch for 60! It felt a bit like a wedding in that i wanted to talk with everyone but really got to speak to noone at satisfactory length - and it was actually our wedding anniversary (7).
Praise God - we are pretty much funded!
Pray - visas and flights
- Luke and Isaac's final injections next wednesday
- for wisdom in packing and strength for goodbyes.
Emily, for the family x

Home at Last

Hi all, we arrived home safely yesterday after an uneventful journey from the States. Heightened security in the UK meant it was slow through customs, but apart from that it was fine. Luke and Isaac slept well on the plane and are adjusting to the time difference (It's 9:50pm now and Luke is still pottering around in his PJs - after all his body thinks it's only 5pm.)
We had our first lot of Japanese Encephalitis immunisations today. I was quite stressed (inwardly) as they boys have been so frightened - like literally screaming and hiding and having to be held down. Really dreadful . Thank you all for your prayers. Today was amazing - Isaac shed maybe 2 tears and Luke cried for maybe 10 seconds. Amen. They were calm, sat on my knee. No screaming or resistance. I read a book as the nurse was doing her thing and they both chose a wrapped bravery prize. We also had a competition to see who could be the bravest - the prize being choosingwhat to have for tea. This worked marvelously as I said that if i won i would choose very spicy curry and fennel salad (the boys worst nightmare) and seemed to motivate them to be brave. They were both seriously brave so Isaac chose fish and chips and Luke chose fruit salad and mint choc ice cream.
A winner. Amen people. Still no sign of the visas - on your knees folks...
For now, glad to be home and anticipating the coming parties, Emily

lightning bugs and cicadia song

Dear all,
I'm writing this with the laptop half way out of the window of our appartment which is the only way to be assured of an internet connection. It means I have it precariously balanced on the back of the arm chair, hoping that I can manage to type without nudging it through the bug mesh to an untimely demise on the concrete verandah (we are in the usa!) below. The lightening bugs are flitting aroung flashing their bright green lights and the cicadias are making a racket.
We are on day 12 of our training here (not including weekends) and we are feeling rather swamped. We have learned an enormous amount about ourselves, each other and the various trials and rewards of living cross culturally - not just about Indonesian culture, but American culture too!
Luke and Isaac went to Sunday school on their own on Sunday (we should have been at an ethnic church, but we felt America was ethnic enough and good preparation for our American team in Indo) - in the car on the way back to campus, Luke told us that poor Isaac had not been able to make himself understood when he needed the toilet and when he needed to put some rubbish in the bin. Fortunately, Luke the hero was near, and reminded Isaac that he needed to use American words..."you need to ask to go to the restroom and it's garbage and it goes in the trash can"! What a star. I felt perfectly justified in discussing our visit to an 'ethnic' church on Monday morning in class and reporting our cross cultural observations!
Talking of Luke and Isaac, after a brief period of illness last week, both are coping brilliantly. They are in their class 8 - 5 every day which includes bible lessons, cultural lessons, free time, rest time and standard schoolstyle lessons. Despite the long days, they are desperate to go to Aunt Barb's every morning and their first words at the end of the day are "can we see if the others can play now" - who are the children they've been with all day! (I'm thinking Aunt Barb must be putting something in the water...)
Paul and I spoke in Chapel this morning - a nerve wracking experience with Super important folk and the president of the organisation in the audience. Anyhow, we still seem to have a job, so I guess it was ok. Well, only 3 more study days to go before we head back to the UK on Saturday.
Please pray:
For our safe and speedy return journey
For Luke and Isaac as we travel (that they sleep and are content)
For our Visas and cheap flights when the visa arrives
For Luke and Isaac who both face more (Luke = 3, Isaac = 5) immunisations when we're back in the UK and who are both panicked and terrified of the nurse / needles etc.
For stamina for the last days here
For our support (if you want to be involved, now is a great time!)

Blessings, and love, Emily for the family

Livin' BIG in the US

Well after a 24 hour delay in Philadelphia and being redirected via Dallas we finally arrived in Indianapolis last Saturday about 7pm; it was an experience we hope never to live through again. The boys did great, they coped so well with the delays and the jet lag. Thanks for all your prayers for us and them, they made a big difference.

So we're here for our training to prepare us for working overseas, specifically with the local Indonesians and also the international community at the school. There's lots of emphasis on understanding culture and how we will cope or adjust to living in Indonesia, which is really good.

First we have to get to know our new American culture; here's some things we've seen so far.

First we have our home for 3 weeks, then some well known ice cream and last but never least the 'God Bless America' fridge magnet.

We're getting along fine with America, we've noticed the language taking hold of us and soon we'll have a strange British American accent.

If you want to email us while we're here then feel free to get in touch we'd love to hear from you.

Paul & Emily

We're all moved out!

It's been a long hard week this week, but finally we've moved out. We need to say a massive great big huge thank you to those of you who helped out (you know who you are) and the people who purchased bargains from us, you helped a lot in getting the Nobles out of their home and on the way to Indonesia.

All the planing is coming together and it won't be long till we're flying though the sky to the United States of America (it sounds grand when you write it like that). We're getting excited and it's now that the journey really begins. Pray for in this challenging time of change.

Stay tuned - the next episode is coming soon. Paul.

Luke's last day at school

It's Luke's last day at school today, after the holidays we'll be in America then flying onto Indonesia. Unfortunately Luke is ill today; he was looking rough coming out of school yesterday and got worse over night, so today, he's relaxing at home taking things easy.

Luke's next school experience will be at Kindergarten in an American education system, different, but fresh new and exciting.

He's enjoyed his time at Wistaston Westfield Infants and has made some friends, (if you're one of them reading this then don't forget to email Luke) his teachers have been great and Luke would like to say a big thank you, especially to the lunch time staff who served up copious amounts of gravy, yum yum.

Speak up we can't hear you at the back

Sunday saw us at Sandbach Baptist Church, explaining our plans and inspiring the people there to live their lives for God (we had the sermon spot).

Emily did the introduction (well done you clever thing you), and I gave the sermon, or was it a message, or just a jibber jabber; if you were there you'd know. It felt like it went well for me, it being my first an all. I prayed that God would help me with the words and that I'd enjoy it, he came up trumps as usual.

The picture? Oh yes when asked my favourite children's TV programme I answered Tin Tin. Detailed pictures and unbelievable story lines, great, only problem was you had to wait a week to see the next episode. I own the complete dvd box set now, very satisfying :)

Well back to the computer, so much to do an all.
Bye, Paul.

4 weeks till blast off

Dear all, My best friend left a long and complicated set of instructions so that paul and I could write posts separately which would mean that you lot would always know who was writing. Given that she is not the first person to express a desire to know who's scrawl she was reading, (and "my heel got stuck in a grate" didn't seem to be clue enough), i thought that it would indeed be helpful to be able to blame rubbish posts on paul or at least gather evidence with regards to who it is in this relationship that maintains the blog... so I have taken the advice of my friend. But because I am too busy deciding which jigsaws to pack and whether i need mascara in indonesia or not, we've decided to go for the low tech option - radical i know - we'll sign our posts! Today, for those of you who haven't been at work today, is th 11th May - not very long at all until blast off...
I leave work 2 weeks today, we move out of our house on the 1st June and we fly to the States on the 8th. We are there until the 1st July after which we will stay with my parents for a couple of weeks before our final departure.
The final departure bit is totally dependant on funding (we can't beek our flights until we have 90% of our funding pledged) - if you're not supporting us but you'd like to be, now is the time to get involved. Please do pray for our final praparations, our goodbyes, money to buy all the things we need and wisdom to deal with 2 little children in transition (and 2 adults too!).
Clinging to him through the trials,
Emily

and wait...

Hi Guys - I'm writing this through the bleary bloodshot eyes that conjunctivitis has left me with all week. Despite antibiotics, my eyelids still need prising apart in the morning after five days - after I've been led to the bathroom by a giggling Luke who is contemplating the mischeif he could play on a Mummy who can't open her eyes!
I've been at work all week doing my best not to infect anyone else (and succeeding so far) but the evenings have seen my lying on the floor in self pity with blissfully cold pads of cotton wool over my eves. I wonder if God's given me conjunctivitis to make me stop and have nothing to do in the evenings other than listen to radio four (my second home, I love it, but it has been rather dull this week) or pray. I've been opting for the latter and have been practicing "abiding in Him". It's been rather nice, just listening, and then it's 7am and time to get up again!
It's just dawned on me that we managed to miss our agm at church last night which will be why no one turned up for house group (duh!) - honestly, my head is somewhere else.
Pray -
that i will be able to have my eyes open beyond 8pm.
for luke and Isaac - they're coping well, but change is a coming
for stamina and wisdom
for money - we're at 65% - Praise for what He has already provided and praise for what he has promised. I don't know how He will provide, but I know He will.
That i will be able to get good things to do an a plane with two small boys with short attention spans to last 10 hours (help!) (or maybe just an ejector seat if things get too much).
Till then, praising Him, Em

I will wait...

I am determined that this blog does not get the better of me and that I update it just enough so that people don't give up on me and never check it again.

My knee (no picture this time) is marvellously recovered to the extent that I was even able to totter around on high heels last saturday as a bridesmaid at my friend's wedding. There was a slightly embassassing moment when I got the heel stuck in a grate in the church and had to abandon the shoe altogether to be recovered by my superstrong husband who was lurking nearby on usher duty. Fortunately the knee thing went in my favour, as those that had noticed the abandoned shoe assumed my knee was hurting, rather than the fact that I had managed to lodge the delicate cinderella slipper well and truely down a small hole, almost never to be seen again!

I don't think I mentioned our other small health issues as a family...Isaac spent a few hours in a&e a fortnight ago having his head stuck back together after a friendly horsey ride went wrong. He is well recovered now, although we are still picking glue out of his hair (yuk!)

And last week, pretty much out of no where (or possible the result of a mountain bike tumble a month ago) Paul almost lost the use of his left arm and was diagnosed with tendonitis by our lovely friend Liz who's a physiotherapist. Fortunatley (thank you God), he has recovered pretty quickly and seems to be almost back to normal (although maybe press ups will have to wait a while!).

Oh and Indonesia...we spent last week training in Manchester which was brilliant - we learned a lot about culture shock (help!), the American school system and we spent quite a bit of time studying the good book and working out how to prepare a sermon (even more help!) should we ever be called upon for such a thing.

I finally shook off the double life at work and came clean about our plans this week. I had talked about it as a possibility so it wasn't a major shock and everyone was very encouraging (although there was enough wailing to make me think they'd actually prefer me to stay).

I have been declaring left right and centre that I am scared. I am not going to do that any more becuase God has been having stern words with me about it. He says that (according to the lovely Lou Fellingham) "Our confidence is not our ability, nor in the earthly strength that we hold" and I am reminded that this whole thing is actually about Him and that I am not called to change the world but simply to trust in Him. Our funding is up to about 65% now which is a miracle in itself but we still need more for us to go (£600 per month) . I have handed my notice in at work and I know He is faithful and I'm learning to be confident in that. I am learning that I don't have to run and wear myself out trying to fund raise in my own strength - I am not complacent but I am trusting that He will do the work that He has promised. So in the words of another song by Lou Fellingham, "I will wait, I'll wait, I will wait, I'll wait for You. I will say of the Lord He is my refuge. I will say of the Lord He is my strength." (and I'll try not to make you wait too long for the next blog!)

And the beat goes on...

Today is Tuesday 27th March. I'm quite scared; In a human kind of a way. In the kind of way that is overwhelming when you think about the enormous list of things that need to be done in the next..oh...8 weeks. To name a few - fundraising, sorting, packing, working, organising church stuff blah blah blah. My mind starts zoning out when the list reaches about 5 things, I'm sure yours does to. In a true English fashion, I'm having a moan (apparently one of the things we English do rather well) becasue with all these things I have opted (?) to make a real challenge out of them. By that, I mean to confess that I did something rather embarrassing last week - something I've not done for at least 10 years - I fell off my bike. What has changed since the lst time is that noone stopped to help me :(


In true Bowles (my family tends to delay ringing ambulances in the middle of the night for serious medical problems out of fear that the poor paramedics will be inconvenienced) / English reserve style (at the risk of being embarrassed) it took me more than 24 hours to make it to A & E (ER) by which time it all looked rather grim. I was prodded by a doctor and then by a consultant ("Hey there's this woman with a really sore knee...why don't you come and poke it to see how long it takes her to cry?"). Fortunately, there is no bone injury (thank you God) but there does seem to be some soft tissue damage, probably to the medial ligament. I'm under instruction, at home, waiting to see what happens when the swelling and bruising goes down. Basically, if it's fine it's fine, and if it's not it's back to square 1. So, we wait.


In the meantime my level of scared-ness is going up and down: Down when I am reminded that this is all for God and to that end He will be faithful and up when I start looking at the lists again or thinking about the practicalities of clearing the loft standing on one leg trying not to fall down the hatch. So the point of all this rambling is...ummm...ah yes, to share with you all the realities of our journey, of the call, so that you can come with us - hopefully in prayer as well as in my moaning (how typically English). Once again I'm drawn to Psalm 139, if you'll excuse the paraphrase..."you go before me, you're behind me, nothing is hidden from you".
To add, almost as an after thought...those of you who receive our newsletter will know about my breast lump (no pictures though, you'll be glad to hear) that was high on the prayer agenda last month...well, the tests show there is nothing to be worried about. No further tests necessary. Praise Him.
Thank you to all of you who have come on board with prayer and financial support - we really appreciate your involvement (my level of scared-ness is tempered by the knowledge of all that 'prayer noise' behind us).
Until next time, giving it all to Him.

Early morning stream of consciousness...

It's mid march and we're now only 4 months away from our intended departure / arrival date. Despite our desires in February to pack up and leave the UK as soon as we arrived home from our trip, we're still here. The prospect of car boot sales will keep me here for a bit longer yet. We're starting to get rid of stuff that we're not taking with us (basically everything) so if you know you'll need a washing machine or fridge in a couple of months time get in touch. We'll be moving out of our house early in June, so we've not got long at all.
In the meantime it's all go go go for small group meetings and speaking in churches - we've got a hectic schedule from now on really!
We're thinking a lot about or cross cultural preparation...if you know any American phrases or terms that you think we should know about, you could post a comment here. There are such massive differences...
Any way, before I bore your pants off, till next time e x

this is the active volcano Mount Merapi

settling back into home life

the jet lag is flying away and normality is returning. We had an amazing time on our reconnaissance trip and can't wait to return and start working. We've got so much to do, but now we have a greater idea of what we're going to and can plan specifically; it's going to be fun.

From Indonesia with Love!

Mari! well, we got here finally on friday at midnight after a 9 hour delay in Jakarta airport due to severe floods which you may have seen on the news - we got to know all the shops and practiced saying plane ? plane ?!. Arriving in the dark meant that we didn't get a proper look around until morning. We have a beautiful view of the mountain and lime trees and cocunuts right outside. This place is so green! It's wet season so it's warm and dry in the morning and then the heavens open in the afternoon and it pours. The school is great - I even got up and ran round the track (5 times!) this morning at 6am. The people here are so friendly too - we're figuring out the difference between british and american culture (i thought we spoke the same language!). We've tried to explain the humour in 'the office' but we're laughing on our own! We're off down town to taste the local cuisine so over and out for now. the picure is of us in the jungle - well nearly. there is jungle all around us even though this bit has a path!

lol e + p

the tickets arrived in the post today!

We've been waiting for the tickets knowing they would come, but now bring with them the realisation that we're going on our reconnaissance trip and its only 10 days away. There's only packing left to do, insurance and money etc are finalised, just choosing which clothes to wear so as to appear British, but not too over the top (I'm leaving the union jack undies at home).

This trip is really exciting for us. We'll get to see first hand what we're planning to do in July. We'll stay at the school where we'll work and meet the students; it'll be an eye opener.
We'll see a lot and have a lot to talk about when we return, so stay tuned to the blog while we're away and when we get back (10th Feb).
We're expecting God to talk to us while we're away, to clarify and confirm the calling he's placed within us and to prepare us for starting in July. Please pray that God will be very real to us and that he will keep us safe, but most of all that he will be with the Boys as they are staying at home.

that's it for know from me, Paul.

A few Christmas pics of the boys enjoying the festive period.

Isaac indulges in too much chocolate!

Several games of table football were won and lost. (Emily and Paul lost 2 games, got a bit better then lost the third, oh well)

Christmas was busy; we managed to juggle friends and family and had great fun with all. We really enjoyed catching up with family we'd not seen for a while. The boys enjoyed themselves, especially the food and present (Luke's still thanking God for presents and chocolates at prayer time).

Christmas will be like no other next year, we're looking forward to it, especially the snow (only joking).

Happy new year('s resolutions)

Well, I was thinking about my new year's resolutions - I usually make some - but i kinda get the feeling that there is just not going to be time this year. Maybe I'll settle for learning a bit of Indonesian, raising some ridiculous sum of money and settling our family into life on the other side of the world. Hmmm...that sounds a little more ambitious than shifting that last 7 lbs...
Good thing that God has a vested interest in this year's plan.
Well, since the last post...
1. Our church have got excited (hurrah) about our plans.
2. We're planning a whistle stop tour of java in February - check out where we're going, see some friends, meet some new ones, and get a feel for the culture.

Pray
1. life is getting busy juggling home, work, fundraising, writing prayer letters and keeping it all normal for the boys. pray for extra time in the day and for efficient use of the time we have (resist ER on dvd...resist!).
2. thank you to all those who are supporting us, but we're still some way off our target. We need to have 90% pledged by June. Pray that God will prompt those who he wants to be involved in his work in Indonesia.
3. The boys - big change is a'coming - for wisdom to help them prepare and adjust.
4. For the provision of money for our reconnaisance trip. We need a further £400 to make it happen. Thank you to all who have supported the trip so far.
5. that the cat is let out of the bag at work at the right time and in the right way...

for now...until then