I'm going home... :)

Hello everyone! I just realized that this is the first time to write in May... Sorry about that.
I am currently organizing/packing preparing to move to a new apartment near school and then go home next month. I was reading through the letters that you sent with me and in the mail since I've been here. I just wanted to thank all of you for keeping in touch and sending me those letters! I am sorry that I have not been able to write back because the mail system is unreliable here going the other way. But please know that I appreciate each letter. I also can tell that you have been praying for me this past year. So many times I have been feeling sad or anxious, and God's peace comes on me that passes all understanding. I especially feel your prayers on Saturdays when I go to English club. Almost every time I feel a discouragement or distraction from going, but as soon as I get there, I feel God's peace and joy. He keeps giving me more ideas and wisdom for teaching middle school, which is something I never thought I would be doing. So, thank you so much! God bless you!
This past month has been busy with preparing for graduation at school. I am on the program commitee, so we are helping prepare the kids for the drama they will perform on the graduation day. I also have been helping with/teaching Sunday school this month, along with Sara.
This past Tuesday, we had a day off, which was nice. The pastor's wife invited Sara and I over for dinner along with some other american teachers at another school. It was a great time of talking in English (it's hard sometimes being around so many non-native speakers) and eating American food. She even taught us how to make apple pie! :) Oh, and speaking of baking, recently I also have been baking more. Last week I decided to try making snickerdoodles. I wasn't sure how they would turn out without cream of tartar and no mixer, but they were good. It feels nice to make something American even in a different place.
Well, please continue to pray for my exit visa so I can come home next month with no problem. Please also pray for me to keep my focus on God and His word instead of putting other things before Him. Thank you so much! I can't wait to see all of you very soon!

April events

Hello again! I'll try to summarize the rest of April... It's almost May!
Last time I wrote was right before my birthday. I was so blessed by the people here who remembered my birthday. Sara and I went to the mall on Friday the 15th for ice cream to celebrate. On Saturday I went to English club as usual. Angie surprised me during our class by bringing a snack (crispy tahu) and singing to me. The kids were surprised to find out it was my birthday. I asked them all to take a picture with me. Then when I got to the main room, everyone surprised me with a cake and ice cream with a candle to blow out. It was a great birthday! :)
Last week we had our Kartini's day celebration for school at a nearby mall. Kartini was the one I guess who pushed for girls to be able to attend school. Since it was a national holiday, all the kids wore batik, the national fabric.
Last Friday i went to my friends house to dye Easter eggs. (Thanks mom for thinking to send the dye!) It was such a nice treat to still be able to keep that Easter tradition. Even if the brown eggs here don't color the same way as white ones. Haha!
Today we had our Easter celebration at school. The theme was "Jesus is my Superhero!" It was a good time to remember again what Jesus did for us, for me. As the words to one of our songs that we sang said, "The nail marks on your hands and feet are marks of love, the love of God." I pray that you also will remember His love for you!

Bugs and Floods

Happy april everyone! Is there any spring weather where you are? If so, please enjoy it for me. :( It is still as hot as ever here. It has also been raining almost every day. In fact, the week before last we had our house flood two times. There is a balcony right outside my room and apparently the drain to let the water out when it rains is very small. Well, it got clogged with debrief from the house and so the water overflowed into our house. Thankfully we know about the problem now so we can clean the balcony so it doesn't happen again.
That same week, I was sitting in my room and heard a rustling sound. At first I just thought it was a lizard in the garbage can again. Then it started buzzing. I looked behind me and there was a huge wasp at the window. I screamed and ran downstairs. Thankfully Janice is braver than I am so she opened the window and let him out. Before you laugh at me, let me just say that this wasp was huge. It was like the size of a small bird!!
Anyways, things have been going o.k. I am getting more and more excited to go home in June! But GOd has been good here, teaching me to trust Him and that He is loving me through everything. I was blessed yesterday to get a birthday package from my family. Thank you guys! :) One of the things I am excited about getting in it is easter egg dye. I invited some of my American friends over next sunday to dye easter eggs together!
If God brings it to mind, please pray for me that I would have perseverance in teaching and living here and always choose joy! :) Thank you! God bless you!

Plane tickets!

Hello again! As many of you already know, I now have my plane tickets to come home for a visit this summer! I will be home from June 16th until July 14th. God has been so good in working out all the details for me. I have a friend from church here who contacted her travel agent to help me book the flights. And on the day that it came to transfer the money, God provided a teacher friend to take me to the bank. He also provided the approval of all my supervisors to take the extended time off. So I am looking forward to experiencing a little bit of home this summer: visiting NYC, eating soft pretzels and bagels with cream cheese, and most importantly, spending time with my family! Praise God that I have this chance to go home and get refreshed and renewed for my second year. :)
This past week I enjoyed having a week off of teaching because our school had a spiritual growth seminar with a team from Hong Kong. It was very intense, but God used it to bring healing and change in my life. He has been showing me recently His love and acceptance of me. I encourage all of you to read Psalms 34, especially verses 4 and 5. God wants to deliver us from shame and fear, and make us radiant because of His love for us!
Then on Friday the students came back to school and we went on a field trip to a city park. The above picture is of me, the Mandarin teacher, and a staff member at the park. It was nice to spend some time outside! :)
Well, here comes another week! God bless all of you!

Marching forward

Haha, the title is so cheesy. But I really can't believe it's March already and I've been here 9 months. That's the longest I've ever been overseas :) and away from my family. :(
The past week went quickly and uneventfully. This past weekend was fun. Sara and I met my friend Angie and some other girls at the mall for lunch and gelatto! It was a lot of fun. I was encouraged by listening to the others share what God has been teaching them.
On Sunday I helped Sara with Sunday school and then we went to see a movie.
That pretty much sums up what's been going on here. Looking forward to June when I will visit home for a month! I will let all of you know when I get the exact dates!

End of February

Hello again! Somebody informed me that I should update my blog more often, so here I am, giving you another update. :) (This is for you, becky.) Actually, I would like to update more, it's just been so busy.
I just uploaded some pictures on facebook, so you can check them out, but I included two here so you can have a little taste if you don't have a chance to look there. :) I included two pictures. One is of a trip to Madura (another island close by) with a church group. We ate bebek goreng (fried duck) at a famous restaurant here. The other picture is of English club, singing a song with the students.
I just returned from a retreat with my church for Sunday school teachers. It was just overnight, but it was really refreshing. We were able to worship God together and learn about creativity in teaching and letting God use us in loving our students. It was a good reminder not just for S.S., but also for teaching during the week. Please pray for me that God's love would lead me and fill me so that anything I say and do would be an overflow of what He has already given me. Thanks so much for your prayers and support!

Answer to prayer

As I said last time, I have started teaching the middle school class at the English club. I taught it first on February 5 and was a little discouraged because the students had trouble paying attention. On February 12 I had my second time to teach. The day before I came home from school with a fever. When I woke up on Saturday, I didn't have a fever, but I still felt weak and tired. I almost didn't go to Oasis because of the way I was feeling. But I prayed and asked God to give me the strength to go. I also know a lot of you were praying for me in planning and teaching the class. God answered these prayers more than I even imagined. I felt so much better as soon as I got there. And when the classes were finished, I felt energized instead of tired like usual. The class itself went well too. The kids seemed to have fun and listen beter. So, thank you for all your prayers.
I just wanted to share these verses in closing. Recently, God has been encouraging me about His love and grace that are undeserved. Romans 5:1-2 says, "Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing in God's glory."
I pray that each of you will be encouraged by God's love for you and look forward to sharing in His glory someday with confidence and joy!