introductions

Upon our arrival in the "Na*" Village,

we had a couple of days to settle in.

Amy and Elise with their friend Christy, unpacking in our room

We had time to walk through the village,

Michael, Amy, Elise and Christy walk toward the market

and Michael made friends with Pak Agus, 

who gave him rides on his motorcycle

We met families in the village;

the woman below (in the pink T) was out in her rice field, 

protecting their family's almost ripe rice

from preying birds

It was a pretty special opportunity to be out in a rice paddy,

and to see the rice ready for harvest!

 We joined in the meals with 20 or more co-workers at the workshop,

meals that always included a big bowl of rice,

and often cooked greens and or some fish to go along with it.

I found after awhile that rice for breakfast was a stretch for me.

Especially when it was spicy rice!

We loved it when the cooks would spoil us with some eggs for protein.

I WAS happy to get my morning cup of tea every day though.

You can see that even Mark and Michael joined me!

Maybe if I put that much sugar in our tea at home you'd drink it there, too?

These sweet girls were the daughters of the cooks,

and they watched us eat every meal,

eventually becoming more comfortable with our family

We spent time with the Sunday School teachers

who would be hosting the Bible club,

working on a variety of preparations with them.

Ibu Eva records a Bible story in her heart-language

Though I couldn't speak their language, they were fun to work with!

Michael, Mark and Roger walking to church

On Sunday morning we walked to church, and though we didn't understand much that was said, there were some familiar hymn tunes - reminders of the universality of the body of Christ.

men in batik

with our co-workers on the walk home again

 The quiet pace was short-lived.  We'll blog about the Bible Club next time!

*Pseudonyms are used in place of language names.