Farewell My Friend

A few weeks ago, I was informed that a friend of mine, Pastor Stephen Goh was in the hospital with stage 4 brain cancer. A few years ago they had found it in his lungs and believed that he had been cured when in fact it had simply spread to the brain. My friend passed away this morning, and I just wanted to write a little bit about him and ask you all to be praying for his family. 

Pastor Stephen was a very good man, he had a beautiful wife and three children, and at least one grand child that I know of. His youngest son is 19, and I first met Stephen when I was still a child and he came to some church meetings we had. A few years later, my good friend Jenny went and stayed with him and his family in Singapore for a few months, and up until last year I didn't know much more than that about him, except that he was a very good friend of Ms Glorian Bonette who we all dearly loved. 

Well, when I came to Indonesia, I had a few complications with my visa, and at one point had to go out of the country for a day and then come back in. Pastor Stephen was not only willing to let me come, but he picked me up at the airport, took wonderful care of me, and treated me with more kindness and respect than just about anyone else I can think of. Growing up I always remember my father sitting at the table with an "important guest" and I would help to serve food or coffee, clean the table, and whatever else needed done. When I went to Singapore, I sat at the table and Stephens wife Angela served coffee, food and cleaned around us. I am not very old, and I could not believe the amount of humility and respect coming out of this man. He went on and on about how blessed he had been by my father, and that he wanted to bless me by way of returning the favor. 

Last year I again had to spend a few days in Singapore, and I went to visit Pastor Stephen again, we had a lovely time and I was more than taken care of my entire time there. On Sunday morning Ps. Stephen had a speaking engagement at a church, and before he began to preach, he called me out and honored me for the work I am doing here, again I was shocked by his humility. Later in the week I had some expenses come up with my visa, and Ps. Stephen decided to cover them all and would not take no for an answer. I cannot even describe how lucky I feel to have known him, even for a little while. 

I was very sad to hear the news last week and was not sure exactly how to pray, but on Sunday morning, I had a remarkable vision, I was standing in a room of light and people singing "Holy, holy, holy" and then I looked over and saw Stephen beginning to join in, he looked full of joy and peace, and the idea of calling him out of that place was terrible, I then literally felt myself returning to Earth, and I knew that if he passed, it would be Gods timing. 

 Ps. Stephen passed away this morning with his family, and I know that he will be dearly missed by all, so please keep them in your prayers as those who are still with us have a lot to deal with now. Thank you. 

Goings On

Ok, so here is some of what has been happening. I have been in Unit 4 of IMLAC for a few weeks now, and this is the point where we go from simply learning to communicate, to learning how to do it well. We have been learning different types of object focused sentences and the like in grammar class, it is also where you go from simply speaking and listening to reading and writing. So far I really enjoy it! We are only in class for 2 hours instead of 4, but there is quite a bit more homework, and I have been pretty exhausted doing it. I also gave a little bit of my testimony at chapel on Monday, in Indonesian, in  front of everyone, including the head of the school. It was scary and I was nervous, but I did fine, and a few people told me that it encouraged them. 

At Destiny Inst we are preparing for the student convention in March, and it has been taking a lot of time because there are so many things to be done. The kids have all entered competitions from everything to Mime and Puppet shows, to Spelling and Famous Speech, sports, art, cross stitch, all over the board. So, we (all of the teachers and staff of the school) have been running around like crazy trying to get everything done. 

At Penuai things are well, the kids haven't started studying again yet because for the month of January they are all working and doing month long internships at various business in the village. However, we have actually had a huge breakthrough, as some of the kids have finally started to take the idea of learning English seriously, and they have actually approached me to help to teach them. At this point I don't have a set class here, as I, for one, am quite busy, and as they have not started back into their normal schedule, I had told them that if they wanted I would teach them one on one, but that they would have to seek me out! They have! I am so excited to report this to you all. 

In the way of prayer requests, I would like to ask you to pray that I have wisdom in this culture, sometimes it seems like it is just fine and normal, but there are some things that really are quite different, and difficult for me to handle. Also, it seems that there has been a spirit of accusation going around against some of the leaders, so pray for that. Finally, I found out the other day (out of the blue) that there may be a possible way for me to get a motorbike to ride around. That would be a huge blessing at this point, so please pray about that as well...my one hesitation is that then I would have to drive it and would have no excuse to bum a ride off of my friends anymore =). Also, my professors from College will be coming to Indonesia in March, so please pray that their travel is safe, and that their time here is effective. 

So, this is just a basic update, but I just wanted to let you all know that I love you very much, and think of and pray for you often. Talk to you soon. 

Please Pray

Dear Friends,
It has been no secret that when I have had to go to Singapore during my time in Indonesia I have had a friend there who has let me stay with his family, and taken very good care of me. His name is Pastor Steven Goh, and I have just learned that the cancer he was diagnosed with a year ago has spread, and he is currently in hospice. His family is praying for a miracle, and I would ask that you all join with me. I believe that there is more for this man. Thank you.
Stephanie

Bandung

Hello everyone from Bandung! Today is my last day here before going back to normal life, but I have had a lot of fun and a really great trip. I got here two weeks ago, and went strait to shopping; most of my clothes are hand me downs that I have had for at least 3 years, and by this time, not only were they old, but they were now too big, and so I had been saving money for a little while so that when I went to Bandung (a city about 13 hours away by bus as I discovered) I could buy some new ones. The thing about Bandung that is different is that it is full of outlet stores that have bigger sizes, and although I am smaller than I was, I am not shorter and the fact of the matter is, I am just not Asian size. I am happy to report that I was able to find some really good things that I did not think I would, and I am no worse for the wear financially....although I did spend what I had saved. 

Christmas day was a little different here as well, we started out the day by going to an orphanage. We were not there for very long, but we went, and we brought food, and it really got me thinking; why don't more people do something for others on Christmas day? I know a lot of people who will give to charities or what have you but on the actual day they open presents, and eat a lot of food and sit around wondering what to do with themselves, wouldn't it be nice if on Christmas day (and the day after Christmas for that matter, which I have heard is a very depressing day for most people) people went to a homeless shelter, or a hospital, or nursing home and showed someone that they cared? I know that on Christmas Eve people get a lot of visitors, but not on the actual day. Anyway, after that we came home and had a wonderful meal together, and then they pulled out the Baileys and we watched The Santa Clause on TV...it was pretty perfect.

After Christmas we all went to Jakarta for New Years, and it was incredible! We stayed at a 5 Star hotel, and went shopping (although at that point my spending money was about gone, so I didn't really) and looked around and had a good time...the thing about the malls in Jakarta is that there are a lot of them, they are big, and many times they have ice skating rinks in the hallway... which is pretty amazing. We were there with Vonnys aunt and uncle and their 5 year old daughter who was very shy at first, but once I started messing around with her (as in telling her I thought she was 12 and not 5) she warmed right up, and I had a friend.

The hotel where we stayed had a New Years Eve party that was a lot of fun, every one was dressed up, there were even people in tuxedos and they gave out free champagne for the countdown.

Mostly I have spent a lot of time here hanging out, having fun, getting to know people, I have had a few really good discussions about culture and how to handle a few difficulties that I am facing right now, and I have had some time to pray about the New Year, and the new season. So, I hope that you all have had a fun Holiday time, thank you so much for your prayers, I am going back tonight (by bus again) so please keep them coming. I love you all very much, and want to encourage you to enjoy the snow, but it is too hot here today and I would love a little snow! Happy New Year everyone!