Journal - September 5, 2008

4:48 pm – Today was the only full day of the retreat. I woke up at 5:30 am like everyday here in Indonesia. The morning was hectic.

I connected to the internet and it was INCREDIBLY fast. I uploaded some pictures and video, updated this blog and tried to connect with my family on SKYPE. By the time we figured out how to do it, it was breakfast time and I had run out of my internet time.

11:11 pm – When I realized it was time to go to breakfast, I also realized that I had some corrections to make to MediaShout. In addition, Jeremy brought the Nooma video “Lump” to show and I had to figure out how to make that work. So I missed breakfast.

During Jeremy’s message, the Nooma video froze up (I had already determined that it wouldn’t play in MediaShout and had switched to Windows Media Player). So while everyone was waiting, I worked on the laptop and finally got it to play on another program (Nero). Other than that, morning worship meeting was good and Jeremy closed with a call to salvation and rededication. Several students made commitments; hopefully I will receive more details later.

I worked with a small group of 7th graders and discussed 2 Timothy chapter one. Later, for lunch, we had chicken sate – chicken on a stick (see goat on a stick post earlier in the week).

I took a few pictures by the pool, walked down to the camp ground where the students are staying at night, and worked on making more room on my computer. While my computer was copying files to a memory card, I laid down on the bed and woke up 1-1/2 hours later! I guess I was more tired than I thought . . . or maybe it was the trip down the mountain to the campground and then up again.

I still wanted to talk to Cheryl and the girls on Skype, so I went to the Merapi Room early to get on the internet. After I had signed on and was busy connecting, I was informed that our supper was moved up by 30 minutes and that meant that rehearsal should be starting . . NOW! I was able to talk to my family for about 5 minutes and see what Thursday morning “bed-head” looks like from half-way around the world.

During supper I sat at a table that was deep in conversation about war and Christian service and should Christians serve in the military. This was made even more interesting because of the diversity of the countries represented around the table; these students had family ties to Africa, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Korea, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the United States. A lot of thorny issues were suddenly even thornier. Should a good Christian serve in the military? Does it make a difference if the country they are serving is Pakistan or the United States? What if Indonesia and the United States went to war; what would the missionaries from the U.S. do?

This evening’s meeting time was interrupted by a time of thanksgiving and encouragement, as each student was given the opportunity to express, before the whole group, gratefulness and appreciation. Students have really caught on to the songs, “Hail to the King”, “God of this City” and “Mighty to Save”.

After the evening meeting, many of the students stayed in the Merapi Room and held their own impromptu worship time. After a while, everyone wandered down to the campfire where we roasted marshmallows (Yes, I walked down the mountain – even further this time – and walked back up). Jeremy is staying in Salatiga tonight so I have the room to myself. It’s after 11:30 and I have a busy day tomorrow.

More later . . .


You can find more trip pictures at my Facebook Page (http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=504321719).

They are also posted at my Flickr.com Page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/curtisferrell/)

Thanks for reading!