Journal - September 6, 2008

(written on September 7th) – Woke up to a beautiful sunrise through my balcony window. Talked with Tami Byrd and my family through Skype. My breakfast was an apple; Ron has been raving about them for days, so I finally tried one. It was pretty tasty.

The schedule at the retreat has been VERY flexible. So we’ve been a little short on time for rehearsals. The two praise bands have done great, especially with little rehearsal time. They loved worship and participated enthusiastically. Their favorite songs this week have been “Hail to the King”, “Mighty to Save”, “God of this City” and “Who Am I”.

As our meeting time began, I began to get a little queasy. I started the Ciprofloxacin and Pepto right away.

The students were sad to see the retreat come to an end. By noon I was on my way down the mountain in the Java Dorm bus. After lunch at KFC in Salatiga, I took a nap in the afternoon.

Then in the evening, we all went to Casey and Sharon’s house for supper. There we met 6 Indonesian college-agers and shared a meal of chicken and goat sate (chicken and goat on a stick), two kinds of rice, and lasagna. For desert Sharon made a chocolate chip cheesecake.

The conversation after dinner centered a lot on US politics. The students were interested in who we were going to vote for and why. We also talked a little about New Orleans, Ramadan, and the Islamic faith. It was a good conversation.


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!

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!

Journal - September 4, 2008

10:16 pm – Talking with Jeremy after worship. Today was a busy day. I started by fixing the setup of a new flat screen TV for the school. There are still a few bugs to work out. A new DVD and an old VCR plugging into the latest technology in TVs. Hopefully, we can get them set up so all they have to do is press POWER and PLAY.

At 10:30 Ron and I joined the 11th & 12th Grade Leadership Class. We had a good discussion with some future leaders in the church. Hopefully, we imparted some insight and wisdom . . .

For lunch we had KFC – Indonesian style. Food here has been really good. Nothing too strange. Toward the end of lunch I was interviewed by Annalise, a journalist for the school newspaper. After the retreat she wants to interview me again to get my reaction to the event.

After lunch, I walked back to the dorm and packed for the retreat. Then I walked back to the school and worked a little on the laptop in the lunch area getting ready for tonight.

At about 3:30 pm we loaded into SUVs and the school bus and headed up the mountain to the Salab Putih (White Cross) Retreat Center. After finding my room and setting up for this evening’s worship, we had supper – chicken and rice and noodles and something that looked like thin slices of dried bread (they had the texture of Styrofoam but tasted pretty good).

The evening meeting started at 6:50 and 130+ people piled into a room the size of a small ballroom in a hotel. We were packed! The kids sat on the floor and the adults sat on a handful of chairs that were in the room. This retreat has students from 7th grade through 12th grade.

They seemed to respond well to worship. Jeremy introduced 2 Timothy to the group and was well received. By the end of the meeting it was very hot in the room. There is no air conditioning, just open windows on one side of the room. I think morning meeting times will be much cooler.

After our evening meeting, I purchased 2 hours of internet time for 30,000 Rp (about $3). So if you are reading this before September 6 that’s how I posted this journal entry.

One of the questions in the interview I had during lunch echoed a comment I had heard a couple of times before. The students want to know how long I will be here, and seem disappointed that I will be leaving the middle of next week, even though they barely know me. Apparently, many people come to visit, but few stay, or even return.

It must be hard to invest in relationships when people are coming and going so frequently. At the praise band rehearsal Wednesday night, the students told me I should come back and bring my family with me. I think they would love the country and the people, like I do, but I’m not sure they would survive the 24+ hours in the air – ONE DIRECTION!

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!

Journal - September 3, 2008

8:50 am - traveled to Salab Putih (retreat site) to look at the sound system. It's fairly new but more like a home stereo amp than a sound mixer. Only 5 - 1/4" mic inputs and three mixer controls (1; 2 and 4;3 and 5). We will have to run guitars on their own amps; the keyboard and the microphones will run through the sound system. With live drums and a very LIVE (echoy) room, worship will have a tendancy to be too loud We'll see.

Ron and Tory were up all night - couldn't sleep. I slept great. Kim, the teacher that took me to Salab Putih says that spiritual opposition is very tangible during Ramadan. Her son, Clayton, didn't sleep well last night either. He will be my drummer for morning worship and the sound tech for evening worship.

9:37 am - Preparing to go to the Jr. High Bible Class. I'm uploading video, so you should be able to watch some "moving pictures" soon.

Casey is having a busy day. Ron is in his second day of electrical work. Some tiles have broken and other minor emergencies that require Casey's attention. Tory is still not 100% but is teaching a defense class this morning.

Casey said we had ordered cheeseburgers and fries for lunch. It's still moderately warm, but not unbearable. We've had two good rains since Sunday (the first one caused the power to go out!), so the rainy season here has begun. Six months dry and six months rainy.

1:44 pm - The 9th & 10th grade Bible Class was fun. Turned out that there were no 10th graders, so it was just a 9th grade Bible Class. Ron talked first and then me. The theme seemd to be multi-faceted.

1. Live life to the full.
2. Great Commandment - love god, love people.
3. Read the word - it's exciting.
4. Don't be afraid to walk thru doors that God opens.

Kim, the teacher, then walked thru the topics the class was discussing. What was Noah's responsibility and what was God's. Then she asked what is our responsibility, and what is God's. She added that many times we become unhappy when we try to do God's things and fail to do ours.

3:23 pm - I don't know if I've told you this before . . . In muslim cultures there is a call to prayer 5 times a day. There are loudspeakers located at the top of every mosque. In Salatiga there are several mosques - not so much denominations, but easy-access locations. The loudspeakers crank up at various times of the day including 4:00 am. During ramadan the kids are encouraged to go into the streets and set off firecrackers at 1:00 or 2:00 am so that people will wake up and eat (since it is the month of fasting, they are not supposed to eat during the day). This keeps the non-muslims up as well, but it hasn't bothered my sleep, so I am thankful!

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!

Journal - August 30, 2008

Aug 30 - 9:30 pm - Getting ready for bed. Had a waffle for breakfast. Drove part way up the mountain to Ketep Pass to look at the volcanoes - Merabi & Merbabu. Too many clouds to see the summits. Visited Salab Putih (white cross) retreat center where I will be ministering next week. Had a picnic on the mountain on ground that had been terraced for farming. Toured the school grounds. Ate at a restaurant overlooking a rice patty. Had fried chicken & rice. Saw some beautiful flowers today.