Journal - September 8, 2008

(written on September 9) - Monday was a busy day. We left Salatiga around 8:30 am and headed to Borobudur, an ancient Buddhists Monument. It's a manmade mountain of volcanic rock carved and shaped into 100's of Buddhas covered with bell shaped domes. Also carved into the walls of each level of this "mountain" are sculpted reliefs depicting portions of a story. Kind of like ancient comic strips carved into the side of the walls.
From the parking lot to Borobudur and from Borobudur back to the car was miserable. Peddlers and beggars more than you could count, each one trying to sell something or just beg for money. It was hard not to feel sorry for the beggars.
Leaving Borobudur, we headed to Yogyakarta. One of the funniest signs was saw I'm sure lost something in the translation. Several of the auto repair shops advertised "Cat Oven" but I'm sure it's not what it sounds like.
We shopped a little at the main shopping area in Yogyakarta called Malioboro. Sidewalk merchants set up outside of store fronts, each selling something they thought we should take home as oleh-oleh (souvenirs).
At the end of the shopping district is a department store (Mirota Batik). The prices here were competitive with the sidewalk merchants.
We ate lunch at Pizza Hut which had normal Pizza Hut food and a wide variety of other food. It was more like a blending of Pizza Hut and Big Boy.
For dinner we at a dinner theatre serving Javanese food (rice, sate, etc) and then showed a production of the Ramayana - the story about the White Monkey King. This production had live actors instead of shadow puppets. The cast included a child that was no older than 3 or 4.
That night we stayed at a little out-of-the-way hotel that looked pretty run-down from the outside. When you walked through the front door, you were in a hotel that was 4 or 5 star and could have been promoted as a honeymoon spot. Two waterfalls framed an open air restaurant. One waterfall fed a coy pond just off the lobby, and the other waterfall fed a small swimming pool. The pool was the centerpiece of an open courtyard surrounded by two stories of hotel bungalows. A very nice place.


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 7, 2008

1:05 pm – This morning I woke up at 5:00 am wanting to put the finishing touches on my message and talk to my family on Skype. The dorm was all locked up, so I had to go on battery power in my computer. This was pretty scary because my computer is old and when the battery gets too low it doesn’t warn you, it just shuts down. Anyway, it worked long enough so that Cheryl and Emily and I could talk. Kaitie was babysitting.

The church was packed today. I only recognized two songs this week; “I Give You My Heart” and “My Redeemer Lives”. Instead of a worship trio leading like last week, this week there was one man who led worship. The praise band played both weeks: drums, electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboard.

Before my message, I gave my copy of Shaped By God’s Heart to Pastor Mariono. I preached from Philemon verses 3 through 7a and encouraged them to use prayer to develop a passion for God and compassion for people. Casey translated and hopefully God spoke to hearts. One young man, probably 11 or 12 years old, took very extensive notes and had me autograph his notes!

After preaching, they asked me to sing, so I sang “Thank You, Lord” about Indiana, the dinosaur tree, and my thankfulness to God for His many blessings.

After eating brunch at Casey and Sharon’s we were supposed to go to a rice farm. My stomach started turning flips again so I took a nap while Ron and Tory went with Casey and the boys, Nicko and Ryan. I feel a little better now but not 100%. I’ll be going back to the church in a few minutes for the second worship seminar.

9:36 pm – Ron and Tory said they really enjoyed the rice farm. I’ll try to get pictures from them to share. This afternoon’s worship seminar was a lot of fun. People were a little bit freer in sharing, and asking questions, and joking.

After the worship seminar concluded, the church gave each of us (Ron, Tory, and myself) a gift so that we will remember Indonesia. Tory opened his tonight and it is a batik map of Indonesia and a batik placemat/coaster set. Ron and I liked the paper so much that we decided not to open ours yet.

I didn’t eat supper; my stomach was still feeling funny. But one of the Indonesian grandmothers insisted I eat one of the fried puffed rice chips. It tasted a little like rice crispys. My stomach feels basically the same. I think I just need some sleep.

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 2, 2008

2:20 pm - Had something different for lunch - goat on a stick. It's real name is Sate. Ron discovered some strange electrical wiring - three phase electric, but only one phase going to each of three buildings and coming off of, at least, two transformers. It's a real electrical mystery.

Tory is still sick - fever and dizzyness. We were going to a video recording studio where Sharon works. I don't know if that will happen now or not.

I discovered a small tree (or a big bush)with long white flowers hanging down like bells. I'm not sure what it is called but it is very beautiful.

There is a small bird that is very common here. It's moves so fast I don't think I can get a picture of it. I think they call them swifty's. They are about the size of a bat and fly around like one too - diving and turning and swooping. At the first open-air restaurant we ate at on Saturday evening something was flying around over our heads for about 15 minutes. We hope they were swifty's!

The mosque we were at on Monday will be torn down at the end of the month. After Ramadan they are going to build a new, bigger mosque to accommodate all the people wanting to pray.

Muslims are required to pray five times a day. What we discoverd at the mosque was that Islamic prayer is more about performing certain motions and saying certain words in order to gain "good points" in God's "reward system". I you pray during Ramadan you get 700 points. If you pray any other time of the year it's only worth one point. And that's all based on if you preformed the prayer properly. If you mess up, it dosen't count at all.

What I discovered is the stark difference in Christian and Islamic prayer. Christians talk to God as their friend. Any time of the day or night. Any position, it doesn't matter. Christians talk to God because they want to.
Muslims pray because they are trying to earn points. The give to charity to earn points. They help those in need to earn points. They cannot serve God or people freely because the purpose in the service is to gain entrance into heaven.

Christians are not only set free from sin, but they are set free to serve people out of love. They are free to serve God, not out of duty, but devotion.

Freedom in Christ is a lot bigger than freedom from sin! It's freedom to love and serve and live with no strings attached. God is good . . .

5:44 pm - Still sitting at the lunch tables. It's been a good afternoon, but I'm wondering how Tory is doing. He must be pretty sick. Casey was supposed to be back around 2:00 pm, so Ron and I have waited here. We could walk back to the dorm, through the school campus but we don't want to miss Casey, Sharon, or supper! Oh well, God is still good . . .

8:26 pm - I told you God is still good! Seconds after my last post, we got a call from Casey saying he was coming over. Tory came with him and we all went to supper. The nurse thinks Tory is just dehydrated, so Tory is now following my example of how much water to drink. My eye's are tired. going to be in a few minutes.

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!