It was cheaper to ship our car to Papua from Java, rather than sell it and buy another one. However, we cannot say that it was less stressful. After a very long day, 12 hours to be specific, we finally had our car and barang (stuff) tightly packed into this container on on the way to a port in Surabaya. It was quite the experience.

The morning after ...

I, Paul, write this the morning after we sent all of our belongings from the island of Java to the island of Papua. In case you were wondering if it all went smoothly ... please read on!

We ordered a container to arrive at our house around 10 am with the plan to load the car and then all of our household items. The problem was that the container couldn't be taken down off the truck and so it was still 1.6 meters (around 5 feet) off the ground! So, we began to build a ramp. My friend Tripp Flythe is an engineer and so he was there to help make sure that the ramp was strong enough to support our vehicle filled with stuff. The first time we built the ramp (that's right - first time), our Indonesian brothers we so excited to start building that they wouldn't heed our advice, which resulted in a very unstable and weak ramp. In addition to this, the place they chose to build the ramp was poor because of the hill we were on. Anyways, we couldn't get the car up the ramp, which was a good thing because in hind sight it wouldn't have been strong enough. Total time spent waiting (for prayer, smoking, and coffee drinking): 2 hours. Total time spent trying to explain - only to be ignored: 2 hours. Total time wasted: 4 hours. Keep in mind that the container was only supposed to wait for 6 hours before leaving. Total stress: I would have pulled out hair if there was any.

The second time we built the ramp, we got a little ornery and made sure that the spot was appropriate and that the ramp was built to our specifications. The end result was a loaded car! And it only took around an hour! So, 4 hours building a useless ramp plus 1 hour building the same ramp in a different place equals 5 hours to load one car and 1 hour to load everything else in our house!

By 10 pm, the container was fully loaded and on its way to the port city of Surabaya, located on the north coast of the island of Java. Yes, the truck waited!

As we loaded all of our things I was feeling convicted of our cultures constant striving to accumulate stuff. Compared to our Indonesian neighbours we have an insulting amount of stuff in our houses. We spend an insulting amount of money on seemingly needless stuff.

Eugene Petersons's "The Message" uses very convicting words,

"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or - worse! - stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, were it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being."
- Matthew 6: 19, 20

I am not sure if anything else needs to be explained. Maybe this doesn't speak to you right now as strongly as it does to me, but it is a good reminder that our tasks here on earth are not to make money to buy stuff, but to build relationships with our neighbours, wherever that may be, so that they feel comfortable asking about the joy that we have in hearts, which points to Christ. For that is the reason we are here.

I am also reasurred by reading about some of the old testament characters that were told to move. Take Abraham, for instance. In Genesis 13, we read that Abram left Egypt and traveled north with his wife and all that he owned. We also read that Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold and that the land could not support Abram and his nephew Lot. I don't know what you think about that, but that must have been a lot of stuff. I also think that Abram was a righteous man so I guess the conclusion is that righteous people can have lots of stuff and be rich. Now, don't go reading into anything. I am not claiming to be righteous or rich. I am just saying that there are two sides to the story. There! Enough said!

We are planning on spending a few nights in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, visiting a friend and taking a short vacation before departing for Papua. Thank you for your continued prayer support - the Lord did some good work helping keep us safe as we loaded the car and all of our stuff. Darryl finished grade 1 with flying colors and looks forward to starting grade 2 already. Stephan has been told that he can start grade 1 in the fall and so he gets to follow Darryl to school, which just leaves Elleah and Grayson at home with Karen. Karen has also been invited to join the volunteer staff at the local clinic at the school to work as a nurse, once she is ready. I, on the other hand, will begin preparing my classroom and getting my act together for the up coming school year - of course this will happen after we unload the container from Canada and the container from Java and set up our new home!

Please continue to pray. We need it.