Juneau's Journey

Back to the 'ol grind!

2011-09-02T19:21:00.001-07:00

We had a terrific summer, but the teacher in me always enjoys the excitement of a new school year! We started our school year on August 10th and it felt really good to be back in the saddle! I worked on restructuring some of my class materials over the summer and so far everything is working out smoothly!

The first week of every school year the entire high school does a unity building and spiritual emphasis weekend as a way of welcoming the freshmen and new students and bonding as a high school. We travel to a nearby beach and camp on the sand and enjoy each other, the sun, and the ocean! I am one of the teachers responsible for planning this excursion! Part of the weekend includes worship times and listening to the guest speaker. I truly believe that this is a spiritually renewing time for our high school students and also a great bonding experience. You can see the difference in the atmosphere of the school from before beach trip to after beach trip.

I would like to share some pictures of my beach trip experience.

This is our group during a morning meeting. We meet under tarps to sing and pray!

Relaxation mode!

Our make-shift kitchen.

I would also like to draw your attention to our new email address: pjuneau@maf.org. Please make this change so that we can effectively stay in contact! Thanks for reading!

Paul

MAF Family Conference

2011-07-20T16:56:00.007-07:00

There is a church in Vancouver, Washington that is very connected with MAF in Papua. This church is called New Heights and every year they bring a team of college kids to Papua to bless the MAF Papua missionary families by running a week long family camp. This family camp includes a VBS program, which all of our children were old enough to be a part of, a youth program, worship, and adult teaching. It is difficult to explain how blessed we feel when total strangers come and serve your children with smiles and then cry when it is time to leave. Thank you, New Heights Team!

One thing that I have always appreciated is the teaching that Pastor Matt Hannan does. I find it truly a blessing to have him share his insight in scripture and his background knowledge of biblical history, which he uses to help explain the significance of stories told, and the application of those stories in our lives.

This is a side picture of our main meeting place. Notice the fireplace - we are at a fairly high altitude and it gets quite cold for us sea level folk!

This is a picture of the rows of cabins where we sleep.

This is a shot of Grayson and Karen getting our cabin ready. It is quite close sleeping quarters for the week!

Darryl and Grayson in the dinning hall. Great food!

Stephan after sliding down "The Muddy Mountain!"

The kids performing songs they learned during VBS. You can see Elleah on the far left and Grayson near center. Very cute! Darryl and Stephan are there they just can't be seen.

Grayson with his backpack on ready to go home.

Elleah with her backpack also waiting to go home.

This is us on the way home!

School's Out!

2011-06-13T18:55:00.005-07:00

Summer holidays began on June 1 for us and we decided to do something we have never done before as a family - take a vacation! Thanks to some very generous supporters, we were able to visit a neighboring city and spend a few nights at a nice hotel and live the tourist life by the pool. We really enjoyed the relaxation and the time playing with our kids. I think that everyone needed a break from the business of life!

After getting back home and doing some laundry, we started packing for a different type of relaxation therapy - 2 nights sleeping on the beach! Our family really enjoys spending time at the beach and there is a beautiful beach not too far from our house. We drive for about an hour and then take a boat for about 30 minutes and find ourselves on a beach that belongs in a brochure somewhere! Two days is about all we can handle because the sand and the sun takes its toll, but we come home with smiles and lots of great memories.

This picture is of Grayson playing close to our tents.

About 2 months ago I bought a snake ... for the kids ... and had it in a cage behind the house. After about 2 weeks I went back to see how it was doing and couldn't find it. My 6 foot long brown snake had escaped! We found out that this type of snake is very powerful and had been known to push weighted lids off of cages before and so we figure that this snake pushed the corner of the door just enough to squeeze out. Well, just last night our night guards caught a 6 foot brown snake and returned it to me! Of course, I had to "buy" it from them, but I didn't mind. It did create a bit of work for me - I had to do some fixing on the snake cage, but now I think things are closed up!

The Snake! I feel that as a pet it should have a name, but how do you name a snake? It just doesn't feel right.

Devotional

I have been listening to Matt Hannan, a preacher from the States, and he was teaching on the stories Jesus told as he walked to Jerusalem and eventually His death. He focuses on the fact that Jesus is teaching on the street and knows that He has a limited amount of time to clarify what following Him means before His death. The stories are clear, poignant, and are designed to stick! The stories are about how to truly live like a Christ follower. The stories are answers to questions posed by the Pharisees and theses stories tend to bypass the actual question and address the underlying conditions like self-righteousness, judging others, and caring for others. These stories have been significant for me because I see myself as a Pharisee a lot of the time - a spiritually serious person who is just missing the point.

In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus is really addressing the issue of, "How does God deal with bad people"? There are three stories because of the different categories of bad. There is the story of the lost sheep, which addresses the bad person who aimlessly wanders away from God because they are dumb sheep. There is the story of the lost coin, which addresses the bad person who is irresponsible and loses sight of what is important. Then there is the story of the lost son, which addresses the bad person who outright rejects God's teachings. There is a fourth story, the story of the "good" son who stayed behind and worked for his dad. This is a special story for those of us who are especially bad and have become self-righteous. The point of Jesus telling these stories to the Pharisees is to tell them about the "good" son at the end. This is every Christian who doesn't like the idea of "bad" people getting a second chance. This is me. Ask yourself and look right to your very core - if the person who ran away was your little brother, would you be angry? That anger is self-righteousness and Jesus was directing this story to the Pharisees who felt like the "sinners and tax collectors", really bad people, had no place sitting with Jesus.

Give these stories a read - Luke chapters 10 -20.

Thanks for reading!

Paul

Outdoor Education 2011

2011-05-04T00:23:00.005-07:00

Hey All, I would like to share with you my experience with Outdoor Education (OE). Let me explain a few things first! OE is a 2 week missions trip that the entire high school goes on. The idea is to give the kids an experience of Papua that they wouldn't otherwise get. We take them interior and work alongside a missionary family or two helping with various work projects. Remember, 70 kids can get a lot of work done in 2 weeks!

As a leader, I am responsible for a group of 10 students and we are responsible for many small things, mainly our day of running the kids club program. Other than that, the groups are moving between work projects and taking their turns preparing meals and leaning about the other cultures that we are visiting.

This is an intense time of bonding and spiritual growth as the kids and leaders go through many stressful situations together. It is neat to see different kids excel during different situations.

Here are some pictures to help you wrap your brains around the idea of OE! Enjoy.

We traveled by boat for about 30 hours straight to get to one of our spots and this is the view from my little bunk. All 70 of us is this little section.

One of our work projects was to widen the airstrip to a very small village. This was pure mindless moving of rocks and we lovingly labeled it the "Operation Mountain Movement!"

This was the group that I was in charge of. What a great bunch of kids. I was very proud of them!

The missionaries that have been working with the people group in the mountains of Papua were able to celebrate with a baptism. There were about 60 people: men, women, and children who were baptized! What a time of celebration! To see people come out of the jungle, put down their bow and arrows and walk basically naked to the river puts an entirely new meaning to the idea that Christ came for all of us! Very moving!

This is the after baptism part! Awesome!

We had the opportunity to work with a missionary dentist. The kids were able to teach about dental care by using puppets. They were also able to teach about HIV and AIDS using the same puppets. The kids always include the dental work as part of their favorite and most moving experiences on OE. God truly uses all types to further his kingdom!

This picture is of my group singing and dancing with kids at a kids club afternoon.

This is a picture of us traveling in a taxi to one of our work projects. Always fun to squish into a vehicle!

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to post more later!

Paul

Way too long!

2011-04-29T08:50:00.002-07:00

Wow! I feel I must apologize for amount of time that has passes since the last update. I must admit that I am a little bit embarrassed to see that almost an entire year has passed. All I can say is that I can try to do better.

We have been fairly busy this last year. I will try to summarize our last year in as few words as possible just to bring everyone up to speed:

August 2010 - arrive back in Indonesia after a 3 month mid-term break
August 2010 - School starts and Paul is busy coaching volleyball
November 2010 - Teacher conference in Korea. Paul got to attend for 1 week
December 2010 - Christmas! Major rainstorm on Christmas Eve. That is something that I have never experienced before.
January & February - Birthday season! Stephan (7), Grayson (3), Karen (still 29), Darryl (9), and Elleah (5)
March 2011 - Outdoor Education. Paul helped with 2 week high school field trip. That is a long time to be away from home!
May 2011 - School is out!

This year has been a year of learning. I, Paul, am learning how to lead spiritually in the home. I am learning how to pray. I am learning how to be a godly husband. As soon as I write this, Romans 3 pops into my mind, "... there is no one righteous, not even one!" Regardless of how good someone looks or how many good deeds they accomplish or how many years they serve God as a missionary overseas they are still as sinful as someone who has never heard of Christ. Never forget that we are all in need of a Savior. May that savior be Jesus Christ!

Happy Easter from our home to yours!

Paul

Back in Canada

2010-05-31T14:15:00.004-07:00

Hello everyone,

Well we are back in Canada and have survived the extremely long flight! The kids are no longer jet lagged, but unfortunately they are still trying to adjust to the colder weather here.

Just today Darryl asked me what all the little bumps were on his legs. He was covered in goose bumps from being cold! It just made me realize that my kids truly are getting different experiences overseas.

THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS

I recently listened to a sermon out of Luke 15 - the prodigal son. This is a passage that I have read and heard preached many times in my life and I have always thought that it is a great passage, but I have never heard it explained the way this pastor explained it.

The basic premise of the three stories, as I have always understood, have been about the celebration that happens when someone that was lost is now found. For me, the focus has always been on the fact that God celebrates when sinners repent. I thought that Jesus told three stories in order to reiterate this fact, but I believe that there is more to this section.

The passage starts out with the pharisees and teachers of the law criticizing Jesus for eating with tax collectors and notorious sinners. Basically, he was hanging around with "bad" people. Jesus, knowing the hearts of the people criticizing him, addresses the main issue without there even being a question. The main issue is: How does God deal with bad people?

According to Luke 15, there are 4 types of bad people. We see this by the types of stories that Jesus tells. The first story is about a sheep/person, that is bad because they are careless and wander away. Jesus says that he will search for that person and carry them back to him.

The second type of bad person is the irresponsible person - someone who loses their most precious belongings. Jesus says that he will look for them until they are found.

The third type of bad person is the one who is willfully rebellious, like the son that told his dad that he was tired of waiting for him to die. This type of bad person is rude, disrespectful, and does things to hurt themselves and others. The story shows that nobody follows and tries to find this person, like in the other stories. Sometimes people need to realize things for themselves. When that person finally does come home, there is no rejection, the father is waiting with open arms!

The fourth type of bad person is reserved for those who already know Christ. This special type of bad person is the christian who has been good his/her whole lives and were responsible and didn't wander away. This type of bad person is the self-righteous person who judges the one who was lost and begrudges those who get a party. It's like the movie "Family Man" where the father is shopping and doesn't get anything all day and finally asks, "where are my Mary Janes?"

I am not sure if you can rate these bad people as best or worst, but it seems to me, and scripture kinds of slants this way also, that the last kind of "bad person" is the worst kind. In fact, Jesus doesn't even finish the story because He wants us to realize that the whole story is about us, the fourth type of person. The story isn't finished because He wants us to realize that we can change the way we respond to those other "bad people".

For me, this story has always been about how much God wants the lost to be saved. Now I realize that there is much more to this story - it is about how the saved respond to the newly saved.

I want to encourage you to re-read this story with new eyes and some new insight. Maybe you will feel Christ speaking to you as as I did.

Blessings,

Paul

Blessings,

Paul

The Links of an Unbreakable Chain

2009-09-10T21:39:00.004-07:00

One of the struggles that I, Karen, have living here in Indonesia is the role I play as an individual. God has a way of keeping us humble and in doing so Satan can make my daily tasks feel mundane and purposeless as a wife/mom. As I am home with my children, changing diapers and cleaning up after lunch when it looks like a rice bomb went off in my kitchen, I am reminded that even though I want the glory of a 'job well done', all of the the glory goes to God. So as I go through the routine of my daily tasks and give to my children, husband and others around me, God taps me on the shoulder and says...."here my child, this is what you are part of, this is My purpose for your life". I look at the smiles on my kids faces, sit down to check email, and I see this note from a pilot that lives just a couple of doors down from us. This note brought joy to my heart and in turn should bring joy to yours. When there are missionaries living in the jungle, they cannot get there without the help of MAF. The pilots flying the planes cannot do their jobs and the missionaries in the jungle cannot do their jobs unless someone is teaching their children. Their children are not taught unless there is teachers living here in Indonesia, and the teachers could not be living here unless, you, our supporters, were not praying and donating to this ministry. We are all links in a chain, and by following God's purpose for our lives and by working together to further His kingdom we are blessed with joy by seeing victories such as this.
May God bless you all as we are all on His team and part of His everlasting chain.
Samuel was starving and unable to get proper nutrition from his mother who was lacking a basic diet to produce milk for her baby. Missionaries living in the village of Tumdungbon, where there is no airstrip, asked MAF to drop a box of formula to try and help this baby. Just a few weeks after the successful airdrop, Samuel's health had improved drastically and he has put on lot of weight. In the following pictures you can barely recognize him. Praise be to God!

The "Be" attitudes

2009-08-29T07:48:00.003-07:00

I, Paul, would like to share with you a little of what I have been learning over the last few months here in Papua.

A good friend of mine challenged me to read some of the top 50 influential evangelical books. This is quite a daunting list of books and they all look quite interesting. We decided that we were interested in books that would help us become better practical Christians. We decided to read Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book, "The Cost of Discipleship". I have not yet finished this book, but it is very convicting. The section that I am slowly working through right now is on Jesus' sermon on the mount - in particular, the section on the Be-attitudes. It was explained to me that these be-attitudes are attitudes that are to help us be, or exist in the world.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit ..."

This is one of those attitudes that we are supposed to "be". I have always understood this to mean depressed or sullen, but Bonhoeffer suggests that it isn't about depression at all but about a person's realization of their sin. Once a person realizes and acknowledges the fact that they are sinners and can't attain salvation alone, they realize that they are not spiritually rich, but spiritually broke. On their own spiritual income they can afford nothing. It is when we realize that we are in this state of spiritual poorness that Jesus calls us blessed because at that moment we are open to receiving all that God has to offer us in the kingdom of Heaven.

With the start of school at HIS also comes an annual high school trip to the beach for 3 nights. During this retreat, our guest speaker also spoke on the beattitudes and shared his thoughts on the exact same topic that I had been reading over the past month. I guess God is trying to teach me about the attitudes that are required if I truly want to "be" like Christ. I am listening, Jesus!

I have a good teaching load this year and I must admit that it feels great to be back in the classroom. I am teaching Grade 8 science, Grade 9, Biology, Chemistry, and Anatomy & Physiology. It has been a few years since there has been a career science teacher at HIS and as a result lab equipment, supplies, purchasing, and forward planning don't get taken care of with the same intensity as that of a career teacher. So, on top of the classroom work, I am also trying to sort, inventory, and purchase equipment to ensure a well equipped and functional science lab. This may take a few years as shipments come once a year.

I am also assistant coaching volleyball this year for the junior and senior boys. Busy, busy, busy!

We are going through a phase of missing home. With the closing of summer and the ensuing harvest, we miss the family get-together's and the changing of the seasons. Please continue to pray for us as we are adjusting to life here in Papua. As on now, the plan is to return for a brief 2 month furlough over the summer holidays. We are looking forward to that!

Serving together in Christ,

Paul

Main Center MB Church in Action

2009-08-02T01:17:00.009-07:00

Main Center MB Church is home for us. It is a small rural church located in south west Saskatchewan Canada. As it turns out, they have recently sent two missionary families to serve in Indonesia as teachers with Mission Aviation Fellowship. The church is very missions minded and support MAF and these families prayerfully and financially. They are such a great support for our family. In this past year, Main Center decided to become involved in what our family was doing in a different capacity and that is the purpose for this post. While we were living in Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia, the church raised money to build a play structure in the back yard of the mission house. Play structures are rare in Indonesia and there is no such thing as a public play ground. There are small playgrounds at schools but they are gated and locked up outside of school hours. After the play structure was complete, we invited the entire neighborhood (400 people) to our house, fed them, shared our beliefs and purpose for this play structure. We told all the families that if our gate was open anyone could come and play. It was a great opportunity for our children, and us, to get to know the kids in the area. We know this will also be a blessing for the families that will be living in this house in the future.

Sometimes I would bring out juice boxes and oreo cookies for the kids to snack on.

The kids were so excited they showed up to help put the grass down.

The next project our church decided to do was to donate some money to help buy groceries for some of the poorer families in our area. Each bag cost $5.00 and included, cooking oil, noodles, rice, sugar and flour. Our pastor and his wife, Ken and Mary Epp, made a special trip to visit us and handed out these food bags in the community. Some people greated Mary with tears and she told them that we were doing this to share our blessings that God has given us.

While Ken and Mary were in Salatiga, we went to see a new church up the mountain in a local village. The young pastor whom is still in school travels there for the long weekend and then back to the city to continue schooling. Because the village is so remote he cannot get a motorcycle taxi on the way home and has to walk an hour before he can find one that will then take him to the city about another 20 minute drive away. Main Center again raised money to buy a used motorbike for Ferrinan. Needless to say, he was shocked and very excited to get his new wheels. This transportation will give him less stress and more time for his important ministry.

Main Center also got involved with a couple of Papuan's and bought a desk and computer, that is kept at a missionaries house, for them to use as they continue their college education. They are able to find information on the computer, type essays, and become familiar with technology that is so important in this day and age.

A huge thank you to Main Center MB Church for the blessing you are to our families and many Indonesians. May God Bless your generosity!

In Loving Memory of Ridwan

2009-06-22T05:51:00.004-07:00

We were very saddened today to receive a phone call from our good friends back in Salatiga. Pak Jono and Ibu Kasum just lost their brother, Ridwan. My friend, Ibu Kasum, is now the last remaining member of her family at the age of 38 years. We had the opportunity to introduce her to Paul's extended family through Skype. After she had met everyone she told me that the whole family must be very happy. When I asked why she thought that she responded, "They are all alive, healthy and together. Most of my family has already passed away. They just must be so happy to still have each other!". When we moved away from Salatiga she cried saying to me... "Please don't leave me, my parents are gone, my sisters are all gone and now you are leaving. Who do I have to talk to? Please don't go". As you can imagine it was hard to leave her at that moment. Today when she called me I could hardly understand her above the hard crying but she said to me, "My brother is dead, I am the only one left, only me, there is only me and you are so far away". This was heart renching for me. She asked me to pray, even though her and her family are devout Muslims. Our hearts are crying with them as we remember Ridwan, his wife Ismiah and their 2 children. Ridwan was helping a neighbor pick coconuts and fell from the tree. He was only 42 years old. Please pray for them during this difficult time.

2009-05-19T17:39:00.003-07:00

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 ...

2009-05-15T18:44:00.005-07:00

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.

Done at Last!

2009-04-16T02:06:00.003-07:00

We are pleased to announce that Karen and I are both IMLAC graduates and are considered "fluent" in the Indonesian language. This is kind of funny to us because the they word fluent could also be translated as fluidity and so if you can talk fast, you sound fluent. I don't think I will ever be fluent in any language if speed is the guage - Karen on the other hand ...

We are still very motivated to continue learning this language - it is like most other things, once you start learning, you realize how much more there is to learn about that subject. We have plans to continue reading books to increase our vocabulary, but chatting with the neighbors is the best way to increase our "fluency".

Thank you for praying for us during this time! We could tell that we were being lifted and watched over. We ask that you continue to pray for us as we organize the details of moving once again and also for the children who, although adapt quite quickly, are very sensitive to change. The plan is to ship our household items around the 15th of May and give them a head start before we depart on the 18th of May. We have to go through Jakarta and plan on staying in the city for a few nights visiting with friends and enjoying the city. We plan on arriving in Papua around the 22nd of May. Hopefully our stuff from Canada and our stuff from here will all get to Papua safely.

I would like to close with an encouragement from John 20:30, 31

"Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

This passage comes right after Thomas declares that he will not believe that Jesus rose from the dead until he puts his fingers in Jesus' hands and side. Many times we require proof of the power of God before we will choose to believe in the power of God, but Jesus said in verse 29,

"blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Verse 31 says that Scripture were given to us as proof of God's plan of salvation so that we may believe. Although we may not have seen miraculous signs like the actual holes in Jesus' hands and side, like the disciples, we have scripture, which is a miracle in itself, and we are told that its account is accurate. May you continue to read the scriptures and may the Holy Spirit unveil truths to the greatness and glory of God. If you haven't started reading, or it has been a while since you last opened your bible, don't let that stop you. Open it up, it will change your life. May His name, the name of our risen Lord, Jesus, be praised for ever and ever, Amen!

Almost Done!

2009-04-10T23:31:00.012-07:00

Hey there, everyone!

We are almost done our language learning here in the wonderful little city of Salatiga, Indonesia. It has been a hard few months, with our brains being stretched in ways we never thought possible. I have a new appreciation for those learning a new language or those who are already multi-lingual, it is just down right hard to learn a new language.

We have also celebrated Good Friday here and it is important to remember that we are now living in a Muslim world where this day is not fully understood. Our helper asked us what it Easter actually meant if Jesus literally rose from the dead. Wow! What a terrific opportunity to share the good news - unfortunately, we could not answer with the enthusiasm or the precision that we once could for we are still learning this language. I must admit that I was/am embarrassed about my inability to communicate effectively and I was reminded of this scripture passage:

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" - 1 Peter 3:15

Consider me sufficiently motivated to continue learning! I encourage everyone else to continue learning as well so that you may be able to answer any questions that come your way!

This is us and classmates at IMLAC. It nice and relaxed.

Darryl had a fun day at his school and that meant all of our kids could have fun as well. They had face painting, which our kids took advantage of as well as water games. Nothing but fun!

Darryl was on the camoflauge team - nothing but cool!

Stephan's performance

2009-04-08T18:50:00.003-07:00

Stephan's class performed a frog song. He was very proud!

Boys will be Boys

2009-04-08T18:12:00.003-07:00

Stephan manages to entertain himself fairly easily and this is what Paul and I found him doing when we came home from school the other day. Enjoy!

2009-01-18T05:01:00.004-08:00

Over the holidays we toured the city of Yogyakarta (Jogja). We rode on traditional baychuks, toured the Sultans palace, the bird market, silver making factory, and batik making factory. It was all very interesting and even the kids had a good time.

2009-01-18T04:56:00.002-08:00

We had the chance to head to the beach while my parents were here. Although you may not see it in the pictures we were very disappointed to see so much garbage in the water. Apparently it is always like that during the rainy season including Bali! The resort was very nice and we still had a chance to do lots of swimming with the kids.

2009-01-18T04:47:00.002-08:00

Hard to believe our baby Grayson is one already! On January 2nd he turned 1 and the kids, myself and grandma made cupcakes to look like a balloon. Again we invited our neighbors and Grayson had fun opening gifts and licking the icing off the cupcake.

2009-01-18T04:41:00.002-08:00

On Christmas day we invited our closest neighbors and families of our helpers. Together we enjoyed traditional Indonesian food in Indonesian style. We were also invited to another Indonesian friends house for lunch so we definitely had our fill of good food. When the meal was over at our house we had tons of left overs so we packed it up and went and delivered to food the some of the poorer people in our neighborhood. It was the best part of Christmas!

2009-01-18T04:20:00.001-08:00

We were very blessed to have my parents here for Christmas in Indonesia. Paul read the story of Jesus's birth from the Bible for the family and after a little prayer time we dove into opening gifts. Much fun was had by all!

2009-01-18T04:06:00.002-08:00

We have such a good time with our kids and they all have their moments. Grayson is sure a laugher and he proves it in this video.

Idul Fitri

2008-10-26T00:10:00.006-07:00

Idul Fitri is like Christmas for Muslims and is celebrated around the world. Our neighbors, who are Muslims, invited us to eat with them on Hari Raya (the big day). It was a great cultural experience as we visited with everyone and experienced new foods and new culture.

2008-10-25T23:51:00.004-07:00

We had the opportunity to hop on our motorbike for 2 hours one way with friends to the famous Buddhist temple in Borobudur. The carvings are amazing and it was really something to see. Behind every little carving there is a meaning and this huge temple was once underground. Wow!

Indonesian Photo Shoot

2008-10-25T22:39:00.007-07:00

Hi to BM Juneau's

2008-10-03T02:10:00.003-07:00

This was just a test project to try uploading videos. Now that we know how we will be sure to do it more often.

Living in Indonesia

2008-07-30T04:10:00.002-07:00

Well, so much has happened since my last post. Our family is now living in Salatiga, Indonesia on the island of Java. Paul and I are in language school learning the language of Indonesian and we will be here for one year and then move to Sentani, Papua. Thanks to all of our supporters that helped get us here. Our funds remain at 88% as MAF has increased the requirement by $300/month. Praise God for bringing us here! Pray for us as we continue to transition and feel more and more homesick with each passing day. Darryl starts school at Mountainview Cristian Academy in 2 weeks, Stephan is attending Indonesian kindergarten and Elleah and Grayson are at home with our helpers. Here are a few pictures of us and the city.

Chuck E Cheese

2008-04-07T07:19:00.003-07:00

During the Easter weekend we also got the chance to see my sister Lisa and my nephew Evan. The kids had a great time at Chuck E Cheese but I can't say we really enjoyed the food. Cardboard pizza (yummy!)

The Final Rendevous

2008-04-06T22:12:00.005-07:00

We were very fortunate to have the whole Juneau family together over Easter. This meant 18 people in a mobile home. We are hoping to depart for Indonesia in the middle of June, so Paul's brother Jason, his wife Tanya, and their kids Sydney and Rowyn drove all the way from Terrace, BC to spend some time with us. It was wonderful and we can't even begin to explain how much our family means to us. We managed to snap lots of photos so enjoy the show!

The Last Ride

2008-04-06T22:03:00.004-07:00

As much as we dislike the cold, snow can have its perks. Here are a few pictures of us and my parents, Bob and Jo-ann, enjoying the last day of snowmobiling for the winter. The kids went sledding on the hill down by the lake and were wasted by the end of the afternoon.

The Latest News

2008-02-06T20:27:00.000-08:00

We are still working on raising funds to head to Indonesia. Currently we are at 85% of the required monthly support and MAF Canada is working on travel arrangements for us. Due to lengthy paperwork processes, we are looking at departing in mid June. We are still required to raise the remaining support which is $900/month. If you are interested in joining our team just contact us via email at (juneaujourney@hotmail.com) or MAF (see attached link). We would love to hear from you. Here are some recent pictures of our family. As you can imagine, taking care of 4 kids is quite time consuming!

Fun with Fam!

2008-02-06T20:18:00.000-08:00

We are very blessed to have a wonderful family. Recently, Paul's brother Barry, Melissa and their 3 girls (Lauryn, Katelyn and Madilyn) drove 8 hours to spend a long weekend with us and to meet Grayson. Paul's parents (Mamere and Papere) were also able to come a visit and together we ate more food then we should have, slept less then we wanted but a good time was had by all.

The arrival of Grayson Paul

2008-01-13T18:40:00.000-08:00

Grayson Paul Juneau
Born January 2, 2008
8 lbs 7 oz

We are at home and enjoying our newest addition. He is a good eater and loves to snuggle. He is such a delight and we are glad to have him complete our family.

What's Happening in the New Year?

2007-12-28T07:46:00.000-08:00

We are still awaiting the arrival of our baby boy but he has decided he likes to be in 'hiding' for now. We continue to pray for God to provide our needs to head to the mission field in Indonesia with MAF. We are currently at 75% of the required 100% of monthly support needed. God bless each of you in the New Year.

Christmas Cuties!

2007-12-28T07:43:00.000-08:00

Our kids were so proud of the new outfits and had no problem posing for a Christmas photo.
We were able to spend time in Sundre with Paul's parents, then Gem with Paul's extended family, and finally Christmas with my family here at the farm.

Stephan's Birthday

2007-12-28T07:33:00.000-08:00

Our live wire, Stephan, turned 4 on December 4th and had a good birthday. We went watersliding in Medicine Hat over the weekend, then a 'Race Track' cake with 'Lightening McQueen' on it, as well as a couple of presents and a Swift Current Bronco Hockey game with Dad. Fun was had by all.

Where are we at?

2007-11-05T19:56:00.001-08:00

Our family continues to travel on deputation to raise financial support so that we can go overseas with Mission Aviation Fellowship. We are currently at 70% and at a bit of a stand still. We continue to pray and be patient as we know God has many lessons to teach us on this journey. We keep busy with travel, the kids, our church, me selling Epicure spices and Paul doing renovation projects.

Halloween

2007-11-05T19:48:00.000-08:00

Our family had a great day on Halloween. The weather was beautiful and the kids went hard all day. Elleah even made it through the whole day without a nap! Darryl was Leonardo, Stephan was Dash (the incredible), and Elleah was a kitty cat. Our next baby even made a debut as a pumpkin! We went to the penny carnival at school and then trick or treating with the Peterson girls. When we got home the kids displayed and shared all of their goodies with Grandma and Grandpa.

A Wonderful day with the extended Fam!

2007-11-05T19:40:00.000-08:00

We spent the day in Rosemary with Paul's Aunt Lorna, Uncle Arnie, Uncle Ray, Aunt Ruthie, Robin, Rachel and Owen. We all had a great time relaxing, eating, visiting, eating, talking, and did I mention eating?

Darryl's 1st day of school!

2007-11-05T19:31:00.001-08:00

Darryl is so excited to be in school and loves every minute of it. I only shed a few tears the first day he went on the bus. I am very proud to say that he is doing exceptionally well!

Chopping Wood

2007-11-05T19:20:00.000-08:00

We were in Sundre over Thanksgiving and it was a family event to chop wood in preparation for the winter. Mom and Dad have a wonderful wood stove that heats their house and we all enjoy it when we are there. The kids were huge helpers and received a toonie for their efforts! It was great quality time.

Long Time!

2007-10-29T21:50:00.000-07:00

It has been 7 months since our family has blogged and we finally regained access to our account after moving. Be sure to check in with us as we hope to update with new pictures and family information very soon.

Cute Kids!

2007-03-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

Here is Elleah in snow gear. She loves to be outside.

The boys are playing with their new race car set from Grandma and Grandpa.

My velcro strip on my lap having a bottle, and Elley Dawn looking super cute in the swing.

Lisa and Evan

2007-03-30T09:21:00.000-07:00

This is my only sibling Lisa. As you can see we aren't serious very often. My nephew Evan is seriously crashed after a long day of water sliding. Isn't he a cutie?

Birthday bash for many!

2007-03-30T09:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a bunch of the extended family having one big birthday bash to celebrate the multitude of birthdays that fall in the end of January and the beginning of Feb. I think Elleah enjoyed the cake the most. Hard to believe she is already 1!

Milestone Birthday!

2007-03-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here is some pictures from my 30th Bday party. Terris and Jen had us all over for a chocolate fondue and Dutch Blitz. It was a great time had by all!
Me and Holly enjoying the chocolate.

Holly and hubby Brad.

Jen and Terris.

Kim and Brad.

Birthday Cakes

2007-03-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

I finally got a chance to make a girl cake. Could it get anymore girly than this? Darryl requested a 'Lightening McQueen' cake and one was delivered as ordered!

Christmas Fun

2007-03-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots of the kids over the holidays. Elleah loved that singing dog, the boys expressing the fun side of their relationship and me and my Christmas princess Elleah.

2007-03-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

Here are the Juneau grand kids showing off their new pajamis. Mamere made all of the night gowns by hand and Papere made sure the boys know all about hockey.

2007-02-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been so sick this past week, along with my 3 kids you can see why my blog has not been updated for a while. Needless to say I have not had a chance to develop pictures for some time now. The answer to your question is....no we do not have a digital camera. In my perusings I found baby pictures of all the kids. Can you see who is who? Eye and clothing color may be a bit of a give away.

Winter Fun

2006-12-21T07:51:00.000-08:00

Here is a classic picture of the kids with Santa. The boys both were excited and gave him a big hug but as you can see Elleah wasn't too excited about being there!

Here is Stephan on his 3rd birthday! Stephan was extremely pleased to have his 'Wonder Pets' fly boat cake just as requested. We went watersliding in MooseJaw with Grandma and Grandpa to celebrate the day.

Here is Paul and I trying to look like we know what we are doing. We curl on Monday nights and have really been enjoying the break from the kids and the sport itself.

Prayer Card

2006-11-24T10:48:00.000-08:00

This is the official picture of our prayer card. Not the best but it sure is us!
We are keeping busy with work and phone calls as we begin our deputation with MAF. We have been very encouraged so far and look forward to sharing with more people in the future.

2006-11-22T13:57:00.000-08:00

Here we are on part of our summer vacation in BC. We walked through Nakusp, visited a vineyard, and took a couple of ferries. We also made it to the wild animal farm in Innisfail, AB. Good times.

Langdon Hall, Ontario Our 10th Wedding Anniversary

2006-11-22T12:21:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Mamere and Papere we were able to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary in style at Langdon Hall in Ontario. We got to pretend we were rich for one night and we enjoyed every minute!

Elleah Dawn in action...

2006-10-16T00:26:00.000-07:00

Here is Elleah first learning how to crawl. She was just seven months in this photo.

Elleah is playing the classic game of 'so big' during a messy mealtime.

Paul's 30th Birthday!

2006-10-15T23:31:00.000-07:00

This year was a milestone birthday for Paul. On August 4th he turned 30. We were in Sundre at his parents house and as requested Janice and I made Sushi. Paul's brother Luke made a special trip out to enjoy the meal.

The next day Paul, his dad Don, and his brothers Barry and Luke all went to a CFL game in Calgary.

When we got back home we had birthday cake with the kids and my mom and dad, Bob and Jo-ann.

Before kids...

2006-10-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

This is when we were dating. It was taken during the winter of 1995 at Earl's restaurant in Saskatoon.

This was taken while we attended Bethany Bible Institute in Hepburn, SK. We already knew we were going to get married!

Our wedding picture. It took place in High River, AB, on November 9th, 1996. It will be 10 years this year!

Here we are at our best friend's wedding in June of 1997.

This is the last picture of us before kids. This was taken on P.E.I at the end of our cycling trip across Canada. It was August of 2001, and I was already 4 months pregnant with our first child Darryl.

Kids

2006-10-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

We think that our kids are the cutest in the world! No one would dare argue differently!

Here is Paul's entire family in Prince Rupert this summer.

2006-10-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here is our most recent family picture. It was taken at the end of June /06 in front of our house in Herbert. The kids seem to have changed so much!

2006-10-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

Finally I have joined the blogging! What a great invention, especially to share pictures. As soon as I get busy scanning there will be more to look at. Later.