Short post this week. Not many pictures.
I always told you we have Super Heroes as missionaries in Indonesia. Finally I have proof. Elders Sutadiyono, Setijawan, Anderson and Martineau in Surabaya Barat.
We have enjoyed getting to know the Erikson's, a Danish family living in Surabaya for the past few months. They attend Barat Branch with us. We enjoyed taking them and their three beautiful daughters out to eat last week at a Javanese restaurant. Thomas was just asked to serve on the District Council.
Notice the fish. They filet it, cut it into strips, batter it, fry it ( of course) and serve it with a sweet and sour sauce. It is really delicious. Also nasi goreng, chicken sate with peanut sauce, beef short ribs, fried eggplant, green beans, noodles, and some wonderful unique Javanese drinks with ginger, rice water, etc.
This past Thursday was Chinese New Year. Welcome to the Year of the Goat. It is a national holiday. Everyone seems to get into it, but perhaps more especially the ethnic Chinese here. Some friends drove us to their mother's home in an old part of the town...translation...very old, dirty and disheveled, but full of history. If the walls could talk...
Most Chinese follow Confucian teachings of ancestor veneration, one of the 6 recognized religions in Indonesia. Many Chinese are also Christian...Catholic or Protestant, and yet still pray and give small token gits to the home shrines to their ancestors. Candles, incense and gifts of fruit and pastry here.
Very clever, right? Can you tell the animal symbol of the year? Food aplenty....grazing throughout the morning starting at 9 AM. We left at 1 PM and it was still going strong....snacks of oranges, nuts, pastry. A large box of KFC take-out, followed an hour later by Pizza Hut delivery. Then the Chinese food was served an hour later. Still digesting 3 days later.
An Indonesian oven...a steel box set over on open kerosene stove. Very Boy Scoutish. Temperature is controlled by adjusting the fuel valve. Makes for a very hot kitchen in an already very hot environment.
Some of our family hosts with their 2 month old baby.
Sister Santi with her completed cross stitch of the Last Supper. Kathy had her take out the yellow halo before we purchased it. She is very talented. The stitch work is all hand-drawn, and the workmanship is impeccable. All made from wool which smells like the sheep is still alive.
The events of the past week or two for this family is a remarkable story in itself. I think Kathy will relate it in her letter home. Christ's Atonement and mercy was very evident in his blessings for Santi and Feri and their family this week.
If you asked me my most hated cartoon show of all time I would tell you it was Pikachu. Sorry Peter. Imagine my horror when I discovered that this cartoon did not die a slow and agonizing death in the '90's, but rather is alive and well in Indonesia. We found this monstrous, large scale stage, etc in the center of this very up-scale mall at Ciputra World.
Kathy's duct tape fetish continues in our apartment, here protecting her thigh from perpetual ecchymoses as she rushes past corners in the apartment, and below to cover the outflow in the sink (it leaks out all over the floor). We will have a talk about Indonesian craftsmanship and construction acumen in another posting sometime. It'll be a short post.
Two of our lovely new Sisters serving in Surabaya...Sister Chapman from Near Perth Australia, and Sister Ingersoll from ? Utah ( I just realized I don't know for sure). I'm pretty sure they also like Pikachu, Peter.
Grandkids of the week...Cute little Hope who has learned the joys of Hide and Seek in the store. Wish I could play.
However today after church I taught the local kids to play "Kick the Can" in the parking lot. See, there is a reason to drink Diet Coke. They had a ball.
Our Central Point grandkids dressed up like Turks coming out of a bathhouse.
Love to all.
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