Tools of Language Learning

To learn a new language one has to have a lot of tools in their toolbox. At PILAT they suggested we think of our ourselves as Business Entrepreneurs. When you are starting a business (say a restaurant) you organize all that you need like a cook, waitresses, food, and a great location, etc. In the end though, the responsibility is yours. You will be the one there early in the morning and late at night and you will be the one responsible for the bills. Learning a new language is similar in many ways they told us. There might be a language school, language helpers, books to learn from, projects to do, etc but in the end the responsibility to learn that new language is ours.

To really have a ministry and serve one must learn the heart language of the people. That is why this time around, although I have spent time in Indonesia before and do know some of the language I will be spending the first several months at a language school. The school is in Indonesia but on a different island from the hospital. This way I can focus first on the language and not be distracted by the needs at the hospital.

While I was at PILAT they gave us several tools we can use to learn our new language. Here are just a few...

One of the first tools we used was a simple mirror. It allows you to see the movements your mouth is making when you are making different sounds. There are lots of sounds in the different languages of the world that are not in English. If you cannot see what your mouth is doing you cannot change what you normally do. You can listen to us do some of those drills in my last blog post. Which brings me to the next tool....

The next item that will get a lot of use will be a digital recorder. With it you can record native language speakers. Those can then be memorized when the language helper is not available (homework!). Also the student can record herself saying the same thing and hear the difference. So how do you start? That notebook at the top is filled with exercises and activities to do. Here is one example...

You start with four places drawn on a piece of paper. In our case we did home, church, school, and post office. Then you sit with your language helper and point to each place. They tell you the name in their language. You do this again and again until you are starting to become familiar with the words. Then the teacher says the name and the student points to the right place. Then the you go back the beginning with the student pointing and the teacher saying the name but this time the student repeats the name after the teacher. Then you learn the word "you" and move onto the next step...

You draw four modes of transportation on separate pieces of paper and learn those in the same way you learned the places. Then you add the modes of transportation to the places and learn the phrase "you went to ?? on ??" for all the different places and forms of transportation. In this picture for example "you went to church on a bicycle." For each stage you learn it first by having the student point and the teacher says it and then then the teacher says it and the students points and then you do the steps all over again with the student repeating the word after the teacher. Confused yet? It was a bit at the beginning but once we got the rhythm down it was easier than we expected. The final step was to draw pictures for and learn the pronouns "he, she, we and they" in the the new language.

Then you were able to make more phrases like in this picture "she went to church on the bicycle" in the same manner. With mixing just four places, four modes of transportation, and four pronouns you can say a lot! The teacher can also ask questions like who went to the church, etc. In the end, I think we were all amazed at how much you actually learn just by hearing and how quickly your mind actually comprehends things! It made language learning seem a lot less scary and actually exciting, although I know it will still be a lot of work.

Did I hear that right?

Greetings from 7,200 feet above sea level! It has been a busy almost two weeks here at Mission Training International (MTI) doing Program In Language Acquisition Techniques (PILAT). The view out the window of my room is beautiful but the air here is definitely thinner and drier!

View from my window

Our days are full and filled with funny sounds and laughter. We spend at least an hour a day (and many days two hours) practicing phonetic drills. Now for those that haven't done phonetics, especially those sounds outside the 44 sounds that are in the English language, this is a unique adventure in getting your tongue, lips etc to do things they don't normally do. You can take a listen to one of our drills here:

PILAT Phonetics Drill by calistay


We are also learning and practicing using several different tools such as Language Acquisition Projects (LAPs), GLUEs, and Series to study a new language. In my case that language is French. It is not the language I will use in Indonesia but this process gives us a chance to try out the tools. We have had a fabulous volunteer language helper named Trudie, to help us with this process. It is amazing how fast comprehension actually is although speech is definitely much farther behind. It is great reminder that when we are kids we listen to language for a year or so before we ever try to speak.

Using a GLUE to learn how to welcome someone to our house in French

Using a LAP to learn places, pronouns, and transportation

More next week on this process!

Delays, or are they?

If you have been traveling this journey with me for long, you know there have been several hoped for departure dates along the way. Recently, there have been several who have asked me if I am struggling with how long it is taking to get to Indonesia. The answer to that question is complicated!

Yes, of course there is a piece of me that wants to be there right now. This is something I have felt called to, been dreaming about and planning for a long time now. That said, there is also something special about this time of waiting and preparing. It is special to know that God is using this time in my life to refine me and prepare me.

Is spending all this time reading books, writing reports, attending training, and being 100% supported before I can depart, necessary? At the beginning even I had my doubts but now I am completely convinced that the program that WorldVenture has designed for me is necessary. It is simple, I want to be the best I can be and this program helps with that. I want to be able to assimilate into the Indonesian culture at a deeper level, I do not want language to be a barrier, and I don't want to have to worry about having adequate funding to do the ministry God has called me to.

After spending several years working and going to graduate school this chance to rest and spend time with the people I love is a blessing. It has also allowed to be spend time focusing on improving my health. So while my heart's desire is to return to Indonesia as soon as possible, I know the Lord has plans for this time and that I can be content that He knows the best time for departure.

Living at "Home"

There is nothing quite like moving back in with your parents after 15 years on your own! I have to admit it has taken a bit of adjustment. Sometimes it is the little things, like traveling in the back seat of the car as they drive or having my mom being in charge of the kitchen again. Others are taking a bit more effort, like adjusting from Calista back to Callie and losing some of my independence.

When it was only going to be a few months it didn’t feel like it would be a big deal. Then when I found out it was going to be closer to nine months, it was a bit overwhelming. The more I have thought about it though, the more it has made sense. Financially it is a blessing since I am no longer working. It is also one of the many transitions I will have to go through in the coming months. Somehow I think having to make this transition first will ease those to come.

It also providing me with the opportunity to spend time with one of my sending and supporting churches - First Baptist in Hood River. The chance to spend time amongst this community is a blessing!

It also reminds me that the awkwardness of this transition and the ones to come just represent a desire for home that this world will never fulfill. Heaven is my home! 

The Road Less Traveled

Do you have those moments when you look up at the sky and see a plane passing overhead, wonder where it is going, and want to be on it, not really caring where it takes you. Or maybe you catch yourself looking through the pages of your passport. Seeing the stamps and remembering the places and the people. Or looking at the empty passport pages and wondering what stamps they will be filled with someday.

For those that don't know me well I am a person who craves home and normal. Once upon a time I had a plan for my life and it was perfect right down to the home with white picket fence, loving husband and kids. When I moved recently I found the journals I had written in from college. I read through those entries once again where I struggled with going to Indonesia that first time in the summer of 2000. I sensed that God was calling me to an adventure but I was worried and scared. It was scary to consider going so far from home but there was also a sense that God might be calling me to a life that was different from the normal and that was even more frightening.

As each step of this journey and adventure has unfolded there have been similar feelings. I wonder if when I am old I will regret not having a normal life with stable friends. I wonder if spreading my wings, pursuing my dreams, and once again leaving for the road less traveled is for the best.

I recently read the book Love at the Speed of Email by Lisa McKay. In the book she tells the story of her and her husband-to-be's journey. They were both world travelers (still are) and had many of the same questions and thoughts. There were several parts of the book that struck a chord with me but then I came across this quote, "What if with God there is enough adventure at home and enough home in adventure?" It helped me realize that the the adventure I crave and the home I desire is not found in places but in God, and as long as I am following Him I will always have a home.

Learning to COPE

How does one learn to cope with a new culture and language and not only survive but thrive? Can one learn to effectively minister in this new environment. Why do missionaries leave the field early and how do we prevent it from happening?

These are just some of the topics we covered at Cultural Orientation for Personal Effectiveness (COPE). This training was two weeks long and hosted by Wycliffe Canada at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. The training focused on several different areas including Spiritual, Personal, Language, Interpersonal, and Cultural. Many of the reasons missionaries leave the field are because of problems in these aspects such as issues adjusting to culture, learning the language, or interpersonal conflict. These different aspects were taught through classroom instruction, discussion groups, presentations, group activities and an assignment in Chinatown in Vancouver.
 
But as they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a few pictures...

Classroom Time

 

During our trip to Chinatown in Vancouver - I loved the juxtaposition of the Chinese temple in the foreground and the big building of Vancouver in the background.

Our small group's skit on a cultural taboo (showing anger)

Another group's skit on a cultural awkward moment (guys holding hands)

One-on-one time with leaders

Moving

Wow it has been a quite awhile since I updated my blog! As an introvert my response to lots of changes and challenges is to withdraw and recover. That is what I have been doing for the past couple of weeks. Now however it is time to peek back out of my shell. So hi again world :) What have you been doing the last couple of weeks?

So time for a quick catch-up... I finished and traveled home to Everett from Cultural Adaptation Training on June 9th. Then I spent a week sorting, packing, and preparing to move to Oregon to live with my parents until my departure for Indonesia. The big move happened Father's Day weekend. If you have never tried to sort through a 1200 square foot house and get rid most of it I don't suggest you do it alone. Thankfully I had a great moving team! My parents were able to come up to help and my two of my sisters who live in Seattle also spent most of Saturday helping with the heavy lifting.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend and of my great crew!

Sisters Kara and Laura packing the U-haul

The sorting area - there is an actually a method to our madness

Mom climbing the walls to remove pictures

Sisters hard at work

Settled in at my parent's house in Hood River, Oregon

It was a blessing to set-up my own bed at my parent's house and get settled! It is home for now with my cat Missy, Eduardo the wooden duck (a house-warming gift from my sisters five years ago when I first moved to Everett) and my parents.

Cultural Adjustment and Transition

"I have never used electricity. So I imagine that it is very hard for me to do that." Eating a package of butter. Learning how to throw trash in a garbage can instead of out the window. Eating a doughnut for the first time. Trying to figure out how Santa Claus is connected with the birth of Jesus.

These are just a few of the moments shown on the YouTube clip below. They were taken from the documentary God Grew Tired of Us, which chronicles the adjustment of several of the Lost Boys of Sudan to life in the United States. They make some very interesting and honest observations about life and people here in the US. 

So what does it feel like to adjust to a new culture? I am pretty sure sometime in your life you have made a big change. Maybe it was graduating from high school and going to college or moving from one place to another. During this change you went through a transition and got a small glimpse of what it is like to adjust to a new culture. You went from a place you knew to place you didn't and place where you were known to a place you weren't. Something as simple as making friends or figuring out how to buy food all of a sudden was different.

How to make this transition, adjust and thrive in a new culture is just one of the topics we have been learning about here at Cultural Orientation for Personal Effectiveness (COPE). I have spent the last two weeks at COPE, which is being held at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia Canada. Today is our final day of training. I will share a lot more in the coming weeks about topics we have learned about here and tell you more about this experience.

Send-Off Celebration

These are a few pictures from the Send-Off Celebration that I had with co-workers from the Family Maternity Center at Providence Regional Medical Center on Saturday night. It was such a wonderful time with friends. Lots of hugs and encouraging words! Like all goodbyes though it was bittersweet. There is excitement about the next adventure but sadness at saying goodbye to friends. Thank you for five great years and all that you have taught me! I will miss you and you all have a standing invitation to come visit me in Indonesia. 

Books, Books, and More Books

It is done! In previous blog posts, including this one, I have talked about the many departure requirements I have to complete before I can leave. One of the big tasks to help better prepare me, was reading lots of books and writing reports on them. My final set of books were five books that focused on the history, culture, and religions of Indonesia. The books chosen were informative and interesting and helped me to learn more about the country and people where I will be serving. With this report written I have finished all the required readings - 12 books total. This picture gives you an idea of what I have been working on. My Kindle was very handy as I was able to download several of the books on it, making it easier to carry them around and giving me the ability to bring them with me to Indonesia.

One of the books I think I learned the most from was History of Modern Indonesia by Adrian Vickers.

Here are a few of things I learned:

• Indonesian independence was only declared after young people kidnapped reform leaders and forced them to declare independence shortly after the end of World War II on August 17th, 1945. For the next four years they fought for independence from the Dutch. Indonesia has only been an independent country since December 1949. 
• For the next 50 years several presidents, each with their own strengths and faults, came to power. The first direct and democratic election for president happened in 2004. I was there at the time but had very little idea of how significant the election was.  
• Islam came to Indonesia peacefully through trade from India in the 12th Century. Since that time it has been adapted and combined with Animism, Hinduism and other ethnic religions throughout different parts of Indonesia. Today Indonesia is considered the most-populated Muslim country in the world.   
• Using the name Indonesia for the 17,000 plus islands did not become popular until the 1920s. Even then it really didn't catch on until the Japanese invaded during World War II and brought with them a strong nationalistic attitude and spirit that showed Indonesians how a country of many different islands could be one.
• In 1955 Indonesia hosted the Asia-Africa Conference where the term "Third-World" came from. It originally defined countries who did not belong to the First (US dominated) or the Second (Communist) sides of the Cold War. Today, it traditionally stands for those countries that are underdeveloped. 
• The 1990s were a time of turmoil and crisis economically and socially. Religious tensions between Christians and Muslims led to the killing of many people in Ambon and Sulawesi. The East Timor vote for independence from Indonesia led to the burning and killing in several cities by the Indonesian Army. Ethnic tension in Kalimantan (area around the hospital) led to head-hunting and killing between the Dyak and Madura people. 
• Due to its location on the "Ring of Fire" Indonesia has many active volcanoes and earthquake areas. One of the most infamous was on December 26th, 2004 when an earthquake and tsunami in the Indian ocean just off the coast of Aceh led the death of about 170,000 Indonesians and left an additional 500,000 homeless. 

The other book in this group that I found fascinating and learned a lot from was not one specifically about Indonesia but about worldviews. The book Honor and Shame was written by Roland Muller. 

The book traces the three primary worldviews back to Adam and Eve's sin in Genesis 3. He describes their three responses. 

• When man broke God's law, he was in a position of guilt.
• When man broke God's relationship, he was in a position of shame
•  When man broke God's trust, he was in a position of fear.

Today's cultures and worldviews are a mixture of all three but each culture usually has a predominant characteristic. I think the part that I found most fascinating was I could see the author describing many of the characteristics of each of the different people groups I will work with in Indonesia. The local people, the Dyaks, are very much a fear/power culture. The Chinese and the Muslims are both shame/honor cultures. And I am of course from a guilt/innocence culture which can make bridging the cultures and worldviews difficult. There are so many mistakes I have made in the past! The exciting thing about the book is that the author then showed how the Bible had stories and examples from each of the worldviews to help build a bridge into that culture. Salvation is all about saving us from God's judgement, restoring our relationship with God, and putting power back in the hands of God. God offers forgiveness of sins, freedom from fear and lifting from shame.

Understanding a culture requires digging through the puzzle that makes it up. I have spent the last few weeks doing just that.  The more and more I read of the history the more I am convinced that Indonesia is just starting to make its mark on the world and that is an exciting time to be part of their future. Modern communications like cell phones and the internet now connect many parts of Indonesia are for the first time. This gives the people the opportunity to interact and impact their own country. Natural disasters throughout the country are also uniting different people groups to care for each other and reach the unreached. 

National Day of Prayer

WorldVenture home office staff meeting to pray this morning

Today around the country people are meeting under flag poles, in front of offices and schools, and in small groups to spend some special time in prayer. This day has been designated as the National Day of Prayer, so people are meeting to pray for the people and needs of this world. As an organization with over 500 missionaries serving in over 60 countries WorldVenture has many prayer needs and praise reports each month. You can read the ones for March/April here. Of if you are interested in receiving text messages when there are urgent prayer requests ( i.e. car accidents, political unrest, evacuation of missionary families, severe illness, etc.) from WorldVenture you can sign-up here. 

One of my goals is to soon have a prayer team organized that gets regular updates from me as well urgent requests via email. If you are interested in signing-up for that and haven't already you can email me at the address on the left hand side of this blog.

As you meet today and might be led to pray for me here are a few ideas:

Praise:
1. Safe trip back from Oregon after my car broke down on the way back to Everett. Thankfully the car broke down shortly after I left Hood River allowing me to return there for repairs instead of getting stuck in Seattle traffic from the May Day demonstrations.
2. Receiving the MedSend grant that will help me pay back my educations loans while I serve.
3. Am officially 53% supported and with verbals commitments for over 55%.

Prayer:
1. Raising the remaining support I need by the end of July so I can depart in August in time to start language school.
2. That plans will come together, details will go smoothly, and travel will go well as I move from Everett to Hood River and attend trainings in Canada and Colorado in the coming months.  

MedSend

Just a few weeks ago I was blessed to learn I had been awarded a MedSend Grant. This puts me one step closer toward leaving for Indonesia.

First, let me tell you a bit about MedSend. They were founded 20 years ago by a group of mission organizations and several individuals (many doctors and medical missionaries themselves) to address the decreasing number of medical missionaries. First they spent time trying to figure out why there were fewer doctors and nurses going to the mission field. They realized that many were graduating from school with large debts from their many years of school. They realized that while these young doctors and nurses were being required to pay back those debts first and by the time they had paid off the debts there were settled in the United States. The founders realized that many more would be able to go if there were an organization that would make the payments on those education loans after they graduated and while they were serving and so MedSend was founded.

Over the last 20 years MedSend has supported medical and veterinarian missionaries in over 80 countries around the world and at several clinics here in the United States. They do this by simply paying the monthly amount due on the educational loans of the grant recipients. This means having to raise less support and to leave more quickly for their area of service. For many years MedSend had more money than they had grant recipients. In the last five years however that trend has been reversed and they now have more applicants than funds.

MedSend will be helping to make the payments on my loans from grad school, which is a huge blessing and allows me to raise less support, which hopefully means I can leave sooner. A workshop led by one of their founders, Dan Fountain, was the reason I went to Florida two weeks ago. You can read more about that workshop and see pictures here on my other blog.

If you would like more information about MedSend you can click here to view their web page or in celebration of their 20th Birthday they put together this video.

As MedSend turns 20, we take a look back at the ways God has blessed this ministry with inspired leaders, faithful donors and committed grant recipients. We also reflect on the remarkable ways God is using MedSend grant recipients to bring transformative change in our world today.

(For those reading this in your email or RSS feeders you might need to click on the link to the blog to view the video.)

Celebrating a Milestone

I'm turning you over to God, our marvelous God whose gracious Word can make you into what He wants you to be and give you everything you could possibly need in this community of holy friends. Acts 20:32

This was the verse a friend sent me in response to my email newsletter last Friday asking for prayer about raising the support I need so I can leave for Indonesia this summer. It is always so encouraging to hear from friends who are praying!

God is answering those prayers already and I have reached a major milestone in my support-raising. I am officially 50% supported!

It is so encouraging to see the work the Lord is doing! I am also enjoying and learning a lot this week in Florida at a Health, Agriculture, Culture, and Community Workshop. I am surrounded by 17 people who have dedicated their life to serving people around the world. I will share more about this workshop next week on my other blog. Please pray for safe travel home to Washington tomorrow!

A Lofty Goal

I finished working at Providence last weekend and am changing my focus to full-time partnership development and training. I am so excited to be getting closer to leaving for Indonesia! So here is an idea of what the next few months will hold and a lofty goal for you.

For several reasons my goal is to leave for Indonesia this summer. For example, it works best with the language school schedule, which will be my first priority upon arriving in Indonesia.  I have been spending a lot of time in the last several days praying and contemplating about this goal of leaving for Indonesia this summer and I keep coming back to this verse:

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16

I am asking that you pray with me and for my ministry. That you pray boldly and confidently. I know God has great things planned and I can't wait to share with you what He is doing.

To reach this goal in the next three months, I need to raise the rest of my needed monthly support and outgoing expenses. I currently have commitments for 49% of the $3,500 I need for my monthly support. Thank you so much to those who have already made commitments and are giving faithfully! That means I need commitments for just $1,785/month. To break that down even further that is:

18 people to give $100/month

or 

36 people to give $50/month

or even 

51 people to give $35/month

I need your help to connect with those interested in helping save the lives of the people of Indonesia through medical care and/or with those passionate about helping spreading the gospel to the unreached of Indonesia. Would you be willing to host a small group (maybe from your church or work) at your house that would be willing to meet with me to hear my story and about my ministry? This could be over dinner or dessert or whatever time/date works best for you and your group. I will be spending the next 4-6 weeks in the Everett area and then moving back to live with my parents in Hood River, Oregon.

While at times this feels like a lofty goal, especially considering how long it has taken me to get this far but I know this is something God can do. I have confidence that He has a plan and the timing all worked out so I am setting this lofty goal in anticipation of seeing God do some amazing things. 

If you have any questions or want more information you can check out the links at the top of the blog with information on "Partnership" and "Frequently Asked Questions" or you can send me an email. 

Please also be praying as I leave this Sunday for a week in Florida to attend a Health, Agriculture, Culture and Community Workshop.

A Big Transition

I am going to miss friends like these at work!

For the past five years I have been blessed to work as a nurse at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett in their Family Maternity Center. Due to a number of factors, I feel the Lord is leading me to take the next step and quit my job. My final night at Providence will be this Saturday. Returning to serve in Indonesia, has always been part of the plan but that doesn't make saying goodbye any easier.

When I returned from Indonesia back in November 2006 I knew for sure I wanted to make the transition from practicing pediatrics to obstetrics here in the US. So I sought the council of some wise friends and one of them, an OB nurse herself, told me to go to a big hospital, one where I would get lots of experience and see just about every complication possible. This she said, would better prepare me for whatever and wherever the future led.

So I searched for jobs in the Pacific Northwest and found an orientation program starting at the Providence Hospital in Everett. The hospital in my hometown was a Providence hospital and I knew and respected their values. I applied but didn't hear anything for several weeks. Then when I was at WorldVenture's Renewal Conference in late January of 2007 I got a call from the manager. I told her I was in Colorado for the week, so we did a phone interview. The next day I got a call saying she had checked my references and I was hired. The job was starting in early March, so I needed to figure out all the details including moving to Everett quickly, but the Lord opened the doors and with the help of my family (best moving crew around!) I found a place and got settled.

Those first days were a huge adjustment back to American medicine routines including computerized charting, technology and transitioning to a new specialty. I had done OB nursing in Indonesia but my experiences there were obviously very different from the US.

Thankfully, I was warmly welcomed and had a fabulous preceptor, Cid. When I finished my orientation period she gave me a bouquet filled with the things we used on a daily basis like amniohooks, fetal scalp electrodes and of course some beautiful flowers. Over the next five years I was blessed to get to know a fabulous group of 200+ staff, some I hope will remain friends for life, like Becky Epperson and several others. Together we survived the ups and downs of being short-staffed, then over-staffed and now short-staffed again. We struggled together to save the lives of critically-ill patients and found joy in the simple normal births. They cheered me on, quizzed me, and proof-read papers as I went to graduate school. They supported me on the days when I struggled with my health. 

I learned so much during my time there and I am thankful for all that we shared. I will take what I have learned there and the best of those moments with me. Now however it is time for one of the many transitions that will happen in the coming days. Time to leave a group where I am known and comfortable for places that while not new are different. It is time to say goodbye and I have to admit that is hard. So while I am excited about the future I am also grieving the loss of the relationships and comfort of the place I am leaving. 

The plan right now is to stay here in the Everett area for the next 4-6 weeks and then move to Oregon to live with my parents. During my remaining time here in Everett I will be attending a week-long training in Florida and then focusing full-time on partnership development and support-raising. One of the support raising events will be a Mary Kay Giving is Beautiful party next Tuesday, April 10th. 40% of all profits will go toward my outgoing expenses to go to Indonesia. If you didn't get an invite and want to come just send me an email. Can't come but still want to buy for a good cause, just click over to www.marykay.com/angeladebell and put my name in the notes section of your order. 

My Battle with Lyme Disease

Many of you know that I have had several struggles with my health in recent years, including battling Chronic Lyme Disease. For those that don't know I was bit in December 2003 (9 months into a 2 year planned stay in Indonesia) and became sick in January of 2004.

Initially we didn't know what was causing me to become sick as the symptoms were vague including headache, fever, swollen lymph nodes, sore and achy muscles/joints. We checked for all the common tropical bugs including malaria and they were negative. Because one of my symptoms was a bad sinus-like headache and we hadn't figured out it was all related to the bite from several weeks ago I was treated with antibiotics for a sinus infection. This caused what was most likely Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction, which is when the antibiotics kill off so much bacteria quickly, your body is overwhelmed by the toxins released by the dying bacteria. This initially made me worse, causing my red blood cell count and platelet count to drop and me to get sicker including fainting while working at the hospital (not something I recommend!). Again tests for all the "normal" bugs were negative so I took some time off to recover, but I didn't get better as I and everyone involved assumed I would. Then I developed a classic bull's eye rash and when I showed it to the American doc working at the hospital he was able to tell me I was most likely sick with a rickettsial infection (Lyme's family). So we switched to a different antibiotic and while I wasn't as sick as I was initially I continued to have fevers and other symptoms. So over the next month I traveled out to Malaysia where they removed and tested a very swollen lymph node from the back of my right leg (the original bite had been behind my right knee) but were still unable to make a specific diagnosis. So it was onto to Singapore where I had my initial positive Lyme disease titer but we overlooked it because it was borderline and because confirmation would have required follow-up testing.

Finally in May I headed back to the US for some rest and more medical testing. Imagine showing up in several doctor's office and reporting that you had recently been living in the jungles of Indonesia and now were sick. They pulled out the maps and books (literally) and ran pretty much every test they could think of and they were all negative. So they decided to treat for the most common culprits including malaria, just in case. After a month I was feeling better so I headed back to Indonesia to finish my two-year term. While I never felt back to my 100% I was well enough to work for the most part as long as I took regular times to rest. As you can imagine this was a time of physical, emotional, and spiritual struggle.

Over the next several years as I completed my term in Indonesia and then spent a year in the US working and served in Indonesia again for 6 months I settled into a chronic pattern. While I was not at 100%, I was OK except for a pattern of flares following stressful times or travel and then better after a time of resting. I continued to have what I considered symptoms of an infection including fevers, sore throats, and swollen lymph nodes as well as chronic joint and muscle pain. No doctor could figure it out though and most said I probably had chronic fatigue after battling whatever I had been initially sick with. This didn't ring true for me but I slowly learned to manage my own health including times for rest and trying to prevent flares. Then in the spring of 2007 I moved to Everett and began working with a new doctor. I figured she would be like the rest but she took one look at my history and asked me if anyone had ever tested me for Lyme Disease. Together we searched the records and found the test from Singapore. She then asked me if I had ever heard of Chronic Lyme Disease. She just happened to be from Connecticut, where Lyme was originally found and named. Through her I connected with a team experienced in treating Lyme Disease who did more testing and confirmed the diagnosis.

Over the next three years I was treated with long-term high-dose antibiotics and supportive therapy. Initially I felt worse but slowly and surely there was improvement. I was blessed with an amazing team including my doctors (including a naturopath) and supportive family and friends, who even went as far as to give me shots and IV treatments at home. Finally in the summer of 2010 after several months without a flare I was declared to be in remission and able to stop treatment. 

Imagine 4 shots of this a week for 6 months!

Sometimes it resulted in messes like these

Unfortunately, almost exactly a year later the symptoms started again reoccurring in increasing frequency and severity, so in November of 2011 I went back on antibiotics. Symptoms have again decreased and it has been several months since I had a bad flare, so as of Wednesday we have stopped the antibiotics. While this will never be a bug that I will most likely completely beat (although we can pray it does) my docs agree that living in Indonesia is OK as long as I have access to the medications I need and plan regular periods of rest into my schedule. Thankfully the antibiotics are easily accessible in just about every country in the world.

The other issue that I have dealt with both times is Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (auto-immune disease of the thyroid - basically your immune systems attacks your own thyroid). Over the past several months I have gone gluten-free and that combined with treating the Lyme Disease has decreased the antibody levels from greater than 500 to less than 20, which is normal! Hopefully with a little time to heal, my thyroid will resume producing its normal hormones on its own and I won't have to take medication daily.

Please continue to pray that the Lyme Disease will stay in remission and I will stay as healthy as possible. There is obviously a lot of stress in preparing and moving to another country, so please pray I will take the time I need to rest to help keep myself healthy. Pray also for the emotional and spiritual struggles that accompany a journey like this. It is easy to become discourage, when my body doesn't keep up with my hopes and plans. It is also tempting to be frustrated with God at times, although time and again I have seen His faithfulness and provision. If you want more information about Lyme Disease you can check out ILADS or to watch a movie/expose just go to Hulu and search for Under Our Skin.

Ex Niliho

During WorldVenture's Renewal Conference the beginning of February, we had the opportunity to hear from Micah Bournes. Micah is a graduate of Moody Bible College but he is not a pastor. Some might call what Micah does poetry but really it is much more than that. His web page describes it as blending and bending spoken word poetry, rhythm & blues, and funk. He tackles head-on issues including God and justice in a unique fashion. He recently released a new spoken word album called "A Man Without a Name" which we heard from him during the conference. One of my favorites that he did during the conference was "Ex Nihilo" which Micah explained in his introduction is a theological term that means, "out of nothing" and refers to the Creation story in Genesis. It is trying to explain that God created the world out of nothing, nothing that is but words.  

Imagine nothing.

Not darkness since darkness is something.

Imagine no darkness.

Nothing.

No thing to look at.

No eyes to look with.

Even without eyes there was nothing to miss.

Emptiness.

Wrong. No space to be empty.

Imagine no emptiness.

Imagine no imagination.

Now imagine creation;

Materialized speech rising from the lips of He who preexists.

In the beginning God created.

With words.

Imagine the language.

Imagine the verbs.

Imagine the adjectives employed to modify earth.

Oh that ears could have heard to those majestic sentences.  

Listen as The Infinite articulates the landscapes which leave us speechless.

Speak LORD speak!

Let there be...

Light! Life! Earth! Sea!

Speak LORD speak!

Let there be…For our world is

Poetry. 

Some of my other favorites were "I Am Not The Future" and "Normal Hair." You can check out his new album on iTunes, Amazon, etc. You can also listen to several of his works on YouTube, like this one...

(Once again for those reading this in your email or on an RSS reader you might need to click on "read more" to make the video visible)

Lent

"First, listen to your heart. It's there that Jesus speaks most intimately to you. Praying is first and foremost listening to Jesus, who dwells in the very depths of your heart. He doesn't shout. He doesn't thrust himself upon you. His voice is an unassuming voice, very nearly a whisper, the voice of a gentle lover. Whatever you do with your life, go on listening to the voice of Jesus in your heart. This listening must be an active and very attentive listening, for in our restless and noisy world God's so loving voice is easily drowned out. You need to set aside some time every day for this active listening to God, if only for ten minutes. Ten minutes each day for Jesus alone can bring a radical change in your life."

That is from the book I am reading for Lent, Show Me the Way by Henri Nouwen. I realize some of you may not be familiar with Lent. I grew up attending a Baptist church and we didn't celebrate Lent or follow the church calendar. In recent years though, I have come recognize the special emphasis occasions like Lent and Advent place on "holidays" like Christmas and Easter. They help me focus on the true meaning and prepare my heart during these special seasons. Lent is the 40 days before Easter and starts on Ash Wednesday, which this year was last Wednesday, February 22nd. There are a number of resources, devotionals, or Bible reading plans available (youversion.com has a popular and free one) that I would encourage you to check out.

"You'll find it isn't easy to to be still for ten minutes at a time. You'll discover straightaway that many other voices, voices that are very noisy and distracting, voices which do not come from God, demand your attention. But if you stick to your daily prayer time, then slowly but surely you'll come to hear the gentle voice of love and will long more and more listen to it."

A Time of Renewal

Praying Together

The first week of February I was blessed to be able to attend the annual Renewal Conference held by WorldVenture. This is time for missionaries currently back in the US and home office staff to come together. It is held at a hotel in the Denver area, which of course this time of year means winter weather. Thankfully my arrival went smoothly and in fact the first couple of days were beautiful and perfect for a quick walk around the building during breaks. The end of the week though we started to hear about the incoming blizzard arriving the day I had planned to leave. Thankfully, my flight was cancelled fairly early on and I was able to rebook for the following day without a problem.

So Renewal Conference starts with two days of prayer. I have mentioned before that this emphasis on prayer is one of the integral reasons I have chosen to serve with WorldVenture. For those that haven't participated in something like that, it might sound pretty boring. It's not! The time is completely open-ended but led by a man with a lot of experience doing this. Everyone is welcome to share favorite Bible verses, start a song that we can join in with, or pray aloud. As themes appear (ex. trusting in the Lord) the leader suggests we focus on that topic for awhile. It is amazing as the Lord softens your heart (lots of tears from lots of people that first day), the joy there is in praising Him continually for hours, and the prayers for encouragement right where you needed it.

For me there were two very special moments that occurred during the prayer summit. At one point it was recognized that there were two different groups in the room, one who had many years of experience serving as missionaries and others who were just starting out. So those less than 40 years old were asked to stand in the middle of the room and those above 40 stood around us and laid their hands on us and prayer aloud. Because they have walked this path before us their prayers were incredibly powerful and filled with wisdom of the joys and trials we have and will experience. The second special moment was chance to pray with Paul and Becky Geary, who lead the team of missionaries serving at Bethesda Hospital. We were able to bring very specific requests concerning the ministries and people of the hospital and nursing school to the Lord. Paul leaves this week to spend a couple of weeks in Indonesia and there are several issues currently happening. They plan to return this summer to serve at Bethesda with their youngest son, Karl, leaving three older kids here in the US.

Other special moments were the chance to spend some time with several of the "units" that were appointed at the same time. We went through interviews and two weeks of training together, so have become good friends. It is encouraging to spend time together as we walk similar journeys. One of the families has already left for Africa and we were blessed to send one off during the conference. She will be doing Bible translation in Asia. Another one hopes to leave the end of this month for Cambodia. Hopefully in the future the three of us, all single women and serving in Asia, will be able to enjoy some fellowship together on the other side of the world.

Following the days of prayer, we spent two days being updated on what is happening around the world, updates on missions, and what is happening at the home office in Colorado. The final morning was spent sharing testimonies, including several from the new Journey Corps program participants and Communion.

One of those sharing that final morning said, it was like a week spent with my peers, which really felt true to me as well. When one serves as a missionary you find yourself living between two cultures, in a role that many are not familiar with, and frequently speaking a language that many don't know. During this week it was not unusual to hear people praying and worshiping the Lord in many different languages and very knowledgeably discussing the best airports around the world. One evening we also had several of the experienced single women missionaries and several of us who are starting out sit together for dinner and had the chance to listen to their stories and wisdom. From the practical of how to politely refuse a marriage proposal from a national (telling them your father doesn't need goats, chickens or whatever and refusing to cook their favorite foods seem to have been favorites) to how to deal with those days when it is hard to be single and the importance of creating a home for yourself no matter where you are. Hearing their experiences was a blessing and incredibly valuable.     

It was a week full of tears and laughter and sometimes laughing until I cried. I returned feeling refreshed and renewed in this journey the Lord has me on.

Breakfast with several friends from my appointee group

An evening to remember

So what happens when you combine a dozen obstetric nurses and some good food... you get a lot of stories and laughter. Now imagine that you combine that with something they can get passionate about like decreasing maternal/neonatal mortality and stories from Indonesia. Add that all together and you get an evening to remember.

A co-worker (thanks Anitra!) hosted an evening for me share to share with other co-workers about Indonesia, my plans and needs. It was so much fun to share about this part of my life with my friends! I wish I had thought to get some pictures but in the busyness of the night I just forgot.

Now I am sitting at SeaTac airport waiting for my flight to Colorado. I will spending the next five days at WorldVenture's Renewal Conference. This is a chance for all their missionaries currently in the US and the home office staff to get together. We spend the first two days in prayer. Prayer for the workers and work around the world. The remaining two and half days are filled with updates from around the world and what is happening at the home office as well as some workshops. It is an exciting time to see what God is doing around the world and be with friends. I will have the chance to connect with teammates from Indonesia and some of the group who were appointed at the same time. It is so encouraging to connect with those who are on similar journeys. Please pray for safe travel - it is winter in Colorado but thankfully no major snowstorms are predicted. 

Snow Days

I know that there are going to be those of you that get a good laugh at this post (especially those of you reading this in Colorado, Chicago, and back East) because yep I am posting about snow. You see snow, especially snow that lasts more than a day or so, is not the norm here in the Puget Sound. Need examples of how people in the Puget Sound respond to winter weather... just look up Seattle winter driving on YouTube :)

That said I happen to love the snow. Especially when I can stay all snuggled up at home and just enjoy it. It started snowing here in Everett last weekend. Just a few inches but because it was cold it didn't melt away (the usual for Puget Sound snow). I was working all weekend so that meant some dicey commutes to and from work, but thanks to good snow tires and and all-wheel drive Subaru I had no big problems. I finished work on Tuesday morning and when I woke up on Tuesday afternoon we had gotten hit by a convergence zone and had about 5 inches total. Still cold so it stuck around. Today (Thursday) it was suppose to warm up and change to rain. As I write this however, it is still only 25 degrees here at my house AND it has been snowing all day so we are up to like a foot outside (not that I am going out to measure it).

Here are a few pictures from my yard over the last few days...

Not sure my lilac bush is ever going to be quite the same

Or the rhododendron either for that matter

The view from my bedroom window

The official current conditions and forecast on my computer screen

Compare that to the current conditions and forecast at the hospital in Indonesia

Check out that "real feel" temperature of 105 and it is only noon, so the hottest part of the day is still to come

The change in the weather is going to be one of the many changes I will have to adjust to when I move to Indonesia. Right now though I plan to curl up and enjoy the peace and quiet the snow brings.

Next Thursday, I am looking forward to spending the evening at Anitra's house. We work together at Providence Hospital here in Everett. She has volunteered to host an info and fundraising event for me to share about my plans with our friends and co-workers. I hope it will be a lot of fun as well as informative. Please be praying I communicate well with this diverse group of people.  

Unreached and Unengaged

This is one of those posts that is a work in progress. It has been coming together for awhile now. Some comes from reading assignments I have completed as part of my departure requirements. Some comes the book Radical by David Platt, which I recently read. Finally some started last year about this time when I took the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class. This class was required as part of my preparation for serving with WorldVenture. I wrote a blog post on it shortly after I finished, which you can read here if you want. Part of this class gave me the latest information on what missions is doing around the world and the chance to interact with missionaries serving around the world and hear their stories. One of the videos we watched in class is the video above. Before that time I had heard the terms unreached and unengaged around but only understood them in general terms. So maybe that is a good place to start...

Unreached means that a people group does not contain an indigenous community of Evangelical Christians with adequate numbers and resources to spread the gospel within the people group.  
Unengaged means no church or organization is actively working within that people group to spread the gospel.

There are lots of statistics out there to give us an idea of how many groups are unreached but in general it is thought that about 6,000 people groups totaling around 2.8 billion people are unreached and of those 5,000 people groups totaling 1.5 billion are unreached and unengaged. As David Platt says in his book Radical, "that means for these 1.5 billion unreached and unengaged peoples, almost every individual within them is born, lives, and dies without ever hearing the gospel. Even worse no one is currently doing anything to change their situation. No one."

Indonesia is a unique country with its 17,000 plus islands and 768 people groups. It ranks as the country with the third most people groups (India and Papua New Guinea are the first two). About 127 major unreached people groups are present in Indonesia. 39 of those people groups are unengaged and three of those live on the island where I will be serving.

I have two expected roles in Indonesia. One is obviously to serve as a nurse and midwife to those at the hospital and through our village health outreach team. The second is to mentor and disciple young nursing students and nurses who have made the commitment to serve as missionary nurses in Indonesia through our MedGo program. Together with your support we hope to reach out to the many unreached and unengaged people groups in Indonesia with good health care and the Good News.

God has a plan for reaching those unreached and unengaged. He outlines it in Romans 10. God sends His servants, His servants preach, People hear, Hearers believe (not all but some), Believers call, Everyone who calls is saved. So why hasn't the goal been reached? There is really only one possible spot this plan breaks down - when servants of God do not preach the gospel to all peoples. As David Platt says in his book Radical, "we are the plan of God, and there is no plan B." Maybe it is time we stop asking that all too famous question, "What is God's will for my life" and realize that He has already told us. The will of God is for you and me to give our lives for the gospel and glory of God among all peoples but especially those who have never heard of Jesus. This is a cause worth living for and it is a cause worth dying for. So the question becomes "Will we obey God's will?"

So as you look at your New Year's Resolutions this year I challenge you to consider how the Lord might be asking you to help reach those unreached and unengaged. 

Pick up the book Radical by David Platt to read a lot more on this topic. At the end of that book he challenges us to an experiment. It is one I plan on working on this year. Want to join me? You can also read a lot more about this topic on The Joshua Project web page here. Or maybe you could take a Perspectives class. Many start in January and you can find one near you through their web page. You can also pick up a copy of Operation World which helps you read and pray through every country in a year.

Check out the video above for some interesting facts and challenging questions. (For those reading this in your email or RSS Feeder you might need to click on the "read more" button at the bottom of the email to go to the blog to see the video) Please take the time to view it! 

Happy New Year!