July 2006 We've Arrived!

Hello Family & Friends,

We just got online with Indonesian "Speedy" internet, so just now able to write everyone....wow...so much to praise
the Lord for in the time we've been on our journey! Hey, even before we left, the Lord was obviously at work to prepare
us for what lay ahead...

What a tremendous experience in closing up our house and distributing our belongings to our children and other people...
not fun, eh, but incredible how God arranged for many good friends to come and help out at just the right time. We
simply could NOT have left were it not for EVERYONE who helped...so a HUGE thanks to you all!

Also, we're so thankful that we could not get a plane flight until July 10...little did we know back in March that our niece
Emma would be playing at Softball City in the women's fastpitch tourney our last week in White Rock! Amazing what God
knows, eh? And just seeing the joy of the kids at our church's VBS was worth staying for!!

Hey... we want to give thanks to absolutely wonderful WR friends. And, of course, our faithful Church Family at White
Rock Baptist Church....they gave us a tremendous farewell party and commissioning service June 24.

To top all this off, incredibly, our missionary friend Gregg Faddegon (going to India) got a last-minute ticket on the same
plane as us to Seoul (God cared enough not to allow us to be alone on the plane), and we even got to sit together, in
the best economy seats on the plane....we were just laughing and praising God for his great kindness towards us! After
that long flight, we spent three relaxing days in Seoul with friends, who showed us all the great sights of that city,
including a fantastic praise celebration service with the Young Adults of a large Pentecostal church there. We were
enjoying God's grace towards us so much!

In Singapore we stayed at the YMCA and were blessed by seeing two missionary couples who serve with WorldTeam.
Then off to Pontianak, Indonesia (on Borneo Island), and a great reunion with old friends and colleagues at the seminary
where we served for 9 years. They had a delicious welcoming "pesta" (feast) for us and a simultaneous going-away party
for the CBM missionaries who are allowing us to live in their house (actually our old homestead, but nicely updated since
we left!). The next few days were a flurry of activity as we learned about the ministry here and prepared to move into
our new home for 6 months...we felt so much peace being here! And the langauge began to come back...slowly but
surely in the days to follow, thankfully!

Now we're pretty settled in...got our driver's licenses (car only, unfortunately...I want to get back on a motorcycle!!!!).
Also the Lord has supplied two nice young adult girls to live with us and help with all the chores that are required to live
here...it's a pretty smoky, bustling city and takes lots of upkeep to remain somewhat clean! We are adjusting to drinking
only bottled water, conserving the city water (dry season is here), and cooking with propane gas. But, Pontianak has
come a long way in the 15 years since we left, and now has UltraMilk, wheatbread (Janet is SO happy!) and a really
modern shopping mall (I've been to A&W twice already!).

Orientation for the seminary's 40-50 new students starts tomorrow (over 350 study here now), so both of us are trying
to get our courses straight before the first classes August 8th. We have great prayer times with the whole staff every
Monday morning (about 30 people) and have been to several house church services as well. We keep running into people
who remember us and our kids from the 80's & early 90's and we wonder why THEY look so much older (and now one of
their kids is our house helper...a young adult...yikes!)

So...that's the quick version of a great journey that only our GREAT GOD could have orchestrated.... we can only stand
back in wonder and amazement at His plans...and all just to get us here to show His Love to the wonderful people around
us...along with a great bunch of faithful servants who have now been serving in this area for 25 years! God is good, eh?

Blessings on you and your families...may we glorify God in all we do! Please let us hear about you and your summer.

Love in Christ,
Dennis & Janet