This is a photo of Marc's class on their field trip last week to Yajasi. Yajasi is the mission aviation division of SIL. The kids got to sit in the cockpit of this plane and Marc was so thrilled.

Yesterday I took Mikah out for a bit of shopping. First we stopped at the mall that is being built here in Sentani. Yes, there is actually a mall in the process... quite unbelievable really. And what's even funnier is that this mall contains the first set of escalators around. There is one store that has opened in the mall so far, the rest is far from finished, and you need to go up the escalators to get to it. It is soooo funny to watch people who've never ever seen an escalator before try to figure out how to get on. Then we went to the market. I thought it would be fun for Mikah to see and smell it. Her comments,"It was stinky and crowded." She couldn't bear to watch the chicken lady cutting up chickens. The fact that the chickens still had eyes really bothered her.... In the afternoon Hugo took the kids to the pool. There is actually a pool here. It was built a long time ago and then neglected until last June. A family that has lived here for a long time took charge and cleaned it all up and painted it. If you want to use the pool you need to become a member and a membership lasts for six months. So they've hired a couple guys to take care of things and guard the pool so that it doesn't get vandalized and so far things are working out really well. And the great thing is that our new house is just around the corner, we can walk there. I took a tour of our house on saturday on my way up to meet Hugo and the kids. It is looking really great and they are sure that in two weeks we can move in. I can't tell you how thrilled we are!! They've done a really great job on the house and it will be great for our family.

Today I went to church with the three oldest and it was a full house. Quite literally as we meet in a house.... I think there were as many westerners as there were Indonesians. The minister had a sermon on Ruth and how amazing it was that God chose a Gentile woman to be an ancestor of Jesus. I find it kind of humorous how they often talk about being rich or being able to buy all the rice you need. We in the west, in general, take it for granted that we will be able to buy the food we need to live. Here it is not a given and many live day to day. So you really see the difference in thinking. Their idea of rich is having lots of food.... and a tv.....

Selamat Hari Minggu!!