Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
"Missions"
Hey everybody,
welcome welcome welcome to update wednesday. we are committing to for SURE for sure have an update atleast every wednesday, and we will probably have little blurbs of our thoughts, learnings, observations, and genius spread out through the week as well, so hold us to it.
(disclaimer: for you grammar and punctuation police out there, jared is the writer, so if you dont do well with severe lack of punctuation and capital letters, just skip to jared's updates...sorry)
we've officially been in the east pole for a full week now, and i dont know about jared, but i feel like ive been here a month already. as many of you know, when you get a foreign country for the first time, your body sort of goes into information overload- learning new names, new smells, new ways of dodging cars, new foods, new LANGUAGE, new social norms, new time zone, new ways to offend people accidentally, new bathrooms, new forms of toilet paper, new new new. you pack so much new information into your brain that it feels like you've been in the country for forever, when really its been a week. like summer camp. but more bugs, rice paddys, and small people.
i would say the transition has been as smooth as i have ever experienced. neither jared or i have come even remotely close to getting sick, and with all of the street meat, "what the heck is that" sauce, and unfiltered water/ice cubes we have encountered, i would say that it is nothing short of God's hand being on us. our contacts here have been incredibly helpful and patient with us as we fumble around trying to get our feet on the ground, and we have already developed some really great relationships with the people here. We can feel your prayers.
so what have you guys been doing? what do you eat? where do you live? hows the language coming? have you started being missionaries yet or do you just go to the beach and look at volcanoes? what are you learning? are there dinosaurs?
guys guys guys, just be patient. please.
im about to put up a significant amount of pictures and fill in the blanks with captions. for you visual learners.
this is our room. we share a bed. its huge. and we have dont touch me pillows down the middle. dont worry about us. apparently i have much sweeter blood than jared, because i have been ripped to shreds by bugs, and jared has like...a bug bite. so ive been sleeping with a mosquito net/dome thingy that has significantly reduced my bites. but anyway, we live on the company's office grounds, which is a really quiet neighborhood about 10 minutes outside the city. we have a shower, a toilet, running water, and wifi. it is kind of ridiculous...we werent expecting this, and we are so grateful for it.
this is how we get around. if youre wondering what we need prayer for...besides learning the language, being led by the Spirit in our conversations and interactions, and favor with the people here, i would say this is a pretty big hitter on the list. we are learning day by day, but between driving on the left side of the road, learning how to switch between gears with the gas and clutch while dodging gigantic trucks who dont give a rip about motorcycles, and the fact that neither of us have done any of these things before, please pray for our protection. i pray every time i get on this thing, and dont stop until i am safely back on the ground. we are still in the "back roads practice" stage right now.
in other news. it is ridiculously fun to drive.
we have been able to get a feel for the flow of traffic because of our new friends and roommates, ferri and wisnu. they work for the company and get to live on the grounds. they live with us, eat with us, teach us east polean, take us to cool places in the city, take us to the beach, teach us how to drive, teach us how to cook rice and other meals, and hang out with us at night once things settle down. they are 18 and 19, and dont really know much english, but we have developed a very strong bond with them already. dependence does that i guess.
these are some pictures of what is basically our backyard. about 200 yards past our house, this is our view. the mountain in the background is called Mt. Merapi. It is the most active volcano in the world, and has a constant flow of smoke coming from the top. it is pretty incredible.
if you saw our video, we told you we were having a company christmas party. it was our first introduction to everyone we will be working with, and they are definitely a large, tightly knit family (my guess is around 100?) we spent the day picking up trash all over the surrounding area around the company (in the middle of the city), played games, ate some really good food, and listened to a sermon about christmas that i didnt understand. it was really fun to meet all of the people we will be working with though. also, it was a 7 1/2 hour christmas party. from 530am-1pm.
sunday morning, ferri and wisnu got us up at 5am to go to the beach. they wanted us to see the sunrise there. it was absolutely beautiful, and totally worth the early rise. jared and I were the only ones swimming out of literally thousands of people on the beach...apparently its illegal this time of year or something. we turned around from frolicking in the waves to see about 4 life guards in orange life vests just waiting on the shore for us to drown i guess. hah. woops.
so when you hear "missionary" or "mission trip", most people (including myself) can close their eyes and picture what they see in their minds as what a missionary to them looks like and what they would be doing...like i would picture a white guy in a long sleeve button down shirt, a bit dirty and faded, pants, probably a beard. maybe he's a doctor, or a teacher, but he is preaching the gospel, Bible in hand, to a village of people (africans, asians, some indigenous tribe), complete with grass huts and naked kids chasing after a tire. you with me? girls may see themselves in a long skirt, hair pulled back, holding an orphan on one side and feeding another with the other hand, or helping her husband preach to that tribe. whatever. the point is that we all probably have an idea of what missions looks like.
for pretty much the first time, jared and I arent just in a country for 2 weeks to visit some schools or orphanages, build a house, not really learn the language or culture, and then go back home to america. (and dont get me wrong, those trips are extremely important and useful, they are just different). and im not saying we are these long term missionaries either, because there are people who have been in countries for half of their lives that make this trip look like a little poof of dust. the point is that for the first time, we are being forced to learn the culture, the language, customs, the underlying foundations that make these people who they are, and it just flat out takes time. it takes patience, and it takes questions and conversations and making mistakes, learning the hard way.
so when i close my eyes and picture what a "missionary" does, they dont just jump into that circle of people in the tribe preaching the gospel in their native tongue with understanding of how to communicate in a way they relate to and comprehend. that takes years. that takes patience. that takes building relationships.
right now, we are just a couple white boys who are eager to learn, eager to grow, and eager to soak up anything and everything we can from these people that we now do life with. so this is what missionary looks like to us right now, in our stage of the trip:
and this:
and this:
so much to learn, and its not always glorious, but we are having the time of our lives. we both feel like we have already grown tremendously, even in the last week. this post is already way too long, so we're gonna fill in the blanks with a video.
love you guys so much. thanks for running along side us.
j^2
welcome welcome welcome to update wednesday. we are committing to for SURE for sure have an update atleast every wednesday, and we will probably have little blurbs of our thoughts, learnings, observations, and genius spread out through the week as well, so hold us to it.
(disclaimer: for you grammar and punctuation police out there, jared is the writer, so if you dont do well with severe lack of punctuation and capital letters, just skip to jared's updates...sorry)
we've officially been in the east pole for a full week now, and i dont know about jared, but i feel like ive been here a month already. as many of you know, when you get a foreign country for the first time, your body sort of goes into information overload- learning new names, new smells, new ways of dodging cars, new foods, new LANGUAGE, new social norms, new time zone, new ways to offend people accidentally, new bathrooms, new forms of toilet paper, new new new. you pack so much new information into your brain that it feels like you've been in the country for forever, when really its been a week. like summer camp. but more bugs, rice paddys, and small people.
i would say the transition has been as smooth as i have ever experienced. neither jared or i have come even remotely close to getting sick, and with all of the street meat, "what the heck is that" sauce, and unfiltered water/ice cubes we have encountered, i would say that it is nothing short of God's hand being on us. our contacts here have been incredibly helpful and patient with us as we fumble around trying to get our feet on the ground, and we have already developed some really great relationships with the people here. We can feel your prayers.
so what have you guys been doing? what do you eat? where do you live? hows the language coming? have you started being missionaries yet or do you just go to the beach and look at volcanoes? what are you learning? are there dinosaurs?
guys guys guys, just be patient. please.
im about to put up a significant amount of pictures and fill in the blanks with captions. for you visual learners.
this is our room. we share a bed. its huge. and we have dont touch me pillows down the middle. dont worry about us. apparently i have much sweeter blood than jared, because i have been ripped to shreds by bugs, and jared has like...a bug bite. so ive been sleeping with a mosquito net/dome thingy that has significantly reduced my bites. but anyway, we live on the company's office grounds, which is a really quiet neighborhood about 10 minutes outside the city. we have a shower, a toilet, running water, and wifi. it is kind of ridiculous...we werent expecting this, and we are so grateful for it.
this is how we get around. if youre wondering what we need prayer for...besides learning the language, being led by the Spirit in our conversations and interactions, and favor with the people here, i would say this is a pretty big hitter on the list. we are learning day by day, but between driving on the left side of the road, learning how to switch between gears with the gas and clutch while dodging gigantic trucks who dont give a rip about motorcycles, and the fact that neither of us have done any of these things before, please pray for our protection. i pray every time i get on this thing, and dont stop until i am safely back on the ground. we are still in the "back roads practice" stage right now.
in other news. it is ridiculously fun to drive.
we have been able to get a feel for the flow of traffic because of our new friends and roommates, ferri and wisnu. they work for the company and get to live on the grounds. they live with us, eat with us, teach us east polean, take us to cool places in the city, take us to the beach, teach us how to drive, teach us how to cook rice and other meals, and hang out with us at night once things settle down. they are 18 and 19, and dont really know much english, but we have developed a very strong bond with them already. dependence does that i guess.
these are some pictures of what is basically our backyard. about 200 yards past our house, this is our view. the mountain in the background is called Mt. Merapi. It is the most active volcano in the world, and has a constant flow of smoke coming from the top. it is pretty incredible.
if you saw our video, we told you we were having a company christmas party. it was our first introduction to everyone we will be working with, and they are definitely a large, tightly knit family (my guess is around 100?) we spent the day picking up trash all over the surrounding area around the company (in the middle of the city), played games, ate some really good food, and listened to a sermon about christmas that i didnt understand. it was really fun to meet all of the people we will be working with though. also, it was a 7 1/2 hour christmas party. from 530am-1pm.
sunday morning, ferri and wisnu got us up at 5am to go to the beach. they wanted us to see the sunrise there. it was absolutely beautiful, and totally worth the early rise. jared and I were the only ones swimming out of literally thousands of people on the beach...apparently its illegal this time of year or something. we turned around from frolicking in the waves to see about 4 life guards in orange life vests just waiting on the shore for us to drown i guess. hah. woops.
so when you hear "missionary" or "mission trip", most people (including myself) can close their eyes and picture what they see in their minds as what a missionary to them looks like and what they would be doing...like i would picture a white guy in a long sleeve button down shirt, a bit dirty and faded, pants, probably a beard. maybe he's a doctor, or a teacher, but he is preaching the gospel, Bible in hand, to a village of people (africans, asians, some indigenous tribe), complete with grass huts and naked kids chasing after a tire. you with me? girls may see themselves in a long skirt, hair pulled back, holding an orphan on one side and feeding another with the other hand, or helping her husband preach to that tribe. whatever. the point is that we all probably have an idea of what missions looks like.
for pretty much the first time, jared and I arent just in a country for 2 weeks to visit some schools or orphanages, build a house, not really learn the language or culture, and then go back home to america. (and dont get me wrong, those trips are extremely important and useful, they are just different). and im not saying we are these long term missionaries either, because there are people who have been in countries for half of their lives that make this trip look like a little poof of dust. the point is that for the first time, we are being forced to learn the culture, the language, customs, the underlying foundations that make these people who they are, and it just flat out takes time. it takes patience, and it takes questions and conversations and making mistakes, learning the hard way.
so when i close my eyes and picture what a "missionary" does, they dont just jump into that circle of people in the tribe preaching the gospel in their native tongue with understanding of how to communicate in a way they relate to and comprehend. that takes years. that takes patience. that takes building relationships.
right now, we are just a couple white boys who are eager to learn, eager to grow, and eager to soak up anything and everything we can from these people that we now do life with. so this is what missionary looks like to us right now, in our stage of the trip:
and this:
and this:
so much to learn, and its not always glorious, but we are having the time of our lives. we both feel like we have already grown tremendously, even in the last week. this post is already way too long, so we're gonna fill in the blanks with a video.
love you guys so much. thanks for running along side us.
j^2
Friday, January 18, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Here's What's Going On...
So we are having some serious difficulties with uploading videos. I know you all probably have not left your screen in hopeful anticipation that a great video will just magically pop up...well you may be waiting a while. For some reason we cannot upload videos here. We will try to upload some in the city later.
All we wanted to say now was this: We are going to update this blog once a week on Wednesdays for us and Thursdays for you. Confusing, I know. We do not want to overdo it with the updates and the instagrams and all that social media stuff. We want to remain focused on what we are doing here and maintain the mindset that we are here to serve the Lord.
Are we having fun? Oh yes. Is it hotter than anywhere we have been? Absolutely. Do we have a chair in our room? Nope. Is the food delicious and cheap? Yup.
Until we get our videos up, here are a few pictures for you to enjoy...
All we wanted to say now was this: We are going to update this blog once a week on Wednesdays for us and Thursdays for you. Confusing, I know. We do not want to overdo it with the updates and the instagrams and all that social media stuff. We want to remain focused on what we are doing here and maintain the mindset that we are here to serve the Lord.
Are we having fun? Oh yes. Is it hotter than anywhere we have been? Absolutely. Do we have a chair in our room? Nope. Is the food delicious and cheap? Yup.
Until we get our videos up, here are a few pictures for you to enjoy...
This is James outside of our room (on the right) thinking about something really amazing I am sure. We did not expect such an amazing place to live. The Lord has really hooked us up!
This is right around the corner of our place. It's hard to explain what this place is. But basically it is a piece of property owned by the company we will work for that has offices and several guest houses. James and I live in one of them and three young guys live in the others. We will try and get pictures with them later.
This is our bathroom. I know what you are thinking and we totally agree...it is a great color scheme. Honestly we did not even expect to have an actual shower. We were picturing buckets. While it mainly spits water that is cold, we are thankful for it.
This is next to our room. I am not 100% sure as to what they are growing, but I think it is some sort of peppers. The tree that looks like a palm tree is actually a Papaya tree. Also around our house are: mango trees, banana trees, lemon trees, and rambutan trees. Rambutan is what James likes to call snot fruit due to the look and texture of it. But it is actually really good!
Here is James and I in our room. Both in need of haircuts and showers. We are ready to take on the city...right after a nap. Actually jet lag has not been too bad. We both woke up at 3am today and were not able to get solid sleep after that. But we did go to bed at 7pm. In a few days I think we will be on a solid sleep schedule.
I have been thankful for the two guys that live in the rooms across from us. I have been able to speak the language a lot and I feel that by the time I leave here I will be fluent. James has done a great job of catching on to the language as well. He gets really excited when he recognizes a word that he knows!
Funny story: Today, James and I began to learn how to drive a motorcycle. I back my bike out and am preparing to ride it. I am thinking that this is going to be easy, that I drive a stick shift back home so no problem, and also bring it on. Well as I go to slowly turn the clutch with my left hand, my right hand rips on the gas. I drive super fast straight into the sidewalk where I crash the bike. I am only grateful that James was looking the other way and did not see it happen. However, all ten or more of the workers saw me and I am sure made fun of the "white boy." I recovered and slowly began to pick up how to drive the stupid thing. James did great and drove his bike like a champ. I feel that at this point James will be the one to drive us around until I can get the hang of it.
So that's it. All is well. All is hot. Another post will be coming your way next week. Until then please keep us in your prayers. We love you all dearly and know that we could not be here without you.
In His love,
J^2
Hallelujah.
Friends,
I'm gonna keep it brief, and save the rest for when I can see straight.
We made it to our final destination today after about 42 hours of travel. All of our bags made it, a bit rummaged through, and someone took the liberty to borrow some cash from Jared's bag, but I'm sure they will return it when they're done. All in all, it went pretty darn well for traveling all the way around the world.
We are here, we are safe, and we have been welcomed by warm friends. they took us out for dinner tonight, and we ate teriyaki snails and quail eggs on a stick for our very first meal....it was actually really good. We will rest tomorrow, then begin figuring out a weekly schedule and agenda for our time here.
I don't know how I am still awake honestly. The videos still won't upload, but I got close today. Keep faith.
We have felt your prayers, and we know, and are so thankful, we aren't alone in all of this. I can't express how good it is to finally be here, and we are so excited for what God has in store.
Let the adventure begin. Stay tuned for more.
J^2
I'm gonna keep it brief, and save the rest for when I can see straight.
We made it to our final destination today after about 42 hours of travel. All of our bags made it, a bit rummaged through, and someone took the liberty to borrow some cash from Jared's bag, but I'm sure they will return it when they're done. All in all, it went pretty darn well for traveling all the way around the world.
We are here, we are safe, and we have been welcomed by warm friends. they took us out for dinner tonight, and we ate teriyaki snails and quail eggs on a stick for our very first meal....it was actually really good. We will rest tomorrow, then begin figuring out a weekly schedule and agenda for our time here.
I don't know how I am still awake honestly. The videos still won't upload, but I got close today. Keep faith.
We have felt your prayers, and we know, and are so thankful, we aren't alone in all of this. I can't express how good it is to finally be here, and we are so excited for what God has in store.
Let the adventure begin. Stay tuned for more.
J^2
Monday, January 14, 2013
Leg 3/4: delirium
Hey folks.
We made it to Kuala Lumpur! they won't let us upload any videos on the wifi here...chumps.
LA to Tokyo was 12 hours of cruel, heartless punishment, but Tokyo to Malaysia wasn't that bad...Jared got to sleep a lot more than I did, and delirium is beginning to have its way with me. Ambien + severe inability to sleep on planes was a bad idea.
Just sayin we made it to Malaysia, and we have a 2 hour flight to the East Pole, a 5 hour layover, then one more flight in country. So close.
The airport in Malaysia is sweet though. YouTube it. Cause we can't.
Much love,
J^2
We made it to Kuala Lumpur! they won't let us upload any videos on the wifi here...chumps.
LA to Tokyo was 12 hours of cruel, heartless punishment, but Tokyo to Malaysia wasn't that bad...Jared got to sleep a lot more than I did, and delirium is beginning to have its way with me. Ambien + severe inability to sleep on planes was a bad idea.
Just sayin we made it to Malaysia, and we have a 2 hour flight to the East Pole, a 5 hour layover, then one more flight in country. So close.
The airport in Malaysia is sweet though. YouTube it. Cause we can't.
Much love,
J^2
Location:Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
It's Almost That Time
I just wanted to write a quick update as to where James and I stand on our trip to "The East Pole." (Side note, this is how we will refer to the place we are going. I would hope that all of you lovely people know where we are going. So for future posts and videos, James and I will refer to it as "The East Pole.") I am well aware that most people will skip the readings and just watch our videos and I want to say that James and I are cool with that. But for those of you that just really love to read I will provide the means for you to do so.
So where do we stand?
- We leave for The East Pole in 4 days and we probably couldn't stress enough how excited we are so I am not even going to try.
- We have our Visas and are ready to go. In fact, our Visas came in just a few weeks after we applied for them. It was a huge blessing and answer to prayer.
- We have been speaking with our stateside contacts and have been encouraged to hear that they are just as excited to have us as we are to go.
- If you were wondering, "I wonder how long little ole James and Jared will be traveling?" The answer is 44 hours. Yes, it will take us 44 hours to get there.
Where we stand Financially...
- If everyone who has said they would support us follows through then we will have our trip fully funded!
- Honestly, this was a mountain that James and I thought we may not be able to get over. Raising money for missions is never fun nor is it easy. But the Lord was so good to us and it has been so encouraging to see how many of you have jumped on board with us and covered us both spiritually and financially.
- I want to note that we will not be sending out a mass email to our supporters. We have emphasized the importance of following us on our blog from the beginning and this is one of the many reasons why. If you are supporting us financially then it is important for you to read this...
- All checks should be made out to Sojourn Church. Do not write on the memo line. Instead, write something along the lines of "Jared and James Missions" on the envelope or another piece of paper.
- After receiving your check, Sojourn will send you an envelope in which you may place your next check with a stamp already on it. Also, Sojourn will have your receipt sent to you.
- If you are wondering WHERE to send your checks, the address is...
- 1209 Azalea Circle Marietta Ga 30062
We have been blessed to be surrounded by you all. We are thankful that we have such an amazing group of friends who are praying for us as we go and who care so much about us. We look forward to what lies ahead of us and while we are quite unsure of what to expect, we know that the Lord will carry us during the times of joy and the times of struggle. Thank you all for your support and I look forward to sharing amazing stories and testimonies in the future.
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