One month in

At this one-month mark, I find myself with a rare snatch of quiet time, and finally get to write an update for you whom we are missing so much back home!  

God has been good to us here. We see the many ways in which we have been sustained even in the hard times of such a big move.  

One of the best parts of this move has been the realization that we live among one of the friendliest peoples on earth. I'm constantly amazed at how many people smile here! Complete strangers are quick to beam beautiful smiles. We have not once been treated unkindly. It's normal in a store for 5-8 employees to follow us around or to cluster around our kids, eager to help, taking pictures, saying goodbye like we're new best friends!  

We love the beauty of the country and of the school itself. Jakarta is certainly not a beautiful city, in any general sense, but we see wonderful new plants and animals all around, with majestic mountains in the distance.  

Our school campus is gorgeous, a very well-tended, established school-in-a-garden. I'm especially enjoying the animals here, particularly the reptilian and amphibian kinds, that periodically slither, hop, and crawl by. The cobras end up in jars in the biology lab, and the last monitor lizard to show up, a five-footer, got eaten by the security guards! Bats abound, cockroaches scare the kids, and tokay lizards and chichak lizards in our living room croak out their very loud "good nights" each evening as we're heading off to bed.  

I'm definitely enjoying the video-game experience on the roads. I've only once been behind the wheel so far (which was a five-minute laugh-fest for my driving companions as I reacted to scooters with entire families on them materializing out of thin air all around me), but I'm usually watching the drivers and making mental notes, preparing for the eventual trial by fire. The most interesting distinction between Indonesian drivers and Western drivers is the belief about space. In the West, we "own" the space around us and in front of us. We feel justified in reacting angrily when someone cuts in front of us. Honks are usually indignant and emotional. Here, though, you only "own" the space you're in. So people can basically go anywhere they want, in a very organic flow. Honks are mostly just to let someone know, "Hey, I'm here." Everyone seems mellow, patient, and generally very aware of everything within a few feet of their car. It's pretty fun to watch!  

One of the semi-comical surprises for us has been the quick realization that Indonesians tolerate loud noise far better than we do. Compared to Canada, volume is jacked up everywhere! At church, school events, and the malls, we're often wishing we could discretely wear ear plugs! 

Less surprising has been the internal struggle of living with many Western conveniences while surrounded by the realities of widespread poverty. The vast majority of Indonesians around us are very poor, lacking the basics that we forget are great privileges. In education, health care, nutrition, shelter, the majority here have so little, and we have so much. 

I was so interested, for example, in the construction workers on campus, who lashed bamboo poles together to make scaffolding that they used to climb up to repair the roof. Barefoot, they walked around on top, four stories up, without safety harnesses. I drove by another jobsite where the construction workers had built ramshackle tin homes for themselves out of discarded construction materials.  

On the family front, we've had our share of struggles, as you can imagine. The list of practical things to figure out has been very long, making it complicated even just to prepare meals for a big family each day. And we're certainly dealing with the difficulties of missing our beloved ones back home. Many tears have flowed. We wish we could take you with us!  

It's only been a month, and we feel deluged by new ideas and experiences. We're deeply thankful to be here, and we pray that we will be of some help to our new friends here. 

Some family news

Dear friends,

The course of life is a strange and unpredictable thing! Who would have thought that a family as settled and as happy as we are -- here on such a beautiful island, living a short drive from the beach, enjoying such an excellent school, with such rich friendships, and a deep sense of home and connectedness -- would now choose to step out in an entirely new direction? We certainly didn’t anticipate this, didn’t look for it, and (at the very thought of leaving all that we love) found ourselves countless times over the past months saying to ourselves, “We’re absolutely crazy!” Why give up all this? Why, with all the wonderful things that have happened at Immanuel over the years, would we leave the best job and the best school we've ever known?

Sometimes the right thing to do doesn’t appear at the outset to be rational.

Over a year ago, I received an invitation from a family of schools overseas to consider applying for a head of school position. I remember thinking, "That's kind of a neat idea, but it wouldn't make sense for us."

Then, three or four times over the course of last year, I kept meeting people in my broader network of Christian schools who had been to the school and who brought it up in conversation, speaking very highly of it. 

In January, I was speaking with a friend who had worked in a related organization there, and he told me that they were interested in connecting with me about a new opening. Would I be open to talking to them? I politely declined. Afterwards, Nat asked, "How do you know that we shouldn't go there, if you're not willing to talk about it and to pray about it?" She was right, so we began talking and praying. 

After much research, countless conversations, and a lot of prayer, we received an invitation from the school to go and visit them. We could think of no good reasons not to go, and it was an exciting thing to go adventuring in a new corner of the world, so we agreed. 

The short story is that we loved the people and found ourselves drawn to what they are trying to do. They seek to offer a Christian education much like Immanuel's, but they need help. They have a hard time getting leaders and teachers to come join them. It is a school that shows very well, that looks from pictures like it's got everything all together. However, they have some complicating issues that could threaten their ability to survive if they're not addressed fairly soon. 

At some point recently, we realized that our only reasons for not going are selfish: staying close to the people we love and the place we love. But we are now confident in the greater good of knowing that we are obeying the Lord's clear leading, which has been confirmed in many ways over these months. At the time of retirement and at the end of our lives, looking back, we so much want to be able to say, "We were willing... we were listening... we have no regrets... our lives were surrendered to God's leading, and we didn't live for our own interests." 

This week, we received a formal offer to join the school, and we have decided to accept. We will be moving to Indonesia in mid-July. There's an incredible amount of change coming our way, and we approach it with very mixed feelings -- with real sadness, and also with happiness to be embarking on what we believe we should do. It is a step of faith, and we are reminded of the disciples who left their comforts to follow Jesus. We are reminded of the hymn verse, "In simple trust, like theirs who heard beside the Syrian sea / The gracious calling of the LORD, let us, like them, without a word, rise up and follow Thee."

Much of our concern has been for Immanuel... "What would happen to our beloved school if we were to leave?" My board has been very gracious and encouraging in this, and together we approach the coming transition with real faith that God will provide an excellent person in good time. 

There is so much more that could be said. But for now, we'll sign off and ask for your prayers for us over the coming months! 

Matt and Nat