Back to blogging...

Hi everyone! I know that I've stated repeatedly that I will blog more often. Well, for the last week and a half or so Camille and I have spent every single spare minute writing bios on each of our kids here at Rumah Bapaku to be used on the new update for the 'My Father's Home' website. The link is on this blog page. If you haven't checked the site out yet, you really should. My Father's Home, or Rumah Bapaku in Bahasa Indonesia, is where Camille and I are living and serving 3 dozen children who were born into severe poverty. The website should be updated this month some time.

While the extra work for the website has meant a pause in my blogging, it has actually been a blessing in disguise. I have decided that for the next month or so (or however long it takes), I will start each new blog entry with one of the kid's new bios. Then I will expand the story a little and let you sort of get to know each of our children. I have gotten good feedback on the few stories I have posted so far on individual kids, so I think this will be fun!

I have a lot of 'ammo' for some good blogging, so stay tuned - I'll probably post my first new update on Monday or Tuesday of next week. Camille and I get a day off tomorrow (Monday in Bali, Sunday in America) and it looks like the surf will be great at Balian, West Bali - one of the most beautiful places on earth. That probably means no blogging tomorrow! But trust me, I am excited to start sharing the personal stories behind our wonderful kids, and you will definitely be touched in the process.

Thanks for being patient and a HUGE thank you to everyone who has recently started supporting Camille and I. We are going to be needing a lot more support in order to stay here in Bali, so if what you read here impacts you in any way, tell your friends and help us gather a network of supporters! We love you all and God Bless!

Head Wounds and True Love

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Bali? Everything about this crazy, wacky, beautiful place just makes me smile. I'm not sure if it's things like trying to figure out how the Balinese can light a cigarette at 70 KPH on their motorcycle, or watching dudes paint a 45-degree incline hotel roof in the blazing tropical sun 40 feet above the parking lot with bare feet with no safety equipment whatsoever, or just having yet another total stranger pull up to me at a stoplight and invite me to come stay in their home...just because I'm here. It's probably the latter. The Balinese are some of the most genuinely nice people in the world. Yeah, their culture and religion pretty much give them a blatant disregard for all things safety-wise and they are surely a study in contrasts with their slow-paced lifestyle and 'island time' and their chaotic, life-or-death traffic and busy cities. But I guess that all just makes my smile bigger. What counts is that I have yet to meet a Balinese who won't smile back at you...or smile first! I have yet to be treated like an outsider. I've always been about half-crazy, so Bali's frenetic lifestyle suits me fine. The people are what counts, and as far as people go, the Balinese are right at the top of my favorites list.

As beautiful as the people are here in Bali, unfortunately many of them are very poor. Unemployment is high throughout all of Indonesia and in Bali, the Hindu caste system and views on reincarnation and karma don't help to motivate people to try to do a whole lot about poverty or creating options for the less fortunate. I often notice that people I talk to will feel a sort of empathy or sadness for the plight of the poor here, but they have a sort of 'it is what it is...I can't do anything about it' mind frame. At the same time, they are always very quick to thank us and shower us with praises when they learn about what we are doing for the poor. It's as if no one has ever taught them that they also have the ability to help others. Actually, I'm pretty sure that no one ever has. In a society dictated by caste and bound by karma, what you are in this life is a result of how you acted in a past life. You would think that this would motivate people to work hard to help others and improve their position in the next life, but it actually seems to do the opposite. People may empathise with the plight of others, but they tend to adopt a stand-offish attitude so they won't risk 'rocking the boat' and disrupting their own karma.

I often notice that when people see a westerner like me, they tend to realize that I'm probably not bound by their caste system and that I live by a little different set of rules. I think this may have something to do with why we often times are 'latched onto' by average people we meet. It's almost as if they can see the Light of Christ seeping from our pores and know that we are people who don't just care about Bali, but are willing to act to make Bali a better place. Everyone notices the poor, but not everyone is willing to do something about their plight. People here accept this fact and I think that is why they are always thanking us for what we are doing here at Rumah Bapaku.

Not that we need any encouragement...the love of 3 dozen wonderful children is all the thanks we will ever need! Last week, we took a couple of much-needed days off and headed down south to Sanur for some surfing and relaxation. We actually hadn't even noticed just how exhausted we were from our long days here with the kids. The first day we surfed in the morning, went to lunch and came back to the hotel in the late afternoon for a quick nap...and ended up waking up at 6:30 the next morning! With 3 dozen kids, catching up on sleep is definitely a necessity once in a while. We had a great couple of days and got some good surf and a bit of relaxation. I'm convinced that I never want to put on a wetsuit and surf in cold water again!

When we got back to Rumah Bapaku, the kids were having their afternoon snack. Now, I left out the part about how I wiped-out at Sanur Reef while taking off on a wave that was moving like a freight train and ended up taking the nose of my surfboard to my forehead just above my left eye. Thank God that I am fanatical about putting rubber nose-guards on all of my shortboards. If that board had hit me where it did with just bare fiberglass on the nose, I may not have a left eye or much skin left on my forehead right now. As it is, the nose-guard scooped a neat little patch of skin off of my forehead and left a pretty deep gash, but nothing serious. Sitting out in the water 2 kilometers offshore bleeding and praying for no sharks while knowing that our boat driver wouldn't be showing up for another 45 minutes was a little exciting, but I actually caught a couple of more waves while we waited and I'm still here to talk about it!

I mention all of that for a reason. Like I was saying, when we arrived back home, the kids were in the dining room having their afternoon snack. I walked in to say 'hi' without a band-aid on my forehead. Pandemonium! The little girls were aghast: 'Om Jeremy is hurt! We need to do something...Quick, get some paper towels! Om Jeremy needs hugs and kisses...and then more hugs...and band-aids...followed by concerned looks and more kisses!' The little boys, especially the Sumba boys, immediately went into defend and retaliate mode: 'Who did it, Om Jeremy? Where are they? Did you win the fight? Let's go and teach them a lesson for hurting Om Jeremy!' I don't think I've ever been doted over like that even by my own mother! Eventually, I had to run and grab my surfboard, bring it over to the dining room and show the kids exactly what happened and let them all touch the nose-guard to convince themselves that no one needed to pay for hurting Om Jeremy. Sounds hilarious, and it is - but in those chaotic moments, I knew that I was truly loved. That I am truly loved. That my blatant disregard for living a 'normal' life is so very worthwhile. That to 3 dozen children whom society had overlooked, I am part of the center of the Universe. I hope that someday there is just a little permanent scar left on my forehead to remind me daily of the true love and happiness I felt on a Friday afternoon in northern Bali.

It's nice to hear locals thank us for being here. But honestly, what they think pales in comparison to the love that I get daily from Andy, Yunsi, Joly, Nova, Anes, Alex, Budi, Dadi, Ananda, Desy, Dion, Eka, Hendri, Jonius, Erlina, Gaby, Joshua, Juni, Kristin, Meli, Andika, Mega, Dwi, Suwan, Putri, Sari, Sulis, Ayu, Teo, Novi, Tini, Tinus, and Tris. These are their names. Read them again. They may have been born as anonymous victims of poverty, but their Creator knew them all by name before they breathed their first breath…and He loved them. He knew that one day Camille and I would know their names as well. And now He’s tattooed their names right onto my heart. They love me just because I exist. I wish words could describe how much I love them back...

New Year's Update (Finally!)

Hi All! Whew! What a busy few weeks it has been here at Rumah Bapaku. Sorry the updates have been slow, but it is my goal to change that. I am going to do a little 'wrap up' of the Christmas and New Year's season by posting a bit of the letter I sent out to those who are supporting Camille and I. We didn't do a lot of fundraising before we left for Bali because we wanted to be sure that this is where we belong. If you have been reading this blog, I think that you have probably figured out that we are definitely convinced that we belong here! We have a small core group of supporters, but we need a lot more if we are going to stay here for any length of time - but that is not the purpose of this update. I just want to give everyone a little review of the past few weeks here at Rumah Bapaku. I'll be sharing soon how you can become a part of the miracle that is My Father's Home in Bali. For those who already support us - I just sent the update letter for this month, so if you haven't gotten it yet, don't worry - I haven't forgotten about you. Most of you should already have it in your email, and a few of you who I still have no email address for will be receiving it soon in the mail. So, with no further delay - here's what is happening!

I bet that you are all excited to hear some news about events over her e in Bali, so here goes! December was a whirlwind month, to say the least. On the first of the month, we put up the Christmas tree. We gave each child an ornament and had them climb up on the ladder and decorate the tree. It was a blast! Think about it – this was their first Christmas tree. Over the next few days, their eyes grew wider as more and more presents appeared around the tree. I learned that shaking the present to try to guess what it is must be an instinct that is bred into every human, regardless of culture! No one had to teach the kids to do this! By Christmas morning, each child had seven presents awaiting them under the tree. Mind you, the sum value of those seven presents was probably less than the average American spends for one present for his or her child, but the beautiful thing about these children is that the monetary value of the presents means nothing to them. The mere fact that they have a present at all is enough to fill them with Christmas wonder.

We had an open house here on Christmas Day and a couple of hundred locals filed through to help us eat traditional goat and goat soup and Babi Guling (whole roast suckling pig) with all of the trimmings. Bu Luh, our chef here at Rumah Bapaku really outdid herself! It was great getting to reach out to people in the community and serve them on Christmas. Most of the locals are Hindu, of course. But we also had Muslims and a few Christians come join our party. We even got to meet our village chief. Sharing the love of Christ, which is what Christmas is all about; with people who think that Christmas is just an excuse for stores to run sales was a real blessing. Rumah Bapaku continues to be a light in this community and every single time I meet a local when we are out and about, they thank me over and over for what we are doing for the children.

On the 26th, the kids had their big Christmas pageant at the Hotel Putri Sari that is home to Pastor Dar’s Singaraja church. They had been practicing songs, drama and dances all month. It was so much fun to see them celebrate their first Christmas using the talents that God gave them. We have some really great singers and dancers here! The nativity drama was tender and hilarious at the same time. Little Alex, the smallest of our boys from Sumba, was adamant about playing Baby Jesus. Alex has the energy of a nuclear power plant and the attention span of a goldfish, so we knew that having him in the manger scene would be pure comedy – and he didn’t disappoint! Neither did the rest of the kids. Hearing them worship the Christ child brought tears of joy to our eyes and seeing a ‘pregnant’ Juni playing Mary and Suwan with his fake moustache playing Joseph brought tears of laughter. (I’m not sure how many full-grown Indonesian men can even grow a moustache, much less an 8-year-old!) When Alex ‘magically appeared’ in Juni’s arms as Nova (the MC of the nativity play) announced Christ’s birth, I thought everyone in the house was going to pass out from laughter!

Throughout the Christmas season, I was continually floored by how genuinely thankful these kids are for Jesus and what He has done for them. They have a depth of understanding about Christ’s grace and love that I don’t ever remember achieving as a 7 or 8-year-old. They have seen things that most of us only imagine in our nightmares. They know the ‘dark side’ all too well…both physically and spiritually. They truly understand just how much Christ has done for them…saved them from…given them. And they are truly thankful. While they are only children, I feel that in some ways they are more mature than I am in their friendship with our Savior. I am learning at least as much from them as they are from me, that is for sure.

New Year’s was another big celebration for Rumah Bapaku. Here in Bali, they like to get the party started with fireworks every night starting about 3 weeks before the New Year! On New Year’s Eve, we got fresh ears of corn and barbequed them for the kids. Slathered in Balinese spices, it was some of the best (and HOTTEST) corn I can remember. It almost tasted like spicy pop corn. Tasha bought a bunch of fireworks for the ‘adults’ to light and the kids to watch and she also bought what she thought were sparklers for the kids to hold and play with. Turns out the ‘sparklers’ were a type of Roman candle that would sometimes explode and sometimes spew sparks all over the crowd! We’re lucky we still have all of our eyes and appendages! Being the trained professionals we are, we made sure that no kids or animals were harmed in the making of our New Year’s Eve celebrations! (As much as I REALLY wanted to blow up our annoying rooster.)

After the fireworks, the kids went to bed and the staff started in on OUR New Year’s fest – barbequed barracuda! Tasha sprung for some awesome fish and some of the guys got a nice hot Indonesian barbeque going in an old wheelbarrow. Most of Tasha’s family was here visiting for the holidays and many of the staff brought their ‘significant others’. We roasted the barracuda, played music, sang and danced, played basketball and badmitton and brought in the New Year properly! The Balinese love to sing and are quite talented at anything musical. It was a blast to be included in such a merry celebration.

At some point in the festivities, someone showed up with a whole bunch of durian fruit. Let me tell you – if you’ve never heard of durian, consider yourself lucky! Durian has the consistency of over-ripe avocados and smells like the inside of a REALLY messy baby diaper. Although I’ve never tried dirty diaper, I’m sure it actually tastes better than durian. When we were in Malaysia, all of the hotels had signs posted forbidding people to even bring durian into the building because of its foul smell. The Balinese haven’t figured out that God made durian smell and taste the way it does so that we wouldn’t eat it! They are crazy about the stuff. As soon as the durian came, they all got busy cutting it open and gorging themselves. They had durian all over their faces, on their clothes and even in their hair! Talk about a stench! But it was all good because we got to celebrate another year of God’s provision and grace.

We have been really busy since the New Year because we have lost a couple of the Balinese staff members due to family issues and outside circumstances. We are praising God for Kayla and Jason, some American friends who are spending a month over here to help serve. In addition to our normal duties in helping with the kids, Camille and I have had to double as dish-washers and maids. It really does take a LOT of work to keep a house with 36 kids running smoothly. Camille and I regularly take our turns with the dishes, but since we lost our full-time assistant cook, we are the dish-washers every night now, as well as the dining-room maids. Like I said before, thank God for Kayla and Jason who are eager to serve and happy to help. Today we actually hired a new staff member to be here from seven in the morning until two in the afternoon just to help clean…and she promptly quit because she said it’s too much work! Please be praying that we will quickly find another cleaning person and a live-in full time assistant cook to help Bu Luh.

I can’t say thank you enough for all of your support. All I can tell you is that you are truly heroes to 3 dozen kids. The kids thank us all of the time for bringing them to live here. They shower us with love and affection every chance that they get and they are well aware that it is your love and support that gives them a home and a ‘Tante Camille’ and an ‘Om Jeremy’. We simply cannot continue to stay here and be your arms and Christ’s arms of love for these kids without your support. Every month is a lesson in faith for Camille and I as we wonder from where the funds to stay at Rumah Bapaku will come. Thanks to you, we can stay another month. God willing, next month I will be able to tell you the same. Our long-term goal is to stay in Bali for as long as God will allow. With your help, that could be forever. The only thing that we know for sure is that 36 kids are growing in their relationship with Christ and that leaving them would crush our hearts. So thank you again for being a part of the wonderful team that is Rumah Bapaku – My Father’s Home.

Well, that is a very short 'wrap' for the Holiday Season! The last paragraph was obviously geared toward those who are part of our support team. Although my goal for this blog is to just relate the daily adventures here at Rumah Bapaku and I would never want it to become a forum for any advertising, I will be showing you how you can be a part of the team in an upcoming blog update - so stay tuned. Don't worry - the focus of this blog is and always will be the children and what God is doing for them and through Camille and I here in Bali. Thanks for following and look for another update soon!

Quick New Year's Update

Whew! Sorry I've been such an unreliable blogger lately. Christmas around Rumah Bapaku was BUSY!!! So many times, I have sat down and started to blog, only to be interrupted by a pressing Christmas or New Year's duty. And what a great Christmas and New Year's it was indeed!

As I've mentioned before, it was the very first Christmas for all of our 3 dozen kids. Christmas morning...something that just goes without saying in the West as every kid's very favorite morning of the year...I still can't wipe the grin off of my face from watching our kids get to enjoy this magical morn for the first time. As does most everything here at Rumh Bapaku, our Christmas started out with an early time of worship and thanking God for the miracle of Christmas. Seeing their thankfulness being outwardly expressed with such innocence and honesty was one of the most humbling experiences of my life.

Then came the presents! Camille and I, thanks to our chef Bu Luh and her toy-store-owner friend, were able to get a great deal on 18 Barbie dolls for the girls. By the luck of the draw, our presents were the first ones the kids opened. I can still hear the massive cheer that exploded as all of the girls, all at once, realized that they had just been given their first Barbie doll. Then there were squirt guns for the boys, clothes, coloring books, crayons, toy airplanes, My Little Ponies. In all, each child received seven presents. Mind you, the presents were not expensive - in all the cost probably totalled less than what the average American parent spends on just one present for their child. But if you would have walked in to our living room at Rumah Bapaku on that morning, you would have thought that 3 dozen kids just won the lottery...in every state...all at once. That's how much these simple presents meant to kids who had never received a Christmas present before. For those of you who support the efforts here at Rumah Bapku in any manner - Thank You. You are heroes to 3 dozen beautiful Indonesian children.

I'm actually making this blog quick because today is New Year's Day and Bunda Tash (our director) gave all of the staff except the boys' and girls' counsellors, the chef (we tried to give Bu Luh the day off, but she wouldn't hear of it!) and Camille and myself. So to make a long story short - we're kinda busy today! Last night was a blast (literally) as the kids got to barbecue corn (over here in Bali, BBQ = HOT & SPICY, just the way we like it) and then got to try to blow each other up with fireworks! Side note: completely sober people can be dangerous with explosives as well. :) Seriously though, the kids loved the fireworks that the ADULTS lit and then they got to play with what we thought were sparklers but ended up being fire-spewing roman candles that sometimes exploded and sometimes just sprayed the crowd with sparks. Sounds dangerous, but we are all trained professionals and no children or animals were hurt in the making of our New Year's Eve festivities...as much as I really tried to blow up our annoying rooster.

There are a lot of great stories that I will be sharing over the next week or so that came out of this awesome season. Right now, we have to get back over to the kitchen and get ready for another round of dishes. Camille and I will be taking off for a few days tomorrow morning for some much-needed R&R and a little surfing. I'll try to post another update as soon as we get back. Thanks again for taking the time to read my ramblings and for your support. And God Bless everyone this New Year!