Indonesia week 2

I am learning a lot more of the language now that I am fully immersed into it. For me, the hardest part has been creating a good sentence structure. Literally translated, most of the stuff we say doesn't make any sense. For example, the phrase :satu sama lain" means 'one same other', but has the same meaning as 'each other.' When my companion and I are asking if we are at the right house, I would ask "ini benar rumah pak ____?" which translates to 'this true house Mr ______?"

When I talk, I often make mistakes. A lot of the time the Indonesians give me a chance to repeat myself, and if I say something wrong again, they will look at my companion. Even if they haven't heard him talk yet they will just assume that he is fluent only because of his skin color. The people here think that just about everyone who is not white is from Indonesia. They even think my 6'4" Tongan companion is from Indonesia, where the average height is only 5'4".

I am really liking Indonesia. The people here are awesome. Just about everyone is willing to talk with us, even if they aren't interested in hearing a message about Jesus Christ. The food here is really good. I eat out for lunch and dinner every day. Meals usually consists of rice, chicken, and sombal, which is a very spicy chili sauce that I really like.

There are so many things to write about my area and the country that I can't even begin to start writing. Just about every aspect of our life is influenced in some way by either the missionary work or Indonesia. If you ask my to describe something for you each week, I will be able to. For example, if you asked me about how we pay for food, I would say the following: Each day I take 50,0000 rupiah with me for lunch and dinner. Most of the time I don't come close to using all of it. One weird thing about Indonesia is that we rarely pay for things first, like in America. For instance, if I was ordering from a McDonald's in the USA, I would place an order, pay, then they would make it for me. Here we place an order, eat, then pay. I still think that it is really weird to start eating without paying for my food first. There is a food place near the church that we eat from on preparation days, and they are familiar with the missionaries. What we have been doing is placing our orders, then going into the church to start emailing or playing table tennis (the best!!!). Then the food lady will walk our food into the church, and start yelling for us. We then get it, she leaves, and we eat. We then pay around two hours later after we have finished emailing.

There are a ton of people in Indonesia. I don't think I have ever seen a place with so many people! Unless there is a river along side of the road, there are stores or houses lining both sides of the road. This makes it pretty convenience to contact other or find a place to stop and buy water.

With street contacting, most of the time we find a place in the shade, and sit down and talk with others. when my companion and I are wanting to contact in neighborhoods, we will always visit a specific home first. Each neighborhood has a Pak RT, which is similar to a neighborhood government official. We will go and talk with him, tell him about our message, then ask if he is interested. Most of the time he is not. We then ask him for the names and addresses of others in his neighborhood who are interested in our message. He will give us the names of all the Christians in his area. Then we go and find souls.

Attached are pictures of me about to head out of proselyting, and two plates of food: