Happy Father's Day?

Interesting...this is supposed to be the dry season, but we have had rain almost every day.  Right now we are enjoying another thunderstorm and I love seeing the lightning from our big window.
Well, we celebrated Father's Day today!  I woke up and remembered that I didn't have the kids make any cards for Daddy.  I quickly assembled the "team" in the home school room and we worked some magic.  I posted a sweet picture of the kids with Jim and come to find out - it is not Father's Day!!  I really need to download an American calendar to keep current on special dates.  Oh well, we'll call it Father's Day in Indonesia!

From the looks of it, Della must have known we were making a big mistake!!

It was confirmed yesterday that our family (kids included) will be attending the next Gospel Rally in  Manado, Indonesia.  For those of you planning on looking this city up on a map, it is on the island of Sulawesi.  The six day trip at the end of June will consist of many chances to engage with the people and to witness the Gospel Message going forth to thousands of people each night. We are so thankful and will be so blessed to be in attendance.   Manado is known for incredible diving and snorkeling.  We  hope to see some water, maybe volcanoes and definitely some beautiful landscapes.  Jim said that I should bring school work for the kids.  I said this adventure is the schooling!  The learning is in the seeing and experiencing new places and cultures.
Speaking of new cultures...each island of Indonesia has it's own tribal group/culture.  The native people of  Sulawesi are the Minahasa.  What I know so far of this group, is that they eat anything and everything.  Our friend was over yesterday and her father is Minahasa.  She told me stories of eating very crazy food, including the aged family dog!  So, I quote from Wikipedia..."protein options include cats, forest rats, fruit bats, and dogs, the last of which is the obligatory centerpiece of any wedding ceremony or Christmas feast."  I hope no one is going to feel obligated to pull out all the stops for us, if you know what I mean.
For the next couple of weeks, we will be able to sit under the teaching and preaching of two  Westminster professors.  This is so encouraging for Jim and we both enjoy getting to know everyone as they visit Jakarta to share their gifts.
Time to clean up the kitchen, so I will write again soon!  Please continue to pray for us and we will do the same for you.  :-)