New School Dedication

A couple weeks ago we had our official building dedication for the new BAIS campus. It was a great time of remembering God's faithfulness in bringing us to this point. Several people shared what the school has meant to them throughout the past 50+ years. We thanked many people who had volunteered countless hours to help the project come to completion. We recognized the contractor and his building team for the work they did. We also looked to the future and asked for God to bless this place and use it to further His kingdom. We had several out of town visitors for the event. Gary and Shelley Brumbaugh from the NICS home office were there. Gary came for a couple months at the end of last year to help us through financial issues and ensure a smooth transition to the new campus. Shelley is the Member Care Director for NICS. Also from the home office was Beckie Hopkins, who helps us with teacher recruiting and filling our job openings. Also from out of town was Joe and Becky Beeson (the parents of Joey the former director of our school) who came from Singapore to help us celebrate the dedication. Here are a few pictures from the day:

Pete Simano, our school's director, was the MC for the event. Next to him is one of the Indonesian teachers at our school acting as translator.

As part of the ceremony a group of staff members sang Psalm 127 in Indonesia. "Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain."

We also heard from a student choir made up of students from preschool all the way up to grade 12.

The ribbon cutting ceremony.

Pete Simano (the current director) and Joe Beeson (the father of last year's director) share the honor of cutting the ribbon.

We also included the Indonesian tradition of breaking a pot full of water and flowers. Gary does the honor of the pot smashing.

Also an Indonesian tradition is serving special food to the dignitaries first before everyone else eats. Together we enjoyed a delicious Indonesian lunch.

Me with my roommates. Because it was a special ceremony, we all dressed up in our Indonesian best.

Our BAIS Staff

A couple weeks ago we had picture day at school. The photographer offered to take a free all staff picture. Here we all are- standing under the sports hall with our new, huge building in the background. We have a great group working at BAIS this year. I've been so blessed by the people on our staff as I get to know them more. I am especially encouraged by our Indonesian staff who tirelessly work day in and day out to help the school run smoothly.

In other news: we finished 1st Quarter last Friday and grades went home this week. The year is flying by!

Mt. Bromo Adventure

A couple weeks ago we had some time off from school for the Idul Fitri holiday. Idul Fitri marks the end of Ramadan (the month of fasting for Muslims). It is a huge holiday here, almost equivalent to Christmas. People buy each other gifts and return to where they're originally from to visit family.

Because it's such a big holiday we had 3 1/2 days off from school making a 5 day weekend. We took advantage of this and took off for an adventure in East Java. Our motivation for going was to see the famous Mt. Bromo volcano and to experience a place in Indonesia where it's actually cold. (We had heard rumors that it would be freezing!)

We left the morning of the actual Idul Fitri holiday and arrived at the train station to find that hundreds of people had gathered there to join in a prayer service. Traditionally the morning of Idul Fitri everyone goes to the local mosque to pray together. When there isn't room in the local mosque to hold all of the people they can spill over into any available space. It was quite a sight to see so many people dressed in white performing the ritual prayers.

We boarded the train, which we were on for 14 hours, until we got to the city of Surabaya. Although the train ride was long, we enjoyed just relaxing and hanging out with each other. We were lucky to have room to spread out and enjoyed the AC. We saw some amazing scenery. We ate lots of snacks that we had brought with us. We slept and played games and eventually arrived at our destination.

In Surabaya we spent the night and got up the next morning ready to continue traveling to Mt. Bromo. Along the way we stopped to see a famous mud volcano. (I hear it was a big story in national geographic.) Some miners were mining for oil, when they hit a certain spot and mud started shooting out. This continued for a couple years so far and hasn't stopped yet. It's taken out homes and a few people died from the event.

We continued on and stopped for a little white water rafting adventure. Aaron set up for us to go on a three hour white water rafting trip. We put on life jackets, got a short safety briefing, and started down the river. Our guide liked to run us into all of the rocks he could and so we weren't really moving very fast. We stopped a couple of times in still pools to get out and swim. We went past (and under) a couple of beautiful water falls. We also saw hundreds of bats in a cave. It was a really amazing trip and probably my favorite part of the whole weekend.

From there we finally started on the last leg of our journey to get to Mt. Bromo. We drove for hours up steep and windy roads. Finally after dark we arrived at the hole-in-the-wall motel where we stayed that night (complete with no hot water :) ). Immediately we began to understand what everyone had warned us about... it was much colder as we were very high up in elevation. Luckily we had come prepared with lots of layers and hats and scarves. We bundled up, ate dinner, and headed to bed.

The next morning we were awoken at 3:00 am to get ready for our sunrise tour of Mt. Bromo. Our group piled into a jeep we had rented and drove another hour or so to the special look-out point. Even though it was way too early, it was definitely worth it. We saw a beautiful sunrise and enjoyed watching the active volcano send out aplume. From there we went back down to the base and hiked up the volcano to the rim so we could look down into the crater. It was a tough hike... I wasn't sure I was going to make it. :)

Once we had enjoyed the volcano we headed back to the motel for breakfast and to pack up. We then began our long journey back. We drove back to Surabaya where we spent the rest of the day and that night. We enjoyed staying at a very nice hotel that night (and even got a tour of the biggest presidential suite in all of Asia). We played at the pool and went out to eat and took random pictures.

The following day we had some time in the morning around the hotel and around town. That afternoon we headed for the train station and boarded our night train back to Bandung. We were met by a surprise on this train, however. With the big holiday they had overbooked the train and sold tickets for people to just stand. Instead of having lots of room on a comfy, air conditioned train like before, we were crammed in with lots of people, smoke, and sellers. It was hot and stuffy and uncomfortable. As the night went on the people who were standing found places to sit and lie down until there wasn't any place left to move. You couldn't even get up to go to the bathroom... just a sea of people everywhere you looked. I've never experienced anything like it before, but we survived and 16 hours later we finally arrived in Bandung.

Our long weekend was quite an adventure as we traveled across the island of Java by train to see Mt. Bromo. It was filled with many memories, though, and I'm so glad we did it. Enjoy the complete experience by viewing the web album of pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/clauson.emily/BromoTrip

Life is Good (but busy!)

Hi friends! I've been wanting to update this for quite a while now. So much has been happening here that I've wanted to write about. Life has been so busy that I haven't had the opportunity to sit down and share any of it with you. We had a big holiday last week celebrating the end of fasting month. Because we had some days off from school we took a trip up to a famous volcano called Mount Bromo in north-east Java. More details and pictures coming soon but in the meantime perhaps these few will get you excited to hear more.

Fruit Party 2008

We hosted the annual fruit party last weekend. We had a lot of fun introducing the new staff to the large variety of weird and yummy fruits of Indonesia. Many of our new staff have tried most of it before, but it was still a fun excuse to get together. A lot of our staff members came, new and old, and enjoyed tasting fruit and hanging out. We even brought out the infamous durian fruit (the one that smells and tastes like rotten garbage). I was brave enough to try it again but it was just as bad as I remember from last year. :) A handful of other people tried it too, but most people chose to just laugh at those brave enough to taste.

View all of the pictures at my latest Picasa Web Album here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/clauson.emily/FruitParty08

The large spread of fruit.

Everyone enjoying getting to try.

Sitting around enjoying each other's company.

Adam tries the durian fruit for the first time.

The roommates all get together and decide to try durian together.

Here we go!

Oh, no! Why did we decide to do that again?

Yucky Traffic

Last week I was riding on the back of my roommate Emma's motorbike. I was shocked at what I saw on the bike in front of us. If you look closely you might be able to see... the guy on the back of the motorbike in front of us is holding a chicken. At first I thought this was rather odd, until I realized that it was moving and still alive... even weirder. I can't say I've ever seen a man holding a live chicken on the back of a motorbike before. Can you?

There is lots of traffic around here. It feels like we are constantly stuck in it. It gets pretty crazy at times, weaving in and out trying to make your way through it.

Winter in Indonesia

Right before school started a few of us decided to get out of Kota Baru and go up to the hot springs. From where we now live it took us about an hour and a half on motor bike to get there. We stopped and ate at a fun outdoor restaurant. Then we enjoyed swimming and relaxing at the hot springs. But the whole time we were dreading the ride back because we knew it would be freezing cold (or at least freezing to us who've gotten used to it being 90 degrees everyday). So before we left we all bundled up as much as possible and decided that this was as close as we were going to get to experiencing winter in Indonesia.

A Low Key Independence Day

August 17th is Indonesian Independence Day. Last year when I first arrived we attended many Independence Day celebrations and participated in all sorts of traditional games and activities. This year we kept it low key and just walked through a large local celebration that was taking place near our old campus. We ate some sate (traditional Indonesian barbecue) and looked at some local crafts that were being sold. Here are a few pictures from the day to give you a taste of what Independence Day was like here this year:

There were booths set up where food and crafts were being sold.

Many people sit around and listen to the entertainment for the day such as different local bands.

This is the most popular Independence Day activity. Teams of men take turns trying to climb to the top of this greased pole where prizes are hanging. Unfortunately, we left before they even got started.

This is our group who was there- Molly, Jennie, Adam, and Aaron (plus me who was taking the picture).

Molly and Jennie are having lots of fun celebrating with the local people.

As we were leaving Aaron decided to join the group of angklung players and see if he couldn't try playing one.

Molly gathers them altogether for a picture. They were so excited to have their picture taken.

My Motorbike

I wanted to share with you some pictures of my motorbike. Many people have been asking for these for awhile. I love my motor bike and the freedom it gives me to get around. I ride it to school everyday and skip the 30 minute walk. On occasion I drive it into Bandung which is a long ride but it gets me there. On Sunday we went in for church and got stuck in bad traffic on the way home. It took us over an hour. I haven't come up with a name for my motorbike yet. Any suggestions?

This is the garage at our new house. It's nice to be able to park our motorbikes inside during rainy season so they stay dry. Four bikes fit in here when everyone is home. Mine is the one on the end. It's a Yamaha Mio.

He Has Been Faithful

We paused this morning to give the Father thanks for all He has done. He has been so faithful to us as a school. Over this past year again and again it seemed that there was no way we'd be able to finish our new school campus and move into the building in time for school to start this fall. In the midst of financial unknowns, changes in administration, and construction delays, we started school at our new campus in Kota Baru Parahyangan on August 19, 2008.

I remember last spring there was a period of much uncertainty as to the timing of finishing the building and our inability to secure a loan to pay the contractor. As many people were asking what the plan B was going to be if we weren't able to move, we spent several Saturdays packing up all of our classrooms in faith that the Father would provide. We did now know then how things were going to work out but we trusted that He had called us to this step and therefore He would be faithful. The moving process brought with it much craziness and chaos at times, but we were able to get set-up enough to start school on Tuesday (instead of Monday because it was a holiday).

So on Tuesday, August 19 we opened our doors. But God not only provided us with a beautiful, big building, he also provided us with LOTS of students. It was like the flood gates opened wide as they poured in on the first day. At the end of last year we lost many school families who were going on furlough, leaving Indonesia, or switching to other schools. But by the start of school we were already back up to our same enrollment from last year. Of my 75 students are so over 25 of them are new to BAIS this year.

He has provided in these big ways, but also in a hundred small ways too.

"I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not give my glory to another
or my praise to idols.

See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you."

Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
you islands, and all who live in them.
Isaiah 42: 8-10

Enjoy some pictures of our new school:

The building is huge and has space enough to hold everything. Eventually there will be other buildings for separate cafeteria, gymnasium, and offices, but for now we are blessed with this space that is much bigger than what we were in last year.

The front entrance.

The second floor hallway- it's huge! This is where all the secondary students have classes.

Down the stairs looking out to our sport hall (this was brought over from the old campus).

Looking down on the sports hall from the third floor lookout.

My classroom is finished and ready to be set-up.

In process.

Almost there.

Ready to go on the first day of school.

Finally a classroom of my own. :)