October Notes

hello to all our prayer warriors and teammates,

all is going pretty good here. we have really learned alot about earthquakes too. we now feel even the smallest ones that we had missed before because now we know what they feel like. although we have experienced no damage or injuries or loss of life, that cannot be said for many in our host country.

please pray for those who have lost family members, homes and health. please be thinking of those who have gone to help with rebuilding and all that goes with that. please pray for us as we have an opportunity to spend 10 days being more sets of hands and able bodies to help with the construction and feeding and aiding many who have nothing left.

david in the groove of teaching, being chaplain, and member care. he has recently added seminary student to that list. he is doing a seminary online degree with asia theological baptist seminary. it is online classes and seminar classes. he is pretty busy with it all. but, so far it is a good busy.

a major praise here is that he got a HUGE break on his tuition. he is paying about $50 US for each credit hour. this makes each class cost about $152. we are praising the Father for this.

grace is keeping busy. her injury to her knee from soccer remains to be a concern. although 2 readings of her mri show no ligament or cartilage damage, she still feels quite a bit of instability and a feeling as though her leg is going to “snap” (her words). the mri did show bone bruising and swollen bone marrow. we are trying to figure out some rehab on our own. she is doing well in school. homework definitely keeping her busy this year. she is planning on some upcoming trips to give her more of a window into what kind of work she might be interested in doing in the future.

please pray for grace that she will continue to follow hard after her King; asking the Father to glorify Himself through her life. she has had some amazing opportunities here to learn that she truly wants to live her life only for Him. the temptation to take the easy road is there though. so please pray that she will always choose the road that He wants for her, not just the path of least resistance.

emma is doing well except for her allergies. she is really struggling with new allergies all the time. she has had a couple of big reactions since we have returned. we are learning to quickly deal with it with some benadryl. her schooling is going well. she has really become an avid reader. (more like rabid) cannot get her enough books. this is a good thing :-). we are also learning so much about emma the last few months. she is so loving and caring and responsible. we praise the Lord for that and also for her love for Him.

please pray for emma that she will be an avid reader of the Word as well. and that she will learn more and more how to put into practice all that she reads so that she can glorify Him in all she does as well. please pray for em to remember all her meds so that she can keep a good base line with her allergies.

jeff is being home-schooled this year. we are having a blast. we really are. i am learning so much about him and his learning styles. and, i am learning about his heart. oh how i love his heart. he is so in love with the Father. he struggles with being frustrated with his learning difficulties, but he is learning more and more everyday that he is to glorify the Lord with the abilities He has given him. we are also excited to see him begin to take responsibility for his own Spiritual growth.

please pray for jeff that he will not compare himself to others and that he will be focussed only on what the Father expects and desires from him. pray for him that He will continue to have a hunger for the Word and learning how to glorify his Father.

abi is still a hoot. she is learning so much too. kindergarden is her favorite thing. she gets so upset when it is the weekend. go figure. she is learning to read and spell. abi continues to struggle with her fine and gross motor skills and this is causing some problems with art and pe. but, she really does not let it slow her down. she has been a joy to us through some rough patches as of late. she is so naturally funny. we thank the Father everyday for our funny little joy!!!!

please pray for abi to even now begin to understand that she is made for the purpose of glorifying her King and that we will be good examples of that for her and all of our kids.

pray for abi to not become frustrated at her inabilities to draw, color, cut or play sports.

we thank you all for your amazingly consistent support and prayers. we are humbled by you all. thanks so much!!!. we lift you up before our Father as well. please let us know how to best do that.

much love to all of you.

serving Him together

the durhams

earthquakes, famines, and lots of growth

we have been back for well over a month now. it has already had its tough moments, but the chiseling is welcome. we are content to be chiseled by the Father. we want to resemble His Son so badly. we have talked a lot about learning more and more to depend less on ourselves and whole lot on His grace, His Word and His Spirit. we are so blessed to have a Father Who loves us enough to discipline and nurture and redeem.

well last week, as many of you know, we lived through our first earthquake. i (kim) was home with a sick grace, while david was at school with the rest of our kiddos. about 5 minutes before school was to let out, we all felt a small short bubble pop under our feet and then a small wave and then it was 1-2 minutes of continuous wave-like movement. it was disarming. for just a bit, grace and i looked at each other like one of us was doing something to cause this weird sensation. then, our pembantu (precious, precious lady) grabbed grace and motioned and said something in indonesian (i had no clue whatsoever as to what she was saying, but her face said it all) and she had us all huddled under our doorframe. and here is the funny thing, i began to pray fervently, because i truly had no idea what was about to happen. i was standing there praying my heart out and about half way into it, i realized i was praying in spanish. my grace looked at me like i had lost my mind. ibu was praying in indonesian, i was praying in spanish and grace was silently praying in whatever of her many languages she chose. oh what beauty there is in the family of the Father, where we can all pray in many languages all heard as one by our Maker. so, anyway, the other kids came home with stories galore. abi though could not stand to be alone and asked 1,000,000 questions about earthquakes. she would cry off and on and talk about the fear she had to go back to school the next day. we prayed with her and over her during the night, and she got up the next morning and went to school and had a great day. no tears, but remained cautious. we praise the Father for her having such a wonderful teacher who cared enough to take some class time to talk and pray through the events of the day before.

this weekend, we will have a famine. we are having a 30 hour famine at our school to raise awareness about the abject poverty in this world we live in. pray with us, that the youth leadership team will use the wisdom of the Father to help the youth see that we are to love and serve others because of the overflow of love from the Father in us. and that we do NOTHING in our own names or our own power but all, every little thing in the name, power and love of the Father. oh that we could teach them to learn the lesson that seems to belay me time after time after time; that being we have to stay in an abiding relationship with Him and that through that abiding we grow and grow in our love for Him and through that love, we learn to glorify Him over all things. pray that this message gets across as we talk about His command to love our neighbors, and to care for the poor, the orphans and the widows.

we have been growing so much already this year. and as mentioned above it has not been with out its growing pains. pray for all of us that we daily surrender to Him EVERYTHING that is keeping us from Him. Pray that we read the Word for all it is worth.

we are so very grateful for you all. you are the most encouraging friends and supporters. we are blessed to have you all. praise the Father with us that we are staying consistent in our support. we are right at 95 - 100% of our support. this is such a testimony to your faithfulness to His work here in what the Father has called us to do. your prayers are absolutely crucial to the work here. please do not cease to pray for each of us. we are praying for you as well. let us know if there is anything you would like us to pray about specifically.

praises:

all is well after the earthquake

our health is returning gradually. better each day.

wonderful homeschooling experience for mom and jeff

a great study of learning how to fight for joy....gotta love John Piper.

prayers:

grace and kim are still recovering from a tough bout with the flu

grace missed a week of school and is battling a lot of make-up work

emma is struggling through the possibility of even more friends leaving the school

pray for our school that it will be a reflection of the Father

pray for the 30 hour famine

pray colossians 1:9-14 for us.

thanks so very much

serving Him together

the durhams

david, kim, grace, emma and jeff

another update/ prayer request

Hello again

wow two posts in less than a month.....

this one is more of a prayer request. please pray with us as many options for a vehicle for the trips we need to take have fallen through. we have looked at flying and riding trains for all our travels and this adds up to approximately $2500 minimum. please pray for wisdom as we look at all our options. we are trying to be good stewards of what so many of you have given. please pray that we will be wise with our funds, and that we will see what it is the Lord would have us do.

we are so appreciative of your prayers and your friendship.

the durhams

is it really already April

we are so sorry for the elapsing of time with no update from us. we have barely had enough time to stop and rest as of late.

david’s job is full on now. his chaplaincy is taking shape and is continuing to grow as is his role of local member care coordinator. he is really going to have to learn to delegate. he has already been learning that necessity. he is heading up committees on general member care, new staff orientation, and big brother/big sister and new teacher mentors. he is also heading up the rewriting of a new orientation manual for introducing new folk to indonesia. on top of all that he is preparing for next year for heading of the chapel committee and starting of new things for next year. he is busier than he has ever been.

please pray for him to be sustained by the energy that only God can give. as God to help david to grow in leadership abilities and to maintain a vision from the Lord. please pray that no matter how busy things get that he will always seek His time with the Lord FIRST.

kim is continuing to learn to work in a background role. she is finding much peace in it.
she is learning more and more about how to help Jeff, Em, and Abi in there sensory integration issues. finding the time at home to be helpful in reading and learning how to best help them with their schooling.

please pray that kim will continue to abide in Him and to look only at how to best glorify Him and not herself. pray for continued wisdom on raising her kids to follow hard after God and to lose themselves in Him.

grace is facing a busy time ahead. she will be going to a swim tournament in bali on 17 april. then she has an ap exam for european history on the 8th of may, then she is playing the role of amy in little women on the 15th of May and then finals begin a week later. in the midst of all that are projects and life. :-)

please pray that grace will place her trust in the Lord to provide energy and ability. please pray that grace will learn to discipline herself in His strength and not her own.
pray for safety on the trip to bali.

emma is also going to bali to swim for BAIS at the tournament. she also has major projects and final exams coming. she is doing quite well with school this year. her health, however, has not been good this semester. we are still trying to find out what is causing all these major allergic reactions.

please pray for healing and wisdom regarding allergies and also praise Him with us that emma is really seeing God in her life throughout her allergies. she expresses no complaints and just takes it day by day. there is not one ounce of resentment in her heart about what she can and cannot do or what she can and cannot eat. she has been an example to us all of how to seek the Lord’s peace.
please pray for her stress level during the end of May and first of June as these are very overwhelming times for her. (finals and projects)

jeff is really struggling in school this semester. we are praying that we find an answer soon to his difficulties in math. he is trying to maintain a good attitude but feels defeated so much of the time. he has enjoyed playing soccer and basketball this year. he has been voted twice as the most encouraging player on both teams. that makes his parents smile BIG TIME.

please pray for jeff that he will continue to have a heart that longs for God. that he will trust all his days to the One who made him just the way he is.

abi has had a wonderful year. she and our neighbor’s daughter amber have become the best of friends. they are virtually inseparable. abi loves school and cries during holidays because there is no school. (the other kids do not get that at all :-))

please pray for abi because amber will be moving to another island in indonesia and they will not see each other again for a long time. please pray that abi learns to say goodbye in a healthy manner. pray that she trusts the Lord to protect her heart so that she does not begin to shut down of friends who might be leaving.

we survive our best through your prayers. please do not cease to pray for us. the enemy is at work here in this place. he seeks to steal our joy day after day. sometimes he does this through conflicts at work or personal conflicts. sometimes he is more stealth like and does it through our health. other times there is just a sense of discouragement and darkness that just drains us and causes us to stumble under fears
that are not based on the Light.

please pray for all of us that we will abide in Him daily, that we will become “biblically saturated” and “spirit-led”.

so many times we make the mistake of trying to move forward on our own strength or our own wisdom and we fall and it hurts. we are trying to focus ourselves in the Word and through good preaching of the truth (thanks so much jim for your sermons) we also listen to and read a lot of John Piper. he has been so convicting in his love for the Scriptures and his desire to be biblically saturated. he been an amazing example to us. grace loves to listen to him too. we are excited to see our kids grow in the Word.

We are planning to return home to Texas around the 11th of June. we are going to be traveling a lot. we will send a better schedule out soon.


thanks so much to all of you for all that you have done for us and all that you are doing. we do NOT take you all for granted and are so honored and blessed to count you as friends and partners in what He has called us to do.