Durham's in Indonesia!!

What is the Durham clan learning these days?

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV)

We are doing a whole lot of learning. We have really committed ourselves this year to growing in His truth and in our likeness of Him. We have also been desiring a different picture of what that means as a family. The book This Momentary Marriage by John Piper has been an amazing catalyst in the way we think about how our family is supposed to reflect the relationship the Father and has children. It has been humbling for us to think through our lives and wonder how we have been perceived. Have we always glorified the Father with our behaviour towards one another. It has been much to think about. We highly recommend the book to you. Also, we have been learning that He is a sovereign Lord: over finances, health, family, and most definitely our future. But, equally important, we are learning that He is good; maybe not always so easily understood, BUT HE IS GOOD!!! We are so loving that He never stops working on, in and through us. So humbling to realized that He chooses to use us, in spite of ourselves. :-)

David is relearning teaching Math and Sciences. He is finding that he missed it terribly, but He still loves teaching His 12th grade Bible class on Biblical Worldview and Transitioning to life post - high school and back to their home countries.

David and Kim are both learning what it must have felt like to our families as we prepared to leave to come overseas, now that this year we are preparing to send our oldest daughter back over the great seas to the United States to attend college. We are learning much about letting go and trusting the Father to care for Grace much more than we could ever do so.

And, we are learning a lot about faith. All of us are learning about living a life where the only thing that really matters is the glory of the One and Only God Who is to be glorified and magnified through our lives. Learning more and more that this life is not about us, but

about Him!

Praises and Prayer Requests

Grace’s Big News

Grace has received and official acceptance letter from Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota. This is her dream school. So, needless to say she is jazzed beyond belief and is

praising God daily for His goodness. Please keep praying for scholarships. We know that Lord will provide according to His will and we rest in His sovereignty and His goodness.

Emma’s Competition

Em has been having a great freshman year in High School. We are so proud of her diligence and commitment level. Please pray for continued growth in her walk with the Lord and pray that she will continue to make good friends.

Jeff and Homeschool.

It is going great. Please continue to pray for wisdom in dealing with learning differences and for

diligence on both Jeff and Kim’s part. They are having fun and learning at the same time. Learning book stuff and more about each other. So much fun!!!

Abi is loving 1st grade

Nothing could be better for Abi. She is thrilled to be in school. She is still by far the best at tearing down walls between cultures and beliefs. She sees no difference between her and anyone. She talks to anyone about anything..no judgements, no hiding, no fear. I pray that she

matures but never changes. She is such a blessing to us. Gotta love God’s surprises.

Fun times with snakes!

The Lord keeps us safe here. We have found three snakes in our back yard: 2 Cobras and a Rat

snake. Our school security is on constant snake patrol at our school looking for snakes and protecting our kids from them as well. They recently found a reticulated Python. The kids were thrilled when we received a phone call telling us we could come and see it. (See photo) There has been a lot of education on what to do if you see a snake. Abi is so fun when she comes home and tells us what we need to do when we see a snake. :-) We are learning that this is part of life here and are adjusting our habits - like looking down before you take a step....

abi loved the snake so much. wishing she had a little more fear
this thing was over 3 meters long!
not loving snakes at the house, but it was kinda pretty!

Check out my facebook acct for more fun pics of our life here in Indonesia!

thanks so very much for all your prayers and support,

david and kim and the rest of the clan

Contact Info:

David and Kim Durham

c/o Bandung Alliance

International School

Jalan Bujanggamanik Kav. 2

Kota Baru Parahyangan

Bandung 40553

Indonesia

EMAIL:

david.kim.durham@gmail.com

INTERNATIONAL PHONE#

903-704-4148

NICS HOME OFFICE:

(PLEASE USE THIS ADDRESS FOR

ANY FINANCIAL GIFTS )

NETWORK OF INTERNATIONAL

CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS

3790 GOODMAN RD E

SOUTHAVEN, MS 38672

U.S.A.

More notes....so sorry that it has been so long

Dearest Friends and Family,

Rainy season is over. Dry season is in its beginning stages. A few rain drops here and a few showers there but all in all, the rain is a bidding us farewell. Many of my friends are happy about this, but I for one, am sad. I love the rainy season. The smell of fresh rain, the clouds helping to hide a fierce, hot sun, the green grass and beautiful flowers (including my wonderful orchids that a student’s parents gave us), and a plethora of other reasons bring me much joy and much comfort. I am in awe of His creation more during the rainy season.

But, the dry season does have its advantages. I can ride my bike without fear of being doused before I get to shelter. I can count on getting my clothes dry by noon on the clothesline and my kids like to get suntans ☺

OK! Enough about weather

We are doing well. Winding down the school year.

David is winding down his responsibilities as chaplain and member care coordinator. He is excited to return to the classroom on a full time basis next year. We have enjoyed the roles he has had the last two years. We have fed new teachers dinner one Tuesday a month for two years now, and helped guide them through their first year overseas. This has been so fulfilling to us. But, it has also drained David as he has found that he definitely loves to minister to folks in this way, but he really does enjoy the administrative side of things. So back to behind the scenes we go!

He will teach Accounting/Statistics, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, Physics, and Grade 12 Bible. He is so glad to be “home” again.

Please pray for the finishing up of the year that he will finish his roles well. And, for next year that he will be able to honor the Father in teaching his classes.

Kim will take on a full time role of homeschooling Jeff. This is NOT a part time job. That has been her new discovery for the year. Jeff has been so patient with her. Love that boy. They are both looking forward to being able to have the whole day to do school and ministry and application of what they have learned.

Please pray for her to have patience with Jeff and herself. Pray for wisdom of when to move on from a lesson and when to stick with it until mastery. Pray for this to be a time for her and Jeff to really make memories (preferably good ones ☺)

The kids are pretty busy themselves

Grace has taken the SAT twice this year and the ACT once. She has had reconstructive knee surgery with the possibility of another surgery next week. She is Eliza Dolittle in Pygmalion this week (two performances) and has her AP US History exam on the same day; then to Singapore for the possible surgery and then back to school for final exams. Aduh!!! Craziness.

Grace is still hoping and praying for an opportunity to go to China this summer to work with children in orphanages or camps. Please pray for the Father’s leading in this. And for Mom who is still learning to let go. Also, please pray for upcoming senior year and wisdom in college choices.

Em is finishing off Middle School and heading to High School. We are glad to see her growing in many ways. She really loves to read. She has been making some good friends as of late and for that we are praising Dad like crazy.

Please pray for the transition into High School to go smoothly and that Em will lean on the Father for EVERYTHING.

Jeff is hoping to add some sports to his schedule next year. He is soooo excited about the World Cup. He has asked me to make sure his allegiance to Brasil is made known to all of you. ☺ That boy loves his World Cup.

Please pray as we said above that home school will be a good experience for him and that he will learn to the best of his ability.

Abi graduates from kindergarten this year. Where did the time go? According to Abi, she is ready to get to 1rst grade so that she can go to 2nd grade. We are telling her to slow down and enjoy the ride, but she feels frustrated being so much younger than her siblings and is feeling the need to catch up. Ha ha.

Please pray for Abi as she is having a hard time focusing at school. And that she will continue to love Jesus and grow in Him.


Thanks so much for praying for us and for supporting us through so many years. Your consistent notes of encouragement and your financial support have humbled us and encouraged us so much.

We are praying for you guys as well!!!

David and Kim for the rest of us Durhams

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.

Merry CHRISTmas and a Happy New Year

it was another warm CHRISTmas here in indonesia, in both meanings of the word. it was a blazing 93 degrees with a stifling humidity. but it was also warm for the heart. we spent the day with good friends and had very good food. we are always so amazed at the "family" God has given us when we are overseas. i (kim) found myself to be very homesick this year. i think it is the improvement of technology. we now get to see pics of what we are missing. this is both wonderful and sad all at the same time. seeing drew at the family christmas night at FBC was so funny and we even felt like we were there. we laughed so hard our sides hurt just imagining seeing it live. thanks jennie for posting those. we got to see family pictures from kim's side of the family. it was so amazing seeing how everyone has grown, but sad to realize what things we have missed. so sorry Grant that i will not see you graduate and that i never saw a single game of your senior year. i am so proud of you and not so much because of what you do but because of who you are. we got to see pics of haylee all grown up, when we left she was just starting to crawl.

we shared all that above to let you know that even though we are so glad to be where God wants us to be, there are still struggles with missing home and family and friends and all that comes with all that. please pray for us as we are away from family.

we are still in the middle of a great break from school and work. it has been so restful. on friday we head to the beach. this will most likely become a family tradition because of how inexpensive and amazingly beautiful it is. we also get to eat seafood everynight that is caught that day and cooked for us on the grill. yes, we are truly suffering. we are looking forward to a great week of family time with games and times of playing games and talking. oh and swimming and once again attempting to boogie board without planting my face in the bottom of the indian ocean. not a very nummy experience.

we have been praying for all of you to experience CHRISTmas and new years that glorifies the Lord and honors Him and brings much glory to Him and joy to you.

Prayer Requests.

David: for a good beginning to a second semester.
that he will be used by God to bring students to Him and that he can teach them to see and seek His glory.
that he will continue to organize himself better and better so that he schedules do not conflict
wisdom in leadership
beginning seminary soon

Kim: for a balanced schedule of work, study and family time
patience in parenting
being all about Him and not about me.
continued wisdom in being volunteer nurse for the school

Grace: feeling so tired all the time
she is at the halfway point for her support for SeaTribes trip
finish the school year well.
learn to lean on Him and doing only what she knows is her best.

Emma: finish the school year well.
friendships
her allergies are flaring up again.

Jeff: has lost a lot of friends this year. (all moving to other countries). the last friend leaving is his best friend, Karston
finish the school year well.
school struggles

Abi: abi has asked Jesus into her life!!!!!!!!!!!!
pray for her young mind and heart to understand His love more and more
and even at the age of 5 she can start living for, in, and through Him.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and financial support. we are not unaware of the sacrifices you all make with your time and finances. we are blessed beyond all measure and we are asking the Lord to hold you in His hands and protect you and cause you to grow more and more in Him as you live for Him and walk in His way.

thanks so very much