Timor: My Newest Adventure

Sorry it has been so long. These next few posts were written a few days ago but I couldn't post them until now. Most of them were written while I was sitting in the Singapore airport for about eight hours.

I have promised many of you that I would keep a blog of my travels and adventures, and yet as my friends read this, some of you are thinking to yourselves, “Travels? What travels, what adventures?” I would have asked the same questions if someone had mentioned this journey to me a few months ago, but now as I sit in an airport on the other side of the world, this adventure is very much a reality. This has been a rather quick change of plans, but the Lord seems to enjoy surprising me.

 I’m on my way to home-school a little boy on the island of Timor for ten months. He and his family are Seventh-day Adventist, Portuguese, and very nice. Allie Wahlman worked for them last year and had a great experience, and now I’m continuing what she started.  I’ll be using the Griggs home-school program, and that is a pretty comprehensive overview of what I know about this mission.

I call it a mission because I know I’ve been called. New things are always appealing to me, but leaving everything that I know and committing to something I’ve never tried is a bit of a stretch for me. Especially because I already had plans for this year - I was going to go to Weimar. The Lord seems to like teaching me to trust Him down to the last minute though, and He certainly caught me by surprise this time. Not long before grad at FA, my friend, Ceri, told me about this position and asked if I was interested.  I honestly didn’t think it would work out, but I said I would look into it. Like I said, I enjoy new things.

From that day until now the Lord has been leading me. I fasted and prayed, and He listened to me. I asked for a sign, and He gave me one that was almost too clear to believe and certainly too clear to ignore. He worked out the details while I watched Him in awe, and even now, as I’m traveling by myself, His care and calling give me peace. I know that this is the mission that the Lord has for me right now.

And right now I’m almost there. May the Lord empty me, fill me with Himself, and use me to glorify His name.  

My First Solo Flight

Somewhere over the Pacific: I’m sort of in a daze right now, so it’s hard to remember what my first flight was like, but I do know that it really wasn’t that bad. The whole time both my seat partner and I were in and out of consciousness, and I ended up quite rested by the time I got to Japan (despite the fact that all 10 hrs of the flight were spent in broad daylight). When I wasn’t sleeping, the flight attendants were filling my water bottle and giving me funny food. My mom ordered me an Asian vegetarian meal, and I guess this was Asian, but I think it was more like American-Asian. There was bread and butter (since when is that Asian?) some sort of cucumber salad, a couple pieces of fruit, some over seasoned soggy tofu, oily noodles, and oily fried veggies. I ate some of it. Then, just a couple hours later, they brought me the whole thing again, except that this time the veggies were cold and inside the bread (have you ever heard of a cold, stir-fried veggie sandwich?). Hmmm…mom’s GF granola bars were quite tasty and homey. Thanks, Mom! :)

My seat partner was a very nice Japanese lady, probably ten years older than me, although we got along quite fine and I don’t think she had any clue how old I really am (note: when you travel by yourself, people think you’re older than you are and that you just have really young looking skin, just happen to be one of those lucky people that always has a baby face, etc. at least in my experience, lol). We talked about Several different things, she gave me here email and invited me to visit her the next time I come to Japan, and we parted ways. 

It All Started in Seattle...

Here come some of my experiences on my way to Dili.

Seattle:  So, I thought I knew what I was doing. I got to my gate without a problem, hooked up to the wifi, and tried sending my mom an email from my new Samsung Galaxy. I even filled up my water bottle at a nearby fountain. I thought that it was odd that another flight was boarding at my gate so close to when my flight was supposed to board, but I shrugged off my suspicions and kept figuring out my phone. Someone said something over the speaker system about two passengers who were about to miss their flight and have their bags taken off their plane. I felt bad for them, thankful that I still had another thirty minutes till I was supposed to board. “Katly Atua, Katly Antuna? This is the final boarding call for your flight. Katly Antuna.” Adrenalin started pumping through my veins. That was my name they were calling! Grabbing my laptop, phone, violin, and other various things that I had taken out I rushed over to the desk by my gate. The lady there quickly explained that what I thought was boarding time was actually departure time! Praise the Lord for getting me on my first flight for this incredibly long and intimidating journey to the other side of the world. 

Bindweed and gophers

The Lord blessed me with another lesson from the garden this afternoon. I was weeding again, and if weeds were people, the garden paths would've been covered in blood. Firmly planted wherever it could find a bare spot of ground was a very tenacious intruder: bindweed. With a hand rake and my own bare hands I attacked the creeping plants. Soon vines, leaves, and other plant parts were flying over my shoulder and freshly tilled ground was appearing where tangled weeds had been. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time that I've had to go to battle in my own garden. As soon as I turn my back the remnants of roots that I have missed start to grow and spread all over again.
While I was thinking and weeding, I started wishing that these weeds would be more like the gophers that recently moved into our neighborhood. My dad has taken up the practice of bringing his gun out with him when he works outside. After a while curious little critters start peeking out of their holes and scampering around. Needles to say, they don't scamper around very long. When my dad is done with his target practice he picks up the rodents by the tail and deposits their remains in the entrances of their holes (I know, this is really morbid, but I got a great object lesson from it, so just wait). Then he puts his gun away and that is that. There are that many less gophers and that many less gopher holes, because a gopher is not about to use a tunnel that has another gopher's corpse in it (yuck!). So I was thinking, if only the bindweed wouldn't come up again where I killed it the first time. If it would just learn its lesson and go somewhere safer, after a while I would be done with it. But bindweed is courageous (or maybe brainless...), and it doesn't let the dangers of the past keep it from growing in the future. When it is kicked out, it comes back with more persistence. When it is cut down, it grows with more vigor. When it is poisoned, it renews itself. This made me think of a verse.
"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body." - 2 Corinthians 4:8-10
I don't want to be persistent in evil like the bindweed, but I do want to let the memory of my Lord's sufferings give me endurance to do what is right even when persecuted. Unlike the gophers that are so easily scared away from their homes, I want to claim more territory for Christ and expand His kingdom like the tenacious bindweed.
In just a couple weeks I'll be heading overseas to spend a year as a student missionary, and I know that there will be plenty of opportunities for perseverance in the face of difficulty while I'm there, but I can be persistent at home too. When I don't get upset with my sister, when I do my household duties without being told, when I study and practice music diligently, I'm practicing perseverance in what is right. It is faithfulness in the little everyday things that prepares me for the big things ahead. After all, "life is chiefly made up, not of great sacrifices and achievements, but of little things" (from somewhere in Help in Daily Living by E.G. White). I'm nowhere near capable of the tasks that the Lord has for me in the future, and the devil will be trying to trip me up all along the way, but I do know that Jesus is stronger than the devil, and that in each day He gives me ways to train for the trials ahead. May I see each burden as another way to make my spiritual muscles stronger, and may I see each opportunity for doubt as an opportunity to strengthen my faith. May I grow like a bindweed.

The Gift

"I have the gift, and I give the gift to Ruth and Loralee and Olivia. Who has the gift?" As I was having my devotions this morning, memories of this game, "the gift," came to mind. To all you poor people who don't know the secret of the gift game, I'm not going to spoil it for you, keep trying to figure it out, but I wanted to share a little lesson that occurred to me for the first time today.

Christ has given us an immeasurable gift. The gift of redemption and of eternal life. If we really have His gift, it will change us and fill us and pour out to others.

 As the plan of redemption begins and ends with a gift, so it is to be carried forward. The same spirit of sacrifice which purchased salvation for us will dwell in the hearts of all who become partakers of the heavenly gift. Says the apostle Peter: "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." Said Jesus to His disciples as He sent them forth: "Freely ye have received, freely give." In him who is fully in sympathy with Christ there can be nothing selfish or exclusive. He who drinks of the living water will find that it is "in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." The Spirit of Christ within him is like a spring welling up in the desert, flowing to refresh all, and making those who are ready to perish, eager to drink of the water of life. It was the same spirit of love and self-sacrifice which dwelt in Christ that impelled the apostle Paul to his manifold labors. "I am debtor," he says, "both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise." "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ."  {5T 730.4} 

So this morning, I thought to myself, "Do I have the Gift?" Yet perhaps a better question would be, "Have you received the Gift? Have I shared my Gift with you?"

Rocks

Yesterday was another lovely day at home. It was especially nice because I started it with a morning run (went on another one this morning, I think I'm getting addicted). Anyway, this running thing must be contagious, because yesterday afternoon as I worked in a friend's garden my thoughts started running too.
I just couldn't believe how many rocks were in the soil. The soil itself wasn't very rich, and then there were so many rocks in it that when I first saw the garden I thought it was planted in gravel rather than soil. As I hoed away at the weeds I couldn't help but think that even though the weeds were quite plentiful, the garden would fare better if I just went through and raked up all the rocks. If this was my garden, there wouldn't be this many rocks in it. I would have raked them out before I planted. As thoughts like these floated through my mind the Lord impressed an object lesson on my heart.
There are rocks in my garden. Lots of them, and often I get to busy to remove them or I don't even notice them. Distractions and idols clutter my heart, making it hard for the love of God to grow there, yet somehow allowing the weeds of sin to take root. Do I eagerly rake out the rocks so that Christ can grow in me, or do I hang on to the earthly things that I seem to love so much? I think I'm going to go rake my garden.

Yum!

Today was my first day at home after graduating from Fountainview Academy, and home is more wonderful than I remembered. I woke up later than I'm used to, but it was still cool and misty because it had rained in the night. I tossed on my favorite zip-off pants, my old running shoes, and a hoodie, grabbed my sister and a warm water bottle, and went for a hike.
The hike wasn't too long, but it was pretty. Our acreage is at about 3000 ft of elevation, so it's a bit cooler around here and summer hasn't really arrived yet (right now I'm in our living room wearing a wool sweater and sitting by the crackling fire in our wood stove). Outside it's rather chilly, but the grass is tall and wet and green, and the spring flowers are still coming out.
After our little jaunt, my sister and I had our devotions and started on our day. I got a lot of violin practice done, and that felt good. I think the highlight of the day was this evening though. I helped mom make a traditional African meal of fresh garden veggies over cornmeal for supper, and my sister and I got to do an experiment for dessert. I've never made vegan/gluten free rice crispies before, and it's been so long since I had the real kind that I'd almost forgotten what they tasted like. Providentially, my little sis had some vegan marshmallows that she wanted to finish up, and we had some rice checks that I figured would be just as good as rice krispies.
At first they looked a little sketchy. Vegan marshmallows don't melt exactly the same as normal ones, they don't get quite as soft, so the cereal was rather difficult to mix in. My familiy laughed when they saw me trying to mix and shape the sticky mess. Some of my friends take pretty pictures of the food they make, and my sister thought I should do it too, but I thought I'd better not. It might be embarrassing.
I wish I could have a link here that made some of my rice crispies pop out of your computer screen and into your mouth when you clicked on it. They were so good. Childhood memories of sleepovers, birthday parties, and picnics floated through my mind as I chewed on my perfect little treat. It was sweet but not sickening, and the crunchy chewy balance was perfect. I'll have to make them again.
Praise the Lord for such a fun day.