Please pray

Last night, an Indonesian friend of ours called me (Rebecca) with some sad news. Her husband of some 25 years or so is leaving her.

Our friend, who we knew during language school on a different island, has had a hard life. She and her husband have four kids together, and live in poverty. They just can’t seem to get ahead. My friend has worked as a maid since she was a child. Her husband is a driver. But they have been in a good deal of debt for several years due to needing to pay some medical bills when their daughter had dengue fever and spent over a week in the hospital. (Like most Indonesians, they don’t have health insurance.)

Right now, my friend doesn’t have a job because her daughter, now age 9, has been sick often this past year and my friend feels like she needs to stay home and take care of her. She left a job as a maid that was an hour away from her home, and she worked long hours there. She just started running a very small store from her home, selling snacks to school children.

Now her husband has left her. Honestly, he’s never been that good of a husband for her. In many ways, he’s a really good guy. He works really hard. He’s a nice man, so friendly. But he has this other side of him that my friend often sees. He’s been abusing my friend for most of their marriage, usually using his fists, but he has used a hammer to beat my friend.

Now he’s told her he wants the freedom to sleep around and not care for a wife and children anymore. In Indonesia, it is very difficult to get a man to pay child support. So, my unemployed friend will have to take care of herself.

In the meantime, her middle son, 17 years old, has threatened to beat up his dad. Understandably, he is very angry, and has been for a long time, as he has witnessed the abuse. My friend fears a violent confrontation between her husband and her son. And at the least, she worries about the stress and anger her children harbor due to their dad’s behavior.

My friend continues to hope that her husband will change. She asked me to pray that he would, and to tell my friends to pray that way, too. So, I’m spending much of today fasting and praying for my friend and her husband.

Will you join me in praying for comfort and provision for my friend? Please also pray that her husband will choose to change. Her children also need prayer as they deal with their parents’ impending divorce.

Returning to Indonesia

After some 24 hours on an airplane, we are back in Indonesia. Day has become night. Spring has become summer. And English has become Indonesian.

But as we start our second term here, so many things are so much easier. No language to learn. Brad is already a pilot experienced in flying in the jungle of Borneo. Our house is set up. And we’re actually experienced parents now…at least for months 1-11 with this particular child.

We still have to remember to drive on the “wrong” side of the road. And I (Rebecca) keep turning my windshield wiper on when I mean to use the blinker. But in many ways, we feel like we’re coming home. And with a furlough that has refreshed us, we are patient with the things that bother us. And we found that we missed many things about our lives here.

As we begin this next term, please keep certain things in your prayers:
-Safety for Brad as he begins flying again here.
-Unity on our team of MAFers.
-Opportunities to share about God’s love with our friends.
-Wisdom for us as we are parents to Evan.
-That we stay refreshed, patient and encouraging to others as long as possible.

Also, we love hearing from you, so please feel free to leave your comments, questions, etc. on this Web site. We plan to keep this site updated at least once a week so that you know what is going on with us.

Welcome to our new Website

As we embark on our second term in Indonesia, we will continue to use our Web site (http://www.hopkinsmaf.org) to keep you up to date on our work. Check back often to see what we're doing.