The Gift Of Friends

We started the second year of our term here, asking God for friends.  Especially for the boys.  It was the element in our mission life that was lacking the most.  This was the driving force behind Aubrey and Andrew wanting to go to school.    The best gifts in life are not the physical things that we save up for or ask for on our birthdays.  It is the gift of a friend.

With teen boys in the house, they demand the most.  From ball to Jr. High meetings, to school functions.  It’s easy for Jacob and Nathaniel to just get dragged about.  Because they have each other and play together so well, they don’t ask for friends.  Until they met Daniel and Ryan.  Daniel and Ryan live in an interior village on the south side of Papua.  Their village is only accessible by helicopter.  Every few months, their family comes out to restock their supplies.  We met them on a beach outing and they were inseparable.  Just in the span of a few hours, they dug castles, went on many imaginative adventures, talked up a storm and swam in the ocean….committing to each other that they would get together again.  Since then they have had two play dates together and just love having kindred spirited buddies. 

Aubrey and Andrew’s closet friends are their drama buddies.  Tonight the drama guys are spending the night, to add to the memory pot.   They are a great group of boys and I love hanging out with them, or maybe I should say….I love cooking for them, because they sure eat a lot! : )

I have at least 6 close friends that I know I could call and they would help, listen, and/or pray for me.  My latest friend is the wife of our new office manager.  Her name is Nancy.  She is the first Indonesian that I have become close friends with.  She knows English well.  We have already spent hours together teaching each other language, going to the market together and we plan to start cooking with each other to learn each other’s dishes. She is light hearted and fun.  Raised by a Muslim father and a Christian mother, Nancy ran away from home when a teenager because she did not want to follow the Muslim ways that her father was asking of her (by this point, her mother had died). 

 

Darron and I are expanding our social circle by inviting families to our home for meals.  There are so many incredible people out here, who serve in extreme environments.  We love getting to know the other missionaries that are serving here.  Take Jim and Joy Elliott who serve interior.  They counted over several days what was the average amount of people who came to their house asking for medical assistance or to trade for something or for help, on a light day it was in the low 100’s on a heavy day exceeding 200 people.  Also where they serve there are very few fresh fruits and veggies available.  Almost all of their veggies are canned or frozen.  It is a very humbling experience to listen to these people share their commitment to their calling.

Friends fill in the gaps, especially when we are so far from our extended family.  Once again, God has taken our request and poured out into our cups in abundance.  We are blessed, by the gift of friends.