Visitors from Home

Recently my Dad & Brother came to visit us here in Indonesia for 2.5wks. It was so neat to have them here, as it made the 1.5yrs since we've seen any family seem a lot shorter. Not only that, but it was so awesome to be able to share a bit of Indonesia with them so they could experience first hand where we live, and what life is like here for us. I really feel God blessed our time together in a number of different ways, as their goal to not just "experience" Indonesia, but to see how we were adapting to life overseas, how MAF operated day in and day out, and to observe just a bit of how God was working through the Indonesian church.

My brother (Jordan) brought his camera and used it everyday, so I figured, I must share the wealth:) With his permission I plan on sharing his pic's here over the next while.

Most of these portraits are of people in our immediate neighbourhood, or other communities in Tarakan.

Below is a small(ish) monitor lizard, we often see these guys in our yard (I took pic's of one once and posted them a few months ago). These guys can get big! 4-6ft big. Usually you see the younger ones running around locally, but we have a bigger one that comes in our back yard once in a while.

Behold, the infamous "Mangy Patrick"! Name courteous of Simon. This ol' cat has been a regular fixture at the trash bin just down the street from us. Once you take a close look at him, you start to wonder why he's still alive. Jord was able to document this special occasion when ol' Mangy sauntered by with a freshly killed rat. Yummy! Although this picture is worth a million words, what the picture does not show is a pack of local Indonesian kids about to chase Mangy "P" with a fish skeleton (head still attached just like the cartoons) so he would drop the rat.

Yes, there are other cats, but Mangy comes across as the meanest and baddest in this neighbourhood.

The legend of Mangy "P" continues to grow. Apparently, I have insider info that this cat is the same one that at in times past would sneak in another persons yard, eat all the cat/dog food, and urinate in the house. He consequently survived an encounter with a pellet gun. Not only that, I have also heard that he has also survived being run over by a motorcycle. Some cats would lay down and die, but Mangy just shook it off. He's one tough cat. The truth is, animals just don't get the 'love' they do back home, they run wild and either survive or die. I've seen numerous young cats and dogs around the neighbourhood since being here that are most likely all dead now.

The truth is, people don't get the care here that they do back home either.