Safe in the Face of Danger

It's been over a month since our last blog.  It's not for the lack of content, but energies to post something.  I got twelve hours of sleep last night so I'm feeling up to the challenge of covering some of the highlights since our last blog.

Mt. Merapi one month before it erupted.  

I'll begin with a local reaction to the volcanic activity now going on near us.  Mt. Merapi is the second of two major peaks located just south of where we live.  Between us and Mt. Merapi is Mt. Merbabu.  Mt. Merapi continues to erupt spooing ash and hot gases.  The gas clouds created are very dangerous.  They're estimated to move at speeds of 300 kilometers per hour and contain super heated gases; as high as 600 degrees Celcius.  The deaths related to Mt. Merapi's eruption have occured in villages located close to Mt. Merapi's peak.

Quintin's JV Soccer Team

We have recieved many concerned emails as to the threat Mt. Merapi poses to our safety.  We feel safe being separated from Mt. Merapi by the equally large Mt. Merbabu.  Life in our community continues, untouched by the volcanic activity of Mt. Merapi.  Should a major eruption occur, the greatest change in activity would be welcoming refugees and possibly some ash.  Rainy season is upon us, so dust in the air is neutralized quickly.  Please continue to pray for those living in areas affected by the volcanic activity.

Quintin in action!

With "fall" in Indonesia comes the soccer season at our school.  Quintin played on the JV team this year and I coached varsity girls' soccer.  Everyone had a good time.  Our school competes with local schools and with other international schools located on the island of Java.  This league is called IISSAC (Indonesian International Small Schools Activity Council) and currently is made up of six schools.  Last weekend the varisty teams travelled roughly nine hours to participate in this year's soccer tournament.  Both teams made a good showing.  The varsity girls' placed 3rd.  Also at this tournament was the Battle of the

Battle of the Books Champions

Books.  Started by the school's librarian as a way of promoting reading, the Battle of the Books asks teams questions from 10 different books.  The format is similar to a quiz bowl.  This year, our school won the battle and the right to take the traveling trophy home with us.  Inaddition to playing soccer, Quintin also got to participate in the Battle of the Books.  It was a good way for him to use his love of reading.

Varsity Girls' huddle up

At the end of the nine weeks, staff and students got to enjoy a week long "fall" break.  I continue to use the word "fall" loosely as we only have two seasons, dry and rainy.  Using the word "fall" helps me keep track of the seasons in a land of only two.  This year for fall break, our family joined a number of other teachers and visited Karimunjawa.  Karimunjawa is a small island located off the north coast of central Java surrounded by a number of even smaller islands.  By small, I mean islands that you could walk around in an hour or so.  After a six hour ferry ride from Java and then a 30 minute boat ride from the main island of Karimunjawa, we arrived at our island.  The pictures tell most of the story.  For three days and two nights we lived quite simply.  Our days revolved around trips to area reefs to snorkel, rice and fish for meals and hunting for shells.  Our island was significantly off the gird but our hosts were very gracious.  We did have electricity at night.  They ran a generator from 5:30 PM to 5:30 AM to power the floor fans that were located in our rooms.  The kids really seemed to have a good time.  They even got to wade with sharks!
This past month, I've been reminded of the impact teachers at our school make, including our own.  For a significant number of students both in the elementary and high school, Mountainview is their first experience with school outside the home.  Many grow up in places where home schooling is the only option until children are old enough for boarding school.  Mountainview provides a college prep high school education in English and boarding opportunities for youth 7th grade and older.  Located beside an Indonesian language learning center, Mountainview provides education to many children who's parents are here for a year to learn the langauge before going out to live among unreached people groups.  Many of the parents taking langauge have expressed appreciation for Mountainview's role enabling them to do so without compermising their children's continued education.

For now, we continue to serve where God has called us, hopeful of His care and continued guidance.  Blessings, Jeff