The Nelson Family Indonesia

That’s Jimmy, our first pet in Medan. Kind of anticlimactic in many ways. We didn’t pick him out, he picked us. We rarely saw him, except when we’d inadvertently open a cabinet door he was hiding behind. We joked about the parties he would throw when we were away from the apartment, but he was pretty good at cleaning up after them so we never had cause to complain. We didn’t have to feed him – he had more than enough food with the many sugar ants that were, come to think of it, probably the actual first pets we had, even though we weren’t very fond of them.

It’s been a crazy few weeks. This week our family concluded the second unit of our 9-unit intensive Indonesian language study with exams on Thursday. Today (Friday), we packed up just about everything from the apartment we’ve been staying in and ported it over to our rental home. After considerable delays – and without a stove or a washing machine yet – we’re moving. It’s exciting to think we won’t have to relocate again (God-willing!) for at least two years. Hopefully longer. Tomorrow we’ll clean out the apartment fridge and the last of the toiletries and say goodbye to our home of the last two and a half months. If you’re ever in Medan (hint, hint), Travellers Suites (sic) is a great place to stay.

Jimmy will remain behind (we assume). Most of the things he probably hid behind are gone now. Maybe he’ll prefer the peace and quiet to our family noise. We know he certainly won’t enjoy the wi-fi – the one complaint we had about our temporary digs. We’re excited that when we move tomorrow, the wi-fi is already up and running at the house, and is considerably higher speed than what we typically have in our apartment. That should make many things easier – like updating this blog more regularly, as well as producing our newsletter (which we intend to have to you next week via e-mail).

We’ve seen plenty of other geckos around our new house and we’re certain that there are a few hiding inside already amidst the debris of our gradual move-in. While we won’t have a proper stove or washing machine for another month (thanks to some sort of snafu between the store we bought them at and the manufacturer), a friend has offered to lend us at least a single-burner propane stove to help us limp along. We’ll use laundry mats or laundry services near our home. We have to make another major shopping trip tomorrow to get fans and storage cabinets and towels and extension cords and power strips and a few other essentials. But we’ll begin settling. Learning the new neighborhood. Introducing ourselves to the neighbors and hopefully practicing our Indonesian with them. Building relationships where we can hopefully share the Gospel. Exciting stuff.

Tonight Gena met the elderly woman who lives across the street from her. Up until now we’ve simply exchanged polite greetings in passing as we brought stuff to the house. Tonight Gena was able to chat with her a little. To learn her name is Ellie and she’s lived in that house for 55 years. She’s surrounded by a horde of street cats that wander freely in and out of her gated yard and sometimes are fed by her. She was very chatty and wanted to know more about the strange foreign family moving in across the street. A good sign we’ll be able to talk more with her. Please pray for those opportunities, as well as to meet the neighbors next door to us to the south.

Maybe Jimmy will visit. Maybe you will. We’ll make room. And as always, the offer is always there for us to visit you, via Zoom and e-mail. We’ve learned so much in the last 10 weeks or so it’s really hard to know where to begin. But the safest place to begin – and end – is in thanks to God. And so we do. Thanking him for watching over us, sustaining us, enlarging our brains to absorb (at least partially!) a new language and culture and climate, and for providing us with partners like you to pray and support and encourage us and share the story with others. None of this would be possible without you – but as always, Sola Dei Gloria!