Lost in Australia (translation)

G’day mate!
(Hello There)
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Haw ya going?
(How are you?)
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Mi bloke Stuive Whyda wuanted mui t’ tel ya ‘bout speekin ‘Strahlian.
(My friend Steve Weeda wanted me to demonstrate the Australian dialect)
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I Reckun ya ‘ll herd that Stuive an ‘is relie’s visited ‘Strahlia fo’ th’ sommer auli’days
(I’m sure you all know that Steve’s family visited Australia for the Christmas holidays)
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For Christmas, Stuive and ‘is relie’s staid in J’loung where they opened prezies and had tea out doors with sum bit’s o’ meet on the ba’ arbi.
(For Christmas day, Steve and his family stayed in Geelong where they opened presents and enjoyed dinner outside with grilled meat.)
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An’ naw they aar’ ‘njoying visiten’ the wander fuul syites round ‘Stralhlia.
(And now they are enjoying visiting great places around the Australian State of Victoria)
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So, No warries if ya doun’t hear much fr’ om Stuive an’ ‘is reli’s. He ‘ill post to blog Stryat awa’ay in the next bit of tyime.
(So, don’t worry if you don’t hear much from the Weeda family in the next few weeks. Steve will post to his blog soon after he returns.)

Christmas at the mall

Eric in front of a Santa banner at a mall in Indonesia

Yesterday, we gave our helper her Christmas gift along with a stocking full of other items and a card. This got me thinking...

Other than Retailers, it's hard to find anyone who disputes the negative effects of the commercialization of Christmas. Even theological liberals and conservatives, who disagree about just about everything, usually join forces in verbally lashing what Christmas has become in society today.

In a place like Indonesia however, the commercialization of Christmas probably brings more benefits than drawbacks. In addition to causing the humorous situation where nice muslim girls don Santa hats while they work, the commercialization of Christmas also results in people seeing and hearing about peace, goodwill, and God made flesh (something scandelous to all Muslims). Christmas trees, Santas and decorations have sprung up everywhere. Even the soundtracks in malls have Christmas music playing continually (and unlike stores in the West, the music here contains lyrics in English that shout out that Jesus is here to bring redemption!). At some point this should cause most people to ask "what is this all about?"

This is basically what our helper asked us last night after she read our card and opened her gift.

Janet found her a church to go to this morning.

Once in royal Davids city,

Stood a lowly cattle shed,

Where a mother laid her Baby,

In a manger for His bed:

Mary was that mother mild,

Jesus Christ, her little Child.

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He came down to earth from heaven,

Who is God and Lord of all,

And His shelter was a stable,

And His cradle was a stall:

With the poor, and mean, and lowly,

Lived on earth our Saviour holy.

.

For He is our childhood's pattern;

Day by day, like us, He grew;

He was little, weak, and helpless,

Tears and smiles, like us He knew;

And He cares when we are sad,

And he shares when we are glad.

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And our eyes at last shall see Him,

Through His own redeeming love;

For that Child so dear and gentle,

Is our Lord in heaven above:

And He leads His children on,

To the place where He is gone.

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Merry Christmas Everyone!

Take a step back

A funny sequence of events from our beach outing:

Step 1: Hope attracts a crowd. I pull out a camera, which further attracts people.

Step 2: Indonesians girls love to pose for pictures by playing coy with the camera. Hope watches.

Step 3: Hope mimics their pose-- quite unsuccessfully.

Thanks to Kim Whites Facebook album for this picture.

And when you take a step back... this is what it looks like!