Oh no . . . I forgot

As I'm perusing my posts from last week, I realized that I never posted on Ethan's biopsy results. Sorry. They took longer to get to us than expected. Once we received them, there were a number of good indicators, and one that was unclear.

The good - he does not have cancer or pre-cancer or, as far as we can tell, any serious virus.

The unclear - it does not give a conclusive indication about what he really has, which we're assuming is what the doctor originally diagnosed as nodular lymphoid hyperplasia.

Still waiting to hear back from the Singapore doctor, who is out of the country until next week. All in all, we're really encouraged, and it appears that Ethan will continue to get better over the coming months without any chronic colon problems.

UN Day

Because the international school (where Brienzi and Aidan go for afternoon pull out classes) is made up of many nations, they celebrate UN day. This year, even Ethan got in on the action as the Aussies snapped him up when Kim went to watch. After all, he is our little Down Under boy.

At first, he really enjoyed the attention.

But after the Aussie national cry of, "Oy, Oy, Oy!" - no more Mr. Happy Guy.

Firsts

We've held Ethan off of a number of things until we could get his colon situation figured out. Since it seems like he's in the clear, we introduced him to two things:

First bottle!

First real food!

The cat's away again . . .

So the mice are gonna play - movie night, swimming in the morning, and anything else we can think of.

Aside from Kim's homeschooling three kids, taking care of Ethan, and traveling to Singapore, she's also been planning food for 40 ladies for a weekend retreat this weekend. Several ladies in our city got together a few months ago and began planning this retreat for ladies who are "like minded".

Kim left this afternoon with Ethan and two cars loaded with food. She'll be getting back on Sunday. I know that God is going to use it to further his work through strengthening all who attend.

They are meeting at a beautiful location called Trawas in the mountains of East Java.

Bhinneka and P-Town

This is the sign out in front of the P-town learning center. As you can see, it is connected to Bhinneka, which is the language school I work for. I know, it may seem confusing - or at least I can understand if it is. I've been working for Bhinneka as an English teacher since 2000. We actually learned Indonesian at Bhinneka, so we've been with them since 1998. We started the learning center in 2006 (but actually had an English club going in the P-town area since May 2004).

The learning center's name is actually Rujak Berkah. I'll have to get into the meaning in another post. I teach English to the staff and the kids. I'm trying to help the staff improve their English as well as teaching methods. Then they turn around and teach similar lessons to the kids. I also get the fun task of teaching the kids crazy English songs. At the age my own kids are at, this is right up my alley.

Some of you may remember that back in March, Ibu Wenny started having monthly meetings for the mothers. It usually centers around a theme, with the meeting just a few weeks ago focused on health and nutrition. A short termer from California came to share about good hygiene and better eating habits. The mother's loved it.

We've also started a small handicraft business. The emphasis is on SMALL, as we're just experimenting at this stage, trying to help not just the kids, but the whole family. So far, we've got pillow cases and a few hand bags (we've also got hand made greeting cards, but I don't have a picture yet).

Opening in March

This is Ibu Enny, our senior teacher at the Bhinneka language school (parent school of the P-town learning center). She has been with the school virtually since it opened in 1996. The other teacher is Mas Elpis, our newest teacher, who came on board last year. Both are originally from the island of Ambon.

Ibu Enny, Mas Elpis, five other staff members, and I met this past Wednesday. We meet about every other week to plan for the new English program that will hopefully start bringing in more income for Bhinneka and the learning center.

For the past month, everyone had been assigned different things to research. Some went out to other language schools to observe and find out what their fees are . . . doing a little market research.

We made plans to open a trial class for elementary children in March 2009. The plan is to see how well it's received in the community. We also need a to find a better building to rent, at the right location, and at the right cost. Our rent on the present facility runs out in July. So this gives us enough time to try out a small version of the new program. Then once we move, we can open the larger version in August 2009.

What did you just sing?

The other day, while driving home from the learning center, Brienzi leaned over and asked, "Dad, what does "crazy" mean in Indonesian?"

I thought maybe she had learned it earlier in the day in her Indonesian class. So I tried to jog her memory with a few hints, but she just couldn't remember.

"Okay. It means "gila."

Sitting there disappointed she couldn't remember it, the next thing I heard was Brienzi and Aidan belting out,

"Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah . . . Gila Tuhan!"

My jaw dropped and I said, "Hey guys do you realize what you just said? You just said that God is crazy.

To which Brienzi replied, "Daddy! I didn't ask you what "crazy" meant in Indonesian. I said, 'Praise ye!'"

"Oh!"

And our Indonesian friend who was in the car with us certainly got a kick out of it.

Something I've discovered . . .

When the days get jam packed, the blog gets neglected. As soon as Kim and Ethan returned to Indo last week, we had a mini team retreat over the weekend. So I plunged into prep for that on Thursday and Friday. Then Monday rolled around and I've been catching up on a pile of stuff that I left behind for over two weeks while Kim was out to Singapore.

I do want to thank you all for praying for Kim and Ethan. The whole trip was a huge answer to prayer. Kim did a wonderful job navigating the international travel on her own. The colonoscopy was difficult for her to watch - Ethan having to be sedated and pricked with a needle several times in order to find a vein; watching the initial video of Ethan's colon and seeing the colitis and bleeding; Ethan taking a long time to come out of sedation.

Praise the Lord, yet again, that he answered our prayers for a clear picture of the source of bleeding. Also, the double praise is that everything looks like it's not that serious. We're STILL waiting for the biopsy results to be sure.

In all of this, I am reminded of the significance of Ethan's name:
Ethan = steadfast
Judson = one who praises God

We are learning to be steadfastly praising God in the midst of trying circumstances. May God use this little boy for great Kingdom purposes.

Kebun Teh (The Tea Plantation)

Last Saturday, we joined our friends Agus and Miske, and their sons Emmanuel and Daniel on a little excursion to one of the local tea plantations. We had a beautiful day for walking around the over 750 acres of tea trees/bushes . . . whatever you call them. These guys are harvesting the tea leaves to be sent on to the factory.

We had a tour of the rather simple processing factory. Smelled like fresh cut grass. This factory exports most of its tea to Europe and the Middle East.

The kids had a blast running around the fields and play area.

And of course, there were a couple games for the kids to play.

One of our favorite treats in Indo is grilled corn on the cob.

You can get your choice of buttered flavoring spread over the outside . . . salty, spicy, chocolate, strawberry. Aidan and Delaney loved the chocolate and strawberry. Brienzi and I went for the salty. Mmm-mmm good!

Final doc appointment

GOOD NEWS! The blood tests have come back and the initial indication is that Ethan does not have something more serious, like Cytomegalovirus or CMV. We're still awaiting the biopsy report for the final word, but the doctor seemed pretty confident that Ethan has a more harmless form of the nodular lymphoid hyperplasia.

Also, Ethan should outgrow the nodules and the colitis within the year. Apparently, he won't have any problems with his colon later on as a result of this. Amazing, eh! We really hope this will be the case. The only discouraging thing is, and this is very minor compared to what could have been, that he'll most likely continue to be fussy for some time while he's outgrowing this. There doesn't seem to be any medication or treatment that will help calm his colon.

Kim and Ethan are flying home Wednesday morning (Tuesday night US time). We certainly have missed them and can't wait to have them back. I've juggled the home school schedule this week and once again, my appreciation and awe of what Kim is doing here at home has gone through the roof. And she's been doing it with a newborn on the side!

We love each one of you. Thank you for praying for Ethan and Kim, and especially for Ethan. It has been very comforting and encouraging to know so many are covering us. Thank you too for the many notes you've been sending us. I would love to get back to each one of you, and hope to over the next week once Kim gets back. Thank you for keeping us out here. There are many Indonesians who thank you as well, and we hope many more to come.

Colonoscopy results

Kim called me last night with the results of Ethan's colonoscopy. I haven't had a chance to sit down at the computer and pass along the news.

As the doctor went in, he could see what is called nodular lymphoid hyperplasia all over the lining of Ethan's colon. We're still trying to figure out what this means, but basically, there are little nodules or polyps everywhere and some of these are bleeding. The best case scenario, according to the doctor, is that these nodules are harmless and Ethan will outgrow this. There are other possible scenarios, and they took several biopsies to make sure there's nothing more serious.

Ethan also has colitis everywhere. So it's possible that this inflammation has contributed to his fussiness and occasional trouble eating - though you wouldn't know he's had trouble eating to look at him.

We are praising the Lord that the doctor was able to discover what looks to be the source of the problem right away. This clears up a lot of the mystery that we've been battling the past three months. Yet we're also praying for continued good news that there's nothing more serious and that the doctor will have a clear course of action to take in helping Ethan overcome the colitis and bleeding.

Kim has been doing a fantastic job managing the international travel, getting around Singapore, and appointments all on her own. Though, the stress she's been under over the past couple of weeks has taken its toll on her. So while you're praying for Ethan, please keep remembering Kim. Pray especially that God will grant her peace and space for rest over the next couple of days in Singapore. She has another appointment with the doctor on Monday, and then it looks like they will be able to come back to Indo on Tuesday.

Thank you for praying. Thank you for helping us to keep pressing on. No matter what happens, God is faithful and "not one word has failed of all the good things he promised concerning us. All have come to pass; not one of them has failed" (Joshua 23:14).

Kim and Ethan off to Singapore

We decided last week that after three months of Ethan's stomach condition (or whatever he has, it's still unclear), it was time to get him to Singapore. To recap, back in mid July after having trace amounts of blood in his stools (okay, sorry for the graphic pictures here, but I just wanted to let you know the details), he tested positive for the parasite entamoeba histolytica. We put him on medication, which seemed to take care of the parasite, but the trace amounts of blood continued, sometimes increasing. At the same time, he seemed to be getting increasingly fussier, especially after feeding. We could also feel and hear his stomach gurgling quite a bit. Poor little guy. He was not a happy camper.

We put him on another round of medication and it still didn't stop completely. Kim went off of milk to see if he may have had a lactose intolerance. Ethan seemed to be responding, but last week the amount of blood in his diapers increased for a couple of days. We're not talking about a lot of blood, but enough to be very visible. There are lots of other details, but this is the basic gist. Our doctor friend here in Indonesia has been saying she's done all she can do; he really needs to be checked out by a specialist.

So we've been plunged yet again this year into making travel arrangements for medical reasons. This time, just Kim and Ethan are traveling. Ethan has an appointment with a pediatric gastroenterologist this Friday morning - which is Thursday night for everyone back in the US. We hope to know more after that appointment. We're praying that whatever is causing this will be very clear. We're fairly confident that whatever he has is not really serious, but does need to be taken care of.

Once again, we've had some great support by friends here in Indoland. The picture above is Ethan with Miske, Agus' wife.

Agus and Miske came over the other day to pray for Ethan and for Kim and Ethan's journey over the next week.

Some of the staff members at the learning center came over to pray yesterday morning.

Wahyu and his wife Santi, she's the administrative assistant and assistant teacher at the center. Tri and Yusak are two of the main teachers.

We are truly blessed to be working alongside of such godly and caring Indonesian friends. As you pray for us, pray also for Agus and Miske, Yusak and Tri, and Santi, that love for Him will spread through the love they show and message they proclaim.

Shhhh! Ethan's sleeping

We walked in on Ethan yesterday and he had pulled his blanket up over his head and was asleep while swinging. Finally sleeping! He continues not to be a very good sleeper. The slightest noise wakes him up . . . though he has a very cute 'jump,' with arms going straight up into the air, when he's startled. Anything can wake him up. Seriously. I was putting on a pair of pants ever so quietly and he 'jumped'.

This has gotten so bad that Kim has worked out a creative routine with the kids. We've got them trained to be a little quieter knocking on the door, but even still, with Ethan, it's not enough. So now Kim worked out a series of "smoke signals."

There are several color coded messages that the kids can choose from. Easy enough for Delaney to pick out which signal she needs to send to mom.


Delaney slips the signal under the door and then quietly waits to see what the response will be.

Mom has her own set of messages she can slip back to the kids. In this case, she felt confident enough to crack open the door instead of sending a signal back.

Pretty nifty, don't you think. The kids really love doing it, so they've picked up on it quickly.