Septermber

Praises/lessons from my classroom:

1. Before students go to recess, I call the names of students that need to finish incomplete work or rewrite their sloppy handwriting.  Today, when my students returned from lunch and recess, one of my students pulled me aside.  He looked up at me with a cute little grin and said, "Ms. Alex, last year when names were called for missing work I was always called.  This year you haven't been calling my name for missing work!"  I'm so blessed to get to see kids grow and celebrate their small accomplishments like doing their homework!

2. Another one of my boys made me smile the other day. In a period of about two hours I heard the phrase: "My father said..." as he tried to connect to the lesson that I was teaching to what he already knew.  Around the fifth time of hearing this statement I couldn't help but smile as the Lord brought two thoughts to my mind.  Number one: I am so happy that this boy's father is spending time with him and investing in his son's life.  Number Two:  What if believers thought like this way?  When anything came under question or uncertainty we would remember what our heavenly father had said about the matter.  The enemy's lies wouldn't stand a chance!

3. As a teacher you find that there are students that are very easy to love. On the flip side, there are always students that you don't naturally love. Christ, however,  did not come to save those who were easy to love.  Rather he came to save his enemies that had destroyed the world that He had created because of their disobedience.  I'm learning to love when it doesn't come naturally.

4. It may seem silly, but I think that I like chapel sometimes more than I like church.  In church we use a lot of Christian-ese and the songs we sing focus on us and our problems.  When I go to elementary chapel I am drawn into the presence of God because of its simplicity.  In chapel we focus on the basics: God sent His Son Jesus to die because he loves us; God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and omnipresent; God treats us like his children; and God gives us grace even when we mess up.  I am refreshed by these truths. Meditating on them with simple songs and commonly-read verses is refreshing.

Tahun Nomor Dua (Year Number Two)

Summer refreshed and rejuvenated the body and soul, and we’re rockin’ and rollin’ into a new year. 

I have enjoyed year two in Indonesia so much!  I have felt so much more at home these first couple weeks than I did all last year. Also, I traded in the eight speed bicycle for an automatic scooter and it has made such a difference in  getting around here.

Another huge blessing was bringing my family to Indonesia for a visit.  The trip had its ups and downs, like when I took my family to the airport a day late, but it is so nice that they now know what life is like here.   You all know that I love my dad, but if we had to talk about whether or not I had eaten chicken beaks of chicken feet one more time, I might have stopped calling home!  Now he has plenty of other things to rag on me for.   

I have also experienced so much freedom from anxiety this year.  Every decision I had to make last year was tedious and painful.  This year I have been able to make decisions and plan without all the anxiety.  I have so much more to learn as a teacher and still lots of work to do, but it is not as painful anymore.  Thank you Lord for the freedom from that burden!

My new students!

I can see the Lord challenging me to go deeper now that I have settled in.  Today our pastor preached a sermon from John 21.  He challenged us to look to Christ to ask what is next.  Last year I wanted to work with high school students, mostly out of pride.   There’s always a ministry that everyone thinks is “the best.”  I fell into believing that working with the high school-ers was the only ministry of value.  The Lord has shown me how extremely untrue that is, and I have found great peace and joy in working with the students that God has given me.  In that peace that He has given me, I think that He might have something in store that I wasn't planning.

Each year, ten to twenty high school students head out to a fairly remote island in Indonesia to do something called “cultural tourism.”  They travel and stay on the islands to learn about the culture, meanwhile the students are looking to make a greater impact and share the good news with the people they meet.   The group works all year to prepare and pray for the people.  I don’t know if that is what God has in store, but my plan is to apply for a chaperoning position.  Please be praying that God opens and shuts doors according to His will. 

I hope all is well in America.  Know that I am praying for you all even though I am far away.  In Christ we are of one spirit.  Through prayer our community does not stop.  Miss you and love you all.  

Salamat Pagi!

This morning is one of those mornings where I wish I could transplant all of you so that you could see how beautiful Indonesia is.  The air is cool (thank you mountain elevation), the sky is clear enough to see every facet of the mountain, a misty haze engulfs the peaks, and the sun is creeping slowly over the horizon.  Beautiful!

This weekend holds some pretty awesome activities: 5th grade Lock-in, birthday parties, an engagement party, and even a pick up game of Softball!

Please be praying for my wisdom as well.  There is a students here at school that I would love to pour into more intentionally.  We have a mutual love for one another, but we know nothing about each other! haha  She is a new students and a new believer who loves to play sports too. I think she was on a sports team every season this year.  Please be in prayer with me as I seek how the Lord wants me to be involved in her life.

Happy Thursday/Wednesday Night!

Faith in "Action"

When I worked at Kids Across America a couple summers ago, one of my favorite activities was the tree tops adventure.  Campers dressed in harnesses and carabiners clipped into rope stations and climbed up 30 or 40 feet to an elevated jungle gym.  I can’t count the number of kids, who were terrified of heights, climbed up and started the adventure, only to find out that they did not trust any of the equipment or gear.  But the only way to get down was to finish the course.  So, like it or not, they had to demonstrate faith in the equipment and the people that would talk them through the course.  Sometimes it was painful to watch but the lessons they learned were incredible! 

This year my students have walked through the stories of the Old Testament.  We have looked at story after story of men and women demonstrating great faith in God.   They have even memorized Hebrews 11 also known as the Faith Hall of Fame!   But I want them to understand what it means to have faith, not just be able to define it.   Obviously students who demonstrate faith in outfitting gear are not guaranteed to demonstrate saving faith in Christ, but if the connection is made for them or drawn out of them, I think amazing things can happen in their heart.  

So why am I writing all of this?  There is a high ropes adventure in a town about an hour from our school and I would love to take them!  I talked to my principal about taking them and the only issue is that it is expensive.  Now when I say expensive, I mean about $15 for each student.  It’s a lot for Indonesia!  Most of my students however could not afford to go on such an adventure.  I am wondering however, if any of you would like to support me and my kids in this adventure by backing us financially.  I have 8 students, so that would cost about $120 plus myself and a couple other chaperons.  The grand total would be about $150.  So if you’re interested in joining my kids in their journey to understand faith you can read farther down to see how to donate.  Even if you can’t/don’t want to support financially, please pray with me as the Lord challenges them to understand and live out their faith. 

Donation Opportunity

1. Go to http://nics.org/donate

2. Click “Single Donation.”

3. Then Select “Missionary Support.”  

4.Type in my name in the box: Peggy Alex. 

5. Then fill in the rest of the information as it applies to you. 

Any money that you give will go to me at the end of the month.  Then I will be able to pay for our trip. 

Thanks everyone!

Be Encouraged

I ran into my friend, Retno, this evening at a local restaurant.  It was such a wonderful time: we sat and talked for several hours over iced cappuccinos.  When we got past small talk, our conversation turned toward what God is doing in the lives of our students.  It was so encouraging to me and such a good reminder.  Just this year we have seen about 18 kids come to know Christ at our school!

In high school, we had two kids come to know Christ at the beginning of the year, and He is opening the eyes of several other kids as we speak.  My roommate, Rachel, has been talking to freshman who has been so excited and amazed by the gospel.  Please pray that the Lord would bring her into the kingdom.  Also, one of our 7^th graders has been wrestling with the gospel for the last year or so, but his family’s strong Buddhist beliefs have kept him from walking into the faith.  Please pray for his courage.

Elementary has been a hot spot for the gospel this year!  About five preschool kids have come to know the Lord this year.  Several of them frequently comment that they have the Holy Spirit.  So cute/incredible!  In addition, we had one student recently come to faith in kindergarten, four kids come to Christ in first grade, one in second grade, Jinny (I love that girl!), one in third grade, and two or three in fourth grade.  It has been incredible to hear the stories and excitement as these kids (some from non-believing homes) receive the gift of life! 

In my class we have not had any students come to faith, but I believe that most of them are already believers.  However, I have had the privilege of hearing my kids make connections and learn to walk out their faith.  This week one of my students came to the conclusion that we can really trust what God says, after seeing God’s warning about marrying foreign woman play out in Solomon’s life.  I've listened to the prayers of my students praying for the North Korean leader to repent and worship the true God instead of himself.  I've watched my kids defend their faith when I play the devil’s advocate.  Man, they humble me!

God is working at BAIS; it is evident.  My prayer in sharing this with you is not to recruit you to come to Indonesia and teach (although we do need a history and Mandarin teacher haha), but it is to encourage you that God is working and changing lives around the world.  It’s hard to remember that when we don’t see the direct fruit of that, but I can tell you with confidence that God is working and building up his kingdom.  Be encouraged friends.  Be encouraged.

All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.                                   Colossians 1:6

Scavenger Hunt

This Saturday one of our staff (Jennie) put on a staff scavenger hunt in Bandung (the major city that we ive by).  Now you have to understand that we basically live in the suburb of Bandung and mostly only go into town on Sundays for church.  Our knowledge of the ins and outs of Bandung is pretty wimpy, especially the new staff.  So, in order to get us out of our comfort zone, have a little fun, and create some great memories we find ourselves on a city-wide scavenger hunt.

Here are the rules:
1. Only ride public transportation (angkot or bus).
2. Take a picture as proof of everything you do.

Here are some things on our list to accomplish.
1. Find a man named "Agus."
2. Eat snake or frog.
3. Eat durian. (A fruit that smells and tastes like dirty socks)
4. Buy food for a beggar.

Kelly, me, Rachel, Su Bin

5. Dance Gangnam style with a group of people.
6. Take a picture with a monkey.
7. Drive a becok (bicycle carriage).
8. Teach little kids Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
9. Help fix a tire.
10. Climb a tree.
11. Wear a jilbab (head covering).
12. Hold a baby.

My team consisted of me, my roommate Rachel, and two high school students from our school. We had no idea where we were going or what we were doing, but boy did we have a blast!

During our first angkot ride of the day, we sat next to a lady with a baby.  If you could only see how big our eyes got as she crawled into the angkot with her child.  Disappointingly, the baby saw right through us and did not cooperate with our efforts.  Mission #1-FAIL.

We did, however, score our first point by driving beceks, or bicycle carriages.  There happened to be three becoks ready to be driven by some rookies, sitting in front of an open parking lot.  The drivers were thoroughly entertained by our driving skills and thankful we did not crash their vehicles.  We tipped them and then asked if they would like to join us in a casual dance of Gangnum Style!  They pleasantly obliged.  Two tasks complete!

Our progress heightened from here.  We found a street musician, with which we sang a classic Indonesian tune: Topi Saya Bundar  (also known as My Hat is Round).   We tried on head coverings,  found a centrally located mosk, and even played with bubbles!  The most challenging task came when we had to eat with our hands!  What was our choice of cuisine?  None other then Wendy's!  Check! We searched endlessly to find a coffee shop, took a picture of a metal statue, and ate the dreaded DURIAN!  Su Bin barely got it down, but she did it!  Another task marked off the list.


Probably my favorite memory from the day came from teaching two little girls how to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  They were so precious.  After teaching them to sing they wanted to try on my sunglasses.  Their smiles were beautiful!

On the way home, we stopped to mark off one more task: a picture with a monkey.  Having no fear of monkeys, I stepped up near the little boy holding the monkey on a leash.  To my surprise and everyone else's the monkey leaped up on my side and gave me a nasty snarl.  The little boy just stood there quietly as if nothing had happened.  I couldn't even tell you how or why that monkey finally got down but eventually he did.  Never doing that again.  Check.

The attack monkey!

Recovering from our panic, and racing against the clock, we returned to the meet point with a minute to spare.  For the next two hours we laughed and gasped as we swapped stories and pictures with the other groups.  The scores were added up and the winners were announced.  My team did not win, but it was really great to explore and have such great experiences with the girls.

Indonesia is beautiful and the people are gems.  Their smiles and willingness to help is endless.  Unfortunately, as you and I know, a happy people does not mean a saved people.  Please be praying for the hearts of this people group.  Their devotion to their religion and the lie that we are serving the same god makes it hard to minister to them.  Please pray for this nation.

Praises to Our King

God has been challenging me in my prayer life since the beginning of the semester.  This has resulted in me challenging my students in prayer.  God revealed to me that the way we were praying in class was only asking God for requests instead of also praising Him and meditating on scripture.  That leads us to out story today.

Today my class and I were meditating on the passage in Colossians 1 that talks about the supremacy of Christ.  We were listing off details that the passage had given us: he is the firstborn of all creation, he holds all things together, he has been since the beginning, ect.  This passage turned into a great conversation about Christ,heaven, and our responsibility as believers.  WE could have talked all day but I did have a lesson to teach, so I explained to the kids what a popcorn prayer was and told them I would start.

God moved in these kids when they began to pray.  At first it was pretty simple, but the kids kept on praying.  They added in several times and I could tell the words that they spoke were staight from the heart.  There was no fluff given for a grade or because I told them to do it.  They meant every word they said.  I wiped a couple tears from my eyes as I closed us in prayer. 

This moment was one in which moments in which you move on knowing that God was blessed by. Today, I saw child-like faith in action.  I am so blessed to be in this place with these students. 

Please pray that moments like these become habits for my students and that they would not end when they (or I) exit the school. 

Also, please pray for my wisdom as I organize teams to do service projects in the month of March. 

-Peggy

This is My School!

I watched a video last year that showed a bunch of kids and teachers hanging out at school in Indonesia.  Somehow the Lord used that (and some other factors) to bring to Bandung Alliance International School.  The video last year was really nice, but watching this year's video means so much more.  Now I watch the video and I smile with each new face that appears on the screen.  Not because the kids are cute or the high school kids are doing something funny, but because I am now a part of this community.  I'm invested- no longer a stranger.  This year I am a part of the community that I'm watching on the screen. So...Check it out.  This is my Indonesian family.

http://www.baisedu.org/news/bais-2012-2013-official-video/

Christmas on an Island

It's has been an eternity since I have posted!  Maaf. (My apologies.)

I went with four of ladies from school to an island in Indonesia called Lombok for Christmas.  It was a great trip, filled with hilarious stories, good chats, and several police confrontations.  Ahh!  I''ll give you a picture run down with stories along the way. 

To Lombok we go! 

Flying into Lombok. What a great view to get us
excited about the days ahead.

Snorkeling was our first adventure on the island.  We took a little boat out to several smaller islands off the coast of Lombok.  The first spot that we stopped at was absolutely gorgeous.  We saw colorful fish of all shapes and sizes.  The fish seem to have their own personalities.  I would find myself watching one fish and following him way farther than I needed.  But the second location was specifically so we could see sea turtles.  I saw the first sea turtle and gathered all the girls to come and see him.  Caroline (only one not pictured above) was the last to see the turtle. As soon as she saw him she chased after him and didn't stop until the turtle had obviously beat her and swam down off the drop off.  After the chase I asked her what she was going to do if she caught up to him.  She replied "I don't know.  I just wanted to touch him!"

The next day we rented some motor bikes and took a scenic drive around the island.  Here are some of the sights.

Lombok has the nicest road system  No potholes!

Check out that water!

Of course there were rice fields. 

Tropical River!

We drove through a monkey forest on our scenic drive.  The monkey shown above is the first monkey that we saw through the pass...and that is our bag of peanuts!  So the story goes like this.  We pulled over on the side of the road to check out the first sighting.  Melissa asked for the bag of peanuts so we could feed him.  Well, this wan't the monkey's first time dealing with tourists.  He scrambled for the bag of peanuts as soon as he laid eyes on it and had five girls screaming and running around like "baboons" to avoid getting too close to him.  He took off with the whole bag, opened it right up, and didn't even share with his friend.  So rude!  Indeed, we were Mugged by a Monkey!

The next day we drove for three hours (one way) to get to a waterfall that I found on a map.  One the way we got stopped by the cops for going straight in a turn lane.  Pretty legit, but in Indonesia the cops don't want to write you a ticket; they want to barter with you and take the cash.  This incident informed us of Kristin's amazing skills at bartering!  My favorite quote was when Kristen told the cops, "We'll tell our friends you're cool!" to get them to lower the price.   Somehow it worked!

As for the waterfall...this is as close as we got.  The old Indonesian man at the end of the line helped us get to the trail that we needed to hike to the waterfall.  If it weren't for him we would have never found it.  But time was against us and the trail was too long. We turned around before we ever saw the waterfall.  Guess that means that we'll have to go back!

Guess who is on stage??

On New Year's Eve we were forced to go to a "Compulsory Dinner" at our hotel.  The hotel forced us to pay $37 a person for this meal in order to stay at their hotel.  Guess what our prize was for praying $37?  We were the entertainment!  The picture above shows me, Caroline, and Kristen leading the dance to the song "Gangnam Style."  Rachel and Melissa joined us later when we all had to do solo performances.  Hilarious!

Kuta Beach, Lombok

Before heading to the airport we stopped at this hidden gem.  Absolutely gorgeous and I really want to make an effort to go back there.  It was breath taking!

Well that's a wrap!  Hope you enjoyed the pictures and the stories.