Latest Updates from Holden

So this is the latest news from Holden. I just copied and pasted one of the emails he sent to me. So incase you're wondering what he's up to, here's what he said...

"Yesterday - the jungle was soooo cool! We stayed at Pak Andi's house in the midst of a village out in the Mountains of West Java. He and his family along w/ his brother-in-law and his family are the only believers in that village and the surrounding areas. We arrived there at his hut and then dumped our bags and hiked to the river. I can't begin to tell you how beautiful it was. But more exciting than that was to sit around outside the hut of Pak Andi and listen to him tell us how he was saved and what Christ means to him! We had good fellowship and most of the guys went to bed early, but I was able to talk with Pak Nunu and we had a good conversation considering the language barrier (he speaks English fairly well, but we had to talk slow and explain a lot). Then, me, Matt, Trevor and Nunu stayed up for a long time talking about Asih Pamitran and Nunu was able to write down a lot of names numbers and figures. then we hiked the river this morning and bathed and messed around for awhile ( it was a blast).
The rest of the day was spent driving back to Bandung and then traveling to a quilting station and getting a feel for what goes on there. Me and matt had them drop us off at this internet cafe on the way home so that worked out pretty good. O, and the ride out to the jungle and back was insane... i mean, we took an off-roading jeep and basically went mudding and off-roading through the Mountains for two hours there and back!
Please cont. to pray for us for discernment and also pray for Asih Pamitran - it seems that the Lord is opening up a door for HC to work w/ them and they seem to be solid and faithful to the Lord. Tomorrow we drive to a volcano where we will be camping out. Adjat, a member of Asih Pamitran, will give us his testimony. I'm really excited for this trip as well, so pray for us. Safe travels and all."

-Holden

Things are going pretty well on the homefront. Azariah got a cold, but he is finally getting better. We have been staying busy most of the time. We go over and see Jen and Jake and the kids a lot. That has really helped the days go faster and not so lonely. We just take it one day at a time and can't wait to see Holden again.

Holden's Update

Holden sent us this picture from Japan.

As some of you may know Holden is on his trip to Japan and Indonesia right now. He is having a wonderful time. He said that it is really crowded in Tokyo, but they are having wonderful fellowship with the believers who are planting a church there. The missionary couple they are visiting has a little boy that is 3 days older than Azariah, so Holden said that makes it hard for him because he misses Az so much, but at least he has a baby to play with. He left for Indonesia on the 23rd, and I finally heard from him via email, and he said they made it there safely. He said he is getting pretty homesick, but that the trip is still going very well. He will be camping out in the jungle either tonight or tomorrow night, so obviously he is very excited about that. Him and Matt will be meeting with Trevor Johnson ( a missionary there in Indonesia) for the next week to get the know him better and learn more about the ministry there. Please continue to pray for him and the other men. He said they drive really crazy, so pray for safe travel.

Trip to Nebraska

We had a great trip to Nebraska this last month. It was great to see everyone. Azariah has now met 11 of his 12 grandparents. He will hopefully meet his Great Grandpa Patten this spring. We stayed with the Patten side first for a week. The week included Lindsay and Bill’s wedding, sledding behind the four-wheeler, finding the lost chinchilla, Chilli, and lots of fun family time. We went to the Hurt Christmas Eve in Boelus, which was fun. We got to stay there until Christmas morning. Then we went to the Barry’s house for a week, and it was so much fun to watch Azariah with all his crazy uncles. We got to see lots of family and spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Burr and Barry. It was nice to see some family that we haven’t seen in a long time like Shane and Kristen and Scott and the kids. We got to see Jordan (Holden’s brother) and spent some good quality time with Mom and Dad Barry. Over all it was a wonderful trip, and we miss everyone dearly.

Long Trip Home

It was a long trip home, but we made it safely home from Nebraska. Azariah was an angel the whole trip. He never cried once for the whole 15 hours. He did get a little crazy though. I guess this is what happens when you are stuck in a car seat for 15 hours. He was being so goofy. We thank the Lord for safe travel.

Updates

Well, I have really been wanting to work on this blog and write about our trip to Nebraska and Holden's upcoming trip to Indonesia and Japan. My first problem is that we don't have internet at our house, so I can't do it when I'm home with Azariah, so I have been trying to find a good time to do it, but things have been really crazy. Chris Madison came to stay with us, which was a lot of fun, and Holden has been trying to get everything ready for his big trip. Unfortunately I don't have much time right now, and I don't have all my pictures, but I just wanted to let you all know that I am planning to update you guys on all this stuff as soon as I can. We miss all of you family back in Nebraska and everywhere else you all are. Please pray for Holden, he leaves on Saturday and will be gone for 18 days. Love you all!