Hooray! Hooray! It's Gotcha Day!

Rachel and I will celebrate a very special day tomorrow. Every year on November 18^th, we remember the day that God brought my precious girl into my life.

It is now 8:15 pm here in Bali. Seven years ago at this time, I was spending my last night alone. The next day, I would go to a small village in east Bali and meet my daughter for the first time. Rachel and I call this day “Gotcha Day” because, as I say to Rachel, “That was the day I gotcha from your village.”

I had little time to plan for this momentous event. Although I had cherished a hope to one day adopt a little girl for ten long years, when the dream actually came true, it happened with little warning.

*******************

Before I tell what happened leading up to that first “Gotcha Day”, I have to tell something else that happened six months earlier.

I was taking classes at Columbia International University in Columbia South Carolina. I was sitting in my study cubicle on the second floor of the library taking a bit of a study break. I used the time to surf adoption websites – something I often did when I got back to the States and decently fast internet connections.

As I surfed, I sensed God saying something to me. No audible voice or anything. Just a sense in my heart that He was talking to me. The message was this. “Julie, you need to stop trying to make adoption happen. If it is going to happen, I’ll make it happen, and you’ll know it when it does.”

With a degree of sadness, I heeded the message, shut down the internet connection, and got back to work. Now, we can fast forward six months.

*******************

Rachel's first home

I woke up on Wednesday morning, November 16^th 2005, with no idea my life was about to change. I don’t remember what all happened that day. All I remember is that by the time evening rolled around, I was hot and exhausted. All I wanted to do, honestly, was to go home, shut the door, and maybe read something in English.

However, as it was Wednesday, that meant that it was the night for the mid-week prayer fellowship at the International Church. I attended that regularly, but I really wished I could stay home that night. That wasn’t an option. This particular week, we were having a combined fellowship with two other congregations on the island. My church was hosting, and I was on the leadership team for the church. I had to go.

I couldn’t face driving ninety minutes or so each way on my motorbike, so I chose to drive the newly purchased car that God had provided just nine days before.

I went to the church and sat exhausted in the back row hoping no one would talk to me. Any of you who know me will also know that I am not normally like that. It just goes to show you how tired I was.

Rachel and me with her foster family

Well, someone did talk to me. Mignon, a good friend, turned around in her seat and told me about a six-week-old baby in a village who needed a home. I felt sorry for the little one, but it did not immediately click with me that this baby would be my daughter.

Then, Mignon asked me point blank if I would like to adopt her. Fresh energy coursed through my body. It was amazing! Suddenly, I was not tired anymore! It was all I could do to keep from saying yes on the spot.

This was HUGE! It was something I had longed for, but I needed to be sure that this was from God.

You’d better believe that I did a whole lot of praying during that prayer service. And God answered. One by one He brought to mind a number of things He had done in my life over the previous years that put me in a position to say yes.

• He had done some significant heart work in me several years earlier that made me much healthier emotionally than I had been before.
• He had moved me from a job that kept me away from home for the majority of each day to a ministry with a children’s home that would be very compatible with mothering a child.
• Even the fact that he had provided the car just nine days earlier meant that I would have a safe means to travel with an infant. Traveling with her alone on a motorbike would not have been an option.

Finally, He reminded me of that message the previous May. “If it is going to happen, I’ll make it happen, and you’ll know it when it does.” Then in the depths of my heart, I heard Him say, “This is Me. Go ahead.”

I said yes at the end of the service. And so it began. It was arranged that I would pick up the baby on Friday about noon. Mignon asked another friend to drive me to the village so I could attend to the baby on the way back…and so I could find the village to begin with.

In the meantime…I had to get ready. I had absolutely NOTHING for a baby. I stayed in town that night rather than drive back home as I knew I would have shopping to do.

a few weeks later

First, I had to let my parents know. They were, needless to say, excited for me. Mom wanted to know what I was going to name her. There was no question. I would name her Rachel. How old was she? Six weeks old. Mom told me that I had almost not missed anything, meaning developmental stages. All Rachel had done the first six weeks was eat, sleep, and fill her diaper.

After talking to my parents, I called my friend Anne. She and her husband had adopted two Indonesian children who were a year old already. “I’m getting a baby on Friday! HELP!”

Anne told me to come on over, and she would load me up with everything I needed. I was very thankful I had brought the car. I left with a bassinette, infant car seat, newborn clothes, blankets, baby bottles,…all the basics. I just had to buy diapers and formula.

I got home and converted the spare bedroom to a baby’s room. The rest of the day was spent sharing my big news. I am quite certain that seven years ago at this very hour, I was doing exactly what I am doing now…typing away on my computer. It grew later and later, and sleep seemed very far away. But sleep did eventually come.

also a few weeks later

I woke up early in the morning, anxious for the hours to pass. Lancer, the young man who would drive me to the village arrived at about ten o’clock. He drove over the twisty, winding roads leading to my daughter.

A combination of excitement and motion sickness forced me to ask Lancer to pull over at one point. I still can point out the spot. It is a part of her story Rachel never allows me to leave out.

Finally, we got to the village. We had to park out on the road and walk in over a dry river bed to reach the tiny, dark house with the thatched roof. The baby was nowhere to be seen.

First night in her new home

Not wanting to come across as a pushy foreigner, I chose to wait until they brought her to me. Finally, her foster mother asked me, “Do you want to see the baby?”

“Oh yes,” I said. I'm sure the longing in my heart spilled into my voice and my eyes.

I was taken into the house where this tiny bit of a baby lay sleeping on a bed with a  rolled-up towel on either side of her. Tears came to my eyes as I gazed for the first time at my little girl. To me, she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. She still is.

I put on her first diaper. I fed her for the first time there in front of the thatched roof hut. We got lots of pictures with the foster family. I thanked them profusely for their care of this most precious gift.

Finally, it was time to go home. I was not sure-footed enough to safely carry Rachel over the rocky riverbed, so her foster father carried her to the car. The whole foster family came along to say good-bye. I put her in the car seat, and Lancer drove us home.

I cradled that precious little life in my arms for hours that night, reluctant to lay her down in her bassinette. As I gazed on that sweet sleeping face, I marveled at the treasure that God had entrusted to me.

And so ended our very first Gotcha Day. I look forward to celebrating many more with Rachel in the years to come.

When Things Don't Go Our Way

Yesterday was a school holiday. I took Rachel to a local swimming pool that had a couple water slides to make things fun. Of course, since a swimming pool is much more fun when shared, we invited her best friend Anggi (AHNG-gee) to go along. Rachel had big plans for a couple hours of fun at the pool.

Unfortunately, when we got to the pool, the girls met up with Kredita (kre-DEE-tah) another friend from school. Anggi is a closer friend to Kredita than Rachel is. As Anggi and Kredita also share similar bravery levels when it comes to water slides, the two of them stuck together like glue, and Rachel was left as the odd girl out.

She could have decided to join the other two girls in their play, venturing out once in a while to try one of the bigger slides on her own, and then coming back to join her friends. She eventually did do this, but she spent a great deal of time bemoaning the fact that Anggi wasn’t playing just with her.

That “left-out” feeling is partially due to the reality that at age seven, kids have probably not yet caught on to the fact that you can be friends with more than one person at one time. On the other hand, a comment from Rachel helps me see her situation…and my life…from a different perspective.

Rachel came to me in the pool with her complaint. It went something like this. “I had plans for Anggi and me to play, and now Kredita is here and nothing is working.”

Aren’t we sometimes like that when unexpected things happen in our lives? I know I am. We have our own ideas of how things are going to happen in our lives.

• Where we will live
• What kind of a job we will have
• Who or when we will marry
• How many children we will have and when
• How we will have warm relationships with grown children all living nearby
• What goal or hobby we want to develop
• Where and in what circumstances we will eventually retire
• And the list goes on...

Then something happens. God allows something to enter our lives that we never expected. A health crisis. Loss of employment. Difficult relationships. Loss of a loved one. Grown children led to places far away.

In the Bible, many unexpected things happened to Joseph after being sold into slavery by his brothers. Pharaoh’s soldiers chased the newly freed Hebrew slaves to the banks of the Red Sea. Mary was no doubt looking forward to a normal marriage to her fiancée, Joseph. Mary and Martha experienced the loss of their beloved brother Lazarus. The early church experienced persecution.

Or perhaps God doesn’t allow something to happen that we thought would happen. Our chosen career opportunity does not open up to us. The dreamed-of spouse does not come along. The longed-for child is not yet conceived. Time slips away, and for one reason or another, the hoped-for retirement scenario does not appear to be a possibility.

Abraham and Sarah waited decades for a child. So did Zechariah and Elizabeth. Paul longed for his thorn in the flesh, whatever that was, to be removed.

Each of our experiences are different. When the unexpected happens, or the hoped-for does not materialize, we could spend our time complaining about how our plans are not working. How nothing is going the way we thought it would. We could spend our lives lamenting our losses or grieving for what never happened.

Don’t get me wrong. There is a time for grieving over those lost hopes and dreams. Perhaps we actually need to do that so we can move on. But it is important that we do not live there.

Eventually, we need to let go of the plans that we made for our lives. We can then be free to embrace the new direction that God gives us. This letting go and embracing the new is so important. 

Otherwise, we spend our lives like my Rachel, wandering around the swimming pool alone. We could spend our lives lamenting the fact that our plans are not working.

We can choose a different way. Let’s not miss out on the world of possibilities that could be ours if we only embrace the new and the different that God has for us.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9

To the Ends of The Earth

Training center building - mountains outside Surabaya

In this final post about my recent ministry trip to Surabaya and the surrounding areas, I’d like to share a bit about a training center that we visited for six days.

Our group was hosted at a training center for young Christian workers going to minister in remote areas. Both Bible classes and practical training are part of the curriculum.

Young ladies preparing for ministry

Our team leader and I both had the opportunity to speak at a couple of the training sessions with the students. I shared with them directly in Indonesian, and translated for the team leader. (My vocal cords got a workout that day.)

After the classroom sessions, a number of the students came to me, asking if they could talk privately. I had the privilege of listening to, and hopefully encouraging, some very special young people as they grapple with the reality of the situations they will face.

What type of situations might that be?

Young men preparing to go to remote places

Some of the graduates of this center have gone to places that are only accessible by a two hour trek on foot. Other locations are a bit easier to get to from the nearest town…a couple hours by motorbike.

People who minister in these areas may not have access to cell phones. Internet access would be unknown. That is one of the realities the students must grapple with as they make the decision to devote their lives to minister to people who are far away from the modern conveniences to which the students have become accustomed.

Pak Yatiman, director of the training center with his family 

This is not actually a Bible school. Graduates from Bible schools often have the goal of pastoring a church…often in a city or a fairly decent-sized town. That is not the goal of this training center.

Misty mountain view

Because graduates of this center will be going to areas where there is not a church in existence, they cannot expect a salary. They need to be prepared to earn a living for themselves, and find their niche in the community where they live.

For this reason, along with basic Bible classes, the center trains the students in a variety of types of work. This includes learning how to do the special make-up and hairstyles for weddings, photography, agriculture, cattle-raising, and a number of other skills including computer. Even though internet access may not be available, as long as an area has electricity, computer skill will be useful.

Rafael helps people in his community monitor blood pressure

I met one worker who contributes to his community in a number of ways. Is someone getting married? Do they need a photographer? Rafael can do the job. Does someone need a haircut? No problem. Rafael knows how to cut hair. I can’t remember what all is in his toolbox of skills, but basic first aid and taking blood pressure are a couple of them.

Alongside all of this, he shepherds a small congregation of several families. The group meets in an upstairs room of his home. Together, they seek to grow in Christ, and reach out in love to their neighbors.

Two graduates minister in a mountain region

Another young couple with a two-year-old daughter meets with a small group of believers in their tiny living room. The wife teaches at a kindergarten. I can’t recall all the ways the husband serves in the community.

Christmas is coming up soon. It is a prime time here in Indonesia for believers to reach out to their neighbors. People of all faiths are more open at this time of year to hearing the Good News.

Both of these congregations are planning a Christmas celebration that shares this Good News with their community. They also will prepare small gifts for each of the children who attend. Yet another way to show love. No pressure. Just a gift.

Most of the training center family came to say goodbye

I was humbled by the dedication of these workers. I have given up a few things to live and minister away from my own country, but in comparison to these workers, I really have given up very little.

I trust that our Father in Heaven will strengthen and encourage these young people as they move out in faith and take His love to others in difficult-to-reach places at "the ends of the earth"..