Daniel came down with it first then just a day before he was released from the hospital his wife was admitted. They were both in the same room together one night. Below are photos of some of the church members who visited them on Sunday. Oh, and both of them, it seems, are going to be okay.

Is your church paying attention?

"...we’re facing one of the largest shifts in human communication in the history of the world. This is not hyperbole. Social media has caused literally every societal building block to adapt. Social media is a small, tip-of-the-iceberg, visible manifestation of the change we’re facing: the gatekeepers are gone."

 Wise, J. (2014). The social church: a theology of digital communication. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.

Who Do You Want Living Next To You?

Breathing Problems

One of our girls occasionally has a breathing problem and requires special treatments. We are parying that she will out-grow this problem. 

What does "is" mean?

Everything’s getting re-defined these days. “Marriage" can mean most anything. "Garbage collectors" are "Sanitation Engineers." The “mailman" is a "letter carrier." A “receptionist" is an "Administrator’s Assistant." A “ransom" is now “leverage.” Inflation indexes no longer include grocery or gas prices and the unemployment index eliminates those still unemployed but no longer looking for work. Bill Clinton made famous the sentence, "It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' is." 

Some redefinition may be helpful and good. For instance the growing movement to drop the denominational affiliation from the names of our churches. It seems more and more people no longer care about the denominational affiliation. They just want good music, lots of time spent praising God and a short, entertaining and uplifting talk relevant to their life.

Dropping denominational affiliation is a good thing, in my opinion. Hopefully we Christians can concentrate more on what unites us and less on what divides us. Who knows, it might even lead us back to New Testament Christianity.  

2 Of Our Babies This Morning

 

Just picking up a few things at the store....

Munch time....

3 of our girls and 1 of our boys

August 2016 Newsletter

Enlarge each page for easier reading or click on the following link for a better copy: 

https://www.evernote.com/l/ABsvC803Xz5Fz678QyeCcful6uOEoj79trM

The Dorms for High School Students

Responsibility for the work on the island of Nias, Indonesia, that has been carried on for the last 10 or 11 years by Dennis Cady and his family and team members, has now been turned over to the Steve Cate family. Going forward, we would appreciate it if all donations were redirected to P. O. Box 1881, Fremont, NE, 68026. We wish to keep Dennis' work going and do not plan to make any changes in the near future. One part of this work is the children's home and we posted photos of that part of the work a few days ago and will post more later. Another part of the work is the dormitory program which provides housing for teenagers who wish to get a high school education. What follows is Dennis' own description of that work and a couple of photos of the dorms at the bottom. 

"...if (students) went to high school it had to be in Gunung Sitoli or Teluk Dalam. If they didn't live in one of those places or have relatives they could live with there, they rented rooms. Many did not do that because they couldn't afford to rent rooms. In some cases parents concerned about the risks of turning their 15 - 16 year old kids who had never lived outside a village loose to live on their own unsupervised in one of these bigger cities refused to send their kids to Gunung Sitoli or Teluk Dalam to high school. We have room for 80 high school and college students. (Cuffently), twenty four are girls. Those who want to live in the dorms go through a selection process each year in June very soon after results of junior high graduation are made known. Each one accepted must sign a document agreeing to abide by the rules and is accepted for one year at a time. Everyone goes through the process each year. Generally it is pretty much a formality for those already in the dorms but it gives opportunity to sift troublemakers. The selection is done by the 3 dorm supervisors and (the team leader) and works quite well. Sponsors are found for each student. Sponsors give $20 a month $240 a year and know who their student is. We give (some) of this money to each student each month. It covers most of their school fees. The rest of the money pays the supervisor's salary, utilities, and routine repairs at the dorm. In this way the dormitory program carries its own weight financially. Students are required to attend Sunday worship services and one Bible class a week. We accept college students who have been in our dorms during high school. The dormitory program has upgraded the education level of village churches. In some cases young men right out of high school returned to their village congregation and were among the best educated in the congregation both as to secular education and Bible knowledge." (written by Dennis Cady)

Here are photos of the three dorms. 2 for men and 1 for women. 

The Children's Home On Nias Island

Kitchen

A few of the younger children

Staff, Administrators & Teachers

Just girls

The curious.

Multi-purpose Building

Also used as a Worship Center

Some of the children with Bailey Cate.

All together, there are over 50 children in the home. 

A New Toy

Crawling through the tube -- kind of a fun thing to do. 

Medan Airport

This may not be of interest to many, but to me it represents real progress for Indonesia and especially for the province of North Sumatra and Medan. In 1968 we used the Polonia airport very near the city of Medan. Later in 2002 we were still using Polinia which by that time was inside the city of Medan. Finally after all these years Medan has a new airport. It is very far from Medan now, but airports have a way of getting closer and closer to the city as time goes by....  It's a beautiful airport and very comfortable, making it almost a joy to travel again. 

KOI-kidsofindonesia.org

Nias - Busy Street

People drive on the left here.

Motor bikes are the norm.

Bahasa Nias is the language of choice but most, at least in the main cities, 

also speak Bahasa Indonesia. Tourist are few and far between. 

A few surfers come for the big waves. 

Nias - One of My Favorite Restaurants in Gunung Sitoli

KOI-kidsofindonesia.org

Nias

A small island off the west coast of Sumatra. Beautiful island and beautiful people. There is a children's home in the capital city (Gunung Sitoli) with over 50 children. They attend school every day and have tutors available to help them with their school work. There is a small farm and a large playground on the property along with several dormitories and a multi-purpose building which also serves as a place of worship. 

Another photo of our visiting friend

We have the cutest kids. 

We rescued this one and kept her until the family finally said they would accept her. 

She now lives with her mother but often comes to visit us. 

Former KOI Kid Visits Connor House

One of our former "kids" returns but just for a short visit. 

She wanted to see her "sisters" again. 

Some families eventually accept these children and their mothers even though it brings disgrace upon the family. Other children of unwed mothers are never accepted and remain with us at Connor House.  We are always happy to see our former "kids." 

An Extra Large Crowd Today for Worship

We had a larger than usual crowd at worship this morning. This had not been expected or anticipated. It happened because one man brought several of his friends with him. Not all of those attending are pictured in these photos. We almost always serve something to eat after worship because several come from a great distance and cannot afford to eat at a restaurant on the way home. Fortunately we had plenty for everyone. 

KOI-kidsofindonesia.org

School is starting in Jakarta

Next semester's books for one of our grade school students. 

New uniforms will also be necessary. 

We feed, clothe, shelter, educate and provide medical care for children 

who have no place else to live, 

grow, 

and be loved. 

KOI-kidsofindonesia.org

Another photo of our newest -- a boy

KOI-kidsofindonesia.org

Birthday celebration

Birthday celebration for a very special lady...plus a few photos of the babies thrown in. 

All arrived this morning. 

For more about us: 

KOI-kidsofindonesia.org