Want to hear something AMAZING, AWESOME, and CRAZY?!...

Hi friends.  Want to hear something completely awesome?!  Something so thoroughly encouraging and life-giving?...















I thought so.

So maybe you remember about a week and a half ago when I re-posted a picture on Facebook of two children walking from their remote village to our town of Wamena to sell their vegetables for school supply money?  Remember that?   Well if you don't remember, here is a reminder.  I posted this picture with this caption:

(My friend Lemeus posted this. So sweet. Pray for these little kids and others like them as they seek to get school supplies and as they study. ❤️

"Two students are gong to Wamena from the Village of Mayunggulik for selling the fruits to buy their books n pens.")

This is the picture posted by my friend Lemeus, and re-posted by myself, that inspired all of this. 

A couple of my Facebook friends contacted me on Facebook that they wanted to help kids like this in some way.  They wanted to donate some money to help these these children.  I talked to Lemeus, and got back to them asap.  These friends donated their money, and I got to work....(this all started August 24th...FAST!)  Lemeus helped to know what school supplies the children needed, and got to work the same day I handed the money over.  The very next day he took off on a long journey to the village.  

He had to take a 3.5 hour taxi ride on rough roads, (and taxis here are.....NOT luxurious)  Then when the taxi could take him no further he took off to hike up the mountain 3-4 hours to this mountain village.  He went alone, and he carried the box of school supplies on his own strength.  Strong. 

Lemeus hiking with the supplies.

Before he set off on this journey, I told him he didn't have to make a special trip into the village for this, that he could take it the next time he went.  But he wouldn't hear of it.   He was so touched that people in America would see this picture and God would put it on their heart to give to the kids, that he wanted to do it RIGHT AWAY.  He said "God put it on their heart to give, and God gave me the mission to get it to them, I have do this"  I was so impressed.  A little back information on Lemeus.  He is an amazing man of God. He loves Jesus with his whole heart.  He is a local from the island of Papua, and he is a firecracker for Jesus.  He has such a passion and heart for his fellow Papuans to fall in love with Jesus, not just religion, but really know and love Jesus.

Lemeus came to my house today with pictures and a report from the village and the children.  Each child in the pictures was given a ruler, a sharpener, pens, pencils, writing paper, a colorbook, math book, a candle to study by light in the night when they don't have electricity, and more! 

Plus the pastor of the local church was given the extra supplies to hand out to the children who could not come at the time Lemeus was there.  

Lemeus and the pastor of the church explained the story that God put it on the hearts of people to give these supplies to show them His love for them.  That He can move hearts across the world to remind the kids and parents in the village that God sees them and loves them.  They prayed over the students and children in their tribal tongue.  It was truly a blessing to be a part of this....even if I was just the middle man moving the money from one hand to another.  

I was speaking with one of my friends that donated some money.  I was giving her an update, and thanked her for giving, she told me "oh it wasn't very much money"  But you know what.....God doesn't care about that.  He asks us to be FAITHFUL with the small things, the small amount of money, the small act of kindness, listening to that small voice....and HE turns it into something more. Just like He did with this.... who would have known that posting a picture or donating a small amount of money would lead to all those kids hearing about Jesus' love for them, and blessing them in their school.  Literally the hands and feet of Jesus.  And it took many people....not just one.  It took Lemeus posting the picture, me re-posting it, my friends hearts to be moved enough to seek out donating, Lemeus to climb a mountain with a heavy box to deliver the supplies..... It took a team of people.  I love that.  

And get this.....those two boys in the original picture........ those same boys received supplies!  Isn't that cool!?  The whole thing was all God.  Nobody involved knew that this would happen.  But God did.  He planned it....because He loves those kids, He loves their parents, He loves that village, He loves all of us who helped with it.  It had an impact on all of us.  And hopefully it has an impact on you too.  I hope it makes you think about this God I serve.  He is BIG, powerful, and real! And He also cares about small things, like reminding all these sweet kids that He loves them.  If you already love Jesus, I hope it renews your faith like it did mine.  This isn't about me, it's not about the donors, it's not about the money.  All of those things were tools in God's big plan. He loves you just like this too.  It's all about making Jesus' name famous! <3 about="" all="" famous="" it="" jesus="" making="" name="" nbsp="" p="" s="">

Here are lots of pictures! Enjoy! 

Pastor praying over the students and school supplies before the kids get them

Kids receiving school supplies

Sweet smile!

YAY!!! 

So sweet.

Lemeus asked them to make a picture. =) 

Showing his Honai (grass hut house) drawing 

Yay!!! 

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These are the two kids from the picture that inspired it all.  Jesus is so cool.<3 cool.="" esus="" is="" nbsp="" so="" td="">

Baby Plans And All Sorts of Life.

Hi friend!

Ultrasound at local doctor

As you know, we are expecting!  Baby seems to be doing good! Our doctor friend is out right now in Holland, so we have been going to a local doctor for all checks.  Each check has gone well!  Unfortunately, each time I go the doctor says this...."umm, mungkin perempuan, saya tidak tauh"
which translates "umm, maybe it's a girl, but I don't know"  =)  So we don't know the gender yet.  I've been given two different due dates.  November 24th, and December 1st.  So SOMEwhere in there we expect a baby!!!  =)

We have had a whirlwind of a time here! It has been busy friends!  We moved at the beginning of August.  The house we had been living in was owned by another organisation, and we needed to move.  We moved into a HeliVida house across town.  We are feeling quite at home here, and really love the new place!  Still a few boxes to unpack, but we are pretty much done.  =)
While moving I overdid it.  I started getting sharp pains in my tummy...which signalled to me to SLOW DOWN.   We went to the local doc for an ultrasound when these pains came, the doctor said everything looked okay.  So that is good! The pains left when I started taking it easier.

Other than moving we have had visitors, sickness, our puppy died, helping our friend with his health, saying goodbye to good friends who moved back to America, getting everything ready to leave for a few months, Gracie's FOURTH birthday!  It has been busy! But we are doing good!

Speaking of coming back to America!.... Let me fill you in on our plans!

My big four year old 

Getting ready for baby!

Our good friend mama Agnis came to give Grace some strawberries for her birthday! <3 td="">

The Indonesian government has a rule...no traveling via airplane after 32 weeks.  So, we are leaving soon!  Even a tiny bit sooner than that.  We leave in 3 days!  We will fly to Hawaii, which is where my dad (Amanda) lives!  We will stay with him for a visit!  We are SO very excited to see him and Susan! It's been too long!  From there we will travel to Washington state (end of September) where we will establish care with a doc, make a birth plan, get myself and the baby checked.  All things baby! In November we have been blessed with getting a house of own to stay in!  Which is great for having a new little one!  We also will have a car to drive that is roomy!  God answered those needs! And thank you to our family for helping us out with it all! We plan to return to Papua as a family of 4 at the end of January!

Can I just say I am SO excited to be in America for the fall season!  I am excited to consume everything pumpkin spice, eggnog, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, colourful leaves!  All of it! I am going to really enjoy this time!  Living in an eternal summer has it's perks too!  But this girl is excited for some changing seasons!!! =)  I am also extremely excited for pickles, and mexican food!  Oh yum!

The ladies here in Wamena know I love mexican food,  this last saturday they threw me a SURPRISE baby shower, and each lady brought a mexican dish.  I felt so loved!  Most of the ingredients in mexican food are hard to get, have to be brought from your home country, or expensive to buy here.  It was truly SO sweet of the ladies here.  I felt loved.I am so excited to come to America, but I am also going to miss my home.  It is a strange thing.  Yes, America is my "home" but it is not my home.  I am leaving my home.  It is an anomaly.  =)
I have been saying goodbye to all my local friends, I will miss them.  I am starting to say goodbye to my fellow expat friends.  I will miss them too. We have people to care for our dog, our cats, our chickens and our fish.  I will miss all of them too.  Even my comfy chair, and my bed... that is the strange part of this life... your heart is always in two places no matter where you are.  =)  BUT it isn't a bad thing....it is just learning to navigate life in this way.  How lucky are we to have people to love dearly across the world!

nbsp="" p="">When we are in the States we are hoping to speak at a couple churches, so we will keep you posted on that when the time comes.  We also plan to do a bit more support raising in the states, as we are adding a new little one, and a few monthly donations have had to stop.  But again, we will keep you posted on that!
Matt's flying:  He has been flying with the pilots who are here in Wamena and already checked out.  It has been a season of furlough (home country break) for many HeliVida families.  Our chief pilot has been gone, and he is the one who will need to check Matt out.  But in the meantime Matt has gotten some good experience in jungle flying with our pilot friends who are here, he has gone up on several flights.  When we get back to Papua in January he will begin the process with our chief pilot (and several other pilots who will have returned) to be able to be a solo pilot flying in the jungle.   It seems like a long time, but it is good, because these are some of the most dangerous flying conditions in the world.  So best be trained well! =)  Well, chances are we will be seeing you soon friend!  We will post our contact info once we get set up with phones in America!  We would love to see you!
Amanda, Matt, Grace and baby!

Goofy Grace says "SEE YOU SOON!"  

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