Rain

For the past two nights, we have had some pretty impressive rain storms.  The night before last, it was raining so hard that the sound of the rain hitting the roof was enough to wake us from our slumber.  It was so loud, in fact, that Emily was having fun talking to herself because she could not hear her own voice.  It has rained almost every day since we have arrived.  What is important to note is that this is not the rainy season.  As one who really enjoys thunderstorms and rain, I am excited about this new environment of thunder and rain.  It helps me to keep in perspective how small I am in comparison to the world.

We are living in a tropical area with a wide variety of plant life.  There are many different kinds of palms here ("palms" are what we in the states would call "palm trees").  One of the chief exports of Malaysia is palm oil. When we were flying in, we flew over many palm tree farms and were impressed with the size of the farms and the sheer number of trees.  This rainy climate provides a great place for plants to grow.

Also, this climate allows for other creatures to thrive.  One in particular are mosquitoes.  We have been fighting against them since we arrived.  There are some wonderful devices that you plug into a wall socket and place a pad into that release a smell that mosquitoes do not like.  These have been great.  Also, we are having some new mosquito netting put up today (we in the States would call them screens for the windows) and we are excited to have that addition to the bungalow.

We are doing well and we will write more soon!

Peace,

Zach

Black Bean Burgers?

This morning = absolutely lovely.  Pulled tea and roti for breakfast: RM$4.80 (USD$1.60).  I do believe breakfast is cheaper to eat out than to eat in.  Plus the short walk is really nice before the sun turns to scorching.

Contrasts can truly be beautiful.  For instance, the contrast between breakfast this morning and dinner last night: the furthest thing possible from the same level of enjoyment.  We had attempted to make black bean burgers.  However, a combination of exhaustion, lacking familiarity with local ingredients, not having made them at home ever, and zero patience to let the turtle-esque member of the food family (i.e. beans) simmer for a quarter-century led to our "black bean burgers" having to come to terms with a new name: "garlicky green globs".  The only black bits were the charred chunks as we struggled to master our two-burner stove.  Our tired selves were quite relieved to find a food processor in our unfamiliar cupboards; but alas - the garlic-and-onion puree did our green globs no favors.

Food is a primary focus in Malaysian culture.  While we have been here for a week now, yesterday was our first attempt with the stove as we've been graced with amazing hospitality and meal invites during these first days.  In fact, our first full day in Kuala Lumpur consisted of a walking tour to the close shops and markets, lunch and shopping, and then a dinner outing.  We ate four times with our neighbor Brian on the first tour, three times with Adeline, Alpha and Seth (from Bangsar LC) during the mid-day, and only once with Brian, Pr. Thomas and Suzie for dinner.  Though to be fair, the last was a ten-course Chinese meal - and we were sent home with a bag of cookies.

Hungry, anyone?  Come visit us!  (We promise to eat out...)

Much love,

Emily

Air Travel Adventure

Our trip from the United States to Kuala Lumpur went as follows:

Leaving: 15 August 2012

Arriving: 17 August 2012

Bemidji, MN to Minneapolis, MN

     5:25am-6:25am     Flight time: ~1 hr     Layover: ~2.5 hrs

Minneapolis, MN to Chicago, IL

     9:00am-10:21am     Flight time: ~1 hr     Layover: ~3.5 hrs

Chicago, IL to Tokyo, Japan

     12:53pm-2:00pm     Flight time: ~12 hrs     Layover: ~2 hrs

Tokyo, Japan to Singapore

     4:00pm-11:55pm     Flight time: ~7hrs     Layover: ~13 hrs

Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

     12:50pm-1:45pm     Flight time: ~1hr     Arrival (Thanks be to God!)

We were under the understanding that the flight from Chicago to Tokyo was a 20 hour flight.  When we boarded the plane and were told that it was only a 12 hour flight, we were overjoyed.  One of the highlights of our plane voyage was arriving at the Singapore airport.  We had a long layover so that we would not be arriving in Kuala Lumpur (KL) in the middle of the night for our supervisors to come pick us up (first impressions are important! ^_^).  We had tried to book a room in one of the three transit hotels, but there was not room when we tried before our flight.  When we arrived and found our way to the hotel in the terminal we would be taking off from in the morning, we were delighted to find that there was a room available that had a communal shower/bathrooms for around $80 US for eight hours.  We gladly settled down for some sleep in a real bed.  After trying to sleep on an airplane, this was a blissful moment.

Upon waking up in the morning, we found out that the Singapore airport is amazing.  The night before, I was too tired to try and soak anything in, so I missed much of the beauty of the airport upon arrival.  However, we had time to explore this treasure trove of an airport (that sounds strange, but it is the truth).  Among the many different gardens interspersed throughout the airport (yes, I said MANY), we went to a garden called the "Sunflower Garden."  This was the first place we went to after checking out of our room.  We were not sure if this was a lounge, coffee shop, or, in fact, a garden.  When we arrived, we were amazed that there was an outdoor, rooftop, sunflower garden.  Here is a photo:

As we explored further, the Singapore airport is one of the most technologically advanced, eco-friendly, options for "free" services airport that I have ever been to.  There were 4 or 5 main gardens spread around 3 terminals (one a pond with coy fish and palms, one a cacti garden, and others).  There were also other small garden areas with trees and flowers interspersed throughout.  There were many free internet areas with computers provided.  There was an E-post card station which was essentially a web-cam that would take your picture in the airport and send it to someone's email address.  There were also multiple free foot massaging machines along the walk to the specific terminal gates.  Also, there was a free movie theater area which had a large screen and was constantly playing movies.  Plus, there was an area where you could play Xbox (it was provided), PC, and (I think) PS3.  This is not even mentioning the shops, food options, and other architectural beauty to be found.  It was a paradise at the tail end of our journey.  If you are ever in this neck of the woods, check out the Singapore Airport.  The US has so much to learn from Singapore in this regard.

Our flight from Singapore to KL was uneventful, just a little late.  We arrived and met our supervisors, Thomas and Augustin, and our new friend Brian.  That about sums up the trip to KL.

God Bless,

Zach

On the Road Again

If ever there was a wisp of a thought that God's will for our lives is wrought with boredom, senseless action or monotony, the thought has long since dissipated.  God knows our hearts and our yearnings, and following one's call does not mean giving up everything that excites us.  (How is that for affirmation of God's love for us?!?)  So, here Zach and I find ourselves on a grand new adventure, our eyes continually widening to the diversity of God's creation and the beauty within the people of God everywhere.  Here we are... We are here...

Thirteen weeks have passed since we packed up our house in Dubuque, Iowa.  The days and weeks since have been marked with visiting family and friends, a synod assembly, a wedding, doctors visits, orientation, the summer mission conference, farewell dinners and commissioning services, paintball, boating on Leech Lake and zip lining through the Redwoods.  We've covered Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, California, Illinois, and Ontario, Canada.  We have stowed our carry-ons in 15 planes worth of over-head compartments in these weeks, and - needless to say - when we stepped past that last baggage claim and met our supervisors for internship -- we were ready.

We are excited for the year ahead, and anticipate learning heaps from Augustin and Thomas.  We already know our pairing to be a great fit, myself with the quiet and witty Augustin at Bansar Lutheran Church, and Zachariah with the outgoing and comical Thomas at Luther House Chapel.  Both are very insightful with deeply-grounded theologies.

To all those who are with us on this journey - in thought and prayer, in presence via letters and Skype - a tremendous Thank You.  We are here to grow in our witness as the body of Christ and to share in communion together.  Your presence with us affirms this reality.  God's peace be with you in your journey,

Emily

General Information

Emily and I are currently enrolled at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, IA.  We are engaged in a four-year long Masters Degree program in Divinity (M.Div).  After we graduate, by God's grace, we will be pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  During the third year, all M.Div students are required to do a pastoral internship.  Emily and I applied through the ELCA Global Missions office to a program called Horizon International Internships.  This is a program through which seminarians can do their pastoral internship abroad.  We were interviewed, accepted, and placed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  We will be serving at two different sites: Bangsar Lutheran Church (Emily) and Luther House Chapel (Zach).