FOLLOW OUR ADVENTURES IN DEMLAND

We live amongst a tribal group known as the Dem who are located in the mountains of Southeast Asia. We are here to learn their language, translate the Bible into their language, and teach them about God. If you would you like to receive our monthly newsletter, send us an email at: dylan_vanrensburg@ntm.org

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Surgery




 Last Sunday I called the surgeon's cell phone and told him that Roman was all better from his cold and ear infection and could we please do the surgery tomorrow.  He was very accommodating and scheduled Roman's hernia operation for 9am Monday morning.  Roman and I went to the hospital at 7 on Sunday night and they did blood work and put an IV in his arm.


 They also put this adorable gown on him.  He loved the room with all the buttons on the bed and the TV remote:)
 The surgery went very well.
 He woke up from the surgery cranky, but was fine after a good nap and some french fries from McDonalds:)
 His big brother sister came to cheer him up and watch TV:)

We were able to leave on Monday evening and I was very glad for that.  Sharing a hospital bed with a 2 year old is not my idea of a fun time:)  Thank you to all who were praying for Roman.  We are so thankful that everything went smoothly and he's back to normal.  Praise the Lord!

Saturday, February 15, 2014

The Mall the Zoo and Valentine's Day

The traffic here is TERRIBLE!  We are staying at a C&MA guest house and can use many modes of transportation to get from point A to point B.  Thankfully none of our options are too expensive and we've used quite a variety depending on different factors.  

This is us in a 'bajaj'.  It's a 3 wheeled contraption that has a bench seat in the back.  We can all squeeze in, but it's a little crowded and hot.  They are smaller than cars, though, so they can squeeze through traffic a little more easily and can also use back roads/alleyways that the taxis can't.
 If we have a lot of stuff or it's late at night, we'll take a taxi.  My favorite is probably an 'ojek' which is a motorcycle taxi.  That is easily the fastest way to get anywhere, although, probably not the safest...

There are so many malls here, and most of them are really nice.  They are huge and have hundreds of stores and restaurants.  Of course they are super expensive and we don't really buy much at the Gucci and Tiffany & Co. stores, but there are some fun things to do!

Gideon was the train conductor
 Daddy and Roman were his passengers:)
 Raquel and I rode on the carousel
 Then all three kids went on these flying camels.  We thought they were just going to spin around, but they ended up going up and down while spinning really fast.  It looked kind of crazy and I was a little concerned about Roman, but he thought it was great:)

 On Valentine's day we headed to the Zoo!  We had heard about it from another family who had been staying at the guest house and it sounded like fun.  You can't beat the price- 45 cents for adults and 35 cents for children 3 and up.  It was a beautiful day and it was mostly deserted.  The kids had a blast running around, following the signs and finding their favorite animals.

Raquel got to pet the horse!
 I learned something new at the zoo.  We are often called 'bule' by the people here.  It's just a slang term for white people.  I didn't know that it really means 'albino':)
 Gideon was saying "Hi ducks" to the pelicans
 There were some racoons from America.  Do they have racoons in the zoos in the States?
 This tiger was pretty crazy.
 We're pretty sure he wanted to eat our children...
 We bought the kids some popsicles from a little vendor and I'm sure they were full of horrible things.  Here Gideon shows how it stained his skin.  It took a while to wash it off.  Yummy!
 Love that toothless grin:)
The kids also loved the bus ride home.
FYI- you may not bring your dog or knife on the bus, and keep your hands off the ladies' skirts!
 After tiring the kids out, we put them to bed and then, when they were asleep, we got to go out on a date!  It was the first time in about 4 months that we've done that.  So fun to be able to go out on Valentine's day!  We went to a nearby mall and had a delicious meal at a fun restaurant.  We even got a Caesar salad!  That might not sound like a big deal, but Caesar salads don't exist where we live normally.  Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!

Trip to the Big City

On the 3rd of February we left our house in the tribe for the first time!  The past three and a half months have been a very good time of settling in, but it was nice to look forward to a 'break.'  The plan was to spend 1 week in our supply town, buying supplies to take in for the next 3 months, then fly to the capital city for one week for Roman to have a hernia surgery, and then back to supply city to spend two nights before going home on the 17th.  Weeeellll... things haven't exactly gone as planned and we are still in the capital city until Wednesday of next week.

Here the kids are ready to go on our two flights (3 hours and 2 hours) to the capital. 
 Roman was looking pretty cool
 I found $2 backpacks to fill with their water bottles and snacks since the airline we fly (cheap:) doesn't provide anything, even water.
 Gideon was excited!
 And so was Raquel!
 Well, Roman had an appointment to see the Dr. at 5pm on Tues., but when he woke up we realized his cold had turned into an ear infection.  He was crying all morning holding his ear, so we had another appt. for him at an SOS clinic in town.  So nice to have medical care available whenever you might need it.  We called them and he was seen an hour later.  

Here he is in a taxi on the way there.

 He was super grumpy when we got there, but cheered up when he saw our view.  Across the street was a huge construction site and he was content to watch all that was going on the whole time we were there.
He started antibiotics for the ear infection and later that night I took him to the pediatric surgeon who said he wanted Roman to be fully recovered before he would do surgery.  That changed our plans a bit!  Now we are waiting until Monday or Tuesday.  The surgeon gave me his cell phone number and told me just to call him the day before I wanted to have the surgery done:)

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

December 2013

Here are the highlights from our December

We decked the halls!

 We listened to a story from the Jesse Tree every night.
 We made gingerbread houses.
 Kendra and I joined in carrying wood down the mountain:)
 We opened up stockings.
 Dylan accidently shot a small pig with a pellet gun.  Very interesting experience, and yummy pig;)
 There was a lot going on that day and some guys came to talk about it all.
 Roman turned 2!!!
 He was very expressive when opening his presents and thoroughly enjoyed the experience:)
 We attended our first feast.


 We enjoyed a delicious Christmas Eve supper...
 and a fun Christmas morning...
 and closed out the day with yummy treats with our friends.
 We also had a little New Year's party with the Tealls a few days later.  A good end to a good year:)