It is not every year that we can come and celebrate Christmas—the birth of Our Loving Savior.  This year Oom Djaja and Oom Ping Tiauw will have to miss it.  Oom Djaja had a fall a few days ago and fractured his left wrist.  He is fine now but he can’t go anywhere.  So, he […]...

The first century Christians who lived in the Roman provinces faced a very difficult situation.  You see, the Emperors appointed themselves as Dominus et Deus, Lord and God.  And, they wanted the people to worship them as Lord and God.  Those who refused would be thrown into the paws and teeth of...

Thirty eight years do not fly fast, especially if we are to spend it in a jungle.  But, that’s what Rachel Saint did.  For 38 years she lived in an Ecuadorian jungle among the Auca Indian who killed her brother, Nate Saint, a pilot with the Missionary Aviation Fellowship, along with four other m...

I write this at the Daughters of Mary and Joseph Retreat Center.  By the grace of God we have had a good retreat.  I truly appreciate the help of many who made this retreat possible—from organizing it, planning the logistics, doing the registration and room-assignment, to being involved in worsh...

How we thank God and what we thank Him for usually vary according to situation.  I think it is a given, the better the situation is, the more selective the item of thanks and the more lavish the expression will be.  Inversely the worse the situation is, the simpler the item of thanks and the [&hel...

During her first visit to Japan, Corrie ten Boom committed a blunder. At the end of a meeting, she asked a man to close with prayer.  The man declined so she said the prayer herself.  After the meeting, the man approached her and told her that the reason he had refused to pray was because [&hellip...

In his book, “Brave, Strong, and Tender,” Phi Downer relates the story when he decided to resign from the law firm he worked for and managed to grow from four to fifty lawyers to become the president of Christian Business Men’s Committee of the USA.  He said after he left, the firm just moved...

The other day I stumbled upon an old picture of me and our three little children standing at a beach north of Jakarta, smiling and so happy.  When I was looking at the picture, I was wondering where Santy was.  Suddenly it occurred to me that she was not in the picture because she was […]...

A dog is truly man’s best friend.  Those of you who are dog’s lovers certainly know what I am talking about.  Over five years ago the Good Lord brought a strayed dog into our lives.  Since then Oliver, that’s his name, has been in our hearts, not only in our home.  Every time we go [&helli...

Sometime ago I shared with you my run-in with a couple of mentally challenged father and son at the YMCA where I usually do my swimming. The other day I happened to meet them again and this time I was even able to listen to their conversation—well, sort of!Sometime ago I shared with you my [&helli...