ericlovesindo's Xanga

slow.

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 08:50:27 GMT

Dear Friends,

I apologize, but to save myself from any further cursing and swearing, I will not be putting anymore pictures up while I am in Indonesia. I assure you that I have been taking pictures and that there are many I think are quite good and would very much like to show you. However, I am going to wait until I get home and can sit on my couch with my laptop and a nice high speed wireless connection, and not sitting in a sweaty, steamy, internet cafe in Sumatra waiting hours for pictures to upload. This is not how I want to spend my last few days in Indonesia.

The time in Sumatra has been very good, very different, and very eye opening. The culture here is totally different than Bali. Culturally, you might as well be in the Middle East. There are more mosques here than there are churches in Alabama, nearly every woman has her head covered, and the call to prayer and readings from the Koran blast constantly over the mosque's speakers. The food is great. When you go to a restaurant they bring out a huge bowl of rice and about twenty different kinds of meats and vegetables. You simply take what you want and leave the rest. When you are finished they just charge you for what you ate. Oh, and you get to eat with your hands! Well, your right hand.

I did make it out the Mentawai's and spent a few days surfing a world class left called Telescopes. It was macking with double overhead sets on the second day. Google Image it. Today Jeff and I surfed this fun river mouth in Padang, wading out through the river was about the filthiest thing I have ever done though.

Much love to all my peeps! Thanks so much for the prayers, I have been in great health. Sumatra is so in need of people to come and be salt and light. Pray for workers to come here! I will be back in the States on Tuesday, I look forward to talking to and seeing many of you.

Working for Peace,
Eric

sumatra.

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:40:15 GMT

My time in Sumatra thus far has been very chill. Jeff has been been showing me around Bengkulu, introducing me to his friends, and taking me to empty breaks. It is very different here than Bali. I was the only whitey on the plane and haven't seen any others since being in Bengkulu. Tomorrow we are heading out for a Sumatran adventure.

We are going to drive twelve hours through the mountains, crossing the equator, to Pekan Baru with Jeff's friend Josh. Josh is an M in Pekan Baru. From there we are going to take a ten hour bus back through the mountains to Padang, and from Padang grab a boat out to the Mentawai Islands off Sumatra's west coast.

Sorry for the lack of pics, and this may be my last entry for awhile, but I covet your pryrs and cannot thank you enough. Much love my friends.

Damai,
Eric T.

the boat trip: epic all around.

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:22:20 GMT

The boat trip was sick. Too many stories. The best waves I have ever seen and ridden. I am in Sumatra now until the 11th. Communication is a little harder up here, so this is brief. More will come later.

Love,
Eric

Zanal.

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:24:25 GMT

Let me introduce you to one of my best friends in the world:

Zanal is the coolest fifteen year old in the world. He is basically a street kid in Kuta and has been hanging out with the Surfing the Nations teams for the last few years. Last year we were able to bring him on the boat trip with us. I met "Z" last year and have kept a picture of him above my desk all year. He is the first person I looked for when I got to Kuta. Z is selfless and always helping out by carrying people's bags, sharing food or drinks, and giving hugs when people are down. He is great surfer and charges big waves. The last two times I have surfed with him he has caught the biggest waves of the session. He is brilliant too. He doesn't go to school and he can't really read, but he kicks my butt every time we play chess.

Z came on the outreach with us to Nusa Lembongan, was with us in Bingin, and is going on the boat trip tomorrow. STN has been super influential in his life and he loves being with us. Watching him worship with us is a beautiful thing to see. I wish I could bring him to St. Augustine and have him live with me. I love this kid.

We leave tomorrow for our boat trip to Gili, Lombok, and Sumbawa so I won't update for another week. Pray for us as we go out to these islands. Lombok is the island where they burned all the churches seven years ago. Also, please pray for the team as many of us are battling a flu that has been going around.

Thank you friends for your faithfulness.

Love and Peace,
E r i c T.

we have a boat!

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 05:21:12 GMT

The dedication.

The maiden voyage.

Sorry for not putting pictures up until now, but the internet here is fickle. Needless to say, Mady has a boat! It was awesome to see the last stages come together and the dream that started last August at a table in Flavor's Eatery in St. Augustine, Florida has now become reality eleven months later in Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia. It was a super special time. We have video of all of us carrying the boat to the water, praying over it, and hearing the motor roar to life. For the maiden voyage Made took Garrett and I to a "secret" surf spot you can only get to by boat.

This morning I was sitting on the beach and watched as Made came in from fishing in his very own boat for the very first time. This is such a huge thing for him, he is overwhelmed with joy right now. I thank all of you for the part that you played in this.

The time on Lembongan has been great. The team has blessed tons of people with clothes, led Bible studies, played football (soccer) and volleyball, harvested seaweed, and been a great example of the love of Jesus to these beautiful people. Tomorrow we head to Bingin for a few days.

Still loving Indo,
E r i c T.

the bros.

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 14:53:09 GMT

The "Florida Boys". Aaron, Tony, Sean, Yours Truly, and Garrett. There are three girls here from St. Augustine also, Lindy, Lisa, and Emily. This picture was taken late right before Aaron, Tony, and Sean got on a bus headed for G-Land. Garrett and I leave in the morning for Nusa Lembongan. The next update should have pictures of Made's boat.

Aloha,
E r i c

foolishness.

Sat, 07 Jul 2007 14:49:06 GMT

[For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.]
- 1 corinthians 1.18

Arell. He is from Sumatra but works in Bali arranging whitewater rafting trips.

The boys at Green Bee Surf Shop, near Kuta Beach.

This is what $25 million Rupiahs looks like. (The money for Made's boat.) I felt like a drug dealer or something with stacks of cash.

So...the latest: Made's boat is being built and I will be heading back to Lembongan on the 9th to spend another week over there, this time with about forty other people from Surfing the Nations.

The group got here a couple days ago and we are preparing to split up for our different outreaches. There is 118 people here altogether with STN. Crazy huh? So sweet to have so many people passionate about serving God and passionate about the ocean in one place. Tomorrow we are having a church service in a restaurant right on the main road in Kuta Beach. We have passed out flyers for people to come to the "Surfers Church".

Tonight a guy named Scott came and spoke to us. He is only 23 years old and single, but he runs an orphanage here in Kuta. He brought his 25 kids with him tonight. They sang renditions of "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" and "Nothing but the Blood of Jesus" that were way better than the originals. It was so heavy. Everyone in the room was beaming and crying at the same time.

Please pray for me as my throat is starting to feel like I may be getting sick. I have also been asked to be a leader of the Nusa Lembongan team so I will have added responsibility.

Wave Update: I surfed a spot called Canggu two days ago when the last swell was peaking. Taking off on some sick rights with solid 10 foot faces. Surfed the reef in Kuta today and some really fun waves, it is nice surfing with your boys in the water yelling at you to go on everything. A new really big swell is supposed to start building tomorrow and peak Monday, just as we get to Nusa Lembongan so hopefully I will catch Lacerations going off.

Thank you for your faithfulness. God is good all the time.

Peace be with you,
E r i c T. Danger

Monday, July 02, 2007

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 11:58:34 GMT

This is Ketut, the Jenga master. I ate at his wife's (Ketut also) restaurant almost every night in Nusa Lembongan. Ketut and I would play Jenga and he would usually win.

This is a picture from the Hindu ceremony of Galungan in which the present offerings to the gods so they forgive all their wrongdoing. They do this every six months.

A Nusa Lembongan evening.

Bingin...barrelicious.

"I am trying to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse."
-C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)

I have spent the last few days and Juni's Warung reading lots and surfing heaps. I stayed with Juni and Wayan last year and it was great to see them again. There was also a guy staying there from Morocco, Chakib. We talked a bit and he invited me to come to his house in Morocco. So far I have met people from 20 different nations.

I am back in Kuta now. Tomorrow I will pick up Jafar from Bangladesh. Surfing the Nations has built a relationship with Jafar and sponsored him to come on the Bali trip this year. I am stoked to meet him.

I am healthy, strong, and though the time on my own has been quite good, it very excited to see my friends. All my boys from Florida will arrive Thursday. I hope you are well, thank you for your faithful prayers.

Peace,
E r i c

boat update.

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 09:06:10 GMT

Hey to all!

Today has been a busy day! Yesterday Made and I talked with the "maker of boats" on Nusa Lembongan, Padisiswa, and I figured out that it is going to take him two weeks to build Made's boat...and he needs $8 million Rupiah (a little over $800 USD) to get started. Well, this presented a problem in that Tom from Surfing the Nations is bringing the money down on July 5th and I am not going back to Lembongan until July 9th. I came back to Bali today with Padisiswa's son, Ketut. We ran around on a motorbike for 3 hours to about seven different banks trying to find one that would let me take out $6.5 million Rupiah. It was a frustrating and tiring 3 hours. In the end I was able to come up with $7 million and they said that would be enough. So, they will begin construction on Made's boat in the next couple days and it will be finished no later that July 15th so that we will be able to give it to Made and with a blessing.

I have to apologize that there are no pictures on this post, I left my USB back in the room and am to beat to walk back and get it right now.

I attended the Galungan festival on Wednesday. It was interesting, but sad to see the bondage of works and offerings that so many live in under Hinduism. The culture is beautiful, yes, but they are not free.

I am heading to Bingin now for a couple days of cheap living and good surf before I have to start picking people up from the airport on July 3rd. Much love to all! I miss my friends and family but am loving it here. Give freely. Live without regret.

Until Every Nation Hears,
E r i c

lembongan/made.

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 09:34:36 GMT

Made visiting me in my bungalow.

Breakfast at Made's house. That chili concotion you see is sooo good, but sooo hot.

My friend Putu. I have made it a daily routine to visit him and his friends to practice Indonesian. They love sitting around teaching me their language and hearing the english equivalents of their words.

Wow, where to begin. So much has happened in the last five days. Sorry it has been so long since I have ported, the internet is fickle here on Lembongan. So, I took Made to lunch yesterday and learned more about his situation. When he told me that he borrows a boat to go fishing, he means that he rents it. He has to pay every time he takes it out. He sat there telling me this and how he wants so bad to have his own boat, but can't afford it. I am sitting there listening to him and wanting so bad to tell him what it coming. After lunch I took him back to my bungalow. I had written out and translated a letter explaining everything about the Rosa Loves shirts and how hundreds of people had bought these shirts to help him, and that on July 9th I was going to bring the money over to buy him a boat. I wish you all could have been there. I feel selfish that I was the only person that got to experience that moment first hand. He couldn't believe it. I thought he was going to cry, and he said he wanted to. Many, many thanks to all of you who helped make this possible because it going to change this family's lives.

I have been doing so many other things. Made gave me a tour of the island. I've been playing and watching some intense volleyball matches. I went to cock fight today, about every man on Lembongan was there. I am really learning a lot of Indonesian and making lots of new friends on this island.

Wednesday is the huge Hindu festival of Galungan...is is like Christmas over here. Everyone is preparing for it. I am going to go and observe the goings on.

For all my surf bro-dudes: The waves have been flat for last six days. I only surfed three times...until today. The first pulses of swell hit and I had some super good waves at shipwrecks. It is really crowded right now though. There is no end in sight to this swell, so...hope you're getting some in FLA!

Please keep praying for me like crazy, it is working. I am having tons of favor everywhere I go and with everyone I meet.

Much Love,
E r i c