Teething

So here we are in Minnesota, on our way to Washington this week. Let me tell you, this has not been much of a vacation. We are entering the wonderful world of teething and clinging to mommy. Now, I don't know if these go hand in hand or are just coinciding, but we have a different little boy this week. Combine that with a weird schedule and lack of sleep on everybody's part. It started Friday when we decided to drive through the night to Minnesota. Ben did very well and slept pretty much the whole ride. When we got here at 5:00 in the morning, he was ready to go for the day. Jon and I got about 3 hours of sleep. We've been going here and there and Ben has been catching little naps during the days. He is not going to bed on time and is waking up early. So he's been very crabby at times and quite clingy at times, mostly when it's time for nap or bed. Now he has a cold and is stuffed up besides.

On the flip side, he is having a lot of fun getting into his grandmas' stuff, seeing as how it's all new to him. He loves all the space he has to crawl around. He is very happy when he's not crabby. He loves to tease his daddy by going over to the TV when he knows he's not supposed to. He just speed crawls with a big grin on his face and squeals. He really is a lot of fun.

We have a couple days' drive out to Washington this weekend, so we will see how he does. We're just hoping we'll be able to get some sleep at night. I'll keep you posted.

They Grow Up So Fast

Ben is now in the lovely stage of getting into things. He has a newfound dragging skill that aids him in this. He drags himself around by his arms, with a little help from his right foot. We found ourselves suddenly running to get baby proofing items. We have decorated our stair rail with a white lattice so he doesn't find a fun hole to go through. I must say, it looks pretty good, and we could start a climbing vine in our living room. We also got a baby gate, of course, and a baby play yard-about 6 gates put together to keep your child in the midst of his toys and out of your stuff. Not that this is working at the moment as I hear much crying if he's taken away from his stack of books or cords. He is also trying to pull himself up on things like the coffee table, the entertainment center, the footrest, and proceeds to suck on said item. He loves pulling things off, too. Not to do anything with them, but just because he can. He right now is laying at the bottom of the stairs and seems to be contemplating the first step. Ben's favorite things right now are reaching for the DVD player, the VCR, and the remote. My baby is growing up so fast, as everyone predicted. At least he still likes to cuddle with his mommy.

Not a Quaking Colon

So I have delayed this a few days, but Jon thought I should write about my earthquake experience since I can now say I felt one. Last week there was an earthquake in Illinois just after 5:30 in the morning with the effects being felt in many other states. I was up feeding Ben and I started shaking. I could mostly feel it in my arm. I thought maybe I was just really tired or weak from being half asleep yet, but the TV made some noises, too, which I thought was strange. When I got up later, Jon asked if I had felt something and told me there had been an earthquake. I felt better-this justified my weird feeling. So now I can say I've experienced an earthquake. Pretty exciting, huh?

The Results Are In

It is official. We are going to Sunnyside, Washington for our summer internship. Plans are now in the making as it is really not that far off. It's the end of next month already when we'll pack up (hopefully just a small portion of our home) and make the long drive out. It's kind of an odd feeling knowing you'll be leaving your home for 10+ weeks. The hardest part is deciding what to bring and what we can really live without for that time period. We ask for prayers as we prepare, and for all the seminarians who are heading out on internships this summer, many again going overseas. Hopefully our trip to Washington is not as eventful as the one to Indonesia.

What About Noah?

So I opened Ben's Little People Noah's Ark today. We opened his barn a couple of weeks ago and Ben has a lot of fun sucking on the animals along with listening to the animal noises (of course it's battery operated). So we decided we should open another set downstairs instead of dragging the sheep back and forth. Sheep can get lost in a hurry. (We also have a zoo, but that's for another day.) And I just have to add, these animals are pretty cool. They all have hair for a little tactile stimulation. Anyway, so I opened the ark and found a lion and a lioness, two zebras, two elephants, and Noah. Poor Noah. He is all by himself. He doesn't have anyone to play with. Inside the ark, there is a picture of Noah and his wife. That's nice and all, but I'm pretty sure Noah made the journey with his family. They could have at least put a wife in there for him. There's plenty of room in there. How sad and lonely. I feel bad for Noah. Noah is also the only one that doesn't have real hair. He's bald on top and has fake white hair, but why he can't he have real hair? That would be more real then a glob of hair on the cow's head that makes him look like Don King. I guess in the scheme of things, he's just as easy to suck on as the rest of them.

Time Flies

I've been trying to think of something intelligence to write here since my days really are very boring and the every-day stuff other people write about seems more exciting than my life, especially like living on a ship and seeing the world. So here are some of my thoughts today (not necessarily intelligent):

A year ago we were preparing for Indonesia. It does not seem that long ago, yet it seems like years ago that we were actually there. I was just reading about a trip Jon's cousin took to Africa and thinking back on Indonesia. We are now looking ahead to this summer when we will go on our 10-week internship to some unknown place in the U.S. and meet people we never knew existed. We will be finding out in the next few weeks, and then I can start worrying about that and start making lists in my mind. I probably won't write them down until May, and then I will forget everything.

Ben is already 6 months old. Last week Jon and I were watching videos of him in the hospital and that, too, seems like a lifetime ago. He is so different, has such a personality already. And yet, time has just been flying by with him, and it certainly doesn't seem like we've been messing with him for 6 months. What a joy he is to us! People say your life will change once you have a baby. And it definitely has. We can't imagine what we did with our free time before we had him.

Jon has started his third quarter this week. After this summer internship, he will have one year left and they'll turn him loose on the country. It seems like a ways off yet, but as fast as this year has gone, it might turn out to be like some towns in Minnesota and South Dakota-blink and you'll miss them.

Finally, since I have to wrap this up, I am so thankful that God has given me a job where I can combine medical stuff with typing and work at home. I believe there is no better job for a seminary wife. I love being home with Ben and I don't know what I would do if I had to leave him at daycare every day. So for any of you out there, if you're a good typist, enjoy the medical field, and want to work at home, this is the way to go. You won't be a millionaire, but you won't have to pay daycare:)

It's been a long time, baby

Hello to those that actually check this site yet. It's been a while since the last post, what with all the busyness and children and such, and I thought it was high time I put something on here. (This is Keri, by the way.) I have added Ben's 3-month picture, although at this point he is 4-1/2 months already. But due to technical difficulties, we don't have any more recent pictures than that on our computer. We are very much in the middle of the school year, or more like Jon is. I sometimes forget what day it is, and really only know by what time Jon gets up and what he is doing that day.

We are enjoying parenthood immensely. The smallest things are such a wonder to a baby and it's so fun to watch that. Ben is a very happy baby. He always has a smile for daddy when he comes home. He's the only person I know who is so happy when first waking up. I'm sure that will change with time. Ben has grown 6 inches and is almost 16 pounds.

As far as updates since the last pictures went up, we have nothing new besides fitting a baby into our lives; or, to say it better, fitting our lives around a baby. Jon is plugging away at school, I am working, and life is great. Maybe some day we will put up some new pictures and talk about something else, but for now, it's all about the baby.

Baby Benny makes his Youtube debut

Hello folks,
If you would like to see small little videos of Baby Benny, go to youtube.com and search for Benjamin Spronk. It should pull a video of the kid. I hope to post a few more in the next couple of days.

Jon

P.S. I know my child's nearly naked body is now on Youtube for the world to see within the first few hours of his life. you gotta love the 21st century. And besides, baby nudity is the most wholesome of all the internet nudity.

Baby Spronk has arrived

Well guys, Keri delivered today (Aug 29) after 19 hours of labor, a bouncing baby boy at Metro.

Name: Benjamin Lee Spronk
Born at 6:59PM 8-29-07
Wt. 9 lbs 0 oz.
Ht. 20 inches

Mommy and baby are doing fine. Daddy is still finding today a little surreal.

Jonathan

Back in the U.S.A

Well I am back. Sort of. I still feel like most of me is still in Indonesia due to the time difference and jet lag. I am exhausted. The trip back was mostly non-newsworthy unlike the trip down. However, I have concluded that the aura of air travel which I used to have as a teen and young adult is TOTALLY GONE. My loathing of air travel now knows no bounds, especially on domestic carriers. According to American Airlines, the average air traveler should be 5 feet tall. I myself am just shy of 6 feet tall with most of my friends being taller than me, and I have no idea how they can fly. I'm not really that tall and I can barely do it. At least the long flights on this trip were on Asia carriers, which have much better customer service and leg room. However, I guess that domestic carriers are not made for people who have some Dutch heritage and are therefore decently tall.

Well that's all. Talk to many of you soon. For those reading from Minnesota and South Dakota, I hope to be back this fall to talk to the churches about my trip. But right now I need a nap.

Jonathan

On the Road Again

Well, I am now at the BTGH offices for the final time as I wait to leave for the airport. It has been an amazing 5 weeks. I have so many people I want to thank. When I was a coach at SDSU, it was my practice to give out "kudos" at the end of a trip, so here are my kudos for this trip.

Kudos to Congressman Vern Ehlers' office. Without their 11th hour assistance on Keri's passport, this would have been a much sadder trip. As long as he stays in politics, Rep. Ehlers will always get my vote (not that he wasn't going to already as he is a CRC, Republican who is a former Calvin prof and originally from Edgerton. Abe Lincoln would have had to run against him in order for me not to vote for him).

Kudos to Pastor Untung and his wonderful staff at the BTGH Indonesia. Great group. They were so willing to show me around (i.e. driving me to locations - if I had to drive I probably would have killed myself on the roads), help me with the ministry practices and just being there to show me a little slice of Indonesian Christianity.

Kudos to my host family, Joseph and Theresia. They were so gracious to open their house up to Keri and me for the five weeks. Their hospitality knows no bounds. I am so grateful for how easy they made our stay in Jakarta. I am determined to come back to Indonesia again, just so I can finally beat one of them at Chinese Checkers (We must have played a dozen games. I got agonizingly close to winning several times, only to be crushed at the last minute.)

Kudos to all of you who have supported us throughout this trip. Your prayers, money, and kind words of support to us over the past several months have made this opportunity a reality. I thank God that there are folks out there that truly want to show Christ to others around the world, and support a young man who is finding his voice in the kingdom. Thank you for making this possible.

Finally, I thank God for this trip. From the beginning trials and tribulations of the trip to now, I have felt God's presence in this trip as I have never felt it before. So many moments of the trip become simply known as "God moments" where something inexplicable would happen that blessed Keri and me in some way. An Atheist would say that we were exceptionally lucky or had good fortune throughout our trip. I say we were simply blessed.

So, as I prepare to go to the airport, I thank you, loyal reader, for staying with my rambling writings over the past months. The Indonesian blog is almost complete. But I have one other purpose left for the blog. In August, please check this blog for updates on Keri's pregnancy. Okay, updates are a strong word. We'll just post the birth announcement and some pictures of the new Baby Spronk (I know, this sounds like some celebrity news site now: "Come see the WORLD-EXCLUSIVE pictures of little Suri Spronk....or the RARE PICTURES of little Apple Ka-el Spronk... or something like that. Okay, I promise not to name my child some bizarro name, though my brothers would probably give me 100 dollars to name my kid Homer or Strong Bad. And 100 dollars would probably buy a week's worth of diapers for little Chewbacca... er, Dumbledore... er, Papaya Spronk.)

Blessings,

Jonathan

P.S. If we were having twins, I think we would have gone with LaKwaya and Papaya.

The Alien with in your Gates

Apologies on the delay in posting. Our Internet has been down the last couple days and I have not been able to post.

Well, my 5 weeks in Indonesia are approaching an end. I leave next Monday, though I hope to do one more update before then.

This has been a busy week. I spent the week finalizing my scripts and doing recordings. Also, I worked on my devotional booklet - the theme of my month is "Works of the Holy Spirit." So now I have material all ready in case the TODAY folks call in thirty years.

Also, we went to a local Christian Radio station "Heartline FM" on Tuesday. There I got to witness production of the "Drama Kiddy" program. Drama Kiddy is a weekly radio program geared toward children that the BTGH office in Indonesia created. They write the script and then send it to Heartline FM for recording. At Heartline, they line up the radio actors including children and produce the program. While there, we saw the taping and took a tour of the station. Heartline FM also produces a variety of other original radio programs, and I taped a segment for their "Drama Bible" program, a program that turns scripture passages into radio dramas.

So today on my last day at the office, I am writing my report to the Seminary and the BTGH office about what I have learned on this trip.

What have I learned in this trip? Lots. I could write pages on what I have learned about ministry, radio production, broadcasting, writing scripts/sermons, U.S. government passport policy, Indonesian culture, evangelism, Islam (In actuality, I am going to have to write pages on these topics at CTS - but I will save that for another day).

But the biggest thing I have learned in this internship is what it is like to be "the alien within your gates." Not that I didn't receive phenomenal hospitality from my Indonesian hosts, which I did, but I was always consciously aware that I was different than those around me.

It is a weird feeling to be suddenly an easily identified minority. Needless to say, in predominantly white, Protestant, male, rural America, I am used to blending into the majority. It was a new experience to walk down the street and literally have people stare in amazement that a white guy is walking down the street like it takes a special talent to be that pale (actually it is not a talent to be this pale, just be a sem student; suddenly your days in the sun are over). Or to have kids stop playing soccer to point you out of a crowd. Or to have people come up to you to ask to take their picture with you because you are so different. It is an odd feeling to not see anyone that looks like me for three weeks. Its kind of a lonely feeling.

I have a new appreciation for those who don't fit into the majority, in our society and our church. I have a new appreciation for the outsider who does not look, speak or act like "us." In my reading of the gospels these past few weeks, I am more acutely aware of when Jesus purposely reached out to the outsider, to the outcast, to those who did not look, speak or act like the religious establishment or the perceived moral majority.

My experience has humbled me. I need to do a better job of looking to the minority in my community. And I am not just talking about race, but about more than that. I need to reach out to people who differ in any way from the white, male, Dutch reformed, sabbatarian, rural, farming culture that I still love and adore. Because it is not crucial to Christianity whether I am white, or worship with the blue hymnal or gray hymnal, or do I read the NIV or TNIV, or whether I am CRC, RCA, or NON-DENOM, or whether I agree with women in office or not, or any one of a thousand potentially petty things that seem important, but are of a secondary importance to whether I am showing Christ to people who are not me.

"And who is my neighbor? asked the expert of the law to Jesus." My fellow brothers and sisters of Indonesia taught me that my neighbor is anyone who is not me. And for that I give them my deepest gratitude. God be praised for their witness.

Jonathan

Funerals in Toraja

Hello,
In an earlier post I said that I was going to describe the funeral practices of the people of Toraja, a people from the Island of Sulawesi. Their burial practices go back to their pre-christian days. Here is the Wikipedia description of the Torajan funerals, which, I have been told by the native Torajans I know, is pretty acurate:

In Toraja society, the funeral ritual is the most elaborate and expensive event. The richer and more powerful an individual, the more expensive his or her funeral. In the aluk religion, only nobles have the right to have an extensive death feast.^[23] The death feast of a nobleman is usually attended by thousands and lasts for several days. A ceremonial site, called rante, is usually prepared in a large area of grass field where shelters for audiences, rice barns, and other ceremonial funeral structures are specially made by the deceased family.

The ceremony is often held weeks, months, or years after the death so that the deceased family can raise the significant funds needed to cover funeral expenses.^[24] Torajans traditionally believe that death is not a sudden, abrupt event, but a gradual process toward Puya (the land of souls, or afterlife). During the waiting period, the body of the deceased is wrapped in several layers of cloth and kept under the tongkonan. The soul of the deceased is thought to linger around the village until the funeral ceremony is completed, after which it begins its journey to Puya.^[25]

Another component of the ritual is the slaughter of water buffalo. The more powerful the person who died, the more buffalo are slaughtered at the death feast. Buffalo carcasses, including their heads, are usually lined on a field waiting for their owner, who is in the "sleeping stage". Torajans believe that the deceased will need the buffalo to make the journey, and that they will be quicker to arrive at Puya if they have many buffalo. Slaughtering tens of water buffalo and hundred of pigs using a machete becomes the peak of the elaborate death feast, along with dance, music and young boys who catch spurting blood in long bamboo tubes. Some of the slaughtered animals are given by guests as "gifts", which are carefully noted because they will be considered debts of the deceased family.^[26]

There are three methods of burial: the coffin may be laid in a cave, in a carved stone grave, or hung on a cliff. It contains any possessions that the deceased will need in the afterlife. The wealthy are often buried in a stone grave carved out of the rocky cliff. The grave is usually expensive and takes a few months to complete. In some areas, a stone cave may be found that is large enough to accommodate a whole family. A wood-carved effigy, called tau tau, is usually placed in the cave facing down over the land.^[27] The coffin of a deceased baby or child may be hung from ropes on a cliff face or from a tree. This hanging grave usually lasts for years, until the ropes rot and the coffin falls to the ground.

So there you have it. Funerals ala Toraja. Kinda makes the old ham buns at the typical CRC funeral seem a bit boring in comparison. If American Christians were to slaughter hundreds of Cattle and Hogs at a funeral, I perhaps would have my own Pastor/Meat Man business.

Jonathan

P.S. Notice that there is no "Vegetarian option" or Chicken on the menu. Chickens must be an inferior species:)

More Random Thoughts about Indonesia and Other... uh... Random Stuff

I am slowly getting a hold of basic Indonesian language. I can do ok at reading signs but am terrible at hearing it for comprehension. One benefit of the language is that it spells everything "foneticaly". This is awesome. I tell you, I should have been born into the Indonesian language. Let me explain. My interests academically range from math to history to geography to theology to biology to chemistry. My kryptonite is spelling the English language. Still, I have one masters degree and am now working on a second in a completely unrelated field. However, if today I walked into Mrs. Van Bockel's Third Grade Spelling Bee, I would still finish where I did back when I was 8: near the bottom of the class, misspelling such tough words as "daughter," "thought," or "probably". Needless to say, I hope my future children are not cursed with this affliction.

In Jakarta, I am well aware that I tend to stand out in a crowd. I thought it was because am I taller than 95% of the people that I meet, a little heavy, and have pale skin that blinds people when I stand in the sun. However, I have learned one additional thing that makes me stand out that I hadn't thought of before: I have blue eyes. People like looking in my eyes. Some say they have never seen blue eyes before. Who knew, the Swedish in me would make me popular?

Which brings me to the HUGE discussion that Keri and I have had a lot lately. Will our kid have blue or brown eyes? (I know; its earth-shattering. You have been patiently reading the blog for weeks now, hoping for my discussion of this vital topic) Tracing the genetics of Keri and me, I have determined that our baby has a 50-50 shot at blue or brown eyes.

Waiting for your first child to come is like waiting a while for an important house guest you have never met who is nonetheless coming to live with you for eighteen or so years. Yet you know little-to-nothing about who's coming, so it is tough to prepare for their arrival. So as you wait, you begin to speculate what they will be like. Will he (I say he; honestly, we don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl. Saying it sounds so impersonal and flippant) be blond or brown-haired, or will the Spronk genes finally pay off with black hair? Blue or brown eyes? Boy or girl? Bad speller or a Riemersma-style spelling champ (Keri was a magnificent speller in grade school - she finished runner-up in the Argus Leader compitition. It's really the reason why I married her - to help my kin)? A talker or quiet type? Twins fan or, dare I say, Yankees fan? If it's a girl, will the new "Grandma Spronk" explode in a local Target in a frenzy of pink clothes buying? (See, Ma Spronk has been blessed with only boys. Growing up, I think the most fun she had shopping was in the rare instances that she had a friend or relative who had just had a girl - She was then allowed to buy pink.)

All these questions. And many won't be answered even this year yet. So exciting.

Anyway, these are my random, rambling thoughts. You can now begin to pity the unsuspecting lot that calls me to my first charge in the church.

Jonathan

P.S. If my first born is a Twins fan, all the rest is gravy.

P.S.S. If my first born is a Yankees fan, he better be a good speller, and brown-eyed like his mother. He'll need all the help he can get.

Persecution

What do you think of when you think of persecution? If you are anything like me, you think of the early Christians, the martyrs who faced Roman legions or lions in the arena. Or maybe you think of Reformers facing the prospect of burning at the stake for their faith. Or maybe you think of missionaries who bravely face death to bring the gospel to hostile regions. All of these examples show persecution that is terrifying and often brutally violent.

But I am here to say that at times the persecution faced by Christianity can be much more subtle. In Indonesia I am learning about that kind of persecution. For example, it is a part of the Indonesian Constitution for freedom to worship. Diversity in religion is supposedly a foundational virtue in Indonesia. But in practice, religious tolerance can vary widely. I have met a Christian here who was asking me how hard is it to build a church in America. Not quite grasping at what he was getting at, I stated that it was sometimes a struggle financially, especially if it was a small or poor congregation. Then he said that what he meant was is it hard to get approval from government authorities to build. No, its never an issue of that in the U.S. I responded. Then he told me of his Church's struggle. For 13 years, they have been trying to build a church. For 13 years they have had the land and the money raised to build. However, building permits have been held up in the local government for 13 YEARS. The congregation just keeps waiting for approval. That my friends is subtle persecution.

Another form of subtle persecution is seen in identification cards. Let me explain some history. Indonesia is home to a small minority of Chinese. These Chinese have emigrated in three waves: in the 1700's, in the 1800's, and right before Communisum came to China in the 1940's. Most Chinese Indonesians did not convert to Islam when they came to Indonesia, but many came to Christianity through the Dutch missionaries of the day (though some converted for less then heartfelt reasons - being Christian gave them business advantages with the Dutch Colonists). So Chinese Indonesians make up a substantial portion of the Indonesian Christian Church, and have faced the ire of the Muslim natives

However, because of their ethnicity and religion, Chinese Indonesians have always suffered from discrimination. For numerous years, Mandarin, their ethnic language, was banned in schools and could not be displayed in public (let this be a lesson to those who think that English should be the "official language" of the U.S. We are a nation of immigrants; we all learn English eventually. To mandate only its use is cultural genocide). In Indonesia, the immigrants were forced to change their family names to more Indonesian sounding names. They had limited roles in government and often were segregated in their communities.

The tensions came to a head in 1998. The Asian financial crisis of the late 1990's was particularly hard in Indonesia. Almost overnight the value of the Rupiah (Indonesian Currency) dropped hard. Inflation was huge (for example the value of the Rupiah vs the Dollar went from 1000 Rupiah per $1 to 20000 per $1 - imagine a loaf of bread jumping in price 20 times in a week, and you get the picture.) Riots went off all over Jakarta. Chinese were the targets of the riots (which the government, police, and military were said to have backed - takes the pressure off you when you use the weak as the scapegoat for your economic problems). In the riots, hundreds of Chinese were raped, tortured or killed. In the aftermath, many Chinese simply left the country.

To those that remain, they are still discriminated against. One of the fellows in the BTGH offices here showed me his official Indonesian identification card, their version of a Social Security Card. On his begins a little code "09". Seems innocent enough. But this identifies him as a "citizen of Indonesia" as opposed to an "Indonesian". It does not matter if he was born in Indonesia or that his parents were, or generations going backward. He is not a pure Indonesian and is identified as such. It is insane. It reminds me of the star of David that Jews wore in pre-WWII Germany, which identified them as non-Aryan.

Imagine if we did that in American. I would be a Citizen of America instead of an American, because I happened to have Dutch and Swedish in my background. Lets say that this label was inherent in my Social Security number so that all potential educators, employers, or law authorities would instantly know that I was not "purely" American. Do you think it would make a difference in if I was hired? Or whether I would get that promotion? Or face charges in court if there is a trace of suspicion? Justice is now compromised between the pure blood and the impure. Or between the Christian "foreigner" and the Muslim "Native".

Just some food for thought. Persecution is not always about lions and guns and burning stakes.

Please pray for the freedom of the gospel and for the safety and livelihood of Christians in Indonesia.

In Christ,
Jonathan

P.S. Please also pray for my wife Keri as she begins looking for a new job after her graduation for medical transcription. Thanks.