todaaaaay. last night was a going away part for 2 friends. so i kept the kid (remember, i'm babysitting until tuesday) out late. a whole 30 minutes past his bedtime! he was a little cranky. but the clingy kind of cranky, not the screaming kind. so it was alright. he slept late this morning, so i ended up being awoken by the helper trying to get in at 7. awesome. right as she came, the second helper also came and they got into a discussion about who would work when. it was decided that first helper would work 7 - 3, and second helper (who is a little dumb and we all know shouldn't be left alone with the kid for extended periods of time) would work from 3 - 6. i come at six and the kid goes to bed at 6:30. fancy.
anyways, after the helpers came, i came home and slept more. but i was again awoken. this time by an sms from the kid's dad who is currently on another island. the sms mentioned that he had met a german girl who was backpacking alone across asia and australia and was trying to get to solo next (an hour south of where i live). he asked if she could spend tomorrow night at my house. my mind turned to the possibility of being murdered, maimed, ransacked, or other equally horrific things. then someone whispered, "what you have done for the least of these..." so i said sure. i think the plan is for the dad to bring her here, but by the time they get in, it will be late, and the buses to solo will have stopped running. so she'll stay here for a night, then i'll get her to the bus station the following morning. who doesn't love a foreign stranger sleeping in their bed?
at 11 when i woke up, my helper came in and greeted me with a hearty "SELAMAT PAGI!" (good morning - which ends around 10. then the day switches from pagi to siang.) i chuckled at her, and we chatted for awhile. we were talking about summer plans and what i'll be doing in sumatra. she's a christian lady, so i don't mind sharing with her. (around other people, i have to be a little more cautious about what information i give out.) she told me how grateful she is that foreigners come here to tell others about Jesus because so many indonesians are afraid to in their own country. i contemplated this a second (i know it's true - other christian indonesian friends have told me how scared they are to share the gospel. btw, proselytizing is illegal here. but answering questions or having a discussion isn't.), and then i told my helper that i think that's true for the foreigners here too. most of us probably didn't share the gospel with fellow americans. or at least not to the extent that we do here. but in a foreign country, it's somehow easier. my helper thought about that one for a second and came back with, "really? you have to tell americans about Jesus? they're not all christians already?"
WHAT?? wow... i know america has kind of a reputation for being a christian nation and all. but among most people here, i usually find the assumption that all americans are like what they see in hollywood. NOT that all americans are christians. hmm... misconceptions always amaze me.
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