Departure Day

Today We Leave for Indonesia

For several years we have been planning and preparing for this departure, and now that the time has come, we feel quite stripped of everything!  We have said good-by to family, friends, and long-time acquaintances. We have sold our home and many of our possessions. We have given away many things. The last month has been emotionally draining for us, but still we look forward with anticipation in the opportunities to provide community development to the poor of Indonesia.

We look forward to visits from philanthropists in the US. We believe that when people in the US have a first hand look at the needs, they will be more inclined to participate in the community development projects that we are invovled with.

SO… keep watching, and in the coming months we will begin to share about the opportunities for you to travel and visit the Jambi Province!

Join Dr. Chester & Phyllis Swearingen in Indonesia!

 

The Journey

October has been a very challenging month!  With the sale of our home, the move to a temporary location, placing some of our belongings in storage, etc., all of this has kept us very busy. The major time consumer has been managing all of the administrative details. We “assumed” that we would have the month of October to spend with family and friends. But it has turned out to be a very busy month, managing numerous last minute administrative tasks.

Dr. Chester & Phyllis Swearingen

**Obtaining permission to live long term in Indonesia (Visa).

**Setting up international banking (this took 2 1/2 months–if you are going this route, ask for our advice!).

**Preparing to manage the filing of taxes while out of the country.

**Setting up people to manage our legal affairs while gone (power of attorney).

**Selling vehicles.

**Saying good-by to family and friends.

**Setting up adminstrative systems for recieving project support from donors.

**We could go on and on….

We don’t begrudge the journey. It has been very educational and “character developing”!   Though we did have advice along the way (for which we are very grateful), there are many unique experiences and situations that every individual will have to encounter all on their own.  So if you are up for a similar journey, just know that you have to be a self-starter, and that you can’t wait for somebody to give you all the answers to every situation, because for many situations, there are no answers!

Selamat Jalan–[hope you have a blessed journey!]

 

Sumatran Earthquake

Epicenter in Jambi
Most have heard about the recent devastating earthquake on Sumatra. The news headlines spoke of the devastation in the western coastal city of Padang. In reality, the epicenter was in the Jambi Province, in the small town of Sungai Penuh (full river).   Sungai Penuh is the location we would like to go and explore in the next year or so. We plan on using this mountain town to commence our long trek up the active volcano Mt Kerinci. Hopefully we will be able to get a number of Canadians and Americans to join us on this tour from time to time.

When we get to Jambi we also hope to make ourselves available, in what small way we can, in providing relief during natural disasters, like earthquakes, tsumanis, floods, etc. With Sumatra being on the Ring of Fire, they are prone to all types of natural disasters. During the last six months there have been six major earthquakes!

 

Visits to Mosques

Religious & Cultural Experience

During the last nine years I have had the enjoyment of going to a number of different mosques. It is facinating to learn other people’s beliefs and understand what makes them be and do the things they do. I believe every person should expand their horizons beyond what is known and become open to other people’s worldviews.

In 2008 I visited the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Michigan.  I also have a post from March 1, 2009 about a mosque I visited in the Jambi Province of Sumatra.

Islamic Center of America (Dearborn, Michigan)

Chester Swearingen in the Islamic Center of America