Greetings from Apex, NC!

“Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

As read on express.co.uk: “Relocating is more stressful than a relationship breakdown, divorce or even a new job, according to research.” That hardly seems possible, but let me give a glimpse into why this might ring true for some, especially for an international move.

Hair Product Depression

I remember being on the verge of tears in a store during my early days in Paris in 2001—over the inability to obtain aerosol hairspray. Is hairspray really worthy of public anguish? Of course not. It was a symptom of change/loss overload. Hair Product Depression reared its ugly head once again here in NC. Imagine needing to reinvent the “how and what” for nearly every aspect of your daily life:

home (location, type) · climate · culture/language/manner of speech · friends · coworkers · workplace · food

products · furniture (bed!) · personal care products · cooking apparatus (gas to electric) · transportation methods · church

home · mobile phone model · car · cleaning products · roads/getting-

around familiarity · recycling methods & opportunities ·

healthcare providers · finances/how much things cost · spouse’s job ·

home work area organization · sizes of various things (paper, bedding,

food measurements) · etc.

Accept that it’s going to be messy!

That’s valuable wisdom from Looming Transitions. She also wrote, “You are now like green play dough—once you’ve gone to the field, you’ll never be completely yellow again because parts of you will change. But you’ll also never transition completely to blue and be an insider in your host culture.” This greenness factors

in to the challenge of the repatriation process. Being green while being in a new place and “alone,” lends itself to some pretty low moments, despite the busyness.

Harry’s experience has been different, which is OK, as the popular saying goes, “It is what it is.” He was MIA for most of the settling-in process due to two international ministry trips that kept him away for nearly four weeks (see p. 2). We signed an apartment contract in between trips, but he was away when our shipment from Holland was delivered on August 7.

Thank God for loving and gracious colleagues who carried boxes up two long flights of stairs, cleaned, and both gave and loaned household items!! Then began the “fun” of unpacking, organizing and shopping. Our home could be a showroom for thrift shops and Facebook Marketplace. It’s been fun to see how the Lord provides! Lucky Harry returned from trip #2 to a nearly furnished and fully-functioning apartment. Smooth move, Mr. Bettig.

Honestly, I didn’t expect to ever live in an apartment again, but we are very thankful for our new home and know that it is where we are supposed to be

for now. Plusses include that it is: only a five-minute drive from the office; quite quiet on the third/top floor facing the woods; bright; in a complex with two pools, two work-out rooms, easy access to a lake, and some shops nearby. We look forward to experiencing the advent of autumn in our new neck of the woods. The guest room awaits.

In the midst of all the changes, the ultimate reality is that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Handsome hubby is also the same and we will celebrate 16 years of blessed togetherness on Oct. 4!

He has continued the transition into leading TWR’s global partnership with the Thru the Bible (TTB) ministry and program. The six trips he’s

Bettig Broadcast “View from the Vortex”

Issue 66 · October 2019 Created by Eileen, approved by Harry

“our” lake, Lake Pine

Indonesian Batik fabric

apartment balcony

contd. on p. 2

TWR: PO Box 8700 · Cary, NC 27512-8700 · 800-456-7897 ONLINE GIVING: www.twr.org/bettig

IMAGE CREDITS: indoindians.com; VectorStock.com; Harry Bettig

made this year (+ one more before the next letter) have been for the purpose of becoming familiar with the TTB projects in numerous languages, and to receive on-the-ground updates of how God is using TWR to distribute those programs. Besides spending time with TWR’s national partners and TTB production teams, he’s enjoyed visiting local FM stations that air the programs, seeing TWR’s shortwave and AM transmitter site in Eswatini, and visiting various TWR listener groups.

In July, he travelled for two weeks in southern Africa (South Africa, Malawi, Madagascar and Eswatini); in August he spent twelve days in Southeast Asia (Indonesia and the Philippines). His travel partner has been Joe Fort, the retiring TTB liaison … big shoes for Harry to fill after Joe’s dedicated service of 25 years!

Highlights from the long, dusty, bumpy roads ...

A group of young adults in a remote village in Malawi meets each weekday evening to discuss that morning’s TTB program. One young man rides his bike one hour each way to join the group! This eager group of 18 actually calls their gathering a Bible school. Oh that we would have such passion and thirst for the Word!

Harry wasn’t “brave” enough to partake of this snack offered to him in Malawi … would you?

In Madagascar, they accompanied a producer of the Malagasy program to two FM stations. He and a local pastor stressed the need for TWR to also continue broadcasting on shortwave to that large country with many isolated areas. Later in the day, a dozen listeners came together to meet Joe and Harry in a church that was actually started by a group of TTB listeners. Several of them eagerly shared with the “special visitors” how the programs help them grow in their spiritual lives.

In a remote area of Bali, Indonesia, Harry and Joe attended a TWR listeners’ meeting in a small church,

which included a dozen youth aged 11-17, mostly orphans. Harry’s heart melted as they joyfully sang two songs. The pastor of the church mentioned that he uses the TTB program for his congregation, finding the detailed verse-by-verse explanations helpful in his message preparation. Another man said, “Thank you for the broadcasts. My faith is stronger when I listen to TTB each morning at 5:30.”

TWR currently broadcasts in four languages on 79 local FM stations in Indonesia. One woman in Surabaya, Java, said, “I get to know who God is through the stories of Jesus, like those found in the book of John. Can we keep listening? It won’t stop, right?”

Harry was especially moved and humbled when meeting listeners. Just south of Manila, he and a few colleagues from TWR Philippines visited a bedridden woman named Lisa. She showed them a notebook where she jots down explanations from the Tagalog TTB program. She lives in a small crowded shack and the broadcast is her daily

encouragement. With a grateful heart, she then shares what she learns with a few children who visit regularly.

Counting our blessings

Bev—friend that hosted us the first six weeks · our apartment · safe travels for Harry · purchasing Dad’s Subaru Forrester (Su has been a furniture and household goods transporting workhorse!) · Ministry Partnership Development training I led in August went great · Transfer Fund—100% provision · YOU

May a joy-filled autumn be yours,

Harry & Eileen