Getting back into the Game

After 3 weeks in Oz, we have returned to Timor Leste.  For some reason, I found this place to be so stinking hot that I wondered what the heck we’re doing here.  One of those mini-philosphical crises that I try to mostly ignore seemed to become a little stronger.  Possibly related to a very nice and cool late autumn experience in Oz.  Anyway, back to the game at hand … homeschooling is on while managing bub and Cynthia does a fine job.  She also manages to run a weekly art class heartily attended by homeschoolers from various nationalities – Brazil, Canada, America, Kenya and Australia. 

Belle Kria managed to finish a large order of bags for Seeds of Life research department for drying corn seed.  They also arranged the invoicing and receipt of payment – this is a big step as the sort of Timorese we work with are quite shy about walking into a large, sophisticated organisation to request payment.  They’ve also made some very colourful cushion covers using locally woven tais material sewed onto colourful cotton material.  If anyone wants a bright set of cushion covers made with love from Timor Leste just let us know.  ($15 each)

We’ve just passed another independence day – 20th of may, 11 years old.  You know you’ve made it as a nation when you’ve got google.tl (seriously, took a while!).  People are very happy generally.  The locals are enjoying volleyball and tug-o-war competitions.  The government is just about to open a big bridge of the main river in Dili and test runs are happening for a big fountain near the airport (all very important stuff).

We’ve got access to possibly another 800 scriptures which we think are all Acts (had been hiding in someone’s shed in Dili) and Bibles are getting out on the move again.  Here’s Joseph, my new friend from Kenya getting a couple of boxes of Bibles.  He also gets a laptop to go towards his computer classes with uni students.

Xakira and dad doing laps in the back yard.

Serenity and dad doing laps on the Gold Coast.  Life’s all about how many swims you can put in.

Israel going driving in Noonamah during our overnight in Darwin.  Needless to say the further you get from civilisation, the lower the standards for vehicle registration.  Israel is the lighting operator – convenient as an interior light for map reading or spotting possums in the Top End bush.  He wears a seat belt not to prevent him going through the windscreen (there is none) but so he doesn’t fall out where the door should be.

This little beast does actually go.

The Great Oz

We’ve just had three great weeks in Australia.  The first thing we had to do in Australia was to say goodbye to Bethany.

Bethany had just finished high school last year and was brave enough to come to Timor Leste for 3 months to assist Cynthia in teaching the kids.  Bethany arrived in Timor Leste just before the birth of Xakira and was an invaluable help in continuing the home schooling while Cynthia recovered from giving birth.  She became a part of our family.  Perhaps the funniest development out of this was an entertaining style of mail whereby correspondents would communicate on very thin square sheets while meditating upon the throne.  We would like to thank Bethany for coming over and wish her all the best in the future!

In Oz we got to spend time with our family including Tim and Eliza who are dedicated YWAMers stopping over on their way from Scotland to America (must have got lost like only YWAMers can do).  We also spent time with other family members who I’ll neglect to mention so as not to avoid offence of the sort that they’d rather omit to deny.

 

We got to go to Sea World too which was really fun.  Emmy, the Timorese girl came with us to Oz and her one request was to see dolphins doing tricks.  I was at pains to explain that I thought we’d already seen heaps of dolphins doing tricks crossing the sea to the island that she comes from.  But no, Sea World had to be on the list of things to do.  She was amazed to see dolphins and humans working together and leaping out of the pool – spectacular really.  I was just stunned by the jet ski show where one bloke strapped a couple of jets to his back and took off into the air.  Like all incredible ideas, I would have thought of it first, given the opportunity.  Not to be outdone, I showed my son how to drive a truck and fly a plane.

 

 

Coming back to Timor Leste was great for Emmy but a struggle for us.  We  find ourselves wondering what we are doing in this stinking hot place of dust, mozzies and disgruntled traffic.  The great Oz looks very enticing from over here but I am sure these pining thoughts will fade away, especially if God has anything to do with it.

 

Various nutritious meals in Oz…

fairy floss

 ice cream

  little girls

A new car for Branca!

Finally Branca gets a new car!  I first heard that she seriously wanted to upgrade her car in late 2011.  She said she needed $10000 so we hatched a plan where I would ask for some help with donations, sell our small truck and put the money together for her in exchange for her old red hilux.  It sounded like a win win.  Local churches back in Australia each contributed a bit and we sold the old blue dyna (it had serious engine issues from overheating).  Then we waited … and waited … and waited … 18 months.  In the end we got tired of waiting (and not having a vehicle) and bought a great wall ute from Australia (more on that soon).  We decided that we would just hand Branca $5000 and she could sell the red hilux herself to raise another $5000.  We are happy to announce that we have handed $5000 to Branca last week and she was able to buy a brand new dual cab hilux (obviously with a little more dosh).  She plans to pay it off over 6 months.  So I am very happy for Branca as she does a great job running a clinic, centre for people with disabilities, church and Bible study and doing lots of cool stuff.  Our Great Wall ute is on the docks in Dili and we hope to get it soon.

I would just like to say thanks to those who gave all that time ago and thankyou for your patience. 

God is good.

Emmy’s Place: A new beginning

Last weekend I went to the island of Atauro.  Its always an adventure for me that usually involves getting absolutely saturated.  The voyage had 3 tasks: fix the satellite weather station, take a group from WEC to explore the island and launch a small eco lodge called “Emmy’s Place.”

We set off with 5 WEC staff, two 44 gallon drums, a sack of cement, steel pipe for the weather station, 60 new testaments, posters for the school and some survey gear.  The first stop was the weather station where the wind direction sensor was broken – couldn’t get it going again, drat.  The boat had gone on to the next village so I took a 3 wheeler with Patrick (Swiss) up the track to the next village.  The 3 wheeled motorbike is a main form of transport to get to the market and by the time we arrived the poor little thing was carrying 11 people.  We had some fish and rice for lunch and I joked about dried squid for dessert.  Unfortunately, Anina (Swiss) took me up on the joke and said she’d always wanted to try some (?!?).  As a man cannot be outdone by a woman on matters of gross and smelly looking food, I therefore had to try it myself … erk … sort of dry, very chewey, tasteless with a hint of something rotten drifting up your nostrils.  I must confess, she continued munching away, so in the end I was outdone.

Assortment of squids and fish drying (smelling) in the sun

From there we ventured around the beautiful limestone cliff coast to the west being chased by a little storm.  Things were looking a little miserable on board so I jumped overboard by way of entertainment.  Diving or snorkelling brings you into a new and magical world and since living in Timor I am learning to dive deeper. 

The famous Emmy, weighing anchor to set off for her home village of Atekru.

Atekru is, I think, the nicest beach on the island, and in fact the nicest beach I’ve seen in all of Timor.  Its a beautiful sweeping bay of yellow sand sitting behind a limestone reef.  The village is set on a strip of land bordered by the coast and a limestone cliff behind it.  The people grow corn, cassava, sweet potato, various beans and have pigs and goats and chickens.  To this diet, they add rice and fish.  Their best building is the church which is a carefully built structure of concrete and tiles.

 

The path to the church – there are no roads or vehicles in this village.

The locals were very happy to see a group of foreigners – we’re still a bit of a novelty.  The snorkelling was amazing in that the reef tended to form shelves, crevices and tunnels that you could dive through especially if you didn’t have tanks and didn’t mind a bit of risk here and coral scratch there.  I found it fun anyway.  There were some cool little fish that darted about and looked like they were glinting in the sunlight but if you came up and looked carefully you find they were actually flashing from light coming inside their little bodies.  As they were darting about in schools of hundreds, the show looked very enchanting.

They loved the Bibles, and I was surprised to find that many did not recognise this Tetun New Testament like they did on the mainland.  In this place they say that the Holy Spirit came to them in the 1930’s seemingly out of the blue.  They turned and followed God.  They gave up their public animistic practices and burnt their spirit poles and broke down their altars.  Then again the Spirit visited them around 1976-77.  At this time people brought out their sacred ornaments they had hidden in their huts to burn them up and follow God completely.  It is quite amazing how this has altered their thinking and cultural practices after 30 years or so.  They run their own churches and conventions and have a Bible college and are part of the Assemblies of God Church.  There are no missionaries on the island that I know of.

New Bibles for Atekru … and a quick drop of Bibles to another village, Maker.

So we measured up a small patch of land, 20m x 30m, and I gave Emmy’s dad a sack of cement and $200 and we discussed plans and building materials.  The idea is to use as much labour and materials from the village as possible rather than importing stuff.  They are keen to make it happen.  They’ll start with a loo, simple wash room and thatched hut.  Then we’ll look at an eating shelter and another hut which we hope will be a tree house.  By some strange coincidence, the next day the regional chief came to inform the people that Government has now declared ownership of the first 50m of land all around the coast (of all of Timor?) and anyone wanting to do anything on this coastal strip must now negotiate with the Government.  Bummer.  The people didn’t seem so concerned though that the Government just took their best bit of land.  So we’ll just go ahead and build the thing anyway – we have no choice really, the whole of Emmy’s dad’s block that was measured up is within this 50m.  (I assume most people in Government have not seen a 50m tape measure).

 

The land where we plan to build Emmy’s little resort and the next day meeting with the chief who announces the Government has taken the beach front.

 

 

 

 

Ideas for huts from Barry’s Place on the other side of the island.

On Sunday night, I got to sit around with the WEC people (3 Germans and 2 Swiss) and play cool European card games.  We came home on Monday morning with some big waves and got saturated but also saw a large pod of Pilot Whales breaching, jumping and somersaulting as well as a pod of dolphins and the usual flying fish (that really fly) and funny fish that run along the surface of the water standing upright using their tail fins for feet.  Just for fun, after running for 20 or 30 meters, they jump up in the air and dive back into the water. After about 3 hours, we arrived back safely on the beach with less than a litre of fuel left (oops).

A village called Railuli

Finally, after 8 months of waiting, a large shipment of Bibles has arrived in Timor-Leste!  Both publishers, the Catholics and Wycliffe Bible Translators, have brought scriptures into the country so distribution can recommence.  About 150 scriptures have gone out in the last week to young people, teachers and distributors.  Many, many Timorese love to get their hands on a Bible as they believe in God but don't have access to any scriptures. 

On Saturday, we went out to the mountains to visit a village.  Its about 20km as the crow flies but took us about 3 hours to get there, mainly because some shorter roads were washed out in the wet season.  The main task was to inspect an area to extend a water system.  My ability to survey systems has been radically improved by using a smart phone with GPS.  This allows pretty accurate calculation of the location, distance between important points and change in altitude.  The information can be mapped in Google Earth where we can show the layout of the houses and where joins, taps and tanks will be. 

Standing at the spring where water flows along split bamboo into an old drum.

I also go armed with prices of standard items such as the cost and length of a roll of polypipe and the associated fittings.  We measure the water at different locations using a stopwatch and a bottle measured to 1 litre.  This system will serve about 16 homes with about 120 people.  A minimum requirement from Government is that each household gets 30 litres per day for their drinking, cooking, washing and bathing needs (do you think your household of 8 could handle that?)  The current source supplies around 3 litres of water per minute which should amply provide these needs as well as extra water for vegetable gardens.  I am encouraging the community to come up with half the cost of the supplies as well as provide the labour to dig trenches.  Each household will need to contribute $25 for the 400m long system.  I believe its very important to get them to contribute because not only does it demonstrate that they are serious about doing this but they also learn the importance of setting aside some of their money for water.  In the past, the main function of money was to settle wedding and funeral arrangements.  Thousands of dollars go into these ceremonies every year while Timor-Leste is reported to have the highest rate of stunting in the world.

While we were in the village we also got to hand out some Bibles and encourage them to read it each day and pray.  At the risk of sounding cliché, its my firm belief that a simple walk with Jesus is the first and most fundamental step in solving the problems that these people face.  I shared this message with them in the house of a man who was murdered with a machete a couple of months back over a money lending issue.  There are some very beautiful things about village life but also many difficulties.   A very sick man had been suffering from a high fever and some sort of kidney infection (blood in the urine).  Its a long walk out of this village so they asked if I could take him to hospital in Dili.  The track to his house was a bit washed out but we were able to get down to him and back out again with a prayer and a troop carrier (toughest car in the world – thanks to Seeds of Life for the lend).
I hope you have a great week, that fresh water flows freely for you at a place not too far away and that you have a Bible to read, should you want to do so.

A land of milk and honey

A family is well and looking forward to a visit to Australia in April.  We think about baked things – anything that comes out of an oven because we don’t have one.  We also think about fresh milk.  Here we still have a traditional breakfast of cereal like muesli, corn flakes or weetbix and for milk we have UHT Milk.  Fresh milk is difficult to get and may cost around $6/L.  Right now Timor Leste has also run out of UHT milk so we are rationing our last box.  We like a bit of honey on our breakfast too.  The local honey is usually too fermented so Serenity and Israel tease dad about his “no drinking alcohol” promise to The Salvation Army.  We think we’ve got a good supply now.  It doesn’t taste so bad even though it comes packaged in a stubby.

We’ve been working hard to try to do the paperwork to take Xakira to Australia.  This includes applying for her to become an Australian citizen.  You might be pleased to know she officially became an Australian Citizen on the 8th of March.  They must be lowering the standard in Oz because she still doesn’t know how to play cricket, she can’t speak a word of English and she doesn’t have a fancy education.  It must’ve been her good looks.  Unfortunately I dont have too many pictures of Xakira but we’ll try to remedy that soon.  Until then, here’s a few random events over the past week:

The girls in the sewing room got a task of sewing 500 special bags for drying corn for research in Seeds of Life.

Samuel desk – a bit cluttered as he tries to wire up a special system for measuring weather in a remote location.  It worked in the office but success in the field still proves ellusive.

The sunset is swinging back up north again which means we see some sensational artwork as the sun sets into the ocean.

Tobias, Israel (being shy) and Samuel in the boat assisting with a preliminary bathymetric survey (sea depth) off the end of the runway.  We’re using a GPS, depth sounder, lap top and some mapping software.  Its an effort to demonstrate that the runway could feasibly be extended into the sea rather than cut off access to our village.  (We must leave the outcome in God’s hands)

We see plenty of strange and what you might call dangerous activities here.  Its an OH&S nightmare from an Australian perspective.  One topic is towing vehicles.  Timorese are never really big on using rope so they tend to tow a vehicle with whatever they can find.  You even find motorbikes towing motorbikes!  You wonder what the police are doing and if they allow it?  Well the pic here shows a police motorbike that has stopped working.  The policeman is getting towed by another policeman using a piece of string that looks a lot like a lace out of their boots!

We are always thankful to God for his provision and keeping us safe and so healthy lately.  Pray that Bibles or scriptures of any sort could come into the country because, unlike UHT milk, we haven’t been able to get decent amounts of scriptures since August last year.

Born to be Wild

Pastor Samuel with some of the boys and their corn field in the background.

Click play to begin the film.

 

We have had the pleasure of a visit from Nick, a helicopter pilot from Darwin.  While he was here he was also able to take a 3 wheeled motorbike to Los Palos to deliver to Pastor Samuel.  This was an epic 8 hour journey on rough roads.  The Nazarene Church in Los Palos will use this vehicle to assist them in their ministry taking teams to house churches, take youth out to the farm to work the fields and be available to move supplies such as the harvest, manure, building materials and groceries (not all at the same time though).  This 3 wheeler has a tray on the back which is about 1m wide by 1.4m long, all the sides drop down and the whole thing can tilt up to tip out a load.  It can take about 6-8 Timorese on the back.  We hope that it will be very useful for them.  Our sincere thanks to God and The Salvation Army in Parramatta Corps.

Nick testing the beast before the journey to Los Palos

Helping the boys clear around the fence at the corn field in Los Palos