We went to look at a job in Los Palos on Monday and Tuesday. It is a 7 hour drive to the main town in the east of the country. There is a local Timorese pastor and his wife there setting up a training centre for Bible study, computers, English, Portuguese etc. Their names are Pastor Samuel and Uli. They are living in appalling conditions. We stayed overnight with them and it was a little devastating for Cynthia. It rained all night. They had put us in the driest room and even then our mattress was damp on the bottom and water was running down the walls. For them, the water was flowing through their rooms and the kitchen inches deep and they regularly used straw "brooms" to sweep out the water. This is not flood conditions, this is daily living. They have very few dry clothes. Note the second picture where they have used a bit of roofing and a string of cut up water bottles (now fallen) to try and divert the water. There are what we might call fire ants with a nasty bite crawling around, rats and mice, electricity might come on for a few hours at night when you can fill a trough with water for your needs. The house is very dangerous and rocks periodically fall from a poorly constructed "rock-concrete" roof beam. On top of all this there is a wild young fellow in trouble with the police claiming that the house is his and they've got to move out. (He's back from Indonesia where his dad - Indonesian military - ran to after independence. A long story) So where do they go? The Church has a block of land with no buildings on it. It just needs to be built. They have some money but not enough. They are asking us to help but it is so remote and difficult, I am not sure. Pray for wisdom. World vision are also asking us to help with a massive water project having a lot of trouble (not delivering). I am not sure what to do but I do know that wherever I turn, people really need help. Is their anyone else over there that can come over? If there is anyone who really believes that local pastors should be doing local ministry do you want to help them financially? Pray for them. Pray for us.
We went to look at a job in Los Palos on Monday and Tuesday. It is a 7 hour drive to the main town in the east of the country. There is a local Timorese pastor and his wife there setting up a training centre for Bible study, computers, English, Portuguese etc. Their names are Pastor Samuel and Uli. They are living in appalling conditions. We stayed overnight with them and it was a little devastating for Cynthia. It rained all night. They had put us in the driest room and even then our mattress was damp on the bottom and water was running down the walls. For them, the water was flowing through their rooms and the kitchen inches deep and they regularly used straw "brooms" to sweep out the water. This is not flood conditions, this is daily living. They have very few dry clothes. Note the second picture where they have used a bit of roofing and a string of cut up water bottles (now fallen) to try and divert the water. There are what we might call fire ants with a nasty bite crawling around, rats and mice, electricity might come on for a few hours at night when you can fill a trough with water for your needs. The house is very dangerous and rocks periodically fall from a poorly constructed "rock-concrete" roof beam. On top of all this there is a wild young fellow in trouble with the police claiming that the house is his and they've got to move out. (He's back from Indonesia where his dad - Indonesian military - ran to after independence. A long story) So where do they go? The Church has a block of land with no buildings on it. It just needs to be built. They have some money but not enough. They are asking us to help but it is so remote and difficult, I am not sure. Pray for wisdom. World vision are also asking us to help with a massive water project having a lot of trouble (not delivering). I am not sure what to do but I do know that wherever I turn, people really need help. Is their anyone else over there that can come over? If there is anyone who really believes that local pastors should be doing local ministry do you want to help them financially? Pray for them. Pray for us.
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