Thursday, 21 February 2008
Saturday, 9 February 2008
OE & Land problems
Well, I had a great time on OE (outdoor education) that I joined the
international school with! It was a blast. All together there were
about 85 of us….and we all were flown into the interior mountains by
small airplanes. We were away for 12 days, which meant I also had a
Sabbath there, all alone with no other SDA's but it was actually ok.
We took baths in the stream, and it was COLD! Up in the mountains the
weather is cold so to take cold showers was always a challenge. (: We
worked on projects such as bathrooms, paths, airstrip, making a fence,
a hydro project, kids clubs, and a lot of digging! Because of all the
work I was doing, especially digging, I had adhesions they said from
my surgery, and my stomach had lots of pain for a few days, but then
it was ok. We really don't know why I should still have trouble with
surgery pain now, but anyways….I just have to be careful, because if I
lift a lot of heavy things then I have lots of pain.
We were all divided into groups of about 10 people each…and then our
different groups hiked up to different villages and stayed with the
people in their huts for three days. I was so scared I would have
really bad allergies in the hut, but it wasn't that bad. It was very
dark in the huts, dirty, and very smoky because in the middle of the
small hut there is a fire that is almost always burning! This keep the
people warm because normally they don't have any clothes or only a
very thin layer on themselves. We also slept with big pigs (which are
the villager's prized position). It was a great bonding time for our
team, Team Awesome, because during the day where we hung out together
the room was smaller than the dorm rooms at Maxwell, for all ten of
us! It was tons of fun though.
Lots of people got sick during OE with a very bad cold, along with a
sore throat and fever….and I didn't get it until the last night being
in the village. So I was thankful if I did have to get it at least the
next day I was going home. I had the whole flu with a really bad fever
and then I lost my voice for about three days, but now I am all
healed! It was a great time all together though(=
When I returned home though, I found the local people had started
'demoing' or rioting here on our Aviation campus as well as at the
local school here….here I'll just include the article I wrote for
someone in the states on the problems we've been facing for over three
weeks now…: Here's the newsletter I wrote about it :
Greeting! I was shocked to be asked if I would please write up
something about our land crisis here at Doyo Baru but I agreed to do
so for all of you.
Here it goes. The bright sunny morning of February 18, local people
began "demo" or in English, you would call it a demonstration, here on
our Aviation Campus as well as on the boarding Adventist Academy
Campus just down the road. They were mad because the mission president
of our organization had signed a document (by force, at 2 A.M. one
morning a few months back) indicating the organization was going to
buy some land above the academy campus and pay for it before the end
of last year (2007). And of course it has not been paid for! Well,
there has been no other indication, besides the letter, that the
organization wants that land! The committee even voted the
organization does not want that land but the mission president went
ahead and signed the letter saying the organization would buy it. So
the local people began demonstrating here and at the academy. This
includes making nasty comments, building up their tent on our airstrip
and living there, living in the chapel area over at the academy,
putting up branches all along our fences, started writing bad things
about us over at the school in the chapel and around the other class
rooms, going to the bathroom around the school buildings, breaking
down doors, making annoying signs, building soccer goals on our
airstrip, stealing equipment from our generator room, stealing chairs
out the chapel and taking them home, breaking windows at the academy,
and throwing rocks at the houses at night. They have even tried to
chase us out and they want to live in the teachers houses over at the
school. They keep threatening us and saying they are going to burn us
down as well.
So as you can imagine we are emotionally drained! There have been
numerous meetings being held with our church leaders, along with
police, bupati (like a county commissioner, I think), but nothing has
really been done at all. Why then, are the local people here giving us
(aviation & the academy) all the problems when we do not really have
anything to do with the letter that was signed?! We feel that they
should go to the mission office and do their riot there because all
the officers are there. Or the other possibility would be that the
mission people come here and talk with the locals but the mission
people are afraid to do so! So here we are. Not sure what is going to
happen next!
For the last three Sabbaths we have opened up our home to have a
church service for everyone on our campus. We do have police presence
on our campus now but they are not really doing much, and when a small
"war" broke out a few days ago, they really didn't do anything. The
local people basically chased the police, and since the police were
not 'armed' at all, they ran away!
It has been a time where I, once again ask, "God why are you letting
us go through more land problems, haven't we had enough of this,
through the nearly sixteen years we have been here!?" But God says,
"My plans are not your plans, so please just trust Me." It's hard to
remember His command to love your enemies at a time like this as well!
Especially, when they are all around you and threatening you, your
parents, and others around you. So at this time all we can do is pray.
On positive note, Balloy, (the man who has always helped us with the
last land crisis, is helping us again this time) felt impressed to go
to the land department early on Friday morning. He was able to meet
with the director which ended up being a real blessing as he was able
to look up on the computer and discover that this land is truly
registered to the Adventist Church and that the man who has been in to
see him nearly everyday looking for false documents has no legal
claim. The director will have words for him the next time he comes to
the land department!
May I ask you to keep us all in your prayers. Please pray that the
mission leaders will do something to help get this resolved and that
we will not loose the aviation program here due to these problems or
being burned out. Your prayers would also be appreciated for wisdom
for everyone involved in making the next decisions, plans, and
whatever it takes to settle things back to our, what you might call,
'normal' lives. Pray for safety for everyone too. Especially since the
local people are saying they are not leaving our campuses before they
get paid or before the last blood is shed here!
So there you have it! This is what we have been facing. We don't know
what is going to happen next…we have packed a few things up and we
have them in town…so if we do need to evacuate we will have clothes
and some things there.
Please keep all of us in your prayers!
international school with! It was a blast. All together there were
about 85 of us….and we all were flown into the interior mountains by
small airplanes. We were away for 12 days, which meant I also had a
Sabbath there, all alone with no other SDA's but it was actually ok.
We took baths in the stream, and it was COLD! Up in the mountains the
weather is cold so to take cold showers was always a challenge. (: We
worked on projects such as bathrooms, paths, airstrip, making a fence,
a hydro project, kids clubs, and a lot of digging! Because of all the
work I was doing, especially digging, I had adhesions they said from
my surgery, and my stomach had lots of pain for a few days, but then
it was ok. We really don't know why I should still have trouble with
surgery pain now, but anyways….I just have to be careful, because if I
lift a lot of heavy things then I have lots of pain.
We were all divided into groups of about 10 people each…and then our
different groups hiked up to different villages and stayed with the
people in their huts for three days. I was so scared I would have
really bad allergies in the hut, but it wasn't that bad. It was very
dark in the huts, dirty, and very smoky because in the middle of the
small hut there is a fire that is almost always burning! This keep the
people warm because normally they don't have any clothes or only a
very thin layer on themselves. We also slept with big pigs (which are
the villager's prized position). It was a great bonding time for our
team, Team Awesome, because during the day where we hung out together
the room was smaller than the dorm rooms at Maxwell, for all ten of
us! It was tons of fun though.
Lots of people got sick during OE with a very bad cold, along with a
sore throat and fever….and I didn't get it until the last night being
in the village. So I was thankful if I did have to get it at least the
next day I was going home. I had the whole flu with a really bad fever
and then I lost my voice for about three days, but now I am all
healed! It was a great time all together though(=
When I returned home though, I found the local people had started
'demoing' or rioting here on our Aviation campus as well as at the
local school here….here I'll just include the article I wrote for
someone in the states on the problems we've been facing for over three
weeks now…: Here's the newsletter I wrote about it :
Greeting! I was shocked to be asked if I would please write up
something about our land crisis here at Doyo Baru but I agreed to do
so for all of you.
Here it goes. The bright sunny morning of February 18, local people
began "demo" or in English, you would call it a demonstration, here on
our Aviation Campus as well as on the boarding Adventist Academy
Campus just down the road. They were mad because the mission president
of our organization had signed a document (by force, at 2 A.M. one
morning a few months back) indicating the organization was going to
buy some land above the academy campus and pay for it before the end
of last year (2007). And of course it has not been paid for! Well,
there has been no other indication, besides the letter, that the
organization wants that land! The committee even voted the
organization does not want that land but the mission president went
ahead and signed the letter saying the organization would buy it. So
the local people began demonstrating here and at the academy. This
includes making nasty comments, building up their tent on our airstrip
and living there, living in the chapel area over at the academy,
putting up branches all along our fences, started writing bad things
about us over at the school in the chapel and around the other class
rooms, going to the bathroom around the school buildings, breaking
down doors, making annoying signs, building soccer goals on our
airstrip, stealing equipment from our generator room, stealing chairs
out the chapel and taking them home, breaking windows at the academy,
and throwing rocks at the houses at night. They have even tried to
chase us out and they want to live in the teachers houses over at the
school. They keep threatening us and saying they are going to burn us
down as well.
So as you can imagine we are emotionally drained! There have been
numerous meetings being held with our church leaders, along with
police, bupati (like a county commissioner, I think), but nothing has
really been done at all. Why then, are the local people here giving us
(aviation & the academy) all the problems when we do not really have
anything to do with the letter that was signed?! We feel that they
should go to the mission office and do their riot there because all
the officers are there. Or the other possibility would be that the
mission people come here and talk with the locals but the mission
people are afraid to do so! So here we are. Not sure what is going to
happen next!
For the last three Sabbaths we have opened up our home to have a
church service for everyone on our campus. We do have police presence
on our campus now but they are not really doing much, and when a small
"war" broke out a few days ago, they really didn't do anything. The
local people basically chased the police, and since the police were
not 'armed' at all, they ran away!
It has been a time where I, once again ask, "God why are you letting
us go through more land problems, haven't we had enough of this,
through the nearly sixteen years we have been here!?" But God says,
"My plans are not your plans, so please just trust Me." It's hard to
remember His command to love your enemies at a time like this as well!
Especially, when they are all around you and threatening you, your
parents, and others around you. So at this time all we can do is pray.
On positive note, Balloy, (the man who has always helped us with the
last land crisis, is helping us again this time) felt impressed to go
to the land department early on Friday morning. He was able to meet
with the director which ended up being a real blessing as he was able
to look up on the computer and discover that this land is truly
registered to the Adventist Church and that the man who has been in to
see him nearly everyday looking for false documents has no legal
claim. The director will have words for him the next time he comes to
the land department!
May I ask you to keep us all in your prayers. Please pray that the
mission leaders will do something to help get this resolved and that
we will not loose the aviation program here due to these problems or
being burned out. Your prayers would also be appreciated for wisdom
for everyone involved in making the next decisions, plans, and
whatever it takes to settle things back to our, what you might call,
'normal' lives. Pray for safety for everyone too. Especially since the
local people are saying they are not leaving our campuses before they
get paid or before the last blood is shed here!
So there you have it! This is what we have been facing. We don't know
what is going to happen next…we have packed a few things up and we
have them in town…so if we do need to evacuate we will have clothes
and some things there.
Please keep all of us in your prayers!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
