Today we touched the ocean. Waking up in Samé can be achieved by a variety of means. With their usual innate means of anticipating the sunrise, a rooster starts crowing. He easily exceeds the biblical quota of thrice well before dawn. After daylight becomes apparent, wakefulness can be had due to chickens on the corrugated iron roof, making a noise something like misshapen bowling balls tumbling around a cement mixer. (In which you, yourself would also be present.) Finally, the general noise of household life, a buzz of people, children, splashing water and clattering dishes will soon coax you out to join the world yet again. It is the latter option that Gary Ware exercises. Rob Duncanson is again easily the first out of the room. He has designs on snaring the perfect sunrise photo. Perhaps tomorrow.
Our bed-sharing exercise of last night has mostly been successful. RD shares that last night his dreams were supplemented by something like the sound of lions and tigers and bears. Oh my. Robert Benn states that he, too, heard lions, tigers and bears, albeit more muffled, in his adjoining room. Oh my.
Last evening we were introduced to our ablution arrangements, which would be familiar to most visitors to this part of the world. For the uninitiated, in a small room a large, tiled tub of water fills, next to it is a squat toilet. On the edge of the large tub sits a plastic vessel about the size of a medium saucepan. We shall call it a ‘bak’. It is by this vessel that water can be transferred from the large tub of water to oneself for whatever cleansing is required, arising from whatever need has drawn you into the room. Last evening our host graciously mentioned that heated water could be made available. RB, who apparently has Spartan bloodlines eschewed such a sign of weakness on all our behalves. A combination of solidarity and not wanting to be shown up drew support for this position.
In any case, after the fifth or sixth outpouring of water from the dipper shock gives way to some form of refreshment. You are certainly awake and one could also believe that just as chili should kill any internal germs you might pick up, the coldness of the water should finish anything you’re carrying externally.
Our hosts try to encourage us to each breakfast. A type of breadroll, butter from a tin, dried banana, dried sweet potato and fresh banana. We are reticent to eat too much. Experience is teaching us that opportunities to eat will come at regular intervals through the day and we want to give due thankfulness to each of our hosts.
We depart for the first of the two churches which we will visit today. Along the way we have valuable time to talk. GW and RD are with Arlindo and RB is traveling with Daniel. As we travel we can explore detail about practical issues. GW and RD learn about the cost of tertiary education in Dili and the benefits of having some sort of hostel accommodation for students from country areas to live in. There are as many opportunities to partner with these churches as there are aspects of life. Local congregational ministry and infrastructure, work with children and medicine, and the need for shared resources, such as hostels and scholarships abound. Today our motorcade is joined by a large flat bed truck owned by Leonel Marcel. It will carry a growing load of young people throughout the day.
Our first visit is to the church in Betano. The church is comprised of 80 families, with a total of 400 souls. It is served by a Guru Injil (evangelist/home missionary) named Matias and a group of four elders. We are welcomed by children singing to us and are ushered inside. Again men and women sat on either side of the building, with a mass of children on the floor in the aisle in between. The building had a concrete slab floor, wooden frame, with concrete walls rising about a third of the way to the eaves and then bamboo walls and windows filling in the rest of the space. An amazing concrete pulpit, fifteen
Our meeting gave an extended opportunity for these folk to share with us. Some matters of note included: that families travel up to fifteen kilometers to come (this distance creates difficulty for the pastor to keep up with all the people); the church building is in a deteriorating condition; the need for extra help in ministry; the low standard of living means that young people must seek education opportunities elsewhere, but there is not a lot of money to finance their tertiary education. The leadership are reported to be a spiritual and prayerful group. While they felt they did not have anything to give us in Australia, they sent their warmest greetings.
Others spoke, telling us of the need for medical care; if people are gravely ill, they simply suffer, even to death. Many of those who were part of the church when it was founded twenty-seven years ago are illiterate and these senior folk want a better future for their young people. Our response to these brothers and sisters again stressed the fact that as they identified themselves now as Presbyterian that they had a long heritage and a large, worldwide network of churches who stand with them. This message brings great comfort.
It is helpful to realise that the Protestant Church in East Timor, in any shape or form, is only fifty years old. Catholicism was the only form of Christianity known before that. During those fifty years, Portuguese and Indonesian rule have come to an end. There has hardly ever been a stable expression of Protestant Christianity in existence in this place. Many of these people, remote from Dili and certainly without knowledge of the history of the Christian Church find our assurance and physical presence an encouragement. The fact that both the Mount Gambier church, which is 150 years old and the Darwin Presbyterian church, which is two years old are represented is a tangible witness of this heritage.
(Continued in part 2)
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