Timor Parties

eganRecently we had a chance to go to our first big Timorese community party. The Delta 1 men’s b-ball team that Brendan plays for and the Delta 1 women’s b-ball team were throwing a big party to celebrate the team doing very well in recent tournaments.

These guys went all out: the festivities started on Friday morning and everything finished on Saturday morning around 5 am. Even before that I saw them cutting up one full, skinned cow on Thursday evening. So a lot of work went into this!

Friday morning we went to the basketball court where the Delta teams played exhibition games against Baucau.


Here you can see Brendan going up for a dunk and people watching in awe (they don’t do dunks here : )

At the same time, tarps were being wrapped around the perimeter of the court, and big tents and a couple of hundred chairs were being trucked in and set up. The court was buzzing with activity that continued after we left at noon to go to school.

The official party with speeches, food, and lots of dancing started at 5 pm. It being Timor we knew we should not come until 7, 8, or 9 pm – not to be fashionably late, but to be fashionably early! Somehow all the Timorese know when to really show up, but we are still learning when to show up 30 minutes late or 3 hours late (mostly by trial and error). So we chose an in between time and arrived around 7:30, just in time for one of the first speeches.

We felt a little out of place because we were the only foreigners there and because we were underdressed compared to everyone else’s party clothes. But we tried to sneak in and find a seat as best we could, while listening to the congratulatory speeches and thank yous.



After all the speeches came the food. We didn’t know how much food there would be, or how safe it would be to eat it, so we had eaten dinner earlier. We tried to hold off on the food, but Terezhina, one of the High School students who plays for the women’s team and was MC for the party, physically dragged us over to the buffet line. So we had a second delicious dinner and it went down with no problems.



Brendan chilling with some of the basketball guys.

After dinner, the coaches cut the cake (decorated and shaped like a basketball) and opened a bottle of champagne! Then the dancing began that would continue until 5 am. Here is the dancing doesn’t last until the morning it wasn’t a good party. It was very interesting and a little different from home.

They had hired a couple of DJs, but these DJs really earned their money. They don’t just pick and play music, they sing and play keyboard for each song. They set a Timorese beat in the background and then they sing and play and improvise all with no written music. And like all Timorese we’ve met, they were great singers.

The dancing was fun – a great time for people-watching and we got to see some interesting cultural differences. One thing that’s different is that between songs everyone clears the floor and at the beginning of the next everyone gets back up, sometimes finds a new partner, and goes out to dance again. They’re lucky they’re so in shape because doing that from 9 pm – 5 in the morning has got to be exhausting! And it’s not like there’s a 5 minute break between songs – there’s maybe a 30-60 second turnaround for people to find a seat, sit down, and get right back up.


So after the first few dances we decided to try it. We did swing dancing first and everyone clapped for our first big move, but then we tried to learn the Timorese partner dance. It’s a closer dance with a 1 2 3 & 4 beat. It wasn’t pretty, but we started to figure it out by the end. Every now and again we would revert to swing dancing and we would immediately be followed by little Timorese girls who were trying to imitate us.

The other funny part of the night was being asked to dance by the chefe suku. The chefe suku is the equivalent of the mayor of our Delta neighborhood in Dili. He had 1 or 2 too many drinks and was dancing with the young women. Not wanting to offend, he asked Brendan 3 times if he could dance with me. Brendan just said ‘la bele’ (no can) each time : )

Around 11 we said quick goodbyes and snuck out to get some sleep before work Saturday morning. The stars were out and it was peaceful and beautiful. It was a great night after a great party!

And just today we had our own party on a much smaller scale – we had an English practice party for the people we work with. During the party we introduced them to another western food – sloppy joes!

We worked in the morning, walked home, and prepared lunch for the people we work with at the university and clinic. They’re all trying to learn English so we thought it would be a good chance to set aside time to practice. During work it’s always some version of Tetlish (Tetum and English mixed).

So we made sloppy joes and noodles and brought everything we needed to the clinic where we ate. We said a prayer in English before and after the meal. The meal itself was a bit hit! They had never had anything like it and all seemed to enjoy it (especially Sister Aquelina who wanted to keep the leftovers to eat as an afternoon snack : )

We talked mostly in English during lunch, cleaned up, and went to the senior high to watch a movie. Movies are a pretty special thing around here, so they seemed excited.

We watched Ever After, the ‘real’ story of Cinderella, with the English subtitles. It’s a good story and they talk slow enough that they were able to catch a lot of the dialogue. Movies really have been a useful addition for practicing English. The students are extra interested, they learn new vocabulary (they write down words they don’t know throughout the movie and we explain them during the next class), and they’re forced to practice listening at a more realistic pace.

After the movie was over it was raining so we all crammed into 1 taxi, who dropped us off close to our house. There are many special moments like this – hopefully making fun memories of new experiences for our fellow workers that will be part of our legacy when we go home.

Hope you’re all well and enjoying the end of school and beginning of summer! Blessings especially on the graduates, including Phil and Zach and friends from high school and Mary, Sarah, Luke, Abigail, and friends from 8th grade!

Love,
Rach and Brendan

Timor Harvest Time

We ran across this group of people, while traveling in central timor, who were harvesting wheat the old fashioned way. The priest we were traveling with told us a little bit about the process. He said that all of the neighboring farmers will come over and assist, they they play music and dance around in a circle while stomping on the wheat. After stomping for a while, the grain separates from the wheat and falls to the bottom. It is then gathered for food!
Simple and effective.

Just Another Day

Today was a good day with challenges to make it interesting. It's Tuesday today, which means it's a full medical day. I spend the morning helping at the Canossian clinic at school and in the afternoon I volunteer at the Assert Rehabilitation Center.

There were three really interesting situations today. First an older woman, "grandmother," came to the clinic today to get a fungal infection on her feet treated. She is from a farm family that lives near the school and Brendan and I see her often on our walks. After we treated a relative of hers at the clinic, yesterday she asked me if she could come too. I said of course and encouraged her to go the following morning. The clinic is for the 2,000 students at the school, the teachers and employees, and the community, but many do not know about the clinic if they have never been on the school grounds. On my daily walks I try to refer people who are visibly sick to the clinic so they can spread the word.

She was there this morning and, while Sister Aquelina assessed her and got her appropriate medicine, I looked in. She put her hands together like she was praying and nodded her head toward me in a 'thank you' gesture, but I shook my head and pointed up to God. She smiled, pointed up to God too, and nodded slowly. She is a beautiful woman who works very, very hard and lives a tough life. Today was the first time I had ever seen her with any type of shoes on (probably one reason her feet have suffered). But despite her tough life I always see her smiling as she works and she is very appreciative of the smallest things. And she knows the One who helps her make it through the day : )

(Since this day when I pass her on the walk to school when she sees me coming she will point up to God and smile and nod and I do the same. It's the unspoken communication that means the most).

Secondly, later that morning Sister Aquelina let me off early because there was a long lull in patients. So I went to talk with Sister Ervi at the High School. We talked about getting the students ready for the Canossian Global Youth Conference in Hong Kong in July. The three students Brendan and I helped with their applications were accepted (yay!), but now they must do a lot of research and write a position paper in English about social issues in the country they are assigned. A few weeks before the conference they will download their papers on the internet and the participants will read the papers to be able to discuss them at the conference. The students are excited, but very nervous. None of the three have ever flown in an airplane or have ever been out of East Timor! This trip will be quite an experience for them.

After we talked, I went back to the clinic to pick up my backpack, but as I got to the door Maliana (a student we sometimes play basketball with) limped out. I asked what happened, but she could barely talk she was in so much pain. What I eventually heard was that a wild dog had been coming towards her barking and she got nervous and jumped away, but when she jumped she got a deep cut from a piece of metal that was sticking out of the ground.

Her leg was already bandaged heavily when I got there and Sister Aquelina wanted her to go to the hospital to see if she needed stitches. Her friend waited with her by the road to try to find a quick way home and then to the Hospital Nacional. They hadn't moved in a couple of minutes so I asked if they needed money for a taxi. Maliana slowly nodded her head yes. Between Sister Aque and I we found enough money. Then I explained the situation to Victor, the gatekeeper, who flagged down a taxi quick and Maliana was off! We will find out soon how it all went.

The third exciting event today was at physical rehabilitation clinic, Assert, this afternoon. After helping Yenni, the Indonesian physical therapist, clean all the toys used for the therapy, she asked me to help her set a cast for a baby with club foot. Club foot is one of the top conditions treated at Assert. They work with the midwives throughout East Timor to get early diagnoses so that the children with club foot can be treated as early as possible. I learned just today from an Australian orthopedic surgeon that the surgery is very simple on young children - in most it requires only a local anesthetic and the tenotomy of the Achilles tendon can be finished in literally 1 minute! As in most cases though, later diagnosis decreased treatment options and their effectiveness.

At the Canossian Sisters' convent in Balide, the gatekeeper Fernando has severe club foot that was never corrected. His feet are turned completely inward - 90 degrees farther than they should be. This limits his movement outside of the convent. When I started volunteering at Assert I asked if anything could be done for him, but they said that because he is in his forties the only viable option was that they could fit him for a wheelchair so he could go farther into Dili.
It's difficult to hear that - that it's too late.

So lately I've had the opportunity to learn about club foot and all of the work that they are doing to improve early detection and minimize the disabilities caused by this condition. On this particular day I was able to help Yenni as she wrapped a 9-month old's legs and smoothe the plaster to make the cast. While she wrapped, I held the child's knees and feet at the appropriate angles (which was harder than it sounds because this baby was a shockingly big boy for a 9-month old and he could kick hard when he didn't like the angle you were putting his foot in). After the casts were on both legs and dried we all took a picture that will go on the wall so that the family of the child can see the progress and other families can be more comfortable with the process knowing it has worked for other children.

The technique that they use to treat Club Foot is the Ponsetti Technique, which was developed by a physical therapist in Iowa! When I first started volunteering I was shocked that they had heard of Iowa, and it is because of Ponsetti who developed this club foot treatment which is now the "gold standard for everyone from first world to third world" they told me.

In his method, they have a series of castings where they gradually change the angle of the foot until it is as it should be. There are six castings and for optimal effectiveness surgery should be done after week three. Then another three weeks of castings and, finally, "bars and boots". These special boots must be worn day and night for 3 months and then every night for 3-4 years. You can see what a problem this would cause for any person older than a baby. As they told us, 3-4 years of nights is a small price to pay for a normal foot for a lifetime, but it's still difficult for the Timorese to understand that even when the foot looks normal and healed that they must continue for this long to prevent a relapse.

Everything is in the beginnings here. In Australia or America, almost all babies are born in hospitals where they can be immediately diagnosed with club foot and it is almost never a problem. Here they are still trying to make the public aware that club foot is a treatable problem. We are so blessed in so many ways I never realized!

So that was the rollercoaster of one day in East Timor. Hope all is well with you!

Always,

Rachel and Brendan

Baucau Adventures

We arrived at our fellow VOICA volunteers' house in Baucau around 11 am and after hugs and jokes they promptly fed us in true Polish fashion (generously offering us a lot of food). While we started catching up we ate Timorese rolls with no-need-to-refrigerate margarine, tomato slices, onions, salt, and pepper. Even with the subpar margarine there's something magical about them and none of us can get enough.

My parents are probably laughing as they read this because I've always shied away from tomatoes and I've never liked onions. When I was a kid and we went to McDonald's I'd always whine if they put the finely chopped onions on my hamburgers. They didn't have much taste, but they were crunchy so I knew they were there and they drove me crazy!

But slowly throughout high school and college and especially on this trip I've developed a small love affair with fresh tomatoes and even onions are great too. The Polish and their cooking skills can convince me that most anything is delicious. They even had me eating a tomato and cucumber salad on the last day...and liking it, although I'd always vowed to stay away from those weird salads that only adults ate. So I'm embarrassed by how long it took me, but now I know most every food can taste good.

In Baucau, both the food and the conversation was always great! A lot of the time Chris and Brendan will go off exploring (they climbed a small mountain by our house last time they saw each other), play 1-on-1, and have guy time which is harder to come by here. While they're gone, the rest of us catch up. Dagmara is amazing - she's Sali's older sister and has volunteered in Baucau three times now. She if fluent in Tetum, knows everything and everybody, and has many stories about volunteer life. We've all learned a lot from her. And Sali and I get along great. It's nice to have someone here I can talk about married life with. Chris & Sali and Brendan & I are the first married couples to serve with VOICA and all of us are recently married. It's ben an interesting beginning to married life, what with living in community for a big chunk of it, but we all agree it's worth it.

So there's a lot of talking when there's no action, but because all of us are pretty adventurous there's a lot of action too. Friday afternoon, Chris and Sali let us help out in their English class. We had an English game day and taught them 'What Time Is It Mr. Fox?' to practice time, numbers, and Mr/Miss/Mrs (they call everyone Mr. here). Later we taught them Heads Up, 7 Up, the grade school classic. The girls seemed to love these games - any fresh way to practice English is appreciated here. One of the girls came up after class and said she loved the games and when she went back to her village she wanted to teach the children : )

After the class, Brendan and Chris went to play basketball while Sali and I hung out and Dagmara finished her accounting work at the school. When everyone got back, we hiked up to the top of a hill that overlooked the city of Baucau and the sea in the distance. There was a giant white cross on the hill and we sat on the rocks next to it and watch the sunset. It was a little cloudy, but the view was still spectacular!


Here Brendan sits near the edge of the cliff, watching the sunset over Baucau.

The next morning we left early to go to the mountains near to the city of Ossu. They had organized a trip with Inga, her family, and her brother who was visiting from Germany. Inga came here as a volunteer and ended up marrying a Timorese man who is chief of his village. She works with the graduates of the Canossian school in Baucau, helping them find jobs and use their skills. So with Inga and her family we piled into two cars and made the 1 1/2 hour trip to Ossu.

Along the way we saw tunnels that the Japanese had used during WWII after they forced the Timorese to build them. We walked through dead-end tunnels that we were told were prisoner-holding places and later store rooms. The last opening had a shaft that at one time connected to a series of tunnels up the hill, but it was unstable now and it was obvious that there had been at least one cave-in. Brendan would have loved to explore more, but we had to keep going and the tunnels were not so nice because now they are community out-houses. But it was nice to learn more about Timor's history. If you're interested in South Pacific WWII trivia, you can check out the Australian movie Debt of Honor about the debt Australia owes to Timor for acting as a buffer between Australia and the Japanese during WWII and for protecting the Australian units who were stranded on the islands. Then it compares with the Australian soldiers' stories who are helping out here now. Very interesting.

We kept driving - trying to get to the mountains before the midday heat. We passed Ossu and moved on to dirt roads that were being repaired by the community. On our way to a small village, we passed men with wheelbarrows and women carrying heavy buckets of dirt on their heads.

Everyone grabbed a water bottle and, with a 16 year old boy as our guide, we started to trek to a cave near the summit. The ascent took about 45 minutes. When we were quiet, it was like listening to a nature CD except sometimes we could here monkeys chattering in the distance. On the way up, we crossed paths with the Australian ambassador and a group of his friends. They were super-nice and lent us 2 flashlights because we only had 2 for our big group and they said we would need them inside the cave (they were right!).

We made it to the mouth of the cave and had a quick rest break. As we entered the cave there was a sharp descent. It was damp and it was DARK. If there wasn't a flashlight shining in your area you just went slow and hoped not to fall over, on, or off anything. The guide led us back and forth through connected rooms until we couldn't have found the way back if we tried. I was shocked to find how easy it would be to lose yourself in a cave, and maybe never make it out. With no light, there would have been almost no chance. But with a reliable guide we saw a room full of bats, stalagtites and stalagmites in all stages of formation, and rooms full of crystal-like growths!


Brendan and I were excited to explore the cave.


Chris gets ready to crawl hands and knees through the tiny opening that led to the next room.

After maybe another 45 minutes we made it out into the sunlight. We had seen less than half of the cave and would have loved to see more, but not on this trip.

That cave trip is probably a good analogy comparing East Timor and America/Australia. One of my most memorable cave experiences in America was when we went as kids to Cave of the Winds - a cave attraction in Colorado. It was great! We saw stalagtites and stalagmites there too...but they were roped off so they wouldn't be touched and the process interrupted. We walked through the cave on a concrete path with handrail, seeing in the fixed spotlights the cave crystals. Our country has come to a point where there are safety regulations for everything and an emphasis on natural preservation. On the other hand, East Timor is a young and wild country. They do take care of their land as much as they can, but it will take many years until more extensive preservation and safety regulations have become a part of everyday thinking, but that is ok. Once higher priorities have been worked out then these can move up the ladder of importance. So safe, but less adventurous, or wild and not as safe seem to be the options good and less good on both sides.


While coming out of the cave, we shine our flashlights to help everyone find their footing.

So the cave had been a great time, but it was midday by then so we hiked back down, paid our guide, and returned the flashlights. On the way home, Brendan and I were able to ride in Inga's car and we talked with her about what it's like working in Baucau. She also told us many stories about the school and past VOICA volunteer's accomplishments. We hope to be people she can tell good stories about someday.

The highlights of Sunday were, of course, going to church and later going to the beach. There is no English Mass in Baucau, so we went to the 7 am Tetum Mass, which is always beautiful. With now instruments, these people compensate by singing like you wouldn't believe. They sing with such power! How Southern-gospel-like sounds emergy from their tiny frames I will never know.

After Mass, we got ready to go to the beach. We walked down the steep hill for one hour before we made it there. Along the way we saw some interesting things. The Timorese who live by the beach road were either getting ready for a party or it was national pig-slaughtering day, because we saw two pigs in the process of being slaughtered. One thing that we noticed was that the pigs here are a lot harrier than the pigs at home. They might be pink underneath, but they're covered with black hair so you can't tell. As we continued walking we talked about the disconnect we city-dwellers have between the meat we get at the grocery store and the real animals and slaughtering process. After watching a pig get stoned and speared to death I remembered where pork comes from.

But we made it to the beach and it was even more beautiful than when we had come on Christmas Day. The boys swam while us girls walked along the beach and discovered a hermit crab colony. Later we joined the boys, after they didn't get eaten by the crocodile that had been there on Christmas. After hearing more about sea crocodiles, we wanted to play it safe.

The day was glorious and we had fun splashing around, eating tuna sandwiches in the shade, and watching the clear blue water. At 1:00 we had to start walking back. We were lucky and after walking halfway up the hill a mikrolet drove by and we caught a ride to the top. Then Brendan and I made lunch for everybody before got a ride back to Dili with Fr. Martinhu. On the way back we talked about the life issues as well as learned some more about Timor culture. After a quick trip, he dropped us off at our house, we grabbed a bite to eat, and headed to bed wondering where the weekend had gone.

Hope you can find some time to relax too!

Always,
Rachel and Brendan

Baucau Bus Trip

It had been a long week, but we were getting excited. Early in the week we found out that East Timor's Labor Day was on Friday, May 1st, so if we could take off Saturday we would have a 3 day weekend to try to go to Baucau and visit the Polish VOICA volunteers.

After some confusion where our ride fell through, we decided to attempt the public bus on Friday morning. It was an option we'd been dreading because we'd heard not-so-nice stories of the conditions, but we decided the extra day in Baucau would be worth it.

First of all, some background on the public transportation in East Timor. I think that the government here is pretty lucky with the situation because all their public transport is privately operated and maintained. The taxis, mikrolets (minibuses), and full-sized buses are run by a driver with the help of one or two friends who help passengers in or out, put baggage on the roof (sometimes even live animals), and collect fares. The average prices are 10 cents for a mikrolet ride, $2-3 for a taxi (malae price, Timorese pay less), and $4 for bus rides between cities. The drivers and workers can constantly be seen driving, cleaning, or repairing the means of their livelihood. And somehow it all works out - the taxis patrol everywhere, the mikrolets pick a route and paint the route number on the front and back where people can see it, and the buses are labeled by the starting and final destinations (example. Dili-Baucau). There is no set schedule, but because transportation provides a steady job there are many options and you never have to wait long before the mikrolet you need comes by. It's a pretty interesting system.

So Friday morning we each piled our stuff into a backpack and taxied to the bus station on the other side of town. We were very lucky because even though it was a holiday, there was one bus at the station. We got out of the taxi and a man ushered us onto the bus and gave us seats. We were sitting in the very back row with our backpacks on our laps while we surveyed the situation.

The bus was surprisingly clean, had pretty comfortable seats, there wasn't much space but there was enough, and they even had music for the trip. I wondered where the catch was. The answer came as we got ready to leave, the driver honked the horn and 15 more people crowded onto the bus to stand in the aisle and hang out of the door for the 3 hour ride. My big sister radar went through the roof as I watched young men my brother's age struggling to hang on through the open door. Usually there were 3 or 4 in each door, grabbing onto one thing inside to steady themselves.

Sometimes while everyone in the open doorway jockeyed for position, one person got pushed outside of the rest and hung on dangerously. When this happened usually the person, while the bus continued driving at top speeds along the seaside cliffs, would try to make it to the ladder on the back of the bus and climb up to the roof. I was so glad that no one got hurt on our trip, but we were told by one of Brendan's basketball buddies that many of the crosses along the road were because of deaths of the men on the roof and sides of the bus. It sounds like the police are beginning to pull the bus over when they see those riders, but there's only so much they can do.

So that was hard to watch, but there were pleasant distractions. Two guys that Brendan had met were sitting close to us so we got to talk with them. Secondly, there was an amazing range of Timorese music and Indonesian country and rock. And then we were surprized to hear an Avril Lavigne song and even the Numa Numa dance song. You never knew what was going to be next.

During the ride we got to do a lot of people watching which was interesting. There were men and women from villages in traditional dress, students in jeans and English t-shirts, and everything in between. One thing that we found impressive was how the guys treated the women and children. If a seat opened up one of the aisle-standing guys was happy enough to fill it, but when women or children entered the bus on the way to Baucau they stood up immediatedly and gave them the seat. I love that - it's a sign of respect for the women and a good example for the children. At home some people seem to think chivalry is when you see the other person as weaker (and that could be the mindset for some people), but when the person's motivation is treating someone with a special respect because you care about them, it's beautiful! So if it's done right, like it appeared to be on the bus, it's appreciated and super-cute to watch.

Eventually we made it to Baucau in just 2 and a half hours. We got dropped off in Old Town at our friends' house and started our free weekend!

Hope all is well with you guys! Congrats to the college kids finishing finals!


Love,
Rachel and Brendan

God Did It Again!

A short time ago I was ready to come home... in the after effects of the stomach infection I was fatigued and felt the effects both mentally and physically. My motivation was waning from the lack of energy after sickness and from the sadness of missing all the end of the school year activities - Confirmation, graduations, and summer weddings of our friends and family.

I also noticed in myself a growing desire for something new, something exciting - an escape from this simple life, if only for a short time. But what to do? Could Brendan and I go to a movie? No, no movie theaters in Dili. No bowling alleys, no shopping malls, nothing open late.

But as I was walking to school it dawned on me - I bet I'm not the only person who feels this way. The Timorese also search for escapes. There are a few culturally accepted escapes, mostly for men. Almost all Timorese men smoke and many drink localmade palm and coconut wine. Also, in the smaller cities and villages they have daily cockfights. There are also football and basketball for the young men (and the educated women in Dili). Women's escapes seem to be mostly relational - doing things like walking with their children on the way to the market or talking with a neighbor. Their poverty precludes more damaging escapes like drugs, but it also limits their access to good recreational activities. But what they don't have access to in material things they make up for in relationships. Their life is the epitome of simple.

To be fair, many Timorese don't know what they're missing of our more elaborate escapes. From talking with other volunteers there are some countries that are very difficult to work in because the poor know they are poor, they know what the rich countries have, and they know their chances of living that lifestyle are right around zero. This knowledge, understandably, can make a person very bitter. But East Timor is not one of those countries, and I hope that it won't ever become one.

Timorese affectionately call their country Timor Lorosae, which means Sunrise Timor. They think of themselves as the sunrise people. After suffering severe human rights violations for the 25 years of Indonesian rule and having earned their independence by the burning of their homes and the blood of their people, they are beginning again with the fresh start and new hope that comes with the sunrise.

That is one of the qualities that make the Timorese so beautiful and great to work with. They are open and trusting. They love learning. They have big dreams for their children and their new country, and they're willing to work hard to make them happen.

After reflecting for awhile about how the Timorese react to their simple life I felt my need to escape lessen. I really couldn't be more pleased with the work we do and the people who we work with. I have no need to escape when I recognize all the blessings I continually receive.

After concluding all these thoughts, God sent some more blessings as encouragement to renew our motivation. Brendan and I had a surprise 3 day weekend which we used to go to Baucau and have adventures with our fellow volunteers Chris, Sali, and Dagmara. It was a great chance to catch up and encourage each other while doing some cool things. Then I got back to full health, which makes a big difference in motivation level.

And lastly, the next day we worked in the morning and were ready to walk home for lunch when Sister Lucia called us over and said that there were 3 boxes and a letter waiting for us. Oh, we were excited! We barely stopped ourselves from opening them before we got to our house. When we did finally get them open the contents covered the whole table!

The letter contained a card from my family for Easter and a late birthday card for Brendan from his family. One Easter package was from our friends at Crosspointe Church, and the other two were from the Downey clan and had been sent by Aunt Anne and Uncle Joe. Everything was perfect and it was obvious that a lot of thought had gone into it all. The best were the Easter cards and photos and news from home. What a tangible sign of love!!!

And then the last puzzle piece fell into place. That was why we we're here - to be a tangible sign of God's love to the Timorese! They deserve all we have to give and so much more! So as you encourage us with words and signs, we will turn around and encourage them with words and tangible signs to have hope and a strong faith in a God who loves them!

Hoping you experience a tangible sign of God's love today : )


Always, in Christ,

Rachel and Brendan