Lydia W

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Sun & Shield

We drove down to Dili this morning to apply for 2-month extension on our entry visa. All the paper work was in order except for the return air ticket as we had not fixed our departure date. Yet God was faithful (again & always) in granting us favor with the Immigration Officer who accepted our application without the return air ticket. We also found out the Immigration Officer was from Maubisse & had a good chat about the coffee production, weather, radio station there. It was indeed God at work that this officer should be on duty when we went!

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.

- Psalm 84:11 (NIV)

Love from Dili,

Lydia

21.6.2010

Categories OneLife.OneYear
Author Lydia W

1st English Class at Home

19 Jun

: Twilight Zone ….

: Bamboo in the rain

It’s another rainy day. Stayed home to read. Millenia brought 6 classmates in the rain for English class. They were all in school uniforms, had just come from school where class was cancelled. Cancellation of class is very common here when teachers are away for training or meeting in Dili.

Was really glad they came to study instead of going out to play. We started learning greetings & self-introduction. Girls were really enthusiatic in learning that they wanted to learn more. So next written on the white board were numbers from 1 to 10, days from Monday to Sunday, helping me to revise my Tetum at the same time

When I was spending time with these Primary 6 girls, Lucia called & asked if she could come over to read with another friend. I was overjoyed! God was at work touching people’s hearts that they wanted to come & connect, there was no need for me to solicit friendship, how encouraging!

Lucia & Emelia are in Secondary 3 levels & they were in my class last year, so able to read English story book quite well. After we finished reading the Honey Bunny book, Lucia taught me how to sing ”Nai Hau nia Dalan” (You are My Way), a local Catholic hymm. They were very impressed that I wanted to learn their songs & really put in extra effort. And I managed to learn it before they left for home !

It was rather tiring to teach 4 hours without any help (as R was not feeling well) & then having to prepare & cook dinner. But I find strength in the LORD as He is the source of my energy & help:

The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.

- Psalm 28:7 (NIV)

With Love from Maubisse,

Lydia

19.6.2010

Categories EnglishClass, OneLife.OneYear
Author Lydia W

Maubisse Mauloko

18 Jun

We just came back from visiting Maubisse Mauloko with Eloi. We met Eloi last year at the Maubisse Youth Resource Centre where we helped to practise English lessons with the students. Eloi was one of 3 teachers at the Centre. Eloi had invited us to visit Maubisse Mauloko this evening & to use the computer available to teach him Excel spreadsheets.

Maubisse Mauloko is the new Maubisse Media House / Community Radio Station, inaugurated only on 4 Jun 2010. Mauloko in the local dialect in Maubisse means love and peace. Maubisse is the first sub-district in Timor-Leste to have a community radio station. International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), in partnership with the community, established the station near the center of the village – in a building renovated by the ICFJ.

The radio station is manned by 2 DJs every night, when the electricity comes on at 1800 hours till the village’s generator shut down at midnight. For now, it’s pop music. There is plan to include news broadcast later when the staff are trained. The station is also equipped with computers that the community can rent to use but unfortunately internet is not available.

Eloi is a keen learner, he writes down all the steps to build a multi-column spreadsheet to keep track of people who use the station’s facilities, including formula to sum up charges to be collected. I invite him to visit our library to keep up his English proficiency which he shows great interest.

I hope this radio station will serve the community well in learning PC skills as well as a place for the young people to learn more about broadcast & journalism.

In His Grace,

Lydia

18.6.2010

Categories Friendship, OneLife.OneYear
Author Lydia W

Zoro & Brinco

14 Jun

Zoro & Brinco - our security guards

“R, the floor is wet, stay inside for a little while longer please …..”, this is what I have been saying every morning for the past 3 days. I have just mopped the porch. It has been raining non-stop day & night since Friday and our dog, Zoro (the white, handsome male dog) has just dirtied the porch, again!

Even though we use a piece of zinc sheet (those for roofing) as the gate to our porch, the agile Zoro is able to jump over to seek shelter from the rain, when we are asleep, of course! His wet paws left many muddy prints on the white-tiled porch every night. So I have to mop the porch every morning to make it clean & safe when the kids come in for classes later. It can be tiring doing this every morning followed by a long day of teaching, singing, cooking, washing but the delight I find in the Lord keeps me strong & focused on the reason why I am here. And the intercession by my prayer partners help to keep me going without being worn-out!

I also think of how these 2 lovely dogs are protecting us especially at night with their barking at anything (people or animals) that pass by our house. They will give chase if these people or animals refuse to move away. The kids have been warning me not to get too near to Zoro who is always fighting with other dogs & very protective of his territory (which includes our house, the pig sty, the coffee & avocado trees behind our house)! I cannot thank God enough for providing these 2 dogs who are willing to stay with new owner (they actually belong to my landlord who is very kind to leave them with me)!

Brinco, the female dark-colored dog, is limping in her right hind leg. She is very wary of human as her leg was hit by stones threw at her by the kids. Dogs are everywhere here in Timor but they are not of the same class as those in Singapore. They are not kept as pets. They are kept as working animals, to guard the house, the crops & the valuable animals (like pigs & goats which are bred for sale).

I am cooking rice & vegetables for them everyday as they are now in my care. It’s quite nice that the rental of the house comes complete with security guards! And I hope in time to come, I will be able to get near to Zoro & Brinco to pat them, just like what I do with dogs in Singapore !

Love from Maubisse,

Lydia

14.6.2010

Categories OneLife.OneYear
Author Lydia W

Smelling the Roses

13 Jun

Flowers appear on the earth;
       the season of singing has come,
       the cooing of doves
       is heard in our land.

- Song of Solomon 2:12 (NIV)

Attracted to the beautiful flowers at my neighbour’s garden, I lingered on. Then a lady came out of the house. She was smiling so I greeted her in Tetun. But she spoke English & asked if I am the Singaporean friend of M. She worked in the same hospital as M & heard about me. She then invited R & me into the house for coffee. I agreed readily & thanked God for the opportunity to know another friend in the neighbourhood.

Mdm L worked as a mid-wife & loved flowers (that explained the beautiful garden!). She spoke fairly good English but was very humble to want to learn more. As we chat over the lovely local coffee (which I really like!), Dr G (who lived in the same house) joined us. When Dr G heard about our English class for kids , she immediately asked if we would help the hospital staff. Sensing God was showing us another way to reach out, I said ”yes” eagerly. We then exchanged telephone numbers. And Dr G promised to call me once she gets approval from the hospital director-general to proceed with the English class.

We chat about family, work, her home town & really enjoyed each other’s company. But my phone kept ringing, gentle reminders from another dear friend who had cooked lunch & was waiting to eat together before going for our outing later. So we had to take our leave.

I was trying really hard to contain my joy (by not dancing & screaming) as I left Dr G’s house. Little did I know that by taking time to smell the roses (which was a luxury when I was working in the corporate world), not only did I get to marvel at God’s hands at creation but He actually shows me the way to His plan! I have learnt to trust God by taking one step at a time as He never show us the whole book, only one page at a time …..

In the verse at the beginning of this post, even though flowers only give promises as the fruit is not ripe yet, King Solomon was singing & praising God for His promise of the advent of Jesus Christ. So I am praising God now for what He shows me today, the opportunity to build relationship with the hospital community, even though it may take some time for anything to happen. I know everything that happens today is only because of God’s grace and I am grateful.

Love from Maubisse,

Lydia

13.6.2010

Categories EnglishClass, Friendship, OneLife.OneYear
Author Lydia W

Tumbled

10 Jun

This morning when I was at the market, my shoe laces got entangled that I tripped and tumbled to the ground. R was horrified. Everyone was shocked. But no one laughed … & that was good.

A Timorese man came forward to help me up & he looked really worried if I was hurt badly. When I finally stood up after taking time to tie my shoe laces, and said “no problem”, many cheered! And that’s compassion.

I have heard many horrific story that people were robbed when in difficult situation (like this fall on the ground), but God has kept me safe from bad people & serious injury. I only had slight abrasion on my right knee & palms (which I used to break the fall).

There are people around us who are suffering.

Moved with compassion for their pain,

let’s be those who stop to help

– Marvin Williams

I have experienced compassion today from God & the community, I want to be just like the Samaritan in Luke 10:30-37.

With love from Maubisse,

Lydia

10.6.2010

Categories OneLife.OneYear
Author Lydia W

Baucau

9 Jun

Coastal drive between Dili & Baucau

As I was dozing off in the car, Jony our guide to Baucau called out to me to take photo of this beautiful island. My language proficiency was not good enough to understand the story behind this little island but I was simply blown over by the natural beauty of this land.

More than that, I have just returned from visiting fellow workers serving in this 2nd largest town in Timor-Leste. Baucau is 123 km east of Dili with about 16,000 inhabitants and sits at an altitude of 330 m above the sea, which makes it rather cool to live. Though it takes 3 hours to drive from Dili, the beautiful scenery along the coast is a welcome change from the winding mountain roads up to Maubisse.

We were taking Andy & Eric (from WEFC) to Parlamento to begin their short term missions (6- & 3-weeks respectively). With the Prayer Summit starting today, everyone was away & so much was going on that communication broke down leaving 5 of us with no place to sleep last night initially. By God’s grace, we were able to reach a pastor at the Prayer Summit who put us in touch with Mdm R in Baucau.

Madam R called immediately & gave direction for us to go to her home before it got dark. Not only she gave us clean & safe rooms to rest, she & her team cooked dinner for the 5 of us! During dinner, I had the privilege to listen to her testimony in witnessing to the “hard-core” villagers who were hostile & violent before they were won over by her faith. After we helped to clean up after dinner, we went to bed so not to disrupt their daily devotiopn & prayer at 3 o’clock in the morning.

I enjoyed the morning worship with the kids who sang & danced joyously for the Lord. The kids sat still & listened intensely throughout the scripture reading that followed. I thank God that Mdm R is blessed with local translator as she speaks only Bahasa.