some sad news - some good news - some current news

Some of you reading this already know this - others don’t. Two and a half weeks ago, Diploma One (D1) student, Bridley Toa died at his home in Luganville. He was going to come back to Talua the next day for the new term.

As you would expect, it came as a real shock to our community. At around 10:20 the morning after he died the Tam Tam started being hit at a slow solemn beat. I was teaching the D2 class, and asked what is happening - the students knew it must mean bad news. Then Father Tieone came into the room and explained Bridley had died. The whole community met in the meeting hall (dining room) where Father George and Father Tieone lead a time of prayer and some thoughts etc.

Bridley was a COM student (Church of Melanesia - Anglican), hence the "Fathers" leading things. All work for that afternoon was canceled and lectures for the next day were cancelled as well. All the students and most of the staff including myself went into town that afternoon to pay respect to the family. We had been told the funeral would be the next day - but in this culture it is considered more important to visit the family instead of being at the funeral.

In town we all walked together to the house, about 100 meters away our group started loud wailing etc. We arrived and went inside and spent about 20 - 30 minutes in loud wailing. Bridley was wrapped up in blankets etc. We the Talua community gave a few bags of rice and other food to his family. Then after a few words, a song and prayers we went outside. Soon after we were given a meal.

The meal reminded me of going a marae for a Tangi, perhaps it reminded me more of the differences. Here we ate sitting around outside on wherever we could find, be it a branch or stump or perhaps a chair - we were not in the wharekai. Also there was no powhiri, no walking in line pass the whanau and mate, and no custom of washing hands. Because of this I found it difficult, there wasn’t a chance to say good bye to Bridley one on one. Also this was all happening so fast, it was within 18 hours of his death.

During the meal we heard how he died. The night he died he drank too much Kava. According to the doctor who came and investigated, it would seem he slept on his stomach, head in a pillow and was out cold from way too much Kava - possibly numb in the throat, without any control. He vomited and the food got stuck in his neck/mouth? He died from asphyxiation in his sleep. Very Very sad. We will miss him (nearly three weeks later we still miss him). My memory is his smile, his leaning against a wall, a smirky kind of smile, the laid back Bridley - with so much ahead for him to live and experience - so very tragic.

After a while we were told they would have the funeral that night due to the fact he was beginning to smell bad, so at around 5pm we went to the funeral at the local COM church. It was a short service and then family and COM students went to the burial. The rest of us slowly found transport back to Talua.

So a very sad day (and week), and kind of weird as the funeral happened the same day...without us westerners having chance to sleep on it and think about it and grieve. The next day it felt like it was all over, a new day began, new things happening, with the only difference being Bridley no longer in my classes. One less copy of notes and handouts to print out, one less……………..

A prayer issue at Talua that has come out of the tragedy is that some students are breaking the Talua bylaw of drinking Kava. No doubt this will be talked about. So please pray that the talk is helpful and not damming of Bridley or others. Pray that those addicted get help, and those who drink just the occasional shell, stop while at Talua. Pray also that they think NOW about what their stance will be when they are ordained.

some good news - many know this already but for those who don’t. We are coming back to Talua in 2007. I will be lecturing the same topics as 2006 as well as being the Talua accountant for the year. So it will be a tricky year trying to run Talua on the smell of an oily rag.

Being a training institution in a 3^rd world country is difficult. We can’t charge students much as they don’t have much. But things like books, printers, photocopy toner, fuel for generators, staff wages, paint and plumbing for “western buildings”, all cost 1^st world prices (not the staff wages), and therefore more often than not this year Talua has had little cash for things. On a few nights the generator has not run because there was not enough cash for Talua to purchase diesel - the sad thing is if the generator does not run, the combined value of Kerosene used in lamps in the student and staff housing is more than the diesel cost for 3 hours of power.

About the decision to come back. Before arriving in Vanuatu we decided as a family we would all make the decision about 2007 once we had settled and understood what living in Vanuatu was really like. Also it was agreed that the decision had to be unanimous. So I think the principal found it frustrating that I could not let him know if we would be here for 2007(he asked after a few weeks of being here). I explained that as a family we would make the decision and that would be later. Anyway, Council for World Mission agreed to fund us for another year (with a bit extra from the Global Mission Office of the PCANZ), and as a family we decided to stay. We will go back to NZ for Christmas 06. While in NZ I hope to visit a few churches that are coming over to Vanuatu in 2007.

some current news - week three of term three is nearly over. I think we are more used to the weather as it doesn’t seem as hot. The kids are having a ball - most of the time. Last weekend Viv suggested they make a mountain bike track through the bush. So we didn’t see them for ages. Yep - they came back with cuts and bruises but also all excited because they had seen their first snake in the wild. I still don’t know how big it really was as no one says the same size. They all agreed it was big but now I am not so sure.

Simon can climb a coconut tree (not the really tall ones) and get himself a free drink. Just like in NZ where there are crazes at school when everyone plays this game, or buys that toy for a few months / weeks until a new craze hits. Crazes happen here as well. During the school holidays one craze was slingshots - with birds and whatnot being shot; only a few people were hit. The kids also built plenty of tree huts, lately it’s been marbles and yesterday a massive water fight broke out. The innocence, the laughter, the smiles, the tears - it’s a great place to be.

Once the term started it was back to correspondence school. Viv finds this challenging as there are four kids at once, on different topics, using different material, all wanting her attention at the same time. With Viv being their mother as well as the teacher, subconsciously the ‘students’ do not think of her as their teacher - this also makes it problematic, when they get grumpy they say “but you are not my real teacher”. And then there is William. He does like to sit in a chair and day dream. The others get through their work fast but William takes forever. We even noticed yesterday when making sandwiches for lunch he was still crafting his sandwich, considering what to put in it next, when we were already chomping. So Viv finds the teaching hard work, as she feels very responsible for the kid’s education.

I am enjoying teaching the Gospel of Luke. I think that church here tends to focus on looking good, that the “church service” has to be “how the missionaries taught us” about a million years ago. So in Luke I really enjoy pushing all the Lukan themes that have nothing to do with “church service” but with caring for the poor, of how Jesus had run in after run in with the powerful of the day and how he lifted the powerless, how he lifted women up, how salvation is meant to be for all - but there still needs to be repentance, that Jesus was God’s son, was the Messiah the Old Testament spoke about and not just some “nice prophet intelligent fella”, its real kingdom of God stuff.

Its great - and what is even better is the students are beginning to see this. They are being spiritually challenged - Luke emphasises the role of the Holy Spirit heaps (Luke and Acts) and they are beginning to see the importance of obeying the Holy Spirit. They are beginning to see that being religious is wrong, and that it is the inside (our hearts) that counts, and this is proved by how we treat our neighbour, not by how well the church service went. So as you can tell - I am enjoying the teaching.

I am learning heaps as well. I think when I finish I’ll be a better bible teacher, I naturally incline towards preaching and not teaching so this is helping me. Also I am much more aware of my English - not that its perfect - but I now understand a lot more of the rules and whatnot.

So thanks for your prayers - no matter if they are only a thought or a good deep petitioning to God for us, we appreciate it.
God Bless
Jon