A typical day - Simplicity - Candles Bush Man Style (by Simon)

Introduction:

The following bits of news were written for a CWM newsletter back in July and also as short articles for the GMO Global Mission Gazette. If you have not had a chance to read them – you are welcome.

 

A typical day at Talua (by Jon)

 

Life in the community of Talua Ministry Training Centre, South Santo, Vanuatu.

The clang rings at 5AM to let everyone KNOW its time for personal devotions. Between 6AM and 7:15AM the daily timetable sets out times for swim (bath – which means shower), breakfast and family devotions. The wooden Tam Tam is hit at 7:15 to tell everyone community devotions have begun. 

7:30AM lectures begin – with four, 55minute classes ending at 11:30AM. This is followed by the lunch break. For meals the married students and staff eat in their own homes and all single students eat together in the dining hall (also used for church on Sundays).

Lunches are often cut short with meetings of various groups - pastoral care groups, prayer groups, Presbytery groups – to organise some event, perhaps a community social night, or creative worship for a Sunday evening, or whatever.

From 1PM to 2PM is study time and then till 4PM it’s either Garden (students walk up bush to their allotted garden to work in it), Choir and Sunday School Prep (students prepare for next Sunday), Work (students do caretaking work around Talua Campus) or Sport (female students play volleyball and male football). 4PM to 5PM is tidying around homes / living quarters, then its swim (bath – which means shower), evening meal and family devotions. The power comes on around 6PM and from 7PM to 8:30PM its study time. Class devotions are held till 8:45PM and the power goes off at 9PM.

Staff use the afternoons for lesson preparation. Also there are monthly meetings for the many different committees (they are not called workgroups yet). Evenings for staff are a mixture of more meetings, professional reading, lesson preparation, watching DVD’s or correspondence.

There are also one off events, for example last Friday/Saturday Talua held an all night prayer, a time to celebrate the anniversary of the PCV with prayer. I was woken at 1AM by a student telling me it was our prayer group’s time to meet for prayer (I didn’t hear my alarm go off). The night before we had a repentance service – two hours long – culminating in each Presbytery Group asking the community for forgiveness over various matters. Then all night prayer began. When praying in community here it is easy to be lazy, or at least hard to concentrate because most of the praying is done “Korean Style”. That is, everyone out loud at the same time (some very loud). So it’s a chance to fall asleep or to try to pray, but as you can imagine, all the noise gets in the way.

Other one offs include various fundraising events, for example, the Talua Open Day. This was an organised football and volleyball competition for two days with teams from around South Santo coming to compete for prize money. During that time a lot of Lap Lap and other food was cooked and sold, which was the main source of money raised. The small petrol generator was cranked up so a very old stereo could play plenty of string band music to accompany the sport. 

There are many other happenings as well – it’s community life.

 

Simplicity of Life, South Santo, Vanuatu. (by Jon)

Looking out the window there is a group of boys walking back from school, singing at the top of their lungs. The songs are worship songs but that’s not the point. It is the simplicity of lifestyle and the ability to find pleasure in simple things like singing at the top of ones lungs for the sheer pleasure of it. Kids in the west need to watch movies that cost $US200 million to produce for simple fun. Kids in South Santo need a road to walk on and some imagination… “quick…lets jump the fence and grab some Nakatambol” (fruit), or the make popguns from bamboo, shooting out flower buds (our kids thought they were very cool).

A couple of weeks ago Talua had a community games night. The fun had by all was a delight – what was noticeable was a lack of sophisticatedness that hinders fun. Adults were playing simple games like musical chairs and laughing their heads off, laughing at innocent things. On another evening our pastoral care group played Wink Murder at our house (read our blog http://talua.blogspot.com) - there was much laugher and fun in the simple things. It would seem that back in NZ we can’t even sit still through halftime at a rugby match without entertainment, and loud music is played whenever someone is down injured.

Yesterday, our four kids were playing with fire with other local kids, melting wax to make candles. The moulds used were from various bits and pieces they found – including fruit. In the weekends we hardly see Connie (7) as she spends all day playing simple games with her friends, coming in for food and toilet stops and then out again.

And so I must confess that from an experiential perspective, I am glad we came to Talua. Of course there is satisfaction to be gained from being able to help people, but the chance to participate in the spirituality of simplicity is deep, a treasure, and a joy.

 

CANDLES BUSH MAN STYLE (by Simon Parkes)

Its been great over here, yesterday we made candles and it was fun…we made some really cool ones.

HOW TO MAKE CANDLES BUSH MAN STYLE: 1^st - you gather up as much wax as possible (the night before was a praying night and heaps of candles were used and thrown out). 2^nd - make a small fire. 3^rd - find a can that has been thrown out and put it on the fire. 4^th - put all the wax into the can and wait for it to melt. 5^th - while waiting, get a small, empty, plastic container. 6^th - when the wax becomes a liquid pour a little into the bottom of the plastic container to make a seal to stop wax from running out the bottom. 7^th -wait for it to dry. 8^th - get a string and put it at the bottom of the container (the string is the wick) 9^th - pour the rest of the liquid wax into the container while someone holds the string to make it straight. 10^th - once finished pouring wait for it to dry. 11^th -carefully cut the plastic off, so its just wax and string. That’s how to make it.

Last night we tested it and it was as slow as a normal candle, and a cool shape.

 

God Bless
Jon

The big news! Simon is a dad. Yes - this is his chicken given to him by the people of Moru Village for helping paint their church roof.

action shot

...and the girls begun to conquer...

It was boys verse girls - after while more girls turned up to reinforce their numbers

Yesterday the kids had a great water fight

And Jon - well watching The Edge and Bono of course - yeah - the important things in life.

Connie weary from full on day playing with friends, Viv reading.

three lads, three PCs, three games.

What do we do at night when the power comes on.

Its a battle - bugs, heat, chickens and whatnot, but here are some rewards from Viv's garden.

The small boat taking us back to the mainland. Further out the sea was a bit choppier along with the ocean swell.

Some of the fury little critters - small aye.

Viv with bats flying overhead.

As you know, we went to Araki Island. After church we explored a large cave. See the bats.

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

Talua Sunday

Yesterday was Talua Sunday, a day when all students and staff led services around different churches in Santo. So Talua spread to churches as far away as Hog Harbour (2 hr bus drive north east), some in the Canal and a few west of Talua. The Parkes family went to Araki Island. It was a great day - the boys found the service a tad boring - but apart from that it was interesting, new things to be seen and new experiences to be had. We all got home tired.

The return trip. After an early breakfast, at 6:45 we started walking the 45 minute walk on the road to Najingo. Then we piled on to a small wooden boat with a 25 hp outboard. We dropped off one group on Tangoa Island and then on to Araki Island. The trip was slow, and fortunately for us, the sea was not too rough - no white caps - just a big gentle ocean swell. After about 35 minutes we arrived at Araki. Then it was another 25 minute walk to the third village on this isolated island where we met up with the chief, saw the new church that will be completed by Christmas 06 and made final preparations for the service with the local elders.

The service started at about 9:30 and by 11:15 it was all over. The two Talua students led most of the service. Viv read the bible reading and I did the pikinini talk (really a game as an object lesson).

The only differences on the return trip was the sea was rougher, for that reason the boat travelled a lot slower taking about 50 minutes. No waves broke over the boat though but some of us got quite wet from the sea spray. The other difference was once getting back to land; most of us had to carry additional boxes of Laplap given from the people of Araki to Talua staff and students. So it was a slow and heavy 50 minute walk back to Talua. We all woke this morning rather tired.

All in all, for us this Talua Sunday we walked over two hours, spent over 1½ hours in a small boat in open sea and had a great time.

Araki Island has a population around 225, three villages with one chief for the whole island and as per usual - all the people are friendly. They are a very united people - I presume because of the small population and having one chief for the whole island. It is a world away from the rest of the world being very peaceful and tidy. The gardens and general layout was well presented, everything seemed to have an ordered way about it, and even the toilet by the church was clean and not falling down. Many houses had been painted, there were plenty of flowers and of course the view back to the main land was stunning.

The Island has three terraces, being a similar shape to a three tier wedding cake. From the sea level which is mostly cliffs with a few beaches, it goes straight up about 30 meters to the first terrace. This is a flat terrace about 400 meters wide encircling the whole island. Further up about 70 meters is the 2^nd terrace – the climb to this terrace is not as steep or pronounced with the terrace not as flat as the top of the island or the first terrace. We didn’t walk up there but it looked to be about 400 meter wide encircling the whole island. Beyond that it is another 70 meters up to the top of the island. From a distance it looks like a flat table top – the top being perhaps 1000 meters in diameter. On each terrace and the top, locals have some gardens and coconut plantations.

Possible Projects: After church I spent a lot of time talking to locals about various things on the island. If any church in NZ would like to help. There is plenty that could be done. It would also be a great chance to form long term relationships. 

Water supply: Recently they had two 38meter deep bores drilled – with the current water level only 10 meters deep. The problem is they can’t afford any pumps. Perhaps a church could fund raise for a windmill pump, cement to build a water holding tank up the hill and for some pipe so as to supply water to the three villages using gravity. Currently they use rain water and at low tide they can get water from a spring below the high tide mark. But that is a steep and long walk. 
Paint the new church: Another project could be to help them paint their new church – the roof and walls inside and out. If a NZ church could supply paint and even come over helping them paint - it would save them money for other things. This kind of project is a good introduction type project into the world of sending work parties. Buying paint and painting is easy. The main part of this would be meeting the people, learning cultural stuff, having a good experience, eating Laplap, drinking from coconuts and learning how to say no to further requests (or saying you will pass the idea to the GMO office). Why not give it a go!

Small Primary School: A very easy and enriching project could be to create a friendship with a NZ primary school and Lehilehina Primary School. It is a small school with only 23 children. From the outside the school looks similar to much of the island. Very tidy and well organised with an island sand pit and island (wooden) jungle gym. There is one government paid teacher and also a parent teacher. Speaking to the head teacher she said thought it would be a good idea for her school to have a friendship with a NZ school. This would involve the NZ and Vanuatu children exchanging letters, hand made cards, photos of each other and stories about their homes and life in NZ/Vanuatu. Possibly the NZ School could send a few items such as small sports equipment, books (old journals) and writing material. Give it a go –the current PCANZ person at Navota or Talua can take photos and help with the correspondence. Invite your church and local school into a cross cultural, life enriching experience.

Deep freeze and power system: Another very helpful project could be for a kiwi church to raise funds for an energy efficient deep freeze and solar system. This would help the island run a small fishing business. They have recently purchased a small fishing boat but because they live so far from Luganville, any ice they buy from town melts and therefore any fish they catch go off before getting to town. They found that having to get their daily catch of fish to town on the day they catch them was cost prohibitive. Therefore a solar powered deep freeze would make their dream of a fishing business viable as they could catch fish, freeze them and only have to pay for transport once a week. This would truly bless the island.

Any kiwis coming over to help would fall in love with the island. It has an X factor about it; it is peaceful and remote with stunning views. The only issue would be the 30 minute boat trip to the island.

Bat Poo and whatnot: After lunch we also visited a big cave on the island. We had to write our names on the cave wall using bat pooh before going inside – a local tradition. Once inside it was fascinating to have bats flying around our heads. It was not at all scary like the movies enjoy portraying. There was an almost silent fluttering sound as they woke up and started to fly - hundreds of them. While clinging to the ceiling of the cave they look as small as a mouse and once flying with their wings stretched out they look much bigger – more bat like.

So it was a good day. Last night for dinner and this morning for breakfast the students of Talua ate lots of Laplap, and other cooked food given to them from the villages they visited.

God bless
Jon