Russell and Eileen's Church Missions: THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS MY FRIEND

The Arab adage of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" seems particularly relevant to the events this week. When we focus on a common challenge or goal rather than our individual desires, it causes us to grow closer together. Whether those challenges are temporal or spiritual, once we join together in a common cause, our individual differences which previously seemed so glaring seem to fade as we work together to overcome the obstacle.

Our time in Manado has been complicated and occasionally frustrating. The project, perhaps due to its size, has been beset by communication, logistical, political and other issues. Maybe the best way to describe it is organizationally challenged. However, there have been several good things which have come to us from our time spent here. First and foremost, Eileen and I have begun working better with each other. Second, through our association with others on this project we have found new potential partners for future vision related and other humanitarian projects. And we have also grown to care deeply for a number of Indonesians whom we have served or who have worked with us on this project.

LDS Charities donated over 25,000 supplies to a variety of organizations. Eileen describes below three of her favorite charities.

First was a Christian school for the blind. This school dealt with visually impaired students, some also had other physical challenges also. A few of the students had learned English through Braille. It was interesting to see their school books in Braille. Although they were very shy to talk with us they were in no way hesitant to sing. They had the voices of angels. They sang several Christian songs for us in English. It was very moving to hear how they harmonized.

The second group is an NGO that is run by two gentlemen. They take care of the needs of over 2,600 elderly people so that the elderly can stay with their families rather than have need for hospital care. The older founder of this group is a 70 year old man who received his master's in public health from a university in San Diego. The younger co-director is about our age and was truly a saint in helping us. A partial pallet of goods meant for the Philippines and Vietnam was accidentally dropped off by the Navy and mixed with our supplie. Those good were then accidentally transferred from our storage facility to his. This good man readily went through well over a hundred boxes of goods looking for the three missing boxes and then brought the boxes the 90 minutes drive back to Manado. These are two saintly men doing a great work.

The third group that is close to my heart is a group that we met while in the hotel. We happened to meet some volunteers in scrubs one morning. It turned out they were volunteers from the U.S. doing some dental hygiene for an NGO that deals with girls ages 13-17 that have been victims of human trafficking. I met with one of the co-directors and offered some extra supplies that we had to their organization. I think the director was wondering what the catch was. The group was very appreciative and amazed when their van was filled up and we waved goodbye to them with no strings attached. Some of the goods they left with were personal hygiene kits. I know many friends back home that have been involved with assembling kits like these. It will be good for each girl that comes off of the street to have something she can call her own.

Through the grace of God, two young doctors were able to serve on board the Mercy ship and one branch member was operated on. Dr Rendy is a 26 year-old Muslim doctor that had flown to Manado from Jakarta. He works with one of our NGOs in Jakarta. I believe it was a great experience for Dr. Rendy to be able to not only see so many things on the ship but also to interact with all of the people that he had the opportunity to associate with. The other doctor, Dr. Elias is a 25 year-old resident and a member of our church. He is currently on the ship as a patient escort. Hopefully, he is having a positive experience. He worked hard in helping us in Manado despite having worked the night shift in his residency and then coming to help us two days straight from work. ( I am not sure he ever slept). A 21 year old young man from our church named Adi has been living at a school for the blind. He has a severe cataract in one eye and Peter's syndrome in the other. Two days ago he was operated on by Dr. John Jarstad. Hopefully with time he will have good visual acuity.

One great pleasure for Eileen was the opportunity to see a friend she had worked with for years at Primary Children's Hospital named Heather Harper. Heather was working on the Mercy ship and they let her come off one afternoon. It was a delight to see her. We had been roommates while in Madagascar doing Operation Smile last September.

At one of the ceremonies the Navy band played "The Stars and Stripes Forever". They sounded wonderful and it was very moving to me. Maybe it was because I was sitting next to my friend listening to a band playing familiar music but I also realized how proud I was to be an American. I am grateful for the new friends we have made here in Indonesia and the many kindnesses which have been shown to us. For now, we will grow where we have been planted.

Some photos courtesy of Elder Kent and LInda Smith public affairs missionaries for southeast asia.