Russell and Eileen's Church Missions: September 2012

Sunday, September 30, 2012

WATER PROJECTS AND WEDDING

We had a busy 10 days of traveling. I (Eileen) will share some of our experiences on this week’s blog and then save the wheelchair donation ceremony we participated in last Monday for next week.

One of our major projects we have worked on in Indonesia is providing clean water for areas that are without access to clean water. Here are a few staggering statistics regarding the Global Water and Sanitation Crisis.

• 1.1 billion people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water, roughly one-sixth of the world's population.

• The average person in the developing world uses 2.64 gallons of water a day. The average person in the United Kingdom uses 35.66 gallons of water per day. The average person in the United States uses between 100 and 175 gallons every day at home.

• Some 6,000 children die every day from disease associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene - equivalent to 20 jumbo jets crashing every day. You can see why providing clean water and sanitation facilities would be a very important initiative for us.

A week ago we attended two ceremonies in Central Java regarding clean water. One was a closing of a project in Boyalali. The other was an opening of a water project in a place called Magelang. In both areas our church has or will be facilitating clean water for the people of the area-between18,000-20000 people respectively. Along with the clean water we have and will be building sanitation facilities so that families will have a place to bathe and use the restroom to prevent disease. The area in Boyalali is high in the moutains in a beautiful rural area. Some of the children walk 2 hours to get to school. This is an area where I previously taught hygiene classes to the children in the area. Our visit to Magelang was the first time I have been there. The water sources for the area were disrupted when Mount Merapi ( a volocano) erupted in 2010. Ash covered the area and changed the landscape. Water pipes broke, water distribution systems were destroyed, locations of springs changed and courses of rivers were altered and many people have been left without sources of clean water. We have had a civil engineer come and draw up plans and will have engineers here follow through with those plans to make sure that everything is working well. When our church builds these water sources we depend on the community to “buy” into the plan. In Boyalali there is a specific man from the community that walks the trail every other day (several miles uphill) looking for any leaks in the system. If there any problems he is trained to fix them. Someone is on call 24 hours/day so that if there are any problems they can go immediately and hike the trail to find the source of the problem. The water is free for the community if they gather it from a local source. If they have it piped into their home they will be charged a small fee, about 50 cents/month as a contribution for the water.

While in Central Java we also attended a wedding that was very ornate. There were 1000 people invited and they were all offered dinner. The bride and groom were gracious enough to allow the missionaries to sit near the front of the hall and come up and have their pictures taken with them. I am grateful that my daughters are already married!

THESE GIRLS HELD THEIR FOOD ON THEIR LAPS FOR A LONG TIME

WAITING FOR CEREMONY TO START

WOMEN AT OPENING CEREMONY

PRESCHOOL CHIDREN READY TO SING

FOOD FOR CEREMONY

CEREMONIAL RUNNING OF WATER AT SCHOOL

DANCER ENTERTAINING US

WATER RESERVOIR AT BOYALALI

MOUNTAIN WHERE WATER SOURCE COMES FROM AT BOYALALI

THIS FAMILY RECEIVES WATER AT THEIR HOME AND INSIDE THE GRANDMA'S HOME BELOW

MOKO AND SUTARNO-ENGINEERS WORKING ON PROJECT

WEDDING IN SOLO

WITH THE BRIDE AND GROOM

Sunday, September 23, 2012

MEETING THE PRESIDENTS

Last Monday we were invited to attend a session of the annual conference of the NU (Nahdlatul Ulama), the largest Muslim organization in Indonesia. Attending the conference were the spiritual leader of the NU, the executive officer of the NU, many clerics and the president of Indonesia and foreign ambassadors. We were invited because our church had recently built new MCKS (toilet facilities) at the school where the conference was held and because of our ongoing relationship with the NU on other charitable projects. We took the 9 pm train from Jakarta to Cirebon Sunday night along with Elder Watson (the SouthEast Asia area President for our church) and his wife, and Elder Subandriyo. We had a delightful time visiting with Elder Watson and his wife. They have lived around the world and in fact as an accountant Elder Watson with Price Waterhouse once interviewed Russell many, many years ago when Russell was first out of college. Sister Watson and I both commented to each other how funny it was to see two accounting minds at work.

At the conference it was interesting to see so many Muslims together and then the four of us as Americans and a few other members representing our church. Russell and Elder Watson were moved like chess pieces by the ushers until they were eventually on the front row of the conference. We were inside a sports stadium with the men sitting on the main floor and the women sitting toward the back or on the balcony. Sister Watson and I were sitting on the 5th row. I (Eileen) sat next to the ambassador to Azerbaijan. Initially I was a little concerned over our safety, but the security was so tight for the president we really didn't need to worry at all. We drove in several hours ahead of the start time. While they were trying to figure out where to park us I heard comments like ambassador and VIP. Good reason to keep those big sunglasses on. We got front row parking.

We were proud of the individuals from our church that went to great lengths to produce 33 new permanent restroom facilities in a 3 week period of time. By the end of the 3 weeks they were working 17 hour days to make sure they were completed in time for the conference.

After the conference was over we mingled with the people outside the sports stadium where the meeting had been located. It was estimated that a total of 10,000 people had come, most were watching on screens outside the stadium. Elder Watson seemed to particularly enjoy mixing with the youth who had lined the paths to see the president of their country. Elder Watson shook hands with them and many asked to have their picture taken with the bule (white person). In spite of being with some of the most high ranking officials in Indonesia Elder Watson spent a significant amount of time mixing with the children and the ordinary people of the community. It reminded us of how our Savior spent his time among the common people, particularly the poor and needy. We need to never forget that all are God's children and he loves each one.

MOKO WORKED 17 HOUR DAYS WITH OTHER EMPLOYEES TO BUILD MCKS

RUSSELL WITH STUDENTS AT PESENTREN

OLD MCK (TOILET FACILITY)

NEW MCK

PAK SAID AQIL, EILEEN, SISTER AND ELDER WATSON, ELDER SUBANDRIYO

PAK SAHUDI WITH THE NU SPOKE PREVIOUSLY AT BYU

EILEEN JUST TAUGHT THE GIRLS AT THE PESANREN ENGLISH SONGS

TYPICAL STUDENT AT PESENTREN

THE SPIRITUAL LEADER WITH WHITE SCARF, PRESIDENT OF INDONESIA WITH GREEN SHIRT

ELDER WATSON AND ELDER SUBANDRIYO

PRESIDENT'S SECURITY, THAT ISN'T A BADMINTON RACQUET!

EILEEN AND SUTARNO-HEAD CONTRACTOR-I SHOULD HAVE USED VIP TOILET

THIS PICTURE WAS ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NEWSPAPER. THE SPIRITUAL LEADER FOR THE NU IS IN THE WHITE SCARF THE PRESIDENT SBY OF INDONESIAN IN GREEN WITH RUSSELL ON RIGHT

RUSSELL IN BLUE SUIT, ELDER WATSON TALL WITH GLASSES, SAID AQUIL SINGING, PRESIDENT SBY IN GREEN, HIS WIFE NEXT TO HIM

Sunday, September 16, 2012

BIRTHDAY FUN

This week was a pleasant week with the opportunity to celebrate Russell’s birthday which was September 11^th, a memorable day for most Americans. Here in Indonesia at our office we celebrate birthdays by bringing food in for the office staff. Russell has mentioned for a while that it would be fun to return to the days gone by when he was a younger missionary and could go out and yell “SATE” and an Indonesian man with his little grill would come running and cook sate before his eyes. Unfortunately that would be quite a trick for the approximately 25 people that serve in the office. So Russell made arrangements with the sate man up the street to cook 250 tusuk (little skewers) of chicken and bring them for lunch on Monday. The sate came with peanut sauce, which is typical here. Russell and I both think it is delicious. It is like ground peanuts with some spice to it. We also ordered some fried rice, cap cai (vegetables ) and I bought a chiffon cake for dessert. The office staff all sang Happy Birthday to Russell and Suman (the office caretaker) brought some hot boiled peanuts.

Tuesday we had a skype phone call with our 4 out of our 6 children and ten out of our eleven grandchildren. It was fun to see how much our grandchildren have grown up and hear about their interests and how their schooling is going. One family was showing goats at the fair, one had just come back from boating, another was canning peaches, and one was eager to see a tour of our apartment via the camera on our computer. It made us feel like we were sort of part of their lives again by being able to talk with many of them on one day. Hopefully we will be able to coordinate schedules to be able to talk to the other granddaughter soon.

After our phone calls we went sight seeing in Jakarta. This is the first time we have done this in 5 months. It was fun being out to actually see something rather than to have to be somewhere. First we went to a place called the Monas. The Monas is the National Monument in Indonesia and celebrates their independence. It is 433 ft. high. There was a sign outside indicating the wait some days could be up to 3 hours long. Fortunately, since it was beastly hot, we were able to go straight up to the top. Although the air wasn’t quite clear due to the smog it was interesting to look out and see Jakarta in all directions. We had many people ask to take our pictures, but most wanted Russell’s picture. Many women wanted to stand directly next to him, which we did not allow. After all, he is married and a missionary! Several cab drivers have told us he looks like Bill Clinton. I guess to them all middle-aged Caucasian males with white hair look the same! Russell was definitely overdressed for the occasion. Maybe the women thought he actually was Bill Clinton, even though he had a missionary name-tag on.

After the Monas we went to Istiqlal Mosque. This Mosque is the 3^rd largest in the world according to our guide. It holds 120,000 people. We registered ourselves as Christian, but the guide immediately asked us if we were Mormons. When we said yes, he said he had been to our church’s office a couple of times. He also mentioned that he had taken a leader of our church named Packer through this Mosque. In 2005 Elder Packer, who is an apostle of our church, came to Indonesia and was allowed to offer a prayer in this mosque which was quite a special opportunity. As we toured the building there were people meditating, praying, some sleeping, and there was also a group of school children in the middle of school. It was enjoyable to be taken through on a private tour. This gentleman had also taken President Clinton and President Obama through this mosque when they visited Indonesia.

We also visited the National Museum of Indonesia. I (Eileen) am not much of a museum gal, but there certainly is a lot of history in Indonesia. Russell had to finally prod me on to leave. On our way back we drove by the house Russell lived in 36 years ago but it had changed so much that he could barely recognize it anymore.

Saturday afternoon we had the wonderful opportunity of attending the baptism of a woman named Kharisma. Kharisma has been investigating the church for a couple of years and decided to get baptised Saturday. It was a beautiful service with the young missionaries singing, Sister Beaman and I said prayers, and Elder Beaman performed the baptism and Russell was a witness. We were very happy for her and could see the happiness in her eyes afterwards.

So this year we will both grow one year older while living here in Indonesia. We are so grateful for a merciful, kind Heavenly Father who knows us personally and meets our needs, not always in the way we are hoping, but in a way that we can learn and grow. We have much to be thankful for. Most of all we are grateful for each other and the opportunity we have to be together as servants of God. It is always easy to see what we don’t have, but we want to be grateful for what we do have and spread that knowledge, joy and kindness to others.