RETURN TO MANADO

Last week we had a great trip to Manado.  The purpose of our trip was to participate in donating some equipment from our church to the ophthalmology department of Sam Ratulangi University.  Manado is on the northern part of the island of Sulawesi.  It is very different from the island of Java in that the majority of people in Manado are Christian. It was nice to fly in to Manado and see a cross on the hill, to see the physicians pray before their meetings and to see an abundance of churches around.  On the island of Java, Christians are definitely the minority.

We were able to have some pleasant visits with others along with the donation ceremony.  It was a time to renew our friendships with Elder and Sister Rasband, a senior couple serving in Manado.  We spent 3 weeks with them last summer while working in Manado with the Mercy ship.  We also had a very nice dinner with the medical residents from the hospital.  It reminded me (Eileen) of my days with Operation Smile.  It was wonderful to talk freely about my opinions on medical and other matters.

On Sunday, I was asked if I would talk with the children’s organization at church.  I thought perhaps they wanted just a few minutes of my time.  I was surprised when I was asked to spend 45 minutes.  WOW, I had 5 minutes to plan.  HMMM, Ok well my grandson had just turned 8 and had gotten baptized, so we talked about what happens in our church when you get baptized.  Then we learned a baptism song.  Sister Rasband normally plays the piano, but I offered to play the piano, and Sister Rasband and Elder Kusumarmanto taught the children the song “I like to look for rainbows.”  It is a song that talks about how we can become clean from all our sins when we become baptized.  After that, I had the children pick their favorite song to sing. It was beautiful to hear the children sing “I am a child of God” in English and Bahasa Indonesia.  I laughed as I watched them do all the motions while singing, “Once there was a snowman.”. It was sweltering hot in the church. 

After the church meetings concluded, there was an eye clinic conducted for the members and their friends. Dr. John Jarstad from the U.S. (a visiting ophthalmologist) had brought over 200 pairs of glasses.  He and other doctors from the university/hospital volunteered their time to check individual’s eyes and then fit them with the needed glasses.  There were members and non-members that were offered glasses free of charge that day.  We appreciated so much the help of the doctors and of Dr. Jarstad and his wife Pat for their help in offering this service.

Monday we did a ceremonial transfer of donated items from our church's humanitarian department to the university.  It was so nice to see the gratitude on the faces of the Professors/Doctors  who received the items.  In turn the doctors will now use the equipment that has been donated to improve their teaching program and utilize the equipment in offering free services to the poor who live in the Manado area.

We were able to see a few local sites with Elder and Sister Rasband.  It was wonderful to see the beauty of the area, hear about their wonderful experiences of taking the saints from their little branch to the temple in the Philippines and to rejoice in the work of our fellow missionaries.  Best of all I was strengthened by being with some good friends who said some important things.   Among other things, Elder Rasband told me to focus on the positive and make the last few months the best of our time here.  It was a great reminder from a former bishop and friend at a time that I was willing to listen.  The advice reminded me of the words others have spoken on this subject.

“Perseverance means to continue in a given course until we have reached a goal or objective, regardless of obstacles, opposition, and other counterinfluences...Perseverance is a positive, active characteristic...It gives us hope by helping us realize that the righteous suffer no failure except in giving up and no longer trying.”

― Joseph B. Wirthlin

Don’t be gloomy. Do not dwell on unkind things. Stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. Even if you are not happy, put a smile on your face. ‘Accentuate the positive.’ Look a little deeper for the good. Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, with great and strong purpose in your heart. Love life.”

― Gordon B. Hinckley

MEDICAL RESIDENTS WITH SUBANDRIYO AND DR. JARSTAD

PRIMARY CHILDREN SINGING

GRAB A NUMBER FOR EYE SCREENING

DR. SUSILIO, YULIANA, AND VICTORIA

DR. DEVI CHECKING PATIENT

ELDER AND SISTER RASBAND CHECKING ADI FOR GLASSES

MEMBERS AND PHYSICIANS AFTER EYE SCREENING

VIEW OF MANADO BAY 

DONATION CEREMONY

I TOO AM AN ELDER

BUDDHA PAVILLION

I SORT OF FELT LIKE I WAS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AGAIN, SULPHUR GEYSERS IN BACKGROUND

LAKE LINAU

I THINK THIS IS A REAL NEMO FISH FOR MY GRANDKIDS!

CLEFTS AND GARDENS

Last Friday I went to Bogor with Elder and Sister Lisk. Russell stayed in Jakarta to meet with Kevin Nield who actually is an old acquaintance from our hometown.  He has been serving as Director of Temporal Affairs for the Asia Area and will be retiring in July.  He only had one day to visit in Indonesia. Since he is ultimately our big boss, Russell stayed to meet with him while  I (Eileen) traveled to Bogor for our cleft lip/palate project. 

There were 32 children registered for surgery this year.  We had offered to fund 50. As of the previous Monday only 20 were signed up. By Friday another 12 had registered. I am not sure how many ended up receiving surgery.  We hope that all went well. We left town on Saturday for Manado and were unable to be there during the surgical schedule.

After screening at the hospital I traveled with the Lisks to the Bogor Presidential Palace. Surrounding the Palace are the beautiful botanical gardens covering some 80 hectares.  I especially loved the orchid house containing some 3,000 species of orchids.  

(Late note posted in July-Only 16 children were able to be operated on. Some children did not show for the screening, others were not healthy enough for the operation.)

THIS 3 YEAR OLD IS UNDERWEIGHT AND HAS AN OPEN PALATE.  HER MOTHER FOUND OUT ABOUT THE SURGERY 2 DAYS PREVIOUS TO SCREENING. THEY HAVEN'T HAD THE MONEY TO OPERATE PREVIOUS TO NOW.  EVERYTIME THE LITTLE GIRL EATS THE FOOD COMES OUT HER NOSE.

VERY PHOTOGENIC

TRIED FROM AFAR TO MAKE THIS LITTLE ONE LAUGH

THIS BOY WAS TRULY LOVED

CERTAINLY WELL NOURISHED DESPITE A DOUBLE CLEFT

THESE CARS WERE MADE BY A PREVIOUSLY RETURNED MISSIONARY FROM INDONESIA

THESE DEER WANDERED AROUND THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE (NO HUNTING ALLOWED)

FROM THE GARDENS

SISTER LISK AND EILEEN

EILEEN AND THE LISKS

WATER, WEDDING, WHEELCHAIRS

Last Monday Russell went to our water project in Magelang with Elder Lisk and Elder and Sister Weichers. After checking up on the progress of the project and visiting with some of the families in the area that are already receiving the water, all were in the van ready to return to Jogjakarta. Here is where the story gets interesting.  I will let you decide which side of the story you think is the more accurate perception of reality.  That night at the dinner table the conversation went something like this:

From the Weichers and Elder Lisk - Wow, that wedding was unbelievable! Wasn’t it amazing how friendly the locals were. They just insisted that we come right up to the front and have our picture taken with the bride and groom.

Russell - Did you notice that the man that was walking you up front was doing so right during the middle of a prayer?

Elder Lisk - Yes, but everyone was looking at us. How were we to know that a prayer was going on?

Russell - If you were in our church and some Buddhist Monks walked in during the prayer you would look too.

Elder Lisk - They really were so gracious. They really insisted on having their picture taken with us.

Russell - That is the culture here.  The man that took you in to meet the bride and groom has a low level position in the community.  We are developing a new water distribution for the community.  From his perspective it would have been rude  to have not invited us in.  That didn’t mean they wanted us there.  We didn’t exactly fit in. They were all dressed up for the wedding, while we were all sweaty and in our boots having been in the fields/jungle all morning.

Sister Weicher - Yes, but then they wanted us to eat with them! Why did you say we had an appointment and that we had to get to back to Jogja?

Russell – From their perspective it would be rude not to invite you to eat. However, it was their wedding, they had not planned on us and we have a long day’s journey tomorrow. Are you used to eating real Indonesian food?

In the end we all laughed at the different perspectives that came from the same day’s events. I was glad that I had stayed back in Jogja to do some work on the computer.  That way I could hear the story from both sides rather than be a part of the story.

Tuesday we left at 5:30 AM to drive to Banjarnegara for a wheelchair ceremony with our NGO partner United  Cerebral Palsy (UCP). Our church has funded 1500 wheelchairs to UCP in the past year. UCP makes sure they properly fit each client.  Our drive to the ceremony was  a beautiful. drive. By the time we arrived at 10:15 a.m. we were all tired of sitting.  This time we had the Barnards with us also so there were 8 senior missionaries plus our driver in a van that wasn't very comfortable.  We were the only senior couple that were not in our 70's.

 After we saw the wheelchairs fitted and given out (54 in total) we were encouraged by the people at UCP to go to the Dieng Plateau. This area is a beautiful and unique area of Indonesia where there are some small Hindu temples that date back to around 800 A.D.  As we arrived at the beginning of the road to the Dieng Plateau we saw a sign saying that the road was closed. Fortunately it wasn’t closed until June 1st  We had just barely made it before the road closed as it was the end of  May!  We looked around at the beautiful scenery and the people there. They were even selling heavy woolen hats, gloves and scarves due to the cooler weather.  We were anxious to see the sulphur springs that are supposed to be similar to Yellow Stone.  Unfortunately they have turned  them into Geothermal Energy and they are now smokestacks.

On the way home our driver decided to take a shortcut home.  Russell was sitting up front and could see that the 11 passenger van was riding on fumes.  Twice we stopped for gas. Only there were no “real” gas stations so we filled up at a place where they have gas in 2 liter bottles, usually for motorcycles.  At the second place the owner of the store said, “Wow, I don’t think I have ever seen "Bules" (white people) at my store before. Wait a minute, I think I did, but that was before my son was born.” Her son was there and he was 14 years old.  I think we took the road less traveled.

At 7:45 PM we arrived back in Jogja, stopped by UCP to pick up Barnards van only to find the gate locked. Since  their car was behind the gate our driver took them home.  Once they got home they realized that the key to their gate of their home was locked in their car. It is fortunate that they have the easy going Australian temperment as they ended up spending the night in a hotel.

Next day – We were so looking forward to getting home to Jakarta. Unfortunately our plane had a flat tire. We left our hotel at 7:30 a.m. only to be told by the airlines that they thought our flight might leave by 5p.m. We couldn't leave our seat at the airport, Someone might take it. We finally got a new plane at 11:45, and we actually got 2 seats in an exit row.  By this time we are extra grateful for this miracle. When we got to Jakarta there was an awful traffic jam.  The wair for a taxi was 1 hour. Fortunately we were able to find a guy that was willing to take us and the Lisks to our apartment going a back way missing most of the traffic and we got home in only 2 hours.  The marathon trip was over.

The Lord watched over us and we were home safe.  We will laugh about this trip for years to come (even if at the time we didn’t feel like laughing).

FARMER IN RICE FIELD AT MAGELANG

THIS BIRD HAD FALLEN OUT OF THE TREE, ONE OF THE LOCALS TOOK IT HOME TO TAKE CARE OF IT

WEDDING PICTURE, DO OUR MISSIONARIES LOOK LIKE THEY FIT IN?

THIS LITTLE BOY IS BEING RAISED BY GRANDMA ON LEFT, MOM WORKS IN HONG KONG EARNING MONEY FOR FAMILY

THIS 22 YEAR OLD GIRL FELL AND BROKE HER BACK 6 MONTHS AGO. SHE IS UNABLE TO BE MOBILE AT ALL. SHE STAYS IN BED EXCEPT TO EAT.  SHE IS EXCITED FOR HER NEW WHEELCHAIR

THIS LITTLE BOY WAITING FOR WHEELCHAIR, MOM CAME IN CARRYING CHILD

THIS 80 YEAR OLD WOMAN LIVES BY HERSELF AND HAS 30 GRANDCHILDREN AND 5 GREAT GRANCHILDREN, GRANDDAUGHTER ON LEFT, AND GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER ON RIGHT, WAITING FOR WHEELCHAIR

SO HAPPY FOR CUSTOMIZED WHEELCHIAR

THESE WERE HUGE HYDRANGEAS

SCENIC DRIVE TO DIENG PLATEU

TELAGA WARNA LAKE AT DIENG PLATEAU, NOTICE THE MATCHING OUTFITS.

HINDU ARJUNA TEMPLE
FROM 800 AD

POINSIETTAS GROW WILD HERE

OUR GAS STATION

FILLING UP THE GAS TANK