Liddles In East Timor

One of the many cool things about living in Lospalos, East Timor are the visitors that come through. Lospalos is not exactly a tourist destination so the visitors we get are usually people of intention looking for a unique view on the world. A few months back we had Herb Sellin, a Christmas tree farmer, carpenter and avid Third World traveler from Duluth, Minnesota. Then more recently Lena and David came through. Lena is a doctor and David a Presbytery minister in the Uniting Church of Australia. Lena worked in the clinic for a couple days and David accompanied us in some church work, preached to the youth group and joined us in a pastoral visit / home worship service.

Two weeks ago Jim Hewit showed up. Jim is a Methodist pastor from Oxford, England. In about 1998 he noticed a lot of Timorese people were coming to Oxford as political refugees. He took some into his home and over the years did an extremly radical thing for an English speaker in his home country – he learned their language. Fataluku is an obscure Papuan language spoken only in the eastern part of East Timor. It’s unrelated to either Tetum or Indonesian, both Austronesian languages. In 2004 Jim came to Timor for the first time and you can imagine the people’s suprise when they met this guy speaking their language fluently! You can check out Jim’s website at www.fataluku.org. Jim’s visit was a great reminder of the Bible’s redundant command to be hospitable to the stranger, immigrant and “alien” in one’s land. We could use more people like Jim in the world!

We’re looking forward to the visit of Tom, Linda and Paul later this summer. It’s always a blessing to receive visitors.

Tom’s thoughts on Luke 4:16-21
How often do you open the Bible and sense that God is talking directly to you? How often do you read a passage of scripture and feel that its truth is being fulfilled by your own life or the life of your church community?

Luke 4:16-21 is a wonderful reflection text for thinking about God’s global mission. The text Jesus is quoting here is Is. 61:1-2, 58:6. God’s concern for the poor and the oppressed was at the center of both the Law and the Prophets and Luke’s text has resonances from both. However in Jesus’ time, as in our own, the religious establishment often sidelined such concerns in favor of rituals and right doctrine. Jesus’ proclamation that in him “the Scripture has been fulfilled” places God’s central concerns for those on the margins at the center of Jesus’ life and ministry as evidenced by his many acts of healing, solidarity and justice. As Jesus’ disciples, we are called to place these same things at the center of our lives and ministries.

Part of being a Global Mission Church is our commitment to listening for God’s word and call in Scripture. Through reading, study and prayer we can imagine how God might be calling a church or individual to a particular ministry of solidarity and justice. When Jesus read this text from Isaiah that day in the synagogue, somehow he realized that this was directly about him – a poor rural carpenter. What can we learn from this?

An important question raised by this text is what it means to be “anointed to bring good news to the poor.” It’s a question I think about a lot in my work with the people of East Timor. East Timor is the poorest country in Asia and one of the poorest in the world. It is one thing to read this text in a middle class adult study in a U.S. church and another to preach this text to people who make less than a dollar a day.

The people in our church pews and our partners across the world are “captives” and “blind” in any number of ways. What are we captive to? What are we blind to? And how does the good news of Jesus deliver us from captivity and blindness? We must be careful about our spiritual metaphors here though. The “captivity” and “blindness” we need to reflect on must be related to the concrete concerns implied by vs. 19:

“The year of the Lord’s favor”or jubilee year had a specific socio-economic implication of its own (Lev. 25). Whether the jubilee year ever happened in history is unknown, but regardless, the idea is a bold act of theological imagination that leads us directly to God’s central concern for the liberation of the poor from oppression and into a covenental relationship with God and neighbor.

In our efforts to become Global Mission churches, we can use this text to reflect on a number of things:

1.The time and energy we put into our own practice of listening prayer and biblical reflection in discerning God’s call to ministry – following Jesus’ example in Lk 4:16-21.
2.The meaning of “Good News” – especially for the poorest people in the world.
3.The bold vision of Lev. 25 a “jubilee year” when liberty is proclaimed throughout the land and specific provisions for correcting social injustice are prescribed.

Monica reflects on Luke 4:18

You need not go to the other side of the world to bear witness to injustice and oppression. But as Global Ministries missionaries this is part of our daily work. Through mission, we have the opportunity to make contact with poverty and suffering with our brothers and sisters the world over. Few of us are called to actually go on missions far from home, but all of us are called to listen.

Luke 4:18 speaks of healing the blind and of the bonds of oppression being broken. The message is that faith in Christ brings relief from suffering.

The five women I work with each day at Clinic Immanuel in Lospalos, East Timor tend to the sick each day. Some are sick with tuberculosis or malaria. Some are sick at heart having lost a husband, wife or baby to illness or tragedy. Old women are lonely and looking for comfort. In the clinic each day, each person gets their moment as staff tend to them each with intention and care.

Through my service in mission I truly recognize that, as in Luke 4:18 that the Spirit of the Lord is upon us as we serve in this clinic each day. I feel it when we stand together and pray each morning before patients come in the doors. I feel it when I see the staff gently address a child. I feel it when I sit with one of the staff and “talk shop.” I feel it when I check on the children eating nutritious food in our feeding program.

Through mission, we are sent out to work for justice, to heal the sick, to befriend the poor. We are called to follow Jesus’ example of a life of devotion and service. It is all the more tangible in an environment of houses which are bamboo shacks, with irregular electricity and water supply and where diseases such as worms, diarrhea and tuberculosis are commonplace threats to health and life.

For the privilege to serve as missionaries with Global Ministries, we give thanks.

Monica Liddle, ND
Clinic Immanuel, Lospalos

This past week Lefi, a 17 month old, died of malnutrition complicated by infection.  Lefi had been inpatient at the Lospalos hospital earlier this year for severe malnutrition.  For some reason, she was not gaining significant weight, but she was discharged anyway.  Knowing that our Clinic, Imanuel, serves food daily to malnourished kids (and occassionally adults), the Hospital’s malnutrition program chief asked us if the patient could come at eat at our clinic regularly.  Of Course! we said.

Lefi’s mom brought her only one or two times in March.  Then, April 5, she brought Lefi in, and Lefi looked like a Raggedy Ann doll in her mother’s arms.  Oversized clothes on a stick-figure pale doll, with open, but vacant eyes already.  I examined her on the table, and her swollen belly and skin-hung bones had little energy left to let out a weak cry.  

One of the clinic staff escorted Lefi and her mom to the hospital immediately.  But, Lefi died that night in the hospital.  She weighed 6 kilos at 17 months, and had a long struggle with starvation in her short life.

Who can be blamed when a child starves to death in the world?  I ask this: who is without responsibility?  

When we keep ourselves distant from suffering, we can delude ourselves into thinking we are not responsible in the least for a starving child on the other side of the world.  But when poverty, lack of education and lack of resources exists anywhere, none of us are truly free.

Please hold a moment for the families of Lefi and also Marsilia, a 14 year old girl who died on April 1 of suspected lymphoma.  The huge abdominal tumor left her in kidney falure.

A few weeks ago I got an email from a guy in Duluth. Herb Sellin, “the Christmas tree guy.” He said he was a Christmas tree farmer half the year and a traveler the other half. He’d be in SE Asia soon on his way to China and Tibet. Could he come for a visit? Sure, come on out and visit Lospalos! A few weeks went by then last Saturday I’m walking down the road and here’s this guy sitting in front of a shop.

“Hey you American?” he says. “You the Christmas tree guy?” I say in return. Wow… We walk into the shop/restaurant and have a beer and discuss his journey overland from Kupang, Indonesia to Dili and then on to Lospalos. What a deal; here’s a guy from Duluth, just showed up randomly in Timor.

Yesterday I dropped Herb off in Baucau to catch a bus back to Dili from where he’ll fly out en route to Myanmar, stay for a month then on to China/Tibet and who knows where else. We had a great week with him around; he is a kindred spirit when it comes to his philosophy of travel: go to places not recommended by the State Department, don’t make much of a plan, learn from locals, go light, and be open to wherever the spirit leads you.

Here in Lospalos, Herb told of his life and travels to the youth gathering on Sunday afternoon, helped me build a garage door for the clinic, visited and exchanged ideas with local farmers, and even got to participate in that most glamorous of all clinic jobs: burning the trash. It was fun to swap travel stories and discuss current events and people in Duluth as well. What a blessing. Thanks for coming Herb!

A few weeks ago I got an email from a guy in Duluth. Herb Sellin, “the Christmas tree guy.” He said he was a Christmas tree farmer half the year and a traveler the other half. He’d be in SE Asia soon on his way to China and Tibet. Could he come for a visit? Sure, come on out and visit Lospalos! A few weeks went by then last Saturday I’m walking down the road and here’s this guy sitting in front of a shop.

“Hey you American?” he says. “You the Christmas tree guy?” I say in return. Wow… We walk into the shop/restaurant and have a beer and discuss his journey overland from Kupang, Indonesia to Dili and then on to Lospalos. What a deal; here’s a guy from Duluth, just showed up randomly in Timor.

Yesterday I dropped Herb off in Baucau to catch a bus back to Dili from where he’ll fly out en route to Myanmar, stay for a month then on to China/Tibet and who knows where else. We had a great week with him around; he is a kindred spirit when it comes to his philosophy of travel: go to places not recommended by the State Department, don’t make much of a plan, learn from locals, go light, and be open to wherever the spirit leads you.

Here in Lospalos, Herb told of his life and travels to the youth gathering on Sunday afternoon, helped me build a garage door for the clinic, visited and exchanged ideas with local farmers, and even got to participate in that most glamorous of all clinic jobs: burning the trash. It was fun to swap travel stories and discuss current events and people in Duluth as well. What a blessing. Thanks for coming Herb!

I am a fan of Greg Mortenson, and you must read Three Cups of Tea if you have not yet done so.  The need for improved education worldwide rivals the need for health care as “most important” in my mind; I am not sure which is more important.

Hannah is in first grade in a public school here in Lospalos.  I took her to school today. Usually her dad takes her because I am working, but on Saturdays, it’s my chance.  I have been a few times, but today I took the opportunity to look and watch again, then I went to the main office and sat down with the principal.  I asked him directly, what he needs for the school, and he quickly gave me a long list of things.  I asked him why the government wasn’t providing these things.  He said, they have too many schools to provide for, and they aren’t meeting all the needs.  Clearly.

Hannah’s school is better than some.  But, I just want to share a bit of reality.

The first graders number about 150 by my count.  they are divided into 3 classrooms.  One classroom has no desks, except for the teacher’s desk.  this morning I saw 45 little ones sitting on the floor, in their green and white uniforms, writing with their pencils in their little notebooks.  Not a desk or chair for any of them.  Hannah somehow got in the classroom with  desks, some of which are the individual kind, some sit at tables, 3 to a table.

the teachers have a blackboard and chalk.  Some rooms have a few pieces of paper on the wall with some schedule or  info. As for posters, alphabet, or anything colorful, the room has only the kids uniforms to bring light to it.  Teachers get frustrrated easily with 40 or 50 kids to teach.  In past times physical punishment for not knowing your lessons or misbehavior was accepted.  Though Timor has now outlawed teacher’s using such tactics, old patterns die hard, and many of the teachers at Hannah’s school are oldtimers.

Today, the teacher led the class in the Ave Maria in Portuguese (Hail Mary), then scolded kids in the class who didn’t know the prayer, or said it improperly.  She said, “look at Hannah, she is the only Protestant in the class (all the rest are Catholic), but she knows the prayer and the sign of the cross better than you! What’s wrong with you kids?”

Anyway, Hannah is learning how to write letters in cursive, she is learning some portuguese, songs, prayers, games at recess, and how to get along with other kids at school even when they are mean.  She is so far coping with a teacher who can be mean and scary, and so far avoiding punishment.  At home we do our informal lessons, and reading, of course.

I would love to hear your perspectives, all you who read this. Support is always great, but other ideas, your own thoughts, please share.  I don’t know anyone else who has had their first grader in a public school in a developing country.  I want this to be a catalyst for the benefit of more than just Hannah, but this issue of education hits home when it affects her/us so directly.

Cheers, Monica

Ok, once a week was optimistic. But we’re doing better than once a month! Hannah’s in school at the public school and that’s been an adventure. She’s doing well and enjoys it though we’ll see…. Simon has a new friend, Junita who is helping watch him during the mornings and that is good.

We took a paralyzed guy from a village into town the other day and that was tough. We’re hoping we can follow up with the family and get him set up with some kind of program for getting around. Other patients are doing better. One guy who’d been sick for a long time finally got on the Tb program and is much better after a week. And we found a surgery for a kid with a cleft palate in April.

It’s been raining like crazy. We made a trip to Dili last week and it was like driving down a river at points. The road is getting worse all the time. Wait till its impassable then it’ll get fixed (maybe). Otherwise we’ll be taking a boat from Lautem to Dili!

Honecelencio

We visited the village of Foema’a last Thursday for our bimonthly mobile clinic. Honecelencio, a little boy of 8 years, was brought by his aunt and uncle. They reported he had continued fatigue, and that his lips and gums were unusually dark in color. As I listened to his heart, I suspected he had a congenital defect from the sound of the murmur. His small size along with other suspicious signs suggested his condition was indeed one that needed further follow-up without delay. While he wasn’t in acute danger at the moment, I made the decision to take him to Dili to consult with Dr. Dan at Bairo Pite Clinic that day. Tom was leaving for Dili as soon as we returned from our mobile clinic, so the transportation issue was easy. Usually, gettting a village person to Dili is an epic requiring money that many don’t have ($7 per person for bus fare, once you get into Lospalos, which is 8km from Foema’a, so a long walk, or another cost for riding in the back of an openbed truck. Even 50cents is a challenge for many.) Once in Dili, you must stay with family and eat, so if you don’t have family, forget it, and if you don’t have money, you can’t easily eat.

Anyway, within 30 minutes, little Honecelencio and his uncle were clean, changed into travel clothes, packed and ready to go. Turns out his mom and dad live in Dili, and he lives here with his aunt and uncle. We drove back to the clinic, and the little guy ate heartily a big plate of rice and vegetables. The clinic staff eats together every day for lunch, and there is always enough for extra guests. Nothing fancy, just rice and some variation of a green leafy veg every day. I called Dan to give him a heads up. Soon, Tom, one of the clinic staff and Honecelencio and his uncle headed off with a letter to Dr. Dan about my concerns and suspicions.

I talked to Dan the next day, and an EKG and xray along with Dan’s cardiac exam suggest a VSD (ventricular septal defect) with congestive heart failure. Dan has the boy in-patient in his clinic on medication, and hopes to keep him there until the cardiologist comes in a month and he can get an echocardiogram on him. If it’s not too late, Honecelencio will need surgery to repair the hole in his heart.

Please say a prayer.

Monica

We’ve been back in Lospalos about a week now and a lot has happened already. Just after we got back the General Secretary of IPTL’s father died and that has been a huge deal. A funeral is a multi-day event in Timor. Family and friends are expected to come no matter from how far so dozens to hundreds of people gather for several days in a ceremony called “uma mate” (death house). The coffin is in the house which is cleared of all other stuff. Friends and family hang out, pray, talk, and generally socialize for several days. Yesterday we had a actual funeral in the church then everyone goes to the graveside which is again a multi hour affair with specific actions, prayers, etc…

Monica is back to work in the clinic. She’s also starting again doing some teaching after patients are finished in the afternoons. Most of it is focused on basic medical science and health eduction stuff.

We’re slowly (everything is slow in Timor) getting going again on our rural visitation work and working on the implementation of programs at the Synod level (another slow process) and trying to work in some English training too.

All that said, we’ve also been thinking a lot about America these days. Our trip home gave us kind of a unique opportunity to think about a lot of things in a different light having been gone for a while. The tragedy in Arizona is particularly saddening for us having lived in AZ for 5 years. Not sure what to think about all that heated political rhetoric and young men shooting people (actually I am but I’ll spare you).

I remember one time when I was in the Philippines around the time when the Virginia Tech one happened and my friends there were in shock that “anyone can have a gun” leading to people like this guy who shot last Saturday legally buying a semi automatic weapon and then going on a shooting rampage. Yep thats America I said. I couldn’t explain anymore than that.

We join you in praying for the nation at this sad time in its history and for the families of all shot and injured. We will also follow Jesus’ example by praying for the young man who shot all those people his family.

Classic Tom and Monica, we get online access at home in Lospalos, then don’t Blog to you.  To make reasonable excuses, access just isn’t the same here in Timor as hooking up over there, what with figuring out how to use this USB stick properly, running out of money on the charger, no eletricity to recharge the laptop, no signal…blah blah blah. But for me, the last month has gotten busier and busier with patients at the clinic. We are now regularly having over 100 consults daily, plus our feeding program has the malnourished kids coming for eggs and milk and beans each day, and the TB patients keep coming. Monday I sent almost 50 people to the lab for malaria smears. So many fevers of 102+, mix that with a weak immune system from poor nutrition and sanitation, and the hot tropics, add diarrhea, vomiting , and you know at least some of these cases are malaria. But which ones?  Fortunately Amena, our lab tech, is very good at her job these days. She enjoys sitting in the lab because she can listen to music on her fancy cell phone while she works.  

I am thrilled to be on the verge of a “vacation” in Cold Minnesota and mild Indiana. Can’t wait to see you all.

Love, Monica