When we came to Timor I didn’t know much about what I’d be doing. One friend very experienced in mission work said something like, “if you can be patient and flexible, God will find a use for you.” Really good advice and sometimes hard to follow! Teaching English came up right away when we got to Lospalos as something the church community wanted for the church youth and clinic staff. I’ve been working hard to put together a practical program mainly focused on practicing how to speak the language. Recently we’ve also been doing a little writing. I like it because I also like to study the Tetum language and it gives me lots of opportunity to do that as well as develop friendships with people.

English Class is Los Palos, East Timor

The students began their studies in October. The first two papers students have written are about their “typical day” and “something you know how to do.” Below are two short essays which also give a glimpse into the lives of the people in Timor.

The Life of a Fisherman
Asala is a member of the IPTL Church in Teino, a fishing village an hour away from Lospalos. He comes to Lospalos during the week to study English at Immanuel Church. Below is his reflection about his life as a fisherman.

Fishing by canoe for dinner

“The good time to fish is at night because at night we can get a many fish. Frequently, we also go fishing in the morning but sometimes we must care to prepare the tools of the fishing because very important like hook, rope, dragnet, oar, petromax and special boat. In the sea we shall be up against many problems like the wind, the wave, the rain and also the flow but it isn’t new one for us. As fishermen we are already invulnerable/immune from that, but we must be careful because sometimes weather is good and sometimes not. In my life the sea is like a bank for us because from it we can get money to support the family needs. We go out at 8:00 and come back at 6: 00 in the morning.”

Planting Corn
Mary is from Kupang, Indonesia (the Western end of Timor) and is a member of Immanuel Church in Lospalos. She is also a student in our English class. Mary is a seminary graduate and soon to be an ordained pastor in the IPTL. In addition to her pastoral work, like many Timorese, she is also a farmer. Below is her reflection about planting corn.

“Before I plant corn first of all I must clean my garden. After cleaning, I must wait for rain because if not rain, I am not plant corn. At the same time wait for to rain I prepare seed corn when it rain to plant. Usually after plant, I weed and clean my garden because in the garden too many weeds. After cleaning I wait for crop to harvest my corn.”