Sumba: Raising a Generation to Worship the Lamb

By Rev. Mark Kelderman

The Lord carries on His work throughout the nations and to various people, including the small island of Sumba, Indonesia. This work dates back to 1998 when the local people asked if money could be supplied for a well to drill for water. The only water supply was an old polluted well from a nearby riverbed. When the HRC (Heritage Reformed Congregations) disaster fund provided the funds, Bill and Marion Sommer felt called to travel to Sumba and ensure that the project would actually be accomplished. Bill felt that if we were going to help the people with water they should help them in learning to work and to build things as well.

By 2000, the well was drilled, but much to the surprise of the Sommers, the Lord had other plans for them. While the well was being dug, Marion was caring for sick children and others in the community. Before they knew it, children who were ready to die were being left at their door step. Seeing a great need among this people who lived in this remote area, they decided to stay and minister. When Mrs. Sommer returned home the first time to give a report on the well project, the Lord inclined someone to give enough money to begin a children’s home to care for the growing number of children they were receiving. By 2002, the first part of the children’s home had been built and opened, large enough to hold 30 children. By 2007, this work had grown and a large addition was added. They can now accommodate 110 children. At present, 71 children live in the home.

The children of the home and school

As these children grew, they were also schooled in the children’s home. It was not possible to return them to the local school because they would have immediately been reintroduced to their pagan ideas and religion. Therefore, a school building was built and finished in 2009. The school building has seven classrooms and a library. This project, with God’s blessing, could help transform this area which is now infested with animistic and heathen ideas, into a place where God is feared and worshiped. We believe that as these children and young men and women eventually return to their local community, they will begin to influence and affect the local way of life.

Children learn to sing praises to the one from whom all blessings flow.

The school’s effects have been noticed by government officials as well. There are five-year-old children from the home who can read, while in the local community some of the children who attend the local schools cannot even read by the time they are in fifth grade. However, there is great need at present to find qualified teachers. Please make this a matter of your prayers. In addition to the instruction given at the school, there is also Christian instruction taking place daily at the children’s home and through a Sunday school program. This program is held in a nearby church which was built by the Sommers for the local people. About 150-200 children attend. Additionally, the Word of God is brought to various churches in the surrounding communities at churches which Bill has helped re-establish.

Helpers at the home and school

We are thankful for the help and support which so many people have given for this work and are especially thankful to Word & Deed for their interest and initial support of the Christian school. The Lord has wonderfully upheld the Sommers in this work, and yet we realize that they are becoming older and there will be need for others to eventually take their place. To that end, we continue to ask the Lord to provide assistants to shoulder this burden for some time to come. We realize that this work lies ultimately in the hands of our sovereign God and that He is accomplishing His purpose also among this people so that there will be surrounding the throne of the Lamb, children, young people, and older ones from Sumba who will worship the Lamb eternally.

Rev. Mark Kelderman is pastor of the Heritage Reformed Congregation in Burgessville, Ontario. The consistory there oversees the work done by the Sommers in Sumba.

Pengharapan (Hope) Children’s Home in TanaMbanas

Needed: $50, 000 to cover 50% of the costs

The objectives of the Pengharapan Children’s Home are as follows:

Provide a home for children who are abandoned to die (75 children currently/17 staff)

Provide daily meals for orphans

The children will receive daily Bible instruction and attend worship services each Sunday.

School age children will go to school

All children will be involved in helping at the home and in the community

Seek local community and church involvement and support for the home

Seek options to reduce the foreign portion of the cost of the home and possible local family care for abandoned children.

Haiti: Restoration

By Hanna Luong

When the last issue of Word & Deed magazine was being produced, many of the details concerning the earthquake in Haiti were still blurry. The numbers of the dead and wounded were educated guesses, and relief efforts were still in the planning stages.

By now, many of the details regarding the earthquake of early 2010 have been confirmed. In March, the official figures from the Haitian Government’s Directorate of Civil Protection estimated that 222,517 were killed in the earthquake, and that another 310,928 were wounded. In a UN update posted on March 4, the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) was estimated at 1.3 million. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the UN, saw 50,000 people huddled under tents and make-shift shelters on the Petionville Golf Club fairways. Without a doubt, one of the most pressing concerns for Haitians is the need for shelter, especially with the rainy season (May through July) bearing down upon them, bringing with it the possibility of flooding, landslides and disease.

Each week families listen to a message from God's Word before the food is distributed.

Nobody needed statistics to know that on January 12, Haiti was suffering, and donors were not slow in responding to the Haitian plight. As a result of the generosity of various churches, schools, and individuals, Word & Deed was able to declare $414,760.33 to the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for the government fund matching program. All donations that were made to Word & Deed before February 28 were doubled! Although the funds that the government supplied were deposited into the “Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund” to be administered separately, all the donations made directly to Word & Deed are being used at our own discretion. Since the deadline, we have received an additional $112,735.14, and this total continues to rise.

A portion of this funding has been used to respond to the immediate need for food and shelter. In light of recent talks of a merger between Word & Deed and Coram Deo International Aid (CDIA), we have been partnering with this fellow Reformed relief organization in the development of two projects. For 10 weeks (March – May), a Food Distribution project has been providing nutritious food staples to 500 families (approximately 2000 people) in the Cabaret region of Haiti. A weekly cost of $5000 provided each family with rice, corn meal, beans, oil, tomato paste, sardines, spaghetti noodles and Maggi.

Student volunteers levelling the ground for the lean-to, where the temporary classrooms will be built.

Also in partnership with CDIA, Word & Deed has funded the building of a temporary relief station. Adoration Christian Centre will serve as a medical clinic, school building, church building, soup kitchen, water treatment center and residence for the staff of the center. This temporary location is expected to be used until September 2011 when, Lord willing, more permanent facilities will be in place. Aside from acting as a relief station for Haitians, the construction of this shelter has provided an opportunity for local Haitian contractors and workers to become agents in their own recovery, and to begin restoring their dignity as image-bearers of God.

Now that the initial shock is starting to wear off, and Haitians are beginning to adapt to a “new normal,” the focus of Word & Deed is shifting as well. Initial relief efforts are giving way to plans for longer-term infrastructure development. On the weekend of April 22-24, Bernie Pennings and Rick Postma met with representatives of CDIA and mission representatives from the OPC and PCA in Greenville, South Carolina. The objective of the meeting was to review plans for infrastructure development in Haiti, and to review how this development will conform to Biblical principles for aid. It is our hope and prayer that, in partnership with other Reformed relief organizations, Word & Deed will be able to transform your generous contributions into a long-term mission in Haiti that will address both the physical and spiritual needs of the Haitians.

A student receiving food for her family.

Many of the relief agencies in Haiti have a similar vision. Phrases such as “a new Haiti,” “build Haiti back better” and “national renewal” capture the spirit of many of the organizations that are passionate about bringing Haiti new hope. With over $5 billion pledged at the Donors’ Conference for Haiti relief held on March 31 at the UN headquarters in New York, and over 150 countries and international organizations represented, it would seem that there are many reasons to believe that Haiti will at last receive the new beginning that she has desperately needed for such a long time. And perhaps Ban Ki-moon is right to say that renewal, not restoration, should be the goal as we seek to address the problem of Haiti’s crumbling infrastructure. However, it is only the restoration of a broken relationship with God that can give Haitians a hope that will not waver - come earthquakes, or floods, or hurricanes.

Hanna Luong is the Administrative Assistant at Word & Deed Canada.

Recent Fundraisers

The recent softball tournament in Lethbridge, Alberta raised $14,200 for the John Calvin Christian School in a very cold and wet Alberta. Click here to read more. A warm thank you to all who took part in this tournament (note that there is a Calgary tournament scheduled for September 18. Click here to find out more).

While showers and thunderstorms threatened, the riders at the 4th annual Niagara bike-a-thon enjoyed a beautiful day once again. There were 355 riders and close to $51,000 has been raised for the Nakekela HIV/AIDS clinic in South Africa. Word & Deed extends a hearty thank you to the legions of bikers, volunteers and donors. See you next year, on Saturday, June 4, the Lord willing!

Getting ready to depart from Fort Erie.

One of the rest stops along the way (water!)

Roger & Linda enjoy a well deserved break with Niagara Falls in the background (half way!)

Brian was kept busy with lots of disabled bikes and riders who couldn't quite make it all the way (including me, alas)

Now that is riding in comfort!

Once again a wonderful BBQ awaited us at the end of the ride!

Our very own Hanna!

See our Facebook group for more pictures (and please join if you haven't already)!

Guatemala - Hurricane and Volcano

Pastor Ken Herfst reports that the recent eruption of volcano Pacaya has left much of the country covered in ash. Then Hurricane Agatha battered parts of the country in a similar way to Hurricane Stan in 2005. Pastor Ken was scheduled to return to Guatemala on Thursday (June 3) but his flight has been delayed until next Tuesday at the earliest (June 8). We hope to have a clearer picture of how various projects have been affected then as well as the needs of people in the region. Brian Dennett of AMG Guatemala (La Palabra Christian School and the Radio project in Cubulco) reports no injuries or damages to AMG projects but expects to be very involved in recovery efforts as does Saq B'e.

A car remains buried near the area where 11 people died when a landslide destroyed their home on the northern outskirts of Guatemala City on May 31, 2010. (JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Projects Affected:
1) Restoration House (home for those recovering from additions) in Champerico on the Pacific Coast. Battered by waves with quite a few houses seriously damaged. Communication remains very difficult.

2)Ruth Association. Access to the remote villages involved with this project (Bible studies for women) have been cut off by numerous mud slides. This project is carried out in partnership with the Canadian Reformed World Relief Foundation.

3) Xe Abaj agricultural project. The crops have experienced some damage.

4) Cubulco - Radio project with AMG Guatemala (Free Reformed Missions active in this area). A bridge built by Pastor Ken Herfst approximately 15 years ago was severely damaged while four people were walking on it killing all four.

Pastor Ken Herfst hopes to provide a firsthand update next week when he arrives in western Guatemala, the Lord willing. Here are a series of pictures from the Boston Globe (click on pictures)