Laif FM station manager Tony in Wewak, Papua new Guinea
Linda and a staff friend enjoying a time at a beach for a picnic lunch after a football game.


Future Tiwi College students

A photo of the boys along with a team from Alice Springs after a game. Of course our boys won!

At Long Last

Yes… It has been a while since we have added to our blog. We apologize for the delay.
We are in the Darwin area with some friends at the moment in preparation to fly out on Saturday night (tonight) for a 5 week break in the USA. What a drastic change that will be! We are in the wet season which is also the hottest time of the year with daily heavy rains and thunderstorms. Living on the island this year has been an experience we will surely never forget! What a privilege it has been to serve with Tiwi College even though this first year of pioneering the college has been tough on all the staff. Some staff have been talking about designing a shirt that says, “I survived the 1st year of Tiwi College”.
We finished the year in what we would call “victory”! The students, school and staff have come a long way since the beginning of the year. We have especially seen the students come a long way. Many have improved drastically in their literacy skills along with their behavioral and social skills. Linda and I feel we are now connecting with most of our boys in the house. It was very encouraging to actually get hugs from some of them as they left for home for the Christmas school holidays. The last day of school was a grand faunally of football, people and food. The Hawthorn Hawks, an AFL team that recently won the Australia Football league championship were there to spend time with the students. They were actually water boys to the boys as they played football. How cool is that! Tiwi College did go on to win the game which added to the excitement. There were many locals from the communities there for the game and there was a fantastic BBQ to finish off the days events. Of course we are all ready for a break and need to recharge for the year to come. Linda and I will be returning back to Tiwi College on January 19th 2009. Until then we are very much looking forward to a restful time with family and friends.
Papua New Guinea...
During our free time at Tiwi College I have been in close touch with Tony the station manager of “Laif FM” a radio station we pioneered in Wewak, Papua New Guinea. I continue to be very proud of Tony as he leads and grows in the work there. We have been assisting him to obtain some new broadcast equipment which will enable the station to transmit a much greater distance allowing many more thousands of people to receive the broadcast. The new equipment should be installed in a matter of a few weeks and a celebration is planned where the Prime Minister of PNG will switch on the new equipment.
I’ve been hearing some very distressing news from Tony over the last few days concerning large waves pounding the coast. I’ve noticed this story has been carried in the news internationally. These waves hit Wewak last Monday afternoon about 3 or 4:00. Many of the waves were several meters high and destroyed many homes, businesses and town infrastructure. The hospitable was especially hard hit and had to be closed. The patients were all sent home. The local Toyota dealer was destroyed along with businesses including a couple of hotels and restaurants and the wharf where the town’s supply of goods and fuel are received. A hotel/ restaurant where Linda and I used to visit for a meal named “The Windjammer” is gone! Wewak is experiencing a very difficult time. Please pray for this situation and for the many people who have been displaced through this tragedy.

Love and Merry Christmas …Bill & Linda

RAIN!

Yes… RAIN!!!! We received the first rain we have had in about 5 months! We were alarmed by the rain in the middle of the night as it roared on our tin roof but what a wonderful sound it was! The dust conditions over the past couple of months have been unbelievable. Often when driving down the roads (all the roads are dirt off campus) one cannot see the road when another vehicle passes by going the opposite direction. Often we have needed to stop on the side of the road until the dust clears. The Islands here (and all of the Northern Territory) have a very distinct wet and dry season. The dry season runs from May to about November or December and then the wet season thru April. The Wet season comes in gradually beginning with what is called the “build up” which we are experiencing now. During the build up we may get occasional rain but the big story of the build up is the high humidity! Once the wet season sets in, many of the roads will be impassible due to mud. We go from one extreme to another. People have told us that here on Melville Island, the strongest thunder storms in the world occur. We hear that scientists actually study the weather here on the island because of the frequent thunderstorm activity during the wet season. There is also the threat of Cyclones (Hurricanes) here in the wet. Needless to say it should be interesting here during the wet season.
Tomorrow we go off to Darwin for a much needed break. Running the house over the past few weeks has been an extremely high maintenance task. We believe we are making progress with the boys but ever so slowly with a lot of bumps on the way.
These students have had very little (if any) structure/discipline in their lives and to bring structure into their lives from the age of 12 years and up is challenging. So often children who don’t have structure and discipline growing up come into severe consequence as adults which of course is much more damaging than if they were taught as children. One of our goals with the students is to teach them concerning right and wrong choices and the consequence thereof. Its much better to pay consequence now when they are young and learn rather than when adults when it might be too late. Also positive affirmation in the children’s lives and speaking into their lives is just as important if not more important. Please pray for our boys over the next couple of weeks while they are on break. The next school term begins on October 14th.
We are now proud grandparents to our 5th grandchild named Malachi born to our oldest son Bill and his wife Trudy. We will be going back to the states for 5 weeks for Christmas break and can’t wait to meet him!
Many blessings!!!! Love …Bill & Linda

30th anniversary celebration Photos

Linda enjoying the show

Water Buffolo burgers!

Greetings… It’s been a couple of very busy weeks for us here at Tiwi College. It’s been challenging to work with the boys in the house as they have been somewhat restless/ unsettled since the excursion. The reality of classroom study and tight structure is all but comfortable to most of the students. Our house here has been high maintenance with the boys and we are extremely tired by the end of the week. A big part of our job here is to bring structure, training and discipline to the lives of the students to help them move on to successful adult lives. Easier said than done! The process is long and often seed planting in their lives is all we can accomplish in some.
This last week was the 30th anniversary of the Tiwi land counsel. In 1978 the Tiwi Islands (Melville & Bathurst Islands) were officially handed back to the Tiwi people by the Australian government. Although the Tiwi Islands are still part of Australia, they are governed by what’s called the “Tiwi Land Counsel”. The celebration was big with plenty of food, dance and speeches. The elders did a lot of traditional Tiwi dance and the food was great! It was the first time for us to eat water buffalo meat which was actually quite tasty. Water Buffalo roam wild around Melville Island and are hunted by the Tiwi people. They cooked both buffalo burgers and buffalo meat underground. There was also turtle to eat but it went fast and Linda and I missed out. Oh well, next time.
We have 2 weeks till break and are very much looking forward to a rest. We will go to Darwin and stay for about 9 days and enjoy some R&R and civilization again. There are absolutely no shops in or near Pickertaramoor here so it will be nice especially for Linda to do some serious shopping. There are also a lot of very good restaurants and a great network of biking/ walking trails around the Darwin metro area. We always enjoy our time around Darwin.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we serve here at Tiwi College. Love …Bill & Linda

Excursion Photos

A view of the Victoria Coast near Melbourne
These two students found some work of their immediate ancestors on display in a Melbourne museum. How cool is that!!!
Meeting the team at training. They went on to win at the game on Saturday.
Some of the boys posing for a photo with one of the football stars during a training session we attended.
The Melbourne skyline 88 stories up on the Eureka Tower. We spent about 1 1/2 hours enjoying the views.
Two of the boys enjoying the time on the 88th floor.
A first time horseback riding experience for the students
Another new experience for the students... commuting around the city in a tram.

Return From Melbourne (and then no internet)

Greetings… We apologize for not getting to our blog before this. We arrived back from Melbourne, took a couple of days off and then the internet went down. Well it’s back up so here we go.
The Melbourne trip was quite an experience. I guess the most fun was watching the students experience new things. For the most part they were well behaved but we had our moments of insanity! We made it and we are thankful for that!
The trip from Pickertaramoor started on the road for about 45 minutes as we made our way to a boat called the “Arafura Pearl”. The boat ride was about two hours to Darwin. We then shacked up in a couple of schools till about midnight and left for the airport. We were off to Melbourne just before 3:00 am. Flying a jet was an all new experience for most of the 45 students. One student I was with saw me with my boarding pass as we walked to the terminal. He reacted a bit concerned and asked, “what’s that?” I explained to him that it was my boarding pass which we all need to board the plane. He then said, “oh no, I thought it was rubbish and threw it away!” He then rushed back to where he threw it away and fortunately found it in the can. As we were taking off another student next to me asked, “Bill, how fast are we going?” I explained, he then asked, “How high are we going to go?” I again explained, he then asked, “are we going to be above the clouds?” I said yes. He pondered a brief moment, then seriously looked at me and said, “Bill, this is freaking me out!”
It was also interesting watching the students react to the cold weather being it was winter in southern Australia and few have experienced winter. As they got off plane they enjoyed seeing their breath and some pretended they were smoking. Quite fascinating to watch!
The trip was full-on every day. The zoo, museum, shopping, AFL footy game (they met a lot of the players and also formed the guard of honor as the Melbourne team ran out for the game), the beach, they also played AFL against another school (and won). Our schedule was full!
At times it was difficult keeping 45 students together but we somehow managed our way through it.
Linda and I had a few evenings free which was nice. One night we took a tram downtown. Melbourne is a very big beautiful city with plenty to do.
Now back at the college we have been facing the “after the trip syndrome”. Many of the students have been less than responsive to school work so it’s been a challenge for all of us staff. Tiwi College is on the front lines here to bring education to the Tiwi youth. It is a battle at times and staff can get quite battle weary at times as well. It’s amazing to us to see the staff here continue to press on to see victory in the lives of these Tiwi Boys and girls. Please keep us all in your prayers. Thanks …Bill & Linda

Photos

The happy hunter!
Students enjoying the new trampolines
Our very first sports day during the first week of the term

The BIG hunt!

Well… It's been a while since we added to the blog. We apologize for this. We usually try to add something on a weekly basis.
Since last term the campus grounds has come a long way. We now have a school building, net ball and basketball courts, 2 trampolines, and the running track is nearly completed and there has been much progress on the football oval. There has also been a lot of staff housing completed which has given the teachers and their families a good place to live. We also now have internet in our homes which has been really good. Satellite TV and phones are yet to come. Its amazing to see a brand new community developing right before our eyes in the middle of the bush on a remote island.

The first 3 weeks of the term has been a bit wild and crazy here. We currently have 49 students enrolled which is great but along with that comes the care for 49 students!!! We currently have 12 boys in our house which is a handful!!. Overall we feel things are going well and we have not had any serious issues which we are thankful for. We have several new boys and we are bringing them through a similar process as we have with the original boys last term. It helps with our original boys knowing the routine in the house which helps the new boys understand what is expected. Most of the boys we are working with have serious trouble in school environments and have trouble sitting in class to learn. Needless to say the teachers have had their moments this term with 49 of them. At the end of the week we are all tired and ready to rest for the weekend.
I consider the most important time of the day in the house is the devotion time. This is the time when we talk about their creator and teach from His Word. We usually give a short teaching from the Bible show a contemporary Christian music video and enjoy a bowl of ice cream or a paddle pop as all of this is happening. Please pray for our boys that they see Gods love for them and come to receive everything Jesus has done for them on the cross. God is truly awesome and has a lot for these boys!
I learned one very interesting lesson this week as I took some of the boys for a walk. I first wanted to encourage the boys to take a walk so I did everything I could to make it sound exciting. I told them we were going to hunt on this walk and I was hoping to see some wildlife. Well… they literally took “hunt” seriously and hunt is exactly what they did! Shortly into our walk they spotted a large lizard called a Goanna. They picked up rocks and started firing at it with rapid fire. They chased it up a tree and the boys were able to knock it out of the tree to its death. I knew that I shouldn’t have used the word “hunt” being they took what I said very literally and I knew I had to let this take its course. I of course felt sorry for the Goanna. They in turn were proud of their kill and brought it back to the house to show off to the others. The Australian Aboriginal people are hunters and gathers so this is second nature to them.
The school is going on a 10 day excursion to Melbourne Australia leaving the 13th of August. Linda and I have the privilege to go on this trip to help supervise the students. It will be a lot of hard work but it should prove to be a lot of fun. It will be a good time of relationship building among the staff and students. We will be going to an AFL footy game, the zoo, shopping and all kinds of fun stuff. Many of these students have never been beyond the Darwin area so this will be an adventure for them. It will actually be an adventure for Linda and I as well. I’m looking forward to going to my first Australian Rules Football game and Linda of course is looking forward to the shopping experiences. I am told to be careful of this AFL football stuff. A lot of Aussie guys have come under the spell of this leather god in the shape of a football! Scary!!!!! How much different is this than the states… about the same I would say!
We so much appreciate your prayer as we serve the Tiwi youth here. We are awed at the opportunity we have to work with these Tiwi young people who will be the future leaders in their communities and nation! Love …Bill & Linda

A beach along the coast near Cairns A friendly Kookaburra who joined us for a picnic lunch
Barbecue Australian style... snags (sausages) & onions... good stuff!!!!
One needs to practice a bit more caution than most beaches when going to Cairns area beaches. If you look on the left side of the sign it warns one must be cautious of Crocodiles, Jelly Fish and sharks. The beaches are very beautiful though!!!
Linda working hard to build relationships with the locals.

Back At Pickertaramoor

It was a good time in Cairns, Queensland (pronounced = Cans) and we were able to get some good rest. Cairns is a beautiful place and has a lot to offer with beaches, reefs, mountains, tropical rain forests with plenty of restaurants, shops and tourist-like things to do. It’s a perfect place to get away and rest. We rented an older car which saved money (and made us look like locals) and gave us the freedom to roam around which was really nice. We are thankful for our time there!
Our time in Papua New Guinea is still strong on our hearts. It was such a refreshing and wonderful trip to Wewak! The PNG people are awesome and wonderful to be around. We were totally encouraged by the trip! We feel like we were leaving family as we left. Please keep the staff there at Laif FM in your prayers and if you want to learn more about the radio station there or contact them, contact us and we will give you any information you need.

We also very much enjoyed our time in Darwin with some friends before heading back to Pickertaramoor. The 10 week term at Tiwi College began yesterday We anticipate that it will be another tough term with the boys, but at the same time we feel we will continue to make progress. We have some new boys in the house in addition to ones from last term. It will be challenging but there is already a house culture that has started last term so they should come into line as we move into the term.. The first school building is now complete so that will make a better learning environment for the students rather than holding classes in the houses.

We are in the middle of the dry season in the Northern territory and here on Melville Island. During the dry season it often does not rain for months and is windy at times and always dusty. It’s still hot during the day but a bit cooler at night with much less humidity than the wet. Just as common as the rain is in the wet season, bush fires are in the dry season. The smell of smoke is normal as much of the bush in the area burns which produces natural regeneration in the forests.

In our spirits we are fresh and ready to go through this term. In our bodies we have a few struggles. Linda pulled her shoulder and is hurting a bit. I have been bit by a nasty spider which produced a sick feeling and a headache for a few days. There is also a fairly major skin irritation from the bite. Please pray for those needs with us. Thanks! Love …Bill & Linda

Photo's

Our plane as they were unloading our baggage just after landing in Wewak
The veiw from the radio station grounds. The large islands you see are Mushu (in front) and Kairuru Islands
Every night during the Share-A-Thon there was a panel of pastors discussing and promoting the fundraising. Top left: Assembly Of God pastor with his 3 boys- Top right: Tony Dua, station manager- Bottom left: Nazerine pastor- Bottom right: Baptist pastor
The staff counting donations during the Share-A-Thon

We are back in Australia from Papua New Guinea

Linda and I Have just returned back from Australia from Wewak, Papua New Guinea. It was so good to go back again. We felt very welcome by the staff and the community alike. It was like coming home!!
Originally back about 10 years ago we set out with a vision to establish a Christian radio station unique to the nation of Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea is unlike any nation in the world. Our heart was to see a youth targeted station with the majority of the programming in music form. We also wanted a station that would attract non-Christian listeners as well as Christian that would evangelize and build up the “Body Of Christ. We did not want to sound like a “church on the air” nor broadcast for the supporting listener’s sake. We felt that the Lord was challenging us to focus on and impact the youth of PNG with cutting edge music/ministry that would bring it’s listeners to the knowledge and nurture of the Lord Jesus Christ and help to unite the Body Of Christ in the process.
We were very pleased concerning the station when we arrived. Tony Dua our station manager has come a long way since meeting him ten years ago in Mt Hagen. We see tremendous growth in his life and he has kept the original vision for Laif FM which of course is exciting to us. He is stepping out in many areas of the ministry as he works to take the station to the next level. This young man is excelling in his potential! We are very proud of him!
The Share-A-Thon was a very big success! It was a 5 day long on-air time where we asked the listeners to take ownership and pitch in some money to see the station grow in listener coverage. It was fantastic to see the listening audience give thousands of Kina into the work as they took ownership of “their” radio station. This group- type of fund raising is very effective here in PNG mostly because this parallels some of their cultural practices with group giving for bride prices, compensation, etc… We were amazed to see money coming into the station from children, youth and adults many being non Christian! We were in awe! I’m thinking of one young man who didn’t appear to be a Christian and gave Kina 1000.00 to the station. Another 10 year old girl brought a Kina 10.00 note to the station. There are many stories like these! Truly awesome!
Laif FM (pronounced “life”) is a very popular station! As we were around town this week we were often approached by people thanking us for bringing Laif FM to Wewak. Christians and non-Christians alike are enjoying the station. As we were leaving our guest house for the airport to head back, a security guard approached us and thanked us for Laif FM. He told us that many have repented because of the music they hear on Laif FM. Again there are many stories like this one. It’s encouraging to see the impact the station is having on the greater community. Linda and I are truly encouraged and we thank God for everything he is doing there.
We are here in Cairns Australia now and have 9 days to rest (which we very much need) before heading back to Darwin. Please keep Laif FM and staff in your prayers.
Love …Bill & Linda

Photos of future Tiwi College students

Papua New Guinea… Here we come!!!

Our first 10 week school term at Tiwi College has completed and we are off on a 4 week break. Our first week will be spent in Wewak, Papua New Guinea helping Life FM with their 5 day, on air Share-A-Thon. We are looking forward to our time there. Those of you who know us well know that PNG has been a big part of our lives and is still very much on our hearts. It will be good to see our PNG friends once again!
Our last week at Tiwi College was extremely busy and tense. The boys were very restless the last week and were definitely ready for their school Holidays. The students and staff are definitely in need of a break as well!! This particular school break is known around the Tiwi Islands as “Bush Holiday”. It’s the time of the year when the Tiwi people camp out bush to fish and hunt. It’s interesting that most Australian Aboriginals are traditionally “hunters and gathers” while most people in PNG are farmers and very good ones at that. The PNG people are thought to be the world’s earliest farmers. The Tiwi people will hunt mostly Wallaby (small kangaroos) and water buffalo over the “Bush Holiday”. They will also do a lot of fishing. The biggest sought after fish on the islands is the Barramundi. Barramundi is a very good eating fish and fun to catch.
Also during this last week the Four Corners program aired across Australia on Monday. The 4 Corners program has been airing for about 50 years here in Australia and is a well respected news program similar to 60 minutes. They did a special story called, “Educating Kimberly” which for the most part reflected what Tiwi College is doing on the Tiwi Islands. It was for the most part a positive report concerning Tiwi College but the report revealed much of the negative social and educational issues concerning the Tiwi people. You can catch a streaming broadcast of the airing here… http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2008/s2273093.htm Linda and I are in it a little.
We will be arriving back to Australia from PNG on July 1st and will spend some time in Cairns, Queensland, Australia before heading back to Darwin and Pickertaramoor. Our time in Cairns will be a time of resting so we will be fully refreshed when we go back to start school term #3.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we travel and for the radio work in PNG. We will add to our blog again once we return from PNG on July 1st.

This is one of our local wild Dingo's. A week ago Saturday Linda and I were taking an evening walk at dusk when one of these guys surprised us by running up to us from behind. He then followed us for a while coming as close as about 8 feet from us. It was probably curiosity but we didn't take any chances. I was armed and dangerous with a large folding knife in hand I carry for these kind of surprises.
Here are 4 of the girls as they loaded in the mini bus after a refreshing afternoon swim.
Meet Gabriel... Gabriel is our new boy in the house. He is 13 and one of the more polite/ educated Tiwi boys we have met. We're excited to have him in the house.

School Break is coming!!!

It’s hard to believe that we are already in week 9 of the 10 week school term. After the term we will be on school holidays for 4 weeks. The next 2 weeks will be exceptionally busy as we close out the term. We have BBQ’s planed for the families and friends of the students and all the other “end of the term” stuff that one can expect. We are definitely looking forward to the upcoming break! It’s been a tough stretch! Linda and I will be in Wewak, Papua New Guinea for about a week helping with an “on air” Share-A-Thon with “Life FM”, a station we brought to air back in 2003. Following the time in PNG we will take a rest in Cairns, Queensland, Australia for about 9 days. We will then head back to Darwin for a few days before attending a week of training and meetings in preparation for the next term.
We do love the boys in our care here at Tiwi College. The challenges are many but it’s exciting to see growth in their lives as they settle into routines here. Most have never experienced structure and discipline so this is all new to them. The house is a learning environment as they learn respect (for themselves and others), submission to authority, Biblical principles they can apply to their lives, self worth, hygiene, and ultimately and most importantly… a relationship with a God that loves them and gave his Son Jesus for them. The most important thing you can do for us here is to pray for breakthrough in their lives so they can see Gods love for them and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. The Tiwi society is crumbing at the seams. The Tiwi people have the highest suicide rate per capita in the world! Drug and alcohol addiction is epidemic and the breakdown of family is evident everywhere. Most of our boys here do not live with their parents but aunties or grandparents. The vast majority of students here are many years behind academically for their age. Some students could not write their own name or recognize numbers when they came. Tiwi College is on the front lines to reach the Tiwi people and the battle is raging! We appreciate your prayer!
Tiwi College is a 30 year dream (come true) of a Tiwi elder.

A visit to Papua New Guinea

The staff at Life FM in Wewak PNG as we left back in late August, 2004. The station manager "Tony" is front right with the blue hat.

A visit to Papua New Guinea

Yes!!! We are going to Wewak, Papua New Guinea for a visit arriving June 23 and departing July 1st. Needless to say we are very excited concerning this opportunity! A few weeks ago we received an invitation email from Tony the station manager there at Life FM. He invited us to come and take part with a five day on air fundraising event called Share-A-Thon. With a minor adjustment to their schedule, we will be able to go being Linda and I will be on school holidays. Needless to say we are thrilled about the opportunity to go back to Wewak and spend time with PNG friends. We go way back with Tony to the first year we worked in PNG back in 1998. He is a dear friend! We are so very proud of Tony being he has grown tremendously and is doing a great job managing the station and running with the vision of Life FM, Christian radio for PNG youth.
Please pray for us as we go that God will be glorified and the station will raise the funds needed to upgrade the work and begin to bring the station to other provinces in Papua New Guinea.

Photo's

Linda browsing some local artwork at the Mindil Beach Market
One of our boys going back to his roots
The view as we come into Milikapiti on Monday morning to pick up some students for school

Another Week In Paradise

We had a nice rest in Darwin last weekend. I was able to get a much needed haircut and Linda very much enjoyed the shopping opportunities and picked up some things we needed. It was strange to be in civilization again. The Hotel we stayed in was brand new and very nice. The room had a beautiful view of downtown Darwin. On Sunday evening we went to what’s called the “Mindil Beach Sunset Market”. The market opens at sunset and goes well into the night and offers all sorts of international food, entertainment and has various vendors selling unique craft, art and clothes items. The atmosphere has a very international feeling to it. Darwin is a very multi-cultural/ethnic city and it is actually closer by flight to Singapore and Manila than Sydney.
We arrived back to Pickertaramoor about 8:00 Monday morning to begin a new week with our boys. Man, what a week it was! It’s a good thing we had a good rest. We needed to deal with a serious anger issue this week. In fact it was by far the most serious issue we had ever dealt with in our years of working with youth. It’s a long story and will spare the details but one of our young men became very verbally abusive and threatening to the teacher staff and us. It has been building up for some weeks and we have made attempts to curve this behavior and give the student every chance to come under the authority of the school. He is a very big, strong young man for his age. It got to the point on Wednesday evening that we needed to send him back to his community. He became enraged at that point and went ballistic swinging a large piece of wood breaking windows and threatening staff at the top of his lungs. He finally calmed down after an hour or so and the police needed to transport him back to his community. We don’t want to give up on this young man. He is very smart and shows very good leadership ability. Please pray for him and for us staff here as we seek Godly wisdom in this situation.
It is amazing to us how God can turn a not-so-good situation into opportunities of learning and growth. We needed to walk our other boys through the above situation being they of course experienced the trauma of it as well. We had a day of informal debriefing on Thursday and focused on dealing with anger being most of them are dealing with all sorts of anger issues themselves. We discussed Eph 4:26-27 "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. & Prov 22:24-25 “Make no friendship with an angry man, And with a furious man do not go, Lest you learn his ways And set a snare for your soul”. Linda and I are thrilled concerning their response and believe our boys have moved to a new level as they learn to deal with anger. What a blessing it is to see these young men begin grow and blossom.
Linda and I are enjoying a peaceful weekend here in Pickertaramoor. The weather is beautiful every day here during the dry season. The lows are usually in the upper 60’s to lower 70’s and the highs are middle 80’s to lower 90’s. The school is located in a very remote bush area so there are no stores or anything like that but we enjoy taking long walks, spending time with friends and watching an occasional DVD. We watched a movie last night called, “August Rush”. Check it out if you haven’t seen it yet.
It’s early Saturday morning as I’m writing this and it’s still dark. The realization of being here is all to evident as I hear the Dingo’s yell in the bush. Please continue to keep the students and staff here at Tiwi College in your prayers. Thanks!!!!

Our boys this week

Our boys as we went on a bush walk Thursday after dinner. We walked about 5 kilometers (3 miles) and arrived back to the house after dark. On the way the boys found a snake and killed it. They also kicked the rugby ball back and forth to each other during most of the walk. After we got home one of them said, "that walk was good fun"!

Media and more!

Yes, it been another very busy week here for us. On Tuesday, the Minister of education (3rd down from the Prime Minister) visited along with a group of dignitaries from Canberra, leaders from the Northern Territory government, leaders from the Tiwi Islands and plenty of media personal for the official opening of the family group homes here on campus. We were interviewed by the “Melbourne Age” (a large newspaper in Melbourne which is the second largest city in Australia). The article hit the paper on the 21st. It was a very positive article which was encouraging. One funny thing in the article was the reporter said, “we are from Tennessee and have southern accents”!! Quite funny!
I was also interviewed by the “4 Corners” program media. The special on Tiwi College will be airing sometime next month.
It was a very stressful couple of days for us as we prepared the house being we were the host house. We had in excess of 60 people on our covered porch area for the celebration and some tours around the home. We were glad when all of this was over.

Overall we had a great week with the boys. We are seeing steady progress and it is encouraging to see the boys settle down into a routine around the house. We are working to make them feel safe and loved as the Tiwi College culture is developed.

We were very surprised yesterday when our leadership asked if we would like a weekend in Darwin to rest in a nice Hotel expenses paid by the college! What a huge blessing!!! We will spend two nights in Darwin and return on Monday morning to start another week. Of course Linda will like the shopping opportunities and we will both enjoy some meals out to local restaurants. Darwin is a beautiful city and we always enjoy our time there.

Here’s a couple of tidbits we came across this week with the students that made us laugh and/or shake our heads….

On Monday as I was picking up the students from Milikapiti for the week, one of the young ladies told me that her brother has a Dingo for a pet. I then asked if he bites? She replied, “only if he’s hungry”!!!!

Another one was… during class, one of the boys was struggling to sit and participate. He then left the classroom setting and went to the bathroom and used a piece of soap to scribble a four letter word on the mirror. The interesting thing is that he spelled the four letter word wrong!! Needless to say this student is struggling with his reading and writing skills and really needed to get back to class!

Keep us, the staff and students at Tiwi College in your prayers. Thanks

Recent photo's

The students enjoying the daily ritual of an afternoon swim after school.
One of our boys "Kenny" helping the campus maintenance man install curtain rods

Enjoying a Kangaroo and Damper meal together around the fire.