Recent photo's

Back view of the boys house we run
Front view of the boys house (yes, this is all one house)

Our transport to and from the island to Darwin

Our seven boys

We have internet!!!

April 25th 2008

We now have internet on campus! It’s a temporary wireless router in the main office until the college infrastructure is finalized but we are thankful we now have means in which to access!! I think the next step will be a wireless router that will transmit 2 miles and then a fiber optics network to the homes. We are glad to see step one at the moment!
It’s a public holiday here called “Anzac Day” so we have a 3 day weekend. Anzac day is similar to Veterans Day in the States. We will be going to an Anzac day party on campus this evening to eat some traditional Aussie holiday treats.
Week two with the boys has been very good. We had 7 boys in the house. Most of them are 12 and 13 with a 14, 16 and 17 year old. We are very encouraged how the boys are settling in and it has surpassed our initial expectations. One of the boys who lives with his grandparents and doesn’t have a father and his mother has serious issues, expressed to us that “he feels like we are family here”. That was very encouraging to us!
The teachers have expressed to us that the boys are participating in class like never before. This kind of life is all new to the students and of course has it’s challenges as we work to play our part with the boys to build a campus culture. We are thankful we haven’t had any acting out as of yet with no escalation of anger. It’s not a matter of “if” this will happen, but when, but we are working to minimize any incident. Even though these boys are not in custody, the vast majority come from “families in crisis”.
Before the boys were in the house here at the College, they lived in very small portable houses during the first term. There were often fights, rock throwing and serious temper tantrums. Actually, the only rock throwing we have seen this term was when we were walking back from the river where we swim with the students after school. They spotted a snake and immediately opened fire with rapid rock fire! It was amazing to see the accuracy of their shooting as stones bounced off the 2 or 3 foot black colored snake as it screamed off across the road for cover!
It’s amazing to us as we get to know the boys concerning the potential in their lives. We’ve been instructed to teach and guide the boys through a teaching philosophy known as “RAP” (Response Ability Pathways). RAP works by encouragement/ positive reinforcement rather than using a string of consequences to deal with bad behavior. “RAP” works to promote changed lifestyle from the inside-out rather than an external system which only “Band-Aids”. If anyone is interested in the book that teaches this its called” Response Ability Pathways (restoring bonds of respect)” authored by Larry Brendtro & Lesley du Toit. As we apply this with other Biblical principle, we believe will see the Tiwi youth of Bathurst and Melville Island rise up and take their place to be everything God has created them to be.
We thank those of you who have been praying for the Tiwi people. Transformation needs to happen here and we are literally on the front lines. Please pray for us as well for strength and wisdom.

School Term 1 /Achieved April 11 – 18, 2008

April 11 – 18, 2008
We flew back to Pickertaramoor on Friday morning the 11th. The flight was a bit bumpy because of strong easterly winds and very hot ground weather. It was good to be back. We learned when we returned that our new Family Group Home was ready to move into. We were off to work within minutes of our arrival. It was a hard 3 days of moving and assembling stuff. First the house needed to be cleaned from the construction dust, etc... We were thankful for some hard working staff that offered to help with this. We needed to move all kinds of stuff including, 2 refrigerator’s, 2 freezers 13 beds, 12 of which needed to be assembled. Everything was brand new for the house. The kitchen tools and small appliances are top of the line and virtually everything we will ever need. We are very impressed! Someone mentioned to us that it must be like getting married all over again with everything new for the house. The house and everything in it is beautiful and we are very thankful for such fine facilities in which to keep the boys.
The first day of the school term started on Tuesday. The roads are in much better shape now being the dry season is here so we went to pick up the students via road. I went to a community called Milikapati which is in an area known as Snake Bay on the North side of the island about 1 hour and 20 minutes away. The trip back to the school was uneventful and the students enjoyed listening to some music I brought along.
The boys did well overall the first week in the new house. We had an orientation with them the first day and laid down the house rules, etc… Discipline and structure is for the most part foreign to these boys so at times they were a bit slow to follow through. We gently led and encouraged them and they for the most part followed through with what needed to be done. We began to build relationships with each one which is very important with the focus of making them feel loved. We are teaching and training them and are working to develop a culture in the house which will take some time. The capacity of our house is 12 boys. We started out with 7 boys this week. Some did not come because of a funeral in the community. The Tiwi people are very respectful when it comes to these kinds of things. Over the course of the week we lost another boy who went to the funeral, one was suspended for refusing to participate in school and yet another hurt his foot during PE and needed to go home for the week. We finished the week with 4 boys. The encouraging thing about the week is we had no rock throwing or fighting among the boys which is a breakthrough. They seem very comfortable in their new home. We expect to have more boys in the house next week.
We continue to enjoy our new surroundings. We love the wildlife which includes wallabies (a smaller version of kangaroo, some call them Kangaroo want-to-be’s), wild horses, and many varieties of parrots. We also have seen a couple of Dingo’s around as we have driven the roads. We know there are plenty around the campus at night.
We’ve enjoyed our time with other staff on campus. We got together and played Yatzee one night this weekend and another night watched a DVD concert with some others by Randy Stonehill and Phil Keaggy. That definitely gives away our age! We still like it loud!!!

Some photo's

Bill's first experience in the mud. It's a good
thing we had a winch!! The guy standing next
to the "Troop Carrier" is a Tiwi Teachers aid
at the school. The guy behind the camera is Bill.

Linda behind the wheel safely on the beach during low tide as we fished.
Some of the students going home for the weekend. They have had to fly for most of last term being the roads have been impassible due to the heavy monsoon rains.

Back in Darwin for a week

April 9th, 2008
Well, it’s been more than two weeks since we have made an addition to the journal. We still don’t have Internet but we have been told it will be installed on April 11th. We are on school break until April 15th and we had an opportunity to spend a little time in Darwin during the break so we are here in Darwin. During this time in Darwin we are shopping for needs for our new family group home. We just finished up four days of professional development which has been very helpful for our preparation. We will be returning back to the island on the 11th which will give us a couple of days to prepare the new house for the new term. More on that later on in this entry.
Easter weekend was very good on the island. We had our own service at one of the family group homes and one of the teachers preached at the service. He is a former pastor and the message he shared was excellent!
It’s been really good to live in community again. There are a great bunch of staff and we have been blessed to have the opportunity to spend time with them during these first couple of weeks here.
We have had opportunity to begin to build relationships with some of the students as well during our first bit of acclimation time here. We learned that we will be working with the boys which we are happy about. There has been some change in plans since we arrived. Originally, our family group home was to be complete by the end of April and at that time we would take a new intake of boys to the college. Until that time we would mentor a couple who has never done this before whose group home will be complete by the beginning of the new term. The plan has changed because one of the house parent couples gave notice to terminate which left a void in the girl’s house. Instead of mentoring the couple in the boy’s house, we will now take the boy’s house on our own and mentor the other couple in the girl’s house as time avails. Hope this isn’t too confusing!!
The house in absolutely beautiful! It is very large somewhere around 3 or 4000 sq feet! It has a huge central great room which includes the kitchen and dinning room. It has 2 large bedrooms at each end of the house for the boys (6 each in a room) with a bathroom in each. It has a spacious house parent suite. It also has a large roof covered additional recreational room outside. We of course are very excited about the new house and Linda is already having fun with decoration ideas around the house. The house is constructed to withstand a category 5 cyclone (hurricane). It’s all thick brick with a welded steel roof construction. Cyclones happen here so it is good to know we are prepared.
We definitely need your prayer as we start this new term being the boys have had a very difficult start here at the school. The last week of last term several boys acted out by throwing rocks, swinging sticks, near fights along with nasty verbal gestures, etc... Many times disputes will carry on here from their communities and there will be divisions among them. There are no communities anywhere near the campus. In fact the nearest community is at least a 2 day’s walk from the school. This has been planned so that the students can focus on their education without distractions from their communities. We are literally working in the most remote school in the world! The students here have had very little discipline or structure in their lives so all of this will take time to develop. It will be a challenge but we are thankful we have the opportunity to help to have an influence in their lives.
Internet is coming to the campus and the talk is that it will be installed before the next term starts. We will then be able to make fresh entries instead of waiting until we are off the island. The next school term will last 10 weeks in which we expect to be on the island the entire time. On Monday the day before the term starts, we will fly to a couple aboriginal communities to meet with the students and their families before the term starts the following day. This time is important as we follow up with the students and families before school starts and it is time to build relationships which is critical in this culture.
We will have much more as the school term moves into full swing. Please keep us in your prayer being we know we are in for a challenge with the boys. Thanks
Culture shock has been a non issue for us for the most part. We are excited to be back to this part of the world and working with indigenous people again. I guess if there is one thing that we are trying to get used to is the Water Buffalo in the area. These animals are huge and make a cow look small. I was taking my morning walk one morning and literally felt the ground vibrate as one stomped off through the bush. I didn't see him but what else would give that effect? I had a feeling like I was living in Jurassic park! I changed my walking route after that. More later...

Archieved after arriving to Pickertaramoor

March 18th 2008

Our first day in Pickertaramoor.

Our flight was delayed at first due to mechanical troubles with a few of the planes. After waiting for about 4 hours we were instructed to board a single engine plane. Shortly after leaving the Darwin airport Melville Island came into view. As we were flying the pilot asked where we were from. We explained and he asked us about our family. He then asked if we have explained to our family that we will be working at the most remote school in the world! The flight was very smooth and the scenery was awesome! The flight time was about 25 minutes.
We landed on the dirt landing strip at Pickertaramoor at around 5:00pm. We had a nice welcome at the landing strip from some of the students who were there. The first thing they asked was, "where are you from"? When we told them America they asked," Have you ever met any movie stars or rap stars"? We explained that America is a big place.
We were then transported to the College via Land Cruiser which is about a 5 minute ride. On the way we saw a small heard of wild horses. They are very beautiful horses and there was one colt among them.
Our first impression of the campus was "WOW"! What a beautiful place! It was much larger than we anticipated. The campus takes in about 1000 acres. The streets are paved and there are even street lights. There is construction happening everywhere. It's amazing to think that we are experiencing a brand new community being built right before our eyes! How cool is that! The project here is of enormous proportion! It is truly amazing!
We met many of the very friendly staff during the evening. They were all very welcoming and made us feel at home. Our family group home will not be finished for about 2 months yet so we have temporary housing in a small portable home which will work just fine. It's air conditioned and has a bathroom. What more could one need?? There is a community dinning area where we will be eating our meals until which time our home is completed.
We slept very good the first night and are very happy to be here and thankful that God has given us this opportunity and privilege to serve the Tiwi youth here at Pickertaramoor.

March 21st 2008

Our first road trip off campus
The students returned to their respective communities late yesterday afternoon via small plane for a four day Easter break. The roads to their communities are still closed off so air travel is the only way for the students to return. All the students are at least a day’s walk to their communities from the college. The remoteness of the school is a good thing because it is important for them to be away from the influence of their communities so they can focus on their learning. It was fun hanging out at the landing strip as the students went on their way.
Because of the extreme wet season the major road to the island communities and the port has been sealed off because of washouts and deep mud holes. Therefore, construction has been delayed because trucks have not been able to navigate the roads to the port to pick up building materials. The building materials are brought over from Darwin via barge. A recent arrangement was made where the barge would dock at another location on a beach at a mineral mine where the road was yet passable. The barge landing was successful and construction crews are in the process of bringing the materials to the site. The principle asked Linda and me if we would like to come with them to pick up a new college vehicle that came in on the barge. Of course we were excited to make the trip. It was about a 36 mile trip each way. We needed to make one river crossing and the remainder of the road was in alright condition. The interesting thing about the trip was we came across a total of about a dozen water buffalo along the side of the road. These animals are huge and not very friendly. In fact they can be very dangerous. As we approached the animals they were very skittish and a few were a bit defensive looking. We drove through cautiously and it was apparent these animals can be very dangerous. They are very fast runners and ones best defense if charged would be to climb a tree if not protected by a vehicle. There was one instance where a bulldozer on campus here was charged by one.
Anyway, I was asked to drive the new vehicle back to the college. It was good to get behind the wheel again on the opposite side of the car and drive on the opposite side of the road. It took a little getting used to but it all came back fairly quickly being Papua New Guinea has the same road system. The new vehicle is a Toyota Land Cruiser troop carrier. They are large, tough powerful vehicles made for harsh conditions and will easily carry 10 people. It was fun to drive.
We are very impressed with the staff here. They are committed professional people with a pioneering spirit and most love the Lord. We have had many wonderful conversations as we are getting to know everyone.

March 22nd 2008

The fishing adventure
We set out on our first adventure to the beach this morning. It was about an eight mile drive. We needed to make two river crossings and the road was very rough in a few places but passable.
The beach here is a whole new adventure compared to beaches we know back home. There are many dangers that lurk and one needs to be exceptionally careful while at the beach. The heat alone is dangerous and one must be covered in sunscreen, wear a hat and bring plenty of water to drink. It would be a terrible mistake to swim in the water here. The waters are infested with shark and Box Jelly fish not to mention Salt Water Crocodiles. The crocodiles here are reported to be up to 19 feet! Mangrove swamps meet the sandy beaches on the inland side. With all of that to the side, the beaches are absolutely beautiful as long as you don’t go in the water and watch what’s happening around you! We were lent some fishing equipment and were excited to try to catch something. The bait we used was a smaller fish that was caught the day before in a river near the college. We cut pieces off of it as needed to bait the hook. The pole was a large pole and it took a couple of casts before I got the hang of casting it. The first fish I caught was very interesting. It appeared to be a cross between a Flounder and a Sting Ray. None of us were really sure what it was. I carefully removed the hook with pliers and sent him on his way back to the sea. I also caught a couple of sharks. One was big weighing at least 10 pounds and man did it fight. He was not a happy guy when I got him to shore as he snapped at us. I think he was a Tiger Shark.
As we were getting ready to leave the beach a large Sea Eagle was soaring around us and then perched high on a nearby tree. An absolutely beautiful bird and similar to the bald eagle.
We are enjoying getting to know our new surroundings.