But you go off to a country like that and you come back also changed, the country changed you, the experiences changed you, the people you meet changed you (: I realized today how much of my heart is still for them and with them.
Been doing research for a final essay paper I am doing on East Timor so I've been looking up tons of sources that would help me in understanding better this very young nation. I chanced upon a video called "Answered By Fire" about a policeman's view during Timor's struggle for independence. And just watching like the first 8 minutes of it have pulled out so much emotion from me - Looking at the scenes that I used to go past daily, listening to them speak in Tetum, seeing the rawness of this infant country. And then to think WOW, I was there for 10 months living in this very same place. Put down everything I was used to and loved and moved to another country. And still, I am not the best person to speak like that because there are many who have lived there for 8 years or more and I was just there for a mere 10 months.
I saw the full movie in Timor using a projector that we borrowed from the church and projected it on our white wall. But coming back and seeing it again, it's insane. Reminds me too of the things that God did in that place and His love for the people there (:
Anyone interested in this movie, this is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?playnext=1&playnext_from=TL&videos=J9zRfMNO6yI&v=xPsHbN5EILg
Because words alone will not be enough...
We took our English classes out to the beach and this particular girl made me cry so hard when I left because she lost her father and was just telling me how her uncle was taken to the jail for violence. That was when I really felt "Compassion" in it's purest form. My heart was so broken for her. She is such an amazing and brilliant girl!
A group of girls that would always play around us when we visited on of our contacts in Lahane, Dili (:
Amazing view taken from the car on the way to a place called Com in Lautem, this is apparently the best place to be at for this view (: The sea glitters in the sun, very beautiful!
I've posted sth about her before, the girl on the left is Akoko, who eats ALOT. And she is one of my fav kids because I love how she loves me :D She is always the dirtiest but loves to touch my face, my bag, my hair, EVERYTHING! Everyone else always scolds her, "Akoko!! NOOO, go bathe first! You see she is so clean!" But she hates it when they ask her to go take her bath because she prefers to be in her dirty self and run around without a care in the world (:
I would sit here and talk to some ladies here while their children run around with no shoes on because the whole place is their home (: (Maubara, Liqiscia)
Wanted to get some pens at a local kiosk in a mountainous district called Latefoho and I chanced upon a young boy with a really cute self-made "crown" that kinda reminded me of Jesus' Crown of Thorns that He had to wear :|
We were up on a high mountain where it was a little chilly and I saw this boy who was helping to sell these donated clothes to earn money for his family. I love the smile on his face (:
Well, I still can't believe I was there. What an honor it is that I got to do this and be in a culture and country that is STARKLY different from my own - to learn from them, to love them and to gladly leave a big part of my heart with them - Of this strange Singaporean Chinese christian girl who wanted to be their friend... (:
"Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told."
Habukkuk 1:5
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