The green hills rose majestically above the valley. A veil of mist lingered over them after the rain. As the sun set and the light faded, the crickets filled the air with their chirping.
For many of us who enjoy urban life or reliable electricity, such a landscape and mood may seem peaceful and attractive. But for some families in Kupang and South Central Timor (TTS) regencies, those hours after sunset are nothing but dark times with few options.
“No electricity here. Never been built, since independence,” said Mama Yohana, a lady we met during our visit to Oesusu, a remote village in East Nusa Tenggara.
These villages are isolated from the main road. We had to bump and jolt on a dusty and rocky road for six kilometers to get to Mama Yohana in Oesusu Village east of Dusun Empat. The road turned into a swampy trap or a dead end when the rain poured and the rivers overflowed without any bridges to cross. This daunting access made it almost impossible to install electricity.
For the purposes of communal worship or other activities that require electricity, the residents rely on generators. However, this machine has its limitations and cannot be used for a long time or on a daily basis. The difficult road access and the low economic capacity of the residents make it challenging to purchase diesel fuel regularly.
The “Be a Light” Package filled them with joy and gratitude. The package contained Bibles, biblical resources, and a solar powered lamp. Our prayer is that the package will brighten their homes and their lives. We also pray that God’s Word and love will radiate in their hearts and souls. Through it, they will find strength and hope to overcome all the challenges of life.
One of the people we met on our visit was Mama Ale, who lives alone in a humble house in the middle of the forest. Her village has access to electricity, but her house is too far away to be connected. To get to her house, we had to walk through a narrow path for more than 15 minutes. The house was built with corrugated iron sheets that barely protected her from the elements. At night, she relied on a kerosene lamp that cast a dim light over her surroundings.
The solar lights from the “Be a Light” Package made Mama Ale’s house much brighter at night. She no longer had to walk far to other houses to charge them, as the solar lights only needed to be exposed to the sun during the day. But more than the lights, Mama Ale felt grateful and happy that all of you who supported “Be a Light” Project mission cared about her plight. With the lights, she could read God’s Word through the Bible and Christian books without the hindrance of darkness.
Friends of ODB, our visit to East Nusa Tenggara was the first step in fulfilling the mission of ”Be a Light” Project in our vast country. We want to make sure that the “Be a Light” Packages reach the Christian families who need them most. We are working on a strategy for further distribution of those packages in partnership with local churches.
Please keep supporting and praying for this mission, as we plan to bring “Be a Light” Packages to other parts of the country where our brothers and sisters in Christ are living in darkness of the night.