Indonesia is known for their lush vegetation, plentiful rainforests, and exotic wildlife. This ecosystem is one of the most diverse in the world but it’s not only for aesthetics – the entire world benefits from the oxygen produced there. Many of the trees and plants are used daily to financially support villages and communities. Rubber, teak, and acacia trees are just three of the main types of timber planted, grown, and harvested for a living. Just one acre of 5 year old rubber trees can support a family of four, providing them approximately $150 per month!

With Christmas just around the corner, our Indonesian partners have initiated a project called, Trees for Lives, to help church planters reach rural communities by selling t-shirts and Christmas ornaments.

By purchasing a t-shirt and/or ornament a tree will be planted in your name and will help:
• Provide jobs so Indonesian church planters can hire local people to work planting the trees
• Build and enhance relationships between church planters and their new communities as they demonstrate care for the environment and their neighbors
• Reducing carbon emissions
• Helping parents to send their kids to school with new cloths & supplies
• Fund investments in new properties to continue building Communities of Hope
• Develop tree farms for long term employment harvesting rubber and other tree products.

These trees represent bringing new life to communities. They represent that there are still communities in the world who want to see growth by engaging and supporting win-win projects with other communities … such as Trees for Lives!

If you would like to participate in this project please contact:

Justin Campbell,
justinc@venntis.com
Office – 1.616.796.6773
Cell – 1.616.283.1398

Vineyard churches have worked together in partnerships to plant churches all over the world. It is more effective to work together since you can pool people and resources in order to nurture an indigenous, self-sustaining church planting movement in the adopted country. A partnership allows a small fellowship like NLV to make a significant contribution toward the accomplishment of the Great Commission.

Efforts to date made by the Indonesian Partnership, include short term team visits coming to participate in training indigenous church planters, and to support other ministries, from worship concerts to developing small businesses to make inroads into communities. The Indonesian Partnership has also contributed generously to tsunami aid and they have helped construct a new orphanage for the children of tsunami victims on the island of Sumatra.

Here is a video clip of a short term team visit made to Indonesia in 2008.

Nong Tao, and the new hostel and high school sponsorship
Nong Tao was first introduced to a member of NLV by Phii Chaay and Phii Tamla and the Karen couple have since become the church’s missionary partners. The Nong Tao hostel takes in children of about age 5 to 12 from the Karen tribe and is located in the highlands in the Mae Wang province, which is about 2 hours drive away from Chiangmai city. Phii Chaay and Phii Tamla now have plans to build and run a new hostel that can house the Nong Tao children who are coming to attend high school in the city. As many of the children are too poor to pay for school fees they wish to secure sponsorships for the payment of their school fees and other related expenses.

Resulting from NLV’s most recent missions to Nong Tao, the church has decided to:
(1) Share with concerned parties about Phii Tamla and Phii Chaay need for funds to defray the construction cost of the new hostel; and
(2) Offer sponsorships for the batch of students “graduating” from Nong Tao and coming to the city to attend high school

The purpose of building a hostel in the city is to continue offering a conducive and spiritual lodging place for the high school students from Nong Tao. The hostel would be manned by Phii Tamla and Phii Chaay, and they will also be responsible to administer and monitor the NLV sponsorships for the high school students and oversee their development in high school. A simple plan which Phii Chaay and Phii Tamla have for the hostel to become sustainable in the long run is to inculcate a desire in the students that on successfully finishing high school and university, they will in turn sponsor kids from the Nong Tao to go through high school. Furthermore, when the new hostel becomes more established we envisage they shall take in full fees paying students from more well to do families. The hostel could also accommodate a church plant since Phii Chaay is currently receiving theological training to be a pastor.

Our missionary partners have raised the funds for the purchase of the hostel land on 19 January 2009. (The site is in San Pa Tong, which is at the peripherals of Chiangmai city.) They will borrow from a relative the amounts needed for the construction of the hostel, or sell family land in Nong Tao as a last resort to raise funds. As noted above, they are seeking for concerned parties who are willing to donate and give toward defraying the cost of construction. The high school term in the city will commence in the beginning of April 2009. Construction will take a month and will have to commence by the end of February. It would provide relief to Phii Chaay and Tamla if support for the construction costs can reach the couple by March.

For 2009, there are 12 kids from Nong Tao going on to high school, 9 of whom require need sponsorships. NLV is committed to finding sponsors for these students for an amount of SGD 500/year/student.

Tamla and Chaay are from the Karen Tribe and Nong Tao is in the Mae Wang province, which is in the hills about 2 hour away from Chiangmai City. In our last visit, we had a lot more activities, like teaching English to the kids, doing items at their nightly worship before bedtime, preaching on Sunday and some ministry to local church members.This time, we were quite focused on exploring Chaay and Tamla’s plans to start a new hostel in Chiang Mai, only 40 minutes from the City. They plan to build a hostel with a capacity to take in some 20 children. The children will come from Nong Tao who have to leave the village to come to the city to attend high school and also from the Myanamar border refugee camp.

In the night we stayed Nong Tao, we experienced the cold spell that was sweeping Northern Thailand. Up in those hills we felt temperatures reaching freezing level. It was quite challenging as the hut we slept in was bamboo with gaps that let the cold air through at the sides. We were somewhat shamed when in the morning we learnt that the kids are able to keep warm with only one blanket.

Some images from our trip this time around.

Tamla on the left. We had spare time on our first day to visit a “Botanic Garden” which is the feature of a resort while waiting for the other team members to arrive from Bangkok.

Warm and sunny still. Little did we anticipate the horror that were to come that night…

Tamla and Chaay showed us the plot of land that they intend to build the new hostel for the kids when they go to high school

Walking the land, and claiming it for God’s use

On the pick up truck, making our way up to Nong Tao

Our sleeping quarters, as in the last trip we made up there. Still as beautiful and simple as ever.

Evening worship in the village church

Bundling up for the night ahead, with as many as 3-4 blankets, and 2-3 clothing layers!

Steaming hot food, one of the most beautiful sights we’ve ever seen – after a night of bonechilling cold.

Horsing around with the kids (as usual)

3 of the children leaving Nong Tao to attend high school in the city later this year

It was chick season in Chiangmai and we saw lots of little chicks wandering around. This hen was particularly protective of its little chicks. We saw her chasing away a dog about three times her size. Talk about plucky!

Exploring the village again with our little tour guide Miyoko, who is the pastor’s son (who pontanged school whilst his dad was out at work)

Sakura in Chiang Mai, as it is the season where the cherry trees burst into full bloom

The air is pristine, the weather is lovely and all around is a great sense of calm and serenity.

Back in Chiangmai City, we met up with Stefan and Tina, and Anucha whom Stefan is teaching English to. (left) Another big bbq/steamboat tuck in.

10/11, Monday
- Nguan Island Ministry

Here are some pictures of this visit.

11/11, Tuesday

- Eko, Vineyard Indonesia Batam

- Church of God of Prophecy and related ministries: eg orphanage (below), bible college

KIVA is said to be the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, “empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world” Their mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Each loan is for an amount of US$25. The loans from each lender are aggregated and according to information on their website we will be helping someone “make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family, and their community.” Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), we can receive email journal updates and track repayments.

Kiva partners with existing expert microfinance institutions, and by doing so, gain access to outstanding entrepreneurs from impoverished communities world-wide.

NCMI is presenting a kingdom strategy for the marketplace which involves social enterprises in their upcoming conference on 1 & 2 August.

What is interesting is the perceived need for “round table gatherings” in Clapham Sect fashion. The three basic groups which need to be represented are: local pastors, apostolic team members and the saints, each party influencing and learning from each other.

We should hear of the experiences of some who are already doing this in their churches and are showing amazing results!

We recently came across a program whose objective is to promote economic development in villages. The progam is tailored at training and equipping individuals who are interested to engage in social enterpreneurship. Some details of SEED are provided below.

SEED – Social Enterprise for Economic Development
The SEED program seeks to expose student to cultural management and enterprise development, and in the forthcoming program students will go to a unique context in Cisondari village and the city of Bandung in West Java, Indonesia.

Participants will work in multicultural teams and actively engage in social entrepreneurship by developing viable business plans, each to improve a specific village enterprise and to develop markets for its products in particular. The students will be given the relevant information about the agricultural enterprise that will allow them to work on their own to develop different possibilities of assistance for the villagers. The business plans with proposals for Village Enterprise Development will then be presented to business sponsors.

The School of Business and Management at Institut Teknologi Bandung (SBM – ITB) and the Asia Research Centre (ARC) at the Chair for International Management (Southeast Asia), University of St. Gallen (HSG) co-organize this program.

Participation is open to students with any background willing to learn cross-culturally.

Objectives
Promoting Economic Development in the Target Village:
Students are encouraged to look for business and other sponsors to invest in appropriate production facilities, provide new markets for the products, new technology, and knowledge to improve agricultural production methods and yields in the village.

Cross-Cultural Learning in Real Life Asian Context:
Through this project students will gain valuable experience in enterprise development in a unique Asian contexts and develop skills in working cross-culturally within an international and multicultural team. Students will learn about the unique contexts, the management approach and development of their conceptualized enterprises.

I’m not sure if pictures can do the experience justice, but it definitely engages more. So I’m gonna attempt to relay the trip, more or less chronologically, through photos.

(L) Exploring Chiangmai upon arrival and searching for the supplies we planned to bring up to Nong Tao. (R) Me and Pastor at dinner

(L) Team photo at the hotel lobby with Stefan & Tina, the husband and wife team who runs Khamsiri, a centre for youths in Chiangmai. (M) Visiting the family of one of the youths, Anusha. Although the family lived in Chiangmai city, the condition of the house was rather poor.

(L) Visiting another old lady. We were told that some of her children had died early because of HIV and sickness. I could see that although she seems rather independent, she misses her children alot. We prayed for her and asked especially for God to heal her of joint pains.
(R) On the back of Stefan’s pickup truck and on our way to Khamsiri.

(L) I was still sick on my second day in Chiangmai, so it didn’t help when the sky suddenly turned dark and those of us at the back of the vehicle were caught in the downpour. Our umbrellas and ponchos came out too late. (R) Soaked through. The day spent at Khamsiri was rather tough for me when my nose started to drip profusely and my body temperature rose to an uncomfortable level.

(R) I still felt sick when we went for a scrumptious steamboat dinner at MK the same night… But Pastor & the team really prayed for me to get better, and praise God, because the next day, I felt way better! (L) Pi Chai & Pi Tamra, caregivers of Nong Tao, picked us up early the next morning. Our two hour drive to the Maewang province begins.

Stop over at a local market where we grabbed some chicken, vegetables etc.

(L) Second pit stop for a delicious bowl of beef ball noodles. I looove Thai food!

(R) Finally we arrive at Nong Tao! This is the little wooden house we stayed in

(L) The weather was still rather wet, so here’s us in our ponchos!
(R) The “outhouse” aka toilet.

(L) Inside the toilet. We realised soon enough that there was nowhere to place the necessities – toilet paper etc. Thank God Vic came prepared with some string, so tada! We managed to hang our roll of toilet paper. This was to be where we bathed and relieved ourselves for the next few days up at Nong Tao.
(M) What really bothered me on the first night were the countless “insects” that flew around at night. We didn’t bathe that night because the water was tooooo cold, and I just found it impossible to step into the outhouse which was literally swarmed with a mob of insects. Even our little house was under insect & beetle attack.
(R) Those are the wings of the “insects” I spoke about earlier.

(L) A dead “insect”. Did I mention that they were quite huge? Yup, the size of a stone.
I’m amazed how the villagers don’t seem too bothered by them, and I suppose so if you grew up exposed to them. After our second night, even I grew less bothered by these winged creatures.
(R) The facade of Nong Tao hostel.

Inside Nong Tao

(L) The boys & girls’ quarters (R) The area where dishes were washed

(L) Our first photo with some of the girls at Nong Tao. They were all so stiff cos they barely knew us, and vice versa. I’m glad this all changed as we interacted.
(R) S and cute Popet after Charis’ art lesson on making Sock Puppets. Man, did the kids have fun!! Good job, C!

(L) One of my favourite boys, Miyoko!!!! Yes, besides the fact that he has a japanese (girl’s) name, he’s really a Karen kid in all other aspects. Haha! Fearless with boundless energy man. The other boy we all really liked is Diduk, Pi Tamra’s 9 year old. Born leader. So the kids would just pull our hands and run off with us, ask for piggy bag rides, etc. Playing with the kids really saps out loads of energy, though we all had tremendous fun in the process! Think of jumping into deep ditches, getting all muddy, climbing through barbed wired fences… yup, we had to do all that! Run run run!! So hard to catch up man… I feel tired just by typing all this.

(L) Playing “Lao Ying Zhuo Xiao Ji” with the kids
R) This little girl is wonderwoman I tell you. She is sooo strong, she could actually piggy back Nigel! (If you know Nigel, he’s skinny but more than 1.8m tall). The kids at Nong Tao simply amaze me…

(L) Sunday morning service (R) The same night – we were invited to visit and minister to an elderly villager who was sick. I’m so thrilled that we can do the stuff in Chiangmai!!!

(L) A beautful rainbow!!!!!! What a rare sight… Truly a kodak moment
Trekking to a nearby waterfall

(L) They told us its a 15 minute walk to the waterfall. Honestly, I didn’t expect that it would be such a hike!!! I think it actually took us 30mins down and almost a full hour back-trekking up those countless hill steps. And it puts my gym work to shame. The climb back was so torturous my heart almost failed.
When we started, I was wondering why the girls kept holding my hands, as if I needed to be supported. Later on, I knew why… and yes, very malu indeed, but boy did we need the support! They were so sweet and took leaves to fan us, and even climbed trees and plucked fruits so that we could quench our thirst (we were so unprepared for the hike, and none of us brought a bottle of water… silly) We are most definitely, useless and helpless city dwellers! haha!

(L) Diduk and a yellow edible wild mushroom. The trek to the waterfall marked our last day with the folks at Nong Tao. We departed sadly but even as we said goodbye to our new friends… in our minds, we were already planning our next trip up. It was too great an experience, and I thank Nigel & Sinyong for paving the way.
(M) Back at the city, our aching bodies yearned for an indulgent spa treatment. We booked ourselves massage appointments at the posh Legends Spa just next to our hotel and aaah, it was good.
(R) Thai BBQ dinner on our last night!