Encore May 2013

ncore E Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Ferndale Record

A GUIDE TO A FULFILLING SENIOR LIFE IN WHATCOM COUNTY

Lyndenites ride a 60-foot dugout canoe up the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea in April to build a school for Pacific Island Ministries. See page C2.

A supplement of the Lynden Tribune and Ferndale Record

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, May 29, 2013 | Ferndale Record

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Mission team from Lynden builds school, bonds of friendship on trip to New Guinea Six, including two retirees, represent First Christian Reformed Church

By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com

Air travel is a key mode of transportation in Papua New Guinea . Liz and Wes Vander Pol and Fred Ypma get ready to fly in a Mission Aviation Fellowship plane.

LYNDEN — The nationals in Papua New Guinea were amazed that the church mission team could erect the frame of a new school in just nine days.

That could be a testimony to the team’s preparation and building skills, or it could be a comment on just how hard it was to work in the sweltering tropical weather conditions.

“I was surprised how quickly I adjusted. Of course, I was sweating more than I ever have in my life,” said Jerry Zylstra of Lynden, retired from ownership of Zylstra Tire Center.

Either way, the team of seven, all but one from First Christian Reformed

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, May 29, 2013 | Ferndale Record

ENCORE Church of Lynden, did the job they set out to do at the remote base of Pacific Island Ministries — and they took home lots of unique memories and appreciation of a totally different culture in the process.

How about eating piranha meat and receiving crocodile tooth necklaces?

The April 6-20 trip was primarily organized by Fred Ypma, a First CRC member and teacher/coach retiree of Lynden Christian High School. He promoted the trip in the congregation and he also was the designated blogger while on the trip.

Two couples on board were Wes and Liz VanderPol and Marv and Evie Heeringa. The men brought their construction and heavy equipment expertise while the two women participated in contacts with New Guinea women. The last team member was Scott Hoolsema of Sunnyside, formerly of Lynden.

A talk by Pacific Island Ministries couple Erik and Penny Schering at First church last fall planted the idea of a mission trip. A new school building was needed at the PIM Ambunti base, and a team would be welcomed to do it.

Over time, the church raised about $20,000 for the project’s building materials, purchased in New Guinea in advance of the trip. The travelers, with supporters, lined up the power tools they would need, all to be left behind for the See Mission on C4

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The team received leis and coconuts in their welcome to Ambunti. From left are: Jerry Zylstra, Fred Ypma, Scott Hoolsema, Marv and Evie Heeringa, and Wes and Liz VanderPol.

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, May 29, 2013 | Ferndale Record

ENCORE

Mission: Much air travel preceded arrival at work site Continued from C3

The children of the elementary school in Ambunti await their new building.

nationals to continue to use.

They went through a hopscotch of air travel before they could even think of swinging a hammer — from Los Angeles to Brisbane, Australia; then over to Port Moresby, the capital city of Papua New Guinea; from there to Wewak on the north side of the island. Then the modes of transportation diverged — and roads were not an option.

Zylstra and the Vander Pols flew in by small plane to the grass strip at Ambunti, while Ypma, Hoolsema and the Heeringas traveled by 60-foot dugout canoe with all clothing, supplies and barrels of diesel fuel up the Sepik River to the same destination.

“It’s a beautiful country,” Zylstra said, referring to both the people and the watery green terrain. But there was no getting around temperatures and humidity that were both consistently in the 80s and 90s. The climate felt “like a blast of heat” all the time, Liz VanderPol said.

They were welcomed by the children of the small Sawdust School, which anticipated the new building, with leis and coconuts.

The two women offered support

ENCORE in the PIM office. Liz taught a collegebound teen how to type and use the computer. She also distributed about 100 pairs of glasses from Link’s Optical of Bellingham on a very simple trial-anderror basis — “Can you read the book?

Good, the glasses are yours.” Children’s clothing and Whatcom-made wooden toys were given out. Eight donated computers were also left behind for teachers and pastors.

Liz and Evie walked with Penny on dirt paths to outlying villages to talk to women about hygiene and childcare and distribute health aids.

The men had to pour some foundation concrete yet of the 28-by-60-foot building. Then they set to work on the main framing, with five or six nationals helping. The wood was so hard that nails alone would not sink in — a drill hole was needed first. They got the metal roofing on, but some of the exterior sheeting remained to be done by nationals after they left.

Working 10 hours per day, the men had only one stoppage for a tropical downpour, while consuming plenty of filtered liquids to hydrate their bodies.

As the work project wrapped up after nine days, a man who had suffered from leprosy was eager to take all of the clothes Zylstra was willing to give him, no matter that they needed washing.

“Those people have nothing. But

Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, May 29, 2013 | Ferndale Record they all have a smile on their face and are content,” Jerry said.

The native diet consists of the fruits and vegetables that grow profusely, along with fish and poultry, and what they can buy in an impromptu open market. “They go out each day and forage for what to eat,” Jerry said.

Employment as we think of it is difficult, Zylstra said, since industries in mining, petroleum, coffee and rice are somewhat removed from isolated Ambunti.

The country as a whole retains a positive attitude toward Americans as liberators in World War II, Zylstra said.

Lynden has a history with Ambunti too. Back in the 1970s Lynden people raised money to buy a log skidder used

by PIM founder Orneal Kooyers for logging for early building projects and income generation. The 2013 travelers saw the skidder, now in storage unused, as PIM has moved on to broad objectives, often supported by the government, in education and health and ministry training.

At the Wewak airport on their return trip, the group saw a Lynden Air Cargo plane with its distinctive white, green and gold coloring.

Zylstra was on a mission trip to Guatemala four years ago to help exLyndenite Dick Rutgers in his ministry with disabled children. The VanderPols

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Long dugout canoes are used to navigate the Sepik River. once helped among Somali refugees in Toronto. But for the most part, this was a new type of adventure for them all, and they are game to do more of it if the opportunity arises.

“We loved our mission trip. What a wonderful experience,” Liz VanderPol

said. The people were so welcoming and happy to see us. In just a few weeks you built friendships and it was hard to say good-bye afterwards.”

A presentation on the trip was made at First Christian Reformed Church on Sunday, May 19.

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, May 29, 2013 | Ferndale Record

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Lynne Heeringa and Kay Nicholas are the two cooks behind the good lunches being served at the Lynden Community Center, from planning to cleanup.

Lynne came on staff two years ago after a career with the U.S. Post Office locally; Kay started six months ago. “I think it’s great,” said one member at last week Wednesday’s lunch. “Where else can you get a good meal for $5?” (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, May 29, 2013 | Ferndale Record

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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, May 29, 2013 | Ferndale Record

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Lynden Manor employee leads weekly German class for interested residents Marina LaLuz teaches six regular attendees every Wednesday

By Brent Lindquist reporter@lyndentribune.com

LYNDEN — A handful of residents at Lynden Manor are learning German, and Marina LaLuz, an employee there, is spearheading the effort.

“I worked here for years when we started talking about how we can offer more things for the residents to do, so I conducted a survey and asked around if they would like to have a German class, and the answer was yes,” she said.

A native of southern Germany, LaLuz decided to use a real curriculum, spicing it up a bit for the residents who attend the class.

“I used the curriculum, but that didn’t make much sense to the people that are in my class,” LaLuz said. “It was usually too dry, so I decided to find material and then translate the material I could find. For instance, on Mother’s Day, I checked out where Mother’s Day came from, where did it start, and then did English and German versions. I read through the German, and I explained a lot. This is how we do the classes.”

Sometimes, LaLuz prints up jokes and reads them with her class in English and in German for translation purposes.

“That’s kind of how I teach and how we learn. My favorite part is the fun we have together,” she said. “Just learning a new thing. And the people are just wonderful.”

The group meets Wednesday mornings at Lynden Manor. The class has 5-6 regular attendees every session.

Marina LaLuz, pictured in the lobby of Lynden Manor, leads a weekly German class attended by six interested residents. (Brent Lindquist/Lynden Tribune)

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