On our last visit to
Vanuatu in the spring of 2011,
00:00:53.10\00:00:56.90
the biggest change
was the nearly completed
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hangar house that had
been under construction
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for well over a year.
When we were here in 2009
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the construction site was
still just a flat piece of dirt.
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Now things are
nearing completion.
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And this actually is the
end result of it right here
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and it's turned
into a very comfortable
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accommodations for the family.
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They have their own place now.
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And we have a safe
secure place for the airplane.
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Having lived in
Vanuatu for several years,
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the Turnbull
Family came to realize
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they had several
critical challenges.
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They needed to
solve in order to become
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more efficient in
their mission work.
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They found that
renting very small bungalows
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and moving around made
it difficult to organize
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and keep track of all
their medical equipment
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and supplies as well
as their own belongings.
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Simply put, they needed
a permanent place to live
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with space to be more organized.
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With the addition of
the Maule airplane in 2007,
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the project
expanded to other islands.
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There was the
addition of more tools,
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parts and equipment that were
needed to service the airplane.
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Fuel was also
shipped from another island
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and extra space was needed
to store fuel drums on Gaua.
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When severe
tropical storms come,
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the airplane
needed to be protected.
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Serving more islands
also means more patients
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and that in turn means more
medical supplies were needed.
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If patients were brought to
Gaua for any kind of surgery,
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then overnight
accommodations were needed.
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These and many other
challenges could all be solved
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with a larger permanent home
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that also functioned as
a hangar for the airplane.
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And so in 2008, plans
for a hangar home were made
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and a small piece of land
near the airstrip was purchased.
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The laborious process
of construction began.
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Sand, rock and fresh
water for mixing the concrete
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was hauled many miles on
the shoulders of these workers.
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The labor was strenuous
without machinery or vehicles.
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Minimal tools were used.
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Electricity for the
power tools was scarce,
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but the work continued forward.
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Scotty, an Australian volunteer
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came to Vanuatu
in 2009 to oversee
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the work on the
foundation for the hangar house.
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The concrete
foundations were laid
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that would support the
steel trusses for the hangar.
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Getting the trusses completed
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was another
challenge altogether.
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Construction of the trusses
took longer than expected.
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Cyclone season
was fast approaching
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and the airplane
needed to be protected.
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When the trusses were completed,
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Mark had difficulties getting
a ship or to bring the trusses
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to the island of Gaua.
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Our second option was an
extra trip this coming week,
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but that's
fallen through as well.
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So now we're gonna have to go
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and find another
ship to do the job.
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Because of their size
they wouldn't fit on some ships
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and frankly some of the shippers
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just did not want to
deal with the hassle.
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Finally Mark was able to get the
trusses to the Island of Gaua,
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but the larger ship could
not dock directly on dry land.
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This meant the trusses
and the aluminum siding
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had to be carefully
carried over the water
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on the shower coral reefs,
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while trying to prevent
the corrosive salt water
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from touching anything,
the trusses were then lifted
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and pulled in the
place by a crew of men.
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The siding and inner
infrastructure was then added.
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Today the hangar
house is nearly finished.
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It has proven to be
a tremendous blessing
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to the Turnbull Family
and their mission work.
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Doing a little maintenance
on the plane, Marcos?
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Yeah, just checking a wire
that's loose on oil pressure.
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I just explain to our friends
about how the hangar house
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came into being, I
thought maybe I'd like to,
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you know, show them around
a little bit and telling them
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I know the place is a
little bit of a mess right now
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because you're kind of
still under construction a bit.
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Yeah. What's
happening down here?
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Okay, well, as you
said it's in a bit of mess,
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but the bottom flow here
is gonna be a cement slab
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and we have a washing area here
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that's where Naomi
does her washing up.
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Over here we're hoping to have
some kind of a workshop area
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because we've always
got stuff that we need to--
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for maintenance purposes,
even maintenance on the aircraft
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so that side is
gonna be built-in.
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We're actually gonna
leave a section here.
00:05:03.59\00:05:06.13
This will be--we've used this
already as an evangelistic hall
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and we wanted to
retain that capability
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so we're gonna have a place here
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where we can
have a screen up here
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and in here people will--
We can have church services
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or whatever if there is a need
for a large group of people.
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As you look up there you
can see we've got a kind of like
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an amphitheatre
type situation here,
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where people can
go out on the grass
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so we can have a
lot of people here.
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So that's another aspect
of it or watching videos,
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showing Christian videos.
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This will be good for that.
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So this will be
maintenance area.
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We're gonna
build some roofing here
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and we're gonna extend
our area up the back here
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so we got a bit
more space, more rooms.
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Round the back
here, we're gonna build--
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We're actually in the
process now planning stages
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to build a health
facility right here.
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It's a pretty tight fit in this
little patch of ground here.
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This is where we gonna
have our health facility
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so we can deal
with some surgery,
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some emergency
surgery, mostly minor surgery
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and some of the big
cases that we bring in
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from outer islands or
transfer for evacuation,
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with a couple of inpatient rooms
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in case we have people
overnight, for example,
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or delivery cases, etcetera.
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So let me take you upstairs
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and we'll have a
look at what's upstairs.
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It is the big home for us.
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From our point of
view it feels big.
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It's good because we can have
plenty of visitors that way.
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Here we have
like a big breezeway.
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This is like a
veranda which helps us
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when it's raining,
we have hurricanes here,
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we have lot of
heavy tropical downpours
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and so sometimes
washing is bit of crisis,
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so that's why we've
got washing lines here.
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And we got big open space here
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which sort of overflow
area if there is a lot of people
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like to fly and build
group who came to stay with us.
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And upstairs we
have storage space.
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We've got nice big open space
up there in the attic area.
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So if you come in here
we'll have just a--let now,
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let me go through
the building itself,
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but this is going to be a
kitchen area and living area.
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This is a bedroom
which is serving as a kitchen
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and here's Naomi, she
is working in the kitchen
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and she is gonna lead
us through a bit more.
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Oh, hi.
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Welcome to the
temporary kitchen.
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Yeah, as Mark was just
saying soon this will become
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a bedroom, but for the moment,
it's serving as a kitchen.
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And do you want to take a
look at my oven over here?
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This is my oven for baking
bread or pizzas or whatever
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we need to bake and
it's three burner stove.
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I don't have a kitchen
sink as yet, but it's coming.
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I think it'll be
installed in the next few weeks.
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Okay, this will
serve at here as a kitchen,
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dining, family
area. Nice big open space.
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And we're looking forward to
getting that whole finish stuff
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in the next couple
of months hopefully.
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We got another bedroom in here.
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This is where our daughter
Kay sleeps at the moment
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when she is at home.
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Okay, then this is my
office and work area here.
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Still working on a lot of things
here as marking school books
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and doing that sort of stuff
so that's my little corner.
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And then in here
is Mark's office.
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And this is where all
the communication takes place
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in here with
tele radio and emails
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and all that sort of things
happens in this little room.
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Okay, now the next room in
here is bedroom for the moment.
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We still haven't
quite moved in properly yet.
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We're still
living out of suitcases,
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but we shall be
getting some shelving
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and hanging space soon
for the clothes to be hung up
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and get things a
little more organized
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as we get more shelving put in.
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We've got couple of
girls that are staying with us
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because they live faraway,
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their families are
quite a long distance,
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it's a long way for them
to walk to school each day,
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so they're sleeping here.
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They go home for a
break when the school holidays
00:09:08.01\00:09:11.01
or sometimes on the weekend.
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So we're really thankful that
we've got space to do this now.
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We haven't been able to do
this for the last five years
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of our time here in Vanuatu,
we never had enough space
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when visitors came like even
Jeff and Mike when they came,
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we had to borrow accommodation
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from other people, so
we really blessed that now
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we have space for
people to come and stay
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and be hospitable towards them
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which is a
great blessing for us.
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And we hope it will be
used more in the future
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as other people
come and volunteer
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and come to help the
project here in Vanuatu.
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We hope you've enjoyed
going on a little tour with us
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to see what the Lord's
been doing here in Vanuatu.
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Yeah, thanks for joining us.
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And we just want to say
thank you to the many people
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who have been involved
in this building project
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and they've helped with funding,
helped in different ways
00:09:55.88\00:09:58.09
for the actual building process,
00:09:58.12\00:09:59.83
some have come
long way to help us.
00:09:59.86\00:10:02.02
And this building is already
proven to be a great blessing.
00:10:02.05\00:10:06.14
It's now like an
operating base for our service.
00:10:06.17\00:10:09.73
We're gonna have the
health facility outside
00:10:09.76\00:10:12.52
and so that we'll
enhance it further.
00:10:12.55\00:10:15.06
And we are confident that God
00:10:15.09\00:10:16.97
has great plans
for this project.
00:10:17.00\00:10:19.37
Thank you for
supporting the project
00:10:19.40\00:10:21.52
those of you
who've been involved
00:10:21.55\00:10:22.58
and just please pray for us
00:10:22.61\00:10:24.25
because there's a
lot of work before us.
00:10:24.28\00:10:26.88
Often times,
people write and ask me
00:10:26.91\00:10:29.39
why the Turnbull
Family chose to live on Gaua
00:10:29.42\00:10:31.73
when there is an
active volcano on the island.
00:10:31.76\00:10:34.12
I sat down with
Mark and asked him
00:10:34.15\00:10:35.89
to answer that very question.
00:10:35.92\00:10:38.10
Yeah, Vanuatu is very
close to the New Hebrides Trench
00:10:38.13\00:10:45.91
which is one of the boundaries
of the earth plates, right?
00:10:45.94\00:10:51.21
And so there are a
lot of earthquakes here.
00:10:51.24\00:10:54.01
It's actually one of
the most active areas
00:10:54.04\00:10:57.66
for earthquakes in the world.
00:10:57.69\00:11:00.43
On top of that, we
have volcanoes here.
00:11:00.46\00:11:03.39
And this particular
island has very potentially
00:11:03.42\00:11:06.98
very dangerous volcano
00:11:07.01\00:11:08.31
because it's sitting
underneath a big lake
00:11:08.34\00:11:12.68
and so water
plus fire make steam
00:11:12.71\00:11:15.49
and so steam is
extremely powerful.
00:11:15.52\00:11:17.53
Anybody who studied the
steam engine knows that.
00:11:17.56\00:11:20.59
It could explode and
blow the island to pieces.
00:11:20.62\00:11:25.11
So and then with earthquakes
00:11:25.14\00:11:27.27
you have the
possibility of tsunamis
00:11:27.30\00:11:29.77
and this is already
located in the place
00:11:29.80\00:11:32.18
that's got a lot of cyclones,
00:11:32.21\00:11:34.25
you know, coming
through hurricanes.
00:11:34.28\00:11:35.62
So there's a lot of
natural disasters taking place
00:11:35.65\00:11:39.65
or potentially taking place
in this area at any one moment,
00:11:39.68\00:11:42.75
so it is a
dangerous place to live.
00:11:42.78\00:11:46.09
Gaua out of all the
islands in the banks
00:11:46.12\00:11:48.27
is the most dangerous
in terms of the volcano.
00:11:48.30\00:11:51.71
Now the last time, it irrupted
which was at the end of 2009.
00:11:51.74\00:11:57.38
We were certainly questioning
why we're based on Gaua.
00:11:57.41\00:12:00.44
Something that
we've got used to,
00:12:00.47\00:12:03.92
we can see the
volcano up over the hill there
00:12:03.95\00:12:06.03
and it just smokes away
00:12:06.06\00:12:07.97
and all we can say is if it
does get very dangerous here
00:12:08.00\00:12:12.11
then we just pray that God will
open our eyes to the situation
00:12:12.14\00:12:15.79
and we'll just move on
before we get affected by it,
00:12:15.82\00:12:19.51
but there are a lot
of people living here
00:12:19.54\00:12:22.73
and all of them are in the
same predicament as we are.
00:12:22.76\00:12:27.38
We believe it was
providential that we came here
00:12:27.41\00:12:29.94
and God let us
here and we believe
00:12:29.97\00:12:32.90
that God is quite willing
and capable of leading us away
00:12:32.93\00:12:39.58
from here if there
is gonna be some danger
00:12:39.61\00:12:41.89
involved in being here.
00:12:41.92\00:12:43.31
I'd rather be at
the hands of nature
00:12:43.34\00:12:47.14
because God controls nature
and God can stop that earthquake
00:12:47.17\00:12:51.51
or He can stop that
volcano from erupting.
00:12:51.54\00:12:54.28
I'd rather be in
the hands of nature
00:12:54.31\00:12:55.77
than be in the hands of man.
00:12:55.80\00:12:58.21
But in terms of the
aircraft, Gaua is definitely
00:12:58.24\00:13:02.89
the best place
to be because Gaua
00:13:02.92\00:13:05.39
is the gateway to the
northern part of Vanuatu.
00:13:05.42\00:13:10.09
It's the first stop when
you're going north from Santo
00:13:10.12\00:13:13.23
which is a refilling
base and our shopping area,
00:13:13.26\00:13:16.89
you know, that's
where we get supplies from.
00:13:16.92\00:13:19.58
And so going
north, Gaua is first stop.
00:13:19.61\00:13:24.19
Gaua is simply relocated,
00:13:24.22\00:13:26.05
relative to the
unreached islands to the north
00:13:26.08\00:13:28.25
and the more
developed islands to the south.
00:13:28.28\00:13:30.68
This puts Gaua in a
key location for easier
00:13:30.71\00:13:33.59
and faster access to
the unreached islands
00:13:33.62\00:13:36.35
especially in emergencies.
00:13:36.38\00:13:38.32
There are
currently finished airstrips
00:13:38.35\00:13:40.35
on the Islands of Gaua,
Lo, Vanua Lava and Mota.
00:13:40.38\00:13:44.78
In the last year,
three new airstrips
00:13:44.81\00:13:46.63
have been completed
on the Islands of Tegua,
00:13:46.66\00:13:49.08
Mere Lava and Mota Lava.
00:13:49.11\00:13:51.93
There are plans for potential
airstrips in the northwest
00:13:51.96\00:13:54.73
in the Vanua Lava, Hiw and Merig
00:13:54.76\00:13:57.69
which is just east of Gaua.
00:13:57.72\00:14:00.09
The next most pressing need
for an airstrip is in Wasaga
00:14:00.12\00:14:03.66
which is on the
southern tip of Vanua Lava.
00:14:03.69\00:14:06.29
They have a
large population there
00:14:06.32\00:14:07.94
that could be
reached for Christ.
00:14:07.97\00:14:10.58
And the school was
started on Mere Lava
00:14:10.61\00:14:12.64
and few more are being planned
for Mota and Toga Island.
00:14:12.67\00:14:15.96
When the Turnbulls
move to Vanuatu in 2006.
00:14:15.99\00:14:19.39
Our objective was to reach
00:14:19.42\00:14:20.79
the undeveloped
islands to the north.
00:14:20.82\00:14:23.41
As you can see
progress is being made
00:14:23.44\00:14:25.72
and God is blessing our efforts.
00:14:25.75\00:14:27.93
One such blessing
is the incredible story
00:14:27.96\00:14:30.50
on how an airstrip was
recently finished on Mere Lava
00:14:30.53\00:14:33.73
in one of the most
difficult to reach islands
00:14:33.76\00:14:36.15
in Northern Vanuatu.
00:14:36.18\00:14:39.80
The main thing is Jesus said
00:14:39.83\00:14:41.87
go and He said teach and heal
00:14:41.90\00:14:44.40
and help the people, minister
to the needs of the people,
00:14:44.43\00:14:48.96
demonstrate God's love
and then see what God does
00:14:48.99\00:14:52.70
and see how God
can open up the doors
00:14:52.73\00:14:54.74
and that's
exactly what's happening.
00:14:54.77\00:14:57.37
We have a lot of
contact with Mere Lava
00:14:57.40\00:15:00.36
because Gaua contains a
lot of Mere Lavaian people.
00:15:00.39\00:15:04.53
There are a lot of
Mere Lavaians who moved
00:15:04.56\00:15:05.99
from Mere Lava to this island.
00:15:06.02\00:15:08.00
Mere Lava is like that.
00:15:08.03\00:15:10.08
It's a very tough
island to live on.
00:15:10.11\00:15:11.94
And there are lot of the family
ties across one of the two,
00:15:11.97\00:15:14.27
this Island of Mere Lava
00:15:14.30\00:15:15.97
which is 30 miles
southeast of here.
00:15:16.00\00:15:18.48
And I have plans for school,
but it's being very challenging.
00:15:18.51\00:15:21.63
Getting across to Mere
Lava especially during about
00:15:21.66\00:15:24.46
nine months of the year when
we have strong southeast winds.
00:15:24.49\00:15:28.37
It's a real
challenge to go there by boat.
00:15:28.40\00:15:31.05
On one occasion,
we took eight hours
00:15:31.08\00:15:32.89
to go this 30 nautical miles
arriving there in the dark.
00:15:32.92\00:15:37.19
So the idea of using
the aircraft was an obvious
00:15:37.22\00:15:41.33
alternative to think
of, accept for the fact
00:15:41.36\00:15:43.69
that Mere Lava is
really literally like that.
00:15:43.72\00:15:46.24
It's a very rich deep island.
00:15:46.27\00:15:48.67
And so one of my main objectives
00:15:48.70\00:15:51.59
when going there was to
checkout the little peninsula.
00:15:51.62\00:15:55.74
There is a little flat peninsula
00:15:55.77\00:15:57.15
which goes out into the
ocean of the northeast end
00:15:57.18\00:16:00.67
and that little tip there--
00:16:00.70\00:16:03.95
There's been a lot of
talk about putting an airstrip
00:16:03.98\00:16:06.23
there for many years
since, I think 30 years ago.
00:16:06.26\00:16:11.00
When we looked at that place
it look like a machinery job,
00:16:11.03\00:16:14.63
it look like it was
gonna be very difficult to do.
00:16:14.66\00:16:18.13
The one area that's has
potential for an airstrip
00:16:18.16\00:16:21.58
is kind of curved,
it's not really straight.
00:16:21.61\00:16:24.06
There is a lot of volcanic,
various big stones in that area.
00:16:24.09\00:16:28.29
Most of this area you're
hard pressed finding soil,
00:16:28.32\00:16:31.50
it's just gravelly stuff.
00:16:31.53\00:16:33.32
It's on a peninsula and
the wind kind of rips across
00:16:33.35\00:16:36.47
the top of it.
00:16:36.50\00:16:37.53
Unfortunately at
that time, I didn't know
00:16:37.56\00:16:39.52
how much was involved
in making an airstrip.
00:16:39.55\00:16:42.30
This is new to me.
00:16:42.33\00:16:43.81
If I'd learn I think I would've,
00:16:43.84\00:16:46.32
I would've abandoned the idea.
00:16:46.35\00:16:49.19
And I got a GPS and
I marked 200 meters.
00:16:49.22\00:16:52.28
And I said, "Well, if we're
gonna start with 200 meters,
00:16:52.31\00:16:56.11
I wish telling
them we could possibly
00:16:56.14\00:16:57.90
put an airstrip in here."
00:16:57.93\00:17:01.19
We can get in and out.
00:17:01.22\00:17:03.81
I think it's good. I
think it's excellent.
00:17:03.84\00:17:06.72
I think the
hillside is just right,
00:17:06.75\00:17:09.14
the up slopes and the down
slopes are in the perfect place.
00:17:09.17\00:17:12.50
And I think it'll
use about third of it
00:17:12.53\00:17:14.43
once you get a hand along
how to fly in and out of here.
00:17:14.46\00:17:19.78
They just got right into it.
00:17:19.81\00:17:20.91
The people there have
a very willing spirit,
00:17:20.94\00:17:24.19
a very active spirit
00:17:24.22\00:17:26.16
and they started
clearing the ground with ropes.
00:17:26.19\00:17:29.88
We flew over the top
and when we threw it down
00:17:29.91\00:17:32.27
a big shipping
rope, a big thick rope
00:17:32.30\00:17:35.11
and they've used
that ever since to pull
00:17:35.14\00:17:37.56
some of the big
stones our the way.
00:17:37.59\00:17:39.79
We gave them a crowbar
00:17:39.82\00:17:42.94
and they used that to
dig holes in the ground.
00:17:42.97\00:17:45.25
Some of these stones were
so big that to get rid of them
00:17:45.28\00:17:47.90
they actually had to
dig holes in the ground
00:17:47.93\00:17:50.02
and then push the
stones into them and bury them,
00:17:50.05\00:17:52.55
that was the only
way to deal with them.
00:17:52.58\00:17:53.97
Right here all these
stones here were on this area,
00:17:54.00\00:17:59.65
it was very similar
to what we see here.
00:17:59.68\00:18:02.16
That's what
they worked with here
00:18:02.19\00:18:04.15
and it wasn't a flat
area, it was very bumpy
00:18:04.18\00:18:08.61
and there were hills
and they've had to extend it
00:18:08.64\00:18:10.59
in all directions
to make an airstrip,
00:18:10.62\00:18:13.02
all of these done by hand.
00:18:13.05\00:18:14.46
What you were witnessing now
00:18:14.49\00:18:15.58
is exactly how
this airstrip was made.
00:18:15.61\00:18:18.23
Men, women and children
all contributed each caring
00:18:18.26\00:18:22.23
what they could.
00:18:22.26\00:18:23.60
Large rocks were laid down
and stacked several feet high.
00:18:23.63\00:18:27.20
And smaller rocks and the sand
00:18:27.23\00:18:28.71
were laid on top to
smooth out the surface.
00:18:28.74\00:18:31.54
This process continued
for more than two years,
00:18:31.57\00:18:34.59
but when the airstrip
was nearing completion,
00:18:34.62\00:18:36.98
a problem came up that
brought all construction
00:18:37.01\00:18:39.34
to a halt and left the future
of the airstrip in question.
00:18:39.37\00:18:43.45
We encountered a
little bit of a few issues
00:18:43.48\00:18:47.47
where a gentleman who claimed
to own the coconuts in that area
00:18:47.50\00:18:50.92
that already had been cut
down by the local people there.
00:18:50.95\00:18:54.31
This man tried to take
advantage of the situation
00:18:54.34\00:18:57.88
and started to claim
that he was an actual
00:18:57.91\00:19:00.90
an owner of these of
the land and the coconuts.
00:19:00.93\00:19:04.34
On top of that, they used a leaf
00:19:04.37\00:19:07.87
which is used
tickle to Namele leaf
00:19:07.90\00:19:10.18
to trying and stop
the work that people--
00:19:10.21\00:19:13.29
If they put a
Namele leaf on something,
00:19:13.32\00:19:16.11
it stops any
progress from going forward
00:19:16.14\00:19:19.02
until the chiefs
have settled the issues.
00:19:19.05\00:19:21.10
Namele leaf is representative
of like a spiritual
00:19:21.13\00:19:24.93
curse on anybody who go
and go against the Namele leaf.
00:19:24.96\00:19:29.03
The Namele leaf is
seen on the Vanuatu flag
00:19:29.06\00:19:31.65
as a symbol of peace.
00:19:31.68\00:19:33.57
When a Namele leaf is placed
on the property of a business,
00:19:33.60\00:19:36.14
for example, it brings
that business to a halt
00:19:36.17\00:19:38.99
and no employees
will enter the premises
00:19:39.02\00:19:41.10
until the dispute is settled.
00:19:41.13\00:19:42.60
In this case, a Namele
leaf was cut from the jungle
00:19:42.63\00:19:45.44
and placed on the airstrip
under the cover of darkness
00:19:45.47\00:19:48.63
to halt its construction.
00:19:48.66\00:19:50.45
When this happens, only
a chief has the authority
00:19:50.48\00:19:53.06
to remove the leaf
without being subject
00:19:53.09\00:19:54.91
to the curse
that leaf could bring.
00:19:54.94\00:19:57.17
The leaf was reported
and eventually was taken down
00:19:57.20\00:20:00.00
just in time for Dr.
Mark and veteran Maule pilot,
00:20:00.03\00:20:03.51
Jeremy Ainsworth to do the
first test landing on Mere Lava.
00:20:03.54\00:20:09.21
On August 17th of 2010,
00:20:09.24\00:20:11.98
the 30 year dream of
the natives of Mere Lava
00:20:12.01\00:20:14.34
became a reality when the
wheels of the Maule airplane
00:20:14.37\00:20:17.34
touched down on the island.
00:20:17.37\00:20:19.41
Mike on the ground at
Mere Lava little more active.
00:20:32.35\00:20:35.13
We ended up landing on,
00:20:35.16\00:20:36.87
it's a 160 meter
patch of airstrip.
00:20:36.90\00:20:40.11
Jeremy is an excellent pilot.
00:20:40.14\00:20:42.42
And so we landed
there and when we arrive,
00:20:42.45\00:20:45.11
the permanent chief of the
island was there to welcome us
00:20:45.14\00:20:47.72
with huge crowd of people.
00:20:47.75\00:20:49.71
And we had a big celebration
00:20:49.74\00:20:52.06
for the opening of the airstrip.
00:20:52.09\00:20:53.75
And so anyway we
came back to Gaua
00:21:03.38\00:21:05.74
and immediately I received
a call from the troublemaker
00:21:05.77\00:21:11.65
who is questioning me about
00:21:11.68\00:21:14.01
whether I landed
on Mere Lava or not
00:21:14.04\00:21:16.23
and I told him, "We
just landed on Mere Lava."
00:21:16.26\00:21:18.37
And then he told me that
00:21:18.40\00:21:22.08
he insisted that
we never go there,
00:21:22.11\00:21:25.02
I mean, not
supposed to go there that,
00:21:25.05\00:21:27.13
he hadn't given approval
for me to go and land there.
00:21:27.16\00:21:30.50
After Jeremy left, I
went over the airstrip again
00:21:30.53\00:21:34.77
and although I didn't land,
I did come close to the ground
00:21:34.80\00:21:39.49
and I dropped some
more tools for the people
00:21:39.52\00:21:41.95
and then when I got
back he called me again
00:21:41.98\00:21:45.82
and this time he
threatened me again
00:21:45.85\00:21:47.96
and he said he was
gonna burn the aircraft
00:21:47.99\00:21:51.06
and that he will destroy
everything that we're doing.
00:21:51.09\00:21:55.41
And so I didn't know what to do.
00:21:55.44\00:21:57.74
I have to admit I
was very, very concerned
00:22:01.20\00:22:03.93
because I had no
intention of getting involved
00:22:03.96\00:22:05.99
in any kind of a
battle with this man.
00:22:06.02\00:22:08.45
I was trying to
help him, I was trying
00:22:08.48\00:22:10.37
to show respect to the chiefs
00:22:10.40\00:22:13.57
and to their authorities,
the local authorities.
00:22:13.60\00:22:16.97
At this point we also
produced DVD of the landing
00:22:17.00\00:22:21.90
and this DVD is just
very poorly edited DVD.
00:22:21.93\00:22:26.90
It was nothing fancy at all,
but it had a bit of music to it,
00:22:26.93\00:22:31.33
background music and
it showed the landing
00:22:31.36\00:22:33.12
and a takeoff by
Jeremy and hanging a flowers
00:22:33.15\00:22:36.62
and the celebration
and everybody being happy.
00:22:36.65\00:22:38.95
And so this DVD
without any words
00:22:38.98\00:22:41.84
it was just a message
in visual with some music
00:22:41.87\00:22:46.25
and the music was about faith
and we should trust in God.
00:22:46.28\00:22:50.46
And so this video just
because this is Mere Lava,
00:22:50.49\00:22:54.54
you got to understand Mere Lava
00:22:54.57\00:22:55.96
airstrip has been talked about
for years and some of said,
00:22:55.99\00:23:00.08
some of the old
people in Mere Lava said
00:23:00.11\00:23:02.04
they didn't want to die
00:23:02.07\00:23:03.49
until they saw an
aircraft land on Mere Lava.
00:23:03.52\00:23:05.44
It's some thing that
been longing for years.
00:23:05.47\00:23:07.58
People have come
all the way to Gaua
00:23:07.61\00:23:09.41
just to watch a plane land here.
00:23:09.44\00:23:10.93
Because on Mere Lava,
they don't see planes,
00:23:10.96\00:23:13.10
they don't know
what planes look like.
00:23:13.13\00:23:14.32
And so there was
a lot of excitement
00:23:14.35\00:23:17.79
when the news was up that a
plane had landed on Mere Lava.
00:23:17.82\00:23:20.83
And so this DVD
just went like hotcakes,
00:23:20.86\00:23:23.62
it went allover the country
00:23:23.65\00:23:25.23
and they put it on the
national television network,
00:23:25.26\00:23:28.33
it was on the
local radio stations,
00:23:28.36\00:23:31.23
it was in the newspaper.
00:23:31.26\00:23:32.53
This DVD went--
It was in hot demand.
00:23:32.56\00:23:36.09
We were producing multiple
copies, sending it everywhere
00:23:36.12\00:23:40.35
and the affect of
this DVD was dramatic.
00:23:40.38\00:23:43.63
And I learn through that
experience the power of media.
00:23:43.66\00:23:48.02
The power of a simple
very poorly edited DVD
00:23:48.05\00:23:52.62
what it can do in a
situation like that.
00:23:52.65\00:23:58.29
At this point in time,
00:23:58.32\00:23:59.88
I received the
letter from a lawyer
00:23:59.91\00:24:02.91
and the
troublemaker have got hold of
00:24:02.94\00:24:04.87
one of the best
lawyers in the country
00:24:04.90\00:24:07.19
and the lawyer wrote to me and
he was gonna take me to court
00:24:07.22\00:24:10.73
unless I pay
$10,000 for some coconuts
00:24:10.76\00:24:16.08
that belong to the guy
who is claiming to own them.
00:24:16.11\00:24:19.44
And so now I was-- It was like
00:24:19.47\00:24:23.01
I was half really
in a state of doubt
00:24:23.04\00:24:26.50
and perplexity
and discouragement,
00:24:26.53\00:24:29.75
but at the same time a
lot of people were telling me
00:24:29.78\00:24:31.82
not to be discouraged, not
to take any notice of this guy
00:24:31.85\00:24:34.59
just to keep it going in faith.
00:24:34.62\00:24:35.90
So I was in two
minds, I have to admit.
00:24:35.93\00:24:38.10
And so anyway what
happened was this DVD came out
00:24:38.13\00:24:43.00
and it really made a
difficult for this man.
00:24:43.03\00:24:45.00
So just so happen there was
a political conference on Gaua
00:24:45.03\00:24:48.38
and a lot of the
chiefs came from Mere Lava.
00:24:48.41\00:24:50.25
When they came here, they
had a gathering of the chiefs
00:24:50.28\00:24:52.84
and one of them was
appointed to set up a letter
00:24:52.87\00:24:56.69
to respond to the lawyer
who'd been challenging me.
00:24:56.72\00:25:00.21
And this letter it was an
extremely powerful defense
00:25:00.24\00:25:05.66
on my behalf these
chiefs were backing me up
00:25:05.69\00:25:08.02
completely on what I had done.
00:25:08.05\00:25:09.69
And they wrote a
second letter later,
00:25:09.72\00:25:12.24
I requested
another letter in which
00:25:12.27\00:25:14.46
I wanted absolute
clear request from the chiefs
00:25:14.49\00:25:19.77
to come and land at Mere Lava.
00:25:19.80\00:25:21.69
So I had to resort to
a lot of public measures
00:25:21.72\00:25:25.72
to in order to get
this sort of the permission
00:25:25.75\00:25:29.67
to go and land there
before I actually landed myself.
00:25:29.70\00:25:33.17
And so this whole
thing was just like,
00:25:33.20\00:25:35.60
it was a big social
battle and there was a lot of--
00:25:35.63\00:25:39.73
There was so much involved in it
00:25:39.76\00:25:42.88
and it was a real victory
when finally earlier this year
00:25:42.91\00:25:48.08
I ended up landing
myself at Mere Lava
00:25:48.11\00:25:50.54
when they had completed about
250 meters on the airstrip.
00:25:50.57\00:25:55.08
And so now we're
flying in there regularly.
00:25:55.11\00:25:59.62
As I look back all I can say
00:25:59.65\00:26:01.25
is the whole experience
bonded me more to them
00:26:01.28\00:26:04.79
then it could've
in any other way.
00:26:04.82\00:26:06.47
So I believe that God
actually allow this to happen.
00:26:06.50\00:26:09.51
The latest part of the
story is that Chief Willy
00:26:09.54\00:26:12.95
who is the main
chief of big stone
00:26:12.98\00:26:14.40
where the airstrip is,
00:26:14.43\00:26:15.47
he is the main
chief in that area.
00:26:15.50\00:26:18.28
He decided that he
wanted to adopt me as his son.
00:26:18.31\00:26:23.51
So we're going
through this experience,
00:26:23.54\00:26:25.50
I've ended up getting--
00:26:25.53\00:26:26.74
I was given a
staff which represents
00:26:26.77\00:26:29.90
that he adopted me as his son.
00:26:29.93\00:26:32.51
So he is now my father.
00:26:32.54\00:26:34.40
He is now my adopted
father on Mere Lava Island.
00:26:34.43\00:26:37.42
He is the main chief of
this whole area. Chief Willy.
00:26:37.45\00:26:41.48
Last year I was wondering
00:26:46.89\00:26:48.09
if they were gonna
deport me from Vanuatu,
00:26:48.12\00:26:50.55
but this year I
have the legal basis
00:26:50.58\00:26:53.56
to become a new Vanuatu citizen.
00:26:53.59\00:26:56.97
So everything has
turned upside down.
00:26:57.00\00:26:59.42
As I look back to the time
00:26:59.45\00:27:01.14
when we walked on that
area that is now the airstrip
00:27:01.17\00:27:05.61
I question how I could've seen
the possibility of an airstrip
00:27:05.64\00:27:08.95
at that place because
it's still to this day
00:27:08.98\00:27:12.15
it's a very tough
place to put an airstrip
00:27:12.18\00:27:13.98
It's the shortest, the
roughest, the bumpiest,
00:27:14.01\00:27:16.99
the most crooked, the most
narrow airstrip in Vanuatu.
00:27:17.02\00:27:21.87
That airstrip has so much
significance to the people
00:27:21.90\00:27:27.57
when we first
landed with Jeremy,
00:27:27.60\00:27:29.46
there was people
crying because of what
00:27:29.49\00:27:31.15
they saw the plane landed
and we were kissed by old men
00:27:31.18\00:27:37.36
and young ladies,
old ladies everyone
00:27:37.39\00:27:40.41
that we were just
welcome so keenly.
00:27:40.44\00:27:43.09
And so all I can say is
that God knows what He is doing,
00:27:43.12\00:27:45.67
that whole
experience taught me faith
00:27:45.70\00:27:47.53
and helped me to understand
that God is in control.
00:27:47.56\00:27:49.96
Now I feel a little bit,
00:27:49.99\00:27:51.99
a little bit more courageous
about attempting big things
00:27:52.02\00:27:55.74
because of what
we've been through.
00:27:55.77\00:27:57.22
If you would like
to support this project
00:28:15.80\00:28:18.05
or find out more about
the mission work in Vanuatu,
00:28:18.08\00:28:20.98
please contact our office
00:28:21.01\00:28:22.67
or visit us
online at www.lmn.org.
00:28:22.70\00:28:28.99