Harvest Hands

Picture this: you have five children under ten and you are embarking on a new adventure in Indonesia. This is unchartered territory and people think you are crazy.

Now meet the people who did this and never looked back. For eight years, Esther and Peter Scarborough have been working for International Friends of Compassion in Indonesia. Their heart was for the people ravaged by war, living in refugee camps and dying of curable diseases.

Esther recalls some reactions when they announced the plans to relocate; "Many people questioned us about the wisdom of taking five children to a country such as Indonesia but I would like to say that we as a family have been abundantly blessed." And so have the people of Indonesia. Their work includes:

Mobile clinics in villages and refugee camps,
Training and discipleship of ten to twenty villages in various healthcare professions.
Provision of University Education for the most talented villages for them to become doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists and pharmacists,
Permanent clinic for the poor on the island of Halmahera — often treating Tuberculosis, Leprosy and burns victims.
Health education — teaching the locals about reducing fevers, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and hygiene.
Orphanage — currently caring for thirty-five children.
English lessons for those keen to learn.
There is a vision for a Christian school as education is pretty much non-existent on the islands.

If all this wasn't enough, add to the mix six Indonesian foster children! Their oldest biological child is a child no more; she is married to an Indonesian man. Wendy now is studying Nursing and raising eight local children herself.

Esther, too is studying a Bachelor of Nursing. Presently her skills are limited as she is a division two Enrolled Nurse. She tells a story of a woman in labour, whose contractions were weak and the baby in big trouble. She knew she had to do an episiotomy, a procedure she had only read about. Esther describes the baby; "she was flat and pale but all of a sudden I saw her fingers move. I said to my daughter "she's alive!". The electricity had been off all morning, the suction equipment only delivered the day before but with the help of a generator, the baby was delivered and saved along with a very sick mother; "I was walking back to my house in the sunshine, coconut trees all around and I was full of joy that both mother and baby were fine and that God could use me with my basic nursing training.".

This is the frontline of God's work. It is taxing physically, spiritually and emotionally; "Living in Indonesia I have come face to face with peoples suffering, trauma and pain. I have gained a deeper faith and trust in Jesus as I have faced suffering."

This enormous ministry needs our help. Prayer is number one on Esther's list; "we know we are in a spiritual battle". They also need financial support through sponsorship of children, healthworkers or contributing to the Christian school they are setting up. Esther would love sermons on CD or worship albums to refuel her; "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. I feel very stretched".

Please don't forget our sisters and brothers on the frontline. Pray for reinforcements and encouragement. If you can sponsor a child, please do. Contact Carol Nesbitt at cnez@bigpond.com or 0428 360 863.