East Timor Nazarenes purchase first piece of church land

Lospalos, East Timor

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

February 16 was an exciting day for East Timor Nazarenes. That day they purchased their first piece of land, located in Lospalos, East Timor. In honor of the event, seven Nazarene leaders flew to Lospalos to sign papers and hold a small ground breaking ceremony.

Their day began at 7:15 A.M. Boarding the plane from Dili to Lospalos via Baucau, East Timor, was Pastor Acy and Joy, Andy, Lina, Zizi, and missionary Warren Neal. In Baucau, they planned to pick up another church leader, Syntus Mendes, who would also sign the papers.  

Upon arriving in Lospalos, the group took a bus to Pastor Samuel and Ully's house to meet with the land's officer. According to Neal, the documents were being signed when the land's officer discovered one document was missing. He went with Samuel back to his office to print it off.

"That is when the trouble began," stated Neal.

"A man came to the house (he was the brother-in-law of the land owner). He began to talk pretty strong about the fact that the correct documents were not in place and that we needed to wait for some more time to sign the documents.

"He made all kinds of bad predictions about the future," Neal explained, "and then would say he was not trying to stop the deal, just trying to help out. Everyone was pretty upset with him, including his older sister. He just kept on talking even though Syntus and Andy told him he should wait and talk with the land's officer. We waited a long time and during that time, it seemed that the deal was going to be off."

When the land's officer returned from the office to find a group of nervous church leaders, he addressed their concerns and explained to the land owner's brother-in-law that all the documents were in order. "It seems he was trying to stop the transaction," Neal said.

Photographs were then taken of the documents being signed and $10,000 was handed over to the land's officer in payment for the new church property.

"The receipt was signed and witnessed and the land was finally and formally turned over to the Church of the Nazarene," reflected Neal. "Praise the Lord!"

The group then went outside to pray and give the land to God. Pastor Acy said a few words and they prayed together. Each one took turns digging with the shovel during their small ground breaking ceremony. Afterward,s they celebrated with soft drinks and "biscuits" (cookies).
--NCN News-Asia-Pacific (Slideshow available)

 

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