Part 5: Tragic news

I have already mentioned the passing of Nurmiati Omboh's husband, Norman, as well as that of my friend, Pak Kalam. As grieved as I was upon hearing of their home-going, the news of their death did not come as a complete surprise since both men were clearly in failing health. But I was stunned into disbelief when, on April 21, 2008, I received the e-mail from Bill Dyck informing me that Pak Damad had passed away in his sleep the night before. This was the man who had spent hours in the Borneo sun pounding wooden posts 3 feet into the heavy clay ground with seemingly limitless strength and stamina. In a little under six months following our mid November, Friday morning departure from Adong, a man with whom I was developing a friendship was gone. This man, who seemed as strong and healthy as anyone I have ever seen, had succumbed (it was surmised) to heart failure. What made his passing even more tragic for me was that I had missed two opportunities to discuss with him the details of his daughter's death; something that had been on my mind ever since the occasion when he had sat down beside me to tell me of his loss during the team's first visit to Adong in 2004 (see PArt 3 - Nov. 25th). Damad was a key man in the village and during the morning devotional on the day of the 2007 Provincial Election, he had expressed a desire to study to become a pastor. He leaves a wife, Maria and two sons, Donald and Joel. One is comforted by the truth that Damad is with the Lord and reunited with his daughter.

I was now being confronted more and more with circumstances that made it clear that health care expectations and entitlements were vastly different in Borneo that what they are in Canada. TB has basically been eradicated in the West and were Norman Omboh allowed the opportunity of accessing the Canadian Health Care system, he would likely still be alive. Similarly, had Pak Damad been able to receive an annual check-up, including an ECG to monitor his heart, he, too, might still be living.

Another condition, Diabetes, is serious, even in the West, but, thanks to Insulin, rarely a killer. Not so, it seems, in Borneo! In mid-December of 2009, I had arranged with Bill Dyck to set up a 'Skype' session sometime during the Christmas period. Bill had e-mailed me back stating that for him, Christmas Day evening (specifically 8:00 p.m. Pontianak time) would be suitable. So, forfeiting my Christmas Day lie-in, I was up with the lark and at 8:00 a.m. (Ontario time) was at my lap-top dialing Bill's Skype address. We connected (audio and video - at least for most of the session) and enjoyed 15 to 20 minutes of conversation. I was anxious to know how the project at Adong was proceeding (the dorm that the team had begun work on during the 2007 trip) as well as the welfare of the villagers with whom we had developed relationships; in particular how Pak Damad's widow, Maria, and sons Donald and Joel were coping. Others whom I was concerned about included Pastor Wimfried and his wife Ibu Anneka. I was disappointed to hear that they had moved back to Manado since they, too, had become friends. But that disappointment turned to shock as Bill informed me that Wimfried had later died as a result of complications from Diabetes.

We later received news that the wife of one of the men, with whom we had worked on the project, had died giving birth. These tragedies are a sobering reminder of Psalm 103:15 and 16: "As for man, his days are like grass. He flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more." But for the believer, including the five mentioned above, the Psalmist does not end his thought on such a depressing note but continues in vs. 17: "But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children's children." Praise the Lord!