The Beauty That Is Nias

Nias is a small island with about 1 million people most of whom claim to be Christians. It is located off the west coast of Sumatra; however, while small, it is well known among surfers of the world. We had several surfers on our flight to Nias this time. Big waves are to be found on the west side of the island which faces the east coast of Africa and there is little between the two to slow down the waves. I first went to this island about 1974 invited by a friend and fellow worker in the church. We spent some time teaching in two villages in the interior and eventually established the first two congregations of churches of Christ on the island. With the help of God and other missionaries, there are about 86 congregations today. Back in 1974 I found few roads on the island. In order to get to our destination we rode the bus to the end of the line which wasn't too far out of Gugung Sitoli. We crossed several bridges before we reached the end of the road and each bridge was in worse shape than the last one until we came to one that had no road across it at all except for two planks. Everyone got off the bus while others guided the driver safely across the planks. The next river had no bridge at all. Here we started walking up the river and crossed it 13 times before coming to a village located at the top of the chasm wall. I don't know how many steps there were cut into the side of that wall but it looked to me like Jacob's ladder reaching all the way to Heaven. There were no angels going up and down, however. When we reached the top, we had a wood floor to sleep on and were fed a meal. They told me the next morning that I had visited with the village chief using Bahasa Indonesia and had eaten a meal the night before. I remember neither of these things. We continue our hiking all the next day reaching another village with a house with a wood floor where we slept the second night. About 10:00 AM after an early start the next morning we reached our destination and immediately began answering Bible questions. This went on for the next couple of weeks resulting in the establishing of the two congregations mentioned above. We pushed and pulled each other up and down the mountain trails through the forests. Since I was slower than the other two in our team, they placed me in front. Every time we came to a fork in the trail I would turn to look at them to see if we continue to climb or if by some chance we might be able to go down the mountain for a while. I soon stopped asking, however, because the answer was also the same..."Climb!" We drank the milk from the coconuts and it tasted better on a not day of climbing than bottled soda water. Fortunately there have been significant improvements to the infrastructure on the island and it is no longer necessary to hike through the forests to get where you need to go. There are several places on the island that I think are especially beautiful and I've taken a few photos of my favorites. I hope you enjoy viewing them.