Responsibility for the work on the island of Nias, Indonesia, that has been carried on for the last 10 or 11 years by Dennis Cady and his family and team members, has now been turned over to the Steve Cate family. Going forward, we would appreciate it if all donations were redirected to P. O. Box 1881, Fremont, NE, 68026. We wish to keep Dennis' work going and do not plan to make any changes in the near future. One part of this work is the children's home and we posted photos of that part of the work a few days ago and will post more later. Another part of the work is the dormitory program which provides housing for teenagers who wish to get a high school education. What follows is Dennis' own description of that work and a couple of photos of the dorms at the bottom.
"...if (students) went to high school it had to be in Gunung Sitoli or Teluk Dalam. If they didn't live in one of those places or have relatives they could live with there, they rented rooms. Many did not do that because they couldn't afford to rent rooms. In some cases parents concerned about the risks of turning their 15 - 16 year old kids who had never lived outside a village loose to live on their own unsupervised in one of these bigger cities refused to send their kids to Gunung Sitoli or Teluk Dalam to high school. We have room for 80 high school and college students. (Cuffently), twenty four are girls. Those who want to live in the dorms go through a selection process each year in June very soon after results of junior high graduation are made known. Each one accepted must sign a document agreeing to abide by the rules and is accepted for one year at a time. Everyone goes through the process each year. Generally it is pretty much a formality for those already in the dorms but it gives opportunity to sift troublemakers. The selection is done by the 3 dorm supervisors and (the team leader) and works quite well. Sponsors are found for each student. Sponsors give $20 a month $240 a year and know who their student is. We give (some) of this money to each student each month. It covers most of their school fees. The rest of the money pays the supervisor's salary, utilities, and routine repairs at the dorm. In this way the dormitory program carries its own weight financially. Students are required to attend Sunday worship services and one Bible class a week. We accept college students who have been in our dorms during high school. The dormitory program has upgraded the education level of village churches. In some cases young men right out of high school returned to their village congregation and were among the best educated in the congregation both as to secular education and Bible knowledge." (written by Dennis Cady)
Here are photos of the three dorms. 2 for men and 1 for women.
