My name is Timothy Jones, I'm nobody.
After the tsunami on December 26, 2004, I felt called to go to Sumatra to help. To refresh memories, a 9.2 earthquake hit off the northwest coast of Sumatra. It sent a 35+ foot tsunami towards Sumatra, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, The Maldives, The Andaman and Nicobar island chains, and Somalia. There were varying degrees of damage and loss of life in different areas.
Soon after, I started making plans to go down to help. I started thinking about building boats. I went to Maui in hopes of meeting up with a man to teach me about boats. Unfortunately, it never happened. While I was in Maui, I began discussing my plans with friends at Youth With A Mission (YWAM). They suggested that I go down, and scope out the place for myself. I agreed that this was a good idea, and I felt that God wanted me to do just that. So I bought a ticket to Malaysia, which is a good jumping off point for nearby Sumatra.
YWAM Maui was preparing a team of missionaries to go to Nias, an island off of Western Sumatra. They didn't really have any contacts there, so we thought it would be as good a place as any for me to start. I had read that Nias was affected by the tsunami, so I decided to go check it out.
I had never travelled by myself before, and I had never been to Indonesia, so naturally, I was a bit nervous. God met me right there. I knew that it was gonna be alright. No matter how crazy the situation, I was going to be fine.
I spent 5 days in Malaysia, getting comfortable with being by myself in a foreign country. God was preparing me. I wanted to set up some contacts in Nias before I went, but that didn't happen. So I went in blind. I didn't know anyone, I didn't speak the language, I had a vague idea of how to get where I was going. Basically, I had nothing. Nothing but faith in God, which is better than anything else that I could have had. I believed, and He came through. He took me from chaos in Medan to a beautiful bungalow on the beach. It was really quite an amazing experience just getting there.
I had only been there for three days when an 8.7 earthquake hit just north of the island of Nias. It was crazy. Within 10 minutes of the earthquake there was a tsunami (or tidal surge, I'm not sure. All I know is a lot of water came up and wrecked the beach.) It was devestating. Most of the people that I had met lost everything. You don't really realize what that means until you see it for yourself. The people didn't have much to begin with, and what they had they lost. Many people lost houses, revenue generating bungalows, life savings (which is probably not much more than $200), rice fields, clothes, surfboards... everything. If something like this happened here, it would suck, and then we'd move on. It might take a while, but we have the opportunity to land on our feet. They have no such opportunity.
They're sleeping in tents in the street because many have lost their homes. There are families with 6 or more children that don't know how they're going to eat. Hopefully the food distribution will go well to sustain the people. They don't have any way to rebuild their lives. I want to help.
I want to raise money for supplies (wood, tools, etc.), and put together a team of people to go down and build a village. I'm looking for a contractor to head up the project. I want to build better homes for the people, and more accomidating bungalows for them to rent out to tourists. I want to help them to start making money again, so they can feed their families. I want to set up a system of clean running water for both the houses and the bungalows. I want to help them get on their feet so they can help their friends and neighbors to do the same. I want to do whatever I can to make their lives better, and give them the tools and the motivation to help the people around them.
I'll be honest, this job is too big for me. Luckily there is no job too big for God. I believe that God will provide the brains, money, man power, and whatever else is needed to accomplish His plans. I believe that He will accomplish exacltly what He wants to through me, and through whoever else He chooses. It might not look the way I think it will, and that's ok. I'm open to change, I'm ready to adapt to the situation and go in whatever direction I feel I need to. I want to be a part of what God is doing in Indonesia, and I want you to be a part of it too.
I will be as detailed as I can be on this website. Event listings, journals, pictures, accounting info. I want people to know exactly what's going on with the money, and with the area in general. Not everybody knows the freedoms and opportunities that we know. nobody wants you to know about people on the other side of the world. They are just as valuable as you and I, they were just born in a different area and a different situation. nobody wants to live with the people that don't have anything, and give you the chance to help them have a better life.
I didn't deserve to be born here in America. I'm fortunate, and I feel that I have an opportunity and a responsibility to help in a real way. I am excited about what God is doing with my life. I am excited about what I believe He will do with my life, and indeed what I have no idea about yet. I am excited about this opportunity, and I accept the responsibility.
There are two ways that you can partner with me on this site. Donate to the Human Fund, or buy a T-shirt from nobody. I'll try to make it as simple as I can, so please bear with me. Thank you for reading this. Please check out my journals and picture galleries.
God is good, all the time.
Click here to view the original mission statement.