“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22 NKJV).

It was a normal work day. At lunch time Lara and Laurie brought out a large pot of rice and a smaller pot of soup from which they filled the plates for the 12 workers and us. Charles and I washed our hands at the large plastic drum filled with rainwater while the sawmill workers put a tarp over the mill in case of rain.

Suddenly a commotion at the non-Adventist school across the lagoon roused our attention. Someone was shouting, and children were running. The commotion continued for a half hour or so, sometimes dying down and then flaring up again.

The next morning, a school board member came to our house asking to borrow fuel so the teachers and board members could go to Balimo. They were being summoned to a police hearing concerning the events of the previous day. I asked him what had happened. “Some big-headed students were causing trouble at our work bee, so we belted them,” he said. “Some of them had to be taken to the Balimo hospital for treatment.” It didn’t sound good.

Later that evening I heard the whole, sad story. Students at that school are permitted to knock coconuts out of the trees on school property as long as they get permission and pay for them. Evidently, the parents at the work bee didn’t know about this because when they spotted coconuts dropping from a tree, they concluded that a student was stealing. As soon as the offending climber descended the slender trunk and got within reach of the shouting men, they grabbed him and pummeled his face with punches. Other students jumped in to defend their classmate who had his money in his pocket ready to pay. Some sustained cut lips and other injuries that required hospital help.

But worse than the physical injuries is the emotional damage done. What kind of lessons do young, impressionable minds learn from being pummeled? They certainly don’t learn love, kindness, mercy or self-control. Sadly, this reactive behavior is ingrained in this culture. Please pray for the Gogodala people and for us that we will “overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21).

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