Burglaries & Things
Ok, so for those of you who don’t know about it, it all really starts back at the beginning of the year, when I decided to be a student missionary. By this time, my roommate Jeremy Wong’s local aunt and uncle have adopted me as nephew. They find that my family is not doing so well financially, and decide to make sure I have everything I need for my journey—clothing, luggage, a suit (they insisted), and the rest. Of particular note were the two sets of cufflinks I was given, both very special, and the Seiko timepiece, a watch which had been in his (the uncle’s) possession for over 40 years (which I didn’t find out about until after all that I’m telling you know transpired). Even without that bit of knowledge, I knew it was important, and I valued it as a small treasure of mine.
Skip forward to the end of June and I leave for Tasmania. Below is an email I sent to them this morning. To fill in the missing gap, somewhere between the beginning and end of the story you’ll find within, you need to know about something which transpired about 2 and half months into my stay here and which I just looked back and realized I’d already told you about. I returned home from speaking at a youth rally over the weekend and found my house burgled. Hey cool, I thought you had to say burglarized. Burgled really is a word! Anyway, the police came and took my statement, dusted the glass for fingerprints, and took the smashing implement (a concrete rock) away to look for skin for DNA—sweet as! Still waiting for the insurance claim—yay for ARM!
So, without further ado…the email:
I've been meaning to get a message out to you for a while. Sorry for being so remiss.
It all starts the day you responded to my email about being burglarized. Actually, it starts two weeks after I got here, before I knew much about the area--like where a jeweler might be located. I was rough-housing with a new mate of mine (foolishly without taking my wonderful Seiko watch off), when the clasp on my watch got bent out, so that it would not remain snapped when I put it on. Intending to get it fixed when I knew the area better, I laid it aside, very unhappily--I hadn't gone a day without it since my journey's outset. Disappointed, I shrugged my shoulders and decided to use my mobile phone as a timepiece.
Then my house is robbed. Shocked, I look all around the house for things that might have gone missing. Because it has been some 3 months, the watch has faded into the periphery; one of those things that you don't see anymore, but you know it's there. So you don't worry about it.
You don't worry about it, that is, until your loving and concerned uncle messages you, concerned that the most precious of the gifts he gave you to show his loving care for you were the ones that were targeted in the robbery. As he especially reminds you of the preciousness of the Seiko chronograph he entrusted to your care. The watch comes screaming to the forefront of your consciousness, ripped away from the comforts of the safe periphery, where it was still with you, safely unnoticed in the background. The idea that it, too, might have been stolen, has never crossed your mind. You cannot fathom why; of course burglars would delight in such an item!
Rushing home, you find it missing from the place you'd known all along (in your naivety) it had been safely nestled, and it's not there. Of course! Unbelieving, you decide YOU misplaced it somehow. So you tear through the house, looking in all logical, but mostly illogical locations in the house. Next you rush to your car, slamming the front door, and beginning scouring the main road for a pawn shop of some description. You roam up and down the road, anger, fear, disappointment, and guilt all simmering together into a guttural anxiety that makes your last meal feel all too close to its starting point.
So, there you have it: I go home, broken in spirit, knowing that even that special present, the burglars did not let be in peace. If only I'd fixed it! I might have--WOULD have--had it upon my wrist at the moment of misfortune. It's gone, and though the insurance claim might still replace it, it will never be replaced in our hearts and minds of sentimentality--after all, that's all that truly gives anything any REAL value, isn't it? Even the most precious of diamonds is not precious at all when it's attainment costs no real trouble or loss and its value is virtually nil in the realm of relationships.
On to the world of since then. Last week, I was off on a trip to the Northwest of Tasmania, speaking for the spiritual emphasis week at our sister Sevvie (that's how they slang Seventh-day Adventist here). Tuesday through Friday, each morning began with a talk to the secondary school (grades 7-10), moving to sport with them for the next hour, which was followed by a talk to the primary school (K-6) and sport with that group. The theme was Kung Fu, in which I used basic lessons from the realm of Martial Arts/self defense to teach valuable spiritual lessons, from not fighting on to endurance and discipline in serving God and fighting sin; from not fearing to seeking justice, rebuking the oppressor and defending the oppressed, and protecting the fatherless and the widow. I used self defense training and exercises to emphasize the points made.
Over the weekend, I went further west along the coast. There, I was the featured speaker for a youth retreat. The theme was Now or Never, so I gave them the four best reasons I could think of that their decision time was now or never: the most obvious, Baptist reminder that "You never know what will happen to you or those you care about tomorrow--or even tonight! Who promised you tomorrow?"; the exhortation that they were made for greater things than these (video games, movies, tv, fashion, money...); the reminder that Jesus' promise is that, like a thief in the night, He is coming quickly; and finally, a bringing to consciousness that we are all so very tired of the evil in this world, and the promise was when Jesus' name was spread to the ends of the earth, the end of all this junk will finally come.
Aside from the speaking, the weekend was a blast anyway! I had heaps of fun with the kids there. If you have facebook, you could find a picture of me tagged on a trampoline, doing a back flip at about 2 meters (6'8") in the air. Between the gymnastic trampolines, basketball, hammock sleeping, and karaoke, the weekend was a smashing hit.
Monday morning, on my way back into work--being VERY careful to ensure that I would be on time for staff worship--I think they consider me a slacker at the school here--I begin to here a flapping on the passenger side rear tire (which, remember, is the left side of the care here). No! Yup. Flattened and split tire--no good but for making cheap shoe soles anymore. Needless to say, I was late. But, I arrived to a package from my favorite adopted aunt and uncle, packed with love and goodies! On top of that, I find myself at the conference office that afternoon, encountering a package from the Student Missions office at Southern Adventist University. A double whammy of love and affection! The combination of sweet-steaming serenity and gut-wrenching nostalgia is almost overwhelming. I feel the love and miss it unbearably all at the same time.
Thank you so much for the care package. Its contents were all the more valued for the love contained in them. And, praise to Jesus, He hasn't allowed these gifts of love to be stolen either--yet :P
With love from Jesus,
Colton Stollenmaier
Chaplain, Hilliard Christian School
32 Cheviot Rd.
West Moonah, TAS 7009
0400 640 553
cstollenmaier@southern.edu
"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." -1 Corinthians 15:58
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