17.May in Sri Lanka / 17.Mai i Sri Lanka

Here you can see our 17th may celebration this year in Colombo. It took place on the 16th. And as we sign in Norwegian: Hipp HURRA FOR NORGE!

17.Mai feiringen ble iår feiret i år som ifjor i Colombo hos ambassadørens bolig. Men iår falt feiringen på 16.Mai siden 17.Mai var en Mandag iår.
Kjekt å kunne feire våre idealer og vår grunnlov.

God Pinse

Kjære venn!

Roshini og jeg vil ønske dere alle en god pinse.

Denne dagen kom Den Hellige Ånd og menighetens fødsel på en måte.

 

God pinser alle sammen

pray for church members i Negombo

Dear reader!

Last Friday a tragic accidents occured and killed 2 dear churcvh members of our church here in Negombo. 1 of them was a young girl who just got married last year. Behind sits a very sad husbond. Please pray for him. That the Lord will give him strenght.

The other one was a older member. Behind sits a wife and 4 sons. Pray for his family as well.

For us in the church this has touched us in a very deep way and we grieve with the families. But we lift them up before the Lord.

 

Svend

Election is Over

On April 8th we had Parliament election in Sri Lanka. 225 good men and women are to be elected to the Parliament in Kotte in Sri Lanka. In advance the government was sure of getting the needed 2/3 majority to change the constitution.

So came the election. And as most of us who can read and think knew the way this was going. SLFP (Sri Lanka Freedom Party) President Mahinda Rajapakshas party swept the poll like nothing.

At this moment it looks like the incumbent goverment secured a total of 125-130 seats of the 225 possible.  UNP the main oposition party seems to get around 46 while another oposition party DNA used to be JVP goty 5. TNA a Tamil party got 12 seat.

There are some Districts that has not yet given the final result due to some malpractise but it looks good for the government.

Updates will follow. 

Idag skal du være med meg i Paradis!

Det er Lang-Fredag eller Good Friday på engelsk.

Vi feirer at Jesus ble korsfestet.

Og det er en setning som er god: Når Jesus henger på korset og den ene røveren får svaret fra Mesteren: Idag skal du få være med meg i Paradis.

For oss som jobber med å trykke Guds Ord er dette vi vil holde opp idag: Der er et håp. Vi mennesker kan gjøre mye rart men Frelseren gir håp til det siste.

 

Må dere alle ha en velsignet påskehøytid.

Med varme hilsen fra oss i Sri Lanka

Roshini, Svend, Nethmi, Sithma og Elizabeth

Trykke messe - Printing exhibition

In February Tim, Sharon, jen and I went to the printing exhibition in Colombo. And there we got to see new technology in the printing area. It was very interesting to see what is happening. Meeting old suppliers and more.
New and old machines, Heidelberg, Komori and other famous printing brands showed their equipment. Even nice bindery machines. But 2 thing caught my attention, and that was this old machine you see here.

Norwegian:
I Februar dro Tim, Sharon, Jen og jeg til trykke messa i Colombo. Dette er året begivenhet for trykkere i Sri Lanka. Da deles ut også priser osv. Og her fikk vi se ny teknologi som er på markedet. Spennendes å se hva som skjer av utvikling. Vi så gamle og nye mskinerr, alt fra Heidelberg, Komori og andre Muller Martini. Men en maskin måtte jeg bare ta bilde av og du ser den her.

Wild thing - wild jucntion

When you go to Colombo you have to be prepared for everything. And I never get stopped to be surprised and look at this photo. No, the buses are not standing still. They are moving toward each other and the other vehicles too. Did they crash? NO! '
Incredible? YES! I love the Sri Lankan traffic.

Night Photo

Here are some photos from morning hours and when darkness comes in the evening hours.
I love this time of the evening when the collors are changing.

Sinhala NTs

En liten oppdatering.
Vi jobber med som dere vet de Sinhala Ny Testament for Sri Lanka.
Det har kommet så langt at vi har fått unna nesten 10,000 Sinhala ny testament som skal til Sri Lanka. Vi har en del pocket versjoner igjen som skal bindes isammen men vi har fått unna delmålet vårt.
Her kan du se vi pakker ned så fort som de kan klare det.
Hver gang jeg kommer for å ta bilde av gutta ler dem. Bedre det enn sure fjes.

A small update:
As I have told in last in janaury we got a huge job printing Sinhala New Testaments. This job is now progressing well. We have delivered twice and pray these will come into good hands. Part goals are reaching but some way to go. So here you can see we are packing and every time I come down to the boys the keep laughing. Better that than not happy.

New corner rounding machine

New machines in the house. An improvement and now we have a rounding corner machine so we can round the corner of the covers. Its rather cool and it makes the covers round and nice.
Yepp a own machine for just rounding the corners.
Tim got it for a very good price from the good old US of A. God bless USA.

En Hyggelig Herremann hjelper oss, i 2 saker

For 1 uke siden opplevde vi å få pass på en dag til alle sammen i Sri Lanka.

Det var ikke uten strabaser og problem men Herren åpnet døra ved at en hyggelig herremann kom bort til oss og viste oss hvordan vi kunne få gjort dette på en-to-tre.

Ikke bare hjalp han oss. Ja sa bare follow me og vi vaste etter.
Først fortalte han oss hvem som skulle fylle ut papira for oss. Det ble gjort fort og riktig. Takk for at vi slepper å gjøre det tenkte jeg.
Så var det neste instanse: Så han sa : Just follow me!

Og denne mannen var ikke snauere enn at han hoppet over hele den lange køen inne på pass kontoret og gikk rett bort til sjefen på pass kontoret og sa disse trenger passa godkjent kjapt.

 

Kontroløren så opp på oss 5 halvt fortapte og spurte så etter navna i tur og orden: Først, : Roshini, Sithma og til slutt Nethmi. Og de viste sine fjes når de ble spurt. Da det var bekfrefta at Sithma var den hun var og Nethmi og Roshini var seg selv, dundret stempelet ned i paira som bevis for godkjent og pengene for passa ble betalt. Og så sa sjefen:  Come back at 3 pm and pick up the passports.

Roshini og jeg så bare på hverandre og hadde en enorm takk i våre hjerte.

Så tok denne herremannen som hoppet køen med oss ut i vente hallen og sa: nå gjør dere som sjefen der sa.

Vi kom tilbake klokken 3 pm. Måtte vente 30 minutter men så ropte kontroløren, Mrs.Svendsen.

Roshini gikk så bort og signerte alt og kom bort til meg: Viste alle de 3 flotte passa og der stod det Mrs.Svendsen, Roshini.

Så nå har Roshini nytt etternavn og alle i familien vår har nå pass.
Det siste var en hyggelig overaskelse for meg.

 

Så kom vi tilbake til Colombo den 17.Februar denne uken. Vi skulle registere bilen og det er et enormt papir velde det også. Byrrokratiet her elsker papir arbeid. Roshini durte inn med en kompis av oss på bil tilsynet.

Iløpet av den dagen fikk vi registrert bilen, og hun sa: En hyggelig herremann kom  der også og hjalp Roshini ut med skranker og hele registreringen. Gud har vert god mot oss i 2 viktige saker iløpet av 2 uker. Håper vi kan få de neste brikkene på plass i Norges turen med en hyggelig herremann der også.

 

Be for biletten går i orden.

Visum er ikke i orden enda men be at det går i orden-

 

Iløpet mars/april er alt i orden håper jeg.

 

Hilsen Sri Lanka

 

Takuu NT

These days we are working on a language called Takuu.
Its for Papua New Guinea and is a small language.
we will run a small run but a imprtant one.
Pray this Takuu NT will be a huge blessing for the people of
Papua New Guinea.

1.Feb.2010

President Mahinda Rajapaksha WON - Presidenten VANT

Kloken.4 på ettermiddagen utrorpte valg kommisæren Presidenten til vinner av valget.

Han vant med 58% over mot kandidaten General Sarath Fonseka som fikk rundt 40%.

 

Around 4 P.M on the 27th Jan.2010 the election Commisoner, announced that President Mahinda Rajapaksha had won the election with 58% margin. The oponent got a 40%. He will now get a second term in office.

Yesterday, 28th the President announced Parliament election is expected to be held soon.

Congratulation Mr.President.

 

Final count:

According to the all-island final result posted on the website of the island-nation's Department of Elections:

 

Mr. Rajapaksa 6,015,934 votes (57.88 per cent).

Sarath Fonseka, secured 4,173,185 votes (40.15 per cent)

Mahinda WON - PRESIDENT MAHINDA VANT

 

Resultatet er ikke helt klart enda men så og si alt er telt opp og sittende President Mahinda fikk fornyet tillit av folket.

Han får dermed 6 nye år som President.

 

The Final result is not clear yet, but more or less all the votes are now counted and incubent President Mahinda Rajapaksha was re-ellected for another 6 years.

Congratulation Mr.President!

Mahinda vinner nok - Mahinda will win

Flere resultat tikker inn og det viser at sittendes president kommer til å vinne. Den Indiske valg målingen viste at Presidenten ville få 58-60%. Valget og resultatene sier nesten det samme. Distrikt etter distrikt har han vunnet med 60-67%.
Men i Negombo som normalt sett er rød/blått og Mahinde sitt parti gikk det annerledes.

Sarath Fonseka 36,669 52.59%

Mahinda Rajapaksha 32,125 46.06%
Dette var ikke forventet.

Many results from the districts are now coming. It shows that the Prsident will win with a good margin. An Indian news paper polled 58-60%. Several districts shows 60-67%. But here in Negombo which is a Mahinda town it went another way.

Update

Morning Update/Morgon oppdatering 7.20 A.M

Her er siste oppdatering.

Så lang når alle post stemmene og fleire område begynne å komme vise fortsatt følgande totale resultat:

 

This is the result so far with most of the postal votes counted and some of the district votes coming in. This is not final result.

 

Mahinda: 59.73 percent

Fonseka:  38.71 percent

 

Balg oppdatering
Election update;

Postal Votes - Puttalam District
27/01/2010 00:30:59

UPFA 4,988 66.70% votes/stemmer total 23317
NDF 2,464 32.95% votes/stemmer total 10402

3 of 22 districts counted, post votes.

Time for bed.

Good night

Updates on election, oppdatering på valget

Da kommer neste oppdatering

Here is the next update

 

Postal Votes - Moneragala District
27/01/2010 00:09:53

UPFA         8,871  69.76% Mahinda
NDF           3,795  29.84% Fonseka

Første resultatet - First result

Her er det første resultatet som er forhånds stemmene: UPFA er Mahinda og NDF Fonseka

Here are the first post votes to the president election. Its from Ratnapura. UPFA is Mahinda and NDF Fonseka

 

Ratnapura Postal Votes
26/01/2010 22:38:16

UPFA           9,458  69.33% 
NDF             4,143  30.37%  

Election 2010

In just one hour ago all the election local closed 4 p.m Sri Lankan time.

Now the waiting game starts.

News tells us by night we will now the postal votes and by tomorrow we now who the winner is.

 

This is exciting!

Election day

Today is President election and people are running to the poll station all over our Island today.

Its a showdown between President Mahinda Rajapaksha and General Sarath Fonseka.

 

People are excited about going to polls and so should they be.

 

This morning when we were driving to New Life the roads were quiet and not many vehicles.

 

 

So soon we will know who will be our president.

 

Keep praying for Sri Lanka

President valget 2010

Kjære leser!

Det er idag 21.Janaur og det er 5 dager til valget I Sri Lanka den 26Januar. Folket I landet vårt skal bestemme hvem som skal få lede landet videre.

Følgende hoved kandidatene er:

1. President Mahinda Rajapaksha fra UPFA (blad symbl

2. General Sarath Fonseka - opposisjons kandidaten (et hav av parti - svane symbolet)

Hvem vinner? Et godt spørsmål. Valgdags målingene viser mye men Presidenten vår har mange plasser en knapp ledelse eller et stor ledelse. Der er også undersøkelsesr som viser at generalen vil vinne også.

Likevel, hver med å be for at Sri Lanka får et fredfylt valg. Det har vert uroligheter, men la oss be at det roer seg ned. At Gud gir landet en god mann videre. Vi trenger ro fremover. Utvikling og fremgang. Folket har lidd I 30 år under borgerkrigen.

At krigen endelig ble over ifjor I mai var godt. Mange mennesker hadde det ondt, men det går fremover. Midt oppe I alt dette har vi fått være med å være til en velsignelse for landet. Og det skal vi fortsette med å være.  Så be for Sri Lanka I disse tider.

Så får vi se da den 27.Januar hvem som vant valget.

Takk for at du ber for Sri Lanka.

Election time

In 6 days we have the big showdown in Sri Lanka, on the 26th January. The people of Sri Lanka will go to their respective hometowns and vote. The decision is: Who should be the next president of this Island.

The contenders are:

1. President Mahinda Rajapaksha

2. Former General Sarath Fonseka

and 20 other candidates.

The election is between those 2 who think they should have the credit for ending the 30 year long civil war in Sri Lanka. On the government side we have the President and the oposition candidate you have Sarath Fonseka.

Recent polls shows many things. 1 showed the President ahead with 10-12%.

Another showed the General ahead with 1-2 % and another showed these 2 were even.

Which poll to believe?

1 year ago when the war was over everybody thought the President would call the election right away and win easy. Now people think it will be a neck-on-neck and close race to the door.

I am not so sure. I think the good old President will win simply because he is the president and he took the political decision to go ahead with the war.

On the other side many people like change but will the General manage to gather enough votes? Or will Uncle Mahinda get renew mandat for another 6 years?
Since I am traveling all over Colombo and lately down south were the President comes from you see posters of both candidates.
Election in Sri Lanka is different from other countries. People are very enthusiastic and it is interesting to look.
But in all of this, we should pray. Pray for Sri Lanka that we get a peaceful election and that God will grant us a good election. So continue to pray for Sri Lanka.
God bless you

In Loving Memory of dear Uncle E.J

This is the obituary of Evart. You can read it and pass it on.
For all of us who knew him and served with him we are garteful. We know one day we shall meet again.

Evart James Brewer, son of Cyril and Anna Brewer spent his childhood years in central Alberta before the family moved to Oregon where Evart attended high school. He participated in many sports and before returning to Canada he was offered a sports scholarship. Upon returning to Alberta he became the first apprentice mechanic for Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company of Canada.Evart and Doreen were married in 1958. Evart worked 20 years for Halliburton where he enjoyed the opportunity to travel to the Arctic, Singapore as well as many places in Canada and the United States. He then spent 1 year with Federal Offshore in Nova Scotia which proved to be a wonderful adventure for his whole family. Upon returning to Alberta Evart taught heavy duty mechanics for3 years at NAIT then worked for Radium Well Servicing until taking his final full-time position with CN. Following his retirement he enjoyed working part-time for his nephew Doug Hilsabeck at Renn Mill. As a man who loved God, Evart was dedicated to serving his Lord in many aspects within the churches he attended. One of his special interests was mission work. He had the opportunity to be part of a short-term missions project to Guinea, Africa. Then most recently, Evart and Doreen fulfilled a dream they shared of ministering together in missions when they spent 3 years working in Sri Lanka for New Life Literature printing Bibles and Christian literature. Evart was a faithful and loving husband to Doreen. He loved, supported and encouraged his children in all their endeavors. His deepest desire for his family was to see them follow Christ and serve Him faithfully. Evart is predeceased by his parents Cyril and Anna Brewer. Left to cherish his memory and celebrate his life are his wife of 51 years, Doreen (Hilsabeck) and their children Greg (Janice) Brewer, Brian (Shannon) Brewer, Linda Brewer, Elaine Brewer, Tim Brewer, Kerry Brewer and 9 grandchildren, Michael, Courtney, Benjamin, Andrew, Kristen, Larry, Isaiah, Keiran, Kaice. Also, his brother Arnold Brewer and his sister Regine Smith as well as numerous nephews and nieces.

Day 3 on our trip down south - Sunday 3.Jan-2010

What a nice view we woke up today too. Synay morning and a beautiful beach.

The Lord had blessed us with a second good view, food not so good but I don't care.

So here we were, ready for a quick bath, so breakfast and then on to Galle. Today we had a lot of land to cover.

First stop for today was Martin Wickremansinghes museum. He was author and is probably the most famous Sri Lankan author. He wrote many stories and also geology interested him as well. We stopped there and looked at his ancestral home which also serves as museum of his work and also history of Sri Lanka. You can see many old artifacts. So if you are interested in history I can recommend this. You will learn a lot.

Next stop was Galle fortress and I have been there twice before but that is 4-5 years ago now. When we came here it was 12 noon and hot. But we had 2-3 things we really wanted to see. 1 was the old Dutch Reform Church. Very beautiful this church and I can recommend to go there.

Just before the church you can see a old hotel which they say is old and nice. Its ok!

But if you want to see a nice church you should go 200 meters further down the street and have a look at the Anglican Church. This church is alive and interesting. It may not have the same space as the Dutch church but it is nice. Roshini and I went in and had a nice look. I am glad we did because this was a church I like a lot.

It reminds me about some of the other churches the Englishmen built here in that time Ceylon.

After Roshini and I had stopped for that we all 8 went down to the view point. Saw the ocean and the famous tower. It was rather hot and those sellers kept on trying to sell us

table cloths and other stuff.

I think the women finally gave in and bought something. We men just shock our heads and that it.

After that it was time for food so we went on to a small restaurant and had a good food in Hikkaduwa. Good and quick. From Hikkaduwa till Colombo which we covered in a short time we stopped at the famous place were the trains was taken by the Tsunami 26 December 2004. over 1500 people died on that train. Our driver Ranga was also driving in that area when this happened. It’s a miracle he is alive and it was nice to hear from someone who experienced this event. Myself lost friends at this train so it’s a bit emotional but good to see.

Since so many died at this place the people was afraid of being haunted by ghosts so they got build a huge buddha statue with help from Japan. This statue makes them feel much more safe.

They also build a high wall at the sea lane so the road goes behind it so the waves can't flush right in now as it did in December 2004.

After that we drove to Colombo where the women got some shopping time while we men and children went to a coffee shop. A fair deal.

We were home late but it was a good trip after all.

Home sweet home

Pictures here show horse chariots from Mr.Bandaaranaike (former PM of Sri Lanka), the house of the author Mr.Wickremasinghe, Galle Fortress, the dutch church inside and outside in Galle and photo of Kathrine and Elizabeth together

Day 2 on our trip down south - 2.Jan-2010

Day 2 we woke up early and knew this would be a good day. The sun was shining and we looked out the window at the beaitiful swimming pool and the rice field.




We thought we would go to the Yala safari but when our good guide told us the night before this would take 4 hours plus additional 30 minutes to get there. Well, just forget it.
So we arranged for a boat trip on the Tisse lake and that was a great success for everybody that was.



The girls had fun and after 1 hour we could depart from Tissemaharama for Galle.
And on thatv round trip we saw a lot of things.
From Tissemaharama to the next hotel it was 5 hours drive. Down at this area you can see a lot of cactuses and they are very tall.

We saw the famous salt factory, well passed by it in Tissemaharama.
Between there and the new destination we should watch a famous Blowhole in Sri Lanka.
We should stop by Matara Fortress right after. We planned to stop and have a look but time run out here.
After Matara came Tangalle, President Mahinda Rajapaksha hometown. And there did we see posters of him and his family all over the town. But we also stopped at the famous Tangalla Beach Hotel. The time has stood still and so has the up keeping of it too unfortunately. But that doesn't mean its nice. Rather picturesque to be honest with the nice beach and cliffs. To see the wild waves breaking and hitting the cliffs there in Tangalle.

After a good lunch we headed on towards the hotel.
But this was a good day, maybe a bit much driving again but not as bad as day 1.
We got to see many interesting things. If you never have been down south I recommend you spend time on each place and rush like we did. Time limits are not good, but take your time here-.



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Evart passed away

 

Our good friend and co-worker Evart Brewer passed away last Saturday.

For all of us here at New Life it was a shock when we received the news.

 

Please pray for Doreen his wife and their family.

 

Evart was a gentleman who served the Lord almost up the very end before he went hoem to the Lord. Just mid-October last year (2009) they (Evart&Dorren) stayed in Sri Lanka. They left home to Canada.

Evart and Doreen served at New Life in 2 periods.

First time 1.5 year between 2004 and 2006 and second time from 2007 February to mid-October 2009, just with a short stay in Canada in June-July last year.

EJ incredible hands had a touch on every machine at New Life.

During the last SIM order the credit goes to EJ that we managed to finish up because the EJ kept many of the machines running when they broke down.

To make it all more impressive, before EJ came to Sri Lanka he had never worked on printing equipment in his entire life.

God helped and we praise God for us having the privilige to getting to know EJ.

God bless and it is good he is now home with The Lord is so joyfully served.

 

 

 

3 day trips to south - Day 1

Day 1 of our trip went like this: should go from Negombo to Tissemaharama. That long name is down south by Yala National park.

1st of January means also to start up Roshini factory with prayers and traditional cakes, kiri bath and other Sri Lankan cousins. Kiri bath is milkrice and very tasty. So Roshini prayed in Sinhalese, my father Tore in English and on it went.

By 1030 we were on our way to South. and what an experience. One road was closed so we had to take a different village drive and that was fun. Up and down, bumpy and sideways we went.

But after 1.5 hour it was over and we got good road. From there to the lunch it went pretty straight forward. We saw a lot of beautiful nature. When we came to south of Sri Lanka we saw by the road side women selling pillows. I sensed the women needed a stop and look at something they like so we stopped immediately. So there we got some very good cushions and on we went. And now we drove all the way to the hotel. This part of the south Hambentota has changed a lot since 2004 when I came last time. Roads are better and now the new Harbour installation they are working on is coming up as well.

The nature is different so we had a lot of nice things to look at while we were driving.

Finally we xame to the hotel and its location is close by a lake and it is very beautiful.

The sun set here was beautiful so you can see the beautiful sunset here.

And so the day 1 of the trip was over, after a delicious meal at the hotel.

 Here you can see pictues from day 1.

 

Happy New Year 2010 From Sri Lanka

 

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Happy New Year from us in Sri Lanka.

Love from

Svend, Roshini, Nethmi , Sithma and Elizabeth

 

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