Sunday

Beginnings


     No one has been looking forward to the Grade 6 Missions Trip to Indonesia more that you.  You and your class are traveling to a third world country to help a missionary man build a school.  For many, this is the first time away from their parents.
After landing in Jakarta, your class boards an old ship and set sail for the neighbouring island.  
There you will find a village that is in need of a school.  The trip 
will take four days to reach the island, so your teacher assigns the students into pairs to share rooms.  
Just as you hoped, you get to have your best friend as your roommate.  The two of you scramble down to pick out your bunks.
     Nothing much happens during the first day.  Your teacher gets a bit seasick and has to lie down.  One girl says she saw a school of dolphins swimming near the ship, but some boys try to convince her that it was really a shark.
  The next day, you look out and see nothing but sky and water.  You're just  beginning to wonder how far away you are from land when you hear the overhead speaker crackle to life.
     
 The captain comes on over the P.A.  "Attention passengers.  Please put on your lifejackets and make your way to the main deck.  There was an explosion in the engine room that has caused a huge hole in the side of our ship.  We are sinking.  I repeat... we are sinking.  This is not a drill.  All hands on deck!"
 
You and your roommate rush up the stairs to the main deck.  Some of the students are laughing.  You can tell that they think the captain's message must be some kind of joke.  Your teacher and the captain are nearby.  You overhear them talking, and it is obvious that this is no joke.
     "I'm sorry.  The electrical system was damaged by the water in the hull.  We can't use it."
     "What are we going to do?"
     "You have to get the children into the boats."
      The teacher looks over at you?  "Is everyone here?" Your teacher begins to count out loud; numbering the children as he goes.
     "Quickly," shouts the captain, "We can count once we are in the boats."
     "Alright," your teacher says.  "Let's go."
     In a matter of minutes, students loaded into each of the two life boats.  The boats are then lowered into the water.  Your teacher and the captain are the last to get off the ship.  They jump into the water, and swim to your lifeboat.  
      
As the men climb in, you watch as the ship sinks beneath the waves.



You are days away from the mainland, and it is starting to get dark.  You notice that the wind is starting to pick up.
      
"Won't someone find us?" you ask your teacher.
      "I hope so.  The radio was damaged and the captain was unable to call the main port."
     "What are we going to do?" someone asks.
     
"Let's try and get some sleep," says your friend.  You lean against your friends back, and huddled together, you start to fall asleep.
*****
You are awakened by the sound of thunder.  
 "How long was I asleep?" you ask the kid next to you.
"A couple of hours.  It looks like we're in for a storm."
     Before you know it, the waves are tossing your lifeboat back and forth.   You look across and see that the other boat is facing the same.  
     Suddenly, a large wave smashes into your boat and you are dumped into the ocean.  In your surprise, you manage to swallow mouthfuls of water.   Your lifejacket pulls you back to the surface and you sputter to catch your breath.  
You look around.  The rest of the passengers from your lifeboat are swimming towards the other boat.  The captain is nowhere to be seen.  Sadly, you remember that he was the only one who did not have a lifejacket.  
All of a sudden you hear a familiar voice nearby.
  "Swim.  The current is pulling us away from them!"  It is your teacher.
He's right.  You feel a pull as the water draws you further away from the second raft.  
"Catch the rope!  Catch the rope!"
You look up, and see a yellow rope, the one used to tie down the life raft, flying through the air above your head.  It lands to the left, and you kick hard to try and reach it.  Your fingers reach, and just barely grasp it.
The kids in the boat pull the other end in, and you start to get closer to the boat.
You are barely into the boat before the group starts to wrap up the rope.  Once it is coiled, the kids try to throw it to your teacher.
  But the current has pulled him too far out of reach.  The waves are crashing, and the boat you are now in is unable to get any closer. 
     "Everyone!  Stay together.  Do you hear me?  You've got to stay together!"
     It is the last words you hear as your teacher drifts away in the storm.
It is two days before the storm dies out.  The rain ends and the waves slowly subside.  You and the rest of the group are huddled together in the bottom of the boat.  The constant sound of water hitting the sides of the boat has combined with the equally constant sound of students crying and praying.
It is then that you notice a new sound.  A scraping sound.  It is a scraping sound and it is coming along the bottom of your lifeboat.



Nasinamon Island Activity 1:
You and the other students are on an island.  Alone.

What are you going to do now?




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