Welcome Back

Happy to be back on Clove Island

First of all, thank you everyone who prayed for our safe boat travels.  It went extremely well.  The seas were calm, no one got sick and we made great time (it took about 3 1/2 hours).  Now this may be surprising to some people, but this is actually the first time we’ve returned to the same place of service after a long break.  Although we have been living in the islands since 2009, our last return had us moving from Volcano Island to Clove Island.  We’ve been on Clove Island ever since, but this was our first return after a long hiatus.

Now islanders are used to people traveling.  People travel for school, medical reasons, job opportunities etc.  So a six month sojourn is not so uncommon.  But it also means islanders are very good at welcoming people back—they have lots of practice.  So what did it look like to be welcomed back?

Getting off the boat it did not take long for many of our friends to find us.  Some waited outside the gate, others paid extra to be let in and help with our bags.  Many handshakes, hugs and French bisous  were exchanged!  Then someone brought out the leis.  Much like Hawaii, it is traditional to welcome people to Clove Island with flower necklaces (they call them mau) these are colorful, sweet smelling garlands that are often primarily feature jasmine (especially for men), but for women will frequently contain different flowers and even spices like cloves. 

Megan and son leaving the port with our necklaces

Walking through the gate we were met by our landlord, more friends and more maus!  Tom looked like some sort of lion with a mane of four great flower necklaces draped around his neck.  All our bags were quickly thrown into taxis (prearranged by friends) and soon we were at our new house.  Bags were grabbed by yet more friends as neighbors from our old neighborhood (we moved a couple of blocks down the street) started to arrive.  In no time flat our bags were in the house and more hand shakes, smiles and bisous were exchanged.  A prayer was said in honor of the occasion and then many went their way promising to return to visit again soon.  Other, closer friends stayed.  The landlord arrived with food and those who had remained joined us for a delicious meal of fried bananas, samosas, grilled fish, and salad with fresh avocado along with cold water, and avocado juice.

After a while even these friends left and were left to rest and unpack, but that is not to say the welcoming was finished.  Since our arrival on Thursday our house has felt a little bit like grand central station as friend after friend has paid us a welcoming visit.  Often they come in twos, sometimes on their own, but still they come.  In between we try to put things away and arrange the house.  (Don’t worry, we’re getting there.)

More necklaces outside the port's main gate

This is our fifth day back and it seems like the visits are starting to diminish.  It is time for us to start returning those visits.  At the moment we don’t have to go far to find ourselves reengaging with people we know (it’s a small island).  We’ve also managed to cause a number of small traffic jams as richer friends stop their cars in the middle of the street to welcome us back and ask about our time in the States.

We don’t remember everyone’s name, and some we are more excited to see than others, but at the same time, there is something special about coming back, seeing people smile and knowing that we are loved.  We may be foreigners and we will always be foreigners, but we are loved.  And that’s a nice feeling.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Thank you for your prayers for our boat travels— it was miraculously calm and so the ride was smooth and fast (just 3.5 hours from the big island to our island). The kids didn’t get sick. We arrived with plenty of daylight left. It was good. We are thankful to be back. We are also very thankful for our new house and new landlord— he worked very hard to fix all the plumbing and electrical issues and we continue to be happy with the house. We’ve already had some good conversations with islanders since our return. Our daughter has already connected well with some new neighbors, we are thankful that she can find friends and jump back into French and the local language. 



PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for us as we focus on diving back into the local language and community. Pray that we would grow in fluency and depth in the local language. Pray that we would have meaningful interactions and find new depth of relationships. Pray for our kids. The older two seem to be doing really well, the youngest seems a little stressed by the fact that we aren’t living on our old house on Clove Island. Pray also for the kids as we talk to their old school this week and try to figure out what putting them back in school would look like. We also hope to encourage the local language more with our kids, pray that this would go well (they learn French in school).  Some consultants are on the islands for the next two weeks to help with the translation work— pray for a productive time and good relationships all around and that there would soon be books ready to be used by islanders! Our newest teammate will be moving from the small island to Clove Island on March 20th, pray for her as she makes that transition that she would finish her time well on the small island and be ready for the next phase of her journey with us.