Blessed Holiday!

The new moon is sighted

Looking up into the sky on Sunday night, one could see it clearly—the first small sliver of moonlight, signifying the end of a month of fasting for islanders and billions of people around the world.  At last, this long, hard month has come to an end.  Let the feasting begin!

The next morning, dressed in the best new and formal wear, men and children take to the streets to share “the hand of the holiday”  with neighbors and friends.  Women wait in their homes to welcome the men and children, serving them cakes or samosas, and for the children—candy.  Everyone we see on the streets extends their hands and smiles as they greet us with the special holiday greeting, which literally translates “Blessed Holiday!”  Phone calls are made and text messages flash through the ether clogging the phone lines as salutations are made to more distant friends in neighboring villages.  Those with cars drive slowly from place to place greeting each neighborhood in turn. 

Tom and boys greet neighbors on street

As the day goes on the visits slow to a trickle.  We exchange photos with our neighbors and get ready to eat lunch together—something we haven’t done for the past month.  The children, tired from all the walking and full of candy, shed their traditional island outfits and settle down to watch a movie.  Like most, we will relax for the warm hours of the early afternoon and then go visiting again as a family to those particularly good friends like Ma Imani’s and others who don’t live very close.

Our daughter with women of one family

We’ve also planned to stop by the carnival.  At the local community center they’ve arranged a number of simple fair-type games for kids to play: Fish for gifts; wear a blindfold and cut the rope;  throw the beanbag through the hole, etc.  All the games are for a small price of course, but prizes of toys and candy are easily won.  But by the time we’re done visiting with the last family, the sun has already set and we’re tired. The carnival, being a two day event, will have to wait till the next day.

On our afternoon walk, we ran into the friend of one of our old teammates.  He followed us on the whole long walk home. As Megan prepared some dinner for the kids he sat down in the living room to talk some more.  After a little while our downstairs neighbor, Twama, comes up with her 1-month old, because her family has gone out and left her home with the baby. So the four of us are all sitting in the living room when the conversation turns to important things, to light shining in darkness and how real change is possible.  We share with them the story of the two kingdoms and of the opportunity everyone has to walk in the light.  They listen and ask questions and then say their goodbyes.  Twama returns to her family, and our new friend walks out into the night.  A holiday is always good news.  May there be more good news on these islands.

Visiting good friends in the afternoon

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Megan’s finger is healing very well and with no infection! Thanks for praying. Our kids finished their year of homeschool (1st and 3rd grades)! We’re very proud of all the work they did and thankful for how well they are learning. Our newest teammate had a scare this week when a pressurized container that was among burning trash exploded. She had flash burns on her face, arm and foot. She acted quickly to cool the burn and we are very thankful that she ended with mostly superficial burns and only a couple blisters (it could have been a lot worse). We are thankful for how well the month of fasting and the holiday went. We had opportunities to share with new people and strengthen relationships.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Continue to pray that our teammate heals well after her traumatic burn experience. We have a colleague from the small island who will be visiting this coming week and working on an audio project that we are excited about— pray that his travels are smooth and that his time here goes well. He is hoping to get all the work done in three days. We’re taking a break from homeschool— pray that we can find constructive things to keep our kids occupied. Now that the month of fasting is over, we have to figure out our new schedule— pray for wise choices about how to spend our time. Pray for all those islanders that heard good news this past month that it would stay in their hearts and minds and they would continue to learn and grow.