What do you do when...?

Tom with police friends

Imagine the following scenario.  Someone came into your house without your realizing it, rifled through your belongings, took all the money they could find, and left.  When you realized what happened.  What would you do?  How would you handle it?  You’d probably begin by calling the police, right?  911?  It’s a little different on the islands.

About a week ago, this very thing happened to some of our teammates.  What should they do?  Since there is no 911 on the islands, it becomes a game of who do you know.  Our teammates came to us and we put our heads together and thought about who we could call.  Before long Tom had called a police officer who was a former student.  That got the ball rolling, but then we thought to call one of our English program administrators.  He has no connection with the police, but he is well connected.  He made some phone calls and soon we not only had the police involved but also the gendarmerie (sort of a rank up from normal police officers).

But that is not the end of things, because before long the neighbors found out, and the neighborhood has it’s own way of dealing with crime.  Do you have $3?  Someone asked my teammate who had just been robbed—the irony was lost on the neighbor but not on us.  What’s the money for?  To make a public announcement.  So off we went to the center of town to a small building next to the town’s main mosque.  A wire ran up from the room to the loud speakers that sits atop the minaret.  As the neighbor fed the announcer the details, the theft was proclaimed to the entire neighborhood!  As details that we might consider private echoed around the neighborhood, the subtle undercurrent of the announcement said, “How shameful that our English teachers who help our town have been robbed.  Let’s find the thieves!”  On the walk back to the house everyone had a piece of advice or a word of encouragement or an assurance that we would find the thieves and that “What happened is not good!” 

If only it were to stop there, but this was just the beginning of the process.  Why?  In the islands we have the dual problem of a tight-knit community—so everybody knows everybody and everything that goes on—and corruption—so everybody might know what’s going on but that doesn’t mean anything is going to be done about it.  What has followed has been a great ordeal for our teammates:  Multiple trips to the police are required because you have to find the police officers who are trustworthy and they only work on certain days.  While we try to speak truthfully about the situation, we see rumors and lies both intentional and unintentional spreading through the community (they can identify the thieves, they have security cameras, etc.)  Families have accused families leading to fights and feuds of a tangential nature, but still requiring time, energy, and mediation.  Suspects have been brought forward, but no one is sure he is guilty and there is little evidence beyond the fact that “everybody knows this guy is trouble.”  The police want to flush out the culprits with cunning psychological pressure tactics while the neighborhood simply wants to find the guy and beat him up.  It’s a horrible mess. 

On her way home for sports

So we’re left to wonder…how do you find justice in it?  How do you offer forgiveness?  How do you even know how to stand in the light when all around you seems to be muddy, messy, darkness?

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Even in the midst of trouble there are things to rejoice about.  Though they might have had opportunity, computers and important documents like passports are all accounted for.  We are thankful that we are a team and so no one has to go through this kind of thing alone.  We got our visas very easily and quickly— we give credit to our teammate who helped follow-up with the appropriate offices. Our gathering about English teaching went well. We had a great weekend with some of our colleagues and friends and they made it back safely to their respective islands. Our short-termer’s orientation and homestay went well (her host family wanted her to stay longer!). One of our island brothers who happened to be in a nearby country when he suffered a medical emergency (details not clear, might have been a heart attack)—  they say if he had been on the islands he may have died.  We thank God he was in the right place at the right time.


PRAYERS REQUESTED  Pray for our team and our teammates especially as they navigate this quagmire of good intentions and corruption.  It is moments like these that we are thankful that we do not work in our own strength.  Our teammates have done so well, but it is certainly disturbing to know someone has been in your house and gone through your stuff.  Not to mention the continued trips to the police that are yet to come to an end.  Pray for a peace that passes understanding, a freedom from anxiety, and the words of our Helper to come to them in every situation.  Pray for our short-termer who is settling into life living with our teammates and learning language for the next few weeks— pray that we would know how to support her well and that this experience would be a good confirmation for what her future holds.  Pray for translation work as it gets going again after a few week break.

Passing the Torch

English Club

One of our goals on the islands is to work ourselves out of a job— to see others empowered to do for themselves what we are doing. This is something we hope for in all parts of our work. It is why we are team leaders and why we are working to mentor islanders. But part of passing the torch, part of empowering others is allowing things to get messy. If others are going to take things on, they have to be given the opportunity to try, to struggle, to even fail.

One small example of this is with our English club. We’ve convinced islanders that they can teach English classes but most of them still look to us to lead the club. So we’ve been encouraging them to volunteer to lead an activity for our club. We’re there to support them but when they lead an activity it is their show.

Recently we have had a number of people step up and take on the challenge. It isn’t always pretty. This past week was a good example. “Bako” had offered to lead an activity. Bako is an interesting guy. We’ve known him a long time now. He’s very serious and formal, almost incapable of light-hearted joking. He tends to be longwinded and use big words. He also respects Tom a lot and has done English teacher training with him. He wants to improve himself, which is a wonderful quality.

So we’ve taught him how to make his classroom a fun environment, a place where it is safe to make mistakes. We’ve show him the value of encouraging students and even playing silly games to reinforce your lessons.  But it doesn’t seem like these values have quite gotten through to him.  I think, deep down, Bako actually prefers the normal island way of teaching, which is writing on the chalkboard, a good deal of lecturing, and just having your students copy it down. He likes the authority and respect of being a teacher, which is somewhat diminished by silly fun in the classroom.  But at the same time, he sees our success in the classroom, and respects us as teachers.  So he listens and he tries.

At the club, we caught ourselves smiling and shaking our heads several times. There was still a lot of mini-lectures with him writing on the board and expounding in big words. But we see him learning too. Okay so his monotone delivery of phrases like “Let’s have some fun” and “Good try” make you doubt his sincerity, but at least he is saying them!  At least he’s going for it!

The reality is that perhaps we could do better clubs if we just always planned and did them ourselves. We have enough experience to not make a lot of the “beginner” mistakes, but if we are always the ones in charge then when we leave it all stops.

This principle extends beyond English teaching. We want to see others empowered to carry on the things that we are passionate about.  We want them to embrace for themselves the vision of a bright future for the islands. But if we are the only ones that know how to do something or feel capable of doing something, then we are failing. We are succeeding when we aren’t needed, when things don’t grind to a halt in our absence, when the work can carry on even when we move on to something else. 

Greeting short-termer at airport

So we cringe through bad English clubs.  We give constructive criticism and encouragements.  We try to keep a balance between effective work without reproduction and reproduction without effective work.  But like we tell our students.  If you’ve never made a mistake, you’ve never really tried. 

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our new short term team mate has arrived safely.  It looks like she is going to be a great addition to the team.  Tom’s final mediation meeting went well with general agreement found and more chances to share about the importance of forgiveness.  The government meetings were completed without incident.  There are still a lot of questions about what the results will be, but for now things are peaceful. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We are looking to renew our visas.  This is an annual event and though not usually a problem, there is always potential for disruption, so pray for a smooth processing.  Two of our teammates were victims of theft- pray for them as they navigate the island justice system and process this experience. We will be hosting a small gathering of our NGO’s English teachers this coming weekend.  Pray for those traveling from other islands and that the time will help to solidify some of our new curriculum and strengthen the English work on all the islands.  Our short termer is living with us for a few days of orientation and then she has a week long stay with a local family ahead of her.  Pray for stamina, openness, and a good heart as she engages in this new culture.

More Medation

Regular card games on road by our house

Last week’s blog “Accuse, Deny, Accuse, Repeat” was a bit of a downer.  The mediation had not gone well.  It seemed like there was little to be done in a “He said/She said” fight where neither were willing to back down to seek reconciliation.  But apparently there was something to be done.  Namely, make things even worse by escalating the situation!  So imagine my dismay to learn that one of the parties had taken the other party to court for defamation and was charging them for the equivalent of $1250!  That’s 6 months of pay for a manual laborer here on the islands.   Not surprisingly, this meant I was right back in the thick of it as each party came to me to express their anger.

Yuck!  It had all just gotten uglier, and I was being dragged into it. I didn’t want to be a part of it! I was already greatly tired of it.  My first reaction to the whole new mess was, “What can I do about it?!”  I didn’t do that good of a job the first time around and didn’t feel particularly equipped to dive back in. Thankfully, this is the very sort of mess where God loves to show up.

Going to Him in prayer, two things were revealed to me that offered a way forward.  One was that “taking someone to court” in this instance was not right.  If I was to stand for justice, then I could not stand by and do nothing about that.  Secondly, this fighting was not in line with our group’s values.  If these two parties wanted to continue to work with our group, they would have to find a resolution to the problem.

On the first point, why was going to the courts not right?  It’s a question of justice.  In the states we might take a case to court in the hope of finding justice.  But here on the islands, it is well known that it doesn’t work like that.  Rulings go to the powerful.  In this case, the party bringing suit was from an old, powerful family, held multiple respected positions in the community, and even had friends in the court system.  The other party had none of these connections.  The chance for real justice being done seemed extremely slim.  If we are to stand for what is right, then I must take a stand. 

Getting into Olympic Spirt

So I found myself in the uncomfortable position of offering an ultimatum.  Stop this court case and stop this fighting, or our group won’t work with you any more.  At the same time it felt freeing.  At least I had something to stand for. There was something to be done.

A few meetings later I had explained my position to the two parties.  It was a great opportunity to talk about forgiveness, justice, and returning good for evil.  In short, a great opportunity to share a lot of truth and the result was the two parties coming to the table.  In a little while the one party had agreed to put the suit aside.  One problem remained.  There was a litigation fee.  The party that brought the suit had already paid a lawyer (about $60) to draw up papers.  What about that?

It seemed like the right time to show just how far we are willing to go to find reconciliation and forgiveness.  To show how important forgiveness is. So I paid the fee.  “I have forgiven her.  That’s why I’m paying.  I am paying on her behalf.  Now you must forgive her.” I told my friend.  A few meetings still remain to be had, but it looks like some kind reconciliation is close.

Exploring our neighbor's torn down house

In the eyes of the world, I probably look like a fool.  The situation didn’t even involve me. But I had to give a great deal of my own time, effort, and even money to bring about peace.  And while I’m sure I made mistakes and could have done things better, the giving of my time, effort and money was the right thing to do.  I just hope I don’t have to do it again any time soon.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
One shortage has ended, the container with flour was unloaded! The whole island had run out of flour— meaning the bakeries couldn’t make bread or other baked goods (a staple for islanders for breakfasts and snacks). To quote one islander—“The population was suffering.” So they prioritized the flour— still waiting for relief from most of the other shortages, but we are very thankful to have flour and bread again. The family decided not to do a vision trip to the islands this month— which is a little bit of a disappointment but it also means our February won’t be as crazy. We haven’t gotten any specific updates but we know that our family member in crisis is getting some much needed care- we continue to pray. Our short-termer has her visa and plane ticket to come to the islands!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
The islands had huge government-wide meetings this past week to discuss changing the constitution and how the president is elected. Some have seen these meetings as good changes. Others see it as the president snatching up power and extending his term (perhaps even indefinitely). One major political party boycotted the meetings. Monday was declared a holiday by the president (with no reasons given), but we have yet to hear any word about what has been discussed or decided in these meetings. We pray for justice and freedom and a bright future for the islands. Pray with us. Pray for this mediation situation— Tom still has at least one more meetings to mediate. Our short-termer comes next week- pray that the final preparations for her stay will come together well.

Accuse, Deny, Accuse, Repeat

A scene of Islanders in light conflict (different story, sorry)

“It was you.  I know you did it.”
“It was not me.  I’m telling you that was not me.  You’ve been tricked.”

And so it went, back and forth, raised voices, anger and an unwillingness to listen, all on my front porch.  But I had invited it.

It was a surprising thing when a young woman came to me (Tom) with a problem that they wished me to mediate.  This is a very common way to deal with a disagreement on the islands.  You do not go directly to the person you are in conflict with but go through a mediator.  I must admit I felt very ill-equipped to handle the situation and to talk to the other person about it.  Although I may be able to help mediate conflict in English among westerners, I certainly am not aware of all the nuances that might be required of a mediator in our Clove Island context.  But neither did I feel I could refuse.  So with prayer and trepidation I arranged to talk to the other party who was accused of wrong.

I talked with this person and they denied any wrong doing.  They seemed unhappy about the accusation, but I thought I could be done at that point.  I had done my mediation duty by bringing it to the attention of the other party, right?…I was wrong.  The next day I was asked if a meeting could be held at my home for both parties to discuss the problem.  Of course, I accepted and this is how I found myself in the middle of a “He said”, “She said” argument.

If you’re hoping for a happy ending to this one, I’m sorry.  I prayed at the beginning and had talked about forgiveness earlier, but the argument went on for quite some time, and there was little to mediate.  One person said the other did something.  The other denied it.  There was no way of knowing who was right and who was wrong but neither wanted to drop it. What could be done?  They argued back and forth until finally one party had enough and left, unconvinced of the other’s innocence.  The accused fumed for a while and then went on his way.

I thought that was the sorry end of it, but I received a text message the next day that the accused planned to press charges at the local magistrate for being falsely accused.  He apologized, seemingly realizing I wouldn’t approve. So much for successful mediation!

A recreated boardgame, made from scratch!

Reflecting on this situation does reveal a few things.  First of all, this argument was very much one about honor.  One felt dishonored by what they thought was the other’s actions.  The other felt dishonored to be accused of dishonorably actions.  Neither could say, “Let people say what they want, it doesn’t effect me.” Too much honor was at stake.  It matters what people will say.

Secondly, there was an unwillingness to back down.  Both seemed to take a stand and would not give an inch.  There was a possibility that the accused was wrongfully accused, but his accuser would not have it.  As for the accused, he would accept nothing less then a full apology to restore his honor.

Lastly, and this is the saddest part for me, is the total lack of trust.  No one can assume the best of the other in these situations.  Mostly the worst is assumed.  The accused is a long time friend and I want to assume the best of him.  But my island experience tells me differently.  Maybe he did do something wrong, but his honor stops him from ever admitting it.  The accuser is also someone I know.  But I have lived here long enough to know that there are often other motivations behind such accusations.  So distrust and suspicion reign and there is little that can change it unless light shines into the darkness and exposes the hearts of men.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are honored that people would trust us and look to us in times of conflict (pray for us to grow in that role as peacemakers). All three of our teammates have made it safely back to the islands. Pray for them as they transition back into life here. Our three island colleagues went to a meeting of medical workers that went very well.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We’ve had word that a family member back home is in crisis— it weighs on us. Pray for him and his family as they work back to normal that they would find healing and peace. Our short-termer has to get a visa before buying her plane ticket (something we didn’t expect)—pray that seats on the desired plane flight would remain available and inexpensive until she can buy them. A family is considering doing a vision trip to the islands this month, pray that we could find the best time for everyone involved and that they would have good discernment for the future. There are a lot of shortages on the island right now that makes life a little more challenging. Pray that the hold-up of containers at the port would end and that the needed products would make it into shops. Some island brothers and sisters are at trainings abroad— pray that the things that they learn would be applicable and used well here on the islands. We just got a new resource — a video that has been in the works for a long time. Pray that we could use it well and get others to use it too. There is still hopes for a medical team on our island but they are still looking for leadership— pray for His timing to be clear.