Tam Tam de Beouf — Bull Fighting — Island Style

The bull tied to makeshift fence

They tied the bull to the makeshift fence and started calling for people to pay the small entrance fee.  The arena was a small plaza, in reality nothing more than a vacant lot surrounded by homes and balconies and a few staircases that led to nowhere.  Arriving early and looking around at the small enclosed space, my teammates and I decided to take a place on one of those staircases with a good view from above of the action and a strong railing. 

As we took our place the drummers arrived and began to drum.  Three drums made a vigorous excited rhythm that made the heart pound and anticipate something exciting.  The bull didn’t like the beat and bucked and stomped which raised cheers from the fans.  A horde of young boys made a circle around the bull wanting to show off their courage only to run away from the adults responsible for organizing the event.  This game would repeat numerous times throughout the festivities: young boys intruding into dangerous areas, adults running them off.  Meanwhile a diverse crowd of men, women, girls and boys had taken positions around the plaza.

Two men with long red scarves hanging from their shoulders moved into the center of the small plaza.  They began a dance which brought them slowly closer to the bull, waving their scarves which dangled from their arms in a come hither motion toward the bull.  As their dance ended, the rope was loosened and the bull was allowed some freedom.

The lot and boys tempting fate

We watched as men danced out of the way of the bulls horns, but the bull did not seem too interested in charging.  My island friend on the step above me said, “They used this bull last year and he was great.” But this year he seemed to have learned his lesson and seemed more eager to get away than to perform for the crowd.  Yet, for all the bull’s stalling, there were still exciting moments.  There was a close call when one of the dancers stumbled.  There was another one when the bull seemed intent on clearing out the crowd on a low balcony.  Yet another exciting moment happened when, with what looked like hardly any effort at all the bull pulled up the stakes of the makeshift fence and sent the drummers running!  There was even a moment of terror.  The bull had managed to break into the makeshift fence again and the young boys had crowded around to see, only to have the bull turn and charge toward the crowd, which ran in fear.  We watched from above as three boys seemed to be stepped on and crushed by the bull falling on them. Thankfully all three boys jumped up and ran away only moments later, so apparently no harm was done (except for the one boy’s mother who was so overcome with terror that she fainted flat out.)

But I think my personal favorite moment was when the bull had refused to charge and stalled so long they decided to let it take a break...by letting it run freely through the city streets!Understand, this is the old town, where there are not so much streets as winding narrow alleyways.  I pity the grandmother puttering down the alley only to be met by a muscled monstrous disgruntled bull, charging down on her!  But no one seemed to consider this an issue and we all let the bull have its run and waited for it to return to the ring.

The drummers

I have never been to a Spanish bullfight, but I’ve heard they are much crueler affairs with blood and gore and the death of the bull.  It struck me, that even with this uncooperative bull there was no one prodding or beating it.  No cattle prods or whips.  Only scarves and jeering. It brought to mind something I like about the islands. They are generally a peaceful people and for that we are thankful.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our kids finished their exams, marking the end of their island school year! Thank you for praying for our travels. They were long and we had one extremely tight connection but the kids did very well and we made it safely. We are now enjoying time with extended family at a family reunion (with 42 people!). As we passed through the big island we were able to connect with fellow-workers returning to Clove Island— this colleague has unexpectedly had to have a large tumor removed and hearing the story in person it was clear how miraculous the surgery, recovery and prognosis was. God is good! We have news that Ma Imani will be returning to Clove Island soon— we have missed her so we are excited to hear it.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We traveled with our teammate off the islands. Pray for her as she stays in mainland Africa for another week and prepares to return home. Pray for a smooth transition and that she would have a real sense of God’s presence with her during this time. Pray for our teammates back on Clove Island too! Demonstrations continue on the islands as many are unhappy with the steps that the current president is taking. Continue to pray for truth and justice to reign and for good leadership.  New workers have arrived on the small island from another African nation— pray for their transition and as they build relationships with their co-workers and islanders.

Holiday Priorities

Our family on the holiday

On Friday the islands celebrated the biggest holiday of the year! It is a lot of fun. Everyone gets new clothes. People go around and greet all their friends and neighbors in their different homes. They give each other cakes, sodas and candy. For kids it is like Halloween going from house to house with their little bags.

That is the fun side of the holiday. But for many, leading up to the holiday is stressful. We often hear complaints about money during the holiday season. To celebrate well, you should open up your home to your neighbors. This means fixing up your house in some way— a new coat of paint or new curtains or new upholstery, something to make your home look dressed up. Inviting people in also means having cakes or candy or something else to serve your guests. At the holiday people don’t stay much past the basic holiday greetings, but everyone is supposed to leave with some kind of treat in their hand.

Kids visiting old neighbors

Then there is the family. Everyone is supposed to have new clothes. To open your house up in the morning (as is traditional) everyone should have the traditional outfits (befitting a religious holiday). For girls and women this means a hand-tailored, buttoned top with a matching wrap tied at the chest. For boys and men it means the traditional robe and hat. But beyond that, there is also the expectation that everyone will have a second new outfit of western style clothes to put on later in the day.

As you can see, the expenses of “celebrating well” add up. The honest truth is that a lot of people can’t scrape all the money together to make it all happen. So they choose their priorities. Clothes seem like the first priority. Some people will close up their house (skipping the expenses of fixing up their homes or making cakes), but their kids will still be out and about in their new clothes. Some even prioritize among the clothes. The traditional clothes tend to be more expensive so some kids will have to stay home in the morning but will go out a little later in their “western” outfit.

Former students visit us

We have lots of kids in our neighborhood. Usually they are playing outside on the street, dirty and in clothes that have seen better days. But on the holiday when they come to our house, hands out for candy, it can be hard to recognize them. The girls are dolled up, the boys look sleek and cool, even sporting fashionable sunglasses! Sometimes they come with fathers that we have never met before. This is a moment to shine.

I was surprised when three familiar little girls came up my steps. it wasn’t surprising to see them at our house. They have been to our house everyday for months— always asking for something— oil, rice, sardines, soap, matches, clothes, whatever and however much they can get. What surprised me was that two were dressed in matching traditional outfits and the other in a pretty new dress, jewelry on and hair done up. How had their mom pulled that off? She’s been struggling to have the necessities of survival for herself and her 5 kids for months.  Did she get a job? Maybe a richer relative is helping them now? Maybe her runaway husband returned to care for his family?

The three girls in their holiday clothes

Later I had an answer. The girls came up in the afternoon. One walked up to me and whispered in my ear. “We’re hungry. We don’t have any food.”     So nothing had changed. The mom had just chosen her priorities. She chose fancy holiday clothes over food.

Our western minds rebel against such a choice, but in this place, honor is so important. The difference between being out and about in their new clothes rather than hiding ashamed at home is huge. And if the price is some hungry bellies— they decided it was worth it.


PRAYERS ANSWERED
We had a wonderful holiday celebration, greeting neighbors and being greeted in return.  It is a chance to show love and appreciation for many people and to enter into their homes and bless them with honor and respect.  Tom stopped by his friends’ place where they had been studying.  They had not met for all of the month of fasting, but he was greatly encouraged to find them studying together on their own without him!  We are also quite thankful to be able to eat lunches together as a team and enjoy community life again that includes eating and drinking!  We’ve had to make some difficult decisions this past week and we are thankful for the peace that we feel, the unity of our team, and the excellent leadership we work with as we move forward.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We ask again that you pray for our upcoming travels—we leave Thursday—for all the details, logistics, including Tom’s passport and packing, etc.  It will be a lot of travel for the kids. Pray that they will be able to sleep on planes and be patient during the long waits associated with travel. We have a visitor from the big island with us for a few days.  Pray that her time with us would help to inspire, understand, and guide her prayers and her future on these islands.  Many of our colleagues are starting their classes again after the month of fasting.  Pray for a good transition.  The kids are still working through their exams.  They have about 2 more days of it.  They seem to have a good attitude about it, which we are thankful for.  Schedules are all messed up during the month of fasting, now that it is over, pray for brothers and sisters that they would develop good new patterns and habits of meeting and studying together.

Water Rights

Common sight- spigot left running

I teach a class in the next town over.  The classroom is found right in the middle of the old part of town.  The taxi drops me at the main street and then I wind my way through narrow alleyways.  I pass the old men at the old mosque and greet them, and then work my way around the old walls made in the old style with rocks and coral mortar rather than the cinder blocks of cement that are the preferred building material of today.  The classroom itself is on the second floor of a large building that faces the open plaza in the middle of the old town.
Surrounded by crumbling buildings, the plaza is not well kept and more closely resembles a vacant lot than a public meeting space, but it serves that purpose when necessary.

Normally there are a few boys playing football or toddlers pushing toy cars around in the dust, but this time I stumbled upon a large gathering.  Mats had been set out and the plaza was full of people sitting on the ground listening to an energetic speaker making his points by slapping the back of one hand into the palm of the other hand.  Off to the right, the first floor of the building where my class is held stood with doors wide-open revealing a large unadorned room except for the many mats on the floor.  The room was filling with women preparing to pray and sing.

Carefully aiming my way through the crowd, I went and spoke to the lady who owns the shop by the classroom.  (We regularly talk before class.)
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“They’re making a prayer to protest the water.”
“Water?”
“Yes, the water project.  They came and did a water project and now we have to pay for water.  It’s horrible!...” Her indignation carried on for a minute or two.  I smiled politely, but inside I was applauding the water project.

Before the water project, the people of that town had horrible water shortages.  I remember because we had teammates living not far from there and the problem was acute.  Not only that, but the water project meant their water was now being treated.  They could drink it now without fear of sickness (not that this really concerned them before but typhoid has been a regular problem on this island for years).   But my greatest HUZZAH was for the fact that paying for water might actually make people appreciate its value.  In fact, this whole angry prayer was a testament to that fact.  Water costs something and it’s time they came to realize it.

Tom's solution: Stopping hose with a stick

Unfortunately, our town has no water project.  Water shortages are still regular.  The water out of the tap is often brown and many people still get sick.  But most aggravating to me is the constant waste.  For example, at our office we share the bathroom with the landlord.  Every time I enter the bathroom, there is a spigot that is on full blast, wasting water, just letting it run down the drain.  Every time I turn it off.  No one notices, because they simply don’t care.  Off, on, it doesn’t cost them anything. 

Our house is at the bottom of the hill.  We are the last to get water which means we often don’t.  A few weeks ago they were doing construction work on the neighboring house.  They had installed a hose with no spigot.  We went a few days with absolutely no water until I realized the problem was the hose just pouring water nonstop onto the ground.  I stuck a piece of wood into the end of the hose and suddenly the water returned to our house.  The following days I would repeat this game, looking for new sticks each time as the workers did not see the necessity of hanging onto that stick or stopping the flow of water at the end of their work. 
We don’t realize how precious something is until it costs us.  That is true of so many things in life.  I can hardly blame my island neighbors for their shock, but sometimes a shock helps us wake up to what is really important. Water is important. Let’s hope the water project moves to our town next!

Kids ready to welcome Tom home from trip

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The team has jumped back into life here again. We are thankful for two different women who have recently started studying with a teammate— one is a longtime friend who just started to show interest. It is encouraging for the whole team. Former neighbors who are also colleagues from the small island are on our island for business. It has been nice to reconnect with them and hear about their hopes for the future. It has also been fun for our kids to have their son around to play with. We’ve had multiple opportunities to be generous and speak God’s blessing over people.

PRAYERS REQUESTED 
This week is the last week of the month of fasting, which ends with the biggest holiday of the year. It is believed by islanders that one night this week is a special night of power when God hears and answers people's requests (most likely Tuesday night). Pray with us for all the islanders calling out to God on this night, that they would find Him and find truth. On the holiday, everyone goes out in the morning and greets their friends and neighbors. It is a great opportunity to connect with our communities—pray we could make the most of the holiday and have many opportunities to share. Our kids are in the middle of their end of the year exams— pray that they can remember all that they have learned and not be too stressed about it. We have less than two weeks on the islands before we leave for some vacation— pray that we would get everything done on our to-do list in that time! We just realized that Tom’s passport (though still valid for almost 2 more years) is almost completely full. This means he has to get it renewed— pray that the logistics of doing that would not be difficult. Pray for us as leaders as we sometimes have to make difficult decisions and have tough conversations. Pray for wisdom.

A Malagasy Wedding

Spokesmen meet at front door

The mpikabary (the spokesperson) stood outside the house and called out to the members of the household to announce our arrival. The groom and his entourage—including me (Tom)— waited for approval to be let in.  The mpikabary for the bride came to the door and announced his pleasure to see this group coming to visit them.  To this the groom’s mpikabary replied that it was us who were honored and that we came with the hope to discuss a subject of great importance.  Our group also came with a gift so as to honor the bride’s family and to be let into the house in order to have this important discussion.  After another back and forth, we were allowed into the house.  Our group sat opposite the bride’s family.  The two factions sat quietly for the most part, while the two spokesmen sparred off in a number of speeches mixing proverbs, poetry and formal speech as they considered the worthiness of the groom’s offer of marriage for the bride.

View from the groom's side of the room

 The speeches were long and formal, and yet beautiful in their content.  We were blessed enough to have an interpreter throughout to help us understand the rich speech.  This tradition dates back to the times of the kings and queens of Madagascar, but here it was interspersed with beautiful references to God and His saving work and the freedom from shame.  There was even a time when we paused to hear a sermon and sing praise songs.  It was a wonderful blending and merging of cultural tradition and redeemed life.

It had taken nearly ten speeches to get around to the reason for the visit.  It was stated many times, that these things should not be rushed.  It took many more speeches for the bride’s family to agree, including a wonderful moment where the groom was put on the spot and it was demanded that he state his love for his bride.  This was all rather whimsical since the engagement had been blessed and the wedding had been planned many, many months before.  After agreeing to the marriage we were told that we could leave, at which time our mpikabary very wisely lingered with more speeches asking that the bride be brought down before the groom left.

The groom finds his bride

Finally the door opened to reveal the bride.  But instead her cousin entered.  “Is this the daughter you wish to marry?” the mpikabary asked.  Everyone laughed as the groom replied, “No”. Another woman was brought out, but this too was not his bride.  Finally the groom was sent up to search the house for his betrothed, and with much smiling, laughing, and cheering, he brought her down and into the room.  A few more speeches were made as the ceremony came to an end. Then it was time for photos and lots and lots of food.

There was another wedding ceremony a few days later.  It was much like the weddings we celebrate in the US with a church, a reception, a wedding cake and dancing.  This ceremony was wonderful and fun and familiar.  But, the traditional wedding, with its speeches and proverbs, mpikabarys and gifts, was something all together different.  It was an honor to be able to experience it!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The trip to Madagascar to attend our colleague’s wedding went well. One teammate’s luggage was delayed but she was able to borrow clothes until she was reunited with her things. The wedding was a wonderful celebration. Megan and kids survived their week without Tom, thought they are happy to have him back. Our colleague on the small island finally got his visa (though he did have to go to the big island to get it).

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for Tom and our teammates as they enter back into island life. Pray especially for our one teammate who is coming back after a month’s absence— pray for a smooth transition back into island life and language. The earthquakes continue (scientists have recorded 19 moderate quakes in the past week). The earthquakes make islanders uneasy, pray that it could open opportunities for good conversations. A political demonstration this past week was apparently dispersed by the military using tear gas (a new technique that has many upset). Continue to pray for the political situation. Continue to pray for this month of fasting— for its opportunities and challenges. We get a big increase in requests for financial help from island friends and acquaintances this time of year— pray that we would be able to be generous and wise in our giving.