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.