Teammates

Teammates old & current enjoying a game

The teams we have been on during our decade living and working in Africa have shaped us.  Our teammates have been our family, friends, small group and work colleagues all in one.  We are in each other’s lives in a way that often doesn’t happen back home.  We’ve gone through lots of unique experiences and challenges together.  Our teammates hold a special place in our hearts, even long after our time on a team together ends.  This week has had both bitter and sweet reminders of this fact…

First for the sweet… It has been a couple of years since we’ve seen them in person. We’re not great at keeping in touch, but we’ve exchanged messages and photos some.  But now they are here in person, our old teammates with a new daughter in tow! (She’s actually already 19 months old, but she’s new to us.)  It has been awhile, but the old team connections are there and it is natural to have them in our home again, playing with our kids, helping with dishes, drinking coffee and talking about our lives and the work. It is often like this when we reconnect with old teammates— even if we are from different nations and have had different experiences in the between time, we share common values and perspectives, we know each other’s idiosyncrasies and care for one another, so we can quickly slip back into an easy camaraderie.  Our teammates’ visit has been a nice reminder of that special place teammates have in our lives.

Our 6 year old heading on bday adventure

Then there was the bitter…It was dark when we got up this morning. The kids were still asleep as we snuck out and caught a taxi.  At the airport we met our team to say goodbye to a teammate.  This is part of being on a team too.  We work so closely for a time but each of us has our own path, and God, at some point, leads us in different directions.  We’ve done these farewells before and there is a real grieving in them. This time we’re unsure exactly when we will see each other again.  Her departure had not been in our plans, so it was with extra heavy hearts that we bid farewell.

There is a sense in which teams are very fluid, teammates come and go, but each team member is unique and irreplaceable. Each person adds to the team and changes the dynamic. We’ve seen the shift on several occasions. Someone comes or goes and the team is different. Different people talk more, conversations go in different directions, different jokes are told.  The basic culture of the team changes. 

Playing with our newest friend

But at the same time the teammates that leave us don’t fully leave us because they have changed us. Even when we say goodbye, we still carry souvenirs of their impact on us. Maybe it is a song that they introduced to us, or a pastime that they were passionate about. Maybe it is a catchphrase that they said so often that it has snuck into our own vocabulary. Maybe it is a focus or value that they have passed on to us.  Our teammates change us and we are the better for it. Iron sharpens iron. 

We know it is possible to do this work without a team. There are plenty of examples of lone people or families working by themselves, but we wouldn’t want to. Our teams make us better workers and better people.

Iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful for our youngest son— who turned 6 this past week. We love his energy, love and sweetness and we had fun celebrating his birthday. The week with our departing teammate went well. She was able to connect and say goodbye to her friends here. We were happy to have a final team time together before she left. Her initial flight to the big island was uneventful. We’ve been thankful to have our old teammates with us and for the chance to reconnect and catch up. We’re excited to have them nearby on the French island working among the many Clove Islanders that live there.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Our good friend Ma Imani (who has been on the big island for almost a year) called asking for prayer. Her toddler girl was in an accident where she was nearly hit by a car on the same day that Ma Imani had an old infection flare up again. This is all as they were making plans to return to Clove Island. Pray for health and safety for her and her daughters. The country is still holding its breath to see when things will come to a head about the referendum. Opposition members were arrested and have been accused of planning a coup. Still not sure what happens next. Continue to pray for the islands and for good and just governance here. Pray for our teammate as she travels back to her home country and for us as we adjust to the team without her. Pray for our old teammates as they return to work on the French island— life and work there is more complicated than here on Clove Island—pray that they would have insights into how to be effective agents of truth and change. We have a visitor coming this weekend that is planning on joining the work on the islands— pray that it would be clear which island she should come to!