Turning 40

Tom turns 40!

As many of you know, I (Tom) turned 40 a few days ago.  A big deal, right?  Not so much on Clove Island.  Birthdays seem to be something of a recent import to the islands, so that even though everyone knows how to sing the “Happy Birthday Song” in multiple languages, it is not really something that is of great importance to them.  Birthday parties are mostly for the very young or teenagers and in both cases are an excuse for excessively loud music and sketchy dancing (now that makes me sound old doesn’t it).  In fact most people won’t talk about their birthday unless they are having a party. We have to be careful because we’ll often casually say, “Next week is so-and-so’s birthday,” and the islanders will follow-up by asking the time and location, assuming that we’re mentioning it because there is going to be a party.

But most birthdays just pass by unnoticed. A lot of people here simply don’t know and don’t care.  I’ve had people tell me their birthday and then when I wish them a happy birthday weeks later, they seem surprised to learn that today is their birthday.  I know people both young and old who do not know exactly how old they are.  They might be able to do some math and figure it out, but the necessity of keeping track or marking the passing of another year is not of great concern.

I used to be amazed, when teaching about birthdays in English classes, to discover how many of my students were born on December 31st.  It seemed like an unusually high number until someone explained to me that this meant they didn’t actually know their date of birth and that for the purposes of official documents the government would simply assign the date of December 31st for the year they thought most likely to be their birth year.

Kids put finishing touches on cake

So birthdays are not a big deal here and yet, for us, birthdays remain important.  A chance to honor people, remember and celebrate. And turning forty—it’s kind of a big one.  Well, many of you made it special with the messages you sent me.  Megan spaced it out throughout the day, so that it seemed like every time I turned around I was receiving another letter, another message wishing me well and remembering something special from the last forty years.  In many ways it was just another Thursday, and even though hardly any islanders wished me Happy Birthday as I went about my normal island routines, I had a very wonderful day reading message after message, amazed that so many people would take the time to write to me.

In case some of you were worried…we still did many of the typical American things…we had a nice meal and cake (Megan and the kids made a wonderful cake with a chocolate pudding layer and vanilla frosting—delicious) and we celebrated a small party with our teammates.  I received some presents, and of course my teammates made sure to make me feel old!  (Those whipper-snappers do that a lot these days…)

At end of birthday hike

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The calm has continued on our island and people have returned to work and kids back to school. We had a good time celebrating Tom’s birthday, including a nice hike over the weekend. We continue to be very thankful for Tom and his 40 years! We’ve made plans to go to the big island next week to get a couple days to step back and relax.



PRAYERS REQUESTED 
The language project started its consultant checking today over Skype. The first day went well. Pray that the rest of the week would also go well, for clear communication, good internet connection and no technology problems. Unfortunately on of the translators didn’t make it back to the islands in time (he has been delayed in returning from his travels), but pray that everything would go well in spite of his absence. Continue to pray for the islands, there have been more arrests of political opponents this past week. Islanders are still nervous about the future and expect more conflict and unrest in the coming weeks/months (though potentially in different ways and locations). We continue to pray for light to shine in the darkness and especially for good and healthy governance on the islands.