The Grinch

Christmas morning!

It almost seemed like the cliché plot of a kids’ Christmas special. On Christmas Eve, an island grinch announced that Christmas was outlawed. No joke. A government official wrote and signed a proclamation declaring that Christmas was forbidden on the islands. No celebration, no gatherings. He even called on the police and military to enforce the edict.

We were surprised. We’ve never seen a proclamation that would seemingly limit the religious freedom of both islanders and foreigners alike. The current government has been less tolerant than previous ones, even insisting that islanders all practice the same form of the local religion, but nothing like this. And if they wanted to crack down on religion, why wait until the day before Christmas to make this proclamation?

Right away we had a couple theories where this last-minute proclamation had come from. Sometimes the islands do things for appearances. We doubted that they were actually going to go door-to-door and stop people from celebrating Christmas, but maybe they wanted to look like they were taking a hard-line on religion. It could be for political reasons or to ingratiate themselves with a country that has similar laws. The islands are dependent on aid from other countries and it wouldn’t be the first time that we had seen the island government do something for the sake of international aid money.

Making Christmas cinnamon buns

Someone sent us a link of the actual proclamation. Reading it, we realized the a big motivator was fear and confusion. It talked about defending their way of life from colonial powers. It talked about young people not knowing their own religion and being drawn into the debauchery of Christmas—a holiday for drinking, dancing, and promiscuity. It was obvious that the writer of the proclamation saw Christmas as a depraved celebration that went against the basic morality which the islands prize. So the edict was really going against the alcohol-infused dance parties thrown by some of the island hotels this time of year. But the edict said any and all Christmas celebration or gatherings were forbidden, even in homes.

We got news of the edict on Christmas Eve afternoon, but it didn’t actually effect our plans. We were going to celebrate quietly at home as a family. But it did make us wonder what this meant for the future. We always have a Christmas party with our English Club—would that be illegal in coming years? Our son overheard us talking about it and asked in a nervous voice, “Are we breaking the law by having Christmas?” We reassured our son that everything would be okay. But in all honesty we were uncomfortable with the direction in which it suggested the islands were headed.

So how did it end up?  Anyone who has seen one of those Christmas specials on TV knows how the story ends. The grinch can’t stop Christmas from coming! Especially when he is totally wrong about what Christmas is all about. Go ahead and get rid of the drunken hotel soirees, that doesn’t get rid of Christmas!

Christmas puzzle & read-aloud

Ultimately, the island grinch was brought down by another government official. The next day a higher ranking official threw out the proclamation and in his brief announcement suggested that the “grinch” was now in trouble for having made the decree in the first place! 

So it looks like Christmas on the islands is still safe, but its clear that we still have our work cut out for us to inform islanders what this holiday is really about!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our island friend was married a week ago and it seemed like everything went well.  We were thanked profusely for our participation.  Our travels over to the neighboring island have gone well.  It’s been good to see our friends and meet up with some of their friends again.  We were able to give a training on the 2 Kingdoms (mostly in French!) which was very well received.  We thank God for all His faithfulness to us in 2019.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
An island sister was just struck by tragedy as her pregnant sister just died along with the baby. Apparently she had been sick, but her death was not expected. Pray for peace and comfort in this difficult time and that the right people would be able to come alongside her and the rest of the family. We continue to struggle with health issues: colds, Megan’s back, and even stomach bugs have slowed us and gotten us down.  Pray for restored health.  We’ve heard of some possibilities for new team members to join us.  Pray that God would lead the right people to join our team.  Our teammates will be coming back from vacations and home assignments in the coming month.  Pray for their safe travels.  Pray for a great new year!

How to Celebrate Christmas?

Singing Carols at home

We’ve spent several Christmases on the islands. It is always a little surreal to be in a country that doesn’t celebrate the holiday. There is nothing in shops or along the streets that remind you that Christmas is coming. No carols are being sung or played in shopping areas or on the radio.

We have a little Christmas haven in our home. We decorate and play Christmas music. Many islanders have seen Christmas depicted in films and are curious and excited to see our living room change for the season and we get chances to share about what Christmas is to us. But for islanders it is just another day.

In the past, islanders have closed schools for the last couple weeks of December to mark the end of the first trimester of the school year.  So even though they haven’t recognized Christmas day, there has still been a lazy, vacation-y atmosphere for Christmas morning. But it won’t be that way this year… the government pushed up the vacation to mid-December, so our kids are set to start their new school term today on Dec 23rd. That means Christmas day will be just an ordinary school day on the islands. People will be getting up early and going to work, kids will trudge to school at 7am, the streets will be filled with everyday traffic.

Fun and Games at Annual Christmas Party

So this year we have to think, how many days should we keep the kids out of school for Christmas? Just the actual day? Should they go to school Christmas Eve? What about the day after?

On a normal day, we have lots of visitors coming to our house unannounced. People selling stuff, neighbors visiting, students coming with questions, people coming to exchange books from our home library. In keeping with having a welcoming island home, we open our front door at 7am and it stays open almost anytime we are home.  On a normal homeschool morning, we are usually interrupted at least 3-4 times by people coming by.   So what do we do on Christmas? This year it won’t be the quiet vacation morning where islanders tend to sleep-in, so are we ready for our family Christmas celebrations to be repeatedly interrupted? How will we handle it? Will we draw people into our celebrations or try to keep their visits short?

Decorating ornaments

What about islanders who want to celebrate Christmas? Should we recommend that they not go to work that day (even if it means they could lose their job)? Is it okay to celebrate a different day? What about waiting for the weekend or just for a day that is convenient? Now that we think about it, we are struck that the event that we went to at the end of last month was really a Christmas gathering. We came together, had lots of yummy food, and we studied the Christmas story. Does it matter that it wasn’t in the right month?

We have some tentative answers, but we continue to contemplate these things. Say a prayer for all of us on the islands this Christmas.  No doubt we will feel homesick for family on Christmas morning as we are surrounded by people just going about their day.  And as you think of us, maybe there is an exchange student or immigrant in your midst who can tell you about the holidays that they miss from their countries and maybe you can welcome them into your Christmas traditions.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our English Club Christmas party went well, several people who had never been to one came and heard the Christmas message. Tom was able to visit and pray again with the older couple. The wife has had some improvement! Our colleagues on the big island were able to pray with a mother of a brother— may powerful things happen in her life and in that family. 



PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for the islands to recognize and appreciate the significance of Christmas! Pray for us and others on the islands as we try to share about the holiday with our island friends and neighbors. Pray that the island brothers and sisters will be encouraged and united in love. We will travel to the French island for next weekend. Pray for safe travels. We will be doing a training on the 2 Kingdoms method of sharing. Pray that it will be well-received and that we’d communicate well. One of our island friends is getting married and we are being included as if we were part of the immediate family, may we be lights. Megan’s back is hurting her— pray for healing and relief, especially during wedding events. Our family has had various health complaints— Tom was very sick this week and there has been lots of coughing, sniffling and sore throats. Pray for health.  And let us all pray for peace on earth and goodwill to mankind!

Trade Language

1st time- English Club led by an island woman!

We are firm believers in knowing people’s heart language. Someone’s heart language is the language that they think in, dream in, pray in and that pours out of them when they are upset. If you want to touch people with new ideas, then they need to understand it at their heart language level. Usually this is their first language, the one that they grew up speaking, their mother tongue.

Many people have seen how people open up when we have been able to say something in their own language because it shows an investment in them, in their culture and it touches their heart. But it isn’t possible to know everyone’s languages.  In lots of places in the world there are too many mother tongues and we rely on trade languages to communicate. A trade language is a common tongue that will connect various people groups together.

People who have a trade language as their mother tongue aren’t usually as captivated by people speaking their language. We grew up speaking English, but when someone comes to us speaking English we aren’t touched by the idea that they are speaking our mother tongue. No, we assume they are speaking it because it is a useful trade language. As our island students always parrot, “English is an international language!”

So on the islands, we teach a trade language (English) and we learn islanders’ mother tongue. But there is a third language of the islands that we often skip over in our day-to-day lives. The primary trade language of the islands is not English, it is French. Islanders love English, but their government and schools are run using French. We studied French for a year in France and have found it a very useful tool, but we don’t use it regularly. We use French words all the time (since educated islanders mix the local language with French vocabulary constantly), but we rarely use “pure” French (just as we rarely hear pure French on the islands).

Often times we get a little intimidated when we have to speak pure French. We are confident throwing French into our local island language because we are usually speaking with islanders who do the same thing. French isn’t the mother tongue for islanders so they don’t care about mispronunciations or grammar mistakes. They make them too! Even if an islander insists on speaking French, we usually just respond in the local language and we end up having a nice conversation, mixing the languages with abandon and with no one batting an eye.

Christmas fun with our teammate

But there are times that we have to use pure French. Every once in awhile a foreign French speaker will come along. Suddenly the educated islanders will switch to “pure” French and uneducated islanders will fall silent or only speak in broken phrases. We wish we could make the clean switch to good French like some islanders. Unfortunately, our “pure” French switch is a little rusty and try as we might the local island words keep slipping in. We understand the pure French but have a harder time producing it, still in those limited situations where we encounter a French speaker we persevere and communicate. Still in general, we try to promote communication and writing in the local language and play down French.

But last week, I was surprised to find myself having whole conversations in French without the usual intimidation. I was telling stories, giving directions and leading a discussion! Now I should confess, it wasn’t great French. But my audience was very unique and very forgiving. They were all non-French kids!

I was on our porch on the islands with my three native-English speaking kids, two native-German speaking kids and one native-Portuguese speaking kid. What did we all have in common? French! All the kids are going to French-speaking schools and were at least a little comfortable in French. I chose a familiar story and asked simple questions. The older ones responded confidently but it was encouraging to see kids that I haven’t been able to communicate with in the past, watching me, understanding, connecting with the story and even hesitantly offering up answers to my questions. It brought a smile to my face, these three groups of kids could all connect over one story and interact together because of French!

Multilingual kids at play

I’ve seen the imbalance of power of trade languages when the native trade language speakers are talking to language learners. Whenever one person is just learning and the other is a native speaker, there is that imbalance. I’ve feel it as people struggle to talk to me in English or as I get embarrassed by my French mistakes with a native speaker. 

So as I played and chatted with this mixed group of kids, there was something beautiful about having a trade language.  It meant that there was no imbalance.  It was connecting us as language learners who otherwise would never be connected. And even as I would love to learn both German and Portuguese, I was thankful for the trade language that allowed us to connect and communicate.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful that we can study the good news with children in one language and the blessing it represents of God sending families from 3 different continents to these islands.  We are so thankful for each of these families.  May God bless them and strengthen them.  We are thankful that our traveling friends have all arrived safely at their destinations.  Our other friends have just signed a contract on their new rental house!  May they move easily and may the new house be a blessing to many.  We were able to spend a fun evening reading lessons and singing carols with our teammate before she left for vacation.  We are so thankful for our teammates and look forward to having 3 of them return in the new year! One of our sisters owns a car that was involved in an accident that totaled the car, she calls on us to thank God that the driver wasn’t hurt and for peace for those involved.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
May we keep up and use our French!  It is difficult to do so without practice, but it is a wonderful tool to have in our toolbox.  Every year our NGO produces calendars as a gift to give to our island friends.  The print shop has had some problems with their printers.  Pray that these problems would be fixed and the calendars could be printed soon.  Every year we have a Christmas Party with our English Club.  That will be this coming Wednesday.  Pray that we can make it an instructive and joyful event.  We have made the acquaintance of a very kind older couple.  The wife has been suffering from a number of medical issues and we have had multiple opportunities to pray for her.  Pray that these opportunities would lead to lasting friendship and new life.  Finally, pray for the unity of the body here in the islands.  Pray for good team dynamics on teams, respect and harmony among collaborating groups and servant leadership, good planning, and cooperation among islanders.

Different Chapters

Mini-Reunion of old teammates

This week we had an impromptu mini-team reunion. Back in 2013-2016, we were first time team leaders of a group of 8 other adults. This week we had 4 of those adults back on Clove Island with us. Our memories quickly went back to those years— we still had young kids, we were passing through the fires of team leadership, many times uncertain and fumbling as we guided a team through various struggles, crises and conflicts.  It was a humbling time.

Life has different chapters. Sometimes the close of one chapter and the beginning of another is clear and distinct and you are very aware of the transition. Maybe you are moving to a new place or starting a new job or a relationship is beginning or ending.  Other times the movement and change is gradual and it is only in hindsight that we realize that we’ve entered a new chapter of life.

Our life in Africa has had some pretty clear chapters. We renew our commitment with our organization in roughly three year chunks. Each chunk of time (or term of service) is separated with months in the US in between and each one (so far) has been clearly distinct— with different houses, different teammates and different responsibilities each time.

This mini-reunion weekend brought several reminders of these chapters to us.

Our youngest (right) isn't a baby anymore

First, two of our former teammates with us this weekend now have a baby and a three year old (they didn’t have kids on our team). We see how much their lives have changed, but us too. This weekend we were reminded of that chapter of parenting little ones with all the feeding, teething, diapering and tears. Now our kids have homework, regular chores, spirited arguments, ask deep questions, and can be left to themselves for long periods. Our lives have changed a lot.  We loved having a baby in the house with her ready-smiles and babbling baby talk, but it is nice having older kids now too. 

Another of our visiting former teammates has been here on a vision trip. He’s exploring how God is leading his family as they consider coming back to Africa. Hearing some of their big ideas it is easy to get excited about what the next chapter of their lives will include! Often times we look to future chapters with lots of hope and anticipation, almost wishing we could fast-forward and see what it will be like. On that first team, I think we looked forward to being more experienced team leaders with the wisdom and discernment. Now we look forward to God expanding the work on the islands into new areas and wondering what our role will be in that, but something we’ve learned is that you can’t speed through or skip chapters.  Each chapter is important with its unique challenges, its unique lessons and its unique blessings.

Tom & friend at weekend ceremony

Yesterday we helped our teammate (also from that old team) pack up her house and move into a new one. So we were reminded of some of the hassle and unique challenges of transitioning between chapters. There is the tension of trying to close one chapter well, while at the same time preparing for the new one.  Then there is just the tediousness of the transition (in this case, lots of packing, transporting, unpacking and cleaning). I can’t say that we look forward to packing up our own house in a few months and all the travel ahead of us next year, but we know that even the transitions have value. They provide unique openings for change, for starting new with new habits, or new commitments and getting rid of things and practices that we no longer need. 

So we rejoiced in having some of our old team back with us (though missing of course the other 4 adults). We rejoice at the memory of the lessons learned during that past chapter. We rejoice in the chapters we are all in now. And we rejoice in the future chapters at our doorstep. We don’t know what they will hold but we look forward with hope and great anticipation. 

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The kids have survived exams and even though they were nervous, each day they came home feeling okay. Thanks for prayers for that.  The island was under threat of a cyclone this week and there was a lot of anxiety and prayers related to it, but it ultimately changed course and didn’t hit us at all. We give thanks!  We had a wonderful, full, exciting time with all our old teammates here.  There were many good conversations had, many visits made, and hopefully, wisdom, discernment, encouragement and strength received through this time of iron sharpening iron and friends gathering together in love.  Our teammate is moved into her new house and it seems like a good house.  The moving process couldn’t have gone much smoother.  To my knowledge, nothing broken and the whole trip happened in under an hour!  We are thankful for good friends and good connections that made moving so easy.  Of course, our teammate still has a lot of unpacking to do now… 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
This is a busy month. Pray for us as we try to find the right balance for our time. We continue to hear intermittent rumors about possible civil unrest, so far it has all been rumors, but continue to pray that the islands will be a place of truth, justice and stability. One of the new island sister’s grandmother died this past week, pray that the island brothers and sisters can come around her and encourage her. Pray for our teammate as she gets to know her new neighbors, that she would make good connections and good initial impressions. Pray for our one former teammate, for safe travels as he goes back to his home country and for clarity and discernment as he processes his trip with his wife and kids at home. Pray also for the work on the French island, a new group of local people has been started for weekly gatherings, may they thrive and grow together.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving (celebrated on Friday)

Per tradition, with the passing of the US holiday of Thanksgiving, we will take a space in our blog to reflect upon the many things we are thankful for this year.  And this year, especially we are thankful for the reminder to be thankful.  It is easy, with each day’s troubles, with task upon task, with one day flowing into the next, to lose track of the prayers that have been answered, that the growth that has occurred, the changes among us that we’ve simply missed because we stand to close to it all.  Giving thanks pulls us back from that place for a moment, and helps us to find some perspective.  We take a breath and rest for a moment and reflect and discover, as we take another look at the familiar, that there is much to be thankful for.  And so this year, we find ourselves giving thanks for some of the less perceptible things, and yet still greatly worth giving thanks for.  Things like, faithfulness in daily tasks, steady and persistent growth, and hopes for the future.

Boys help make the mashed potatoes

There have been many times this year when we’ve felt like we have been doing little that is new.  Classes, visits, studies, school, team days, prayer, local events, meals, chores.  All of these things are our regular tasks.  There is little glorious in them.  And yet, we have much to be thankful for when we look more closely.  Our steady and regular presence has meant that we have deepened relationships with many people this year, allowing us to speak into the lives of people we’ve known a long time and people we are just getting to know.  We have seen our kids grow far more comfortable at school and with their friendships there.  And though our work has been the same it has not bee without improvement, as we have been revising along the way and improving the things we have.  Some of the events and meals we have shared this year have been truly things to be thankful for, despite their traditional appearance, they are a mark of fellowship among the island body that are reasons for rejoicing.

This has been a year of steady and persistent growth.  Sometimes growth comes in leaps and bounds.  Sometimes it happens suddenly, and sometimes it happens without our perceiving it.  Now as we step back and think about this year, we realize that we should be thankful for this growth that we’ve seen.  Children are often the easiest ways to mark growth, and we are thankful for all the growing and learning our kids have been doing this year.  We also see growth in ourselves.  Our team may have been small but our studies together and the trials we have faced have helped us to grow in self-understanding, compassion, surrender to the Holy Spirit and hospitality.  We may be most thankful for the strong and steady growth we’ve seen among the island body this year.  We’ve seen leaders growing in wisdom and strength, we’ve seen new people come to understanding and acceptance, and we’ve seen households open their homes for gatherings.  We’ve seen the body grow in maturity as brothers offer to help other brothers in need on a monthly basis, as they deal with disciplinary issues, as they create new traditions for celebrating their new identity.  None of it it is explosive change, but steady signs of maturity and life that we are thankful for.

No cranberry sauce, so mango chutney!

Finally, we are thankful for hopes for the future.  We have two veteran teammates joining us in January and February. We have the hope of new workers and a new team on our island. We have the hope of our group moving into medical work. We have the hope that our island brothers and sister will continue to grow with whole families joining in and entire neighborhoods and villages being impacted. Through the encouragements of this year we can glimpse a bright and promised future and we have hope! So as we begin this week of Advent we are thankful for the hope we have and the One who gives it to us.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Tom and our son were sick over the weekend but we are thankful that they seem to be feeling better and it was a short-lived illness. We were thankful for the technology that allowed us to chat with family in MA and CA on Thanksgiving. We’re thankful that our little neighbor is doing much better, she spent a day and night at the hospital on oxygen and has some medicine now. We are praying with them for guidance and the opportunity for seeking a longterm solution for her breathing problems. Our former teammate arrived safely on the islands! Some island brothers and sisters have formed a group to help each other meet financial needs, may it be a blessing!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for our youngest son (7 yrs). The schools here are doing exams this week and it has revealed a lot of stress and anxiety he has about not understanding completely at school. It is all done in French and language doesn’t come easily to him. Unfortunately the teachers are not known for being patient or compassionate, so please pray that he would be comforted and encouraged and that we would know how to best support him. Our older two have exams too, but don’t seem overwhelmed, though we appreciate prayers for them too. Pray for our former teammate as he spends the week here that he would gain good insight for how his family should proceed. Our other former teammates (who now live on the French island) will come on Friday to spend the weekend so we will have a partial reunion of our old team— pray that it would be encouraging break for them as life and work on the French island is challenging and there aren’t many other workers there. Pray for our island brothers and sisters as they think about how to mark the holidays this month, may it be a meaningful time for them.

Why We Pray for Families

Bako is a faithful English Club member

A good friend of mine, that we’ll call “Bako”, plans to get married next month.  He is a good man, though not a brother.  He has a high sense of responsibility and desire to do what is right.  He supports his ailing mother and puts his little sister through school.  He is a teacher and likes to “moralize” at his students with advice about how to lead an upright life.  He is very thankful for all the help we have given him through friendship, English, and training. He has also learned a great deal about marriage and family from his frequent interactions with us.  He has been engaged to his fiancée for three years, helping to put her through school, and getting to know her well.  Now, he believes it is time to marry and has been making his plans.

I asked rather casually how the planning was going and he proceeded to share the troubles he is facing.  His fiancée’s siblings are not in support of the marriage, and they are making each step of it difficult for the couple.  Normally a married woman would be given a home or part of a home by her family, but the siblings have refused their sister this right.  Normally they would help financially and participate in the wedding proceedings, but her siblings have refused to help and have even said they will not attend the wedding.  If that wasn’t enough, they have tried to spread rumors and have gone to witch doctors to place curses on the young couple.  Bako says that he cannot walk through his fiancée’s neighborhood without hearing the whispers or being informed of the gossip.  He says they are “front page news”.

Our daughter waiting for event to start

I only have one side of the story, but when asked why the siblings are so against this marriage, Bako says it is straight-up jealousy.  His fiancée is the first in the family to finish her education (i.e. high school) and her plan to marry an educated, working man (most island men are unemployed) would also be a first.  This has caused tremendous jealousy and all the trouble according to Bako.  There may well be more to the story, but such stories of jealousy are common enough here, that I am inclined to believe this is truly the main reason.

However, there is hope for the young couple.  Her siblings may not support her, and her parents may be gone, but she has uncles who do not agree with the siblings.  They have given their support for the wedding and marriage, pledging to help with preparations and even providing a home for them.  So, thankfully, uncles carry more weight than siblings in family affairs.

Having heard about the complicated mess in the bride’s family, I asked Bako if his family is supportive.  “My family is in complete support,” he proudly said…but then he qualified it. “Except for my father.”  When Bako was a small boy his father left his mother and married another woman and never gave support or love to Bako.  This is shameful by the standards of island culture, yet an all too common occurrence.  A wedding would be a perfect opportunity for his father to reconcile and restore some of the honor, he has lost both for himself and his son, but he has refused.  He wants nothing to do with the wedding and refuses to go.

As Bako tells me these things about his father I can see the hurt it causes him. His father continues to reject him without cause.  “Your father is a fool,” I told him.  “He has a responsible and honorable son.  He should be proud of you.  He is making a great mistake.”  Bako brushed it off as if it wasn’t so important, but it was clear to me that it still hurts him, and why shouldn’t it.  We didn’t talk anymore but  Bako allowed me to pray for him. 

Tom and friend at event this weekend

We spend a lot of time praying for families.  Much is broken here.  Will Bako be different from his father? Will his marriage be blessed? Will he care for his wife? Will there be reconciliation with her siblings? We pray for it.  Maybe you read this and think that it doesn’t sound so different from your situation or those fo your neighbors, but is that any less reason to pray for it? The good news makes all things new, and that includes families. So we hope and we pray and we wait for good news to change not just individuals but entire island families!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our teammate’s cousin made it safely home. Our teammate has found a good house and her two roommates have agreed. Still have to hammer out and sign the contract, but we’re thankful for such a promising option. It continues to be brutally hot and humid, but we are thankful for the occasional thunderstorms that have come and cooled things off (even if the respite is only temporary). A brother who traveled a couple months ago just returned (we had no idea how long he’d be gone or if he’d ever come back). It was encouraging to see him again and we’re hopeful that he can be a positive presence on this island. Just got the news that Tom’s sister had a baby girl! We rejoice in this new life!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Our teammate is meeting with a family but so far their meetings to study have been very distracted. They are hoping to meet twice a week, pray that the right family members would be present and that their time would be free from distractions. Our 7 year old downstairs neighbor has breathing problems and was whisked to the hospital this morning because she was struggling. We’re not sure if it is asthma or allergies, but pray with us that her lungs would open and her breathing would come easily in this humid weather. Our old teammates (who now live and work on the French Island) are also househunting, pray that they would find the right home and in the right community. Another former teammate is arriving at the end of the week to visit the islands and explore the possibilities for his family coming back in the future— pray for a good visit and that it would bring clarity to future decisions.

Lots of Little Things

English Club activity

Often change comes slowly. We begin to ask ourselves: how do we know if we are moving toward our goal, our end vision when movement is slow enough that the changes are easy to miss? It’s like watching our kids grow up. Our kids are always growing and changing but without the chart on the wall marking their height each year and the pictures, would we notice how much and fast they are actually changing?

This weekend there was an event on Sunday morning and as we reflected on it, we realized how many meaningful little things there were in that one event that marked growth and change. 

First, we didn’t initiate this event. We didn’t suggest it or plan it.  We were just invited. In the past there would have at least been one of us pushing something like this along, but not this time. This time we were told a time and place.

Second, we didn’t lead it, but islanders led using techniques that we have taught and encouraged.

It's hot season! Islanders cool off at beach.

Third, we (that is to say foreigners) were there, but they didn’t make it foreign by trying to translate it into our mother tongues or by using the trade language. Other times we’ve had to insist that we want things done in the local language, that these events are for them and many of them don’t know the trade language. We even had a guest with us this weekend, but without us having to spout our value of the local language, they did everything in their mother tongue! Even an islander who struggles to not use the trade languages in these situations, admitted that though it was difficult for him, he would try to only speak the local language. (I think people only had to give him a vocab word once!)

Fourth, we contributed to the event by bringing some plates and juice and adding to the discussion time, but we weren’t necessary. Nothing we brought or added was integral to the event.

Fifth, the event was using locally understood forms. It was a gathering in a local home, sitting on the floor with reading, prayer and local foods. These forms in themselves are not strange here, but they were given new meaning because the focus and content of the reading and prayers was different. 

Sixth, people who had been at odds or isolated were working together for this event. Hard feelings usually last a long time on the islands and have often crippled what we want to see happen here. But at the event on Sunday were people that we didn’t think we’d see working together, collaborating and looking to each other. It’s happened slowly but what an encouraging sight.

Tom and kids

Seventh, a rebuked husband was there with his wife and child. This may seem like a strange point. But this group hasn’t had many chances to challenge and rebuke each other. So when this husband was confronted by two other island men last week, we expected that he might end up distancing himself and avoiding the group that censured him.  Instead there he was, participating and perhaps even responding to correction by bringing his wife.

Eighth, we heard a story of how one island woman had vowed to never come to events like this because years ago she had a bad experience at an event that wasn’t comfortable or culturally sensitive. Now we got to hear her rejoicing that she had found this community and she could just laugh about her previous experience that was no longer an obstacle.

I’m not sure if all these little things seem significant to you, but for us they are so encouraging. It was a great event. Even greater because we didn’t need to be there. It would have happened without us, but we were blessed to have witnessed it.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful for the encouragements that we see and for the growing sense of community among our island friends. We are thankful that an island brother made the important decision to go for an important swim this past weekend. We are thankful for the leadership that we see among islanders and their willingness to have hard discussions. A neighbor of our teammates came to express her continued interest in studying and learning more and her brother also expressed interest, and our teammate also had a chance to share with their grandmother. We are thankful for what is happening in that family— pray for good follow-up. 


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Our team was blessed with a guest (our teammate’s cousin) for the past two weeks, pray that her travels and connections getting home would be smooth and that she’d be able to encourage people back home to pray for the islands. Pray for all of us in the midst of hot season as the heat and humidity can be draining and make sleep less restful. Pray for the energy to keep up with our responsibilities. While our future teammate had been given verbal approval to return by the medical assessor, his written report reveals a few more hoops to go through— pray that she’d be able to pass these hoops and that ultimately that she would be healthy so that the decision about her return wouldn’t need to be questioned. Our teammates have to move but only one is on island at the moment— pray for the househunting process and for the communication with the two future roommates who are off-island that they could agree on the right house in the right neighborhood and with the right neighbors! We trust that there is a place waiting for them.

Boldness in Troubles

Megan at events for neighbors

Ma Riziki came by the house to tell us about her troubles: sick grandchildren, taking in her ex-husband who is dying of cancer, the cost of medical treatment and feeding children. She is an old woman.  At this point in life, her children should be supporting her, but everyone still looks to her to care for her children and her children’s children.  You could see the tiredness in her eyes and in her spirit.  What can we do for her? We can help her with some food. And we can pray for her, with boldness asking for her heart and the hearts of her family to be changed.  Ma Riziki has never had much space for religion but she listens to our prayers. Sometimes, I think they touch her heart.

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Ma Nadjma came by telling us her brother, studying in Uganda, is sick and having nightmares of dead people.  She wanted us to give her money so she could get a local religious teacher to come and do prayers for him.  We told her that we will not give money for prayers.  Prayers are free, we explained, and the prayers said in the name of the Savior hold the real power.  So we prayed for her boldly.

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Another island friend knew that we would be coming together to pray together on Sunday and asked that our group pray for her older brother. He is an alcoholic and his drinking has caused more and more troubles for him and his family.  Suddenly, he is determined to stop drinking. But where will he find the strength?  “I know that when you guys pray, things happen,” our island friend said. So we prayed for him, but we also realize that someone will have to speak boldly with her and her older brother.  If he wants to be free, he will have to put his trust in the one who can set him free.

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English Teachers at Conference

Our teammate regularly visits a family with an old grandmother who is ready to die.  The old woman talks of it constantly, and even goes out in the rain in the hopes of speeding the process.  This past week our teammate knew that she had to speak to this woman. And a few days ago she did just that and told her the truth that could finally bring her final peace and set her free.  The old woman listened and accepted and we hope that it is enough for her to be set free.

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Desperate troubles make us bold.  It opens doors that were not there before.  Why is it so often this way?  Why do we only listen when all else has failed?  I would never wish troubles on anyone, and yet if it will awaken their heart, can it be anything but blessing?

Our weekly English club

If we had more perspective, we would see the chains that hold people down.   We would see the darkness that binds them.  We would see them starved of hope, of life and of spiritual nutrition—no matter their outside appearance, on the inside they are like POWs in a prison camp.  If we only saw more clearly, would we not do everything we could to set them free? To give them life? To give them hope?  But it takes boldness to storm the camp.  Troubles reveal the true conditions, and we storm the camp with prayer.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful that our future teammate gained clearance from the medical assessor and we can expect to have her join our team in February!  We’re thankful that our team’s visitor arrived safely and seems to be enjoying her time so far on the island.  We pray that we will continue to be mutually encouraged!  We are thankful for all the opportunities we have had to be bold this week.  May we continue to see clearly and speak boldly.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for bold conversations that still need to happen, and for powerful answers to our prayers that would open doors to still greater things.  Pray for even more opportunities to speak boldly in love.  We learned of two more new sisters going for a swim on the little island this week!  May they be shepherded well and grow in truth and wisdom.  We heard some sad news this week of a brother who took a second wife.  Pray for him, his family, and the larger fellowship as they consider what to do about this difficult situation.  Pray for the emerging leaders in the fellowship family who are dealing with greater and more difficult issues all the time.  May they have humility, grace and patience.  Pray for us as we help to encourage and advise them.

English Teachers Conference 2019

At Conference!

“I have learned that I should not be angry with my students all the time.”

“I’m going to learn my students’ names.”

“I believe now that adults can learn language too.”

“I’m not going to teach one way, but use multiple strategies.”

“I’m going to know my students and teach in a way appropriate to their level.”

“I can use trash to make resources!”

I (Tom) traveled to the big island this weekend to participate in our NGO’s 9th annual English Teachers Conference.  It is always a joy to go to this conference for many reasons—one of them is seen in the quotes above.   After all the sessions and workshops were over, we had a breakout session where we asked the teachers to share some of the things they learned, some of the things they wanted to start doing, some of the things they wanted to stop doing.   The quotes above are all things we heard island teachers say. 

You may not think of them as a big deal, but for many of these teachers, these are “Eureka!” moments that may help to begin transforming their classrooms from dull repetition and shame based/passive education to active, encouraging and fun learning.  It is no small thing to see teachers inspired to do their jobs better.  And this is another wonderful thing about the conference.  As seen from the quotes above, much of what is shared and learned at the English Teachers Conference is very practical.  Much of it is immediately applicable.  There is something exciting about giving tangible help that makes the conference feel important.

Island friends leading session

Another great thing for me personally is seeing old friends grow.  Now in some cases I am talking physically.  Some of these teachers I have known since they were teenagers or unemployed young adults.    Now many of them have grown up, married, found jobs as English teachers, opened their own centers, gone on to teach at the local university, etc.  All of them have grown greatly in their English as well.  It’s exciting to see and hear from them how classes and training sessions that were done years ago (back when we were on the big island) have helped them to achieve the great things they are achieving today.

Tom leading a session at Conference

The conference is a wonderful place for inspiration.  I see it in the faces of young island teachers.  When they see islanders teaching sessions, when they talk to other teachers and hear of their struggles and achievements, you see their faces light up with possibility.  It isn’t just foreigners and native speakers. The idea is sparked in their mind and heart, “I can do this too!”  And that is no small thing.  One of the sessions was more or less a time for teachers to share their English testimonies:  how they struggled, how they overcame, and where they hope to go.  Story after story helped to encourage the younger teachers and the smiles on their faces revealed their encouragement.

Talking about English testimonies makes me think of the final thing the English Teacher Conference does:  It gives me hope.  So many of the things that happen at the English Teacher Conference are the very things we want to see happen in island communities hearing good news.  “Eureka!” moments when the truth becomes clear.  The practical, tangible, applicable ways that good news can transform a community.  The growth and expansion of leaders and groups.  The inspiration from gathering together.  The testimonies of perseverance, hope and victory.  When we see it happen in English, it gives us hope for development and change in all areas of life.  My colleague from the big island, began the conference by telling the teachers, “There are things that we think are true, that hold us back.  We must be careful to search for the truth, for the truth will set you free.”  I know that as he said those words, he meant it for so much more than English teaching.

Discussion group at Tom's session

PRAYERS ANSWERED

We are thankful that the conference went so well and everything went smoothly.  Many teachers attended and enjoyed it immensely.  Tom also got the chance to teach a session unexpectedly when one of the speakers dropped out at the last minute.  He is very thankful that his session went well and was well-received.  We are rejoicing that Ma Imani is back from her medical travels and seems to be in good health.  We thank God for all the people he sent to help her heal..  We are thankful that Elewa’s health continues to improve.

 
PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that all the positive relationships encouraged and strengthened by the English Teachers Conference will have long term effects and that many will search for the truth and be set free.  A colleague and future teammate who has struggled with medical issues is hoping to receive clearance to return to the islands today.  Pray that the medical assessor would be able to make wise decisions and that her health truly is improved. Pray for a visitor coming out this week.  May her travels go well and may she be inspired by her time on the islands.   Continue to pray for those new brothers and sisters who have much to learn and need encouragement and pray for the ones who have helped them so far that they will follow through in seeing them grow and grow.

Open Swim

Beach at low-tide near our house

I’ve always loved the water. We never had a pool, but my childhood summers were filled with multiple weeks of swim lessons. I loved it, but I can’t say I was ever in love with the chlorine pool. As a kid my family camped several summers in the Sierra Nevadas, usually alone with our friends by a high mountain lake. It was usually very cold, but swimming in nature added a peaceful and relaxing quality not found in the pool. As a teen, our youth group had an annual summer tradition of living on houseboats for a week on a lake in northern California. I remember waking up when the water was still completely smooth and cutting through the water with my arms, swimming across to the other shore and soaking in the stillness around me. In college, I worked my summers at a camp on a small lake in Maine where my love of water quickly led to me teaching almost all water-based activities— swim lessons, kayaking, water-skiing. Camp could be exhausting, but anytime spent swimming in the lake was restorative. Even after camp, the water was part of my life. Camp had trained me as a lifeguard and I ended up working as a part-time lifeguard right up until leaving for Africa in 2007.

So I love the water. Swimming is my favorite form of exercise. Our island has no maintained swimming pools, but I love swimming in nature, so you would think I would be all set. In 2010 I wrote a blog about the disappointment of coming to the islands and finding that there wasn’t a good way for a woman to swim regularly at the ocean. Naked men often bathe among the ocean rocks and trash clogs the beaches and sometimes the water (depending on the tide). Islanders will descend on the nicer beaches on the weekend afternoons, but usually the beaches are pretty quiet except for the always present small group of naked boys who gather around any foreigner as if magnetically attracted, as well as the often sketchy man who is lingering on the beach, making you wonder if he is a little crazy or just up to something.

So even though I love the water, I’ve always had to admit (with a sigh of regret) that I wasn’t comfortable swimming regularly on the islands.

Megan heading out on swim

Then a couple months ago, I had a new idea. It was a bit of an epiphany. What about point-to-point swimming! I’ve always imagined swimming for exercise to be staying at one of the local beaches and swimming back and forth, doing laps in the ocean. The problem is that trash collects at the beaches and if (as a foreign woman) I stay at a single beach I risk catching the attention of lots of naked boys and strange men who can just watch and wait for me to get out of the water. Point-to-point swimming means that I start at one beach and swim away, away from people, away from the trash and end up getting out at another beach. I can swim along the coast faster than someone can scramble along the rocks so no one should be ready to bombard me as I get out. In one flash of an idea, I’d canceled out the objections to swimming for exercise on the islands that I’d carried for years.

Point-to-point swimming has its own complications. What about safety? Oceans can be dangerous and people can overestimate their swimming stamina. Thankfully the islands are surrounded by coral reefs that make the ocean near the coast calm and safe (outside of storms we don’t usually even have waves of any size).  But still, what if I got into trouble? Inspired by tow-floats you can buy abroad, Tom drilled a whole in a kick board and we attached it to a flag-football belt. Now I’d be able to rest if I got into trouble and I’d have increased visibility. In addition, we’d start with swims only on really calm days and shorter distances, and I’d hug the shore.

The other complication of point-to-point swim is clothing. I can’t walk around the neighborhood without at least flip-flops and the traditional toga-like wrap over my swimwear. That means someone has to both see me off for my swim and meet me at the other beach. But part of the epiphany was that we live near a beach (a very trashy one) and every Saturday my family goes to lunch at the hotel near the nice beach down the way. It would be convenient and easy!

So for five different Saturdays so far, I’ve swam to Saturday lunch instead of walking! My family says goodbye near our house and carries a towel and change of clothes to the hotel. There they pick me up and I head into the bathroom, change and eat lunch! It’s working!

I think I’ll always prefer the glass-like stillness of a freshwater lake on a summer morning, but getting to exercise with tropical fish flitting amongst the coral under me and the green hills of our island home rising above me is pretty awesome too. 

Tom & kids at beach for his birthday

PRAYERS ANSWERED

The consultant checking has been going well, it continues this week. Keep praying!  During a training this week, an islander on our island accepted the good news! We are so thankful! Megan is happy to have the chance to swim each week. Now the kids are asking if they can join her someday! Tom had his birthday on Friday, we are continually thankful for him and that we are blessed with such a wonderful husband, father, friend and team leader!


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Tom has been frustrated to learn that the man he has studied with for two years is still not ready to commit. He knows and understands so much, but is still afraid to apply it. Tom isn’t sure how to proceed, pray for wisdom and discernment. Ma Imani is still in Madagascar for medical treatment but we’ve had word that she is doing much better and is waiting for final follow-ups so she can be cleared to come home. Pray that she would not have any lingering health complications. Pray also for her two daughters who are missing her. We continue to pray for those islanders who have recently accepted and for more! This coming week Tom and our teammate will head to the big island for the annual English Teacher Conference, pray for all the logistics of that weekend and that our English teaching would continue to open doors to deepen relationships.

Sharing New Ideas

Making a new little friend

If you want to see real change in a community or country then it has to be passed on. If you share a new idea or even life-changing information, but it stops with the people that you shared it with, then your impact is minimal. Only those people who have direct contact with you can be changed by what you have to share. But if a desire and ability to share is transmitted with the new information, then it has the chance to be passed on and your impact has exponential possibilities. Every person you have direct contact with can represent countless others among their families and acquaintances.

On the islands, we’ve seen lots of isolated individuals who welcomed new ideas for themselves but never passed them on to others. Usually fear held them back. New ideas aren’t always welcomed in traditional, homogeneous societies like the islands. They fear rejection and being ostracized, so they keep the newfound information to themselves.  Some of these same people have lamented that they feel alone but we always push back and ask about if they have shared with anyone.

Playing on the porch

So it is with great joy that for a second week in a row we have celebrated news of new people accepting and embracing new ideas.  Not because of outsiders making new contacts among islanders, but because islanders themselves have felt burdened to reach out, share and encourage other islanders.

Last week it was a wife of a man who has been alone in his ideas for a long time. (Truthfully, we wonder if he has truly really embraced these ideas).  But Island women came to his house and met with his wife. She seemed to think that these types of ideas weren’t really for women to think about, but seeing a group of women who embraced them opened her eyes to the way that they might apply to her.

This past weekend it was three more women hearing and accepting.  Again it was islanders sharing with islanders that have led to these exciting developments.  Two of the women were accepting for the first time and one who had lost her way and is now, we hope, back on the path. One of the women is the wife of a man who had already accepted these new ideas. It is exciting! 

Now some cynical part of us always pushes us to curb our excitement. We weren’t at these meetings so we don’t know how much was explained. It is possible these four women don’t fully understand what it is they are embracing. But then we push back and silence our own cynicism— Even if these four women aren’t changed yet, it is the fact that other islanders are the ones sharing with them that is exciting. Even if their information was incomplete, other islanders are rejoicing that their loved ones have begun to hear and accept.  Islanders are catching a vision for sharing with more and more people.  So we are thankful, we rejoice, and we look forward to more!

Lost another tooth

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are very grateful for the news that three more women have embraced good news. Our kids are feeling better and are back to school. We’ve heard that one of our colleagues is going to get the medical clearance to return to the islands (she has had health concerns and we’ve been praying a lot for her)!

 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that more isolated people would share with their close family and that we would see more couples and families embracing new ideas together. Pray for these four women who have made decisions, for their growth and protection. The translation project is doing long-distance consultant checking this week. Pray that the logistics of the technology would work well so that the work can go well.

Watch Them Grow

Himu leading the Club

Most of our English students are young adults.  When we first arrived we barred kids from our classes because English was already being taught by islanders in schools and we weren’t looking to compete with them. No one was teaching adults and many wanted to learn. But realistically older adults have a harder time learning language and are already established with jobs and families so they have less time or inclination to learn. So it’s not a big surprise that a majority of our classes over the years have been filled with people from 18-30 years old.

The one place where we haven’t put any restrictions was on our English Club. If someone could speak English well enough, they could attend (with kids, their parents need to know they are coming and approve). Over the years we’ve had a handful of kids come, most for a week or two and then we don’t see them again. It is intimidating to be surrounded by adults and trying to speak a foreign language, not to mention the club is at night.

"Himu" has been an exception. I think he must have been 12 when we met him. We saw him go through levels 1,2, and 3 of the English curriculum. He was quiet and a little shy, but obviously smart. He came weekly to our club, attentive and dedicated.

At some point we met Himu’s dad. He sells phone credit on the side of the road near a shop we frequent. They have the same smile. Meanwhile Himu faithfully attended our club, week after week, month after month.

Himu giving his speech

A few years passed and Himu had a growth spurt. His voice deepened. His father was worried he was getting drawn in with the “bad kind of friends” and asked Tom to talk to Himu on his behalf.  Tom sat down with Himu and encouraged him to keep up with his studies and stay out of trouble.  His dad was pleased.

A few years later, Himu took the teacher training course with Tom and started teaching classes with one of the local programs.  He’s only sixteen, but he’s taking the job seriously.  About a month ago that kid that we still think of sometimes as being 12 years old volunteered to lead the English club—and did a great job.

Some people only look to us for English. That is what they want from us and nothing more. But some are looking for mentors.  They look to us for advice and guidance. They watch our lives. Sometimes we don’t really realize that we’re mentoring someone until we see them modeling some of their decisions and behaviors on us.

A few weeks ago Himu stood in front of a crowd and gave a speech in English. He thanked us and talked about learning at our club to be a leader and about giving back to his country.  He’s a young man now. Where did that little kid go? After his speech, Himu proceeded to hand out certificates to his class of English students. We were proud of him.

Himu likes to joke around and call Tom “My grandfather.” Tom doesn’t feel that old, but he understands that there is a compliment behind the joke.  Ultimately, we hope that Himu. will learn more from us than just speaking English or being a good teacher.  But for now we are thankful for the opportunity to play a part in his life and to watch him grow.

First mangoes of the season!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We’ve had good news today. Our island sisters got together to study and ended up shepherding a new sister into the family!  May it lead to even more growth!  Megan’s back has continued to improve after her setback last week, and she was feeling well enough to do another point to point swim.  Our oldest son is feeling better and went back to school.  Tom was able to meet with a few of his study friends.  We had a visit from our friend and boss this week, which was a definite blessing.  Ma Imani has started treatment in Madagascar and her family says she has already made a marked improvement (though we’re still confused about what exactly wrong). Our country came and visited this past week— it was a joy to have her!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for our new sister, that she would be guided and encouraged in her walk and she would be one of many to join our family.  A Clove Island brother is going to the small island tomorrow to encourage brothers and sisters there. Pray that he could spurn them on to greater growth. Our older son is feeling better, but now the younger one is coughing and sniffling.  Pray for healing.  We are still searching for workers to join our team in 2020.  All our leads seem to have dried up for the moment.  Pray that God would send the right people!