Cyclone

Downed wall at our kids' school

The storm is most terrifying at night.  Power has been cut with the first high winds and the moon is hidden by the clouds plunging the town into deep darkness.  The wind is screaming through the tin roofs which bang and knock about like so many doors slamming or cars crashing.  The noise and the darkness are so great that a deep sense of isolation settles on the house.  If houses are being blown away by the wind, or washed away by the waves, would we even know it?  Could their cries be heard in this terrible darkness and who can save them? I keep thinking of the villages on the big island, in deep darkness, the wind and rain deafening their senses, and the sound of people crying in the night.  Who do they cry out to?  Where does their help come from?

Thankfully our experience this week has not been one of devastation and loss, but rather we’ve had the realization of how easily it could have been a major disaster.  Now others have had it much worse than us, like on the big island where winds and rain were much more severe.  During the midst of the storm we received messages from our friends on the big island asking for prayer as whole villages were crying in fear as the cyclone brought about the destruction of houses, trees and property. So we don’t want to undermine what for some islanders was truly disastrous. 

But for the most part, we see God’s mercy on these islands during this time, as we’ve realized that there are many ways in which it could have been so much worse.

The first disturbing realization is that islanders don’t seem to really think it could happen to them and so aren’t very prepared.  Granted, most of the time, thanks to our location, cyclones do not hit the islands or if they do it is only after the storms have been drained of their power.  So islanders tend to hear “cyclone” and think that there will just be more rain than normal that week and that the ocean will be more agitated. This cyclone however chose a rather singular course, a direct b-line for our islands, with nothing to hold it back.  It could have been truly terrible and we tried to ask islanders about it beforehand, but islanders spoke of it blowing over, of it being nothing, and just laughing at the winds.  In fact, it seemed like a macho thing for the young men in our neighborhood to hang out in their normal, rather exposed hangout spot and thumb their noses at the wind and rain throughout the storm.  Of the injuries we have heard about on our island, most of them were related to unwise decisions.  A pair of men were riding a motorcycle in the midst of the storm when a tree fell in their path.  Others were out in the fields when a tree fell on them.  People had been warned to stay inside, but many islanders didn’t think it would be that big of a deal.

Another big fruit tree down

The second disturbing reminder after the cyclone is the ubiquitous poor construction on our island.  As the wind whipped up we watched the tin roofs on houses around us warp and squeal.  Amazingly, most of them stayed put, but we have no doubt that stronger winds would have brought much more destruction.  There was a wall near our house which is a good example of poor construction.  To make a strong cinder block wall you need to have supporting posts running between the cinder blocks every few meters.  The builder of this wall had forgone that rule of thumb, instead allowing several meters between each post. Not surprisingly when the winds came, all his walls fell down (thankfully not on top of anyone).  With no real standards for construction, we wonder how many houses have been built with the same kind of shoddy craftsmanship? 

The third reminder is that most of the people in our town live at or just above sea level.  In our neighborhood in particular there are a number of houses right by the beach.  The ocean storm surge was not great with this storm. If the waves had been greater, what would have happened to them?  I heard a harrowing story from an older man who could remember a cyclone that passed through back in the 80’s.  He said a great wave came and struck the town and pulled dozens of people into the sea.  Yet, as far as I know, there was no move to evacuate those in the most danger.  God is merciful.

Ultimately, we and most of the islands are okay.  There was a good deal of property damage from high winds, but little flooding and few injuries or deaths.  We thank God.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our teammate made it safely back to our island after 4.5 months away! We are very thankful to have her back (especially after the cyclone left her stranded in another country for a couple days). Continue to pray for her transition back. Our other teammate’s brother and father safely arrived for a visit! We’ve heard that our journalist friend was released from custody, but there is no indications that the mistreatment and intimidation of the press will end. Continue to pray. We had a visit from one of the sisters from the little island and were encouraged by her stories of a changed life, living without fear and her vision for her family and village. God is moving.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Even as we thank God that the cyclone didn’t cause more destruction on the islands, we understand that people on the coast of Mozambique are suffering greatly.  They are still recovering from a hurricane that hit the country earlier this year, and now they have been hit again.  May we lift them up and ask for God’s mercy. Our good friend Ma Riziki had part of her tin roof come off in the second day of the storm, but no one realized it until most of their belongings were soaked and ruined. Pray that the islands would be better prepared in the future for natural disasters. The month of fasting will begin in less than a week. This is a month of increased scrutiny and increased opportunities to share. We are hoping to have a time of prayer this week with our island brothers and sisters to talk and pray about what we can do during the month to stay strong, united and encouraged. The language project is hoping to do a consultant check of a translation this week over the internet, pray for a clear connection, good communication and a solid final draft. One of Tom’s friends that he has been studying with regularly is really struggling with what is the ‘truth’, pray for him in this battle and that he would have confirmations (even dreams) that will show him the truth.

Rejoice and Keep Praying

Later that afternoon

We were over a dozen women sitting around a mat, laughing and joking and enjoying each other.  Almost all islanders. Representatives from all three islands. Come together to celebrate a holiday about life coming out of death. All united about the new life they have found or are finding for themselves. There was a baby, young children, big kids, teenagers, single women and mothers. A few men     hung around the edges, but there was conversation, singing, eating, studying and prayer among all.  It was a joy-filled day of celebrating. We were happy.

During last week’s English Club, one of our regular participants was leading and he was challenging the group to be happy with what they have and not to want more. I found myself a little uncomfortable. While I was happy to hear him promote contentment as opposed to greed, jealousy or complaining, some of his explanation seemed to encourage complacency, fatalism and apathy.

How do we hold onto contentment while still striving for something better? (Now, hopefully you realize I’m not talking about possessions and wealth. If we are just talking about money and things, then by all means let us be content without striving for more.) The situations I’m thinking about are the situations in our communities, the journey of our own growth and development, and the growth and maturity of the people we are mentoring. These are situations where the need for growth is always there and where the ultimate good that we are striving for can feel far away.

Dressed up for the holiday

Suddenly contentment without complacency seems complicated.

It seems there are two dangers. First is not being content at all. We can get caught up in the negatives. We forget to rejoice. We forget to be thankful for the positive things we see.  We complain but still may not see a way out or forward.

The other danger is feeling a false contentment that tells us, “well I guess this is as good as it gets.” We choose to overlook or accept bad things . We look at worse situations to feel better. We permit ourselves or our communities to stall and plateau without encouraging it onwards.

We don’t want to fall into either trap. As we looked around on Sunday morning, most of the time it was easy to be happy. There were so many smiling faces and true enjoyment. There was the clear answer to our prayers from years ago, to see island women gathered in just such a community. It is exciting and heartwarming. But we were not blind to the fact that it wasn’t the ideal for which we are ultimately hoping.   So many divided families.  So few men.  Some we would love to see making more effort to grow.  We do not want to fall into the temptation to complain or get bogged down in the negatives. Progress has been made! Let us rejoice and be thankful!

But let us keep praying. We want to see families. We want to see healthy marriages. We want to see maturity. We want to see unity. We want to see more groups.  Ten years ago we may have despaired that a dozen island women would ever gather themselves for such an event, let us look forward to the next big step forward with hope and faith. 

PRAYERS ANSWERED

We are thankful for the joy and fellowship we were able to share with islanders this weekend.  We got to see our good friend Ma Imani over the weekend.  It was mutually encouraging.  We are thankful that the second round of voting in the country appears to have occurred peacefully. Language concentration went well. We all learned new things and hopefully will be applying them to our conversations and interactions with islanders!


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Let us pray big prayers—that this weekend was a glimpse of greater things.  Pray for families, healthy marriages, brothers and sisters growing into maturity, and more brothers and sisters in the family.  A friend of ours who is a journalist has been put in prison.  He is not the only journalist to suffer this fate in recent weeks.  Pray for justice and freedom in the islands and for the imprisoned journalists to be set free.  Our teammate has been having a little trouble finding a good time to gather the women she is studying with and Tom’s “group” has been just one guy for the past few weeks.  Pray for the members to be committed to these times of study and that all excuses and impediments to their coming would stop.  Our teammate who has been in the States for the past four months arrives this week.  Pray for her safe arrival and for a good transition back to the islands.

The Humbled Learner

Tom and friend at event

I was reading a psalm this morning.  It says,

“My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.”

It’s a fitting word for this week as our team enters upon a week of intensive language study we call “language concentration”.  You might ask (as many of you do): “Don’t you speak the language now?  Haven’t you been there many years?”  Yes, we do speak the language, and by some standards you might say we speak it quite well.  But in other ways we are far from mastering it.

This is certainly an area where I (Tom) and Megan differ.  Megan is the leader and teacher of language concentration and I am the humble learner—or maybe, more appropriately, the often humbled learner!  Nothing seems to humble me quite as well as language learning.  It is a constant reminder that there are many things that I do that I am not very good at and that some of these things are important—like language.

Language Concentration tends to humble me in two very specific ways.  First there is the thought as we study some of these concepts that I should have mastered them years ago.  Why haven’t I figured this out yet?  Why do I still make so many mistakes?  That is always humbling.  Then there are the discoveries that happen during language concentration of things I’ve thought I’ve been saying correctly for years that are actually wrong and so I need to learn them all over again.  Why haven’t I realized this until now?  Equally frustrating and humbling.

And you can see how sneaky Pride can be in this.  For Pride tells me to give up in self-pity.  “I haven’t learned it.  I’ll never learn it.  I should have learned this years ago, so it must be too late now.  Maybe I should just be silent so that I don’t make so many mistakes.  Maybe it is the fault of others who haven’t corrected me.  Maybe I have been too lazy.  I should have studied harder.  I should have found a better language helper.  I should have given more daily time to listening and speaking.  I should have…” Eventually all of the should-have’s and maybe’s can pile up and make me feel guilty and down on myself and keep me stuck in a pit of language learning despair.

But there is an alternative.  I can be the humbled learner.  I can eat the humble pie.  Tell myself, “It doesn’t matter if I should have learned it years ago, I’m going to learn it now.  It doesn’t matter if I should have studied more, I’m going to study now.  Just because I’ve been saying it wrong for years, doesn’t mean that I can’t say it right tomorrow.  And though I will make many mistakes tomorrow, hopefully some of them will not be the same mistakes as before.”  The delightful thing about language is that there are always new mistakes to make!

The wonderful thing about this is, when I find this attitude—the humbled learner, who gives up boasting in his own strength—I find that, as the psalm says, I can “hear and be glad”.  Instead of kicking myself for things I haven’t learned yet, I can rejoice in the thought that I am starting to learn them.  Instead of being annoyed with the language and it’s idiosyncrasies I become fascinated by it.  Instead of focusing on what I can’t do, I can be glad about the things I can do.  I can see how far I’ve come and that the journey goes on.

Sometimes I’m tempted to think—How did I end up here, doing this work, struggling with these struggles?  Aren’t there plenty of other people who could do this (especially the language part) better than me?  But then an answer seems to simmer up inside that says, “Those other people aren’t here.  They haven’t come.  You have come.  You are here.  So what are you going to do?”  And so I go on, not because I’m good at it, but because I am here.  And I am glad to be here.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The kids seem to have transitioned well back to local school. Our colleague came to our island and had a successful vision trip, including an overnight stay to the southern tip of the island. We are thankful that all logistics went well for the trip. Our teammate has been studying with a neighbor woman, but also praying to be able to study with more than just her. This past week she had the opportunity to go to her neighbor’s home and study with her and three other women (plus kids) and they are all interested in continuing! Pray that this great opportunity continues.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for our continued efforts in language learning, that we would communicate better and better and that we would be good examples for perseverance as we encourage our team in continued language learning. Pray that our perseverance would lead to good news being explained with better clarity and better understanding. This weekend there is going to be a big gathering of brothers and sisters for the holiday. Pray that it would be a mutually encouraging time and that many would come. Pray for the unity and good relationships throughout. Pray that all those celebrating the holiday this weekend would be able to share with others about the hope and life it represents. This weekend is also the second round of voting. With the irregularities of the original vote last month, our island’s candidates all “won” outright, but the other two islands will have run-off elections on Sunday. Pray for peace, but also for freedom and justice. There have been increasing reports of islanders not having freedom of speech or press. Pray that these patterns would not continue and for greater communication and transparency between opposing groups. Our teammate back home in the US is preparing to come back next week! Pray for the final preparations and goodbyes and the funding that she needs before she returns.

Choosing Between Two Evils

Sunset on the islands

Megan has been reading a book lately, a collection of writings by Charles G. Finney, the great preacher and abolitionist.  He understood the realities of slavery in the US and railed against it, but he also realized that many were living in different forms of slavery. Finney wrote in 1839…

“To be obliged to choose against our feelings and inclinations—to be shut up to the necessity of pursuing a course of life not chosen for its own sake, but as the last of two evils— it is the very essence of slavery…But true liberty consists in the privilege of choosing and pursuing that course which is preferred for its own sake—that course of life in which our whole moral being will harmonize, where violence is done to no law of the mind.” (Finney, Charles G, The Promise of the Holy Spirit, compiled and edited by Timothy L. Smith, Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1980, p. 62-63)

There is great wisdom in this statement.  The two options for a slave in 1839 were to work as a slave or risk being beaten/killed, two evils. But truly, Finney is onto something much broader, for there are many forms of slavery, and many choices in our lives in which the choices are simply a decision between bad and worse.  This is often exacerbated by our economic and social standing in society.  And while this isn’t the same situation that Finney was discussing, his words came to mind as I listened to the story of an old friend who has suddenly come back into our life.

Guys night out

The last time I saw Arshi was in 2014.  He was a new brother, young and inexperienced, immature, and prone to unwise decisions.  It was at this time he decided to search for a better life by leaving Clove Island and becoming an illegal immigrant.  I did not agree with his decision at the time, but it happened, and except for an occasional phone message, Arshi was no longer part of my life.  But I did hear about him from friends.  You see, even though he was an illegal immigrant, his new home offered him some freedoms and liberties that are much harder to come by on Clove Island, and so during the past five years, Arshi has been growing, and from what I’m told, he’s been growing a lot.  He has a young wife who has been growing alongside him.  Over the course of the past few years, they began to have children.  He has a little boy and the new one is due to arrive in just a few months.  And then it happened.

About two weeks ago, Arshi was picked up by the immigration police and deported back to Clove Island.  And now he is here.  What should he do?  As he explained to me his situation—his desire is to be back with his seven-months pregnant wife and little child.  His desire is to honor God and not to lie, cheat or steal. And most likely it is impossible for him to enter his home of the past five years by any legal means. So I found myself reflecting on Finney’s words.  Poverty and politics are stacked against him.  He is in some sense, stuck by a system that would require him to choose between two evils.  What will he choose?  I do not know.  What should he choose?  I don’t know that either.

But I do know that there is one who makes a way.  I encouraged Arshi to put his trust in Him.  The day Arshi came to my house, I had just been reading in 1 Samuel, when Saul, seeing his army melting away and the enemy at his doorstep and Samuel not showing up, makes a choice between what he sees as the lesser of two evils:   doing the sacrifice himself (evil option A) or the army deserting (evil option B).  But then Samuel shows up and says that Saul has made the wrong choice.  There was a third option.  He could have sought the one who makes a way. But Saul never did this.

So we talked about seeking the one who makes a way and not looking for our own way.  And then we sought Him together.  I do not know what way will open up for Arshi.  But I know there is one who can make a way and I know He can be trusted.  Arshi has matured a lot in the past few years.  I am praying that Arshi will trust Him now.  I hope you will too.

Tom's guitar class

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful for the growth and maturity we see in Arshi. We were blessed by the visit of a couple of workers that served on this island over 20 years ago. It was encouraging to hear their stories and to see how God has moved since then. We are thankful that two island sister from our island were able to go and encourage sisters on another island. Our island sister who works on the translation work and was having such horrible pain each month and looking to travel for treatment, is doing much better— we praise God and hope that full healing has happened.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Many on the islands are in situations like Arshi, pray that they might find freedom and clear ways forward. We’ve heard a couple discouraging stories about island sisters being caught up in bad relationships with men and now finding themselves in very difficult situations where they are at the mercy of their husbands/boyfriends. Pray for people to come alongside them who can guide them well, giving encouragement and challenge as it is needed and that God would provide ways forward for them and their children. Pray for the men in their lives as well that their hearts would be softened and that they would have compassion. Pray for our kids as they transition back to local island school after the two week break between trimesters. One of our colleagues is coming this week to do a second vision trip in the hopes of working on our island starting next year. Pray that the logistics of the trip would go well but that there would also be a clear vision of what expanding the work on our island looks like (there are several possible models that we are praying about). Pray that even on the trip she would have opportunities to share.

Whatever Happened to So-and-So?

At Wedding

I went to Uhaju’s wedding this past week.  You may not remember Uhaju unless you’ve been reading this blog very closely for a long time.  But there was a time when Uhaju and Huomba were my students.  We would study the important books together and talk about truth. Here’s a sample blog of one of the many kinds of talks I had with those two guys back in the day:  An Old Story Made New

I met with those guys for almost a year.  We studied a great deal.  They understood so much.  I had great hopes for them.  And then, one day the meetings stopped.  Huomba got a job (Something we had prayed for a lot) and so didn’t have time to come to our meetings any more.  Uhaju got busy too, and soon the meetings that began so promisingly and had continued so regularly sputtered, stopped and died.

I ran into Huomba the other day on the street.  We talked for a moment.  It has literally been years now since we studied.  I don’t know what’s going on in his life anymore.  I don’t know what’s going on in his heart.  We had little to say.  He seemed uncomfortable and soon found an excuse to make his leave.

It’s better with Uhaju.  I see him now and then.  Once we even tried to get together to study again, but he got busy with his job and that stopped.  So, I see him on the street or he calls me on the phone.  It’s not much of a relationship, but at least we maintain some friendship.

Both Uhaju and Huomba were young guys when I first met them—somewhere in their twenties.  Just out of school, single, searching for work, searching for truth and meaning.  Now they’re finding jobs and in the case of Uhaju, getting married. 

Tom at wedding with another friend

So I went to the wedding.  I had a nice seat at the wedding with a good view of my friend.  Seeing him sitting there dressed in the wedding garb, taking his place as a man in the society, I wondered if he ever thought about the things we talked about long ago.  Does it ever come back to him?  Or is it simply something he did once, a long-since forgotten hobby.

Part of me is saddened by this.  Having worked here on the islands for ten years now, I have a substantial list of people I have been blessed to study with and who, for whatever reason have gone their way, seemingly unchanged by the encounter.  I am studying with some friends now.  Will they go the same way?  Will all this effort and study come to nothing?

But then I got to thinking about some other people I know.  Islanders who have had their lives transformed.  When they talk about their story—their journey—most have a peculiar similarity.  It is not the first, or second or even third time they heard the truth that it transformed their life.  But most can look back on encounter after encounter.  A steady build up of small moments that one day lead to a moment of truth.  Maybe I will not get to see that moment, but maybe it will happen one day for Uhaju and Huomba and all the others.  In the meantime, whoever comes my way, I will share with them the hope I have, as long as they will listen.

Our birthday boy

PRAYERS ANSWERED

We’re thankful for continued peace on our island— which means life can go on as normal, including weddings, visits and excursions to the river! On Saturday when we went to the river to celebrate our son’s 9th birthday.  He had a great day and we are thankful for all the ways he is learning and growing.  Vacation has been going well for the kids.  They don’t seem too bored and are finding creative ways to have fun.  Our daughter’s allergies are doing  better—thanks for prayers about that.  The gathering of island sisters happened and went well. They hope it will be a regular monthly gathering.  May they continue to happen.  Tom continues to meet weekly with friends to study.  They are more than halfway through John’s book!


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for the many friends who have come and gone, not only in our lives, but in the lives of many others who have labored on these islands.  Pray for transformation, for eyes to be opened, for people to finally see.  The political situation on the islands is not resolved but the past several days have been calm. Continue to pray for the stability of the islands, though things have been peaceful we know that there is still a good deal of fear and anger just below the surface.  The situation is tensest on the big island— pray for our colleagues there. Pray for peace and justice to flow down.  A new opportunity for deeper relationships has emerged with some unplanned for guitar lessons.  These have become a regular thing.  May they be fruitful.  Our colleague and an island sister each respectively are getting opportunities to study with friends.  Pray that these times would be fruitful as well.