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.