Ignorance is Bliss?

Daily walks help cabin fever!

Several weeks ago when the coronavirus was just starting to spread to different countries, I remember a colleague on the islands commenting that we’d probably never know if COVID came to the islands because islanders would start dying, but no one would question it. Since then COVID 19 has become a global pandemic and even the islands (as isolated as they may be) are not oblivious to what is going on.

The islands are part of an archipelago of four islands. Three are an independent country (that we call “the islands” on this blog). The fourth island is still culturally, historically and geographically connected to the islands but it is officially part of France, so we call it the “French Island”. Official word from the islands is that there are still no cases of coronavirus, despite the fact that the neighboring and closely connected French Island now has over 150 cases. Now, before you rejoice that the the islands have been spared, you should know that our reaction to this statistic is complete skepticism.

They aren’t testing anyone on the islands! The islands received a shipment of 20,000 tests last week but apparently the “official” word from the government is that there are no suspicious cases, so no one has been tested (as far as we’ve heard). Meanwhile our colleagues are hearing about people with flu symptoms and Tom just got a text from an island friend who says he has the “flu”. Rumors abound. Some say that the island hospitals don’t actually know how to administer the tests. Others think it is just a ploy of the government to try to act like the islands are beating the pandemic.

Island Funeral Procession

But it’s not just politics involved—there is also a mindset among islanders.  Islanders aren’t supposed to question or mourn death. At funerals I have seen grieving people berated and ordered to stop crying. Tears and sadness are not the “proper” response. Mourners are supposed to just accept that this death is what God wanted and move on. This blind acceptance of death also includes not questioning the cause of death. When I hear about a death, I usually ask, “What happened? Were they sick?” Sometimes there was a previously known disease but many times I’ll get vague responses, “He’d been sick for a few days,” or “She’d had some pain lately.” If I follow-up by asking if any tests will be done, I’m usually informed that nothing will be done and in fact the person is already buried. According to island faith, burial is supposed to happen the same day of death if at all possible. In the moments after death, the extended family is too busy preparing for the funeral and burial to worry about “why” the person died. Most islanders might even question what difference the “why” makes— it was just their time.

On Sunday morning, we were streaming a talk and at the end the speaker told everyone to not check the news too often.  Minute by minute updates just increase our stress and anxiety as we see the number of cases and deaths climb and feel helpless and overwhelmed.  Maybe the best idea would be to not check the news at all—but we know this is not wise. Of course, there is a big difference between not knowing the exact numbers and denying the virus is around at all!  Allowing islanders to think they are still safe may mean they don’t take the necessary precautions, which will undoubtedly make things so much worse in the long run.  We know that, if the virus were to hit the islands hard, the situation could be disastrous.  The biggest hospital on our island has sometimes run out of oxygen or sometimes lost power! Running ventilators for multiple patients when the number of ventilators in the whole country is probably quite limited, seems like it will be asking too much. 

Quarantine Over! They can sit with Grandpa!

The reality of the situation is scary.  It may be the islands will not acknowledge that they have a problem until it is much too late.  Then again, God may have mercy and due to their isolation and hot climate, the virus simply won’t spread as it has in so many other places.  We may never know what actually happens.  We may feel powerless in the face of it, but we can pray.  Let us not grow anxious or sink into resignation or despair. Let us pray deeply and with all our hearts and not lose hope!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We finished our 14 day self-quarantine with none of us getting sick at all! We are thankful for the protection of our health as we traveled and for ability to take on the shopping errands from Tom’s parents and the ability to live as one household with them.  Praise God for the creative use of technology that we are seeing with live streaming and zoom chats which help us to maintain community in these strange days. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Like everyone else, it is easy to get a little stir crazy. Pray for our kids as they deal with lots of disappointed expectations of what our time in the US was going to be like.  Pray for us as we try to make connections with the groups and people we were supposed to be visiting. We are going to participate in and share with a small group this week and have a few more meetings to share. Pray that we could get people excited and praying for the islands and let us know if you have a group that would like to connect with us online! Pray for the islands— There is an island brother on the big island who is experiencing persecution for not joining in the local prayers— they are threatening to kick him out. Also an island brother and his wife on the small island just had a difficult and scary miscarriage. Pray that others in the island family would be able to come around them with comfort and encouragement during these hard times. Pray that difficulties would not be discouragements but draw them closer to God. Our teammates (as foreigners) have been asked to register with the gendarmerie— this is not a normal request and we’re not sure the reasonings, so please pray for good relationships with those in authority.  Pray for our island family as they try to figure out what Holy Week might look like for them.