Highs and Lows

Our island hometown

It’s hard to be away from the islands, so we are always eager to hear the latest news.  Sometimes it seems like days go by without much change on the islands. Nothing new to report.  Other weeks seem momentous.  This past week has been a big week for our island family, but, like it often is, the news is mixed.  The lows and highs are interconnected.  So we find ourselves discouraged and rejoicing simultaneously.  

The first started as a story of discouragement. The islands did not open up their international borders on the 19th as previously expected. Our friends and colleagues who have been waiting for months to travel on commercial flights (as opposed to special chartered repatriation flights) were very disappointed by this news.  This situation has meant that one pregnant couple had to prayerfully decide to have their baby on the islands, away from their families and without the security of advanced medical care. But this week we forget that disappointment and we are rejoicing because a healthy baby boy has been born! We are so relieved and thankful that both mom and baby are doing well. It has been cool to see how islanders have come around them and to see all the unique opportunities they are having to connect to their island community through this experience.  

So not the birthplace they were hoping for, but we rejoice in all the answered prayers.

The next story could have been encouraging—a long-time brother going to the small island to encourage and teach others. But now we’ve learned that the teaching included explaining how their faith could be used for financial gain, and how to make the most of foreign connections, aid, and donations.  This is most discouraging.  We’re not surprised that some have this attitude, but that they would teach others to have the same is disheartening.  

One of our roadtrip campouts

Next comes the fallout… How will the island family respond to the brother teaching this?  What if those who are younger and more impressionable accept this teaching?  What should be shared with others (especially foreigners) who put their trust in this brother?  It is an awfully big can of worms.

Yet even in this situation there are reasons to hope and to be encouraged.  This teaching could have gone on without anyone’s knowledge, poisoning the family from within.  But we are thankful that there were those who attended who were greatly disturbed by what they heard and instead of turning away, they have brought this false teaching out into the light.  We are thankful because things that are known can be dealt with, no matter how hard the situation might be. We are thankful that at least some of the young and impressionable new family members receiving this teaching were able to distinguish between truth and falsehood.  We are thankful that, hopefully, now that this type of thinking is being talked about, it can be addressed.

Light and dark.  Life and death.  Good news and bad news.  It is always mixed up in this world.  It doesn’t matter if you live in America or tiny islands off the coast of Africa.  In this world there is trouble and yet there is also hope.  We know how the story ends.  We know that one day, life will conquer death, love will conquer hate, and truth will conquer lies.  We know these things, so we don’t lose hope.  

We made it back to the Boston area!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful for a smooth delivery on the small island and for a healthy mom and baby. We are thankful that we made it back to the east coast safely! We were able to get tested for COVID and we were negative, so we didn’t have to go into quarantine when we arrived! Megan’s back did amazingly well during all the long days of driving (in the past a single day in a car would have caused her a week of pain)— thanks for praying! Our neighbor and daughter on the islands (who went to the French island for medical treatment for the daughter) finally made it back to Clove Island to be reunited with her husband and other kids after months stuck on the French island because of the pandemic. 



PRAYERS REQUESTED
Please pray for a good resolution with this brother. We pray that he has been misunderstood and that there can be good discussion and teaching around the topic of money. Please pray for our colleagues still waiting to either leave or return to the islands (including another couple expecting a baby) that they would have peace as they wait and that the borders would open soon (or at least set a reliable date for opening). Please pray with us for all those effected by the wildfires in CA. Pray for Megan and our daughter as they head down to DC to help her sister and kids as they move back to the US and settle into a new home. Pray for a smooth transition for that family. Today started a 40-day initiative of fasting and prayer for places in the world like the islands- we pray for big things and look forward to how God might lead the various groups that are participating.