There is Joy on the Way

Men watch taxi bus pass

It really shouldn’t have been a very pleasant trip. Taxi bus rides are usually mildly uncomfortable anyways and this time I was in the far back row where the seat back sits at an uncomfortable angle and where the air flow is the most restricted. This taxi bus in particular was packed with people. Plus, I was wearing formal island clothing (which means 3 layers in hot, humid weather), and on top of everything the road was bad, so it was bumpy, slow-going.

It shouldn’t have been a pleasant trip, but it was amazing! I think I had a big smile on my face for most of it.

Instead of a group of strangers, I knew almost everyone on the bus. It was a chartered bus, but we had all been together paying our respects to our mutual island friend and brother who lost his mother a little while ago. We had just come off a wonderful time of sharing and praying together in his mother’s home. Our teammates were there, along with islanders from all three islands. We had heard testimonies and prayer requests and teaching from all three islands, and were leaving the village feeling encouraged by the sense of community. We expected to be separated into various taxis and buses as they came along, when an almost completely empty taxi bus pulled up. So we all piled in!

I’m not sure who started it but soon the bus was filled with singing. It was joyful and life-giving. My good island friend was a few rows ahead of me with her hands alternating between enthusiastic clapping and being raised in the air. Some islanders from different islands were catching on to the lyrics and joining in as the choruses were repeated multiple times. No sooner had one song ended than another began.

Megan & our visiting leader

I wondered what people thought as we passed through several villages on the way back to the capitol. It’s not normal for taxi buses to be filled with singing, unless maybe it’s a radio blaring. Not to mention the lyrics and content of these songs. Given the country we are in, these are songs you might expect to only be sung in the relative privacy of individual homes. But I detected no fear or trepidation, at least not in the island women who were leading the charge. They knew the songs the best and were energized from being together. A few of the men smiled, but a few were quiet—maybe because they didn’t know the group or songs as well or maybe because they were nervous by the boldness and audacity of singing such things in a public taxi with an unknown taxi driver and passenger in tow.

The women handled the “unknown” part in similarly bold fashion. They went around and introduced every single person in the bus, including in most instances their full names and where they lived. They asked the one unknown passenger to introduce himself and asked him to request a song so that we could sing it again. We quickly obliged him in another rendition of “There is Joy on the Way of Our Father” with loud exuberance. Then the women asked one of the men in the bus to say a prayer of blessing over the unknown passenger before he left the bus.

I couldn’t help wondering what the passenger and driver were thinking. Were they shocked? Were they intrigued? Would they tell others about this experience? When the taxi bus pulled over to pick us up, I don’t think the driver and passenger knew what they were getting themselves into. We were all dressed in classic island style, but this was not your typical group of islanders catching a taxi bus. We could have sat quietly and kept to ourselves, but I couldn’t have been happier with the freedom and boldness on display. There is joy on the way of our Father!

Tom & kids back in island karate

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are very thankful for this bus trip and the gathering that preceded it— it was an encouraging glimpse of island community. We have welcomed our islands-wide leader as well as a potential teammate to our island. We are enjoying their visits very much so far. Things are coming together for us to reopen our English library and restart our English club. Our teammate currently in the US has her tickets to rejoin us in December!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
A former worker was planning on visiting the islands, only to have someone in his household get COVID, meaning he’ll have to delay his trip by at least 2 weeks. Pray for all the logistics of having to change all his tickets and plans. Our potential teammate will be here for another week— pray for clear discernment about where she should serve in the future. Continue to pray for a good new house for us and in the meantime for a new front door for our current house! Pray for our boys as we try to prepare them for their return to island school at the end of the month— their French is rusty! Our good island friend’s wife started going into premature labor last night. She has been given medicine and put on bed rest. Pray for her and the baby and ultimately for a safe delivery of a heathy baby (this is their first) and also pray for our team that we would be able to show love to them at this time.