COVID-era Moving

Packing up the old house

We’ve been involved in a handful of island moves. Packing up a house may be long and painful, but in our experience the moving part is fast. We put the word out to our island friends, especially our student population which is predominantly strong, young men. A bunch of people come to the house, they grab everything and take it to a flatbed truck we’ve hired for a few hours. Neighbors often come and join the work crew. In no time, one house is empty. A short car ride is followed by a fast emptying of truck into the new house…and voila! You’re moved. Many hands make light work! Now the slow job of unpacking can begin…

So when we were planning on moving this month, it wasn’t the actual moving we were dreading, it was the packing and unpacking. But then COVID came back to the islands… Until a couple weeks ago, life on the islands was almost completely normal and our island had gone weeks with no cases. Now we hear coughing all over the place and more positive cases and deaths are reported every day. Suddenly the idea of calling on a bunch of people to help us move didn’t seem wise, safe or responsible.

We were only moving a block away, so a truck didn’t seem necessary. A truck would also be more likely to attract a crowd of helpers. Plus, a truck was for a fast move and we were coming to the conclusion that this move needed to be a slow and steady affair.

So we moved all day on Friday… and on Saturday.

We didn’t advertise what day(s) we were moving. Instead of packing lots of big boxes, we filled baskets with lighter loads so the kids could take them. We used our rolling luggage and had the kids push them down the street. We could move most of the house as a family… but not all. We have a fridge, a stove, and two bunkbeds. Megan has a bad back and shouldn’t ever help with stuff like that. The kids are getting big, but not that big.

Our lone helper!

So Tom had a friend who was able to show up. To minimize mutual exposure, we moved the heavy loads to the porch of the old house and then he and Tom took them to the new house’s porch. He helped for a couple hours on Friday and again on Saturday morning. 

Usually we thank our troop of moving-helpers with a soda and perhaps a small store-bought snack, but this lone helper had taken tons of heavy loads a full block away with intense island heat and humidity. So Tom took him out for lunch—island-style outdoor dining (aka a lady on the side of the road grilling chicken and fish and frying green bananas and breadfruit!).

Two moving days later and we are now settling into our new house! We can’t say we recommend the slow move. It’s long and there was an awkward night where we ate in one house, but showered and slept in the other. But COVID has forced us to be adaptable again, and with God’s provisions we made something work.

At the new house!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are very thankful for God providing two rainless days for our move! We are thankful for our one moving helper— he was great! We are thankful that Megan’s back was protected during all the moving stress. We are thankful that our new house seems to have good water (something we had questioned and worried about before taking it). We are thankful for our kids being good helpers despite us working them hard in the heat and humidity. We are thankful that so far there has been no violent unrest on the islands. We’re thankful that our family has not had any COVID symptoms.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We now have two teammates and two other island colleagues that have tested positive for COVID. We also have several island contacts that are sick with COVID symptoms though unfortunately admitting that it is COVID and getting tested is politically charged on the islands and many islanders are confused about COVID versus other seasonal island illnesses. Our first morning in our new house we saw two funeral processionals pass by in a matter of minutes (which is not normal) with about half the people wearing masks. COVID is here!  Pray for mercy on the islands and for more islanders to take precautions seriously. We pray for a miraculously small number of severe cases and for quick recoveries. The translation work is moving back to online-only meetings, pray that their important work can continue uninterrupted. We would normally go and visit all our new neighbors and open our home to our neighbor kids… pray that we could still get to know and make positive impressions on our new neighbors without being spreaders of COVID!