The Importance of Being There

We’ve been reflecting on the importance of being there.  What do we mean by that?

Being there at the future school for a tour

This past week we were traveling.  We left the Clove Island to come to America.  But somewhat last minute we realized that we had an opportunity.  We’ve known for quite sometime that in the fall of 2022 our oldest child would begin attending high school in mainland Africa.  This boarding school is far geographically from the islands, but in a place that we visit quite often.  Yet because of COVID, we have not been able to visit the school.  They have been their own little bubble with restricted access—no tours, no visits allowed.  But just as we were leaving we discovered that some of those restrictions had lifted.  So we changed our schedule and made a visit.

What a difference that makes!  Our daughter, who had been very quiet and unsure about going before, now speaks about it with much more excitement and ease.  She’s been there, she’s seen it.  She has some sense of what she’s getting into.

Being there on the big holiday was important

Three out of four of our present teammates made a visit to Clove Island before coming out to join our team.  If you ask them about it, they all say it was worth it and recommend it for prospective new members.  Why?  Isn’t it a great expense to come all the way to the islands?  Why do you need to visit if you’re going to live there anyway?  And yet, seeing a place, experiencing it yourself is important.  Often times, it leads to a much better experience going forward.

But what about all the people who can’t go?  A good portion of our time in America in these coming days will be trying to answer people’s questions about the islands—trying to give them a picture of what life is like there.  And it’s hard.  It is hard to get a sense of something when you’ve never been there.

We find it is true even between the present and the past.  Though we only left the islands a week ago, already it feels far away.  The things going on there—a teammate getting sick, an encouraging conversation—somehow feel a little less real, a little further away, a little less pressing.  Meanwhile those things in America we’ve been praying for from the islands—a friend who is sick, a family member struggling—all these things seem vibrant and real and important.  Why?  Just because of proximity?  Just because we are here?

Being there first takes getting there

How do we overcome this?  Or is this something to be accepted? If we, who have a second home on Clove Island, feel the disconnect when we come to America, how can we expect Americans who have never been to Clove Island to understand, appreciate, engage, love and pray for islanders?  It takes something almost miraculous to happen.  A stirring in the heart.  A movement toward the unknown.  An act of faith.  We are told that people that take those steps are blessed.

“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

May we be catalysts for such steps! May God use our coming to America to make the islands real, to encourage more people to pray, more people to go. Just as we pray that our presence on the islands would be the catalyst for steps of faith.

What of those islanders and others who would put their trust in one they have never seen.  Maybe they have never even experienced or seen a loving community of faith.  Maybe they have never had the joy of fellowship with others. Sometimes our coming and ‘being there’ on the islands is the opportunity they have been waiting for to ask, to know, leading them to take that step. But even before they have met us, many have had dreams and visions. Is this God’s way of “being there”, of getting them an in-person experience when all other ways are impossible?  

Those who believe are blessed. May there be more!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful that we got to visit our daughter’s future school and the encouragement that was. We got a second round of negative COVID tests and all our flights went smoothly and we safely arrived in the US with all our luggage! We have already had the opportunity to share at two gatherings on Sunday. We are recovering from jetlag. This week our teammate was part of a good conversation with one of the guys with whom Tom has been studying, where he defended our beliefs and said they were better! Pray for more progress with him while Tom is gone.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
There continues to be positive meetings that suggest progress towards the medical team getting their authorization, but still the final authorization hasn’t been stamped and signed. Pray that it happens this week! Our teammates had their house broken into while they were out of the house and several of their electronics were stolen (including one teammate’s main computer). Pray for them as they process this loss and invasion of their space— pray that they would feel safe and pray for what seems to be a rising pattern of crime on the island. Pray for an island sister who lost her mom this week— pray for comfort for her and her family as they grieve. Pray for an illegal immigrant family that has been detained on Clove Island on their way to the French Island. The husband escaped after months of detainment, but his wife and child are still detained. Pray for progress and justice for their case (the Clove Island authorities don’t seem to know what to do with them).