Can We Swim?

The month of fasting on the islands includes a lot of do’s and don’ts. It is legalism at its strongest. The most basic rule is that in order for your fasting to ‘count’, islanders cannot eat or drink from sunrise to sunset. But those conversant in legalism know that you can’t end with such a general rule, you need to get specific.

Our new teenager!

One clarification that I have heard is that nothing is allowed to pass by your throat in the daylight hours. So with this expansion of the rule, many islanders believe that one cannot swallow their own saliva, they can’t smoke, they cannot take medication and they cannot vomit without breaking their fast. We have heard an even stricter rule that nothing is allowed to either enter or exit your body (beyond normal trips to the bathroom). We are not sure how fluids exiting the body disqualify you, but apparently if you cry with tears or get a cut that bleeds too much, this negates your fast.

Islanders also don’t swim. Apparently in other countries, people still swim while fasting. They are just careful not to swallow any water so that they don’t break their fast. But on the islands, it seems that it is too risky. We’ve heard people explain that the water will enter somehow through your eyes, nose or mouth. So that combined with the extra need for modesty during the month of fasting means that people don’t really swim.

What does all this legalism mean for us? Well, we try to be respectful. We want to be known as good people, and while we don’t try to pretend that we are bound by the same legalism that islanders are, we also don’t want to be seen as flaunting our non-observance or as tempting people. So we avoid cooking during the day or eating in front of people, because the smells of us cooking or the sight of us eating could be seen as rude or provocative.

When we first came to Clove Island years ago, we swam during the month of fasting. The beach was deserted except for a few people who were trying to hide the fact that they were not conforming to island expectations for the month. Someone smoking. Someone with their girlfriend. No one said anything to us about it, but it was awkward walking home, obviously wet from the beach back past our neighbors. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling, and we had the feeling that some islanders might see us as godless. For islanders, participating in the month of fasting is the bare minimum of following God. They might not practice their faith all the rest of the month, but they at least observe the month of fasting. Even if they cheat, they will give the appearance of observing it. So for islanders to see someone flaunt non-observance, especially if they don’t know us or understand what we believe—it can seem like we are just very lost (meaning they might not visit us or respect things we say in the future).

So we stopped swimming during the month of fasting. It is a sacrifice, but it is only a month.

At our remote swim spot

This year though it felt like a bigger sacrifice. Our daughter is only home for 4 weeks on break from school and all four of those weeks are in the month of fasting. Our son’s birthday was this past week too. And the one activity that the two of them wanted to do was to go swimming. They didn’t ask us to go swim, they just resigned themselves that it was one of those things that we can’t do, sighing and looking unhappy, and struggling to come up with other fun things they wanted to do instead.

Not liking the feeling that we were bound by legalism, we decided to think about it. People know us now. They respect us and see us as good people. A number of people that we’ve known for a long time were genuinely surprised this month to hear that we don’t observe the month of fasting. They just assumed. We clarified for them that we are not bound by those rules, that we find our joy and freedom and acceptance with God in a very different way.

So the question was, is there a way to respect islanders and still go swimming? Our first thought was that our favorite swimming spot is way up, beyond the trash, beyond gangs of island kids, in a spot where we have only seen a few farmers before. Next was that the road to the trail had been improved, so that you can drive a significant portion of the way. So if we borrowed a car, we wouldn’t have to walk past any homes on our way back. 

Hiking back

So we asked our team if it was okay with them, and for our son’s birthday, we went for it. We drove as far as we could. We went in the afternoon, when most islanders would be heading home. By the time we were halfway on the trail, we didn’t see anyone. We had a nice time swimming and even being cold in the refreshing river water. After a bit, Megan and our daughter re-donned their modest wear and we headed back, our kids full of smiles and grateful hugs.

It isn’t always easy to respect and gain respect in a community bound by legalism. We give up a lot  of our freedom for the sake of relationship and for the sake of our witness. There are times when we boldly reject the bonds of legalism for the sake of that same witness and for the sake of the truth. And there are times we slip around the rules for the sake of family and fun without forgetting that there is a witness to protect.

We don’t always get the balance right, but we try.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We have been encouraged by the people that have joined us in praying for the islands during this month of fasting. Our team has had several opportunities to share the good news. May they continue. We had a wonderful week spending time as a family with our daughter home and celebrating our son’s birthday! He turned 13, so we have two wonderful teenagers in our home now. We are so thankful for the way that God has helped him grow in knowledge, maturity and responsibility and we look forward to the coming years watching that process continue.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for a large gathering of the island body this weekend to celebrate the upcoming holiday. Pray that the logistics would not be stressful and that it would be an encouraging and unifying event. Pray for kids as they are back at local school this week— including our new teammates’ son who is going to local island school for the first time. Pray for a smooth transition for him. As we have entered into Holy Week, may we be filled with the joy of freedom, new life and redemption.

(If you are committed to praying regularly for the islands through the month of fasting, then send us an email and we can send you information to help you pray for specific topics and people.)