Competing Influences

 Two teenage island girls stand on stage together, singing a duet in English. They have varying abilities and different amounts of nervousness. One seems frozen in place as she sings, while the other moves her body expressively with the music. But these differences pale in comparison to how differently they are dressed…

Two island girls on the stage

The girl who was getting into the music had a conservative head wrap that hugged her face completely hiding any hair and trailed down all the way to her waist. Her robe went all the way to her feet and her sleeves all the way to her wrists.

The other girl stood awkwardly, not sure what to do with her hands.  She was garbed in a bare-shouldered, simple white dress, with half sleeves and calf-length below which she wore stylish black boots.  Her head was not covered. No headscarf or shawl in sight.

Neither of these girls were dressed in a typical island way. In fact, if you sent us a photo of either of them, there wouldn’t be much to tell us that they are from the islands. The conservatively dressed girl is more reminiscent of countries that speak Arabic and that hold to stricter religious rules. The exposed shoulders and hair style of the other girl would make us think of styles from Western countries or at least Westernized urban areas of Africa.

These girls are clear representations of the competing influences on the islands. The traditional island culture is already a mix of different peoples from the complex history of the islands. But the islands still have clear traditions that are now fixed and distinct. On top of that, there are the current influences. There is the ever present influence of French and western cultures coming from social media, the internet, music, movies and islanders who now live in France. Then there is the influence from the Arab world, from countries that would want islanders to be more religiously conservative and strict.

With specific individuals, it can be easy to see which influence is winning. There are those that dress in Arab styles and encourage their friends to embrace more severe reading of certain laws or regulations that islanders are traditionally lax on. Others embrace Western influence, potentially at the cost of any thought to religion, not seeing much of God in the materialism coming from the West .

But a lot of islanders are a mix. They see the influences from Arab countries as being good and right, but they still like Western music and movies. They may like to religiously ‘look the part’, but the religious fervency hasn’t really touched their hearts. The girl dressed so modestly was still up on stage, singing a Western song and moving her body to the music. None of those things would be allowed by truly strict religious practitioners.  

Megan teaching local language to teammates

Now, you might be wondering about our influence. Are we just another presence pushing islanders towards Westernization? We hope not. Yes, we are predominantly English teachers, but we try to counteract this by being learners and advocates for the local language.  We may be from the West but we try to show that we all should value and appreciate island culture by wearing traditional clothes, going to traditional community events, and enjoying local foods.

This week I was in a store, a newer little supermarket (more Western). A man dressed in traditional island clothes said the price in the local language, and one of the workers teased him for not saying it in French. I saw the older man struggling to come up with the right way to say the price in French, when I spoke. I said his language is beautiful, and that he should say the price in his language. He is an islander on the islands, speaking to an islander, why should he have to speak a foreign language?

We see that both Western and Arab influences can be seen as asking islanders to move away from their own culture, move away from their own language, to be foreign in order to be accepted. At the same time, it is only surface changes. These influences often don’t reach the heart. We want islanders to stay islanders but to experience heart change that makes them seek truth, justice, love and hope.

Ready for the weddings on big island

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Both of the team’s little ones and our medical team colleague are feeling much better. Our youngest finished almost all of his exams at local school without much stress. Everyone made it to the big island for the wedding. It was a double wedding as both our teammate and husband and two islanders celebrated their new marriages. It was a blessed day! May God be with them all in the married lives. It has been good to be able to connect with workers from the small island, big island and the French island this weekend. Our former teammate and doctor on the French Island finally got his official French paperwork as a fully recognized doctor (after years of bureaucracy, waiting, and prayer)! Praise God that some of the fear on Clove Island seems to be lifting and it seems like people are out and about at night again.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for the two newly married couples— for our teammate as she settles into life on the big island, and for the island couple as they combine their families (6 kids in all) and settle into life together on Clove Island. Pray for us as we travel back to Clove Island and as our youngest finishes the local school year. Pray for the French Island, which above its other problems is also running out of water after a dry year (they expect to run out of water by Aug) and is also seeing a mass exodus of expats. Most of the doctors have left the island to return to France. Pray for all those who remain. Pray for the right influences to impact the islands, that we might see more new life here.