Wicked Problems

 I (Tom) was at a conference earlier this month.  It was all about innovation.  How do we avoid stagnation?  How do we avoid the pitfall of merely sustaining and move toward a place of innovation and change?

Funeral procession

One of the things that stands in the way of innovation, according to the speaker, are what he called “wicked problems.”  These are problems so big, they seem almost unsolvable.  They are so big, you don’t know how to define them.  They are so big that the people involved have different opposing agendas that aren’t going to go away.  They are so big that, they don’t just have one root cause, but multiple root causes that need to be addressed together.  They are problems so big no one person or one organization can solve it.  They are problems so complex, it’s even hard to say what the final solution looks like.  

We were encouraged to brainstorm and think about the “wicked problems” for our locations.  It was not hard to come up with a long list for the islands:

• lack of infrastructure
• corruption
• high unemployment
• trash
• lack of freedom of thought, both religious and otherwise
• illiteracy
• paternalism
• community pressure to conform
• persecution for those who don’t conform
• lack of opportunity
• illegal emigration
• lack of health care

On prayer day, got distracted by the trash pile on the beach

The list could go on and on.  It is not hard to think of wicked problems.  It’s easy to get stuck by them.  The speaker’s point in having us list them seemed to be to remind us of what we are up against and to help us remember that we cannot do this alone.  He then had a set of steps to follow that would help us address these wicked problems.  I liked his steps.  They seemed helpful, but at the same time, it felt like something was missing.

We mentioned in a post some weeks ago that Megan and I recently watched a documentary series about the Civil Rights movement—talk about a wicked problem.  We mentioned how the documentary could not disguise the fact that this movement was reliant on more than good strategies and engaging speakers.  There was a spiritual nature to the movement that imbued and injected and surrounded their actions.  It was not something they themselves were accomplishing.  They had Help.

One of the verses we meditated on during the conference was Isaiah 43:19 “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” 

At a village ceremony

It is good to think about the wicked problems and contemplate those we may not see yet, and even to use the tools suggested by the speaker to examine them carefully—but I like the words of this verse.  We are not the ones doing the new thing.  He is.  It’s already springing up.  The question is do we perceive it?  Are we ready to join him?  He does solve wicked problems, and if our eyes are open, he might use us to bring about those solutions.  May it be so on the islands.  May He use you and me—all of us, to solve these wicked problems.  So we pray for open eyes—“Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The island sister that Megan helped facilitate going to mainland Africa for medical treatment, had multiple opportunities to share truth with islanders living there, and found great openness. She also had a chance to record a new song to bless the community here. We have some house guests from the big island and we have been blessed to get to know them better and to see them interact with and encourage the brothers and sisters here. Tom is feeling all better. Our son at school in mainland Africa had a good final basketball game of the season.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We had news of another death this week— a former worker on the small island (from the same organization as the man who died the week before). Both men were not old and had invested years on the small island. Pray that in their deaths the messages that they taught would be well remembered. Pray for the wives and families as they grieve back in their home countries.  There are only a couple weeks before the month of fasting begins, which means a rush of events and visitors before that starts. Pray that we’d have the energy for all these activities and also be able to thoughtfully prepare for the month of fasting as well. Our daughter is going to be participating in a 3-day choir tour this coming weekend for her school in mainland Africa— pray that they would feel well-prepared and that both those who sing and those who listen would be blessed by the experience.

Calloused Hearts?

    Three little kittens appeared by the back door. They are cute and clumsy and skittish. We know that their chance of survival until adulthood is not high. In other situations, in another part of the world, this would probably tug at our heart strings enough to spur us to action, and there would be a strong possibility of us adopting a kitten.

Mommy cat and one kitten

     But we have been in similar situations before— we seem to have feral kittens at our doorstop every year or two. That’s not to mention all the feral kittens we will pass along the street. The cat population is unchecked here and only the strong survive. Most adult cats are scarred and mean-looking.
    We’ve had colleagues that regularly take in cats and it is a big job. Despite their efforts, lots of their cats die of disease, of poisoning, from cat fights. Plus, because there are no vets here, that means no vaccinations and no spaying, so we’ve also heard lots of stories of having to abandon kittens in the forest because they couldn’t take any more cats as their female cats just had litter after litter. Not to mention the struggle they often have to find anyone to watch their cats when they travel. All these realities mean that we have never been interested in adopting a cat ourselves (even though we both had cats growing up).
    That doesn’t mean we’re not touched by the sight of a cute little kitten that is obviously struggling. But our hearts are calloused enough that while we might show it a little kindness, we aren’t going to swoop in and save the kitten from its struggles— the price is too high and we’ve just seen too many kittens like that.
    Even as we recognize this callousing of our hearts, we worry that the same callousing could happen to human suffering. How many people ask us for money? How many people need work? How many children could use more help in school? Everyone is struggling. People are truly poor. The islands’ economy and education systems are a mess. But we also know the costs of getting too heavily involved. We know the risks of dependency, and that certain types of giving and helping ultimately end up hurting or de-empowering people. 

Black kitten hiding from us

 We don’t want to be calloused to human suffering, but when we are asked again and again, we know there has to be limits.
    So what’s the answer? How do we keep our hearts supple? Prayer is a big part of it. Making sure we are still willing to be part of solutions. Maybe we can’t tackle every problem, maybe we can’t or shouldn’t provide a full solution, but maybe we can still do something. And maybe there is a problem that God is wanting us to help with. We need to maintain that openness to help, even if in a majority of the situations we won’t do much— we can be open and we can pray.
    These new kittens really aren’t that bad off. They still have their mother, and our neighbors have been leaving scraps out in the hopes of encouraging cats and thereby discouraging rodents. They have a place to sleep out of the rain. They actually have a better chance than most kittens here. But how many people are in a real bad place. We have seen the requests for food and money increase. There have been lots of storms and people are complaining that all the rain and wind has ruined a bunch of crops— making for higher food prices and less income for farming families. The public schools have been out of session more than they’ve been in session this school year so far.  So we give when there are requests, Tom has continued with literacy lessons with our one young friend, and we pray. God, keep our hearts supple and show us how you want to use us.

Reuniting at Clove Island airport

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Megan was finally able to meet with small group of island sisters that had been meaning to start studying for months and there are plans for this week too. Tom made it back home safely (if a little sick) and has started feeling better. It has been wonderful to have him back and hear what he learned at the conference. We are excited that a new team for the small island is starting to take shape after lots of waiting— there are four new members in the pipeline!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
There were two shocking deaths this week. One was a like-minded colleague on the small island (originally from West Africa), who has partnered with our team there for years. He was in his home country, but his wife and teenage daughter were on the small island. We are thankful that our team there could come alongside the wife and daughter and support them as they heard the news, packed up and left the islands. Pray for them in their time of loss and this sudden uprooting from their island home, and for the hole left on the small island at the loss of this family.  The second death just happened yesterday— one of our landlord’s brother, a man we see nearly everyday, who wasn’t sick or particularly old, but died suddenly. Pray for all those in shock and that we could be voices of comfort and light to the extended family.  We have heard that there continues to be cases of cholera on the big island, including a few deaths— we pray that the public health efforts would be successful in helping contain this outbreak. Pray for us also as we had another incident of catching a young friend stealing from us. Pray for us as we try to consider what the repercussions should be for this breaking of trust.

A Drop in the Bucket

 Sometimes our life on the islands seems difficult.  The task seems so great and we are so few.  There are nearly a million islanders.  How many can I possibly know, show love to, encourage, share my life with, share my heart with?  Sometimes it feels like it is a drop in the bucket.  Could it ever really make a difference?

Glimpses of city from bus window

This past week I went to a conference in a city of 25 million people.  A people much like Islanders— friendly, hospitable, but also hard and unyielding.  25 million.  The number itself is staggering.  It’s not the sort of number you can get your head around.  But as we drove from the airport to the conference venue, that number became real to me.

As we raced down the highway, we started to see apartment blocks.  The construction is simple a layer of concrete for the floor with concrete pillars for load bearing.  The walls filled in with red brick.  Layer upon layer upon layer.  They look unfinished and they are.  The place where windows ought to be, only a hole in the brick work.  And yet they are occupied.  Clothes hanging out to dry give some indication, and as a local expat told us—“They may look abandoned, but I can almost guarantee you that every one you see is lived in.”  The apartments are stacked like legos, 6, 10, 12 stories high, and not overly sturdy to my eye.  And they went on and on and on. Mile after mile after mile.  People stacked up on one another in a fashion I’ve never seen.  It felt like we would never see the end of it.  It felt like 25 million people—smooshed, piled, and pressed together in a never ending sea of brick and concrete.

And sometimes our work in the islands feels like a drop in the bucket.

So many buildings, so many people

We were told at the conference, that the reality is that less and less people are coming to places like this, whether it’s the islands, or this giant metropolis.  They feel like there is plenty of work to do right at home.  They are not wrong in that.  But if there are 25 million people—or even 1 million people—living without a hope, a taste, a chance to get a sip of the living water, how can we stay home?  Why don’t our hearts break?  Why don’t we ask ourselves, “Who will go?”

Sometimes it feels like our work is like a drop in the bucket.  But I am told that it is not.  I am told that it is more like a tiny seed, planted in the field that becomes a mighty tree.  I am told that it is like a spoonful of yeast that transforms the entire ball of dough.  How many can I possibly know, show love to, encourage, share my life with, share my heart with?  Not many.  But it is a seed planted.  It is a little bit of yeast in the mix.  But there are still so many places that have no seed, no bit of yeast.  Who will go?

Tom and kids enjoying a meal together on their break

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our teammate had a good and busy final week on the island— she was feeling better and was able to have time with lots of different islanders. She left well and made it safely to the big island today (her journey will continue tomorrow). We haven’t heard any more reports about cholera on the islands so it would seem that it was successfully contained (praying that remains the case). Tom had a good time at the conference learning and being challenged and reconnecting with old friends and colleagues. Tom was able to spend the weekend with our two older kids (who had their mid-term long weekend break). They had a good time together. Megan was able to facilitate one island sister’s travel to mainland Africa for medical treatment, making connections and providing translation.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Megan is hoping to finally get the ball rolling towards weekly studies with some island sisters— this has had lots of obstacles. Pray that if this is meant to happen that obstacles would be removed and everyone would be motivated. Our friend who was recently widowed just had a miscarriage.  Please pray for her as she processes this new source of grief. Pray for Tom as he travels back to the islands— his itinerary is long. Pray that he would make all his connections and stay healthy (he’s been battling a cold).  Times are hard for many islanders— pray that intense weather wouldn’t destroy any more crops, that salaries would be paid and that shipments to the islands would arrive to help relieve suffering. Pray for our team as we get used to being a team of three adults.

Many Hats

 I’m not sure where the saying ‘wearing lots of hats’ comes from, but the saying came to new life for me one day when I was traveling and I saw a man with literally lots of hats on his head. It was bizarre. There was this man walking through the airport with a stack of around 10 hats. Soon I could understand the probable circumstances. He was probably going to sell the hats and didn’t want them crushed so instead of packing them, he wore them. This theory seemed to be supported by the fact that all the hats were brand-new and they were all women’s hats and didn’t seem to match the older man’s style otherwise.

Man wearing many hats

We wear lots of different hats in our lives— each representing a different role that we have— we’re parents, we’re homeschool teachers, we’re team leaders for our team, we’re unit leaders over all the island teams, we’re English teachers, we’re friends, we’re mentors… With each role, we have different goals and priorities and tasks. Combining them together it can be confusing.

One of our teammates mentioned that it is sometimes hard to know which ‘hat’ we are wearing at any given time, since we function as both a team leader and the unit leader to our team. For every other team on the island those two roles are distinct people, but for our team it’s only us. And it is true that some things we communicate because we are wearing our team leader hat, other times it is the unit leader talking to the team (whether they know it or not).

Another situation is with our youngest son and homeschool. Sometimes it is harder for him to accept us in our role as teacher because we are also his parents. We see the respect he gives to the opinion and instructions of his local school teacher, when he will often challenge or question ours.  It is hard to separate our different roles with him.

Preparing to help us de-ice the freezer

There is also our good friend Ma Nadjma, with whom we long to have real and meaningful conversations. But we are also her boss (she helps us with laundry and chores), so we find that our friendship with her is always mixed with this power dynamic that means that she will always agree with anything we say instead of truly thinking about and interacting with the things we say.  While we see her as a friend, I don’t think we can ever fully take the ‘boss hat’ off with her.

Sometimes our hats fit together well and it doesn’t matter that we are wearing multiple hats because the priorities are aligned and the decisions that we would make are the same in the different roles. But other times, they are in conflict. The parent wants our son to be able to relax and play after local school, the homeschool teacher knows he needs to get things done.  Ma Nadjma can perhaps be honest and open with a friend, but with a boss she feels the need to be careful and respect them by agreeing with them.

Then I look at our relationship with God— we are children-servants-sheep-brides before our Father-King-Shepherd-Bridegroom. Perhaps it is actually more common than not to wear more than one hat in our relationships with others. Most relationships end up being complicated and multi-faceted given time. Maybe that’s just what makes each relationship rich and unique.

Tom has to don winter hat (in colder country for conference)

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Megan was able to go to the plateau and do a day of language study with our medical team there. We are thankful that her back has bounced back well after the long day of taxi-bus rides. Tom made the same-day connection on the big island is safely in mainland Africa attending a conference with other leaders. There hasn’t been any more unrest on the islands. . Muki has come with stories of having needs, praying and seeing immediate answers which have greatly encouraged him (and us!).

PRAYERS REQUESTED
There has been a number of illnesses making the rounds on the islands. Both of our teammates were ill this past week and are thankfully doing better. Pray especially that our one teammate would recover completely as she is in her last week on the islands. Pray that she would have good times saying goodbyes— may she share lots of truth in her final visits. We have also heard that some people from mainland Africa brought cholera to the islands. They have been quarantined, so hopefully it won’t spread, but the government is encouraging good sanitation.  Pray that there would be protection from further illness and healing for those who are sick. Pray for Megan and our youngest as they are alone for the next week. Pray for Tom’s leadership meetings and for his travels to visit our kids for the boarding school midterm break before he returns to the islands. There is a religious holiday on the islands on Thursday— pray that it would provide opportunities for us to share truth.