How Much Honor

 We came to the end of the line. The end of an over 2 hour van ride that had left several people car sick with the twisting roads going up and down mountains. The end of a dead-end road. The only reason to take that final turn is to come to this final village. A village tucked away on the other side of the island— close to no other village. Several of the people in the van were only tagging along to see the village, which none of them had ever been to. I’ll admit that was one of the reasons that I agreed to go to— to be able to say that I had gone to another one of the far corners of the island.

Village gathered for ceremony

But in reality we were there for an English ceremony. A teacher we had trained and who was part of a program teaching on the comparatively near plateau, had started classes in this village and it was time for his students to get certificates. I expect that a good portion of the village was there, some welcomed into chairs and bunches of others standing along the edges. A group of kids were constantly being shooed away from lifting up the cloth that had been hung to provide temporary walls for the gathering.

Tom came ready with his speech— representing our NGO, the parent group for this program (even if we had never taught a class or even visited before this moment). As Tom began to speak, someone came and put a flower necklace around his neck. This is not a surprise. We can rarely go to an event like this without being given a necklace. This is how they honor us and each other.

But then a group of women ascended the platform and surrounded Tom. We could still hear his voice giving the speech thanks to the microphone and speakers, but we could no longer see him, as a flurry of arms reached up over his head to put on necklaces and while others slipped around pinning flowers and money onto his jacket and others worked arms in to shove small bills in his pocket. This was new!

Tom beginning his speech

By the end of his speech, Tom had necklaces up to his ears, at least seven items safety-pinned to his jacket and a wad of over $15 in cash shoved into his breast pocket.

We have seen people receive several necklaces before (especially in villages and usually when it is  a beloved son with many loving aunties, mamas, and cousins). We have also seen money forced on people as they talk or sing before a crowd (slipped into the neck of their shirt if there are no pockets). At weddings, it is common for large number of the guests to get flower necklaces, while the wedding singer will be given cash tips from several people.

Most of the time these necklaces are planned… with the family members preparing the flower necklaces at home and bringing them for the express purpose of giving them to specific people. The giving of money is sometimes spontaneous. There was one pre-adolescent young man who gave a surprisingly rousing speech in English at this ceremony that had some of our friends (who didn’t know him at all) pulling money from their wallets to slip into the boy’s pocket as he spoke.

Tom at end of speech

In the US we would probably clap loudly and cheer to show our appreciation, maybe even give them a standing ovation. We may even go up to them afterwards to honor them with compliments.  In some settings we would have pre-planned to give them a flower bouquet, but probably not with the sense of extravagance that Tom received for his 3 minute speech.  It felt a bit much.

In this far-away, end-of-the-line village— most people, even fellow islanders, have never visited. By coming, by helping (even tangentially) to get the English program going there, we had honored this village and they were working to pay that back. They were meeting honor with honor, and in doing so they were also raising themselves up. Because by doing so much for Tom, not only will we remember how long it took to get there, we will also remember how much we were honored there.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The women’s gathering went well and was better attended than in the previous few months. The small island was able to have a memorial gathering (with representatives from the other two islands as well) for the two workers who had died. It sounds like it was an encouraging time of sharing memories and testimonies. Our teammate’s first days doing an internship at the hospital were mainly just waiting for paperwork, but she did get to meet the people she will be working with and they seemed excited to welcome her.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
The new moon was not seen last night, so it is sure to be seen tonight, meaning fasting will begin on the islands tomorrow (Tuesday). Please be praying for this special month, which is full of unique challenges and opportunities to share truth. If you are interested in a website or emails with ways to pray during the month of fasting, let us know.  A date has been picked for potentially doing a big group meeting during the month of fasting, but no details have been figured out and it is unclear who will step up from the different smaller groups to help organize it. Pray that whatever plans come together that it would encourage unity. Tom’s regular study partner, Muki, has traveled to the big island for a few weeks and hopes to connect with one of our worker friends. Pray that he’d hear the good news again from this fresh source and be impacted by it. Pray that he would share the things he has been learning with Tom with his family there on the big island. Cholera cases continue to be popping up on the islands and are now on Clove Island and the small island as well (originally it was only on the big island)— pray that people would take sanitation precautions seriously and that the number of cases would decrease and stop soon. Pray for our two older kids at boarding school as they enter the last two weeks of their term—  they have a number of tests and projects and our son will be in the jr high play this weekend. Pray that they would get enough rest and have peace in the midst of heavy workloads and stress.