That Changes Things

We make best-laid plans, but crises have a way of destroying plans.  It isn’t because the plans were bad or we aren’t good planners. Crises can come out of nowhere and can completely change things.

Sun breaking through on the islands

Serving on teams and being in leadership on the islands, we have lived through all kinds of crises. Some that impact the entire island, some an entire team, some that only impact one person directly. We’re talking natural disasters, medical emergencies, mental health emergencies, criminal acts, major interpersonal conflict, unrest, national instability, accidents, deaths and more.

Our priorities completely change when we are responding to a crisis. Our normal weekly priorities of school and emails and visits and chores are no longer important. Of course, we still have to eat and live, but new considerations are being made all the time.

Not letting the rain get us down

In crisis-mode, choices that we would normally not even consider can become the best decision under the new circumstances. Someone may normally not consider traveling by boat, but when a plane crash limits options and you need to leave the island, suddenly the boat is the way to go. We end up spending money in different ways— a high ticket price would normally have us changing our travel dates, but in a crisis, we pay to travel when we need to. We wouldn’t normally eat out very much, but when our time and energy is being taken by a crisis, the easy meal option wins out. Preferences take a back seat when choices are few.

Every year our organization has us make up a bunch of contingency plans. It’s where we try to anticipate the types of crises that we’d have on the islands and make plans for how we would respond to them. But even as we make these plans and see them as helpful, we know that when the specific crisis comes that we will have to re-evaluate.

Living in Africa has made us more adaptable. Some things that might have once felt like crisis—there’s no water today, there’s no electricity tonight, there’s no rice available in the shops—now can be felt as just annoyances or set backs instead of crises.  We’ve learned not to take things for granted. Just because a store says these are its hours, doesn’t mean it will be open today.  Just because we bought plane tickets for tomorrow, doesn’t mean we will fly tomorrow. Just because the government gave us visas easily this year, doesn’t mean they will next year.  But that doesn’t mean these things won’t happen.  We’ve learned to trust that we will find a way. We just need to wait for the new plan to emerge.

But even as we learn to adapt and to hold our plans loosely, crises are tiring. Crises change things. They disrupt our normal rhythms and balance. So far in 2024, we have seen natural disasters, medical emergencies, a cholera outbreak, deaths, a house break-in, unrest, plane crash, surprise diagnoses, and more. But the good thing is that even though crises change a lot of things, it doesn’t change the One we can rely on in those crises. The rest of 2024 will no doubt have more crises (both minor and major), but He is the unchanging one, our solid rock, our refuge in the storms.

Closing of the school year at kids' school

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our flights went smoothly and now we are enjoying a few days of vacation with family.  Kids finished their exams well, packed their bags and said goodbyes.  Things in Kenya seem to be more calm.  We are thankful that we were able to travel without any issues. It’s wonderful to be together as a family and to be with family.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Our daughter seems to be doing better and she hasn’t had bad side effects from the medication.  She has some good days and some bad days.  Pray for her continued healing. Continue to pray for all the island workers in some kind of transition (there are many!). Pray for our colleagues, hoping to start a boat business) as they travel to visit possible boat makers this week. Pray for a family of new Kenyan workers to the islands who are ready to come to the islands, but they await new passports for some of their kids. They have been waiting for many months, but it is a process slowed by corruption and their unwillingness to pay bribes. Pray for God’s perfect timing and breakthrough in this standstill. Pray for women on the plateau of Clove Island that have shown interest in studying, that they might form a committed group led and sustained by islanders.