100 Years

 Islanders don’t keep track of birthdays much. I have often asked a mother how old one of her kids is and had her struggle to come up with an age or had her giving me an age that does not seem accurate. Celebrating birthdays is just starting to become more common, so this may change, but most islanders and especially older islanders don’t have a good sense of how old they are.

If you want to say someone is really, really old, you say that they are 100! At first, I thought this was their literal age, but then someone in their 30’s told me that their mother was 100. After I clarified that they were talking about the woman who actually gave birth to them (since ‘mother’ can be used for a variety of maternal figures) and heard other people exclaim about their 100 year old relatives, I realized that this was more an island way of saying that someone was near the end of a long and full life.

100th birthday photo tribute done by Megan's dad

Well, in December, my (Megan’s) grandmother turned 100 years old (literally). An entire century of loving, serving and ministering to others (including 75 years of marriage and 40 years of prison ministry). Just over a week ago, she passed away.  Grammie was a godly, kind woman. She leaves behind 3 kids, 8 grandkids, and 16 great-grandkids who can rejoice in a life well-lived and in her making heaven that much sweeter.

This morning, I went downstairs to greet our local island grandmother, the matriarch of the family whose house we rent. She is old enough that it is not insensitive to say that she is old. She has grandchildren who are grown and married. She can’t see well. She is very thin. She can’t get out of the chair on her own anymore and mostly stays sitting either in her living room or the open corridor in the back of the house where they have put a bunch of pillows on the tile bench for her benefit. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of her grandkids say, “She’s 100!”

As I sat with her, I told her about Grammie and how she had been ready to go and be with God. I told her about how Grammie had the hope of heaven and so there was nothing to fear about death— in fact there was joy at the idea of being with God and being reunited with those who had gone before. Islanders talk about the judgment that comes with death and it is accompanied by lots of uncertainty and fear. There is none of that in Grammie’s passing and I wanted our island grandmother to hear that— that you can come to the end of however many years and welcome the presence of God with peace and readiness. Grammie was a friend of God and she has the pleasure of resting in His presence forever.

Welcomed at airport on Clove Island

We’ll see her there one day. Until then, rest well, Grammie!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We thank God for Grammie’s life and ministry on earth and that Megan’s mom was able to be in town with her in her last week.  We made it back to Clove Island— all our flights went smoothly and all of our luggage made it (something we don’t take for granted). We were welcomed warmly and found our house ready to go with new roof over the bedrooms and all rubble/debris cleaned out. We are thankful for a good time connecting with all the workers on the big island as we passed through. Our daughter did fine with the first week of injections, no significant side effects so far. The one island wedding of a local brother went well and was almost followed by another impromptu wedding of an island brother and sister. Thankfully (from our perspective) this was called off so that the potential bride and groom could think and pray about it more and not rush into marriage without proper preparation. The new family of African workers have all arrived on the big island after months of delay and are starting orientation. We have already gotten to see many of our island friends and neighbors, and also moved back into our house enough to start into normal routines this week. 



PRAYERS REQUESTED
Islanders are really suffering. The continuing lack of rice and the rising prices of other options means that people look skinnier to us and we are hearing stories of desperation. A neighborhood in our town saw a conflict burst into violence and destruction, and many think people were so angry because they are hungry. Pray that corruption and mismanagement would stop and that this rice shortage would end. Pray that inflation woes would stop, that the poor might find relief. Pray for the new family undergoing orientation on the big island— may both parents and kids start learning local language well and adjust well to island life. Pray for the medical team leader’s house— she has continued to have problems with electricity and now some plumbing issues. Pray that things would be fixed and function properly. Pray for us as we start homeschool with our youngest son this week and get back into life— that we would establish good routines and healthy patterns. Pray for our kids in boarding kids to have good dorm communities and to adjust back into school rhythms quickly.