Complicated in Different Ways

 A week ago we were on the French Island.  We call it the French island, because although being part of the same archipelago, that island is part of France, not part of the island nation we live in.  So despite being geographically close, with the same ethnic heritage, the same people group, the French island abides by the laws and customs of France—and that makes life very different.  Being so similar and yet so different, naturally arises comparisons in our minds.  Moreover, we interacted with many people on the French Island who have never been to Clove Island, Vanilla Island or the Big Island.  They were curious to know about the differences.  How did life work over there?

View of French Island (and visiting cruise ship!)

As we listened to and observed our friends serving in the French Island, one word kept coming to to our minds—complicated.  Life there is complicated.  They deal with so many things that we don’t on Clove Island.  For example: Their city is truly international, having people of different races, backgrounds and nationalities.  There are many from mainland France, but there are also many refugees from places like Congo, Rwanda, Somalia, etc. Moreover there are the undocumented immigrants from our islands and, of course, the original ethnic people group of the island.  They must navigate not only many different cultures, but many different languages, and people with many different motivations for living there.  Then there are the challenges of French government, religious views and laws implemented in a place of a very different traditional faith and government.  Add to that the complication of a large, poor, undocumented immigrant community leading to injustice, poverty, violence, gangs, and racism. 

Moon over French Island

Life there is complicated and as I listen to my friends share about their lives and the relationships they have to navigate and the many factors they must consider as they shine their light, I found myself thinking, “We have it easy on Clove Island.  Well not easy, but a lot less complicated —one people group, one government, one set of cultural rules, etc.”  After a week on the French Island we were ready to return to the uncomplicated life of Clove Island…

Did I say uncomplicated???

We took the boat back to Clove Island.  When it arrived at port the door opened.  In walked the port authorities and local police.  The doorway was on the side of the boat and naturally there were many paths for disembarking.  For some reason, these police officers felt it necessary to tell us all to make a long line snaking through the interior of the boat.  Most of us got into this line and waited patiently for this slow, nonsensical line to move.  I noticed that certain people were allowed to skip the line.  Why?  Well, it’s complicated.  They were probably a friend of the policeman or they held a position of power.

Finally leaving the boat we went to immigration.  To get to immigration you walk through a narrow hallway where officials are constantly asking to get by you in order to get to their offices.  Once through immigration, you pass back the way you came to a room where we are told to wait.  For what?  No one really knows.  

The baggage is being unloaded.  Are we waiting for those bags?  Maybe, but no one will tell you anything.  They finally let us out of the room only to wait behind a temporary barrier where we can see lines and lines of bags.  Why did they let us out of the room only to wait at the barrier?  Suddenly, and it seemed unplanned—more like a wall being breeched than an intended opening of the gates, everyone pushed the barrier aside and descended on their bags.  

Waiting for the luggage to be unloaded

By this time it was getting dark and the area where all the bags were laid out is unlit, so we are all peering at hundreds of bags, some using flashlights, as a hundred people force their way forward, falling over each other and bags.  When bags are found, you have to return the way you came—more jostling, pushing, falling over, but now with bags in tow.  You will fight your way back through the gate, back through the waiting room, cross the line leaving immigration, to get to customs.  

The confusion and complicated mess continues through customs, through exiting the crowded and chaotic port area, through dragging your bags on a confusingly long and unmaintained, dark path with thick dirt, until you finally find yourself on a road where you can catch a taxi home.…Welcome to Clove Island, where life is so simple! 

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful that God calls people to each uniquely complicated place in the world and equips us to live and serve there. Our two older kids both made it through their AP exams! Our daughter is officially an adult and we are very proud of her. Our youngest has officially been accepted into the same school as his siblings for next year. The women’s gathering was a large group this month and there was some good discussion. We were encouraged by how some of the women have improved in health and situation. Despite some original difficulty, the men have picked a day and time for their monthly men’s gathering!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that men would come and engage with each other during men’s gathering. There is currently a general taxi strike on the islands to protest the steep and abrupt rise in fuel costs. Pray for resolution and for poorer islanders as the cost of living continues to increase. The other organization that works on our island has a bunch of their team leaving in a couple months. This follows a trend of island teams shrinking— pray that the trend would reverse and that many new workers would feel led to the islands. May we be blessed by big, healthy teams. Planning has begun in earnest for settling our daughter into the US and college this summer— but she doesn’t graduate high school until mid-July so the transition time will be short. Please pray as we make plans that we would make wise decisions. We need to find new guardians for our kids (adults that live within 3 hrs of the school and can take our kids in the case of an emergency) as the current ones won’t be in the country next year— pray that we’d find the right people.