Thoughtful Transition

 When we come to mainland Africa we tend to stay at the same place and if we are there on a Sunday we tend to fellowship with the same congregation.  The longer we’ve gone there, the more we’ve grown to appreciate their community—especially their thoughtfulness. 

African services are as diverse as any you might find in the States, with each congregation being unique.   This place is much more traditional.  A small band plays a mix of contemporary songs and hymns in multiple languages.  Most weeks the choir stands and sings a song in 4 part harmony.  The speaker speaks slowly and never strays far from his text.  His words are always thoughtful. 

We love the fact that before they send the children out for their classes, all of them are invited up to the front of the congregation where they pull on the speaker’s clothes to tell him about upcoming birthdays.  He bends down and listens and then announces each birthday to the congregation.  The children are comfortable with him and he takes his time with them.  Then we all sing a birthday blessing and send the kids off to their classes.  It is a small but thoughtful way to include the children and we love it.  It takes a bit of time.  But this congregation values thoughtfulness over time.

This past visit we were impressed by the thoughtfulness of the group again.  Unbeknownst to us, we had come on the Sunday when they were inducting a new associate-leader into their congregation.  The speaker warned us early on, “For those of you looking at your watches this morning, forget it.  We are going to take our time.” 

The induction service began by acknowledging all of the people from the new leader’s previous congregation—which included most of the elders, his parents and his grandparents, all of who had traveled to attend the service.  One of the elders from the previous congregation got up and testified to the new leader’s character.  He spoke about their sadness at saying goodbye to their leader and their joy at him being received into this new community.  We also learned that the previous Sunday the leader and elders of this new congregation had visited the old congregation to, in their way, receive the leader from his previous congregation.  

Next the speaker brought the man and his wife up to the front and asked them a number of questions and commitments—much like you might hear at a wedding ceremony.  “Do you promise to…?”  At the end of which he asked the members of the congregation to stand up and make some commitments as well.  

After this he called the elders of the former congregation up.  Then he called up the family members of the new leader.  Then the elders of the new congregation. Then representatives from the different committees and groups of the new congregation.  Finally he called up some of the children from the new congregation.  By the end, more people were up front surrounding this man and his family than sitting in the audience.  Hands were laid, prayers were said.  And then everyone at the front took a turn to each shake the hands of the leader and his wife before sitting down. It took time, but we did not begrudge it. 

Heading out on road trip

In the end, this new leader was not even required to teach or give a speech that day.  He was only welcomed.  After the service there was a great big meal and everyone was invited.  We (Tom & Megan) were both struck that we had never seen a leader so thoughtfully inducted into a congregation before, nor with such care and connection with the previous congregation.  It took a long time, but we had stopped looking at our watches because it was beautiful.   

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We made it safely to the US. Our daughter lost her cell phone but thankfully it was recovered by the airline and sent to the US for us. We have adjusted quickly to the time zone and are already well into a road trip that has allowed us to connect with several friends and extended family members that we haven’t seen in several years. Hashiri says that she studied with others this past week. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
The community on the small island are lamenting the sudden loss of a dear sister— pray for comfort for her husband and those grieving and that they’d find ways to celebrate her life together.  One island sister is welcoming her son that has been gone for several years and will only visit the islands for a short time— pray that she can make the most of his visit. Continue to pray for our teammate still on Clove Island that she would be encouraged, especially during the busyness of wedding season and at work.  Pray for us as we get to know the area where our daughter will go to college and try to prepare her for living there, including an initial appointment with a rheumatologist. Pray that we use our time well and that the continuation of our road trip at the end of the week goes smoothly (we will have one very long day of driving so pray we stay safe on the road). 

Transitions Underway

 When we first came to the islands in 2009, our daughter was only 9 months old.  We knew that decisions about schooling would come but they were far away. When we started homeschooling combined with local island school for pre-school/kindergarten, we knew that we’d eventually have to do something different and consider more serious homeschool or boarding school, but again that decision was far off.  As she started boarding school, some people would ask about thoughts for after high school, but we had a few years before we needed to think about that. Each point has been a hinge, a transition point for both our daughter and us, and we faced and made each decision with a mixture of trepidation and excitement. 

Our graduate!

Our daughter has now finished four years of boarding school and graduated from high school today! 

It has been a full time and the looming transitions both to college and also to life in the US can seem daunting. She has a US passport, but a majority of her life has been spent in Africa. There is a lot about American life to which she hasn’t been exposed. 

As we prepare to take our daughter to the US and then to return to Africa without her, it is with that same mix of trepidation and excitement.  We are excited for her— for the opportunities that she will have at college and the ways that she will continue to grow and learn. We know that times will be tough and if boarding school was far away, the US is even farther and our ability to help will be less. But this is where we get to relearn a lesson we’ve faced many times— God loves our children, they are His. We can trust Him with them. 

We know it isn’t the last time we’ll need to be reminded of that— our older son is going to start thinking about college this summer and our youngest is preparing to start boarding school at the end of August. Lord, help us to remember at each hinge point, each transition, that You go with us wherever we go and You carry our children in Your hands!

So proud of her!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Tom was able to get an emergency passport for our travels to the US and will be able to collect his long-term passport when we return to Africa. Both our son and daughter finished the school year strong. Our daughter graduated from high school— we are very proud of her and it was a wonderful celebration for her class. The brothers had their monthly men’s gathering on Wednesday. Hashiri made a plan to study with others (instead of just studying alone at home) and has been confiding in others besides Megan, including a local sister— these are encouraging changes. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We are traveling back to the US tonight (we’re posting this from the airport). Pray for safe travels and for a smooth transition to the US time zone. Pray also that Grace’s refrigerated meds travel okay and that we are able to keep them in the needed temperature range. One of our colleagues on the islands is heading into a hard week— pray for the peace that passes understanding to surround her and fill her. We will hit the ground running in the US—pray that we would use our time well and have wisdom as we make plans. Megan exchanged some messages with island sisters this week and one asked for strength and perseverance in the midst of persecution— let us pray with her that they could shine brightly even in dark and difficult situations. We pray for more workers on the islands— a group of short termers are just finishing a month, pray that they might be inspired towards long term work!

Turned for Our Good

 It has been our experience that transitions are also times of spiritual warfare. Our routines are upset, we find ourselves in unique situations and the devil sees opportunities.  We thank God that He can take what the enemy means for evil and turn it for our good. Lots of the workers on the islands are in times of transition, so we’re praying not only for protection during these transitional months but for opportunities to share the good news!  Here's a little story of God's grace  in the midst of testing:

Tom with troublesome phone

I was tested this week by an African telecommunications company.  My SIM card was acting quirky so I thought I'd stop by the telecommunications shop in order to get it checked.  When I got there, there were about ten people milling about.  The line didn't seem overly long and I didn’t have whole lot to do that afternoon, so I thought I’d sit it out and get my problem taken care of.  But the line barely moved and one and a half hours later, my patience was starting to wear thin!  I sat listening to the people behind me complain about what the hold up was while I could see the man at the front of the line sitting and waiting for the man at the counter who was busy doing something else.

There were a number of times when I had to tell myself to be patient and ask the Lord for more patience.  I was at the point where I was starting to wonder, “Should I just wait this out, or is this an exercise in futility?  Will I get to the front of the line and they’ll say, “We’re closed, come back tomorrow.”   When a security guard walked up to me and asked, "Do you have your passport?" “Yes, it's right…..(checking my empty pocket). No, I don't!"  I turns out I had dropped my passport going through mall security.  But because I hadn't left the mall but had spent the last hour and a half at the telecommunications shop, they were able to find me.  The security guard asked that my place in line be held and took me down to his office to retrieve my passport.  I came back up ever so thankful for the long wait for two reasons:  First, if I hadn’t had the long wait, I might have left the mall without my passport and then security would not have been able to track me down.  Second, if I had waited 2 hours to be seen at the telecommunications shop and then been unable to produce my passport, they wouldn’t have been able to provide me service and I would have certainly despaired.  But as it was, the Lord gave me back my passport, I held my place in line and about a half hour later (total of two hours), I was helped by the telecommunications staff.

Sparklers for Independence Day

When I finally made it to his desk, the staff member said, "You must be a marine or something to be so patient with us."  I said, "If I am patient, it is because of [J].”  And we had a nice little chat about the importance of prayer and he shared that he used to pray all the time but had gotten out of the habit.  I said it would probably help in stressful work like his.  So God took something painful and turned it for my and this man’s good!  May we be able to see Him in everything we do.  

PRAYERS ANSWERED


The unrest from the previous week has calmed on Clove Island. The monthly women’s gathering happened at one of the local sister’s houses. We were able to finish the homeschool year with our youngest son! We are thankful that imaging of Megan’s injured shoulder (from a couple months ago) does not show a serious injury and she can expect a full recovery. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Today is Independence Day on the islands— pray for the islands nation on its birthday that it would embrace truth and justice, that there would be good governance and bright hope for the future. There have been a few recent situations with island brothers and sisters facing extra scrutiny and even threats from family members— pray for their protection, for them to stay strong and know how to respond in wisdom, truth and love. There is a problem with the processing of Tom’s passport renewal— it wasn’t flagged for expedited service as it should have been and so will not arrive in time. Thankfully, the embassy has agreed to process an emergency passport for him at no extra cost— pray that getting the emergency passport goes smoothly. Our daughter graduates a week from today— pray for her as she says goodbye to her friends and her school home. Pray for our older son as he has his final exams this week. May they finish well.