Like Limes

 
pedagogy |  noun (plural pedagogies): the method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept.

A lot of my (Tom’s) work these days in the area of ESL involves training English teachers.  The training consists of 8 classes about an hour and a half each with lots of practice.  The members of the class (between 10-16 members) are all required to practice teaching their fellow classmates in every class.  The lessons may seem very basic to a Westerner, but for many islanders these classes are often surprising, strange and unorthodox. 

Tom with teachers training class

A few months ago I was conducting the training in a village about 2 hours away from the capital.  The ones organizing the training were able to procure a classroom from a public elementary school.  The training would start near the end of the day, but not before classes got out, so there were always a pile of kids peeking into our classroom to see “the foreigner.”

Working with English programs, I rarely go into public schools.  It was a reminder of what education looks like for a lot of islanders.  As I walked into the building I witnessed one teacher hitting a 10 year old girl multiple times with a piece of electrical cord for tardiness.  As I passed down the hall and looked in the individual classrooms I noticed that every teacher held a switch and in one case was actively using it.  I have been told by many islanders that corporal punishment is ubiquitous in islands schools, but it was a little disconcerting to see it in action.  Corporal punishment is not only administered for bad behavior but for incorrect answers.  Answer a math question wrong, get a swat on the palms or shins. 

How different to then sit down with my class and tell them to absolutely NOT beat their students, insult their students, or make their students afraid.  Instead we talk about how to make the classroom a safe space, where we lower stress, stimulate speaking, accepting and encouraging mistakes and trying to make it fun.  These ideas are nothing short of revolutionary!

I think that’s what I love so much about teacher training: not only are we giving them better ways to teach English, but we are giving them better ways to teach.  Many of the teachers I am training are young, and they catch on quickly.  They’ve also experienced learning in this new way and have seen its effectiveness and enjoyed the atmosphere. (Most of the teachers we train have already gone through all of our English classes with teachers trained in our pedagogy.)  But for older teachers it can be hard to accept.  Even some younger teachers who already have some teaching experience using the island pedagogy will struggle with this positive approach.  

Enjoying bike ride in US

That was the case with one of the teachers I was training in the village school.  Though only in his late 20’s he was already a seasoned teacher and as I was teaching about encouraging mistakes, and making the classroom safe, he raised his hand and said, a bit sheepishly,

“Teacher, you know it’s very different here…What you are saying is very different…We have a saying here…among the teachers… ‘Students are like limes.  They need to be squeezed.’”  As he said it, he made the gesture of a squeezing, downward thrusting fist.

The picture is vivid.  Squeezing the juice out of a lime takes strength and pressure.  The result is perhaps a teaspoon of juice.  The rest of the lime, the peel and the broken capillaries are of no use and discarded.  I thought of a teacher thinking about a student in that way.  As if there is only a little bit of intelligence or useful thought inside the student’s mind and that the only way to get it out is to squeeze and beat them.

How differently I view students.  If I were to create my own proverb, I would say, “Students are like plants, they need time and attention, sunlight, watering and pruning, but with patience you will get an abundance of fruit.”

As a final reflection on our ‘revolutionary’ teaching pedagogy: Where did it come from?  People may argue about it but I’m inclined to think it comes from the teacher who said, “A farmer went out to sow his seeds…and some fell on good soil” and “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit” and “Do not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest, if we do not give up.”  Even in English teacher training course, the great teacher has lesson for us.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are very thankful that we made it safely to the west coast and have had a good weekend reconnecting with family and friends here and sharing some about the work on the islands. We are thankful for technology that allows us to stay connected with our friends and colleagues back on the islands. 



PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that education on the islands would improve and that all would have the opportunity to learn and thrive. Pray for the island economy— many finish school but still are not able to find paying jobs. Hashiri continues to message Megan regularly— she is coming to the end of an unpaid internship which rarely lead to paying jobs, pray that she could find good and regular employment. We have heard reports of increased crime on the islands— pray that this pattern would stop. We are still working on getting our daughter’s specialty meds— the process being complicated by all our travels. We have time, but pray that we can get it all figured out without too much stress. Pray for Megan’s healing after a scooter accident left her with a badly bruised leg and a fat lip. Praying that our remaining days with Megan’s family would be a fun and restful time. 

Sachets

 Islanders love their sachet (pronounced sa-shay). An event isn’t a good event without a sachet.

Getting organized for sachet filling

Sachet is the word most commonly used for plastic bag in the island language.  But in the context of events, it takes on the meaning of ‘goody bag’.  No good island ceremony with the exception of funerals can be completed without sachets.  Whether a wedding, circumcision, coming of age celebration, birthday party, or religious ritual, there is the expectation that everyone will receive a goody bag— a sachet.  

What goes in the sachet does not vary a whole lot.  Normally you’ll find a drink (juice or soda), some kind of baked good (locally made or highly processed snack cakes), a chocolate bar (or something to that effect), and some hard candies.  This being an opportunity to show off wealth, the quality of the items in the sachet will vary.  A poor host’s sachets will be a simple plastic bag, and the cheapest versions of all of the above. A rich host’s sachets will be a decorated paper bag, brand-name soda, and boxed baked goods from a local bakery, etc. 

Since, every person who attends the ceremony is expected to receive a sachet, this becomes both a big job and an expensive part of hosting an event.  On occasion, we’ve been asked to help out with the preparation of the sachets, like we did a couple months ago when our friend’s daughter was to have her coming-of-age party.  Since our home is conveniently located near downtown, they gathered everything at our house and we stuffed sachets together.  We made an assembly line, one person opening the little plastic bags, one person stuffing the drink, another adding the cakes and candies and another adding the chocolate bar and tying the top.  This event was small but we still did more than 125 bags.  For a wedding, it could be in the from 500-700 sachets, maybe more.  It’s monotonous but not hard work and it is fun working together.

At the same time I felt somewhat dismayed by all the trash we were creating.  Everything we were putting into the plastic bag was individually wrapped and then going into yet another plastic bag.  Any foreigner who goes to the beach in our town is appalled to see the plastic bottles that clutter the shore.  In some places the trash is so thick that you can’t see the sand.  Where does it all come from?  I had my answer as I stuffed another bottle of cheap soda into another plastic bag.  Think of all the ceremonies happening all the time; the thousands of empty bottles being discarded; the thousands and thousands of plastic bags and wrappers discarded every day!

It made me wonder what things were like before— in the years and generations before all this plastic and processed products came to the islands.  Did they pass around a jug for the drink?  Did they wrap things in a banana leaf?  The sachet may be a modern innovation but I have asked and no one seems to know what was done before and if there was a time when people didn’t expect to receive a sachet. 

Pile of finished sachets

If it is a modern innovation, it is one that has become firmly grounded in island culture.  It is seen as the greatest shame if not everyone at the event receives a sachet.  When sachets are given out, people take it very seriously, demanding that they receive their share and getting angry if they are accidentally passed over.  Sometimes there is even a rush on the ones handing out the sachets. They have to hold the container of sachets far over their head to keep people from grabbing the sachets willy-nilly.  If you know the host well, they may give you a second sachet as an extra honor.  On occasion I’ve been given 4 extra sachets—one for each member of the family.  

Whatever the history, an event isn’t over until the sachets are given out.  At one of the men’s wedding events, many will leave as soon as they are handed a sachet even if it is in the middle of a prayer. Even if the organizer yells at people to sit down, he can not often stop the mass exodus.  They got what they came for—their sachet—so it’s time to leave!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our road trip has gone really well (only one day remains).  We have been blessed to see so many friends and family and even to make some new friends.  We’re especially thankful to see some friends and family we didn’t expect to see.  What a gift!  Despite what looks like a hectic schedule on paper, the pace has not been too bad.  We feel like we’ve gotten to have lots of good quality time with people (although we could always wish for more) and there have been moments of rest within the travel—like one new place we stayed where they had a swimming pond out back!  Our daughter got her phone back (the one she had left on the plane).  We got to visit her college and see the doctor, all of which went very well and was very reassuring.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Please do keep us in prayer as our whirlwind tour of the US continues.  We’ll finish our road trip tomorrow and fly off to California a couple days later.  Pray that we can get needed rest and restoration in the times between travels.   It is wedding season in the islands and we’ve already heard from one good friend that he has gotten married (sachets and all).  We pray that he will have a good marriage and be a loving husband and father.  We pray for transformation for him and his wife.  Ma Nadjma let us know that she hopes to be married again soon— pray for her and her kids in this transition— pray for a healthy marriage and family and that they all might embrace and follow truth together.  Our daughter will be starting a new treatment— the medication will have to come via a specialty pharmacy— pray that we can figure out the logistics of getting the meds not only now but also once she’s at college. 

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. 

Is Cheaper Always Better?

 “Cheaper is always better.”  It is an unspoken value which seems to pervade the islands and if we’re honest can make us quite frustrated.  

New boat option with kwasa boats in backround

Our friend has started a boat business.  He is providing, reliable, comfortable, safe, daily, ferry service between the islands for a reasonable price.  Something that has not existed before.  Before this boat business began there were basically three ways to get between islands: 
1.) Pay a lot of money to fly. 
2.) Take the big boat which goes once a week, but can’t be relied on to leave the same day every week, and doesn’t go to the little island.  
3.) Take a kwasa—the island word for a small boat used for passenger service.  They are extremely uncomfortable, unsafe and unreliable, but they are cheap (if you want to read about some of our experiences with kwasas, you can click on one of these links:)  

Now this new boat service is providing affordable ferry service you would think they would be turning people away—but instead they often struggle to fill the boat.  Why?  It seems that cheaper is always better.

There are no reliable delivery services in the islands—especially between islands.  We are not sure why this is, but we suspect it is because of the cost.  Why pay for something when you can probably find the service for free?  The truth is, most people expect to be able to deliver things from one island to another through their network of friends and/or the kindness of strangers for no fee at all.  It is a given that when you arrive at the local airport there will be people there holding packages, both large and small, that they plan to send to another island via one of the people traveling that day.  The people traveling are expected, if they have any extra kilos, to willingly offer them to those people looking to send a package to the other island.  The local airline is very obliging and usually the recipient will be waiting at the airport on the next island to claim it.  If such things can be expected, why pay for the service?  This is frustrating to us, because a reliable delivery service would be something very helpful. It seems like a great business opportunity.   But in the islands, where cheaper is always better it’s not clear if a business like this could compete with the free way of doing things now (even if it was safer, better and more convenient).

Tom is no longer the tallest

Clothing, appliances, electronics, food:  When cheaper is always better, it means quality is hard to find.  Since nearly everything is imported and companies like Amazon don’t ship to the islands, islanders are dependent on what the local importers decide to import.  In this scenario the ‘cheaper is always better’ mentality hits you twice.  The importers are buying the cheapest products they can find partially because they know their clientele want the cheapest prices, and partially because they believe it themselves.  And thanks to fake branding, it is impossible to trust the brand written on the product is genuine (Adidas, Samsung, etc.) so there really is no point in paying more for something when you have no more trust in the “brand name” quality than the non-brand name.

There is an exception to this principle because there is another value at play:  “New is better than old.”  In a place where honor and shame are prevalent, often having something new trumps “Cheaper is better.” Like much of Africa, there is a huge used clothes business at work.  Clothes rejected or discarded by Americans and Europeans make their way to African used-clothing shops for dollar store prices.  A prudent buyer can find quality, brand-name products (Levi’s, American eagle, North face, etc) if they are patient and look carefully.  Compared to the new clothes that fall apart after one wearing—this is an example when cheaper really is better!  And plenty of islanders buy from the used clothing markets.  But not always. Despite the cheaper used clothes, many islanders still buy expensive, low-quality new clothes because they are new.

One can only speculate. what the result of this “cheaper is always better” value on the society, but it has some drastic implications when applied to things like safety, health care, and infrastructure— we lament how quickly ‘new’ roads on the islands start to fall apart because of the cheap strategies used in their construction. 

But what could it mean for faith?  What does a cheap faith look like? The story goes that a man found a treasure in a field and sold all he had to buy the field.  This is not cheap faith.  The story goes that a pearl buyer found the most exquisite pearl and sold all he had in order to buy it.  This was not cheap faith.  If people aren’t aren’t willing to pay the counted cost, they may willingly miss out on a treasure whose value can’t be fathomed. The cheapest way is not always better and we pray that more islanders would realize that. 

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful for the medical and dental appointments that we have gotten done this past week.  We’ve been able to connect with different people from the islands both through phone calls and in-person with other people passing through mainland Africa.  Our youngest has enjoyed playing with the other kids and our older kids have gotten to enjoy some of the end of the year fun with their dorms.  

PRAYERS REQUESTED
There was some tensions and unrest on Clove Island this past week connected to an arrest made— things have calmed but there are concerns that there could be more trouble in coming days.  Pray for peace and that if there is injustice that islanders could find effective ways to protest without violence or destruction of property and that they would be allowed to peacefully protest by the government.  Tom has applied for a new passport, pray that it arrives in time for our planned travel.  Our daughter as a senior has just one week of classes in high school — pray that she could finish well. Pray for Hashiri back on the islands— she messaged Megan today and it sounds like she has taken to consulting AI for all manner of advice- pray that she could have more connections with people and that she might pursue others to study. This week the women on the islands should be having their monthly meeting— pray that this meeting still happens in spite of Megan’s absence.

Haircuts and Father Figures

I called out a greeting as I walked through our front gate.  Suddenly a little boy was wrapped around my legs giving me a big hug and calling out my name.  I smiled and laughed in surprise (islanders aren’t usually big huggers). It was little Nambo, our househelper’s 4 year old. Behind him making a polite greeting was his sister Nadjma.  They had come so Nambo could get a hair cut!

Cutting Nambo's hair

I’m not sure how it came about exactly.  I think MaNadjma (our houshelper) must have spied our hair clippers and saw a way to save a little money and asked if I (Tom) could cut shave his head.  Men cut men’s hair in this culture, so even though Megan is the more experienced haircutter, MaNadjma came to me for the favor.  So that’s how it came about that little Nambo comes by once in awhile for a free haircut.

I don’t see Nambo that often.  Once in awhile MaNadjma will bring him to work and he’ll play quietly at our house.  He used to stick close to his mother’s leg, shy of us.  But somehow haircutting has helped overcome his shyness and now I can expect warm greetings and hugs!

I wonder about Nambo.  Like so many kids here, he has no father.  MaNadjma has had 3 marriages and looks close to a fourth one.  Nadjma is the result of the first marriage which was only a month long and traumatizing.  Nambo’s father was the second and the only good marriage of the three.  He was a loving father both to Nambo and to Nadjma, despite her not being his biological child.  But Nambo’s father died suddenly while he was still very young.  We suspect now that his father knew he was sick, but he never told anyone.  Even today, we don’t know what exactly was wrong with him, but MaNadjma has said that when it became clear he was going to die, he didn’t seem surprised. 

So Nambo, like so many boys and girls here, is growing up without a father and few father figures.  Unstable homes are so prevalent here that when we meet someone whose biological father is still married to his biological mother we are genuinely surprised.  It is a sad reality that for many kids, their father is more of a stranger than not.   

Our friend Bako is now a father of 3.  He tells us often how much he has learned from watching us.  He always appreciates marriage and parenting advice—and even puts some of it into practice.  He never really knew his own father and so he is eager for a better example.  

There is a large group of kids on the corner of our road— they are all siblings and cousins and the three sisters who are their mothers often leave them to their own devices, even though the kids are quite young. We have never seen a father with them. They had gotten into the habit of greeting us in a rude way, so Tom gave them a little talking-to and since then they yell his name excitedly and politely whenever they see him and come up to grab his hand and have small conversations with him. His attention made a strong and positive impression on them. 

Nambo and Nadjma are growing up without a father. They’ve already had 2 father figures come and go.  So we’re conscious of the fact that Tom’s role in their life could be very important. When we asked MaNadjma about the new man she may marry, she had little to say to comfort our misgivings about another marriage.  When we asked if he was a good man, she told us his name.  As if that would somehow answer the question.  Will this one stick around? Will he love these children that aren’t biologically his?  Will he set a good example for them?  We hope that these two kids will find a loving father here on earth. We also pray that they will come to know their heavenly Father who loves them more than they can know. 

Fathers' Day dessert!

PRAYERS ANSWERED

We managed to make it to mainland Africa with all our bags and despite our youngest son suffering from food poisoning!  He threw up one final time at the airport—but managed to make it through the trip and was feeling much better the next day.  Tom had no trouble submitting his passport for renewal.  We’ve been able to be around for our older son’s choir concert and to take our daughter to her doctor’s appointment.  We were able to celebrate Father's Day together as a family. Hashiri messages regularly and says that she continues to read and study.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for all the children growing up in broken homes in the islands.  Pray for all the adults who have grown up with poor examples, know no other way and so perpetuate the problem.  Pray that the example of loving marriages and good parenting would be a powerful witness of good news for many.  Pray for Muki, Mtsa and Hashiri to continue to study, and for the Lord to supply their needs while we are gone.  Muki especially struggles to find his daily needs.  May the Lord provide for him in powerful ways.  Pray for all the work that continues while we are away, especially for our teammate, who will be alone in the capital while we are away.  She will maintain contact with the other team on Clove Island, but the 3 hour bus ride does limit their ability to support each other.  Pray that she would feel supported and safe.   Pray for our kids as all 3 finish up the school year in the next few weeks—for final projects and perseverance to the end.