Hope, Peace, Joy & Love

The four themes of advent

For those of you that don’t usually celebrate Advent— it is marked by the four Sundays preceding Christmas. Each Sunday has a different theme- Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. In our family we usually celebrate advent by reading different stories each night from creation through to the story of a baby born in a stable in Bethlehem. But each Sunday we highlight for the kids how these different stories and the story of Christmas is about God bringing hope, peace, joy and love to humanity.

Hope, the promise of a bright future even when the current realities are hard.

Peace, the calming of fears even in times of uncertainty.

Joy, the inner triumph and soul contentment that cannot be shaken by anything of this world.

Love, the embrace of one who has given everything freely and lovingly to make us his own.

Our English Club gathering!

We had our annual English Club Christmas party on Wednesday and we always get lots of questions. Islanders generally haven’t been exposed to Christmas much (except for scenes in movies and stories from islanders who have visited other countries).  As they look around our house decorated for the holiday, we naturally get lots of questions like, “What is that called?” “Why do you have that?” So we end up explaining stockings and ornaments, snowmen and reindeer. But ultimately these are not the most important things for them to understand. It is the more abstract ideas of hope, peace, joy and love. They can’t be fully encapsulated in a few words, but on Wednesday we told stories, we sang songs and tried to explain the ways that one simple birth made these abstract concepts reality.

The next day we had a very different gathering. It was the same room with the same decorations. But instead of the mix of English students, it was a group of women dedicated to understanding the real reason for this holiday. We studied the story in the local language. We all shared our observations and input. We marveled at the command of “do not fear” from the angel and then marveled again at the peace and joy that descended on those who received the good news. We thought about what it would be like to be a woman in this culture, pregnant before marriage and what the message of “do not fear” would mean to her. Then we questioned why the baby would be born in a stable of all places. Until one woman rejoiced at the idea that in his love, he had become accessible to all, even to the lowest of us. At the end, earnest prayers were lifted up in a mix of languages and we went away with a firmer grasp of that hope, peace, joy and love available to us.

Acting out the story: Mary on the donkey

They were both Christmas gatherings. Both included singing and discussion. Both gatherings ended with some snacks and socializing. And we had a good time at both. But the first was a group of people primarily interested in the English language and the culture of English-speaking countries. Most were students who came because we have knowledge they desire. The second group wasn’t there for us or anything we could give. They were there to celebrate and discover knowledge available to all, but only found by some, the promise and richness of hope, peace, joy and love. 

May we all find these amazing gifts this Christmas season.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We had a wonderful Christmas day yesterday celebrating as a family and with our team. Our kids finished their exams at the local school and are already enjoying the break from classes. We finally had the women’s gathering that had been postponed for several weeks— it went well and was an encouraging time. Our English Club Christmas party went well and was well-attended. After much suspense and drama, our teammates’ visas came through!  Our downstairs neighbors are feeling better. We have an appointment with a doctor in Kenya and a place to stay. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
This past week was exhausting and we’re feeling tired. Pray that we can have some restful days while still getting the things done that we need to do. One of our old neighbors is marrying off her daughter next week and wants us to be involved. The problem is that she isn’t a great communicator and isn’t clear in her expectations. Help us to be good friends to her and know when we need to be where. Two of our teammates are traveling today to mainland Africa for vacation— pray for safe travels and a relaxing trip. One of them needs to renew her passport while she is there, pray that the logistics for that go smoothly. Tom wasn’t able to do the final study with the small group of men, so he will do it this Thursday. Pray for a good meeting and that they would continue to gather on their own even after this initial series is finished.

Season Confusion

Kids showing their snowflakes

We’re confused. December is always a confusing month on the islands. The house is decorated for Christmas. We are listening to songs that talk about cuddling up against the cold and venturing out into the snow. There is a snowman on our window and the kids made snowflakes to decorate the table.  But it is HOT and HUMID! We drink a cup of water and our bodies thank us by quickly delivering glistening layer of fresh sweat. We’re melting, but that is what December is like on the islands— not the weather that we associate with Christmas when growing up in the US.

But we’re confused for another reason too. We always thought (after several years on the islands) that December and January were supposed to be the horribly hot and humid months that are waiting for the torrential rains of February and March to break the humidity and bring some relief to the stifling heat.

But this December has been full of torrential downpours! There is no waiting until February this year— we’re already in the middle of full-on rainy season weather!

The seasons on the islands have never been very clear to us and we ask islanders about “normal weather” for any given month we always get a different answer. The islands have basically two seasons: rainy season (known in the local language as Kashkazi) and dry season (known in the local language as Kusi).

The clouds come to us from over the hills

I like the sound of the word Kashkazi. It sounds chaotic and kind of crazy which helps you remember that it is the season of periodic cyclone winds and storms, dumping water on the islands. The problem is asking when it is— some say February/March, others say November, other December. The real answer seems to be that Kashkazi is all the way from November through at least March. It is all Kashkazi and like its crazy name suggests you can only expect it to be unpredictable. You can have long periods of heat and humidity with just occasional rains and afternoon showers and then you can be hit by a solid week of water pouring from the skies.

I must say that the rains have helped us get into the Christmas season more. The winds whip through the house in anticipation of the downpour soon to follow. Sometimes it almost feels “cool” and while it is a long way from “let it snow” weather, at least we can have a fun afternoon inside playing with the kids and singing, “let it rain, let it rain, let it rain.”

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The rest of the language workshop went well and thankfully everyone at the workshop was feeling better and they were able to get through the material they wanted to. Our new teammate is feeling better after her tummy bug. Our new teammates have been blessed by 4-6 of language helpers each! This is a huge blessing and encouragement as they learn language (people usually struggle to find one good language helper).  Thanks for your prayers about kids coming over to pray.  The situation has gotten a lot easier lately.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Continue to pray as we try to figure out the details of our trip to Kenya— we had a hiccup this week when the doctor we were figuring things out with realized she can’t do the surgery  because of scheduling problems. Pray that housing and appointments come together for that time.  The women’s gathering is finally going to happen this week— pray that it is a good time and that many women come to study and encourage one another. Lots of people on the islands are sick—we got to pray for our sick downstairs neighbors yesterday— pray with us for quick healing. One of the people sick is the man who is supposed to process our teammates’ visas— pray he can get back to work so that our teammates can get their passports back (one is supposed to travel the day after Christmas). Tom has been meeting twice a week with a group of men to study the Kingdom of Light.  The sessions have been going very well.  They will finish the sessions this week and then take a break, but pray that it is only the beginning.  This Wednesday is our English Club Christmas Party.  Pray that this would be a time to deepen relationships and share about the true meaning of Christmas— pray for similar gatherings around the islands.

Kittens on the Porch

Mommy cat & kittens on claimed corner of porch

Our island has a very large cat population. They aren’t pets. No one feeds them when they are hungry. No one takes them to the vet when they are sick. (Are there even vets here?)  Many cats don’t make it to adulthood. Those that do tend to be thin and battle-scarred. The nights are full of the noises of cat fights  and because no one spays or neuters the cats, there are always kittens around.

You may think us heartless, but more than once we have found small bedraggled kittens by our house. We could easily have adopted them, but we’ve always resisted the urge. Cats are tolerated for their rodent catching abilities, and maybe even for good luck, but islanders don’t treat them as pets. We’ve had several teammates and colleagues who have taken cats on as pets.  islanders seem to find this very amusing, but don’t seem upset by it, but many have also seen cats die (from fights or disease) or have been burdened with kittens that they can’t find homes for.

For us, we don’t mistreat cats, but we’re not going to adopt any. In our opinion, it is better if they learn to take care of themselves and if they make it, they make it.

We’ve had a lot of rain this week. After the first few storms, we noticed a young mother cat and two kittens by our gate. By the end of the week, they had settled onto the ratty old mat that sat under a table in the corner of our porch. We’re curious how long they might stick around, but for the moment they’re making life kind of interesting.  We’d be hard pressed to kick them out (they would most likely just come back anyways) and we have to admit, the kittens are cute. One is mostly black, the other is calico (which we’ve been told repeatedly by the kids means it is a girl—apparently only female cats are calico…)

The kittens

Aside from enjoying the normal sort of kittens antic that you might expect, we’ve had a few interactions that are worth mentioning.  It began the night after they arrived on our porch.  The mother cat would leave the kittens on the porch to look for food and they would of course meow for her return when they got hungry. Late into the night we heard one of the kittens meowing and meowing.  It was like an alarm.  Finally Tom got up to see what the problem was.  Wow, that kitten was loud.  It almost sounded like it was in the house.  But Tom looked around and didn’t see anything.  The meowing had stopped as soon as he entered our daughter’s room (whose room opens onto the porch near the cats).  Tom returned to bed and the meowing started again just as loud. Next Megan went in and she saw it, a tiny and scared kitten inside the house near the window.   It immediately ducked for cover behind furniture. It took waking up our daughter, getting a broom and fishing it out from under a bed with it hissing and swiping at us before Tom literally pushed it out the door, back onto the porch and back to its mama. Finally it was quiet and we went back to bed.

After that incident, however, the kittens seemed to decide that we weren’t so threatening. They stopped hissing as much and even let us pick them up.  We’ve had to pick them up a lot this week because although we don’t mind them taking shelter on our porch, we don’t want them peeing on the cushions out there. So we’ve been regularly taking them off of our porch furniture and putting them back on the ratty old mat in the corner.  Since we moved in, we’ve always propped the porch cushions up at night so stray cats won’t pee and poo on them (which happened our first weeks here).  So the other night, I grabbed one of the cushions to put it up and remarked— “Did this cushion get wet? It’s so heavy.” It wasn’t wet, it was full of kittens.  They had wiggled their way inside a hole in the cushion cover.  I’m not sure if they could have gotten out without us.  We had to reach in and put them back on the mat. 

We decorated for Christmas!

Well if we’ve suffered some inconvenience from this new arrangement, they have also suffered some. Our youngest loves animals and we’ve caught him unintentionally terrorizing the kittens a few times. I came out on the porch to see my 5 year old with a  bucket, picking up a kitten by the tail and unsuccessfully trying to get him into the bucket. I quickly told him to put the poor kitten down. He did and it ran for its life. Then I looked down and saw the other kitten crouched in the bottom of the bucket. We’ve told our son to stop tormenting the poor kittens.

So all and all, it is almost like we have cats right now. No, we haven’t adopted them. No, we’re not feeding them.  No, we’re not welcoming them into the house. But they are welcome to the safety and refuge of our porch. We’ll see how long the kids resist naming them.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Ma Imani’s mom is feeling much better. The package from our family arrived!! It was sent in September— so it took its time but it got here before Christmas! Thanks for praying. This is one of the hottest months of the year, but we’ve had a lot of rain which has made it feel cooler than normal. The consultants for the language workshop arrived safely and they were able to cover a lot in the first week of teaching.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
A lot of people are sick right now. There have been several people involved in the language workshop that have been sick or distracted by sick family members— pray for health and freedom from distractions during this second week of the workshopOne of new teammates was hit by a bad tummy bug—pray that she won’t be discouraged and will regain her strength quickly. Also there is a bad flu going around hitting lots of people. Pray for health and healing all around! Pray for us and our new teammates as we work on getting their longterm visas and try to track down their landlord to fix some problems in their house. We’re working to finalize our plans to go to mainland Africa in January (where Megan will most likely have surgery)- pray as we work out logistics and schedule with doctors there.

Open Homes

Tom with some kids at an event

We want to have an open home. It is even one of our team values that our lives and homes will be open to islanders. By open home, we mean available, we mean accessible, we mean welcoming. Islanders can already be intimidated to visit a foreigner so we want to make it as easy as possible.

Part of having an open home is very literal. We literally keep our door open. An open front door in island culture tells your neighbors that you are home and that people can visit. A closed door means either you are gone or don’t want to be disturbed. Sometimes a very close friend will knock on a closed door, but often times islanders will just see the closed door and leave. Since visits aren’t usually announced ahead of time, we keep our door open from breakfast until we go to bed at night. And people come— some to say hello, some to ask questions, some to ask for help, some to hang out, some to use our library, and then there are the kids that come to play.

Most island kids don’t have many toys, so kids will come to play on our porch. We’ve encouraged it. We want kids to feel welcome at our house. But it isn’t always easy. Island kids aren’t always easy to love.  Some of the lessons have been hard. When our kids were babies, it was hard to welcome the kids with runny noses and covered in dirt. At our last house, it was hard to welcome the kids because they always came in huge disruptive packs.

Kids coming onto our porch

Now we’re learning some new lessons. It started with some little kids from our street. They don’t listen. We tell them it is time to go home and they don’t go. Or they leave for 2 minutes and then sneak back up when they think we’re not looking. These kids are mostly little, 5 and under, and very cute. They usually scurry away quickly when we catch them. Eventually they seemed to learn that when we asked them to leave, they couldn’t come back, but another problem began. Without us knowing it, as they left they would close our door behind them. We would go whole afternoons without visitors only to find that our front gate was closed! We caught the kids at it and told them not to, but that didn’t stop them from doing it again. Finally we found some wire to stop them from closing it.

Then there came a kid we’ll call Nunyi. We had seen him around before. One look and you can tell that he isn’t like other kids. He is usually unkempt and dirty and will yell and grab at people. If he was an adult we would assume he was mentally ill, but he is just a kid (maybe 7 years old) and neighbors have confirmed that he was born that way. No attempts are made to educate him. Few attempts are made to control where he goes or what he does. One day Nunyi showed up on our porch and we let him play. Our kids were scared of him but we quickly learned that we didn’t need to be scared of him.  As he played on our porch we saw a big smile on his face.  He was loving it! Nunyi acts like a toddler.  Most of the time his words are unintelligable, but his desires are simple and clear— he wants to play, he wants to eat, he wants someone to watch him ride the scooter! 

The problem is when we have to ask him to leave. Nunyi won’t leave. He flat our refuses. The other kids scurry away but Nunyi digs in his heels. Most of the time we have to physically drag him off our porch— not a fun experience. We know the island solution— they would beat him. We can almost see it in his eyes.  He smirks and waits for a raised hand or switch before he’ll respond. We refuse to hit him. One of our friends threatened to get Nunyi’s uncle because Nunyi is afraid of him (probably because he beats him). Another neighbor saw Nunyi playing on our porch and immediately told him that she was going to call the police and that they were going to come with their guns to get him. Islanders wouldn’t let strange kids play at their house, especially not a kid like Nunyi. So that is why we want to let him play o our porch, we want to show him love, but it is hard when it always ends with us having to physically force him to leave. Some islanders have stepped in and helped take him away, but their solution to us is always the same— “close your door!”  But we don’t want to close our door!

Kids playing before an event

We want to have an open home… so instead we begin the difficult task of trying to set boundaries for kids who have never had boundaries, getting kids to listen to instructions who have only ever listened to a raised switch, trying to show love to kids that seem bent on pushing the limits. God grant us patience and may we see them with His eyes.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our new teammates had a great week staying with an island family in a village— the family was kind and welcoming, the weather was cooler up there and they had a lot of cultural experiences. They continued to have great attitudes. Our visitors from Asia have come and gone. It was nice to get to share with them about life and work on the islands— now people in Asia will be praying for us!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Ma Imani will have to stay on the big island until January— in the meantime she caught Dengue fever (which is going around the big island right now). She has recovered but continue to pray for her and her daughters. Also pray for her mother here on Clove Island who has been very sick. A big two-week long workshop has started on our island for the language project. It is long days. Pray for perseverance and good concentration for the participants and that they would get through all the material that the outside consultants wanted to share. We are possibly going to have a short-termer from a neighboring African country join our team— our organization has never had someone from this country work with us—pray for wisdom as the organization considers what the process will look like to have her join us. The next few weeks will be busy! Pray for good rest and endurance for us.  Also, a little thing, family sent a Christmas package to us a couple months ago— pray that it arrives for Christmas! (Mail on the islands is not reliable, some times packages make it in a few weeks, sometimes it takes months, sometimes they don’t make it.)

Giving thanks in All Circumstance—Even Language Learning

Thanksgiving meal with team!

Did you have a nice Thanksgiving?  We hope so.  We certainly did.  We didn’t have turkey, but a couple of whole chickens where quite delicious and we had most of the fixin’s—stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans and mashed potatoes.  We even had pumpkin pie and whipped cream for desert!  Not bad for a tropical island off the coast of Africa!

But Thanksgiving isn’t only about the food.  This is a time when we take a moment and think of all the things we are thankful for throughout the past year and even beyond.  This Thanksgiving was special since we have just welcomed our new teammates and had the chance to celebrate with them as well as our older teammates too.  It got me to thinking about the things that we tend to forget to be thankful for.

A big part of orientation for our new teammates—the biggest part in fact, is language learning.  This is a daunting task.  Many people come to it with trepidation and fear.  For many, it is the most difficult part of living in another country.  I myself didn’t like it very much.  It was really hard and humbling and embarrassing and painfully slow to see progress.  There is certainly still a part of me that wishes language learning could be done via download — just stick the USB drive into the side of my head and viola—I speak French!  But looking back at my own life and looking ahead at the lives of my teammates I start to appreciate the hard lessons of language learning.  Now I am even thankful for it!

Thanksgiving afternoon hike

I am thankful for language learning because it tears down before it builds up.  As adults we get pretty comfortable with ourselves.  Whether we say so or not, we all intuitively think we have things pretty put together, we know how to handle ourselves, we can get around, we know more or less who we are, what we’re good at, and what we want.  Language learning tears all that down.  It strips us down to the basics and makes us start again.  Want to discover if you have pride, shame or complacency in your life—become a language learner.  I would say that language learning has been the greatest vehicle for keeping a check on my pride—and for that I am thankful.

In a similar vein, I am thankful for how language learning is such a great tool for growing in maturity in general.  I think of teammates both present and past and see how much language learning has revealed areas where they need to grow and helping them to grow in those areas.  Personally, I have learned a great deal about depending on others, finding counsel from many advisors, and trusting that time put in will eventually have results.  All these lessons are applicable to many areas of life and have made me a better teammate, a better husband, a better parent, and I have learned these lessons best from language learning.  And so I am thankful.

Language learning has also opened new ways of thinking and seeing.  I do not see the world in the same way as I did before, for now I can see it from another perspective.  I can even think about it and talk about it differently as the words of the island language give things a different spin, a different angle.  The very words we use cause us to think differently.  When I read the words of God, my mind perceives them differently, all because of language and culture learning.  What a gift this is!   But it would not come about without the hard work of living and learning in another language.  And for that I’m thankful.

Lychee season has begun! Our first lychees of the season.

It’s easy to be thankful for things we have, even things we have achieved.  But how often are we thankful for the hard journey of getting there?  My son has been learning to read and it has not come easily to him.  He has worked hard.  He is starting to enjoy it and maybe one day he will be thankful for reading.  He may forget the journey, but I can look back at the hard work we put in together.  And that’s the final thing I’m thankful for.  On these hard journeys, we are never alone.  And the time spent together, even as we struggle, is special.  We struggle and fall and fail and complain, but we are lifted up and encouraged and we try again.  Let’s be thankful for the journey together.

PRAYERS ANSWERED

We had a great week of orientation with our new teammates including a day off on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving.  They continue to do really well and we are greatly encouraged by their excellent attitudes.  It seems like they are sleeping better too, so thanks for praying!  We are so thankful for our team which seems to be gelling well and especially our older teammates who have shared the responsibilities for welcoming our new teammates and have been a great help.  We are so blessed to work with such wonderful people.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Language learning never stops!  Please pray for all of us, that we may progress and grow and enjoy the journey.  Pray especially for our newer teammates who feel most acutely the difficulties of the journey.  Our new teammates have started a week-long stay in a village at the center of the island with a local island family. This will be a hard week but a great chance to learn about island culture. Pray that they would have good attitudes in the hard moments and that this week would be the beginning on special relationships with islanders. We have visitors coming this week from Asia.  Pray that they will have safe travels and be inspired by what they see and hear in order to bring back to their home countries a fire for the great needs of our islands.  Next week will also begin a two week translation workshop.  Pray that this journey will also be a source of blessing and growth.  Continue to lift up Ma Imani and her daughters.  We have no new word on her daughters progress yet. Advent starts next Sunday—pray that this season will give us many opportunities to share about the one who walks with us on the greatest journey.

Arrivals

Kids waiting at airport for teammates' arrival

Our 7 year old son is writing in his journal. He writes,“Two people came to our home.  They’re our new teammates.  I like them.”

He summed it up well. He’s right, we’ve welcomed two new teammates to our island and so far we think they’re pretty great. 

Seeing them come brings back a lot of memories.  It makes us remember our own “first time in Africa,” then “first time on the islands” and then our “first time leading a team” experiences. We remember the excitement and the uncertainty, the jetlag and the intense first days, the overwhelming first impressions of the task before us (usually language learning) and yet the relief of finally being at your final destination after months of preparations.

We went back to an old blog about our first impressions of coming to the islands in 2009. We were coming off of months in the States after our evacuation from Chad. Our oldest daughter was just a baby. We were arriving as the only newbies with our experienced team leaders and two other veteran teammates.

Their plane landing

As we read the old blog we remember trying to sort the sensory overload of so many new things. The humidity, the green vegetation, the dominating volcano above us and the realization that we really were on a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Then there were the people—both friendly and surprisingly short in our first observation.  And there was the bustle of the city on the big island. The comings and goings with everything around us being so new— the language, clothes, customs. We remember that feeling of being a fish out of water. Not sure exactly what to do with ourselves as we followed more veteran workers around without being able to engage people in conversation or do much for or by ourselves.

Now here we are, years after our experience with two new ladies going through much of the same stuff. We tell them some about our experiences but at the same time we know that there is no way we can stop the overload. It will take time to sort through everything they are seeing and experiencing these first days. If anything all the advice and anecdotes we share just add to the overload. We also can’t skip them over the awkward moments of not knowing the language or not understanding the cultural dynamics around them.

It’s just part of the transition. We try to prepare them with the knowledge that we can share. Today we talked to them about culture shock and while knowledge may be power— knowing about culture shock will not give them the power to avoid it completely. But we hope that knowing and hearing the stories from us and their other teammates that they will determined to  persevere through the overload and past the culture shock.There will be a time when life won’t be overwhelming and things will begin to make sense. There will even come a time when it will all become very everyday and ordinary. So that is why it is nice to look back and remember the initial wonder at the beauty, the colors, the people that make this place unique. It is an amazing place and we’re excited to be working here and welcoming others to this place.

Our four team ladies!

Do you feel a call to work on the islands??

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our two new teammates arrived safely with all their luggage. The logistics of Megan traveling to meet them, of putting their excess luggage on a boat and the overnight stay on Volcano Island all went very smoothly. We are very thankful for your prayers and for the hospitality of our Volcano Island colleagues. We are very excited to see our new teammates are already embracing learner attitudes and taking everything in stride.  


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for our new teammates’ sleep— getting over jetlag can be tough and our days during this orientation week are full. Pray for good sleep and a quick adjustment to the time zone and climate (it has gotten pretty hot and humid now). Pray also for the rest of this week where they are living with us and doing orientation and initial language learning. Next week they go to live with an island family for a week. Pray for their relationship with each other as they are just getting to know each other but also have to room with each other for these intense initial weeks. Ma Imani will need to stay on the big island for at least another month while they wait to see how things go with her sick daughter. Pray that she finds a good community there and that she can find some temporary work.


HOPE EVERYONE IN THE US HAS A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Bigger Vision

Tom with workshop banners

Sometimes it is easy for our vision to be too small. We focus on what seems small and achievable without dreaming big.

This past weekend I did something I’ve never done before.  I lead 3 session of an English teaching workshop from about 9am-2pm.  As exciting and challenging as this was for me, my own role in the workshop was not nearly as exciting as the very existence of the workshop itself.  As most people in this line of work will tell you, recognizing a problem or need is not very difficult.  Discovering a solution is only slightly more difficult.  But implementing and imparting ownership of a solution to the local people—that is very difficult indeed.

Coming to the islands it was easy to see the felt need among the people to learn English.  It was even easy to see that part of the problem was the way English was being taught.  English is taught like all other subjects on the island— with low interaction, focusing on memorization rather than comprehension, and using avoidance of shame as the primary motivator. There is a sense that this is how islanders teach and this is how islanders learn and that’s just how it is.

But finding a solution to that problem?  Changing society?  These are giant tasks.  Tasks that take a great deal of man-power and cooperation.  We could not expect change like this.  It was too big. So initially we focused small.  We taught English classes and as students developed their English we trained teachers.  Some of these teachers organized themselves into organizations and now these organizations are teaching English classes.  These organizations are taking English all over the island.  We support them with curriculum and training and teaching, advising and even substituting, but we are not in charge of these organizations.  We support and encourage and see new English classes starting up all the time.

At workshop observing teacher

A few months ago one of these programs asked if we would help them with a workshop in a village on the other side of the island.  Their goal—to encourage a new and more effective way of teaching among teachers in the public schools.  This is a shift.  Not only are they teaching people English, but they want to improve education within the system itself!  As they shared their vision with the teachers in the room, I couldn’t help but think how amazing this was.  A great vision, for great change, directed and organized by islanders, to encourage other islanders.

For the final session of the workshop the teachers watched an islander putting the teaching techniques into practice with a real class.  As we watched students responding with enthusiasm and engaging with the teacher and speaking a lot of English, one of the teachers observing next to me leaned over and said, “This man is a great teacher.  I don’t teach like this.  I need to learn to teach like this.”  What a triumph!  If he felt this way, maybe there were others there as well with a similar feeling.  Maybe change is possible…

We don’t know that we can accept too much credit for the success of these classes. Perhaps we just catalyzed the right islanders, giving them a vision that they were well-equipped to take over. Because not all islanders have caught the vision, even as one program is expanding and growing another seems content to stay in its one location, offering its single set of classes to the people of that neighborhood. Their vision is small and they are sticking with it. So maybe the key for our big dreams for change on the islands is about finding the right people, the ones who only need a vision, a catalyst to set them off and running.

At village ceremony

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our teammate is back after 6 weeks away! We are thankful that her travels went smoothly and to have her back with us! Things have been coming together well for our new teammates arriving the next week! We are very thankful to have our 2 “veteran” teammates around to help with these preparations. Tom’s workshop went well and was well-received! Tom has been studying with an islander who is really thinking about things— they are meeting weekly and have had very encouraging interactions so far. We went as a family to a ceremony in  a village and we were encouraged by how we were welcomed there.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Our new teammates leave the States on the 16th and arrive on the biggest island on Sat. Nov 18th. Megan will travel to meet them and bring them to Clove island on Sunday. Pray for their travels and transitions. It is hot now. So pray for their transition especially to the heat and the time zone. For the first week they will live with us and have an intensive orientation week. Pray it all goes well and that as a team we start on the right foot. Talked to Ma Imani on the phone— no conclusive word yet on her daughter’s condition, so keep praying!

A Different Kind of Giving

Our son with baby of good friend

The other day I was reading the passage that says “Give to all those who ask of you.”  I’ve always found this a tough passage.  Does it really mean everyone?

When we first came to the islands, the question of giving was so overwhelming.  People would come by our house and ask for money all the time.  Most of them we didn’t know.  Most of the time we didn’t know how much to give.  Most of the time we didn’t know if we should give or not.

Looking back on it, I think part of the problem is we weren’t used to being asked.  Who asks you for money in the States?  Most of the time giving happens with organizations.  The giving is very standardized—go to a website, fill out some forms, etc.  We are not used to people from church or neighbors coming up to us and asking us for money on the spot.  That is embarrassing and weird.

How different it is here.  Thinking about it…we are giving every week—nearly every day in some shape or form.  We have multiple neighbors who come asking for food.  In fact, we buy certain commodities in bulk so that we can be ready for such requests.  Rice, oil, sugar or a can of sardines are all regular requests.  Then there are the money requests:
“My child is sick.”
“My son is getting married.”
“My grandmother died. [And the funeral costs are very high.]”
“My daughter is traveling to study abroad.”

Talking under a tree on outing last weekend

Sickness, marriage, funeral, travel, celebrations, holidays, and visitors are all acceptable reasons in island culture to ask someone for money, and since we have many acquaintances and there is almost always someone somewhere getting sick, marrying, dying, traveling, etc, we get these requests on a weekly basis.  And we’ve discovered that, for the most part, we do give to everyone who asks! In fact, it’s become quite normal for us to do so.  When did this change take place?  When did it stop being overwhelming and weird and become normal and good?

I think it happened when we understood two things on the islands better.  The first was, we are part of a community.  If we have a real acquaintance with someone, then their expecting money from us (when money is needed) is normal.  People who come asking and who aren’t part of that community (complete strangers) have no business asking us for money.  For them to do so is rude and no better than begging.  When someone in your community asks for money, they are not begging, they are simply looking for some help and that is very different.

The other thing we’ve come to understand is that most of the time you are expected to give a little—not a lot.  So if someone comes to you with a medical bill for $100, they aren’t expecting you to pay the bill.  They’re expecting to get $10 or $20.  Then they’re expecting to get similar amounts from 5 other neighbors until they cover the cost of the bill.  How freeing this is!  Somehow there’s a big difference between giving someone $5 now and then versus paying a large bill on occasion. 

Tom & kids on same outing

And so we find we basically can give to all those who ask.  Of course there are still those who push beyond the societal rules and there are those who beg.  But even with these, it’s easy enough to give a token—we give them something because they have asked, and somehow it feels better than a refusal.  Is this what the passage means when it says, “give to everyone who asks?”  We can’t say that we’ve figured it all out or that we don’t still make mistakes, but somehow it feels like we’re getting closer to the mark, at least here on the islands.

*a book that was helpful to us when we first got to Africa and struggling with this new culture around money was African Friends and Money Matters.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We have decided on a house for our new teammates (coming this month!) and we’ve signed a contract with the landlords! We’re also well on our way to having all the things we need for the house.  Our friend is out of the hospital and doing a bit better, but is far from healed yet.  We’ve had two opportunities to pray for him and hope to see improvement continue.  The kids continue to enjoy school this year.  We are so thankful for that! 


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Keep praying for our new teammates and the all the final details as they come together both on their side in the US and for us here on the islands. Pray for Ma Imani and her daughters (she was gifted a ticket so Imani could travel with them).  They have traveled to the big island for medical treatment.  Pray that they find it.  The woman’s gathering has not happened yet, so pray that rescheduling would happen and it would not simply be forgotten.  Tom is leading a 3 hour workshop on teaching techniques this weekend.  Pray that he could extend light, love and wisdom to the teachers and administrators he meets.  Pray for our teammate as she comes back to a busy schedule after a fun but rather intense time back in the States.

Island Birthdays

Kids at the party

When the kids were invited to a birthday party this week, we were reminded that island culture is not as standard as one might think.  Sometimes on the islands we get to see the clash of cultures.  Nowhere is this perhaps more apparent than a children’s birthday party.  Birthday celebrations are not native to the islands.  It’s only in the most recent generation that people even know their birthday.  Yet despite the fact that birthdays are a relatively new import, islanders have taken this and made it their own…sort of. Islanders at least have clear ideas about what the essential elements of a birthday party are:

First and foremost it must have extremely loud dance music. We got to the birthday party early, so the music wasn’t really going yet. At first I hoped they would be doing something more low-key, but eventually the ear-splitting songs began.  It doesn’t seem to matter what age the birthday girl or boy is, there will be extremely loud dance music. This weekend (like several kid parties I’ve been to) none of the kids wanted to dance. They were all shy and lined the walls of the room with the blasting music. Adults came by and encouraged/commanded the kids to dance but often times the kids didn’t seem to really enjoy it, but it’s part of every birthday party. Our boys were disappointed, “I thought we would play. But every time we try to go outside and play they yell at us to get back inside and dance.” This time the “dancing” time was eventually helped by the giving of some balloons which the kids threw around the dance floor in lieu of actual dancing.

Second a birthday party must have snacks. There is a limited list of acceptable snacks, usually homemade treats like samosas, mini-cakes, popcorn… Usually there are peanuts and some candy.  Everyone gets a little snack plate and eats everything on their plate before returning to “dancing”.

Birthday girl being fed cake

For kids birthdays it is also expected to give presents. As you enter the party with a gift, you must find the birthday boy or girl, personally hand them your gift and give them bisous (the French greeting with a kiss on each cheek). Again it doesn’t matter if the birthday girl is 1 year old, everyone must “hand” her the present and give her bisous.  As people came with their presents this weekend, I noticed that several people gave plain, unmarked envelopes. Knowing islanders, I knew that they have just given cash in place of a present. No card, just an envelope with money— given with bisous of course. The presents are put in a back room- presumably opened sometime after the party.

After a bunch of eating and dancing comes the climax. All birthday parties must end with a frosted cake (almost always white cake and white frosting). Everyone gathers around the birthday girl/boy in the center of the dance room. There are candles. They sing Happy Birthday (often in three languages- French, local language and English). The cake is always the final thing, after which everyone gets a small piece (sometimes only a couple bites) and all the kids go home. Lately I’ve noticed a few new imports— the birthday girl/boy will cut the cake and feed it to her closest family and someone will smear some on her face. (This is not a normal island thing, clearly they have gotten this idea from somewhere.) 

It all feels strangely Western— the clothes, the music, the bisous, the cake— this isn’t traditional island culture. Islanders see these things as Western too, so sometimes I get the feeling that they think I should be completely at home with them. But that is the funny thing, while trying to be Western, these birthday parties remain very islandy.  So really this is island culture— it’s a new wave, an attempt to absorb new cultural ideas. It’s a response to the clash of cultures that is happening on the islands all the time.

Sometimes we wish we could pick and choose what parts of western culture the islands embrace.  I guess there are worse things than birthday parties.

Tom's BD- much quieter affair

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Ma Imani’s second fundraising event went well. She hopes to travel at the end of this week. Our son is feeling all better now. The two potential specialists we’ve been communicating with (for Megan’s needed follow-up) both agree that waiting until January should be fine— it is nice to have one part of the decision made. We had a full but good weekend. We celebrated Tom’s birthday! (We didn't do it right though-- no loud music, no frosted cake-- but we did have presents and brownies). We are so thankful for him, his life, health and ministry this past year! We also went on an outing with a group of English students to the farthest corner of the island— it wasn’t great relational time, but we hope that our presence may lead to deeper relationships. We have found several houses that are good possibilities for our teammates! Pray with us as we make final decisions.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
The women’s gathering has to be rescheduled— it was already moved once because of a conflict and now it needs to again because of illness. Pray that a new date would be found and that when it happens that women would come and it would be a blessed time. Pray for Ma Imani as she travels that she would get good medical counsel and for Imani as she says goodbye to her mom and little sister (who are her whole immediate family). We’re narrowing in on a house, but continue to pray for our preparations for our new teammates (planning orientation, arranging a good homestay and find language helpers)— pray also for their final couple weeks with family in the US. One island friend is in the hospital with horrible pain that has completely immobilized him— pray for healing and wisdom for those caring for him.

Our organization has changed the format for online giving. They now have a link dedicated to each worker. Here’s our link. Sorry the link wasn’t actually active when we posted last week.

Fundraising Island Style

Ma Imani with her little one

When Ma Imani told me she had a tari in a few days, I assumed that someone in her group of friends or family was getting married. Tari is a term for a certain type of music and any event with that music is called a tari. A group of women with drums will pound a beat while someone sings and women dance. There is always a money line, where those in attendance dance up and give money toward the event. Most commonly these are for weddings, but there are different kinds. She quickly told me that this was her own tari, a “tari la msaanda” (meaning a tari for help/aid). It was a fundraising tari for her daughter. Doctors have told her that her 18 month old daughter needs to travel abroad for an operation. I’m still not sure what the problem or operation is, but she was told that she’d need close to $2000 to pay for everything (travel, treatment, etc). This may not seem like that much money, but Ma Imani only works part-time at normal island wages, earning around $100 a month. I was surprised to hear that she was organizing a fundraising tari. I had only heard of large groups or neighborhoods putting them on, not individual people. But there I was on Saturday evening ready to participate.

What do you do when you find yourself in need of money that you don’t have? On the islands this often happens with medical concerns. There is no insurance. The expenses add up quickly. Local medical care is quickly exhausted and people are often told that they have to travel abroad to get the care they need. It is a big expense and islanders don’t usually put money aside for contingencies like this.

Setting up fundraising tari, where is everyone?

The solution is to go to your network of friends and family. You let people know. You go on the rounds to people’s houses, explaining and asking them to help. Everyone gives some and hopefully the whole sum is found. It is actually this practice of relying on one another in financial hard times that binds the communities together. They need each other.

The fundraising tari ended up being a bit of a disaster. Everything was late coming together, so what should have been an early evening tari didn’t get going until late that night. There weren’t many people there. Then the ladies with the drums never showed up! This is unheard of from my experience and I’ve wondered if it was an intentional slight. One of my friends called it a betrayal. Eventually they got some recorded music playing, but the power was going in and out, plunging the event into silent darkness. Ma Imani was running around but it didn’t seem like she had anyone else that could take up the reigns and make things happen. Everyone who had been waiting put their money in the decorated box, but with none of the usual fanfare about it.  It all seemed pretty discouraging to me. Perhaps Ma Imani didn’t have a strong enough network of people around her.

I saw Ma Imani again this morning. She complained about all the things that had gone wrong— placing most of the blame on the electric company and the drumming group (who were apparently apologetic). She had raised around $700. I didn’t know if this was good or a disappointment,  but she didn’t seem too upset.

Then she told me how Imani had called to her last night and said, “Mama, they said your name on the TV!” Some of her extended family (who hadn’t made it to the tari) are organizing another fundraising tari for her this coming weekend and had put ads on the local radio and TV. They hadn’t even told her. She smiled as she told me and I was warmed with the thought that people did care for her and were stepping up when she needed them.

Family Olympics: Tallest Tower Building

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The first week of local school went really well. We were excited to see how well our youngest did (as this was his first time) and even our older son came back with good reports (he’s usually down on local school). Pray it continues! We’ve already found a couple possible houses as we look for a house for our new teammates (coming next month). We are dedicating this week to intense house-hunting. Pray that the right house would be clear.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Ma Imani has her second fundraising tari this weekend and then plans to travel to the big island on Monday (there is a visiting specialist coming to the big island for a couple weeks). From there she is preparing to travel abroad with her little one. Pray that she would have all she needs. Our youngest is sick, pray that he gets better quickly. This coming weekend is supposed to be a gathering of women (the beginning of a monthly practice), pray for Megan as she is supposed to be sharing and helping to lead the time. Pray for us as we get in touch with doctors about following up with Megan’s medical concerns— we were hoping to wait until January (when we could travel as a family), but we’re getting mixed messages about whether it can wait that long. Pray for clarity.


Our organization has changed the format for online giving. They now have a link dedicated to each worker. Here’s our link.

Water, Water, Water

We just got back from vacation.  This was not an extravagant vacation, although we did have to to take a plane ride to get there (we live on an island after all).  We didn’t leave Africa.  We didn’t go to a major tourist destination.  We wanted a place where we could rest, do some medical/dental check-ups, eat some fun food, and swim.  So we used AirBnB for the first time and found a place with a pool and just relaxed.

Swam in pool everyday

We live on an island.  We are surrounded by water, and yet the thing that made this vacation feel most like a vacation may have been, of all things, water.  It just felt like there was such an abundance of water.  Everyday we swam in a clear blue pool.  After each meal, dishes were easily washed and rinsed under hot running water.  Hot showers were part of our daily routine.  One day we even went to a water park, sliding down water slides and swimming in large clean pools.  Water—so abundant, whenever we wanted it, hot or cold.  Something many people take for granted.

Our colleague recently wrote a blog about the difference between sufficiency and abundance.  She talked primarily about electricity and we’re talking about water, but it is true about many things: There is a difference between having only what you need (sufficiency) and having more than you need (abundance).  We could talk about money, internet speeds, talents, foods, choices, friends, family, etc.  In all these things there is a meaningful difference between what is sufficient and what is abundant. On vacation we reveled in having abundant water.

It seemed a bit strange (after the fact) to realize how much we appreciated the water.  After all, we have enough water on the islands. It is sufficient. Our island home has indoor plumbing.  We know other people working in Africa who have to walk a mile to a river and carry water back to their houses on their heads.  So in some ways we have it easy and yet, we don’t have an abundance of water.  We do not have water whenever we want it.  No one around here does.  Water comes and goes.  In our current house water pressure is almost nonexistent.  Most of our water comes from large barrels that we fill during the few hours when the water is on.  So most of the time the water we need comes from a barrel, not from the tap.  Not a big deal, right?  But boy after months of bucket water, it is nice to turn on a faucet and see water gushing out!  To be able to wash a dish immediately or step under a powerful shower head.  Even something as simple as flushing toilets can seem like a luxury when you don’t have the chore of using a bucket of water to flush it manually.

When we have “just enough” we can go in two directions.  We can be thankful, remembering that we are close to not having enough.  “We at least have what we need.”  Or we can complain.  “Wouldn’t it be nice to have more?”  Obviously one attitude is preferable over the other.    Abundance is wonderful, but strangely enough it leads to complacency.  Abundance is a blessing we soon forget. When we have in abundance we can be wasteful and forget what it means to not have it.  We can soon take whatever it is for granted.  After a week into our vacation, I don’t think turning on a faucet brought the same joy it did the first day, we were already getting used to it.

On playground by waterpark

Now we’re back on the islands and the water situation is bad. We’ve been home since yesterday and water hasn’t come through our taps at all. People are saying that water hasn’t been good for the past week or more. We’ll have to be careful with our water use, but we’ll get by. It will be sufficient, but sufficient is a blessing we must choose to appreciate.  It is too easy to forget and complain.  Unfortunately the taste of abundance can make sufficiency harder to appreciate, so we will have to continue to seek to be content in all circumstances. .

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are back on Clove Island. We are very thankful that we were able to make a same-day connection rather than spending a night on the big island. Our son’s follow-up at the dentist went well, he was a trooper. Megan’s follow-up was a long day at the hospital but it did provide more clarity, in a few months she will need to follow-up again. It has been a blessing to have medical professionals among our friends and family who are willing to give us good advice and counsel (even from afar). Our teammate has made it safely to the States for a conference along with other island workers involved in language projects, while others of our colleagues are at a big multinational conference in Asia. Our kids had their first full-day of school today. It went well! We heard that one of our new teammates has gotten her financial clearance!!


PRAYERS REQUESTED
It turns out the brother was only briefly imprisoned over some family disagreement.  We don’t have clear details (and may never), so continue to pray for him and his relationships with his family. Pray for us as we look into the options for Megan’s medical follow-up — we’re hoping to find a good doctor in either Kenya or South Africa who is experienced in these things. In the meantime we pray that her symptoms and discomfort would be minimal. We also pray for healing! Keep praying for our kids at school—that the whole first week will be good and that they would settle into good habits, make some good friends, and understand French! This will be a busy month. We need to get everything ready for our new teammates coming next month— that means securing and furnishing a house to rent, arranging homestay and language helpers, planning a week of orientation and praying for their transition to life on the islands. Pray that all these preparations go smoothly and for our other new teammate waiting for full clearance to come. Ma Imani’s 18 month-old daughter may need an operation (which would require traveling to another country to get it— a difficult and expensive undertaking for an islander who only speaks the local language). Pray that Ma Imani could get good medical counsel and have peace about what to do for her daughter.

Field Trip

Airport on Clove Island

How many times have you been to the airport?  How many airports have you been to?  If you’re a frequent flyer like us, it’s probably more times and more places than you could count.  So we know the essential components of all airports.  They work about the same way—sure there may be a different variety of shops and some have buses or trains or people movers, but big or small, in the US or in Africa, the basis function and essential components stay pretty much the same.

In our English classes we teach about traveling. Islanders (who travel) often go to places where French isn’t used and where knowing English is very useful. So we teach the vocabulary that is useful to know in an airport and on an airplane. The problem is that many of our students have never, ever traveled, so the vocabulary remains rather abstract. They’ve learned the words “check-in counter” and “security” but it doesn’t really mean they know what those things are.  So we draw pictures, we act things out in our classrooms, but we still don’t know if all the students really get it. So we were excited when some of our local teachers used their connections to organize a field trip to the local airport.  Field trips are not something often done here, but we loved the idea ! Why not go see the local airport?

The airport is about ten minutes away by car, and is very “quaint”.  The parking lot (which is nearly always empty) could hold about twenty cars.  There is no overnight parking.  The main terminal consists of 3 small ticket counters, a waiting area of about 15 broken chairs and a single gate.  Security includes a cursory look through your bags and walking through a non-functioning medal detector (we have never seen it turned on).  Still, you’re not allowed to pass through with your bag.  The bag must go around.  Protocols, you know.

There is only one runway and it is short.  It is bound on one side by the ocean and on the other by a large hill, so the planes that can land there are small—most are 12 seat Cessnas or other small prop planes.  There are no evening flights.  The baggage claim is a small room.  There is no luggage conveyor.  Instead they push the luggage cart up next to a door that opens into the room where they lift the bags onto a low counter.  So it’s really small. It’s quaint.

Yet, as the first group of young people gathered around me for their 5 minute tour of the airport (it really didn’t take more than 5 minutes) I saw a sense of wonder and excitement on their faces.  On a whim I asked them,  “How many had ever been inside the airport?  How many had ever traveled by plane?” Only two in a group of twenty rose their hands.  The same percentage was true for most of the groups.

The place we're staying at has a pool!

It was rather enjoyable to stand by the counter and ask the group—“What is this?”  Puzzled, a brave soul answered, “A table?”  No…Then, I saw the light switch on in the face of one who blurted out, “The Check-In Counter!”  Yes!  And then smiles appeared on faces as they repeated to themselves “check-in counter.”  Suddenly that vocabulary word they had learned and vaguely understood took on a concrete, tangible meaning.  It’s a great moment to witness—seeing the abstract become real.

Sometimes as we describe our lives on the islands we feel like we are describing something abstract for which people back home don’t have a frame of reference. If they are well traveled or have lived abroad in a developing country, it is easier for our stories to find traction.  What is really best is when someone can come and visit. Visitors to the islands have told us, “Now I can really understand and imagine what you are talking about every week!” Being there makes things real, tangible, understandable.  So let us know when you want to come to the islands for your field trip! We promise to give you more than a 5 minute tour.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We made it safely to mainland Africa for our vacation/medical trip and have been enjoying the rental apartment we’re staying in and the amenities a larger city has to offer. We have had some time to relax but are also thankful that we’ve made progress on our dental and medical appointments. We believe that Ma Imani is back home with her daughter from the hospital (that in the works as we left the islands). The language project workshop on the big island went well.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Unfortunately we’ve had more medical/dental days than we were hoping. Our older son still has some follow-up needed at the dentist and Megan still has follow-up to do with a medical concern. Pray that both of these follow-up trips that things would go well and that we can continue to get rest and family time in the midst of them. One of our teammates is leaving the islands tomorrow for a full month of traveling (for both conference and to visit various relations)— pray for safety, health and good interactions for her. Our other teammate is visiting her previous hometown on the small island. Pray for good re-connections for her. We head back to the islands on Sunday. We are hoping to travel straight to Clove Island the same day (a connection that isn’t always easy to make as airlines change their schedule with almost no notice). Pray that we can make it all the way home that day. We heard that one of our brothers on Clove island was held briefly by the military police— we’re not sure the details but pray for him and his family.

Sing a New Song

Rainbow from our roof

It was hard to hear.  There were waves crashing rhythmically on the rocks. There was a breeze off the ocean. There was a mass of boys climbing on the huge rock behind us and jumping into the water with accompanying shouts. Finally there was a small group of women, huddled on a rocky shore, singing quietly.  But this song was a new song.

We had already gone in the water. A mother and teenage daughter had gone for a special dunk, acknowledging things left behind and new things beginning.  After, all of us played in the water a bit and then we got out, prayed and had some snacks. The mother shared a bit of her story.  Finally our island friend who was leading the time said she had a surprise for us.

She brought out a page with handwritten words covering both sides of the paper. She said the words had just come to her and stayed in her head. Then she heard a traditional tune and the words fit the tune. She saw it as a blessed gift for this very occasion.   A new song!  So the teenage girl took the lead singing part and two others joined on the communal refrain.

New entertainment for our kids-- 4 baby kittens outside!

It was hard to hear. I couldn’t make out many of the words, but I didn’t really need to hear. I could see the happy smiles of those singing and the light clapping set to mimic the drumming that would usually accompany the tune. I could see another island woman leaning in eagerly to hear the words and to sing along on the refrain. I could see the little baby gone quiet and staring at the singers entranced. Even without knowing all the words, I could see that it was a song from the heart, in the local language and local music style, and one that was instantly engaging for all the islanders present—a new song!

When the song ended, the boys were still jumping, the waves were still crashing and the wind still blowing but everyone was smiling now. The women passed around the words and talked about teaching it to others.  Sing a new song…

Last week, the same women met at our house. They brought the traditional drums and the words. We practiced the song several times and then went into the back room and recorded it. With a recording it would be easier to teach it to others and ensure that they didn’t forget it themselves.

In the States it’s easy to take for granted all the new songs.  We even get impatient—not that old chorus again!  But here, a new song is still precious—still something of a miracle, and it is treasured.  Sing a new song.

Our kids back to school

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful for this new song. Our kids had three partial days of school last week- meeting teachers and settling in. It went very well. Thanks for praying. Our youngest surprised us by being excited to go and our older son was less anxious than normal. Our teammate had a chance to share with a whole van-load of islanders yesterday! We pray that she will get opportunities to follow-up with some of them. We came to the big island early this morning! We look forward to connecting with some old friends here before traveling again tomorrow.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We travel tomorrow to mainland Africa— pray for safe and easy travels. We haven’t heard back from the clinics about our medical appointments— pray that getting check-ups wouldn’t be too much of a hassle. Pray for a restful vacation and good family time. There is a workshop on the big island this week for everyone working on the local language projects— consultants from abroad are here and workers from all islands are gathered. Pray for a good time of learning and encouragement for these workers and projects. One of our teammates is at this workshop and will go from there back home for a conference and some vacation. Pray for her— the next few weeks will be a bit crazy for her. Pray also for our remaining teammate who is alone on Clove Island for this week. Pray also as we continue our house-hunt for our new teammates who are coming November. We found one good options— pray we would have good discernment about whether we should take it or keep looking. Please pray for Ma Imani’s youngest (18 months). She has been in the hospital this past week with diarrhea and vomiting, which is complicated by recurring lung problems. Pray for healing and wisdom.