Unshoppable

Boys shopping trip

As our time in America draws to a close and we start gearing up to return to our life on Clove Island, we often find ourselves shopping.  Neither of us likes shopping, but sometimes it can’t be avoided. 

We’ve lived on the islands long enough that we’ve built up a store of the basics.  So our packing is more finessed these days.  We have a pretty good idea of what’s available there, and so we bring back those things which aren’t.  You might be surprised to learn that one of the things we bring back is clothes (especially for the kids).  And this has nothing to do with fashion!  It has to do with quality.  If there is one thing that is not available to us on the islands it is high quality manufactured products.  This is true of everything from clothes to toys to computers.  Yes, you can find clothes, toys and computers on the islands, but you can’t find anything of quality.  Island products (often imported from China) have an extremely short life span.  Sadly enough, the cheap quality of products probably costs islanders more money in the long run even if they pay less upfront.  All islanders know that if you want something that will last  you have to buy it off island. Then there are the few things that you can’t find on the islands at all even low-quality versions— like certain medicines, toiletries, spices, food treats.

Now our shopping is a bit peculiar because often we are buying things now which we hope to be using for the next 1 or two years.  The result is, we are sometimes find ourselves buying in bulk.  And that’s how we find ourselves at stores like Costco, BJ’s, etc.  We appreciate the sizes, prices and quality of products we can get from these types of stores.  But at the same time, it’s a bit odd, as the very concept of a store of this magnitude is almost unfathomable for many islanders.  The biggest shops on Clove Island are no larger than the average US convenience store (about 2500ft2, most are even smaller).   Yet, many of the U.S. bulk stores can take up 150,000ft2.  That would be like the entire deep water port of Clove Island (where all manufactured goods enter the island)  opening for business.  They simply have no categories to put these stores in.

Of course, it’s not just the bulk stores.  Hardwares stores, Car dealerships, restaurants, malls, movie theaters, even gas stations all tend to be on a scale that simply boggles the imagination for islanders and yet, we go about our American life thinking nearly nothing of it.

Reading in CA

If anything this kind of shopping is becoming obsolete for Americans. Why go all the way to a store when you can just shop from home? Online shopping and home delivery would be nearly miraculous to a place like the islands.  Have you ever thought about how incredible it is, that with a few clicks of a button you can actually find, buy and have delivered virtually anything you can think of?  On the islands people don’t even have credit cards! There are only a couple places on the islands where you can even use one. Not to mention the fact that you’d never trust something of value to the postal service and something like DHL is so expensive, it would be unthinkable.

No, on the islands, shopping still means going to the little hole-in-the-wall store right down the road, often greeting the people that work there by name, seeing what limited supply of products they have, getting just what you need for that day and walking home. And you know what, in some ways we’re looking forward to getting back to that.  

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Megan’s grandfather is back home and doing better. Megan’s mom will travel to the midwest this coming week to be with them. We made it safely back to the east coast! It was a long day but all the travels went smoothly. Some extended family was up for the weekend to celebrate the baby shower for Tom’s sister (she’s due in March). It was great to celebrate this new life together with all of them.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We don’t like the shopping and logistics of getting ready to return to the islands. Pray that we would be diligent and organized in chipping away at the things we need to do so that we still have time to sleep in the final couple days. Megan has jury duty on Wednesday— it doesn’t come at a great time for us. It is possible that they’ll contact her on Tuesday evening and that she won’t have to go, or she could be stuck there for multiple days— pray that she is excused from going at all or that at most it is just a single day commitment. We’re getting excited about returning to the islands and reuniting with our colleagues and island friends. Please start praying now for our transition back and for all our dear friends that they would be walking in truth and light.