The Faces of Rain

For our kids- rain means porch slip n' slide

What do you think of when you think of rain? What image or feeling do you associate it with it? Is it refreshing or is it gloomy? Do you first think of light sprinklings of rain or of powerful downpours?  Are your first thoughts of rain of it bringing rejuvenation and new life or of it bringing dangerous destruction?

Rains mark the seasons here on the islands. The lack of rain is what distinguishes the cool, dry months of July and August. So when the rains finally come around September or October, you see the whole island transform. What was yellowing and dry suddenly bursts with green. The whole landscapes changes seemingly with just a single shower. It’s like the islands were just waiting, thirsty for that first drink.

Goats find a ledge to get out of the coming rain

Then comes the hot, wet months of November, December and January, where the humidity climbs and climbs and you long for a rain to come and break the heat, but when the rain does come in those months it is usually disappointing. They aren’t usually overly long rains and the relief they bring is temporary, sometimes only seeming to add to the moisture hanging in the humid air. Finally though, there are the rains that come around February— the true rainy season rains. These are downpours. These are crushing rains that are so loud that we have to yell to be heard over them. These are rains that can last entire days or weeks.

This year these heavy rains first came in January. The air cools and the wind whips in preparation for a downpour. There a sense of anticipation…rain is coming. We can hear the wall of rain hitting tin roofs far away, quickly getting closer and louder until the sky buckets over our heads are tipped and it pours.

Dirt and trash collect by road

That’s what I think of when I think of a rainy season rain. It is cool and cleansing! The air has a fresh quality that it doesn’t have at other times! I love it.

But despite rain’s refreshing nature, there is another side… It’s dirty and destructive.

The torrents turn streets and paths in rivers and streams and they carry downhill with them the trash and rocks and soil from further up. The drainage gutters (that when dug out are 2-3 feet deep) become completely filled until you can almost forget that there was supposed to be a ditch there in the first place. The dirt collects on lower roadways, turning paved streets into bumpy dirt roads.  Rocks run down along with the dirt which damages the pavement forming holes. The holes fill with swirling water and erosion happens fast turning a small pothole into a significant roadblock. Before rainy season is over, many roads will be completely ruined. 

The rush of dirty water also floods the pipes so the water from our taps turns cloudy and unappealing. Our water filters work overtime and we have to let the water in our buckets settle if we don’t want to bathe in a chocolate-colored solution at night. Plus, the sun doesn’t shine as much so there is more mold and mildew.

Then there is the damage to business and life. Islanders don’t go out in downpours. Heavy rain means canceled meetings, classes with few or no students, shipments delayed by weeks.

Weekend workers pile scraped dirt from road

So understandably, islanders have mixed feelings about the rain. Rain is life-giving and needed. It feeds their crops and fills their rivers, but it comes with a host of problems too.  It seems like lots of things are that way in this broken world of ours.  But we hold onto the hope that the blessings will outweigh the hardship.

PRAYERS ANSWERED

Megan’s online course finished up last week with good connectivity and good content.  We hope she will be able to put the practical tools of coaching to good use.  Our island friends on the Big island who have been struggling with some serious demonic problems have seen significant healing.  We praise God for freedom and new life in the Spirit.  We pray that the evil spirit that was living in the house has also been banished and we thank God for all the people that united together to pray for the situation.  Tom brought a bridge person along to his men’s group last week.  It went pretty well.  We hope he will return again this week.  We are thankful that our computer screen continues to work and we have some alternatives in case it should break completely.  Everyone is doing well health wise this week.  Finally, we are ecstatic that the calendars are finally finished and look great.  It took 2 months!  But we are happy to have them and share them with others.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Tom will travel to Kenya at the end of this week for a conference, leaving Megan and the kids behind.  Pray that the conference will go well and that Megan and the kids will have a good week.  Our newest teammate arrives on Wednesday.  Pray for her transition to Clove Island and to this new team (she had previously lived and served on the little island).  We are hoping to renew our service visas this week.  Everything appears to be going smoothly.  Pray that the process would go easily.  We have a visitor from the States with us this week.  Pray that her visit would go very well and that she would be blessed by her time here.  Pray for her and Tom’s travels at the end of the week. Our good friend “Ma Nadjma” got married in a “secret” wedding this weekend. She let us know if was coming the day before (though we couldn’t attend). Pray that she and her new husband would develop good habits of communication as they start their life together and for the complicated extended family circumstances that led to the secret-nature of their wedding.