The Bonbons

 Today we want to do something a little different on our blog.  We want to highlight a couple from our home fellowship who have loved and mentored us for many years.  We first met the "Bonbons"—Mary and Dan (not their real names) when we were newlyweds.  Mary was one of the first people we met when we were looking around for a place to attend on Sundays.  I think she hooked us when, upon returning the next week, she remembered us.  Mary’s excellent memory for people and backgrounds is something that has always impressed us and has long been a blessing to our home fellowship.

"Mary Bonbon" with our youngest

Within a handful of weeks of arriving, we ended up in a small group with the Bonbons.  The small group was for people interested in studying about the good news crossing cultures.  It was an unlikely, but great little small group.  Most of the group were decades younger than the Bonbons, people without kids and still figuring out where God was leading us.  Still the Bonbons, empty-nesters nearing retirement, walked with us.They would regularly come to our little apartment to meet, sharing their wisdom, but also happy to listen to our thoughts and engage in our enthusiasm.  You see the Bonbons have a heart for the nations—a fire that burns for places yet reached.  And it is a fire that they have encouraged many, many others to catch.

When we joined up with our organization, it was Mary and Dan whom we asked to help prepare us.  For several months, they were our mentors as we read books together, discussed and prayed about the days ahead when we would go to Africa.  When we first left for Chad, they were there sending us with their prayers and blessings.  Since that time, any time we have come back, they were there to support us, always available to talk, ask thoughtful questions, and debrief with us.  

I think it was on our return from our first term that we began to realize that we were not the only ones who benefited from the love and care of the Bonbons, but nearly all the world partners of our fellowship were encouraged by them and shown hospitality.  Many, many partners were blessed to stay at the "Bonbon Bungalow"—a small apartment attached to their house where people could have their own place, but also be blessed by frequent meals and fellowship with them.  Our oldest daughter practiced walking her first steps in the Bonbon Bungalow.

Enjoying their sweet hospitality when back in the States

Through the years, the Bonbons, have continued to love and connect and pray with us and so many world partners, responding to our updates and faithfully sending updates of their family and of the fellowship there. But now they are going on travels of their own.  At the end of this year they will be moving to a retirement community down in Pennsylvania.  

Our home fellowship will mourn their loss.  We will mourn it too.  It’s hard to think of our home fellowship in the same way, without the Bonbons around.  We hope that if we ever found ourselves in the States long-term, we could take up the Bonbons’ mantle wherever we were—having an eye for who is new, who needs a friend and connection, being willing to open our home and lives and invite people in, and with that same passion and fire to get people thinking of those who have never heard the good news.. They may seem like small things, but they make a huge difference, and if no one is doing them, then the whole group suffers.  So we hope that others will be inspired by the Bonbons’ sweet example to be the welcoming face to newcomers, as well as connectors to those afar.

Our daughter at "Bonbon Bungalow"

Our loss is going to be someone else’s gain.  The Bonbons may be moving, but we know they are taking that same heart to where they are going. God is simply sending them to a new place to serve him and bring that same fire for growth, maturity, and hope for the far-flung places of the world to the new place they will live.  

Mary and Dan, you’re off to a new adventure—a new field for sowing and reaping.  May the Lord bless you both.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful that it seems like there were fewer deaths on the near by island hit by the cyclone than some of the previous dire estimates. We are thankful that some of our friends there have had great opportunities to share truth and hope to that hurting population. We are also thankful that slowly relief has been coming, along with some restored water and electricity (though many are still without). We had several opportunities to celebrate this past week— with island brothers and sisters, our colleagues and with islanders. Island brothers and sisters also had a celebration of their own. It has been fun to sing the 4 holiday songs that are now in the local language. What joyous news: Unto us a child is born!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Continue to pray for the nearby island that was devastated by the cyclone. It will take years for them to recover. In the short-term, pray that people can get the food, water and shelter they need, as well as deal with the trauma of the experience. Pray also that this desperate situation would not further devolve into violence and crime. Some expats are evacuating, but some of our friends are staying, pray that they would be encouraged and have a good holiday with their kids this week despite the circumstances. Pray for us to find the right balance of celebrating with our kids and also sharing time with islanders. Pray for Ma Imani as she travels with her daughter to seek medical care for both of them. The islands are also ramping up for parliament elections in January— the campaigning season has begun. Pray for good leadership, good governance, and for fair elections.

Neighboring Disaster

 Every year we get word of cyclones. They don’t usually come right over us. They usually are just in the general area. Almost always they end up giving us a day or two of some heavier rain and wind. Sometimes we haven’t paid attention to the weather reports and only learn after the fact that a spat of bad weather was actually from a cyclone.

The rain coming down on Clove Island

This time was a bit different. As I said, usually the paths of cyclones don’t come directly at us. And usually if they get close, they have weakened significantly before they get here. This time, we had neither reassurance.

So a few days ahead of time, we knew a cyclone was coming, but our island is small and minor changes in the cyclone’s path can make a big difference. So we started praying for it to weaken and the path to change.

Our guest waits for a break

Our friends on a neighboring island in our region (also potentially in the storm’s path) reached out to us with concern. Their island was preparing for the storm and had closed schools a day ahead of time so everyone could get ready.  That didn’t happen here. Most Clove Islanders were pretty nonchalant about it. Over the years they have heard rumors of enough cyclones without it amounting to much, that they won’t seem to realize that this could be bad. On the morning of the cyclone, we had someone show up at our house in the morning to visit us like it was a normal slightly-rainy day. We thought we might have him with us for the duration of the storm, but he ended up getting on his way to family before the winds started picking up.  

Ultimately, the cyclone did weaken some and it didn’t hit Clove Island directly. We spent the day inside and we had some intense winds and rain. But from around Clove Island we have only heard stories of minor flooding, some downed trees, and some tin sheets that weren’t properly secured flying off of some roofs.

The neighbor island was not as fortunate. They were hit directly by the cyclone. They spend the storm in their homes or in shelters, watching the extreme winds tear apart houses and lift off roofs. In a handful of hours, thousands of homes were destroyed. Those that were most vulnerable are the hardest hit— the poor, the people without legal papers, the ones living in shacks and shanty-towns.  Clove Island has had life go back to normal, but our neighbor island is a disaster zone.

Earlier in the week, blue skies

It could have been here, if the path of the storm had been different.  We are thankful, but it is a bittersweet thankfulness when we hear the stories of our neighbors. Life there will not recover for a long time. God have mercy.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful that Clove Island was spared from the worst of the cyclone. We are also thankful to have had some contact with our friends on the neighbor island— and know that they are safe.  Our friends’ baby was born safely at 34 weeks and in good health.  Mom is recovering well too.  Muki and Mtsa continue to come and Mtsa continues to show signs of genuine heart change.  We are still really enjoying our kids being home—we just finished reading The Lord of the Rings together!  There has been no more trouble (at the moment) for our sister on the small island.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for the neighboring island.  News from the neighboring island is still coming in and the extent of devastation only seems to be growing.  Many have lost loved ones.  Many are injured.  A great many have lost their homes completely.  Moreover, no one knows what the coming days may hold.  Will the government and aid groups be able to help?  Will there be lawlessness?  Riots?  Disease?  All seem like possibilities, but we are praying for peace and cooperation from all parties.  This week we will have some holiday parties for both brothers and sisters, and our English students.  May it be an opportunity to shine brightly and give people hope. 

Better Separate?

The Clove Island capital area spans several villages— to get to any of these villages it is the same taxi fare of less than a dollar per person. We’ve never owned a car on the island, partially because the taxi system is easy to use and relatively inexpensive. But while several villages feel close to us, because we are in the center of the circle, it doesn’t mean individual villages are close to each other.

Tom at a ceremony for a small English program

When we think about our island brothers and sisters in the capital area, the biggest two concentrations are in a town to the east of the capital and in a town west of the capital. For almost two years, these individuals have been committed to being together every Sunday. But it has started getting difficult. For us, we can get to either of them with the same low taxi fare, although sometimes taxis refuse to pick you up when you tell them where you’re going because they are on the outer edges of that fare. So we may have to wait, but inevitably, a taxi will come willing to take us to our destination.  But our brothers and sisters end up having to catch two taxis (and pay two fares)—one to the capital and then another to the neighboring town. This might not seem like such a big deal, but times have been hard on island families and the extra expense adds up (especially with those with kids having to pay per person). Also there is the time involved— taxis are notoriously hard to find on Sunday afternoons and that is when they are usually heading home after meeting together. The hardship of the travel has been draining on the group, with each not excited when the gathering is in the opposite location. This has prompted them to wrestle with the idea of separating and being two smaller groups each Sunday in their two towns.

Small program, but they like big gatherings!

There was an African brother on the islands who once shared with us his vision of what could happen on the islands— a big building, with a band, good music and a huge congregation meeting every Sunday. As he described it, it sounded a lot like what you see in his home country, where big gatherings are seen as a good thing. Islanders like big gatherings too. The more the merrier!

There is no saying that such big gatherings won’t someday be a reality on the islands, but it seems unlikely in the near future. So our vision has always been about lots of small groups of islanders meeting in their own villages, most likely in people’s homes, hopefully in every village and impacting their communities. So for us, this splitting of the group seems like it could be a good thing— encouraging people to be more focused in their own towns and making it easier for people to come faithfully each week. But it comes with trepidation, are they big enough to keep going if they separate?  Will each location still have the critical mass to make their meetings feel alive and vibrant? Will they lose their sense of community by separating?

As a family, we prefer being together than separated

That’s where prayer comes in. Praying that they know when and how to meet as a big group and when to separate and that in either case their community would thrive and grow. Because ultimately, whether the groups are big or small, the hope is that there would be a true sense of community, of caring for one another and encouraging each other in prayer, study, and growing in the truth. May we all have such communities!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful that our pregnant colleague is getting quality care in mainland Africa— they found that she had malaria, dengue and a bacterial infection all at the same time. She will most likely still give birth early, but thankfully she is now in a place that can care for both her and the baby whenever that happens.  We had a good first week with all our kids at home with some good family time. Mtsa has told Tom that he has accepted the good news and repented of his old ways. We rejoice in this decision. Please pray that it would be proven genuine by a changed life and continuing desire to learn and grow.

PRAYRS REQUESTED
Different health concerns have been depleting the numbers at gatherings. Pray for healing for all of those suffering and for wisdom for those traveling for treatment. Pray that gatherings would continue to happen and for a clear way forward for the groups in 2025. Our island sister on the small island has had a new threat from a religious teacher from a different village— pray for peace and protection for her and her children and for a change of heart in this man. We have some ideas for celebrating the holidays, pray for us as we talk and invite people to celebrate with us. It is really hot and humid. Pray for stamina and energy during the hot season.

Thoughts on Thankfulness

 Thanksgiving week!  A time to give thanks.  It is wonderful to get together with family and friends and stop for a moment and give thanks for the many things God has done for us.  We wanted to share just a few lessons we have been learning about thankfulness.

Thankful to have our kids back on the island

The first thoughts come from little children.  During the orientation of the new team members, we spent part of our time (when we weren’t leading sessions) watching little kids—babies and toddlers.  It brought us back to when our kids were that age.  We remember encouraging our kids to pray by just asking them to say what they were thankful for…Our 4-year old would begin, “Thank you God, for mommy and daddy, and my toys.”  But then, having run out of ideas started looking around the room.  “Thank you God for the couch and the windows.  Thank you for the floors and the ceiling…” and on and on they would go.  And really it’s not wrong to be thankful for such things, but it shows perhaps a simplicity and thoughtlessness.   But how often are our prayers much the same.  We don’t know what to be thankful for because we haven’t given it much thought. When called on to give thanks, I often find myself searching around through the things “right in front of me” for which I could be thankful.  

Thankful for homeschool science experiments!

The place we were staying for the orientation had a large room where the children would run around and play.  In the middle of the room was a square pillar with decorative corners sticking out just at a toddler’s head height—perfectly positioned for an injury.  One night the kids were spinning around and around until they were dizzy and stumbling off or falling to the ground with lots of giggles.  One of them nearly collided with one of the corners of that pillar.  When we saw that almost happen, one of the adults simply went and stood by the pillar, putting their body between its pointy corners and the children.  The kids went on spinning and laughing, oblivious to the simple act that was protecting them from a very nasty bump on the head.  And we wondered how often God might do this very thing for us, without us ever knowing.  The car we never saw speed by, the uneven steps that could have resulted in a bad fall, the words misspoken that might have ruined a relationship, the email never sent that could have caused problems at work.  The list goes on and on.  How many times does God do things to help and protect us that we never even realize?  How can we even be thankful for those things we don’t see.  And yet, we should be.

The other thought about thanksgiving concerns suffering.  This one is tough, because when it is happening to us, we tend not to be very thankful.  No, we struggle to be thankful for our own sufferings.  But we are beginning to see that, at least after the fact, there has usually been something to be thankful for in the struggle.  We can look back and see how adversity was teaching us humility, or patience, or dependence.  We see that we are stronger because of what we’ve gone through and can give thanks.  

Thankful for decorating for Christmas

Last week, one of our island sisters was in court for her refusal to be quiet.  We did not know what would happen.  Her two nights in detention could have become 6 months.  We didn’t know.  But even in the midst of this suffering there was much to be thankful for.  Her spirit did not waver.  She was not afraid.  And she had numerous opportunities to share the hope that she has, even in prison.  So even as we prayed for in the midst of these struggles—we could be thankful!

It’s not always the case.  Sometimes things still happen which we don’t understand.  We fail to see any good that has come of it.  What do we do then?  And that’s our final thought on thanksgiving.  That even in the things we don’t understand at all, there is something that God will use, because at the end of all things, He can be trusted and He is good.  When we don’t feel thankful.  When we don’t understand.  We will hold onto that one thing.  He is good.  He is good.  Thank God that He is good.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are very thankful for God’s provision in getting our kids home— for them finishing their terms at school well and for the people that helped them through their connections. We are so thankful that our island sister on the small island had so many opportunities to share her hope and joy during her court ordeal and ultimately, we are thankful that she was not given a prison sentence, but was released with a fine to pay and told not to share publicly for 6 months.  We are thankful for the island brothers and sisters who came around to encourage her and pray for her. We are thankful that everything came together for our colleagues on the big island to get to mainland Africa in an emergency medical evacuation. We are thankful that we got to celebrate Thanksgiving with the medical team and all our kids.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for our colleagues (a family living on the big island). They were evacuated to mainland Africa, after the wife contracted malaria while 7 months pregnant, causing her to go into premature labor. They were not given a good prognosis if they stayed on the islands, now we pray for her full recovery and for a healthy delivery. Pray for our time with all our kids home.  Pray that we could have good times as a family and also some one-on-one time to hear our kids hearts and walk alongside them. Pray for several island sisters who are suffering from different health concerns that will require special care off-island. Pray for healing! Pray for wisdom of the best way to celebrate Christmas this year for us personally, but also for the island brothers and sisters.

Long Haul

 It feels like we are in a time of innovation on the islands.  We know of several new ideas floating around among our friends and colleagues on the islands— new business ideas, new ideas for reaching out, and new projects for engagement.   We are hearing about new people from new places (and certainly with new ideas) expressing interest in coming to the islands.  We are writing requests for new workers who might be interested in branching into new areas, helping us to grow, change and innovate. It’s exciting to think of all that might happen in the coming years if these things come together!

A big tree on small island-- it started as a seed

But what do we say to the prospective workers? to those who are eager and want to jump right in and see things happen?  We want new workers who have a vision for the future. We’d love to see new projects and ventures.  But we also know that new things on the islands take time.  

We were excited to be a part of the orientation of five new workers this past week.  These men and women are excited and eager.  They have new ideas and will push our teams into new areas of work and connection.  But they are also eager to listen and learn from the veteran workers leading sessions for their orientation.  As orientation went on, we noticed a theme emerging.  It was not planned.  It just seemed to happen.  Whether it was a session about language learning, team building or simply a veteran member given a devotion about their story, their struggles, their triumphs, the theme returned again and again.

Sometimes things take a really long time.
You need to have a long-haul mentality.
Don’t get discouraged. Don’t give up. Pray a lot!
It’s more of a marathon than a sprint.
Progress might be slow but keep it up.

These were the sentiments we heard shared again and again with the new team of workers.  Whether it was language learning, relationships, or starting a business, new workers need to know that it could take time. They need a long haul mentality. They may need to come to the islands and just learn the ropes and make connections for a couple years. They may need to first work in an area that isn’t where their passion or excitement lies.  They will need to be patient and humble. They will need to pray a lot and be sure this is the direction God wants them to go in.

Current best boat option

As an example of this, take our friends’ boat project.  He’s been hoping to provide safe and reliable travel between the small island and the other two islands—it has been an idea for a long time. It has been an active plan for years. The timeline has gotten delayed and plans have had to be completely scrapped and restarted several times. Sometimes the delays have been because of the government, sometimes banks, sometimes business partners, sometimes pandemics and global economics. There is a still a plan, but when will it become a reality? It’s still hard to say. These friends have been on the islands for many years, they know the culture and understand a lot of the bureaucracy. They have connections that have helped streamline things and still it has been a long and painfully slow process, and we are still waiting to see it successfully started.  It could be easy to give up hope.  But we encourage our friend and encourage our new people to hold onto hope. There is the chance for them to start something new.  Don’t get discouraged, don’t give up. Let’s pray! Even marathons have a finish line!

At one point doing the orientation, a worker who has been on the small island for over 24 years, shared about some of the things she had felt God leading her to when she was much younger, only to have her life and work go in a different direction for many years. It might have seemed to many as if those prayers had been unanswered—like the door had closed.   She thought the same at times, but was encouraged to persevere.  Now she could tell these new people, her prayers had become a reality, some 20 years after the initial prompting.  That’s endurance.  And as she let us know with a broad smile on her face, they were answers worth waiting for.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The new workers on the small island had a week staying with local families and it went well and they are all happily settled into their own homes now. Our sister on the small island was under threat of having her house torn down and being completely excluded from her village community, but on the appointed day, no one showed up and the next day a group that included some of the main instigators came to invite her involvement in a community project! This was a huge and encouraging answer to prayer for her and all of us who were praying for her. We have some visitors passing through the islands and we are thankful that they made it safely to our island (including a much nicer boat trip from the small island than we had). It has been encouraging to interact with them.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for the new team as they settle into their first week of living in their new neighborhoods and starting what will become their normal weekly schedule of language learning, relationship building and team life. Pray that they would develop good and healthy habit and routines. The drama for our sister on the small island continues. Just today, she was called in by the military police on charges that she posted a video talking about what she believes on the internet. She will be held in custody overnight and there will be a hearing tomorrow morning. Pray for her kids and her to not fear but to stay strong and encouraged. Our older kids are going into finals week and then have to pack up and clean their dorm rooms before traveling to the islands Friday night into Saturday. Pray for their travel and energy/stress levels—we look forward to celebrating Thanksgiving with them on Sunday. May we be thankful and rejoice in all the blessing of this past year!

There's got to be a Better Way

 I looked around the boat.  Everyone was soaked to the bone—including the boat driver.  Everyone looked miserable.  Then I looked outside the boat.  It was a beautiful day.  The ocean was wavy, but not overly so.  A steady but gentle wind was blowing (blowing a continual spray into the boat—soaking us), but I imagine it would have been perfect for sailing.  The island looked beautiful, green and lush.  I thought about how I’d been out on boats in weather like this and called it vacation.  How could it be such a beautiful day for boating and yet such a miserable experience for us?  I sat in the boat, cramped, wet, dreary and downcast thinking: “There’s got to be a better way.”

Waiting for our boat back home to Clove

And we know there is.  We have a friend, an ex-pat, working hard to start a boat business that would transport people from island to island in a reliable, safer, more comfortable manner.  He’s convinced that if such a service were offered, islanders would flock to it and we’re convinced of it too.  We're sure there are plenty of people who would be eager to travel in this way, even if it meant paying a little more for a seat.  Such services exist in lots of other countries. Why not here?

But that’s the part that gets to us.  Why not here?  Islanders have tried but different boat ventures but they can’t seem to make them last.  Why not? Surely, we weren’t the only people in the boat thinking, “There’s got to be a better way!”???

The boats loading up on the small island

C.S. Lewis once said, “We are half-hearted creatures…like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Perhaps we’re taking Lewis out of context, but what is striking to us is not how easily people are pleased, but how easily they are appeased—how much misery they are willing to accept.  If the boat gets us from point A to point B, no matter how awful the journey, we take it.

Where does such a mind set come from?  Years and years of dysfunctional government and systems?  Yes.  A fatalistic worldview supported by religion?  Yes.  A life that is generally full of suffering, difficulty and discomfort that makes islanders numb to such things?  Yes.  Poverty that makes them feel powerless? Yes. Spiritual blindness?  Yes.  Hearts lacking hope?  Yes.  A deadness inside, that discourages the idea of the possibility of change? Yes.    There’s got to be a better way!  Yes.

Back on Clove, very wet

So we sat in the boat, miserable, wet, cold, uncomfortable.  The Lord’s beautiful creation was all around us, a beautiful day full of hope and promise, but we could not see it.  We couldn’t even open our eyes because of the spray.  Most of us were cowered with our eyes shut.

What a picture of the world we live in.  What an illustration of island life.  There’s got to be a better way!  There is a better way.  But will they ever see it?  We sat in the boat, with the Lord’s beautiful creation all around us.  One day they will see it.  One day they will rise above the spray and have hope and joy.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our time leading the orientation for the new team on the small island went well. We are excited for this team. They were welcomed to their village and are now staying with local families for the week!  We made it safely back to Clove Island (though very wet). It was a day later than planned because of canceled boats on Sunday, but our colleague allowed us to stay at her house for the unexpected extra night. Ma Imani said her leg pain has been less this past week.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for the team on the small island— pray for their transition to the heat, for their week staying with local families, for their local language learning and for their acceptance into their new communities. It is an intense first few weeks, so pray that they stay healthy and can sleep/rest well. Pray for our island sister from the small island, who after her court victory, is facing a new obstacle with the village elders. They say that they plan on confronting her this coming Friday and if they don’t like her answers to their questions that they will tear down her house. They have also said no one is allowed to visit her and she isn’t allowed to visit with anyone in the village. Pray for this sister to continue to stand strong. She believes something big will happen on Friday, pray for light to shine in the darkness, for protection for her and her kids and for fear to not take root in her heart. Our older kids have just two weeks left in this school term— pray for stress-free days with a good balance of rest as they finish normal classes and term projects this week.

Kids Learning Language

Our kids were babies when they came to the islands, and the assumption was that they would just learn the local language from growing up here. The idea was that they wouldn’t even have to be formally taught, they would just absorb it. But after watching our family and other families on the islands, we realize that it doesn’t usually work like that.

As little ones, it’s true that our kids learned to respond to the basic commands and greetings that they were bombarded with by local adults. But then, like all island kids, they started local preschool at the age of 3, and at school it was French only, no local language. So throughout elementary school, while we may have wanted our kids’ local language to grow, it didn’t seem fair to push it when going to school in French was challenging and we were needing to help them understand French grammar and vocabulary for their school assignments.

Practicing local language while playing cards

We have good friends whose children are growing up learning 4 languages at once and it is wonderful to see them in action.  The parents seamlessly and almost unconsciously weave different languages into their conversations with their children.  They mix prayers and songs in different languages into their daily life.  The children do not resist this or point out to their parents that they are speaking a different language.  Their parents don’t scold when the children respond in a different language, but the ambiance of language learning seems to naturally permeate all their interactions.  It requires an intense intentionality that to be honest wasn’t even on our radar when our kids were little. We were even advised back in French language school to make sure to speak English at home with our kids, but now we question that advice and wonder if we could have created a more multilingual home and realize that we could have helped our kids more in those early years.

Not that our kids haven’t learned at all. By the time our oldest’s French was good, she wanted to know the local language more and understood a lot, though she usually had to respond in French (which with an educated islander will quickly just move the whole conversation into French).She joined our team day language times and put some of the grammar and vocabulary she needed to understand and speak more. Our older son followed a similar path of becoming interested in the local language once his French was solid.

Our youngest is a different person. He had hearing loss as a young child (which was corrected), so we think he got used to lots of incomprehensible sounds going on around him. So he was content to just let it go on around him without him understanding.  It meant French at school was harder and maybe gave him the idea that he isn’t good at language (a lie that often gets in the way of language learning). He has finished local elementary school now and only doing homeschool, so doesn’t have that stress of having to function in French everyday. So we have started doing local language as part of home school.

Waiting to take boat to small island

We pray that our kids would enjoy the local language, that a natural curiosity would grow and they’d want to know and understand. For our son, we are trying to nurture that curiosity. We focus on vocabulary that interests him (animals, sports, playing). We turn the lessons into games and role plays where he can repeat a few phrases and be silly or argumentative in the local language. We focus on the situations that he encounters a lot, and we do language study in small doses in hopes that his aversion to language learning and fatigue from learning French don’t erect walls that will make it harder the next time.

Language learning is often a slow and long journey, but as we shared in a blog a couple weeks ago, there is an island proverb “slowly, slowly isn’t a handicap.” For our family, language learning has been a long, slow journey, but we remind ourselves that going slowly doesn’t mean we aren’t getting anywhere.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The women’s gathering went well, though we were missing a few people. We started a study of Ruth that was well received. We made it safely to the small island, after traveling by boat. There were several delays, but the ocean was calm, for which we are thankful. The new team has arrived safely with all their bags and are now on the small island and we have finished their first day of orientation! Our teammate’s first week working in the hospital went well.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for us as we lead this orientation for the rest of this week, as well as helping with childcare.  Pray for the stamina of the new workers as they adjust to the heat, new language and lots of meetings (with three of them just coming from 3 weeks of the larger organization’s orientation). May we have wisdom as to how to use the time well, when to speed up, when to slow down, and when to stop. Pray for the little kids on this new team as they grow up surrounded by several languages. Pray for our return travel back to Clove next weekend. Pray for our son to love the local language! Pray for Ma Imani who has had knee/leg problems for several months and is looking into traveling for medical treatment- pray for healing and that the logistics of being away from her kids and getting the care she needs would come together soon.

Surprise! I've Left

 Hi, I hope you are doing well. I would like to tell you that I’m on [the French island].
I plan to live [here].

Back in June we wrote a blog about traveling called,  If You're Going to Travel...  It was mostly about the culture of preparing for traveling—whom you tell, when you tell, why you don’t tell, etc.
This blog is more about the other side of that situation.  This is about not hearing about people’s travel plans, but rather finding out about it after the fact.

Tom encouraging English teachers/students on Clove

Every year it happens.  Students we’ve come to know and love go off to study abroad.  We are happy for them.  We hope the best for them.  But we’re hardly ever told until after the fact.  Sometimes they tell us themselves, like the message above.  Sometimes—mostly, we find out through a friend.  “Did you know so and so is in Morocco?”  “You didn’t hear?  So and so went to Senegal.”  In those cases, we wish the best for them.  It would have been nice to say goodbye, but they are young and off to study abroad.

The message from above was a bit different.  It was from our good friend, Tumayin.  He’s already done his studies and has been teaching English for some time.  He’s someone we’ve worked with for many years. It seemed to us like he had a pretty good life here.  He was busy, making a little bit of money, doing fulfilling and honorable work.  But then he sent us this message this past week.  And just like that he’s gone, another islander illegally immigrating to the French island, and we may not see him again for many years.  It’s a strange feeling.

Papaya carving!

Moreover, Tumayin did not leave to study abroad, but ostensibly to “find a better life.” To find a better paying job, or a better citizenship, or a chance at those things.  It is not certain that he will find them.  His years ahead may be full of hardship because without legal papers to be on the French Island, he will have to hide from authorities and find work under the table.  He will probably have to live in cramped quarters and get by with less.  All the while, he will try to secure his papers that would allow him to stay and move about freely, and maybe even one day travel to Europe and find work there.

I don’t know all the pressures that may be on Tumayin’s life.  Perhaps he has family that pressured him to go.  Perhaps he has more obligations than I am aware of.  But I wouldn’t be surprised if it was simply the temptation of a better life that led him to his decision.  Illegal immigration is a complicated topic and a hot one.  People have strong feelings about it.  But it’s different when you know someone.  I don’t agree with Tumayin’s decision, but I can understand it.  He’s a smart guy with a bright future.  He just couldn’t envision that future happening here on the islands.  Like so many, he’s probably convinced these islands are hopeless—that there is no future for a bright young man here.  

We wish we could have convinced him otherwise.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Tom had two good visits to villages where English programs are just getting going. We will have the women’s gathering this week and plan to study Ruth for the next few monthly meetings (one of the local sisters went to a conference focused on how the story of Ruth can be used to challenge and encourage). Our kids at boarding school seem less stressed. We were able to be vaccinated against cholera (no cases on our island, but a few on the big island so they were offering free vaccination!). We were able to secure boat tickets for the small island, after weeks of trying to figure out if we could fly there. It is nice to have tickets since we travel at the end of this week. It continues to be encouraging to see Mtsa’s growing eagerness to study and learn.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for Tumayin that he would look for hope for his future in eternal things. Pray for interisland travel. There are currently two airlines running, but their planes keep having problems and making travel between islands difficult. Pray that the new team coming to the small island would be able to arrive safely and get to the small island as planned. Pray for us and others who will be boating from Clove Island to the small island to help with the orientation for this team. Pray for smooth seas. May we all arrive safely without difficulties! Pray for the boat project’s needed loan to get approved so that they could start providing reliable transportation. Pray that the women’s gathering would be an encouragement to all and that everyone would be healthy enough to attend (there have been various health problems lately). One island sister just moved to Clove from the small island and wants help to learn English. Pray that we could help her and also encourage her walk. There was a police raid on a Sunday gathering of expat Africans this weekend on the big island. Afterwards the government issued a statement condemning the raid and stating that it violated people’s rights and freedoms. Pray for that gathering that they might be encouraged and that this government statement might be a real indication of increasing freedom.

Wedding Attendance is Still Important

 Over our ten years on the islands, we’ve been to a lot of weddings. More than we can remember. Unlike weddings in the US, you don’t have to know someone well to go to their wedding and you don’t have to receive an individual invitation. News of weddings are spread throughout neighborhoods with everyone who can attending. Foreigners are considered desirable wedding guests, so we are often pointedly invited.

Early weddings- Tom with groom in 2013

When we first came to the islands, we made a point of accepting lots of wedding invitations. They were interesting as we got to know and learn about island culture. It was a chance to strengthen new relationships, so we went to weddings in different contact’s families. But as we’ve stayed longer, we get so many invitations that during the high wedding seasons, we could run ourselves ragged going to all the weddings we hear about. So we’ve became more selective. With our trip to the States this past summer and my back surgery the summer before,  we missed the high wedding seasons two years in a row. We missed a lot of weddings, but I noted that we were so well known in our community that it didn’t seem to hurt relationships— people knew our reasons.

Part of me started to wonder if we could actually cut back on weddings even more—wait for weddings where we really knew the bride or groom. With these thoughts, it was a little begrudgingly that I went to a wedding this month, knowing that I only knew the extended family but couldn’t name the bride or groom and plus, it was meant to be a small “secret” wedding and it didn’t seem to me that I was close enough to the couple to make the guest list. Still I was pointedly asked to go and I went.  And unexpectedly, I met someone new.

She was a woman with some English who was excited to know me. She is obviously not very familiar with our group because she was surprised that I spoke the local language and asked if I had ever been to an island wedding before! I smiled and said that I had been to many ones before. 

Early wedding- our daughter with bride in 2013

Our conversation led to meeting her husband and inviting her to our English Club. She came to our English Club and expressed a desire to become a regular attendee. Then we learned her husband is the hospital director that our teammate is dealing with for her work, so who knows, our helping his wife with English could potentially cause him to have more friendly feelings towards our group. Lots of potential from a single new acquaintance from a single wedding event.  

So, did I need to go to that wedding? I don’t know that I would have been missed by most people if I hadn’t gone, and the bride and groom didn’t seem greatly impacted by my attendance, but I think God wanted me there. Weddings are times of mixing, reminding old friends that we are here and part of the community, and even a time for making new friends! New friends mean new relationship and new opportunities! So I guess there is still a place for going to a random wedding, especially if that’s where God wants us to be!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
There has been a dramatic turn of events for our island sister on the small island who has faced persecution from her father, was taken to court and had the prospect of being kicked out of her home looming over her. The head justice said that she is the sole owner of her property and she cannot be kicked out and that she can even report her father if he bothers her again and also that she is free to follow her own beliefs!  Apparently her father also dropped any complaints against her. This is a huge encouragement and an unexpected answer to prayer. A second airline is opening back up on the islands— meaning that we are now hopeful that we will be able to get to the small island by plane when we need to go in a few weeks. We are thankful for Tom as we celebrated his birthday this past week. We are also thankful that even though he was quite ill on Saturday that the illness was short-lived and he is already feeling much better. We had a nice, short visit with our former teammate and good friend.  Our colleague’s toddler daughter is doing much better and they’ve made it back to the islands.  Their daughter will finish up treatments and go for a check up in a couple of months, but she is doing well.  Thanks for praying!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that we would have wisdom about what events (ceremonies, weddings, celebrations…) we should attend and which ones to say ‘no’ to— may we be sensitive to God’s leading. Tom is traveling to a remote village this week where someone whom we have trained is trying to open a new English teaching program. Pray that Tom would be a light in this village that we’ve never visited before.  The monthly women’s gatherings have finished the series of studies that we were working through— pray for wisdom about what to do next with them. Pray for our two older kids at boarding school— they are in a busy season at school and are sounding kind of stressed. Pray that they would find the right balance of work, rest and fun, and that stress levels would go way down.

Slowly, Slowly

Slowly, slowly isn’t a handicap.
To go fast is to go, To go slow is to go.
Fast, fast has no blessing.

These island proverbs embrace doing things slowly. These past weeks I was reminded of them and even learned that the neighboring countries have their own versions of these same proverbs in their languages.
It can often be a frustration when two cultures meet if their pace of life is different. Generally the pace of island life is slower. The expectation that things will or should get done in a certain amount of time is different.

Island sunsetting

Our upbringing in the West often valued speed and efficiency.

Time is of the essence.
The early bird gets the worm.
Time is money.
We haven’t got all day.
There’s no time like the present.

It is funny that the blog last week talked about the speedy trip on the back of a boda (African motorcycle), because while that was terrifyingly fast and Tom wished it to slow down, often times things here move slowly and we wish they would move faster. As a very apt example, as I was walking in an international airport last week, I often found myself stuck behind groups of people walking at a much slower pace than I would have chosen or expected.  I found myself waiting for an opening, so that I might quickly get by and go at my own, faster pace.

We have changed though.  We have slowed down during our life on the islands. We don’t come to a day with the same expectations that we did when we first arrived. One of our colleagues here was talking about a short-termer who struggles with not getting much done each day. She came from being a terribly efficient person in her western home country with a packed schedule. Now she sits around talking to people, learning language and making friends, and feels like she isn’t getting anything done. We gave our usual advice for people new to the islands— set low expectations for each day. Plan on getting one thing done in the morning, one thing done in the afternoon.  If you get to more, great! If not, great! Because ultimately it isn’t in our control. I might want to speed around and get a lot of things done but an errand at an office (that seems like it should take 5 minutes) might take hours. I might have to wait a long time and then learn I have to come back another day. I might plan to do something and then have an unexpected visitor that talks for a long time before eventually coming to the reason they came (if they had one).

Slowly, slowly sugar crystals form rock candy!

But even if it was all in my control and I could rush and get lots done, those proverbs tell us that islanders don’t see that as a good thing. I have had islanders comment a few times on the speed I walk. If I am walking by myself, going somewhere on an errand for example, it’s not conscious but I walk much faster than islanders would. They ask me if everything is okay? Am I in a hurry? One islander talked about how foreigners are always walking by so fast, so they don’t greet the people they pass properly or thoroughly enough.

It is still a challenge sometimes to slow myself down and to be content with the slower speed. I have one island friend that walks very slowly and it takes a lot of conscious effort to walk at her speed.  But I have to remind myself that this is what I am doing right now, I am walking with my friend, so I can take all the time needed for that, even if that is slowly, slowly.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We made it back safely to Clove Island with our daughter’s refrigerated meds! Thanks for praying. Our colleague’s toddler daughter had an encouraging report from her scans and is able to cut back on a lot of her meds and was released from the hospital.  Our teammate will be able to work at the hospital and was able to meet the island woman that she will be working closely with, still waiting to negotiate all the expectations. Tom has been able to study with Muki and his son Mtsa several times. Our island sister on the small island has continued to stand strong. A new worker has arrived safely on the big island and started orientation. 


PRAYERS REQUESTED
One of our good friends and former colleagues is visiting the islands this week, pray that her short time would encourage all those that she is able to reconnect with (including us!). The heat has definitely increased— pray for our stamina and energy levels as we head into the hotter, more humid season. Next month we will be going to the small island to help run the orientation for the new team starting there, pray for us as we coordinate with the team leaders and plan that time. Pray also that we would know the best way to travel to the small island (there are no direct flights right now, so the airline makes people pay double to go via the big island). One brother on Clove Island just lost his aunt (who was also his defender before the rest of his family), pray that he would be comforted and strengthen his relationship with the rest of his family during this time of grief.

A Terrifying Lesson in Bodas

We have been traveling the past few weeks.  Our responsibilities have taken us to a few different countries where we’ve had the challenge and the pleasure of interacting with people of different cultures.  For the most part it has been a great blessing to listen, to learn and try to understand different perspectives.  It can be challenging, but well worth the challenge, to learn to see the world in a new way.

Island moto driver with passenger

Usually such things take time.  It is through repeated conversations and talking together over meals or cups of coffee and tea that you begin to appreciate the differences and understand the other’s culture.  But there are some things that can be a sort of high speed experience that leads to new understanding—specifically I’m talking about a boda ride.

On the islands, many people have motorcylces.  It is a major means of transportation.  Tom has often been a passenger on one in order to be able to get to trainings on the far side of the island.  Riding on the back of a motorcycle is not a new experience.  But in East Africa, you can get a motorcycle taxi to take you places—it’s called a boda.  You can even book it on Uber.  Traffic in  this East African capital is often terrible.  Getting across town at rush hour to pick up your daughter’s medication is a nightmare.  Suddenly, the idea of a boda looks like a great solution.  Destination: Hospital—and in no time, Bonface, the boda driver, has pulled up to the curb and off we go.  

Things you should know about boda drivers.  They don’t stop for red lights, they just weave through them. They see sidewalks as a completely valid path to their destination.  The emergency lane need only be two feet wide to be considered a viable through way.  All of these I found completely terrifying to experience as a passenger.  

Together with all our kids

Bonface would weave through the traffic like a snake through the grass, somehow avoiding hitting side view mirrors every time (how he did this I’m still not sure as I thought we would surely hit them every time).  As we zipped down that two foot space of emergency lane, crunching over gravel and narrowly avoiding wing mirrors, I looked down into the deep concrete ditch by the side of the road that I would surely go flying into if Bonface made a mistake.  Most terrifying of all was taking the long curve onto the bridge.  Bonface leaned into the curve.  I leaned out—thinking about those motorcycle racers who drag their heavily padded knees on the track when taking the tight turns and looking at my own knees only covered by a thin pair of jeans and wanting them as far away from the pavement as possible.

Bonface dropped me off at the hospital in a quarter of the time it would have taken in a taxi.  His demeanor was indifferent—not as if he had just tempted death multiple times, but more like the bored look of the amusement park operator, who lets you out after the roller coaster ride, “Sure, you’re excited, but I do this all day.  Don’t forget to collect all your belongings.”

As I walked, slightly unstably toward the hospital entrance, I thought about how this was probably an experience an American would never have—never be allowed to have—in the States.  I wasn’t troubled that it took a little while to get the medicine we had ordered.  It gave me a chance to settle down a bit before the return boda ride.

Before I mounted the back of Martin’s boda I told him, “I’m not in a hurry.  No need to go fast fast.”  He laughed.  He did seem to take it a little slower, but made ample use of the sidewalk.  I felt like yelling out to pedestrians, “Sorry” but judging by their demeanors, this was just the way things are, and even if I am still not completely comfortable, I now have a much greater appreciation and understanding of this new culture of boda driving!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful that all our travels have gone smoothly. We are thankful for a wonderful weekend with all our kids and one of their friends.  We are very relieved and thankful that we were able to get a 3 month supply of our daughter’s medications (something that took over a week with lots of phone calls where the outcome was uncertain several times). We are thankful to work with an organization that values partnership and working interculturally. Our sisters on Clove Island were able to meet and study together, though not all were able to make it. Our teammate has heard that she can begin work at the hospital!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for our teammate as she negotiates the terms and expectations of her volunteer work at the hospital. Continue to pray for our colleagues’ toddler— she has her follow-up scan to see if the intense treatment she has been doing has had a positive effect. We continue to pray for her healing and for her family in this exhausting ordeal. Pray for our travels and adjustment back to Clove Island. We will be traveling with some our daughter’s refrigerated medications (so she won’t have to bring them at the end of her school term). Pray that we wouldn’t have any trouble at airport security traveling with a cold bag. One of our island sister’s daughters has come down with horrible dental problems— pray for a relief from pain and for an easy solution to her problems (the islands only has very basic dentistry services). Continue to pray for our island sister on the small island who continues to face scrutiny and persecution— pray that she would remain encouraged and persevere!

Entering Marriage

 Islanders sometimes get married very quickly. Sometimes they don’t even know their future spouse because it was arranged by family members. Or sometimes, the initial conversation of interest proceeds directly to a marriage.

It has troubled us in the past, how often a prospective bride/groom hasn’t been able to answer basic questions about their spouse, the most fundamental of which is: “Are they a good person?”

An island bride and groom

I have often expressed concern in these situations. One time I was really strong in my misgivings. Our island friend was rushing into a marriage with a foreigner and there were red flags and bad circumstances all around. But every time I pressed my concerns to her mother, the answer was “Well, she’ll just divorce him. If it ends up bad, she’ll just divorce him.”

They did end up getting married. It was a sham of a marriage and they divorced.

On the islands, divorce is common. I think islanders still hope for long lasting marriages, but divorce happens a lot and there is a not much stigma stopping you from divorcing if that’s what you want.

As we were arriving back on the islands last month, there was another marriage in the works. We were only on the outskirts of it, not being close with either of the parties, but several of our friends and coworkers were quite involved and contacted us, looking to talk things through and perhaps get some advice or at least prayers.

On the surface it was a wonderful thing, a known island sister and a known island brother wanted to get married! We pray for more godly marriages on the islands, so this seems like an answer to prayer!

But from our perspective, they were rushing into it. They lived on different islands. They had both been married in the past. They hadn’t talked about where they would live, or what their married life might look like. They hadn’t even been an established couple when the idea of getting married was mentioned, and yet they were going to marry within days.

Our colleagues were trying to ask for caution, to slow things down. They mentioned ideas like premarital counseling, but this is a very foreign idea to islanders.  In fact at least one respected island brother was advising the couple to get married as soon as possible. The sentiment I heard was “that’s how islanders do it.” You get married and figure it out afterwards.

Now, we don’t want to be paternalistic and there are western traditions of going about marriage that are also flawed. But my mind went back to that previous bad island marriage to which I was close and I thought, is the reason that islanders feel okay rushing into marriage because divorce is seen as such an easy out?  So we advised others to warn the couple that the expectation in a godly marriage is that you are making a lifelong commitment and that there should be a lot of prayer for guidance, unity and clarity before moving forward.  

Ultimately, the wedding was delayed. Perhaps not long enough to make everyone comfortable—they waited at least another week or two! But there was at least time for some discussion, a bit of reflection and a lot of prayer.

Traveling in taxi from airport

We long for strong island marriages transformed by the good news.  But culture is complicated.  Clearly it is not just island marriages that need transformation, but pre-marriage as well.  This will not look like it does in America, but we hope and pray that over time and through practice, this too will be transformed into a process that is good, thoughtful and blessed.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful for Islanders who have embraced the good news marrying one another.  This is certainly an answer to our prayers.  All of our travels went smoothly.  God even watched over us when Megan forgot her phone at check-in and got it back promptly and when Tom realized a passport had fallen out of his pocket before exiting the plane.  Both of these could have been a real headache, but God is good.  (We also are thankful for the realization that we travel better when we’re together.)  Our daughter’s doctor’s appointment went well, with the confirmation that the current treatment is helping and she will soon be able to be completely off steroids.  

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for this new marriage, that God would bless it and help them to love one another well as they navigate a new life together.  Pray for our stamina through long days of meetings—there are important subjects being discussed about the future of our organization in the region.  Continue to pray for our colleagues whose toddler daughter is being treated for a serious medical condition.  She is undergoing treatment now and will have more testing done on the 16th of October.  Pray that the tests will reveal complete recovery.  We will get to spend a few days with all our kids over next weekend.  Pray that we might have meaningful times together. Our daughter’s current treatment is working, but it looks to be difficult to get the medication— pray that we would find a consistent way to get the meds she needs. Pray that the sisters on Clove Island would meet this week after a long break from their monthly gatherings.

Long-awaited Children

 It was a surprise to see Uhaju at our door. He hadn’t visited in a long time, but a bigger surprise was that he had brought his wife. That was a first, but we knew the reason. We had heard the news, but now we could see for ourselves that his wife was pregnant— seven months along.

Now it isn’t normal to go around and announce a pregnancy on the islands, but this was different. Uhaju and his wife had been trying for years to get pregnant.  It wasn’t clear if their marriage would even survive their struggles, but we had prayed.  He had asked us to and he knew that we had been praying for them.  For years we had been praying. That is why he had come, to thank us for our prayers, to celebrate the answer and to pray in thanksgiving to God together. We took the opportunity to remind them of why and how we pray. 

 A long-awaited son

Islanders see prayers as valuable and are truly thankful when we pray for them.

Later that same week, we were making a visit to see a new baby. He was already 4 months old, but he had been born in India (where they were receiving fertility treatments) and had come to the islands while we were gone, so he was new to us.  Another baby born after years of prayers. As we sat with his mother, we reminded her of all the prayers we had said and again we lifted our prayers of thanksgiving for answered prayers.

Like many places, having children is important on the islands. Fertility issues is often a reason for divorce. A man will find another wife because his current one isn’t getting pregnant. Even if he doesn’t want to divorce, he may have lots of pressure from his family to do so.

Having children changes your identity. If new parents give birth to a little baby named Sam— from that day forward they will be known as Ma Sam and Ba Sam. For some, this will be the only name they go by.  

Also, having children is seen as a religious obligation on the islands. It is accepted and preached as a command from God that everyone should marry and have children. So, it is understood that you need to make every effort to have kids. This isn’t a choice.

So at any given point in time, there is always a handful of couples whom we are praying with, asking that they’d be able to have children. Currently, there are two that stand out in my mind. One is a woman who was been a friend of our group since we first arrived. She married late (especially by island standards) and hasn’t gotten pregnant yet.  She is constantly watching the babies and toddlers of her extended family, but has none of her own yet. People in our group have prayed with her on many occasions.

Our new roof starting to leak.

The second is Ma Imani’s youngest sister. Another woman married for years, but without a child. Ma Imani has prayed very boldly and publicly for her sister, but I wonder if God is waiting for her sister to come to Him personally, to accept the good news and change how she prays.

Because as much as we love children and even as we do pray fervently with these women and couples, we also know that their needs run deeper. So we pray for their hearts before God, knowing that it may be that it is answered prayers that will draw them closer.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are very thankful for these two couples who have had their prayers for children answered and acknowledge that it is from answered prayers. The translation workshop for all the islands went well. We’re thankful that we got some time with the medical team this week and were encouraged by how they are all doing and all the opportunities they have to share and study with people. Muki brought two of his sons to study with Tom this week and wants to share audio recordings with others. Mtsa studied again and had clearly been reading and studying on his own. We are thankful that more of the cheapest kind of rice has come in and some of our poorer friends have been able to buy bags.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for travels this week— we have regional meetings in South Africa at the end of the week. Pray for safe and smooth travels. The family on the medical team is traveling by plane for the first time since the plane accident some months ago, pray for especially smooth travels for them. Our daughter will be going on a follow-up appointment this week to check on the current treatment plan (meanwhile she has gotten a cold which means she has to temporarily stop treatment of the immunosuppressants so she can recover). Pray for a quick recovery from her cold and for a clear way forward with her treatment. Megan is traveling ahead of Tom and our son to take our daughter to the doctor, pray for the boys on their own and for Megan traveling alone. There has been some rain and one of the brand new sections of roof is leaking— the landlord has already contacted the builder— pray for an easy solution. The young daughter of one of our colleagues has come down with a serious medical condition— they have sought out better medical care and have been undergoing lots of tests. Pray for healing and clarity for future treatment for that family. Ma Imani is committed to studying with her sisters and their kids (even though they live in different villages now). They have agreed but have struggled to find times where everyone is available and healthy— pray they find a consistent time to study.