Christmas Traditions

 What is important to you when you think of Christmas traditions?  Is it decorating the house?  A Christmas tree?  Is it going to church?  Is it a big meal with family?  Maybe its caroling or buying gifts (or unwrapping gifts) that you most enjoy?  Are any of these traditions essential?  In the famous story, “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” he steals all the trappings of Christmas away, but the Whos down in Whoville still manage to celebrate.

Our son getting into the Christmas spirit

Sometimes Christmas on the Islands can feel a little bit like Whoville after the Grinch has come through.  Not that someone has come through and taken away all the trappings and trimmings of Christmas, but rather that they’ve never been put up in the first place.  Christmas is just another day on the islands.  Just today Tom received a message asking if he could help administer some exams on Christmas morning!  Imagine doing an exam on Christmas morning! (He politely declined.)  It is a strange feeling to celebrate a holiday that nobody else cares about.

Over the years, we’ve learned to adjust our expectation around Christmas.  One of them is the day itself.  Although we do take the day off from work and do something as a family, it’s also normal to celebrate a second Christmas or a pre-Christmas.  This year we celebrated a pre-Christmas with our family during our time away on vacation with presents, turkey and Christmas carols all on that auspicious day of December 12.  And we look forward to being together with our island brothers and sisters on the weekend after the day itself.  Our island brothers and sisters are creating a tradition of waiting until the weekend to do any celebrating, and it strikes us that this is probably just as well.

Tree at airport on vacation

While we were on vacation, Megan received a message from an island sister asking us to bring back Christmas decorations for her to decorate her house.  Tom was against it.  Why does she need a Christmas tree?  Could anything be more foreign?  Do we really want to encourage that the only way to celebrate Christmas is to bring things from overseas?  But Megan countered that we decorate our house.  We have a Christmas tree.  Do we expect people to do something different from what we are modeling?  Besides, Christmas trees have become a ubiquitous symbol of Christmas.  Write the word Christmas on your phone and the emoji that pops up is a Christmas tree.  Go to Tokyo, Singapore, Nairobi or Rio de Janeiro and you will see Christmas trees.  Can we really expect our island brothers and sisters to not want to connect to this global cultural symbol?  Needless to say, we got her some decorations, including the small plastic tree she requested.  

So often our ideals of wanting to respect and honor local culture are brought down by the realities of a globally connected world.  As if to emphasize this reality, our house-helper shared that her daughter on seeing our decorations asked her mom about it.  She told her it was our tradition to do it in December to celebrate Noeli (i.e. Christmas).  To which her daughter asked, “Mom, can we decorate our house for Christmas, too?”

We could certainly get together with our colleagues and argue over the pros and cons of decorating our houses.  As much as we may try to not impose our traditions on others, sometimes our traditions are attractive—that’s certainly the case with Christmas.  Our decorations lead to curiosity, conversations and sharing.  On our door, we have 8 little posters.  Four of them are in English and each depicts one of the themes of Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy and Love.  The other four have those same words in the island language.  Whenever anyone asks, we get the opportunity to share about the One who gives us hope, and how we find peace in Him, and how joy wells up in a life given over to Him, and how we can know a steadfast love that has been tried and tested and found worthy—a love that will never give up and never end.  

Setting up our little island tree

A great conversation awaits, thanks to some simple Christmas decorations.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We made it back safely to our island home with all our luggage! Megan’s back did great through all the travel. Our daughter’s health was also good. We are very thankful for the time away and also for being home again. Though it is very hot and humid, we are thankful for good power and water since being home. There were some difficult situations while we were gone, but we are thankful for our colleagues that temporarily took over our role as crisis advisers and that God has been present in those different situations. Megan was able to sit and talk with Ma Jadza about her mom’s passing and offer some words of comfort. Tom has gotten to reconnect with Mtsa and Muki and they are restarting their studies together today. Elewa is feeling much better.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for the celebrations this week— that we would have more opportunities to share the hope, peace, joy and love of the season with our island friends. Pray for the gathering with island brothers and sisters— some details are still vague, pray that it would all come together and be an encouragement to all to attend. Pray for rain to give some relief from the heat. Pray for an island brother’s wife— she has been a growing presence in the community of island sisters. She is very ill and had to travel off-island— pray for her healing. We’ve heard that there is a lot of sickness on the islands right now— pray for good health (especially for our daughter and others with compromised immune systems) and healing for those who are sick. 

Mango Butter

 A few weeks ago, Tom came into the kitchen and smelled the bubbling mango mixture and said, “Mmmm, it smells like Christmas—Island Christmas.”

Megan with mangoes

It may have smelled like Christmas, but the weather didn’t feel like it (at least from an American perspective). The islands have heated up— the air is sticky with humidity. Everyone is constantly sweating. If you’re not sweating, it means you’re dehydrated. This time of year is a little unpleasant, but there is a trade-off because as the temperature and humidity increases so does the fruit! 

Right now piles of mangoes are for sale all over town. Any major road has people selling mangoes to passersby. If ever we don’t have mangoes in our house at this time of year, it is an error that needs to be corrected the next time one of us leaves the house. 

I am not sure how many years ago it was, but at some point when the mangoes were abundant, cheap and delicious, I looked in the index of our Wycliffe cookbook (written for/by overseas workers) and saw a listing for ‘mango butter.’ Curious, I went to the listed page and found it was a variation listed under the Apple Butter recipe. Actually it is exactly the same recipe, you just replace mangoes for apples and strain the strings out at the end. 

Ready for cooking

I tried it and it was good, and so began a tradition. It is a nice blend of islands and our home culture— the spices smell like mulled cider, hearkening a winter Christmas scene, but the mangoes are tropical and even the spices themselves (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg) are local products. 

So at some point, when the mangoes are plentiful,  we buy 2 or 3 piles at once. We peel and slice the mango away from the pits. We add sugar and spices, let it simmer for a long time. We push the cooled mixture through a sieve and voila, we have enough mango butter to last for the rest of the holiday season. 

Mmm… it smells like Island Christmas.

Pouring into jars

PRAYERS ANSWERED

We are thankful for the time of rest we’ve gotten with family and for the chance to celebrate a late Thanksgiving-early Christmas with them. We are thankful that our first leg of travel on our way back to the islands has gone well and that we get to connect with Tom’s cousin on our layover. We are thankful that after two denied attempts, our island colleague was finally granted a visa to visit his wife’s home country with their baby—we pray for a great visit for them all.  A few new Christmas songs in the island language have recently been recorded and put on youtube.  They sound great.  Hopefully lots of people will listen.


 

PRAYERS REQUESTED

We’ve learned that our close neighbor Ma Jadza lost her mother this past week— pray for her family as they grieve and that she and her husband Makini could be a light to their extended family. Our island sister Elewa has been very sick, pray for her full recovery, especially as she has plans to celebrate the upcoming holidays with some friends and neighbors on the big island- pray that it could be an opportunity to share good news. Pray for the rest of our travels back to the islands that it would all go smoothly and that we’d all stay healthy. 

Change is Precious

 The islands are still very much a cash-based society. When we go to other countries we rarely even bother getting any local cash because most purchases are made with credit cards or phone apps. We’ve been in a new country for over a week and have yet to make a purchase in cash. But on Clove Island, most transactions are still done with physical bills and coins of various denominations.  But probably the most precious are those small bills and coins— in other words, the change. 

Our island change bowl

I remember being in America (back when people still used cash a lot to pay for things). Change was a pain. I remember being annoyed when I got a lot of coins. It weighs down your wallet and is really bulky. Once I got home, I would usually unload the loose change into a bowl which was very rarely touched except when people added more coins to it. 

Not that I don’t realize that enough spare change can amount to lots of money. In elementary school I was in charge of counting and putting into rolls all the coins brought in during a fundraiser. I can’t remember now what the fundraiser was for, but I do remember that all that loose change added up to a significant amount of money raised. But when we say that change is precious on the islands, it is not just the understanding that coins have purchase power. No, change is precious because it feels like a rare commodity. 

Remember that we’re not just thinking of coins— change is both coins and the smallest denominations of bills. On the islands, we don’t assume in a taxi or in a shop that someone will have a lot of change (if any). In the US, I wouldn’t have thought twice of breaking a $20 bill at a store. Here it can be quite rude to make a small purchase with a big bill. If they are feeling agreeable they might go (or send someone) to ask neighboring stores or hail a passing taxi to see if they can find change (or they might just tell you to do it yourself). Sometimes, they will just refuse and say they don’t have change.

When getting in a taxi, the polite thing to do is to tell the driver as you get in that you have a big bill so he has the whole journey to potentially stop and ask people for change. Even if someone already has all the change, they will ask and check if you don’t have the exact change and may proceed to give you a disapproving sigh and a miffed-look at having to part with so much change for you. 

The big problem for us has been that island ATM’s usually only give money in the largest bill denominations. Unfortunately, even the bank tellers are hesitant to give out change. Tom used to go into the bank after getting money out at the ATM to ask to change some of the money into smaller bills. They often gave him a hard time, sometimes even refusing, either lying and saying they didn’t have any or suggesting that he had to prove he had a local bank account to get change. 

Most people seem to value and hoard coins and small bills here, and this mentality means that we are always looking to break bills. I am actually disappointed when the total at a store is a nice, clean number because it means that I might not get any change out of the transaction. If a friend repays us with small bills, we get excited! If we have to repay someone and our small bills are running low, we might decide to be generous and round up to the big bill instead of losing a bunch of small ones. 

Enjoying fair food on vacation (bought with credit card)

So you can imagine our excitement that one of the island ATM’s has started giving out withdrawals with a mix of large and small bills! A game changer. Suddenly we aren’t always at a small-bill deficit.  

Looking ahead, it is possible that our days of cash purchases are numbered, even on the islands. A local cell company has an electronic money app that seems to be gaining in popularity.  Maybe the day will come when we can just use our phones to pay at the little shops in our neighborhood, but until then, we’ll guard our small bills and keep a close eye on our change supply. 

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our teammate made it safely back to Clove Island (despite some travel troubles on the way in) and was warmly welcomed by neighbors. We have had a very nice time with Megan’s parents and brother so far. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for our teammate in her first week back home on the islands— that she would reconnect well with friends and neighbors and that how to proceed with hospital work would be straightforward. There have been some difficult situations on the islands, pray for those that are having to respond to these situations that they would have wisdom and discernment to be lights in the dark and for for health and safety for all. Hashiri has asked for prayer that her family would find peace together in their home. Megan’s uncle passed away this past weekend— pray for her aunt and cousins as they grieve this loss. 

Becoming Peers

 It’s a special thing to see students become teachers.  It is something that we’ve been able to experience over and over again as we teach English here on Clove Island.  Our many years of English teaching, English teacher training, and general longevity has meant we’ve been able to watch people grow from a basic ability in English to near fluency and aptitude.  This is certainly the case with Moro and Arongo.

Moro and Arongo monitoring exam

Arongo was one of my first students—12 years ago.  He was the enthusiastic teenager whose English was far ahead of the rest of the class and he was eager to show it off.  He quickly rose through the different levels and was in one of the first classes of English teachers I trained on Clove Island.

Moro I met a few years later—about 8 years ago.  He had less raw talent for language than Arongo, but he had a passion and grit to learn that has brought him far.  He put that same dedication into English teaching and soon became one of the best, most reliable English teachers on the island.  So much so that he became the first to be trained to be a teacher trainer.  He has now led his own English training programs making my job at his program redundant!  

A couple years ago, Arongo and Moro both got jobs in the same company.  This international shipping company only takes people who have strong English, are willing to work hard and long hours, and show a high level of competence and teachability.  I’m not surprised that these two found work there.  About a year ago, thanks to their friendship at work, they started running an English program together—doing both administration and teaching—on top of their busy schedule.  They even decided to buy and teach a new curriculum for higher levels of English students (something our NGO does not provide.)  They reasonably asked if I could help them figure out how to use and teach this new curriculum—something I was only too happy to help them with. 

Waiting at airport on Clove Island

Last Sunday, the three of us sat down to look over the upcoming exam for this new curriculum.  As we’ve never used this curriculum before, there was a lot to discuss, modify and prepare.  I’ve done similar things with other teachers.  Much to my dismay, it usually consists of them deferring to me all the time—my every suggestion they consider wonderful—their own suggestions, nonexistent.  But that was not the case with Arongo and Moro.  This was true collaboration.  They had ideas and were not afraid to share them.  They took my suggestions as suggestions and sometimes offered something better than I had to offer.  They had thoughts and opinions about the process and were asking questions that I hadn’t even thought of.  In short, it was a planning meeting among peers.  

Maybe it’s funny that someone telling me my idea wasn’t so great could make me so happy!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We just arrived safely at our vacation location, reuniting with Megan’s parents and brother. We are very thankful that our travels and the different connections went smoothly and all our luggage arrived with us (things we don’t take for granted). We are also thankful that Megan’s back did well through the travel. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that we can have a relaxing and fun vacation time as a family. Pray for Hashiri, Muki and Mtsa (whom we regularly study with) that they would continue to study and be encouraged in our absence the next few weeks. Pray for the island sisters as they have their monthly gathering this week and talk more about the details of the holiday celebration. Pray that many women would come and be encouraged (especially our newest sister and her daughter). Our teammate travels from her home country (where she has been for the last few months) and returns to the islands this week— pray that her travels would go smoothly and that she would have a good transition back to island life and work.

Proper Social Behavior

 My friend Muki knows many people but has few friends.  He has 14 children, but none who take care of him.  Many of them he is not on speaking terms with.  I don’t know how it came to be like this.  I have not heard most the stories.  I don’t know what he did, but I know he has had a hard life.  His education is minimal.  He is barely literate.  It’s fair to say that he has never moved in the circles of “polite society” and he doesn’t know what is proper and correct.  I believe he misses—or stopped caring about—social cues a long time ago.

View of the mountain from downtown

For me, Muki is a poor, old man who comes to my house to study.  Often times he says he hasn’t eaten anything that day.  I feed him and we study and often he is the one that says to me, “Let’s study.”  Most days at the end of the study he asks for something—some food, some medicine, taxi fare.  He never asks for large amounts, but it is rare for him to leave my house without asking for something, and often there are two or three requests.  

After nearly two years of study, I still wonder where his heart really is.  Some days it seems like he understands the good news so clearly.  Other days it sounds like he is just parroting back to me things he thinks I will like.  Still other days, it seems like he hasn’t understood anything at all.  On the other hand, he brought Mtsa to my house and I’ve watched Mtsa grow continually.  Muki also brings his family members by and is often happy to engage them in our study time.  If someone shows up while we are studying, Muki is happy to invite them to study with us and will share openly about how much he loves the things we study, how they are important and true and will change your life.  He tends to go on and on—hardly giving the other person a chance to respond.  Often I have to interrupt him so that the visitor can speak.

Last month I took him and Mtsa to a gathering of others who study.  The group was not very large—perhaps 8 in total.  We studied and sang and prayed.  This was their first introduction to the group.  I was keen for them to make a good first impression.  Mtsa conducted himself as you might respect.  A bit shy, but respectful, eager to listen to others and learn from them.  But Muki was Muki…

He had plenty to say.  Although a lot of it was rather unspecific.  It’s a problem I often face with Muki. “This is an important story.  I’ve learned so much from it.  I need to obey it and live my life like it says,” he’ll say.  

Playing games at English Club

Of course, you can say that about any story.  So I’m always trying to challenge him to engage with the specific story.  “What does THIS story say?  How specifically can we obey.”  Sometimes it works.  But sometimes it doesn’t.  

At the meeting it didn’t—just general platitudes about being a good person and helping others—followed up with an announcement that he knows everything really well because he’s been studying for two years.  He knows it all.  If that wasn’t bad enough he had to excuse himself to go to the bathroom 3 times, and was constantly looking at his watch.  When it came to prayer time, he was quick to offer his prayer request for certain material needs, but he didn’t seem to listen to the other prayer requests, glancing frequently at his watch.  When the meeting was over, there remained 4 plastic bottles of water.  The host had provided everyone with one at the beginning of the meeting.  Muki went over and grabbed all four remaining bottles to take home with him.  The host laughed awkwardly.  Mtsa shook his head.  Muki seemed oblivious or simply didn’t care—perhaps he saw it as his right.

So much for a good first impression.  And yet, I’m not really surprised.  But I struggle to know what it all means.  None of these things were very serious.  I know a lack of social skills and social graces will not keep us from heaven.  At the same time, does it reveal something more about Muki’s heart?  Who can know a man’s heart?  Perhaps the problem isn’t Muki.  Perhaps it’s me.  Embarrassed by his ways, I feel my own reputation pulled down a bit— a slight blow to my pride.   But Muki keeps coming to study, and we keep talking.  And love covers over a multitude of sins…and social missteps.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Ma Imani is feeling better— thanks for praying for her health. We got to livestream the end of term concert from our kids’ school in mainland Kenya— we are thankful for these points of connection. We have been able to get through most of our to-do list going into travels later this week. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that Muki’s heart would be changed and that the things he has studied would stick and lead to changed behaviors and attitudes. Hashiri continues to study with Megan, but the stories are challenging her long-held ideas. Pray for her as she wrestles with what is true. We are traveling this week to meet up with Megan’s parents and brother for some vacation. Pray that the travels would go smoothly with no lost luggage or missed connections and that everyone would stay healthy throughout the trip. Continue to pray for our colleague from the small island as she recovers and heals on medical leave— pray for complete healing and for wisdom on how to recover well. Pray for the family from the medical team as they continue to process, recover, and plan their next steps. 

Simple Job of Changing a Light

The light in our office stopped working.  It, like most of the things original to the office, was old.  Old walls, old doors, old lights.  The light that stopped working was a fluorescent light.  Having switched out a couple of lights at our house I knew that fluorescent tubes cost quite a bit and for the same price I could buy a new LED light.  I’ve installed them before by myself, so I thought I could do it at the office too.  But things are rarely that straight forward here on the islands.

One of the newer LED lights at our house

I climbed up a stack of plastic chairs to replace the light, and started to strip the wires in order to make a new connection, only to find that one of the wires didn’t appear to have any copper in it.  I can’t say I’ve ever seen that before.  It was bizarre.  I pulled out a bit more of the wire but it was the same another 4, 6, 8 inches down.  There simply wasn’t any copper in the second wire.  I am no electrician, so if you electricians out there know what was going on, feel free to email me and explain this phenomenon, because I was flummoxed.

At that point I knew I needed to call the landlady and ask for her to send an electrician.  The morning the electrician arrived, I explained to him the best I could the strange thing I had discovered.  I told him I think we needed to put in a new wire.  But he didn’t seem to believe me, so he climbed up the pile of plastic chairs and checked himself.  

After a little checking he told me, “Here’s the problem—there’s no metal in this wire.  It’s not going to work.”

“You’re the electrician.” I replied.  He then proceeded to look further and further down the wire for a place with copper, but the wire was so old and so brittle it was breaking apart in his hands.  This went on for about 20 minutes.

“Maybe we should get some new wire.” I suggested, “How much would it cost? $20?”

“Yeah, about $20,” he said.  “But if I put the lamp over there, we can bypass all this bad wire and then the job would be done.”

“You’re the electrician,” I acquiesced.  “It’s okay with me.”

So he got to work putting the lamp on the other side of the room.  He got it all set up, another 30 minutes of work.  Only when he installed it, it still didn’t work.  The wire on the other side of the room wasn’t much better than the wire he had bypassed. 

“Maybe you should go out and buy some new wire?” I proposed.  But he was already off on a new solution.  He decided to use a section of wire he knew worked, only it was much too short to reach across the room.  So his solution was to ask if he could move the light and the light switch from one wall to the other.  This would require less wire and would actually put the light switch in a better location…

“Your’e the electrician,” I sighed, “go ahead.”

As he worked away he spoke to me, obliterating any chance I had of getting any work done.  We talked about weather and religion and life on the islands.  It didn’t seem like he was really interested in hearing anything I had to say, he just liked to talk.  Another hour later, my morning was completely shot, but he flipped the switch and the light came on.  I thanked him profusely for his hard work and he was on his way.  

It took much longer than it needed to, but in the end he found a solution that didn’t require any new wiring, and saved me money.  I tried the light a few times to see that it was really working and reflected on the differences in priorities between different cultures.  The important thing was the light worked.  Time to go home.  As I started locking up I noticed the outside light was on. Strange… He must have flipped it when he was working.  I flipped the switch back.  Nothing happened.  I flipped it again. Nothing.  I flipped a couple of other switches.  Nothing.  Ugh…Looks like he rewired something wrong.  I guess I need to call him back.

But then I thought about it…We don’t use the office at night.  We never turn on that light.  It’s got an old fluorescent bulb.  Quickly I hauled the pile of chairs out on to the verandah and removed the fluorescent tube.  Light’s out.  Problem solved.  I locked up the office and headed home.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We were able to watch a recording of our son’s play— he and his classmates did a great job! The men had their gathering at a local brother’s house and went okay— Tom even brought Muki and Mtsa to it.  Ma Imani’s kids are feeling better. Our daughter has been feeling a lot better physically lately.  We had a nice visit from a short-termer visiting from the big island. Megan hurt her ankle on Saturday and we weren’t sure how serious it was, but we are very thankful that it seems to be healing quickly (praying for full recovery). 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Yesterday there was a horrible bus accident coming from the plateau (where the medical team is based)— at least 11 people lost their lives. Fatal car accidents are not common here. Pray for the grieving families and communities. Pray for Ma Imani— while her kids are feeling better, she is having lingering symptoms— pray for a full recovery for her. Continue to pray for our older two kids as they near the end of their school term— that they wouldn’t be stressed as they prepare for exams and as our daughter works on college applications. Pray for the teams on the islands as they deal with teammates gone for different amounts of time, especially those whose return plans are uncertain. Pray that God would help them get used to the different dynamics of different sized teams and that everyone would continue to feel cared for and supported.

Sharing Personal Stories

The photo shoot went on for quite a while. Islanders enjoy taking photos with lots of different configurations of people. So Mtsa wanted a photo with Tom, him and the two visitors and then with just him and the two visitors, and then with each of the visitors individually. He asked them multiple times if they would remember him, seemingly wanting reassurance that this encounter had been as meaningful for them as it had been for him. 

Visitors visit one of Tom's classes

Our two visitors had sat with Tom and Mtsa for hours, sharing their stories (with Tom working hard as translator). They shared about their journeys of faith and for Mtsa it was really his first time hearing other men (who weren’t Tom) talk like this. The stories were deeply personal and the impact on Mtsa was clear. Island men don’t usually share with each other like that. 

Tom’s friend, Fakhadi, loves to debate and is always trying to drag Tom into theological arguments. As we discussed with other expats this Sunday, other expats shared their frustration with island friends, who similarly only seem to want to debate and argue. Usually people like this aren’t really listening or engaging, they are just looking to win the argument, so discussions can feel pretty fruitless. But Tom shared the way that he has been able to redirect those conversations. He makes it personal. When he talks about his personal experience, suddenly Fakhadi will go quiet. Fakhadi wants to talk about ideas, not his own heart. 

Tom has been struggling to get the island brothers to meet monthly.. Ultimately, it isn’t actually monthly meetings that Tom wants. He wants to see the brothers engaged in each others’ lives, praying for each other, encouraging each other, holding each other accountable and learning to trust one another. None of these are happening presently, so Tom thought that monthly meetings (which the women do very faithfully) would be a good way for the men to begin to get to know each other better, to get in the habit of confiding in each other and hopefully of encouraging one another. 

So far it hasn’t really caught on. There have been a couple meetings, but without Tom there last month, a meeting didn’t happen. Even the meetings that did happen haven’t included much personal sharing from the island brothers. Tom was frustrated when the day after their men’s meeting he learned about something major happening in one of the brother’s lives, which the brother hadn’t mentioned at the meeting. Why wouldn’t he have shared that?

Being honest and vulnerable, admitting to struggles or showing that things bother you, it is a bit of a foreign concept for the men here.   Not that island culture is unique in that, lots of cultures discourage men from being vulnerable, but we see that it stops island men from finding unity and true brotherhood with each other.  We remember in English Club (which is mostly men) that we asked if they had anyone that they really trusted. Most of the men responded that they only trusted their mother. When questioned if they really didn’t have even one good friend that they trusted, most of them said they had no one like that. No one to tell their secrets to or to confide in. No one with whom to share their personal stories. 

Our son dressed for school play

No wonder it was so meaningful for Mtsa to have these two men share so deeply with him. They may have been foreigners, they may not have spoken his language, but they were willing to share more of themselves than most of the men around him. 

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful that this past week had fewer stressors than the previous couple weeks and that we were able to have a low-key weekend. We are thankful that our daughter is feeling better and that the flare-up of her rheumatoid arthritis resolved quickly. Our son’s drama performances at boarding school went well this weekend and we’ve been told it was recorded and should be uploaded soon so that we can watch it too! All reports are that our son did a great job. The water at our house has improved and we have been able to keep our barrels pretty full. Our two visitors made it safely to the small island and then to the big island, and another visitor (a short-termer on the big island) made it safely here to Clove Island today. The island women met last week and it was a large group, including one new face. There is a plan for us to gather as a large group and celebrate the holidays in December. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
The men are meant to be meeting this week. Pray for the men to be motivated to meet and grow together. Pray for insight for Tom on how to proceed.  Pray for Ma Imani and her family— she and 4 of the 6 kids are currently sick. Pray for healing for that family. A new expat family with another group has arrived on Clove Island— pray for their adjustment to the islands (including their kids starting at local school and for their rented house which seems to have some water issues). Pray for the continued follow-up of the crises from the last couple weeks— may we learn from these crises and find clear ways forward for all the people involved. Pray for unity among people and clarity for the decision makers as different people advise on the next steps.  Pray for our two kids at boarding school as they have two weeks before their end of term exams and are starting to feel the pressure build. Pray also for our daughter as she wants to get her college applications in order by the end of term as well. 

Understanding

In our son’s homeschool, we have been studying the history of astronomy. Some great thinkers of the past looked at the night sky and tried to find explanations for why things moved like they do. Elaborate explanations and models were made. Some of them were able to predict a lot of the astronomical events correctly, but then they’d find that one thing was off. There was some star or planet’s movement that wasn’t explained with their current model. This was because one of their conclusions was wrong (for example, thinking the earth was the center of the universe) or missing a key piece of information (that heavenly bodies often move in ellipses instead of perfect circles). Until the wrong idea was corrected or the new idea accepted, the calculations wouldn’t fall into place. 

Afternoon sky over the islands (see the bats?)

Another example of this:  Our son has a 3D puzzle that has to be put together in a certain order. He’s memorized how to do it, and enjoys seeing people struggle to figure it out. The key is that if you don’t get two pieces into their proper places first, the rest will never fit together. Those early astronomers need some key ideas in place before they’d be able to understand the rest. 

This applies to people too.  People are complicated. Sometimes we see their actions and decisions and wonder what they are thinking! Our brains fill in possible motives and explanations for why people do what they do, but we can be wrong. We can create a narrative that explains the events, but it may not be right. 

Our island friend has been complaining about her family and how their actions towards her have been seemingly mean and inexplicably antagonistic. They are mad that she is studying English. They don’t want her to go to the doctor to follow-up on some medical concerns. They are upset  about her planting flowers around the house. It paints a picture of a really unloving, unkind, unreasonable and erratic family life. Our friend said she was clueless as to why her family is always bothering her. She isn’t good at reading people.  All she could think was that they didn’t love her and/or were jealous. But just this week, we finally learned the missing piece of the puzzle that helped the tableau all fall into place. 

Our friend’s family want her to get a job. She graduated from the local university awhile ago. She has left and/or refused a few jobs in the past that were not to her liking. This is in a place where most people are poor and jobs are scarce. To put it simply, they are tired of her being a financial drain on the family without contributing anything. That’s why they got upset when she decide to start taking English classes (which cost money). That’s why her going to the doctor again (money) rubs them wrong. That’s why her spending lots of time gardening (and not looking for a job) is a source of conflict. This was the missing piece of information that has helped us understand her family dynamic. Suddenly their reactions don’t seem so unreasonable or incomprehensible.  We may not condone their petty ways of showing irritation, but we can understand where they are coming from and why they are so frustrated. 

Son's 3D puzzle

We (Tom & Megan) are very thankful that we have each other— because sometimes we don’t understand people and it can be easy to make assumptions and judgments about their motives and/or priorities. In our better moments, we remember to challenge one another and imagine what missing pieces there might be that could explain or make reasonable that which seems initially unreasonable. 

Sometimes the needed insight only comes after a hard conversation, where we speak and act based upon wrong assumptions, only to receive information that reframes our understanding of the situation.  But we often need each other to help process and get a new perspective. We need to realize where we are filling in gaps of information with our own narrative and be able to realize that we could be wrong. Ultimately, we need to give people the benefit of the doubt, learn to ask questions and listen to the answers.

Astronomers went thousands of years embracing wrong ideas that frustrated any progress to truly understanding what was going on. We pray that we will be quicker than that at realizing our mistakes.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We’re thankful for a nice visit with people from our organization’s regional office.  We are thankful to hear that a new leader of the Coast Guard has been chosen which we hope will help the boat business get approvals and paper work more easily.  We have a new sister who got dunked over the weekend.  We’re excited to hear that her two adolescent children are happy for her and hope to go get dunked some day too.  We’re thankful that in the midst of crisis we have lots of great people whom we work with, who are quick to listen and not jump to conclusions.  We wouldn’t be able to endure these things without their support.  We’re thankful for the One who carries our burdens.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
It has been a difficult couple of weeks dealing with a couple of crises that have resulted in two families leaving the islands, one from the little island and one from our Clove island.  This has resulted in a lot of work, emotional stress, and sadness.  Pray for the colleague who is out of hospital but waiting for further test results.  Pray that she would be healthy and that she and her family would be able to return.  Pray for healing and safe travels for the other family as they leave.   Pray for the boat business to get paperwork and approvals more easily, for good personnel—especially experienced boat captains and mechanics, and especially people with these skills who have a heart for the kingdom.  It’s been difficult meeting with Muki and Mtsa lately because of scheduling and unforseen changes to plans.  Pray that we could get back into good rhythms of study and for them to be sharing with their family.  Pray for our daughter who is struggling with an arthritis flare up this week. Pray for our son who has a drama performance coming up this weekend. Pray for the island women as they gather this week to study and potentially to discuss plans for how to celebrate the holidays as a group. Our water situation hasn’t been great lately, pray that would water would come to our house so we can fill our barrels and cistern. 

Crisis Mode

 The past couple weeks has been a mini season of crises.

Making it back to Clove Island on boat

We talk about being in ‘crisis mode.’ Different personalities respond differently to crisis.  For some, this means a rush of adrenaline that gives them the energy and clarity to make decisions and push through until the end of the crisis— but if the crisis keeps going that energy-surge might leave them exhausted and burnt-out. For others, ‘crisis mode’ can mean that emotions are high and they are in a fragile and sensitized state. Things that would normally not be a big deal or even bothersome, might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back in a crisis situation.

Some of the difficult events of the past few weeks have not been serious but they have added to the sense of ‘crisis mode’ because each is just another stressor during a stressful time— so things like travel plans being canceled and having to rearrange our schedules, or the fact that we came home to a rat in our house which stubbornly refused to be caught in the rat trap, or even the fact that it has been really hot the past few days. They aren’t crises in and of themselves, but they are more things to potentially tire and stretch us. Crisis-mode is a hard place to be in and means people aren’t at their best. We need to have grace for ourselves and others in crisis.

We have not been at the center of the actual crises, but our leadership position means that we have been emotionally invested and have had roles in decision-making and in supporting those more directly involved and in facilitating conversations and answering questions with different levels of leadership.  Discerning what people in crisis need most can be difficult and as leaders we don’t always get it right. 

Finally got the rat!

Thankfully, God does not desert us in crises. He answers prayers— giving us pockets of rest and relaxation, bringing healing, and this week, literally making a looming cyclone weaken and change direction.  He provides the direction and energy that we need. He gives us good gifts along the way— finally killing the rat, finding some surprisingly good ice cream for Tom’s birthday, and the windy weather (instead of a cyclone) blowing away some of the heat today. 

We are praying that this season of crises is short-lived. We are praying that God would protect all involved and help us to learn from the mistakes that we make along the way. We’re tired and there are others even more tired, but we’re hopeful. 

PRAYERS ANSWERED 
The sick colleague from the small island was able to travel to mainland Africa with her family. She received care and was released from the hospital. There’s still some follow-up needed, but we are so thankful for the healing she has received and all the people on the islands and in mainland Africa who facilitated her care.  We made it safely back to Clove Island. The cyclone weakened and ended up going well north of us. Lots of answers to prayer.  We got rid of the rat that had snuck into our house while we were gone. The women had a well-attended meeting while we were gone and the one of the groups in our area is back to meeting regularly. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for colleagues that are still dealing with crisis and the lasting impact it will have. Pray for wisdom in tough decisions and for smooth paths moving forward. Continue to pray for the boat project— they have struggled to find trustworthy staff that understand their vision. Pray for the right people and for things to get easier— they have hit road bumps at every turn. Pray for Mtsa and Muki— that they might get back into a good rhythm of studying. The men didn’t meet in our absence, pray for a desire for the brothers to learn and grow together. 

Learning Patience

 I think we’ve learned to be more patient.  Tuesday I left the house, giving my kids a quick hug knowing that the errand I was trying to run might mean I wouldn’t get to see them again before they went back to school.  I was trying to pick up some medication for our eldest, the hope being, I would get it to her before they left and send it back to school with her, but we know how things go here, and so I said goodbye just in case things didn’t go to plan.

Doing homeschool in hotel room

This is not the first time we’ve had to be patient getting her medication.  In fact, we’ve had to be patient every time.  This time, as has happened before, the full amount of the medication was not available on the first visit, requiring a second visit.  This despite the fact that we have “a guy” on the inside whom we let know a week ahead of time to help streamline things.  Heaven knows what it would be like if he wasn’t around to help out.  But there’s still a lot of hiccups.  My visit to the pharmacy ended up taking multiple hours.  I missed saying goodbye to the kids and we had to arrange another way to get the meds to our daughter at school, and yet, somehow we were prepared for this outcome.  It was frustrating but not out of the range of my patience.

To add to the comedy of the situation, my Uber driver on the way home, asked if we could make a “quick stop” to pick up fresh batteries for his electric motorcycle.  Needless to say, it wasn’t very quick.  I wrote to Megan, “…driver is changing out his batteries, so I guess I'm learning patience today…”  It turns out, this was just a warm up.

Arriving for our flight back to the islands the next day, we learned once we were at the gate that it would be delayed by 5 hours.  We were told to go to the information desk to get meal vouchers.  After some patience required to reach the front of a very slow line, the kind woman behind the information desk informed us that our flight was cancelled…we’d have to wait until Friday (two days away) and they would be putting us up in a hotel.

On boat to small island

So we wrote this blog from a hotel room and reflecting on patience.  There was a time and place when such an announcement as we received yesterday at the information desk, might have caused great alarm.  What do we do?  What about all the things we will have to rearrange?  Should we look into another flight?  As well as anger with the airline—How can they do this to us!?  Are you kidding me?!  What incompetence!  I would be lying if I said that such thoughts didn’t go through my head, but not in the same way they once did.  Not in the heart-pounding, mind-exploding, emotional rollercoaster way it once would have.  Living here has taught us a degree of patience.  Here was just another opportunity to practice patience, like waiting for medication at the pharmacy or for my Uber driver to pick up new batteries.

I not only see how we’ve grown in patience, but we’ve grown better about anticipating the need for patience.  We put more margin into our schedules.  I know to hug my kids and say goodbye before going to the pharmacy.  We know that things can happen with travel to and from the islands, so we are more prepared for the unexpected.  We pack homeschool supplies with us and have everything we need to do admin work if we are delayed. We had lots of plans for the week on the islands (including travel to the small island and meetings with the team there), but everyone knew that things like this happen and we were all ready to adjust. These are lessons we have learned and they help us to be more patient.

In the end, plans change. The changes will be inconvenient and unfortunate and the like, but we will eventually arrive at our destination.  In the mean time, we can think about all that we’ve learned and try to appreciate the extra time we’ve been given—another possible lesson related to patience.  When travel plans fail, we have more time for other things—in this case, homeschool, writing a blog, or just getting some rest.  We can’t change the circumstances, so we might as well try to be thankful for them.  Thank you Islands, for teaching us many lessons about patience.

PRAYERS ANSWERED 


We are thankful for the time we had at the hotel, which included getting to swim in a pool (swim lessons with our son are so much easier in a pool than the ocean)! Since writing the blog we have traveled and arrived on the little island to run a small conference with the team there.  We are thankful that our boat trip to the little island was completely uneventful on calm seas.  We are thankful that that means Megan’s back was unaffected by that trip.  The new boat business is such a blessing—a world of difference in comfort, safety, and reliability compared to other smaller boats that take people between islands.  We had a few really good days with the team on the little island (we had to end a day earlier than expected but we are thankful for the time we had).  They’ve been serving there for a year and have really done well as a team and integrating into their communities.  It was wonderful to see how much they have accomplished and grown.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
A colleague from the small island is very sick necessitating travel to another country.  She has made it to the big island, but cannot receive the proper care with the limited services on the islands.  A whole team of people (including us) have been dealing with the stress and logistics of arranging for the care and travels of her family.  Pray for healing for her and safe travels for them to mainland Africa tomorrow.  We are also traveling back to Clove Island today.  Pray for our safe travels as well.  Pray for positive reconnection with our friends and neighbors there. There is a cyclone coming our way later in the week.  It doesn’t look too serious, but we are more cautious after last year’s big storm.  Pray that it would blow out, down grade and/or switch direction.  

Birds & Listening to the Holy Spirit

 This past week we attended leadership meetings.  It was held at a nice quiet spot.  In the morning one could go out and see and hear all kinds of birds.  Each morning you could see at least a dozen different kinds of birds if you were quiet and looking.  But more about birds later…

Weaver bird

This past week we attended  leadership meetings. It was not a huge group—just people from our region of the organization gathering together to listen to the Holy Spirit and to receive from Him direction for the years ahead.  It is not a simple thing, to bring some 30 people together and discover a single direction to go in.  Different cultures, languages, personalities, responsibilities, burdens, ways of making decisions, ages, and more, all come into play as you try to hear from the Holy Spirit.  Is it reasonable to think that 30 odd people can come to agreement—not by majority vote, but in unity with one heart and one mind?  So often that seems like an impossible task.  We are a diverse group, hailing from at least 8 different countries. Such diversity makes unity difficult to achieve. Would the Lord really bring us to a place of unity?

And yet, we are promised these things in His Word:

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.”

“Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your name, the name You gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.”

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in me and I am in You. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that You have sent me. I have given them the glory that You gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and You in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.”

So why should we doubt?  And yet, I had my doubts…could we really think as one?  

Southern Boubou ((c) Jaunne-Marelize Van Tonder)

This is where birds come in.  In the morning, as I sat with the Lord, it seemed like He took delight in pointing out to me the different kinds of birds.  I watched a weaver bird for quite some time.  There were red-faced mousebirds that love to bob up and down, up and down.  The swifts would dive bomb like World War II fighter planes and tiny little Cape White Eyes—which look like little balls of fluff—it’s a wonder they can even fly.  There were bigger birds too: guinea fowl, grey louries, and the ibis with their loud and obnoxious call.  And so many other bird calls—a few in particular that stood out, for their clarity and beauty—melodic calls that rang out like someone playing a few repeated notes on a clarinet or a flute.  One call in particular caught my attention.  It was three clear notes, repeated again and again, a sort of “loo-dee-loo.”  Thanks to the internet, I could look up all the names of these birds I was seeing, and even listen to their calls, searching for the illusive bird call, but I struggled to find it.  I listened to dozens of calls but nothing seemed to fit.  

The next morning I heard the call again—what was making that beautiful call?  In a bit of frustration, I prayed about it “Lord, you love to give good gifts, would you help me find the bird that makes that call?”  A moment later a bird I hadn’t seen before perched on a branch almost directly in front of me.  I noted that this bird was a Southern Boubou before it flew away and continued on with my quiet time.  It wasn’t until later that I had the thought, “What does the call of the Southern Boubou sound like?”  Sure enough, this “shy shrike” makes the loo-dee-loo call.  Along with most of the other beautiful, clear calls that I was hearing each morning.  The Boubou is rather prolific in its variations, making all sorts of beautiful calls and often doing so in duet.  Now as I listened, I heard it.  The calls and answering calls, the variations—not just “loo-dee-loo” but, “loo-dee” and “loo-de-whoop” and many others.  All those beautiful clear calls coming from the same source—The Southern Boubou.

And it hit me that this was not only the Father, giving me the gift of identifying a bird call, but also the Spirit encouraging me to trust Him.  The Southern Boubou can have all sorts of calls, but they all come from the same source, and they work in harmony with each other.  Is this not the same things the Holy Spirit would do during our meetings?  Many voices, many variations, but all coming from the same source, the same Spirit, weaving into one.  And so it was with our conference.  With all our diversity, we were able to find unity of thought and direction, because despite the variety of voices, they all emanated from one source.  When God’s people humble themselves and listen, the Spirit’s voice comes through with clarity and power.

With kids at a museum exhibit

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful for all the leaders in our region and the opportunity to be with them and be inspired and challenged by them. We are very thankful that we got to spend the weekend with all three of our kids, having fun together. We are thankful that Megan was able to squeeze in a second PT visit in the midst of our meetings and for the improvement she has already seen in her symptoms. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for our region of Africa that there would be many who would catch the vision for working cross-culturally and that God would prepare the way for organizations and countries to welcome them. Pray for Hashiri that she would have peace and understanding within her family— she has sent several messages to Megan while we’ve been away asking for prayers. The young daughter of MaNadjma (our long time house helper) needs a specialist opinion for a health concern. Pray for peace for MaNadjma and that the diagnosis would not be anything serious. Pray for Madagascar as their government says that it is in the middle of a coup— pray for peace and justice to reign and for that country to return to a place of stability. Pray for our daughter as she continues to manage her rheumatoid arthritis— she has been struggling with more pain and fatigue this school term. Pray that her stress levels would be low (even as she prepares college applications) and that the changes to her treatment plan would bring relief without side effects. 

P.S. If you want to listen to some Southern Boubou calls : https://youtu.be/O_PpPnxM5JQ?si=GVs3ZwnbFFU_uMHP

Still Sticking to Your Guns?

 After I thought of the title for this post, I realized that I didn’t know where the expression comes from. I know its meaning— sticking to your position in the face of push-back or opposition—but the use of the word ‘guns’ makes it sound violent. So I looked it up, it comes from the idea of a soldier staying at their post and continuing to man their gun/weapon even under heavy attack.

Generally, I think of ‘sticking to your guns’ as being a positive thing, showing strength of character and commitment to your beliefs, but I wonder if sometimes sticking to our guns doesn’t create or prolong conflict. 

I have an island friend, a sister, who is very good at sticking to her guns. She will come to a conclusion or personal decision, often with well thought-out reasoning and then she will dig in and cannot be moved. In the past, we have applauded her ability to do this-- it has allowed her to stand strong and withstand persecution and temptation. This is a needed ability with all the opposition on the islands. But lately I have seen that sticking to her guns isn’t always a good thing. 

Ran into Clove Island friend at the airport

I come back to that noble picture of a soldier refusing to abandon his post as he fights off the enemy. It is a picture of war. But what if it isn’t a war anymore? What if the people approaching aren’t attacking, aren’t enemies? Suddenly the soldier sticking to their guns isn’t noble but unnecessarily hostile and combative. 

Our friend has some good ideas and thoughts about how other brothers and sisters should probably be changing and growing. She isn’t wrong, but she is fed up and has decided to draw a line in the sand, stand her ground and to make it a conflict. 

I guess the debate about whether to ‘stick to your guns’ requires contemplating some questions. Is this worth fighting over? Do we really want to call the people on the other side 'our enemies'? Is this a stand that God is calling me to make?

Heading to regional meetings

It is hard when we have an ideal in our head but then have the people we are asked to live and work with far from that ideal (or perhaps they don’t even accept our ideal as the goal). I have been encouraging our friend towards patience and bearing with others, to not declare them enemies and cut ties. I’ve tried to express it to her that sometimes we need to pray and allow God to work. He loved us while we were still sinners, his enemies, and he asks us to do the same for others. Sometimes we can’t just bombard people with our opinions, we have to give people time for God to soften their hearts and for them to come to those conclusions on their own. 

I think maybe I just don’t like this expression of 'sticking to your guns'. There is already a lot of war and conflict in the world.  I would prefer an expression that doesn’t commend guns—something that encapsulates standing strong but with a sense of perseverance, patience, hope and love.  Ultimately, we pray that we can find ways to walk with others, have the humility to fully consider their opinions and to help them to see our perspective without declaring war and seeing our brothers and sisters as our enemies.  Perhaps a single expression isn’t enough…

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:9-12

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We made it safely to mainland Africa for our annual regional leadership meetings. We’re halfway through and the first half has been encouraging. We thank God for the work happening across the region. Our youngest son has been having a great time playing with a bunch of kids near his age.  Megan got to see a physiotherapist and was given a bunch of exercises to aid in her back recovery. We had some encouraging reports from both the big island and the French Island of how God is moving in new ways and bringing more like-minded people together on the islands. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Tom is helping to lead some of the final sessions for the meeting where we try to bring everything together— pray that he can facilitate that time well and that as a group we could discern how God is leading us. Continue to pray for Megan’s back recovery, that the PT would help her to move in ways that will keep her back healthy.  We’ve heard that the gatherings in airport town haven’t been happening regularly since one sister traveled to the big island— pray that they would prioritize meeting and growing together.

Wanting Others to Succeed

 Can you rejoice in someone else’s success? Maybe that seems easy, or maybe you automatically sense that it depends on the situation or person. What if we elaborated…can you rejoice in someone else’s success when you are failing or struggling at the same thing? 

A view from hills on our island

It is a struggle that is as old as humanity. We see with the first two brothers that Cain is overcome by jealousy when his brother’s offering is accepted and praised and his is not— ultimately he let his jealousy and anger over the comparison lead him to murder. 

A friend and former neighbor sent me so many long voice messages this past month, many as long as 15 minutes. Her son has passed his Baccalaureate exam with honors and by all rights should be in line for a scholarship to study abroad, but she was struggling to know how to proceed and instead of asking other islanders (who would know much better the local scholarship systems), she kept coming back to me for advice and practical help. When I explained that we were not the best source of information and help, she insisted that she couldn’t go to other islanders for help. “There is too much jealousy. No one wants to help someone else succeed.” She seemed to feel that having a son do so well isolated her.

Our friend running the new boat business has run into many obstacles and frustrations, and some of the most prominent theories on why he has been given such a hard time have been that people don’t want the project to succeed, even if it can benefit the larger community and is a needed improvement on the older modes of transport. The problem is that there are all those owners of the older, smaller, generally-unsafe boats, who don’t want to see a better mode of transport arise and they have families, clout and influence. 

Another friend came to us just yesterday very upset because her sister had destroyed all her plants and flowers and had become violent when our friend tried to stop her. Growing plants at home isn’t that common among islanders and apparently our friend always got compliments when people came to the house and saw the flowers. She thinks that is why her sister wanted to destroy them. She didn’t like her sister being praised. 

People waiting for certificate ceremony on Sunday

We’ve had some friends from mainland Africa talk about an attitude that sometimes stops their communities from thriving and advancing. There was a proverb they quoted that went something like “the grass that grows tall gets cut”. The meaning being that you shouldn’t try to be better than those around you or you will be cut down to be the same as everyone else. Another person told us that where he was from ‘PhD’ was short for ‘pull him down’ because anyone who pursued advanced eduation was trying to be better than his people and needed to be stopped or at least humbled. While we agree that humility is good, we see that jealousy is not.  When individuals strive to be better and to try new things, it does not have to be done in pride, arrogance or competition.  When done with humility, it can help the greater community and can inspire others to do likewise.  

We hear these stories and we see this attitude of not wanting others to pull ahead among islanders and it grieves us, but at the same time, we can see the seeds of jealousy in our own hearts. 

We warn our new team members and remind ourselves that comparison is dangerous and can potentially lead to jealousy, resentment and discouragement. This comes up a lot with language learning. It’s hard when you are still struggling to piece together simple sentences to see your teammate using advanced grammar and already having deep and meaningful conversations with people.  But it’s also easy to succumb to the lowest denominator.  If you’re the best on the team, why not sit back on your laurels and take it easy rather than pushing forward? But it is in the team’s best interest to have the individual’s thriving and nuturing their gifts. 

Ultimately the challenge is to rejoice in the victories and accomplishments of others, allowing it to motivate or inspire us, while not allowing it to drag us down. And hopefully it goes without saying that we don’t want to hold people back or tear them down, we want to help each other succeed and reach even greater heights!  May God guard our hearts and help us cheer each other on!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are happy to hear that the interpersonal conflict that was holding back weekly meetings in one town have been resolved and that they are meeting again!  The boat with gasoline arrived and so the gas shortage is at an end.  Tom went to an English Ceremony on the other side of the island over the weekend.  Taxibuses don’t run in the afternoons over the weekend so he got a ride back on a motorcycle.  We’re thankful for a safe trip.  Tom completed another teacher training this past week.  The new teachers all did really well on their practicum exam.  Megan continues to have good conversations with Hashiri.  Muki and Mtsa continue to study well and seem to understand a bit more each day.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Two of the people Mtsa was sharing with left for the French island and probably won’t come back.  Two others seem willing to listen, but are not really engaging.  Pray for a change of heart there and for encouragment for Mtsa.  We leave tomorrow for 3 weeks of travel.  Pray for safe travels and good meetings.  Pray that the local groups which have been struggling to meet would have a new vitality and passion for weekly meetings—especially the one that recently overcame the interpersonal conflict.  Pray for the boat project—the need for reliable and honest boat workers is so pressing that our colleauge is traveling to a nearby country to look for staff.  Pray that the Lord would bless this endeavor with honest reliable people who can shine for the Kingdom. Pray for Hashiri as she struggles with conflict in her house and wants to be forgiving and loving in the midst of it. Pray for our kids at boarding school as they are facing a busy, stressful season.