Washing Feet

 How do you feel about feet?  Are they smelly and stinky and something you never want to touch?  Or are they just feet?  I don’t feel strongly about feet.  For me they’re just feet.  But I find island feet kind of fascinating.  It being a hot tropical place, most people wear some kind of sandal, often a very simple flip-flop.  You will see people wearing shoes and socks sometimes, but the majority of people who come by are wearing sandals.  Moreover, island culture demands people to take off their shoes when entering a home or stepping on a mat.  The result is, we get to see people’s feet quite a bit.

Most common sandals

Our friend Ananas (he’s the one who sells us eggs and bananas at inflated prices) is a part time farmer.  He often wears the flimsiest of flip-flops which seem redundant with his large, flat, hard, calloused soles.  The cracks in his callouses on the sides of his heel are canyons, crevasses you could put your finger in.  He is missing a number of toe nails.  He has some impressively tough feet.

Women will sometimes put henna on their feet.  It is traditional for a bride to receive guests while sitting on her bridal bed, her feet sticking out in front of her.  Very often those feet have been decorated with henna—sometimes in intricate designs.  Women must take more care of their feet, because I don’t notice their feet being cracked and calloused like men’s.  Pumice stones are naturally available here, so it’s not too hard to find that helpful tool for looking after feet.

Muki’s feet are somewhere in between.  He still has all his toe nails and though his heels have some cracks they are not the deep fissures of Ananas.  I had the privilege to hold them in my hands a few weeks ago.  We were reading John and came to the part about foot washing.  As soon as we started to read it, I thought, “I should wash his feet.”  I think every time we read this passage we should wash each others feet.  We’re told to!  “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”  Here’s how it went down with Muki.

We read the passage as we normally do a study and then started to discuss the implications of it.  We talked about how it really is a challenging passage as the “teacher” is serving others in a humble way.  It’s so different from how people in authority act on the islands.  Those with honor, status and authority never do menial jobs.  It is beneath them.  Even husbands refuse to wash dishes in the home and will call it “women’s work.”  

Ready to wash!

The study was going very well and I was getting ready to say, “Okay, let’s do it.”  When Muki paused and said, “So, I have a question.”  “Go ahead,” I replied.  He looked a little sheepish.  “So if he was their teacher and he did these things…well, you’re kind of my teacher…so would you…?”  Immediately I got up and said, “Wait right here.”  I went out and got a towel, a basin and a pitcher of water, then I came out and set it before him.  With a big smile on his face he put his feet into the basin.  (I was expecting one foot at a time, because that’s been my experience of how it’s done, but Muki was all in.)  I washed his feet.  He was silent as I did it.  His feet were quite dusty and took some attention.  The water and wiping washed that all away.  Then I dried his feet with the towel, and went back to my seat.  We continued to talk about the passage a bit more, but it was clear that actions had spoken much deeper than words.  His face was delighted.  He prayed with a deep joy and went on his way grinning with his clean feet.

I don’t come from an honor and shame culture.  I don’t know that it would matter very much to me if my teacher or leader wanted to wash my feet.  I would see the symbolism in it and accept it as a good thing.  But I can see now that it means so much more here on the islands.  A simple act of humility carries a powerful message.  I have only the honor that comes from being a well-off foreigner teacher.  How much more for the King of the world to stoop down and wash his friends’ feet!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful for these opportunities to put words into action. Women’s gathering was a good study and was well attended. Megan was able to study with Hashiri and an island sister— this was an encouraging study and eye-opening for Hashiri to interact with an islander much further on the journey than herself. Our two older kids had a nice midterm long weekend break. We are thankful for friends who were able to host them. We haven’t gotten a new hinge for our refrigerator door but we are thankful that the door has stayed on and been functional in spite of the broken piece. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
The men are meant to meet this week— pray that many would come and that they would be learning to trust and care for each other. Our youngest son travels on Saturday to the big island by himself (something his older siblings also did as part of their rite of passage into young adulthood). We will follow him a couple days later. Pray for smooth travels and for it to be a good kind of stretching for him. Pray for him also as he packs up everything that he’ll want for boarding school and says goodbye to his local friends— may he leave well. One of the newer sisters is facing a lot of pressure from her family members— pray that she would continue to stand strong and know how to respond to her family. Pray for her kids as well as they watch their mother weather this experience. Ma Imani’s daughter and step-daughter are being bothered by teachers at school that don’t agree with their parents’ views. Pray for these two teenagers to have peace, patience and wisdom beyond their years.