Karate

Tom, kids and BruceLee

On the islands you take opportunities as they come.  Sometimes you will walk into a store and they will be selling something very strange for the islands — say a good brand of coffee,  or pickles, or peanut M & M’s.  You might take these things for granted, but these are not normal products for the island.  So when we see them, and if the price isn’t outrageous, we buy them because there is no guarantee we will see it again.  Some things we have seen that we haven’t seen again include ground meat, hot mitts, and tortilla chips.

We’ve learned to take advantage of the unique because—who knows when you’ll find it again.  That’s exactly how we found ourselves doing karate.  Our good friend Arongo came by the house for a visit.  He shared with us how when he was growing up he did lots of karate, had become a champion at home and had received his black belt.  This was surprising news (and then again not all that surprising—islanders have a way of randomly revealing surprising details about themselves).  He then shared that although it had been many years, they were trying to get a dojo together and it would be great for publicity if they could get some foreigners involved.

Boys and Sensei

Now you may think it’s pretty shameless being asked to do something just for the color of your skin, but we get this all the time.  Moreover, we saw an opportunity. Our kids never get the chance to do any extracurricular activities on the islands.  This was like tortilla chips in the shop.  It’s a chance to do something a little bit different, build new relationships, and get some extra exercise.  So we said, Yes!

And that is how we found ourselves, (Tom and the kids) under the free tutelage of Sensei BruceLee. (Not his real name, but he goes by an English name, so we thought this would be fun.)  Sensei BruceLee is a character.  An older man who clearly has a passion for the sport.  He goes all over teaching kids karate at seemingly no profit to himself.  Possibly because he was taught by people of a foreign language.  Possibly because, he’s just a bit different, he hardly uses any language to teach the techniques.  Everything is pantomime and modeling—and he’s surprisingly effective.  And so, every Saturday we make our way to practice some karate.  There have been many weeks when karate was postponed because the practice space was being used for a wedding, but whenever it is free, Sensei BruceLee has been there, ready and eager to teach us new moves.

Although all of us do it, it has been most fun to see how it has engaged our daughter.  We think she needed an outlet for sports. Sports for island girls is pretty limited at her age.  During school P.E. boys play soccer, while the girls stand around, mostly ignored by the teacher.  When visiting the big island we’ve been envious of the opportunities there for girls to study dance and ballet.  Our daughter would love that.  Wonderfully enough, we think karate has actually met some of those needs.  The karate lessons are quite choreographed.  We see our daughter enjoying the fluidity of movement and grace it takes to do the moves well.  The boys like the kicking and punching, but our daughter shows an aptitude for the balance and movement.

Daughter is gifted karate gear

We’ve been away for a month with conferences, evaluations and vacation.  We are not sure if the karate has continued.  Will it be like the tortilla chips?  Something that we were able to do for a season and now it’s gone?  We hope not.  But then, something else might pop up.  You never know on the islands.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We made it back to the islands with all our bags and have already reconnected with many friends and neighbors.  We even managed to bring back a toaster oven without being overweight.  The kids went back to school this week and their first day back went well.  We’ve been glad to hear that all of our family members who were traveling have made it back safely.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We made it back to the islands, but almost immediately, everyone (but Tom) got sick!  Vomiting, headaches, fevers, coughs—the works.  It was a rough first few days.  Couple this with the island power cuts and humid heat at night, it felt a bit like a one-two punch for our return.  But God is good and we are recovering and adjusting. Pray for health and rain to break the heat.  Our boss’s knee is still busted and may need surgery.  Pray for wise decisions for that, as the timing is far from ideal.  One of our island sisters who is still struggling with health issues and trying to see if traveling to the French island is her best way forward. We’re still looking for teammates, both short-term and long-term.  May the Lord send good people our way. We pray for opportunities to share the 2 kingdoms, to find those who are seeking wisdom and light, and for light to shine in the darkness. 

Cultural Mix

The islands are pretty homogeneous. We’ve actually heard it said that the islands are one of the most homogeneous countries on the planet. That means there isn’t cultural diversity. Almost everyone is the same people group, same language, same culture. (This might help you understand how and why we stand out.)

Our family in Europe

Other countries usually have multiple people groups and languages (and not just because of the presence of foreign expats and immigrants), even people that started the same tend to diversify with time. We remember being surprised when we lived in France that among purely “French” people there was still a lot of local culture and even different dialects that still existed. It was fascinating. Even the islands (to be fair) are not as homogeneous as they may seem at first glance. Each island has a distinct dialect of the local language and a lot of unique cultural practices and rituals. Even different villages on a single island have been known to have some unique expressions and customs. Still, the fact remains that the islands are not very diverse.

This past week we have been on vacation with Tom’s family in Europe, seeing the diversity of different European cities while at the same time experiencing the unique diversity of the people group known as “tourists”. We sat through a security briefing that was repeated in 8 different languages and regularly saw tour guides flip through several languages with ease. We passed by people in impossibly short mini-skirts followed by people in full head coverings.

I’ll admit that the diversity has been refreshing. Maybe it has just been nice to not stand out as much. But then there was still the problem of where did we fit in the mix? We may be Americans but for the past decade we’ve lived in Africa. We both studied Spanish in school and learned French as adults, so most of the time we could follow to some degree the romance languages being spoken. Having lived on the islands we are generally more modestly dressed than many Europeans or even Americans, though our clothing choices do change when we’re not immersed in island culture and climate.

It was funny to see people try to size us up and guess where we fit and specifically what language we would speak. Most of the time if they saw us as a whole family they would try English, but we did end up having several conversations in French when that seemed easier. The funniest was when they saw Tom by himself. People often have a hard time placing Tom at a glance. Tom actually loves to play “Guess my ethnic background” with people because he has heard almost everything… Arab, Indian, Filipino, North African, Native American, Latin American, various Southern European countries and more. On the islands people usually think he is Arab and those that don’t know him will often greet him in Arabic. But on this European vacation, when he stepped out in front of us and was mobbed by the tour guides and taxi men, they tried several languages trying to see which one would get Tom to respond. They started with Italian, then Spanish, then Portuguese, then English, then French, then German…For fun, Tom finally expressed his disinterest in the local island language!  The blank stares were pretty funny and it turned out to be an effective way to be left alone. 

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PRAYERS ANSWERED
We’ve had a great time with family on our vacation.  Everyone’s travels have gone smoothly so far.   We’re also glad that those who were sick did not have severe symptoms and recovered within 24 hours and that everyone seemed to have a good time.  We’re thankful for lots of great moments with parents and grandparents, uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews, brothers and sister and cousins.  We were ale to spend a day with one of our colleagues who lives and works among islanders in France.  It was a blessing to spend the day with her.  Our vacation was both fun and relaxing.  We are thankful for times of refreshment and beautiful scenery.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Our good friend and boss just busted his knee playing soccer on the big island.  We’re praying for a quick recovery and that there would no need for surgery.  Pray for the rest of our travels as we make our way back to the islands this week.  Pray for our kids and our nieces and nephews as they transition from vacation mode back to school.  Pray for one of our island colleagues who had a traumatic experience while off island— pray that they would have the space to process and recover. We are looking for people to join our team in the immediate future as well as down the road in 2020.  Pray that the Lord would send wonderful teammates  our way.

Love makes the Difference

Feel the love

Sometimes it is the simple, most basic messages that we need to hear again and again. Probably because, although simple, the most important messages are also deep and profound. You can understand them immediately but can continue to explore them and learn from them for a lifetime.

Love is important. Love is essential.  It is not a new idea, but we need to be reminded.

This past week we were at a biannual conference of people that work in similar contexts all over Africa. This conference is always an encouraging time. We have many beloved colleagues from all over that we only see every two years at this gathering. It is refreshing to be with people who automatically understand our situation and challenges without much explanation. We can dive right into deeper topics because we know that they are on the same page. We always learn a lot from our time surrounded by this special group of people and each time there are some essential lessons that we learn and relearn.

This time it was about love. Do we really love the people and country where we serve? Are the things that we do from a sense of obligation or an overflow of love from our heart?  Because love makes all the difference.

It is easy when we are surrounded by people that understand, to actually wallow in the negatives, in all the hard things about our location and the people we serve, in the frustrations and heartbreaks we’ve endured. We might defend ourselves and say that we are just sharing requests for prayer, but we are also venting. This venting is sometimes cathartic, but if our hearts stay wallowing, if this wallowing is actually our normal state of mind, then our service becomes a burden and not an act of love.

We are called to rejoice always! If love is our starting place then rejoicing (not complaining) becomes normal! When we love someone, we are thankful for them and it is easy to see the good.

It is not that our visible actions or to-do lists will necessarily change, but our hearts and attitudes will change. For us, joy will increase and burdens will become light. For others, they will feel the difference. Our love can have the power to soften hearts and tear down walls.

Some of you may ask, “But how can we control who we love? It is a feeling outside our control.” The answer is that we pray for it! And while we wait for love to grow in our hearts, we do acts of love in obedience. We practice a thought-life of love, lingering on the positive thoughts of compassion and thankfulness and shooing away the thoughts of frustration and annoyance. And again we pray for more love.

God is love. He has enough to fill our hearts to overflowing, let’s ask Him for more.

Travels continue

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The conferences went very well! It was so good to be surrounded by so many great friends and colleagues. The times of singing and prayer were sweet. One of our colleagues is a speech therapist and she was able to meet with our boys and is helping to make a plan to help them speak well. We are blessed by her willingness to serve us in this way. The work continues to spread, there is the hope to spread work into new countries and among lots of new peoples in the coming years, pray for the right workers and connections and love for these new pushes. We are meeting Tom’s family for some vacation! So far travels have gone smoothly and we look forward to some family time!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
There are various islanders that are hoping for us to bring things back for them, pray that we would be able to meet as many of these requests as possible and that by doing so that it would strengthen relationships and give us opportunities to share with them. Many of our island colleagues are returning to the islands this week, pray for their transitions back. Also pray for a new family coming to the smallest island to live for the first time. Pray for them that they would have the energy to dive into language learning and relationships, that love would overflow from them in the initial challenges of island living. Two of our old teammates who now live on the French island weren’t able to come to the conferences because she was put on bedrest the day before (she is over 7 months pregnant), pray for the rest of her pregnancy, for a healthy baby and safe delivery.

Isolation

Youngest at island school

It is never easy to feel alone or isolated. On the islands, our children are always different.  Though they have many island friends at their island school, they will always not quite fit in.  This is the reality of our life, for we too, as adults, though we have many friends, speak the language, and understand a great deal of island culture, will never quite fit in.  The reality of that is isolation.  It is one of the reasons why we work on teams, but often kids don’t have have kids their age on the team (or in our kids case right now, any kids at all). So that is a reality for our kids…but not this week. This week we write to you from continental Africa where we have been attending something called Educational Support Week (ESW).  Held at a school for children of workers in Africa, ESW allows our children to be tested for grade level, participate in a regular English speaking school setting, and enjoy the company of a whole bunch of kids a lot like them.  It’s been a joy to see them running around on playgrounds, playing sports, eating in a cafeteria, and reading books from a library.  Our kids are surrounded by kids like them in many ways.

It is not only the children who benefit from this time with others, but we as parents get to interact with parents from all over Africa, we get to hear their successes and difficulties and commiserate over the challenges of being a lifelong sojourner.

As we talked with other families, we realize how difficult this problem of isolation can really be, and how, though we deal with this on the islands, it can be far more difficult in some contexts.  One family we spoke with lives among a violent and dangerous people group where honor killings are frequent and children fighting, beating and throwing rocks at one another is the norm.  In this context they have to keep their children close to home.  Local schools are not an option.  Children sometimes come to their house, but even then, neighbors can be suspicious and hinder their visits.  Their children’s world is quite small.  Comparatively our kids have it easy on the islands, they may always be “different” and without the extended families that island kids live with, but they can still go to school and play.

Oldest at island school

Girls are a whole other isolation challenge.  As they grow into adulthood, many times the places in which we live, where standards of acceptable behavior are very different, become increasingly difficult for them.  Already we have neighbors who demand for us to tell them when our daughter officially enters puberty.  We have no intention of sharing the details of our daughter’s body with the neighborhood.  Still island men, though not normally inclined to make physical advances will talk and look and leer.  How do we teach our daughter to withstand that?  Many island families will keep their daughters at home.  Safe. Secure. Isolated.  Will we have to do the same with our daughter?

It could be worse.  Again we talked to other families in other people groups where young women are regularly groped and often unsafe.  Other places where cloistering adolescent girls at home is the cultural norm and the rules of keeping them at home are strictly kept.  We empathize with these families and the challenges they face.

In the Kingdom of Light there is no such isolation.  We are fully known.  We have complete and joyful community.  There is no fear.  There is no taking advantage of innocence.  There is no need to hide or guard what is good and pure.  It is yet another example of it’s power to transform.  In the meantime, we will live with the problem of isolation.  We will suffer with it’s consequences, as we proclaim the freedom, inclusion, and community that can be found in the Kingdom of Light, so that one day, isolation will end, and all may be free.

There were monkeys at ESW too

PRAYERS ANSWERED
ESW went very well.  Our kids’ testing went well and the kids didn’t seem stressed about it.  They greatly enjoyed the opportunity to be in school with other kids a lot like them and their teachers appreciated having them. We also were given great advice for how to help them in the future. We are so thankful for how well the week went.  We had a bit of sickness over the weekend, but everybody seems to be doing better now.  We are thankful for good health. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We are finishing up one conference and beginning another.  Pray that these conferences would be good times of prayer, fellowship, and learning.  Pray for all the travel and logistics that go into moving from one conference to the next.   Pray for the networking that happens, as we talk to people that want to work on the islands and people who can guide our future work. Continue to pray for our island brothers and sisters that they would encouraged and studying with one another as most of the foreign workers are off-islands.

You Can't Do That

Forbidden photo--(it's okay, I smudged the price out)

“Madam, you can’t do that.”
I put my phone down. I had been taking a picture of one of the toaster oven boxes on the shelf. Remember my friend who wanted us to buy one for her?  So I stopped by one of the prominent stores on the big island to check out the options. The problem was that there wasn’t just one toaster oven model, there were at least five, made by different companies, with different prices and different sizes. At that point I just needed to get the information.

I explained the situation to the door guard who had stopped me, but he insisted that no photography or video was allowed in the store.

“It is the law of the store,” he told me emphatically.

So I put my phone away into my purse and got out a pen and paper. I started to write down the specs and prices. I could sense the man looking over my shoulder and acting tense. I started to look at the back of one of the boxes and he had to speak. “Don’t do that!”

I immediately asked him why and while he didn’t seem to know why, I could tell that he thought I was circumventing the rules somehow. Whatever the heart of the no photography law was, he seemed to think that the heart was to keep this detailed information secret. “But I need the information to know which one to buy.”

Kids taking a break from testing

I kept looking at the toaster ovens, trying to commit the information to memory without writing, thinking I might go outside to write it down if necessary. Soon some type of manager came up. I still had the forbidden pen and paper in my hand. The manager confirmed that I was not allowed to write down information like that. I expressed my dismay. “How am I supposed to tell my friend what you have available if I can’t have this information? She is on another island, she can’t come here.” The manager gave me a solution. “Tell me which ones you are interested in and we will print you a paper with all their information and prices.” I was surprised and wondered if perhaps I didn’t understand (these conversations were all in the local language), so I repeated, “You will give me a paper with all this same information.” He nodded his head. So I pointed out the five different toaster ovens on the shelves and he took them down and to his counter, while I looked around the rest of the store.

Ten minutes later the manager found me and handed me the printout, full with serial numbers, specs and prices. I left the store still at a loss of what the point of the “don’t write anything down” law was.

Islanders are often content to accept rules without the “why”. They are generally told not to question, to follow the letter of the law without an awareness or concern for the heart of law. That’s why it can be so confusing for them when they ask what are the laws that govern us. How are we supposed to pray? wash? live? We tell them that for us, it is the heart that is important, not the letter of the law.  Islanders also value information.  Having information that others do not have is a form of power.  Perhaps this was also at play in this interaction.  A sort of cultural perfect storm of silliness.

The good news is, I have the information about the toaster ovens.  Now we just need to choose one…

First time with glasses!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our travels to mainland Africa have gone smoothly.  We are enjoying the cooler weather.  Our medical and dental visits went well.  Tom has a new crown and Megan’s ultrasound showed her to be completely cyst free—the first post-op follow-up had shown the cyst growing back. We see this as a miracle!  Megan and our daughter also had a very good experience at the optometrist and are now sporting new glasses.  Our colleague managed to return home and be with her mother before her passing.  We rejoice that her mother is with the Lord, and that family could be with her for her final hours.  Pray for our colleague as she hopes to return to Africa this week. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Our children will be in testing all week in an effort to assess how they are doing with homeschooling.  This is a bit stressful, but it also offers them a lot of fun opportunities to participate in activities at the school where the testing is being done.  Pray that this week would be a good one and that we would learn what we can continue to do to oversee our children’s education.  We have had frequent messages back and forth with our friends on the islands.  Pray that those islanders who have been learning and growing will continue to do so in our absence.  Continue to lift up the political situation which has the potential to become unstable. Good friend to many of our teammates has just gotten engaged— she has been wanting to get married for a long time so this is an answer to prayer but we also want people praying that she would marry a good man and not just be forced into a marriage with the first man that offers.

Saying Farewell

Our son by the airport

Imagine you’re getting ready to travel on a plane.  You’re busy packing, cleaning up the house, trying to make sure you’re not forgetting anything.  Just then you hear the doorbell ring.  It’s your neighbor, holding a casserole dish.  With a big smile they say to you, “Hey, I heard you were traveling tomorrow, so I made you a lasagna!  It’s still hot!  Just stick it in the freezer and then you can take it with you!” 

A couple days ago, Ma Riziki, came with a full gallon of mataba (a local dish of pounded greens cooked in coconut milk). It was for us to take on our trip! She suggested we freeze it to take on the plane.  We’ve had these awkward gifts before. To the islander it makes perfect sense, mataba is a local delicacy and something people miss when they travel— what could be a better gift!  Plus, she wanted to butter us up…

Leaving the islands is often a bit of an ordeal, even if it is for just a short time, if you are leaving the island, you are expected to say your farewells. There is actually a special verb in the local language for these farewells (to “laga”) and we’ve incorporated it into our English. We’ll say, “I need to go laga my neighbors.” This means I’m traveling in the next day or two and I need to inform my neighbors and say goodbye. Telling someone that you are traveling a week beforehand doesn’t count as laga-ing them.  You have to say farewell within a day or two of traveling for it to count. Too many times we’ve had an islander confront one of us by saying, “You didn’t laga me?” Sometimes we honestly forgot.  Sometimes we looked for them but didn’t find them.  Sometimes we told them that we were traveling a couple days before our departure and thought that it was enough. Sometimes we felt like our absence was for such a trivial amount of time that laga-ing people wasn’t necessary. In any case, when people confront us we remember that islanders love to complain and act affronted.  It’s like a love language and shows that they value our relationship. So we apologize and try to reassure them that we value them too.

With most relationships it is okay to wait until the day before traveling to inform people.  In fact this is often preferred by islanders. The late notice means there is little chance of your plans falling through and you being embarrassed in front of people by not having your plans come to fruition. It also means that lots of people can’t make requests of you— either to transport things for them as you travel or to buy and bring things back. (These are both common island requests.)

Our kids all have karate shirts now

Still there are some closer friends that we have to give advanced notice of our travel (otherwise they will complain and act affronted).  We told Ma Riziki about our trip off-island about a week ago. We could almost see her mind reeling through things she could ask us for…. After a brief time of small talk, she announced her request. She wanted small oven—like a toaster oven. Ma Riziki has never traveled so we’ve had to explain before that there are limits to what we can take on a plane. I think she realized this was a bigger request because she explained that we should get one only if it wasn’t too expensive and that it didn’t have to be a big oven. We told her we’d look into it.

Yesterday, the mataba was freezing, and we were cleaning the house and packing. Ma Riziki was back…with more well-wishes for our travels and another gift of food! A local peanut/sesame treat made with honey and chilies. Thankfully it does not need to be refrigerated. What’s up? Why was she making such a big deal about us leaving?  Does she think we were leaving for several months?? Perhaps she just really wants that toaster oven and is laying it on thick.

We flew to the big island today. Ma Riziki called us while we were in the airport security line to give us yet another farewell.  An hour later we were on the big island, where we treated our friends to a mataba lunch and then drove to the local stores to check out the toaster oven selection.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The brothers and sisters that went to the training have told us that it went well and that they gained a lot from their time together. We were able to work through our long to-do list before traveling. We are thankful that the government shutdown has stopped (even if temporarily).

PRAYERS REQUESTED
One of our island sisters has been in pain. She’s been told that she needs surgery but the medical advice she has received so far seems suspect. She has asked our help to connecting with a good doctor in mainland Africa. Pray for healing for her and that we would be able to connect her with good medical counsel. One of our colleagues has returned home because her mother is dying and has entered hospice care. Pray for her and her siblings during this time. We are hoping to have a number of medical/dental visits while we are off-island, pray that we would get the care and advice we need. Our island has had serious power cuts for the past few weeks. Pray that the island’s generators could be fixed and power could be restored. Pray for the group that Tom meets with and that they would be motivated to study together in Tom’s absence.

If you could take away one problem…

Our English Club at work

For English Club this week we led an activity in which students had to answer a hypothetical question first as an individual and then as part of a group.  One of the questions we asked was “If you could take away one problem, what would it be?” The group answers were especially striking to us as we compared them with recent news from the States.  We thought it a nice opportunity to compare some of the cultural challenges of our two countries:

Group 1: “We would take away the problem of drugs.”
We hear a lot of news about the opioid epidemic in the states.  We hear news of children being born with defects, families decimated, employers not being able to find employees who can pass a drug test, and entire communities being destroyed by this problem.  And that’s just one of the kinds of drugs the US struggles with.  It certainly would be wonderful to see this problem go away.

We were a little surprised to hear the students pose this as a problem because, although there are some drug users here in the islands, it is certainly not at epidemic levels.  But the students pointed to the numerous young men who, because of drug use, had fallen into mental illness.  It’s well known that drug use can cause or be a catalyst for mental illness and it’s true that there are a number of young men who wander the streets of our city talking to themselves and looking generally disheveled.  Since there is no help or aid given for mental illness on the islands, families have little choice but to let their mentally ill family members wander the streets.  We’ve heard reports that in some cases the mentally ill are even locked in a room or chained in their house.  So while not an epidemic, no more drugs among islanders would certainly be a good thing.

Beautiful Island Sunset on Tuesday

Group 2: “We would take away the problem of unpaid salaries.”
On the islands, salaries often go unpaid.  The government is notorious for failing to pay salaries.  Sometimes government employees like teachers will go as many as 6 to nine months without pay!  We still do not know if this is because of budget mismanagement, corruption or political reason (most likely a mixture of all three), but it is a constant problem on the islands.  So much so that islanders have multiple ways to cope and make do.  They have family members, they have farms, shops sell on credit until the government finally pays. 

This problem was one that, in the past, we would have said people in the States would not understand.  Imagine, the government not paying it’s workers!  Imagine people continuing to do their job without being paid.  It would never happen!  People wouldn’t stand for it.  Yet, as of writing this blog, the US government has been shuttered for 30 days.  Not only is this unprecedented, but we wonder about how people are making ends meet.  Islanders have large networks of people they can lend money from and this is a normal part of community life.  They are used to making things stretch.  They have ways of getting around things when the salary doesn’t come in that month.  But do US workers have these networks?  Doubtful. 

Unpaid salaries—it’s a big problem.  It would be nice to see it go away.

Group 3:  “We would take away the problem of hatred.”
Group 3 was thinking big.  “There is so much war in this world.  So many people hate other people.  Even in our islands, people from one island hate people from the other island.”  It’s true.  Other students added that even from town to town there can be grudges and hatred that go back generations.  Hatred is a horrible thing.

And here again, we thought that our own country would do well to be rid of such a problem.  Hatred certainly has become more prevalent in recent years.  There seems to be so little reaching across the table, so little listening and giving the other the benefit of the doubt.  What does seem to grow is insults, dehumanizing and hatred.  Will it ever stop?  If we could only take away hatred…

Our daughter in karate gear

Sometimes the islands and the States seem worlds away, but then sometimes we see that we aren’t so different after all.  Drugs, unpaid salaries, hatred.  Yeah, I’d like those problems to go away too.   Wouldn’t you?

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The women’s time of prayer and fasting went well.  May we see the results of this faithfulness in weeks ahead.  Megan has had some great birthday dates with all the kids.  The kids have gotten their grades back for the last trimester at the French school.  They all did well.  We continue to thank the Lord for their good experiences at local school as well as homeschool.  We are thankful that some rains have come to help break the unbearable heat we experience during this time of year.  Our good friend Ma Imani (who has been on the big island for 1.5 years now) came to our island for a short visit, it was encouraging to talk to her. She told a story about praying for and seeing deliverance for her young daughter (2 years) after each child in their household was effected by some dark spiritual presence. She was boldly telling us and the others with her about the power of prayer and of the good news.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
A number of our island brothers and sisters have been participating in some training about dealing with trauma and persecution.  We hope this will be beneficial and a chance for them to go deeper together.  Our friends in another organization are still struggling with some difficult team problems.  Continue to pray that there will be resolution and reconciliation.  Pray for our countries. That the only one who can really take away these problems of drugs, salaries, and hatred will step in and change hearts and bring life out of death.