A Good Catch?

Island husband and wife

“Is he a good person?”
“Oh, yes!” they assured me.
“Have you known him long?” I pushed, wondering if they knew him well enough to know if he was a good guy or not.
“No. But he came and told me that he wanted to marry me and we talked some and understood each other. He likes my child and she likes him.”

So she’s planning on marrying the guy who she barely knows! Just like that, even after her disastrous first marriage to a guy she barely knew, where he only stuck around long enough to impregnate her and then left her with absolutely nothing—no support, no contact, nothing. They had told me that the first guy was a “good person” too, only to rail about him later as the worst of men. It came out later that he had only married her because his mom wanted him to. So this new guy desires to marry her for his own reasons—does that make him a catch?

This is not the first time that we have been chagrined by the lack of scrutiny that some islanders use in the engagement process. For many island women there is a feeling that you need to secure a guy while you can. “Who knows how many proposals you’ll get? This could be your only chance.” Unfortunately, this thinking often leads to people “settling”, loveless marriages, and quick divorce.

Our three peas in a pod

Unfortunately again, islanders don’t usually put high expectations on marriage. Husbands and wives often don’t spend a lot of time together, so if they don’t really enjoy each other’s company that’s not a problem.  I remember warning a mother against her daughter’s fiancé and she just assured me that if he was really a bad guy, then “she’d just leave him.” The possibility that he was a terrible guy wasn’t enough to stop the wedding.  Terrible husband?  No problem.  There’s always divorce.

So our friend has found someone who wants to marry her. With a messy first marriage and a child, her options aren’t plentiful. In that sense, she’s content to have any offer. But still, we push her to want more, to know the man before she marries him, to make sure he’ll treat her and her daughter well, to see if she likes him as a person beforehand.  We push and probe and ask questions, but it’s an uphill battle.  It’s yet another area where we fight against the current while the blank stares and non-committal answers seem to say, “Why do you care so much?”

Tom at the bday party

It’s this background of unfulfilling/broken marriages that made last Thursday so refreshing… We were at an island sister’s birthday party.  Her husband got up and gave a speech. We listened as he talked about his wife and their marriage. They had been friends, went to school together, studied abroad together, and been engaged for six years before they married. There was a sense of partnership, of a building a life together, of genuine affection and respect that was so different from what we hear from most islanders about marriage.  Now their marriage has not always been easy.  We’ve seen them go through some hard times.  But the commitment, the love, the oneness is there in a way so often lacking in island marriages, we couldn’t help but rejoice with them and hope that it will be an example worth following.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The rumors of unrest did not come to fruition! Things have been calm. Our teammate made it safely back to the US.  Our sister’s birthday party was a lot of fun and a great opportunity for her to reach out to her friends in love.  Tom was able to get back together with the guys he’s been meeting with and it went well.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
We pray for our friend mentioned above that she will find a good man to marry and be a father to her daughter (whether it is her current suitor or someone else). Tom has had a bad cough for a couple weeks, pray that it would go away and he’d get good sleep.  A neighbor we’ve known for a long time has recently shown an interest in talking about the kingdom of light and watching the associated film.  These meetings have been encouraging, even if we’re not sure where it is all leading to.  Pray it leads to great things! Megan has been making new and deeper contacts with some of our neighbors.  Pray that these friendships could continue to develop.

The Perils of Renting

Boys & friend at house under construction

As foreigners on the islands, we rent our homes.  It might be possible to buy but islanders don’t really buy and sell their homes so the only things available are far-flung empty plots of land. On the other hand, island culture is particularly suited to foreign renters.  This might seem surprising since very few foreigners move to the islands, but it works out quite nicely for us.

It all begins with a wedding.  If there is one thing that is central to island culture, it is the big wedding.  This is not a wedding in the sense that Westerners think of wedding—island weddings take a week and include multiple ceremonies, gifts paraded to the bride’s family, gifts paraded to the groom’s family, meals, massages and more!  And one of the key parts of the marriage ceremony the bride’s house. Putting on a wedding means fixing up a house.  So each year houses all over the island are built, rebuilt, painted, and refurbished all for the sake of weddings.

But the funny thing is, many islanders do not choose to live in the “wedding” house.  They may have a beautiful house built and fully furnished in their village, but their job requires them to live in town.  So the house remains empty.  These empty wedding houses are very common because of the propensity of islanders living abroad to come back to the islands to have a wedding, only to return to France, mainland Africa, China or wherever it is they may live.

Now with such a small number of foreigners living here, we often have our pick of a number of well furnished houses to choose from, many that have never been lived in.  Our first house was owned by a woman who had not been there in 20 years.  She lived in far off New Calcedonia!  Yet her house was fully furnished with everything from dishes and appliances to beds and sofas, all waiting for a renter or her eventual return.  The house we now rent is similarly owned by a woman who lives on the French island nearby.  The house came fully furnished, and even installed with solar power, yet had no one living in it—waiting for renters.

Megan at event outside our house

Now, it might sound like this is the perfect set up, but there are some drawbacks.  There are plenty of nice houses available, but sometimes they are so nice they are both out of our price range and/or a stumbling block to relationships.  If you lived in a simple home made of tin, would you feel comfortable entering a fully furnished, large 6-bedroom house? Probably not. It would seem like a palace.  We want accessible, welcoming homes and in our quest to live an appropriate and simple lifestyle, it can hard to find a less ostentatious, say 3 bedroom house.  We’re looking for nice, but not too nice.  But the other problem, and the greatest peril for a renter, is the very thing that gives us the opportunity to live in these houses in the first place—weddings.

Now only days ago we paid 4 months of rent in advance for our teammates’ home. At the same time we confirmed with the landlord that our teammates hoped to continue living in their apartment for the coming year. This was all readily agreed to, so we were surprised to receive a phone call last night asking for an immediate visit.  Within minutes the landlord with spouse and kids in tow were in our living room explaining a new problem. Sure enough, the problem was a wedding.  The previous day, the landlord’s mother had come and said her youngest daughter would be married and they wanted our teammates’ house for the ceremony.

What does this mean for our teammates?  Time to go house hunting!  Just like that, we need a new housing plan.

First lost tooth!

(Now, before you feel too bad for our teammates…we’re actually quite appreciative of this landlord giving months of warning.  We well remember when our teammates on Volcano island were kicked out of their house with less than a month to find a new place—all for the sake of a wedding.)

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our teammate left this morning, her final week went well and she finished her first term on the island strong! Elewa had a birthday party last week where her husband gave a speech giving a very countercultural  message on marriage that we found encouraging. The evaluation with the speech therapist went well and she has already equipped us with a bunch of activities to use with our boys moving forward. Our youngest lost his first tooth! We thank God for our growing kids!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We’ve heard rumors that there might be more unrest sometime next week. We’re not sure if these rumors will amount to anything, but please pray for this nation, that there would be peaceful avenues toward change and healthy governance. Pray for our teammates as many future plans are up in the air right now, pray for direction and a clear way forward. There have been a couple of disrupted weeks where Tom hasn’t met with his normal weekly group of guys, pray that they could come together this week without any scheduling obstacles. We’ve heard some reports of conflict and potentially unhealthy meeting practices— pray for these situations and for us as we consider whether to get directly involved.

Paying Dues

Tom at an event this week

What do you do if you want to build a friendship with someone from a completely different background? Someone with different beliefs, values, and opinions? What if they find your beliefs, values and opinions offensive or wrong?  Or vice versa?

Coming to the islands that is the situation we face. We disagree with island beliefs and culture in many ways and they disagree with ours. Every once and awhile you’ll find an islander that welcomes our thoughts and beliefs without knowing us, but that is rare. Islanders may always welcome our wealth and professional expertise, but they don’t want any differences of beliefs or values.

The islands are almost completely homogeneous in culture and beliefs. They aren’t used to engaging with people that are different from them. And like most peoples and cultures in the world, the assumption is that their way is the best way—their way is the right way of thinking and seeing the world. As such, they can be quick to dismiss foreign ways and ideas as part of a godless package of being a foreigner.

Kids making friends with neighbors

Not that islanders aren’t willing to change and learn in some ways. They embrace new technology easily enough. But islanders have hot-button topics—issues that if you bring up an opposing view you will automatically get a vehement response. Certain debates can kill a friendship before it has even started.  And to make it more problematic, these are not just superficial ideas, these are ideas that islanders feel are very important and basic.  So what do we do? How do we create friendships when so many issues divide us? It’s a simple strategy.  We have to “pay our dues”.

How do we pay our dues?  First, we seek out friendships.  Our human nature is to seek out like-minded people.  But here we actively seek people with differing views.  It seems simple, but being open to friendships with people who are different is not easy.  It’s a big step step in paying our dues.  The second part of the strategy is to build trust and respect. This means holding our tongues sometimes.  It means being patient.  It means letting actions speak louder than words.  There are many things we’d love to share with our island friends but we know they will never be ready to hear our differences if they don’t respect us. We never lie.  If someone asks us directly for our thoughts and ideas, we share them. But we try to focus on the ideas that will build trust and respect. . We want to know and love people. We want them to know and love us.  This takes time—time together, sharing, eating, working and talking.  Only when we have paid our dues will they be able to receive a different idea with listening ears.

So how have we paid our dues? We’ve made friends. We have invested a lot of time and effort into being appreciated and respected in the island community. We’ve learned language. We’ve modified how we dress, eat and live.  We’ve been part of our local community.  We talk about the things we can agree on, for example, the importance of family, the problems of a corrupt government, the need for honesty and trust.  And we’ve waited patiently to speak into areas where we disagree, like marriage, faith, spirits, money, etc.  For years we’ve been doing this.  Paying our dues.  But paying dues has a purpose. It means membership.  And membership means the freedom to speak.

Megan learning about a traditional dance

So this is why Tom could visit his newly married friend and say exactly what he thinks of the broken system of marriages here, where husbands don’t talk about the idea of loving their wives and sacrificing their own desires for that of their spouse.  Or why Megan could say to our neighbor emphatically that we do NOT believe the same thing and that at the core our neighbor has it wrong.  This is why, when we tell someone the story of the 2 Kingdoms and talk about the one way to be free of the darkness in their hearts, they will at least hear us out.  We’ve paid our dues.  We have a right to speak.

It is not our job to change people’s minds.  It is not our duty to convince them of new ideas.  But we have a responsibility to share with them the truth we know.  To do that well, we must have a relationship, we must first pay our dues.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our island brother on Volcano Island who had been rejected by his family a few months ago has seen some softening lately. We thank God and pray for healing in those relationships. Megan’s tummy and our daughter’s allergies both seem to be doing better. There is an app for people on Volcano Island to read the word in their own language. Hundreds of islanders have downloaded it! 



PRAYERS REQUESTED
It is our teammate’s final week on the island before leaving for several months. Pray that she would be able to close up well. We are looking at the future of our team in 2020 (when we hope to welcome new workers). There have been various potential people who could join us— pray with us that the right people would commit to coming and joining in the work. Our boys are going to evaluated by a speech therapist (via video chat) tomorrow morning. Pray that we find a good plan for future improvement of their speech.

Different Types of Lost

Our English Club busy at a game.

Sometimes a word you hear from one person is exactly the right word for another.  You didn’t come up with it, your only job is to be the messenger. 

That’s what happened recently as I listened to my island brother share his insights on a famous passage.  He shared about three famous stories that are told in succession. The first story concerns a lost sheep and a shepherd who leaves the 99 to find and save the missing lamb.  The second involves a woman who has lost a coin.  She lights a candle and searches her house high and low until she finds it.  The third is probably the most well known.  It is the story of a wayward son who takes his inheritance, squanders it and returns to his home in rags only to be welcomed back with love by his waiting father.

My island brother’s insight into these stories was compelling. In each of these stories, he explained, something is being sought, yet they describe three very different types of people.  The first is a person in crisis, desperate and in need.  The shepherd finds the lost lamb in distress.  The second is a person unaware that they are being sought.  A coin does not know if it is lost or found, yet the widow searches for it diligently until she finds it.  The third story is of someone who feels ashamed.  They don’t believe they deserve to be sought, but the father is waiting for them, waiting to welcome them back.

She lost another tooth!

All around us, my friend explained, there are people like this.  Some people are in trouble. Some people are unaware.  Some people are ashamed.  But all of them are being sought. Who are we to judge which type of person our neighbor or co-worker might be? It was a beautiful devotion and lead us to a wonderful time of prayer. 

A few days later I was with a group of men.  One of them said he wanted to know how to enter the kingdom of light.  His friend started to yell at him, then turned to me and said, “That guy’s not serious. He’s just joking around.”  But the guy looked at me intently and asked again how to enter the kingdom.  I don’t know this guy very well.  It’s possible he wasn’t sincere and was just jerking me around.  It’s also possible that up until that moment, he was just living life and had never given eternity a second thought.  But my mind went to my friend’s devotion.  Could this be a lost coin?  His friend kept up his haranguing and honestly, I didn’t know their hearts, so I said, let’s read these stories.  We read the three stories and then I shared the things my island brother had shared with me.  Different kinds of people are being sought.  Some are seriously searching. Others are surprised to be found.  But it makes them no less found.  And who are we to say what goes on in a man’s heart?

This papaya lost its seeds!

So I shared with them the way to enter the kingdom and we prayed together.  Was a lost coin found?  Time will tell.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We had a huge answer to pray this week. After years of prayer, our faithful friend Elewa told us that her husband has accepted the good news! We rejoice with her and what this means for her family. Elewa also now has a plan in place to travel to Kenya for medical treatment in mid-Sept and it looks like her financial needs will be met to make that happen. We’ve heard some initial reports that the off-site meetings that our small-island colleagues had went well.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
One of our good friend’s cousin died this past week. She was a young mother with a toddler and a baby. Pray for her mourning family. Please pray for our newest brother (Elewa’s husband) that he would grow strong and be prepared for the persecution to come and that God would protect his family and marriage. Our teammate leaves in just two weeks for a long break to the US— pray that she would have opportunities to share and tie up any lose ends. Two of our island brothers are traveling this week, pray for safe travels. Megan is having some tummy travels and our daughter’s allergies have picked up making her wheezy, pray for healing.

Divine Appointment

Another ceremony for Tom to attend this week

It was dark out on the street. The kids were already in bed and we would be leaving early the next morning for the airport, but I needed to get in my final farewells to our close neighbors. Thankfully island adults are often gathered outside their homes at night. So I quickly found all the people that I see on a daily basis to give my goodbyes. Most of them already knew we were traveling to Madagascar for a couple weeks, but in island culture it is very important to give a final goodbye right before leaving (they even have a special verb for it). If you fail to do this, then people will give you a hard time about it later.

So I said a final goodbye to the corner store lady, the neighbors right across from us, the old lady that always sits on the road and more. They all echoed their blessings over our trip that we might travel safely and return in good health. Feeling accomplished, I was about to head home when another person popped into my mind, Ma Avasa. Even though I don’t see her very often (maybe once every couple weeks) I remembered that she had complained last time we traveled that I hadn’t said the final goodbye to her. I didn’t really have to seek her out. Her complaints had been more teasing since we aren’t really friends, but I also knew that she would be pleased if I said goodbye. Also more importantly, thinking of her had come out of nowhere and I felt it was God that had brought her to mind.

A friend in used shirt from the US

Now, how to find her? I wasn’t exactly sure where she lived. She wasn’t part of the nightly “hang-out on the street” crowd and she lived tucked into another part of the neighborhood that I don’t know very well. Normally I wouldn’t be exploring the neighborhood at night, but I wasn’t bothered. I entered into the system of alleys hoping my memory would spark once I saw the correct turn. Sure enough the next opening looked familiar and as soon as I turned I heard my name called out. It was Avasa… I told her that I was looking for her mother and she was able to guide me past several doors and up some stairs to where her mother was.

I didn’t know it but just that day Ma Avasa had fallen sick. She was weak and her heart was racing and she didn’t understand what was going on. It is very common to visit someone who is sick, but I quickly told her that I hadn’t known she was sick. I explained to her that we were traveling and that I had come to say goodbye but that I was also glad that I had come because now I could pray for her! After she gave me permission to pray (even though I would pray in a different name), I prayed for her in the local language. After that I left and went home. We went on our trip the next day.

Between our travels and transitioning back to the islands, I had almost forgotten about that little divine appointment, but earlier this week Ma Avasa appeared at our house. She greeted me and asked about our trip, but I quickly turned the conversation to her. How was she feeling? She was full of thanksgiving. She was better and her heart hadn’t bothered her again! I took the opportunity to thank God for her healing. She quickly started repeating what a good person and neighbor I was. I tried to deflect her praise and say that God was the good one, but in her mind that was already a given.

Married 16 years!

Not sure if there will be more to this story. Is this the beginning of a closer relationship with Ma Avasa? Will this answer to prayer lead to more interactions, more opportunities to share with her?  But sometimes great things start with small actions.  Who will God bring to mind next time? Will I be sensitive enough to realize it?

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Thank you for praying.  God has answered our prayers from last week in some very specific ways.  First of all, the twinge in Megan’s back is doing better!  Secondly, the woman who had left returned for more studies and she also brought a friend, who is also very interested in studying. These are the very things for which we had asked prayer.  Tom’s visits with the guys seem especially encouraging of late.  Could it be obstacles are coming down?  We hope so.  We celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary and our teammates took our kids so we could have a hike together and date night!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for Ma Avasa, that her story will continue.  Pray for more divine appointments like the one with Ma A.  Pray for those who are studying to bring friends, to understand more, and to join in the kingdom of light.  Pray for Elewa as she is hoping to travel soon for medical treatment. She is gathering funds— pray for clear direction and healing for her. Pray for another island brother whose father is sick and alone on the French island. He is looking into traveling to be with his father, but he would have to travel illegally. Pray for wisdom for him.  Pray for our colleagues on the little island.  They have some big meetings this week to decide on the direction and future vision of their work and to help work out some of the kinks in communication and differences so that they can move forward. 

Straight-Forward Fallenness

Tom at ceremony

A few weeks ago I was invited to an English ceremony.  I have been to so many English ceremonies over the years on the islands, so that now they rarely make an impression anymore.  Usually there are speeches about the importance of learning English, how helpful it is for gaining things in this life like a good education, better networks, and savvier business dealings.  But I was struck by the wording of the 14 year old girl who stood up to give her speech in English.  Her friend stood by her translating each sentence into the island language so that the parents and friends could understand what she had to say. 

“English is so important for education,” she began.  I had heard this kind of speech before.  “We all know,” she said, “that the most important thing in this life is to find money so that you can buy things like a house, car, clothes, or anything you want.  English will help you to do that.”  I listened, somewhat dumb-struck as I watched people nod in approval, shout amen and applaud her answer.  No one disagreed. Everyone was on the same page. Then the moment passed.  The speaker praised her teachers and parents and classmates.  The ceremony continued. 

Students at ceremony

A perspective that demonstrated such lostness, such fallen thinking had just been accepted by everyone. As a westerner, I tend to assume that everyone knows that you can’t say that money is the most important thing is life— you have to say something inherently good like God, love, or peace…

Have you ever noticed how good we are at saying the “right” answer even if we don’t believe it?  So many times we put on a mask, we say the things we imagine people want us to say or what we have been taught is the right answer.

“If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it,” we learn at an early age.  But that doesn’t stop plenty of us from taking pleasure in the opportunity to say a scathing remark, whether for a laugh or for sheer pleasure of it. We remember the maxims but don’t necessarily live by it.   Many might agree with Anne Frank’s words that, “Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness.”  And yet so many of the “great ones” go unrecognized by our society.  And then, of course, most of us would never claim that the most important thing is money, but our daily lives may show a different story.

If we are honest with ourselves, there is a great deal of hypocrisy in our Western society.  We say one thing, but do another.  It is one thing to know the right answer and another thing to live by it.  But imagine if we didn’t know the “right” answers.  What if our words actually lined up with our actions?

Our son turns 7!

In some things, islanders don’t even know that their thinking isn’t “right”.  I remember the day I understood enough of the island language to realize people were talking about me, gossiping about me in my presence.  “Good,” said my language helper, “now you will be able to understand when people are talking about you and they won’t be able to do it anymore.”  I remember the day my son came home from school telling me that his classmate hit him. When the teacher heard what had happened he told my son to hit his classmate back. I thought I had gotten used to this straight-forward fallenness, but it has been two weeks since that 14 year old gave her speech. Yet, her words remain with me.  “The most important thing in this life is to find money.”  If we are honest, there are PLENTY of people in the West who believe just the same as this girl, but they would be unlikely to say it. That’s not the ‘right’ answer. To hear it so plainly stated and plainly accepted brings sorrow to my heart.  “It is NOT the most important thing.”  I want to shout, “It will leave you empty and dead.  There is only one thing that will give you life.”  But who will listen?

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Today is a big island holiday remembering how God provided the sacrifice to Abraham. We thank God for His provision and for the opportunity to live and serve on the islands. The video conferencing with the language consultant went well this past week. Also audio recording of the translation of the first book is going well. Our youngest son had his 7th birthday this past week— we are thankful for him!


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Our teammate was studying with a group of neighbor women until a key woman left suddenly to the other side of the island. This woman has just returned and hopefully they will restart their studies together this week. Pray that their study would go well and that more women would become engaged in what they are learning. One of our teammates is sick, pray for her quick recovery. Megan’s back has developed a painful twinge the past couple days— pray that it would resolve quickly and not become a bigger problem. Tom had brought an island brother to meet with the group of men who are seeking— this has turned into a good connection and the island brother continued to engage with the group even when Tom was away. We pray that God might use this island brother to help the group overcome some of their remaining obstacles.

What Makes A Country Beautiful

Clove Island Capital, is it beautiful?

When we first got to the islands, we were often asked by islanders for our opinion and impressions of the islands. What did we think of them? It was a common enough question that within the first month of language learning I memorized the line, “I like the islands because it is beautiful, the food is good and the people are kind.” Most islanders were very pleased with this response and happy to hear their home being praised by a foreigner. But more than once I had islanders argue, claiming that the islands were not beautiful! With my limited language I remember being confused by their reaction. “They live on a tropical island! Of course it is beautiful!” 

Once we had more language we realized that we were defining beauty differently. When we talked about a “beautiful country” we were thinking of the beaches, of the green hills and the ocean. When islanders talked about a beautiful country, they talked about signs of development like fancy buildings and good roads. “We don’t have any tall or beautiful buildings,” they would complain, “some people still live in homes of mud or tin. This is not beautiful.”

We have sometimes been frustrated with how much islanders take for granted the natural beauty of their home. We get frustrated by how they mar the natural beauty with trash and bad environmental practices. For many islanders protecting the environment isn’t even on the list of things they would want to improve on the islands. For them, the important things are development and infrastructure— this is what it would take to make the islands beautiful in their eyes.

Before we left for Madagascar, our good friend, an island sister, warned us, “You will find some beautiful things there and some things that are not beautiful.”

We thought this was beautiful

She went on to explain this comment by talking about all the material things people can find and buy there. So much more than the islands! Then she became sad. She was in the capital of Madagascar and encountered a level of poverty that you never see on the islands. She saw people rummaging through garbage and children sleeping in the street. One day she even passed a child who had died sleeping outside the night before. She said that multiple times the sight of these things drove her to tears as she imagined her own little girl reduced to such a life. This was not beautiful.

We don’t know if we’ll ever talk about what you can find in the shops when we talk about a country’s beauty. But we do understand the sentiment of our island sister— poverty and people suffering is not beautiful, so in that way we understand how signs of success and indications of a developed economy can be beautiful.

So is this beautiful?

If a Westerner were to ask us about the beauty of Madagascar. I confess that we would spend most of the time talking about the beauty of the beaches, forests, nature and wildlife that we encountered there. If an islander asked, we would know to talk about the state of development and poverty.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
It’s good to be getting back into the swing of things back on Clove Island.  Tom and one of our colleagues were at a ceremony this week for an English program in a remote village.  The ceremony went well and the drive to and from was not too difficult.  We’ve had some encouraging news about brothers and sisters meeting together, children’s programs and newly translated booklets with good book stories for kids being put to good use.  Our neighbors who have been traveling for the past two months are back too, and with a clear diagnosis for their daughter’s health problems. We are happy to reconnect with them.  Megan’s back is doing fine! A few weeks ago a brother and sister from our island went to the other islands to mediate conflict and encourage gatherings— it sounds like it went well and that everyone was encouraged by the interaction and the possible precedent it sets for confronting issues.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Our friend (who we thought miscarried and then we thought was fine) has miscarried.  We are deeply saddened by this news, pray for her and her husband.  A number of friends also failed to pass the big exam that is necessary to go to university.  This was also hard news.  Pray for their studies to continue as they will not have a chance to try again until next year.  Pray for people around the world living in a state of poverty.  Poverty is less about money and more about hope.  May they be raised out of poverty and into hope and freedom. A former worker on the islands is back visiting— pray for him as he tries to teach and encourage old island friends during his days here.