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| Men chopping up the cow |
This week was a big island holiday, and to tell you the truth it felt a lot like Thanksgiving. Well, not exactly Thanksgiving, but maybe you’ll see the parallels as we tell you about it.
This is a day to be with your family, and just like back in the States, that means some people have to travel. The day before the holiday traffic was horrible. The large taxi buses that take people to the different corners of the island were filled to overflowing with more people asking to get on, usually with sacks of food and bags to be loaded onto the top of the van. The taxi buses stop and load their passengers right in the middle of the road, causing constant traffic jams (though no one seems to concerned).
The day begins at the first light of dawn when men gather to slaughter cows. Beef (like turkey for us) is a big part of the holiday. In no time at all they butcher the cow and distribute its parts (nothing is wasted). Soon after that, the women take over. This day is about cooking and feasting. They start cooking in the morning and often eat throughout the day leading up to the big meal. This is a time to enjoy your family. The women cook and talk and the men eat and play card games or dominoes.
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| Holiday family photo |
The big meal happens at dusk. This year we were invited by a friend to join his family for the feast. Our friend has a large house with a large veranda on which they had spread two expansive mats. As dinner approached, we watched the women bring out platter after platter of food until there was enough food for an army. While this happened, more and more family and friends arrived at the house. By the time we sat down on the mats to eat there were more than 30 people there with others still coming, and yet we barely made a dent. There was meat (of course) in various meat dishes, fried bananas, cassava, sweet potatoes, salad, all sorts of tortilla like breads, an egg dish, soup, a sort of porridge called “ubu”, and fresh juice. After dinner came dessert: a flan spiced with island spices, and another dish called “turtle eggs” which was a sweet sort of tapioca type custard with large balls of cake mixed in. After all this they brought out a huge bowl of fruit salad. The conversation was enjoyable, a mix of Island language, French, and English and everyone seemed happy and full by the end. We had a great time.
But it was missing any deeper meaning. The holiday does have a religious significance for islanders but not one that connects at all to the feast and apparently not one that adds any special activities to the day. This holiday seems like an excellent opportunity for transformation. It’s a wonderful holiday, with good values. Could it be more? Could it be transformed and enriched with meaning by brothers and sisters?
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| Holiday spread |
In many ways we are still in early stages here on Clove Island, and such exciting transformations are still a future hope. But we wait expectantly for that day to come, and in the meantime, we will look forward to Island Thanksgiving next year!
PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful for the good time we were able to spend with Islanders over the holiday, and continue to be thankful for all the different and growing relationships we and our teammates are forming with Islanders. Our team continues to do well and our team days are full of good fellowship, learning, challenging and prayer. We are so thankful for our team. Tom’s eye is better, and lice seem to be a thing of the past (we’re still combing with the lice comb just to be safe.)
PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray with us about the future. We want to see these islands transformed and not in just one area of life but all areas. This would be really good news! Pray for our relationships with Islanders, that they would deepen and grow. Please continue to pray for Megan’s back.
