“Hello...Papa Grace...It’s me…Sahara...in [far away country].”
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| The photo from that initial visit (years ago now) |
Sahara. Sahara is an old friend and brother. He was a student of mine when we lived on Volcano Island but he was from Clove Island. He was one of my first good friends from Clove Island. The first time I visited Clove Island he was my guide. He took me to his home village--a remote village high up in the mountain. At the time it had no road access, and we had to hike for two hours uphill to get there. I met his father and some other family members and then we hiked down again. (See this old blog post if you want to read that story.) I thought we might even work together one day on Clove Island. But then Sahara received a scholarship to a far away country and it was unsure when and if he would ever return. On occasion he has called me just to keep in touch and keep the friendship. (A very African thing to do.) But this phone call was different.
“My father...died.”
I remembered his father. A small man, a farmer. I had taken a picture with him.
“Will you come back to Clove Island?” I asked.
“No. I can’t.” There was a long pause.
“Is your family still in [the remote village]?” I asked.
“Yes, they are.” Another long pause. “I wanted to tell you. Goodbye.”
I said goodbye to Sahara but more was said in that conversation than met the eye. When someone dies, it is customary to go and visit the family. Sahara didn’t ask me to visit, and I didn’t offer to go, but it was certainly his hope. A long hard trip to his remote village...but that is what needed to be done.
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| View from this remote village on the mountaintop |
The next week I managed to convince a teammate to come along with me. It’s always nice having a companion along. We had good conversation as we bounced and squished and changed from taxi to taxi to get to the village. Remote is relative on Clove Island. In actuality the distance is only about 35 miles from the capital to Sahara’s village, but between taxis and bad roads it took us almost two hours to get there. Upon arriving it didn’t take long to find someone to take us to Sahara’s mother. We sat with her for a few minutes. I gave her a gift. And that was it. She was kind but not overly welcoming. No one seemed to think that I had done anything of great import. No one seemed to acknowledge that we had come from “afar.” It all seemed very ordinary. My duty was done. Nothing to do but return home. Two hours later I was home. A whole day spent for a five minute visit.
Was it worth it? It is hard to place value on that kind of visit. I’m sure the news will get back to Sahara. He will know I went to visit his family, and he will see it as the normal act of a true friend. Would it have mattered if I hadn’t gone? Maybe not. There is flexibility for foreigners, but I wanted to do it, for Sahara, for a friend.
PRAYERS ANSWERED
The elections occurred with no major incidents. There will be run-off elections next month. David is feeling all better-- his fever didn’t last more than a day. Tom had a good, smooth trip to the remote village. Our island friends have continued to show interest in making songs with their heart music-- pray that they would find times to meet and craft more songs!
PRAYERS REQUESTED
Tom is sick all of a sudden today-- only to learn that lots of people are sick around the capital right now. Pray for a quick recovery and that the rest of our team/family might be spared. Our teammates with a newborn in Kenya have had problems with some of the paperwork associated with getting a birth certificate and passport. Pray that things would go smoothly from now on and that they would be encouraged.
