Special Prayer Week

The group (faces removed to protect privacy)

Sometimes you have to see it in person. It’s one thing seeing pictures and hearing stories. It another thing to live it: to see, hear, touch, taste, smell all at once. For those of you that read our blog regularly, I’m sure you have a sense of what the islands are like but we know that you would gain a whole new perspective if you came, walked the island streets with us, ate the food, met the people.

This past week we felt like we really got to share the islands with a group of people. We had a small team here with one aim— to learn and pray.

Now it isn’t easy to get to the islands. It is really expensive (even compared to other African destinations) and the travel is long with lots of connections. Then once on the islands, you still have a final trip to get to “Clove Island”. With this in mind, I can already hear some people questioning the simplicity of this team’s aim. “Just pray?”, they may ask. “Why didn’t they build or repair something? Why didn’t they run some kind of program?” “Isn’t that what short-term teams are supposed to do?”, they might ask.

But no, we asked them to come, to learn and to pray with us and to pray for us. And it was so nice. They valued the importance of prayer. They asked questions. They listened intently. They observed closely. And they prayed.

We were hosting two men we didn’t know and we admit that before the week we wondered how it would all go. We wondered if we would be exhausted afterwards. In reality we were blessed with two godly men who understand this type of work well (if not this exact context). We could talk to them honestly without reservation. They played with and loved our kids and were gracious houseguests. Instead of draining us, we were left feeling greatly encouraged and feeling like there are now more people in the world who really understand what it is like here for us, who really understand the good, the bad, the joys and the struggles. There are few more people who will be able to pray deeply for the work here.

One nice prayer spot

We don’t know what you think of when you think of prayer. There are lots of different perspectives on it. For some it is an occasional thing. For some it is something done in desperate moments of anxiety. For some it seems  a useless tradition. For some a form of meditation,  a daily ritual, a  good habit,  an important discipline, a life giving necessity, a powerful force, a connection to the Almighty, a conversation with a friend, a strategic work. Islanders usually see it as an obligation or  a way to acquire points to earn their salvation.

We leave this week with a new appreciation of how prayer not only binds us to our Creator, but can also bind us to other people. For those that prayed at home, for those that travelled to join us on the islands, we appreciate you as fellow labourers. There is much work to be done. Let’s keep praying!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We were very happy with how the week with the prayer team went. They all made it here eventually and we had some sweet times of fellowship. One the island sisters invited our whole team plus the whole group of visitors for a meal. It was a very generous gesture. We were also encouraged to see that this sister had taken in a daughter of the sister who left the island last week for the French island.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
The prayer team members are in transit. Pray that they would make it home safely and would remember the things they saw and experienced so they can share with people back home and get them praying too! The 12 days of prayer are almost over, but it isn’t too late to participate! Send us an email and we will send you information to inform your prayers. Even after the 12 days, if you want some detailed information to help you learn about and pray for the islands, then let us know! Pray for us as we enter another busy week— most of our team’s English teachers will be going to the big island for a conference in which Tom will give the keynote address. Pray for the travel as most will be traveling by boat with island teachers. Pray also for our Volcano Island colleagues who are busy preparing for this conference.