Company

Fun in a rain shower

Sometimes we start to think like we know how to do this; like we can get around in this culture now without to much issue or stress.  Then something comes along that stretches you in a new way.

I was in the middle of English class and my phone was ringing.  (Vibrating actually, on silent mode-I was in the middle of class).  Most people know not to call me around then, so it was the first sign that something was up.  Finally after class I checked my phone and there was an unknown number.  We get lots of wrong number calls here (not sure why) so I was contemplating whether or not to call the number back when the same person called again.  This time I picked up.  After a few greetings I felt it was safe to ask the question, “Who is this?”  It turned out to be an old island friend from Volcano Island where we used to live.  He was a good friend who came by our house a lot, our brother, who we have had many good conversations with, so I was happy to receive his call.  (If you go way back to some of our old blogs you might find a story or two about Mwandzani.)

“I’m on Clove Island!”  He says, “I just arrived on the boat.”  Well that was really thoughtful of him to call us and I’m guessing he wants to get together.  It will be great to see him.
“I’m trying to get to the other side of the island but there aren’t any taxis at this time of night.  Can I stay with you?”

Of course, there is really only one answer we can give, unless we really have some very good excuse.  “Yes,” I replied, and quickly called Megan to let her know that we had to prepare for an overnight visitor that could be arriving at any moment.

So Mwandzani came to dinner and spent the night.  It turns out he’s come to live on our island even though he doesn’t really know anybody here except us.  In fact, he’s being sent by a group of folks over on Volcano Island to reach out to a town on Clove Island.  This is actually really exciting news.  It’s a great leap of faith for Mwandzani, and to my knowledge, no islander has ever really done anything like this before.  So we are really excited that Mwandzani is here.  But it’s also been a learning experience.  It’s kind of like our Father is saying to us,  “You’re excited about this, are you willing to sacrifice for it too?”

Neighbor girls on the porch to play

You see, it hasn’t been easy for Mwandzani.  Things have not been arranged as nicely as one might have hoped. His backpack was stolen on his way to the town.  Then the people that were supposed to arrange housing for him didn’t.  He ended up (providentially) running into a friend from Volcano Island who happened to be living in the same little town. (Amazing!)  He’s been staying with this friend, but this guy only has a small one room shack.  It’s not easy to get by in a situation like that, and he’s doing a favor for Mwandzani—it’s not meant to be permanent.

So in the less than three weeks he’s been on the island, Mwandzani has had things that have brought him back to our town and so on three occasions he’s asked to stay with us, for longer stretches each time.  He is not a hard guest and he doesn’t eat a lot, but we also are given less than an hour’s warning and never know how many days he will be staying. This is very typical of island culture, and so we cannot really ask him to act differently without being rude.  And the fact is, if we really want to live here and be part of this culture, we need to learn how to do this as well.  So it’s been stretching, but in a good way.  We’re glad we’ve had five years here so we know better how to handle this particular challenge.  We live. We learn. We grow.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
No real new news on the election front. Demonstrations are not being allowed and while people are objecting to how things stand, there hasn’t been wide-spread unrest nor any violence. We pray for continued peace but also for justice and good governance. One sister is looking to organize women together for an overnight time of study, retreat and encouragement. We’re excited by her initiative.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for improvement for Mwandzani’s living situation.  The people that made the initial arrangements are visiting from Volcano Island and we’re hopeful they will be able to straighten some of these things out, so he can have a more liveable situation there. Pray that he would be encouraged in the this new island/dialect/village/culture and that he would make some deep contacts. Continue to pray for Ma Imani’s pregnancy. We're working to renew our annual visas this week-- pray it goes smoothly. Tom is going to the annual English teachers’ conference on Volcano island— pray for a good conference, safe travels, good interactions with everyone on Volcano Island and for Megan & kids left at home.