Plumbing

Our boys supervising the leak catching

We find that staying in the States draws our minds to a lot of comparison.  How does ordinary life in America compare to ordinary life on Clove Island.  But what about when life isn’t ordinary?  We had one of those moments this past week.  It started out ordinarily enough.  A Monday night, Tom was watching football, and the kids were getting ready for bed.  One was taking a bath upstairs when all of a sudden water started pouring out of a light fixture in the ceiling!  A waterfall of water falling right down into the living room!

We jumped into action: Trash cans went under the waterfall.  Towels hit the floor (thankfully the waterfall wasn’t over any furniture) Water got turned off.  We ran upstairs and ordered our daughter out of the tub and started draining it as fast as we could.  Meanwhile the boys, not aware of the serious nature of the situation, were trying to splash around in the waterfall.

Just about then Megan suggested we call my brother who lives down the road, and my first reaction was, “Why would I do that?  What is he going to do?”  Megan came back with, “Well on Clove Island, we would call our neighbors.”  So I called him up and he came over, and it was nice to have another person there.  My brothers is no more a plumber than I am, but it was still good to have someone to discuss things with.  Knowing enough that we should drill a whole in the ceiling, we did a quick google search to boost our confidence, and put a few small holes up there and watched the water continue to drain out.  After a bit more discussion, my brother headed home.

The kids with the huge drying fans

In the following days I called the plumber and the insurance company.  Now it all feels a little bit out of my hands as the gears of a large insurance machine starts turning and taking care of the problem.  This includes opening up the ceiling, running big noisy fans and dehumidifiers to dry out the beams.  Meanwhile while I sit back and watch and reflect on how a similar situation would have played out on Clove Island.

If we had had a serious leak like that on Clove Island, we would have called on our neighbors without question or delay.  It wouldn’t have mattered what time it was, we would have called them over to help.  Very possibly one of our neighbors might have been an amateur plumber and started taking care of the problem right then and there.  If none of them was a plumber, they may well have known a plumber close by who would come and help take care of it.  A small crowd would have formed outside our house as neighbors shared the excitement to others. A handful to a dozen people would probably come into the house to help look at the problem.  Once the problem was under control or even fixed, excitement would die down and people would slowly trickle back to their homes. 

The beginning of soccer careers

If there was water damage, no one would much care unless it was structural and even then, they might not do much.  If it was only cosmetic, it’s very doubtful they would do anything.  Besides, everything is made of cement and I’m not sure dehumidifiers work very well in the island climate—it’s kind of like trying to dehumidify a sauna…

It strikes me that the way this emergency plays out speaks to a major difference between island life and American life.  Where we are in America, I’m expected to take care of this on my own or call on the more impersonal forces like the insurance company.  The work is done relatively quickly, thoroughly and very well, and no one has to know about the embarrassing incident at our home unless I choose to tell them.  On the islands, emergencies are community events.  The community will help and solve the problem, possibly not thoroughly or even very well, but there will be lots of relational time.  All the neighbors in the house giving advice, offering sympathy, maybe telling their own story of woe, running around to find a plumber or diagnose the problem, all of that helps us build friendships.  We would know our neighbors better because of a leaky ceiling.  So there it is, independent, quiet and orderly, or communal, conversational and a bit untidy.  Which would you choose?

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We’re thankful that the plumbing crisis wasn’t worse! We’re thankful for all the people we are getting opportunities to share with about the islands.  It’s been wonderful to reconnect with our friend on the North Shore and up in Maine.  It’s exciting to hear about the things God is doing in their lives, too!  The kids have been doing great considering all the travel and commuting we’ve been doing this month.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We’ve heard from some fellow workers on the islands that they are under increased scrutiny. A group of people is publicly opposing them and talking about taking it to the president. They are not worried for their safety but the possibility that it could become difficult to renew visas. Pray for favor on all sides and for even this incident to increase their opportunities to share with islanders.  Meeting kids their age is a lot of fun for our kids, but it seems like they make a new friend only to find out that we’re leaving and won’t get to see them again for a long time.  Pray that they could be thankful for these friendships and not lose their willingness to make new ones. Pray for Megan’s back as we look into getting her doctor’s appointments to explore treatment options.