Finding a House

Tom & helping colleague on plane to Clove island

How do you go about finding a house on Clove Island?  That was the big question.  There are no real-estate agents to visit.  There is no craigslist to search.  Finding a house is strictly a
word-of-mouth thing.  Are there places available on Clove Island?  Will  people be willing to rent to us?  Will our time frame be enough to find something?  All of these were unknowns.  So with much prayer and trust in our Maker, we set off, (Tom and two colleagues) to look for a house.

The first day already seemed like a bust.  The plane was late.  This meant we weren’t going to get into town until the afternoon, but as the tiny little Cessna pulled up, and we stooped our heads to find our seats in the little 12 seater plane, I knew we were in for an adventure.  Twenty minutes, with a view over the pilot’s shoulder, we came in for the landing and had arrived back on Clove Island.  And just like that things began to happen.  In the airport our one colleague (who had lived on Clove Island many years ago) ran into a relative of an old friend.  In a short time he had a phone number and was trying to make contact.

View of our future hometown

About 30 minutes later we were walking down the street, a bit disappointed because the government offices had already closed for the day, when a man on a scooter rolled up with a big smile and said, “Hello!”  The man didn’t know us at all, but he had lived in France and felt it his duty to introduce himself to foreigners.  Our new friend, (we’ll call him Moto) explained that he was retired and had little to do but drive around town and see what was going on.  We told Moto about our plan and in a flash he was leading us slowly on his scooter to a friend with a place for rent.  The day proceeded like that.  One person led to another.  Leaving one house we ran into someone who suggested anther house or gave us a phone number.  Sometimes, they walked us over to their neighbor’s house to explain the situation.  Sometimes we just stopped people on the road and asked, “Is there anything for rent around here?”  More often than not, this led to a house.  In that short afternoon we saw six places.  The last one was especially memorable:

The sun was going down when we came to a part of town full of people.  Little children played outside their mother’s shops while men sat and talked in the shade of a bread fruit tree.  We went over and started talking to the men.  Our former teammate's knowledge of the local language was quite a boon.  After French classes my local language has gotten rusty--I follow along pretty well, but speaking is slower and more labored.  Our former teammate, on the other hand is nearly fluent and it catches people off guard and helped us to be received well.  We talked to the men there in the cool of the day, introducing ourselves and explaining our situation.  When our teammate got around to asking, “Is anything around here available for rent?”  One of the men said, “Yes, that place right there.”  And right there on the square was a large, beautiful house.  Just the sort of thing we’d been looking for.  For an instant I felt something inside me say, “This is it!”  In a few moments, we were looking at the house.  It was a good size, perfect for hosting a team and visitors, it was cool with good air circulation and another floor above it so that the sun did not beat down on the roof.  It was nearly fully furnished and in very good condition.  Finally, the owners were as nice as could be.  Ma Fado is a tiny little woman with a wide smile and welcoming manner.  But it was getting dark and so we agreed to come and look again the next morning.  But then I noticed outside...the noise.  This place was right in the heart of the neighborhood, and people were all around.  Could we handle so many people so nearby???  This could mean constant visitors in our house, lots of scrutiny and little to no privacy. The doubt started to creep in.

Tom and friends in front of house with students

The next morning we went back.  The house really was beautiful, but on our way in we were stopped by a large group of students they wanted us to pose with the soccer trophy they had won.  That’s when we learned that a school meets above the house.  More doubts crept in...a busy neighborhood...a school above us...is it just too many people for people like us?

So we thanked Ma Fado and told her we’d be in touch and we went on looking.  The next days were very fruitful.  We made all sorts of contacts, government people, old friends of our helping colleague, old friends of our old teammate, even an old friend of mine.  We saw house after house, but none of them seemed to be quite like the “school house” (as we started referring to it).  So we kept praying and seeing more and more houses, but finally it came time to make a decision.  Our old teammate left us on Saturday and brought pictures and movies back to show Megan.  Talking with Megan, it slowly became clear.  The school house was the right house for us.

So Sunday afternoon we firmed up the deal and in hopefully just another week (once they’ve put up mosquito screens and cleaned the place) we will move in.  And suddenly, just like that, we have a place to live.   A LOT of unknowns still exist, but how amazing, we were shown our future house on our very first day of looking. So why should we worry about the other things?  He will take care of us.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are so thankful to have found the right house and to feel peace about that decision.  We are also thankful that everyone in our family remains healthy.  We have been blessed by people here on the big island and also on Clove Island who have helped and guided us through this process.  We are also very thankful for our colleague coming to help us.  He was invaluable and greatly appreciated.  We are glad he caught his plane home.  Our old teammate was also a tremendous help and we are thankful for his friendship.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that our daughter remains healthy and does not develop malaria as it can have a long dormant period.  Pray for all the little details that remain for us in moving into our new home, especially shipping our things, the little planes are not an option.  We will send things by boat, and Tom will probably go with our things by boat with Megan and the kids going the next day by plane. Pray for safety for both the boat and plane travel.  Pray for us also as we try to visit old friends and make the most of our remaining week on the big island.  Pray for our old teammate and his family.  Aly has just left for mainland Africa to await the arrival of their new baby.  Our teammate and his son will be bachelors for a month before joining them.  It is going to be a hard month for this close family.