Island Christmas

10 SIGNS of AN ISLAND CHRISTMAS DAY

1. You’re sweating all the time! It’s hot with 100% humidity.
   

   

   Kids on Christmas morning

2. Your kids get an apple and an orange in their stockings and are genuinely excited. “Can we eat it right now?!”
3. Hand fans in every stocking! It’s hot, no AC in our homes and lots of electricity cuts means no electric fans either.
4. You get a number of text-message attempts at Christmas greetings from your English students. “Happy Merry Christmas.” “Mary cristmas.” “Marry chrystmas.”
5. One of your Christmas treats is fudgesicles, but even after more than 36 hrs in the freezer, they’re not fully frozen. It’s hot and lots of electricity cuts.
6. Your daughter gets Frozen for Christmas and you have to explain that in America lots of kids know about this movie.
7. Last minute gift--- a homemade backscratcher for our 4 yr old son! He’s been asking for a “scratch back” for a long time. It feels good on the heat rash that has appeared all over our boys’ backs!                      
8. You have to explain to multiple people that it is a holiday for you today. We wrote a letter saying our kids wouldn’t be at school and no, we won’t be working either.
9. Little water guns in the stockings turns into a water fight for the kids on the porch.
10. The day ends with a late night visit from a neighbor and the chance to share the message of truth and hope!

Day after Christmas enjoying a new book

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We’ve been thankful for the opportunities to share this season. Teammates had opportunities to share the Christmas story too! Some had a party with over 50 islanders! Our teammates’ parents made it safely to the islands. We got our things done in time for Christmas.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Tomorrow we go to Volcano island (our old home)-- we will go camping with our old teammates and spend some restful days of vacation. Pray that it would be truly restful-- we’re looking forward to it. It is still very hot. Pray for relief from heat rash (especially the kids). Pray also for the breastfeeding mother on the team who is having trouble staying hydrated amidst tummy troubles to have enough milk for his thirsty little one. Pray for all those who heard about the Christmas story that they might come back and continue the conversation.

The Annual English Club Christmas Party

Kids prepare welcome signs

7:25pm:  We sit prepared for a party.  The food is ready, the room is arranged.  The kids are washed and dressed.  Everything is ready, except that we sit in complete darkness.  No power.  Oh, and it’s raining...a lot...the first big rain of the season.  Islanders don’t like to go out in the rain.  So in the next five minutes we need to decide.  Do we cancel the party?

7:30pm: Decision time.  The rain is still coming down pretty hard.  No power...do we cancel?  Just then the lights come on.  Maybe the rains letting up...a little….we’ll decide to go for it.  The party is on!

We have a confession to make.  We are not the best party planners.  Neither of us gets terribly excited about figuring out all the details to make a party happen.  Sure we like a good party, we don’t even mind having the party at our house, but planning it...

Every Christmas we’ve spent on the islands we have hosted and organized a small Christmas party for our English students.  This year was no different.  So as the day approached we felt the pressure mounting.  What will we eat?  What kind of games will we play?  What songs will we teach them?  What will we talk about?

She fed him answers to win some of the games! :)

Remember, people on the islands know next to nothing about Christmas.  This huge holiday with all its different traditions both secular and religious, is a vast ocean of cultural knowledge that islanders are, for the most part, completely unaware of.  What do we share?  What do we teach them?  Opportunities like this come rarely.  We want to make the most of it.

One of the cultural ideas we come back to every year is the distinction between secular and sacred. Where we (from the West) easily and clearly have these boxes for things: (i.e. Santa-secular; wisemen-sacred) this is an idea quite foreign to our island friends.  The sacred and secular are not distinguished.  Everything they do is defined as representing the majority faith.  They apply this to us as well, so that everything out of the west--everything from sexy music videos to Santa’s elves--is a reflection of our majority faith.  So we find it helpful to teach this distinction to highlight the difference between true faith and cultural traditions.  And what better time than Christmas!

Go Christmas Club!

So this year we decided to teach “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” for the secular side of things this year and explained the angel’s message to the shepherds for the sacred: “Good news of great joy that will be for people everywhere.”  We sang “Angels We Have Heard On High.” In between we played games and made snowflakes. And then we just generally enjoyed one another’s company. 

The rain kept many people away, but we prayed that the right people would come and hear. The time was good.  And just maybe, some of them went home with a spark of the Christmas story in their hearts.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The Christmas party was a success despite the rain.  The special swim went well--more on that next week.  The rains mean a bit of relief from the terrible heat!  Our teammates with the new baby are adjusting back well.  Megan’s new class is going well too.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Other teammates will be having their own Christmas parties, and gatherings, and opportunities to share.  Pray that all of us would be able to share about Christmas in meaningful ways.  Our teammates with the new baby are getting a visit from their family.  Pray for all their travel and for a good visit.  We still have much to do before we go on vacation.  Pray for our sanity amidst the busyness (and we don’t even have to look for parking spaces in busy malls!) It has been miserably hot- pray for cool nights so we can sleep and for relief from heat rash.

They Just Don't Get It

Tom, Ma Riziki and a few of the kids

We’ve talked a number of times in our blog about our neighbors, the family of Ma Rikizi.  They are a large family and they are poor.  They care little for the “right way of doing things” even by island standards.  The house is full of women who always seem to be having babies.  The fathers are nonexistent or barely in the picture.   The women live on the porch.  They eat, cook and sleep there.  They sit around all day talking, working and yelling at their children.  They stay up late.  They are loud.  They are brash.

That said, we have a good relationship with them.  They are the first people we say hello to every morning.  They are always bringing things over for us to store in our fridge.  Often they give us little gifts of fresh fruit.  About six months ago we paid for one of the daughters to study English.  She has been faithfully coming to our classes and she just passed Level 1.  Since she started studying we have faithfully and daily received fresh made chapatis (a tortilla-like bread.)  Our kids are even growing more comfortable playing with the horde of children connected to that house that seem to run wild on the street.

But for all our good connections, sometimes we just don’t connect.  When we traveled last Ma Riziki asked us for a gift.  She asked us to bring her back an oven.  That’s right.  An oven.  We tried and tried to explain to her that an oven is not a reasonable gift.  Ma Riziki has never left the islands. She has a little patience when we don’t understand something she says and she doesn’t understand cultural differences well. We explained how we travel by plane, our luggage space is quite limited.  We can’t bring you an oven.  We thought she understood.  We even got an island friend of ours to explain it to her again.  It seemed like we had finally gotten through.  Then this week, Megan was speaking with her and telling her of our future plans and that we would be traveling again in a few months.

“Wonderful” she said, “Now you can get me that oven.”  She just doesn’t get it…
But today I was thinking about it.  She probably is saying the same thing about us.  I wonder how she would describe us…

Some of the women, sitting & watching the road

“We have these foreign neighbors,” she might say.  “They are nice but they are very strange.  They are very rich, but they don’t have a television, and they don’t have a car. In fact, they walk most of the time.  When they are home they spend most of their time inside.  Isn’t that strange?  They are very friendly and even helpful, but they just don’t get it.  If you want something, you have to ask them three times and you have to say exactly what you mean because otherwise they don’t understand.  Like when they traveled.  I asked them to bring me back an oven.  I thought I was very clear.  I told them three times and made it very simple, but they still didn’t understand.  They brought me back a couple blouses instead.  I understand they are travelling again, so I will try to be really clear this time.  I’ll even bring my friend who speaks some English to explain it to them.  Maybe this time they will get it.”

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our teammates made it to Kenya (where they will await the arrival of their little boy in January) and our other teammates made it safely back to the islands with their newborn girl! We have seen some encouraging connections among island brothers and sisters these past couple weeks-- pray that they would be an encouragement and support to one another. We got the new curriculum book/CD done in time. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for our teammates with a newborn-- for a good transition back to island life in spite the lack of luggage and the fact that the electric company cut their power while they were gone. Our lives continue to be very busy and it looks to continue right until Christmas day-- pray that we would find rest and renewal in the midst of the busyness.
A sister wants to go for a special swim-- pray for us as we find a wise way to celebrate this event. Pray that we would have many opportunities to share our reason for hope, peace, joy and love this season.

Tired

Certificate Ceremony for our English students

Our team was all together at team day this past week.  We do many things during team day--studying, discussion, book reporting, and team business.  This week we also had a time for sharing, and as we shared our joys and struggles, our ups and downs, one word kept coming up: tired.  We are tired and we are ready for a break.

Now we are not tired because Christmas season is upon us and we can’t find parking spaces at the mall and the traffic is terrible and we have to bundle up in all those warm clothes before we can go out. 

No one celebrates Christmas, so “Christmas spirit” does not exist, there aren’t any malls or parking lots, and a traffic jam is when a taxi decides to turn around in front of oncoming traffic in a desperate attempt to catch a potential client who has already stepped into another taxi.  But this is pretty normal.

But we might be tired because of the season.  We are in the midst of hot season, when going out in the sun for a few minutes is enough to suck the water from your bones and drain away your strength and energy.  When waking up in the morning means feeling the slick of sweat on your body, and power outages mean no fans and no relief.

We might be tired because we are busy.   We are working hard at our jobs, we are spending quality time with our friends and neighbors, we are encouraging and meeting with those who know or seek the truth, and we are making plans for the future, but all this is pretty normal. 

We might be tired because of language and culture.  Every day our team is learning new things, new words, moving deeper in our understanding of what makes people tick, and all of this learning takes energy. 

We might be tired because of sickness.  Many of us have been struggling with colds, allergies or various ailments.  Children being sick can be as tiring as being sick yourself.

We might be tired because of spiritual attack.  We cannot deny that this is a dark place and sometimes the weight of the oppression upon the souls of those we have grown to know and love hangs heavy upon us.

Hot, sweaty kids under the Christmas tree

And then again, we might be tired because it’s time for a break.  I think everyone, wherever you are experiences this.  Thankfully Christmas and a week break is around the corner.  But we don’t want to be the kind of people who are always just living for the next day off. That’s why we are thankful for having a Rock to stand upon.  The One who sustains us through all our struggles, will continue to sustain us.  Our strength is not our own, but we trust in His strength to carry us through. 

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We had a nice time with our visitors last week.  We think they had a good time too except for a nasty fall that one of them took--pray for her quick healing!  David is feeling a lot better (although he still doesn’t like taking his medicine).   Tom started his new class with the police--40 students! They are enthusiastic and good singers!  The kids seem to be enjoying vacation, and its giving them more opportunities to play with the neighborhood kids. 


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that all of us might be sustained through the next couple of weeks and to stay engaged in the important work we have here. Pray for us as we look at the next few months and make decisions about where to focus our time and energy. Pray for island brothers and sisters-- that they would be growing in truth and in trust.   This coming week we will say goodbye to one family on our team (as they go to Kenya to have a baby) and welcome back another family with their newborn. Pray for both families as they transition and for health and safety for all the little ones. We’re supposed to be starting a new specialty English course, but we haven’t finalized the curriculum yet. Pray that we’d be able to finish the book and audio CD in time for the beginning of the course.

Thanksgiving

Piling up the plates on Thanksgiving Day

We have had a couple of really busy days, so we apologize for our blog going out late this week.
So often our life on the islands gives us a new perspective.  It happened again this Thanksgiving.

“Today is a celebration in America!” We explained to some visitors who stopped by to say hello and were surprised to see us all in a state of preparation.  Then before we knew it, we were explaining (in the local language) the story of the pilgrims.

“A long time ago, in Europe there were some people who being bothered because their religion was a little different than the others.  They weren’t allowed to worship God the way they wanted, so they decided to go to America where they could have religious freedom.”

Bobbing for apples

We went on to explain about the hard winter, the peaceful relations with the native americans and the great feast they had the following year. But for a moment, as we spoke about religious freedom we remembered Thanksgiving in a new light-- not just a story of provision and thankfulness but of the pursuit of religious freedom. How challenging in our island home, where any difference in religion among islanders is frowned upon and even forbidden.  Islanders don’t even consider it an option. Yet for us, it is such a foundational part of our identity, it is easy to forget.  The right to choose, the right to believe. The pilgrims came to the shores of America for this very reason.  Imagine a group of islanders fighting for those same rights….

We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.  We gathered together as a team and ate around a big table.  We had some of the classic Thanksgiving foods and some less traditional, but everything was delicious. Conversation flowed easily among the adults as the children went wild at the kids’ table.  We talked about all the things we are thankful for--realizing that it was just  a year ago that we sat around a table together as new acquaintances forming a brand new team.  Now we are experienced teammates, brothers and sisters. 

Dress up with island friend

So much has happened this past year, we could write a number of posts about all the different details, but if we were to sum it up, the word that stands out is “growth.”   This has been a year of a lot of growing--and sometimes hard growing.  We have been challenged again and again as team leaders to grow in wisdom, our acts of service, reliance on our Creator and to die to ourselves.  We have seen the tremendous growth in our teammates, in terms of language, lifestyle, and dying to themselves as well.  We see our children shooting up like weeds- learning and processing new things all the time.

It is exciting to think that we have another year of growth ahead of us. We will be stretched and challenged. We will continue to see amazing things happening in lives and hearts. And hopefully we will remember in all of it-- to be thankful. We are truly blessed.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are truly thankful for all the answered prayers of the last year. One that struck us particularly is the vast improvement in Megan’s back (what a difference a year makes!). We have visitors from the big island coming to learn about our island (as we get to learn about their work as well). It is encouraging to be together! Grace’s first set of island exams (as a 1st grader!) went well and she wasn’t stressed by them. Our teammates in South Africa have been reassured that their newborn’s passport will arrive in time for them to return to the islands as planned in a couple weeks!


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Please pray for David. He has been sick for the past week and has an infection. Pray for quick healing. Pray for freedom on the islands. Pray for all of us-- as the heat and humidity increases (especially our pregnant teammate). Pray for us this Advent season that we would have many opportunities to share about our source of hope, joy, peace and love! Pray that we would continue to have wisdom as team leaders to guide our team and facilitate discussions about strategy, focus and values. Our kids have two weeks off of island school-- pray that we’d be able to find some extra time to love and support them. Tom has started an English class with the island police- pray that it would bring good connections and relationships.

Comfort

Our kids on the roof

Is comfort a bad thing? In many ways our life on the islands isn’t completely comfortable. Visitors are probably more struck by the discomforts. One visitor compared our life to “camping” on multiple occasions during their stay. We are not living at an American standard of living, but we aren’t living at the same level as many of our neighbors either.

In reality, we are never going to be exactly like our neighbors. We have a steady income each month. We have a bigger house than most. We have education and a freedom to travel that they don’t have. But we try to minimize the differences. We learn local language. We adopt many local customs (as long as our beliefs allow us). We wear local dress, eat local food, and avoid displaying our relative wealth. But it means we are living a harder life than we would have in our home countries. In the hard times, it is easy to long for things that could make life easier--- constant electricity, constant water, a few more appliances...

The struggle intensifies as more “stuff” comes to the islands. When things aren’t available, you don’t have the choice. But nowadays you can sometimes find nice appliances, power systems or even speciality foods in island shops. “What islanders buy these?” we sometimes wonder.  But here they are, nice things. They are available, we can potentially afford them, they could add comfort to our lives… is there a reason not to get them?

Well...most of our neighbors don’t have them. It would be one more thing that we have that they don’t. It would free me from a discomfort that they would continue to live with. We would be bypassing a form of suffering that most of them can’t avoid.

Then we ask the big questions, do I really need it? Can I live without it? Will it help me to get to know my neighbors or will it be a barrier between us? Will it help me to get to know God or will it be a barrier between us?  Is this thing’s only purpose my comfort?
Our team has been struggling to come up with united answers to these questions. 

One of our team values is simpler living and as such we struggle together as a team to think through these issues.  That means we talk to each other about the “stuff” we’re thinking of buying.  This might sound strange.  We don’t imagine many of you who read our blog ever ask your friends if it’s okay to buy something for yourself.  But as a team, we have committed to thinking through together many kinds of purchases, and to challenge one another about these things.  Are you uncomfortable yet?  So are we.  It’s not an easy thing to do.

Is my own comfort a good enough reason to buy something?

This is where opinions differ. If we say, “No, comfort is not a good enough reason to buy something,” then are we just being ascetics who don’t know how to embrace God’s blessings?  If we say, “Yes, these comforts are meant to help us to find joy in life.”  Could it be we are actually sliding down the slippery slope of materialism? The answer is seldom clear.  So as a team we struggle to find common ground.  We try to listen to one another.  Sometimes it means things don’t work out the way we want, but we are glad for the struggle, to be wrestling with these questions rather than just allowing ourselves to slide to extremes. 

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Rejoice with us!  We have a new team mate!  A beautiful baby girl arrived last week in South Africa, and now Mom and Dad are working hard to get all the paperwork done and bring our newest teammate back to the islands.  We are so happy for a safe delivery and a healthy and happy mommy and baby.  Tom has been getting regular opportunities to tell Book stories.  It has been really encouraging.  There has been some positive steps in terms of more fellowship among islanders--only small first steps, but encouraging!  Keep praying!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray with us as we seek to challenge and encourage each other in this area of “stuff”.
Megan continues to meet with Ma Imani and encourage reconciliation in her family- continue to pray for real forgiveness.  Our pregnant teammate continues to struggle with back pain, sleep deprivation  and other related pregnancy pains.  Pray for healing, pain relief and indomitable joy.  Pray that we would continue to be able to share with islanders the reason for our joy and find many opportunities to do so. 

Stories

Tom & friend at wedding event

Have you ever stopped to think about the power of a good story?  When you see a particularly good movie, the story stays with you.  If you read a particularly good book, you can hardly put it down.  How many times have we heard our children ask us, “Can you tell us a story?”  Everyone loves a good story.

Yet in the West we have a bias against stories.  Everyone loves a good story but when it’s time to learn something, we put the stories away, we take out the text books and we listen to lectures and we expect a logically presented argument.  Stories are for children and entertainment.  Not for learning.

The western worldview of our team in regard to stories was challenged this past week as we engaged in a seminar on the use of stories in teaching.  From the beginning we felt this challenge.  The seminar started out, not with theory or lecture but with a story.  We learned to tell a story--without any pens or papers--completely orally.  We learned to tell a story from our favorite book with accuracy and detail.  It felt strange, almost like a waste of time.  The story was familiar, although before we couldn’t have told it nearly so well.  Why spend so much time repeating and repeating this story?

Megan with bride and groom

The next day was even stranger.  The same story again, but this time we were learning to tell it in the island language, alongside islanders!  This was a challenging language time for our team, to say the least.  And then after going through that same story again and again, we were given homework:  Go tell the story!  To an island friend! In the island language!

And so we did.  On the third day of the seminar, we talked theory.  We got to put things into categories and hear logically presented arguments on the usefulness of this method and how to go about it, and different factors we might want to consider.  It was time well spent, and I think we would all have enjoyed more hours of it.  Theory! Lists! Programming! Our western minds were pacified.

Meanwhile the stories were working their power. I had told the story separately to two people, my friends Sterehi and Ananas.  It went relatively well.  They asked some questions, and seemed to enjoy the story.  I assumed that was the end of it.  But a few days later Sterehi came back to me.  “Do you have a new story?” he asked.  “I don’t yet,” I replied, “but I will.”  He wanted to hear another story!  The first story had stuck with him.

A few days after that I went to visit my friend Ananas at his home.  We were talking with him and his wife, when the subject of the story came up.  Imagine my surprise when it was Ananas’ wife who retold the story and asked questions about it! I hadn’t asked Ananas to share the story with anyone.  He had just done it. The story I had told to Ananas he had in turn told to his family.  This is exactly how it’s supposed to work!  And his family was engaging with it, thinking about it, challenged by it.

She lost her first tooth!

These are just my two anecdotes.  Yet many others who told the story had similar anecdotes to share.  How the power of the story went out, how it was retold, and how the people who heard have returned with questions, understanding and a desire to hear more!  Based on the numbers at our seminar you can multiply my anecdotes times ten, and then add to that the unknown number who have gone on to retell this one simple story again.

I am impressed anew with the power of stories.

 All these things [he] said to the crowds in parables; indeed he said nothing to them without a parable. Matt. 13:34

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful for all that we are learning and being challenged to think in new ways.  We are also thankful for the opportunity to take the things we learn and put them immediately into practice.  Ma Imani had a good conversation with her mom this week that helped break through some of the issues that still hadn’t been discussed. We hope the same will happen among the sisters of the family!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
As of writing this, our teammates are still waiting for their baby, but it could be any day!  Pray for our teammates as they get impatient for their baby girl to arrive.  Pray for our storytelling.  Pray that we might become people who tell stories.  Pray for our language to grow as we learn to tell stories well. Our second pregnant teammate is having a lot of back pain- pray that she can find comfortable ways to sleep and alleviate her pain. Pray with us as we seek how to best encourage fellowship among islanders-- we want it them to have the ownership and the desire!

In the Dark

Our kids with the birthday girl

By outside standards, electricity is never great on Clove Island. Generally these days, there had been a pattern. Most mornings there will be power, most afternoons there won’t be power, and every third evening there won’t be power. It isn’t a great schedule. Our overall hours of power per day has gone back down to less than half the time, but at least it is a schedule.

Wednesday evening we didn’t have power. We did everything by candle and lantern light. But then we knew-- two evenings of power will follow. We weren’t the only ones counting on it.

On Wednesday and again on Thursday our neighbors reminded us of the birthday party on Friday evening. The birthday girl was turning one and the party was set to start after sunset. We had an early dinner with our kids and got them into their nicer clothes. Usually the power came on around 6pm. But 6pm and 6:30pm passed with no power. Usually if the power isn’t on by 6:30pm, it won’t come on until 10pm.

I went over to the neighbors. “We’re waiting for the power,” they said.  “It is coming at 7pm today,” someone added.

So I went home and started reading to the kids, wasting time until 7pm. 7pm passed. At 7:45pm, I went back over to the neighbors. “So are you going to have the party tomorrow?” I asked. “No, we’re just waiting for the power!” they insisted again.

Then I saw the little birthday girl in her cute little dress. I saw their living room all decorated and with all the furniture taken out. I saw all the restless kids jumping around in the completely dark room. All the adults were downcast.

Party guests in the dark (with flash)

Rich people will just call the electric company and offer a large sum of money to have the power turned on for their party or gathering. But these neighbors aren’t rich. They just wanted to celebrate their little girl. They couldn’t bribe the electric company so they found a broken generator and tried to get it working.

I grabbed the birthday girl and took her to our house to get Grace and Peter. David was already heading for bed, but Grace and Peter could at least join our neighbors in the wait as an act of solidarity. I snapped some pictures of the birthday girl and her guests, no doubt more would come to dance once the power came on and the music started.

The minutes ticked by...the generator never worked, but they kept trying.

Around 8:30pm Grace decided to go to bed. Peter held out until around 8:45pm.  The power came on a little after 9pm. A few seconds later the music started blaring across the street, but our kids were fast asleep.
I was readying my apologies for my kids’ absence when the neighbor came with a plate of the party food for my kids to enjoy the next morning. There were no hard feelings-- we had come, we had waited with them, we had given their birthday girl special attention and notice, we had honored them. Hopefully next time we’ll actually get to have fun with them too.

Our former teammates & our kids

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We had a wonderful time with two of our old teammates who came to lead a seminar for our team. We gained and will continue to gain a lot from the things we learned about sharing stories with islanders. Plus personally, we loved the opportunity to have quality time with our good friends.
Grace lost her first tooth! Peter has learned to write all his big letters! David is learning to go on the potty! It is fun to see our kids growing and learning.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We finished our seminar on telling stories-- pray that we would debrief well what we learned so we could apply it here. Our team is learning a lot! It’s kind of overwhelming.  Pray that we would be able to continue to learn, grow and apply what we learn in helpful ways. Pray that we would be united as team in this process. Our teammates that are currently in South Africa are expecting their new baby any day now! Pray for a safe delivery for both mom and baby and a healthy baby girl.

Working Together

Parade going past our house this past weekend

The sun was setting over the ocean and a cool breeze greeted us as Sterehi and I walked along the ocean road after one of my English classes.

“I am only one man and someday I may leave.” I said.  “I don’t want to see things stop when I leave.  Other people, islanders, can teach the way I am teaching. I am even training some teachers now.  Why don’t I do a class together with an island teacher?  The students will see that the teacher is a good teacher.  Then they can start teaching courses on their own and many more people will be learning English.  That is my hope.  That is my vision for English on Clove Islands.  If it stays with me it will be small.  But if others can teach, it will grow.”
My good friend shook his head.  “You do not understand.  Island teachers...they aren’t serious.”
“They can be serious,” I countered.
“But then the students—they will not want to come.  They will not be serious.  They don’t respect island teachers.  Only mzungus (i.e. white foreigners).”
“But if an Islander taught the class well and was serious about it.  Students would hear about it and it would grow.  Slowly, but it would grow.”  I pleaded.  The sun dipped behind the horizon and the growing darkness surrounded us.
“No.  It won’t work.” Sterehi replied again.  “They have no respect for an island teacher.”

Megan and kids visiting a bride

As a team we’ve been reading the book When Helping Hurts, by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert.  It has been an excellent challenge to our understanding of how we go about helping the people of Clove Island.  One of the best parts about being part of a team and reading things together is that many times we get to put into practice the things we are learning almost immediately.  This week we were learning about the important role of the local people in any kind of development work. 

The table below shows the different possible models of participation:

p148 When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor and Yourself; Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert; Moody Publishers: Chicago, 2009

In our English teaching we strive for the last 3 models of participation.  So who is right?  Is my vision not right for the islands?  Is it impossible?  Is Sterehi defeatist? Can we find common ground?  Is there another way?  One thing is sure, until men like Sterehi believe islanders can teach English well, things will never really start to change.

This long slow process is repeated in so many scenarios.  Our doctor and agricultural workers can relate to similar discussions in their fields. And it is especially poignant when we think of our greater hopes and dreams for these islands.  Can leadership and teachers come from islanders themselves?  Can they meet and talk and learn without the Mzungu organizing things?  Who will take up the call?  Who will catch the vision that we so desperately want to see caught?  We can only wait patiently, come along side, cooperate, learn together, encourage and pray.

Kids outside bride's house

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful for all the things we are learning together as a team and the opportunities to put that learning into immediate practice.  Pray that we can digest and understand what we are learning and make it applicable to our context. A worker from the smallest island came to visit this past week- it was encouraging to interact with him and have him meet our team.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for inspired vision from islanders themselves.  Pray that we would know how to come along side and help.  Pray for us as we try to do our best to help and neither hinder nor hurt.  Keep praying for Ma Imani and her family.  Things have settled down, but they are not truly reconciled.  This coming week we have two of our old teammates from Volcano Island coming over to teach us and our team more about telling stories in the local language. Pray for their safe travel and for a good time learning together, especially as we try to include islanders in the things we are learning.

Peacemaking

In front of our house

Ma Imani works for us but she is also a good friend and a sister to us. When she arrived at our house a couple weeks ago, I was surprised. I didn’t expect to see her that day.

“Hi. How are things?” I asked.
“Not good. I need to talk to you.”

We went into the living room and sat down together. It wasn’t long before she was in tears and telling me her troubles. Her family was in disarray. Family troubles had been brought to the government-level and the family was being torn apart.

“I don’t understand it at all. I was living peacefully with my mom and these sisters just the day before. They didn’t say anything and then suddenly we’re taken before the government like criminals!” 

We prayed. She explained that I wouldn’t see her for the next few days as she had to report to the police and then the courts, so I said goodbye with a heavy heart.

First time to beach in 4 months!

At this point I began to wonder… do I have a role to play in this? I didn’t want to get involved necessarily but I was friendly with the mother and the sisters involved. Should I try to talk to them? But after a little thought and prayer I decided I would wait. I wasn’t appropriate for me to be involved at a legal, governmental level and perhaps it would be good for the dust to settle a little.

A few days later, Ma Imani was back. Things were still bad. She had some idea of why all the things were happening but she couldn’t be sure.  Husbands and husbands’ families had gotten involved and complicated things. There had been more fighting and  Ma Imani was being blocked at every turn from sitting down and talking to her mom. Suddenly there was a clear way to help…

“Should I go and find your mom and tell her you want to meet? I can meet with you both.”

I’m not sure if she was secretly hoping I would offer this very thing, but in any case, she readily accepted. She showed me the way to the house where her mom was staying but she would not go with me to the house. I went alone, not knowing what kind of reception I would receive.  Thankfully I was received with smiles. I heard their whole side of the story and told part of Ma Imani’s side. Eventually I told her mother that Ma Imani wanted to speak and her mom expressed her willingness.

Tom on birthday with kids

So we took chairs out to the road (neutral territory) and they talked. I made sure they listened to each other and asked them to understand the other’s perceptions. Sometimes I struggled to say what I wanted to say in the local language and sometimes I felt like an annoying broken record, but it seemed to go well. Mediators are culturally appropriate here and they accepted my interference as a good thing.  Ma Imani and her mother both thanked me at the end. Ma Imani told me she now understood her mother’s thinking and could try to explain it to her siblings on the other side of this feud.

“Now you just need to forgive and start talking to your sisters too,” I said as we parted.
“One day, but not yet…” was Ma Imani’s reply.

So we continue to pray for peace in this family and in so many families on the islands.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Thank you for praying. Tom’s ear is doing better and we had a very restful day off yesterday (our first restful day in a long time). Tom is 36 years old today! We are very thankful to have such a wonderful husband and father. It has been exciting to see him take on the role of team leader this year and to see God work through him for good.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
A legal solution has been found to an issue at the heart of Ma Imani’s family feud but it doesn’t mean relationships are healed. Please pray for real reconciliation and forgiveness and for the truth to reign in that family. 

You're Not A Guest!

Food prep

There is more than one way to honor someone. Honor is an important thing on the islands. Especially at big events it is very important that the “important” people get special notice. Being foreigners we are almost always considered “important”. So even though the people of the event might not know us at all, we will be given special seats and a necklace of flowers.

The women often make a big deal of putting the flower necklace over your neck. They dance up to you holding out the necklace and then put it over your head and give you a kiss on each cheek.

Guests are always honored. So when someone comes from abroad and assuming they have had enough warning, islanders will gather the necessary flowers, make a necklace and meet them at the airport. Then again at any and every event, the guests will be singled out with another flower necklace.

Grace in front of wedding presents

As foreigners living here, it has often felt that we are permanent guests. In some ways this is nice. They are honoring us- we should appreciate it. But sometimes we wish we could choose our own seats. Sometimes we wish we could sit in the back and just watch. Sometimes we wish they’d give the flower necklace to someone else. (I just checked and I have 5 dried out flower necklace in my house right now from different events and it isn’t even wedding season!)

This past week our landlady had her daughter’s wedding. They were only doing the “simple” single-day event but they were doing it big. The groom is from the rich French island and there was pressure to make it sufficiently extravagant for the future in-laws. Plus they had to host over 50 guests from this other island for the days surrounding the wedding. Weeks ahead a time their house was a bustle of activity. We were busy ourselves so I hadn’t been downstairs for more than brief greetings.

“I haven’t seen you!” my landlady complained. She had seen me, but this was my cue to come and visit, so I went downstairs once the kids were napping. They were preparing one of the snacks that would be given to the guests. I sat and watched for awhile. Then my landlady came and started peeling ginger root and told me to get a knife and help. I stayed for awhile and watched a collection of friends and neighbors come by. They came for varying amounts of time but if they were physically able they would do some work before they left, even just a token amount. Now I was keyed into what I needed to do-- I needed to show solidarity by coming and working a little each day.

Welcoming party for the guests

Over the week it was clear that some people were more invested than others. Some came for long periods each day. Finally the guests arrived. A table was set, our chairs were borrowed and the guests were being seated for their first meal. Our landlady’s husband called me over, “Please madam, have a seat!” But then a woman who was helping said with a big smile, “No, no, you’re not a guest! You eat with us!” I didn’t have time to eat with anyone at the moment so I made my apologies.

It happened a couple more times over the coming days. “You’re not a guest!” was repeated to me as I was included not as someone special, but as an equal. At first glance it might be seen as a slight, but I recognized it for what it was-- a different type of honor. They were honoring me not by singling out, but by treating me as part of the group-- what greater honor could a foreigner have.

Last night was the grande finale-- the big event. And for the first time in all the weddings I’ve been to on Clove Island, I didn’t receive a flower necklace. I couldn’t be happier.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
It is a blessing to belong. The wedding seemed to go well. It looks like the shortages are over! Different types of meat are back and people are happy again.  Our team is receiving two visitors from Brazil this week!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
The family of our good friend, Ma Imani, is in turmoil. Many of the 6 sisters know the good news. It is a situation pitting family members against each other and now the government and other families are involved. It is a big mess. Megan played mediator to get Ma Imani on talking terms with her mother again and we are praying that Ma Imani can be a reconciler within her family. Pray for healing, understanding and forgiveness throughout the family. Pray for us-- we’ve been very tired lately and can’t seem to find the times to relax and recharge. Tom has an ear infection, pray for healing. Pray that we would get some rest.

Men

Tom and some island men

There are so many things we like about islanders.  They are so friendly, so willing to help, so ready to share with you whatever you have.  Their generosity often puts us to shame.  They are quick to smile and laugh.  They are, for the most part, caring toward their children and include them in life.  They are so welcoming to us and so willing to help us understand their culture and to invite us into their ceremonies and traditions.

But as beautiful as some parts of island culture are, there are other parts that are dark.  Very dark.  And sometimes this darkness will manifest itself and our awareness becomes heightened about a particular problem.  It happened this past week concerning men.

A colleague brought a friend by the house.  He said he was a good guy, and he seemed nice enough, until he started hitting on our good friend and house helper, a married woman.  We have often felt relief at the fact that unlike other parts of the world, men here will not touch or violate a woman walking down the street, in a taxi or other public place. But there is a lot that can be said with body language, and a look in the eye.  A form of dominance and desire that is disturbing and destructive.  I (Tom) saw it happen and ushered the man from the room (almost pulled him) where our friend was working, knowing that tis is something she must deal with on a regular basis.

Island men at an all-men's event

I saw that same look again a week later.  One of our teammates had come to join in a discussion.  A man I see regularly (but not in a context with women) was part of the discussion, but everything about his body language and look revealed that same sort of darkness.

Our single ladies often complain about the daily struggle they face in being approached by island men asking to marry them.  What seems like something unfortunate and kind of funny is actually quite serious.  Often these proposals happen suddenly and without warning, sometimes they are persistent and include lecherous staring and rude behavior.  Imagine how draining and disheartening this is for them--everyday. 

Unprompted, a friend told Megan all about “how men are” here this week.  She told her the story of when, as a middle school student, she couldn’t pay her school fees.  The director said, that it wasn’t a problem and that she should continue to come to school.  She found out that the director would use this as an excuse for girls to be “called to his office.”  She stopped going to school, and this bright woman never had any more schooling.  Think of all the young women who have had to make decisions like this.

In Megan’s English class this week, they were discussing the most important characteristic in a spouse. One woman spoke up and said she wanted a husband who is faithful. All the men in the class burst into laughter. “It doesn’t exist!,” one man explained to me. “Good luck!” was the sarcastic jeer of another male student.

Worst of all, we were told this week that two men have been put in jail.  They took two young girls from the street, a 3-year old and a 7 year old and violated them.  This is considered extremely bad behavior even by island standards.  Yet, no one is sure if these men will be greatly punished.  It all depends on the power of their family versus the family of the victims. Perhaps they will stay in jail a couple weeks.

What is going on with the men in all these stories?  I think they are revealing--acting out their worldview.  Women, to them are something to be caught and used.  They show little respect for them, they care little about their feelings.  They assume that women are looking for their attention and want it.  They believe that as men, it is only natural for them to have such desires and act on them.  Self-control is impossible and women help satisfy burning desires.  They do not understand women, and they don’t try.  They live in separate worlds.  These are roaming men who settle for a time with a woman because marriage is highly valued by both sexes.

But even here, there are men who are different.  Men who love their wives and are faithful.  But they are not the majority.  In fact, I think they are counter-cultural.

Why do we share this with you?  We desire to see families restored.  We believe it is key to seeing islanders and the islands transformed.  And yet, families, as we know them barely exist, and this is one of the major barriers.  The worldview needs to change.

David and a very young island man

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We had a wonderful visit with our bosses.  It was great to be encouraged by them.  They are back safe on the little island.  Our friends and teammates Nate & Liana traveled to South Africa this past week for the birth of their baby.  We are happy that they landed safely and are settling in well.  We are especially thankful for a vehicle that has been loaned to them to get around while they are there.  The first class of Tom’s teacher training program went well.  The teachers seemed to really appreciate the time and are looking forward to the next meeting this week.  Megan has started regular weekly times of studying the book with a good island friend!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for change!  That light would penetrate the darkness and the darkness would flee.  Pray for self-control and repentance on the part of men here.  Pray for the cultural norms and traditions that perpetuate the darkness to stop.  Pray for the strength, wisdom, and endurance of our single ladies.  Pray for all the women of the islands.  Pray for families.  On another note, though rice and flour have come back to our island, we are now running short on meat: no chicken and beef.  No one is starving here or close to starving, but everyone is complaining that they can’t find the food they are used to having.

Who Is This Man?

Clove Island coast in our neighborhood

I made friends with a young man.  We’ll call him Elevu.  He started coming by to practice his English.  He’s a smart kid.  He comes from a poor family and he’s gotten into the premier school of Clove Island and he’s doing well.  Many of the hopes and dreams of his family rest on him.  But he is also a deep thinker and a poet.  Long before meeting me, he seems to have been on a search for truth.

“I have a good friend…” Elevu tells me.  This friend of his likes to discuss deep subjects.  He likes to read widely.  Without any suggestion on my part, he soon asks me if I have one of our special books for him to read.  I gave him some instruction on where to start, and he took it home with him.

The other day Elevu came by the house.  “I have a question.”  he said.  “I was reading the story where your prophet says ‘Your sins are forgiven.‘  How can he say that?  How can a man forgive sins?”

“Excellent question,” I told him.  Then I told him the story of the paralyzed man who was brought before the teacher. 

“Which is easier to say: ‘your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘get up and walk’?  Both so you may know that the son of man has authority to do these things…”  and the man got up, took his mat, and went out rejoicing.

“Everyone there was asking the same question you are asking: ‘Who is this man?’”  I said to him, “And that question is maybe the most important question of all.  But I can’t tell you the answer.  You must discover it on your own.”

Elevu left a bit confused and a bit excited.  I thought about it afterwards.  Should I have said something different?  Should I have told him the answer?  But no.  I feel peace about it.  Could it be that sometimes, in our rush to guide people to share in our great treasure we forget to allow them the thrill of discovery?  Isn’t the treasure hard fought for greater than the one placed at your feet?  And can I really answer his question anyway?

Our 2 yr old in front of his new "big boy" bed

Who is this man?  It’s a huge question worth asking ourselves every day of our lives.  And every day holds new secrets to be discovered!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We have some visitors with us (some of our bosses).  It’s been great to talk with them and be encouraged by their wisdom and experience. Flour is back on the island, just in time for Megan to bake for our visitors.  Peter is all better and we’re all in good health.  Our friend Ma Imani is feeling better too.  Our work to clarify our vision and focus has been going well, but we still have a ways to go.

PRAYERS REQUESTED 
Pray for my friend Elevu and others like him.  That they would ask the right questions and have the joy of discovering the answers!  This is a holiday weekend on the islands- pray that it would lead to good conversations.  Pray for us in the midst of this team building process.  Pray that this would help give our team direction.  Pray for great trust in one another, unity and consensus.   Pray for lots of good visits for our bosses and safe travels back to their home tomorrow.  Tom is starting a new English teacher training program this week.  Pray that it would get off to a good start.

Challenges

Megan and our boys

Life on the islands has inherent challenges...power outages, heat, and tropical illnesses come with the territory.  Then there is the intense challenges of language and culture that lessen with time but by no means disappear. Plus there are special challenges, this week was our fourth week of food shortages on Clove Island. Flour was supposed to come on the 18th, then the 22nd, then the 25th...now we’ve stopped asking when it will come.

I was walking with Grace and Peter today. They were sharing that they didn’t like when kids laughed at them, followed them and tried to touch their hair. I sympathized with them and tried to explain that we stand out here and the kids are just curious. It isn’t always easy.

But at the same time challenges can encourage us. They can stretch us to new heights and force us to try and do things we wouldn’t usually do. Power outages force us to find pleasure in things other than electronics. Cultural and language blunders humble us, force us to study harder and try to understand better the people around us. Tropical illnesses encourage us to pray more. Food shortages help us to be content and thankful for the food we have and to be creative! (We had some good cookies today made with cassava flour.) Curious kids teach us patience and may gain us friends.

Fun in a river

We find that challenges are good for us! But then comes the hard part-- what about when we need to be challenged but there is no outside force pushing us? It is easy to get comfortable, sink into habits and even fall complacent. We need someone or something to light a fire under us, get us moving, push us along. We’re reminded of sports coaches or PE teachers who would push us to do more sprints, more drills well past our own inherent motivation.  Sometimes you don’t know how far you can go until someone pushes you, challenges you.

Here on Clove Island we are part of a team. And one of the great things about a team is that we can challenge one another. Sometimes by simply sharing life together, we can challenge each other by example. Sometimes by going back to our shared goals, values and vision. Sometimes as team leaders we can light a fire that pushes us farther. This is a crucial role that our team can play and these past few weeks have reminded us of that.

Great spot for a Sunday gathering

Facing challenges isn’t always easy or comfortable, but we trust in the One who knows how much we can handle and pray that we will be pushed closer to Him and to greater heights for Him.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The new foreign family has arrived and their youngest is now in the same class as Peter. It is nice for them to have each other (the only foreigners in the class). We’ve heard from teammates that flour has been spotted. We haven’t seen it with our own eyes but are thankful with the encouraging reports that these shortages may be coming to an end. Peter is feeling better. We met this morning to sing and study on the side of a river (instead of in a home)-- it was a fun change.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
As part of an effort to challenge us more, we’re leading our team in refining our team vision and focus. Pray for us as we do this, that we would be guided in the right directions and we would be united in our goals and values. We have been encouraged by the process so far. Sometimes it is hard to keep all our ducks afloat-- pray that we would continue to have the right priorities and balance in our life as a family and team. Our good friend Ma Imani has been sick-- pray for her healing.

Back to School

Grace & Peter ready for school

When we first came to Clove Island it was in the middle of a school year. Last school year began while we were on vacation, so again our kids entered school with everything in full swing.

So this was our first “back-to-school” experience and we realized there is a lot we don’t know….

We don’t know when school will actually begin… It was already September and I could not get a clear answer from the school administrators as to what day school would actually begin, other than them insisting that it would begin this month. Finally it was decided: “Sep 8th will be the beginning of school. Parents come to a meeting a few days before.” At the meeting I learned that teachers would return on the 8th, children on the 10th. When I asked more specifics, I learned that only the primary age kids would come the 10th, the preschool on the 11th. When I pushed for a time, I was told that they would only come briefly on the first day and the normal school hours wouldn’t apply until the third day. “What about the second day?” “The second day will be for gathering all the school supplies.”

We don’t know how to buy books…At the end of last year we were given a school supply list-- presumably so we could buy the supplies over the summer and bring them to school the first day. We got all the required notebooks, pencils, chalks, crayons, etc. But there was still the question of the books. Thankfully the school was opening up a little shop and ordering the books so parents don’t have to hunt around town for them. I went to the new shop on the corner of the school grounds… “I need the preschool and first grade books.” “You can’t buy them. First go to the school office and come back with a receipt showing that you have paid.” Oh, we must have to show we’ve paid the school fees (which I hadn’t done yet) before we can buy the books.  I looked at the school office and noticed a long line and decided to wait until the next day.

We don’t know how to pay school fees… Usually paying is the easy part, everyone wants money, right? Last year we had delayed paying one trimester and then received a typed notice that school fees are supposed to be paid at the beginning of each trimester… we assumed that this note was targeted at us and promptly paid. We didn’t want a formal notice this time so the week before school I asked, “Should I pay the school fees now?” “The school fees? Now? For this year?,” the administrator asked. “Yes, for the first trimester.” “No, no, no, not yet.” At the parents’ meeting, I saw parents streaming into the school office and coming out with receipts. “Are they paying school fees?,” I asked a nearby mother. “Yes, for last year.” Another good friend told us a story of how she had to pay a school all the money for last year’s school fees before she could enter her daughter into school for this year. Later I sat in the school office and saw a mother pay for last year’s second AND third trimesters. All the receipt books are labeled, 2013-2014. No wonder they weren’t ready for my money.

Grace learning to grate coconut

We still don’t know how to buy books…Now I think I understand: people must be proving that they paid last year’s school fees in order to buy books. So I go back to the shop and explain that I’ve already paid last year’s fees but I don’t have the receipt anymore. The woman looks at me blankly. I notice that the parent next to me doesn’t have a receipt for school fees, but for books. The shop woman tells me she only sells the school supplies, the money for the books goes to the school office and then people just come and pick up the books at the shop. Humbled, I return to the school office and see the other set of receipt books for all the school books. “We don’t have the first grade books yet,” the administrator tells me, “You’ll have to come back later.”

We still don’t know when school actually starts...I take Grace for her second day of school with all the school supplies. They say she will just meet her teacher and hand over the supplies. They call the kids into the classroom. Someone is there monitoring them but it is not the teacher. I wait outside with some other mothers. The directrice comes and tells us that she has to discuss some things with the teachers first. We wait and we wait. Finally two hours pass. The kids have done absolutely nothing besides sitting at their desks and being scolded every so often. I’m bored and I’m not 6 years old. Finally someone comes out. Grace’s teacher isn’t even in the country at the moment-- we should come back next week! We came back on Monday and her teacher was still gone and she still did next to nothing all day. Finally on Friday, her teacher arrived- Grace says she is very nice.

Welcome back to school!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We’re thankful that Grace continues to be very positive about school despite the rough beginning. Peter also enjoyed his first day of school.  Homeschool is going well too. So far David’s burn scar is not thickening, but continues to heal well. Megan’s back continues to do well.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
The shortages continue and are starting to hurt. Most types of meat are hard to find, as well as eggs. Flour is still non-existent and rice is running low. They say the shipment is coming this week. Pray that even this weekend we could get some relief. Peter is sick and missed multiple days of school this week. He is doing better but pray for a full recovery. A new family is coming to the islands this week, pray for their transition to life here. Pray for us as we try to guide our teammates well through the various challenges and struggles of life and work here.

Name Your Price

An old friend visits us while visiting Clove island

We’ve lived on the islands for four years now.  Most of the time we feel like we have a decent understanding of culture and language.  Of course, there is always more to learn, but we take comfort in the fact that we have enough sense and cultural understanding to avoid the pitfalls, the communicational blunders and accidental insults that happen regularly for newcomers.  But we are not immune to them.

Like all societies, Clove Island’s society is stratified.  Islanders do not carry such notions as our American egalitarian ideals.  Some families are rich in wealth and history and as such are greatly respected and greatly honored.  They are treated with deference and no one questions their right to be proud and even haughty.  The regular rules do not apply to them, and society accepts this and even promotes it.  As white westerners we have even experienced this deference directed at us.  I have never been able to take a common seat at a wedding, but am always moved to a place of honor--whether I want it or not.  Weddings are actually a time when the stratification is clearly seen. There is a sort of musical chairs when higher level guests are brought forward to places of honor, and at times even displace those already seated, sending them to a lower level of respect.  All of this happens rather seamlessly at weddings as everyone knows everyone else and everyone seems to intuitively know at what strata each should be placed.

Important people being seated at a wedding

Everyone knows this--almost intuitively.  I (Tom) do not.  In fact, most of the time I am completely clueless.  Numerous times someone has said to me, “Did you know you were talking to so-and-so?” and my answer is always surprise and interest--partially because I didn’t know, but partially because it doesn’t really matter to me.  I imagine it should, but this part of American culture is so ingrained in me that I don’t tend to be properly awed or impressed to know I was talking to the director of the port or a man from a prominent and respected family.  Sometimes, this attitude gets me into trouble:

Two women came to our door on Thursday right in the middle of our team meeting.  We were busy meeting and they were women so I passingly greeted them and called for Megan to receive them outside.  (We normally invite people in, but for meeting days, we bring chairs on the porch and meet there.)  A bit later Megan came in and said, “I think you need to go out there.”  The woman was from an important family and she wanted to speak to me.

I went out apologetically explaining that we were having a meeting and that was the reason for meeting on the porch.  The woman, with a look of begrudging acceptance, then explained to me the reason for her visit.

David's burn is healing well

“I have a son.  I want you to tutor him in English.  He will come everyday.  I will pay whatever you want.  Name your price!”

Taken a little aback, I explained that price is not my concern.  We are volunteers and so I don’t work for a salary.  Then I explained that we don’t tutor individuals, we only teach classes. Then I gave some class options for her son.  She looked less than pleased.

“I’m from the former president’s family,” she said rather quietly as if it was embarrassing that I wasn’t aware and that she should have to tell me.
“Oh,” I replied.  “Can your son come and visit me?  Maybe he could come to our English Club if his level of English is sufficient.”  I knew it wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but I was not about to start tutoring her son everyday.  With a look of dismissiveness, she agreed to send him over.  With nothing else to say she rose to leave.  As I walked her to the door she tried one last time.

“Do you know Salim?”  She asked, as if this surely would carry some weight.

“I know many Salims.” I replied.  Wrong answer.  Clearly she was not talking about any old Salim, but Salim.  She turned and walked out looking rather exasperated.  I went back inside to the meeting, thoughts running through my head...Perhaps that could have been handled better...I wonder who Salim is...Name your price?...Did I just insult the family of the head of state?... How much would she have paid?…

Her son never came to visit.  He probably had more important things to do.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The ladies on our team have signed a contract on a new home! David burn continues to heal well. A translation project for Clove Island is getting started-- it is very exciting to see it coming together! Grace and Peter have met their teachers and bought all their school supplies to start school this coming week! We figured out that we had a faulty modem, so if we can replace the modem we should have much better and more reliable internet. Our new English classes started well!


PRAYERS REQUESTED
The shortages on the island continue. There is still no flour and now we hear that rice and cooking oil are getting in short supply. Pray that the expected container ship would come soon with these basic supplies. We are starting a new unit of study on Cross Cultural communication-- pray that our team would gain great insights into how to communicate essential things well into this cultural context. Pray for us as we try to balance English teaching, homeschooling, taking care of our team and reaching out to islanders.