Don't Hit Back

Kids getting out of the rain

What should we do for English Club tonight? Every Saturday night, around a dozen islanders come to our house to practice English. We prepare activities and discussions. It’s a fun time for them to practice English but also an opportunity for us to challenge them. Often we take figures, holidays or customs from the English-speaking world as a theme.

Last week we decided to talk about Martin Luther King Jr. At one point we described the idea of nonviolence, turning the other cheek, not hitting back, loving your enemies. We got mixed reactions from our island guests. A few islanders told us this was not a smart way because then you just keep getting hit. A few acknowledged that maybe nonviolence could work, but they’d never be able to do it. They’d never be able to stop themselves from hitting back. Others said things like, “that is the best way.” One said, “It is the most beautiful way, but it is very difficult.”

“Sometimes the mean boys are mean to me.” Peter (3.5  years old) was telling us about school the day after English club. We asked what the teachers did when boys are mean at school. He told us that the teachers tell him to hit them back. “Peter, do you hit them?” Peter nodded. “Peter, we never hit, even if they hit you or the teacher tells you to, we never hit.” We tried to explain to our little boy that although usually he should obey his teacher, we had to obey God first. So if his teacher tells him to do something wrong, then we still shouldn’t do it.

Kids enjoying the visit of our old leaders' kids

The islanders in our English club acknowledged that someone could not turn the other cheek without “being religious” (their words). They recognized that our human nature is to seek revenge and pay out our own form of justice. They see it played out on the islands every day, but hopefully they see also that there is another way. We may not be able to resist revenge in our power but we can rest and trust in one who does have that power.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our friend is out of prison. We are greatly encouraged by his attitude, he now wants to work to improve the situation at the prison. Pray for him as he seeks to appeal the unjust fine he is being asked to pay. Our old friends and team leaders are currently visiting us with two of their boys. Our kids are having a great time playing and it is great to have some experienced leaders to talk to and discuss things with.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Please keep praying for Megan’s back- perseverance in prayer! Grace has a rash on her arms and legs, pray that it would go away and/or that we would figure out what is causing it. This week the team goes through a language evaluation to see how they are doing in their local language learning-- pray that it would be an encouraging and challenging time without being discouraging or stressful. Pray that we would all grow in our ability to communicate truth with islanders.

Catching Rain: A Team Moment

Grace & Peter in the "waterfall" from the roof

As team leaders we think about our team a lot.  How are they doing?  Are people getting along?  Are they feeling encouraged or discouraged?  Are we working well together?  We are often trying to take the pulse of our team, and for good reason.  We understand that our team rises or falls together.  We are all in this together.  If we are not working together our effectiveness will be greatly decreased.  If we are not taking care of one another, our team health will be compromised.  If we are not willing to sacrifice for each other, we will only be a set of individuals working alongside one another and we will miss out on the power and potential that comes from working as a team.

This week we had a very encouraging team moment: It was Sunday and we were meeting together at Abby & Jess’s house for our weekly time of fellowship.  (You may remember that Abby & Jess have had quite a few problems with their house, especially around plumbing.  First the plumbing had not been fully installed.  Then they went without a toilet for two weeks to discover that the pipe had been blocked with cement.  Even now they are dealing with water shortages and leaky cisterns) 

Half way through lunch it started to rain.  Actually, it started to pour.  Actually it started to downpour.  The week before we hadn’t seen a bit of rain.  The girls buckets and cistern were nearly empty.  The girls were soon grabbing buckets to go out on their street to catch rain water.  But we were all there.  We could help!  It wasn’t organized--it just kind of happened.  Everybody went to work and took up a role.  Some people went out on the street, some of us went up on the roof.  A couple of team members went over to the other house to catch rain water there too.  Others were doing dishes, others were watching children.  Everyone was busy helping.

Up on the roof we were getting soaked.  The rain was pelting us and we even felt cold at times (a rare event for the islands). By hanging buckets over the ledge, we were catching rain water very quickly and able to pour it right into the cistern.  The girls have a 3000L cistern on their roof which has never been more than ⅓ full.  During the storm we filled it half way! Sometimes one of these buckets full of water would “accidentally” fall repeatedly on unsuspecting team members collecting water down below in the street (to the enjoyment of those on the roof and many island spectators).  

David enjoys rain on the porch

We were out there for an hour and everyone was tired and completely soaked, but the girls had more water than they’ve ever had and we had evidence of something even better--A team that works together and sacrifices for one another!


PRAYERS ANSWERED
We were able to visit our friend in the prison this past week.  We are thankful for his mature, patient, and peaceful heart in the midst of this injustice.  He has since then completed his sentence and has been released, but justice is far from being done.  Pray for the appeal process and that the truth would be made known and justice would be done.   The arrival of rain has been an answer to our prayers from last week.  The boys’ heat rash has greatly abated and empty cisterns are filling up.  We were able to do some good long range planning which has been helpful in thinking through the next steps for our team.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Keep up the persistent prayer for Megan’s back to heal. Pray for our team as we finish up the “orientation unit” of our program. Pray especially for their local language learning and for Megan as she evaluates their language and tries to encourage them forward. Our old team leaders (who are still serving on Volcano Island) are coming out this next week to visit and encourage us. Pray for a good visit and for their team as many of them will be heading to their home countries in the next couple months.

Justice?

Is there oil offshore?

It all started with oil.  We were talking about oil at our English club.  There have been reports recently that there may be oil in this region, and we were curious what our island friends would think about it.  We assumed they would see oil as “the great hope,”  as the solution to all their problems, as the thing to pull their small nation out of poverty and bring them into a world of wealth, comfort, and prosperity.  But we were taken aback with their responses:

“Oil would change nothing.”
“We will still be poor.”
“The government and the oil investors would take all the wealth and there would be nothing for us.”

Most of the group felt this way.  As we continued to talk our discussion took a new direction.  We weren’t talking about oil anymore, we were talking about corruption.  Their statements were just as interesting:

“Everyone [in government] steals.  They all do.”
“You are expected to steal from government.”
“If you don’t steal from your government job we call you a fool.  If you do steal, we call you a thief, but we respect you.”

They gave an example of a government minister who “paid” double the price for a ferry boat (no small expense).  That is to say the government paid double the price.  Half the price went to pay for the boat and the other half went into the pocket of the minister.  When this came to light, rather than immediately firing him, the president commended him.  “He got a boat for us, and he’s a good worker.” 

David in a present for Megan's BD

The conversation then took a final turn, talking about justice:
“There is no justice here.”
“We don’t care about what is right or wrong.”  One man said, “If a family member does something bad--it doesn’t matter what it is or how bad--you do all you can to get him out of the trouble.”  Heads around the room nodded in agreement.

Hearing our club members say this struck a very personal cord with us.  This past week we have witnessed injustice in a very real way.

A good island friend of ours lives in a town where he is trying to be salt and light.  Unfortunately, he has a rebellious daughter, 14 years old.  She has been involved with a much older man and taken advantage of.  When her father, our friend, found out, he confronted the man, locked him in his house and called the police.  He did not beat the man, (although many islanders in his place would have) and allowed the police to come and take him.  However, the man is the best friend of the attorney general. When the police arrived it was our friend who found himself being taken away.  Our friend was the one taken to court and put into the detention center.  It was our friend who lost the court case and was given a sentence of two weeks in prison with a hefty fine to be paid to the man who violated his daughter!  “There is no justice here” is ringing in our ears.

Kids playing in rain water

The club ended with our members saying that change was impossible. 
“These islands will never change.”
 
“Our hope and prayer every day is that they will.  But it starts in people’s hearts,” we replied.  We think about our friend in prison, being salt and light there, and we think about the injustice and we keep hoping.  We know things can change, and one day they will change.


PRAYERS ANSWERED
We’ve all jumped back into routines after the New Year. Weeks are going fast!Discussion continues but there seems to be progress toward an approach for the complex issue we mentioned last week. We celebrated Megan’s birthday last Sunday!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Please pray for our friend in prison that he would persevere this injustice. Tom will visit him tomorrow, pray that he is allowed to see and encourage him. They trying to appeal the fine, pray for justice. Pray for his daughter and family as well. Pray for the truth of the matter to be known in his village so his reputation is not hurt by lies. Pray for the heat. David and Peter both have bad heat rash. Pray for water. One huge neighborhood   of the city (where one team family lives) doesn’t have water because of some busted pipes, it could be almost a week before they get water again. Lots of rain could help people fill their buckets/barrels. We need to do some long-range planning for the coming months, pray that we would have go wisdom and discernment as we plan ahead. Megan is trying to be much more aggressive in caring for her back (after a relapse into pain since November). We also want to be persistent in prayer for her back as well.

A Hike on the Islands

On the trail

It all started over a month ago when a friend of mine came to the house and asked if during the school vacation the team would like to go on a hike.  He knew a guide who could take us.  I said, “Sure, that sounds like fun.”  This set the wheels in motion to climb to the top of the tallest mountain on Clove Island: (We’ll call it Mt. Ndziro.) I talked to the team, they were all in. 

Here’s the thing about hiking on the Islands:  Islanders don’t do much hiking.  This makes it very hard to know exactly what you’re getting into.  Sometimes, what sounds like an easy hike turns out to be more than you bargained for.  That was the case with Mt. Ndziro.  It was a long hard hike. 

My first clue that it would not be easy should have been when my friend told me he’d never hiked Ndziro before.  My second clue was when we went to find a guide.  It turns out he didn’t really know a guide, he just knew where he could find a guide.  That consisted of going to the town under the mountain and walking up to a bunch of men and saying, “Anybody know the trail up the mountain?”  My third clue should have been as I asked around about how hard the hike is: “It takes 3 hours.”  “It takes 5 hours.” “It takes 7 hours.” Most of these estimates provided by people who had never climbed it.  The final clue should have been the very morning of the hike when my friend bowed out.  He said his sister was sick and so he couldn’t come. I hope he was telling the truth, but I can’t help but wonder...

Some of the non-hikers

The top of Mt. Ndziro is at 1595m/5233ft.  The trail is not well kept and at places was rather treacherous.  We were very thankful for two good island guides.  After a grueling 5 hour hike to the top we reached the summit to find that we couldn’t see any view--too many trees.  The way down was worse, not better. One very bad fall was enough to put the fear of God into us (miraculously he was not seriously injured), and so going down was a long slow process.  All in all, it took us ten hours.

Hiking always has its ups and downs.  It’s highs and lows.  There were more struggles on this hike, but there were some good moments.  An hour into the hike we came to a fresh water lake, a beautiful spot, and not hard to get to.  Along the way we saw many birds, butterflies, and even animals that you don’t see at lower elevations.  Even though the summit didn’t have any view, there were certain points along the way where a break in the trees offered spectacular views of our beautiful island.  Plus, all along we had wonderful weather, clear skies, cool breezes, and not a hint of rain (we are entering the rainy season).  There was much to be thankful for.

Tom & "Sterehi" at the beginning of the trail

But I’m most thankful for the conversation.  Even though my friend who organized the trip didn’t come, another island friend did come along: Sterehi.  Near the beginning of the hike, as a group, we stopped to pray for safety and a good trip.  A little further down the trail, Sterehi asked me about it.  “I’ve noticed how you guys pray about everything.  I’ve never known anyone like that.  You are different.”  What followed was a really wonderful conversation about all the important things in life.  I explained to Sterehi about why we pray all the time, and then about how my life had been changed, and then even about the reason my life was able to change.  It was a special time, made possible by the peace and seclusion of the trail.  Then, all along the way Sterehi got to see us interact as a team--another highlight.  Conversation with teammates, sharing our food and water, looking out for one another, laughter, patience and prayer were quite evident despite a hike that tested the limits of our muscles and endurance.  I am so thankful for our team and thankful for the trip...but I never want to climb Ndziro again!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are encouraged by Tom’s opportunity to go deeper with Sterehi. We are also thankful that some of our teammates are already having chances to share meaningfully with friends and neighbors. We are thankful that there was no rain and that everyone stayed safe on the hike (His hand was very evident in this). We had a happy New Year! Our teammate, Amy, on Volcano Island was very sick, but her health is starting to improve (they think it is dengue fever). The girls’ toilet is fixed! There ended up being cement in the pipes?? Tom had a good meeting with someone from the Ministry for Agriculture and the Environment- there is excitement on both sides to partner together.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
The weeks around Christmas and New Years were more relaxed but now we need to jump back into English teaching, language learning, team life and outreach. Pray that we and our whole team would jump back in with enthusiasm. We are earnestly praying that this New Year marks vast improvement for Megan’s back/sciatica - please pray with us! It is the season of heat rash and illness-- right now one of the babies on the team is having tummy troubles. Pray for healing. Unfortunately the situation on the island is not simple-- a complex, sensitive issue has come up. Pray for Tom and others as they seek to navigate the situation with wisdom, discernment and humility.