Mkayamba Hunt

Christmas morning

Christmas shopping on the islands can be kind of an adventure, especially if you are looking for something specific.  Unless it is something islanders use all the time, you might not find it—but then again, you might find it. It is that uncertainty that keeps you looking. You go to shop after shop whose walls are stacked high with an odd assortment of goods. You never know what might be sitting in the corner of one of those shops, just collecting dust.

Sometimes the hunt ends in complete disappointment. You can’t find anything like what you wanted. Sometimes it ends in partial disappointment. You find something but it isn’t exactly what you wanted and/or it is more expensive than you wanted and/or it is horribly poor quality.

So it is with some trepidation that we picked names for our secret gift exchange— what kind of adventure would we be in for this year? My friend wanted a traditional island instrument.  A “shaker (square with seeds inside)”. This was a new kind of shopping adventure. Though it is a locally made gift, I had never seen one before. I didn’t know how common they were, and they definitely weren’t going to be sitting in a shop ready to buy. I didn’t even know the name in the local language. Thankfully her latest newsletter had a picture of one, so I showed someone the picture and got the name —mkayamba. 

We don’t have any personal contacts in the traditional music scene and since the whole thing is supposed to be secret, we weren’t supposed to ask our teammates. So we asked our experts—that is the single biggest group of cultural insiders we could gather together in one place— our English Club. Where could we find an mkayamba? There was a quick discussion. They threw out various village names from all over the island where they knew people that played the mkayamba. It seemed like only a handful of people owned one, but if they owned one they probably made it themselves. Finally, one of our quieter club members, spoke up, “I have a friend. He plays the mkayamba. He can make it.” He assured us that he would tell his friend to come to our house.

An mkayamba

The week went by and no friend showed up. Then it was the Christmas party club and in the midst of the busy night we forgot to ask him again about his friend. When I texted him about it— it was not an encouraging response. “I have not found my friend yet I will tell him.” It was only a few days before Christmas and what had seemed like a promising lead now seemed doubtful. We decided to hit the streets. We needed to leave some days to catch the trail of a musician, find the musician, and then find an mkayamba or have it made.

So we asked around the market and the old town. Each time we mentioned the mkayamba, someone predictably started gesturing and playing an imaginary mkayamba. One man in the market called me over and said he would help me find whatever I wanted. When I told him I wanted an mkayamba, he said it would have to be specially ordered, but he would make it happen. I just needed to give him my phone number. It was at this point that I realized he just wanted to cozy up to the white lady. I went and got Tom and suddenly the man wasn’t so interested in helping. A lady on the other side of the market said that there was someone who played an mkayamba in a nearby village. “Just go to where the ladies sell bread in that village and ask people, you’ll find him.” It was a good lead, but we still had shopping to do in town and we had all the kids. So we kept asking. At another shop, they said they would find someone. “Just come back tomorrow or the day after tomorrow and we will have someone with an mkayamba.” This lead was too vague. They couldn’t give us a name of someone who made them. We smiled and said goodbye and went home with our hot and hungry kids.

Christmas morning

The next day had more errands to do, but finally Tom could stay home with the kids. I headed out to follow-up our one solid lead. I took a taxi to the village and got out right where the ladies sold bread. First I bought some bread, then I asked about the mkayamba. The outgoing ladies started to play their imaginary mkayambas. One asked if I knew how to dance to that type of music and started to shake her body in demonstration.  I told her I was looking for a friend, but I wanted to buy one. They yelled to some people and within 5 minutes, a man was being led to me. One woman explained, “Your girlfriend here wants an mkayamba.” I proceeded by giving my own explanation. He said he had one and told me to follow him. He led me down a dirt street away from the main road and deep into a neighborhood. At a tin house surrounded by motorcycle parts, he turned. “Should I follow you?” I asked. “Why not?” was his reply.

He opened the door to the shack and all I saw at first were dismantled motors and parts in  disorganized heaps. He reached over the mess and pulled an mkayamba out from the pile. He then showed me his traditional guitar. He had made them both himself. He was a mechanic but he was also the authority for traditional music for that whole area. I encouraged him that it was important to support and keep traditional music alive. Then after some brief negotiations, I left. I had the mkayamba and he had some unexpected money.

Another island shopping adventure complete!

The next day on Christmas Eve, a man stopped Tom on the street. It was our English club member’s friend. He had the mkayamba ready to sell to us…

PRAYERS ANSWERED

We had a wonderful Christmas with family, friends, food and fun.  It was a great celebration.  We were even blessed to receive some Christmas packages from the States!  Ma Imani continues to have a tough pregnancy with frequent expensive doctor’s visits and the lack of work has made her family’s living situation tough.  So we went to visit her a few days before Christmas with a sack of rice, a pineapple and some lychees.  We had a wonderful visit with her.  She’s doing okay, but continues to be fatigued.  After a nice time of talking, as we got up to leave she revealed to us that it was her birthday—28 years old that day!  So our Christmas present was also a birthday present and God’s special provision for one of his special children! Megan was able to sit down and visit with Bweni.  Her new married situation is strange, but Bweni continues to desire to grow and so we are hopeful for some good to come out of a messy situation.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
We leave for a week of visiting the neighboring island tomorrow morning.  Pray that our travels would go well and that our steps would be guided in what we see and do while we are there.  We are especially looking forward to seeing some old friends who we haven’t seen in a long time.  Pray that we can mutually encourage one another.  Nearly all of our teammates have left the islands to go on their own adventures to other parts of Africa and will not be returning until February.  Pray for their safe arrivals and great learning experiences ahead.

Double Booked

Christmas Club!

We get a lot of wedding invitations. At this point we’ve attended more island weddings than we have American weddings. This is partially because weddings here are not just one event, they are a series of events. Usually we don’t see a wedding all the way through— we just go to the one (sometimes two) events that we have been invited to. Wedding invitations are so common for us that we don’t always go. Sometimes we have no idea who the bride and groom are and we are being invited by a distant relative or a friend of a friend. In these situations we feel little obligation to go.

But here was an invitation to a wedding where we knew the bride, Bweni (see post from 2 weeks ago- "Right Choice?" for full story behind her wedding). While I wasn’t supportive of the marriage, the actual marriage ceremony had already happened. Now a week later was the final event— the climax for the bride. So I knew I should be there. To not go seemed like it could be relationship-breaking. 

But here was the problem— it was the same night as our annual Christmas party for our English Club. It was a biggest club night of the year. We would have a bunch of snacks, sing, play games, and share the Christmas story. It always went late.

As soon as she told me about the wedding event, I told her about the conflict. In normal circumstances, that would have been the end of it. But since I had come down so hard against the marriage, I wanted to make contact again. So the day of the event,  I let her know again about the conflict and prayed that God would be with her. But she still urged me to come, assuring me the event would be from 6-10pm. I surprised to hear that it would start so early, so I told her I’d try to pass by before our club.

I should have known better. I went at 7pm and they were still setting up. Worst of all, Bweni wasn’t even there. She was getting ready in some other location. I had assumed I would at least get some face time with her.  I sat there watching them set up, thinking that I should slip out before they really got started. Then Bweni’s mom grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the lights and set-up chairs, away from listening ears. She started talking to me fast and furious. In short, she wanted me to know that she wasn’t happy about the marriage either. She hadn’t felt free to say so when I voiced my objections because of the people listening (she had to put on a happy face for the neighborhood). But she wasn’t happy. She cried in bed about it but she had no choice but to go along with it. She ended her speech by saying, “Now we just have to pray to God that Bweni will be saved.”

Our angel declaring the good news

It wasn’t very clear to me what exactly her mom thought she should be saved from…shame, gossip, a bad marriage, sin— but in any case it seemed a good prayer to me so I agreed. We returned to the seats arm and arm. She sat me down and left to do more preparations. I made my exit a little bit later.

I got back to the house in time for a few last minute preparations before our guests started arriving. We had a good time. Our guests were particularly struck by the lowness of being born in a stable and placed in a manger. Then came the announcement from the angels to the shepherds. This baby was born to save us! That is good news for all of us to hear.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our English club Christmas party went well. We feel like people engaged with the story more than in past years and they left with copies both in English and the local language. We got tickets to go to the neighboring island after Christmas to visit friends over there and strategize together. We are excited about the mutual encouragement that is sure to happen. We’ve been doing our shopping and planning and look forward to a nice island Christmas this year.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Ma Imani has been suffering in her pregnancy. She has a medical condition that effects the baby and so she has to go for regular injections. These medical visits are draining her funds, so her family is struggling to find money for food. Pray for God’s protection for her and her baby. Pray that her husband could find a job and for His provision. Our internet has been bad on the islands lately, pray that the connection could be strong for the holiday so we can connect with our families back in the States. One of our sisters from volcano island was interrogated for a long time by police— it was the first time something like this has happened in as long a time as those working here can remember— pray for her and all of us on the islands. It is possible this is the first sign of things to come. After Christmas, all our teammates are traveling off the islands, pray for safe travels. Pray that Megan would get a chance to sit down and talk with Bweni again in person.

Top 10 Signs It's Christmas Time on the Islands

Joseph, Mary & "donkey" going to Bethlehem

Well, it’s Christmas time here on the islands.  But the Christmas season looks a little different down south of the equator on our little island.  Here’s the top ten signs that it’s Christmas time:

10. Our son is singing “Hark the Herald Angel Sing” at the top of his lungs.
 
9.  You have one month to eat as many lychees as humanly possible.
 
8.  Everyone is late to English Club because the sun doesn’t go down until 7:30pm
 
7.  The morning call to prayer (normally just before sunrise) now bizarrely happens at 3:30am
 
6.  Except for our house and a few of our colleagues who have Christmas decorations, everything looks, smells, and sounds like any other month of the year.
 

Shepherd with his green sheep

5.  Each night the kids debate about whose turn it is to do the next piece of the advent puzzle.
 
4.  Due to frequent water cuts, the sound of running water causes us to run around the house filling up buckets, flushing toilets and washing as many dishes and clothes as possible before the next cut.
 
3.  Exams, English ceremonies, weddings and Christmas parties! It’s a busy time of year!
 
2.  If you’re a foreigner, people keep asking you—“Are you traveling?”

And the number one sign that it’s Christmas time on Clove Island...
1. You wake up in a puddle of your own sweat!

Tom & a bowl of lychees (yum!)

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The training with islanders went really well. We’re looking forward to following up on it and seeing what impact it has in the future. The certificate ceremonies have been going well— even with they are long and hot and filled with too many skits and speeches! The islanders love them.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Megan had the chance to have a talk with Bweni and her mother (in the presence of many neighbors), making it clear that we didn’t support her marrying this man, nor did we support the kind of life-style he was living. Neither of them seemed offended by the talk, but Bweni ended up marrying the man anyway— the simple wedding already happened and the follow-up ceremonies are this coming weekend. Please continue to pray for Bweni and her new husband and her family. Pray for us in this extreme heat— we don’t sleep well and find ourselves generally feel more irritable. This coming week is our big English club Christmas party— pray that we would have good opportunities to share and explain.

The Right Choice?

A happy island bride and groom

Bweni is only 24 years old, but she feels like an old maid. “I’m a grandmother,” she claims. Her mother was married as a young teenager. Her younger sister was married at 17. There was an attempted arranged-marriage when she was 15 years old that fell through. She studied abroad and had a long-term boyfriend but his family didn’t approve of her. So here she is 24 and still not married. Her mom bugs her about it a lot. Apparently she has rejected at least one guy that came to the family.

She doesn’t want to marry an islander. She’s traveled abroad and seen a bigger world. In her experience, island men are never faithful and they threaten divorce or getting a second wife at any disagreement. She doesn’t want any of it. She’s seen some island women who married foreign men— those men don’t get second wives and they’ve taken care of the children. Sounds pretty good in her mind….she’s wants to marry a foreigner.

Now she has a new-found faith, so she has been praying for a husband. I talked to her about patience and about waiting for a good man. But by all accounts she has taken things into her own hands. She has hung out at a local hotel where foreigners frequent. She has made a point of getting to know the foreign men. This is not respectable behavior for a single island girl. Rumors have abounded and her reputation has plummeted.

This past weekend I got the news. “Bweni is getting married on Dec 19th. We’re all invited.” What? To whom? Did she find a good man? I asked her this question in person when I saw her. The answer was a resounding, “No.” He’s a foul-mouthed, drunk. He is also as old as her father and unhealthily obese. She could not say one positive thing about him. By all accounts, it appears that he has come to the islands for his retirement, to drink himself to death. “He’s always drinking. From the morning until the night, so he can barely walk most of the time,” she told me freely. It became clear that no one is really happy with this match (except perhaps the man in question). She doesn’t even like him. “Don’t sleep with him, “ I urged her. She looked at me like the idea was gross to her, “Don’t worry. I told him not even a kiss until after the wedding.”

Kids with newly-made ornaments

My heart cries out, “What is she doing?!?” But in her mind, she prayed for a husband and this is the man that God provided. Being married will give her the independence that she craves and will stop the nagging of her mother. She will also lose a lot of the shame she has been carrying. I get the impression it is more about “being married” than the actual man involved. In our conversation, I told her that I wasn’t happy with this news. I told her that God wanted her to marry a good man, not a man like this. I told her repeatedly that she had a choice.

“If I lived somewhere else I’d have a choice and I would wait, but here there is no choice.” I told her that I was scared for her. “I’m scared too,” she admitted. I jumped on this. “If we are following the way that God wants us to follow, He promises to give us peace. We won’t be afraid.” I told her she needed to pray and see if God gave her peace about marrying this man. As she got up to leave, I said one last time, “You have a choice!”

“The wedding is on the 19th,” she told me.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The electricity and water cuts have both improved. Thanks for praying. We have been enjoying all the fruit of the season— we’ve eaten lots of lychees in the past few weeks and they’re good! Exams and classes continue to finish well— now we have all the certificate ceremonies, too! Our daughter finished her exams and was happy with them.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
I haven’t given up on Bweni. I’m going this afternoon to hopefully talk to her and her mother. I want her mother to know that this is not the kind of man that we consider good (since islanders usually group all foreigners together). I want to urge her in the presence of her mother that she can still back out. Please pray for her and us during this time. We still don’t have the plane tickets we needed to secure, keep praying that we can find the flights we need. There is a training scheduled to begin Friday for some of our good island friends— we feel like this training could be very important for the future, so please be praying that the right people would go and for the right things to be discussed. 

Thankful in 2015

Our family on Friday

We keep up a Thanksgiving tradition. We have a little book, our Thanksgiving book. Each year we take it out and fill a bunch of pages full of things that we are thankful for from that past year. Now in another tradition, we will share with you all some of the highlights from this year’s entry. Rejoice with us for His many blessings.

We are thankful for Thanksgiving…
    -  for a happy and HOT Thanksgiving day on the island
    - for Thanksgiving morning haircuts for Tom and the boys
    - for a day of fun games, yummy food and cold drinks!
    - that we were able to video-chat with the grandparents (after months of not being able to, we got around the telecom company’s blocks)
   
We’re thankful for our home on Clove Island and our life here this past year…
    - for the group of islanders meeting and studying together weekly
    - for families seeking and studying together
    - for more people joining our big family
    - for Ma Imani’s pregnancy
    - for the translation work into the local language
    - for the unity and cooperation among workers on the islands
    - for more songs being created in local language and styles
    - for God’s grace in the difficult times
    - for family traditions- family movie night, pizza, going to ocean or river
    - for English teaching being embraced by islanders
    - for all the different visitors passing through (at least 18 at our house alone)

We’re thankful for our travels this past year…
    - for an inspiring conference in Kenya
    - for connecting with other team leaders and learning together
    - for generous parents taking us on vacation
    - for places where we could have air-conditioning, playgrounds, cheese and ice cream
    - for our kids loving to travel and doing so well

Our kids built Christmas tree from legos

We’re thankful for our daughter (7 years)…
    - for all her lost teeth
    - for her reading chapter books now!
    - for her growing in patience and boldness
    - for her speaking with people more in French and the local language
    - for her desire to learn
    - for her willingly helping around the house and loving the team babies

We’re thankful for our oldest son (5 years)…
    - for our sweet and creative guy
    - for his learning how to read with enthusiasm
    - for his creative story-telling!
    - for his endless building of “hide-outs”
    - for his willingness to listen & compromise
    - for his cool elevated train constructions

We’re thankful for our youngest son (3 years)…
    - for all his big hugs and smiles
    - for his being a good sharer
    - for all his cute ways of saying things (he’s 3)
    - for his fearless love of water
    - for super wrestler and climber
    - for his new love of puzzles!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The above list represents many answered prayers. Thank you for praying. Ma Imani seems to be doing well— the baby is moving around a lot, which reminds her to eat better. One of our teammates has a new opportunity to study with a husband and wife, both of whom are very engaged and interested. Exams have been going well so far. Still a few more weeks to go before they are all done. Our daughter’s exams have been going well too and she doesn’t seem stressed by them at all.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
The local group is in need of prayer. There have been past sins creeping in again and tension among people. Pray for healthy resolution among people, for unity, and for the development of new healthy patterns of coping during hard times. It is hot and humid, making it difficult to sleep sometimes. Also, the electricity and water have become less and less reliable. It’s not the most fun time to live on the islands— pray for perseverance, energy and joy for all of us. We have the long-haul tickets to go back for Tom’s sister’s wedding in February, but the local/regional tickets have been hard to secure. Pray that we’d be able to get them this coming week. Also, the islands are starting to gear up for presidential elections and rumblings of tension, pray that everything would be peaceful and just.

Old Story Heard Anew

Skit Night at English Club

“If your wife cheated on you could you forgive her?” I asked my friends Uhaju and Huomba.  They sat and pondered the question for a moment.  Then Huomba in his slow and ponderous manner replied,“Some things are just too hard to forgive.”

I’m not sure how we had come around to talking about cheating spouses.  The conversation had begun with a discussion about the terrible events that had happened in Paris.  We had pondered the reasons why people could do such horrible things—things that seem awful and alien to many of our friends and neighbors here on Clove Island even if done in the name of faith.  We had come around to the idea of revenge and had talked about some of the things it said in their book and what my book had to say.  My friends explained that they believed revenge was the job of the state and not the individual.  Countries could make war—not individuals.  I challenged them with the fact that the group claiming responsibilities for the attacks claims the status of a nation state.  This made them pause.  But somehow the conversation about forgiveness continued on and it eventually came around to talking about husbands and wives being faithful.  (As a side note: few husbands and wives are faithful here on the islands.)  And suddenly it seemed clear to me that I should not tell the story I had been prepared to tell them, but a different one:

The religious leaders came with an angry crowd and brought a woman and threw her down at the teacher’s  feet.  “We caught her.”  They said, “In the very act.  She is an adulteress.”  They held stones in their hands ready to stone here.  “Teacher,” they said, “What should we do?”  The teacher did not look at them but wrote something in the dirt.  Then after a moment he said, “Let the person who doesn’t have any sin throw the first stone.”  The crowd was silent.  The teacher went back to writing in the dirt.  Slowly, one by one, the men dropped their stones and started to leave.  Soon, there was no one left except the teacher and the woman.  The teacher looked at the woman and said, “Woman, who condemns you?”  “No one” she replied.  “Then neither do I condemn you,” he said. “Go and don’t sin anymore.”  So the woman left.

Uhaju and Huomba sat in silence.  It was as if the story had just slapped them in the face.  They looked dazed, their mouths slightly open. It was clear— they had never heard anything like this story before.  I began to ask them a question but could see that they were not ready to respond.  So instead, I told the story a second time.  Even in the retelling, I could see the amazement in their faces.  Finally they seemed ready to answer some of my questions.  Their answers were telling.
“Everybody sins.”
“The teacher is merciful.”
“The law says she should die.  They still do that in some countries.”
I asked them, “What does the story teach us about God?”  At first they didn’t know so I pressed them.  “Does the teacher follow God’s way?”  “Yes.” “So he is doing what God wants.”  “So God is merciful,” one said, with a mixture of surprise and reluctance.  I went on, “If this is story is true then it teaches us about how we should live our lives.  So how should we live?”  The two were silent.  Then one said, “We don’t know.”  “I think you do,” I said.  The two of them looked sheepish.  “We should forgive,” one of them finally said.

Thankful for the beauty around us

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving week. Our family has been very healthy lately, not something we take for granted here. The kids are liking local school more. We secured the big international tickets to go to Tom’s sister wedding (thanks to the generosity of others!). We keep hearing stories and experiencing first hand islanders being interested and truly seeking. We live in a relatively very safe place, something we are very thankful for in the midst of world events.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for Ma Imani, she is pregnant and thankfully has made it into the second trimester (after many miscarriages). But the doctors say she needs to start eating more and better foods (she is a picky, light-eater usually). Pray that she would have an appetite and eat well,  and pray for protection over the rest of her pregnancy. We now have a couple friends who have miscarried recently on the islands, pray for them as they deal with the emotional aftermath of that experience. An island sister has been getting some backlash for actions that were perhaps too bold— pray for increasing wisdom for her and that even the backlash might lead to good opportunities. We have entered in exam time—all our English exams are oral and time-consuming. Pray for good exams and the energy to get through them all as the weather heats up.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE BACK HOME!

Unexpected Encounter

Our 7 yr old exploring the caves

We had someone new join us for our time together on Sunday.  She is not an islander. She’s a foreigner to the islands.  She’s been working here for a number of months.  She comes a country in the Middle East where there is a very strict government and very few freedoms.  Yet, when she heard two of our teammates speaking English a few days ago, she couldn’t help but introduce herself and in the course of the conversation it seemed like she couldn’t help but let them know about the good news that had changed her life.  From this chance meeting on the side of the road, she was invited to join our time together and share her amazing story.

She had always gone against the grain, she told us, always “swimming up the river.”  Yet, she had also tried to live a good life and to do what is right.  She had worked for some very religious people and seen the deception and the hypocrisy in their lives and found herself rejecting the things that they claimed were true.  Yet, still she tried to live a pure life.  She prayed everyday and tried to live as she was supposed to.  Then one day, she had a dream.  The dream was so real.  She was praying in the daily ritual way, and then in the midst of her prayer she stopped and left the building.  There in the street was a bright shining man.  He offered her a beautiful belt and a drink.  She took the belt and put it on and then drank the drink.  Then she looked up and saw another building across the street.  She went to this new building to pray and felt herself filled with joy.

She had found some friends to help her follow this new path, but they spoke a different language and it was very hard.  She wanted to go abroad to a place with more freedom, but she kept being denied a visa. Then she got a contract job that took her to the islands.  She had been here for six months and the contract was over she would have to return to her home country soon.

She wished she had met us earlier. She would really like to learn more—and even though her English isn’t very good, she wanted to learn as much as she could from us in the remaining week or two she has on the islands.  The only book she had was in her friends’ language and it was slow reading and hard to understand. That’s when one of our teammates reached over with his smart phone.  He started searching the internet for the book in her language.  In a matter of seconds, he had found it and handed it to her.  The look of surprise on her face was wonderful!  The whole book has been translated into her own language and she hadn’t even known it!  She immediately started to read it.  With a wide grin she said, “I don’t even need you anymore.  I can read it for myself.”  She spent the next hour (and probably many more after that) reading and understanding and asking our teammates questions. 

Our 5 yr old exploring too!

What a privilege to see something like this.  How strange that we should find each other in such a remote place as the islands.  What a great reminder that sometimes, all it takes is a dream—and that dreams happen!  What a great encouragement to see the joy of someone reading a book in their own language.  What a motivation to see more translation work done.  What a surprise! 

This young woman will not be here very much longer, but we’ll share what we can and she will leave with her own book in her own language and she will leave us greatly encouraged.  You will be a blessing and you will be blessed.  Yes, it’s true.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are thankful for this chance meeting and for the window it gives us into what God is doing around the world. Ma Imani is feeling better. Continue to pray for her health. Our team had planned a single-weekend music worship to get a few more songs in the local language/style, but it is turning into a weekly music club, which is better than our original plan. We’re excited to see the songs they create become embraced and sung by islanders. We had a visitor for most of this past week— he is visiting the islands and even considering working here in the future. It was encouraging to talk with him and share life with him.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for our new friend as she returns to her home country, that she would continue to learn, grow and be a bright light in that place. One of our teammates continues to struggle with debilitating allergies— pray for relief. She hasn’t found medicine that doesn’t knock her out and it has been going on for months.  It is really draining her. Please pray. Megan is still sharing stories in a local home but most of the family is not around to hear. Pray that they would share with each other and learn together. Tom has decided to continue to meet weekly with the two guys. Pray for wisdom about what to study and how he should push/encourage them.

Training Takes Off

Tom teaching a much smaller class

It all started five years ago.  A student friend of mine came to our house on Volcano Island and asked a question.  “Would you be willing to train us as English teachers?”  I was still something of a new teacher myself and I didn’t have any formal curriculum to offer him.  But I did have all my notes from the English teaching course I had taken a year before.  He seemed eager and serious about it, so I agreed.  With three of his friends, we started the English Teacher Training Program.  It was not much to talk about at the beginning—just me sharing with them my notes and giving them encouragement, but it worked.  They started teaching classes.  The classes grew.  All four of those original teachers found opportunities overseas and traveled away, but the group continued on.  The students they taught became the new teachers and the program continues to this day.

When we arrived on Clove Island, everyone one wanted English but English teaching was almost non-existent.  It was like starting over again from square one.  But slowly, with the help of our team, English has been catching on.  At the beginning we simply taught classes, but about a year ago we started doing the teacher trainings again.  Thankfully, the program has been greatly improved by my talented colleagues. And now, slowly interest has grown.

So this month we are doing our teacher training for the third time.  The first time we did the training we had ten students.  The second time fifteen.  This time we had forty-three!  43 apprentice-teachers!  When I arrived before class the room was already packed. Usually we do the training sitting in a semi-circle, but every seat was taken and teachers kept arriving.  First it became a double semi-circle. Then a triple.. They just kept bringing out more desks!  I had only brought twenty copies of the handout so the administrator had to go out twice to make more copies.  Many of them were my former students, so I recognized about half the class, but there were others there too. Many of them had come from villages outside our area.  They are hoping to go back to their village and start their own English programs there.  All these students meant my lesson plan needed adjusting—activities take a lot longer with so many students.  As it was, I still had to rush at the end to finish everything.  But we still managed to have some very good discussion and the class was definitely engaged.  It was exciting to see.  How did this happen?  How did we go from 15 to 43?

Kids in new shirts from a package!

Well, we’ve realized a few things.  Training works.  As teachers gain confidence, students gain confidence in them and the whole program grows in confidence.  Also,sometimes leaving can be a good thing.  We’ve started telling people that our team will be leaving the islands soon.  6 months from now will be the end.  Although Megan and I plan to return, many of our teammates will not.  One of the questions we have been asked again and again is, “What will happen to English teaching?”  It’s a good question.  It also seems to be a good motivator, especially for some of our most excited students, teachers and administrators.  I think that’s the third factor—motivated people who have caught the vision.  Some of these teachers and administrators have realized that we will not always be here.  So they have started to branch out on their own.  They are starting their own association.  They are helping to start programs in other villages.  They are catching a vision, and they are sending potential teachers to our training program. Lots of them!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The song making workshop went well even if our numbers might have been smaller than hoped.  We hope to record a few new songs in the coming weeks. There are now 4 different groups meeting to study together and hopes for more. Peter has been having much better days of school after some hard initial months. We had some good training as a team that is helping to shape our vision and strategy. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that they would be able to effectively train all these English teachers and that we would see more islanders taking ownership! Pray that we would see this kind of motivation and island ownership in all the things we are involved in- not just English teaching. Pray for all those seeking change on the islands and for them to stand strong amidst backlash. Ma Imani has been sick. Pray for healing and relief for her body.

Better in Families

Dressed for a wedding event

No one is content with the status quo on the islands. Almost everyone we talk to whether islander or foreigner wishes and hopes for change. Now we don’t all agree what the biggest problems are nor how to change things. Some doubt that change is even possible. But we’re convinced that real change will happen in people’s lives first and eventually we’ll see change at the societal level.

But over the years we’ve noticed something. When one person changes their perspective, it won’t necessarily extend beyond them.

We know lots of young single men who like to talk about change. It is a time of life where island men feel free and excited to explore. Some have gotten excited about change but as young single men they don’t really have a voice in their family or community. They are still dependent on their families and don’t want to rock the boat and be hit by the backlash of their parents or friends. No one likes the problems on the islands but that doesn’t necessarily mean they all want to embrace change.

A man used to come regularly to talk to Tom. He seemed to understand things and wanted change in his own life. But we asked with whom he was talking about these things, who else was he telling. The answer was “No one.” He was holding it like a secret. He didn’t talk about these things even with his wife.

A few towns over there is a man who lives a changed life, but he has also rejected most of island culture and traditions. He wants to share with others but he’s isolated. He has pushed away his family and community. He walks down the street and looks like a foreigner. He’d rather live abroad. Many like him have already fled the islands.

But here is the beautiful thing that is starting to happen now, people are exploring the idea of change within their families. It isn’t done in secret, so there is no fear and shame. They are learning together so they can embrace change together. It isn’t just the young people, but fathers and mothers too. There is a growing culture of discussing and sharing with others, so ideas and stories spread to extended family members and neighbors. Also change can happen without rejecting people and culture, but hopefully can work to transform them.

This past week I was in a neighbor’s house. I was sitting talking with two grown sisters of the family, sharing stories of creation with them. Their mother joined us, as well as two neighbors. They all listened. We talked into the night. At some point they pulled the youngest son out who had fallen asleep unnoticed at our feet.

Waiting for the men's event to begin

It was good. Not that everyone is on the same page and ready to embrace the same things, but it is being done in the open and they are exploring together. It is only a few families right now, but it is still exciting. Change can happen.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are excited about and thankful for these families. Tom and others have started another training for islanders who teach English— 43 teachers came to the first session! They were hoping for around 15-20. The translation project continues, we’re excited to benefit from its fruit.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Please pray for these families that are studying and exploring together— each one has different difficulties and barriers to overcome. Pray for more individuals to engage their families in their thoughts and explorations. We are going to have another song workshop this coming weekend— the hope is have 6 new recorded songs in the local language at the end of it. Pray that it goes well with the right people attending. We still need to pray and think about future things— pray that we would have the time and quiet to devote these things to prayer. With increasing change and momentum, we expect backlash— pray for everyone in the midst of it.

Visiting the Littlest Island

Some teammates on the boat

This week we took a team retreat over to one of the other islands of our small islands nation.  We went to the littlest island (we’ll call it Vanilla Island).  Many of our teammates had never been there and we hadn’t been there in five years, so a visit was long over due.  Here are some highlights from our trip:

First of all, if you think Clove Island is remote you are right, but little Vanilla Island is truly about as remote as one might go.  Inhabited by only about 30,000, the island seems nearly deserted.  So different from our own island with its 350,000 people where town spills into town.  You notice the difference when you travel.  Flying over Clove island, you notice village after village.  Flying into Vanilla Island we saw only the village where the airport was located.  On Clove Island, driving in a taxi, the spaces between towns are short or even non-existent.  In Vanilla Island you drive through jungle for long stretches of time before passing through a village consisting of a handful of mud huts.  (Our son complained on the ride, “Where are all the houses??”) We also took a boat trip from nearly one end of the island t the other and saw only one town in between our starting point and our destination!  However, being remote has it’s perks.  The people are friendly, the island is mostly clean and much of it looks untouched.  Marine and land wildlife still abounds and the snorkeling is wonderful.

Tom on a boat

Did I mention that we went snorkeling?  There is something truly amazing in experiencing the underwater world of a coral reef.  It is an amazing world of light and color and yet hidden under the ocean waters.

Vanilla Island is also known for its turtles.  We arrived just in time one day to see about 30 tiny sea turtles emerge from their nest and make their frenetic dash for the sea.  We stood over them and protected them from the crows as they left their little tracks in the sand and found safety and rest in the crashing waves.

In this far off place we had a chance to relax and reflect as a team and just enjoy one another.  We also had the chance to enjoy our colleagues who work there on Vanilla Island.  On Monday morning we went for a walk around the village where one of our colleagues live, talking with their friends and neighbors.  It was clear that our colleagues are well loved and accepted into the community.  The people we met were very friendly and kind, and we realize that the sorts of hopes and dreams we have for Clove Island mirror the hopes and dreams of our friends on Vanilla island and beyond.  So many people who long for a better life, who are looking for so much more, a hope that will not disappoint.  There are many places in the world like this, and what a privilege it is to be in one of these places.  I love Clove Island and feel blessed to serve there, and I am thankful for my friends who love Vanilla Island and are blessed to serve there.  So many in need.  So many without a real sense of hope.  We have been called to serve them and it is a blessing.

Back home celebrating Tom's birthday

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are very thankful that we got to have our retreat (at the last minute it looked like our flight there might be cancelled, so we were very thankful when we all arrived). Tom celebrated his 37th birthday! We are very thankful for him and the ways he is being used to bless others as a father, husband, team leader, friend, neighbor and teacher here on the islands! The survey trip last week went well and will be followed by another. Continue to pray!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We’ve been having some big talks on the islands about strategy and what the next 5 years of work on all the islands could look like. We are very excited to say that there is wonderful cooperation between organizations and we are looking to coordinate for best efficacy. These talks come just as our team was hoping to figure out the next 5 years on Clove Island. Now we’re realizing that this is a much bigger conversation. Pray for us as we try to find our way forward as a team while at the same time we participate in this bigger conversation. Pray for great unity of purpose and vision.

Don't Be So Confident

On a hike with fellow island workers

It is a quiet morning. I am sitting on the porch having some quiet time of study and prayer. Our guest approaches me tentatively, “I’m going to walk to the bank to see if the ATM is working now.” “I see the taxi strike is still on, I’ll be able to get to the airport for my flight?” he adds nervously.

“Don’t worry about it,” I assure him confidently, “We’ll take care of you and make sure you get to the airport on time.” With that he walks off our porch and onto the taxi-less streets.

When I go inside, I am glad to see Tom calling the airline. Usually we try to call the day before but we had forgotten in the midst of a busy day yesterday. But it is an afternoon flight, so calling this morning should be fine.

Tom’s tone of voice catches my attention from the other room. Something is wrong. “Well, what are we supposed to do now?” he asks into the phone.

Once off the phone I get the quick run-down. They changed the flight to the morning. Our guest needs to be at the airport NOW if he wants to catch the flight. The airport is 15-20 minutes away. Our guest is not even at our house at the moment. There is a taxi strike and we don’t have a ride lined up yet.

So much for my confident assurances. We were thinking that we had all day to find him a ride to the airport, now we need someone with a car this instant (a tall order on the islands).

Tom starts calling people with cars. I go to my neighbors, I quickly explain the situation. “How can we find a car to take him to the airport?” They shake their heads, “That’s going to be hard.” None of the taxi drivers want to be seen on the road during the strike. One neighbor walks off. I go back and check on Tom. He may have tracked down someone with a private car, but in the meantime our guest isn’t answering his phone. He is roaming the streets, oblivious to our anxious efforts to get him to the airport.

With a newborn (a twin)

Tom sets off to find him by foot. Tom doesn’t find him at the bank closest our house. The ATM there isn’t working. He must have headed for the bank all the way across town. Meanwhile my neighbor arrives at our door with a taximan willing to brave the streets for us, but Tom already has a friend on his way with a private car. I thank our neighbor and the taximan repeatedly for their willingness to help. Then I go inside and start collecting our guest’s belongings to help him pack.

Tom continues the search for our guest by car. Finally they find him and return to the house. I apologize, say a prayer for him and finally shout a goodbye as he rushes in, grabs his stuff and gets back in the car.

Then I wait. My heart is still thumping. Finally I get the call from Tom. Our guest is at the airport. He is checked in. He’s going to make it.

Next time I won’t be so confident.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We have a new niece as of yesterday! We’re very thankful that both mom and baby is doing well. We had a wonderful visit from our former team leaders this weekend. Megan got to meet with the young woman and some of her family. There haven’t been anymore taxi strikes.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Tom is right now on a survey trip of another part of the island for looking at future work in that aware. Pray for wisdom, discernment and good interactions as these possibilities are explored. Pray for Megan and others as we decide what the best for meeting and guiding this family group. Tom has a plan to meet with the second man to tell him the final story- pray it happens and that they can make a plan for how to proceed. Our team is going to the smallest island for a retreat and opportunity to visit our colleagues working there. Pray for safe travels and for fun, rejuvenating times as a team. We have been talking about strategy and ideas for the future— pray with us about these important discussions and decisions.

Taxi Strike

Relatively quiet, taxi-less street

This past week there was a taxi strike.  You may think that’s not such a big deal, but on our island, taxis are the main mode of transportation.  Taxis are cheap and form the backbone of “public” transportation on the island.  Most people get everywhere by taxi.  Taxis carry the market sellers AND their wares to the market.  Taxis get the people from the village into their jobs in the city.  Taxis get people to and from the airport.

Now we don’t have a car, so we depend on taxis too.  This meant that we were indisposed by the taxi strike too.  Examples:

·      Our teammates who live in the next town over wouldn’t be able to get to our team meeting so instead they spent the night at our house, and then since the taxis still weren’t running they stayed a second night. (This was actually a blessing in disguise since we got to hang out and play board games with them.)

·      We are co-teaching some English classes with some island teachers.  When the strike hit, they were not able to come into town, so we had extra English classes to teach.

·      There’s a couple of men who come by to sell us vegetables to our door (a very nice situation) but with no taxis available, there was no fresh vegetables.

·      Our doctor teammate had to wait an hour and a half to find someone willing to take him to his village clinic.

·      When we found out that they had changed our visitor’s flight and that we had to get him to the airport right away, we had some anxious moments while we called our few friends who own cars and asked our neighbors to help us get our visitor to the airport. (He made it just in time.)

So a common question we get here is, “Why don’t you have a car?”  I usually explain how we don’t need one to get around, and that cars are expensive, and there’s unforeseen expenses like insurance and repairs…just a bunch of trouble that we’d rather not have to deal with.  But there’s another part that you might find strange.  By not having a car, we feel closer to our neighbors.  The fact of the matter is most islanders don’t have cars.  And so a taxi strike inconveniences them.  They suffer.  And when we are inconvenienced, to some extent we suffer too.  We relate to what our friends and neighbors are going through.  We even ask for their help to work around these problems.  

She keeps losing teeth!

Now I’m extremely thankful for my friends here who have cars—our visitor would probably not have made his flight otherwise—but I wonder, if we had a car, would we have noticed the strike at all?  Would it have had much of an effect on us?  Would we have really cared?

So what did we gain (besides the chance to complain along with our neighbors)?  I think it’s about walking a mile in another man’s shoes. We come from thousands of miles away and try to cross over the distance of culture, language and history in order to understand and be understood. We do a lot of things to try to reach over this gap and this time around, not having a car helped us get just a little closer.

PRAYERS ANSWERED

Our visitor made it to his flight! Our teammate has had a good time in Kenya (she’ll be back tomorrow). Tom had a chance to tell the final story to one of the guys he has been meeting with and they had a good discussion. After a couple of weeks of feeling discouraged, we are starting to feel encouraged again- thanks for your kind thoughts and prayers.  Our team finished and printed the 1st edition of a little grammar book for the local language! We pray that it will help more people learn and appreciate this language. A young woman in our neighborhood wants Megan to come and study with her and her family (siblings and mother)—this is just the kinds of opportunities that we pray for!

 
PRAYERS REQUESTED

We’ve had two rounds of the taxi strikes and there may be more. Pray for a resolution and that we’d be patient in the meantime. Pray that the second man will get to hear the final story (ideally through his friend). It is starting to get hot. Megan was supposed to meet with the family yesterday but a neighborhood funeral meant a week delay. Pray that she would have wisdom as she interacts with this family.

Who’s pulling the strings?

An event right outside our house

This past Sunday we had a nice time of fellowship.  On the taxi ride home I was looking forward to a relaxing and quiet Sunday afternoon… a time to rest, nap and regroup after what had been kind of a difficult week.  But as the taxi pulled up to our house we saw people putting large tarps over the road.  This could only mean one thing—a wedding event.

Now there are all sorts of wedding events that happen here and we are not really opposed to them, except when they happen right outside our house.  Why?  Because all wedding ceremonies include singing and dancing and all singing must be amplified and speakers have only one volume setting on the islands—AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE.  Why do they even put a volume dial on those things???

So now I start thinking, as a watch them set up speakers directly outside our kitchen window—I’ve got a meeting tonight.  How am I going to have a meeting if there is music blaring into our living room?  It’s simply not going to work.  I’ve been meeting with some friends for the past few months, having great discussions, sharing with them my favorite stories from our book.  Today was supposed to be the final story—you know, the one where the stone is rolled away and the women are amazed and then some men have an amazing walk and discussion along the road.  I was excited to share this story, but now I’m thinking, it’s going to be impossible.  There will be too much noise tonight.  I’ll simply have to cancel.  That’s when my mind asks another question, “Is this a win for the other side?”  “Is this some sort of dark scheme to keep these friends of mine from hearing the exciting resolution to the story?”  I don’t know if you ever think this way, but things being the way they are here—where interactions can feel like a raging battle in the spiritual realm; where evil spirits are an every day part of people’s lives; where strange things happen at times that seem more than coincidental—it just seemed too coincidental not to ask the question.  Just then the music starts to thump.

We haven’t even had lunch yet and we are drowning in sound.  The music is loud and frenetic in it’s tempo—the sort of tempo that makes your heart beat faster whether you want it to or not.  So much for a quiet Sunday afternoon…The questions return, “Who’s at work here?” The quiet Sabbath afternoon is ruined, but maybe this means it will be over before my meeting this evening.  So with music flooding every corner of our home, we try to take some quiet rest time…

Ours kids play photographer

By early evening the event is in full swing and our nerves are jagged.  Poor Megan has to cook dinner in the kitchen, where the music is the loudest.  I was retreating to the farthest corner of the house to get away from it.  Of course, this meant I didn’t hear Megan when she  called for help in the kitchen, for someone to set the table, for everyone to come to dinner.  By the time we sat down to dinner Megan and I are snapping at one another and the kids, the music is still pounding, and I hate everything. We have to yell across the table to be heard. Not our finest hour.  Plus, I’m really annoyed because it seems like the party is not going to stop.  It’s just going to continue on into the evening…I’m going to go completely insane.

So, with twenty minutes to spare before my friends come over I decide to call them and cancel.  So I did.  And as I hung up the phone, the music stopped.  Fifteen minutes later they were carting away the speakers.  It was over.

My mind starts to ponder again, “Who just won?”  “Is it a coincidence that as soon as I cancelled the music stopped?”  Should I call my friends back and say we could go on with our meeting?  Then I thought about how stressed out I felt; how tired; how I was only now feeling my heart rate return to normal.  No.  No meeting tonight.  I’m defeated.

Later that evening, in our now tranquil living room, I sat playing some quiet songs of worship and thinking.  Nothing can separate us from this great love…neither height nor depth…angels nor demons…famine nor sword…and I realized that I should add over blown speakers or cancelled meetings.  In the end, I may have been disappointed, but there will be other days, other meetings.  If not with me, than with someone else.  My time may be limited, but He has all the time in the world.  And nothing can stop his love.  Then finally, a frazzled soul went to bed and found some rest.

PRAYERS ANSWERED

One of our teammates is in Kenya this week for a speaking engagement.  We’re happy that her travels went well and we’re hoping she’ll have a great week in Kenya.  Asiria, our landlady’s servant girl, has been a frequent visitor and seems comfortable with us.  We are happy that she seems rather well behaved.  A friend of ours asked us to pray for his sick mother.  We are encouraged that he would come to us for prayer.  We are happy to be hosting a visitor this week.

PRAYERS REQUESTED

Pray for Tom’s friends and that they would still be able to meet and continue to share their hearts with one another.  Pray for our teammates who are away –those at home for the next few months, and the one in Kenya this week.  Pray that God would continue to give us wisdom, patience, grace and faith as we live in this sometimes difficult place. Pray for encouragement.

New Neighbor

Asiria enjoying birthday fun

I first saw her a few weeks ago. I was reading and praying on the porch one morning when I saw our landlady heading to her shop followed by a little girl. I had seen the little girl a few days before, but now I realized. She wasn’t just someone’s kid, she was our landlady’s “child servant”. Our landlady used to have a boy that lived with them. He washed dishes and clothes, and took out garbage, among other things. In the end, he ran away, back to his poor family out in the village.

Some poor families try to find places for their children among rich families. The rich families provide for the child (school. food, clothes) and in return they get someone to help around the house. The boy had been 10 or 11 years old, but this little girl is small, only 6 years old. May heart fell at the sight of her. No doubt she’d get food, clothing and education but I seriously doubted she would get any love from our landlady.

On Thursday, we were preparing to celebrate a teammate’s birthday when we heard a scream coming from our landlady’s house. It was a scary scream, it was not an angry cry or a sad whine, it was a scream of terror. I didn’t wait more than a few seconds before I went down our back stairs.

The little girl (who we’ll call Asiria) was in the outdoor bathroom, screaming for her life and pounding on the door. The door was locked from the outside. It was obvious: she had been locked in intentionally. I looked around and saw through the house that our landlady was calmly talking to someone on the street out front. I could have tried to call her but I don’t think she could have heard me over Asiria’s screams. So after only a second’s hesitation, I opened the door. Asiria burst out the door and immediately clung to me.

A second later our landlady was there trying to push Asiria back into the bathroom. Asiria was screaming and struggling. Tom came down and Asiria hugged his leg while we tried to reason with our landlady and understand what was going on.

Our landlady explained that Asiria was being punished for sneaking off and going clear across town by herself. “She could be kidnapped. She’s a little girl. She has to stay around here. I’m not going to hit her, but I am going to put her in there. That’s her punishment.” 

It is true that it could be dangerous for a little girl to go that far away from home unaccompanied, but we also know that she has a grandmother that lives in that part of town. She was trying to go home to her family.  We asked Asiria if she understood that what she had done was dangerous. Our landlady told us that the little girl was “stupid/an idiot” who wouldn’t understand. She spoke to the girl and told her next time she’d put a lock on the outside of the bathroom so we wouldn’t be able to open it for her.

We weren’t getting anywhere so I took a long shot but asked the landlady if Asiria could come up and play at our house. I think our landlady knew we weren’t going to let her lock Asiria back in the dark bathroom and she acted relieved to be rid of her. So we took Asiria to our house. She hung out with the other kids, she played games, she ate dinner, had birthday cake and watched people hit the piñata. She was a normal kid for the rest of the day. The next morning she was by our back gate before breakfast, feeding our youngest son candy between the bars. We let her inside and she was with us until our landlady called for her around lunchtime.

Lost her front tooth!

There isn’t much we can do to change Asiria’s circumstances. Her family has given her to our landlady. They don’t want her back. There is an island group that works to protect children like Asiria but they only intervene when there is physical or sexual abuse or if the child is not being sent to school. From the perspective of most islanders, Asiria is in a good place. She is wearing nice clothes. She’s clean. She’s well fed. But our hearts cry out— she’s only 6 years old! She needs loving parents and the chance to be a little kid.

We’re not sure how Asiria’s story will continue but we plan to be a part of it as long as we can. We hope she will be a regular visitor in our home.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Both of our teammate’s birthday celebration went well. Many islanders came to the women’s event where we celebrated how God has worked in our teammate’s life, sang songs and prayed together. The kids had some days off school for the holiday and they all got to go and greet neighbors for the holiday. Our daughter lost her front tooth (she’s excited about her new smile). 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for us as we try to figure out how to be good advocates for Asiria with our landlady. Continue to pray for our pregnant friend with a history of miscarriages. Continue to pray for our team family that is currently back in their home country. Pray for the two men that Tom has been meeting with every week— they only have one more important week to finish all the stories that Tom had planned.