A Phone Call and A Visit

“Hello...Papa Grace...It’s me…Sahara...in [far away country].”

The photo from that initial visit (years ago now)

Sahara.  Sahara is an old friend and brother.  He was a student of mine when we lived on Volcano Island but he was from Clove Island.  He was one of my first good friends from Clove Island. The first time I visited Clove Island he was my guide.  He took me to his home village--a remote village high up in the mountain.  At the time it had no road access, and we had to hike for two hours uphill to get there.  I met his father and some other family members and then we hiked down again.  (See this old blog post if you want to read that story.)  I thought we might even work together one day on Clove Island.  But then Sahara received a scholarship to a far away country and it was unsure when and if he would ever return.  On occasion he has called me just to keep in touch and keep the friendship.  (A very African thing to do.)  But this phone call was different.

“My father...died.”

 I remembered his father.  A small man, a farmer.  I had taken a picture with him.

“Will you come back to Clove Island?” I asked.
“No.  I can’t.”  There was a long pause.
“Is your family still in [the remote village]?”  I asked.
“Yes, they are.”  Another long pause.  “I wanted to tell you.  Goodbye.”

I said goodbye to Sahara but more was said in that conversation than met the eye.  When someone dies, it is customary to go and visit the family.  Sahara didn’t ask me to visit, and I didn’t offer to go, but it was certainly his hope.  A long hard trip to his remote village...but that is what needed to be done.

View from this remote village on the mountaintop

The next week I managed to convince a teammate to come along with me.  It’s always nice having a companion along.  We had good conversation as we bounced and squished and changed from taxi to taxi to get to the village.  Remote is relative on Clove Island.  In actuality the distance is only about 35 miles from the capital to Sahara’s village, but between taxis and bad roads it took us almost two hours to get there.  Upon arriving it didn’t take long to find someone to take us to Sahara’s mother.  We sat with her for a few minutes.  I gave her a gift.  And that was it.  She was kind but not overly welcoming.  No one seemed to think that I had done anything of great import.  No one seemed to acknowledge that we had come from “afar.” It all seemed very ordinary.  My duty was done.  Nothing to do but return home. Two hours later I was home.  A whole day spent for a five minute visit.

Was it worth it?  It is hard to place value on that kind of visit. I’m sure the news will get back to Sahara.  He will know I went to visit his family, and he will see it as the normal act of a true friend.  Would it have mattered if I hadn’t gone?  Maybe not. There is flexibility for foreigners, but I wanted to do it, for Sahara, for a friend.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The elections occurred with no major incidents. There will be run-off elections next month. David is feeling all better-- his fever didn’t last more than a day. Tom had a good, smooth trip to the remote village. Our island friends have continued to show interest in making songs with their heart music-- pray that they would find times to meet and craft more songs!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Tom is sick all of a sudden today-- only to learn that lots of people are sick around the capital right now. Pray for a quick recovery and that the rest of our team/family might be spared. Our teammates with a newborn in Kenya have had problems with some of the paperwork associated with getting a birth certificate and passport. Pray that things would go smoothly from now on and that they would be encouraged.

The VOTE

Setting up the stage outside our house for a rally

For the last month, with some regularity, we could expect a truck with loud speakers to drive by our house blaring music and making announcements at sound distorting decibels.  Why? 

The answer: The vote.

Yes, our island home has been busy with the excitement of democracy in process.  Campaigning has been going full tilt.  Signs are plastered everywhere, banners hang over the streets, and everyone is talking about their candidate or party of choice.

Now, as outsiders we try to remain out of politics, but unfortunately the politics come to us.  This has mainly been in the form of political rallies right outside our home.  When we moved into our house we wanted to be in community.  We wanted to be amongst lots of people.  We wanted to have lots of access to neighbors. And for the most part this has been great.  The down side of this is the noise.  Living in the heart of the neighborhood means if anything is going to go down, it’s going to happen right outside our house.  And I mean, right outside our house.

A few weeks ago they started setting up for a rally right outside our kitchen window.  The thought occurred to me--don’t they need to ask our permission?  At least out of courtesy?  But no.  This is the Islands, not America.

It’s amazing how some things seem the same everywhere.  Some of it sounds familiar to things we would hear in the States:

“It doesn’t matter who gets elected.  Nothing ever changes.”
“All they do is complain about the other candidate.” [i.e. negative campaigning]
“All politicians are liars.  They promise everything.  You vote for them and then they do nothing.”
“We’ve got to do something about healthcare.”

Our kids

But then some things are different.  Most of the candidates are campaigning on a platform of improving electricity and water (our water and power cuts are big chunks of each day.)  Another popular platform is that government workers would receive their salary every month.  (Workers can go months without being paid.)  One candidate’s sign read, “Vote for So-And-So: the tranquil candidate.”  (It doesn’t seem like an exciting slogan to me.) But here, corruption and scandal are commonplace.

Today people went to the polls.  To cut down on fraud no one is allowed to leave their home village, so no taxis were running and everything was rather quiet.  We stayed at home and said some prayers for a peaceful and fair election.  The winners will be announced tonight.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Islanders continue to be excited about the songs they created. We watched as one listened to the three songs non-stop for 2 hours with her daughter carefully listening and singing along. There is a desire to make more songs-- pray for a clear time to present itself so they could continue and grow in this area. The elections have appeared to be peaceful so far! Peter was pretty sick this week but today has made a turn for the better. We are thankful for healing. Tom got to pray with a guy who’s brother was lost at sea for over a week. The next day the boat made land in another country. His brother lived (having been on the boat for 10 days without food or water).


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for the government of the islands, for fair and just leaders. There will be run-off elections next month and subsequent presidential elections next year. There are rumblings of changing the country’s constitution-- pray that any changes would be for the good of the nation and its people. David came down with a fever today, pray that it passes quickly.

Heart Music

Men singing traditional music

Since we first came to Africa, we always embraced the idea of heart language. People have their mother tongue, the language that they think in, the language with which they can truly express who they are, the language that they are completely comfortable in and in which they can understand things the deepest.

It is this concept that has driven us to learn the local language as well as we can, knowing that it may be only in the local language that people will embrace truth as their own, and not something foreign.

But this past week we have been challenged to embrace another concept--- heart music. It is not a completely new concept for us. When we were in Chad, we would sit at  the gatherings on Sunday morning in a mixed group of multiple ethnic groups. People would sit or stand and blandly sings songs in French, but then every once and awhile, they would sing a song in one of the local languages and local styles. All of a sudden, there would be people dancing. The dull faces would come alive with excitement, there would be clapping and enthusiasm. They would come alive!

Again we saw it when we came to the islands...there is a group on volcano island from Madagascar, but every Sunday they would sing in French. They sang well, but as soon as they switched to singing a Malagasy song-- the atmosphere completely changed. Again, it was like they came alive.

Women singing traditional island music

This week we had an ethnomusicologist come and help us understand about heart music and help guide some islanders in crafting songs in their heart music to glorify God. Now it is not so difficult to translate a song into a new language, but that is not what we are talking about. Changing the language is not enough. It is not only the language that can be foreign, but even the melody. The combination of notes, the scales used can be drastically different from culture to culture.

They started by talking about all the different styles of traditional music on the islands. We were shocked to see a list of almost 20 different styles. Then they discussed which ones the islanders agreed would be appropriate for singing to God. Then they took some passages from the Book and worked on creating a song. Through the week, this group of islanders (none of whom are trained musicians or particularly gifted in music) crafted three songs in their heart music. We saw the joy in their faces as they practiced the songs and recorded them. A new world had opened for them.

We hope they will keep creating more songs. We look forward to seeing them come alive by singing their heart music before God.  (Tried to put an audio clip on of a finished song, but couldn't get it to work.)

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The music seminar went well. We were encouraged by which islanders participated and their willingness to dive in and try to create songs. We were also encouraged by the side-benefits of the seminar in connecting people and focusing them on the local language.  The rains miraculously stopped for the whole week (even though the clouds were always present making it seem like rain was imminent). So rain did not disrupt the seminar! Since the seminar ended, the rains have come back. This week Ma Imani (whom we have written about before) had a scare, when her estranged husband and in-laws tried to take custody of her daughter (and only child). Thankfully it was ruled that he had no right to have the child (that right belongs to the mother) and instead he was forced to sign a paper promising financial assistance. We were very encouraged by this turn of events.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that we would find ways to continue to encourage the crafting of songs in the heart music. The islands are coming up on major elections. Everyday there is campaigning going on. Pray that the first wave of elections (happening this coming weekend) would go by smoothly and peacefully. These elections are potentially very important for the country as it impacts the presidential elections coming up next year-- pray for wise, just leaders who will lead this nation well and fairly.

When it Rains, It Pours

As I stood there in the rain, washing Grace’s mosquito net, all I could think was, “People back home would have no way of relating to this moment. Where would I even start…

Celebrating Megan's birthday

Well...we live in a dark house. A dark house is a cool house, and in the island heat, this is good. But now the clouds have descended, the rains have come. Downpours can come at any moment. The clouds form a solid wall. Whole days will go by and you won’t see the sun. Without the sun, the time of day gets lost. And without electricity (long daily power cuts are the norm), our house often is hooded in semi-darkness.

So when I looked down at my watch, I was surprised to see how late in the afternoon it was. “I better wake up Grace-- she doesn’t usually nap and if she sleeps too late, she won’t sleep tonight.”

I gave her a gentle push and called her name. She started stretching herself awake as I left the room. A minute later I heard Tom call, “Grace is throwing up!!” I came to see Grace still lying down and vomiting all over her bed. We hurried to get her a bucket, but by then her stomach had been emptied all over her bed and mosquito net. We turned on a lantern in the bathroom so Grace could get cleaned up. Tom started to take down the mosquito net from the fishing lines strung in the kids rooms, when suddenly the wind picked up violently. Doors slammed, thunder rumbled and a stormy downpour of water rushed down from the heavens.

At the same moment, I heard a male voice calling from our front door. We had a visitor who had only barely made it to our house before the downpour. Tom went to greet him, leaving me with the vomit-filled bed and the kids rushing around in excitement.

A second later I’m calling Tom back, the violent wind was pushing the downpour straight into our house. The kids were pulling on me. “Yes, you can play in the rain,” I concede. I looked at Grace, still pale but insistent that she felt fine and wanted to go play too. I quickly stripped the kids down, grabbed swimsuits, and released the kids to play on the tiled porch which had quickly become a slip n’ slide/ kiddie pool. Tom and his visitor were sweeping the flood of water back out onto the porch and creating a barricade of towels to keep it outside.

Tom returned to his guest and I returned to Grace’s bed. I grabbed a headlamp to see the bed properly. Then I slowly started removing things and cleaning them. I got a bucket of water and cloth, cleaned the pillow and mattress and set them aside to dry. Finally all that was left was the sheet and the mosquito net.

But here’s the problem-- no water. When water falls from the sky, it isn’t falling from our faucets. Cleaning vomit off anything isn’t fun, but cleaning it out of a mosquito net is the worst. Think of all those layer of porous material with chunks of goodness knows what mixed between the layers. It is a gross job that is a hundred times more daunting without running water.

Birthday swim on local river hike

As I looked down at the mess in the basin, I heard the kids playing on the porch, barely audible over the roar of the rain still pouring down. The solution was obvious-- I have to clean these in the rain! Here children play in the rain, young men shower in the rain, a few women wash clothes and dishes in the rain, but I knew the sight of a white woman washing in the rain would be a spectacle. I also knew I’d get soaked. So I put on my swim stuff (a swimshirt and capris are my normal swim attire), grabbed the basin and headed outside to where the water poured off our roof in a steady stream.

So there I was... thankful for the powerful water easily cleaning the sheet and mosquito net.  I gave an occasional smile to onlookers and reflected…no electricity, no running water, mosquito nets, tropical downpours, washing sheets by hand in the rain while all your neighbors watch and laugh...no, I don’t think many friends back home can relate. But I should tell them about it anyway.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our team has grown again! Our teammates welcomed a little boy, born on Thursday! We can’t wait to meet him and properly welcome him to the team. Thankfully, everyone (including Grace) is feeling much better now, but we all got hit with the stomach bug.  Tom’s first meetings with the men who wanted to study went relatively well.  Nothing went quite as planned (but as you can see from above, “not quite what is planned” is normal). Hopefully the meetings will keep happening.  We are thankful that after some stressful logistics our visitors’ travel plans have come together. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We have a visitor coming this week to run a special seminar on using music. He will be teaching our team and also helping locals to write songs in their own language and in their own heart music. Pray that the right group of locals would come to the seminar meetings (the rains often stop islanders from keeping appointments, so we hope rain won’t deter people from coming). Pray that it would be a good time of learning together!

Life and Death

Tom and kids on the rocks on Volcano Island

It was a Sunday morning. We left the house as we often do, but this morning Tom went with the kids to our weekly fellowship meeting that rotates between houses, while I went alone to a special celebration. It was a celebration of new life. One islander had chosen to mark a decision to embrace a new life, a life filled with a hope and joy not known to most islanders, especially women. 

We were a small group. We listened to her story. We heard of all the places that God had led her, all the people she had been influenced by, even the dreams that He had given her along the way. We culminated the celebration with a special swim in the ocean nearby. It was a great morning. I returned home to our house around midday, my hair still wet with salt water.

Something had happened. In the morning, I had left a quiet neighborhood waking up, people moving slowly and methodically. Now our corner was a buzz of activity. A huge tarp hung from our house to the neighbors’ across the street. The tarp shaded the mats that had been placed on the road and on which women were already gathering and chanting. I knew what this scene meant. Someone had died. One of our neighbors from across the street was dead.

The family across the street is very large-- easily 75 people. When I asked who had died, I learned that it was a woman from the oldest matriarch’s side of the family.
She had died around the same time I left the house that morning. While I was celebrating new life, my neighbors had been confronted by the suddenness of unexpected death.

Eventually I found out specifically who had died-- a woman perhaps in her late 30’s, early 40’s. She hadn’t been sick. She just died (perhaps a heart attack, perhaps an aneurysm). She would be buried the same day, so the exact cause of death will never be known, but whatever the cause, her death was a surprise and you saw the pain of grief on the close family’s faces.

But as I sat with the large crowd of women gathering on our street, sitting packed together on mats for hours… I was most struck by the lack of emotion. People were packing in and doing their duty by sitting there. One true mourner chided the crowd and through tears yelled at them to truly pray because they could die just as quickly. But still the crowd was just going through the motions. This is what you do when someone dies and yet another person has died. 

The woman who died and the woman celebrating a new life were around the same age. I’m sorry to say that I didn’t know the former.  Just a familiar face among a crowd.  What was her life?  What hope did she have?  Did she die with any hope at all?  At the same time I rejoice for another life saved.  A life full of hope.  A life ready to draw others into that hope.  Life and death.  Hope and despair.  Light and darkness.  Freedom and slavery.  We live on the edge.  Sometimes we see it.  Sometimes we don’t.  But the reality is there.  New life and unforeseen death, all on one Sunday morning.
(video: Event for men on the 5th night after death, taken from our porch)

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We had a nice relaxing time on Volcano Island (although our family was hit with a stomach bug that made the end of our time not so pleasant). We have been thankful for some cooling rains. Tom has 3 men that are interested in studying with him! One teammate lost a bag with all her electronics on a taxi bus and didn’t realize it for hours-- but after prayer her bag was returned with only a chocolate bar missing!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that Tom would have wisdom as he looks to set up time to study with these interested men-- many times the decisions about how to begin can greatly impact how these studies go.  Pray for new life to continue to spread throughout the islands! Pray for our January-- it looks to be a busy month! Ma Imani is talking to her mom again. Pray that she would have equal openness to be reconciled to her sisters as well.