Memory of Chad

Last time we were in Chad

This past week we were able to visit with some American friends of ours who we met and worked with when we lived in Chad.  It was wonderful to see them, sit with them, chat with them, and to hear of the good news that has been spreading in Chad.  We love our friends deeply and they are doing a great work there.  They are deeply loved by the people in that village, whom they love and serve so faithfully.

It has been over 6 years since we’ve been to Chad.  We lived there a total of ten months.  While we were there we struggled to learn language.  We struggled to make friends.  We struggled to “fit in.”  We understood so little.  Those who befriended us had to have great patience.  And yet there were some…

Saying goodbye in Chad- 6 yrs ago

One we called Fatime.  She seemed to be a bit of an outcast.  She had no family around, no husband, no children.  She wasn’t much more than a teenager herself.  But she had lots of free time.  She came over almost everyday.  Sometimes she would sit with us for hours just watching us.  She wouldn’t even say much.  I remember trying to learn language from her, but she was barely educated herself and it never seemed to get very far.  My last memory of Fatime is when we were leaving.  She brought us a fan.  It was very well made and she had made it herself.  She gave it to us as a gift.  It was special because she had nothing and when we first arrived she had scammed us and sold us a similar fan (of lower quality) at a very high price.  This fan seemed to be saying, “We’re friends.  I wouldn’t cheat you anymore.  I’m going to miss you.”  We still have the fan and use it frequently on hot island days.

That was over 6 years ago.  If we saw Fatime today we wouldn’t be able to speak to her.  We’ve forgotten almost all of the local Chadian language.  We might not even recognize her or vice versa.     Yet how special to receive a gift from her through our American friends.  In all this time, she hasn’t forgotten us and when she heard they would be seeing us, she was determined to send them with a gift.   We only received part of it.  We are told she prepared a good deal of local food that would have been impossible to carry and keep fresh.  But she also did something much more special.  She went with her three children (she had none when we knew her) and had a family picture taken.  This is a special gift.  After all this time she still remembers us.

Our friend, 7 yrs ago

And after all this time we still remember her.  We asked our American friend if they’ve ever had a chance to share any good news with Fatime.  She said that they have a standing tea appointment to sit down and talk about things that really matter; things about the world and God and love that she needs to hear.  She will tell Fatime that Tom & Megan wanted her to hear this news too and we hope she will listen carefully.  Maybe as they sit over a cup of tea and Fatime will understand and accept the love that God has for her. We pray.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The conferences went really well.  We learned so much and have so much to think about (in regard to that--sorry for the lateness of this blog).  We were greatly encouraged.  We saw many old friends.  We made many new friends.  And everything went very smoothly.  We are so thankful for the news our friends from Chad shared with us, not only about Fatime, but all the exciting things going on in their village.  If you want to hear more about it, send us an email.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that we would be able to take all the wisdom and good advice we learned from the conference and remember it, apply it, and put it to good use on the islands. Pray for all those who went to the conference--that they too could apply the things they learned and be encouraged.  Continue to pray for our island friends.  We are hopeful that our time away is leading them toward greater independence from us and greater dependence on Him.  Pray for our island team as we all shoot off to different parts this week for much needed rest and vacation.  Pray for relaxing times, refreshment and reflection.


Tolerance for Suffering

We must be off the islands, he's in jeans!

We have observed that islanders have a high tolerance for suffering, at least suffering that they believe will soon pass. In particular we are thinking about what they suffer at the hands of the government. The government-run utilities are constantly being mismanaged so that the population has to suffer under continual water and electricity cuts. Cuts severe enough to paralyze businesses and inconvenience everyone. Then there is the fact that the government does not pay its employees regularly. School teachers, government doctors, airport employees, police and others regularly go several months without pay.

We often ask ourselves and islanders… why don’t people get upset? Back in America, people wouldn’t stand for such poor service in their utilities and if they knew it was because of mismanagement and corruption- they would be livid. Employees would begin to strike and protest after a single missed pay-cycle. Islanders will go months without pay without a word of protest.

But sometimes even islanders are pushed to their limits. Usually after 6 or more months without pay, we hear the rumblings of strikes. After months of horrible electricity without relief, people will begin to get upset. In the past, angry mobs have thrown rocks through the electricity company’s office windows. Villages have attacked electricity company vehicles and not allowed them in their city. People have refused to pay their bills. Three villages refused to vote because their utilities have been non-existent. So islanders do have a breaking point.

Now islanders have been pushed to that point once again. As we were leaving the islands this week for conferences, we heard that teachers were striking on Clove Island. We also got worried as we heard that airport workers might be striking right as we were hoping to leave (thankfully they didn’t). Then we heard that on Volcano Island things were really heating up. Large chunks of the population were striking, including taxis (effectively paralyzing the society). Unfortunately we have even heard that it became violent and people were injured.

Enjoying guesthouse tire swing

We’re not sure how it is going to resolve itself this time. Other times, we have been disappointed. Islanders seem easily pacified and tolerant of continued and repeated suffering. Usually after a strike, workers will be given a couple months pay (even though they are owed several months) and they will go back to work. Life will continue again. Sometimes the government will be given a gift from some “benevolent” country and electricity will improve for a month or two. But inevitably, it all happens again. Electricity will get horrible again. Workers won’t be paid again. They were only short-term solutions. The heart of the problems is never dealt with.

We know it is often easier to treat the symptoms. The heart of the problems is complex and rooted deep in the society.

It reminds me of our own heart condition. If with our own power we try to stop our bad behavior, we may find short-term success but ultimately we’ll fall back into our bad patterns. We need God to fix our hearts if we really want to see change. Ultimately, we think the islands need the same thing. We hope that someday they will get tired of short-term solutions and aim to fix the heart. 

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Thankfully there was no airport strike and our travels went smoothly.  Both of our boys were sick for traveling but we are thankful that they are feeling better now. Our team completed a mid-term evaluation this week.  The time went well and we even got to have some good team fun playing “kick the can.”  We are also thankful to be united as a full team again.  It’s the first time all ten of us have been together since October (since team members have been away having babies)! 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for the islands and for real heart change in individuals and in the society. We are all looking forward to the conference coming up this week.  Pray that we would learn a lot, be inspired, make new friends, and be spiritually encouraged.  It’s a big conference, so pray for those in charge of all the organizing and that everything on the logistical side would go well.  Pray for our island family as almost all the workers are off-island- that they would be united and growing.

Working Yourself Out of a Job

Tom & island friend that he trained in English teaching

In college I worked at a summer camp. By my third summer I was overseeing a group of staff that worked with the oldest campers. I took my leadership role seriously and worked to make sure the events and activities went well. Then one week mid-summer, it was suggested by my camp director that I could leave camp for a long weekend to attend a cousin’s wedding. I expressed my concern, “What about the events and the activities that I have planned?!” The camp director immediately expressed her concern that I would be so important that these things couldn’t happen well without me. I can’t remember her specific words but I remember the wisdom behind it-- our work shouldn’t be dependent on the leader. A good leader is always working to make themselves unnecessary.

This idea has been repeated in our reading and thinking many times over the years. The idea that as soon as we are in a new position, we should be working to train, encourage and equip others to take our place. Essentially we are always looking to work ourselves out of a job.

On the islands, we feel this pull in all areas of our work. We’re team leaders-- we’re trying to equip and encourage our teammates to be effective and thriving in future overseas work. We’re English teachers-- we’re trying to train islanders to be good English teachers so they can meet the growing desire for English and create good businesses and jobs for islanders. We’re in community with islanders-- we hope that they are growing in their ability to meet together and seek truth without us. (video: Our youngest practicing a song we use with our level 1 English students) 

But something we have also learned as we strive forward in this area is that the biggest obstacle isn’t actually training and equipping people-- it is overcoming the psychological obstacle. Making them believe that they can do it. The staff under me at camp were perfectly able to run events without me, the true problem was the thought in my and/or their minds that they needed me to be successful. The same is true on Clove island. The biggest obstacle to seeing islanders starting English learning centers and teaching their fellow islanders English is not a lack of good English speakers. It is the assumption in islander minds that you need a foreigner in order to learn English well. And a huge obstacle for islanders meeting together has been the idea that they need a foreigner there in order to gather and have good meetings.

We are fighting against these assumptions. We are working to not make ourselves the center of anything we do. Sometimes we succeed and islanders feel empowered. Other times we see them clinging to us and looking to us for the motivation and guidance to continue.

It will be a glorious day when people can say to us, “We love you, but we don’t really need you anymore.” May we have the eyes and hearts to recognize when that day comes. Then we can pick up to a new place and work ourselves out of a job there too!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We have been encouraged to see some islanders interested in doing co-teaching during our team’s next round of English classes (a stepping stone to getting them to teach their own classes). We are very thankful for some of our teammates’ who are very good at thinking of ways to empower islanders. We’re thankful for them.  Tom is feeling all better. Thanks for praying. It looks like all the paperwork for our teammate’s newborn is going to come through okay.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
It has been very hot and power has been awful lately. Word is that the government spent too much money to buy people’s votes for the first round of elections and so now the government-run electric company doesn’t have enough money to produce electricity. Pray for an end of corruption, relief from heat rash and good nights sleep. We are supposed to be traveling this coming week, but we hear that the airport workers are going to strike (because the government has no money to pay them). Pray that we’d be able to leave the island as planned and for safe travels. Our team is having our mid-team evaluation this coming week. Pray that we would have good discussions about our team and how it has gone so far (we’re halfway through!). As we leave the islands, we are particularly anxious to see things continue in our absence, pray that islanders would meet together and seek truth.