The Importance of Fun

A beautiful day at the beach

Over a year ago, when our team mates first came, we couldn’t seem to get enough of one another.  Here we all were, on this adventure together.  Here were people who understood, who spoke a common language with us and much of the same culture.  It was like a new family and we all really wanted to get to know one another.  So we would have fun.  After our weekly team day we would hang out and play games, scrounge up some dinner, and nearly everybody seemed to be hanging out with nearly everybody as much as they could. 

As wonderful as this might sound, it was actually a problem for us as team leaders.  As important as team bonding is, it’s possible to bond to your team to the exclusion of the community around you.  It’s possible to use the team as an excuse or escape to avoid the hard work of language learning and getting to know people from a totally foreign culture that you have little in common with.  So we had to encourage our teammates to spend less time together and discourage some gatherings in order to push them into community.  Our team, being the great team that it is, responded well.  It was not long before we saw them really engaging their island neighbours and making great friends.

But over the past year, we noticed something else begin to happen.  No one seemed to hang around after team day anymore.  People were spending less and less time with one another.  Not that we had stopped caring about each other, but we were busy now—classes to teach, work to be done, people to see.  We were still getting our team “work” done. We went through business items, discussed readings and contemplated strategy together, but somewhere along the line, and quite gradually, we had forgotten how to have fun together as a team. That’s a problem.

Lunch on the beach

In a great book we read together recently as a team, it says, “healthy teams…set aside time every month when they can play together as a team.  They get away, they spend time ‘off duty and out of uniform,’ and they find ways simply to be family and friends for one another.”  In another place the author says that this time together can be a form of worship.  Fun is important. 

This is more or less the half-way point of our team, and we’ve taken time to assess and look at our way forward.  So one of the things we are newly committed to is to make sure we have fun together.  Yesterday was our teammate Breno’s 30th birthday—and an excellent excuse for a beach trip!  So we all got up early, went downtown and filled up a local bus to drop us off at a beautiful beach about 20 minutes away.  Then we had FUN!  Frisbee, soccer, impromptu games of keep away, snorkelling, exploring the rocks, talking, swimming, splashing with kids, playing in the sand, grilling, a birthday celebration and lots of sunburns (despite the frequent lathering of sunscreen). 

It was a great day.  An important day.  Maybe a new monthly tradition?

Our almost 5 yr old buried in the sand

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The visit from the agricultural consultant was a great success.  Our teammate has been given new vision and drive for improving agricultural practices on the island.  They were also able to meet with the ministry of agriculture and found him to be of the same mind and very obliging.  He is even looking to give them some land to farm—maybe in the very location that our teammate had hoped for! The consultant got the whole team excited about seeing the work amongst farmers grow, enough that another teammate is praying about transitioning from English teaching to agriculture. Pray for that decision and for a clear path ahead.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
There was a horrible double murder in our city this past week:  One man murdered another and then a mob murdered the murderer.  Murder is not at all a common occurrence in our small island community, so people were quite shaken up by it.  Pray for all those effected by this tragedy and that it would draw people out of darkness and into the light.  We are taking a day together as a team to discuss action steps for the rest of our time together and how to spend our time wisely and effectively.  Pray that this meeting would go well and we would be guided not by our own plans but by the Spirit.  Pray for our unity in these matters as well.

Bittersweet

Showing Gram the view of our city

Ma Imani’s father died. He was an old man, relatively frail and blind in his old age. But he had been like that for years. There was no immediate illness to warn everyone that his death was imminent.

So his death was a bit of a shock. Adding to the shock was the bitterness that Ma Imani hadn’t seen her father in months. Her father though not involved in the family disputes, lived at her mother’s house with her sisters. And while Ma Imani had forgiven her mother, she hadn’t reconciled with her sisters. Even her mother hid the fact that she was talking to Ma Imani from her other daughters. In Ma Imani’s words, she was afraid they would be angry with her.

The conflict itself was pretty much over, but no one was willing to make the step toward reconciliation. Ma Imani would not step foot in their home until they came to her and she said they were too ashamed to initiate communication with her. We had been praying about this situation and had asked you to as well. We didn’t know what would have to happen to break the stalemate.

Then Ma Imani got the call, “Your father is dead.” She was struck with grief and headed straight for her mother’s house. At first she hesitated, but then she entered the house, went past everyone and straight into the room with her father. She cried and cried until she almost fainted. Over the course of these first hours of mourning, she described her different sisters coming and begging her forgiveness, even one of the husbands (who had been particularly troublesome asked her to forgive him). It seemed that everyone felt the weight of her not having seen her father before his death. She had been his primary caretaker before the family home broke up in October. She gave her forgiveness and took her place in the family as they prepared all the necessary things for her father’s funeral.

On the islands there are several important days after a death. First, the person is supposed to be buried within the 24 hours after death. Mourners will come and the mourning family needs to provide snacks and beverages for everyone who comes. Then the third day and the fifth day there are usually huge gatherings where people pray and expect to be fed by the mourning family.
By the end of the week, the family had spent almost double Ma Imani’s yearly salary paying for the funeral expenses. They have gone into debt and will have to slowly pay it off, each family member taking a portion of the burden.

New haircut for the hot weather

Death is hard on families, but we are happy to say that this bitter time has also been a sweet time for the family. On the third and fifth days, Ma Imani led her sisters in true heart-felt prayers (not like islanders normally do) for their father but still in the presence of the other mourners and they even sang a chorus that highlighted their choice not to follow the predominant island faith. Then there is the good news that Ma Imani has become a staple in her mother’s house again. Everyday she spends most of her time sitting with her mother and sisters. Her father died while we were away, but the day after we got back, we visited. It was so refreshing after the long months of prayer to see them all sitting together, chatting and smiling. She is encouraging her mother and sisters to start reading the book and studying together again. And we are so glad that something sweet had come out of this bitter time of death and mourning.

But still, people in the family are holding their breath. There is still one important day after death to go… the fortieth day will mark an end to the most intense mourning (and again people will expect to eat). Some have wondered whether the feud will start again once the 40th day is over. They wonder if Ma Imani will stop coming to the house again. She insists that it is over. For her part, she is committed to retaining the peace. Pray with us that this family would shine brightly and wouldn’t be broken up again.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We got our visas renewed! Megan’s parents made it safely back to the US after their visit— we were very glad to have them on the islands to share our life with them. Our special concentration on local language for the past week went well! Pray that we would have chances to use the new vocabulary, expressions and stories we’ve learned. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We have a agricultural consultant on the islands helping our team (especially our current teammate working in that area) see how we could help the agriculture of the islands, both in the coming months but potentially further into the future. Pray with us as we think about what the future of our organisation could be in this area. One of the island sisters has traveled off the island very suddenly and may never return. We are saddened by this news but are also hopeful for her that God will continue to work in her life and help her to make good choices for both herself and her baby son. Pray with us for her. 

How to Renew a Visa

Showing grandparents around Clove Island

So you need to renew your visa.  This handy instruction manual will teach you everything you need to know for obtaining or renewing your visa on the islands.  Just follow the simple and easy instructions below and everything will be quickly resolved.

Lesson #1: Obtaining/Renewing your visa is never simple or easy:  Keep in mind that in theory getting your visa involves 3 simple steps:
        1. Bring a letter of request and passport to the appropriate government official
        2. Obtain a letter of approval from the appropriate government official
        3. Take letter of approval, 2 photos, and a passport to the immigration office for             the official visa stamp in your passport.
Note: “In theory” is a key phrase, for although you may be convinced the process is simple, each step has it’s many pitfalls.

Lesson #2: Finding the appropriate government official is a mystery wrapped in an enigma:  The best you can hope for at this step is that you are in the right building.  Having found the right building you may be able to find your way to the right office and then maybe even the correct official.  Maybe. (see Lesson #1 for further instruction)  Cautionary note: It does not matter how many times you’ve done this before, or how many people you recognize in the office.  The correct person will change over time, and no one is sure how or why.  Ask lots of questions but expect different answers.

Cooking by headlamp, power woes continue

Lesson #3 Obtaining the letter of approval from the appropriate government official is like trying to catch a fish covered in baby oil.  Government officials are extremely slippery and hard to pin down.  They have a way of appearing and disappearing, and rarely stay where you want them to be.  Moreover, often you have to catch the small ones who will lead you to the big ones.  Case in point:  First catch the official’s secretary.  She is the one with the key to the office.  Next catch the official’s assistant.  This is the person responsible for writing the letter of approval (often times you have to hold on to this one for a long time as they will not actually write the letter without lots of coaxing).  Finally you try to catch the official who must sign the letter (but this being a big important government official type their work day starts around 9 and they are out of the office by 9:30, so while you were standing over the smaller one explaining how to spell V-I-S-A correctly on the very important paper that they could have simply copied from the previous year and changed the date, the big fish has gotten away.)  At this point it is good to refer back to lesson #1 for further guidance.

Old traditional carved doors

Lesson #4 Be prepared for mind-numbing boredom, insane levels of bureaucracy, and an extremely unmotivated workforce.  Although these three factors can be found at all levels of the process, it is most infuriating for the final step.  After obtaining your letter of approval and bringing everything you need to immigration, and finding the appropriate office, the final step seems quite easy—stamping and signing the visa.  As you step into a room with four workers who are chatting, there is the possibility you may have a glimmer of hope:  Four workers who aren’t busy! They will be able to stamp all our passports quickly.  Leave this glimmer of hope behind.  Upon entering the building one of the four will promptly put their head down and go to sleep.  After some debate one will agree to work on the stamping process while the other two continue with the important job of talking.  This leaves you with one person doing the job, who would rather be talking.  Hours later you may leave with your visas.  Note: check your passport, for though this woman has only one job to do and it consists of writing only a few words and a few dates she often makes mistakes.  If this should happen to you refer to Lesson #1

Written from experience from the past few days. We are currently stuck on step 2 of the process after two full, long mornings of waiting and contriving. We pray for patience.
PRAYERS ANSWERED
Tom is feeling all better. Thanks for your prayers. Our entire team made it back to the islands safely and have seemed to transition well back into island life. We were blessed by the well wishes of our friends and neighbors on our return and have enjoyed showing Megan’s parents our life here. We were also thankful to hear that the island group continued meeting while we were gone. Many of you have prayed for Ma Imani’s family. While we were gone Ma Imani’s father died fairly suddenly (though he was old and weak). This sad event however has brought the fighting siblings together. Several asked Ma Imani’s forgiveness and she is now spending time with her mother and sisters everyday. We are very grateful for this turn of events.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Please pray that the rest of the visa renewal process will go quickly and easily and that Tom will have patience and good interactions. Our team is in the middle of an intensive language push, pray that one and all would see encouraging improvement in their abilities to understand and communicate important things in the local language. Pray for Megan’s parents as they travel back to the States.

Sick on Safari

Grandad, Tom and kids & giraffe in backround

Sometimes life isn’t fair.  I know this.  I tell my kids this all the time.  But sometimes...well sometimes it really feels unfair.  Like getting sick on vacation. 

We’ve been on vacation in East Africa, enjoying one of the things East Africa is known best for: safari.  The vacation comes as a much needed break.  We had been good and busy on the islands.  Then we went to three--that’s right three--back to back conferences.  The conferences were good, really good, but we were ready for some fun and relaxation.  So a week of safari with Megan’s parents seemed like a great way to kick back and enjoy the spectacular beauty of God’s African creations. 

It has been fun. We’ve seen rhinos, hippos, cape buffalo, zebras and giraffes just to name a few, and beautiful birds like the lilac breasted roller and yellow billed stork.  But then, for the climax of the trip we were headed to Masai Mara.  That’s when life, for me, (Tom) became completely unfair.  We arrived in the afternoon with plans for an all day excursion the following day.  But that night I came down with chills and fever and stomach cramps and woke up feeling so completely horrible that I could only send everyone off on safari without me. 

Our kids on a hippo

At this point I was feeling that life was pretty unfair. But as the day progressed I felt sicker and sicker.  It’s funny how perspectives can change.  Soon I had forgotten about life being unfair and just found life to be completely miserable.  I could have cared less about seeing a cheetah or a lion.  I just wanted to feel better.  I wasn’t asking God, “Why don’t I get to enjoy this vacation with my family?” but rather, “How long? I feel so horrible.  How long must this go on?”

Thankfully, we have a wonderful network of people who pray for us.  I was not completely better overnight, but I did manage to get out for a final game drive with everyone the following day, and have slowly been improving each passing hour since then.

We are told to rejoice in all kinds of trials and to bless the name of the Lord in sickness or health.  It’s not so easy to do in sickness.  But we will do it.  Even sick on safari: Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Taking a nice walk

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Thanks to all of you who have been praying for my speedy recovery!  And despite having been sick, we are still having a lot of fun as a family on vacation.  We are thankful for the time together with family and for the wonderful beauty of Africa.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
I’m still not back to tip-top shape, so I would appreciate more prayers for my recovery and that no one else in the family would become sick.  Throughout this coming week our team will be making their way back to the islands, pray for all of our transitions back to island life. There have been some delays getting the passport for our newborn teammate, pray that everything would come through without difficulty. Let’s keep praying that we don’t forget all the good things we heard and learned about at the conferences.