A Good Time to See the Island

Walking through old town on the holiday

Just this morning we said goodbye to Tom’s sister and her beau. They had been visiting us here on Clove Island for the past two weeks. It was a good time to see the islands. Why?

First It is a cool time to see how God is working on the islands. Meeting people and hearing their stories is a great encouragement right now!

Secondly, it is the “cold” time of the year. This is the time of year when Tom might actually wear jeans and we’ll even sleep under a sheet!. We often commented to our guests that this is our “frigid island winter” which usually got a laugh. Coming from New England, the islands still felt hot to them, but then we would remind them, ”aren’t you glad you didn’t come when it is actually hot?”

Taking a walk in nature

It was also a good time because they got to see two culturally distinctive and important times for the islands. Their first week was the month of fasting— generally a harder time to see the islands because you can’t eat or drink in public during the day. No restaurants are open. People can be grumpy. But we were asked to break the fast with a family… a great opportunity to try different island foods during one of the only times of the year where island families eat together. Also by coming at the end of the month of fasting, they got to see the island’s old town swarming with vendors (remember its like the Christmas season for shopping). Then they got to experience the biggest holiday of the year with us.

Then another sudden transition occurs. After a month of fasting with no celebrations, wedding season opens at full force, not to mention birthday parties. The very evening of the holiday ending fasting was our first birthday party. We weren’t two days out before we went to our first big wedding event. Every day you hear music around our neighborhood announcing some kind of celebration: whether it is the drumbeat of one of the many traditional wedding events or the loud DJ music of a raucous late-night birthday party, our neighborhood is rarely quiet. So for anyone wanting a taste of island culture, it was a nice time to see the island.

Finally it was a good time to come to the island because people aren’t working full schedules. No school means all teachers and students are much freer. At a moments notice we could secure a tour guide for our guests (a university student studying island tourism). It also meant our kids were always ready to play and we were freer too!

Experiencing a wedding event

Now there is probably only one way that this time of year isn’t so good. The number of island fruits in season is pitifully low. No mangoes, no litchis, no passion fruit, no avocados, no guavas, few pineapples… These are the rewards for the people who visit in the hottest, stickiest time of year— any takers?

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We had a wonderful time with Tom’s sister and her beau and are pretty sure they had a great time too.  The interns have had a great time and have been such a blessing to us!  They have servant hearts and were always ready to help out with kids, dishes and even meals.  Tom’s meetings with the two men have gone really well.  They are really engaging with the stories and asking great questions.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for all our guests, Tom’s sister, beau, and all the interns who are traveling back home this week.  As a team we are finishing up a “semester” of study this week so our teammates are finishing their reading and writing papers.  Pray for them to finish well before we all take some well earned vacation time.  One of our teammates has been suffering from severe allergies that routinely take her out of commission on the days when they hit hard and medicines don’t have impact without crippling her with their side effects.  Pray with us that she would be healed of these allergies so that she could be free to be out in the community and doing all the other things that come with busy island life.  Our internet situation has gotten really bad with the only company blocking many servers we use frequently and charging lots of money for poor service, pray as we consider our options.

Today is a Fete!

At home in a holiday garb!

- What is the biggest holiday of the year, which is also proceeded by frenzied shopping and where everyone gets a gift?
- At what holiday do kids get dressed up and go door to door collecting candy?

Now an American mind will answer these questions with two different holidays. But on the islands they are wrapped into one happy holiday (or fete), the big celebration at the end of the month of fasting! In other places in the world, this isn’t the most important holiday but for islanders it takes the cake.

On the streets of our neighborhood

After a month of fasting during the day, islanders start the day early. The electricity came on at 5:30am so that every neighborhood’s loudspeakers could blast out the call to prayer and extended chanting nice and loud. As the island woke up, men in their traditional robe, hat and sports jacket started out. Once prayers were done, the men and kids hit the streets. They offer everyone a handshake , followed by the traditional greetings. House to house they go where the women are waiting with candies, cakes and treats.

Everyone is dressed in new clothes (the traditional holiday gift). So everyone from little baby to old grandparents have a clean, crisp look to them that comes with a brand-new outfit.

The rush at our house was from 7:30am-10am, with new constant visitors. We went through most of the case of sodas we bought, all 4 bags of candy, most of the cake and most of the double batch of cookies I made.

With some neighbors

We had a normal holiday assortment of visitors. There were the friends and neighbors we know well. The neighborhood kids that we recognize but don’t know well. The kids we don’t recognize at all. A few token crazy guys. Occasionally there was a father with his children.  But mostly the visitors were groups of kids or young men. Some were very respectful, greeting with sincerity, only taking one candy or treat and never taking something unless it is offered. Others came with greedy eyes- never looking you in the face but staring at the treats. One group of boys quickly grabbed every kind of treat and sodas (which were reserved for adults) even as I reprimanded them not to.  After that the sodas went on a far table and I was quick to greet the bigger packs of kids before they got to the coffee table laden with goodies. By the end of the morning, we didn’t recognize any of the kids and they came with plastic bags full of accumulated candies.

Our supplies pretty decimated, I closed up the front of our house a little. Closed enough so random kids would stop coming, but not closed enough that a friend wouldn’t come. Now our kids were back showing off their pockets full of treats, dirty spots on their nice new outfits, faces and hands sticky, begging to be allowed to eat more sugary goodness.

“Mommy, Daddy, can I have another one?”
What can we say, it’s a holiday! “Okay, you can have another.”

Showing off some of their treats

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We have had a great time having Tom’s sister and her beau here with us. We are very thankful that all their travels went smoothly. We are also thankful that he brought his nice camera and has been able to capture some of the exciting moments of this week. The month of fasting is over! We continued to have good opportunities for sharing throughout. We had extended times of prayer this week that went well. We were all invited by an island sister to a big feast- it was a wonderful time of fellowship.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Many seeds were planted during the month of fasting, pray that they would grow well. Tom has started meeting with two new island acquaintances, pray that their times of study would continue and be fruitful. The unhealed part of Avu’s burn gets smaller every time we see it, but he rips off the bandages any chance he gets so it hasn’t been staying clean. Keep praying for its healing. Fasting is over, so wedding season is going to begin. We have already been invited to several. Pray that attending these wedding events would help deepen our relationships with islanders. Pray for this final week with our guests!

Orienting Again

Our kids in new outfits

It’s orientation time again!!!  “What?” you say.  “Hasn’t your team been there for almost 2 years? Why are you doing orientation again?”  The answer is simple: interns!

Yes, for one month we are hosting 5 interns—people here for a short time (a.k.a. short-termers) in order to listen, learn and experience first hand what it’s like to be part of a team like ours.  So yes—it’s back to orientation.  Only, one thing is very different…It’s not our show!

This is our teammates’ show. They are the ones leading, organizing and orienting. They are getting to taste what it is like to welcome new people (both the joys and logistical headaches). So we are standing in the background, praying for them and hopefully encouraging them, while they get to be the leaders.  What’s it like to be the leaders?  They’ve already seen a lot:

Already they’ve had their share of fun logistical hassles—like when one of the two local airline decides to go on strike the week the guests arrive and you have to get all the tickets reimbursed and buy tickets to fly out on the other airline.  “It wasn’t too bad.” said one of our teammates, “We made it work.” (It reminds us of when we had to “make it work” a year and a half ago when the boats were delayed and we had to buy plane tickets at the last minute to get our new team to Clove Island.)

Already they’ve been able to walk through some of the same struggles we enjoyed when orienting them.  One of our teammates mentioned to us, “I think orientation went well, but you could see the interns just zoning out at the end of the day from information overload.  There’s so much they need to know, but you can’t tell them everything.  It’s like we’re trying to cram more into a an already full space.”  He said with a somewhat frustrated smile.  (We remember that same feeling.)

Tom with some of his police English students

Already our team’s been able to see the interns go through experiences that bring them back to their own first days on the islands and their own fears and struggles.  Yesterday, some of the interns were talking about feeling like babies.  They can’t say anything, don’t understand anything, and are walked around town like little children.  “I remember feeling the same way,” one of our teammates tells them consolingly.  “It’s all part of coming to a new place.”  (Those words sure sound familiar…)

It is going well.  Having the interns around means new energy, new challenges and new perspectives.  It also serves as a reminder—sort of holding up a mirror to our teammates—showing them just how far they’ve come.  They aren’t the fresh-faced newbies anymore and we are reminded of just how much they have learned and grown in the past 18+ months.  Our teammates have come so far, in terms of language, cultural understanding, flexibility, african perspective, prayer, teamwork, patience, grace, and love.  We see it in each of our teammates.  It’s fun for them to see it for themselves.  We have a good team and they have a good team of short-termers too.

Fisherman on the sea at sunset

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The interns are doing well— orientation went smoothly and they made it through their stays with local families. Our teammate made it back from Kenya safely. We’re thankful to have the whole team back again. Our Volcano island friends made it safely back to their island after a very nice visit. Our island friends are growing in boldness and it is very exciting! They are sharing with their extended families and one of their fathers made a decision this week.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Tom’s sister and beau are on the way to Clove Island. Please pray that all their travel goes smoothly, especially the connection on the big island. There is an important religious night coming up this week, known as the Night of Power- it can be a meaningful night for islanders. We will be having special prayer in the days around this night- pray with us for the islanders. Pray for the islanders that are being bold, that they would be prepared for any backlash they might receive and that they would continue to share.Continue to pray for Avu’s burn— half of it has healed, but one part has been a little infected. Pray for complete healing.

Burn Care, again!

Avu and our son in happier days last year

You may remember that almost a year ago, our then-2-year-old son got a serious burn on his shoulder and neck. It required several weeks of care before it fully healed. We had lots of remote medical advice through emails and some DHLed medical supplies. It was a traumatic process for us as parents and God really showed His faithfulness in providing the wisdom and materials we needed, but now we know God was also preparing us for another little 2 year old boy with a burn (we’ll call him Avu).

Avu has been our little friend for a long time. He lives across the street in a building that houses a mass of humanity that is his multi-generational family. His mom is the oldest of 12 siblings and he is the youngest of his 7 siblings. He was born shortly after our arrival to Clove Island in 2013 and only a few days after his first niece. As soon as he was able, he started giving us his cute baby smiles. He’d reach for us and appear to enjoy being held by these strange white people. He liked us. He was our friend, and as he got older he was always ready to give us a smile with a wave or a high-five.

Avu has almost no supervision. His mother isn’t around a lot and usually his 11 year old sister is expected to take care of him. When we see him, he is usually holding trash, covered in dirt, not wearing pants and giving us a smile.

Then a couple weeks ago, I was heading out the door to the store, when his grandmother absently called me over to ask me if I had any medicine for Avu. He gave me a smile as she lifted up his oversized shirt and I saw a few blisters and some open skin. Avu had a burn. At first it didn’t look that bad (his darker skin fooled me), but after we looked at it properly we were flooded with memories of our son’s burn. Avu’s burn was deep and his family didn’t have plans to get him any medical care beyond asking us if we had anything that could help him. In the meantime he was still just playing in the dirt.

The daily burn check

So after checking with our team doctor, we went back to the daily burn care of a toddler. We know it wasn’t a coincidence that we had a bunch of leftover supplies from our son’s burn. We knew what to do, we knew what to ask for at the pharmacy, we knew what to look for in the burn progression. We still asked for advice and support from professionals, but this time we knew we could help.

So every afternoon, we call Avu over. An older sibling or adult comes to hold him and sometimes a troop of young kids come too (to watch). We have the burn bandaged up so even though the outside wrap is often black with dirt and sometimes wet with who-knows-what, the burn has stayed clean. Unfortunately he isn’t as excited to come to our house now. He doesn’t smile. Instead he usually starts crying before he even crosses our threshold. But on the positive side, his burn is getting better. I see him walking more normally again and playing with his friends on the street.  He’s healing and we thank God.

And a couple days ago, I saw him from our porch with his little bandaged leg. He looked up at me, waved and gave me a little smile. He’s still our little friend.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Avu’s burn is healing nicely and without infection.  We are very thankful for that.  The team of short-term visitors arrived safely and our team has been in high gear orienting them.  Our role during these orientation days was to watch the team children.  So we’re thankful that we and all the little kids survived the past few days while their parents were off orienting.  We’ve also been blessed to have some visitors this week from Volcano island.  We are really enjoying visiting with them.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Keep praying that Avu’s burn would heal up completely, and that this would be another opportunity to go deeper with this family.  Pray for the team of visitors.  They all left for home-stays today.  During this time they will live with islanders for about four days.  It tends to be very intense and can be hard (since they don’t have a common language usually) but is a great learning time.  Pray that it goes well for all five short-termers. We are halfway through the month of fasting and get opportunities to share everyday, pray we would speak with wisdom and discernment in the different situations.