The Vote

Rains means everything is green & growing

It just so happened that we arrived back to Clove Island just days before a major election. “You’re back already! I thought you wouldn’t come back until the elections were over!” one neighborhood shopkeeper commented.  Avoiding the election might have been a good idea—the days before an election are filled with noisy late-night rallies, which often seem to take place right in front of our house.  Imagine large speakers set up directly outside your window and speeches and dancing lasting till about midnight and you’ll get a sense.

Blessedly, however, the day of the elections are quiet.  Islanders aren’t allowed to campaign. No one is allowed to travel between villages or islands— no taxis, no boats, no planes (except perhaps on official business). This travel ban is supposed to discourage voter fraud.  As a precaution, we also stay close to home on Election Day, in case there is any trouble. But there was no trouble.  The roads were empty, and generally Election Day passed by like a holiday-- peaceful, smooth and uneventful.

But it seems things are never really smooth here.  The vote done, everyone has been waiting for the results, and waiting, and waiting... But no official results have been released.  Gossip swirls around.  Why hasn't the vote come out? Are they trying to rig the vote?  Are they doing a recount? But no one seems to really know.  Everyone assumes corruption and fraud is in the works. Everyone seems worried that it won’t end well.

You might wonder, "How can that be that no one really knows the election results?" But that is the case.  Information is a luxury, a source of power, and often a closely-held secret.  So no one knows what is happening, and no one knows when we will know what is happening.  But in the meantime, life goes on.

We have asked you to pray for the elections in our previous blog and we ourselves have been praying.  It's not always easy to know how to pray. We definitely don’t pray for a specific party or candidate to win.   We tell our neighbors that we pray for peace and for the right candidate to win; someone who is just and wise and interested in serving the people and not himself.  But even as they agree with us and say "Amen." We can see that they don't really believe it is possible.  “The candidates are all the same. The vote is always rigged. Nothing ever changes.” 

Our youngest is now a doctor

A friend of ours said, "The problem is, the candidates only reflect the populace."  If the candidates are corrupt, untrustworthy and self-interested, then it is a mirror for the people they represent. (A challenging statement to think about for any country). In the face of such apparent hopelessness, we often pray another prayer.  "Lord, have mercy." Mercy is a beautiful thing, for it falls on the just and the unjust alike.  Islanders may not receive good governance anytime soon.  Outsiders may wonder if they even deserve it.  But the Lord is merciful, and we pray for mercy.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We’re finally over jetlag! Our older two kids have adjusted back to island school. Our overnight guest ended up coming back to us for two more nights as his backpack with passport and ID card had been stolen. Thankfully his passport and ID had been turned in to police and they were several unlikely events along the way that showed he was being taken care of in spite of this setback.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Keep praying for the islands as they await the final election results. Pray especially for the aftermath if the populace isn’t happy with these results. Megan was able to reconnect with Bweni only to learn that she had left her new husband for good and was hiding on the big island. It doesn’t seem like she is in a good place, pray for her. Ma Imani is entering her third trimester but has continued to have health problems. Most recently she was injured in a family dispute. It’s unclear how the baby is doing, but we continue to pray fervently for a healthy baby and mother! While the threats of persecution on the group have strengthened some, others are afraid and fallen into old, bad patterns. Pray for unity, perseverance and hope for all. Several teammates have been feeling sick lately. Pray for good health!

Jetlag

Who's turn to wake him up?

We knew we were pushing it. Four flights, back-to-back with three young kids. No long layovers. No night’s sleep to recover on the way. Usually we have a night or two in mainland Africa before the two flights needed to return to our home on Clove Island. But this time, it was a straight shot.

In mainland Africa, we were happy to see our kids still bouncing around. Patience levels were down but they hadn’t collapsed yet. On the flight to the main island, our two older kids fell asleep hard. Our youngest was losing his ability to walk under his own power. Somehow we got them off the plane and through immigration. We laid in a heap as we collected bags. But by the time we got in the other side of the airport to check-in to our next flight, it was over. The kids were lined up against the wall in coma-like sleep using their backpacks as pillows.

Thankfully the check-in lady didn’t ask them to come to the counter— we just motioned to the wall. She looked up surprised. “They’re tired?” That was an understatement. We were checked-in for our last flight and exhausted ourselves. Now we just had to get the kids through security. We called their names. No responses. We jiggled their shoulders. No reaction. We pulled at their arms. They were like heavy dolls.

Finally we got them awake enough to walk to security, but they were whining, moaning and half-crying all the way. I walked through the metal detector and started to collect my things. “Where are the kids?” They had vanished. I looked ahead into the waiting area. There they were already collapsed, dead asleep again on a chair and the floor. It was 10am local time.  When they called us to board the next flight we only slightly roused the two older children.  Tom managed to get them on their feet and then literally, with their eyes closed, he walked them through the gate to board the plane.

As difficult as this sounds, we are still very thankful for how it went.  It could have been a lot worse.  Instead of sleep walkers, we could have had flipping-out screamers, or dull lumps who would have to be carried.  So though we may have made a mistake in choosing such a grueling flight schedule, the Lord was very gracious to us.

But it was a rough return to the island. But then comes the struggle to overcome jetlag. Sometimes it goes fast and smooth, but not this time. We had to nap when we got back to our home on Clove Island— we physically could not keep all three children and ourselves awake.

We decided it should be no more than a three-hour nap. When the alarm went off, it was almost another hour before we adults could pull ourselves from our beds. Then we had to wake up the kids.

Political Rally right outside our house

So has proceeded several days of the kids waking up in the middle of the night, wide-awake and noisy. Then a day of us having to force the kids to stay awake during the day in the hopes that the next night they would sleep all night.  There is something very sad about forcing a tired child to wake up. It goes against most parenting instincts. The idea of just letting them become nocturnal sounds tempting, but then we remember that we really want them to be back in school on Monday.

Uh oh! Look at the time.  Better go wake up the kids from that nap!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We reunited with our team after the long time away. It was exciting to hear all the stories of what they were able to experience during that time! We’re close to being over jetlag! After some initial difficulties, we were able to get internet back up and running. We’ve started our last time of concentrated language-learning with our team— they have learned a lot and are looking to finish strong!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We had an unexpected overnight guest on Wednesday night— one of our old island friends from the big island. He’s on his way to reach out to a village on our island with a vision for potentially staying long-term— pray for his acceptance in that village and for the relationships he will be making. We’ve heard some troubling reports that one sister has fallen away and is denying her former friends. Pray for her and us as we try to reconnect with her and for her future decisions. Pray for our kids as they transition back to school. Tomorrow (Sunday) is the first round of big nation-wide elections on the islands. Pray for peace and stability across the islands and for fair, just elections. Pray for good leaders for this nation!

Wonderful Wedding

Our boys in their wedding best!

If you’ve been following our blog, you’re probably aware that we were in the States these past two weeks.  First of all, forgive us for not being able to see you.  We plan to be back in the summer and fall for our furlough and hope to spend quality time with everyone during that time!  This trip was rather unexpected (we weren’t planning to go back to the States until our furlough), but Tom’s younger sister sent let us know she would be getting married.

We go to lots of weddings on Clove Island, and I can say from experience that all island weddings are pretty much the same.  Sure the songs may change and the actors, the number of people,etc.  But from a macro perspective, not a whole lot looks different.  For the participants in the wedding, of course, it is a terribly exciting and unforgettable day.  But for us, as outsiders, however, the weddings are pretty repetitive and can be kind of boring.

I was reflecting on this while I planned to write this blog, because in many ways American weddings are the same.  The bride wears white, there’s a church and a reception afterwards, eating and dancing.  This was true of my sister’s wedding and yet it was a really special and wonderful event.  So how do we share about this exciting and unforgettable day to many of you who weren’t there (outsiders) without being boring?  Not sure if we’ll pull it off, but it’s worth a try. We thought maybe a quick list of the personal and the unique might give you a taste of a great wedding:

Bride and Groom dressed for tea ceremony

Things that made this wedding wonderful for us:
-This was the same sister and her fiancé who came to Clove Island to visit us back in July.  The whole family knew both bride and groom and love both of them terribly.  (When the kid’s saw their uncle-to-be again at the airport they gave him full on running hugs—it was so special that we got to know him before the wedding.)
-Seeing extended family and old friends.  This is something that’s pretty universal for most weddings, but it doesn’t make it any less wonderful. Many of our extended family members hadn’t seen us in several years.
-The bride and groom both love Jesus.  This was evident in their wedding, in the words spoken at the reception, and even the words spoken around the table.  The love of Jesus shines in both of them and everyone there seemed to know it.
-Being there.  It was pretty difficult for us to get there.  It is hard, expensive travel.  But we were so blessed to be able to come with the financial help of others and without greatly disrupting to our busy island schedule too.

Things that made this wedding wonderful in the unique sense:
-Costume change #1: Our new brother-in-law is Chinese-American.  As a part of the wedding, during the reception, they did a traditional wedding tea ceremony.  I am told that this is the essential part of a Chinese wedding.  It was wonderful to see them include this in their wedding, and my sister looked amazing in her Chinese wedding dress.
-Who gets the bouquet:  Maybe they didn’t make it up, but I’ve never seen it done at a wedding before.  Instead of throwing the bouquet and causing a mini mosh pit, they played a song for couples to dance to and then asked couples who had been married for less than 5, 10, 15, 20 years respectively to leave the floor, until there was just one couple left.  They had been married for 49 years.  They gave the bouquet to them.  What a beautiful way to celebrate marriage.
-Costume change #2: Our new brother-in-law is a drummer and he’s played in a bagpipe and drum band since he was old enough to hold a drum stick.  So suddenly, in the midst of the festivities out comes three bag pipers and a drummer and our new brother in kilt and hose.  The pipers piped.  The drummers drummed.  And our brother did a rockin’ drum solo.

All the cousins! Together for 1st time!

Did we bore you?  We hope not, but regardless of your level of excitement, one thing is certain.  Weddings are wonderful things and we hope that it will be followed by a wonderful marriage.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The wedding went really well, and the weather cooperated (despite being intensely cold, there was no snow storm).  We had such a wonderful time seeing family—especially meeting some of our new cousins for the first time.  All the kids played beautifully. Our daughter and cousin were wonderful flower girls.  Thanks for all your prayers during our intense days of travel home (we’ll probably write about this in the next blog) though it was very difficult, it went very smoothly. We are glad to be back on the islands. All our teammates have made it safely back after all their time away!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray for this new marriage, that it would blossom and grow for the rest of their lives. 
We arrived home to the islands completely wiped out and with internal clocks fighting against us.  Pray that we would start adjusting back to the time zone quickly.  We will be gathering together with our entire team tomorrow after being apart for over a month!  This gathering marks the beginning of our final two months together.  In just two more months, our team will finish and many of our teammates will move on to new assignments. Pray for us as we push to finish well as a team.

Islanders in the Snow

Our family going sledding

We are Americans. For the past week, we have been back home in the US. But it has been exactly three years since we last left the States. Our kids barely even remember the US. Our youngest was only in the States once as a 6 month old. So it is safe to say that we feel a little out of touch.

The songs on the radio aren’t very familiar. Many of the celebrities in the news are unknown to us. And it keeps going, whether it is music, politics, fashion or TV shows, we feel the disconnect of our years abroad. I guess in some ways, we've become islanders.

Still the kids were very excited to be coming back to the States, especially because it meant that they could experience WINTER again! For weeks on the islands, they talked excitedly to one another about snow. And even though only our oldest had conceivable memories of snow, all three of them talked about how much they loved it!

But our first day back in the States it was in the 50’s and we were all freezing. Apparently our internal thermostats had adjusted to the islands, and even the 50’s felt plenty wintry. We wondered whether the kids would actually do okay in the snow or if the weather would ever cool down enough for snow. Still the kids were excited for snow.

We tried to calm their excitement. “There might not be any snow!” So they prayed for snow. Then we thought of all our family members coming and going (including ourselves) and told them we needed to pray that there weren’t any storms while people traveled.

Building a snowman

Sure enough, the day after our family from California arrived, it snowed—multiple inches of perfect snowball/snowman making snow.  Later that day we drove over to the sledding hill and the kids sled until their toes were cold and their noses were red and we all came home for hot cocoa.  Then a few days later we got light and fluffy snow, perfect for snow angels.  Thanks to a storm that caused poor driving conditions, we even had a day where we cancelled all our plans and stayed at home and watched movies!

Not sure that we are fully acclimatized to a New England winter, we’re still wimpy islanders in some ways, but it is amazing how much more comfortable we are after a week and it’s safe to say that we have gotten a full snow experience.  Now if the snow would stay away for the wedding and our travels back to the islands, that would be really wonderful.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We’ve adjusted to the US time zone and weather. Megan’s parents and brothers made it safely to the East Coast to see us and then back to the west coast. The kids’ prayers for snowmen, snowballs and sledding were all answered! Our teammates have started arriving back on the islands. One of our teammates had malaria but thankfully had the necessary medication so she could still enjoy her vacation.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
The wedding is on Saturday and then we leave Sunday. Pray that we get the final errands done so we can enjoy the wedding festivities and all the extended family that are traveling in for the occasion. Pray for a wonderful wedding and new marriage for Tom’s sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law.  Pray for all our team and us as we travel back to the islands. We are going to do the four flights back to our island back to back, with no long layovers. Pray for all the connections and pray for our kids (this will be pushing their travel endurance). Our team is trying to make arrangements for our final debrief in April- pray that all the logistics come together. Pray for us and the islands in this season of Lent-- that we would learn much from the story of live-giving sacrifice.

Going to a Wedding

A brother of a bride- dressed for the wedding

“Teacher, Is it true you are traveling?”
“Yes,” I reply.  “My sister is getting married. I am going to the wedding.”
“Your sister is getting married!  Congratulations!”

Sometimes a small conversation can highlight the cultural values of a people.  We’ve had this same conversations a number of times this week and every time received the same response.  “Your sister is getting married! Congratulations!” That phrase actually carries a great deal of weight.  In Island culture nothing is more important than marriage and the ceremonies that surround it.  Marriage defines your place in society and passes on inheritance.  Marriage rites are tied to the local religion, but often seem to become a religion onto themselves.  Marriage is very important.

But there is more revealed in this simple conversation.  “Your sister is getting married! Congratulations!”  The eldest sister is of great importance.  She holds the honor of the family.  She holds the wealth of the family.  For her to marry is at once a great honor and a great expense to her family.  So for your sister to get married is no small thing.  It is, in fact, one of the biggest things that can happen to a family.  I think it is for this reason especially that no one asked why we would be going home for a wedding, or if it is worth the expense.  For a sister’s wedding—no expense is too much.

Waiting for our next flight

“Your sister is getting married! Congratulations!”  The congratulations always surprised me a bit.  Do we say “congratulations” in the States if a sibling gets married?  I don’t think we do, because we think in terms of the individual.  We would congratulate the one getting married perhaps, but not the sibling of the newlywed.  But on the islands, a marriage is something that effects the whole family.  It brings honor to the whole family.  When a sibling (especially the first sister) is married the entire family is blessed and benefits from this great honor and so what better word to offer than “congratulations.”  In fact, few honors are greater.

Thinking about these things makes me think of a different bride—a spiritual bride clothed in honor and riches and blessings, not because of anything she has done, but because of the sacrifice of her spouse.  And the blessing and honor of this holy union extends to the very ends of the earth.  It is for everyone who will accept it.  Could this be one way to help islanders understand the wonder of the good news.  “Your sister is getting married.  Alleluia!”

Adjusting to the cold weather

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We made it safely to the US. The kids did well on the planes. We were able to overlap for a couple days with our returning teammates. It was good to reconnect and it seemed like they were transitioning well. We were able complete our important to-do list before leaving the islands.


PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that we would get over jet-lag and adjust to the colder weather quickly. Pray for energy as we try to maximize our time reconnecting with friends and family during our two weeks here. Pray for our teammates as they finish their time away from the islands and start heading back. Pray for those teammates who are still trying to discern what their next steps will be.