Community

Island community at a wedding

“Wait, what sort of community is there already on the island?” someone asked.

We were talking with a small group of people about the islands this weekend, trying to help them understand some of the things we wrestle with on the islands. One of the questions that we presented was: “How do we make community?”

 By community we mean, a group of people that actually cares for each other. This means they know each other, trust each other and work together with common goals/values. . 

It has happened several times on the islands that we have found some individual islanders with similar interests/beliefs and we’ve tried to connect them. We’ve tried to help them to form a group, to be “community” to each other. But most times our attempts have failed. The islanders might meet together when we are there with them, but without us, they don’t meet. The “community” we were hoping for never gains momentum.

We’ve come to realize that the initial question needed to shift from “how do we MAKE community?” to “where do we FIND community already?” Once we find communities then it is a matter of making communities better, uniting them behind common goals/beliefs.

Creating community from scratch is very difficult on the islands and perhaps anywhere. Good community requires trust and building trust always takes time.

So where do you find community?
I asked my brother that same question this past week. I was wondering where people in America are finding community these days. College provides lots of community but in the post-college environment it seems a lot harder. Maybe work provides community? Or maybe you still have friends from college or high school that live nearby? Community used to be your neighborhood or town, but unfortunately it seems rare that people find community with their neighbors, at least where we are right now in urban/suburban CA. Some people may even try to get by without a community.

On the islands, people depend on their communities a lot and these communities are easy to find. They are found in the extended families and close-proximity neighbors. People may have school friends, but this is a fleeting community on the islands. It is your family that stays with you, and generally family land is never sold, so your family’s home and your neighbors don’t change much over the years. These are the people that help you when you are sick. They are the ones that celebrate with you and mourn with you. If you are going to accomplish something these are the people that help you make it happen.

4th Birthday!!

With this realization, there comes another challenge. How do we encourage change in these communities? Ultimately we think it is by entering among them and interacting with them as a group and not just individuals. Sometimes we hear that change happens one person at a time, but now we’re beginning to think that it happens one family or one small community at a time.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We had our first big opportunity to share about the islands this weekend. It went well. We also got to reconnect with some old school friends of Megan.  We are thankful for this past slower paced week.  We’re also thankful for our youngest who celebrated his 4th birthday!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Continue to pray for thriving communities on the islands. We travel back to the East Coast tomorrow after a wonderful time on the West Coast.  Pray for our travels, for family we leave behind in CA, and for our kids as they continue to deal with the difficulties of a transient lifestyle. Pray especially for our youngest as he seems to be taking it the hardest.