(Pictures: Us getting ready to eat; the kitchen where all the cooking was happening; Our host, Hiri who gave up his wheelchair for a visitor to sit on)
“The moon has been sighted!”
This is the announcement everyone is waiting to here. It will announce the beginning of the month of fasting: no eating, no drinking, no smoking, no swimming, no dancing, no sex, no arguing, no fighting, no sinning (during daylight hours at least). It’s a long and difficult month. So there’s only one thing to do before the month begins: Deza! (i.e. Party!)
In preparation for this “holiest” of months, Islanders prepare with gusto. Everyone is going to the beach. Drunkenness and dancing abound. Every night for the last week we’ve been lulled to sleep by the distant thumping bass beats of nightclub music.
Of course, a good deal of the partying is innocent. Many families go for picnics and friends gather for barbeques—a bit like the 4th of July in the States. This past week we were honored with an invitation to our friend Hiri’s house for a djosho (i.e. BBQ).
Hiri is quite the character. This brother of ours is handicapped, and our city is not exactly wheelchair accessible, but somehow Hiri manages to get around town. He is very friendly and kind-hearted so it was no surprise when he invited our whole team to his house for a party.
So this past Sunday, with Grace, Peter and the boys in tow, we and Chris and Beka and Kathryn and Abby and Amy all descended on Hiri’s home where we feasted. There was grilled chicken spiced in the special island way, and lots of fried starches: green bananas, sweet potato, cassava, and taro root. There was also delicious island bread, soda, and hot sauce for dipping. We had a great time and stuffed ourselves to bursting.
During the feast an islander asked Abby, “Will you be fasting?” A small reminder of what lies ahead. We left a cake for our generous host, we were too full to eat it with him.
PRAYERS ANSWERED
Peter is doing better. Grace was sick (we think with malaria) but we treated her and she is now healthy again. Tom is coughing and sniffling, but in otherwise good health, and Megan’s incision is really starting to look healed! So we’ve had a week of ups and downs, but we continue to thank God for our returns to health.
PRAYERS REQUESTED
The month of fasting will begin tomorrow. It is special time—a mixture of spirituality, searching, religiosity, and pride. We plan to pray all the more this month for the people of this island and opportunities to share with them—please pray with us. It is the windy time of year which makes it very dusty, giving us dry throats and little coughs. We celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary this week- pray that we could find some special time together. Tom goes again to visit a English program in a far-flung village on Monday, pray for the continuing relationship with the people there.
