Mama Mbuwa has one daughter. They live together in a small tin house—a single shared
bedroom with an outdoor cooking area. Her husband left the island almost a decade ago. She sees him about once a year when she leaves the country to buy merchandise. He meets her in mainland Africa on these business trips but the rest of the time he lives in France.
“Have you ever been to France?” I asked her.
“No,” she tells me.
“Why not?”
“He doesn’t want me. He has another wife and children there.”
Broken homes are very common on the island. Divorces are frequent. Plus, polygamy adds another layer of complexity. Men move on to a new family without fully quitting the old one. Then, with people taking every opportunity to leave the island, people don’t seem to bat an eye at being separated from their spouses for months or even years. Fidelity isn’t expected. 
As a result, there are many island women that function as “single mothers”. We are saddened to hear islanders talk about their poor marriages and their family webs of divorces, remarriages and multiple wives.
Islanders probably don’t understand why having Tom away for just four days would be hard. They have a large network of extended family to help care for kids and are rarely alone. We aren’t alone either, we have our neighbors and our team. But we (Megan & the kids) still miss Tom and don’t envy having to be a single mother in any capacity for any amount of time.
PRAYERS ANSWERED
Tom’s trip has been going well so far. He’s met lots of new people, including some of the families of friends living on our island. He’ll share more details next week. Despite missing Tom, Megan & the kids have done fine, the team has helped out. Peter is five months old!
PRAYERS REQUESTED
Continue to pray for Tom’s last day on the other island. Also, our team is taking a special retreat this weekend to look at our vision and team goals. Pray that it would be a fruitful time of prayer and planning. Beka’s mom is coming from the States to spend several weeks here- pray for her safe travels. We’re over half way through the month of fasting—continue to pray for the islanders during this time.
