(Pictures from the holiday: Our family, Kids coming to our house in their new outfits for candy, Megan & kids with Madjeshi’s family) Last Friday was the biggest holiday of the year. It is a day of visiting and eating. The month of fasting is over and everyone is in a good mood. For children it is like Halloween. The younger ones go house to house with their dads, greeting and collecting candy and other baked goodies at each stop. The older kids travel around in rambunctious hordes, barely saying the customary holiday greeting but never leaving a house until they have some kind of candy in their pocket.
So Friday our house probably looked like a lot of island homes, dressing the kids in new outfits, cleaning and preparing the
front room to welcome guests with candy and cake, and the men getting on their customary robe and hat to walk the neighborhood. Tom took both Peter and Grace for the visits on our street and then went with just Grace to see the rest of the neighborhood.Madjeshi asked us days beforehand to visit his family on the holiday. We rarely have opportunities to meet the families of the young men we have befriended, so we were very excited. The morning was a rush of kids and men, but by late morning things had quieted and we took the winding taxi ride to Madjeshi’s home. Madjeshi’s family technically still live in the capital but the neighborhood sits on the steep slopes at the foot of the volcano.
Madjeshi met us with a big smile and began the introductions—brothers, sisters, aunts, uncle, cousins, mother, grandmother and friends. They escorted us into a small room. We sat and ate a few holiday treats, while Madjeshi’s friends and relations filled the room by standing or sitting on the floor near us. We talked awhile, different people asking us questions in the local language or practicing their English on us. It was nice. The men needed to leave to pray, so we gathered some of the family for a picture and then it was time to go.
Though it might not seem like a huge event in itself, this visit has broken the ice to start a relationship. We took time out of the special day of visiting to start a relationship with them, so that now we have an open invitation to come back and visit frequently.
PRAYERS ANSWERED
The month of fasting is over and the holiday went well. Everyone’s colds are much better.
Megan had a bad fall on the street this week and hurt her knee. We were originally worried that it was serious but we are very thankful she has regained close to her full range of motion very quickly. Thank God for the neighbors and teammates that were able to help in the aftermath of the fall. Tom had to preach the next morning after Megan’s fall, and it went really well. After many months we feel like we can finally say that Megan’s cesarean incision is fully healed!! Thanks for praying.
PRAYERS REQUESTED
Peter’s right eye is very irritated and goopy (this is very common with island kids). Pray that it would clear up quickly. One of our neighbors is very sick (we call her Mama Nyumba), pray for her healing. Pray that Megan’s knee would continue to recover quickly. Another group is visiting the third island this week, thinking about future work there, pray that we would be able to debrief with them and come to a clear idea about what part we might have in that future. Megan has lost her wedding and engagement ring—we’re not sure where (could be in the ocean). Pray that if possible, we could find them. Continue to pray as we move forward with our new team goals.
