Aaron's Update

Goals:

A. Celebrate church festival with our neighboring village, especially for Olivia to participate all her friends in the village youth group.

B. Conduct comprehension level checking on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7.

Like each of our village trips since returning to Solomon Islands May 2019, this one was a bit of an adventure. Shipping has been worse this term than we have ever had before. Once we identified a vessel going our direction, we endured back to back delays. Thankfully though, we were able to leave Honiara for the Russells just in time to make the targeted celebrations.

On arrival, we jumped right in to village business. In Lavukal culture, going around to say hello to everyone is very appropriate on arrival. Olivia immediately made connections to see about how the youth was planning participate that evening at the church celebration. I, on the other hand, went to say “hello” to our village chief, only to get involved in a multi-hour conversation about many, many things. 

The church celebration went off well. Olivia and her group participated in a drama and some singing in the evening programs. Later in the following week, Olivia enjoyed many practices with the group as they prepared for another festival at a village in a neighboring district for the following week.

On the translation side, I used some of my anthropology knowledge to better work out plans for his village checking. One of the topics with the chief was checking an idea of working the checking sessions around the normal rhythm of village life, especially for the women. So far in the project, the women have not been as engaged. I wanted to target participation by the ladies this time, and worked the program to fit well with their schedules. The reviewers met in the morning, then took an afternoon break for personal work (like going to the garden), and resumed in the evenings around nine. The experiment seemed to be a success. In all, the checking went well and my confidence in the translated text grew a little.

After a bumpy crossing to get back to the island of Guadalcanal, the family rejoiced to all be together again. Two main goals met. Thank God for a successful trip!

They're Back!

We've spent the last week adjusting and catching up on school.  Katherine and I took an early morning drive last weekend with coffee and big CD case full of music (yes, I know CDs are old fashioned) to accompanying us.  We waited only a few minutes at Komibo, on the western end of Guadalcanal, before we discovered a speck on the horizon.

The smooth seas made it easy to watch the speck grow, but I didn't think it was some of our favorite people since Aaron hadn't called yet.  He can usually pick up the signal from about thirty minutes away.  It WAS them!  Our one and only phone tower in the eastern Russell Islands had been down for a couple of weeks, and the tower on this end of Guadalcanal was also down, that's why I hadn't heard anything.

Belza is always such a good driver, and I brought some coconut scrolls, hard boiled eggs, and watermelon as a thank you to these guys who left so very early on a Saturday morning.  After a trip to the facilities in the tall grasses along the beach, we were ready to drive back to Honiara, reunited and thankful for a smooth trip.

More about faithfulness...

"Faithfulness to Christ requires dying to your desires every single day and instead submitting them to what pleases God.  Faithfulness requires us to release our clenched fists, letting the love of entertainment, comfort, and laziness fall through our fingers, and watching it shatter, confident that God can bring good from our efforts at killing sin.  It means believing that when Jesus died on the cross, he really did break the power of sin over you, so you are free to fight sin instead of catering to it."  

~Glenna Marshall, 

"Everyday Faithfulness: The Beauty of Ordinary Perseverance in a Demanding World"

My crusty heart and my selfish love for comfort have been winning lately.  Maybe it's because Aaron is gone and I miss the shelter and safety he provides.  Maybe it's just my Enneagram 9, W1 self:  "They desire peace, both internally and externally.  Their Type 1 wing encourages them to make their idealized, peaceful world a reality.  Negotiators defend themselves by participating heavily in routine to distract themselves and avoid negative emotions." I find the lack of willingness to get outside my comfort zone ramping up into more and more of a battle.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV)

I'm recruiting help in this battle of faithfulness and keeping a soft heart.  God's Word is my number one tool, but a close second are the prayers offered to help me fight the enemy.  Would you be willing to join the battle on my behalf?

Update from the Village

Aaron and Olivia are running on all cylinders during their short stay in Marulaon.  They arrived last Thursday just in time to turn around and leave for the festivities at Karumalun on Thursday evening and all day Friday.  Saturday, Aaron spent the whole day catching up and making plans with Ezekiel and Belza, our translation committee chairman.  He was so busy he didn't even stop for lunch!

the view on my way to the village garden

Sunday after church, Aaron and Belza set off for Louna, on the East side of the Russells.  We've been trying every way we know how to build unity between the two sides of our language group which are divided by denomination as well as geography.  The plan was to meet the new village chief and spend some time chatting about how to involve the communities in that area.  When Aaron was introduced to the chief, he was delighted to discover that we already knew him!  Michael is married to a woman from Marulaon and lived behind us for several years.  He is keen to strengthen the use of Lavukaleve, and wants to support the Bible translation in every way possible.  So, we're super excited at how God has been working and arranging everything to build a good support network across the Russell Islands.

Monday through Wednesday, Aaron is holding community review sessions of Matthew, particularly the Sermon on the Mount.  He is trying a new schedule - work together in the mornings, give people the afternoon off to go to their gardens and do their own work, reconvene after supper in the evenings around 9.  He says it's been a good fit so far!  Olivia continues to do school as she chugs through her senior year.

some of my village buddies

Thursday, Aaron has more meetings scheduled and anticipates walking the two miles to Baison to meet with Gesu and some other members of the translation team.  And Friday, Aaron is headed the other direction again to celebrate Louna's feast day with them and to make more plans for their involvement with the translation process.  Then, weather permitting, Aaron and Olivia will come back across in a motor canoe, and Katherine and I will pick them up early on Saturday morning.  Please keep this busy week in your prayers!

Marriage Monday

"What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility."  ~Leo Tolstoy

Behold, our 9th grade yearbook pictures (my sister wouldn't let me out of the house until she had done my hair - good call, sis!).  This was the year we really began to become close friends, to run around in the same circles, to make music together in choir and orchestra.  If you were to look at our personalities and preferences on paper, you would immediately say we were incompatible.  But this was the point in our lives when we also began working toward dealing with those incompatibilities and filling in each other's gaps.  

Aaron's skills as a patient and intelligent tutor and problem solver propelled me through high school math and science and still help me grasp new concepts.  His endless supply of energy and wanting to "finish the task" balance my desire to make sure we are nurtured with good food and breaks for play in the midst of the crazy.  I need consistency and routine, he can go with the flow beautifully.  And sharing a stand in the cello section (when exactly is the RIGHT time to turn that page?!?) proved the perfect training ground for sharing life in marriage.

"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."  Romans 15:5-6

When I look at our differences as things God gave us to strengthen the unity in our marriage, I am prompted to give thanks and to respond in awe and wonder to my Creator instead of being frustrated with my husband.  I wish I remembered to be grateful every time our differences are highlighted, but God continually gives me endurance and encouragement towards our marriage relationship having "one mind and one voice" to glorify Him.

Weekend Wonders

The Preacher exhorts us to enjoy what we can of the life God has given us.  This can be a way of glorifying god, and necessary reminder for those of us at midlife who may be carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders.  As we begin to comprehend our end, the writer of Ecclesiastes exhorts us to live fully and abundantly here and now.  But enjoyment of life to which he refers is not an invitation, in the words of the late Prince, to "party like it's 1999".  It is connected to the command to love God heart, soul, mind, and strength. 

~Michelle Van Loon, "Becoming Sage"

This weekend, Katherine and I are doing our best to live fully and abundantly, even while our family scatters.  She and I tackled going into town and shopping on Saturday morning, and then finished up our June "treat" budget by stopping for a cool and colorful pick-me-up on our way home.

We're working hard, yet enjoying what God has given us.  While washing dishes together, we have been comparing her choices of modern praise and worship music with my old-fashioned version.  For example...Skillet vs. Steve Green.   After supper, we've had more time to read Little Women, since we aren't splitting time with Olivia and Aaron.  We also discovered an amazing resource in Crow's Eye Productions.  This organization details clothes and hair throughout history, beginning in the 14th Century.  My creative, Enneagram 4 Katherine is soaking up every detail.

Faithfulness and Fruitfulness

"There is the tension between the time it takes to love people and the need for expediency.  There is the tension between the need for measurable goals and the difficulty of measuring that which is ultimately immeasurable by anyone but God himself."  

~Ruth Haley Barton, "Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership"

As I watch our little pepper seedlings grow, I've been thinking a lot about faithfulness and fruitfulness.  The emails I've been getting from Aaron in the village chronicle very intense days as he seeks to maximize his short trip.  We both know that our responsibility is to faithfulness and that God will provide the fruitfulness on His own timetable.  Sometimes I get discouraged when I look at the years we've spent pouring into the translation project and the apparent lack of any results.  

But then I remember Paul's words in 1 Thessalonians as he kicks off his letter with this encouragement:  "We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."  That exhortation brims over with faithfulness, not fruitfulness.  And the faithfulness finds its roots in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Kids and Cookies

We are the only current SITAG family without little ones, and it does feel a little bit strange.  One of our greatest joys is to help nourish marriages by watching small ones while mom and dad go on a date.

We haven't made thumbprint cookies in so very long!  Both the process and the results were sweet.

Penzella Perch

Last weekend, Aaron discovered that Penzella was planning to leave on Monday night.  So we made plans for Olivia and Aaron to return to the village.  Monday afternoon, the ship's captain rescheduled to a Tuesday evening departure.

Tuesday afternoon, the captain once again rescheduled the departure for Wednesday night, and he confirmed again on Wednesday afternoon.  So after an early supper Wednesday, we drove down to the Penzella to get these two pieces of my heart on the ship.

When the captain realized that Olivia was going along, too, he moved a big ice chest and made a cozy little nook for cargo and for the two Choates that would be spending the night on the boat.  You can see in the top picture the amount of space they had to spread out on the floor, but it was sheltered, and they could stay together.  The departure time also changed to midnight, but my two adventurers brought The Lord of the Rings along to help them pass the time.

Laughter, Fire, Nerf, and Birthdays

One of our favorite things to do is to celebrate God's creation of people.

This celebration happened to include flame-throwing candles on a chocolate cinnamon cake, as well as a single shot Nerf gun war that stayed mostly in the long hallway and produced gales of laughter.

Our SITAG family is one of God's sweetest gifts.

SITAG Kids' Recital

On Saturday morning, the SITAG kids shone brightly.  We've been talking about giving them the opportunity to showcase the things they've been working on, and they did such a great job.  

Every child presented something: piano, strings, or recitation. We got to hear Psalm 23 in German, Olivia recited all of Hebrews 11, and we cheered as we observed musical growth in each presenter since our last recital.  

Our girls have advanced far enough on their strings that I can no longer keep up with the piano accompaniment, so they have to depend on recordings.

Unfortunately, the piano teacher who had been coming to SITAG every week suddenly passed away just a few days ago.  So we dedicated the recital to her, and when we said the blessing over the breakfast casserole, we also said thank you for Jennie's life and influence of love for Jesus.

A few of us left before cleanup was finished and attended Jennie's funeral.  What a sweet reminder to me to celebrate each other.  To take lots of pictures.  To tell each other what we appreciate about how God formed each of us and how we see Him working.

Home

Home is more than a place.  Home is also the people you travel with and live alongside as you move from place to place.  And, for those who travel with Jesus, family is everywhere -- surrogate daughters, sons, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, grandmas, and grandpas await us in every city and town to which the church has been scattered.  

~Scott Sauls 

The first Friday morning of each month, our tiny international SITAG family gathers during morning tea.  Our internet is finally good enough to support a Zoom call, and yesterday we had people join us from America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.  We laughed together, oohhed and aahhed over a new baby, and prayed for each other.  What a gift.

Ships and Fudge and Snails

Aaron started looking for ships this week, but so far he hasn't been able to locate any that are going toward the Russells.  In the meantime, Olivia decided to make some peanut butter chocolate fudge in honor of Uncle Fudge's birthday

We've also put in one raised bed with some tomatoes and peppers, with plans to add another one as soon as possible.  We go Giant African Snail hunting almost every day to help protect these seedlings and the slippery cabbage we have growing everywhere we can possibly plant it.  Did you know that sprinkling salt on the snails makes a sizzling sound?

 If Honiara does contract a case of COVID-19 and go on lockdown, the big and beautiful central market will close.  So we're doing everything we can to have plenty of supplies close at hand.

Hopefully, a ship will soon be headed toward our village, and Aaron and Olivia will be on it.  Olivia wants to be able to participate in St. Barnabas Day in Karumalun as we have in years past, and Aaron hopes to be able to continue working the book of Matthew closer and closer to a consultant check.

Global Running Day

This year's Global Running Day was much quieter and smaller than last year's celebration.

Just the two of us, doing our best to be faithful with what we have and enjoying the sweet fact that we get to do life together.