The Trip to Wale Island
Above: A boat arrives safely at Tubetube, the island where translator Alan Canavan and his wife work.
That morning, the sky was black and the sea violent.
I knew of a good lookout on top of one of the mountains on the island. I scaled it, looked both south and north, and was horrified to see the stormy skies and the huge size of the waves rising and crashing on the ocean.
I had traveled to Wale (Wah-leh), the most southerly island of the Bwanabwana language group, along with Fred Boita, co-translator for our Bible translation project. We decided to wait for the sea to calm down before traveling north, back to Tubetube (′Tubeh′tubeh), the island where our village was located.
Monday afternoon when we had arrived for a translation meeting, the sea had been relatively calm. As soon as the meeting was finished, though, a strong wind began to blow from the south. It kept lifting the island’s black sand and hurling it at the house where we stayed. That night the sound of the wind and rain lashing our dwelling made it difficult to sleep.
We realized it would take about 4 1/2 hours to cross the dangerous, open stretch of water, a stretch that was very susceptible to the southeasterly winds that were blowing. Local boat captains knew this wind was the most dangerous in which to navigate. Heading south at this time would have been impossible.
Our hosts gave us generous servings of yams and tapioca* and heavily sugared cups of tea. Although extremely grateful for their hospitality, we were starting to feel as if we were using up all their food. We felt uncomfortable too because of our wet clothes, which were hard to dry out. Having expected to spend one day on Wale Island, we had brought only one change of clothing with us.
Each evening and morning I would pray for a change in the weather. But the storm continued for five days. I tried to stay optimistic. Each morning, noon and evening, I would scale the mountain to look for better weather.
By Saturday morning, what I saw amazed me. Although nothing had changed on the southern side, the sea appeared to be calm on the northern side. As I quickly descended, I kept saying, “Thank you, Lord.” I told our boat captain to get ready while Fred and I quickly packed our things and said goodbye to our gracious hosts.
The first two hours on the ocean were manageable, but then the southeasterly wind really took hold. It whipped the waves into a frenzy, pounding our small diesel boat, the big waves lifting us up and trying to roll us over. Fred and I felt good that we had finally been able to leave Wale Island and were returning to Tubetube, but being in a raging ocean was no fun at all.
Our Papua New Guinean captain focused completely on his task. Some waves were so big that he had to violently swing the wheel to keep us from turning over. We continually braced ourselves as the boat jolted, jerked and groaned. I closed my eyes and prayed again. It was a disturbing ride, and the smell of diesel fumes didn’t help our anxiety.
As we came closer to Tubetube, other currents added to the chaos, making our ride seem even worse. Finally, the sight of home greatly encouraged us. There’s nothing like a rough trip to make you feel elated about arriving!
Despite the difficulties of this trip, it felt good somehow to be completely dependent on the Lord for His protection. He didn’t calm the sea, but He brought us safely to the other side.
* These starchy root vegetables are peeled, boiled until tender and topped with grated coconut.
—Alan Canavan, with his wife, Faye, and team rejoiced to see the Bwanabwana New Testament dedicated in July 2004.
This story originally appeared in "Water, Wind and Weather," the Fall 2008 issue of Rev. 7.
