A Christmas of Joy and Trouble

Philip flew to South Africa in early November for the funeral of his aunt Sarie — his mother's youngest sister, who had once visited the island — and returned to a mess: the hens off the lay, fish dead from a pipe the children had played with, the water pump broken. But a quieter grace was waiting. While he was away, Tine had worked through his troubles and told Philip he chooses to walk the road with the Lord and to finish his studies. "We can only give all the praise to our King."

Surfing became a monthly fixture. At a local competition Philip helped judge — applying the theory he had learned years earlier to coach the Moken — Tine reached the final but was asked to let the smaller children take the win, and the organisers resolved to hold monthly contests to prepare the island's children for the bigger events. The little surf school the youth run drew good reviews, though tourists were still few after the pandemic.

Christmas fell on a Sunday, so for once they could celebrate on Christmas Day itself. They watched the Jesus film, cooked together with many hands, and the children performed the Jesus story and dances — a joy interrupted twice by a domestic-violence incident that brought the police, whom Philip had to sit with though he had seen nothing. Everyone received gifts — soap, toothbrush, and shampoo for the children, a sack of rice and oil for each family — and sang carols house to house. To close the year the island reopened to tourists, with Philip again master of ceremonies, and the Moken, coaxed past their shyness, sold their handwork at a stall by the festival entrance.