The new AFFES convience store opened up on Friday. Everyone on the island was there to check it out. People were hording all the new stock and the check out line was half way down the isle. It sounds funny but it was good to see more than one choice of laundry soap as well as other things you miss from the states. They are knocking the back wall out to make it bigger. Things are so laid back that it is a BIG deal here on Kwaj when there is a change. We carried more than 30 kids from Ebeye to Gugeegue to church with us Sunday. Those kids were packed into that ford ranger pick up bed like a can of sardines. I think we may need to start taking two taxi's soon.

Harvest & More Roi-Namur

I am getting a harvest on my tomato crop. If you have been following my blog I showed you my tomatoes when I first planted them. They are putting off tomatoes now. I have been fighting the little creatures who think my tomatoes are better than the same ol' stuff on the island so the plants are not as pretty as they were, but thanks to Gina I think we have that under control now. This is my tomato harvest shelf. They aren't the most beautiful I have ever grown but hey, .......they still taste wonderful compared to the card board tomatoes you get in the stores. This is another bunker that was on Roi-Namur from WWII Another bunker And yet another bunker from WWII.

Another Sunset

This is a group of people watching the sunset on Emon Beach. Not a bad gig if you take the beers away. AA is alive and well on Kwaj.

Thank you to Monica Wiggins for sending some crafts, clothes and toys. A big Thank you to Gina Blankinship for sending some crafts and supplies we needed this week. They both are very much appreciated for all their efforts.

Roi-Namur

One of the islands that makes up the Kwajalein Atoll is Roi-Namur. It is actually two islands, Roi and Namur that was filled in between the two islands by the Japanese during WWII. They actually have better beaches than Kwaj does. The Japanese had an air base on Roi-Namur during WWII so there was a lot of bombing by the Americans until they took over the island. This pic is one of the many airplane propellers left behind. This is one of the many bunkers. We have some of the worlds largest radars on the island. Notice the guy doing maintenance on one of the radars.

School Starts

School starts Monday. I have been collecting school supplies most of the summer. I bought some supplies when they were selling everything to close one of the stores on Kwaj this summer. Thank you to those who have sent supplies to help the kids start a new school year. Every child took something home. The electricty has been completely shut down again on Ebeye and Gugeegue. It has been extreemly hard on everyone on those two islands with the electric off most of the summer. Praise God, my sister, Virginia's cancer is not as devastating as first thought. She has lymphoma which can be treated with chemo. She is at home now but is still in a lot of pain. She has a long road ahead of her but thank God her diagnoses is not as bleak as it was. Please continue to pray for her and her family who is helping her 24-7.

God's Plan

The coconut trees are usually so tall you can't see the coconuts that well. This tree was just outside the church building and shows the different stages of how a coconut grows. This pic shows how the flower turns into a long chute. The long chute turns into a small coconut... which turns into a larger coconut. Another example of Gods hand.

This is two of three missles that were fired from Vandenburg AFB, CA. at Kwajalein this week. I'm really surprised I got this good a pic in the dark. All three of them came in and landed in the Atoll just off Kwaj. It happened pretty fast and was really cool. Everyone was lined up on the shore watching for the missiles. When they came in everyone said ohhhh, ahhhh and then applauded. I said "that was neat....do it again." You have to remember that we did not see any fireworks on the 4th of July. I suspect the fireworks would have been cheaper, however. A big Thank You to Linda Poppen, from South Dakota, who is Monica's mother. Linda sent clothes, toys, and school supplies for the kids on Gugeegue. God Bless you for thinking of others. Blessings to all

Gods Word

We finally made it back to Gugeegue for our church service. I apologize for my camera. It has decided to not open up all the way thus the black spots on the top and bottom. We passed out the Bibles and the kids were so thrilled and proud to get such a beautiful Bible. We had more kids than we had Bibles but I think the Edmond C Of C is going to help us get some more. This is Joey. He is a pistol! Monica Wiggins and her kids sent the car Joey is holding as well as one of the Bibles we passed out today and some back to school supplies for the kids. Thank you to Monica and the lessons she is teaching her kids to give to others. There was not another inch for one more person in our pick up for our ride from Ebeye to Gugeegue and back again. We really could use a small bus for our trips. Thank you once again to Audrey Mauck and the Young Families class at the Edmond church of Christ for the bulk of our Bibles. A big thank you also to our daughter Gina for a Bible and numerous supplies she has sent. Please keep my sister,Virginia, in your prayers. She has cancer in every organ of her body and they are saying she has 6-8 weeks to live. She lives in CA and thank God, we had a chance to visit while Lee and I were in CA for Lee's training. I will be thankful for that always. To God be the Glory! Love you all!

Just a few more scenes on Kwaj. Cloudy sunset but very beautiful. One of the small crafts docks. A ship making a delivery on Kwaj. Praise God, my cousin's surgery went well on removing her cancer. She has a long road ahead of her with chemo. My sister, Virginia, has also discovered she has cancer and the immediate diagnoses does not look good. Please keep them both in your prayers. Blessings to all.

This is one way the Marshalleese go fishing. They snorkel in the water to catch fish. They have fishing poles too but every week there are one to four guys fishing by snorkeling.




It is hard to see here but this is off the dock on Ebeye where we catch the fairy back to Kwaj. The water was amazingly clear today. There was a school of small fish that were swaying back and forth in the water. All of a sudden they start jumping out of the water because some larger blue fish are swarming up below them and catching the smaller fish. Fish were jumping all over the place. I'm sure it wasn't so exciting for the small fish but it was exciting to watch how the food chain works.


This is where the larger fish were catching the smaller fish flopping to the surface.

God's wonders are abundant.

We could not get any of the taxi's to go to Gugeegue again this week so we had 26 kids from Ebeye again. They are really great kids and they seem to always be interested in the Bible stories. Most of them go to school so they understand English pretty well. The younger ones do not understand nearly as much because they only hear what is spoken in their homes.
I have someone working on securing a regular taxi every Sunday so unless the roads are impassable we will have someone we can depend on for the trip to Guegeegue.

I gave only one Bible out because we had more kids than we had Bibles. God willing, we will worship in Gugeegue next week and we can pass out the Bibles to our regular kids. I gave the Bible out to Jr. because he is a regular who came to church before we moved here. Jr. is an 8th grader so I figure about 13 yrs old. He is really helpful and a smart, great kid. He lives on Ebeye and rides in the back of the pick up when we go to Gugeegue.

Blessings to all.