Time to Get Busy for Christmas

Where did 2009 go? The kids are singing "This little light of mine." It is time for those who can help with Christmas for the children to start gathering things and get it in the mail. In order for us to have time to receive the presents, the deadline for mailing should not be any later than the week after Thanksgiving. Preferably the week before.

The Marshallese people's needs are even greater than last year. Everything is so expensive here and jobs are so scarce that they don't buy the things you and I think are basics. Toys are always wanted by the kids, but any size clothes you can send, we can find a kid to fit them. Any personal body cleaning products can be used. Soap, shampoo, tooth brushes, tooth paste, etc. Any baby clothes , diapers, or baby bathing products are always needed. Keep in mind on the clothes that it is always summer here. The customs of the people is for the girls to always wear a dress or skirt and blouse with short sleeves and shorts underneath so they can play and not worry about anyone seeing their bottom. Any girls hair accessories to put their hair up in a pony tail are used. The boys pretty much wear everything that Americans would wear in a warm climate. Shorts, long pants, button and T-shirts, etc. Almost everyone wears flip-flops and sandals. You can take the air out of the balls to make more room in the box. Lee and I have a hand pump we put the air back in them before we carry them to Gugeegue. School supplies, pens, pencils, and paper are always at a shortage. I have never seen a coloring book of any kind on the shelves in Ebeye and the kids always scramble for those (crayons too).

If you or your class can help, please let me know. If you can help in a big way or the smallest way. Anything and everything is so appreciated. Our new address is: LEE AND AVIS CUMMINGS CMR #701 PO BOX 1652 APO, AP 96555-0017

BOO!

They were replacing the outside layer of one of our radars the other day. The crew decided to make a Halloween face on it for grins. It was pretty funny looking and got everyone's attention. Thank you to Jack and Sandra Cummings for sending Halloween candy for the kids. A man by the name of Yoseph has given us sandwiches every Sunday for the kids for the last month. Thank you all for your generosity. God's Blessing on all.

Blessings from Others

The kids did great today even though they had to get wet riding in the taxi (back of a small pick up) when it rained on them on the way to church. The good thing is it is always warm here so you don't freeze to death if you get wet. They didn't know anything different so it did not bother them. We had some Santa helpers this week. Dean & Becky Lightfoot sent a box with toys, personal items and kids clothes. Monica Higgens sent some clothes, toys and things I needed for class. Arlene Floyd helped me find some things I wanted to buy for the adults this year. Savings are great when you are buying in larger numbers. If you can help buy one thing or a box of things for the children of Gugeegue church of Christ, please plan for that now and start sending whatever you can afford soon. Today was Lee's birthday. I baked him a brownie and put some candles in it. It looks like we should have called the fire department. Of coarse we may need a water hose handy when mine comes up in a few months. God's Blessings to you all.

Children Are The Same Everywhere

These are some of the baskets some of the Marshallese ladies made on Manit Day which is a celebration of the Marshallese Culture. The men showed how to make rope out of coconut husks and they opened a coconut with a machete so you could drink the coconut milk and eat the fresh coconut. Pretty interesting. While we were waiting on Ebeye for the ferry to come from Kwaj, these kids gathered to take turns jumping off the dock. This is the only time we have seen them do that. An adult came by and ran them off the dock and they all went to the nearest beach to play some more in the water. Kids are the same no matter where you go. They will have a blast playing with their friends with no toys at all. A man gave us a sack full of sandwiches on the ferry on the way to church for the last two weeks. He was taking it to Ebeye to one of the other churches. He had seen us several times on the ferry and asked if we were going to church. We said yes and he handed us the sandwiches and said, "give these sandwiches to the children." WHAT A GREAT EXAMPLE FOR US ALL!

It Is Not Too Early!

We have had a good number of kids for bible class for the last couple months. It is not too soon to start thinking and planning for Christmas. We have to start early because of the slow mail and because Lee and I have to carry everything over to the church building on our backs, so it takes us more than one trip to get it there. We do not have any church backing so we have to rely on individuals who are willing to help on their own or who can organize their class or friends to help. It is best to mail boxes no later than the week right after Thanksgiving. Any time before that is great. It can take anywhere from one to three weeks to get a package to Kwaj. We have gotten mail as much as two months later.

I have thought about taking pictures of individual kids but I fear someone being left out. I think we will repeat what we did last year. The Marshalleese people's needs are even greater than last year. Everything is so expensive here that they don't buy the things you and I think are basics. Toys are always wanted most by the kids, but any size clothes you can send we can find a kid to fit into them. Any personal body cleaning products can be used. Soap, shampoo, tooth brushes, tooth paste, etc. Any baby clothes , diapers, or baby bathing products never go to waste. Keep in mind on the clothes that it is always summer here. The customs of the people is for the girls to always wear a dress or skirt and blouse with short sleeves (no sleeveless)and shorts underneath so they can play and not worry about anyone seeing their bottom. The boys pretty much wear everything that Americans would wear in a warm climate. Shorts, long pants, T-shirts, etc. Almost everyone wears flip-flops and sandals. You can take the air out of the balls to make more room in the box. Lee and I have a hand pump we put the air back in them before we carry them to Gugeegue.

If you or your class can help, please let me know. It isn't too early to start because of our time restraints with the mail. If you can help in a big way or the smallest way, anything and everything is so appreciated by the Marshalleese people.

Blessings to all.