Happy Mother's Day

One of our members is a teacher for the school system on Ebeye. We met in his school class room at the Ebeye school building. We gained a few more kids, so we may end up having more kids by not making the trip to Gugeegue. Our lesson for the kids was about Moses' mother. We had the kids make a card to give their mother for Mother's Day and gave them a couple Hersey's kisses to give to their mother's. I'm not sure the Mother's ended up with the kisses but the kids did a good job on the cards. It doesn't matter whether we meet in any particular building. Where two or more meet in my name, there I am also. The Church is the adults who are growing each week by teaching the kids who are little sponges and soak up God's word. It is Peterson who has grown so much this year to where he is leading singing and the Lord's super each week in Marshallese. It warms your heart to see the kids singing along with the adults while Peterson is leading the songs. Is it perfect? Not by a long shot. But it is not important whether things are perfect or even whether they are the way we have planned them. The Church is the people who are growing in the Lord. For some reason my blog has not been letting me type beside the pics the past two weeks. Sorry about that. Huge Blessings to Bonnie Howell for more boxes of little boys clothes. The Mother's are so grateful to have more than one or two things for their little boys. Thank you also to Dean & Becky Lightfoot. They sent a box of tooth brushes and flip flops. I know school is not even out yet, but I am saving things for back-to-school in August. Praise the Lord for the day he has givin us.

Rustville

The atmosphere in the Marshall Islands is one of the harshest in the world. Metal just does not last any time at all. This is a grader on the Gugeegue road two years ago. This is the same grader now. The last pic is a van that was sitting along the side of the road two years ago and what is left of it now. We made two trips to Gugeegue today to pick up chairs and benches for our church service next Sunday at one of our members yard on Ebeye. On the second trip the taxi we were riding in hit one of the billion pot holes in the rode and broke the frame in half. Another taxi came along, picked us up and took us the rest of the way. Thank you to the Walnut church of Christ for sending several boxes of diapers for our babies. Thank you also to Bonnie Howell for sending several boxes of little boys clothes. Our mothers are very thankful for your generosity. Keep us in your prayers.

Prayers Requested

The devil works in many ways. Owning a building is not the same in most countries as it is in the states. The land is passed down through generations. The land owner who owns the land we built the church building on has decided we can not meet in the building until she says we can. We don't know if that will be in two weeks or if ever. The moral of this story is if it is not in writing, you don't have a leg to stand on. These people in this pic are the church. Not the building Paul worked so hard to build. We will meet next week in one of our members yard under a tent on Ebeye. We will look for a building to meet in on Ebeye and establish a church there. When the land owner decides to let us return to Gugeegue we will have two congregations. Please pray that God will touch the heart of the land owner so that we can return to our building. To God be the glory, His will be done. Good thing is, we won't get our teeth jarred out on the Gugeegue road for a while.

Two Years and Counting

It has been two years since Lee and I first planted our feet onto Kwajalein, Marshall Islands. Where did the time go? We had no idea what the Lord had in mind for us, but we knew he had sent us here for some reason. When Paul Hester sent us an email about helping to build a church building on Gugeegue, Lee thought, I have helped build buildings before. Here I am Lord. Lee started a new job and worked with the three preachers on his days off that were building the church building. And then there were no preachers. I think Lee was like Moses....I'm not a preacher Lord. Send a preacher! Lee struggled but he grew and now even the Marshallese can keep up with his messages. God helped Lee grow. Now the Lord is helping Peterson grow. Peterson lead several songs and lead the communion where he read from God's word where Jesus commands us to take communion each first day of the week. I knew Lee had wanted to do missionary work for the Lord for some time. I figured that I would support Lee in whatever God wanted him to do. Here's Lee, Lord, send him. There were about three weeks where it rained a lot and we could not travel the road between Ebeye and Gugeegue. We had just a few kids at church in Gugeegue. It had been thirty years since I had taught bible class but I had prepared a Bible lesson and a few pictures for the kids to color and relearned a few songs. We met on Ebeye at one of the ladies houses on and several kids showed up the first week. More kids showed up each Sunday we met on Ebeye. When we went back to meeting at the church building on Gugeegue, we had two pick ups loaded with kids going to church with us on Gugeegue. The kids loved it. They were like little sponges. Now we have several sisters who are teaching the little sponges Gods word in their language. Neither one of us had the vision to know where God wanted us to go. But, the Lord lead us where he wanted us in spite of our stupidity and lack of vision. To God be the glory! He has been better to us than we deserve. This is our newest baby girl. Don't you just LOVE that hair. What a sweetie! She is the reason God sent us to Kwaj. Praise God!

Worship

The kids are soaking up learning God's word being told to them in their own language like little sponges. The sisters are singing a few of the songs in their language too. Peterson found a song book in Marshallese and he is leading more songs each week. He is doing a great job. I think he is almost to the point he can lead all the songs in Marshallese. We had a little bit of rain on the way to church this morning. At least it was not a gully washer. These wonderful souls don't know what riding on a smooth rode inside an air conditioned car is like. For most of them, that five mile trip over the bumpiest rode ever is fun as far as they are concerned. Thank you to the Walnut church of Christ for sending school supplies for the next school year. You guys rock! You have been a huge blessing to the Gugeegue church. God bless you all.