Our Life in the Islands of Micronesia: Fun times with friends in the Ministry

There is not enough space to describe the incredible experiences we are having in the ministry here in the Islands of Micronesia! The people living in the village of Yigo have been so kind and generous. We purchased only 1 plant to commemorate our 1st day in our apartment. But we have a lanai/terrace filled with beautiful plants, flowers and herbs. In addition, we've been given enough unique fruits and vegetables to fill a produce section in the grocery store. Bread fruit, Soursap and so many others I can't spell or pronounce. One man from the island of Chuuk insists on giving us fresh coconut water when we visit with him to discuss the bible. So he gets up the tree, pulls out the machete (like he's an Iron Chef) and after a couple of minutes we have the freshest, best tasting, uncontaminated coconut water you have ever tasted. Wow!!!! Then he cuts up a second one for us to put in our refrigerator so that it can get nice and cold (beats gatorade).

Another family from the outer islands of Yap and Chuuk has been very hospitable. Russel approached a young man and started to talk to him about the bible (he was picking plumerias and orchids while we were talking to him). Then he says that he needs to give those to his mom and so we said we would wait for him. He insisted that we come over to meet his mom when he gives her the flowers. We did and we continued to talk to him. Meanwhile his mom is using those flowers to make a lei. We are having a great conversation with him about the end of all corruption. Then his mom speaks to him in their native language and begins to ask us a couple of questions and he interprets. We answer her questions and then she is finished with the lei within minutes! We ask who the lei is for and she says she is making it for him (it was a very sweet moment). But both of them decided that they wanted to give the lei to Stefany! We were very surprised and kinda felt bad. We tried hard to not accept the lei but as we have learned, here in the islands that would be rude (sort of an insult) to not accept their generous gift. It was a beautiful lei that was made within a couple of minutes from the flowers in their yard. You'll see the pics in this post.

There are many more experiences and we will try to capture them as they occur. We've had many days where we were tired of TALKING! We thought we were organized but our organizational skills are being tested. Jehovah has blessed us with so many people to teach the bible that we can't keep up. I think Russel is going to start to use a spreadsheet to better organize everyone he is supposed to visit, on what days, what time of the day, how many people in that home, etc... The normal return visit book just isn't enough at the moment. We'll also start to give some of the apps designed for the ministry a try.

The pictures in this post capture some of the fun times we've been having with our friends and the people living in the village of Yigo (pronounced Jeego).

Stefany and Christine discussing the bible with a woman

The woman's kids working hard to lay down some gravel to prepare for the next mini-monsoon. They were trying to prevent their driveway from becoming nothing but a mud pit.

Stefany just received her lei! It perfectly blended with her blouse (red & white flowers)

Stefany, Austin and Russel

Young man who gave the lei his mom made to Stefany.

Beautiful lei and woman :)

On a bible study with a man from Chuuk (he's the coconut Iron Chef)

He appreciates the things he's learning in the bible.

The grandchildren of the man from Chuuk.

Its coconut time.

His name is George...also known as Iron Chef of coconuts

Have a bible study next to the coconut tree

Ahhhh.....Oh so good (fresh coconut water)

George and Nate..our wonderful hosts from the outer islands of Chuuk

Well we were tired of sleeping on the air mattress so we finally decided we would try to purchase a bed. In the process of shopping for beds we met Lourraine who worked at one of the mattress stores. We initially asked here if she thought there would ever be a time when all suffering would come to an end. From that initial question/conversation, Stefany was able to have a regular bible study with her and because the store was fairly slow, they have the study at the store during the slow periods. She said this is exactly what she needed and it makes her feel so much better when she has her bible study.

Lorraine and Stefany

Some of the many examples of fruit and vegetables that we've received from generous friends and people we've met in the village of Yigo.

Another beautiful lei is made by a local village resident for Stefany

Russel talking to the IPAD man from island of Yap

This moment was kind of hilarious. We walked up to this man and he was wearing a sarong/skirt with no shirt. But as we got closer we realized he was tapping away on his IPAD!!!!

We had a great conversation and we'll try to continue our bible discussion the next time we see him.

Bible study on the front porch (student, Kim and Stefany)

She was so touched by Jehovah's loving care for her after reading Psalms 55:22 she had tears in her eyes. After the study was over she repeated the verse and said she will never forget those words.