"In Christ Alone"

Yesterday afternoon Emily and I were feeling a little weary of our daily routine: go to school, come home, sit, eat, sleep. We wanted a little “adventure” for our Thursday. So we hopped on the ferry to Kwaj (it’s free!). We ate at the little fast food restaurant at the checkpoint and peered through the chain link fence. The officers at the checkpoint recognized us from going to softball, so we decided to see if there was any chance we could enter. The guy said we might be able to get passes for the future since we are Americans. He asked us why we wanted to go. We told him we live on Ebeye and really just wanted to walk around the island and see what it’s like since we’ve only seen the softball field and the foodcourt. He goes, “Have you been to Hawaii?” “Yeah” “It’s just like Hawaii. But not as nice.” Cool… So in the lobby we sat, watching all the Marshallese people and American people go in and out of the magical doors to Kwaj. As pathetic and lame as this sounds, we did have a great time just laughing at our pitiful and ironic rejection to enter U.S. territory. It still blows my mind how opposite Kwaj and Ebeye are. I think that’s why Kwaj fascinates me so much. Kwaj is clean, green, and spacious. Ebeye is densely populated and fully littered upon, having no room for grass.

After our uneventful two-hour stay in the lobby, we ferried on back to Ebeye pretty satisfied. We got off the ferry feeling like we just came from the other side of the world, but Ebeye feels like home now. There aren’t nice beaches and nothing about it is glamorous, but there are pretty sunsets and very loving people. 

Sunset on the ferry ride back to Ebeye.

The past couple weeks have been hard for me. Sometimes I feel like I’m not teaching the kids anything and my effort is all in vain. Sometimes I feel like I let my annoyances get the best of me. But yesterday afternoon I listened to my favorite song, “In Christ Alone.” It says, “In Christ alone my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song.” It reminded me that this world has nothing to offer me. I have what I need: Christ alone. I don’t need to impart knowledge to the kids. I will try to teach them, but if that is my ultimate goal I will leave here unsatisfied. And while Kwaj has beautiful grass and seems to be a real life vacation, I have what I need here in the so-called “armpit of the Pacific.” I hope I can remember this when I go home. There is not one accomplishment, possession, or circumstance that I need. “In Christ alone my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song.”

Dear Soldiers...

Last week for the Bible activity I had the kids write letters to soldiers. I explained to them that there are people that have left their homes to help protect the Marshall Islands and their freedom. Some of them got into it. Others just listed off the names of their best friends and said “love you, see you later.” Here are some of my favorites:

Ngedikes

I think I might know a song that goes along with this…

Ha! I like seeing what she’s actually singing during that song.

Rufos

Dear mans with the green hat name soldier. First I like to thank you for producting the Marshall Island and second I like you more than the others because your cool and I want to b like you cuys and I want to be the soldier but when I get older I will be like you. Oh my name is Rufos Thomas love you cuys.

beace

(All the Marshallese kids get their B’s and P’s mixed up)

Joey

Hopefully that's legible.

I think Joey has a little beef with Japan.

Malvin

I’m so proud of this kid! I didn’t even tell them verses to put in there. He found Revelation 22:21 by himself.

Such good kids!

P.S. Guess who got accepted into the Communication Sciences and Disorders program at Loma Linda. Me! :)

Cockroaches and Kids

Tuesday morning I woke up to a cockroach crawling across my arm. And this was not just any ol’ cockroach. They have mutant cockroaches here. This one was about two inches long. I had a little trouble going back to sleep. It happened again last night... so I went and slept on the couch.

The volunteers have been working on the school some more. I’m not sure what their plan is, but they have scaffolds everywhere and it looks like there will be a lot of wood replacing going on. They’ve already replaced the roof—fast, huh? And now they’re working on the stairs. I really don't know what all they will do, but I’m excited to see what this place will look like by the time they are done. They leave in May, so I’ll be here to see their finished product. :)

The sixth graders can be pretty hilarious. In Bible they were working on a worksheet about Moses.

Question: Who was humbled by God? Why?

Joey: Who was humbled by God? Why?     Aaron

Then in Reading I told them to write a story about this picture and to come up with a title to their story.

This is how the morning went:

“Missah, look at my title!!” “Man Baking” “Good job. Now start on your story.”

“Missahhhhh! She stole my title!”

Ridiculous! All of their titles were like “Cooking Man” “This Man is Making Food” “Boy Cooking” Then they all kept blaming each other for stealing their story titles.

Then, sometimes, they can be not-so-hilarious. I had a little "cheater talk" with the sixth grade today. Some kids copied stories out of their reading book and turned it in as their writing assignment. Some had other people write it for them. So so frustrating! Then I graded another worksheet they did. The all copied off of each other and got all of the answers wrong. To top it off, one boy thought English class would be an appropriate time to start throwing and shattering chalk on the chalkboard.

Most days, I like being on the other side of the desk--teaching instead of being the student--but today was rough. I think I will be a better student after this experience though. Teaching has really made me think about my grade school teachers and realize how much they did for me.

I am looking forward to this weekend! Sunday we are going to Carlos Island for the day. It should be fun. Hopefully no sunburn and only tan this time. :)

Thank you all for your love and support while I've been here. It makes my day to hear from you. Love you all!

Fancy Floors

The past couple weeks have been pretty much the same ol’ stuff—plan, teach, chill, eat, sleep. A few special things have happened though. One of my students has been coming to church the past three weeks. Her name is Isobel. Ironically, she’s the one whose necklace I lost. Ha! But she really loves coming to church. She seems so happy and I’ve noticed a definite change in her attitude in class. Ryan (the principal) said he visited her house once and it was very crowded with lots of people living in a tiny area. I think the extra attention at church has been really good for her. After her first Sabbath there, I asked her at school if she was coming again the next Sabbath and she said, “Yes! I’m going to go every Sabbath. It’s so fun.” I love that she loves it! She’s such a sweet girl.

Me, Oronia, and Isobel

Sunday we got new flooring in our apartment. It’s linoleum “hardwood.” That container was full of wonderful things for the apartments. It looks so very fancy! Once it was installed, we did some spring-cleaning and organizing. We rearranged and we now have a gorgeous living/kitchen area.

Emily will show off our fancy floors for us.

Our new couch

It's so clean and open!

After our very productive Sunday, we had a visitor for dinner. Of the 15,000 people living on Ebeye, there are very few Americans. So when we see other Americans, we’re instantly friends. One of these is an ASL teacher on Ebeye and Gugeegue. He’s deaf, but speaks very well and clearly. He’s really nice. Saturday night we ran into him at the store; we talked for a while and invited him to dinner Sunday night. I took ASL last year at Southern so I tried signing to him instead of talking, but I don’t remember much. I asked him like two questions in ASL, and then we went back to talking. Haha. Anyway, he came over and we had a good time. We ate and played Bananagrams—what we do almost every night. Daniel had never tried a Reese’s before, because he hated peanut butter until he came to Ebeye. We captured his experience.

The Reese's Experience

Education Week -- Opening cermonies with all the schools on the island

Science Experiment -- Growing Alfalfa Sprouts

The kids liked the alfalfa sprouts :)

Science Experiment -- Invisible Ink

Emily picked up this baby mouse like it was her best friend. Gross.

I got to skype with my pal Esteban!

Fun at Kwaj

Ngedikes hearts Burger King.

Mangy, one of the dogs that hangs out with us, is about to have puppies. She looks like she’s going to pop. Hopefully by my next post, there will be little puppy pictures! :)

I love Puppy! She doesn't really look like a puppy anymore, but not giving her a name was our strategy for not getting attached. It didn't work.

P.S. Emily just caught a mouse with a cup. But then, what do you do with a mouse in a cup? We went with our gut and flushed it down the toilet.