Our program on Thursday, May 7 went superb! Our students really made us proud. After our Spring Concert we had our good-bye party from the community. Wow! I will never forget all that food! There’s nothing like rice, chicken (I got half of a whole chicken on my plate), doughnuts, coconuts, and juka juke (no idea how to spell it) all served on a Marshallese plate and eaten without silverware. After everyone had finished eating we were seated at a special table while the whole community sang to us and one by one came to shake our hand and leave a fan or shell. A small token of appreciation and something to always remember them by. I will never forget that day. Looking at the faces of the students we had taught for the last few months and at the faces of people we had to come to depend on and built friendships with. We came as total strangers and left as part of the family. We had a few more good bye parties but non as memorable as the first one. On May 10 we left Namu on a boat headed to Majkin where we would take a plane to Ebeye and we made it to Ebeye on May 11 as planned.

Like I said, the last part of my missionary experience on Namu was a roller coaster of events. But I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s all part of the experience. No matter what happened to us on Namu, God always made sure we had enough to eat and were taken care of. So this is the last of our adventures on Namu. It has been one of the best experiences of my life. I can’t wait to hear about Namu next school year.

When I first started teaching I rang a little metal bell so that my students would know that we’re starting school but now as soon as they see me heading to school they know we are about to begin. While I have 23 students to teach all day, Fernando has only 2 students in the morning and 7 after lunch. When Fernando heads to school his two students, Maggie and Nina, usually hide. They’ve become quite creative in their hiding. Sometimes Fernando finds them under tables, behind coconut tree, between my students, and I think they even tried to hide in someone’s backpack or bag. So as soon as he rounds them up we start school. We start school with prayer and I usually take the first 10 minutes of class to have a short reflection. Next we dive right into Bible class for the next 45 minutes. This first semester for Bible class we talked about the different characteristics of God in the Old Testament. All we did was read through the first couple books of the Bible and talk about the stories and what they tell us about God. The next subject is Math. It was quite difficult at first to decide what to teach for Math because half the students were not at the level they were supposed to be while the rest were ready to advance to more difficult concepts. What Fernando and I ended up doing was to divide my class in two math classes. Fernando took the students that were behind and I took the students who were ready to advance. After we both finish our math classes Fernando goes to lunch and I start with English. My students have weekly spelling words to help them build vocabulary and we are learning grammar too. At about 12:15ish I have lunch.

The next subject is Science. We read out of our textbooks in class and then I give them the questions for that specific lesson for homework. At this point Fernando has his second wave of students and teaches Bible, Math and Science to them. We have P.E. to end the day. We play a lot of volleyball and capture the flag. But before we can play my students drop down and give me 50 push-ups, 100 jumping jacks, 100 squats, and depending on the day 10 minutes of running. We take every Wednesday and just exercise for P.E. (something I learned from Mr. White, my P.E. teacher, when I was in grade school). After P.E. my students are free to go home for the day.

We usually have a few students each day that don’t feel the need to do their homework at home so Fernando and I keep them after school and make them do their homework. Also, the students that we feel need a little more help stay after school so we can help them. On Mondays we have NSA meetings (Namu Student Association) where we sit down with the officers and plan out school activities. Our NSA officers have organized a volleyball tournament, after school intermurals, community service day, school picnics, and they helped enormously with Week of Prayer. In the next update I’ll expand a little more about the amazing Week of Prayer we had but our officers helped us with every aspect of Week of Prayer. They came up with the morning and night programming, organized and lead praise groups, met every morning to pray for the Week of Prayer, made a prayer wall, made a banner with our theme for the week on it, and set-up and cooked for our Agape Feast on Friday night. I cannot even begin to express how much Fernando and I depend on them.

So by the time we send our after school students home and finish after school volleyball we head home. It is about 4:30 pm and hat usually leaves 2 1/2hrs of sunlight left. We fill the rest of the day with a variety of activities such as carrying water from our well to fill our tank in our bathroom, climbing coconut trees to get our coconuts for that night and the next day, getting breadfruit for our meal that night, getting out battery from a neighbors house, running around the island, walking down the road to the end of the island and back, sitting on the beach, reading, drinking coconuts, and making dinner. These are just some of the normal activities we preoccupy ourselves with in the afternoon. When it gets too dark outside we connect our light to our car battery and eat supper. Supper is usually better than lunch but it really depends on how we are doing on supplies. I remember by the end of October we eating rice, breadfruit and coconuts every night because we were saving our ramen for lunch and there was nothing else to eat.

At night we usually try to listen to a little music, watch a movie, or a TV episode on our laptops but it really depends if the day was sunny or not because we charge my laptop with our car battery. If it was a sunny day then there is a good charge and enough to charge my laptop a little. If it was a cloudy/rainy day we usually only have enough charge for light and spend our night reading. Whenever we have any free time during the day we usually fill that gap with reading.

It may not seem so exciting but this is a typical day for us Namu Boys.Weekends are a little different but this is basically a normal week day. Honestly there is not much to do after being accustomed to having internet 24/7, phones, cars, theaters, and anything else you can think of. On Namu we don’t have any of that and I remember being a little scared of the silence, tranquility, and slow paced life but somehow I see God more clearly now then I ever did back home. Not only that but I feel better rested, I exercise more, I eat healthier, and I appreciate my church, friends and family even more. I think everybody should spend some time on a “Namu” of their own. I believe Jesus called it a “secret place” and mentioned it to His discipled when they asked him about prayer. So if you haven’t spent some time in your secret place this week I would encourage you to join me on “Namu” and I promise you that there is no better place to be.

-Saul

Looking back at that day, it was not exactly what I expected. The day before Manit Day was bright and sunny and it seems as though the next day would be the same. Unfortunately it was not, it was cloudy and rainy. Regardless of the weather we decided that we would carry on with the games we had planned for the school and the community. We had just started our first game when it started pouring, forcing us to find cover at the school or the church. I think we spent probably an hour or two just waiting for the rain to die down. It didn’t. So, I decided that regardless of weather I would try to make the best of that day. We started up a game of soccer…in the rain! Man, that was a blast! Everybody was soaked but our laugher drowned out the pouring rain. After a while people began joining us and other people started playing volleyball. Even though everything we had planned to do that day fell through, we still had a great day. It seems the worst of days can turn into the best of days with the right attitude.

-Saul

_Saul

By the way, thank you sooooo much UCA Elementary kids for the Christmas cards and chips! Also, if anybody has any extra NIV Bibles (or other easy to read translations) they could send to us for our students that would be great! Thanks again.

Finally Thursday morning came and with it the plane came also. About 20 minutes after take-off we were landing on Kwaj. We found our way to the dock, took a water taxi from Kwaj to Ebeye, and then a taxi from the dock to the apartments where all the SM’s live. So after all the waiting we had finally made it back. The power was out so after a few hours we were all enjoying a delicious Thanksgiving meal. These last few days have been really refreshing. Its nice not to have to wake up in the morning and carry water from the well to your bathroom, carry your car battery to another house to get it charge, or carry your drinking water from someone else’s house to yours. It’s nice to able to come back to familiar things. But it’s funny how I find myself missing my students, the people, and life on Namu. I’m definitely going to enjoy my time on Ebeye but looking forward to going back to Namu.

It has been about three months since we left hawaii. It has been about two months since we left Ebeye for an outer island called Namu, Our experience has been “interesting”. That is basically the only word we can think of to describe our unique experience here. There is so much to talk about and to tell but sadly my battery is running out and I have to wait until tomorrow to charge our car battery with a solar panel to be able to charge my laptop once again. But briefly we just want to let you know how good God is. For the last couple week we have been rationing our ramen and eating a lot of breadfruit (yes it is called breadfruit, google it) and coconuts (the hard life of a missionary). This last week at school was especially hard, with its trying experiences. We were both very discouraged and a little homesick. But this last friday we received supplies and all our mail from Ebeye. God is good. He sent us soo much food and everything we needed to make it through for the next few months. He even gave us tons of snacks and chocolate (a gift from God) just because He can. We also received a lot of much needed school supplies for our students. After opening every box we were a bit overwhelmed at how good God is and what we had received from people. Thank you UCA church for everything you have sent us, as well as Hess, and Mr. Novak (the tortillas were exactly what we needed!!). We are just two more people that can testify that God supplies our every need exactly when we need them. It is when things are hard that we should depend on Him even more and it is when things are hard that we should pray and wait for God’s blessings because He is faithful. What else can we say except that God is good. Very good. We would like to thank everyone for their prayers and continue to pray for us.

_Saul & Fernando aka Namu Boys

Saul Dominguez

My name is Saul Dominguez. I’m 19 years old (almost 20) and I live in Yakima, WA. I just finished my freshman year at Andrews University. I went to school at Yakima Adventist Christian school through 10th grade and finished 11th and 12th at Upper Columbia Academy near Spokane, Washington. This last year I felt called to be a student missionary but wasn’t quite sure where. After some time, Namu was presented to me as a possible mission field and after very little thinking I decided that I would go wherever God called me to go.

Fernando Chavez

My name is Fernando Chavez, I’m 20 years old and I was born in Chicago, Illinois. I’m a theology major at Andrews University. I love reading my Bible and learning more about Godeach day. I love children and I love to see them praise God with all their hearts.

When I was 7 years old I moved to Mexico and lived there for 6 years. It was in Mexico when I realized that I wanted to serve God and preach His gospel. I attended public schools all my life but 3 years and I know the importance of attending a Christian school. I am looking forward to this experience in which I will give my all to serve God and His children in the Marshall Islands.

Care Packages can be sent via USPS Priority Mail

c/o Ebeye SDA School
P.O. Box 5070
Ebeye, MH 96970

Pastor Tommy Kilma Talks About Namu from Lem Productions on Vimeo.

Pastor Tommy Kilma Talks About Namu – Short Version from Lem Productions on Vimeo.

That means that there will be no Namu for us this time.

With that said, this trip has been a huge blessing and not a
disappointment at all. Friday, after we learned that the copra boat had
an emergency and would not be taking us we went down to the local market
to get some food for Sabbath. While we were there we ran into a young
couple from the church that we had met at the mid week service on
Wednesday night. When they heard that we did not catch the boat to Namu
and we may not be going at all the man told us that he had been to Namu
earlier this year and had taken some pictures and he would get them off
of his computer for us. After some further discussion we found out the
he had taken the pictures that we are using on the web site. While
standing there in the market the man was holding a box of granola bars.
He told us that on the island they were so expensive that they could
only afford every once in a while, but he liked them a lot. Back where
we were staying we had a bunch of granola bars. Paul told him that is he
brought the pictures to us we would give them a lot of granola bars.
After vespers on Friday night the young couple came over, and in
conversation told us their story about how they ended up on Ebeye. It
was very inspirational. Especially the way that they live. Many times he
does not get paid when he is supposed and he has nothing except for
faith. We interviewed on camera so we could share their story as well as
the stories of many other people who come to Ebeye as missionaries and
have their lives changed. We found out soon after we got here when some
of our flights and boats had been canceled, that telling the story of
Ebeye must have been what God had planned for us.

On Saturday we went to church which is held at the school here in the
island. It was a lot of fun to see the way that different people
worship. In ways it is similar to what I have experienced in the U.S.
and other ways they have their own traditions which was really neat to
see. It was a packed service even though it is just a classroom in the
school. I did catch myself starring out the window on several occasions.
It was so hard not to look out the window and be enthralled with the
ocean and the clear water splashing against the shore which is only
about 100 feet from the school. Usually it is an English speaking
service, but since their were several visitors yesterday, the pastor
translated in the local language as well. After church we had a potluck
lunch with the principal and missionary staff from the school. The mac
and cheese we brought came in handy. It is always nice when you can
contribute to something like that especially since they were not
expecting us to still be here for Sabbath. The Americans really
appreciated eating the mac and cheese even though it was the boxed kind.

After a nice nap we went back to the Church at 5:30pm for their youth
activity and sundown worship. It was a lot of fun. We worked in
crossword puzzles as teams and then played Bible tic-tac-toe. The school
and Church here on Ebeye really make an effort to have things for the
youth in the Church to do because there are not a lot of Adventists on
the island even though the school has a very good reputation.

Late last night, as we were sitting around wondering if we would leave
on the speed boat or not, Mel and I decided to go out and do some night
photography. When we were packing us and preparing to head back we ran
into a few guys and when we told them that we were Adventists that were
on a mission trip one of them said, “ohh SDA. Yeah that is the best
school on the island.” That was a cool thing to hear.

Thank you. Thank you for all of your prayers. As I have said, according
to our original plan things have not gone as scheduled, but we have been
blessed interviewing those here on Ebeye, and we all believe that we
were sent here to accomplish and assist in a different mission. We are
all excited about helping spread the word of the Ebeye school and how it
is in desperate need of missionary volunteers. We are not going to make
it to Namu and we are at peace with that, Now that we have some free
time for a few hours before going to interviews some locals here, let’s
go snorkeling!

-Joe