Forest Park church of Christ

Pearl of the Pacific

January 2010

The church of Christ in Majuro sends greetings to all in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We continue to remember you in our prayers and are so very grateful for your dedication to the Lord our God and for your continued support of the work here in the Marshall Islands.

It is Monday, February the first here in Majuro and I have waited until now to write the January news letter so I could report on the high tides that came about this past week end. In December of 2008, we experienced high tides but there was the added twist of a strong storm some five hundred miles away and the two events coupled together caused waves to wash over the island in some places. There were a few houses knocked off of their foundations here and some were destroyed on the Arno atoll. Other than that it was just a big mess and a major inconvenience of which the locals are rather accustomed.

We are told these high tides occur twice every year and this year will be no exception. We are very grateful that this event was rather uneventful as there was no storm to complicate things. The tides, even at a high of 6.5 feet, only came right up to the very edge of the atoll and washed across the road in a couple of places leaving some trash and rocks to sweep up. The second event will happen during the full moon cycle at the end of this month. Kindly remember us in your prayers.

In other news, we have a good news/ bad news item to report. The good news is that Abner Enne has reached that wonderful milestone in life known as retirement. His last day of working for the National Telecommunications Authority (NTA) was December 31, 2009. We had a congratulation pot luck dinner for him at the building and he was both surprised and some what embarrassed.

Abner is a very shy man and it is very difficult for him to be the center of attention. This is one of the reasons that I admire him so much. Abner, in case you don’t remember, is the one who kept the doors of the church open here in Majuro when it got down to just him and his daughter Selina.

He puts his shyness aside as he continues to lead the church in singing and prayer. As I told him at the pot luck dinner; this is to celebrate your retirement, the Lord will reward you for your faithful service.

This brings us to the bad news. Abner will be leaving Majuro and will be going to Hawaii to live with his wife and daughter. About four years ago, Abners wife, Cora, suffered a stroke and went to live with their daughter in Hawaii so she could get better health care. He has not yet set a firm date to leave but only because his eighty six year old mother is in the hospital and has been for the past four months. She is very weak now and will leave this life soon and only God can say how much time she has left.

We know that Abner’s family here in Majuro will miss him very much, especially the grand kids. But the church will miss him very much as well. He has done what he could for the church here and as much as he will be missed, he needs to go to Hawaii. Not only to be with his wife and family there but to have access to better health care and receive better treatment for his diabetes. Abner, like so many here, is very afraid of the doctors and the hospital here. As he put it, “Too many people go there and die.” Loyce and I have seen enough of what he is talking about to offer any kind of argument to the contrary.

May the Good Lord bless and keep you. Again, thank you for your prayers and support. Live strong, preach the word, and keep the faith.

His humble Servants,

David & Loyce