So, the last seven weeks were amazing! The Marshall Islands was great; I totally recommend it to anyone who has $1,200 for a flight!
Where do I begin? Lindsey and I went to the Arno atoll (a few days late - Marshallese time!) We lived with a Marshallese family - Mioshi, Virginia, and their three kids. They're in charge of the Arno outpost. It was pretty cool there. We washed our clothes by hand. We had Marshallese pancakes, rice, corned beef and spam for meals. We had to manually fill up the back of the toilet so it would flush, too. The family was extra nice, though. We went to Troop Camp. Everything was in Marshallese, but we sat in on classes and helped where we could. We led craft, too - we had about 10 minutes preparation the first day, then we got a little more the rest of the week.
We went back to Arno for VBS. There were 30 kids from the village; it went really well. We had two translators, nifty crafts, fun lessons. I daresay Lindsey and I put on the best VBS Arno atoll has ever seen. We did the same thing for Laura the next week - with 70 more kids! We had more helpers, though. It was chaotic, but totally fun. The helpers rocked, too - the young adults and teachers were there helping out and translating.
The Marshallese people are so friendly! We got so many gifts when we left - purses, flowers, wall hangers, shells, necklaces, bracelets. We had to bring back a whole box of gifts. They opened their homes to us, too, sometimes on short notice, and gave us their best hospitality. The way they treat foreigners is I'm sure how Jesus meant for us to treat everyone - kind, respectful, welcoming. I could take about a hundred lessons from them. I was really blessed by them.
This whole year has shown me a lot about myself - especially these last few months. I spend so much time focusing on what's wrong with everyone else, it's easy to forget about my own many flaws. Ah, the benefits of living in community.
