Humanaitarian Work in the Islands

Our main missionary responsibility is to support other missionary couples who serve as humanitarian missionaries and county welfare managers on the islands of Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and Vanuatu.

We feel we have some of the finest couples to work with.  They truly work hard at their callings and each have done a marvellous job.

Our couple in Tonga are from Inkom, Idaho.  They are doing marvelous work in teaching young children that a key to preventing diabetes is to exercise and choose the right foods.  They a created contest between the schools as a method of teaching diabetes prevention. There were 12 schools invited to participate.  The children competed by performing skits, songs or write essays and poems on the theme of "choose the right".   To emphasise the message, each student received a CTR ring to wear as a daily reminder.

Their efforts are part of the church’s continuing initiative to support Pacific Island Ministries of Health and Education in their fight against diabetes.

In Fiji we have a wonderful couple from Switzerland.  They have taught the people on the island of Tavenuni how to garden.  They went a step further than just giving them seeds and teaching them how to plant and care for their crops.  They also taught them how to gather seeds, preserve them and plant again the next year.  This has been a very successful project and the people are able to feed their families as well as have a little extra to sell at the market.

Our couple in the Marshall Islands are laying the groundwork for a framework of diabetes prevention.  Together with a local wellness center run by Canvasback.org, a Seventh-day Adventist organization, they have weekly clinics where they measure blood sugar, teach cooking and exercise.  They are educating the people about diabetes detection, treatment and prevention.  They are also teaching them how to garden in containers or small spaces. 

We will make another post soon and tell you about the couples on the islands of Kiribati, Samoa, Vanuatu, and Solomon Islands.

"A child who sees his father and mother forgo comforts for themselves as they reach out to those in distress, will likely follow the same pattern when he or she grows to maturity.   Gordon B Hinckley, Stand a Little Taller.

Come See My Garden

Early on Wednesday, August 12th, Frank Stanford picked us up from our hotel and we headed to the Suva airport where we flew to the island of Vanua Levu.  We were met there by Elder and Sister Roth.  The Roths are from Switzerland.  They had 10 children so you know that they know how to organize and make things happen.  Upon arrival Sister Roth handed us our schedule for the next 3 days and we were off and running.  On the islands, the missionary couples have 4WD trucks as opposed to a car, which was very useful on this particular trip.

Last year the Roths began a gardening project with multiple familes in several locations.  The project helped with seeds and training for people to develop gardens in order to provide food and income for their families.  Our first visit required us to put the truck into 4WD low and do some serious maneuvering to get there.  On the way to visit the first garden the Roth's told us that they usually walked the last kilometer to the members house as they got their truck stuck once before in a large ravine and it took 7 men and a horse to get it out.

Elder and Sister Roth have encouraged people to plant their gardens close to their homes so that they will be able to watch and care for them more easily.  They have taught families how to harvest seeds from their crops so that they won't need to buy seeds for the next planting season.  This is the second year of their gardening project.  As you can see from the pictures, these gardens are very successful.

Sometimes we had to walk through the bush and wade the streams to get to the gardens.  Everyone wanted to share something with us.  It was a great day and we loved seeing the many gardens.

*** Note - Susan looked at the last two pictures and said to herself - "Who is that little old lady with Gary?'  In our mind we still see ourselves as in our 30's - but guess that is not the case.

"God often meets others' needs through our small acts of service.  We need to help those we seek to serve to know for themselves that God not only loves them, but he is ever mindful of them and of their needs."  Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball