Kool-Aid Paint, Off-Brand Fruit Loops, and Jam Hands

VBS has now officially started! It was quite a morning too. We left about 9:15 (it started at 9:30) and got there in time to catch our breath before a herd of about 45 kids ages 1-14 came running after us babbling loudly in Samoan. We started off with some VBS songs in Samoan and English and sang for quite a while. They really enjoyed our songs and we skipped our first lesson because they wanted to keep singing. Then we split them up into two groups and had one go over to make fruit loop necklaces and another group paint with kool-aid. Marci, Melinda, and Colleen got them started with the necklaces and Danielle and myself we lucky enough to be elected as the paint-coordinators. Try as we may, the colors and flavors got mixed up and almost everything ended up red. I HATE fruit punch kool-aid! But anyways, when the younger ones were nearly soaked and licking their hands to find that this was the kind without sugar, we switched groups and I got to help the kids write their names on their newly found fruit loop name tag necklaces. Some of the kids bought into stringing up the fruit loops before eating them; some of them did not. After we had all of the names written (not pronounced, just written). We (the teachers) got up and did a skit of Jesus loves the little children. My daughter, Colleen Ashley wanted to go see Jesus Marci, but Disciple Melinda wouldn't let her. Colleen started crying and then we had a group hug with Jesus. It was great. Then we let the kids do the skit and the younger group (Colleen's group: 8 kids under age 8) all tackled each other at the end. None of her kids spoke English at all really. I was fortunate enough to get all like 4th-7th graders and they were great. They did good and no one even got hurt in mine. Did I mention I had only 2 girls? Well, it was great anyway. I think that they learned that Jesus loves them. 

Then we made frames out of popsicle sticks and they all fell apart (Marci and Melinda spent their afternoon gluing the pictures in and trying to match names with faces). We got it done though. We had about 4 more kids than we expected, so the older ones (8th grade) had to have a little (3 year old) partner to do the activities with. We are not going to have the 1 and 2 year olds tomorrow. The age limit was supposed to be 3, but they came anyway. It was fun though all in all. 

I am completely exhausted and have a lecture to go to tonight. It may prove hard to not fall asleep. I might try to get a power nap in here in the next hour before we leave. It is almost unbearably hot today; I hope there is a breeze tonight. 

Oh, I didn't mention jam hands. Have you ever noticed that when you are around kids, hands get sticky. There can be no jam in the house and they will get sticky. Then yours are sticky and no matter how many times you wash yours or their hands...they are still sticky? Well, I have jam hands right now and if you know me at all, I like clean fingers. I think it was the kool-aid paint... 

That was the coolest craft though and I would recommend it to anyone! All you do is get the little kool-aid packet and put about a third a cup of water in it and paint with it. It makes really bright colors and smells like fruit *hence the reason we did it*. Anyways...

This is JAM FINGERS signing off!

Siva Siva! Pati Pati!

Dance Dance? Clap Clap! (translation of the words in the title) 

Yesterday was a day of blissful relaxation. Not totally though. We got up and chilled for a while and then we picked up the girls Liga and Mausaliga for lunch. We went to KFC and had chicken for lunch. In Samoa there is a very interesting phenomenon about the delivery of food. When a meal is ready, they bring it out. If the food is not ready, they do not bring it out. No matter how many people you are with or how many meals were ordered. They bring it out, meal by meal. I might receive my fish and chips immediately after I order, but you might not receive your ramen noodles for an hour and a half, even though we ordered together. I assume  that this makes a date a really interesting thing. Girls, can you imagine receiving your food an hour before your date's hamburger arrived? I can't. I think that would be really awkward, but at any rate...we stayed at KFC for like two hours because Melinda and Marci's hot wings were not ready yet. While we were waiting though, we had some good conversation about the schools here and the people and such. We told them about our dancing a siva on Friday and they laughed hysterically... I am a little worried. We talked about school fights and how they all box from third grade on. They have weight classes and only 2-3 of their family members are not undefeated. I think they heard the sliding of plastic on tile as I slide my chair back a couple of feet. 

After we dropped them off, we went up and watched Colleen get a tattoo. That is actually a very Samoan thing. Wilson, the tattoo artist, did a very good job on the Samoan tattoo and now I feel as if I have completed a full course in Samoan culture. I hope I get an A! 

After that we ran through (not literally) Mc Donald's and then watched some guys pay cricket for a few minutes. Then we went to the preview thing of the Pacific Arts Festival that is coming to the island after I leave. We watched an elementary school siva and some others. Then there was a taoaluga (special girl dance) and some knife dancing. It was incredible what these girls did with their knifes. The taoaluga was traditionally danced by the high chief's daughter for special ceremonies and now is danced at most any Samoan performance. The girl is wrapped in a fine mat and she dances alone until family members come up and join her. It is a very beautiful dance and it was neat to see a traditional one done. The Samoan people also like sing their own music as they dance and it is quite beautiful. You see a lot of coconut leaves and oil on the guys and it is really an experience. One of the kids in my class, Salvation, was in the elementary school siva and he did really good. It was really cool to see a kid that I know dancing too. 

After that we went up to Lynn and Mara's house to have some homemade ice cream. Lynn makes his ice cream with Samoan coco and instant coffee and calls it "Samocha". It was really good. Then we went downstairs to Danielle's apartment and watched some more Gilmore Girls. 

This morning I taught my Bible class by starting with a little activity. I gave the kids paper and pens and asked them to draw "God's will". They were surprised at the freedom that I gave them to draw whatever they wanted. At the end we had a list, a tree, a house, and a path. We talked about each of them and it was really cool to hear their insights. The list was like a "To Do List"; the tree was so that there are other ways you can go, but they all fit together; the house was to represent that we live in the will of God and stay there; and the path was like a journey of how you find your way to God. They were so great and creative. We talked about how we need to know what God's will is before we can find it and live it. They were great and it was a much bigger success than last week's lessons. 

Today we are going to finish preparations for the VBS and get that underway tomorrow. My teammates have all gone for Sunday afternoon naps and as I am not tired, I think I will print off some coloring sheets and double check my lists for tomorrow. That is all for now, God bless and talk to you all soon!

Prep-Prep-Preparation!

Today we had a quiet day inside made possible by a nice strong wind and a leak in the sky for a couple of days. I think that the angels go a little crazy here with the sprinklers, but that is just my opinion. I finished one of the books for my Maymester course in Campus Ministry and Wade and I will work on it in Hawai'i. He took the same course as I did (Scary, I know right?!). I did a little more reading and relaxed for what will be my last down day for a while. We are getting increasingly more busy as the days wear on towards VBS. Last night we had a Gilmore Girls marathon and frito pies as we sat down to make the preparation for the VBS snacks and crafts. We went shopping before that and got the supplies and to our dismay, we can't find cotton balls. How are you supposed to make a sheep craft without cotton balls? But we are going to look at the two other possible owners of the cotton today to see if they can help. We are preparing for 40 kids, so we made the following items: 

• 40 sets of jail bars (Paul and Silas praise God in jail--Joy)
• 80 Paul and Silas faces
• 40 potential foam pockets with yarn to sew them together (Ruth and Naomi--Faithfulness)
• 40 bags of exactly 40 off-brand fruit-loops with yarn for a snack/craft (normal fruit of the Spirit)
• 40 cut out boats (Jesus calms the storm--Peace)
• 40 homemade theme name tags with contact paper to protect them
• 40 paper plates dressed up with a verse and numbers to look like a clock (Patience)
• 40 short clock hands out of construction paper
• 40 long clock hands our of construction paper

Needless to say, it took 5 full episodes of Gilmore girls to draw and hand cut all of the things. I have never seen anyone work as diligently as Marci and Melinda battled the stuck together fruit loops, Danielle with the name tags, and I with my clock hands. Turns out the only way to get stuck together off-brand fruit loops apart is to eat the whole thing! Who knew?

Well, today we are going to visit Tasi and Fae, but we don't know how well that is going to work because Fae's baby is due tomorrow. We'll see how she is feeling. David wants to invite her to church: Good intentions, but typical male thinking she could come on her due date and sit in a folding metal chair for 2 hours. We'll also see how that works. They are a precious couple and I am excited to try to see them. 

I'll wait to tell you the rest of the day tonight after the preview to the arts festival thing. 

Thanks for reading and vote in the poll!

Strategy Meeting

We didn't really do that much yesterday, besides plan out all of VBS and make about 27 lists of things that we needed to get/do/find/sing. We started out the day going to the hospital on island, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Tropical Medical Center located just outside of Pago Pago. It was really interesting to have to go to the hospital to pick up a refill prescription. I enjoyed seeing the hospital, but not waiting like an hour for one prescription. That part was a little agonizing. After that we ran some other errands and came home for lunch. We went again to the seamstress to give her a second set of projects (my matching family outfits) and then we came home. After a little Gilmore Girls, we sat down and planned the VBS with Danielle. We had already planned most of it, but Danielle helped us by saying what the kids could or couldn't do or what we couldn't find on island as far as supplies go. Simple things like beads or brads, can't be found here...weird, huh? Well now our plans are properly adjusted and we are going shopping for all of our supplies today. Tonight we are going to put most of it together and get completely ready. 

There is a HUGE arts festival (held only every 4 years) that incorporates artists from all of the islands. It is taking place on Tutuila, American Samoa this year. It starts right after I leave, but there is a preview thing for it on Saturday night that we are going to. It will all be Samoan on Saturday, but that is the culture that we are learning anyway. 

Our lectureship/VBS is this coming week and it is a big deal for the missionaries. We are hoping for about 40 kids. Chances are the ones under school age (about 7) will not speak any English and we will be working with a translator. Please pray for this effort and our participation in it. Thanks for all the love and support and vote in the poll!

And the Winner Is...

The person that voted orange mango on the poll. I like most of the juice that I have tried, but that one was the winner. 

Anyways, today was a day full of visits and saying good-bye. Actually, only one goodbye. David cooked us a good full breakfast of eggs, sausage, and biscuits that turned out mysteriously like scones, but they were good anyway. Then we went and visited with some people about coming to church on Sunday. David wants to get 125 people at church on Sunday and that involves a lot of inviting. Then we visited Petelo for the last time and it was very sad. We took a video of him singing Savalivali with his guitar. He also signed Wilson, my volleyball. It is amazing how inspiring one man can be. He is paralyzed and such a disciple even though he can't do what most people can. He can't even make it to church on Sunday mornings, but he is dedicated to Christ. His daughter Eme (Emmy) was excited to see us an read with us as always. They are such a special family and I am glad to know them. 

This afternoon we got the rest of the VBS planned and made a list of the things that we still need to get and put together before next week. We have our work cut out for us, but we think that it is going to be a success. At least we are praying that it is.  There are 3 congregations involved in this and there will be about 40-50 children attending it. We have them for 2 and a half hours. 

Tonight we went to "church" or class and talked about instrumental music. The group of about 8 people were very brave in their questions and understanding of the answers. No real conclusions were decided, but no feelings were hurt either. It was a very mature discussion and I am glad to have heard it. I didn't necessarily agree with all of the comments made by the introductory video, but it was good to hear. For those of you who don't know, the congregation that I am working with is very conservative and active in seeking the will of God in the best way that they can. I have really enjoyed working with them too far. 

The sights and sounds of Samoa are becoming more like home to me. I will leave you with this question: How did I ever fall asleep without being lulled to sleep by the delicate chirping of the geckos?

Thanks for reading!

"Son of Man!"

As the sun peered in my open window and the clock screamed at me that it was time to get up, I ached at the thought of yesterday. I prepared my mind for the pain I knew was awaiting me as soon as I became aware of it. But it was not there. The pain from yesterday was gone and I was immediately assured that today was a new and better day. 

Sorry, I felt like being artistic for a minute. Needless to say, I am feeling much better today. I think that the twenty-four hour bug was just that and is now gone. I was still careful with what I ate, but I am feeling so much better it is unreal. 

This morning we went and visited with a lady from the church named Gwen. She owns a lot of land and her son and his wife work hard to harvest all of the grapefruit, lemons, limes

, taro, bananas, and coconuts that they have on their little "plantation" type thing. That is how they make their living. They have discovered the true way to Samoan happiness: Let the ground grow you life f

or you. Really, with all the breadfruit and taro and bananas, Samoans don't really have to worry about ever going hungry. Gwen was keeping her grand-daug

hter who w

as just precious and we played with her for a while too. Gwen is a great source of strength 

to the church and Rebecca (wife of the man with Alzheimer's) and it was great to visit more with her. Then we ran errands and got ready for the activity. We were supposed to do a scavenger hunt but it was raining so we had to modify it. When the kids got here, it was st

ill raining, so Marci and Melinda ran and got all the clues and re-hid them in the covered area or inside. I tried to play Apples to Apples with the kids, but that didn't work because they don't speak English that well, so we just drew our favorite animals. When we did t

he scavenger hunt finally, the kids loved it. There were only 4 kids that could come today, Roseta, Emme, Ray, and Steven, but they had fun anyway.

 Each of the clues was a Bible verse reference and the kids had to find the verse, read it aloud, guess which word was the most special, and find the clue where that word was (like, "Knock and the DOOR would be opened unto you" might be taped to the front door). They had a really good time. One time, Ray read a verse and it said something like, "The Son of Man is at the window." Ray immedia

tely yelled out, "SON OF MAN!" as if that was what they were supposed to be looking for a

nd it was HILARIOUS. I said, "Well, yes, but that isn't the word that will lead us to the clue." It was great. He real

ly thought that was it. At the end, the last clue led them to the cake that we had made them that had our memory verse reference spelled out in M&M's. I don't think that the kids liked the cake as much as Marci, Melinda, and I did, but that was okay. 

Then we talked

 about a few verses in Romans and I thought they took it up better than the lesson on Sunday. We then prayed (Ray prayed in Samoan, so I have no idea what we prayed for; we

 could have

  prayed for shiny red volvos for all I know!). Then they taught us Jesus loves the little children in Samoan and we stood up when the color of our shirt was said. (I was wearing a pink shirt, so t

hey just told me to be white [haha!]) We played another game and our time was over. 

We went to Mara and Lynn's for dinner and then out for ice cream with Colleen (Mara and Lynn's daugh

ter) and Danielle (David and Danna's daughter). Then we had another Siva lesson and it didn't go so well for me. Cheerleading made me dance too stiff. I need to learn to be more graceful and flow-y and stand up straight...I am working on it. We will do the siva next Friday, so I hope we are ready. (We will be!)

That is all for today. I would ask that you pray for the kids that came today and the ones that didn't. Send up a special prayer for Brenda, Mua, and Douglas, as they couldn't come because they were babysitting their little siblings and that happens a lot. 

Thanks for all the prayers and support!

Under the Weather

I am sad to report that today was very boring because I have come down with a mysterious illness. It is characterized by harsh stomach aches and lethargic behavior. I basically laid around all day today. We have a tween activity tomorrow and so I needed the rest to feel alright for tomorrow. I am hoping that it was something in the water in Apia or just a 24 hour bug that will be gone when I get up in the morning. 

I am sorry that today was not more interesting. It was a beautiful day and I used some of my time to plan out some stories for the VBS. Better luck tomorrow I hope. 

P.S. Being sick in paradise is NOT fun.

Apia and More!

It would take me years to write about everything that we saw and did in Apia, Western Samoa. We left in the afternoon on a flight that took about 35 minutes. We got there, went through customs, exchanged money, and went to the hotel. We got a little dressed up for the fiafia night at Aggie Grey's Hotel and Restaurant. This was a buffet dinner with a very traditional Samoan Siva (dance show) with it. We were in the front row and it was great. I tried sea weed and sea urchin. They were both not worth tasting a second time. We had pineapple cheesecake (yum!) for dessert and went back to the hotel full and entertained. When we got back Spongebob Squarepants was on about 4 out of the 8 channels we had, so we went to bed. 

The next morning we got up and had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel consisting of eggs, toast, samoan papaya, fruit, hot tea, french toast, pancakes, muffins, the best bacon in the WORLD and more. (Don't worry, I didn't eat all of that, it was just all there for the taking). Then we got a taxi to the Lolomanu beach on the south side of the island. The view from the taxi was amazing. When we were lead to the houses were were to stay in, a dash of fear entered my heart. It was a hut. Three feet off the ground, suppported by wooden poles, with no walls but just plastic sheeting, roofed by coconut leaves and branches: hut. I told my self it would be okay for just one night, and then was able to enjoy myself. When we got there we chilled in the big fale (like an outdoor lobby/mess hall) and then chilled at the beach. We went snorkeling, had lunch (chips and a Sunkist orange soda) and snorkeled again. We went to dinner and met a really great Kiwi (New Zealand) family. We talked with them and then Marci, Melinda, and I played Uno with them. They called it Uno (pronounced "you know") and they all beat all of us (there were four of them). We talked with them for a long time and learned that things are different but the same in some ways there. It was really fun to find idomatic phrases that didn't make sense to them or us. They call there prom a ball and their school year goes from February to December (southern hemisphere's summer is December-February). They were quite nice and we sat by them the next morning at breakfast. 

We slept peacefully under the mosquito nets they provided and woke up to the cool water and warm sand of a perfect day. But after breakfast, we loaded up and went back to Apia. The drive was absolutely stunning. We showered again when we got there (I hate sand now) and then went to the market that afternoon. I was impressed with my gift buying ability and came in FAR under budget, so I went in again and got myself a purse! That night we ate a Giordano's pizza and had a cool fruit drink (non-alcoholic) and yummy pizza. We played Uno well into the night (til about 9:30) and went to bed. We got up and ate another AMAZING breakfast and went to the Robert Louis Stevenson homestead museum. It was really interesting. The Samoan people really respected him and still do. He installed a fire place in two of the rooms, just to make him feel at home. There is ABSOLUTELY no need for a fire place here...take my word. 

Then we walked around Apia and got more pictures. Then we loaded up and went to the airport for another like 3 hours. We got home right in time for David to play golf. After I unpacked, I was exhausted from a filled week. We watched You've Got Mail (one of my all time favorites) and then I read part of a book, "My Samoan Chief" and went to bed. 

This morning at church I wore my puletasi and the Samoans were delighted. They laughed a little, but I am getting used to that. We talked about self-control in church, but, thanks to some distractions, I didn't feel like I got the lesson across very well. Two of my kids didn't make it to church this morning, but we will see them on Tuesday for our LAST, I can't believe it, activity. Next week is lectureship and the Sunday after that, the missionaries and Marci and Melinda leave island. I am waiting to meet my mom in Hawai'i, so I leave a week later.  But this afternoon we hiked to the most amazing waterfall in the world and got to swim in it. We stayed there for a long time just marveling at the beauty of it, but then some other people came, so we got out and left. 

My vacation to Apia was wonderful and the waterfall was beautiful. These next few weeks will be much busier as we attempt to plan all of the activities and execute them (including the area-wide VBS). Please be in prayer that we are able to reach the kids at VBS so that they will remember what we talk about. 

I hope that everyone is doing good! 

Love from AmSam!

You gotta take the Lord with you, children...

Well, this is my last night in American Samoa...for a few days at least. I am leaving on a plane at 3 PM tomorrow for Western Samoa for a little three day vaca with the missionary families. We are going to go some pretty cool places and stay in a hut on the beach one night. I am really excited. 

Today though, we did some more visits and then did the activity with the kids this afternoon. We played kickball, which was a lot of fun. They didn't care to keep score. They just celebrated when their team scored. They let anyone who wanted to pitch and there was not any like singling out of the slower kids or ball hogs or anything. It was great. These kids are so easy to please. Then we got together and did the human knot (team building activity). They thought it was the coolest thing in the world when they got untangled. Then we gave them three scenes to act out about peer pressure. They had a little trouble understanding what the paper said, but once we explained them, they had a great time thinking of idea of how to do it. I was a dog in my scene because we had four people and 3 characters. Steven had a firm grip of my ponytail (leash) and dragged me right along beside him. It was really funny. Then we talked about peer pressure and what things are bad and do not please God. I gave them a memory verse to work on Sunday and half of them had already memorized it. If I said, "Jump!" they would ask, "How high?" and then do it.  They are great kids. Then we taught them the song "You gotta take the Lord with you..." and they LOVED it! They were so excited to learn a song from us. I need to find some others that they don't know and teach it to them. Check out Marci and Melinda's blog for a video of them singing. I didn't have my camera today, but I am getting some pictures from the girls. Brenda, one of the "tweens" wrote us all out a list of Samoan words and phrases to learn. She is so sweet! I need to learn the words just for her.

After the activity, we went and picked up our dresses from the seamstress. They are amazing. I love mine. I'll get some pictures of me in it on Sunday. I am amazed at how quickly this lady works and how professional it all looks. I love it!

Then we had dinner and walked down to a little bush store with Colleen to get some caffeine.  We had another dance lesson and I am happy to report that I am getting better. There is just like an essence of power and yet grace in these dances and it's ridiculous to try to imitate. I am looking forward to getting the video of the siva up on the sight after we do it at lectureship! That will be a crowd pleaser...no doubt.

Well, I need to get in bed to wake up in like 6 and a half hours to have another long, busy day. I guess that's alright though. I mean I am leaving the country tomorrow and all...

Alofa tunoa ia [you] (love/grace to you),

These are the great kids that we work with learning "You gotta take the Lord with you..." 

Arts and Crafts with Pua!

Today we had a very busy day filled with lots of different kinds of activities. We started off the day watching the US Open Finals (yay Tiger!) because it was on "real time" which was morning for us. Most of our television channels runs 2 weeks later than the mainland. Then we went and invited people to the church the week before the lectureship. We visited about 3 different families. Then we went to lunch at the ever popular McDonalds. Then we went to the school and met with Pua, Tia's wife. She first showed us how to print on fabric. 

Then she told us to go outside and pick a leaf or flower for us to draw to make a stencil out of. I picked a little white

 flower called a "pua". That was the flower that Pua was named after. Then I attempted to draw it on cardboard. That didn't work so well, because of my lack of artistic ability, and Pua decided to help. Pua grabbed the cardboard and my picture and proceeded to correct my lack of ability. She did a great job really fast. 

Marci and Melinda picked different flowers and Pua helped them draw too. She then showed me how to do th

e painting and told me what she thought would look good. Little did I know that it would take me about 2 hours to paint the 4 flowers on the bottom of my lavalava. A lavalava is basically a sarong. After I finally got finished painting mine (the others girls were done long before I was and I was the first to start), we did the topa design on mine. Topa is where you put a board with a cut out pattern under your fabric and then paint really gently so you can see the pattern. We went around my flower and it was finally finished. I mentioned that my back hurt to Pua from

leaning over. Pua's mother was sort of a chiropractic/indian doctor for her people and she had taught Pua the methods. She gave me a great Samoan massage and my back did feel better after that. Fofo is the technique that she used. It is a very traditional Samoan healing method used by the Samoans for thousands of years. A very sick person would require two days of treatment, but we just needed one session because we are basically healthy. I don't know about the healing aspect, but it really did make my back feel better. She told me that I had a swollen spinal cord in one region and a little lump in another. The second part I knew, and I suspected the first. Pua is so kind. She taught us so much about Samoa today.

Dana, my missionary's wife, told us that we should perform a siva or Samoan dance at the 3rd Annual South Pacific Lectureship in July. This is what we are planning the VBS for. The Friday night of lectureship each congregation that participates provides little piece of live entertainment. This year, we are it. This should be funny. David thinks that this would really show the Samoans that we are trying hard to learn the culture. I am not too sure about this, but if Colleen will teach us, I know it would be okay. We would wear our semi-matching lavalavas that we made today. This would be very interesting. We will take a lot of pictures.

Sorry but we had a little addition to our day: We went to one of David's friend's houses to pick us some fish that he was giving us. When we got there he gave us like half of a fish. Our half is probably about 3 feet long. The fish is a Wahoo(sp?), the cadillac of tuna. We are going to freeze it and have it after our time in Apia. That is what the gross picture is of.

I hope that everything is going well for you and your families. I am praying for all of you who see this blog.

I Have My Father's Eyes

Happy father's day everyone! Today at church we had a great time. I started out my class by singing and it was great. Class was really short today because the church van carrying 1/3 of my class was rather late. But we sang anyway. Then we read a story about Paul and Silas singing in prison. We talked about how they were joyful even though they were beaten up and thrown in jail. The lesson was about having more to live for because God loves us. It was simple, but well received. When we got into the service, we started off with some songs, in Samoan and English. I think that the Samoan songs were easier today than they were last week, but I still really don't have any understanding. I could recognize some of the words, but I could pronounce almost all of them. I know that it will continue to get easier as the weeks go on. David did an activity that was really interesting. He asked some of the kids to get up and stand in the front. Then he asked the father's of the kids to come up, but not stand by their kid. He asked a visitor that he knew to get up and match the kids to the parents. The man did not know anyone but David and Tia, and none of the kids. He was able to match up Lynn and Colleen, and David and Danielle, but only because they are white. He got some of the Samoans right, but most of them really through him for a loop. David talked about how he could match the ones that looked alike easily. But the ones that looked like the rest of the crowd were harder to get right. He related that to matching us with our Heavenly Father. I thought about it more, as the sermon was translated into Samoan. I thought, I have always been told that I have my father, Dan's, eyes. I have always agreed. I mean blue eyes are blue eyes, but Mom's and Wade's look more similar and my dad's and mine. I thought about the Spiritual application there. Do I have the eyes of my Heavenly Father? Do I work to see the heart of people or do I let myself just look at the surface? I would encourage everyone to give thought to this.

Well, this week is going to be very busy. We are going to visit people tomorrow morning, then going to lunch and to Fiona's with Pua (Tia's wife) to do some Samoan arts and crafts type things, and then hanging out with the high school girls. Tuesday we are going to visit people, do another Tween Activity, and get our puletasi. Then on Wednesday we go to Apia, Western Samoa, for three days and get back Saturday and teach our lessons on Sunday. It is going to be really busy, but all of the work is good and will be fun. I am looking forward to it.

Today we made sugar cookies for David for Father's Day, but I must admit, I am really missing my dad today. I haven't ever been away for a holiday like this. I have another 4 weeks before I go to Hawai'i to meet my family too. I don't mean this to say that I am ruining my time in Samoa missing people, but I do miss my family. I know that I am doing the right thing by being here, but I am seeing that long term missions would mean many more times even more intense than this. I can't imagine missing Christmas, birthdays, or Easter with my family. That is something I have to think about when I say that I want to live out of the US when I am older.

Tonight we are going to have the Bible study with the other palagi (white) Christians and probably get another dance lesson from Colleen. I am going to work on some Maymester homework now and get a little rest for the week ahead.

Thanks for the prayers and support so far. May God bless you and keep you wherever you are.

Bumps, Bruises, Cuts, and Australian Lifeguards

OK, I know I misspelt "cliff" on the video. I wanted to get it up so I went too fast and didn't catch it. I promise to remember the proofreading mistakes I find next time...

Anyway, we went snorkeling today. It was painful too as the title implies, but it was amazing. We saw so many fish, and more coral than you could ever imagine. It was a little rough at Flowerpot Rock, so we went around the island to Tisa's. It was better there, but still a little rough. We swam around and got a little beat up on the coral and the rocks. I'm a little blue and purple tonight, but it's alright; it was worth it. Here was the insight I got:

There are two different feelings or moments when you are out in the water. There are the moments of pure bliss and happiness. You can't believe you eyes. You can't believe you are so lucky to be in this moment. And then the current hits you and you go into "survival mode". You can't hold onto the rock much longer. There is foam in your face and in your snorkel. You wonder if you should do something about your situation, but you can't figure out what. I felt this cycle time and time again today and I decided it is the cycle of my Christian walk. Sometimes, I can't imagine having any more of the Holy Spirit in me. I make insights; I speak to people's hearts. Well, I don't of course, but God speaks through me and I can feel it. Then there are times when I am out of control. I don't feel God; I don't think I am touching people and I can't imagine ever being on that mountain that I just thought I was on. But I left one thing out of the analogy, you can stand up. When we were snorkling today, it was only about 4 feet deep at the deepest point. I can stand up spiritually in those moments to. I can get back to my praying, reading, fasting, and solitude and God can restore me. I don't always do that though, and I need to figure out why. 

After those thoughts, I was snorkeling out past everyone else, leading Marci and Melinda to a really cool spot I had found and Melinda grabbed my leg. She pulled up out of the water and advised that I did the same. We looked to the shore and saw David and our Australian lifeguard calling us in. We walked back to shore and learned that we were in trouble. We had gone too far. Without realizing it, we had put ourselves too close to the breaking waves and rip tides. Oops, I thought as I sat on the sandy beach. But it was okay. We got in just fine and survived the whole ordeal. 

When we had played in the sand and rinsed off a little (not near good enough for me), we got in the van and headed to the other side of the mountains. We drove up a steep incline and then got to the ridge. I could see the Pacific north and south of the island. There was no way to photograph it but it was too cool. Then we went down the other side and to the national park over there. We went on a jungle trail and ended up getting some really good pictures. We ate a Carl's Jr. on our way home and then showered for like 30 minutes to get the sand off. There is still sand everywhere and thus the second insight: 

I wish that Christianity was more like sand and church was like the beach. When you go to the beach, you get covered in sand. Everyone does. It is inevitable. However much you try to stay out of it, it is like jam and small children. They get the jam on their hands and it is sticky everywhere, but that is beside the point. And then you go home from the beach and you take it with you. Every vehicle you drive in every person you encounter and touch, is left with the sand. I think that perhaps we are too quick to "rinse off" after our time with our Church. We don't want to be bothered by the "sand" and so we try to get it off and leave it in the bottom of our shower. The analogy ends there, but all that just to say, I wish Christianity was more like sand.

 I do love comments and emails [wink, wink]...

Painfully Plucked Pineapple Proves Perfect

Yesterday was, as anticipated, a quieter day for us. We started the day off with a bowl of ceral, Honey Nut Cheerios if you must know. I then drove to the mechanic, following David to drop off our van to get fixed. It was making a really interesting noise. Then we went to the Pacific Island Cable company to put an ad on T.V. for the Annual South Pacific Lectureship that we are going to have in a few weeks. We are in charge of the VBS/Children's class for the week. We have 2 and a half hours to fill for 5 days in a row. We are going along with the adult theme of the fruits of the Spirit. We are working hard to get that planned before we "leave island" on Wednesday. I don't know if I mentioned it or not, but we are going to Apia, Western Samoa, next Wednesday until next Saturday. We are going to see giant clams, visit Robert Lewis Stevenson's house (author of Dr. Jekel and Mr. Hyde, Treasure Island, etc.), snokel, stay in an open air fale (house) on the beach and see the site of yet another country. I am really excited about that. David says that I will never look at the beach the same ever again. It is supposed to be even more untouched, sandy, and beautiful. I can't imagine a place much more beautiful than our island. 

We are starting to work hard on inviting people to the lectureship and to church the week before lectureship. Tia, one of the elders, is very busy with visitors on the island, but he has invited me to email him and come to his forest preservation office and kind of shadow him. This would be a really cool way to look at the island from a biologist's perspective. 

Today we are trying to go snorkeling, but it might rain on us again. We are going to see. I am looking forward to spending some time outside today because we spend most of yesterday planning things for our classes and VBS inside. We spent last night with David and Danna's daughter that lives next door having a girl's night. We made chocolate chip waffles and brownies. We danced off the calories playing Dance Dance Revolution and singing karyoke. Then we watched Gilmore Girls (no, I wasn't in charge of the entertainment, we all helped plan). It was a lot of fun and a little crazy. I think all dinners should involve chocolate in at least two ways. That was amazing. Anyway, more on chocolate later...

I hope that everything is well with you. I am praying for all of you who read my blog and I continue to ask for prayers for my missionaries, the kids we are working with, and the people of this island that are so genuinely Christian. It's not pretend and it's not easy, but they do it anyway.

Love from AMSAM!

Pictures!

Here are some more pictures that I stole from Marci and Melinda's blog. Three with plants are of the garden we went to and the two with children are our tween activity that we did. From left to right: Marci, Joe, Douglas, Brenda(back), Ray (front), Kate (me), Roseta (front), Mua (back), Steven (back), Salvation (front), Melinda. The bananas do grow upside down like that...I am guessing it is because we are south of the equator, but I could be wrong...(joke). More pictures to come!

Plucking Pineapples Proves Painful -or- Tautalatala *too much talk*

Hello everyone! I hope that you are all well and good and that you are finding your summer satisfactory thus far. Today was a very full day and I am quite tired actually for one of the first times since I have been here, besides the time change adjustment. We started off our day quite early with a McDonald's breakfast sandwich and the decisions by my coconspirators, I mean teammates, that today should be "Surprise Day!" We decided not to let David tell us where we were going at all today so that there would be mystery and intrigue and guessing involved all day long. We started off by picking up and dropping off brochures, very exciting and then drove again toward our house. This was merely a deception though as we missed the turn-off for our driveway and kept going on past the house. A couple of coconut moves down the road (This is where a coconut is obstructing the path and the driving assistant (front seat passenger) gets to get out and chunk the coconut into the nearest neighbor's yard. It is very exciting.) we arrived at a house with a large yard. We got out and just as we turned the corner, and passed the shack on the right, we were in the most amazing vegetable garden I have ever or may ever see. There was cabbage, papaya, sugar cane, cucumbers, green onion, tomato, beans, taro, bananas, and coconut but the surprises were not over. In the front, Fae and Tasi (the caretakers of the house and garden) led us past a beautiful flower garden to the front garden were the most deadliest of all plants lived. You guessed it: Pineapple. There were little green baby ones and big ripe yellow ones. It was incredible. If you don't know how pineapple grow, you should look it up. Marci and Melinda got a picture. It is like this razor sharp circle of serrated green knives offers it up to the sky and the stalk is attached only to the bottom of the fruit part. If you have ever cut a pineapple, you know that you must be careful or you will get poked or stabbed by the top leaves. You have NO idea what the long leaves out the side of the plant can do to your legs. As I wove my way around the plants very delicately, it wasn't probably 30 seconds before I was bleeding. It hurt, but boy was it worth it. You could smell the pineapple from feet away. (If you know me well, you know that pineapple has lately been giving me funny reactions, but this was too good to miss out on.) We are having the pineapple that Tasi gave us for breakfast tomorrow morning. I can hardly wait (granted that my leg wounds, battle scars if you will, heal soon).  Did I mention that the lady in this story, Fae is 8 and a half months pregnant? No? Well, now you know. Her first baby, a little girl, is due this month. Maybe we will get to visit them after she is born. All of there family is in mainland China too.

We then went to Patelo's house for the reading of the Bible and his wife and daughter were there. He and his daughter are great singers and song writers and he had his 9-year-old daughter record the song that he had written for a funeral on a tape recorder while we were there. It was beautiful and those who understood what she was saying (it was all in Samoan) were in tears by the end of the song. The little girl, Emmy, is just precious. Patelo has David come every Wednesday and translate a paragraph or two of Scripture back into English from Samoan. Patelo recently picked Revelation to re-translate. This week we had Bibles and we read the Samoan and English with them. I sat by Emmy and she shared her Samoan Bible as I shared my English one. It was a really cool experience. We are getting better at reading Samoan, although we still don't know what we are saying. It is like the Let's Start Talking program, but reversed. We sang Patelo our Samoan song, Savalivali, and he wants us to record that for him next week. More about Patelo later.

This afternoon, after lunch, we went and did water aerobics at the pool. There was a swim lesson in progress for a bunch of Kiwi (New Zealand) stundents, so although we had to stay at the side of the pool, we got to listen to their AWESOME accents. The little Kiwi kids are so cute. 

Tonight we had only two other people come to church besides the missionaries and Marci and Melinda. We tackled, or attempted to tackle, the question of suffering in the world and why God doesn't do anything to stop it. Rebecca, the only Samoan that came, had some great insight and yet some great questions about it. She deserves to though, she has taken care of her husband, 24 hours a day for the past 3 years. Her husband, Eric, is in the first stages of Alzheimer's disease. He is at the stage where he looks fine and healthy, but he might wonder off or get really impatient. Rebecca is such a sweet lady and she loves to come to church because it is her escape from the stress of taking care of her husband. Did I mention that she is a breast cancer survivor and suffers from Diabetes as well? No? Well, now you know. Please pray for Rebecca as she is in need of a lot of patience to take care of the failing health of the man she loves. If there is someone who knows suffering, it is Rebecca, and she still loves God and loves her church family. 

 

Thanks for reading. I would make it shorter, but every part of today was just too special for me. Less might happen tomorrow...

No Snakes in Samoa

That's right kids: No snakes in Samoa. But that is a lie. There is only one species of snake in Samoa and it is the smallest snake in the world, not to mention that it is blind and does not bite. Just thought you ought to know that. Now on with the blog. 

Yesterday was a quiet day and henceforth, there was no reason for me not to blog about it. We did go and get our puletasis started at the seamstress place. That was exciting. When we told the kids that we were getting them, they were quite flattered and excited that we were partaking in their culture. Everything that Americans or palagis can do to embrace their culture, is very appreciated and does not go unnoticed. 

Today was wild and crazy and henceforth, I had good reason to not blog until now. We started off the day with a fairly early start, about 8:30 or so. We drove to the mechanic to pick up the church van and then I drove the missionary's mini-van to "Cost-U-Less", a Samoan Sam's Club or Costco, to get snacks for the kids for our outing. We then went to KS-Mart, the Super K-Mart equivalent, and got water balloons for our activity. Then we went home and filled up the water balloons, which is always a fun and exciting activity. As our morning activities came to a close, we brainstormed about object lessons for the kids and came up with one for the water balloon toss. 

About 1:00PM or so, we began picking up the kids. David drove the church van and it took about an hour to pick up all 8 kids in my Sunday School class. Most of them live in villages fairly close, but the roads in the neighborhood are so bad, that it takes quite a while to get down them and back.

Once we got to the house where our activity was, next door, we started the festivities by dividing guys and girls into teams. We then did the wheel-barrel race and a dizzy bat race. The score board was tied one-to-one at that point and we went to the final event: The balloon toss. We all paired up and got across the lines from each other. In America, we might have had problems getting in pairs and choosing out friends, but with this small group, I didn't see any discontent from anyone and that was really nice. The kids were so excited that a few of the balloons popped before the toss started. My partners and I did very well, coming in 3rd and then 2nd (see pictures to come). We then all grabbed balloons and had a really fun water balloon fight. It was great. After we picked up the pieces, we had snacks and the kids were so excited about the prepackaged cookies and crackers. Again, in America, if you ran out of mini-Oreos, there might be a few tears or grabbing of someone else's Oreos, but here it was a mere, "O.K. then, I'll just have Chips-Ahoy." No hard feelings, just happy to have a good snack. We also had the personal favorite, Capri Sun...no explanation needed there. 

We then talked about accountability and staying close with our church friends so that we can strengthen each other. We used Romans 12:2, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of yours mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing, and perfect will.", as our theme verse for today. We are calling the series of events for them, "Swimming Upstream" because Mara, one of the missionaries mention the peer pressure from friends and unchurched family that these kids have. We are trying to emphasize that we, as Christians, are different and we have a reason to live differently, by God's standards, not the world's. I would just ask you to pray for these kids as they try swimming upstream and for us as we try to encourage the bravery needed to do so.

I really thought that our event went really well. The kids, all 8 of them, really enjoyed getting to hang out with us and with each other on a time different from Sunday mornings. That notion, of getting together during the week, is completely foreign because of the trouble involved in coming together. It is quite different than in the States. 

Thanks again for reading, posting, and emailing us. There will be plenty of pictures to follow.

Church and Dance Lessons?

Is it possible that you go to both a conservative Church of Christ church two times a day and manage to get in a dance lesson or two, all in one day? It is certainly not "ACU kosher" but it is possible. And I just proved it!

This morning I went to the most special and different church that I have ever been to. Danielle showed me to my class room, a circle of chairs with songbooks in them on the back porch, and then walked inside and left me to my own devices. I sat there and learned the children's names as they came along. I had about 10 students ages 9-13 in my class. We sang some songs, led by Salvation, one of my very charismatic students, and the class really seemed to enjoy that. After one of the songs, Ray, a student, said something in Samoan that I could clearly not understand and then all of the students turned and looked at me and laughed. I asked Roseta, the student sitting to my left what he had said, and she looked at me and seriously considered. I was worried. I had no idea what this child had just said about me that was so interesting and funny. I turned then to Mu'a the girl on my right and asked her what Ray had said. She looked at me and said, "He just said, 'She has pretty eyes. They are blue.'" Now I am not sure, nor will I ever be if that was the whole story or not, but I am thinking that if the worst thing they can find to make fun of me is my eyes, then I am in pretty good shape. 

After about 30 minutes, we went into the main room (I was quite glad to be out of the hot sun) and class started shortly thereafter. Roseta and Mu'a stayed close at hand, guiding me in proper church behavior and encouraging my Samoan singing. They would warn me if fast or hard parts were coming up, but laugh and smiled when I tried to delicately sing something like, "fa'alese'fatafata" to the tune of Holy Lord. It was really interesting. We sang in English and in Samoan and the sermon was translated sentence by sentence into Samoan. Communion was held in Samoan completely and so I took it only knowing that "Iesu Kriso" (Jesus Christ) and "ame'n" (amen) were said. I assumed the rest was alright. The "bread" was a flat cracker with an almost sweet taste. It was a great experience and I didn't mind the Samoan at all. 

We walked around the golf course next to our house this afternoon and then had evening church upstairs with the Ashley's (vocational missionaries). We talked about the second coming of Christ and urgency and death. The Sunday night time is for the palagi (white) Christians and is a chance to dig a little deeper. It was good spiritual food for thought. After dinner, Colleen took us to her room and taught us a dance. She taught us a Hawai'ian/Tahitian dance and then we are learning a Samoan dance. She thinks that we should all get together and perform at Ethnos, the culture show at ACU. We'll see about that. We also designed our puletasis and we are going to get them made tomorrow. I hope that mine turns out alright. I'll post pictures of it when it is done. 

Tomorrow we are going to start hard-core planning for our "tween" activities and the VBS. After getting to know the kids today, I am really excited about the church leaders that they are going to turn into. I ask for prayers for Salvation (that's what his Samoan name means) and Roseta. They need positive influences in their lives. I just hope that these few short weeks I have with them, might make a little difference. 

Today the kids asked me how long I am going to be here for. I said another 5 weeks. They asked me when I am coming back on island after that. I told them, I had to finish college first, and I wouldn't make any promises, but when I mentioned wanting to be a doctor, they said, "We need one of those! I would call you if I was sick!" The children really need to have positive young outside the church examples. I hope that what they see in me in the next 5 weeks is worth their imitating.

Love from American Samoa...

Rain, Rain Go Away!

If the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain, then the rain in Samoa falls mainly on the island. I know that doesn't make sense, but that is about all I got right now. We started to wash the church van on Friday and it started raining just as we "windex-ed" the windows. The rain was cool and refreshing, for the first hour. But now, 24 hours after it started raining, it's a little different. I am not complaining though. Anyway, last night we went to watch the bats come from their trees to gather food during the night. About a hundred or so bats flew right over our heads as we stood there on the top of a foot hill for one of the mountains. They had about a foot long wingspan. They were Samoan flying foxes, one of the largest species of bats in the world. As the world got dark all around us, the bats kept flying out. It was incredible. 

This morning we selected material for our puletasi (traditional Samoan dresses). David and Danna, our missionaries, say that it will mean a lot to the Samoans if we try to learn some Samoan and we wear the puletasi to church when we get them made. We are trying to learn the culture the best we can, without being offensive to the Samoans. 

We saw a few of the kids that we will be working with today when we were out and about. The Samoan governor elections are coming up and everyone is very excited. Seeing the kids today really got me excited about seeing them at church tomorrow and other times this next week. We have had a pretty relaxed week, to adjust to the time change and all, and now it is time to start our work. I am ready for that. The kids have so much to teach me, I can see it in their eyes, and I can't wait to start learning. 

If you read my blog and have a chance, comment on a post of mine, or shoot me an email (kah07a@acu.edu) so that I can know that you are reading it and begin praying for you.

I would ask now that you begin praying for the "tween" group at our church. These are the kids that I am going to be teaching and working with during the week. This set of kids is the first set that were raised "in the church" and the older members of the congregation are hoping that these will be their next church leaders. We are learning about the conversion of Saul tomorrow and I am hoping to have the kids sing with me. I am so excited about their sweet faces and voices!

FiaFia the Gecko

This is FiaFia, my resident baby gecko. He is about the length of 3/4 of a bobby pin, including his shortened tail. He is missing all five fingers on his left hand and part of his tail. I just thought I should fess up about who I was really living with. Fiafia means happy in Samoan.

SlideShow?

To the edge of the world and back!

Today I went to the end of the world, and then came back, all before lunch time. 

With that detail out of the way, I will say that today we did more visits with families with sweet Samoan children that we are looking forward to getting to know. We visited one family that all live in a compound of six houses and are all related. It would be like living in one place with all of your extended family on one side. I am not sure how they decide whether to live with the mother or the father's family, but they mostly live together. The Cialaiga's have at least 6-7 houses that are all inhabited by different branches of one family. They share things and houses for the most part and the distinctive lines between the families are greatly faded. 

On our way to the compound of houses, we drove to the end of the world. It is a road along the ridge of one of the mountains here and when the road ends, you can see the end of the world...or at least miles and miles of the Pacific Ocean. The lines between the sky and the sea are very indistinct. The blues fade into each other and it is a one-of-a-kind experience. 

On the way down the mountain, we visited two other families and talked with them for a few minutes. They are all such great people; I am yet to meet a Samoan that I didn't like. We didn't get more vocabulary words to memorize today but we looked at the material for our dresses that we are going to have made this weekend for us. 

We also went to the airport to get our tickets for our "vacation" to Apia, Western Samoa. That's right folks, paper airplane tickets. We had to wear our "patience hats", as David said, because the airport is a very busy place because they don't have the online booking things for the inter-island flights that we are taking. We have to be weighed with our bags in order to balance the plane out. More on that when it happens.

That is basically all we did today and I am hoping to get more pictures up soon. 

Friends and Family

Today was my third full day in Samoa, as most of you know. We did even more visits to Samoan homes and learned even more about the culture. Today I learned: 

• When invited into a Samoan home, do not expect furniture. You can sit on the floor.
• When sitting on a Samoan floor, sit "indian style". 
• When sitting "indian style" on the Samoan floor try not to fidget too much. You can move if your leg goes to sleep but really only because you are a "palagi" (white person).
• When fidgeting while sitting "indian style" on a Samoan floor, try to be discrete and not let them know that you are uncomfortable.

Needless to say, the visits with the Samoan families were very interesting. We went into two houses and sat on the floor for a grand total of probably one hour and forty-five minutes. Let me tell you as an inflexible (for the most part) palagi, this was difficult.

We also had church tonight for the first time since I have been here. It was a small group, 12 people total (including Marci, Melinda and myself) and we met in the Pacific Horizons High school classroom. Right now, an issue in the church is how to talk to family members, friends, and other non-believers about the Gospel. The Samoans in the church are finding it hard to approach people and actually brave enough to talk about that fact. I know that more American Christians struggle with that then would probably say that they do. Tonight we addressed the question of proving the existence of God to someone who does not agree that the Bible is the holy, inspired Word of God. I was impressed with David (my missionary father and preacher of the Tafuna Church of Christ) for even messing with this question at all. We looked at Paul's sermon to the people in Athens in Acts 17 and verses in Romans 2 about the existence of God being plain and obvious. We came to some good real conclusions about why people, Samoan and American, can come to the conclusion that God is not real or that no "higher power" exists. Tia (an elder) and Pua (his wife) gave some very good answers about why Samoan people might reject the thought of God. The blend of the American and Samoan influences, even in church, is quite interesting when you stop to think about it. 

Tomorrow we are going to go to the Hospital to pick up medicine for David. The only pharmacy on island is in the hospital. Being that the island is about 18 miles long and 5 miles wide, it's not so surprising that the only doctors on the island are employed at the hospital as well. I am really interested to see what medicine looks like in a different country.

Tonight we had fresh, chilled, coconut juice (it wasn't quite ripened into milk yet). It was not at all what I thought it would taste like. It actually had very little flavor. I do not think that I will make it a regular staple on a drink, but for the one time only kind of experience, it wasn't half-bad. Today I also had some of the best Chinese food I have ever tasted at David's favorite Chinese place on island. 

Tomorrow, we are also going to visit more families that have children in the age group that I am going to be teaching on Sunday mornings and that we are going to be planning activities for while we are here. Today we met about 2-3 that might come to our outings, and we are going to meet more tomorrow. I think that Samoan children are some of the most beautiful children I have ever seen. When we start getting to know them, I am sure that I will be getting lots of pictures of them. 

Speaking of pictures, I am working on getting a presentation that would flip through the pictures for you up on the blog soon. I hope that this has been a worthy update. I am sorry that it is so long. I pray that all of your summers are going well, and that you will continue praying for the children and the people here in Samoa that have already stolen my heart and are not about to give it back.

Explanation of Pictures

I am getting better at this whole blog thing but it is a bit of a challenge.  Here is the breakdown of the pictures.

• The first picture in the last post is Turtle and Shark Beach. It is on the south side of the island, facing New Zealand.
  
• The next picture is my team at Turtle and Shark Beach with the poster behind us.
  
• The little island is called flowerpot island because it looks like a flower pot. The beach, with all the volcanic rock (black) is called Turtle and Shark Beach. 
  
• The picture with the channel in the middle is just a cove on the island that is extremely beautiful. 
  

Today we visited with some of the church members and had lunch with the leadership of the church, Lynn and Tia (Elders), Jerry, and our missionary "dad", David (davida in Samoan). We spent time driving around the island and learning some Samoan terms such as fale (house), lavalava (sarong), aiga (pronounced i'inga--Family), Tafuna and Illilli (our village), tama (taMA is father, TAma is boy) and some more that we are working on. We learned our first phrase, which I cannot spell, but it meant "I love Dad". 

The most interesting thing that I have learned so far is about the Samoan sense of family. Everyone has family here, whether biological or not. There are no homeless people on the island because everyone has someone who considers them family and takes care of them day in and day out for the rest of their lives once they become a part of the family. I think that this is an incredible example of how important community is to the human race. It has always been like that in Samoa. Even the vagrants and people who would be homeless, have people who shelter and feed them at night. 

When we went to the Nu'uuli Church of Christ to meet Lu'ao, the preacher there, he was very hospitable, as Samoans are known to be. He offered us CocoSamoa which is like coffee but made with cooked Samoan coco beans. It was very interesting and bitter. I know that my Aunt Deatra would have LOVED it. I thought about her with every sip. We spoke about a couple of interesting legends that Marci and Melinda recorded on their blog. (marciandmelinda.blogspot.com) You should check that out or I may eventually just steal the stories from them all together. 

After lunch, we went to see one of the families who's children may be in our class. In this house, a couple lives with their daughter and three grandchildren. Julius and Fiona (the older couple) were both just baptized last week in their swimming pool. The children were swimming when we got there. The children were so shy and beautiful, and the people have all been so sweet and receiving of us. I have never been in a place where I looked so different that I was stared at, but the stares that we have gotten so far have been friendly and kind. I am approximately 200% lighter skinned than any Samoan I have met. I may have felt out of place, but I can see that the people have such kind hearts; they don't care how white I am.

Thanks for the continued support and my knowledge of the islands, people, culture, and language will continue to grow everyday, so stay tuned!!!

Love from Samoa,

Kate

My first pictures

You gotta see this place!

Today was my first real day in American Samoa, here is how it began. I opened my eyes and felt the back of my neck. Sweat, already? was my first thought of the day. I then proceeded to wonder where on earth I was and I was so hot. I then peered out my window and saw the huge ginger plant with its bright red flower at my window and remembered. Oh yeah, I am not in Texas anymore. I am halfway across the world and a mere 14 degrees south of the equator.  (I admit the equator part wasn't there in my first thought, but the rest of it stuck.) I then got up at about 7AM (1:00PM Abilene time) and got ready and had breakfast. We listened to the rain as it fell on the ocean and watched it come in and rain on us. They get about 200 inches a year here. It was incredible. We then went with Colleen on a tour of the island. I never knew a place could be so green. I learned some Samoan words (like i'inga means family) and had some raw fish that Marci my teammate accidentally ordered. It was raw tuna with wasabi and soy sauce. Tomorrow we are going to visit with some members of the church that we should know and Saturday we are going shopping for material for our pul'letasei (hand made dresses). I am so excited. This culture is incredible. I am learning so much every day. I would ask, instead of praying for me, until my next request, pray for the people in the church that I am working with. It is called the Tafuna church of Christ. Thanks so much for the support.

Must Get Sleep Soon

Too tired. Simple language tonight. In Samoa: Hot and Humid, even at night. Ocean view from back porch. Affirmative: water goes down drain other way. 11:39 PM here, 5:39 AM Texas time. Customs and baggage claim crazy. Easy but LONG flights. No cell phone signal on island, but wifi in house. Tour of island and pictures tomorrow. Welcoming party at the airport with some of the teens and other intern. Nothing can describe how relieved I am to be here. This = dream and opportunity of a life time. Realization: God goes with me even here. Best time of traveling: Garden in Hawai'i. Worst time traveling: last flight took forever (very sleepy). Most stressful: when I put my passport in the wrong compartment of my backpack and thought someone had stolen it in my sleep. Best flight: Abilene to Dallas with Hallie Fraizer next to me. Worst flight: both 5 hour ones. Best airport: Hawaii. Most stressful airport: PagoPago(best said quickly with silent n, making it PONGOpongo like the male dalmatian in 101 Dalmatians). 24 hours ago I was in the Abilene Airport waiting to get to Dallas. Now: PagoPago, American Samoa (Illillili village, not too sure about that spelling, that is how it sounds). Thanks for the prayers. These people love God, each other and new comers, guys, and its awesome.

Aloooooooooha!

Hey Avid Readers Anxiously Awaiting My Next Post!

Or should I say aloha! I am in Honolulu International Airport anxiously awaiting my next flight. Destination: Pago Pago, American Samoa. God has blessed me immensely so far. I have had great smooth ON-TIME flights, wonderful flight attendants, nice next-seat-neighbors, and even a hot meal. They showed us 27 Dresses on the last flight, so the ever-adorable James Marsden kept me company. I still have 3 hours until boarding and so I am taking the time to hack onto the Airport internet for a chat with you. 

The airport is less than beautiful, but my fresh rainbow sherbert from Lani Moo's is making up for it. I am looking at a garden out the window of the food court and trying to count the number of goldfish on steroids in the pond below. There are a number of places I would rather be than the airport, a number of people I would rather be with than myself *sob sob* but there are not a number of states I would rather be in, besides Alaska...no, not even there. I can't spare too much time staring at this screen because the garden is so beautiful, but I am happy to report that I am safe and sound, for now, in Hawai'i (don't forget the apostrophe). 

More once I get to Pago Pago!!!!! Thanks for reading up. Please comment so I know people are reading this, even if its just your name! 

Thanks, Kate

P.S. I love island accents, but they are terrible for this Texan to understand! :)