I am grateful to God for the ways He allows us to labor together in order to see the Great Commission fulfilled in our generation, especially here in the Marshall Islands.

When our international borders were closed, the team from Ebeye in the Kwajalein Atoll discussed taking advantage of our domestic travel remaining open. Plans were made for me to visit the outer islands.

In June, my family and I first visited Wotje island in the Wotje Atoll. It takes 50 minutes to fly from Ebeye to Wotje by light aircraft. The resident population is close to one thousand people. They have close to twenty Adventist believers attending worship every Sabbath on this island. I conducted a two-week Bible Study series inside the modest church building. They have a good church building and there were more than thirty people in attendance every night of our evangelistic program. My wife, along with other Adventists who work as teachers at the Wotje public high school, presented health lectures each night as well. We appreciated the help of the Juanga family, Ms. Engie and Ms. Shiela. You could see the work of the Holy Spirit, as one evening after the series, the island’s doctor was baptized. In all, there were six souls baptized and three children were dedicated to the Lord.

The work continued the following month in July when I had the privilege of visiting the Majkin island in the Namu Atoll. The atoll has a population of more than 800 people. When traveling from Ebeye, it takes 11 minutes by air. The church had more than forty in attendance, including children, every night during our evangelistic meetings. The three-week visit provided opportunities to visit, encourage their Christian walk, and conduct a prophecy studies. At the end of our time there, we baptized eight souls and dedicated eight more children to the Lord.

SPEAK THE LANGUAGE

During our series on these two islands, I was able to use materials and slideshows in the Marshallese language. There were non-Adventists who came and listened to the messages. I believe that many of these new contacts will soon accept the Bible truth and join the fellowship.

In the outer islands, visitations speak to the culture that is relational and hospitable. In these areas where there is interest in the Bible, visiting and inviting people to a series of Bible studies are the ideal methods.

I was able to connect a series of studies which focus on character development and on obedience. To develop a healthy Christian group, the people on each island learned the importance of sharing their faith.This is essential, especially in the outer island context, because many believers go through good Bible studies with the best materials, but they may not continue to grow spiritually. They do not understand their position in Christ if they do not share their faith.

SIMPLE IS EFFECTIVE

I know that there are so many methods in reaching the people and when I visited to these Islands, I just used simple methods that many are capable of sharing with others. I tried to bridged my Bible studies with simple illustrations, using projectors and showing pictures that they could understand. I believed that if our methods in reaching out the outer islands are simple enough, new believers can take what they have learned and repeat it with their friends.

It’s exciting to see new believers discover the truths from the word of God that relate to their lives. The response was positive and they asked for more pastors or myself to visit them again. They would like to develop a stronger faith to deepen their involvement in the Church.

This was just one example. There are many like it throughout the Marshall Islands! There are more people residing in the outer islands that do not yet know the joy of fellowship with God. There is no corporate worship for the Lord in some of those islands. Not Yet.

The challenge is before us. God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).  Please continue to pray for our work in the Marshall Islands, especially in the outer islands. I would like to thank the Guam-Micronesia Mission for supporting our work in the field.

I am now back on Ebeye continuing the task that God has given me. May the Lord use GMM pastors and myself, so that He will be glorified in every island!