Christmas Parade Part I & II

We promised you another parade and here it is. Why does the headline read part I and II? Because they have what they call second and third Christmas??? For the Christmas holiday they drive up and down the island on their parade floats and throw candy to onlookers as well as throw candy into the passing cars. Each year we seem to get caught in the middle of the parade while in the field ministry and this year was no different. In fact Kathleen was participating in Public Witnessing when the parade stop right in front of their booth. They witnessed grown men getting angry at the bus full of children because they had run out of candy. They began throwing rocks at the bus and told them to leave quickly. So much for the "Christmas spirit"! But we know the real reason. But wait until you see what they do for the NEW YEAR.

Children running in front of
. the cars to gather candy.

What is that in my mirror?

One boy waiting in the middle of the
road for his candy.

Meet our Bible Students

As most of you know we have been studying with a man in the Chuuk prison. He has been in prison for the last five years. We began studying with Joe Kachuo for the last year and half. On December 14th he was finally released from prison.  While in prison he made enough progress to become and up-baptized publisher. Now that he has been out he is so excited to be at the meetings with his brothers and sisters and wants to be in the field ministry as much as possible. The first week he was out he participated in the field ministry almost everyday. He was even trained to be a part of public witnessing.

At the meeting with his brother MyJoy.

First day in Field Ministry

Being trained in public ministry.

Going to Hawaii

Meet our two Special Pioneers from Tonoas. (Sylfia Phillip & Madleen Sonis) Earlier this year they applied for the International Convention in Hawaii in November. They applied not knowing how they were going to afford to go. But as you see they were on their way to Hawaii to enjoy the International Convention. They have since returned and are so grateful to Jehovah for their time with all their brothers and sisters. For Sylfia it was her first time away from Chuuk. She said it was a little overwhelming, but she enjoyed her time at such a wonderful spiritual occasion. 

From left to right:
Miori Phillip, Mary Rose Nakayama, Sylfia Phillip,
Madleen Sonis, Kathleen Laux

Fun in Tonoas

Trips to Tonoas are always enjoyable as long as it is not raining. This particular Sunday we came with the new maintenance brother and his wife. Before the meeting all the "Children" were playing. (You will see the picture of our speaker giving it a try.) They call it "Kumi". It is a string of rubber bands which two of the children will hold. They start off at the ankle and work their way up until they are holding it at the height of their heads. It is a little awkward when they are not the same size. The idea is to jump over the rubber bands without using your hands. You can use your feet to pull it down or if you can jump really well, just jump clear over the line. They have a number of jumping games and this is one that all can enjoy.

Christmas Tree or Spam

It is a whole new marketing plan.  A spam Christmas Tree?  How many different flavors?  Need to say more?  I don't think so.

The lights as well!

PARADES

Yes, that is right. It is not the Disney Light Parade, but hey. . . . we will take what we can get here in Chuuk. We will be shortly posting another parade they had for their Christmas celebration. Surprised? Yes we had the chance to witness two parades this year and well I think we will let the pictures tell the story. This parade was encouraging good health and hygiene. I don't want to forgot to mention that they were promoting: "Go local!" Enjoy.

Look Closely at the words on top.
Is there another option?

Post Office

Sometimes it is funny what you miss when you are in another country. Sometimes it is food, people or other things that sometimes come to mind. In this particular instance we often miss the structure and organization of a functioning business. We enjoy having the USPS here in Chuuk, but do not be fooled. Look at the numbers of the PO boxes and it should give you the whole complete picture of what we have to deal with every time we try to pick up a package or even send one out. Let us know what you think might be wrong with what you see.....Click on image to enlarge.

Meet Our Friends

We wanted to continue to introduce some of the ones in our congregation. We will introduce the local brothers and sisters as well as the ones serving here from other lands. Below you will see pictures of Celyne David and her three children here from the Philippines. Her husband attends meetings, but is not baptized. Also we have posted three young ones from the group in Tonoas, aka Dublon.

Celyne David with Daughter Kinara

Celyne's boys, Kirou and Kijon

Noriann from Dublon

Tunuper from Dublon

Sasa from Dublon

Another Trip to Udot

We left one early morning to have another meeting on Udot, an island about 10 miles away. We had 7 others join us for the ride. It was a beautiful day for traveling as you will see in the pictures below. We have been having meetings on this island for about three months now to see how much interest is on the island. We had about 25 in attendance. We were not able to use the class room at the local school because they were having a council meeting. So we just met outside one of the local buildings. We were glad to see Jehovah bless our efforts and help some of the new ones to enjoy the good news.

Early morning departure

Very calm as they say in Chuukese: "a nua"

We find all kinds of ways to
 protect ourselves from the sun

They water is always so very clear.

On the way home, trying to beat the storm!

It was very successful and we had a great day.

Meet Our Bible Students

Conducting Bible Studies is one of the greatest joys in our assignment here in Chuuk. We conduct studies with the young and old alike. This past week one of Kathleen's students was not home. However her young boy wanted to study anyways. Using the new brochure My Bible Lessons in Chuukese she spent a few minutes to teach him about Jehovah. Reviewing the first lesson with him was very amusing. Kathleen asked him where the cat was and he pointed to the doll. Where is the dog and he pointed to the young child on the page. What sound does a dog make and well you get the idea. Needless to say that this brochure will offer him many many months of training. But he does know who Jehovah is and where he lives. Doesn't getting any better than helping a young one get to know Jehovah.