August 16th

Yesterday was Sabbath. We went to church. It was very long and hot. The preacher didn't get up till 12:30. Most of us read our Bible during church because they talk in Marshallese most of the time. After church they had a big potluck for us to welcome us. The food was great. Everyone got their own cold coconut. We punched holes in them and used a straw to drink the coconut juice. There was a whole line for the vegetaries and it was really good food. I was full after just one plate, I couldn't believe it.

After that we did BandAid clinic. We all went our to town and gathered a bunch of the kids together. We sang songs with them for awhile. I told them a children's story. I don't think they understood a word I was saying. The younger ones don't speak or understand English well. None of the older kids with us would translate for me. Oh well. We got out the BandAids and the kids got really excited. They love getting BandAids. A lot of them have tinny scrapes or nothing at all, but they want the BandAids. There was one kid with sores up and down his legs really bad. I felt bad for him. He needed a lot more than just a couple BandAids. There are a lot of kids in the Marshall Islands. About 50% of the population is under 14 years old or so. They die early from lack of health care. Diabetes is rampant over here. 100% of the population is either in pre-diabetes or full fledged diabetes. They eat rice and chicken all the time that contains lots of fat and no fiber. They have almost no fiber in their diet. Last year the local hospital made 88 amputations due to diabetes.

After BandAid clinic we went island hopping. It was great. When the tide is low you can wade across from one small island to the next. I heard you can go a long ways. We only went a little ways because we came after low tide and it was coming back in. We saw a bunch of small marine animals in the shallows. We saw these little fish that can run on land for short distances. We chased them all over trying to catch them. Cameron fish slapped Chad and me and I got it on video. It was awesome. We found a puffer fish and small shark that were dead from being caught in the low tide. We played with them for a long time until we chucked them into the ocean. I have videos of that too.

When we got back a few of us climbed up on the roof to watch the sunset. It was amazing. We stayed out there until the stars came out and we got to see some shooting stars. After that we watched Night at the Museum 2. It was a bootleg DVD rental. That's all there is around here. It was really good quality though.

That was our Sabbath. It was really good.