Anxiously Engaged in Kiribati

 Wow!  What an amazing week we've had with Elder and Sister Garey, the wheelchair trainers for the Southern Asia Area.  They are amazing people.  They are service missionaries who live in their own home in Oregon. She is a physical therapist and he worked in construction.  The perfect match for wheelchair trainers.  He trained the technicians on how to assemble chairs and then adjust them to meet the individual needs of the people.  She trained the clinicians on how to assess the individual's needs and choose which type of wheelchair would best fit them, measure the patient so the wheelchair would fit "just right".  I didn't know how much went into properly fitting wheelchairs.   Elder Garey training the technicians Sister Garey teaching the clinicians.  The best way to learn is to do.  So everyone took a turn in a wheelchair so they can feel what it's like to be in a wheelchair  and then teach the patients how to use thei...

 There's a small village called Nabeina located on one of the northern islets of Tarawa. They have a local senior missionary couple serving in the branch there. They subsist on the fish and sea life they can catch and sell.  Elder Birita was a fisherman before he retired and decided to serve a mission.  He lent them his fishing boat.  They were able to increase their subsistence level considerably. So he came to us seeking funds to buy a boat, motor, and fishing gear for the village because his time of service was coming near to the end and he didn't want to leave them without a boat.  It was a little tricky getting the project approved because we had to find a way for the village to own the boat and not just an individual or the church. Also, they had to come up with a plan on how to share the boat so there wasn't any favoritism for the members of the church. The last thing we want to do is create contention and division within the village. But they did it!...