Opposition in all things

 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!  And it was approved..  The committee said it was a "sweet project" Now all we have to do is buy the stuff, easy, right?  Wrong.  The store that had the motor was out of stock because they couldn't get their stuff out of port.  Keith and I both bit our tongues. We know exactly what that is like. Then we went to pay the boat builder and long story short, he was being difficult. So we had to find another boat builder. (Sigh)  There is opposition in all things. Just about every project we have worked on has had at least one major hiccup we have had to work through.  But this project will be one of my favorites.  I really think this will change outcomes for the entire village. 


A partially built boat


Loading the big motor into the small car

Elder Birita getting into the car to drive.  Think skinny thoughts. 


Counting out the cash to pay the boat builder. (They don't take checks)


So the wheelchairs were not delivered Monday like we thought they would be.  But they did arrive on Thursday afternoon.  It's taking several days to unload the container but no worries, we have enough unloaded for Elder and Sister Garey, who are arriving from Oregon tomorrow to do their training.  Whew! That's cutting it close. 

 

Si


The Seventh Day Adventist Church on one of the outer islands had a fire a few years ago and a project was started to help them .  They asked if there was still some money left because they needed to get a generator and a printer.  There was just enough money so we helped them buy it.  Of course, the only new printer in the store was broken and we will have to wait weeks/months to get another one on to the island. 

We did get the generator.  


The East Stake Primary put off a lovely Christmas fireside.  I really enjoyed listening to their music.  And they did a shadow presentation of the nativity story. Excellent.   



We love you all.  




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