Humanaitarian Work in the Islands

Our main missionary responsibility is to support other missionary couples who serve as humanitarian missionaries and county welfare managers on the islands of Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and Vanuatu.

We feel we have some of the finest couples to work with.  They truly work hard at their callings and each have done a marvellous job.

Our couple in Tonga are from Inkom, Idaho.  They are doing marvelous work in teaching young children that a key to preventing diabetes is to exercise and choose the right foods.  They a created contest between the schools as a method of teaching diabetes prevention. There were 12 schools invited to participate.  The children competed by performing skits, songs or write essays and poems on the theme of "choose the right".   To emphasise the message, each student received a CTR ring to wear as a daily reminder.

Their efforts are part of the church’s continuing initiative to support Pacific Island Ministries of Health and Education in their fight against diabetes.

In Fiji we have a wonderful couple from Switzerland.  They have taught the people on the island of Tavenuni how to garden.  They went a step further than just giving them seeds and teaching them how to plant and care for their crops.  They also taught them how to gather seeds, preserve them and plant again the next year.  This has been a very successful project and the people are able to feed their families as well as have a little extra to sell at the market.

Our couple in the Marshall Islands are laying the groundwork for a framework of diabetes prevention.  Together with a local wellness center run by Canvasback.org, a Seventh-day Adventist organization, they have weekly clinics where they measure blood sugar, teach cooking and exercise.  They are educating the people about diabetes detection, treatment and prevention.  They are also teaching them how to garden in containers or small spaces. 

We will make another post soon and tell you about the couples on the islands of Kiribati, Samoa, Vanuatu, and Solomon Islands.

"A child who sees his father and mother forgo comforts for themselves as they reach out to those in distress, will likely follow the same pattern when he or she grows to maturity.   Gordon B Hinckley, Stand a Little Taller.