Church and State

August 02, 2011

Church and State

Hi Folks!

First I’ll mention that there is no separation of church and state in the Marshall Islands. Whether it’s a fishing club meeting or a celebration of kids from science camp, they open and close with prayer. I am not talking about a quick “bless this meeting or these kids” kind of prayer, but rather a detailed heartfelt petition. It is quite a change from our culture where we are so careful to keep religion separate from our work lives. Speaking of church, we did get to a service last Sunday.

Earlier in the week we stopped by a church that we were told had services in English. We met a young man who told us we were welcome to come and that services would begin at 9:30 on Sunday morning. So on Sunday we dress our best and go, feeling bad that we are getting there just as the service is supposed to begin. We walk into a large room filled with the famous plastic chairs I have previously mentioned, but they are only filled with about 5 people. We are a little surprised but the folks that are there come up and greet us warmly and tell us we can sit together, wherever we like. We took a seat about 8 rows from the front, thinking that was a good strategic spot. It turns out, this is where the kids are all sitting – rows and rows of them, with the parents sitting in the back. I don’t know if this was because it was a special Sunday where the VBS kids were performing or if this is the usual but we stuck out more than usual. I think it was about 10:00 before things really started rolling and the attendance was still pretty thin. But the praise team was unbelievable – one electronic keyboard and three vocals and the place rocked with wonderful rich, contemporary praise music! We actually knew quite a bit of the music and I loved how they did it in their own style. As time went on, we could tell that there was no hurry with this service, and that slowly, the place was filling with parishioners. By 11:00 the place was full (after an hour of our service at home, the service would be over!). At one point in the service we were told to get out of our seats and personally greet every other person in the sanctuary. So the whole congregation gets up and does just that! There was a sermon, prayer, and benediction, but they were all done by different men so I never did figure out exactly who was the pastor! At noon we were excused to go home. I will say that next time I go I’ll make sure I have a good breakfast and an empty bladder!

Monday was back to school. I have included pictures of our in-service but let me say it has been like no in-service I have ever seen before! There are ten days of teacher training so there is a lot of time for teachers to set up their rooms, explore the small campus and learn our rules and procedures. But we also listen to lectures on the socio-economic state of the Marshall Islands, how to take care of our medical needs on the Islands, and the nuclear history of the Bikini Atoll.

            The socio-economic state – Some highlights include the fact that the average wage is $3.50/hr with the average wage earner making $6,700 annually in purchasing power. Mothers have an average of 4.5 children and 20% of the students drop out by the 8^th grade. There are 29.000 people who are within working age range (16 to 64) but only 10,000 of these are employed. 5,000 more would work but cannot find employment.

            Medical facts – TB and typhoid are alive and well in the islands, and the flu comes around every four months. Pink eye runs rampant and you don’t want to scratch your mosquito bites because you “open the portal” for all sorts of bacteria. Many of the fish are poisonous and if you eat them different parts of your body will go numb – along with vomiting and diarrhea. It’s reported to be very unpleasant. It pays to know your fish here! The bottom line for health is to know who prepares your food (not everyone has clean water, electricity, or toilets here) and to always drink bottled water. Hand sanitizer is your friend.

            Nuclear history – I can’t describe the horror we did to these people and am amazed they even speak to us, let alone let us into their country. We displaced them and then bombed their land repeatedly, with at least one bomb being 1,000 times the power of any we used in Japan. The good news is that part of the land is now finally habitable. Some of the islands are beginning to have folks re-establish their islands. If you want interesting reading, the man who did the lecture, Jack Neidenthal, wrote a book: For the Good of Mankind, A History of the People of Bikini and their Islands. I think you can Google the author and get to his website, request the book, and he will send it to you free. 

We’ve also run around getting medical cards from the hospital, checking accounts from the bank, and cell phones from the phone store. The power then went out and we worked around it for an afternoon. This is not a boring adventure!

Take care – love from afar, Becky