On Monday, 20 September, Meg Canfield, Jeannie Cole, Michael
Cole, Harvey George, and Kelvin Kleman left Fort Smith at 7:20AM on
American Airlines for Dallas, TX. There a non-stop flight was
taken to Honolulu, HI. We arrived in Honolulu about 1PM. (There
is a 5 hour time change from Fort Smith.) We were met at the airport by Jerry Canfield (Meg's husband),
who had arrived that morning from a mission trip to Thailand.
Jerry had departed Fort Smith on 15 September. We discovered that Randy English, the Pacific missionary we
had come to work with, was at a nearby gate seeing his wife and
children off as they were returning to Arkansas for a furlough.
(Randy joined them after he completed his work with us.) We
enjoyed visiting with them for several minutes before their plane
departed. After we picked up our luggage, we were transported to our
hotel, the Pacific Marina Inn, near the airport. (The special
price was $54.58 per room per night.) Shortly after arriving at
the hotel, we learned that the plane to Christmas Island was to be
delayed. Instead of leaving Tuesday morning, the plane was now
scheduled to leave on Wednesday morning. After getting settled in
our rooms, we gathered under a tree in a nearby park for prayer and
further training by Randy English about the culture on Christmas
Island and what we could expect to do. Some tentative plans were
made about how we could now get all the Bible classes taught with
one less day on the island. (A considerable amount of time was
spent by everyone prior to the trip in preparation for teaching
while on Christmas Island.) Monday evening the seven of us walked about a mile to a
restaurant for supper. After return from supper many of us
continued to plan for how to accomplish our goals for Christmas
Island. Tuesday was essentially a free day. We were up early for
breakfast at the hotel restaurant. We rented a van and went to
Pearl Harbor. There we viewed the movie and rode the boat to the
memorial. It was a bit depressing. Later we went to the big shopping mall in Honolulu. We were
not able to buy much there as our suitcases were very full.
Jeannie and I did buy a few T-shirts at Woolworth. The group ate
lunch together at the mall. We spent most of the afternoon driving
up the east coast of Oahu. At Sunset Beach we played on the beach.
There are very big waves there. We then drove through the Dole
pineapple plantation. We stopped and ate fresh pineapple. At the
plantation it was almost as good as the pineapple in Guyana. We then drove to downtown Honolulu. We watched the sunset
about 6:30PM from Waikiki Beach. We ate supper together at the
International Marketplace. Then we returned to the hotel. On Wednesday, 22 September, we left the hotel at 8AM. I paid
$3786 at the airport for 6 tickets ($616 each) and entrance visas
($15 each) to Christmas Island for the West-Ark team. (Randy
covered his own expense.) We departed on Air Nauru at 10:15AM.
There were only 5 other people on the Boeing 737. Lunch was served
on the plane. We landed on Christmas Island at about 1:15PM. The
temperature was 31 degrees Celsius (88°F). Customs looked through about half of our luggage. We were
happy they looked through the suitcase with our clothes and the box
with the drugs so we didn't have to explain what all this other
stuff was that we were bringing into the country. What they didn't
see were the things we left on the island, which included 14 cans
of grape juice, a communion tray set, 30 T-shirts, many books and
Bibles, and all sorts of things that the women used to teach a
children's Bible class each night and on Sunday morning. At the airport we had two rental pickups waiting. We packed
them full of our stuff and our bodies and headed for the Captain
Cook Hotel, the only accommodations on the island. We passed the
brethren on the island who were coming to meet us. They finally
caught up with us at the hotel. On the way to the hotel, one of my
suitcases fell out of the back of the truck and got banged up a bit
on the highway. The total cost for the rental trucks and the fuel
for 5 days was $640 Australian ($432 U.S.). Jeannie and I, as well as the Canfields, stayed in a bungalow
on the beach. The other three men on the trip shared a hotel room.
The bungalow cost $77 Australian per night. (That was $52 U.S.)
For a room for three, they paid several dollars extra. Jeannie and
I ate breakfast and supper at the hotel most days, and spent over
$20 each per day. Some in the group ate many of their meals in
their room from the groceries they brought from Honolulu. The
total cost at the hotel for the men (who came without their wives)
was about $100 (U.S.) each. After we got somewhat settled at the hotel we drove to
Tabwakea village where we were served coffee by the local Christians. It began raining. This was the only rain we had during
daylight while we were there. The American men then went into
London village, while Meg and Jeannie stayed at Tabwakea to visit
with the Christian sisters. In London we went to the house of Dr. Tira, the one physician
on the island. We wanted to discuss with him where he thought we
should conduct the clinic while we were there. We learned from him
that the U.S. Navy was on the island. The Seabees were building
new classrooms at the school and a medical team was seeing
patients. The medical team consisted of a physician, a P.A., a dentist,
and corpsmen. They had treated patients at Banana village on
Tuesday and were planning to return there on Thursday. They were
working in London on Wednesday and Friday. The island doctor
thought they had been to Poland, a village of about 250 people on
the far side of the island. Since they were not going to Tabwakea,
the only other village, the local physician thought it would be
best for us to see patients there at the church's meeting place as
we did last year. Our principal goal for this trip was to conduct medical
clinics in Banana village to aid us in establishing a new congregation there. The church had been established at Tabwakea about 3
years ago. There were a few Christians living at Banana, but it is
too far for them to go for Sunday services at Tabwakea. It is
about 30 minutes by truck between the villages. There are very few
vehicles on the roads on Sundays so they were not able to "catch"
a ride. We agreed to have clinic at Tabwakea as this was clearly the
area most needing medical assistance at this time. We had clinic
at the church's meeting place and in a local brother's house on
Thursday and Friday afternoons from 1 to 4 PM. Early Wednesday evening we all returned to the hotel for
supper. Randy, Jerry, and Kelvin then went to Banana village,
about 3 miles from the hotel, where Jerry and Kelvin each taught
for 1 hour at the home of one of the Christians. This was repeated
each night while we were on the island. About 20 adults attended
each night. The rest of us went to Tabwakea each night after driving
through London picking up a truck load of Christians and a few of
their friends. London is about 5 miles on the far side of
Tabwakea. Jeannie and Meg taught several children each night while
I taught a series of lessons to the adults on the Christian
marriage. After I spoke for about 1 hour, Harvey taught an
evangelistic lesson for about 1 hour. (Kelvin was teaching the
same lessons at Banana.) After we completed both lessons the
audience would ask Bible questions for awhile. These meetings
usually lasted from 7:30 to about 10PM. We would then have to take
everyone home. We would usually get to bed by about 11PM, though
some nights it was after midnight. Jerry taught mid-day classes for men on Christian leadership
on Thursday and Friday at the house of one of the Christians in
London. Many visitors were in attendance as much effort was spent
in the mornings inviting men in the village as well as local
business leaders. We used a local nurse as translator at the clinics each day.
A different nurse worked with us on Friday. We treated 27 patients
on Thursday afternoon. Every patient that came to the clinic was
taught the Gospel by our workers who were assisted by the local
brethren. Jeannie was kept busy at the clinic sites serving to
keep the patients flowing. As the only health care worker on the
team, I had to do vital signs, obtain history through an interpreter, exam the patients, then find the appropriate medication to
treat their condition, and document the visit. This multiplicity
of responsibilities prevents larger numbers of patients from being
seen in this type of medical mission. We used a banner at the clinic site that reads "Church of
Christ Medical Mission." This prevented any doubt about who was
providing the service. The church at Tabwakea had clearly
benefited from the medical mission we had conducted there last
year. Last year patients did not begin to show up till 45 minutes
after starting time, but they were there eager to be seen when we
opened for business this year. Thursday evening it was decided that we could hold a clinic in
Banana on Saturday and Monday mornings. While the U.S. Navy had
treated hundreds of patients in Banana, they had done so at the
Catholic church where the Protestants would not have set foot. The Navy physician had seen a very malnourished 5-month-old
infant (who weighed 5 Kg) on Thursday at Banana and requested that
I look at it on Friday. Randy and I picked up the nurse to serve
as translator as we went to find the baby and its mother. The baby
looked like a starving child from Somalia. The mother claimed she
only had time to feed the baby three times a day. We emphasized
that the baby would not live unless she devoted more attention to
his needs. There seemed to be no other problem except malnutrition. Later Friday morning we stopped by the U.S. Navy's clinic site
where Randy and I visited with the dentist, physician's assistant,
and nurse. Later we visited with the Navy physician. Before lunch on Friday we drove back to Banana village where
Jerry baptized 2 men in the Pacific Ocean. The clinic on Friday at Tabwakea was finished at 3PM as no
more patients were coming due to the preparations for the big
celebration at the school at 4:30. We saw 30 patients that
afternoon. From 6:30 to 7PM all of us went to the new building dedication
at the Tennessee Primary School (located about midway between
London and Tabwakea). Here the U.S. Navy was being honored for
their work on the island, particularly the construction of the new
classrooms at the school. The local music and festivities were
quite enjoyable to witness. The behavior of some of the sailors
was not particularly very representative of the average American
and especially not of the values we were teaching on the island.
Christmas Island was the final duty in the Pacific for those
serving on the naval ship. They departed on Saturday for Hawaii
where most of them returned stateside by plane. The ship was then
sailed to California where it was decommissioned. The party interfered only a little with our crowd at Bible
study at Tabwakea. It had no effect on the attendance at Banana
that evening. Saturday morning we held a clinic in Banana village at the
house where the evening Bible studies were being conducted. This
house belongs to the brother-in-law of a faithful Christian in
Banana. The brother-in-law was baptized prior to our departure
from the island. There was much enthusiasm built in the community
about the clinic prior to Saturday morning so that there were
plenty of patients to see. The nurse was quite late in arriving to
interpret so we did not close the clinic till 11:30. We treated 37
patients. The people seemed even more interested in hearing the
Gospel than any other location had on the island where the Gospel
had been preached. (Perhaps it is too bad we were beat to the site
by the U.S. Navy. Or conversely, perhaps it is good that we were
forced to assist the established church at Tabwakea.) Saturday afternoon we went to a picnic site on the beach with
the local Christians from Tabwakea and Banana. We drove to a site
on the lagoon side of the island where two of the locals caught
quite a quantity of fish with a net. The fish were then returned
to the picnic site where they were grilled. A pig had been
butchered Friday and made into barbecue for us at the picnic.
Also, rice and bread were served as well as some other dishes not
readily identifiable. Before we left the States, Jeannie and I were quite concerned
about how they would be able to serve so many of us when they have
so few plates. At the picnic site a couple of the women sent one
of the men to get some palm leaves. From these leaves they wove
baskets from which we were able to eat. Everyone ate under a cluster of very large bushes that served
as cover from the sun. The limbs were such that we could walk
upright. The span of the trees covered quite a large area. Mats
were placed on the ground for us to have a place to sit. There are very few chairs on the island. Everyone is
accustomed to sitting on the ground or floor. Shoes are not worn
into the area where people sit. Shoes are taken off and left
outside before entering a house. Most of the people never wore any
shoes. Nothing more than thongs were ever worn. To church Sunday
our interpreter worn one red one and one blue one of different
styles. No concern for fashion exists on the island. Both sexes
often wear a wrap around skirt, though the men were more commonly
seen in shorts. Women never wear pants or shorts. (It looked
quite improper to us to see the female Navy nurse and dentist in
pants and shorts, but apparently it was tolerated by the locals.) At the picnic our 7 team members were served first. Then the
local men joined us. After we were all finished and got away from
the eating area, the women sat down and literally ate our leftovers
straight out of our "plates." Jeannie and Meg sat back down with
them and visited with them till they were finished eating. It was
around 2PM before we ate; most of the children had been fed
constantly since before we arrived shortly after noon there so they
did not eat while the rest of us ate. After the meal was completed and everyone had eaten their
fill, Jeannie taught a Bible class for the women. The men found
another tree which was shading a mound down the beach where we all
sat down. Here Jerry taught a Bible class for the men. We
returned to the hotel about 4:30PM. After a light supper we went
back to our nightly meeting places for Bible classes. Sunday morning, Jeannie taught a Bible class starting at 10AM
for the women while Meg taught the children and Jerry taught the
men. The worship service which followed was led by the local
Christian men as they normally would in our absence. We brought
from West-Ark a used tray for the fruit of the vine so they no
longer have to use an ice cube tray for that purpose. I was given
the responsibility of preaching the Sunday morning sermon.
Basically, it was just the next lesson on Christian marriage in my
series. It was my longest lesson and probably the best one for
everyone to hear on Sunday. The services were completed by 12:30. Randy, Harvey, and Kelvin went to Banana to conduct Sunday
morning services. This is the first time I am aware of that the
church met in Banana. After Kelvin taught the Sunday school class
and Randy preached the sermon and the Lord's Supper was served, two
of the local men came with the others of our group to Tabwakea.
They arrived just before my sermon was completed. We had a song
and a prayer together and the services were dismissed. Not long
afterward we ate a meal together. None of the members left before
the meal was finished. After everyone finished eating, I agreed to examine and treat
those members of the church who were not able to be seen during the
clinics we were holding. Counting the members and their children,
Jeannie and I treated 19 patients. As we were not rushed and
everyone was a friend, I attempted to teach Jeannie to take blood
pressures. She did not, however, feel comfortable enough with it
to do that part of the visits at the clinic on Monday. Late Sunday afternoon Harvey baptized a husband and wife at
the lagoon. The husband attended every evening service we had. I
had examined his wife and daughter at the first day's clinic. The
daughter has epilepsy and cannot be adequately treated on the
island. I had absolutely nothing to offer. They were seen by the
Navy the day after I saw them. The naval physician said he was
able to provide them with medication that would likely be helpful. On Sunday night Meg went with Jerry to Banana. At Tabwakea
Jeannie taught the children while I taught my final lesson on the
Christian marriage. Harvey taught after me. Our lessons were a
bit shorter that night as I knew there would be many questions
after we finished. We did not get back to the hotel till about
11PM. As we had to pack, it was after midnight before any of us
got to bed. We were awakened at 4:30AM by a cold wind blowing rain into
our bungalow. We closed the windows on the ocean side, pulled up
more covers, and went back to sleep. We were up at 6AM. Jeannie and I left first for the clinic site at Banana at
7:50AM. The others came about 15 minutes later. I took one of the
local men and drove to find the nurse to translate. We saw 36
patients before we had to pack everything up. We then all went into London where we found the local island
doctor. I left all the medications with him that I had left over.
I know these will be used as he used those I left last year. He
dispenses them just as we prepare them, leaving in place the labels
that say "Church of Christ Medical Outreach" and have a Bible verse
on them as well as the instructions and name of the drug. Afterward all the men went to the bank where we had to
exchange money to pay the hotel bill. On our return to the hotel
we stopped at Tabwakea where the ladies presented all of us with a
crown of flowers. On the way to the airport we filled the trucks
with gasoline. In all, 8 souls were added to the Lord's church while we were
on the island. We provided medical care for at least 150 people.
A new congregation was established at Banana village. Now there
are two congregations meeting every Sunday on Christmas Island.
This mission to Christmas Island has added considerably to the
strength of the church on this island. We left Christmas Island on Monday afternoon about 3:45PM and
landed in Honolulu by 7PM. (There is no time change.) The plane
was about one-third full. We rented a van and went to downtown Honolulu near Waikiki to
an Outrigger hotel where we spent $49.13 for a room. Most went out
to eat steak and lobster. Jeannie and I went to bed early and
slept late the next morning. Tuesday morning we split up and went shopping, within walking
distance of the hotel. Jeannie and I most enjoy the International
Marketplace where one does not have to pay the first mentioned
price. We all met together for lunch there. There was a little
more time to shop after lunch before we had to meet at the hotel. Jerry was unable to get affordable tickets that would allow
him to return to Fort Smith on the same plane with his wife and us.
His flight left about 2 hours before ours. We all went to the
airport and checked in our baggage when it was time for Jerry to
check in. Jeannie and I purchased a dozen pineapples at the
airport to send with our baggage. After Jerry left we drove around
awhile and stopped at a yogurt place. Before returning to the
terminal we purchased flower necklaces (leis) for the wives present
and back home. Randy stayed in Hawaii 2 or 3 more days after we left, then he
came to Fort Smith. Our plane departed at 7PM. We changed planes
in Dallas and arrived back in Fort Smith about 9:45AM. My parents
and several friends from church were present at the airport to
welcome us home. Jerry's plane arrived about one hour after we did. Only his
wife was waiting at the airport when he got here.
by Michael S. Cole, M.D.
flag of Kiribati
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