May 15 Friday: At 7:30 Dmitry and I headed to the naval base to help his friend Mack McMillan with his sailboat for a few hours. We got our clearances to be on the base with Mack's wife Charlie and got dropped off at the boat, a nice looking 40 footer, on dry dock. They are planning on putting it back in the water this weekend. Dmitry started working on a panel to finish out one of the bathrooms, and I got assigned to reattach a plate around one of the windows. Some silicon caulk and a few screws later it was in place. Next Mack had me cut some hose to use as spacers on his side band radio antennae. We got that in place, but he was still having issues with the radio. When Dmitry finished his panel, we took a break and made a list of some plumbing components needed to finish off that bathroom. At around noon we left because Dmitry had a presentation to make at the SDA clinic for a doctor's group. And when I say we left, it was more complicated than that: The van we were driving had a computer hiccup and when Dmitry backed out of the parking space in the visitor lot at the naval base, the van stuck in reverse. Then because the vehicle's computer was telling it it was in reverse, we could not restart it. Of course, this was not the first thing we thought of. It could have been the transmission or a fuel pump or any number of other problems. Dmitry got a hold of the true owner of the van and we got picked up and dropped off at the meeting. Apparently, what the doctors have done is created a fund into which they put any money they make while working on Sabbaths. This money is then used for various mission projects as they come up. Dmitry and Grace were giving a presentation on a trip they made recently through this groups funding. They also asked me to talk a little to the group about what I had seen in Majuro and my trip. I spoke briefly about the school in Arno and then more on the Diabetes issue. This group is planning a visit to the Marshall's in September, so it is helpful to them to know what the needs are. For it being spur of the moment, I think I handled it well. There was lunch served at the meeting and it was very good. It included a couple Chamorro dishes (the natives of Guam are the Chamorro) that I liked. After we had to go back to the disabled van, remove all the stuff Grace and Dmitry had in it and meet the tow truck to get it on it's way to the van hospital. In the evening just before sundown the three of us walked a short trail to a lookout point for a bit of exercise and to welcome the Sabbath.

May 16 Sabbath: While there is an SDA church just a block from where Grace and Dmitry live, we drove over to the Ypao/Ordot SDA church about 20 minutes away. This church is planning to move in the next couple years as a church is built next to the SDA clinic. There was a potluck afterwards and then a group got together to go through the neighborhood knocking on doors to make sure the people are aware of the SDA presence in the area and to let them know what kind of programs the church offers for free. It is not an easy thing to do for most people (myself included), but it went better than I expected. Almost every house on Guam has a dog, so one of the first things is to find out how long the dog's chain is. Then you can approach the door. There was no response at more than half of the doors my group went to. But we did get to talk to several people and there was some definite interest in some of the programs. In the evening Dmitry and I watched the Conscientious Objector documentary about Desmond Doss. I had not seen the entire thing, although I had been at the partial screening at PUC when Mr. Doss was a special guest of honor. It is a powerful story. Dmitry gave me a book to read about a Japanese man who was sentenced to death for a couple assassinations during World War II. He found God while in prison, was eventually pardoned, and is now an SDA pastor. Both of these stories include episodes on Guam.

May 17 Sunday: We ran a bunch of errands for groceries, water, mail, attempted to get the plumbing parts for Mac (the parts he wanted were not available and the work arounds that I could see were exorbitantly expensive, so we did not bother). Dmitry loves to talk and tell stories and shares Jesus with anyone that will listen. It is amazing to watch. He was telling me that the people from Chuuk (Chuukese) are kind of like Hispanics in the US: treated as second class citizens much of the time. They hold many of the low level jobs here in Guam and just by showing them simple respect, he has a receptive audience with them. Back to the bit about telling stories here is one of his: A Japanese man went on vacation to the Philippines. The taxi that picked him up was Korean made and driven by a Filipino man. As they made their way to the Japanese tourists hotel they were passed by Toyota taxi. The Japanese man exclaimed “See Japanese made car – very fast”. A bit later a Honda taxi passed them. Again the tourist happily stated, “Japanese made car – very fast”. A third time a taxi passed them. This time it was a Nissan, and the Japanese man made his comment again. When the taxi arrived at the hotel, the Japanese man asked about the charge. “$537” was the response. The flabbergasted man asked how that could be. The taxi driver calmly said “Korean car okay, but Japanese meter – very fast!”

About 3 pm we arrived at the naval base to do some snorkeling. Mac picked us up and after driving by Gab Gab beach (too crowded), we ended up at San Luis beach. The crane had been a no show, so Mac's boat is still out of the water and he was slightly irritated by that. We waded into the water and within five minutes I had spotted a bright red octopus. It flashed the red when I got too close to it, otherwise I might have missed it. It was the size of a large watermelon and quickly squeezed itself into a crevice in the coral. When I called over Dmitry and Grace, they prodded it out of the crevice and it began swimming away changing colors and patterns at will. It darted into another crevice and we prodded it out once more. We followed it as it swam for a bit and then left it alone when it found another hole to hide in. Just incredible to see the shape/color shifting it was capable of. There were soooooo many different beautifully colored fish. Eventually at the wall, where the shallow reef drops down farther than you can see, we saw a few larger fish and a sea turtle. Mac says she has been a regular at that beach for about 15 years and it is only because it is on the base that she has not been killed. He also mentioned that someone had been bitten by a shark a couple days ago, but that he had deserved it, playing with the shark after spearing it while fishing. We snorkeled for close to two hours and the water actually got to feeling cool. We got out in time to watch the sunset.

May 18 Monday: We left early this morning, dropped Grace off at her work and headed to the naval base. It took us half an hour to get our passes for the day and then we got to work. The crane bailed again this morning, so Mac was busy trying to arrange an alternative and was able to speak with a crane operator already located on the base. Wednesday morning should be a go now. We worked on a number of small projects. I was putting hinges on a hatch door and fashioning a couple of the plumbing pieces we needed from spare parts. The naval base is very self contained and you could live there without ever leaving. There are churches, theaters, malls, restaurants, etc. We had lunch at a Subway on the base and Mac found one of the plumbing parts we had been unable to find elsewhere at the on base building supply place. The on base gas stations are 50 cents less than anything off base.We left about 3pm to pick up Grace since we are down to just one car after the incident on Friday. But before we left we got clearance for me to go to Rota on the sailboat this weekend. There still has to be a signoff from the naval base on Wednesday and if that goes alright, I'll be sailing with Dmitry and about six others at 6am on a 70 mile trip that should take all day. This is part of the Rota race, a yearly event between the islands of Guam and Rota. Our boat is going early and not racing, but participating in some of the other events for the weekend and then returning on Monday. Dmitry has it all planned out so we are going to take a bunch of medical supplies and literature to give out in Rota. He will most likely preach on Sabbath, Grace does part of the service and they would like me to talk about my trip as well. Just another part of the grand adventure I'm on. I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'm also trying to line up scuba lessons and they are actually a third of the cost that they were in Majuro, but I have to work out the scheduling with an instructor over the next couple days.

After picking up Grace, we picked up medical supplies and another van to replace the one that malfunctioned on Friday. We also went to a Bible study at Steven Silva's house. There were six of us and one person in the group is doing some serious soul searching. She has some struggles in her life right now that are really straining her emotionally. It was a good meeting even though I really do not know the whole story and I know having people that can support you is incredibly reassuring.