Day to Day Work in Saipan
While there
are always many tasks to do, we strive to keep our focus on conducting Bible
studies. A typical day will include several hours in the office in the
morning. This time is reserved for studying, writing the newsletter,
planning and making arrangements for off-island trips, recordkeeping, printing,
etc. The afternoons and evenings are when we make appointments for Bible
studies. We work to keep many studies going at a time. Consequently,
we try to schedule these back to back to save time in driving. Many of the
people work during the day, and we have to schedule them at night. Those
who are available during the day are set up in the afternoons. Usually
someone will call asking for a ride to a doctor's appointment, or to the housing
office, and if we are able to with that day's schedule, we accommodate them.
There are a wide variety of tasks in
mission work. Every day is different than the one before. At the time
of this writing, for example, my things-to-do list includes the things listed
below. Each day, we'll work on as many of these as we can.
- Finish webpages and get them on-line
- Work on Genesis course through World
Video Bible School
- Continue Chuukese language studies
- Unpack (I'm on a plane returning from
Chuuk)
- Answer emails (in the work, we get
emails from the States daily (and we love it): supporters, campaigners making
arrangements to come out, Forest Park on work with our accounts, etc.
After an off-island trip like this I may spend 2-3 hours catching up on
emails!)
- Get price from travel agent on airfare
to Chuuk for campaign in June
- Call QuickPrint on printing
- Fix desktop computer internet connection
- Send Octopus recipe to those in the
States who have requested it
- Wash work van
- Call Nick, Lito and Josie on Bible
studies
- Put add on information channel on T.V.
(in case there are new people who have moved to Saipan who might not know the
church is here -- we are in the phonebook, too, of course)
- Install audio/video cable along ceiling
at church building (we're watching videos on Wednesday nights from World Video
Bible School)
- Work on getting the church set up with
its tax-exempt status
- Work on getting the remaining
air-conditioner installed at the church building
- Get Rick (a prospect for Bible Study) to
come and fix the copier and printer
- Order cell phone which can be used in
Chuuk and Palau
- Print tracts
- Test generator connection at new house
(we're without island power for several days after a bad storm)
- Finish sermon and class for this Sunday
- Go visiting this Saturday and take a
brother or two along
- Prepare report on Palau for the Saipan
church (we are promoting Palau at Saipan as a mission effort and asking them
to help the poorer brethren in Palau)
- Order more correspondence courses
- Order grape powder for Chuuk (this is
freeze-dried, crushed grapes. Mixed with water, its grape juice, and is
the best thing for Chuuk, as the common man has no refrigeration.)
- Fix light switch at church building
- Talk to radio station 88.1 on doing a
Bible talk show
- ...and the list goes on...