Christina and I certainly have been busy since our last email update several weeks ago! Last update we mentioned that we needed to take a trip over to Hilo for a workshop I was required to take in order to expand into more avenues of helping the Chuukese community here in Hawaii. Thank the Lord that the trip went great, and I was able to complete the workshop. Christina went with me to Hilo and we managed to squeeze in some site-seeing while there. She at first didn’t believe me that it snows in Hawaii, but she got so see the snow with her own eyes 😆

As you know, we first came here to Hawaii for Christina’s health issues. Praise the Lord, she’s doing much better! We’ve already had a few doctor’s appointments and we’ve scheduled a few more. Please be praying that we’ll be able to move up a few appointments though. The earliest availability for one specialist isn’t until July! Thankfully we were able to get new health insurance coverage, since our previous plan wouldn’t work well here. The coverage we had to get, while expensive, does cover most of what we’ll need.

Being back here in Hawaii has been an adjustment, especially when trying to find ways to continue ministry outreaches to the Chuukese community. Through the interpretation opportunities I’ve had, I’ve met many new Chuukese people and families. In just the past two weeks I’ve led eight people to the Lord! Most of the Chuukese folks I meet are in the hospital. Most came up from Chuuk for treatment, many planning to go home once their treatment is finished. Sadly, some have terminal illnesses and may never get to see Chuuk again.

Earlier this week I was interpreting at a doctor’s office for a Chuukese man named Apiner. He recognized me as soon as I walked into the office, remembering me from a mission trip we took to his home island of Satawan. His brother, Aurelio, used to travel with me on the ships we would take on our outer island mission trips. After his appointment, I asked him if I could come visit him and his family in their apartment. He was very excited and said, “Yes, please!” Unfortunately, during his appointment he had received some bad news about his health. That evening I drove down to his apartment and had the opportunity to lead him and his whole family to the Lord.

Yesterday, a Chuukese lady who was a patient in a hospital I was interpreting at, recognized me. She too had come up from Chuuk for health issues. She asked, “Would you please pray with me? I’ve watched your sermons on Facebook for a very long time, and I know that you believe and preach the love of Christ.” Her brother, who was also there, said, “Yes! I’ve also watched your messages online! Please pray with us!” After the appointment was over I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with them and prayed with them. After we finished she told me, “I knew you were here from Guam and I was praying that you would be my interpreter today. I’m so happy I could meet you and we could pray together!” Once she’s released from the hospital she wants us to come visit her and her family in their apartment too.

Almost everyday I run into people who know who I am and have been watching online. When I get back home in the evening I see them liking, sharing, and commenting on my online messages.

I have so many stories I could tell, too many for one email. All across this island there are Chuukese people who need to hear about Jesus. In addition to people that I interpret for, I also run into many other Chuukese people throughout the course of my day. In fact, I’m supposed to visit a Chuukese man, who works as a hospital security guard, and his family next week at their home.

Please be praying for us as we continue to do our best to reach Chuukese people with the gospel. If you could also be praying for us, we would really like to start traveling back and forth to Chuuk every few months to visit and help continue ministries there as well. It’s just very expensive to travel between Hawaii and Chuuk these days, so please be praying for the Lord to provide the funds that we would need in order to make that possible.

Christina and I also want to thank all of you for your faithful monthly support. Without friends like you, many of these ministries wouldn’t be possible. We recently lost support from a couple of churches, but the Lord has already replaced the amounts lost and even increased the support that we receive for the ministry. Thank you! We really do appreciate each one of you.

In Jesus,
Matthew & Christina