The country’s population of 53,158 people (at the 2011 Census[4]) is spread out over 29 coral atolls,[2] comprising 1,156 individual islands and islets.
When we heard the call to come to the Marshall Islands with a sail boat knowing that we would be a family of 4 doing ministry I knew right away we would not be able to achieve the YWAM Ships original goal of visiting every island in the Marshall Islands at least once a year. Katie and I did set out with a vision to go out from Ebeye (our base of operations) at least 4 times a year. That was a goal of once a quarter. I know it does not seem much but many of these islands are hundreds of miles away from us, being a sailing vessel this means long hours on watch and many sore muscles while just getting to them. We have sailed in every imaginable weather, and each time God has had His hand in keeping us safe. We have had months of strong winds knowing that we could not leave the atoll to sail to our destination because the seas were to big, but just at the last minute God calms the seas (enough) to make it safe for us.
The call whether to go or not is always the captains decision but ultimately God is the orchestrator for all things. And so far we have made it out to each time to meet our goals. So far this year (2017) God has allowed us to already achieve the 4 outer islands trips and it is only July! Praise God as He truly loves the Marshallese people! He wants us to take His love to all.
We know we have only scratched the surface and pray that with Gods help we will one day reach all the islands that are inhabited. We really hope one day that more boats will join us in this goal of reaching all the islands here. If you or someone else you know has a boat or time to invest here please let us know!
So far we have been to these atolls & islands:
Wotho Atoll – Wotho Island
Ujae Atoll – Ujae Island
Lae Atoll – Lae Island
Namu Atoll – Namu-Namu, Majkin, Mae, Loen (4 Islands)
Kwajalein Atoll – Carlos, Santos, Ebeye, Bigej, Kwajalein (5 islands)
Lib Island – One of the only 3 islands in the Marshall Islands
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