Two years ago today a tragedy happened. I remember hearing about it at home; "Adventist Student Missionary Murdered in Yap" the headlines read. I was shocked. At the time I had never heard of Yap, but the idea of a student missionary being murdered just seemed... impossible. Student missionaries don't usually go to really dangerous places, they are supposed to come back safe and sound after a great year of service. But that didn't happen for Kirsten. Early in the morning of November 19 she decided to go for a run by herself. At the same time a man high and drunk was walking back from a bar. What happened could have happened anywhere, it happens at home in the states a lot more then it happens here; but this was different. The locals were devistated and enraged, the school staff scared and heart broken, and her 2nd grade class was left confused and asking for their teacher to come back. Two years ago when I heard about what happened, I never could have imagined that in a couple years I would be sitting in Yap writing to you, but here I am. What I have found here isn't a dangerous island but local people ready to help anyway they can and kids of all ages just longing to be loved, taught, and noticed. I had a lot of people tell me "Go anywhere but Yap" which made me wonder, what about the kids there? If everyone goes "anywhere but Yap" who is going to teach them? I am so glad God lead me here.
This week has been a bit different as we have been remembering Kirsten and her service here. She was an amazing young woman and she left a huge impact. It seemed like so long ago the tragedy happend, but it is still fresh here. This friday most of my seniors were gone taking a college entrance test, so the three left at school and one of the Junior girls helped me cut yellow ribbons for the school to hang along the road. I guess yellow is the color for memorials here. As we were cutting the ribbons the girls started telling me about that day, they were both in high school at the time. "Ms. I remember all the teachers faces were pale and they just stopped teaching", "The 2nd graders didn't understand what happened and they kept calling out for her". They told me how all the high school boys were sent to help search for her (they thought she was just injured) all of whom were friends of these girls. "Ms. when they came back, after they found her, the boys were all crying and their faces were white and they were so angry". I honestly didn't know what to say, I just let the girls tell me about what happened. I can't imagine anything like what the students, staff, and Kirstens family has gone through. What I do know is this, "1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: 2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; 3 A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; 7 A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; 8 A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. I don't think we will ever be able to fully understand tragedies like this, they are just a part of life. I really can't say it better then Kirsten did. At the end of the book "Love, Kirsten" their is a journal entry she wrote about these verses, I want to share some of it with you. "Why should their be a time for death? I wondered if it was to bring us closer to God. But then I read the commentary and realized that it was to illustrate that nothing lasts forever. There is a time for good and it may last awhile, but then it will always go away and bad will come. Life is always changing so we shouldn't sit around being idle, waiting for the good stuff to happen. We never know when our 'time' is, and so we should take every advantage of the good times we have and work hard to get through the bad times with the help of Jesus Christ because he wants to help us... Think about it: someone dies every second. Do you think that many of them expected to die? I want my heart to be prepared for death. I want my life to be lived so that there is something good to say about me when I'm gone, and hopefully my death can lead others to eternal life!". As we sat in church today I looked out across the pews. Almost the entire church was wearing yellow in her memory, many of the members talked about how her few monthes here still leave an impact on them today, and letters were read from her students who still remember her and want to see her in heaven. I am inspired by Kirsten. She lived her life fully, people do have good things to say about her, and people have been lead to Christ from her example. I know this has turned out really long, and I thank you if you are still reading, this memorial for Kirsten has just left me with a lot to think about. Life is so uncertain, I don't want to let any of it to be wasted.
Please keep Kirsten's family and friends in your prayers today, I know this must be a really hard time of year for them. Please continue to pray for Yap SDA school as well. I love the students here so much and it breaks my heart to hear them say "No one wants to come teach us anymore". I pray more and more student missionaries would be drawn here in future years. I can't imagine being anywhere else!
Highlight of my week: Since I had such a small senior class Friday, I taught them Dutch Blitz! And they proceeded to beat me at it... haha! It was really fun to play games and just talk with them. The more I get to know them the more they open up and share things with me and seek advice from me; and that is one of my favorite parts about being a teacher.
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