About one month ago we applied to the immigration services to extend our working permits and visas here in Kiribati for another full year. With the new President rules and regulations have been changed. The applications where declined about a week ago. We are still able to come short term as much as we would like. We have to leave the Country in order for them to review our request for the full year permits. In a couple of weeks we would leave anyway, but my thoughts are always bringing me to the conclusion of how truly Big our God is. He let us come here at the right time and let us stay here as long as He wanted us to, so we could do what He planned! Just even the thought amazes me of how powerful and mighty the God we serve is!

Nadia

To those who are interested when we are coming back to the US, and why we coming so soon?! 😊
OUR WORK IN KIRIBATI IS NOT FINISHED 😀 this is just the beginning!
Our plan is to be in US, WA state at the end of January. Both of our daughters are graduating this school year, and we physically have to be presented in AK, it was a previous agreement with their homeschool. To admit it, I would love and wish to stay longer, and planned earlier, but our family situation is moving us home together 😀 which we are all happy about!

Things are going very well here at the clinic. We are seeing patients Monday – Thursday 9am – 4pm. Staying longer and seeing patients over the weekend if needed. Like I mentioned in my previous update, we have local nurses and volunteer boys helping. From the beginning of the next year we are planning to have a full time nurse who will take charge of this clinic.

Our volunteers (young boys) are accepted in the Fiji New Start (natural medicine) school. Their course will start mid February and will last one year long. After school they will be able to return to Kiribati and serve their people.

I got my Kiribati RN registration, after volunteering at the Hospital for a month and a half. This registration gives me a green light for work on our next visits to Kiribati. The registration and license are given for a lifetime 😊 Should I just move here permanently!? 😊😊 It seems like I’m the first “white” nurse in the history, with overseas RN license who has a Kiribati lifetime license. For sure the Lord moved it that way, for His purpose, and I’m very thankful for it!

Serge and I are planning to visit Kiribati once or twice a year. A lot of work is ahead of us and we feel God’s calling to continue! If any of you would like to join us with our next trips to Kiribati, we would be happy to discuss our plans when we get back to the US.

I can not not mention that our family is eagerly waiting for Dr. Andreassen and his granddaughter Ruby from Alaska! – They are COMING!!!!

I want to thank each of you our friends and family who has been and still is continuously supporting us financially and in your prayers. This is not easy but at the end of the day rewarding for yours and our journeys.

“…..Everything we have has come from You, and we give You only what You first gave us!” 1 Chronicles 29:14

Nadia

One month passed by after we had the official opening of Tarawa Health Center. Serge and I are very thankful to the volunteer, retired nurses as well as two young guys for their time and dedication to their clinical daily work. Serge is seeing patients at the clinic and is staying very busy. Currently and this past month I have been volunteering at the local Hospital. I have to admit, I’m very thankful for the experience of work I’m having at the Hospital which can’t be compared with anything else, the cases I’ve seen and the severity of the problems. And it’s exiting to make new friends among doctors and nurses of Kiribati. A great thing that our Lord gifted us is the ability to share, learn, and experience.

NADIA

Mauri Blog!
We have great news, on October 12, 2016 we had an official Tarawa Health Center Grand Opening. Our medical facility is finally recognized by the local officials. It is the first ever private clinic in the country. We had a beautiful ceremony, which was attended by many guest and government officials. Here is the list some of the speakers who were able to come and celebrate with us: Minister of Parliament Dr. Kautu Tenaua, Transpacific Union medical director Dr. Silent Tovosia, Chief Ambassador of Taiwan His Excellency Mr. Donald Lee (who’s country had sponsored construction of this building 8 years ago), Kiribati Director of Health Dr. Burentau, the president of Kiribati SDA church pastor Titau Tavita , we also had guests: Ron and Nita Clark (missionaries from Australia), Pelenise Alofa, and other pastors, church members and friends. It is a truly big day in the history of our ministry! We thank the Lord for all of you, who been involved helping with this mission project. Thank you for all your prayers, encouragement, and financial support. Our family would like to tell you: Good Work! We have truly seen God’s hand working through this entire project. We hope it is only the beginning of this Medical Center and through this clinic we will be able to serve more beautiful people of this nation, by bringing them closer to Christ through our service.
Serge Domas

Dear friends
My friend Tiria (Siria) and I had 2 weeks of good rest and good work on the island of Abemama. We were happy to have a few days of rest before we started seeing patients. Daily we saw between 10-30 patients. This time our trip didn’t turn out the way we planned and it was shortened for one week. It went better then we expected. The place we planned to stay wasn’t available, and the only other place we could stay was full of rats. So we had a great experience of sleeping by the shore. It was defiantly an unforgettable experience of waves sounds, breeze, and the bright moon. One day we had rain and all our bedding got wet. That night and several nights after we had to sleep in the local house. I told my friend to not be surprise if she’ll hear me screaming during the night, because of the rats. Sure enough, I woke my friend up with screaming and chasing a rat out of our “bed”. The next day we had a good laugh together. This time we had to cook our meals on an open fire and I got to experience REAL life on the outer island 😉 I was happy to see how local woman weave a mat (their bed, or portable mattress) and hear stories of all the work days it involves to make one of them.

We had a good time seeing people for medical checkups, back adjustments and giving away glasses. I was always happy to hear the positive reports from our patients on the treatments we provided recently and our previous family/team trip to Abemama. Their population is lacking patient education which is very needed here. Fresh salted fish, bread and rice is the main food on the islands. Most of the people have no refrigerators or freezers and they have to preserve their fish in the salt in order to provide food for their families for a couple of weeks.The majority of adults have high blood pressure, arthritis, and diabetes. A big percent of the young population has stomach ulsters. Bacterial and fungal infections are very common here, and treatments are practically not available. Most of our patients had back problems. The inner joy, satisfaction and the good reports we experienced each time after all the hard work is hard to explain.

The GREAT news we have to announce, is that the Tarawa Health Center is OFFICIALLY registered and Dr. Kautu and Serge are approved to work at the clinic. At this moment we are looking for a local nurse that could start working at the clinic and stay after our family leaves. About me – I received a phone call in Abemama from main island to return to Tarawa to start volunteering at the main hospital before they could give me an approval.

We know that God is doing His work and in His timing. Our biggest desire is to glorify Our Lord God and share the Good news with all the people around.

Our family would like to express our deepest thank you to everyone who continues supporting us in your prayers and financially. Thank you for being a part of His work on the Pacific Islands.

Nadia

Hi everyone, I got to join a health awareness program presented this week by the Kiribati Health Retreat at one of the villages on the island. A lot of work has been done by the Health Retreat and it has been nice to be a little part of it. There were about 40 people attending this program which usually lasts 4 days. The members of the program do health talks every day and teach people how to take care of their bodies. In a few previous posts I talked more in detail about the work the Health Retreat offers to their people. Basically, they do these programs every month in different villages for ministry outreach and health awareness. It’s great to see how people could benefit from this program spiritually and physically.   – Nadia

10 things you might want to ask us about how we live.
1) What was your first impression of the island?
It was hot and dirty, but the people were very kind and welcoming.
2) Where do you live?
We live in the middle of the island, right by the main road, in the Clinic.
3) What water do you use for drinking?
We use filtered rain water for drinking.
4) What do you do during your free time?
During our free time we play board/ card games, go to the beach and watch the waves, read, and/or go to the sea port to fish or just relax.
5) Do you swim?
No, we do not usually swim on the island. If we really want to swim (we usually never want to) we go to the end of the island which has a clean ocean and beach.
6) Are there any fruits and veggies on the island?
Bananas, papaya, and coconut are available at all times, since they grow on the island. There are a few stores that usually always have onion, carrots, cabbage, oranges, and apples, which are imported from Australia.
7) Is there any ice-cream or chocolate on the island?
They have a store that mostly always has ice cream that is made from rain water. It tastes pretty good, but doesn’t compare to ice-cream back home. The same store carries chocolate sometimes, but they are usually out of stock.
8) What is an example of a daily meal?
We eat lots of macaroni and canned food that we brought in the container with frozen fried veggies or cabbage salad and sometimes buy fish or chicken.
9) Are you used to the local life style?
We are not completely used to the local lifestyle, but defiantly more than before. Now we understand better why people here do the things the way they do them.
10) Do you want to go back home?
YES!!! All the time… but we are so glad that we are able to be here and help those in need.

If you have more questions about us or our mission, please feel free to comment below and we will be happy to do another Q&A sometime in the near future.               Domas Child

Howdy my virtual friends,
Two days ago our team came back from a new trip. This time we have spent ten days on the island of Abemema, we where able to see close to 400 patients. We had been provided houses by our friends from the Search for One mission. I’m glad to thank Garry and Linda Morgan for allowing us to stay in their place.
The island of Abemema is unique because it has the oldest Christian school in this nation. (Kauma Adventist High School) is nearly seventy years old. The school is an effort of many Christians, mainly Search for One mission from the US and the Clark Family from Australia. The ages of the students are 12 through 22. At this point there are approximately 160 young men and about same amount of young ladies. It is incredible to witness that many lives are being touched by  God’s spirit. On the island which has no infrastructure, good roads, electricity, clean drinking water etc. it was a true miracle to see years of work, missionaries from different countries invest into the future generation of believers. The school also has 50-60 teachers and personnel. It was a true blessing to me and my family. I realized that none of this work would even be possible without your faithful prayers and support. I had a privilege of also spending some time presenting the youth service and also Friday night meeting. Our family has made lots of new friends among the school personnel and students. One of the days we had an opportunity to borrow four motorbikes and spend that day exploring the gorgeous island. One of our local team members Tamaroauea Baiteke is originally from this island. He and another young man Tebakaro Kamaua that went with us, are both graduates of the school. They where very happy to revisit the school they lived in for a long time before. Tamaroauea also took us to his own village and introduced the team to his family. We spent one day helping his big family. He had the chance to show us his families land which looked like a beautiful Garden to us. I never knew that it takes generations to replant and grow a coconut forest. Abemema is an unusually peaceful place. I can only imagine what kind of child hood our friend had growing up in this place. Now we are back in our noisy, smelly, and hot reality, providing its own challenges. Our clinic is still waiting for the registration from the local officials. Tarawa Health Center still needs your continuous prayers. We believe that the Lord, has His great plan as always. And we choose to believe in Him day by day. I pray that the mighty God may bless you all according to His love and Mercy. Until next time yours Serge Domas

plane to Abemama