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Hello Friends, 

 Crazy to think that I began my student missionary year to Pohnpei two years ago! While I am physically not in Pohnpei these days, my heart is. I'll go more into that in a bit.

 I recently took a summer class called Cross-Cultural Communications. This class taught me that visiting other cultures and performing mission work takes more thought than we think. Meaning that, although people desire to help other countries in need, many times that "help" ends up having a negative impact. Imagine if you will a fruit tree. Naturally the tree will provide fruit, but as we all know every tree has roots. Here is the analogy. Many organizations will go to places to fix a fruit problem such as sickness or constructing new buildings, but what really needs to be fixed are the root problems such as access to education and finding ways to live sustainably. 

While I was in Pohnpei, I noticed a root problem. Lack of health education. Disease, sickness, and death rates are increasing due to an unhealthy lifestyle choices. James 2:16 says, “If one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?” Here is my taking action plan to help eliminate the lack of health education on Pohnpei. (Let me note, this is an assignment for a class, but hopefully one day it takes action!)

With 30,000 USD given each year throughout the course of three years, I will establish a wellness center. The wellness center will bring awareness to the health issues and educate the locals on how to live a healthy life. Fitness and agricultural/gardening classes will be offered. 5k-runs and health expos will become a regular event. 
  The first year I am in Pohnpei I will focus on relationship building, gaining the trust of the locals, assessing their needs, and building and equipping the wellness center. Also, I will be looking for educated locals to teach and manage the center. The second year, the wellness center will kick off the opening of its doors with a 5k-run/ health expo. This will introduce the locals on what this new center is about and hopefully inspire them to become a member. The third year, I will evaluate how the wellness center is performing and see what changes could be made to