November 2001, Saipan
“After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.” Acts 16:7
It was an unlikely time to be departing on a mission trip to the other side of the world. It was November 2001, just two short months after the awful attack on the Twin Towers in New York City. We, like many Americans, had more questions than answers about all that had happened, but we were scheduled to fly to the Pacific Islands and the Lord was encouraging us to go anyway. It would be a great trip filled with new experiences and friendships but also unexpected circumstances.
As we came to Boston’s Logan Airport to check-in we saw that not many people were flying. This wasn’t a surprise since America had so recently been attacked by terrorists using commercial aircraft. There was an excessive amount of National Guard soldiers with rifles watching closely for anything suspicious. It was both comforting and a little scary to see these changes just before we were to fly. We knew though that with the Lord’s direction to “go” came His promise to be with us wherever we went. So off we went, stopping first in Houston, then Guam and finally to the island of Saipan. There we would be partnering with the gracious people of a local church on the island. These dear people had a beautiful apartment for us to stay in overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was such a nice place to recover from our jet lag.
We didn’t know how we would see all the patients that had been scheduled for us and as it turned out, we didn’t treat any of them! Our friends from the church had been assured by the mayor of Saipan that we had the permission we needed to practice dentistry for the week. To our dismay, the Health Department, after receiving word of our intended clinic, insisted that we needed a full dental license. It was going to take two weeks for us to apply for and receive that. We were only going to be on Saipan for a week. Without the license we were forbidden to practice dentistry. It was a huge disappointment to all of us. We had come mostly to treat scores of Chinese garment factory workers, who had two-year contracts to work on Saipan. These workers were paid a meager wage by US standards, but they were thrilled with their wages as it was so much more than they would ever make in China. Most of them sent back the bulk of their pay to support their families at home. Some of the workers, mostly women, were also attending Bible studies taught after their workday ended. Some were professing Christ as their Savior! The pastor had asked us to come to supplement this ministry effort, by having Chinese speaking evangelists present at our dental clinics to explain the gospel clearly to those who came for care.
It was a very long way to go to Saipan and not be allowed to treat patients. We were disappointed also when it came to our attention that an American dentist on the island had complained to the Health Department about our giving free dental care, possibly because he thought he would be losing patients to us. The sad thing was that the people we were to treat were so poor that they had no money to pay a dentist and had gone without dental care for many years because of it.
Not able to do dentistry, we wanted to find another way to be useful to the Lord. Instead, we worked in the Christian school connected with the local church there. We taught dental hygiene to the students and taught the gospel in Bible class. We also had an after-school opportunity with some of the island kids who came for a vacation Bible school type program. It was in the classrooms and in the after-school program that we saw some fruit as some of the children gave their hearts to the Lord.
We were encouraged by the church people to visit some of the historic WWII sites on the island. There was much history here indeed. Japan had once had total control over this island but during the American invasion the Japanese soldiers were slowly driven to the Northern part of the island. There was incredible loss of life in these battles and, also by the Japanese residents who committed suicide there. At Bonzai Cliff men tied the children to their mother’s backs, pushed them off the cliff and then jumped themselves! All the while the Americans were using megaphones telling them not to jump, that they would be well treated if they surrendered. This was such a sad place.
We did get to visit one of the thirty garment factories on the island and saw the workers turning out designer sweatshirts and exercise clothing with all the famous brand names found in our U.S. stores. The factory was clean and air conditioned. The workers worked in silence, no talking allowed, so they could concentrate on their work. We had brought Chinese gospel tracts with us to give to the workers, but we weren’t permitted to give them out as it was said that this would be a distraction. We were told that they would be distributed to the workers when their work hours were finished. We hoped that this would actually happen.
On future trips to Saipan, after applying for and receiving a dental license there, we treated some garment factory workers but not many. The minimum wage on the island had been raised to match the minimum wage in the U.S. (Saipan is a Commonwealth of the U.S.). Now the owners of the garment factories, mostly from Japan, were losing money. The owners eventually closed all the factories, sent the workers back to China and transferred their operations to Vietnam where cheap labor was abundant and local. It made good sense from a business prospective but it was a great loss on the evangelistic front. Had things remained as they were, a steady stream of new Christians would hopefully be returning to a restrictive access country to share the gospel with their own families and friends on a two-year basis. Why would God allow an open door to so many who needed to hear be tightly shut? It is a part of His plan that we accept but don’t fully understand. The Bible tells us that there is a great battle in the heavens for the souls of men and woman and sometimes there are setbacks. We can only be diligent with the opportunities that we are allowed and trust God with the results. Thankfully, we had many very productive trips to Saipan with another group of precious people.