When I was on the Majuro atoll in the Marshall Islands, I really experienced God’s love and providence in the midst of many challenges. Basic resources were so limited there. When it rained, it was like a miracle and a blessing that God provided fresh water to drink. Because otherwise, being on a coral island atoll, even when we dug wells, the salty ocean or lagoon water would fill them, not providing the necessary relief to our thirst or to nourish the crops. In contrast, in my home country of the Philippines, we had deep wells and pumps, rivers and an abundance of fresh water.
Assumption High School is the only Catholic School in the islands. It was begun by the Maryknoll Sisters in 1981, and was turned over to the laity. It is a very important school as it is the only one that taught Catholic values, the value of life and self in the midst of the troubled 1980s when the Marshall Islands had the highest percentage of young people committing suicide. It depended on teachers who did not even graduate from college. When the school board announced that they wanted to close the school, I offered to be the principal. I said, “God, you have to help me with this. I do not know how to handle it.”
With God, came funding. Next, Assumption High School attained accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Around the same time, Maryknoll High School in Honolulu faculty member Ted Stepp and I coordinated a three-week summer mission outreach of Maryknoll’s students as tutors in English and math for the incoming freshmen at Assumption. I am so grateful to Maryknoll for continuing to make that possible.
I am always grateful for God’s love for me. When the Maryknoll Sisters came to my hometown in the Philippines, I saw their joy and love, dedication and commitment to share the Good News in making God’s love visible. I am trying to continue the same, making God’s love visible as I have experienced it.
The Maryknoll Sisters not only helped us, they taught us to develop and use our skills to go out and spread the Good News through education. Like Jesus said, “Go out to the whole world and spread the Good News.”
This brings me back to my father and the cultivation of my spirituality. From his close relation to God and the earth, and through all the challenges met on the farm (even when there was a drought and no water), I learned to grow vegetables and flowering plants on the coral atoll. Coconut trees have become a symbol of God’s enduring love for the Islanders providing sweet water and food. Joy can be found in the midst of suffering as we know from Jesus’ paschal mystery. Suffering is a part of our lives. But we can overcome suffering. There is always hope.
Sister Aurora dela Cruz is a Maryknoll missionary. Born in Santiago, Isabela, Philippines, she joined the Maryknoll Sisters in 1974. She resides with the Maryknoll Sisters community in Manoa and works at Catholic Charities Hawaii.
