The morning begins at 6 am in a nearby American Samoa village with the "Aumaga" (the young "warrior" men charged with the responsibility of protecting their village) who ring their makeshift bells constructed out of empty old oxygen tanks. The clanging calls the people to prayer and these youth would stop any cars that might attempt to drive through their village until 6:15. Not that they were waking up many people, since the wild roosters take on that duty as they plod through the dense underbrush around banana trees, coconut trees and plentiful tropical vegetation.

Waves caress the black lava shoreline as the sun comes over the steep and densely overgrown mountains that tower above us. Breadfruit which don't look or taste like bread or fruit, mangos, papayas, "paka" (similar to platanas from same family as bananas), countless examples of God's creativity, generosity and goodness...

Children are in their school uniforms consisting of shirts, sandals and lava lavas as they make their way to school by foot. Workers pile into brightly colored vehicles that look like they could be the love child of an el camino and an RV from the 60's. They drive by the all-in-one police/fire/ambulance station, numerous Churches and even more numerous new grave sites. Decorated with flowers, plaques and large mausoleum type slabs of concrete as one might expect, but also adorned with touches like Christmas lights and tarps to protect from the rain - or even solid roofs so well built that they might leave some of the local houses jealous.

The tsunami didn't hit this part of the island, but I see it's effects everywhere. Shipping containers and electrical generators stacked to the sky, earthquake sensing devices placed in the yard outside my door... the largest hotel on the island that is closed since F.E.M.A. bought it out to house its operations.

But the biggest impact is unseen... deep in the hearts of this predominantly God fearing people are the questions: "Why us?", "Why now?" "Did God do this?"

I don't pretend to have easy answers, but I want to encourage dialogue that will bring healing. I hear that people of the older generations are more open to share the stories of this land's true history since the tsunami. I see hearts that are opening up to God. And I've heard talk of blessings even in this time of great turmoil.

So where do websites, audio production and media communication skills fit into all this? I can say this: I am confident that the project staff and volunteers we are training from the Nuanua Media Communications project will be capable of not only making websites and training others to do so... but that these platforms of expression will form a real foundation for the people of this island. To have new educational and economic opportunities... to have new ways of expressing themselves artistically and relationally... and hopefully these outlets will be a road to healing for this proud and ancient culture. This small island filled with great people... warm, welcoming, cheerful and strong. This is the American Samoa that I am experiencing.

9 pm the Aumaga's bells resound through the fale's once again for the children's evening curfew. The small streets start to empty as a gentle rain brings relief from this sub-equatorial Pacific summer. I drift off to sleep thinking about what the word Pacific really means... peace.

-Joel Rogers
YWAM Kona - joelandmelanie.com