Albious Latior, who had been renting space in the back of a furniture store for his congregation to worship until this past year, now has an office at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and they conduct worship services Sunday evenings out of the building.  Through this shared use, the Marshallese congregation are able to host kemem and cultural celebrations.  To thank Good Shephard for this Albious and the congregation planned a special thank you meal the weekend following Manit Day.  With all that was going on with the president and first lady’s visit to Springdale, they served a special meal with hard to get Marshallese food items including cooked pandanus, bwiro, a large piece of cooked breadfruit, rice bobo, chicken and rice.

Albious spoke about the lose of culture endured as a consequence of globalization.  Specifically, after the United States tested nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands, it wasn’t safe to eat their traditional foods.  They began eating canned and processed foods and now we know that it is healthy to eat traditional foods like breadfruit, pandanus and coconut.  These foods, though, are hard to source away from the islands.  One of the members of Good Shepherd, who has many Marshallese students as a teacher in Springdale, said that he had learned about these foods but had never been able to try them before.  He encouraged others, even though the food was unfamiliar to them, to not waste the opportunity. 

Benedict Madison was also there, representing MEI, and he spoke about the impact of covid on the Marshallese community particularly the first wave in May of 2020.  Pastor Clint and Chris Jones, also an ordained minister, delivered sermon’s reflecting on disparities in health and social justice. Several other people running for public office also attended the special service on September 25, including Chris Jones for governor (and who is running against Sarah Huckabee), Monique Jones for state representative, Lisa Parks for state senate and Josh Moody for county judge. Michael Mapa, who grew up in both Springdale and Majuro, is also running for county justice of the peace and if elected will help set the agenda for local concerns like the county budget.

Chris Jones stayed for a listening session after the service but had to leave before the meal. Right now Huckabee is 11 points up in the poll, but last time the governor was elected by 19% of the voting population with a turn out of less than 40%.  A local participant pointed out what difference the other 60% would make if they made their voices heard.  Healthcare, criminal justice, quality of life – equity.

For more information about these candidates see:

Chris Jones, for state governor, https://chrisforgovernor.com/

Monique Jones, for state representative, https://www.moniqueforarkansas.com/

Michael Mapa, for justice of the peace, https://michaelmapa.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/jpmichaelmapa/

Josh Moody, for county judge, https://www.facebook.com/JoshMoodyAR/

Lisa Parks, for state senate, https://www.lisaforarkansas.com/