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Guam - Saipan - Okinawa

Tom & Mary Beth Spring

(Excerpted from the Summer 1993 Matrimony magazine)

The alarm went off at 4:30 on the morning of November 19, 1992. I rolled over and gave Mary Beth a good morning kiss and headed for the shower. As the water hit me, so did the full realization that it was really going to happen. We would soon be on our way to the western Pacific islands of Guam, Saipan, and Okinawa. Why we were going and how it all came about is interesting in itself and, added to our 2 week adventure, makes a story to share with you.

We were selected Section 12 coordinators, along with Fr. John Bain, in February, 1992. Not long before that, the western Pacific islands had come back into the area covered by Section 12. As we began our term one of our goals was to reconnect with the islands. God must have been listening, for by April we had received a call from Jeff & Debbie Fellmeth from Kadena AFB, Okinawa. They had heard about new outlines and other changes and wanted to make contact with the family. Jeff & Debbie have carried Marriage Encounter with them wherever they go. They were encountered in the Texas/New Mexico area and are like seeds that bloom wherever they are planted! They brought us news of what had been happening with the weekend for the military in Okinawa and their connections with Saipan and Guam.

Not long after that call, we received a letter from Jess & Anicia Sonoda from Saipan. They shared their frustration at having to cancel weekends because; at the last minute there was no priest available. Saipan had just 2 team couples. In order to present a weekend they must bring in a third couple and a priest either from Guam or Okinawa. They had couples ready to make a weekend but hadn't been able to put it all together for over two and a half years. In spite of this frustration, there are vibrant love circles meeting regularly in Saipan, and the community is very strong.

Our third bit of serendipity came when we were able to talk with Mick & Nelda Flynn, lovers from Guam spending some time in southern California in late spring. They were excited to hear that the weekend was about to happen again in Guam, for it has been over five years since the last weekend was presented there. Mick & Nelda put us in touch with Frank & Emelie Taijeron in Guam. Our update there was that most of the couples who had made the weekend in the past were now very involved in their parishes doing marriage preparation, teaching religion to the children and being lectors and Eucharistic ministers. Frank & Em were eager to make the weekend happen once again for Guam.

As we continued to talk with these three couples, we came to the conclusion that they needed personal contact with the family, and we began to make plans. We discovered there were some couples from Saipan and Okinawa who were awaiting a team training deeper. It made more sense to fly a team to give a deeper than to fly 6 couples to the mainland. When we discussed the need for a deeper over there, Bill & Mary Anne Boylan and Father Charlie Coulter asked us to do it.

About this time, Father John advised us that his parish duties would prevent him from accompanying us. That meant we needed to find a priest to be with us. We gave Fr. Bob Jones a call, for he knew of our mission to go to the Pacific. His enthusiastic yes made us even more excited about the plans in progress.

Fr. Bob flew to Los Angeles to give a weekend and left from there on Monday to meet us in Guam. We arrived Tuesday afternoon, and Father Bob was due in early Wednesday morning. We were greeted by Frank & Em and Mick & Nelda and received the news that Typhoon Hunt was due in the next morning. That evening we met with couples from the area who were ready to experience are-deeper and roll up their sleeves and begin to make weekends happen again in Guam. We spent the evening sharing with them on the Flynn's patio. They brought wonderful food for supper and we had a pot luck. The best part of the evening was hearing them dream again about couples coming to the weekend!

Since we had been up for over 24 hours at that point, Mick & Nelda sent us off to bed with the promise that they would get Father Bob and bring him home. When they woke us at 8:00 the next morning, it was with the news that our priest was missing! After many calls and some prayers to St. Anthony, we discovered that his flight from Los Angeles had been delayed long enough for him to miss his connection in Seoul. He was safe in Seoul and would be in the next morning at the same time. We weathered our first typhoon and learned how they adapt to Mother Nature in the islands. And then we waited! They eye of the typhoon missed the island, so there was no major damage. We saw a lot of rain and the winds were ferocious. Typhoons move quickly, so by the time Father Bob's plane was due in we could see stars in the very black Pacific sky. As we drove to the airport we would see the stars for a time and then suddenly be drenched with rain for a few minutes as a feeder band passed over. We were all delighted to see our priest come through the door from customs, and we headed home to rest our weary heads.

The three of us left for Saipan Thursday afternoon. Jess & Anicia met us and whisked us across the island to St. Rouke's parish where the community had nearly filled the large church to celebrate Mass with us. After mass we gathered in the community hall for a delicious dinner and about two hours of non-stop visiting. This vibrant community had worked very hard the months preceding our visit and put together a weekend of 24 couples and a priest just the weekend before. Meeting those couples and Father Eric was like attending a sing-off at home. They were so in love and so filled with the excitement about the changes that had happened and that they wanted to make. Incidentally, Father Eric told us how grateful he was for his brother priests who made it possible for him to experience the weekend. There are only 8 priests on the island, and 2 were away. That meant that the 5 remaining had to take Father Eric's parish for the weekend. This was the first weekend on Saipan in over 2years. Plans are for 2 more in 1993 and the dream is to reach out to some of the surrounding islands of the Northern Marianas.

The next morning we had a chance to spend time with Jess & Anicia and to hear of their dream of expansion beginning with the people on the neighboring island of Tinian, Anicia's place of birth. After spending a morning with these two lovers, it was very clear to the three of us why the community of Saipan is so alive. Their passion for each other spills over to their children and the Church!

We left for Okinawa Friday afternoon with 2 teams from Saipan. We changed planes on Guam and were joined by 6 teams for the deeper. When we arrived in Okinawa we discovered that all our luggage from Saipan didn't. There we were in a foreign land with only the clothes on our backs. It was a frustrating experience which had to be put on the back burner, for we had much to do that weekend. Jeff & Debbie Fellmeth and the community from Kadena AFB met us at the airport and took us back to the base where we would stay and hold the weekend. After sizing us up, the community went home and came back with armloads of clothes for all of us. We did not want for outfits!

The deeper weekend was compacted because of the size of the weekend and travel needs. Although a very full and vibrant weekend, it was not without the distraction of the next typhoon getting ready to slam into Guam. Jess was able to check the weather frequently, and Typhoon Gay was capricious enough to keep us guessing until Sunday morning. At that time she was headed directly for Guam with 200+mph winds. Some of the couples had to leave: Dave is the head of the power company on Guam; they had to go back. One of the wives is the principal of a school which would be used as a shelter; they had to return. Before beginning Sunday morning we gathered to send them off to the airport and the unknown. We put them into the Lord's hands and went on to finish the weekend. We were all delighted to learn later that Super Typhoon Gay blew herself out before reaching land!

The typhoon did interrupt air travel for those returning to Guam and Saipan after the deeper. Flights only go to Guam from Okinawa on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Since the airport was closed on Monday because of Gay, those returning couldn't leave until Wednesday. So we were all graciously hosted by the community at Kadena. They made adjustments not just to accommodate all of us, but to welcome us into their lives for those 2 extra days.

As we returned home we were so filled with the love of our extended family and the knowledge that couples in the western Pacific will continue to be given the opportunity to experience the Marriage Encounter weekend. Father Bob will return in March, 1993, to give EEE weekends in Saipan and Guam. This will give the communities the opportunities for growth needed to continue encountering one another and change the world.

One last bit of the graces of this trip found us meeting Most Reverend Tomas Camacho, Bishop of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa. He lives on Saipan, and his delight in his people is infectious. Bishop Camacho was in Menlo Park, CA at St. Patrick's Seminary for the 3-month Vatican II update. The seminary is just across the street from Tom's office. After we returned home, Tom & Bishop Camacho had time to talk the day before the bishop left to return home to Saipan. Bishop Camacho has made a weekend himself and is a strong supporter of Marriage Encounter!

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