'Contradictory to our Belief'

The following is taken from a Sojourners interview with Julian Riklow, a native of the Marshall Islands. He was a Bible translator and was active in the United Church of Christ when this article appeared. He was also a participant in the 1980 Radiation Victims' Hearings in Washington, D.C.
--The Editors

I live on Ebeye, an island in the Kwajalein Atoll, which is part of the Marshall Islands. Kwajalein Atoll is the largest atoll in the world.

In 1857 the first missionaries sailed out of Boston, Massachusetts, with the intention of preaching the Word of God to the people of the islands. They landed on the southernmost tip of the Marshall Islands, and ever since that time, Christianity has played a great role in the lives of the Marshallese.