Recently, Pitcairn Island keeps coming to mind. A couple of weeks ago in the HK Magazine (like The Weekly,) they had an article describing where to go to be alone. It said that HK is the most densely populated city in the world with 16,000 people per square mile, though it doesn't look like that from my window. Pitcairn Island was the first place mentioned with 33 people per square mile. Apparently, to get there from here, you have to fly from here to Japan and then to Tahiti and after that take a 30 hour boat ride which leaves only once every several months. Final line, "But remember that leaving the island is a lot harder than getting there."
The next time it came up was when, in response to seeing The Bounty from my window, a Kiwi friend was talking about the relatively recent news stories that were big in New Zealand. She brought up how, of the 50 inhabitants who are mainly in-bred descendants of the mutineers, six were supposed to be kept in the newly built local jail for rape and incest, though they were still out on appeal because they didn't think British law applied to them. And apparently dancing, public displays of affection and consumption of alcohol are still banned on the island.
That last bit triggered my first memories of Pitcairn Island. I remember watching a slide show in church as a kid. Mission Spotlight came once a quarter with a taped sound tract and "bings" to tell the AV guy to advance to the next slide. It was all about the success of the church on Pitcairn Island where following the arrival of missionaries 100% of the residents had been converted to the three angels messages. Even now the island shuts down for the Sabbath and "everyone lays down their tools for the only day of rest the island knows." If you want, you can even see pictures of Pathfinder Days at the church in the Pitcairn Photo Album at www.lareau.org/pitc.html. What a success story for the gospel.
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