It's funny everytime I sit down and write something about the trip or talk with someone about it I seem to come away and think of a million more important things that I should have said.
Even with the 4 blog entries I've written, I still managed to leave out really huge things. I didn't even mention Charles and Tina the couple from Fiji that we worked closely with and came to love dearly. They do so much for other people. They have 12 of the deaf boys live with them in their home and Tina works at the Gospel School for the Deaf. Charles is the face of WOL in Fiji and he is also the paster at Raiwai Gospel Chapel. They are just an amazing couple who live such sacrificial lives. They had a big impact on each one of us.
I also totally left out the major dramas that we encountered. Firstly all our food and sound gear that was flown over earlier was held up in customs. They were demanding a ridiculous amount of cash to release it, we got it out 4 days after we arrived for a lot less than they originially wanted. Then when we got through customs ourselves I realised that some of the kids had only been given 14 days in the country - and we were meant to be there for 20! Thankfully this was also sorted out (eventually).
Huddy also ended up in hospital one night. They jabbed him in the butt a couple of times and then sent him home.
All these things were teaching us to rely on God and to pray and talk to him in everything we did. It was a valuable lesson. We saw many many prayers answered. From big things, to the small. They all mattered to God.
I also made some amazing new friends on the trip. We were paired up with a couple of the teens on the team, to mentor and encourage. Tom mentioned that they prayed about who to match up and I think that was really wise. I was pretty stoked with my girls! (Loved all of them, but Charleen and Beth were pretty special). Also all of us leaders really got on well together. Cath, the other chick leader was really awesome. We were roomies while we were in Suva. She was a great encouragement to me. There were 2 other big city kids on the team, Lyndon and Jared. We really clicked and spent a lot of time having good as conversations. I even held their hands!
5.8.08
4.8.08
Get the real Fiji holiday feeling...the pictures - the team
Posing for the annual picture outside the Made in New Zealand shop.
So cute with the puppets
Beth, Michelle and Emily. With Lyndon and Nathan clowning around behind them.
We totally pushed this building!
One of the many bus rides.
...and one of a few Haka's
A few of the team doing a Skit at the concert.
A dance called Your Love is Deep that we learnt for our programs.
Beth, Cath and Huddy and Dan. Chilling after a program.
New Friends. Charleen, Cath and I traveling on a truck to Wailea Slums.
Get the real Fiji holiday feeling...#4
So after a bus ride that included a quick stop in at Camp (enough time to grab a couple of coconuts that I'd oddly been craving) and a stop for lunch at a touristy craft shop, that took the majority of the day we arrived in Nadi at Grand West Villas and yes in our opinion they were grand indeed! The place had a restaurant, tennis courts and a swimming pool with a water slide! Were we suddenly in heaven?!
~ Just as a random aside, it was actually here at the nicest place we stayed that we saw the biggest ugliest cochroach ever! ~
The next day was to be a big one. We set off at 10 in the morning and didn't get back til a little after 10 that night. It was a really hard morning for me. I was feeling sick, tired and was just not able to stick my happy mask on and make it stay. Thankfully by lunch my mood had lifted, I felt a whole lot better. We spent the day visiting 2 schools in Lautoka and then had another combined youth rally at a church there that evening. This was another of the defining moments on the trip for a bunch of the team. It had been a long day and we had a pretty discouraging start to the rally that evening. There was hardly anyone there and it was beginning to seem like a waste us hanging around most of the afternoon, just so we could be there. More people arrived during the evening and by the time Tom came on to speak there was a decent number there. Tom gave a really challenging message that night. Not only did he share the Gospel but he also challenged the Christians who were there about their own walks with the Lord. He gave people a chance at the end to come forward if they wanted to really get serious about their faith and to live lives wholly dedicated to the Lord. If I remember right about 6 or 7 of our team went up that night. There was also a young Fijian J.W. there that night who became a Christian. It turned out to be a really moving night. And if you were to ask the question, "Was it worth hanging around for?" I'm sure you'd get a resounding, "Yes!"
Our last program was scheduled for a High School in Nadi but when we turned up there was already another group from LifeSwitch in Wellington. We'd been double booked!
Charlie and Tom were quick onto a solution though and we ended up being able to go to another part of the school and do our program there. Yet another example of God going before us.
We learnt another interesting lesson that day as a group and that was the importance of contextualising the Gospel. It was something I'd been learning in semester one at school in our Acts paper, so it was interesting to encounter it firsthand. The conversation was prompted after many of the teens hearing what the other group was doing through their super loud, distorting speakers. It was good that they realised that it wasn't about being better or worse than each other but understanding that you have to witness to the people in a way that fits in with their culture. They felt confident that we'd done this well.
Thursday rolled around and amidst the excitement of our highly anticipated day off Island adventure you could feel the uneasyness about leaving early the next morning. No one was going to let that ruin their day though. So we headed off for Mala Mala Island via Denarau Island which felt a lot more like the Fiji people come to see. It really was a great way to end the trip. Laxing out on a beach mat in the sun, snorkling, kayaking, swimming, fishing, playing volleyball, eating and enjoying each others company for one last day. I loved it and kept a deal with a couple of boys to go snorkling together. Back at the motel we packed up our bags and got dressed up for our last dinner together. We got Chinese take out and fizzy and icecream for dessert.
After dinner we all got together for our last family time. Tom had asked us to write down a few things that we'd really learnt or been challenged on during the trip and then we all took a turn to share with everyone. It started out very light hearted with a song written by 2 of the guys that was a bit of a social commentary on the trip. Everyone was mentioned in it. And then 2 others shared a worship song that they'd written. We probably made it a good third of the way through without tears. It wasn't a blubber fest, just tender tears that took the place of words for some people who had really been touched during the trip. It was a fitting way to spend our last night together. Reflecting on all God had done for us and through us over the last 3 weeks.
~ Just as a random aside, it was actually here at the nicest place we stayed that we saw the biggest ugliest cochroach ever! ~
The next day was to be a big one. We set off at 10 in the morning and didn't get back til a little after 10 that night. It was a really hard morning for me. I was feeling sick, tired and was just not able to stick my happy mask on and make it stay. Thankfully by lunch my mood had lifted, I felt a whole lot better. We spent the day visiting 2 schools in Lautoka and then had another combined youth rally at a church there that evening. This was another of the defining moments on the trip for a bunch of the team. It had been a long day and we had a pretty discouraging start to the rally that evening. There was hardly anyone there and it was beginning to seem like a waste us hanging around most of the afternoon, just so we could be there. More people arrived during the evening and by the time Tom came on to speak there was a decent number there. Tom gave a really challenging message that night. Not only did he share the Gospel but he also challenged the Christians who were there about their own walks with the Lord. He gave people a chance at the end to come forward if they wanted to really get serious about their faith and to live lives wholly dedicated to the Lord. If I remember right about 6 or 7 of our team went up that night. There was also a young Fijian J.W. there that night who became a Christian. It turned out to be a really moving night. And if you were to ask the question, "Was it worth hanging around for?" I'm sure you'd get a resounding, "Yes!"
Our last program was scheduled for a High School in Nadi but when we turned up there was already another group from LifeSwitch in Wellington. We'd been double booked!
Charlie and Tom were quick onto a solution though and we ended up being able to go to another part of the school and do our program there. Yet another example of God going before us.
We learnt another interesting lesson that day as a group and that was the importance of contextualising the Gospel. It was something I'd been learning in semester one at school in our Acts paper, so it was interesting to encounter it firsthand. The conversation was prompted after many of the teens hearing what the other group was doing through their super loud, distorting speakers. It was good that they realised that it wasn't about being better or worse than each other but understanding that you have to witness to the people in a way that fits in with their culture. They felt confident that we'd done this well.
Thursday rolled around and amidst the excitement of our highly anticipated day off Island adventure you could feel the uneasyness about leaving early the next morning. No one was going to let that ruin their day though. So we headed off for Mala Mala Island via Denarau Island which felt a lot more like the Fiji people come to see. It really was a great way to end the trip. Laxing out on a beach mat in the sun, snorkling, kayaking, swimming, fishing, playing volleyball, eating and enjoying each others company for one last day. I loved it and kept a deal with a couple of boys to go snorkling together. Back at the motel we packed up our bags and got dressed up for our last dinner together. We got Chinese take out and fizzy and icecream for dessert.
After dinner we all got together for our last family time. Tom had asked us to write down a few things that we'd really learnt or been challenged on during the trip and then we all took a turn to share with everyone. It started out very light hearted with a song written by 2 of the guys that was a bit of a social commentary on the trip. Everyone was mentioned in it. And then 2 others shared a worship song that they'd written. We probably made it a good third of the way through without tears. It wasn't a blubber fest, just tender tears that took the place of words for some people who had really been touched during the trip. It was a fitting way to spend our last night together. Reflecting on all God had done for us and through us over the last 3 weeks.
Get the real Fiji holiday feeling...the 3rd installation
For the next week we traveled to different Primary and High Schools in and around Suva. Probably one of the craziest days we pulled up outside a High School and all over the front of it was stuff like Allah is God, Mohammed blahdy-blah. So off we go cruising into this Muslim/Hindu (there were mixed stories about what it was) school ready to preach the Gospel! It was pretty intense there though. You could feel that there was something really spiritual going on. Praise God that a couple of Hindu kids came to faith that day. It was huge us being able to go in there and share openly about Jesus. There were Christian kids there, one in particular who'd been sharing with some friends and had been praying that a group like us would come into their school. How awesome is our God!
There was one teacher who works there who is a Christian and his wife taught at a nearby Hindu Primary school. He jumped on the phone to her and we were able to go there and do a program that afternoon. God had it all worked out. We originally had something planned for the afternoon but it fell through that morning before we left. It was encouraging to see how flexible the teens were. It was hot and we were tired and expecting to head straight back to the hotel, but they realised that God had opened the door to get us into that school and so they gave it everything they had.
Bus rides were becoming the perfect time to have deep and meaningfuls. That day I had a really awesome talk with 2 guys, who were quickly becoming great friends.
It was during this week that we visited the slums I mentioned in the first post.
We also ran a couple of combined youth rally things and were able to reconnect there with the people we met at camp. It was so good seeing them again, especially the deaf boys.
We got bits and pieces of down time that week. Went and explored Suva a couple of times. Found the fruit and veges markets and the handicraft markets as well. Some of the boys came away feeling like they were pretty good at bartering for cheap prices. It was funny to watch them come away with massive war axes they were planning to hang on their walls at home!
Family time was a really important part of the trip. We'd all get together to share from QT's, pray and sing together. Tom would also give a talk on different issues relating to being a teenager. These were really special times together as a whole team. Being out at programs forced us to work together and to rely and trust each other but it was in the family times where we really became a lot closer to each other.
Leaving Suva was kinda hard. It signalled to a lot of us that the trip was nearly over. 5 more days and we'd be back in New Zealand getting on with life once more.
We headed for the Westside, to Nadi and Grand West Villas. Just how grand we were soon to find out...
There was one teacher who works there who is a Christian and his wife taught at a nearby Hindu Primary school. He jumped on the phone to her and we were able to go there and do a program that afternoon. God had it all worked out. We originally had something planned for the afternoon but it fell through that morning before we left. It was encouraging to see how flexible the teens were. It was hot and we were tired and expecting to head straight back to the hotel, but they realised that God had opened the door to get us into that school and so they gave it everything they had.
Bus rides were becoming the perfect time to have deep and meaningfuls. That day I had a really awesome talk with 2 guys, who were quickly becoming great friends.
It was during this week that we visited the slums I mentioned in the first post.
We also ran a couple of combined youth rally things and were able to reconnect there with the people we met at camp. It was so good seeing them again, especially the deaf boys.
We got bits and pieces of down time that week. Went and explored Suva a couple of times. Found the fruit and veges markets and the handicraft markets as well. Some of the boys came away feeling like they were pretty good at bartering for cheap prices. It was funny to watch them come away with massive war axes they were planning to hang on their walls at home!
Family time was a really important part of the trip. We'd all get together to share from QT's, pray and sing together. Tom would also give a talk on different issues relating to being a teenager. These were really special times together as a whole team. Being out at programs forced us to work together and to rely and trust each other but it was in the family times where we really became a lot closer to each other.
Leaving Suva was kinda hard. It signalled to a lot of us that the trip was nearly over. 5 more days and we'd be back in New Zealand getting on with life once more.
We headed for the Westside, to Nadi and Grand West Villas. Just how grand we were soon to find out...
Get the real Fiji holiday feeling...Part 2
So the camp was a really unique experience from the point of view that we were right in there with Fijian young people for an extended amount of time. We were actually able to get to know them and form friendships. I know this was really valuable to me. At the same time it was really familiar, going on camps is a huge part of youth group culture in New Zealand so we all understood the value of it.
We did a sports rotation before lunch on the Saturday and it was so funny to watch them play netball on grass with no positions or real boundaries and basically no rules! Probably the wildest netball I've ever seen played. It was heaps of fun! I was really shocked to find out that they all go on camp with the expectation that they'll wake at 4-4.30 in the morning to do their QT's and to pray and spend time with the Lord. Really put us to shame as some of us pretty much rolled out of bed just in time for breakfast! We were blown away by their singing as well. They just all naturally harmonised with each other and sung so powerfully. It was beautiful. (This was fairly typical of everywhere in Fiji).
Another huge part of the weekend for us Kiwi kids was the food! They brought in their own cooks for the weekend...I know I was more than a little nervous! I tried everything on my plate - and then learnt very quickly who were the guys on our team that ate anything! Mostly it was really good. Rice, curry sort of things and Chop Suey, potato salad. It was the taro, cassava and taro leaves stuffed with tinned corned beef and stewed in coconut milk that I couldn't stomach. There was no chance of me wasting anything so Bronson was my garbage disposal - that guy would often finish a meal with 3 or 4 empty plates in front of him. Someone summed it up well when they said that the Cassava was like eating a candle. Couldn't have described it better myself!
The rain came down just as we got our gear loaded onto the bus ready to go to Suva. It was only about an hour before we pulled up outside our new accomodation, Tropic Towers! What a novelty, glass in the windows, hot showers (more often than not) and air-con! This was like Heaven!
We changed and raced out to what would be another defining night on the trip. We had our first official program at Adi Caucombau (*sp) the biggest girls boarding school in Fiji. It was the perfect way to kick the next 2 weeks off. They were so enthusiastic! They LOVED the puppets! And they put us to shame when they sang for us! It was hilarious when we went through and introduced ourselves, the boys got huge cheers, yells, screams, wolf whistles, claps and even a standing ovation at one point! They were loving it and clearly the girls were too! The most significant thing was the response at the end of the night though. It was clear that some of the girls just wanted to talk to the boys, but a huge number responded to the Gospel message that Tom so clearly gave. We were swampped, but in the chaos I was able to have a really cool conversation with about 5 girls that were squashed in around me. We all knew it that night we were in Fiji for a reason and it was clear God was going to use us. In fact, He already was.
We did a sports rotation before lunch on the Saturday and it was so funny to watch them play netball on grass with no positions or real boundaries and basically no rules! Probably the wildest netball I've ever seen played. It was heaps of fun! I was really shocked to find out that they all go on camp with the expectation that they'll wake at 4-4.30 in the morning to do their QT's and to pray and spend time with the Lord. Really put us to shame as some of us pretty much rolled out of bed just in time for breakfast! We were blown away by their singing as well. They just all naturally harmonised with each other and sung so powerfully. It was beautiful. (This was fairly typical of everywhere in Fiji).
Another huge part of the weekend for us Kiwi kids was the food! They brought in their own cooks for the weekend...I know I was more than a little nervous! I tried everything on my plate - and then learnt very quickly who were the guys on our team that ate anything! Mostly it was really good. Rice, curry sort of things and Chop Suey, potato salad. It was the taro, cassava and taro leaves stuffed with tinned corned beef and stewed in coconut milk that I couldn't stomach. There was no chance of me wasting anything so Bronson was my garbage disposal - that guy would often finish a meal with 3 or 4 empty plates in front of him. Someone summed it up well when they said that the Cassava was like eating a candle. Couldn't have described it better myself!
The rain came down just as we got our gear loaded onto the bus ready to go to Suva. It was only about an hour before we pulled up outside our new accomodation, Tropic Towers! What a novelty, glass in the windows, hot showers (more often than not) and air-con! This was like Heaven!
We changed and raced out to what would be another defining night on the trip. We had our first official program at Adi Caucombau (*sp) the biggest girls boarding school in Fiji. It was the perfect way to kick the next 2 weeks off. They were so enthusiastic! They LOVED the puppets! And they put us to shame when they sang for us! It was hilarious when we went through and introduced ourselves, the boys got huge cheers, yells, screams, wolf whistles, claps and even a standing ovation at one point! They were loving it and clearly the girls were too! The most significant thing was the response at the end of the night though. It was clear that some of the girls just wanted to talk to the boys, but a huge number responded to the Gospel message that Tom so clearly gave. We were swampped, but in the chaos I was able to have a really cool conversation with about 5 girls that were squashed in around me. We all knew it that night we were in Fiji for a reason and it was clear God was going to use us. In fact, He already was.
3.8.08
Get the real Fiji holiday feeling...
Well I definately saw the 'real' Fiji while I was away, but not so sure about the holiday feeling?! We worked pretty hard.
It's hard to even know where to begin with something like this. The experience was totally life altering. It's one thing to hear or see about the way other people live, but another to actually go and see and experience it with your own eyes. To sit in the so called lounge room of a corrugated iron shack with 5 little kids smiling up at you and their parents welcoming you into their home. To be made a cup of coffee and offered a plate of cakes and not know how clean the water is or if the milk is off, but in your heart knowing the insult it would be to turn it down because of the huge sacrifce they've just made offering it to you, their 'honoured' guest. To sit and listen as they share a little with you about life as they know it. To see how little they have and yet how happy they are and to think how miserable we'd be if we suddenly lost all the material things we have.
To have 5 sweet, sweet little girls with toothless grins singing their hearts out for you. And then to watch them giggle as you sing something back to them.
We spent all of 1 hour visiting with people in the Wailea slums in Suva and yet it had such a profound impact on so many of the team, including myself.
I'm sitting in bed with my electric blanket on, tapping away on my laptop and really struggling to understand it all. How fortunate I am to have been born, when and where and to whom I was. Life could have been much harder than it is for me. My silly moans and groans seem grossly insignificant in comparison.
We spent the first part of the trip training at Coral Coast Christian Centre a camp at Dueba near Pacific Harbour. We practiced our dramas, songs, puppets, testimonies and the 'Your Love is Deep' dance to near perfection (haha). It was a great week of being in fellowship with each other. Afterall we had mostly all just met. It was clear that friendships were forming already. I guess that's a result of living in each others pockets.
During this first week we were able to do 2 smaller programs that were a good intro to things and a chance to practice our dramas and songs. It was awesome to see people make decisions for Christ while we were there.
The first weekend there we had about 50-60 young people from Suva come in for a camp. We discovered that a whole bunch of the boys were from a deaf school. This kinda threw me at first but we all quickly settled in to a routine of spelling out words using sign language that was very hastily picked up!
Little did we know that in the 2 short days we'd spend with those boys that they'd change some of our lives.
It's hard to even know where to begin with something like this. The experience was totally life altering. It's one thing to hear or see about the way other people live, but another to actually go and see and experience it with your own eyes. To sit in the so called lounge room of a corrugated iron shack with 5 little kids smiling up at you and their parents welcoming you into their home. To be made a cup of coffee and offered a plate of cakes and not know how clean the water is or if the milk is off, but in your heart knowing the insult it would be to turn it down because of the huge sacrifce they've just made offering it to you, their 'honoured' guest. To sit and listen as they share a little with you about life as they know it. To see how little they have and yet how happy they are and to think how miserable we'd be if we suddenly lost all the material things we have.
To have 5 sweet, sweet little girls with toothless grins singing their hearts out for you. And then to watch them giggle as you sing something back to them.
We spent all of 1 hour visiting with people in the Wailea slums in Suva and yet it had such a profound impact on so many of the team, including myself.
I'm sitting in bed with my electric blanket on, tapping away on my laptop and really struggling to understand it all. How fortunate I am to have been born, when and where and to whom I was. Life could have been much harder than it is for me. My silly moans and groans seem grossly insignificant in comparison.
We spent the first part of the trip training at Coral Coast Christian Centre a camp at Dueba near Pacific Harbour. We practiced our dramas, songs, puppets, testimonies and the 'Your Love is Deep' dance to near perfection (haha). It was a great week of being in fellowship with each other. Afterall we had mostly all just met. It was clear that friendships were forming already. I guess that's a result of living in each others pockets.
During this first week we were able to do 2 smaller programs that were a good intro to things and a chance to practice our dramas and songs. It was awesome to see people make decisions for Christ while we were there.
The first weekend there we had about 50-60 young people from Suva come in for a camp. We discovered that a whole bunch of the boys were from a deaf school. This kinda threw me at first but we all quickly settled in to a routine of spelling out words using sign language that was very hastily picked up!
Little did we know that in the 2 short days we'd spend with those boys that they'd change some of our lives.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)