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.