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.
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