This week has been pretty awesome! We just got back from staying with a Pastor outside of Nadi from Tuesday night until this morning (Friday). We went out there to help his ministry with children's programming. On Wednesday morning, Van, Beth and I trained a couple of local volunteers on how to teach a lesson that Pastor Jare prepared and we taught them lots of songs and some games to play with children. And then at 2 we ran the program. We were expecting maybe 20 kids or so, but when Sarah and Dave got back from a settlement that is about a 15 minute drive from where we were they told us that 26 or so kids would be bused over from the settlement.
We started the program at 2 ish, there was maybe 25-30 kids there. It was a good number. We sang some songs and started playing some games and then the bus came. And swarms of children got out. We had to re-evaluate the game that we were playing and move into the field. I think there was close to 60 kids that came in total. It was so fun! The kids were so well behaved too. Not at all like the kids that I work with at my church. Haha!
As fun as it was, that afternoon was exhausting. It was only 3 hours. When the kids were gone I reminisced about the days of camp when I had to do that 24 hours a day for 2 months. Oh how glad I am that I don't have to do that here. The memories of the late nights with homesick children, the mornings when your eyes literally will not open until you splash yourself with water, and the long, long, long days that you pretend that you have energy, but really you have absolutely none. And the grace of God and continual cups of coffee are the only things that keep you going. Oh, those were the days...
The lesson/activity that we had the kids do was make a bracelet with specific beads that represent Creation, Heaven, Sin, God, The Blood of Christ, Faith and Spiritual Growth. Somehow we had exactly the right number of bracelets for each kid to get one, some of us had to give the kids our bracelets. My bracelet was the demo bracelet, so I was just going to keep it. But then one of our Hindi translators said that she really wanted one, so I gave it to her. And then the next day she brought me a beautiful beaded bracelet of hers to give me. It was so sweet! Now I have a pretty bracelet from Fiji to remember her by. Awe!
That evening we had a worship and prayer service. One of the ladies that had been visited by our door-knockers that morning came to church. She wasn't Christian, but she gave her life to Jesus that night. It was so amazing. She was a single grandmother. She takes care of her son's children because his wife left him and the kids. And neither him nor the grandma can find work. So sad. But now she has Jesus!
On Thursday morning we did some more door-knocking. And then we did some yard work at the Pastor's house. We raked and moved tree branches and lumber and stuff into a burn-pile. It took all afternoon. I got so dirty, but I didn't care because I was going to have a shower in the Pastor's wonderful shower. Van and I also put on an acrobatics show for the children. I did a headstand with my legs in a V and he dove through and did a somersault. It was pretty intense. And I got nature in my hair. So by the end of the afternoon I had dust/dirt up my legs to my knees. My hands were super dirty and I was really sweaty, and so was everyone else. And surprise, surprise. The water was off. Why does the water go off so much in Fiji? It is an island! It has water EVERYWHERE. So we went to an evening service in a nearby settlement really stinky and dirty. It was awesome.
We held a service there for some single mothers and their children. It is a really poor settlement. So we did some worship, had a sermon, did some prayer for the children and ladies, and we brought some snacks for them. I got to sit with a group of little girls. They were probably about 9 or so. They were so cute. And they loved touching my white skin and my blonde hair. I haven't shaved my legs in an eternity, so they are really hairy, but the hairs are really blonde, so you can't see them until the light shines on them. The kids were fascinated with the hairs. And they started poking my hands and feet and discovered that when you push on it the blood leaves the area and the skin gets all white for a second afterwards. Their skin doesn't do that. Who would have guessed? We became really good friends and I was sad when I had to leave.
The Pastor did a little thank-you thing for us and prophesied over us. He works for a cruise company in Fiji, so he gifted us a 8G USB. YAY! I needed a USB so bad. Because I need to get pictures and stuff from everyone else! When he prophesied over me he said that I will be a great mother one day. Oh man. Another mother heart prophesy. Except this time I am a Sarah, which I am guessing means I won't have children until later in life. I just hope that I'm not older than 30 because that's pushin' it a bit. And again I got a prophesy that I will do big things for lots of nations. So that was pretty cool.
And when we got back to the house the water was back on! yay! And the family have a shower with a shower head and the water comes out of it and falls onto you. Wow. Even though it is cold water it is the best thing ever. So much better than bucket showers. I actually feel clean for the first time since I have been in Fiji. The permadirt is off of my feet for a while. Awe yeahhhhh.
And this morning we came back to Lautoka. I am so glad to be back. I missed Pastor and Auntie and my porridge for breakfast. And all of us, especially Hannah, will be glad that we don't have to put up with the rooster anymore. We slept outside on the veranda thingy at the pastors house. And there were chickens and a rooster in their yard. The rooster thought it was fun to cockadoodledoo at very inconvenient times. Hannah started to throw stuff at it every time it cockadoodldooed. One time, she was eating some sugar cane and the rooster was about 5 meters ish away. It cockadoodledooed and Hannah threw her chunk of sugar cane at the rooster. It hit him right in the middle of his side. He screeched and jumped in the air and knocked a pot over and ran away. It was hilarious to say the least.
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