Bula Vinaka from Vanua Levu!
Sorry it has been awhile since I sent out an update! Somehow I thought I would have more down time here, than in the states, but that hasn’t proven true for me. I have a list of personal emails, that I still need to reply to, but if I keep up with them, this letter will never be writtenJ So dear friends, be patient with me and know that ‘Au lomani iko’! (I love you!)
I sit in my room tonight, alone, and surrounded by boxes, suitcases (still!) and some nice plastic shelves. Mike and my ‘eldest’ daughters (as the Fijians call them) are rocking out in Savusavu at the ‘Decked Out Café’ with a group called ‘Primal Youth’! It is a long story, but the bottom line is this group is reaching out the young people of Savusavu through music at a local restaurant. Saul, our Fijian student, the eldest Thompson girls and I joined Mike in town today for a late celebration of Jessi’s 18th birthday. We had ice cream cones (my first since I’ve been to Fiji), (YUMMY!), and I have to admit we went out for lunch, and I had my first cheeseburger since I’ve been to Fiji (did I already say YUMMY?)
I don’t know why I am boring you with the details of what I ate today, but it seemed hugely significant to me for some reason! Perhaps it is because I truly have learned to live without the things I once thought necessary in life. I sure did appreciate those YUMMY treats, but I will be just fine waiting til the next birthday to do that againJ Back to my story. As I was saying, Mike and the girls are gone for the night, and the ‘small’ ones, as the Fijians call them, are snug in their beds.
Tomorrow brings a new day, which will be most likely full of learning experiences. This past week has taught me things, some significant, and some humorous. On the humorous side, I am finally understanding some of the subtleties of Fijian communication. Have I told you that when a Fijian wants to say yes, they can be silent, and simply raise their eyebrows at you? For the longest time, I would wonder why the children would just raise their eyebrows at me when I asked them a question. Now I know that they are not being rude. They are answering with ‘eye language’. The person that taught me this lesson, neglected to inform me that ‘no’ can be expressed silently with a slight scrunch of the nose. This I had to learn from Saul, when I realized he wasn’t going to say ‘io’ or ‘sega’ (yes or no) to one of my questions. Finally, it dawned on me that his nose was doing the talking.
This phenomenon is still a strange thing to get used to, especially when my own children are doing it. My natural response to the raised eyebrows is to think they are being ‘sassy’, but I am working on adapting to the language. One thing that is very confusing is how they say, ‘uh uh’ and ‘uh huh’. Fijians say these words just like Americans. However, they have the opposite meaning. ‘Uh uh’ means ‘yes’, and ‘uh huh’ means no. Try having a conversation with someone and practice mixing up the meaning of these words. One night, I was having a lengthy conversation with one of the staff here, and his most consistent input was ‘uh uh’. It is very challenging to believe someone is agreeing with or encouraging you, when they keep saying ‘uh uh’. Fortunately, the Fijians are patient with us, and just laugh along when we don’t understand something.
Among the more significant things that I have learned here is that human beings do NOT need an abundance of STUFF. After much prayer, and consistent hard work and persistence on the guy’s part, our 40 foot long container pulled up to the Mission this past Thursday at around 12:30 pm. Great cheers and excitement greeted the colossal, red metal box, as the truck carrying it pulled in next to the bus stop on our property. We hastily fed the customs officer a home cooked Fijian meal of curried potatoes and roti, with cassava, and some leftover chocoate cake. Mike wanted us to sweeten him up, as this particular man had the power to make our life easy or very, very difficult with the unloading of the container.
Thankfully, he decided to go easy on us. As the rain gently fell from the sky, the doors to that well traveled container, which left Colorado ahead of us in the middle of August, were opened and its ingredients unloaded. A large group of hard working men arrived to help us with this daunting feat. Mike climbed up and started to pull out the first of our earthly possessions. Mattresses, couches, shovels, and all the works were handed down an assembly line until I would point each item to the direction of its new home. If it was going back in the container, the item would go to the covered bus stop. Items we wanted access to immediately went up to our dorms, and items we wanted to sort through headed to the storage above the cafeteria. Many hands made for a quick process, and we were completely unloaded within a few hours, while the customs official looked on. Fortunately, he didn’t ask us to open any of the boxes or crates, and seemed to be content to sip on his cool glass of orange tang.
The monumental task of the day was still ahead of us. We had to remove the container from the truck, without the help of any heavy equipment. A crane was supposed to arrive to pick up the container, but a communication break down left us with no choice but to pray and brainstorm. In the end, the men tied the container to several coconut trees, and the driver pulled forward with the container crashing to the ground, miraculously upright! Jessi was sure she saw the ‘air shake’. The crash resounded to many islands, I am sure. Mike, Ben and Saul slept out in the bus stop to keep watch over all of our belongings, and the next day we were able to load it all back up, a few boxes lighter.
This experience brings me to one of my lessons learned. No more STUFF! Our whole group was humbled by the fact that we have too much STUFF! We have been surviving just fine, without all of these things. A few things brought great delight to the children…bikes, special toys (yes, legos!), books, some extra clothing, etc. I must admit, I was happy to have some practical things like Tupperware (which is VERY expensive here), baskets for organizing, more school books, etc. Mike was VERY happy to receive his tools, and supplies for building the house, as well as some more of his favorite shampooJ
In reality, it was a bit embarrassing to unload box after box, and have all of our new friends working hard to help us, when the truth is that they live very simply and contentedly with very little. One man asked us if we were moving the whole state of Colorado to the Mission. He was joking, of course, but if he only knew how much STUFF we had already gotten rid of. Certainly, one American family owns more ‘rubbish’ than Fijians accumulate in a lifetime. As we were preparing to move to Fiji, and we were downsizing, and getting rid of many things, I looked at shopping in a whole new light.
Every purchase was carefully examined, and prayed over with the question of ‘do I really need this?’ I encourage many of you to ask this question when you are at the store. Especially with the holiday season approaching, and many of you are making gift lists, think about what you really want to spend your money on. Does your Aunt Sue need you to waste money on something she doesn’t really need? Do you want people to spend time and money on you, when you have everything you need and more? As we were forced to evaluate all that we owned, we realized that much of what possess we could live without. As we are now forced to evaluate every penny we spend, it is so much easier not to be tempted with the latest gadget. I want to encourage you this year, instead of being the one to spend more, and consume more, maybe you might consider giving of yourselves. Your time, your prayers, your shoulder to cry on, your ears to listen. These are the things we often miss in America.
Spend time and invest yourselves in things that last. You will never regret it. As I write this letter, I realize if I tell you everything that I want to, it will never be delivered. I didn’t mean to make it preachy, but as I write, it is strong on my heart that there a couple of practical needs here that you may desire to play a part in helping with!
I have written to you about our decision to homeschool one Fijian youth. After we started with this, we have had several more requests and hints of requests for us to homeschool other children. One young girl, who has been abandoned by her mother, has personally requested us to teach her at home. If we say yes to evey heart breaking request, we would have 20 kids by the end of the month.
Logistically, this is just not possible. We have heard more and more stories of young people that will be sent off to the big cities, away from their families to be able to continue their education. There is no secondary school within 2 hours of the Mission. It is our desire to start a secondary school here that we be not only academically strong, but will provide the people of Buca Bay an affordable alternative, where their children can be trained as future leaders in Fiji, and instructed in the ways of God.
It has recently come to our attention, that the local primary school is lacking in funding to renew their lease. They have struggled with mismanagemant of money, and poor academic results. Mike has been asked to sit as treasurer on the new committee that is being formed, and Jon has been asked to raise approximately $10,000 to renew the lease and keep the school alive. We strongly believe that this school could be revived and provide quality education, and vocational training for the surrounding villages, if given the chance.
If any of you are looking for a worthy place to give, please respond to this email, and I will give you the necessary info to donate.
Well, sorry for the tangent there. Before I close this letter, I will finish with a few amazing things that God has been up to, and a few bits of family newsJ
We had some visitors from Malaysia a couple weeks ago. Strange as it may sound, they had been sent by God to come to Fiji, simply to pray for the nation. They were somewhat stranded near our place, when the boat they were told would take them to the next island didn’t exist. This story could take several pages to share with you, but in just a few words I will describe this ‘divine appointment’ as nothing short of miraculous! They spent just a few hours with us, but God spoke through them to encourage us in ways that are beyond words. We believe that God has some very special plans for Fiji, and he intersected our paths with these amazing Christians just to remind us of that.
The girls and Mike just got back from the Primal Youth event that I was telling you about, earlier in this letter. They now have ‘family’ in Savusavu with an open invitation to visit their new friends. The outreach event in town was packed out, and they had an amazing time playing music with this group of skilled musicians who share a love for Christ. Primal youth reaches out through music, drama and dance. Many young people responded to the message, and our girls are dying to go back asap. They have been invited to do prison ministry with this team as well. One of the best parts about it all, was the girls said these youth spoke such good English, that for a while they felt like they were talking to Americans. It is unusual for the young people to really open up to our girls, because their English isn’t always good enough to share their heart.
We have had our highs and lows, since being here. There are more highs now, and less lows, but the battle rages on in our hearts, as we are reminded that our home is now halfway across the world from what we are used to. Jessi made a comment that there is nowhere you can look, to forget that we are in Fiji. Nothing looks the same, or feels the same. Humidity has replaced a dry climate. Palm trees have replaced aspens. Concrete has replaced carpet. Dish washers have replaced dishwashers. (Get it?) Pulling laundry off the clothes line, to save it from the rain has become a common occurrence. The microwave is long forgotten, and we are used to spending hours in the kitchen for one meal. Even with a local Fijian lady helping us, the kitchen has become of our biggest time consumers. That being said, I am not complaining. Just adjustingJ
Some of the lastest simple pleasures are having our bikes. 30 minute walks to the villages are condensed to a 10 minute bike ride. Jessi has been enjoying doing the kinde program, and is welcomed everywhere she goes with, ‘play us a song!’ Bailee has transitioned from the kinde program to teaching an English class in the local school. She loved her first time, and was enamored by the children who call her ‘Madame’J Ben has been happy here since day 1. He has been working on a sketch of the garden for Monique, our Master garden planner. They are increasing the garden, which we hope to grow big enough to support all the groups that come down here, as well as provide produce to sell and raise funds for the Mission. Nathan is enjoying all of his new friends, and building forts on the beach. Becka has been busy making all sorts of little presents for her secret friend, for a gift exchange program that the whole Mission staff is partipating in. Justin is Mr. Fiji Boy (or Kai Viti), with his Fiji eyes (he can see in the dark now), and Fiji feet (he can walk on the rough gravel) and his Fiji words (lako mai kei—come here!) He just needs a hair cut and some darker skin, and he will be native.
In some ways, it feels like we’ve been here forever, and in others, it seems like we just arrived. The house building has been slow, but steady, and we had amazing news that my carpenter brother, Kim, will be coming to help us build in January. It makes the impending rainy season seem not so daunting, with the anticipation of visitors. Never did I dream in a million years that we would have such a response to our ‘wish list’. One of the items on our list was a friend of our boys named Andrew. We just received word that he and his Dad will be coming to see us in February!!! Now that was one big wish to fulfill. Hmmm…what else should I put on that list? Dairy Queen, perhaps? J
Well, thanks to all of you who have read this far, and have been following our story. We appreciate all of your letters and prayers.
Much love from the Hawthornes and yours truly,
Sara
PS> Specific Praises and Prayer Requests
Praise
**all of our health, and NO boils
**the safe arrival of our container
**our past visitors and future ones
**the power of the Holy Spirit, and all the divine appointments we have had
Prayer
**the funds and plans for a secondary school
** provision the primary school to continue
**Mike’s pain to be healed
**wisdom for ministry
**unity amongst our team
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