Saturday, January 17, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Fiji Day 10 - Monday
This was written in my journal pending me to be able to update on the final day of our Fiji Trip....so sorry if all my tenses are upside down.
I can't actually believe that it's time for us to go back. I'm so tired that I'm actually on autopilot mode. After the whole drama yesterday about the flights and waiting for the shuttle bus...After 12 days in Fiji, staying with each other 24/7 this is it.. we're finally going home. Back to our own little lives, our own little comfort zones.
Everyone had to be awake and ready for the Resort's shuttle bus to bring us to the airport at 6am. We were waiting there at 5.50am .. and waited..and waited..and waited.. providing breakfast for all the mossies.. we were all so braindead from the whole week's activities and the lack of sleep on the final night (surprisingly we were provided with really nice rooms on the final night of the trip). Anyway, Dr Peter Chen had to go and follow up with the reception and finally a semi-filled minivan came along.. and only half of us and half of our luggage could be uploaded. DUH. the driver said that he would come back for the other half of us.. so whilst waiting for another 20 mins, we slopped on MORE insect repellant and sat on our suitcases... Just when Grace Choy wanted to go to the toilet via the balcony door that Ben had left unlocked just in case.... the minivan came back..
We were all reunited at the airport check in queue which was crazy madness long. some of us went to the cafe to get breakfast and wait whilst some of us queued.. After about an hour we reached the counter.. only to realise that there were some problems with Hsien's and small Peter's passports as their Australia VISAs were in their old passports and therefore not updated on the database (or something like that).
Whilst we were waiting, we heard on the PA system that our flight had been postponed by an hour to 10 am instead.. That was probs quite expected, cos the check in queue was still so long... After an exorbitantly pricy brekkie, there was another announcement over the PA system.... That Nausori Airport was closed indefinately and all flights in and out of Suva were cancelled.
Wow... what a relieving news... We had been fortunate enough to catch the last flight out. Imagine if we had not, we would be stuck in Suva. Thanks to Dr Peter Chen for being decisive about just booking the internal flights.
More duty free shopping later, we found a quiet little spot to play our last game of Dai Di together on the mission trip (small Peter won every round!!)... The time came for us to board and when we were walking to the airplane, the rain started pouring down and the winds were so strong.. THE CYCLONE WAS BACK.. like it was stalking us.. GO AWAY!!!!!! duh...
And then.. more waiting.... on the plane.. which was stuffy and warm... with the rain pouring down outside.. there were some problems with the wait list which caused delays as they wanted to help everyone out of Fiji..then we had to wait for them to stock up on the drinking water in the plane... So, we only took off an hour later...RAHHHHHH
4 hours 22 mins later, we touched down!!! WOOTTTSSS we're back. Everything that the Fiji church memebers had given us successfully passed through immigration checks... when we were sitting in the arrival hall waiting for our transport back to church... we all just HAD to buy Maccas for a meal..... Woah... the taste.. MACCASSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!! we all gobbled everything down like super fast... yeah!! we can eat fruits and salads again!!!!!!!
So yah, the time came for us to all say goodbye to each other. Ben's mum was so relieved to have him back safe and sound.. but WAIT! there's more! he knows how to write his Chinese name now (thanks to Hu Die). hur hur hur...
And that was the end of the trip.. of course there's still more work to be done... the presentations on Sunday to the congregation..the reports for CCMA...the final calculations for our finances etc.
Just let us catch up on our beauty sleep first please...
*update: Peter Li slept at 8pm on the next 2 days that he came back till the next morning.
Oh our little Ben Ben had afternoon naps and evening naps for the next few days.
Hu Die fell sick a few days after she got back but thanks God that all of us were healthy during the 12 days in Fiji.
Hsien has done up a newsletter that will be distributed on Sunday. (I will also post a copy here on the blog)
Finally: Thanks to our amazing God who has brought us through these 12 days safe and sound. For letting us experience the cyclone and flood so we can see how fortunate we are in Sydney but bringing us safely out from Fiji. There are so many thanks that we would like to say to everyone else. who gave financially and prayed for us. We sincerely THANK YOU.
I can't actually believe that it's time for us to go back. I'm so tired that I'm actually on autopilot mode. After the whole drama yesterday about the flights and waiting for the shuttle bus...After 12 days in Fiji, staying with each other 24/7 this is it.. we're finally going home. Back to our own little lives, our own little comfort zones.
Everyone had to be awake and ready for the Resort's shuttle bus to bring us to the airport at 6am. We were waiting there at 5.50am .. and waited..and waited..and waited.. providing breakfast for all the mossies.. we were all so braindead from the whole week's activities and the lack of sleep on the final night (surprisingly we were provided with really nice rooms on the final night of the trip). Anyway, Dr Peter Chen had to go and follow up with the reception and finally a semi-filled minivan came along.. and only half of us and half of our luggage could be uploaded. DUH. the driver said that he would come back for the other half of us.. so whilst waiting for another 20 mins, we slopped on MORE insect repellant and sat on our suitcases... Just when Grace Choy wanted to go to the toilet via the balcony door that Ben had left unlocked just in case.... the minivan came back..
We were all reunited at the airport check in queue which was crazy madness long. some of us went to the cafe to get breakfast and wait whilst some of us queued.. After about an hour we reached the counter.. only to realise that there were some problems with Hsien's and small Peter's passports as their Australia VISAs were in their old passports and therefore not updated on the database (or something like that).
Whilst we were waiting, we heard on the PA system that our flight had been postponed by an hour to 10 am instead.. That was probs quite expected, cos the check in queue was still so long... After an exorbitantly pricy brekkie, there was another announcement over the PA system.... That Nausori Airport was closed indefinately and all flights in and out of Suva were cancelled.
Wow... what a relieving news... We had been fortunate enough to catch the last flight out. Imagine if we had not, we would be stuck in Suva. Thanks to Dr Peter Chen for being decisive about just booking the internal flights.
More duty free shopping later, we found a quiet little spot to play our last game of Dai Di together on the mission trip (small Peter won every round!!)... The time came for us to board and when we were walking to the airplane, the rain started pouring down and the winds were so strong.. THE CYCLONE WAS BACK.. like it was stalking us.. GO AWAY!!!!!! duh...
And then.. more waiting.... on the plane.. which was stuffy and warm... with the rain pouring down outside.. there were some problems with the wait list which caused delays as they wanted to help everyone out of Fiji..then we had to wait for them to stock up on the drinking water in the plane... So, we only took off an hour later...RAHHHHHH
4 hours 22 mins later, we touched down!!! WOOTTTSSS we're back. Everything that the Fiji church memebers had given us successfully passed through immigration checks... when we were sitting in the arrival hall waiting for our transport back to church... we all just HAD to buy Maccas for a meal..... Woah... the taste.. MACCASSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!! we all gobbled everything down like super fast... yeah!! we can eat fruits and salads again!!!!!!!
So yah, the time came for us to all say goodbye to each other. Ben's mum was so relieved to have him back safe and sound.. but WAIT! there's more! he knows how to write his Chinese name now (thanks to Hu Die). hur hur hur...
And that was the end of the trip.. of course there's still more work to be done... the presentations on Sunday to the congregation..the reports for CCMA...the final calculations for our finances etc.
Just let us catch up on our beauty sleep first please...
*update: Peter Li slept at 8pm on the next 2 days that he came back till the next morning.
Oh our little Ben Ben had afternoon naps and evening naps for the next few days.
Hu Die fell sick a few days after she got back but thanks God that all of us were healthy during the 12 days in Fiji.
Hsien has done up a newsletter that will be distributed on Sunday. (I will also post a copy here on the blog)
Finally: Thanks to our amazing God who has brought us through these 12 days safe and sound. For letting us experience the cyclone and flood so we can see how fortunate we are in Sydney but bringing us safely out from Fiji. There are so many thanks that we would like to say to everyone else. who gave financially and prayed for us. We sincerely THANK YOU.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Do Stay With Us...
More Blog Updates to come!!
Thanks everyone who has been reading this blog and remembering us in their prayers!!!
To the Team: Debrief session tonight in church 6pm.
VEE-NA-KA
Thanks everyone who has been reading this blog and remembering us in their prayers!!!
To the Team: Debrief session tonight in church 6pm.
VEE-NA-KA
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Fiji Day 9 - Sunday
Only 1 more sleep and we will be back home! That was quite an exciting thought...if we could make it home.. it was still raining and all the news reports we heard were just getting from bad to worse.
We woke up super duper early AGAIN to pack our bags as that was the last night we would be spending at Suva...cleaned the place a little for them and made sure that we had emptied the fridge and kitchen of all perishables.
Same old routine of hailing 2 cabs to bring us to church... so that we could set up for praise and worship (Hsien and Grace C); bible reading (Hu die), Testimony (Little Peter) and Sermon (Dr Peter Chen). It all went well and we also presenting an acapella version of Amazing Grace verse 1 in English and Mandarin.
Most kids (the older ones) turned up to do their dance for their parents. And so proud of the younger kids for remembering their dance moves to "This Little Light of Mine" and actually moving and singing. The older ones were really good at it.. especially their shake shake shake shake part.. and the parents were very amused.
They performed it twice (by popular demand) and you could see how proud the parents were from the cameras and video cams all around. Before the end of the service, Pastor Herbert actually presented St Paul's Kogarah with gifts!! how thoughtful!! and then we had a certificate presentation to the kids... with our effort in colouring the certs for the kids!
They were all very happy to receive it and showed them off proudly during the group pic session. At that point, I felt so proud of them too. I felt that we had accomplished so much in just 5 days with them and knew that they would always remember us and what we taught them just as we would always remember them and the impact the 5 days had on our lives.
Yes, life for the kids is simple, without fancy clothes or the latest computer games. But they are happy, and innocent and sincere. I guess as we become more developed, many facades are formed to maintain a front for this society. But for me, 10 days is cool enough to be a wake up call.
The church board brought us out to another Chinese restaurant for a farewell lunch and once again we were fed well - even eating the kids' table food. ha ha. their fried chicken just looked so good we couldn't resist. Small Peter tried unsuccessfully to teach them how to shuffle (tribute to Aaron).
A final farewell to all the kids in the neighbour was done when we reached home to pick up our luggage. It was sad saying good bye to them and hugging them/shaking their hands... A few of the girls had actually made cards for us or written letters to us. Ben had written in one of the autographs - KEEP IT REAL and i wrote KEEP THE FAITH.. ha ha ha.. as if we are rock stars man. At the last minute, Michael actually asked Ben for his Australia mobile number and did call him on Sunday night to make sure that we had all arrived back in Australia safely. How sweet.
We had received confirmation that all coaches for the day had been cancelled as the roads were closed due to the floods. So we had no choice but to fly. On the way to the airport, we saw all the houses that were flooded, causing the residents to flee to the upper floors, we saw cars covered due to the river banks overflowing. It was really bad.
When we reached the airport, the driveway was slightly flooded but we managed to reach the departure hall with the luggage as our host had driven his minivan. All the other normal sedan cars couldn't pass through.
We managed to do our check in, but had to leave Hsien and the boys behind to take the later flight out as the earlier one was full. And we sat there and waited.. in the stuffy warm departure hall which slowly filled up with people all trying to leave Suva. We entertained ourselves with the bible quiz cards and even made friends with some Fiji people who could answer the questions more accurately than we could. how embarassing.
Our flight was delayed by about an hour and a half but we were just glad that we could make it out... Hsien and the boys later told us that by the time they left, the flood levels had risen till the water was coming into the departure hall. They had made the last flight out as the next morning we heard news that all flights from and to Nausori had been cancelled indefinately as the airport was closed. It was truly God's blessings and protection upon us!
Exhausted from the whole day's events, we almost lost it when we had to wait an hour for a shuttle service to bring us to our hotel for the night. But at least we all reached there safe and sound and had a nice room to rest our heads for a couple of hours before we depart Fiji homeward bound (which we all were looking forward to).
We woke up super duper early AGAIN to pack our bags as that was the last night we would be spending at Suva...cleaned the place a little for them and made sure that we had emptied the fridge and kitchen of all perishables.
Same old routine of hailing 2 cabs to bring us to church... so that we could set up for praise and worship (Hsien and Grace C); bible reading (Hu die), Testimony (Little Peter) and Sermon (Dr Peter Chen). It all went well and we also presenting an acapella version of Amazing Grace verse 1 in English and Mandarin.
Most kids (the older ones) turned up to do their dance for their parents. And so proud of the younger kids for remembering their dance moves to "This Little Light of Mine" and actually moving and singing. The older ones were really good at it.. especially their shake shake shake shake part.. and the parents were very amused.
They performed it twice (by popular demand) and you could see how proud the parents were from the cameras and video cams all around. Before the end of the service, Pastor Herbert actually presented St Paul's Kogarah with gifts!! how thoughtful!! and then we had a certificate presentation to the kids... with our effort in colouring the certs for the kids!
They were all very happy to receive it and showed them off proudly during the group pic session. At that point, I felt so proud of them too. I felt that we had accomplished so much in just 5 days with them and knew that they would always remember us and what we taught them just as we would always remember them and the impact the 5 days had on our lives.
Yes, life for the kids is simple, without fancy clothes or the latest computer games. But they are happy, and innocent and sincere. I guess as we become more developed, many facades are formed to maintain a front for this society. But for me, 10 days is cool enough to be a wake up call.
The church board brought us out to another Chinese restaurant for a farewell lunch and once again we were fed well - even eating the kids' table food. ha ha. their fried chicken just looked so good we couldn't resist. Small Peter tried unsuccessfully to teach them how to shuffle (tribute to Aaron).
A final farewell to all the kids in the neighbour was done when we reached home to pick up our luggage. It was sad saying good bye to them and hugging them/shaking their hands... A few of the girls had actually made cards for us or written letters to us. Ben had written in one of the autographs - KEEP IT REAL and i wrote KEEP THE FAITH.. ha ha ha.. as if we are rock stars man. At the last minute, Michael actually asked Ben for his Australia mobile number and did call him on Sunday night to make sure that we had all arrived back in Australia safely. How sweet.
We had received confirmation that all coaches for the day had been cancelled as the roads were closed due to the floods. So we had no choice but to fly. On the way to the airport, we saw all the houses that were flooded, causing the residents to flee to the upper floors, we saw cars covered due to the river banks overflowing. It was really bad.
When we reached the airport, the driveway was slightly flooded but we managed to reach the departure hall with the luggage as our host had driven his minivan. All the other normal sedan cars couldn't pass through.
We managed to do our check in, but had to leave Hsien and the boys behind to take the later flight out as the earlier one was full. And we sat there and waited.. in the stuffy warm departure hall which slowly filled up with people all trying to leave Suva. We entertained ourselves with the bible quiz cards and even made friends with some Fiji people who could answer the questions more accurately than we could. how embarassing.
Our flight was delayed by about an hour and a half but we were just glad that we could make it out... Hsien and the boys later told us that by the time they left, the flood levels had risen till the water was coming into the departure hall. They had made the last flight out as the next morning we heard news that all flights from and to Nausori had been cancelled indefinately as the airport was closed. It was truly God's blessings and protection upon us!
Exhausted from the whole day's events, we almost lost it when we had to wait an hour for a shuttle service to bring us to our hotel for the night. But at least we all reached there safe and sound and had a nice room to rest our heads for a couple of hours before we depart Fiji homeward bound (which we all were looking forward to).
Fiji Day 8 - Saturday
OK.. so here it goes.. we get to Saturday - our "day off" our only full day of R & R and everything's good.. we have a island resort tour booked in.. we get to go snorkelling..have a bbq/buffet lunch.. get to swim in the clear blue waters and walk along the beautiful beaches of the Fiji Island.
All we had to do was be at Holiday Inn at 6.30am to wait for the bus...
BUT...
IT WAS RAINING!!!!!!!! the cyclone was back and the bus was delayed from 7am to 12pm. Oh no, that would mess everything up...cos it's an hour to Pacific Harbour and we still need to take a boat ride for 30 mins out to the island. and since it was raining so badly, we probs wouldnt be able to see any thing whilst snorkeling anyways.
Luckily the lady at the tour counter gave us a full refund cos there would be no point waiting till 12pm and then only play around for like 2 hours before we had to head back again. Dr Peter Chen and Winnie headed home to rest whilst the rest of us sought alternatives to enjoy the rest of the day.
The best Plan B was that we hired a mini van + driver who would still bring us to Pacific Harbour and be with us the whole day. However, we would only be going to a resort and probs could only do swimming and laze around there. Well, since that was going to be the best we could get out of the day.. BRING IT ON!!!!!!
So when we arrived, we realised that the massage (that the girls were looking forward to) was in a tent along the beach. Quite dodgy and rather expensive too. The boys were very keen on doing some water sports so we checked out the rate and booked in for 4 people to go tubing on the sea for 30 mins. We could take both the tube where you can sit up straight and the tube where you fly like superman.
It was so fun!!!! lots of arm strength to keep ourselves on board though. Grace CHoy and I were screaming non stop till everyone on the beach front could hear us. The boys fell off each time cos the guy was dragging them so fast!!! much faster than us girls. The second time we went.. the rain was pouring down and the speed that we were going at was so fast that it felt like we had little pebbles being thrown at our faces. We couldn't open our eyes. so just SCREAM.
it was over before we knew it. and we saw that the clouds had come in and we couldn't even see the islands and mountains across the sea that we had seen so clearly when we first starting tubing. that was scary.
We had a nice pizza lunch at the cafe and just chatted and relaxed a little before our minivan came to pick us up to go to the craft centre to do a little bit more shopping (nothing much) and then back to church directly.
The rain was now coming down non stop and we could see the water level rising in some of the low areas... when we had reached Suva city again, Hsien received a phone call from Dr Peter Chen advising that the road to Nadi was now flooded and we might not be able to travel back to Nadi for our connecting flight to Sydney by coach tomorrow.
They had proceeded with booking domestic air tickets for us and we had to go to the domestic airport at Nausori to pay and issue the air tickets. Poor Hsien and Dr Peter Chen went off with Pastor Herbert once we reached the church to go to get the air tickets (the airport is about 30 mnins drive away from the church) whilst the rest of us showered and got ready for our dinner appointment with our host family and another family from church.
They came back with the news that the atm at the airport wasn't working and they did not accept credit cards. The good news was that the tickets were confirmed and reserved though. So now we had the choice to Coaching it (if the water receeds) or Flying it.
We headed out for another chinese restaurant dinner....they ordered really nice food for us till we were so full!!! Of course not saying that Hu Die's cooking is not nice, just that at least we did not have to worry about cooking and cleaning up.
We were so tired that we all crashed into bed once we reached home.. knowing that there was church early tomorrow morning and we would have to prepare for all the kids' parents coming to watch them perform....
All we had to do was be at Holiday Inn at 6.30am to wait for the bus...
BUT...
IT WAS RAINING!!!!!!!! the cyclone was back and the bus was delayed from 7am to 12pm. Oh no, that would mess everything up...cos it's an hour to Pacific Harbour and we still need to take a boat ride for 30 mins out to the island. and since it was raining so badly, we probs wouldnt be able to see any thing whilst snorkeling anyways.
Luckily the lady at the tour counter gave us a full refund cos there would be no point waiting till 12pm and then only play around for like 2 hours before we had to head back again. Dr Peter Chen and Winnie headed home to rest whilst the rest of us sought alternatives to enjoy the rest of the day.
The best Plan B was that we hired a mini van + driver who would still bring us to Pacific Harbour and be with us the whole day. However, we would only be going to a resort and probs could only do swimming and laze around there. Well, since that was going to be the best we could get out of the day.. BRING IT ON!!!!!!
So when we arrived, we realised that the massage (that the girls were looking forward to) was in a tent along the beach. Quite dodgy and rather expensive too. The boys were very keen on doing some water sports so we checked out the rate and booked in for 4 people to go tubing on the sea for 30 mins. We could take both the tube where you can sit up straight and the tube where you fly like superman.
It was so fun!!!! lots of arm strength to keep ourselves on board though. Grace CHoy and I were screaming non stop till everyone on the beach front could hear us. The boys fell off each time cos the guy was dragging them so fast!!! much faster than us girls. The second time we went.. the rain was pouring down and the speed that we were going at was so fast that it felt like we had little pebbles being thrown at our faces. We couldn't open our eyes. so just SCREAM.
it was over before we knew it. and we saw that the clouds had come in and we couldn't even see the islands and mountains across the sea that we had seen so clearly when we first starting tubing. that was scary.
We had a nice pizza lunch at the cafe and just chatted and relaxed a little before our minivan came to pick us up to go to the craft centre to do a little bit more shopping (nothing much) and then back to church directly.
The rain was now coming down non stop and we could see the water level rising in some of the low areas... when we had reached Suva city again, Hsien received a phone call from Dr Peter Chen advising that the road to Nadi was now flooded and we might not be able to travel back to Nadi for our connecting flight to Sydney by coach tomorrow.
They had proceeded with booking domestic air tickets for us and we had to go to the domestic airport at Nausori to pay and issue the air tickets. Poor Hsien and Dr Peter Chen went off with Pastor Herbert once we reached the church to go to get the air tickets (the airport is about 30 mnins drive away from the church) whilst the rest of us showered and got ready for our dinner appointment with our host family and another family from church.
They came back with the news that the atm at the airport wasn't working and they did not accept credit cards. The good news was that the tickets were confirmed and reserved though. So now we had the choice to Coaching it (if the water receeds) or Flying it.
We headed out for another chinese restaurant dinner....they ordered really nice food for us till we were so full!!! Of course not saying that Hu Die's cooking is not nice, just that at least we did not have to worry about cooking and cleaning up.
We were so tired that we all crashed into bed once we reached home.. knowing that there was church early tomorrow morning and we would have to prepare for all the kids' parents coming to watch them perform....
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Fiji Day 7 - Friday
We all woke up thinking "this is the last full day we will have with the kids" and all of a sudden the reality that our short term mission trip was going to be over struck us!!! i felt myself treasuring the last few days in the house more.
After our usual bread and coffee brekkie we trooped over to church where small Peter led us in our morning devotions of reading 1 John 5:5-13 as well as Pslams 147. We had a minor discussion on how the scripture passage provided a circular argument on which came first - believing or the testimony of believing which was really interesting.
When the kids arrived, they started with playing a few games.. and then Grace Choy gave the FINAL talk and posed the question "Do you want Jesus to be your King?" before leading them in the sinner's prayer. A lot of them took it very seriously and looked to be praying earnestly. The younger kids also followed in the prayer but i'm not too sure if they understood what it was about. But we knew that at the end of the day we had planted the seed of the gospel in their hearts.
During craft time, everyone made a crown to symbolise being a Prince/Princess as our Father is a King. The kids took it so seriously and concentrated on decorating their crowns with colour and glitter. They loved it!!
Then came memory verse and prize presentation time...The kids had to stand up and recite all the memory verses from Day 1 to Day 5. Most of them could recite the verses from at least 3 days which was very encouraging. We distributed the colour pencils and other stationery which had been wrapped up nicely at the prize giving ceremony, as well as pass them their hand painted t-shirts from the day before.
And like that, the programs for the Kids Club Fiji was over. Our "mission" was over. We were so proud of them, having seen the kids having learnt so much about God in just the past week. Once again, we reminded them to tell their parents to come on Sunday, to bring them here to watch them dance as a presentation item.
We finally had a few hours to shop in Suva city before dinner. We all walked around a little bit but the stuff in Fiji is actually quite expensive and we weren't willing to fork out so much for the items that caught our eye (especially since our bargaining skills did not work too well there).
Pastor Herbert and Esther brought us out for dinner and we had good fun sharing and laughing with them. We understood that it's very hard for them here to grow the church but still they are trusting in God and persevering to reach out to the Chinese community in Suva.
We trooped home looking forward to our free day tmr where we had booked an "island tour" where we could head to Pacific Harbour for a 30 boat ride out where we could do snorkelling...
Each Dai Di card game session at the end of the day would always bring us closer with conversation and banter. It had become our routine.. our little wind down session where some of us would be playing and multi-tasking playing PSP, writing our daily reflection journals or magazines. Rotating players whilst waiting for our turn to shower...
Saturday's plans were totally ruined though.. but that's going to have to be ranted in another post... :)
After our usual bread and coffee brekkie we trooped over to church where small Peter led us in our morning devotions of reading 1 John 5:5-13 as well as Pslams 147. We had a minor discussion on how the scripture passage provided a circular argument on which came first - believing or the testimony of believing which was really interesting.
When the kids arrived, they started with playing a few games.. and then Grace Choy gave the FINAL talk and posed the question "Do you want Jesus to be your King?" before leading them in the sinner's prayer. A lot of them took it very seriously and looked to be praying earnestly. The younger kids also followed in the prayer but i'm not too sure if they understood what it was about. But we knew that at the end of the day we had planted the seed of the gospel in their hearts.
During craft time, everyone made a crown to symbolise being a Prince/Princess as our Father is a King. The kids took it so seriously and concentrated on decorating their crowns with colour and glitter. They loved it!!
Then came memory verse and prize presentation time...The kids had to stand up and recite all the memory verses from Day 1 to Day 5. Most of them could recite the verses from at least 3 days which was very encouraging. We distributed the colour pencils and other stationery which had been wrapped up nicely at the prize giving ceremony, as well as pass them their hand painted t-shirts from the day before.
And like that, the programs for the Kids Club Fiji was over. Our "mission" was over. We were so proud of them, having seen the kids having learnt so much about God in just the past week. Once again, we reminded them to tell their parents to come on Sunday, to bring them here to watch them dance as a presentation item.
We finally had a few hours to shop in Suva city before dinner. We all walked around a little bit but the stuff in Fiji is actually quite expensive and we weren't willing to fork out so much for the items that caught our eye (especially since our bargaining skills did not work too well there).
Pastor Herbert and Esther brought us out for dinner and we had good fun sharing and laughing with them. We understood that it's very hard for them here to grow the church but still they are trusting in God and persevering to reach out to the Chinese community in Suva.
We trooped home looking forward to our free day tmr where we had booked an "island tour" where we could head to Pacific Harbour for a 30 boat ride out where we could do snorkelling...
Each Dai Di card game session at the end of the day would always bring us closer with conversation and banter. It had become our routine.. our little wind down session where some of us would be playing and multi-tasking playing PSP, writing our daily reflection journals or magazines. Rotating players whilst waiting for our turn to shower...
Saturday's plans were totally ruined though.. but that's going to have to be ranted in another post... :)
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