Destination Fiji

Aloha!

We are having a great week so far. I've been leading the worship times for some of the services around campus, so it's been good to get back in the saddle again. It continues to be pretty hot. The temperature is typically in the high 80's with the humidity level at 70%-80%. The temp only drops to the high 70's at night. The resorts and grocery stores are pretty much the only places with air conditioning, so we have been getting really good at sweating all day (and night). Fortunately, things should be much cooler in Fiji...oh wait, it's hotter there. In fact, Lautoka, the city in Fiji where we will have our base of operations, is known in the country as "the burning west". Good! As a side-note for my fellow golfing fans, Lautoka is also the birth place of Vijay Singh.

As we come closer to our departure to the Fijian Islands, we are learning a lot about the culture there. Here are some examples of English words and their Fijian translation:

• Good morning = Ni sa yadra (ni sah yan dra)
• Hello = bula (mbula)
• Goodbye = ni sa moce (ni sa mothey)
• Please = yalo vinaka (yalo vee naka)
• How are you? = Sa vakacava tiko? (sa vacathavah teeko)
• Thank you = vinaka (vee naka)
• Yes = io (ee-o)
• No = seqa (senga)
• Eat (a word I plan to use a lot) = kana (kana)
• Men = turaga (turan-gah)
• Women = marama
• Bathroom = vale lailai (vahlay-lie-lie)
• Village = Koro
• Jesus loves you = Jisu e lomani iko
• See you again = sota tale (saw tah-tah lay)

The Fijian culture, particularly in the outer islands, contain many protocols:

• The dress code in Fiji is very modest. Women almost always wear long skirts and never wear sleeveless or low cut shirts. Unless the men are fishing or involved in a building project, they will usually wear the "sulu" which I previously referred to as the "man skirt" (see picture below). Even when swimming, it has been recommended that the men swim in shorts and T-shirts and women must wear modest one-piece bathing suits. As the head is sacred, people do not wear hats.
• You must always take off your shoes when entering someone's home or hut.
• When going to the villages in the outer islands, you must be invited by the chief of the village. Then, when you enter the village, you must bring gifts and present them to the chief.
• Genders usually stick to themselves. The men don't really talk to women and vice versa. We will need to be careful about that as well when talking to the Fijians.
• There is no hugging. The elderly women may come up and smell your neck as a sign of affection.
• The Fijian people are extremely friendly and hospitable. When visiting a village, they will usually give up their best homes/huts and beds for you. You must be very careful about admiring something in a Fijian's home because they will feel obligated to give it to you.

We have been working hard on the practical aspects of the trip as well. It looks like we will plan to leave Kona at 8:30 pm on 9/22. We fly to Honolulu for a 3.5 hour layover and then fly through the night directly to Fiji. We will have a "home base" in Lautoka which we will work from. We will be breaking up into smaller teams throughout our time there and travel to some of the outer island villages for about two weeks at a time. We have been planning to stay at the YWAM Marine Reach base in Lautoka as our base of operations. However, it appears that those plans may fall through so we are working on finding alternative lodging for when we are in town.

For those that are inclined to pray along with us, here are several prayer requests for our

• We were able to get plane tickets for everyone in our team except one person. Because there are only 2-3 flights each week to Fiji, that means one person would have to join us a few days late. This is not a huge deal, but it would be great to be able to travel together with the whole team. Please pray that something would work out with the flight availability.
• Please pray that we would secure lodging in Lautoka that would be perfect for all of our needs.
• Please pray generally for all the preparations and for the protection and unity of our team.

Thanks!

Fijian Flag

Oh yes, the sulu!