End of Week #1 in Fiji

Bula, Bula!

It is Saturday afternoon here in Fiji. The last few days have been better as we settle into a groove and as the surroundings become a little more familiar. Katie is feeling much better and has her normal fire back (for better or for worse).

On Thursday, we loaded a bus and drove south to some property that has been donated to YWAM to check out the property and have a little prayer service on the land that will hopefully hold a base in the future. The drive to the property was an adventure in itself. For the last hour of the drive we were on a dirt road through the hills of Fiji driving through villages that seemed to take you back in time. The conditions many of the people live in, particularly outside of the city seems very primitive and poor. However, the Fijians have a joy that is unbelievable. As we would drive through a village or past a school, people would run out and jump up and down and wave to us. The highlight of the drive was when we had to drive over two bridges over rivers that had no guardrails and seemed only as wide as the bus. I thought Angie was going to climb out the window! It felt like we were on a Disneyland ride.
After visiting the YWAM property, we drove an additional half hour south to a beach that was the epitome of the most tropical paradise beach you have ever seen. The sand was white and the water was clear and turquoise. Several Fijian gentlemen were giving horse rides on the beach. Katie loves horses and has been begging us to ride a horse for about two years. So, this was a dream come true for her to ride a horse, especially on the beach in Fiji. We had a great time swimming and having some fun as a group.

You may remember that approximately half of the population in Fiji is Indian. Last night, we met with an Indian pastor and his wife who spoke to us about the Indian population here, there culture, and how we can best reach out to them and help them. They were amazing people.

This morning, Angie and I took the kids to a playground we found about a quarter mile from our hotel. When we were there, we met a really cool guy from France with his two young daughters. He and his wife are living for two years on business. We hit it off with him immediately and he invited us to his home this Thursday night.

The specifics of our work here are starting to fall into place. I am leading a worship service each morning at the Methodist Church down the road at 8:30 am. Then we have a team devotional and meeting at the church to update everyone on schedules and details. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, our whole family will be going up the road to the home of one of our local contacts here to help out at an after-school program. Angie and I will help with tutoring and English and also lead some children’s songs. The kids will get to play and build relationships with the other Fijian kids that will be there. This is an answer to prayer as I had mentioned we were looking for something that we could do as a family. On Thursday afternoons, I will stay with the kids and Angie will go with others from the team to a small village that lives right on a garbage dump. She is hoping to help the women there with sanitary practices and childcare. Also, we found a little coffee shop in town that actually serves espresso and pastries. Imagine our surprise when we walked in there and there pictures of Gig Harbor, La Conner, and Seattle on the walls! A little taste of home! Angie and Jen plan to use that spot as much as possible to invite local Fijian women to coffee and build relationships over a mocha. Once or twice a week, I will be going with some of other men in our team to the prison here to work with some of the inmates and also lead some music there. All of this seems overwhelming to us, but the uncertainty and fear is beginning to ebb a little and we are beginning to catch the vision for what we hope to accomplish in our relatively short time here.

In addition to the ministry we will be doing, Angie and I each have some practical roles in the group. Angie is in charge of “hospitality.” This entails organizing birthday celebrations for people in our team as well as protocol and thank you gifts for some of the local people we work with. This will be a great fit for her. I will be leading the worship services for the team and am also the official “recorder” for the team. This means I am in charge of documenting our trip in word, picture, and video.

Today is our day off and we are planning to take the kids to a rugby match at a stadium down the street. Today the under-18 league is playing with the Fijian National Team taking on the Australian National Team. Tonight we are going to a special dinner that is being prepared for us by another local missionary group. Tomorrow, we will be going to a local church where our leader, Bobby, will be speaking.

Have a great weekend!


The Fijian countryside on our drive south on Thursday














The YWAM property we visited














Is it time to go home yet?














The beach we went to. Yes, I know everyone feels very sorry for us!














Katie and her dream come true on "Becka"














Not every day is sunny here. Team Wicks in our rain ponchos.













The Indian pastor and his wife ( I won't even try to spell his name)

Adjusting

Bula! It is Wednesday evening in Lautoka. We have had a busy few days as we adjust to life here. Each morning, we meet as a team for prayer and worship and to discuss plans for the day. Yesterday, we met with "Pastor Mike" from one of the local churches who gave us a primer on Fijian culture and how we should act while we are here. One of his examples started as a question. "What did you notice as you drove here from the aiport?" One of our teammates piped up, "you drive on the wrong side of the road!" Since that was the answer he was waiting for, he proceeded to use it as an example to say that many people come to Fiji to convince the people they are driving on the wrong side of the road (metaphorically). They have good intentions, but that perspective is offensive to the people. His call to us was to "come to our side of the road." Then our message and help will be accepted. Another of his recommendations was that the men wear sulus (man-skirts) all the time. That differentiates you from a tourist and you will be more likely to be left alone by the street sellers and scammers and we will be much more respected by the people here. So, Sam and I went downtown and bought ourselves some sulus yesterday. We have been wearing them anytime we leave the hotel. I am debating whether to include pictures in future blogs or not.

This week we will be working with some after-school programs for children, visiting and working with a local prison ministry here, visiting and ministering to a local village that lives on a garbage dump, and probably other things. Angie and I are really praying and looking for opportunities that we as a family can participate in together. We are not comfortable taking them to the prison or garbage dump village, but want them to be able to experience and participate with us and the team as much as possible.

Being here has been a huge adjustment so far. We feel desperately homesick and have a hard time believing that we will be here for another two months. That seems like so long to be here in this strange environment and missing our family and friends. But we know that God will give us the grace to get through one day at a time. This morning we read this Scipture, one that has been a favorite of ours but that seemed fresh for us today:

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again--rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)

Please pray for us that we will adjust quickly. Also, please pray for Katie as she has had a fever for the last few days and has not really wanted to get out of bed much.

We miss everyone. God bless!

The Cathay Hotel where we will be living for the next five weeks.













Inside our hotel room home.













The other side of our room.













The restaurant of the hotel where we will often eat dinner meals together.













The one TV in the hotel. We can sometimes get cartoons on here for the kids.













Sam and Katie at the only playground we have found so far, consisting of an old slide. They had fun nonetheless.












The Methodist church down the road from us where we have our morning meetings.













Pastor Mike Kelly telling us how to sit down on the floor in our sulus.













Downtown Lautoka.

Bula from Fiji

Bula from Fiji! The fact that I am updating our blog from a small internet cafe in the top of an old office building in Lautoka is testament to the fact that technology is everywhere!

We started our travels with a bang. When we arrived at the Kona airport to check in for our flight to Honolulu, we discovered that the airline had botched the reservations for our whole group and there were no seats on the flight for us. This was disconcerting as we needed to catch a flight from Honolulu to Fiji several hours later. Not to mention that we had our kids and others who were restless and didn't enjoy just hanging out at a small airport while we tried to figure out what to do. The airline (to remain nameless) said they would bring in a plane especially for us. However, the time it would take to do that would make things extremely tight to make our connecting flight. Bobby Norment, our leader, kicked in to gear. He was able to get that airline and another airline both working to arrange for a flight for our team. In the end, we swapped airlines and made it to Honolulu in plenty of time for our connecting flight.

The overnight flight went well and the kids slept almost the whole time (I wish I could say the same). The flight was approximately 6.5 hours and we arrived in Nadi, Fiji at 5:30 am Fiji time. We made it through customs and immigration smoothly and then loaded up an old bus that was waiting for us to drive us to Lautoka. Once in Lautoka we went to the home of some local people Bobby and Jean know who fed us breakfast and gave us a very warm welcome. After that, we took taxis to downtown Lautoka to the hotel we are staying in. The hotel is Cathay Hotel and, for a budget hotel, is great for our needs. Our room has a double bed for Angie and me, a single bed for Katie and a rolloway for Sam. And it also has...wait for it...an air conditioner!!! Hallelujah!!!

After checking in yesterday almost everyone took naps for the afternoon. Katie and I woke up a little earlier than Sam and Angie, so the two of us took a walk and explored downtown a little bit. It really has the feel of a foreign developing country, so it exciting to explore completely new surroundings. Later in the evening, the whole team met upstairs in the hotel cafe for dinner. We have arranged for them to prepare dinner for us each evening and then we will be on our own for breakfast and lunch.

We all slept pretty well last night. This morning I walked with my friends Nick and Greg to a local market and picked up some milk and cereal for the family. We have a free day today, so we will probably explore the town a little bit more and get some rest before we dig into the work that we came here for.

The internet cafe is just a couple blocks from our hotel and only costs $1 Fijian per hour. So, I should have no problem updating our blog and checking email on a regular basis.

Thank you for all your prayers for our travels. God bless!


Keeping the kids busy in the Honolulu airport with a movie on our laptop.














The kids all tuckered out waiting for our connecting flight.














Loading the bus with our luggage at the Nadi airport.














A cozy bus ride. The ride was so bumpy, this was the least blurry picture we could get!














The Fijian countryside from our bus.














Our first Fijian dinner together at our hotel.

Last Hawaiian Blog Entry

We leave tonight for Fiji! We're finishing up all our packing and cleaning today. Last night, the other two teams from our group left for their travels to Guatemala and France. Angie and the kids made some homemade banners to send them off. We loaded everyone and their luggage into three vans and drove them to the airport. It made us very excited to do the same thing tonight.

We have not sold our car yet. But, there is a new family on campus who needs transportation. So, we are going to let them drive the car in exchange for being the contact people for selling it while we are gone. We think it will work out great for both families!

We will load the vans up tonight at 5:00 and then head to the airport. Here is our specific travel plans:

Depart Kona - Mesa Airline #1019 - 8:30 PM
Arrive Honolulu - 9:10 PM

Depart Honolulu - Air Pacific #0821 - 12:35 AM
Arrive Nadi, Fiji - 5:20 AM

The time zone in Fiji is 5 ours behind Seattle, the following day. For example, if it is 6:00 PM on Friday in Seattle, it is 1:00 PM on Saturday in Fiji.

Once we arrive in Fiji, we will travel to the home of a contact we have there. Once at her home, we will rest for most of the day and then travel to Lautoka and settle in to the base we will be staying at. Our leaders are so great in that they feel it is very important to take a couple days to just rest, settle in, and "nest" a bit in our rooms so that we will be refreshed and ready to get to work.

We hope to be able to find internet cafes in town so we will be able to keep the blog updated but that is uncertain. In emergency, you can contact:

Bob or Carolyn Hopkins hopkins7@msn.com
Pieter Heres 808-960-0331 herespieter@yahoo.com

We miss everyone very much. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Trust in the LORD always, for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock.

(Isaiah 26:3-4)

One last prayer time with the France and Guatemala teams by the vans.













Loading the vans for the airport.













Big hugs from everyone!

New Music

We have added a link (see the Links section on the right hand side of the page) for a new iMix of music we created. If you want to hear the music we are listening to as a family while we are on our adventure, check it out!

We're busy packing and cleaning!

Top Ten

One of our favorite things to do during the last week is to lay on the bed after the kids are down and dream about all the things we miss about home and that we can't wait to get back to. Here is our top ten list (assuming friends and family are a given):

10. Pumpkin candles
9. Our "sea of denim" sectional couch to flake out on
8. Solitude
7. Autumn weather (who ever thought we could miss rain and cold weather)
6. Bathtub
5. Food Network TV (excluding Rachael Ray)
4. A kitchen to cook in (homemade pizza and ice cream)
3. King-size bed (that does not mean two twin beds of different heights put together)
2. A nice glass of red wine or cold beer
1. Banzai burgers at Red Robin (actually, we'll take anything that is not rice, salad, or chicken of some kind)

Last Week in Kona

We are in our final week in Kona and things are a whirlwind. All the students on the campus, including us, will be leaving over the next few days to travel on outreach to such places as Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, France, Papua New Guinea, the Salomon Islands, Fiji, and more.

A few days ago the Performing Arts group presented the performance they have been working on all quarter. This group is made up primarily of college students. The show they presented is based on the biblical story of the prodigal son and presents a message of hope and redemption through singing, dance, drama, and video. They will be taking the performance into public high schools throughout the Hawaiian islands and then the west coast of the mainland. It was amazing to see these guys presenting such a professional and passionate performance after just a few months of training. Sam and Katie loved it! (see a couple pictures below)

The weekend was pretty challenging with Sam and Katie. I think they are subconsciously sensing and anticipating that there is another major change approaching and are reacting to that with some tough behavior. As parents, Angie and I were actually becoming concerned and wondering whether it was wise for us to take them to a foreign country at this point. We did some serious praying and soul searching and got together with our leaders, Bobby and Jean Norment on Monday afternoon to share our concerns. They were so comforting, encouraging, and supportive and spent some time with our whole family out on the playground. After talking to them and some other trusted friends and after really praying about it, we felt convinced that we were to continue as a family. As you can tell from previous blog entries, we place a lot of importance on the bible in our family. As we were praying and seeking God regarding this matter, we came across the following verses:

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD is the one who goes before you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor forsake you." (Deuteronomy 31:8)

and then...

"This is what the LORD Almighty says: Take heart and finish the task!" (Zechariah 8:9)

That was enough to seal the deal for us and put away any doubt that had crept in. Fiji, here we come! The kids have really rallied the last couple days and are behaving much better. A few weeks ago, Angie coined the phrase "Team Wicks" for our family to help encourage and remind the four of us to treat each other well and to build each other up as a team in this adventure of life. The kids have really grabbed onto that and I'm sure it will come into play in Fiji.

We just finished up our last day of classes today. We have been busy packing up our room. We are encouraged to pack light on our outreach, so anything that we are not bringing on the trip has to be dropped off at the campus storage by 1:30 on Wednesday. Then we have until Friday to finish packing and cleaning up our room to prepare for the next family or group of students who will be moving in next week. We have been busy shopping for all the last minute things we need to take on our trip such as power converters, snacks, gifts for the Fijian kids, and peanut butter (something that is hard to get in Fiji and that is a definite necessity for our kids, especially going into a country with unknown food).

We will load up the vans on Friday afternoon at about 5:30 pm to drive to the airport. Our first flight leaves at approximately 8:30 pm to Honolulu where we will have a couple hour layover. Then we leave Honolulu at approximately midnight and will arrive in Fiji at around 5 am on Sunday morning. Because of the time difference, we actually lose an entire day during the overnight flight. However, on our return, we'll gain an extra day.


A hip-hop number in the prodigal son performance














Katie's favorite, the Fan Dance














Ovation for the Performing Arts Group














Prayer and commissioning for all the outreach teams














Random shot of a friendly neighborhood Praying Mantis outside our room












Katie, Sam, and baby Ava at the market

Graduation Day

Sam and Katie had their graduation celebration for their school quarter last night. As part of their course work, the class memorized a section of Scripture each week. The students took turns reciting one of the verses along with the sign language and hand motions that they had learned to help them memorize the verses. Then they sang some songs for us and received a certificate for their work. Of course the celebration was complete only with cake and ice cream. It was great to see how much they had learned over the last few months and watch them have so much fun with all the international friends they have made.



Sam and Katie with their good friends Christopher and Joseph













Katie with her good buddy Shiloh (she reminds us so much of Katie's cousin Maddy)

Love Feast

Do you remember the feeling you would have as a child when the school year was almost over? There was a buzz in the air and everything that you had been walking past in the halls all year suddenly looked kind of fresh again? That is how we are feeling this week. There is a fresh energy and a second wind as we get ready to end the first phase of our adventure and set out on the next and most exciting phase.

To update you on the visas for the Brazil team, they were denied a second time on Monday. So, the team and the leaders got together and prayed for a new direction for their team. As an alternative they have decided to travel to Guatemala. They will be hooking up with a YWAM base there to assist them in some of their ministries and also to help teach english. The team is excited about the solution.

Last night we had the traditional "love feast" for our class. We all got dressed up and were treated to a special dinner as we celebrated the end of our training together and shared the anticipation of breaking out into our different outreach groups and travelling to the various nations. The entertainment for the evening was provided by the class itself as several different people shared songs, poetry, skits, etc. Angie and I sang a song together called "No Eye Has Seen." As mentioned in an earlier blog, Angie has been reflecting on the scripture Jeremiah 29 as a source of encouragement for the fears and unknowns of the future.

For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. I will be found by you," says the LORD. (Jeremiah 29:11-14)

The song we sang together was a perfect reflection of that scripture:

No eye has seen

No ear has heard

No mind has conceived what the Lord has prepared

But by His Spirit He has revealed His plan to those who love Him

We’ve been held by His everlasting love

Led with loving kindness by His hand

We have hope for the future yet to come

In time we’ll understand the mystery of His plan

It was a very special and memorable evening. Below are some pictures of the evening (names are all from left to right).


Will and Karen Bishop (California), Jean and Bobby Norment (Alabama). Jean and Bobby are leading our Fiji team.











TOP: Margrethe Tufteskog (Norway), Kathy Rod (Australia), Lori Mitchell (Colorado), Catherine Mistry (England), Joanne Dagg (Quebec), Tammi Martin (Oregon), Rebecca Oakerson (Virginia), Karen Bishop (California).

BOTTOM: Laura Vallerand (Woodinville, WA), Katherine Kim (Honolulu, HI), TongHee Kwak (Korea), Mikayla Martin (Oregon).






Angie and me (with my new Fiji haircut)













KB Kim (Korea), Greg Loher (Minnesota), Will Bishop (California), Jin Kim (Korea), Jim Tholen (San Francisco), me.











Our close friends Nick and Jen Greener (WA DC)













Rebecca Merriam (California), Angie, Soo Kim (Korea), Rebecca Oakerson (Virginia), Courtney Smith (California).











Naomi Cristofoli (England), Courtney Martin (Oregon), Tammi Martin (Oregon), Dominique Cristofoli (England), Leslie Kim (Korea), Mikayla Martin (Oregon).











Chris Kim (Korea), Phillipe Vallerand (Woodinville, WA)













Angie and me singing our song (not sure why the serious face)












A time of worship to close our evening