We are Team Wicks: Bula from Suva

Bula from Suva!

We had a wonderful mini family vacation as the four of us spent several days at a hotel between Lautoka and Suva. The hotel was so cool as it was really geared for families and had activities all day for adults and kids. Sam and Katie would take off in the morning and stay busy almost all day with egg throwing contests, crab hunting and crab racing, ice cream eating contests, crafts, feeding the fish, etc. It was just what we needed to get refreshed and re-energized for the rest of our work here. So, now it is back to reality. We arrived in Suva yesterday and got settled in to the hotel where we are staying. Suva is on the rainy side of the island and it has been raining here for five weeks straight.

Today we drove out of the city, literally into the jungle, to the top of a mountain ridge where there is an organization called Homes of Hope that is building a little community where single mothers live and where they educate them on caring for their children and train them in various skills in order to support their children. The property is absolutely beautiful. We immediately felt like this would be a perfect place for our family to work for the remaining time here. In fact, the tagline for their organization goes something like "providing a hope and a future for families." You may remember from an earlier blog that the scripture verse that Angie has been reflecting on daily during this whole adventure is Jeremiah 29:11:

"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.

While Angie has been reflecting on this verse in a personal perspective, we now realize that God may also have been preparing us to help provide a hope and a future to others. Also, as Angie and I have been praying together over these months about what our plans will be once we return to Seattle, we have felt a desire to have some kind of family ministry to unwed mothers. All of this has felt like confirmation that the Lord has been preparing us for these next three weeks in the mountains with this organization. In fact, it seems likely that we will leave the hotel and go live there for the next three weeks so we can be really effective in our work there and in building relationships.

So, please be praying for us. If we go, we will try to update the blog once more before we head to the mountains. God bless!