Winding Down Was Never So Busy

As Dr. Nelson said, this last week was going to be sort of a relaxed week. Everyone would have to find some way to keep busy, since the clinic would only be open Monday through Wednesday. Was. This week has been just as, if not more, busy than both the other weeks. I'm exhausted. And I love it. The time frame for this trip has been good. So,in the tradition of my previous posts,

Friday.

Savu Savu. What makes 5-6 hours of crowded bus travel worth it? One tiny little slab of meat known as a burger. Yes, I think I might have gone to Savu Savu (the closest big town) if the only thing I knew I could get was a cheeseburger. We were that deprived of meat, and any good source of protein, for that matter. Overall, I enjoyed buying things (saying "shopping" doesn't sound manly enough) there, such as pink and yellow ice cream, $1 bottles of Fiji water, a sulu vaka tanga, and various other things. The only downside was feeling too much like a kai palangi, or white person, or tourist. Take your pick.

Saturday.

Brother Moses, the mission's mechanic, spoke at the Vatuvonu Seventh Day Adventist church. Siwa translated for me and John Buie, which was much appreciated. The sermon was about giving of yourself sacrificially, which some of the Fijians seemed to take to heart. Jesse (pronounced "chess-ay") invited John and me to eat lunch at the house where he and Siwa and a few others live. Naturally, we accepted. It was one of those little things I mentioned in an earlier post. These people had so little, but they gave up some of what they had just to commune with us. We had a great time just sitting there, eating slowly and talking. Rob Bell writes in his book Velvet Elvis, which I just finished reading, that Christians need to master the art of a long meal. Someone else I know always talks about that, too. Well, I think I experienced a taste of that, and I was rocked by Jesse and Siwa and their generosity

Saturday part II.

I hiked/climbed/scrambled to the top of a volcano and slept there. On top of a bunch of fire ants. Under a leaky tarp. And rain poured down. It was sweet. I hiked the whole way up and down with a machete. And didn't cut any limbs off. Woot. Matt and I lost the trail on the way down, so we hacked our own trail until we found a creek, which we then followed until we found the trail. And the best part was how much I learned about myself in the following 12 hours.

Sunday.

I sang "Lord I Give You My Heart" by Michael W. Smith and Hillsong and countless other Christian artists in front of everyone before movie night. WHAT. I don't sing in front of people, but Brother Matt wanted to, so we did. And it didn't necessarily make sense to sing at that time, but that was okay. God taught me a ton there. Prideful Nate needed to die. Ask me about it sometime.

Monday.

Clinic in the morning, and I got to assist with a cyst removal surgery, which basically meant that I held a flap of skin back with forceps while the surgeon did all the work, but it was still pretty cool. And you get to wear those cool masks and hats, which I think is probably the only reason people become surgeons in the first place. Or maybe not. Heh. After lunch, I went back to read in my room while waiting for the doctors to get back from one of the neighboring villages. And I woke up at 5pm. Maybe I needed a nap? Apparently not, because I couldn't fall asleep until midnight that night. Alack,

Tuesday-Thursday.

I group these days together because I've done pretty much the same thing every day. In the mornings, I teach third grade at the Vatuvonu school... Which may sound impressive, but there are maximum three students, Sairusi, Jesoni, and Timena. I teach them maths before recess, such as the concepts of ones, tens, and hundreds, rounding, multi-digit subtraction, etc. Then I go to recess and play Buca, which I've come to believe is named after one of the fourth graders, but maybe I'm just crazy. It's basically a mix of tag, capture the flag, and footracing. I like it, but those kids are FAST! I'm exhausted and sweaty every day, but I love it. After recess is third grade reading and spelling, then back to the mission for lunch. After lunch, I tutor an 8th-grade student, Nemesio, who has never been taught well, so the teachers say he's a "special" case, which isn't really true at all. He's incredibly smart. This week, I've taught him concepts starting as basic as multiplying fractions to multiplying multiple-digit numbers to long division, and he seems to understand them all. And the best part about teaching these kids? How much they LOVE to learn. They all actually ask for more homework, because they like it. WHAT? That blows my mind. I'm blessed to be with them.

I lied, I did have some differences in each day. So,

Tuesday.

I covered morning worship devotions in lieu of Mr. John Buie, who had spent the night in Savu Savu. Lately, I've been reading through the gospel of Matthew, and I've been loving it. This past semester, I fell in love with the sermon on the mount. And when I read it again sometime this trip, it once again blew my mind. So I spoke about Matthew 5:43-48 on Tuesday morning, which is about loving your enemies. I had been struggling with loving people on this trip, so I spoke about it, which, in turn, forced me to practice what I preached. Yay. And God has helped me with it. The craziest thing, though, about that passage I mentioned (in my opinion), is the last verse, which reads, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." WHAT. That seems a little difficult to do, which might just be the point. We can't do it on our own. If we try, we will fail. Only God can provide the kind of thinking that Jesus teaches - loving enemies, sacrificing our own comfort for orphans and widows. I'd love to talk about it in more depth with you.

Wednesday.

Don't remember much, other than feeling exhausted and getting an email from the mothership about home events, which was nice.

Thursday.

Pretty much the same as the other days, but last night, I got to practice my mastery of the art of a long meal. I had finished eating, but Mesake and I had a great conversation while Brother Matt ate the leftover fish heads and rice from dinner. Great things happen when you're intentional about getting to know people on a deeper level. He had a great story of faith and struggle, and I really respect that man. With dreads like that, who couldn't? Did I mention that he used to play on the Fijian national rugby team?

Friday.

Today, I woke up at 5:45 with Matt to film the sunset for the IP promo video, but I think that failed. I'll just get up early again tomorrow. And I wrote this blog post. Later, it's off to school for more of the same, but they're throwing the kai palangi teachers a party, which will be interesting.

Summary.

It's been a crazy week. This post covered most of the highlights, but probably didn't hit everything. As always, if you want more detail, I'm glad to share. Hopefully, when I get back to the states, this blog can become more insightful and less of a laundry list of what I've done. I hope you've enjoyed reading.