Today we had our last day in Fiji, our flight was at night so we were able to go into town in the morning to do some last minute shopping and then spend the rest of the day winding down and getting ready for the flight.
-Riley

Church, Beach Day & Recap/Worship Night

Bula, It’s Brooke (again)! On Sunday we woke up and had a nice casual breakfast, then we all got ready and departed for church. At the church, we performed our “No Longer Slaves” and our “Meke” one final time. We listened to the sermon on prayer and how to make it a marathon; it spoke to us on many levels. After, we drove to Natadola Beach once more and enjoyed a nice lunch on the beach. We stayed at the beach all day and relaxed, swam, snorkeled, etc. After, we went back to the EE Center and played our usual volleyball game followed by an Italian Fijian dinner. We had our usual team meeting, and we had a trip debrief as well as worship and prayer, which moved me to tears. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to spread the gospel and work in the mission field for God’s Kingdom. I feel so blessed to have the team and leaders that joined me, we aren’t only family because of our mission trips, but because we are all children of God. God has spoken to me in ways I didn’t even know I could be reached; lately I’ve been praying very hard about what I want to do with my life with college coming up soon, and He has clearly displayed to me what He wants me to do and His plan for my life. I can’t wait for what the future holds for my team and I. God bless all!

– Brooke

Today is Sunday and we started off this beautiful day by going to Living Way Church. We performed both dances that we learned and then listened to the pastor’s intriguing sermon on the power of prayer. Afterwards we headed straight to the beach one last time. It was a gorgeous day and we were so upset to leave. Once we soaked up all the sun and salt water we could, we went back to the EE Center and had a team meeting after dinner. We discussed what God had taught us these past couple weeks and how we can continue to grow our faith at home. We also had one of the best worship sessions during our meeting. We were surprised to see how moving it can be to worship full heartedly when we might not usually be too involved during church. It was so impactful and we experienced worship in a completely new way we hope to take back home with us. As we come to the end of our trip we are realizing how blessed we are to be able to have the opportunity to go with the help and support from you all.

– Nicole

Island Day Trip – Mana Island

Hey it’s Tori!! So today we headed to port Denarau and we island hopped to another island called Mana island. When we got there we had time to chill and look at the cute shops that were there (some shops were ripcurl, cloud break, and a hot bun kitchen to get some cream buns. Cream buns are a bun and there is like icing/cream in it.) Anyway so when we got on the boat it was a 1hr 30min long ride. So along the way we stopped at other islands to drop people off. When we reached our island we got off and the people were singing a welcoming song and just smiles galore. Anyway we had a tour guide and he showed us around the island. We snorkeled and saw so many cool creatures. As I was snorkeling I was thinking about how good our God is and how His creation of one little tiny island could be so pretty. How He could put so much pretty details into one small little island. God is so good!! After our snorkel trip we had lunch and and swam in the pool. When it was time to leave the island we all got back on the boat and then we all had dinner and went back to the EE center.

– Tori

Saturday, July 13
Today we took a trip to one of the islands. We started off the morning by going down to the port and shopping around a little before getting on the boat which was about an hour 30 min ride to the island. While we were there, we snorkeled, played volleyball, hung out by the pool and enjoyed lunch there before we left at 5 pm. For dinner, we ate at the port, where we could choose from a few different restaurants. Some people got pizza or ate at the hard rock. Today I also discovered that lemonade in fiji is sprite. We also had time to shop around a little more before heading back to the center after a nice long day.
– Christiana

Friday – Surf, Mudpools & Youth Rally

“Today was a fun successful day. The girls started off our morning with mudpools while the boys got up early and went for a day of surfing. The mudpools consisted of 4 different pools. It began with a muddy pool and it got clearer and hotter the further we got. The last pool was sooo hot. Like boiling. We all struggled to get in and when some of us managed we only went in for less than 5 seconds. I also saw the cutest dog that day. Following after the mudpools, we went to a Mexican restaurant on a resort. The lunch was really good and we enjoyed our time while we all bonded with one another. We then went to the pool in that resort and bathed in the sun and slept. What I was really looking forward to was the youth rally. We had prepared 2 dances to perform. One was a Meke and the other was one choreographed by Suzi. They were both great. The worship was also very enjoyable. Everyone was energetic, singing, and dancing. The rally ended with Caleb’s preaching. It was about being wise with the music we listen to (less secular), intentional time with family, and limiting electronic use and extending our time with God. After the rally we had a chance to meet new people and talk to our friends we had already made. All in all, the day was a great day!

– Adrianna D.

Noah:
Today the boys and I scheduled a boat day. It started by waking up at 5:30 and driving for 30 minutes. We drove to a remote place were you could only see the ocean. Then the captain came by boat to pick us. The boat was a 16 ft panga with a 75 hp Yamaha on the back for power. Once the 4 of us loaded on the boat we headed towards the island of Tavares. Once we were there a guy on another boat gave us our surf boards and we drove to a local spot called swimming pools. It is a right hand break over coral reef and today it was about 3-5 feet. Instantly Caleb and I jumped over the boat with our boards and caught some waves. It was so clear that you could see the reef under you. Eventually Riley and Ben made their way out to the break. After catching about 20-30 waves we loaded back in the boat. We wanted to go to a world renowned surf spot called Cloudbreak. Cloudbreak is a stop on the WSL – would surf league – and only the best surfers surf this spot. It is a left point break which was good for me and Caleb and was breaking at 6-8 feet. Caleb and I surfed there for probably 2-3 hours. Meanwhile Ben and Riley went snorkeling at a nearby reef. After, we all met back up on the boat and had lunch and caught a few more waves at swimming pools. After, we headed back to the main island of Fiji to go to the Kennedy center to prepare for the youth rally. Once at the youth rally we sang worship songs, told testimonies and our group even did a dance! It was a fun time and we were all tired after our long day. Around 9:30 we went back to the center and got some sleep. And that was our last Friday in Fiji.
– Noah

Maddie Sipowski:

XEE Clinic Day #3

Jackie Nava:

“Since we have been taking part in the clinic, we have met and become so close with our trainees. My group is Merecita, Mere, Brooke and me. Getting to see Merecita grow and gain confidence in sharing the Gospel has been one of my favorite parts of the trip. Today, she was able to go out and share the entire outline with a woman on her own! Whole she was doing that, I was talking with Mere and tourist woman from France. She says a non-believer and being able to see how Mere stayed so calm and did not let the it throw her off that the woman did not believe in God. It taught me SO much on how to be flexible and that not everyone we meet is going to agree with everything we say. The fact that we got to share the full Gospel with her was a blessing, and hopefully it planted a seed that God will water and grow.

Riley Clements:

“Today we went to our 3rd day of the clinic. We taught the locals the final sections of the XEE outline in the morning and in the afternoon we went out on our OJT’s. I was in a group with Nati who is from South Africa, and then a local named Sham. We had walked out to where the bus pick up was and saw a man sitting by himself so we decided it was the perfect opportunity to share the gospel with someone. We sat down to talk to him although he was a little shy, he was happy to talk to us. We asked him what he said that he shouldn’t because everybody sins, and that was a perfect gateway to share with him. He eventually prayed the prayer to be saved and he had already been going to church but he didn’t really understand it. We were able to bring peace to him and help him understand what saving faith in Jesus really is.”

XEE Clinic – Day #2

A day of HEALING! Praise God!

“Today was our second day of the EE clinic! As you know, yesterday all of us were sick and our team was cut in half. Thankfully God has miraculously healed every one of us and we were all able to help at the clinic! After lunch at the clinic we headed out for the OJT in our groups. Once we came back we swapped stories and as a team we had lead many people to Christ. A little later we left the clinic and went into town to walk around and do a little tourist shopping then headed back to the Kennedy Center for dinner and practiced our cultural dances. After a long day we were all eager to go to bed.”

– Nicole Clark

XEE Clinic DAY #1

“Hey, it’s Tori and Christiana!!

So today was our first day of the EE clinic. During the EE clinic we are training and equipping pastors and leaders to learn how to share the Gospel. When we woke up in the morning we had a bunch of people sick, the people that were sick were: Maddie, Christiana, Noah, Adrianna, Suzi, Caleb, and Brooke. So at the clinic it was: Riley, Jackie, Nicole, Ben, Lauren, Sarah, Mamba, Evi and Tori. Over the course of the clinic (the clinic is 4 days long) we are teaching them the different parts of the EE outline. So the first day was learning how to connect. After we had taught all of the trainees how to connect with people we went out on a OJT (on the job training). During the OJT we connected with people, and I connected with these two men and one of them was picking up medicine for his wife that just had surgery. It was so good just to connect with these men and get to know them better.”

Noah Sipowski:

“Today we left the center and drove to a nearby church. This is the church that Rusila, the national coordinator of EE Fiji, attends. 8t was located in the middle of a sugarcane field far away from the city. We started off with songs in English and Fijian. After singing about 30 minutes, there was a time for testimonies and we had a couple people from our group share. Then, Caleb preached a sermon about the Hope of the Church from Corinthians: how Christ reversed death, destroys death, and He is restoring all. After church, we had lunch there that they provided for us. There was all kinds of food – chicken, pork and fish and plenty of it! Then we went into town and stopped at the supermarket and a cafe. After our excursion we ended up back at the Kennedy Center playing volleyball. And that was what our Sunday was like.

We started the day off by going to a village and painting a church. It may not sound very exciting but it was some of the most fun I have had on this trip! What made this day so special was the kids in the village. They were so sweet and all they wanted to do was be our friends. They taught us games and sang songs. This village is very neglected by the government in Fiji. The government had wanted to displace them, but the people living there fought for their rights to the land that had been given to them by their ancestors. After this we ate lunch and it was amazing – a traditional Lovo, which is cooked in an underground oven. After lunch, we left and went to a rugby game. It was so amazing to see how excited the Fijians got when a team would score. Rugby is a main sport here. Once we got to the center, we had an awesome Fijian meal that was my favorite one since we’ve been here!

– Madison Sipowski