BULA!!!

I MADE IT!!! I arrived safely. I need to send out a mass email telling people that. But for now, you get the brief version(probably more fun to read anyways.) We left Honolulu Sunday night at about 12:30am and flew all night through the roughest turbulance I've ever felt. Ethan(a 3 year old on our team) was sleeping in the seat next to me(and on my lap at times) and flew in the air at one point. We stopped in Samoa to refuel and arrived here went straight to our home base. We are staying in a building that is completely vacant, but 3 stories tall, and the ministry is called Marine Reach. We are about a 5 minute walk from town.

After we got here, we did some team time (which takes so long because our team is so big - 26) and then went to buy a lava lava (a long skirt with pockets...all the guys need them). We basically did nothing at all the first day and recouped from the trip. We sang worship songs on the roof and watched the sunset and the stars from there while singing. It was basically amazing. The weather changes rapidly and the humidity is always high so far. The first day people said it felt like it was 100 degrees. I would say at night it drops to the upper 70s. We get some rain briefly, but when it rains...it RAINS. Every night so far we have had lightning storms and the thunder is loud in the afternoon.

Prices here change frequently and vary greatly in prices. It is definately a barter economy, but not at all like Mexico. Internet costs from F$1- F$3 an hour...the lab i'm in now supposedly costs F$6 an hour, but they're having a F$1 special.

The internet here is really slow! It took me over 10 minutes just to open Gmail, but I figured it out. ALL the computers run on the same internet feed. There are only 3 people in here now and it's okay. So I need to check my email at times when the labs are empty(like 8am on saturday)

I will post pictures when I can. If you could pray, pray for team unity and communication(due to our huge team, it has led to miscommunication and frustrations). Our ministry here is based on prayer. Most of what we do is walk around the "villages" (which are not like I pictured Fijian villages to be like.) and talk about "the word of God". We have a translator and they just put us on the spot and said "Go ahead"...It was scary for us all, but we now know what we'll be doing from now on. Outside the city(where we live) is village after village after village. There really isn't a break. But the churches we've been helping out are tiny and need lots of work.

That's all for now. The computer lab is getting really hot. Send my love to everyone. I will be checking my email 1-2 times a week...but if it's slow I won't be able to reply...but know that I read every email and will reply when I have time. I love you all!