The interent has been down on the island for a few days, and they had to come reset it or something. So tonight it finally started working. Thank you so much for all your prayers. It has been really relaxing to be here in Tonga. We have mostly been helping out at the U of N base here. We have done everything from gardening to working in the kitchen to cleaning the bathrooms and showers. Sunday we found out that not only are we not allowed to work, we are not allowed to play sports either. The people here laughed at us because we wanted to do our laundry and weren't allowed. We all were itching to check our emails, and I'm sorry that I didn't reply to any of you. I just didn't have the time. There are a bunch of people who want to use the internet and we're taking turns now that we learned that it works better with two or less people using te wireless network. So for those of you who gave me money, thank you SO much! I have been spending extra money on food just because i am losing weight and do not always get enough food. Also, money does go further here. So every little bit has helped.
Saturday we drove around the whole island in a couple hours making a couple stops....just to give you an idea ofthe size ofthe island. the highest speed limit is 40kph, as a result, they are allowed to pile however many people they want. kinda cool really. But we went to bed early to get up at 5am so that we could be read to be on tv at 7am. We arrived the tv station 6:45 and we were the only onese there....we found out there was a miscommunication and we were on at 7PM! Most of us laughed it off, but some were quite upset. We had 2 hours until we left for church and we sat through the church(all in tongan...no english at all) and they said it could be anywhere from 2-4 hours. It took an hour and 45 minutes. The church was beautiful though. All day most everyone slept or watched movies. I walked around campus. That night we went to the TV station and at last moment I was asked to do my testimony, so I went on Tongan TV live and told a brief part of my life story. I still hate mics.
We just worked around the base and went to town on monday and today we went to a beach and hung out as a team for the last time in a while. Tomorrow we split into 3 teams. My team will be riding a boat tomorrow night 5pm(9pm Washington time) and the ride will be up to 18 hours from what I hear to Vava'u. Rumor has it that Vava'u is the most beautiful island in the south pacific. I don't even know what we'll be doing there. I just know that everyone says I'm lucky to go....I sure hope this isn't a joke.
This will be the last update for 2 weeks. Rumor has it that there is no internet on the island. So here are my prayer requests these next two weeks:
-The ride to the islands are on an old desil boat. People are known to get sick solely from the smell of the desil. So pray for calm seas! This is my biggest prayer request. Calm seas can shorten the trip in half. I would hate to start my ministry there sick.
-Wisdom and strength for each of the 3 teams
-Relationships and unity in my team
-Our outreach team is praying whether or not to go back to Fiji like we planned, or if we should go to Samoa like we initially wanted(now that we're allowed to go)...or if God wants us to go somwhere else. If we change anything, we will need more money. As of right now, I have $200 after I pay off my credit card from my dental work in Kona(My tax returns came in so that covered the rest)....so prayer for direction and if we change anything, prayer for funds.
That's all for now. I thank you all for being a part of my life and my adventures. John 3:30.
Joel
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