Travel Woes

My travels back to Samoa were very interesting to say the least. It started off on the morning that I was flying out of Denver. I got a call from Peace Corps headquarters in Washington DC telling me that I was not medically cleared to leave the country and that they needed some info from my doctor before they could let me leave. I rushed to the doctor's office and got the info faxed over to them.

Then, as I was checking in at DIA, I discovered that my ticket information for my flight from LA to Apia was left in my parents car and they could not check my luggage all the way through without that info. I called my parents and had them turn around and bring me the information.
Before getting on the plane, I had two items lifted at security: almond butter and tahini...apparently because they are "liquid". I got on the plane and discovered that one of my pieces of luggage would not fit in the overhead bin. I was bringing back microphones for my church and they were bulky. I had to take the microphones out of the luggage and put them in the bins seperately.

Then, in LA I had to switch to Air New Zealand. They informed us that we could only carry on one piece, so I had to rearrange my stuff and check a third bag at the gate. After unpacking my luggage, I discovered that all of my jewelry was missing. I'm almost positive that it happened because of this switch.

I arrived back into the country (Samoa) this morning at about 5:30. Stepping off the plane into the humid air was a nice change from the dry, bitter cold I had experienced for the past four weeks. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the change in weather, but I can only handle it for so long. I went to a staff meeting and found out that my counterpart is no longer at the school, and that I will be teaching years 10, 12, and 13 computer studies (Candice will be teaching year 11).

A Time of Restoration

Although it is the end of the school year, it seems far from finished. This is the 50th year for St. Mary's, so next week is a 3 day celebration starting on Wednesday, and these last couple of weeks have been dance and singing practice for the students, who will be entertaining the guests. Also, the alumni of St. Mary's (called SMOGA) will be coming from all over the world and need a place to stay, so will be camping out at the school (which is basically my front yard). I want to be excited to meet all these wonderful women of St. Mary’s history, but first I need to rejuvenate. It is hard to find a place to escape - a place that I consider peaceful. One thing that I have learned about myself in the last few years is that in order for me to feel renewed is to have plenty of quiet alone time. Because I live on a small island in a city that is overpopulated, and in a culture that is very relationship-oriented, it is hard to have personal quiet time.

So I went to Manase to hang out with Julya, hoping that I could get some peace and quiet far away from Apia. During dinner, the family that runs the place announced that their 9 year old girl was having a birthday. The celebration turned into loud music and dancing until 10 PM. Because the guests were all wound up from that, they continued to drink and hang out after the music stopped, so my hope of having a peaceful stay was crushed. However, I must admit that there is nothing like waking up, taking a few steps to find yourself standing on the shoreline, looking out into what seems to be an infinite body of water, gazing at the rising sunlight reflecting off the crest of massive tidal waves inspires my heart to thank God for sharing His art with me. I will never take that part of my experience for granted and my hope is that each and everyone of you can have a similar experiences. The other things that I enjoyed were the conversations about life in the Peace Corps; struggles and trials that we have gone through and are currently experiencing as believers; going back and forth saying what we are thankful to God for in 2006 and things that we want in 2007; going to the lava fields with a group of Kiwis that gave us a ride to the wharf; and devouring my new favorite book, Mere Christianity.

The LMS church from the lava fields - it was destroyed in the early 1900s by a volcano that errupted for over 10 years

Prizegiving Day

Friday was the last “official” day of school, which is called Prizegiving in Samoa. It is similar to what we would consider a graduation in the US, but this is for the whole school, not just the seniors.

Sister Pele gave a report of the school year, talking about all of the major events and challenges. They then started going into the 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd places in each class and subject. Each student that got a placing went to the front to get their certificate and trophy. On their way down, they were greeted by family members and friends with candy and flower lei’s. The student that got 1^st place overall was greeted by the entire year 13 class as well as many friends and family. By the time she was finished getting kissed and laid by all, you could barely see her head!

It was emotional for some of the girls – especially year 13, but surprisingly it was also pretty emotional for the students that are coming back next year. One student came up to me all teary-eyed and gave me a hug saying that she was grateful for my teaching her and when I asked if she was coming back next year, she said “yes”. Hmm….quite different than us Americans. It made me start thinking that we so often assume that we are going to see people soon and therefore don’t tell people how much they mean to us when it is the right time. Too often we say “I wish I would have told him/her…”

Sister Pele ended asking all the students to come to school next Wednesday through Friday so that they could start to prepare for the Golden Jubilee celebrations (the week of the 11^th). That is why even though we are officially finished, we are not really finished

After the prizegiving I went to town to run some errands. I had to get a couple gifts for family and friends for when I go home in a couple of weeks. I then stopped by Kirstin’s office to chat with her and because she has AC!! I went to Jane’s Travel Agency and got my plane tickets home. It is now official…I’m coming home for Christmas!!!!!!

Daughters of the King Women’s Conference (21 – 24 November)

One of the new Peace Corps trainees was in Apia during the week of the conference and wanted to go to the conference, so I asked Charlotte to pick her up for the opening evening. When we registered they had cute little purses with coconut oil soap, insect repellent, tissues, candy, notebooks and pens. Mabel Magalei, the woman from White Centre Assembly of God in Seattle Washington welcomed the women of the conference while encouraging us to be hungry for God and to never be satisfied at where we are at – always pushing for more. We then had a parade in which each church that had members attending the conference got up, said a bit about their church and then got prayed for. The trainee and I took a taxi home and I didn’t have any cash on me, so I asked him if I could quickly run inside to grab money and he told me not to worry about it – I paid with a pani popo - one of the many ways that God took care of me during the conference.

I missed the morning session of the conference as I had to help with Peace Corps training – a model school in which the trainees taught classes at my school. Before the evening session started, I had great excitement. Debbie Katina gave this session and she talked about being rooted in the Word of God. She demonstrated what it looked like to be “engraphted” so that when the storms of life come, you will not be shaken so much that you fall. She then asked us to raise our hands if we were sure that we would go to heaven if we were to die that night. After that she asked everyone else if they weren’t sure and wanted to make a decision to start following Christ to come up to the altar. At least 30 women came up! Fila and I went to the counseling room and talked with one of the ladies that came up to the altar. We talked with her and then prayed for her with her.

On Thursday I took the day off of school and went to the day session to help the women's committee. I greeted people at the door and then helped prepare the morning tea. I had such an awesome time serving with and getting to know some of the women of the church better. They are truly beautiful women with big hearts!! After morning tea I had the opportunity to sit and listen to Debbie preaches again. I love the way she speaks - she is so down to earth and says it like it is. She was talking about how us women are not only princesses, but are warriors, in fact we are princess warriors! We have to have courage to finish the journey even when we are afraid - we feel our fears, but we press on anyway. That night it was Holly, Robin, Sally and I all from the Peace Corps. Pastor Mabel finished up the conference talking about the story of Ruth and how the road between Moab (the world) and Bethlehem (the house of praise) is humility. She talked about keeping your eyes focused on the field (God's Kingdom) and don't look for Boaz (your husband) because when you are committed to the field, Boaz will find you! One of her quotes that especially stood out to me was "do not make a permanent decision based on a temporary situation"

Friday night was the royal banquet in which women were to get dressed up and be ready to be treated like the princesses that God has created us to be. We all looked like and felt like the princesses that we are! The men of the church were all dressed up like servers and served us so well. We had a lovely dinner and then watched a production about Esther done by the youth of the church. It was incredible - I can't even begin to tell you how talented and anointed the youth of Peace are. At the closing Pastor Samoa announced that we are going to be hosting "Daughters of the King" every 2nd year, so the next one is in 2008.

South Pacific Strobe Lights

Picture this: you are sound asleep at 12:30 A.M. and a white light as bright as a strobe light pierces your window continually until you open your eyes. You awake and see that your room is lit more than it is with your light on. The electric beam continues to penetrate your room and you realize that there is a ground shaking rumble and a flood of water rushing out of the sky as if the heavens have split open.

Let me tell you, I am not easily scared; in fact, people came to me for comfort during the tsunami. But last night was a different story. One roar was so extreme that a glass on my desk lit up (it is a fun cup that lights up when it is hit HARD). My first instinct was to pray. I didn’t know how or what to pray for. I had never experienced anything like it. This was the first time that I felt as if a cloud was fixed directly over my house with flashes of light striking and crackling thunder shaking. After I prayed in tongues, I started reading my Bible and found comfort in that. I fell asleep about an hour later.

Later that morning I asked Candice and Sina if they had slept through the storm and they both said that they did not and were also trembling in fear. Because the rain had not stopped, the school grounds were pretty much flooded. We went to school and they decided to cancel it. Some of the girls were still around waiting for rides and I saw one of my students weeping. Her sister helped her into the car and then I found out that her mother had just passed away.

Candice and I felt cooped up, so we decided to take a taxi to town and do some shopping. The streets were flooded, but we were determined. We walked to Lucky Foodtown in knee deep water. I wish I had my camera to share some photos.

Survivor Aganoa 2006

The Next Generation (our young adult group at church) planned a camping trip to Aganoa Black Sand Beach for the weekend. During one of the prep meetings, Fila came up with the theme: Survivor. Janita and I planned the overall flow of the weekend and the activities. Junior was in charge of the equipment, and Kirstin and Charlotte planned all the meals.

To get to this incredible place, you must drive do some major off-roading. It is required to have a 4-wheel drive car. I loved the drive, as it reminded me of 4-wheel driving in Colorado!

After we set tents up and got firewood, I saw my first sunset on the beach!

We ate an incredible meal and then listened to the first “Survivor Story” - Janita shared about how a survivor needs faith. We then split the group up into teams for the weekend and began the challenge with the Walk of Faith game. Janita tied string around the trees in a forestry area and then had the teams follow the string while holding onto one another’s shoulders in the dark. We then ate S’mores and played fireball soccer (until the fireball got put out by the ocean.

Bright and early Saturday morning – 6 AM to be exact – Janita, Fila and I arose to pray for the women’s conference* and for the rest of the weekend. We had an awesome time of prayer and we realized that God was asking for us to stand in the gap and pray for our fellow campers – we prayed for spiritual blinders to be removed and for the Holy Spirit to move in the hearts and lives of every person there. During our prayer time, I was looking out into the water and saw my first shark fins!!

Zonder shared the next survivor story when he talked about how survivors leave legacies. What hit me hard was that what our group builds will determine how the next generation (no pun intended) will experience this group. It made me realize that this group is so not about us. We need to make sure that we are building on our Sure Foundation, which is Christ, and that what we do will make a lasting impact.

Janita and I gave each team a piece of material and told them they had to be creative about how they were going to display their team “uniform” and that they had to wear a piece of their material at all times or they would lose points for their team. The winners got 40 points. Here is a picture of the winning team, “Pirate Punks”

We then explained that there would be “tree mail” randomly throughout the day and that they had pretty much the whole day as free time. The first tree mail explained that each team would have to prepare an item before dinner that had a “survivor theme”. The second tree mail told them to bring a coconut and their best listening skills to the beach front at 3 PM.

During our free time, we played in the water with the boogie boards. It was a blast because it was the first time that I have been to a beach in Samoa where the coral reef wasn’t so close and where the waves were big and crashed right on the shore line.

At 3 PM, we told the survivors that each team would have one blindfolded person and another that would give directions to that person. The blindfolded person had to pick up coconuts and put them into a designated hole. The team with the most coconuts won. It was so much fun watching!

After dinner, we had our third survivor story and then Julya and I crashed into our tiny little circus tent (as Marques called it because it reminded him of a clown car – it was so short that it was like a kid’s tent). If you’ve been camping, you know how the sleeping schedule goes – the first night is unbearably uncomfortable and therefore no sleep and the second night is great sleep because you are so exhausted.

Sunday morning a few of us – Janita, Robin, Fila, Julya, Nata, Zonder and I went to pray for the rest of the weekend and the women’s conference. I then went off to a secluded place to pray about my sharing that was going to happen shortly. I then shared the final survivor story about perseverance. After my sharing I asked everyone to ponder some questions for about 15 minutes. During that time the Holy Spirit hit some people hard. When we gathered back Janita asked if we could write down a hardship in our lives and sacrifice it and put it in the campfire to be released. Afterwards, we met in small groups to pray with one another.

We all could not resist boogie boarding before we left because the waves were massive. Janita and Nata were the first brave women to tackle the waves. They both got annihilated by the waves, but that didn’t stop me. However, after a couple tumbles I realized how powerful the ocean is. Then Fila came along and had to find out for herself. Here is a picture of Fila and I after being tossed around by the mighty waves.

*Peace Chapel is hosting the first-ever women’s conference in Samoa on the 21^st to the 24^th of this month. Alesi, Pastor Samoa’s wife, received a vision from God ten years ago and it is now coming to fruition. There are going to be 3 speakers – one from Hawaii, one from Seattle, and our very own Alesi. Our church has been fasting since the 6^th for all meals but one per day so that we can pray for two specific things: that each woman attending the conference will experience a breakthrough from whatever is keeping them in bondage from fully experiencing God’s love and for the presence of God to be felt during the conference. It is going to be incredible. Wait for more updates next week during the conference!!

Peeping Tom

Saturday night I was sitting in my living room having a long overdue chat with Megan online. I had another chat window with

David, trying to troubleshoot the church computer so that it would be ready to display song lyrics in the morning. As soon

as I got offline, David called me to ask if I could download a driver for the computer. As we were talking, I heard a

sneeze coming from just outside my living room window. I soon realized that my porch light was off and the hall light was

on - the perfect combination to clearly watch my every move. I told David that there is someone right outside my window

because I just heard a sneeze. I went and turned on the porch light.

I didn't know how to handle it - do I go wake up Candice, do I call the police, do I call the Peace Corps? To be honest, I

wasn't afraid at all. I feel pretty safe in this house - the doors have bolt locks and the windows are protected by coconut

wire. In my state of indecisivness, I went to my dark bedroom to see if I could see anything outside. Just then Shiwawa

(my favorite dog on the compound) started barking in a forceful directed way. Suddenly I saw the next door neighbor (Akata)

and her son. They were talking to another guy - telling him off in Samoan.

Akata saw me looking out the window and told me that a guy was standing outside my window staring in. Apparently Akata was

sleeping and Shiwawa came to wake her up. She ran over to her, got her attention and then ran back to where the guy was

barking at him. She did this multiple times to communicate that there was a problem. When she saw the guy, she noticed

that it was the same guy that got caught breaking into the next door house a couple of years ago and that he had mental

problems.

I called the Peace Corps duty officer, who happened to be the director, and asked her what to do. She said to file a report

with the police and then she would send the safety and security officer over. It was hard to communicate with the police,

so I had Akata explain to them what happened in Samoan. The PC director came over, and asked that the police come over just

to drive around to make it known that a police report had been filed.

Sunday morning the PC safety and security officer picked me up, took me to the office to fill out a report and then took me to the police station to file another report. I will keep you updated on the progress...

A chance to take a breath...

It’s Saturday, 5:00 PM, and it’s the first time I’ve had a chance to sit down and write since last Saturday about this time. I never thought I would be as busy as I was in the States in this laid back society, but it is possible.

Monday night a group of us went to clean the Toasalamasina Hall for the leadership conference that was going to happen for the next few days. It’s perplexing that you pay $300 per night to rent a hall that you have to clean yourself. Anyway, I was there for 4 hours and when I left there was still plenty of work to be done. I think I spent about an hour trying to mop up a lake – there were leaks in the roof and it had been pouring rain for the past few days.

On Tuesday night I asked Janita to come over for burritos since she brought me some tortillas from New Zealand. As I was cooking, Lorna and Zonder showed up and I invited them also. We all ate together and then went to the hall for the conference. To be honest, I really wasn’t looking forward to losing all of my weekday nights to the conference and when worship started my heart was not in it. God quickly put me in my place when suddenly a bolt of lighting struck followed by a simultaneous boom and loss of power. We were mid-song at the time and without hesitation, we continued to worship…in fact, we got louder. Candles began to light the hall as we finished worship. Pastor Paul DeJong from New Zealand’s Christian Life Center delivered a powerful message about throwing your confidence away and hence prevent God from using you to the measure that He could. I left that night with a complete change of attitude and looked forward to Wednesday night.

On Wednesday night Manuia, a fellow teacher from St. Mary’s, came along with Janita and I. The worship was incredible (including the soon-to-be perfected version of “How Great is Our God” by the Peace Chapel worship team). The sermon presented an idea that I had never heard before. Pastor Iliafi talked about altars as being places to worship the Lord, places of dedication and offering and places of sacrifice. He used the example of Abraham and how he built an altar to remember God’s promise so that it would be sealed and not taken away by the enemy. He encouraged us to also build an altar every time God gives us new revelations so that we will not forget, and I thought “how many times have I received something from the Lord and forgot about it when I was put to the test”. During the altar call, Manuia went up and the pastor asked friends of the people at the front to come up and pray for them. When the pastor came to pray for Manuia, she was slain in the Spirit. I have never caught anyone, so I didn’t know what to do – I tried to gently put her down :-D and then the pastor came over and prayed for me and I went down in no time! I was so full of joy!!

Thursday night was the last night of the conference and Pastor Paul DeJong gave the message. Jesus told us to ask for anything in His name and it will be given to us. Paul said that faith never promises immediate results but immediately there is a guarantee return (in God’s perfect timing). The night ended with lots of praising – so much that we were horse.

Peace Corps Parties

On Friday night our Peace Corps group, 75, decided to get together to celebrate our one year anniversary. We met at Bryan and John’s and they cooked up some mean fajitas. It was so great to hang out with the gang all together, as I will occasionally run into random members, but to all be hanging out together was just like old times. It was easy, comfortable, and natural. Also, I must say how proud I am of all of us – all 14 of us are still in the game, which is pretty darn good (the PC staff can’t even remember the last time all trainees became volunteers)!

Saturday night was the welcoming fiafia for the new group. There are 16 of them – 4 girls and 12 guys! Most of them are IT teachers. David from church was asked to play the drums for the sasa and the haka paka dances, so I spent a lot of time catching up with him. I did try to talk to the newbies, but that is always a really akward way of meeting the new people, as you end up asking the same questions, “what’s your name”; “where are you from” “what are you going to be doing”…so I find it easier to meet them over time. I left at about 9:30 so that I could get a free ride home and because the partying was about to begin. The party went on until 2:30 AM, and the only reason I know that is because Julya came over to spend the night so that she could go to church with me in the morning.

On Monday, I was in town and had about a half hour to burn before meeting the girls (Janita, Kirstin and Lorna) for a run. I decided to stop by the trainees hotel to see if any of the new girls wanted to come for a run. One of the girls is a cross country runner and jumped on the offer. Sally was really cool and it was awesome to get to know her a little better. These are the kinds of opportunities I look for in getting to know the newbies.

Today was my first sick day from school. I have been feeling a little run down for about a week now and decided to just take a day off and stay in bed. It was hard and it was a looooong day, but worth it. I think it is just what my body needed. The Samoans tend to think that it is because of the change in weather (it was about 88 degrees today), and who knows maybe it is. One of my favorite nuns just got back from Tonga today after being away for three months. I missed her so much and almost went to school just to see her and give her a big hug, but she came over to see me! That was a nice surprise!!

Colorful Sunday

One of the most biggest holidays in Samoa is White Sunday, or as Peace Chapel likes to call it, Colorful Sunday. We missed it last year, as we arrived in the country three days after (which means I have been here for a year now!). White Sunday is a day for the kids. They get a new outfit to wear to church, they put on performances, go home and eat all their favorite foods - including ice cream!

The morning service was fun. The kids looked so cute in their puletasis and new clothes. They did skits, talents, testimonies and my favorite - memory verses. The memory verses were done by the smallest kids - ages 3-5. I started picking out the future pastors - some of them just had that charism.

The evening service performances were done by our group. We started off with a song/dance and moved into a skit. The skit starred Marques as the dad, me as the mom, Leta and Charlotte as the kids, and Zonder as the guy we talked about. We based our skit on Ephesians 4:29 "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs..." The family has a devotion about this verse and then the next day the kids witness the parents talking bad about someone. The daughter does the same thing and gets reprimanded for her behavior. The parents realize what they have done and decide to apologize to their kids and to the person that they talked about. It was fun, but a lot of hard work to prepare for. I was feeling like I wanted it to be over until we had a quiet time of prayer together before the service. We gave it up to God and thanked Him for allowing us to serve the church for a change. Our attitudes changed and we became united and glorified the Lord. It was awesome.

After the skit, we sang another song and then Junior gave his testimony. His testimony ministered to so many people and blessed me so much. After that we sang a final song to close his testimony - "I can only imagine". When we finished, Pastor Samoa got up and thanked us, showing his appreciation for our hard work. He said that it is so much easier to teach kids but with adults there is more resistance to training and directing. And that was certainly true for us, but each practice we prayed and gave it over to the Lord so that He could work through us. Our strength was found in Him.

Teachers Day

Thursday was Teachers Day, which is a day to publically recognize all the hard work that teachers do. Our day started with an assembly in which the students sang songs and presented gifts, hugs and kisses to show their appreciation for us. Later that day my year 13 class sang "Happy Teachers Day" to the tune of "Happy Birthday" to me and asked for a speech. I took that as an opportunity to tell them how much I have enjoyed teaching and mentoring them and that they have really touched my life. Afterwards, two of my students came up to me and asked me about HIV and premarital sex. It really blessed me to talk about absitenence with them and to see and hear from them that they appreciated it and felt comfortable talking to me about that.

Our school took the day off on Friday to celebrate Teachers Day. We piled into a bus at 8 AM and headed off to the beach for a picnic. Part of our budget included buying 3 crates of beer and 2 bottles of Bailey in which the alcoholics in the group began tapping into immediately. Needless to say the bus ride (which took about an hour) was pretty brutal - even with headphones on. They were extremely loud and very inconsiderate of the rest of the people on the bus. I was praying for patience the entire time. When we got to the beach house, the partying and noise continued. I couldn't help but want to get away, so I started walking and kept walking. I walked through Coconuts, Maninoa and Sinalei resorts. I picked up seashells and had some time with God. I came back about an hour and a half later and ate some oka, pig and taro. Candice and I decided to go for a swim in the rain, as we needed to get away from one of the drunk guys that was following us around and could barely speak because he was slurring so bad. We walked out to the ocean and could not find any water that was deeper than about a foot but we did find a sandbar and laid in the water like beached wales for a bit.

As hard as the day was when it came to dealing with the immature, obnoxious behavior, I was convicted that I needed to have compassion on my fellow staff members. They have an obvious drinking problem and I need to be more committed to pray for them and show them love. I am called to be in this world, not of this world. Jesus hung around the tax collectors, prositutes and other sinners. He rebuked the Pharisees and the ones that were self-rightous. I need to keep myself in check and make sure that I don't become like a Pharisee!

First Day of School

I had been dreading this day – not only because it was the first day back from a holiday, but because it was Monday. It was extremely difficult because I couldn’t seem to organize my thoughts at all. I had no idea what I was going to teach the students. My first class was Math. I had given them an assignment to do over the break – kind of a fun collecting data and creating pie charts and bar graphs with the statistical data. I figured there would be some that didn’t do it, but was shocked when I discovered that only about 7 (out of 47) did it! I didn’t know what to do with them and therefore didn’t do anything to them. When I had my year 12 computer class I most likely confused them because I was so scatter-brained. I was given a major project to give them over the holiday that is due in three weeks. It is based on a program that I don’t know and that only 6 computers in my lab have. I could not seem to come up with a solution to the problem of the lack of resources with the time constraint.

After seeking direction and guidance from the Lord today, my day went much better. I went to my Math class and most of them turned in their homework. They worked on their exercises quietly and listened attentively when I talked. I figured out how to handle my year 12 class. I am going to learn Publisher, make a user guide for the students and then demonstrate an example of what they have to do for the next two class periods. They are going to be split up into a group of 6 and a group of 7. The group of 6 will come to class next week and work on their projects and the other group will come the following week to work on their project. Whew! I am definitely learning how to work with the resources that I have to make things work in a timely manner. God is also teaching me the importance of relying on Him to give me strength and courage. The drastic change that I experienced from Monday to Tuesday was evidence that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

One Last Getaway

Last weekend was the last weekend of my two-week holiday, so I decided to spend two days and one night at Maninoa (a surf beach resort where one of my friend lives and works). Charlotte, Kirstin, Junior and I went up early Saturday morning to begin our time of relaxation. I had an amazing time getting to know my friends better – listening to music, singing with and listening to Charlotte and Tim play the acoustic guitar, taking walks on the beach, having solitude with the Lord, writing and reading my journal, soul-searching while gazing into the star-filled sky.

On Sunday, we jumped into Junior’s car and he took us to Togitogiga waterfalls. It was on my list of things to do before I leave in one year, so I can now tick that off my list.

End of 2nd Term -

Yesterday (Thu. 8-31) was the final practical test for my year 13 students on MS Access. It was such a pleasure grading their tests because they did so well. I have noticed that some of them are working so hard on the activities and making sure that they get it right. I had a pep talk with some of them on Wednesday and had them declare that they were going to get 100%. They were so unsure of themselves until they proclaimed that they were going to do so well. From the results I see that their confidence helped them do better. It just warmed my heart to see how much confidence and improvement some of the girls have gained since the beginning of the year.

I woke up this morning with a big sigh of relief. Second term is finally over and I have just begun a two week break. I am also approaching my one-year anniversary of being here and I am shocked at how fast it has arrived. Our school was asked to sing at the funeral of a 4 year old boy who drowned on Saturday at Aggie Grey's resort. The boy is the nephew of two of our students. The staff was invited to be there as well. I went to support the students. The funeral was devastating, and I lost it when the father, only about 25 years of age, gave his eulogy and shared his trembling prayer saying that he understood that it was in God's will but that it was so hard to handle. I cannot even fathom the pain that they are dealing with.

Manono Island

Candice, Jacinta (a co-worker) and I went to Manono island with one of our year 9 students on Friday after school. We took a small boat for $2 each from our island to Manono. It was really windy and therefore had some really choppy waves. Because the boat was so small it was a little scary.







The island was fabulous. It was so beautiful that it was surreal. The only road is a sand one. The following restrictions make the island extremely peaceful: dogs, cars, noise. As soon as we got to our student's house, they fed us fresh fish. We talked for a while, took bucket showers (they don't have running water, only rain water) and went to bed. The cool breeze and peaceful atmosphere would have made for a good night's sleep, however one of the ladies sleeping in our fale was a very loud snorer. Shortly after waking up this morning, we ate breakfast and set out for our trip around the island, on foot of course!








The walk was incredible. I took so many pictures of the "road" because it varied between sand, forest and jungle. The ocean never left our sides. The island is inbetween the two main islands, but is in a location that you can see all the surrounding islands. I was in awe of God's creation and taken by the beauty and peace of it all. We completed our stroll in 1.5 hours.

If you plan on visiting me, I will definitely take you here.

Miracles DO happen

I’m sorry that it has been a while since I have posted and gotten in touch with many of you. I have been reloading my operating system, software and trying to upload all my documents and settings. Anyway, I have had a really cool week that I will be updating you on as soon as I have some time – probably this weekend when I get back from Manono (a small island in Samoa).

I have to write about what happened tonight. Janita, Candice and I went for a run this afternoon and my knee starting hurting, so I had to stop. I have been having problems with it and can usually only run for about 20 minutes before I have to stop. Tonight when I was walking to Janita’s car, I could barely walk – I had sharp pains in my knee. She told me that she was going to have to pray for it. Before I got out of her car she put her hand on my knee and started praying for it. I wasn’t moving at all, but when she was done praying she said that she felt it crack twice (like a knuckle) – which I did not feel. I straightened my knee and did not feel any pain! It was immediately gone!! Since then I have not felt any pain whatsoever. It was a miracle and I am praising God that He performed a miracle right in front of our eyes!!!

A Good 'Ol Average Day

During my quiet time this morning, I prayed that today would be a good day. It started with our weekly staff briefing in which we had a lovely prayer and an actual briefing (usually it goes way behond the allotted 30 minutes). I then taught one of my year 13 classes MS Access. It has been about five years since I have created a database in Access, so I stumbled through some of the lesson I was teaching. My second year 13 class was much better (I avoided the mistakes that I made during the first one). My math class was fun. I enjoyed walking in the classroom and hearing the girls get excited to do math. We are working on plotting points on a Cartesian plane.

After school all of the year 13 teachers had a pow-wow to discuss how to go about implenting policies regarding late projects and reports. What is happening is that students are not turning in their assignments on the due date and are not being penalized by some teachers and being harshly penalized by others. Sister Pele wants to have a standard policy amongst all the year 13 teachers. This is one of the first times that I took the opportunity to speak up and it was great to see how receptive they were to my ideas. I actually felt like I was fulfilling my Peace Corps mission for the first time since I started working.

After school I felt like a taste of home, so I spent a couple of hours in the kitchen making a Meditteranean meal: Salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper); hummus (I mash the garbanzo beans with a glass and then add garlic, lemon juice, tahini and cumin); falafel and tabouleh (I bought box mixes when I was home a few months ago). It was such a treat to eat my favorite cuisine! I remember when I had cravings for this food to just get in my car and go pick it up at Jerusalem or Sahara, now I have to have it sent from home and have to make most of it on my own!!

True Love

I was feeling pretty down at the end of the day: not only about what was going on, but more so about my relationship with the Lord lately. I have been feeling a little dry and felt really convicted about something I read in the book “Surprised by the Power of the Spirit.” Jack Deere said that part of loving God was being passionate about Him. How can we love strictly out of obedience? Would a wife be satisfied if her husband was just loving her out of duty? He argues that love is not just the mental choice, but a heart choice. If there is no heart, no emotion, it is not love. I have not felt an emotional connection lately and have started questioning how much I love the Lord. I decided to take a walk to town and talk to the Lord about everything that was going on. As soon as I stepped out of my door, Janita pulled up. She asked me what I was doing and I told her I was going to town. She told me to get in and took me around. She treated me to a smoothie at Sydney Side Café and we just talked about everything. She did wonders for me by just listening and telling me that it was okay that I was feeling this way. She reminded me of Footsteps and said that the God is still with me. He is holding me even though I feel distant. He is even closer to me! Wow. It brought tears to my eyes…there’s that emotion that I have been longing for! We were talking later about one of her gifts. She has had dreams and visions that have come to pass. We were trying to discern if it was a form of prophesy. I told her that I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but when I get home I don’t know if I want to go directly into Missions, I want to work and spread the Word of God that way. She said “plus, you are going to be pregnant.” She was shocked and said that she just had a vision of me being pregnant and she didn’t even realize what she was saying. I was so overcome with joy! She and I shared excitement and tears! I told her what a blessing she had been today and how I needed her and she must have known. She then told me that I had been on her mind all day and she had tried to call me all day but couldn’t get through and so she just drove over. Wow!! God really came through for me today. He used Janita to speak to me, reassure me and lift me up!

Infected!

On Monday my counterpart did not show up for work. I was on my way to teach my math class when his computer class started coming in the lab. I told them that they did not have class today and realized that it was time to talk to my principle about my counterpart. I told her everything that I have witnessed over the past 7 months. She said that she already had her eye on him and everything I was telling her was confirming what she had already assumed.

On Wednesday I came into the lab and realized that there was something seriously wrong with a couple of the new computers and with the teacher’s computer. They were freezing up and making copies of files and folders that could not be deleted. I started taking note of the programs that were showing up as “not responding” and did an internet search. My suspicion was right: the computers were infected with a serious virus. I spent hours on the net trying to figure out how to get rid of the virus. I was at the computer lab until 9 PM – still with the problem unresolved. I arrived to the lab early Thursday morning and turned off the network. I frantically ran several virus checks and programs on all the computers I could and found several viruses on a few of the computers. Because the computers that were infected were on the network, most of the computers in the lab became victims of the virus. However, some of the computers are so old that they don’t have enough memory to run virus software (some only have 16 MB of RAM!!). I am still at a loss of what I am going to do with those computers, but for now, I have to remove all the computers that are not up to date with virus software off the network. That means we will only be using 7 of the 16 available connections. Anyway, as a result of this big mess, the students have been informed that they cannot bring the following to the lab: memory sticks, CDs, DVDs, headphones, etc. In fact, they have to leave their backpacks outside of the lab. They only can bring their notebooks and a pen. To be honest, I’m not sure how the virus got into our lab. I don’t know if it was one of the students or my counterpart. He hasn’t been very cautious of what he puts into the teacher’s computer and the problem started right after he put the burned DVD into the teacher’s computer and the one computer that was reacting the same way when the virus struck. Some of the files that were suspicious showed up under “[his name] Documents”.

Baptisms!

Janita invited all of us to witness her Baptism on Saturday at Palolo Deep. Pastor Samoa had just arrived from Australia - he was at a Hillsong conference and had been gone for two weeks.

The baptism was beautiful and it brought so much joy as I remembered mine. It was six months after I gave my heart to the Lord it was spontaneous. I got to pronounce my faith to my family at Grace Chapel. My pastor baptized me, which was special as he is part of my conversion. I remember how the Lord blessed me abundantly after being baptized. I pray the same for Janita.

We all went and had a bonfire and BBQ, enjoying one another’s company. I got to spend some time talking to Pastor Samoa and got really encouraged as I listened to his stories from Hillsong. He was so filled with joy from the experience, and that joy was contagious!