white tables and rope swings

Since classes have started, our lives have gotten exponentially more crazy - and it's been so fun (as we ask the lord to be our strength:))!! Last week, we got to see about twenty USP students give their lives to Jesus! Our goal for the next month is to follow up with the students who filled out the surveys during orientation, indicating that they want to know more about how to be connected to God. With 700 women to call on the phone, this is quite the task- but we're loving it. Students are always willing to meet (even if they're 2 hours, or days, late to the appointment).

Last weekend, we had a sleepover for some of the student leaders. We loved having the girls over because previously, the american girls were known for being loud and crazy, but the fijian girls totally showed us up. They (and I mean"they"... I went to bed well before) were awake until 5 a.m.!!!

On Saturday, we went to Colo-i-Suva, a national park just outside of Suva. There were hiking trails, waterfalls, natural swimming pools, and a rope swing off some rocks! I had been wanting to check it out since we were on the plane over and I read about it in my travel book, so I was really excited to finally get to go!
Last Thursday, we had our first weekly meeting! It's called Connexion and is held in the Bure, which looks like a Fijian hut. We sang worship songs, played paper-rock-scissors, introduced the americans, mary shared a bit of her life, and dave gave some vision for this year. And there were some delicious cookies provided by maybe the best three stint girls ever!

Our office:: we call it the White Tables. This is where we spend every day, calling students to set up appointments, waiting for students when they don't show up and then calling again to see if they're still coming, meeting with students to share the gospel, and praying with them to ask Jesus into their lives!

We're really encouraged by the way the school year has started off, and despite joking about getting stood up a lot, we know that it's really just a part of their culture, and often the students do actually want to meet with us. I can't wait to share more stories- and be looking for my February prayer letter in the mail soon!

love from fiji :)

we were almost deported

This week has been SO exciting!!!!! We just completed orientation week for first year students. During orientation, USP gave tents to student organizations to promote ourselves. Every day (in the warm, warm, warm heat), we were on campus handing out surveys for students to fill out to find out if they'd be interested in Student Life. When students completed the surveys, we gave them the bags that we'd put together. We initially made 750 bags. But we went through 500 the first day! Throughout the week, we got about 1,600 new student contacts! that's ONE THOUSAND AND SIX HUNDRED! We're amazed. and stoked. and realizing that this is going to be the busiest year of our lives. Next week, we'll hit the ground running and start contacting students who indicated interest.
confession: we weren't really almost deported. I was trying to think of a captivating title for my post to make you read it. but, we DID get our passports back today with our Fiji visas! We've been praying that our visas would go through- and they did-and we are praising jesus that we don't have to leave fiji, because we really like it here and we now have a lot of work to do.
One thing that supersedes cultural boundaries is that people like free stuff. That's why whether I'm in Fiji or Miami U, orientation week is always the best week ever (although presidential elections on campuses is a close second). This is Joyce and I celebrating Free Stuff and Fijian Dances week.

You'll never guess the number one hot spot in Fiji for Valentine's Day. McDonald's gets decked out for V-day: balloons, candles, table clothes, glittery signs, reservations. The employees even take the orders and go get your food. It's hilarious. Brian even fed me a bite of his chocolate sundae (mcdonald's just gets you in the mood). Anyway, best valentine's day EVER.

What we're really doing (when we're not playing pool volleyball).

What we're really doing. After purchasing our volleyball net for the pool at our apartment (it will be a GREAT outreach tool), we've spent our "fun" time playing pool volleyball, learning the ropes of buying fresh fruits and veggies at the market, learning/teaching guitar, winning (if you're me) or losing (if you're one of the other 5 stinters) at card games like euchre, canasta, and 10's and 2's, and baking cookies.

"So after all the fun and games are over, what do you do?" you may be asking yourself. Well, this week, we're putting together 1,000 First-year kits that we'll hand out to all the first year students at USP. The first-year kits include a brown lunch bag with a book, CD, magazine, bookmark, highlighter, and pen. We decorated the bags with information about when our weekly meetings will be held. The goal is that the bags will familiarize the students with Student Life ("student life" is what fijians call Campus Crusade for Christ), and we'll have questionnaires for the students to fill out that will help us find students who are interested in talking to us about spiritual topics. Jenny, Mary and I found the bags (which was quite an adventure), and decorated them, while Brian, Rob and Dave put them together. We're still looking for a good deal on some bulk pens and highlighters, so if you know of any fijian stores that sell them cheap, holla!

A surprise from MHCC. Yesterday when we got home from the grocery store (MHCC), we discovered little bugs infesting our 4 kg (that's a lot!) bag of flour. As evidenced by the picture, this led to a disgruntled mary. But the girls were troopers and sifted through the entire bag and picked out the bugs. Yesterday was also when I realized that grocery shopping is in the running for being my least favorite thing to do in Fiji.


Last weekend, Jeanette (Koli and his wife, Jeanette, are the crusade directors at USP) drove me, jenny, and mary around Suva to see some places that we hadn't yet discovered (and to be honest, probably would have never found on our own). We saw the Australian, American, Chinese, and Indian embassies. We went to a Fijian flea market, the Pure Fiji factory (a fijian-style bath and body works), and she took us to the most beautiful overview of Suva that I've seen yet.

Keep it real, america.

a mid-week pick-me-up

+ What was the best discovery of the week: HBK= Hot Bread Kitchen, a restaurant downtown that serves the best Cream Buns my mouth has ever tasted. They also have boneless (for the most part) chicken pot pies (what Rob is showing off to the right) and giant Hoho's. The best part= you can get a chicken pot pie, a cream bun, and a piece of banana cake for $3.00 USD. Can you believe it? I can't, which is why I keep going back.



+ What was long overdue: a tour of the University of the South Pacific! A couple of the students showed us the ropes this week. With an outdoor pool, USP is officially the coolest campus ever.






+ What brings me so much joy: Fijian flowers. They're vibrantly colorful and... free! (as long as you can run faster than the the owner of property. just kidding. mostly).









+ What was an unexpected adventure: riding the bus for the first time! Brian and I set out to find a printer to buy (which proved to be quite the task), and decided we'd try to figure out the bus system. We didn't really get the system down, but enjoyed the breezy ride into town.