We had a restful Sabbath. One of our housemates, Marveni, was the guest speaker at the church located on the mission compound, so we got the sermon in English! Marveni, a native Tongan, is the youth director of the Union (Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Solomons, Cooks, and several other far flung small islands) headquartered in Fiji.
The singing was also all in English, congregational and specials. The ni-Van surly can sing… the a cappella harmony is amazing. However, everything else was pretty much in Bilslama (pigeon English). Occasionally there would be whole sentences in English (very colored by local accent) so I caught maybe 10%. Poor Karl caught virtually zero. The acoustics have sound bouncing all over the place and those hearing aids are worth zilch.
We went down to one of the black sand beaches in the afternoon with Damien and Leisha Rice (our point persons at the mission). Their 3 kids enjoyed the sand and water, the guys swam and Leisha and I continued to get to know each other better. Barry, our other housemate, also came along and used the time for a long walk along the beach. Barry, also an Aussie, is from the Division office and is here for two weeks, doing training with pastors and leaders. This group of ni-Van in for training are from outer islands. For lodging they are tucked away here and there about campus. There are no classes today, so there is a little competition for space on the lines to "peg" out laundry! So far we have all fit our stuff on the lines, in and around each other! Which reminds me, it is time I go check the shirts, they are probably dry. Be back later.
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