We are alive!

Hello Everyone! To start off, we are all safe and loving life here in beautiful Vanuatu. This is the first time we were able to get internet access for long enough to update you, and most likely our last chance until we leave to go back to Brisbane. The first two weeks of outreach have flown by and we already have so many amazing and surreal experiences as well as many funny stories to tell. Upon our arrival, we quickly became acquainted with the concept of “island time” as we waited for our ride for what seemed like a long time, but we soon learned was average here in this laid-back culture (some of us decided we have been living on Island Time our whole lives). For the first several nights we began to get used to Vanuatu as we stayed just outside of the nearby town, Luganville, at the Christian Mission Center. We were blessed with our host-mother, Mama Susan, who always insisted on keeping us well fed with her amazing cooking. We spent the first several days working at a nearby kindergarten which is just getting started, and were able to do some practical work, as well as interact with and help teach the kids there. We were able to do some work on the gutters, and put up some drywall that hadn’t yet been finished. We also were able to work on an unplanned project that involved fixing a hole where someone (Nathan) put their foot through the ceiling while working on some of the framework. Other exciting events included running down the street after a taxi that still had our beans for dinner (Jess); needless to say, the locals found it pretty hilarious. After several productive days in Luganville under our belts, we headed out into the bush of Santo (the island we are currently on) to do work with a mission there. We really didn’t have too much of an idea of what this week would look like, but it turned out to be quite the adventure. On the first Friday of Outreach, we repacked all of our belongings and loaded ourselves into the back of a pickup truck, (once again we were reminded of the laidback time-keeping of our transport) and headed far off into the bush. After driving for a while, we came to our drop off point, where our friends from the Bible college, Moli and Neau, who were our “guides” for the week lead us deep into the jungle with our backpacks on our backs. It was our first real experience with some hiking and it proved to be quite challenging, although very fun at the same time. We soon found that some of us were more prone to falling in the mud than others (Sonia) and this continued to be the case for the next several hikes as well. Upon reaching our destination, a small village named Vatmasana, We were greeted excitedly by our leader for the week, Edson, who had absolutely no idea we were coming. Because of the remoteness of the village, he hadn’t been able to get any communication that we were coming, and despite planning on leaving the next day, he gladly extended his stay for another week to accommodate us. We are so thankful that he did, because he was a great guide and came to be a great friend this week. On our first weekend there, we were able to get settled into the Bamboo hut that would serve as home for the week, as well as explore some of the surrounding area and villages with Edson. Our first glimpse at the bush villages was a very exciting experience for us as we were able to see what life was like for the remote island villagers. On Sunday, we were able to run a church service, and afterwards we met some more of the nearby people. Going into the week, we got to split up into smaller groups to teach English, Maths and Bible in the schools, which was where all of the kids came (ages 24 and younger) to go to school from all of the surrounding villages. The school was split up into 3 different age levels, and we were handed responsibility of the English and Bible classes for that week. We taught the kids songs, simple phrases, played games, and so on. This was at first a challenge for us, since we had no idea that we would be teaching classes at the beginning of the week, but soon we all adjusted to our classes and began to enjoy the experience of going to class and teaching each day. Some of us were also able to work with the people to help build their new church building. This involved cutting up lots of bamboo with bush knives and weaving them into wall pieces. After a bit of a learning curve, we were able to work along side the villagers for the rest of the day. The week was full of new and amazing experiences such as killing and eating a rooster, swimming in mountain streams, hiking through the jungle, and eating lots of taro, bananas, and island cabbage. We also learned few new phrases in Bishlama, “Yumi kai kai maluba” or “We ate lizard” is one of them. We were very happy to create and build new relationships with the bush people, as well as the missionaries involved there. Soon enough, our week in Vatmasana came to an end and once again we made the long trek back to Luganville. We again settled in at the Christian Mission Center with Mama Susan and after a great weekend off, we worked two more days at the Kindergarten, this time building them a swing set and some shelves. Currently, we are in Luganville for one more night before heading off tomorrow (Wednesday) to go to another island named Malo, this time for a week and a half. We don’t know too much about what all we will be doing, but we do hope to work with a church and a youth group there, as well as whatever else our contact there has for us to do. After that, we will be going to Aore for our last two weeks of outreach, where we will be helping out the YWAM base there with more practical work. So far outreach has been both challenging and rewarding and it has taught us all a lot. One thing that has challenged us all is to see the amazing attitudes of the people here in Vanuatu. The culture is so geared around building others up and always putting other people first, that it has challenged the way we think about our own attitudes. We are so happy to be able to learn from this culture and are definitely looking forward to what else God has to teach us over the next several weeks in whatever we do. Thank you all so much for your support and interest in our team, it is such a blessing! Keep us in your prayers over the next month as we will be traveling a lot and continually having new adventures each day. Thank you and we will update you again as soon as possible!