Fiji Day 17: Meetings!

Matthew's in Fiji!  He arrived with Jessica for  the National Directors Conference today, the 3 days of staff conference meetings here, and then for our 3 staff conference days at the resort.  It's great to have them here...though we miss Tammy and Josh.

But I gotta say...I don't get excited about meetings.  The business details of ministry are not very exciting.  (Things like filling in calendars for the next year.  Needed, yes.  Exciting, no.)  We did, however have a good (and needed) time of prayer.
 
 I think the kids got the better deal.  Jessica, Gail, and a few others swam, went out to lunch, and saw a movie.  After our meeting I saw Koli's two boys in the pool.  By the picture, guess where our meeting took place, Mills kids.  Do you remember?
 

We have 3 more days of business meetings before going to the resort for 3 days of fun and inspiration.

Fiji Day 16: Day Off!

A whole day off!  It started with a beautiful sunrise...

 
We went into town on the bus for some shopping and treats...

And had a nice treat at Gloria Jeans:  a "cocoa loco" which was like an iced mocha.  Very nice!  (We'd tried having one a few days ago, but they had been out of ice.  Yahoo, the iceman must have cometh!)

Dan had loaded a free kindle onto his computer and we downloaded a $4 book, so our entertainment for the evening with me reading it to him...until my voice and eyes gave out!  More story to come!

Fiji Day 15: "Igor!"

This was D-Day!  The day we give our 20 minute talks, timed talks, hitting all the marks of what those talks should contain.

I awoke with a stiff neck.  I couldn't turn my head to the right.  I got up and got dressed, took some Nurafen, etc...then laid back down because I didn't feel so good.  When it was time to move, I couldn't get up, because to get up you need your neck muscles to lift your head.  I started giggling, then laughing, then laughing so hard I was crying.  While I was presently like a turtle on its back, I was imagining walking up to give my talk.  What if my knee locked as well?...I'd look like Igor:  One shoulder up, dragging my opposite leg!

When it was my turn, I was so nervous that I couldn't remember how to begin.  Then I looked at my notes and saw that the beginning was a story.  What a relief, I knew the story, and that got me into the talk and took me to the end.  I was done!  19 minutes, 55 seconds!

We were so tired, we just came home...without our celebritory milkshakes.  (But tomorrow's a new day that needs ice cream!)

Our small group with Cole, our TA

Whole Bib. Comm. class

Tired students

Sleepless nights to finish assignments

Fiji Day 14: Sweaty Palms!

Today we stood up and delivered our "Launch" in front of our small group.  (The Launch in just another word for introduction of our 20 minute talk we're to give tomorrow.) It was suppose to be memorized, 3 minutes, and hook our listeners to want to hear more. 



The TA assigned the first person to go up and speak. Then, when done, the speaker gets to choose who speaks next.  This is one of those situations where you truly don't mind getting picked last...which I was.  However, by the time I went up I had been sitting there being nervous for a long time.  My palms were sweaty...but I got through all right, sat down, and received good feedback and suggestions for improvement, to the accompaniment to my quivering body!

An unexpected classmate!

 

Fiji Day 13: The Wonder of an IceCream Cone!

During our strategic stroll before dinner, we were looking for ATM.  We needed more PNG currency for rent and taxis.  The girl who cooks our dinners told us where to go...a small shop not far up the street.  When we got there, the ATM was not working, but we decided to spend the last of our PNG currency on two bottles of water and a small package of batteries for Dan's computer mouse.  We headed to another group of shops where we knew of another ATM.  When we got there, we discovered it didn't work, either!  We walked to yet another ATM, wondering if we'd be able to pay for taxis for our group to get to class the next day, but, wonder of wonders...this ATM worked!

Since we needed smaller change for the taxis, and we were passing MacDonald's anyway...Never has an ice cream cone tasted so good!

Fiji Day 12: Dinnertime!

After a hard day in class, brain-weary and a little confused about the next assignment, it's nice to gather with other confused, but spirited classmates for a shared meal.

The house where we're staying provides breakfast and dinner, and we have morning tea and lunch where we have our classes.  The ladies that make lunch know about Dan's abhorance of garlic, and make him a special lunch plate that's garlic-free.  (Koli told them about Dan.)  However, no one mentioned it to the nice lady who prepares our dinner!  (Dan didn't want to make a fuss.)  We usually eat at 7:00, and right about 6:00 the fumes from the garlic begin to rise up to our top-floor room.  The last 2 evenings we've strategically took a walk about that time.  (The first time, we walked to MacD's so Dan could eat a pre-dinner cheeseburger!)

Dan heroically declares he should lose some desired weight by the end of our time here...but I've seen what he eats at morning tea and lunch, and I think he'll be lucky if he just doesn't gain weight (like I probably will!)

Fiji Day 11: Gestures!

We started our new class today of Biblical Communication.  We had a workshop to practice hand gestures.  Ten of us took turns describing a room or special place or event.  Our goal was to speak for 1 minute.  The first 10 seconds we were to keep our hands at our side, then use them to describe our story...without using chicken arms (like dinosaur arms), but with big gestures.  Dan got the biggest laughs in the class!  (I'm so proud!)  He described how he was fixing our upstairs bathroom.  (Taking the shower out, drilling the floorboards down, etc.)