Home-stay in Lautoka

This past Wednesday-Friday I had the wonderful opportunity of doing a home-stay in Lautoka with a lovely woman named Joanna and her family. It was so cool to see how they lived and to be shown around Fiji by a true Fijian. I took my first bucket shower (which consisted of standing on the porch dumping a bucket of water over my head), and tried many new foods! The shower was actually pretty cool- I did it under the stars and coconut trees and it was very refreshing :)
The place where I stayed had one huge room where all the beds were (Fijians often live with extended family)

You can't see the whole room, but there were at least 10 beds- they jokingly called it their hostile. Then on the other side was their outside sink/woodstove and inside was the kerosene stove. They had to move everything out of that side of the house because of the flooding (my facebook album is of my time here- the people I met wanted me to post the pictures and tag them!).

It was a wonderful experience, and I got to see a lot of really cool things- I got to visit where Joanna's mom works, which is The Golden Home (like a nursing home). We got there in time for their exercises!!!

I also got to visit The Special School, which was a school for special needs kids. Joanna's cousin Soko works there and it is a labor of love. She works with a little boy named Patrick who has cerebral palsy and some other conditions... He can't feed himself or change himself... and doesn't respond at all when you talk to him. When I asked her if it was tiring just pouring so much in but not getting even one thanks, she simply said,"that's what love is." She has incredible faith and endurance and Christ's love is so evident in her life.

We also visited the market- the biggest place downtown!

There were many other adventures, and I loved the whole experience, but I think my favorite part was jumping off the rocks into this beautiful river with some of Joanna's rugby friends. It was pretty high up- I screamed the whole way down my first jump! I wish I could've gotten some better pictures but it was getting dark and my camera battery died

The last night there, they made a huge special feast for me because I was their guest, and we had a time of encouragement and prayer. I was so blessed by their words and their love. I know they made many sacrifices in order to make me feel comfortable and welcome. I pray a special blessing on that family. I have a lot to learn from them.

I came to Fiji to serve but have been blessed and so humbly served instead. This family reminded me of Galations 5:13
"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love."