Over Halfway

Ni Sa Bula Vinaka,

We now have three weeks remaining in our memorable journey. The feeling is bittersweet. We are all excited to be home to see our family and friends, but the relationships and adventures we have experienced are unforgettable. We are now well known on the island, as we are some of the only white people here. News travels fast when there are three nurses visiting for two months.

Last week, a dentist from Seattle came to volunteer for four days. He brought along with him his wife, Shannon, and four children, Bella (6), Ben (8), Tommy (10), and Jake (13). We had an absolute blast with the Beatty family. We moved up into the dorms above the clinic for the week so the family could stay in our house. At worship on Monday, we got to join in with the staff in singing the Fijian welcome song. The night before, one of the workers, Tevita, played his guitar and practiced with us. In the first verse of the song, everyone sings the same pitch. In the second verse, however, we all take different parts and harmonize together. On Monday morning, Ashley and Sarah forgot that we only harmonize on the second verse, so when the end of the first verse rolled around, they really belted out a high note that nobody was prepared for. Luckily, Fijians sing so loud that they were able to disguise their mess up.

Each day we assisted Dr. Lucas (the dentist) in the clinic as he extracted teeth. His two sons, Tommy and Jake, also assisted and served as dental hygienists. Dr. Lucas informed us that many of the tools he was using were very primitive and no longer used in practice in the United States. Regardless, many extractions were successfully performed! On Monday we saw about ten patients. We had high hopes that those patients would return to their villages to spread the word that a dentist was in town. When Tuesday arrived, the clinic was empty. We saw about three patients in a two-hour time span. At this point, Siwa borrowed a workers bike and rode to the secondary school, where he alerted the teachers and principle that the dentist was here. Within an hour there was an entire class in our waiting room. That day, some of the workers even got their teeth checked out. Wednesday and Thursday were similar, with patients coming in through word of mouth.

Each afternoon we got to play with the doctor’s kids. This consisted of swimming, zip lining, and our favorite, RUGBY! Siwa taught us all the quick version of the game, and two afternoons we played boys vs. girls. Some of the workers children also joined in so we had more players. The first day the girls won, and the second day we tied (and no the boys were not going easy on us). After our final round of rugby, we all boarded The Mission boat, and went over to Rainbow Reef Resort, where Dr. Lucas and his family would be staying for the weekend. As we drove off in the boat, some of the local staff members lined the wharf and yelled their farewells. Even though we were not the ones leaving, this brought a tear to all of our eyes. It reminded us to cherish and value the remaining time we have here.

On Thursday, Ashley led the devotion during worship. It started off with the teaching of the song, “10,000 Reasons,” by Matt Redman. The theme of the week was the body. On Monday, Siwa discussed how altogether we form the body of Christ and the importance of each member. Ashley discussed during her devotion the body and our holiness on a more individual level. She talked about how God wants all of us, and not just part of us, and how each of us needs to be the best example of Christ that we can be. On Friday, Sarah and Hallie led the devotion and discussed the struggles of feeling as if our best is not enough. They reminded everyone that we are here to serve God and not man, and that comparison is a defeating reminder from the devil. They focused on the fact that God’s grace is enough, and like any loving father accepts a gift from his child, he graciously accepts our sincere attempts at holiness.

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early because we headed out to Rainbow Reef Resort to spend the day with Dr. Lucas, Shannon, and their family. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. The day was filled with laughter, paddle boarding, volleyball, and a delicious lunch. We all discussed coordinating future trips to Fiji together because of the unforgettable times we shared with this family. We were sad to leave that night, knowing it was the last time we would be seeing the Beatty family; at least for now.

Sunday morning, Palm Sunday, we went to a nearby village called Vunikura to attend the Catholic Church. The receptionist at the clinic, Tina, invited us to join her so we agreed. This day felt particularly hot, as we stood in the beaming sunlight for the first 15 minutes of church. We eventually wandered under the shade, trying to understand a bit of the Fijian message that was being preached. At the end of the service, we were delightfully introduced to many of the villagers. We spent the afternoon sitting in the shade and enjoying the company of those around us. Some of the young men played the guitar and sang for us, while we drank “Kava,” a traditional Fijian beverage served during social gatherings. Kava is normally offered to the chief as a gift when visiting a village, so we were honored to be a part of this experience and we greatly appreciated the hospitality offered to us. While in Vunikura, we met a woman named Ana. In this village there is a very special school called the Kinde School. It is part of the Fiji Kinde Project, and Ana is the teacher. She explained a little bit more about the opening and importance of this school for the village. In 2008, David and Ann Cooper founded the Fiji Kinde Project. The project works to send teams of educators to develop early childhood education throughout villages in Fiji. There have already been 70 Kindes established, impacting over 1500 children, with over 200 trained teachers, Ana being one of them. We had heard about this project previously, but it was neat to see the impact and reality of the school ourselves. To learn more about the Fiji Kinde Project go to:

http://lovereusablebags.com/give-back-sack.html

 With Easter approaching, the next week went by very fast, with only two days being in the clinic. One of these days, we assisted in surgery. A man came in with an old soccer injury in his heel, where his bone overgrew and would therefore no longer fit inside of his shoes. We gowned up and Dr. Anibal began chiseling away. About an hour later, his heel was sutured and he was ready to go. We worked Monday and Tuesday, and then went to town Wednesday for our usual shopping trip. This day however, was not usual. We typically either ride home with Dr. Anibal, or take the 1:00pm bus. This day we decided to stay longer and take the last bus, the 2:30pm bus. About 15 minutes into our 2.5-hour journey home, the bus came to a screeching stop. With everyone talking Fijian around us, we did not know what was going on. We finally realized that the bus was broken down, and we would have to wait for either a mechanic, or another bus to come pick us up. So we sat there for an hour and a half, making many friends, until another bus eventually came. Arriving home around 6:30pm we were all exhausted and vowed to never take that bus again. The only thing keeping us going that day was the fact that we all were able to get cheesecake and ice cream while in town.

Easter is a very big deal here, and many people travel to other islands or return home to their villages. Because of this, we had Thursday, Friday, and the following Monday off from work. Here, they celebrate Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Sabbath Saturday, Easter Sunday, and they honor Monday as a travel day. During this time, Dr. Anibal and Nani invited the children from Vunikura to come each night to the chapel at The Mission. For about one hour each night, we sang songs and watched a video clip of what happened each night leading up to Easter. He tried to explain to them the importance and meaning of Christ dying for our sins. Saturday, we attended the Seventh Day Adventist Church and were amazed at how many people were there. Many people from villages nearby and other islands came to the church and camped out all weekend. The service was in English because the Seventh Day Adventist President of the Pacific led it. On Sunday, we returned to the school to watch volleyball and rugby, as well as enjoy the company of friends whom we have gotten to know thus far. That night, we returned to the chapel at The Mission for the final night where we taught the children the song, “Lord I Lift Your Name On High,” as well as the hand motions. It was a great ending to a wonderful weekend.

 

Prayer Requests:

 

1. That we will be able to maximize our remaining time here and be able to share God’s word through our actions and service.
2. That Sarah and Hallie would be able to solidify plans upon our arrival home regarding jobs, travels, and places to live.
3. General safety and health.
4. Pepperdine University sends a team of 25 medical students and they will be arriving next Wednesday. Please pray that God will prepare all of our hearts that we can use this time together to maximize our service.

Love,

Ashley, Sarah, and Hallie

 

 

 

 

A Week Full of Celebrating

Ni sa bula vinaka (a very warm hello),

We are still alive and thriving on this beautiful island we call home.

The clinic has been busy this week with patients we had to reschedule from the last week. Last Wednesday when we were in town with Dr. Anibal and his wife, the doctor was stricken with a fever and became very ill. What ended up as an infection in his foot, sentenced our doctor to spending four days in bed with his foot elevated. He only came down to the clinic for one special case. The clinic remained open Thursday and Friday, we were just instructed to reschedule the patients we could, provide any education to those who traveled far, and only call the doctor for an emergency. As luck would have it, at the peak of Dr. Anibal’s sickness, he was awoken to a casual phone call from Ashley simply stating: “a patient has come in with one of his fingers dangling from his hand and needed sutures”. A man (who had never been to a clinic before) had cut his knuckle completely severing his tendon while weeding some brush. He walked 2 hours down the road praying for a clinic, when low and behold he arrived at the front door of MNC. Dr. Anibal came down, took one look at the guy’s hand, shook his head, and told Ashley and Sarah to gown up (donne a surgical cap, mask, and shoe covers). He was going to open up this man’s hand, fish out the retracted tendon, and stich it back together. As mentioned before, the doctor was feverish so this intense hour long surgery was done without any air conditioning. Following the surgery, there wasn’t a dry spot on the doctor’s scrubs. True to the nature of the Fijian superhuman, this procedure was done with only lidocaine and in a follow-up appointment the hand is healing well with no signs and symptoms of infection.

Thursday night, we were invited to go fishing by Moses (Captain Mo) and other grounds workers. Around 7:30, Tavita knocked on our door and we walked around gathering Captain Mo, his daughter Silvia, and Serino. Currently in Fiji, there is no moon so without any type of light you can forget about seeing your hand in front of your face. As second nature, the men prepared the boat, got us out of the inlet and into the calm seas. Around us we could see lights from other boats and in the water we could see glowing phytoplankton. The night sky was lit up every so often with lightening from a passing cloud. When a light was shown out on the water we could see dozens of jumping fish flying all over the ocean. Once we found our spot, Captain Mo and the other men prepared our boat by putting a lantern in white bucket and hanging it off the side of the boat then squeezing a can of tuna juice and flakes in the water, both of which he says attracts the fish. Before beginning the night’s work, Mo asked Ashley to pray over our fishing trip as the fish we were catching would be the meal of not only his family, but also for the families of Serino and Tavita for the week. He then handed us our fishing poles: an empty 20 oz. bottle wrapped in fishing line. Next, it was time to bait our hooks with something we like to call “tuna dough”: flour, water, tuna flakes. We were instructed to drop our lines 6 meters (arm spans) down and then the fun began. Hallie, sitting next to Captain Mo (in very potent tuna water), caught 4 to add to Moses’ 10. Sarah, Ashley, and the rest of the boat had to get creative to attract the “salala” (stupid fish). We resorted to singing songs, unfortunately with no luck. The salala made away with plenty of Sarah’s bait. Ashley’s dough went unscathed as she snuck in a cat-nap on the bow of the boat later in the night. Moses told Sarah and Ashley not to be defeated by their catch, or lack thereof. Typically, a good night of fishing is around 80 fish. With any hunt, some days are better than others and we were invited back to try again. Hopefully next time Sarah and Ashley will become one with the salala.

The week following came with much anticipation as it brought with it birthday celebrations for Sarah. At worship the week prior, we invited all of the mission workers over to our hacienda (The Hawthorne House) for a Fijian potluck during lunch on Thursday. Sarah’s birthday was Wednesday, a fun filled day we spent in town dining on enchiladas and chocolate cake with homemade coffee ice cream. The best part about this day, aside from all the ‘sister time,’ had to be the dinner prepared by Hallie. The celebrations continued the next morning in worship when everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to Sarah accompanied by Dr. Anibal on the accordion. Dr. Anibal instructed everyone to work hard that morning for at 1, “we party.” Everyone prepared a Fijian dish including: fish, lolo (coconut cream with onions), palusami (taro leaves and coconut cream), various forms of plantains, assorted types of kasava, tarrro, potato salad, polenta, the list continues. For dessert, Sarah was surprised by the biggest cake she has ever seen in her life and another 2 rounds of the birthday song. This day culminated to be more than anything any of us could have imagined, by the end of we all felt like each one of our birthdays were celebrated as our time was spent so joyfully among our new friends. The festivities ended when Sarah was summoned to take a solo picture with the bananas she has been trying to ripen for the past week and a half. As Ashley was counting down for the picture, sneaky Siwa had come up behind Sarah with a huge jug full of water. On the count of 3, Sarah was soaked and everyone erupted in laughter. Rejuvenated, everyone left ready to finish the day’s work.

One more thing we have started doing every morning after worship is offer an educational discussion on topics important to the workers. So far we have talked about dengue fever and dehydration. Other topics we have been brainstorming include: gastrointestinal parasites, CPR, choking, food sanitation, flies, diabetes, blood pressure, hygiene, etc. We dedicate “Fun Fridays” to a day where the Fijian’s teach us something. This morning we learned the Welcome Song and are anxiously awaiting our singing debut on Monday when a dentist and his family join the crew for the week.

This week brought with it even more good news, on Monday Ashley was offered a position in a new grad program at Children’s Hospital in Knoxville. She gratefully accepted this position and is so excited to start this new chapter in her life upon her return. A special shout out to Dr. Mixer, Dr. Brown, Dr. Hodges, Dr. Chyka, and Ms. Helms for filling out her reference survey.

Prayer requests:

1. As we have started teaching the workers every morning, our prayer is that our topics are simple enough to be understood and that our thoughts come across clear through the language barrier. We also ask for prayers regarding topics, as we don’t want to neglect any important teaching points.

2. Every morning a worker prepares and shares a short devotion during worship. We ask for prayers regarding topic choices and that the Lord speaks through us and meets the needs of those listening.

3. Please pray for the workers and all the hard work they do. It is so encouraging to be around so many men and women who appear genuinely happy every day despite all the challenging circumstances so many of our friends are facing.

4. After spending time in the village and discussing life in the villages with co-workers, we just want to lift up all of the villagers and the problems they face including, but not limited to alcohol, grog (a type of drink with narcotic effect), and drug consumption. Life in the villages is much different than the life we see outside of our house around the clinic.

5. Lastly, we would like to lift up the dentist and his family that are arriving on Sunday for the week. As Dr. Anibal works as a primary care physician, a new dentist will bring with him many new cases. We pray for all the patients we will see and that the Lord’s name will be praised with each surgery.