Day 1?

Captain's log: Day 1
After 32 hours of traveling with the sun, we have arrived safely in Fiji! All of us have felt slap-happy and unsure whether we need sleep, food, or a shower. Many adventures were had in the planes, airports, and in Honolulu.

As soon as we arrived in Fiji, we made our way through the airport and packed our bags into the back of a covered truck. Many of us sat in the back of the truck as we made our way from "the middle of no-where to the middle of no-where". On the truck ride we saw the night sky in a way that we had never seen it before. The stars were dazzling and we looked at them in awe as we made our way down dusty roads to our new home. Along the way we sang songs and laughed (maybe part of being slap-happy?). Finally we made our way into the Momi Bay building. This building is still under construction, and because it was so warm and humid many of us (boys at least) slept in our shorts and with no covers.

This morning I know that I personally was blown away by the beauty. I awoke at 6 a.m to the sound of a rooster crowing and a faint light streaming in through our windows. To be honest, I wasn't sure if it was a rooster or if it was Katie Adams making weird noises to wake everyone up! I stood up from my mat and literally almost fell back down when I saw outside. Now, you have to remember that the night before it was pitch black outside, and we had no idea what the landscape around us was. When I looked out the window, I saw the most dazzling sunrise I have ever seen. Under it was rolling hills covered in grass and a few palm trees. The sky was a bright orange, and it slowly turned to purple on the opposite side of the sun. In the distance was the sea, and above the sea was an entire rainbow, stretching from one side of the heavens to the other. I can't describe to you how truly amazing it was. It wasn't just looking at something beautiful, it was a full blown experience.

After showering, we met downstairs and had a time of prayer and reading scripture. Carlos Tellez lead us in singing on his guitar, and then we ate a breakfast of bread, pineapple jam, papayas, bananas, and oatmeal.

Right now we are splitting up into different teams to work on different things around the building. Some of us are working on construction, some of us are working on a well, some of us are planting fruit, and some of us are getting the downstairs ready for the kids Bible school. We learned that what we are doing here is helping in the early stages of Momi Bay's mission to provide food, a school, and shelter for the surrounding villages and people. This is a fairly new building and plantation, and their hope is to spread the Gospel to the area by providing a place of refuge and love, and by building loving relationships.

We love you all, and we hope that you will pray for us and for Momi Bay! We have met many wonderful workers from Fiji and from other parts of the world; all of us here to learn from one another and help this mission grow. Thanks!

- Brian